Chapter 24: Troublemakers P3
~24.3~
*****
After getting properly clothed, each wearing one of Kye's spare academy uniforms, Kyra and Liya hugged their mother.
This is so weird.
The twins were beyond ecstatic to be with her. "I'm so happy to see you again, mom!"
Liya nodded. "Yeah! It's been sooooo long!"
"Yeah..." Kye was still wrapping her head around the idea that she had just given birth twins that were already Elysia's daughters and that one of them used time magic to grow up in an instant. "So... we're gonna have to go out to that party sooner or later, but I really don't want to explain this."
Kyra shrugged. "It'll be fine. Just tell them the truth. You're weird enough already in this world."
Kye sighed. "Yeah, well... we should definitely not just up and-" She stopped short when her surroundings suddenly changed. Kyra had subtly teleported the three of them to the party, front and center. "Okay." She facepalmed.
"Where's the..." Alethea started to ask where the twins were, then laid eyes on them. "What the hell?!" Her eyes widened so much that one could think they'd pop out of their sockets.
King Zen was next to him. "Who are they? And where are the-"
""Hi, Mom!"" The two jumped at Alethea, who was so shocked that she didn't react.
"Mom?" came Adele's voice after she stepped closer to Kye. "Did what I think happen, happen?"
"It's Kyra and Liya. They told me straight up they are troublemakers, then immediately Kyra used time magic on them from within the soul dive. Why are you here? I thought you went with Michelle."
"She's fine. She urged me to come here since Hannah is looking after her."
"Oh." Kye buried her face in her palm. "They're making a scene."
"'Mom?'" the King repeated, very confused. He looked over at Kye, whose face was still buried in her palm.
Adele gave Kye an apologetic smile and went over to save Alethea. The twins immediately latched onto her. "Mom!"
"Hey! Get off my sister!" Elizabeth ran up and pulled Kyra away, and Danielle pulled Liya away.
"Hey! Let go!" Kyra struggled, but they only had the physical strength of eighteen-year-old girls without the aid of the system. They couldn't break free from their aunts, who had the better part of two decades' worth of training behind their grasp.
Kye appeared next to them and gently separated them all with white mana. "Okay, calm down. We need to-"
"Kye, who are these girls and why did they call Alethea and Adelle 'Mom'?" Danielle asked frantically.
"Where are your babies?" Elizabeth added.
"Hold on, calm down and let me-"
"Adele, what the hell?" Even Michael jumped into the mix.
"Hey, don't look at me," she said. "They-"
"Are they her concubines?" said somebody.
"Who are they?" "What is happening?" "Where are the babies?!"
Kye was growing more exasperated by the second. Atalante was standing near the back and was growing equally annoyed. She began to weave a rune spell to silence everyone, but Kye acted faster. Silvery white chains of aether wrapped around every person who could not resist them. Only the elder royals, who were patiently waiting for the explanation Kye was attempting to give, were excluded from her spell.
"Shut... the hell up... and let me speak," Kye said coldly. "This chaos is unacceptable and I will not stand for it. Now, calm down and listen." Before she explained, she quickly connected to Hannah and Michelle through her NeuraPhone so they could hear the explanation as well. After she gave everyone the news, she gestured at the twins. "Go ahead."
Kyra stepped forward and curtsied first. "Greetings, everyone. I am Kaylie Maya of the Atlantis Empire." The crowd gasped. She eyed Atalante and added, "I apologize if that's a little too forward, but considering that we have citizenship with Terra, Alcanus, Drachenheim, and Nippon Sekai, I just felt it best to roll it all up into one."
Atalante shrugged. "Smart. I approve." Kyra stepped aside and everyone moved their attention to her sister.
Liya curtsied and said, "I am Layla Maya of the Atlantis Empire. It's my pleasure."
Kye smiled. "Happy birthday, girls!"
*****
"I swear, I leave you alone for five minutes and something crazy happens..." Alethea sighed. The party was over and they were all back in Amaterasu Palace. "So... Kyra, Liya?"
The twins nodded.
"Did you really have to do... this?" The pink-haired girl gestured at her now adult daughters, clearly exasperated.
Kyra nodded hesitantly. "I didn't want to have to grow up again. I'm sorry."
"No, you're not."
Kyre grinned. "Never could get one past you, Mom."
"I don't believe it," Michelle said bluntly. "This has to be an illusion. Nobody else has ever managed to pull off this sort of spell in a mortal body with little mana."
"Believe it," Kye said with a sigh. "After all, her Radiance is-"
"Time and space," Kyra finished. "Or rather, collectively, Spacetime! I casted the spell from within the soul space, but it did come at a cost."
Michelle was beyond skeptical, but listened.
"The mana required to warp our bodies?" she said. "Yeah, that mana is permanently spent."
Michelle chopped her on the head. "That's why you don't weave spells from within the soul space to affect anything outside it!" She sighed. "You're probably the only person that can even do that, short of Kye and Alethea. But they know better than to waste soul mana like that."
The two mothers nodded in sync.
Suddenly, the redheaded twins froze.
Evelyn had simply appeared in the room, and she was angry. "What have we here?"
Their eyes widened. Kye had been in a constant state of exasperation since the soul dive conversation. "So, Evelyn, what do you make of this?"
Evelyn smiled and glared at the twins. "You two have been here for less than a day, and you've already made a mess. What am I going to do with you?"
"Okay, look, I know you said not to use our power to-" Kyra began.
"Yet you did anyway. You skipped right to eighteen years old."
"Hey, what's done is done!" Liya said. "We didn't want to have to grow up the normal way again!"
Kye and Evelyn shared an exasperated glance. Kye felt a tug on her sleeve. She looked down and saw Joey. "Me, too."
"Yeah!" Kaede said. "Us, too!"
Kye looked around at the three small redheads. Each nodded, as did Liliana and Aliana's trio. Lastly, she looked at Rei, who just shrugged. "If everyone else is gonna do it, I don't want to be the only one left this size."
"Kyra, can you?" Joey asked.
She gave her sister a thinking face. "I think so, yeah. But the mana it will use is permanently spent."
"I know," Joey said with a nod. "It's okay. I have plenty. It should only cost about a tenth of a percent."
"Joey, that's more mana than..." Kye didn't finish. "Never mind. It's fine. All of you are serious about this?" She glanced around and god nods from everyone, even the mortal children.
"Okay." Kye turned to Evelyn. "What do you think of this?"
Evelyn was exasperated with the twins, but she wouldn't go as far as reversing the spell, since it was already in place. "It's only fair. Kyra, you know the restrictions on time magic. You'll be careful?"
"Of course!"
*****
Revision: 2024-8-15