Chapter 198: Omen – Chapter 184: Meeting the Family

Aperio stretched her wings to their full length as soon as Caethya and herself arrived in her Void. One of these days she would have to fly again. Maybe I could do that on Earth? Sure, the Humans there could not fly on their own according to Adam, but Aperio also knew that mortals tended to ignore things that seemed too extraordinary. At least, they did when I was one.

She could vividly remember how she had dismissed as a trick of the mind something that she now knew was more than plausible. Seeing a winged Elf fly above you on a planet that only had Humans would probably fall under that category.

"Do I need to wear anything special?" Aperio asked as she folded her wings behind her back again and looked at her love. A thought caused the armour that covered her chest, shoulders, and sides of her hips to disappear. "Should probably take those off."

"You can wear whatever you are most comfortable in," Caethya said. "You could put on some Moon Elven jewellery if you have any, but even that is not necessary."

"I do not own any," Aperio replied, raising a brow as Caethya pulled various items of clothing out of her own storage skill. "And I do not like the idea of putting something around my neck, or on my ears either. Both are perfect as they are."

Caethya turned slightly to look at Aperio and smiled. "You are perfect as you are." Her love returned her attention to the clothes she had produced, grabbing a dark blue dress that almost matched Aperio's in colour and held in front of herself. "Could you make me a mirror?"

The All-Mother obliged, her Void twisting apart slightly in front of Caethya to facilitate her wish for a mirror. "Of course."

"Thank you," her love replied. "Now the question is if I should actually wear a dress, or my usual everyday clothes."

"You do not usually wear a dress?" Aperio replied, tilting her head slightly as she focused a little more on the apparel Caethya had gathered. "But you've worn nothing else ever since we met?" The only time the All-Mother could recall Caethya wearing something different was the very first time they met, but at the time, she was also in a dungeon and expecting a fight. How far we have come since then…

Caethya shook her head in reply. "I usually wear my armour, or just a shirt and pants. When you can't teleport everywhere, or move any faster than anyone else, it makes it a lot easier to get around."

"Which means you could now, if you wanted to," Aperio replied and appeared on the other side of Caethya's pile of clothes. "I doubt there are many mortals that could beat you, even if you had both hands tied behind your back."

"I… actually don't know," her love said, lowering the next outfit she had picked up. "I have no real idea how strong I am now. Sure, I can look at my [Status] and get an idea from the numbers alone, but my Class already tells me that my body is at least partially divine and outside the norm for mortals and, therefore, outside of what my [Status] can show me."

"You can always spar with me if you wish." Aperio smiled. "That actually sounds rather enjoyable."

Caethya let out a laugh in reply. "Sure, we can do that, but it wouldn't help me figure out how strong I am compared to someone normal. I could use magic that levels a continent, and you would shrug it off just the same as a fireball."

The All-Mother lowered her gaze and ran her hand over her stomach. "I guess…" She still liked the idea of having a bout with her love, as fighting brought her joy. It would be wonderful, too, to fight for a reason that did not stem from rage or other negative feelings. "I still like the idea, though."

"Perhaps when we have returned from our excursion to Earth," Caethya said as she placed a shirt next to the other items she had apparently decided upon. She nodded to herself and waved her hand, causing the other clothes to disappear. "For now, I'll introduce you to my parents."

"I am still not sure how I feel about that," Aperio mumbled to herself. Technically, she was older than any mortal that walked her creation, but the time she could actually say she had been alive was only around thirty years. At least, that’s what it is according to Moria.

Caethya paused midway into pulling off her dress and turned to look at Aperio. "Are you scared that my parents won't like you?" Her love let out a slight giggle, shook her head, and continued to disrobe. "I'll make sure to let mother know that she can intimidate the All-Mother."

"I am not scared of what they think of me," Aperio replied as she turned around to grant her love at least the impression of privacy. "I simply do not wish them to view you differently because of your relationship with me."

"They don't care who I am with as long as you are not some serial killer or something," Caethya replied. "Also, why are you turning around? It's not like that stops you from seeing me in any way."

Aperio turned back to face her love again, tilting her head slightly as Caethya pulled on the shirt she had chosen. "To preserve the appearance of propriety?"

"Well, I welcome you to look with more than your aura," her love said as she began to pull out various pieces of jewellery. "I wouldn't have undressed here if I wasn't comfortable with you seeing me."

Aperio shifted her weight from one leg to the other and flared her wings slightly. "I understand," she said, not wanting to tell her love directly that the topic itself made her a little uncomfortable. A discussion about her past would be due one of these days, but until then, Aperio would do her best to simply manoeuvre around anything that might bring back memories she did not like.

Caethya paused in her flurry to acquire accessories and looked at Aperio. "If you are uncomfortable with any of this, you will tell me, right?"

"I am a little," the All-Mother replied with a small sigh that echoed through the Void. "I do not wish to be, but I cannot help it either. Not really at least." She sat herself down on the nothing of her Void and looked up at Caethya. "It is merely a remnant of my past that I need to deal with. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," her love said, a bitter smile marring her face. "What happened to you cannot be undone and it will take time to be fixed." Her smile brightened a little. "I will do what I can to help, but you already know that."

"I do," Aperio replied, a small twitch of her hand causing a necklace and a pair of clips that would run the length of Caethya's ears to float up slightly. "I think these would look good on you." A small flex of her mental muscles caused the metal they had been made from to shift slightly and the tiny imperfections that had been present in them to vanish. "Even better now."

Caethya plucked the items from the air and turned them over in her hand. "Perhaps you should consider a career as a jeweller," she said as she put the clips onto her ears. "I doubt anyone could match this quality."

"I would rather make something special for the one I love than for someone that pays me." Aperio appeared next to Caethya and offered her arm. "Money is not something I require, while your happiness is something I value greatly. Now, where do we have to go?"

"Irikas," Caethya replied, slinging her arm around that of Aperio. "It's the capital of the kingdom. Well, the current one," she added. "I don't think the one we have now was around back then."

"Irikas," Aperio mumbled as her aura flooded the continent the Elves called home for a city worthy of being the capital. "Does it feature lots of spires, trees, and a mountain?" Caethya gave a nod at the words and the All-Mother continued. "Looks like someone decided to combine three cities into one. Perhaps even four, if you count the tent city in the steppe to the north."

"That does belong to it," Caethya said. "It's where both of my parents are from, and High Elves in general. Contrary to what Humans seem to think, we get our name from what used to be called The Highlands, not because we are somehow better than other Elves."

Aperio tilted her head slightly at the words, a flex of her mental muscles causing both Caethya and herself to vanish from her Void and appear in a part of the forest the All-Mother was sure did not actually belong to the city.

"Do people believe Moon Elves came from the moon?" Aperio asked, looking down at Caethya, a mental message showing her love where they were and asking where they should go now.

"Perhaps some do," Caethya replied as she began walking, not towards the city itself but a small river that snaked its way through the forest they were in. "We can use one of the gondolas to get to my parents house," she said as Aperio raised a brow at their direction. "But then, you could also just bring us there." She produced a small coin that had a flower the All-Mother did not recognise embossed on it. "Just look for an estate that has this sigil built into the courtyard."

Finding the estate in question took Aperio only a brief moment and a thought placed Caethya and herself atop what the All-Mother assumed was the family sigil of the Martinek house. The few servants that were in the courtyard were startled, some of them even reaching for whatever they could use as a weapon for a brief moment before they seemingly recognised Caethya and offered a small bow instead.

"Perhaps coming through the door would have been better," Aperio said, trying to keep her mana out of her voice as best as she could. "If they had not recognised you, they would have likely attacked us."

"But it was never a question if they would recognise me," Caethya said with a smile. "Sure, it's been a few years since I have been here, but they would not forget the heir apparent."

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Further talk was stopped as Aperio could sense two rather strong mortals approaching. Of course, they paled in comparison to herself or even Caethya, but they were still quite a bit above what the All-Mother would consider the average for mortals.

"It would seem like your parents noticed our arrival," Aperio said, inclining her head towards the door the two Elves would emerge from. "They seem quite eager to see you again."

"I would hope so," Caethya replied with a smile. "I will warn you though, the two of them can be a little overbearing and care little for status inside their own home."

True to her love's word, as soon as the two Elves had entered the courtyard and set their sights on Caethya they ignored everything else, storming towards their daughter and wrapping her in a hug despite the fact that she still had one of her arms interlocked with Aperio's.

The All-Mother only raised a brow and, with a small flex of her mental muscles, brought herself a couple of steps away from the family reunion. She might be fine with all the hugs Caethya wanted to bestow upon her, but that did not extend to the rest of her family. They could get a nod or a slight bow, perhaps a handshake, but that was it.

Caethya only let her parents coddle her for a moment before she freed herself. "I am happy to see you too, but I have to introduce you to someone first."

Aperio bowed slightly, her wings spreading slightly behind her as her love's parents turned towards her. "Greetings."

"Is that her?" Caethya's mother asked, her voice a little too eager for Aperio's liking. "She doesn't look like I imagined her. A lot more like an Elf than I would've assumed."

"Is that a problem?" Aperio asked, raising a brow.

"Not at all!" the woman replied as she started to walk around the All-Mother. "I just thought our dear Caethya had adapted your description slightly to not unnerve us."

"Some manners, Jhila," Caethya's father replied. He bowed, a lot deeper than he probably needed to, before speaking again. "My name is Orlar, and you already met my wife, Jhila." He cleared his throat, Jhila finally relenting and returning to his side. "You must be Aperio, esteemed Creator and, arguably more importantly, partner of our daughter."

The All-Mother could not help but smile slightly at Orlar's introduction. "I am," she said, standing to her full height and letting her aura flow a little more unconstrained, causing tiny wisps of her mana to dance around her. "Caethya wished to introduce me to you."

Her love shook her head at Aperio's display and walked up to her. "I thought it best for you to meet before we go on our little excursion," Caethya said, holding out her hand towards Aperio. "I also think it best that we step inside. We wouldn't want to further disturb anyone, now would we?"

"If you wish," Jhila said and began walking towards the open door that led inside. "I'll have Guro prepare some refreshments." She glanced over her shoulder at Caethya and Aperio. "Needless to say that we did not prepare anything, let alone for someone of your stature."

The All-Mother offered a small shrug in reply before taking her love's hand. "I do not require anything. Most mortal foods do not appeal to me."

Caethya had said that her parents were a little odd, but Aperio had still expected them to either cower a little in fear or show some form of reverence she did not want. Luckily, that was not the case. If they had not addressed her as the Creator, she could have thought they assumed she was just another elf. An Elf that could kill them all by letting loose a little too much.

"Don't let Guro hear that," Caethya said with a slight giggle. "He takes his job very seriously. Now that I think about it, it's probably best if he doesn't know who you are, otherwise we will have a banquet on our hands."

"I am always in favour of banquets," Orlar said as he stopped by the door and allowed Caethya and Aperio to pass. "They are a continual enjoyment."

"Perhaps for you they are," Aperio replied as she ducked through the doorway and stepped into what appeared to be a dining room of some form. "The only banquets I can recall were not enjoyable in the slightest."

"What do you enjoy?" Jhila asked as she placed four glasses on a glass table that stood close to the door. "Is it, like, creating worlds?" she asked, a wave of her hand causing a bottle of what Aperio assumed to be wine to fill the glasses. "Or do you tinker with the System?"

Aperio tilted her head slightly at the question. There weren't many things she would say she liked, and one of those was simply spending time with Caethya, even if that meant they simply floated in her Void and did absolutely nothing. "I do enjoy working on my System, but what I really wish for is a good fight."

The Elven woman perked up at the words and Caethya's father simply let out a sigh. "Honey, you can't seriously think of fighting her."

"You bet I am thinking of that," she replied. "I didn't become a general by sitting around like you do all day!"

Orlar shrugged. "The finances of the kingdom wont get sorted if I go around stabbing people."

"I am sure the department could manage without you for a few months," Jhila said. "We could go around and clear some dungeons, just like we did a few decades ago!"

"Do you see what I meant?" Caethya whispered, a tiny bit of her magic flowing with the words to make sure her parents did not hear.

Aperio gave a small nod in reply. "I like them, though. They treat me like I am just another Elf." She tilted her head to the other side. "Though, I am unsure what this meeting is supposed to accomplish."

"I just want you to get to know my parents, really. Had to happen sooner or later anyway, so why not take care of it now?"

Their conversation was interrupted by a pair of glasses filled with the presumed wine floating towards them. Aperio carefully took the one that stopped in front of her and brought it to her nose. The smell was familiar, reminding her of what the nobles in the Inaru Empire liked to drink. Of course, as a slave she had never been allowed to partake and now that she could, she did not find the idea that appealing. Still, she took a careful sip of the contents. No need to be rude to their hosts.

"And?" Jhila asked, looking expectantly at the All-Mother. "How do you like the wine of house Martinek? Guro takes great pride in it."

"It is fine?" Aperio replied, letting the glass float in the air beside her. "I am sorry, but like I said, I do not find much appeal in such things. Neither do I have much experience with them."

"Well, I guess you never needed to eat or drink to survive, and therefore did not grow to appreciate the act?" Orlar asked as he took a sip of his own wine. "I guess you don't need anything to survive, now do you?"

"I do not, no," Aperio replied. "Technically, at least." If something were to happen to Caethya she did not know what she would do, but being without her love was not something Aperio even wanted to begin imaging. The only thing she was sure of was the likelihood of wanting vengeance, and the fact that the whole world would feel her wrath should the time come.

"There was a time where I did do it," Aperio added, "but I would rather not talk about that."

Jhila looked at the All-Mother for a moment longer, her eyes narrowing almost imperceptibly before she started to drink from her own glass. Aperio had to do her best to suppress a sigh. Perhaps a bit of reverent treatment wouldn't be so bad if it meant that these mortals would not try to mask an interrogation as friendly banter.

GamingWolf

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