Chapter 69: Book 2 Chapter 16: Putting the pieces together

Author's note

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Túeth’s POV

After being yelled at by her Master, Túeth was left with a lot to think about. She had hardly even said a word after that. She had received two heavy shocks in her life. First, it was what had happened to her own village, losing everyone she had ever cared about. Having become pregnant from the experience was just an awful reminder of all that had happened. But then, just as she was starting to care for the mongrels produced from that, after having been told they could be something of a way out for her, it all falls apart again.

The inevitability she had once accepted since the moment the girls were born, and had spent every moment since then preparing herself for, came to pass. The girls were found out, and then attacked. What happened afterward was no where near the usual expected course of action though. While they didn’t die, Aerien was left in... that state. It was all just too much. Just when she had begun to accept that the girls could live and be more than just a painful reminder of what had happened, she was going to lose Aerien. The child who desperately wanted nothing more than to just be acknowledged by her mother.

Nothing made sense anymore. It seemed as though her life was being turned upside down all over again. Just when she had what looked like it could be a path forward, everything had gone wrong.

Now, she was alone with her thoughts as she stared out the back of the wagon. Just what was going to happen? Of course, there was one thing that her mind kept coming back to. Those girls. There was just something so incredibly strange about them both. No, what is really strange is that her master, who was supposed to be such a wise magus, had not been able to see that it actually WAS both of them. He could only see Aerien for how unusual she was. However, ever since Aerien had gotten into her current state, Gaerien had been becoming more and more hostile to her, and the way that child always glared at her was really not something a child her age should be able to pull off.

It didn’t seem like it was just her either. She had only figured this out recently, but it seemed she was rather opposed to Master Eirlathion touching her as well. She gave him the exact same reaction that she would always give her. Perhaps... it wasn’t just her that she hated then? She always seemed fine with the humans though. Could it be... Túeth had always heard about how demons hated the race they came from most of all. Could it be that child hates them simply because they are elves? But then, why her and not Aerien?

No, there are just too many things that are unexplained. There is also another thing. Her Master had said that the humans were somehow able to keep all their previous life memories, just like faeries. She did not understand how humans could be capable of such a thing, but her Master had been absolutely certain of it. She did not have any reason to doubt him. But, if that was the case, couldn’t that be another reason for the girls being like this? Could it be that those girls are the same as the humans?

The boys had kept all their memories just like a greater fairy, except that they had been born humans and thus had to grow up as babies. Túeth had not noticed it at first, but they actually were very calm for their apparent age, and they seemed to act in a far more purposeful manner than a baby should.

No! That’s GOT to be it! They really might be the same! It would just explain so much! They have the same unusual intelligence that does not fit their age. What’s more, they are even able to take actions a baby their age should not be capable of. It would all be explained by them just taking more purpose in their actions.

Maybe... yes! It makes sense! Aerien was always so rambunctious! Perhaps it was unbearable for her to be limited by an infant’s body, so she used every method available to her to be able to move about and talk sooner. It’s possible that this kind of accelerated growth would be achievable by anyone who kept their memories into their state. After that, she would inspire the others.

It was strange though, how had four of the same type gathered in one spot? Well, it’s easy enough to explain with the girls, they ARE twins after all, but how about the humans being brought to them? No... that was entirely explainable as well. They had an unusually strong spirit energy. That’s what got the hunters to capture them in particular when the girls were about to be born. It’s no coincidence, it’s more like it was inevitable. The only coincidence is that the two humans happened to be in the same village when the hunters got there.

If this was the case then, were there others? Actually, how had this even happened? She had never heard about something like this happening before, until... the humans seemed very young. She heard humans grew much faster than elves did. They looked like they were close to six years old, but since they were humans they were probably a lot younger. Maybe they could even be... They actually COULD have been young enough to have been born after the Heaven’s Fall. Did that have something to do with how this had all happened?

No, all of this was just lining up too well. Túeth felt like she just had to be onto something here. Master Eirlathion had told her that being so close to the Heaven’s Fall when it happened had changed her, made her spirit several times stronger to the point that gaining ability with magic ought to be very easy for her. Could it have had even more extreme effects on a child who was just being conceived at the time?

This did not completely explain that child’s hostile behavior. The demon blood could still be a factor, but... it did also offer alternate explanations. Aerien was quite attached to the idea of her as a mother, maybe Gaerien got angry that she had kept spurning her sister and making her cry? There could also be any number of reasons she might have gotten upset with Master Eirlathion. Perhaps the best way to test this would be to see how she reacts to others. It could even be related to her human memories as well. Perhaps she was a human who had a very bad view of the fey races, while Aerien had a more open mind.

-

Dusk was falling at this point. Túeth had been simmering in her own thoughts for the entire trip, trying to figure out how she was supposed to act from now on and paralyzed with her lack of direction. Just what WAS she supposed to do now?

Given her state, she was very surprised when she looked up at one point to discover the wagon had stopped. She looked over her shoulder to see that Master Eirlathion had left, and that changeling with him. This was another thing weighing quite heavily on her in her thoughts. Her master was a powerful magus who had lived for an entire millennium. Her daughters... she did not know exactly what was going on with them, but whatever it was they were certainly something incredible. That was the one thing she was certain of. In addition, the also seemed to be fortunate enough to get two mysterious and powerful humans for their pets. In fact, those humans alone were incredible enough that they may even be more significant than she was.

And now, they were being lead to the capital by a changeling, a member of the mysterious race of fey that all directly served the queen. There was no doubt about it. She was the extra among a group comprised of greatness and power. She couldn’t help but think she simply did not belong in this group. Gaerien... that child seemed to be the only one who could see it. She was the only one who seemed to really know how dark her thoughts were. The only one who could see how completely undeserving she was to be their mother. Maybe that child was just reacting accordingly.

Something Master Eirlathion had said before reverberated in her mind at this moment. ‘You’re right, you don’t deserve any of it.’ He had said this in response to her trying to deny all the good fortune he was throwing her way, becoming his apprentice, becoming part of her daughter’s lives, getting to come along with them to the capital... He had said that, and then went along to offer it all anyway. In other words, he agreed, and then that did not stop him from insisting upon her having it all even though she did not deserve it.

She had tried to make sense of those words ever since. Those words, mixed with those actions... it gave her neither comfort nor condemnation. Those words had a very strange way of trapping her. She was on this path, and now she was denied of any easy way out. And, well... now she was in this wagon. Guess now there really is no way out of this anymore.

Túeth looked up as the wagon rocked. Her Master had gotten back into the wagon. “It’s safe, It looks like Dryad has power out this far, they prepared this place as a temporary rest house for us.” What? What was he talking about? She wanted to kick herself for having been distracted enough to have so completely missed what was going on. At this rate, she wouldn’t even be able to do the task of watching out for demons.

She looked up over her master’s head to see what looked like some trees fused together. That must be what he was talking about. He probably intends for her to gather up the children, or at least two of them. She looked down to Gaerien. How would they move her? If it weren’t for Dryad helping them back in the house, they would never have even gotten her into the wagon.

“Gaerien?” She called, reaching her hand toward the girl. Gaerien just glared back at her, and she could see her whole body tense. She could tell she was ready to hit her if she even tried to get close to her. Túeth breathed a sigh and re-directed her attention toward Aerien. The Master had brought it up to her, but it appeared Aerien had started growing insanely fast since she got into this state. According to him, she was fine. In fact, this actually seemed to be helping her stay alive.

There was one thing that she would be concerned about with Aerien’s rapid growth. Well, normally this should be a concern. The fact the Master didn’t seem very concerned about it only spoke to the evidence the girls might be the same as the two humans in that they remember their past lives. That would be the only reason it wouldn’t be a large concern that she might wake up with a body far too old for her mental maturity.

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Well, she should probably get to carrying her then. Probably take the human she seemed to like more along with her. “Here, come on.” She said to the boy. He seemed to cringe a bit at her reaching for him. She withdrew her hand. It seemed she had really not done much in terms of getting their good will since last night.

“Look, I’m sorry.” She said, at a loss for how to handle this. “Umm...” she pointed toward the tree visible out the front of the wagon. “We need to go, it’s safer in there, Ok?” She looked back down at him. He seemed to relax a little bit, and then he started re-positioning Aerien from laying in his lap to holding her under her arms. Wait, was he seriously planning to carry her himself!? She thought that for a moment, but then he was looking up at her again, and then it all made sense.

“Ok.” Túeth affirmed and then reached down to scoop them both up at once. She cradled the human in her arms while he held Aerien, and she tried to position her arms in a way that stabilized her limp body as well. When she looked back, her Master was sitting against the side of the wagon with a distant look in his eyes. She couldn’t help but think that he looked like she probably felt, and that was not necessarily a good thing. “M... Master, is something wrong?”

He sighed and then looked at her. “Hmm... I have a lot on my mind lately.” He said, “It is not something to get into now. I have to sort my thoughts out on this a little more.”

Yeah, just as she thought. There seems to have been plenty of heavy thought to go around lately. In a way, this actually made her feel somewhat more at ease. There was no way he was thinking about the same things, but she could tell it was in regards to the same subject in general. They were all affected by what had happened last night.

She tried to think of something to say, to offer him comfort. How presumptuous. She berated herself for even thinking such a thing. She hadn’t even lived for a century yet, how could she advise an ancient master who had lived double the average elven lifespan? Well, at the very least she can probably change the subject. Take this away from all the heavy thinking.

“I.. I am not sure how to handle Gaerien. She still won’t let me even touch her.”That was another thing the two of them seemed to share. That girl didn’t seem to glare at or detest him to quite the same degree, but she fought him when he tried to touch her just the same as she did for her.

The Master looked over to the two remaining children, and she could immediately see his mood lighten as his mind shifted to more immediate matters. “You go on ahead, let me deal with the other two.”She nodded, and then carefully sat on the front edge of the wagon before changing her hold on the children to hold them more securely with both hands as she slid down to the ground.

She went to the trees up ahead. The base did not look anywhere close to as large as a lakira tree, but they were definitely much larger around than the average trees around here. It seemed as though they weer already formed from the three broadest in the area already. She found the entrance and went inside. She shifted her eyes to the ground as she noticed the changeling was already in there. She caught a nod from him, and then slightly inclined her upper body in as much of a bow as she could manage with the children in her arms before scurrying past him.

“I believe that one is for the children.” He said, pointing to a mat that was oriented differently from the other three lined up. It looked like the room was pretty sparse with just these four mats and some kind of soft green lighting that illuminated the inside for them.

“Thank you.” She replied meekly, hoping she was not being rude. She had already shown him a rather unrestrained side of herself last night, so she was extra conscious now of her appearance in front of this agent of the queen. She proceeded over toward the mat indicated. She noticed that it had a dress on it in the same fashion as the one that Aerien used to wear before it had to be discarded due to the blood stains.

She let the children down, and then proceeded to start dressing Aerien. Levin actually helped stabilize her as she was working. It seemed that, at least where it came to helping Aerien, he was quite willing to work with her. She was glad that at least there was someone who was not too offended by her behavior the night before. She was a little bitter about it being the human while her daughter was the one who hated her, but at this point she was willing to accept anything to break her growing sense of isolation.

“Th... thank you... umm...” What was his name again? She had heard the Master say it a few times, recently too! Was there any good way to ask it at this point? “Thank you for helping with Aerien.” She decided to just repeat her thanks to break the awkwardness. The Master had said that he was not too good with elven yet, so she did not know if he could understand exactly what she was saying, but hopefully he would understand that she was not going to be the same way she was this morning and regretted her actions.

A moment later, the Master came in behind her. It seemed he had, indeed, found a way to carry Gaerien. Well, by technicality at least. He was actually carrying the other human, and he in turn was carrying Gaerien. Túeth somehow doubted that child would let her get away with the same thing, but at least it seemed she was willing to compromise with the Master.

“Well, I am going out to patrol the area while there is still light.” The changeling said after he saw everyone had gotten in. Once he was gone, the Master fixed her with a heavy look, although she could tell it probably was not a look actually directed at her.

He let out a sigh that seemed to be filled with all the worries and concerns he had built up over matters she could not even fathom. “Well then,” he said, “I am afraid now is not the right time to go over your basic magic training. If you would like to talk about some other matters, I will try and work with you. We both have a heavy heart over recent events, it might be good to work out some of that. If you are unwilling though, continuing to cultivate your spells might be the best use of time.”

Túeth thought for the moment. If she withdrew back into herself now, she would only continue to be a burden when she was already the most insignificant among anybody here. Perhaps she should take her Master up on his offer.

Subscribers' comments of the chapter

"So they're pets! Good thing it's legal to marry your pets in some states. Although Aerien was mom zoned..."

-meowingLexi

"when not freaking out mom is smarter than grandpa ^-^"

-Roy

"The benefits of a young and agile mind? At the same time though, she DID have the advantage of being told that the boys, at least, preserved a consciousness from another world. Eirlathion was starting from zero, Tueth had the corner pieces and a good number of the side pieces of the puzzle already set out for her."

-???

Ok, you caught me. The last comment was from me again.

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