After a hearty meal, Lith prepared a hot tea that they sipped on the reef outside the tower. The Kingdom was way colder than the Desert and the early spring wind coming from the north still carried the rigor of winter.
Lith conjured three comfortable chairs and waited for his sister to talk. Rena looked at the waves crashing against the shoreline for a while, sipping her tea in silence.
“You know, sometimes I wonder how my life would have been if I wasn’t the oldest child.” She lowered her eyes, her voice sad and full of regret.
“I beg your pardon?” Lith moved the milk bottle away from Elysia in confusion and the baby girl roasted his stubble with Origin Flames in outrage.
“You know, this.” Rena pointed at the tower, the sea, and the water bubbles Lith had conjured to douse the flames. “The magic, the adventures, the amazing bloodline abilities. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life.
“I’ve never regretted taking care of you, Tista, and Trion. I love my husband and I wouldn’t give up on my children for the world.
“Yet ever since I learned about Tista’s Awakening, I’ve kept wondering how different my life would have been if you were my big brother or at least if there wasn’t such a big age gap between us.
“I’ve kept such thoughts on the back burner because there’s no changing the past and I had better things to do than waste time with daydreams. Yet after seeing Tista turn into a Hekate and hearing you talk about Awakening Aran and Leria, curiosity got the best of me.
“I started wondering what I would become if I were to Awaken. What I would look like if I reached the blue core and all that stuff. Elysia’s birth and experiencing the Timat Dance…”
“Demon Requiem.” Lith corrected her, glad to have finally found a name for the phenomenon.
“Fine.” She chuckled. “Experiencing the Demon Requiem answered a lot of my questions but it also brought us here. The day Elysia was born, I felt more powerful than ever. I’ve witnessed my body change in a way beyond my wildest dreams and you know what?
“I’ve always thought that I’d be scared of turning into a Divine Beast, that losing my humanity would have terrified me. Instead, I was excited and I’ve never felt more alive in my life.”
“Are you asking me to Awaken you?” Lith raised an eyebrow.
“No, silly.” Rena shook her head. “Awakening at my age would mean having much less time to devote to my family since I would need to learn magic and train my body from scratch.
“It would also mean having to prepare myself to become a widow since I would outlive Senton. I always knew that one day we were going to lose Mom and Dad, but my husband? Or worse, outliving one of my children?
“I don’t think I could live with that.”
“Then why are we here?” Lith asked.
“Because I need to take this burden off my chest without feeling like an egotistical jerk.” She replied. “You have revealed to me so many secrets of yours so I hoped that I could entrust you one of mine for once.”
Lith nodded for her to continue.
“You know, before you were born, our life was harsh, poor, and the best we could hope for was that the treatments for Tista’s illness would leave us enough money to not starve during winter.
“I knew that getting married and leaving the house as soon as I was of age was the only way I had to have a better life for myself. Back then, I couldn’t wait to grow up. I felt guilty at every meal and I thought that with one mouth less to feed, everyone would have been better.
“That with the extra money, Tista would have gotten more treatments and her condition would have improved. That Orp- Meln wouldn’t have been so angry all the time. Then, after you became four, things got… magical.
“Our problems started to disappear one after another and I wasn’t in a rush to grow up and get married anymore. When you enrolled in the White Griffon, I was proud of you and I felt the same way when Tista became Nana’s apprentice.
“I wasn’t magically gifted so there was no point being envious. After learning about Awakening, however, I started to daydream how my life would have been if you had been born before me.
“Of how different my life would have been if you took care of me the way you did with Tista and the children. Who knows, maybe now I would be a powerful mage as well and even the first member of my own species.” She sighed, her gaze lost on the horizon.
“I’ll be honest with you, after having a taste of what my life might have been like during the Demon Requiem, I’ve gotten angry with Mogar. I couldn’t get over all the things I’ve lost and the power I’ve missed only because I was born a few years too early. It’s not fair.” Rena balled her fist hard enough to make her hands turn white.
Lith swallowed a lump of saliva. Those words were a bit too Orpal-ish for comfort.
‘At least she’s pissed off at Mogar instead of me.’
“Then, I understood how stupid I was being.” Rena lowered her eyes in shame. “Watching you with Elysia, made me realize that I was becoming so focused on what I couldn’t do to forget about all the wonderful things I have.
“My husband, my children, and the long years of peace I’ve enjoyed while you fought from the shadows for all of us. I was so blinded by your achievements that I was glossing over the many hardships you have overcome to get where you are.
“I may not be a Divine Beast, but I’m happy. I’m not even a mage and maybe I never will, but it’s my choice because even before talking with you, I knew that my little brother would Awaken me if I asked you.”
“I’m sorry, but you’ve completely lost me.” Lith said.
“Me too.” Solus didn’t want to intrude but she felt as curious as she was confused.
“I still don’t understand what we are doing here.” He said.
“I just wanted to be alone with my little brother and bring out in the open this stupid envy that has weighed on my chest until now.” Rena replied. “I also wanted to thank you for all the wonderful things you’ve done for me.
“For the happiness you’ve brought into my life.” She hugged him, small tears streaming down her eyes. “Also, I wanted to ask you to please look after my children in my stead.”
“You what?” Lith felt a cold shiver running down his spine and examined his sister from head to toe with Abyssal Gaze, finding her as fit as a fiddle.
“I’m fine, silly.” Rena gently caressed his cheek, his worry and care warming her heart. “It’s just that if Leria Awakens, she’ll live much longer than me. If the triplets follow in the family’s footsteps, they will become mages as well.”
