Chapter 39 - Luma Valentine P1
*****
"My name is Elysia Alexandria, and I am King of the World."
When I said that, the entire room fell silent. Every pair of eyes was on me, all of them shocked, except Maya.
"Don't everyone speak at once."
The monarchs began exchanging glances with each other in disbelief. Other than Maya, only Velarus and Alice looked as though they believed it.
"I understand something like this will be difficult to accept. If you need to take some time to think about it, by all means."
"Eli love, what made you decide to tell them?"
"There are measures I want to take to prevent another incursion like today. I want to build mana foundations across the continent and cast a collection of world magics to prevent more attempts on my life."
She took my hand and squeezed it tightly. "I'll help anyway I can. I can't bear the thought of losing either of you."
"You handled the poison incident quite well. I believe I was unconscious for less than two minutes."
"The fear of losing both of you scared me. It scared me into action. I've never wielded pink mana before." She held her other hand up, made a fist, and it was soon engulfed in pink mana. "But it feels natural."
"What do you mean, 'both of you'?" Mabel asked.
I exchanged glances with Maya. "Well…"
"May as well, but just my parents?"
"And Alice?"
"Sure."
"King and Queen Gallia, Princess Eglantine, King Wavecrest, King Serendell, pardon us for a moment." I snapped my finger and partitioned the room with an opaque soundproof barrier. "Okay."
"This isn't suspicious at all," Velarus said with a light smirk. "What secret do you have for us that you would only allow your and Maya's families to hear."
"Maya." Mabel was glaring daggers at her daughter.
"Uhh… seventh time's the charm?" She forced a laugh, but nobody was buying it.
"Uh huh. You two are dating, sure. That much was evident. Why did you say 'both of you', referring to Elise as two people?"
I held back my laughter, as difficult as it was, while watching Maya fidget.
"Maya." Velarus started bearing down on her with ocular daggers as well.
"…Elise?" Alice made a lazy attempt at mimicking Maya's parents.
"Eli, we can tell them, right?"
"Of course!"
"Maya, tell us what you mean."
Rather than say it with words, she whipped her tail around and rubbed the tip with her free hand.
"What does that mean?" I asked. Velarus, Mabel, and Alice already knew, each of their eyes widened.
Mabel's wide eyes quickly changed to excited as she hopped up and practically jumped over to me. She grabbed my free hand with both of hers. "Truly?"
"Truly what? What does that gesture mean?"
"How do you sleep with a catgirl and not know what that means?"
"Ah. That was her explaining it."
"So you two are engaged in Weltwald culture and married in Nacht culture," Mabel said.
Velarus smirked. "To think our daughter would go that far at only eighteen."
"And the way she said 'both of you', may I assume you're pregnant, Elise?"
I felt a hand on my head and looked up to see Alice standing over me. "Good luck with your mother."
"But, how long have you been together?" Velarus asked. "You could have only met last Monday at the earliest. It takes a couple of weeks for gestation."
"The part where I said I am King of the World was not a joke. I am Transcendent, and I can see souls. There is a second soul residing in my belly."
"A baby…" Velarus said. "Of all the things I didn't expect to hear today, most of what I've heard since coming to this meeting counts toward that."
"Vel, our daughter has given us wonderful news," Mabel said. "We're going to be grandparents!"
"To think our daughter is dating The Creator."
That caught my attention. "How do you know that title?"
How could a mortal possibly know that title? I haven't mentioned it yet. I narrowed my eyes as I asked that question.
"A Transcendent visited this world a long time ago. You are from Eden, I presume?"
"There's only one Transcendent world, and that is Eden, yes. One of my people visited? How much do you know about it? How long ago?" I paused for a second and removed the barrier. "King Nacht, would you mind sharing everything you know?"
"Certainly." He cleared his throat and began. "Many centuries ago, back in the time of the heroes Gaia and Hikari, our world was visited by a being known as a Transcendent." He glanced at me. "The details of the story says this Transcendent described her kin as 'Transcendent Human'."
"That tracks," I replied. "Mortals were made in our image. We're a variety of races, but we all fall under the human umbrella. Just like here, there are demonkin, dragonkin, catpeople, wolfpeople, elves, dwarves, vampires, and regular humans. Regular humans are no different from the rest. At some point, we had monkey features. We're still similar even now, but someone with a supremest mindset decided that my flavor of human is more important than the rest. I sentenced him to ten thousand years in prison, but the ideas spread nonetheless. Personally, I don't view any sort of human as different. Just like we have a variety of hair colors, heights, and so on, having monkey-like ears or cat-like ears are simply another feature. Short answer, we're all humans, just different flavors."
I glanced at Maya, then back at Velarus.
"There is one thing, though. About demons. Is the circumstances of demon birth known to everyone in this room? I only found out a few days ago, so I'm not sure if it's a big secret or what."
"It's not a secret per se. It's just not a topic you'll hear in regular conversation, considering the details. You didn't know until a few days ago?"
"After Maya told me that she's your and Mable's daughter, she explained about demons being born hermaphrodites. That's news to me. I don't know how that happened."
"I do," Velarus said. "Gender dysphoria was known even back when the Transcendent visited. Among demonkind, it was rampant. Upwards of 80% of the demon population struggled with it. The story states that the Transcendent changed demonkind to be hermaphrodites with the ability to adapt their bodies based on their mind."
What? A Transcendent did that? There shouldn't be any capable of that and unaccounted for... except...
"The number of known Transcendents capable of doing that is three. I know for a fact two of them didn't come here back then, and the third has been missing for eons. Do you know what that Transcendent's name was?"
"Yes, her name was included in the story, but only her first name. She preferred to be called 'Lady Luna'."
That's the name of the third Transcendent capable of such a feat, but she's been missing far longer than just a thousand years. "She's still alive..."
"Eli?" Maya squeezed my hand. "What's the matter, love?"
"The names of the three who are capable of altering mortal body composition like that are Elysia Alexandria - me, Maya Velinova - my first wife, and Luna Solaris - the goddess of our kind and my predecessor as King. No others could do that. Not my second wife - Adele Borealis, or my third wife - Adara Australis. Not my knight commander, Luma Valentine. Not my personal guards, Liliana and Aliana Seraphim. Not my parents, my aunt, or uncle. Nobody else. Lady Luna was here a thousand something years ago."
"Yes," Velarus said. "That's how my people know of Eden and the Transcendents. I've even heard your and your immediate circle's names from the history book this was recorded in."
Maya suddenly reached to my face and wiped a tear that I didn't realize I had. I looked at her in disbelief. She was smiling softly at me. "Lady Luna is my godmother."
"I'm sorry you haven't gotten to see her, Eli. You told me about prayers before. If she's your predecessor, would she hear yours?"
I nodded lightly.
"Have you tried praying to her with a question or something talking to her?"
I shook my head. I had never thought of that. "I have prayed countless times to cast origin magic and prayer based techniques. But I'm ashamed to admit I never thought to speak to her directly through prayer. Everyone else in Eden and the mortals realms when they pray... I hear it. But when I pray, Lady Luna hears it."
She took hold of my hand again. "Try it."
I clasped my hands together. Lady Luna, I'm embarrassed to admit, but I never thought to speak to you directly through prayer. It's been so long. I miss you very much. If you're still alive, please give me a sign. I've worried about you ever since you left.
"Hello, Elysia."
My eyes shot open and I looked at Maya. She only smiled at me, having a clear idea of what was happening.
"Yes, it's me. I'd ask how you've been, but I've been watching you every step of the way."
"I'm so relieved to hear you're still alive! How have you been?"
"I'm getting along fine. I'm very upset right now, though."
"What about?"
"Your exile."
"Are you upset at me or at the people who demanded it?"
"Both. I'm very unhappy that you allowed them to exile you, but I'm more unhappy that they demanded it in the first place. The fools have no idea how important the King of the World is. Without a King or Queen, Eden will collapse."
"I..."
"You didn't know that because I never told you. I don't want you to worry about it now, either. I'm in Eden at your palace hiding my presence. I'm refilling the World Tree as we speak."
"I... wait. Why are you having to do that? Maya should be doing that."
"I won't tell you why she isn't. I'm sorry, Eli."
"I traded one worry for another. Do you know if she's okay?"
"She's perfectly fine."
"Are the others okay? I expect my absence is having an effect on them."
"It effected them tremendously. But they're getting along fine right now."
"I feel terrible for accepting the exile demands. I miss my family and friends so much."
"Then come back. I will publicly return when you return."
I hesitated to reply. I looked at Maya and squeezed her hand lightly.
"It's not that simple. As far as I know, it's not possible to grant a mortal Transcendence. Not even I can do that. But I don't know how many things you can do that are beyond me. I can't imagine leaving this girl behind. I'm in love with a mortal, maybe a few of them."
"Yes, you can bring them to Eden when you return."
"Wait, really? Just like that?"
"Yes."
"That's a huge relief for me."
"I also understand that even knowing that, it's still not simple for you. You want to remove the foolish Transcendent from the far eastern continent."
"So I was right. There is another Transcendent."
"Yes. He's known as Phantom. I went to Gaia sometime between when I was there and when you are now."
"I'll execute him for this. He's killed so many people and warped so many more into monsters."
"I support your decision. Listen Eli, you should do what you believe is best for Gaia. Just know that I won't directly intervene, but you can always pray for any origin magic you want to use."
"Thank you, Lady Luna. Knowing you are still alive has lifted my spirits significantly. I've missed you dearly."
"I'll be waiting for you here on Eden. I'll help you in any way you want once you're back here. However, you want to handle the fools who demanded your exile… I will help."
"You sound more angry about my exile than I am."
"Because I am. They dare revere me as a goddess then condemn my goddaughter? The only reason I didn't kill every one of them is because you spared them yourself. I'm still mulling it over."
"I will return as soon as my job here is done. Please wait to punish any of them until then."
"Okay. Remember, you can pray to talk to me whenever you want. I will answer but won't speak when it's a prayer for power, but if you are praying to speak to me, I will always answer and talk to you. You're my goddaughter and I love you very much, Elysia. And I want the best for you. Just as you are relieved to know I'm alive, my spirits are lifted now that you've finally tried to talk to me. I was beginning to worry you only wanted help with magic anytime you prayed. I'm so happy that's not the case."
"I love you very much, too, godmother. I can't wait to see you again."
"Yes. Now get back to your conversation with the mortal monarchs. They're looking at you as if you're crazy."
"Right. Talk to you again soon, Lady Luna."
I smiled at Maya and squeezed her hand lightly again. "Thank you, love."
"Did it work?"
"Yes. I just spoke to her. She's as relieved to hear from me directly as I am to hear from her. I can't believe I never tried that."
"I'm happy for you, love."
I turned back to the rest of the table, and some of them were looking at me as if I was full of it. Lanti, Velarus, and Mabel seemed to accept it, but the other monarchs didn't.
"Do any of you have questions before we continue?"
"Yes," Serendell said as he stood up. "In my eyes, you are the daughter of a count of Gallia, yet you're here claiming to be some transcendent being and king of everything? That's so preposterous that I don't even know where to start. How can you prove it?"
"How about I do something no mortal can do?"
"If you can do that, sure. I'll give you benefit of the doubt."
I stood up, picked up my chair, and tossed it over the table. As its height climaxed above the center of the table, I snapped my finger. The chair froze in midair, and everything lost its color.
"You halted the chair's movement and created an illusion to remove color from everything?"
"Not quite," I said. I snapped my finger again and opened a portal to another part of the palace where maids were working to clean. "Feel free to go through that portal an inspect everything and everybody there."
"What have you done?" Serendell asked as he stepped through the portal. He wasn't gone for long. "Everyone is frozen. They're not moving. Even the dust one of the maids was cleaning was suspended in midair not moving. What did you do?"
"I froze time. Nothing outside this room, and the Transcendent fool on the eastern continent will be able to move while time is stopped. When time is stopped, light also stops. You are not seeing anything through your eyes. When time is stopped, anyone allowed to move within it is also allowed to perceive the visual environment in monochrome as part of the magic."
"Impossible."
"It's quite possible, Serendell," Velarus said. "The Transcendent named Luna that visited our world over a thousand years ago is said to have performed this very feat. Nobody else has ever been able to repeat it." He looked at me. "Until now. This woman is the real deal. I daresay she could kill all of us with a finger snap."
I nodded. "That is certainly within my capability."
*****
"I was so relieved when we found out Lady Luna is still alive," Sanae said. She was looking at me and I nodded.
"I look forward to the day we go home, but I'm also worried about it," I said, looking at her. "You're probably thinking the same thing I am."
"That we don't know if we can exist separately in Eden?"
A round of gasps sounded off, except from Alethea and Mavel.
"Yeah. If we have to become one again, Origin is going to be upset."
Alethea turned to Mavel and echoed our sentiments before saying, "What do you think?"
She shook her head. "I don't know if we can go home separately, but she'll be upset if we can't."
I clasped my hand together and prayed. Lady Luna, do you have an answer to this? We want to know if we can return to Eden separately.
She remained silent, but not because she was ignoring me. The room suddenly became heavy, and it was difficult to stay upright. The entire room was filled with rainbow mana shortly before a beautiful, long white haired lady appeared in a jet black academy outfit from top to bottom, with no other colors on it.
Immediately, every Transcendent in the room dropped to the floor and kneeled. Everyone except Sanae, Alethea, Mavel, and me.
"Hello, everyone. We haven't spoken since you were all living on Gaia. You've all experienced quite a bit of time since then. Return to your seats. I am not King; you need not kneel to me."
I smirked. "You were King a long time ago, and you are the current King and Queen's godmother."
"Yeah, yeah, hush goddaughter. You asked a question, and I'm here to answer. I also wanted to see the lot of you."
"Can we?" Alethea asked, knowing that's what she came to answer.
"I am omniscient. I know everything that exists to be known. That said, there is no precedent for this. As it's never happened before, it is unknowable until it happens." She snapped her fingers and our originals appeared, Elise facing me and Maya facing Alethea.
"What? Why am I back here? We can't afford the mana for…" Sensing the monstrous amount of mana behind her, monstrous even by our standards, she turned around, as did Maya, and laid eyes on Lady Luna. "Godmother?"
"Hello, Elysia, Maya."
"Lady Luna, it's good to see you. But why have you summoned us from our soul worlds?"
She gave them the most evil smile I'd ever seen. "To reprimand you and your halves."
Their eyes widened, as did mine and the other halves.
"The six of you are involved in this question. So I'm going to lecture all six of you." She switched to looking at me to give me a glare of death for a moment, then spread it to everyone else. "I am very against the very concept of you being split into multiple people. As your godmother, I tolerate it but hate it."
"I didn't know you feel that way," Maya said. "But you know how we feel, too."
"Both of you have come to love your halves no less than sisters, and that's why I tolerate it. If I forced you to back to one person each, you would be unhappy, and I don't want that."
She then glanced at Michelle. "Adara, you made quite a haughty claim earlier. You mean to find a way for all six of them to exist simultaneously. There is no such method in existence, thus even I don't know if it can be done. I am willing to assist you in finding a method." She closed her eyes and smiled softly. "If it will make my goddaughters happy, I will do anything for them."
Then she turned to redhead next to Michelle. "Adele, I see your current body is mismatched with your soul. I believe, Alethea was born that way as well, until Evelyn made a new body with DNA from Maya Rosenwald." She glanced at Evelyn. "Why did you not help Adele?" She eyed Mavel as well. "Or you? Either of you could have fixed that the moment they were born, and both of you knew exactly what they would be born as. Why did neither of you help either? And why has Adele still not been given attention?"
"My role as The Primordial restricts my ability to interfere directly," Evelyn said. I must have the King's permission to do anything like that."
"I did nothing simply because of causality. You know very well what happens when a Transcendent interferes with the world of the dead. Causality tends to 'correct' things."
"Evelyn, you could have simply asked. Despite Eli having her memories sealed, you could have spoken with Fia. Did you perhaps not see Fia as the King?" She sighed. "Never mind. A lecture isn't going to correct the past. Mavel, your reasoning is quite solid except you could have prayed to me to assist. Causality cannot overpower Elysia, Maya, or me. Two of those options were not available when Adele was born here, but both were available on Gaia, Elysia when you were eighteen, and Maya when you were nineteen. Rhianon was allowed to remain in a dysphoria inducing body. You know how against dysphoria I am by now. I augmented an entire race on Gaia to give them relief from it."
"The fault for that lies with both Maya and Elysia in that case," I said, trying to take responsibility, but Adele had other ideas.
"No, Eli did ask me, not long into where the story is now," Adele said. "I said no. After regaining my memories, she asked again, and I still said no."
Lady Luna's eyes glowed for a moment as she peered into Adele's soul. "I see. The memory of that does exist. Strange that I didn't know that."
"To be fair," Sanae said. "You were quite distracted at the time. You missed a handful of things simply because you were too busy to keep track of everything."
Lady Luna shook her head. "Perhaps, but the lot of you are priority. I should have paid more attention." She looked back at Adele. "I pose the same choice to you now. Do you wish to rid yourself of your dysphoria inducing body? I will remake it right now if you want that."
She hesitated for a moment, then looked at each of us, her partners, as if asking for permission.
"Love, you need not gauge our opinions," I said.
"You should do what you want the most," Sanae added.
"Yes, Adele, please choose what you truly want for yourself," Michelle said. "Do not include your sex life with any of us."
"You're being rather blatant about it," Adele said. "Your ability to read me is … honestly not surprising. I admit what you said is something I was considering."
"I knew right away from your hesitance to answer. Just do what you want for yourself. Each of us wants you to have what you want more than how you can pleasure us in bed. That part is of no consequence. We've been together for eons before coming to Gaia without what you have now."
Adele then glanced at Alethea. "Mimi said everything I would have said. I want you to have what makes you happiest."
"My other half speaks for me as well," Mavel added.
Then she looked at Luma, who was surprised she was included in the conversation. "Yes? You want my opinion?"
Adele nodded slowly. "While you are technically only with Eli, if you were with me as well, what would you say?"
Luma didn't answer at first. She had to gather her thoughts, as she only answered about ten seconds later. "While overcoming my oath and finally accepting a relationship with Eli was today, I won't lie in that I have imagined myself with all of you. And you've all made it abundantly clear multiple times that you have feelings for me. I only ever imagined those scenarios based off our Transcendent selves, not our mortal selves. And also not in bed, but romantic outings. If you could smile as brightly again as you did in the past, I would wholeheartedly support you choosing to correct this mismatch. But more than that, I support you in whichever you want the most. Choose for yourself and nobody else."
She looked at Lady Luna again and began to give her answer, but before she could, she was engulfed in rainbow mana. "I did wait for her answer, just so you know. She made her decision before she asked any of you about it, but had inhibitions. The rest of you cleared away those inhibitions, and she was about to take me up on the offer. Anyway, I'll be pausing time while I work."
She paused time, and while Sanae, Aya, Mavel, and I were excluded, everyone else, Transcendents included, was frozen. Even Adele, who was about to undergo surgery, was frozen.
Using her rainbow mana, Lady Luna levitated Adele and shrouded them both in a veil of mana.
"She's doing it right here on the spot, but manually, rather than magically," I said. "That's just like her."
"It's kind of a mix of the two," Mavel said. "I did the same thing when I rebuilt your bodies. I froze you in time and did that, so you wouldn't realize it."
"That's right," Alethea said. "I could tell that's how it worked for me, but didn't bother saying anything."
"You both would know best. I am not as medically advanced as you, so I'd have to do it magically." An idea occurred, and I glanced over at my mother, both of them. "Hmm."
"What's up, Eli?" Luma asked.
"My mother made a body for Alethea. I'm just wondering if she did so magically or manually arranged Aya's mana to create the body. It was a body made of mana for a dead soul, so I'd believe either."
"Lady Evelyn is a very skilled physician," Alethea said. "It could have been either. I couldn't tell which she did. Honestly, I think she is better than Mavel and I. Perhaps not better than Maya, but they may as well be equals."
"You think I'm as good as Lady Evelyn?" Maya asked with a smile. "That's quite a compliment."
Elysia put her arm around Maya and gave her a soft smile. "You are as good as mother. Don't deny it, love. Mother learned from Lady Luna, and you learned from both of them. I say you're equals."
They smiled at each other, which prompted the rest of us to smile as well.
Finished, Lady Luna removed the veil and announced she was done. She placed Adele back in her chair and unfroze time.
Adara looked to her left where Adele was sitting. Adele immediately noticed the difference. She took Adara's hand and vanished. A moment later, we heard her in our telepathic channel. "Lady Luna, would you do this for my living world body, Rhianon?"
"Yes. I need to leave now, so I'll stop by there on my way back. Eli, Maya, I'm sorry I can't give you a concrete answer. But for what it's worth, I'll do my best to help you make it possible. Eli, Fia, Aya, Mavel, Dara, Adi, Luma, Lily, Ally, remember that you can always pray to me whenever you want." Then she glanced at our originals. "You as well, of course. I can even visit you in your souls worlds."
"That would be nice," Elysia said, with Maya echoing her.
"Okay, goodbye for now. I'll be in the shadows in Eden keeping the World Tree filled with mana."
"Thank you, Lady Luna," I said. "I'm so happy to see you again. I mean to end the Phantom within another couple decades, so theoretically we'll be back soon."
"Just don't hurt yourselves. I understand your desire to protect the dead souls in this world, but I don't share that desire with you. Just like how Mavel threatened to pull you back to the living world if things got too bad, I too will emphasize that. I am willing to pull all of you back to Eden should your souls be placed in life-threatening danger. You are more important than dead mortal souls, and even a single world of living mortals. There are countless other worlds out there that need the King and Queen. Stay safe."
"You know it would be nearly impossible for even another Transcendent to kill any of us."
"Nigh impossible yes, but nigh is not absolute. You can die. Just please, stay safe. I don't want to do anything against your will, but I will prioritize your lives over your desires should it come to that."
"I think what Lady Luna is saying is fair," Michelle said. "I don't deny that the lot of us are important for every world."
"I also agree that it's fair," Adele said.
"As do I. And I echo the same thing," Luma said. "I might be free from my oath, but my desire to protect everyone here is no less than before." I looked over at her and saw a grimace on her face. "Even if it costs me your favor… I will keep you safe." I saw a tear roll down each of her cheeks and stepped over next to her to wipe it off.
"Luma, love, no matter what you do, I will not hate you," I said, "I understand what you want, and I will neither think less of you nor love you less for choosing to save my life over what I want. I know you do so out of genuine care for me."
"I echo the same thing," Fia said. "As far as I'm concerned, no matter how things end in this world, nothing can negatively affect how I feel about any of us." I looked over at her and saw her making the same face Luma was making. She looked up at me and continued, "All of us surviving is my top priority."
"I already threatened to pull everyone back to Gaia, so I think my feelings are clear," Mavel said. "Which is still in effect, by the way."
Luna smiled at us and said, "I love all of you very much. Though only two… or rather six," she eyes Maya and Elysia, "are my goddaughters, I love all of you as if you were as well. Pray and I will answer. Oh, and Maya, Elysia, I want you to really talk with your halves about how to proceed. I understand at the moment none of you want to merge back into one, but I want you to seriously consider it in the case where it's impossible to exist separately long term."
The two of them smiled apologetically, which only made Lady Luna give them both a blank expression.
"Anyway, all of you take care. Pray. And I'll see you another time." Without another word, she disappeared. Our origins gave us a smile and disappeared as well, returning to our soul worlds.
"I take it you all had a full telepathic conversation," Allison said. "Lady Luna had quite a serious expression on her face. Is there something the rest of us need to know."
I nodded. "The mortals in the room, please don't blame her for this. Lady Luna sees everything on a global scale from the pinnacle of Eden. She said that if our lives are put at risk, rather our souls are at risk of death, she will pull all of us, every Transcendent, not just my partners and I, back to Eden against our will. At that point, I expect this entire world would be cast into Reorigination."
The mortals in the room were either shocked into silence or gasped.
"Eli, what do you mean? What is Reorigination?" Lanti asked. She held a hand to her head as the memory returned to her. "I… would that really happen?"
"Yes. Lady Luna will not make an exception for this world. It's not the first time this has happened. Other Transcendents have gone rogue and tried to take over other mortal worlds. This was primarily in my younger years, though I've had to do it myself a few times. Before I was crowned King, Lady Luna was King. She reoriginated any world that a Transcendent corrupted."
"To think our world could be subject to that."
I looked at Fia, who was already looking at me for the same reason.
"Eli, if it comes to it… I would rather merge than put Lady Luna in a position to force us back to Eden. If we merge and return to Elise's body, we can kill Phantom. We just can't do that safely until we locate him."
"Yeah. A living soul existing in a dead world for a prolonged amount of time is dangerous to the dead souls."
"What does that mean?" Lanti asked.
Both of us looked at her and spoke at the same time, ""If we agree to merge, our soul halves will return to Elise Aindrea's body, then we teleport back and execute Phantom with the overwhelming power of the King of the World.""
"It doesn't matter who this Transcendent is," I said. "Literally nobody aside Lady Luna can survive us at our best."
"You would do that to finish things on your terms, rather than allow things to get so serious that Lady Luna would step in?"
"Yes," Fia said. "We would. While I have different priorities than Eli, I would not abandon this world to Reorigination." She folded her arms and closed her eyes. "The truth is that we should merge. The four of us should not exist separately. But we're hopelessly attached to our halves."
"Indeed we are." I giggled at the thought. "Anyway, let's get back to the story."
*****
Revision: 2025-5-11