CHAPTER 58: OUR MOM HARU

Tenjū was about to strike Yan Mo and Shion when suddenly he felt someone’s gaze on him. Yuri stepped into the middle of the battlefield.

"Are you insane?!" Sayaka shouted after her.

"I-I know what I’m doing," she replied shyly.

Yuri tried to fix her sight on the gravity god, but it didn’t work.

W-why won’t it work now, when I need it? she thought, terrified.

Something stopped Tenjū mid-swing. Thick threads of liquid gold wrapped around his neck, wrists, and ankles.

Hoshizuma, in Yuecheng’s body, smiled under his breath.

No way. Not only did Ayame save him, she performed an incomplete reverse transmutation that gave him another power. Ayame, you sneaky beast.

Yue couldn’t help himself, he grabbed his belly and started laughing. The two brothers looked at him, surprised.

"What’s so funny?" Asahi asked, completely confused.

"N-nothing," Yue replied through his laughter. "Y-you wouldn’t understand anyway."

"Yue, you’re acting weirder and weirder," Shion the Second said.

"Look!" Asahi shouted, pointing forward and a bit above them. "It’s Mom! Mooooom!" he called out to Haru with tears of joy in his eyes, calling again and waving, Shion the Second did the same.

Haru smiled and waved back.

Don’t be afraid. I’ll hug you soon and everything will be like before.

At the same time, King Shion looked to the side, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"H-Haru..." he said with a trembling voice. "Haru..." – the king wanted to rush into his husband’s arms but knew he had to fight at his side, they hadn’t beaten the enemy yet.

Time to spice up this show a bit, Hoshizuma thought.

"You tried to take my children and my husband. I don’t know who you are, but I won’t forgive you," Haru said in a grave tone.

Driven by instinct he channeled the starlight he’d been given by Hoshizuma into the golden threads jutting from his hand. Meanwhile, Yuecheng muttered a magic incantation under his breath, and a blue magical aura flared around the golden bonds, strengthening the attack’s effect.

Unfortunately, Hoshizuma had to balance the magic drain so Yuecheng wouldn’t faint again, so he returned Yuecheng’s sight – the healthy vision in Shion went back to Yuecheng fully.

Hoshizuma’s boost did the trick. The gravity god...

...exploded – his body vaporized in a split second, leaving only his armor, which clanged to the ground.

Yuecheng dispelled the barrier that had been protecting Shion and Asahi. Both boys and Yuri ran toward Haru, crying and calling to him.

"Haru, I..." King Shion whispered, then stepped forward uncertainly. He felt Haru take his hand in his warm and soft one. "I missed you so much."

Right after he said that, the kids hugged them. They stood in a warm, family embrace; the three children sobbed with joy, and Haru couldn’t help crying too – though he tried not to as much as the kids. Even King Shion shed a tear of happiness. Meanwhile, Yan Mo moved toward Yuecheng.

"Mom! We thought we’d lost you forever!" Asahi cried.

"Forever, really," added Shion the Second.

"Mom, I’m sorry! It’s my fault!" Yuri said through her tears.

"Honey, I already told you, it’s not your fault," Haru said, stroking her head. "You have no idea how much I missed you all. I can finally hug my dear children."

"We missed you too!" said Asahi, Yuri, and Shion the Second nodded together.

"I love you. I love you, Shion." Haru looked straight into his husband’s eyes. "Our family is the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Haru..." King Shion whispered his name warmly. "...I’ve lived the most beautiful moments with you," he added, his lips trembling slightly.

"I did too. And with you, my little treasures," Haru added with a smile.

The children burst into even stronger happy cries, and Haru wiped his tears.

"Forgive me, my lord. I failed. My strength wasn’t as mighty as I thought," Yan Mo said, bowing low.

"No, Yan Mo. You did what you could, and that should be appreciated. Anyway, you better prepare to be a teacher."

"My lord, thank you for trusting me as a mentor, but now isn’t the time..."

"Right. You’ve got two years of prepare while my body grows a bit. But I want you to teach Yuri and Asahi too."

"As you command, Your Majesty."

After a moment of family joy, Haru’s and Yuecheng’s – or rather Haru’s and Hoshizuma’s – gazes met.

As the family headed toward the palace entrance, Haru looked his nephew in the eye and said in a firm tone:

"You owe us an explanation right now – and I realize I’m not talking to Yue."

"Not talking to him?!" Asahi asked, shocked. "What possessed Yue?!"

"It’s not possession but simply... his guardian who helped us," Haru said, unsure how to call Hoshizuma’s consciousness.

"Mi-milady, Y-Your M-Majesty... I’m sorry, I... I should have kept a closer watch on them, but they were with Maldie and Gari, and I was helping the king and when we came back the kids were alone and..." Sayaka mumbled an excuse.

"Sayaka, you don’t have to say anything. You tried, as always, and I appreciate it," Haru replied, and Sayaka nodded. "Come with us back to the palace. And you two need to come with us too," he added, ordering.

"As you command, Auntie," Yue answered, bowing low.

Haru frowned. Only he and Hoshizuma knew that beneath that seemingly polite gesture lurked subtle, hidden mockery.

*

Gari and Maldie burst into the royal chamber and found... Ayame and Rouhuo, no Haru, no Shion and on top of that – a broken window.

"Where’s Shion? We wanted to talk to him. We left the kids with Yan Mo," Gari asked.

Ayame turned to them.

"He’s not here. Haru’s not here either, because I finally managed to heal him."

"Ughhh! I heard all these terrible sounds from outside, and now I regret not being able to help! And that awful silence – I really hope nothing happened to them!" Gari exclaimed.

"Wait – if Shion went to the courtyard, why didn’t we run into him?" Maldie wondered aloud.

"Probably because I first went to the underground chambers and from there I instructed Sayaka how to use the shortcut," Shion said, appearing behind them.

"Shion! The kids – are they okay? And H-Haru, I’m so glad you’re back!" Maldie said happily.

"Thank you. I’m glad to see you too," he replied with a smile.

"I-it’s not like we abandoned the kids. We just wanted to meet Shion and discuss some things with him, but then that attack happened – ugh! I’m the worst aunt! Not only does it look like I abandoned my family, our home burned down and..." Gari blurted, upset.

"Your home burned down?!" Haru asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Well, you missed a few things happening while you were... you know," Maldie replied.

"Don’t worry about it. Make yourselves comfortable. Sayaka, take the kids – except Yue – to their room. Let them have a break."

"But Mom! We want to play with you!" Asahi insisted. Yuri nodded, hugging their mom tightly.

"I promise I’ll come to you, but first we need to talk about important grown-up matters with this... Yue’s guardian."

The kids disagreed a bit longer, but Haru calmed them, promising to play with them all night if they behaved and didn’t bother Sayaka. Haru hugged them, then the kids went with Sayaka to their room.

Gari sighed.

"I’ll go with them. I want to fix my mistake – if there’s another attack I’ll protect them. Maldie can tell me everything later."

"If you want. Thanks for wanting to protect them so much, Gari. I believe that’s just how you are – you’d never abandon them," he said with a smile.

"T-thanks," she replied, a little embarrassed, then nodded and followed them.

After a while Haru sat on the bed with Shion, Yan Mo on a chair by the desk, turned toward the center, Maldie stood by Rouhuo and Ayame, and Yuecheng stood in the middle of the room.

"Do we really have to do this in such a setup? I feel a bit surrounded, haha," Hoshizuma joked.

"Cut to the point. Some of us know we’re not talking to Yue, but to someone completely different," Haru said firmly.

Ayame sighed.

"Like I thought – Yuecheng was born with two consciousnesses, two souls. One of them is my former teacher, Hoshizuma."

"So my suspicions were right..." Shion muttered.

Rouhuo, Maldie, and Yan Mo made surprised faces.

"Well, that would explain why young master Yue is so strong for his age," the guard said.

"And so mature," Rouhuo added.

"Let’s move on. I don’t care exactly who this being is, but if you bring danger to my husband and my kids, then–"

"Both yes and no," Hoshizuma answered, smiling arrogantly. "Allow me to enlighten you, Haru. I’m one of the four primordial entities, the only one who retained his original essence. The second was reincarnated as your daughter, Yuri, but the essence of the second was devoured, which means Yuri only has her own consciousness, just as Asahi simply inherited some traits from Hayate – like us, because we divided his power among ourselves, leaving most to Asahi. The gods you fight are pawns, vile insects created by the Fourth. The Fourth crossed the boundaries of existence and was changed beyond recognition. It’s been consumed by a constant hunger for death and power, the fact we still resist it frustrates it. In truth, this is nothing more than a war of ego."

Haru clenched his teeth.

"So you’re saying all this is happening because some cosmic-god asshole is a total narcissist and wants to wipe out threats for the throne – which turned out to be... our children?" – he said the last two words more quietly, with fear.

"More or less," Hoshizuma replied. "As I guess, you won’t let me go until I explain more. I could grind you all to dust, even in this body, but that’s not in my interest."

Hoshizuma sighed, then began his story...