45 A Mothers Righ (1/2)

Ulbo sighed and bitterly smiled as he observed the mess that the boy had inadvertently created.

This was bound to happen, given how long she's waited. He closed his eyes in reflection.

He knew she had suffered much when the decision had been made; she would've preferred to send every single warship to battle than accept the high council's decision. But there were no other viable alternatives. The stars knew that they'd tried their hardest, but it had been for naught. Nothing they'd come up with could stop their endless onslaught.

A hundred thousand plans and one and a half billion higher-order simulations all converged on a single result: [IMMINENT DANGER/TOTAL COLLAPSE INEVITABLE/CODE: SUNFALL].

The world-sibyls that they had created could fully simulate entire universes and their predicted futures with ease. They could even extrapolate the divergent timelines a particular universe possessed. But not even they could come up with a feasible solution to their problem. A dozen world-sibyls worked together until they fell silent.

The stellar oracles only spoke again after the boy had proposed his own plan. It was beyond suicidal and outrageous, but the world-sibyls concluded that it was astronomically better than every other plan that had been submitted to them. He was willing and it was better than fighting it out to the bitter end.

There was no other choice. The plague had arrived back home — they were on their front doorstep — so they did what they needed to do.

Ulbo opened his eyes and looked at the commotion with a complicated expression. He didn't know how he'd tell him when the time came. A part of him thought that a failure such as he did not deserve the warmth of his love. He had failed him, his sister, and his mother with his incompetence. Had he only noticed a little sooner, he could have...

Reed squirmed uncomfortably like a frightened animal. He didn't dare move and sat there like a trained house pet as he prayed for some form of divine intervention. It happened so fast that he didn't even register that it had occurred.

He blinked — that was all it took. Reed realized something had gone terribly wrong when he noticed the empty seat in between Lu'um and Itotia.

When the other people at the table saw this, they quietly smiled and went back to their meals. They seemed entirely unsurprised by the woman's action and acted as if it was none of their business. They ignored Reed and ate as they chatted with one another...

Oh, no... It's happening again. Slow, deep breaths. Go to your happy place, Reed.

Reed nearly screamed when the woman started cradling him in her arms, terrified out of his poor mind. The soft, peaceful waves of Anima that she emanated were especially horrifying to him. They passed through him effortlessly and easily pacified his control of Anima, as if she had gently taken his privileges away.

He couldn't feel the flow of Anima anymore. In her arms, he was but a normal boy, nothing more than an ant in the presence of a demigoddess. Reed trembled uncontrollably as he tried his best to not make any sudden movements. The last thing he wanted to do was draw the ire of this beautiful woman, lest he suffer a foolish, premature ending.

”Mother, let him go. It's too soon. Can't you see how uncomfortable he looks? Please stop embarrassing the family and restrain yourself,” said Lu'um, clearly disgruntled. She looked none too pleased as she stared at her mother with a dark, brooding gaze.

”Nonsense. He's perfectly fine right here with me, where he naturally belongs. There is nothing embarrassing about a mother holding her baby boy,” she righteously stated. The woman hugged him harder and said, ”It's a mother's right to fawn over her baby boy whenever she desires. A rebellious, snot-nosed girl such as yourself has no right to tell me what I can and cannot do.”

Oh boy, here we go again... They couldn't even stop just for today, of all days...

So, who are you going to put your money on?

I'll put five aetherium diamonds down on the daughter...

Ooh, it looks like we've got a high-roller over here, cousin...

Fine, I'll match you this one time, since today's a special day...

The younger people in the table snickered quietly as they whispered to one another in hushed tones about something that Reed couldn't pick up on. They spoke in a language that he'd never heard of before. Nevertheless, Reed more or less understood that they weren't saying anything nice about the situation.

The older folk ignored the conversation altogether and casually chatted amongst themselves as they ate. It looked like they couldn't even be bothered to care about the mother-daughter pair.

”Oh please, Mother. I see we're using the virtuous, motherly saint act today, hm? You always have to be right, hm? I'll have you know that I couldn't care less about what you think of me if we're going to get everything off our chests. But never forget that no matter how much you might wish for it, he will never be your—”

Anima surged like a tidal wave and the room froze under the woman's dreadful aura. Lu'um quickly swallowed her last words but did not acquiesce to her mother. Even so, it did not faze anyone at the table aside from Reed. If looks could kill, Lu'um would have been killed several times over, thought Reed. Lu'um had a wary, hateful expression on her face; she looked ready to act if required, evident by the vicious fluctuations in the surrounding Anima.

They coldly gazed at one another with such intensity that it was almost palpable. Reed swore he saw the image of an older lioness facing off against her younger daughter. He thought he'd heard their vicious snarls, as if they were trying to gauge the other's intent.

”It is truly surprising how quickly you've grown a spine, Xitllali. Had you shown this much courage on that day, you would not have disappointed me as you did...”

The woman's words seemed to have struck a major nerve; Lu'um reacted with immense hostility and conjured a host of weapons around herself, all pointed towards the woman as they thrummed ominously. Reed shivered in fear when he saw that the argument had suddenly escalated to the max.

He wanted nothing more than to be as far away as possible from their deadly feud, but his body wouldn't listen to him, despite his protests.

Suddenly, a firm voice boomed like thunder, overwhelming everyone in the room. His voice carried an undefiable aura of authority that commanded Anima into submission. Lu'um's weapons vanished into motes of light almost instantly when he finally interjected in their fight.

”Enough, both of you. Can both of you, for a single day, put your grudges aside? This is to be a day of celebration, not of strife,” said Ulbo. He appeared indifferent, but his eyes told a different story. Darker, deeper emotions could be seen within — looking into them felt like looking into a bottomless abyss.

”We've been over this already, you two. If you will not see reason, then at the very least, think of his feelings. He is not a possession for you two to fight over, am I clear?”

Perhaps, not all is well in paradise these days..... not that it's any of my business.

Neither side responded, but it didn't matter. His words were absolute and served as the final say on the topic. Ulbo snapped his fingers and Reed was instantly moved back to his seat.

Ulbo beamed at Reed and said, ”Don't worry about it, little sun, they're just... passionate at heart, so they butt heads now and then.” The younger kids chortled when they heard his 'explanation'— even the older folk smiled a bit as they ate.

Like mother, like daughter, huh? I wouldn't call that butting heads if you asked me, though...

Breakfast went along as smoothly as one could expect; the younger adults bombarded Reed with an endless amount of questions. Where he'd come from, stories about his past, what his hobbies were and the like. The children were especially interested in his stories as they stared at him with gleaming, astonished eyes.