Chapter 39 - Luma Valentine P5
*****
I had sent everyone aside the Transcendents out after we returned from Weltwald. I didn't let them see Lena regain her memories as Luma.
""Is that last part true?"" Sanae and I asked at the same time, both of us doing the same crossed-arm finger tapping tick.
"Luma, you were actually brainwashed?" I jumped up and stood in front of her.
She nodded. "I didn't want to talk about it yet, but I changed my mind when you got the part where you and Maya took on the Rothenberg family. Yes. Before you got me to break the oath, I couldn't even speak of it. I wasn't even sure I could until I tried, but the brainwashing seems to be-"
Suddenly Mavel rushed to Luma and planted her hand on her face.
*****
Suddenly I felt a hand over my face. Mavel rushed to me, clamped her hand on my face, and engulfed me in pink mana. "How could we have not noticed this?"
She searched and searched. I could feel every part of my soul she looked through. It wasn't until she got into my soul world that she could see the taint on my core.
"It's here. It's so deep. Even Eli and I wouldn't have found this without diving all the way to her core. But we did that before and all we found was the oath. This was hidden behind the oath. It was so well-placed that neither of us could see it. I am the End."
"If only you could have said this sooner," Eli said. "If only I was more mindful back then."
"By my command, all impurities shall be cleansed."
"We should have been more suspicious," Sanae said. "More meticulous. We should have used Eye of Providence that day and took Luma and Lux by force."
"My love and my life. My mana and my soul."
"I should have gone through with it when I left the meeting," Allison said. "The moment I sense Eli disappear, and then Luma only a second after, I turned back and went straight to that room. But Maya, Adele, and Adara were gone, too."
"This soul has been touched by evil and shall be set free. <
*****
A bright pink light from Mavel's spell filled the room. Even split, when one of us cited a full length incantation, the power output was at the upper echelons of Transcendence. The spell Mavel cast was great enough to overcome anything outside our inner circle.
"None of that matters now," Mavel said. "What's done is done. And the brainwashing is gone. Luma is completely her own woman."
She looked up at Mavel with tears in her eyes. "It's gone." Then she looked over at Sanae. "It's gone." She jumped into Sanae's arms. Part of me was jealous, but I only smiled.
Until the anger within me boiled over at the thought of our entire lives being warped. Years upon years of trying to convince her to upend the oath… it was simply not possible. Only when we threatened to send her home and cut her off from us was her emotional response severe enough to overcome what the Valentines did to her.
"I'm sorry for putting you through that, Luma."
"Eli? What?"
"I was just thinking about how you were able to overcome it. You literally could not break the oath. Not until we threatened to separate you from us. In that moment, your love for us was greater than what they did to you. And now you're ours. They'll never get you back."
""That is a royal decree from the King of the World.""
"Eli, Fia, thank you so much," she cried.
"Come on everyone," Allison said with a light smile. "Except the lovebirds, let's all get out of here. Everything has come to a close, and this is their moment alone.
"Princess, do you want us to go as well?" Liliana asked, using a channel only the twins, Sanae, and I could hear.
"You may stay if that's what you want. But… Lily, Ally, you said you needed time to think about things."
"We've been talking to each other about all of it since we asked for that time," Aliana said. "We know what we want."
"But we're not sure if we're ready."
"Whenever you're ready," Sanae said. "We will-"
"But…" Liliana said.
"But?"
"But…" Aliana said.
"But?" I said.
""We want to be impulsive.""
That took me by surprise enough that I immediately turned toward them. Sanae as well. The other girls saw that, paused, and looked our way.
"On Gaia, you had the thought already. Did you ever figure it out?" Liliana asked.
"You said you had a crush on us in Eden," Aliana said.
"You said you felt something toward Serah and Stella."
"We have been with you at every major step and most minor steps."
"We have supported you in our youth,"
"in our adulthood,"
"before you became King,"
"after you became King,"
"during your exile demands,"
"after your exile we followed you here,"
"we followed you into Elysium,"
"we served you as King of Elysium,"
"we followed you into the Elysian Stars,"
"we joined you in as many worlds as possible,"
"we followed you into Atlantis,"
""and we incessantly stayed with you throughout every incident.""
I was so taken aback by what they had laid out to us that I needed a moment to take it in. I glanced at Sanae, and she was as surprised as I was.
"Elysia… Kye, Sanae, once you are finished talking with the others, please take us somewhere else," Liliana said.
"Please take us somewhere else after," Aliana echoed.
Sanae and I shared another glance, then answered together, ""We will do just that.""
""Thank you, Princess. We look forward to it.""
Liliana smirked at me. "Everyone else is looking at us."
With a smile, I turned back to them. "Everything we've all been through has brought us to this point. From our childhood in Alexandria City to Yggdrasil to Gaia to Athas to the Stars of Elysium to Atlantis."
I shot the twins a smile, and they giggled at me.
"The nine of us have been through so much. Love, camaraderie, war, hardship, heartbreak, and finally… we're all together. No matter what words describe the relationship between each of us right now, we are together. And moving forward, we'll fight and win together."
"Indeed, you will," came Lady Luna's voice. "The lot of you are special, and I believe there is nothing you cannot do, but there is also much you still must do. Know that I will be watching, my beloved stars. Take care, all of you."
Everyone shared a smile.
"And there is something important I need to do," Luma said. "First, Eli, I appreciate you restricting some of the memory magic to only us. That last part was difficult enough with only the Transcendents seeing it."
"Yes. There's been a lot of scenes I've tampered with as they've played. Any overly personal moments were restricted to just us. Any scene where any of us are naked or in our underwear has been either excluded or censored, and will continue to be. Some things are just for us."
"You're doing that to let all of us relive our romantic memories without sharing them to the entire room, aren't you?" Adele asked.
"Shi-chan is that mindful," said Alethea.
"It's a little weird seeing these memories from my own point of view but somebody else showing them," Sanae added.
"I think it's lovely seeing how Eli fell in love with each of us in the living world," Luma said. There was a hint of melancholy in her voice.
"Luma?" Alethea said.
"I was thinking… I just wonder what would have happened if I had said yes that day." She looked at me and Sanae. "You were exiled here and knew who you were the entire time. We followed you here, but didn't get to keep our memories. Our identities were locked up tight. If I had told you yes before I knew who I am… before I remembered the oath… I wonder what I would have done."
I walked over to her and hugged her tightly. "Love, if you had said yes and then remembered who you are… I'm not sure how that would have turned out. If…"
I felt her arms pulling me in tight and a tear drop on my shoulder. "Eli, I want to believe it would have worked out just fine, but I'm afraid of… I might have tried to break up over the oath. But if I had done that I would have hurt you… hurt us both. I don't want to think that's what would've happened…"
"That's what I'm afraid of. I don't know how I would have reacted to that. That was before gaining the life experience of the near-endless reincarnations, but this…" I pulled back enough to look around. "Things are different now. Those lives were full of love and loss, but I knew after each life that I still had Maya… I knew I still had Adele, and Adara, and Luma even with our unrequited love, and Sanae-slash-Alfia, and Liliana and Aliana. I knew my immortal loved ones would always be there."
I paused for a moment and traded glances with Sanae. She shook her head. "I don't know either. Now that I've accepted that I deserve to have the same things as you… I don't know. I started losing my will to go on a few worldlines ago. The loneliness became difficult, so I slept through most of your reincarnation periods in the last several worldlines. The time in Athas was bearable because I had you all, if only as friends or a sister. If I had to go back to the loneliness… honestly I'd probably push to just merge back. I don't think I could go back now."
I looked back at Luma. "If we had gotten together before you regained your identity, I know two things I would have done without a shadow of a doubt. I would have pushed you as hard as possible to either disregard that part of the oath or break it entirely. I'd like to think I would have succeeded. I don't even want to imagine how I'd have reacted if I failed, and you broke up with me."
"Eli…" she pulled me back in tight.
"At the very least, I think I probably would have stayed in bed for several years. At the very worst, I may have forced my way back into Eden and tried to solve the problem keeping us apart there. I can think of a few ways. I could order your family to approve of us, oath or not, but they've refused that several times already. I could try changing the oath. Most likely the only thing that would have worked would have been to drop your family as retainers to mine. I mean to do that now regardless."
"That would break the oath for my entire family. That would have worked, but it would have caused so many problems back then."
"I likely would've stayed in this world, sent you home, and gone into seclusion. But…" I pulled away and walked over to Alethea. "We were already together at that point. I would have been torn between the heartbreak from one and the desperation to not lose the other. I was torn between that to some extent."
She stood up and pulled me into a hug. "Let's not entertain these dangerous thoughts. I don't want to hear about the awful things that could have happened. I don't want to think about Sanae giving up and trying to merge back with you. I don't want to think about any of us breaking up. We've all been through more than any other souls, Transcendents included. We all have a lot of mental turmoil from our past, but we're all here together now and that's what matters."
"Maya…" I couldn't hold back my tears. My biggest ray of hope once again kept me leveled.
"Eli, it would've been fine. I have faith that had you two gotten together before she recovered her identity, that you would've stayed together afterward. We would have picked up on the problems. We would have rid her soul of the oath's binding and the brainwashing all at once."
She pulled away from me and handed me off to Sanae. I watched as she walked over to Luma.
"That's what I think would have happened. If you two had gotten together, I'm certain we would have soon after. I already wanted to."
"That's right," Adele said. "Don't think of the negative possibilities. Just remember that all of us cherish you. Despite your difficulties, you tried anyway. Even though things didn't quite work out yet, we were all honest with each other. The important thing is that you don't have anything holding you back now. I won't speak for Michelle or Alethea, but my feelings for you haven't faded at all. They're stronger."
"Mine haven't either," Adele added with a proud tone. "You're one of my two favorite cats!"
"""Pfft."""
"Same here. My feelings are stronger now than ever," Alethea said. "But Luma, don't feel pressured into anything."
"I don't feel pressured," she replied. "I know what I want very clearly. Be it in Eden, Arcadia, Athas, here… it's always been the same." She paused for a moment and looked at each of us. "I love you. Alethea, Adele, Michelle, Kye, Sanae… I've imagined being with each of you for so long, and now it's possible. But, I only just broke the oath and accepted Eli's love. Isn't it moving too fast to ask for more than that on the same day I broke my oath?"
"No." "Absolutely not." "Nope."
"Too fast or too slow is irrelevant, in my opinion," Sanae said. "Take it from somebody like you that went twenty-four worldlines holding herself back. If you aren't ready, don't push yourself. But if you know what you want, and you don't want to wait to get it…" She pulled me over to her and put my hand together with hers. "Draw the courage you need from the love you have now." ""Push yourself!""
"Push myself…"
Not waiting for anything, Alethea held out her hand to Luma. "I want you. I want for us what you and Eli have. I've waited as long as she has, and I don't want to wait any longer. If you want the same, take my hand."
Luma's expression told me everything. She was happy, and a bit overwhelmed. But I was there for her. "Luma love, it's not moving too fast is this is what you want. I want for you what makes you happy. I'll be your courage. I'll give you all you need and more. Don't hold yourself back from what you want. You've waited long enough."
She nodded at me then looked back at Alethea. I could see the newfound confidence in her eyes. She took Alethea's hand, ready for anything. The moment Luma's hand touched hers, she pulled the black cat in and kissed her so passionately that I felt jealous.
Jealous of Luma for kissing Alethea and jealous of Alethea for kissing Luma.
I also felt a great deal of happiness. Happy that two of the people I cared about most became happier right in front of me. I grinned as Alethea's tail whipped around and touched Luma's tail, the two wrapping around each other. This was the second time they've experienced that together.
They finally pulled apart and smiled at each other. Alethea whispered something in her ear, then took my hand and we stepped away.
"So you know, just because you're girlfriends with Eli doesn't mean you are with me," Sanae said. "The two of you had that private moment that I am very jealous I missed out on, but that was your moment. I…" She glanced at me, and I gave her a nod, but before she gathered the courage to speak her mind, I heard a loud sigh.
I looked over to see Michelle walking over to Luma. "Well, I know what I want, and I'm not gonna wait." She stood in front of Luma and held nothing back. "Luma Valentine, I want you to be my girlfriend."
Luma's mouth fell open and her pupils shrank. "Wh-wha…"
"Yep. I'm not beating around the bush. I expect you have some things to work out in your mind, but I want you to know how I feel verbatim. Answer me now or later after you've had time to think things through." She started to walk back to her chair. "I'll accept an answ-"
Luma grabbed her hand and kept her from walking away. "Yes." Michelle looked back and saw the confidence in Luma's eyes. Michelle smiled and pulled Luma to her feet where they shared a kiss no less deep and passionate than the one between her and Alethea.
"Damn, she beat me to it," Adele said.
"I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous-" Alethea repeated.
"You JUST kissed her!"
"SO?"
I snickered over the voice call. "I was feeling jealous of Alethea and Luma at the same time when they were kissing."
"Good grief."
They pulled apart and smiled at each other. "Let's go on a date tonight."
"Yeah," Luma said.
"Me, too," I added.
"What? You already had your fun. Let me…" She giggled. "I'm just kidding. The more, the merrier."
As she let go of Luma, Adele surprised her. "Adele? I-mmpf."
"Feeling left out?" I teased.
"Shut up, Eli," Adele said.
They pulled apart and Adele said, "Words aren't necessary, right?"
"Nope, they're necessary. You dun messed up!"
"Shut up, Eli," Luma said. "Nope!"
"My girlfriends are so cute and silly," Alethea mused. "There is one thing on my mind, though."
"What's that?" I asked.
"Being with Luma means we have two more kids here."
"Yeah?" Some of us raised an eyebrow.
"The girl who nearly cut my head off a few months ago is going to be my daughter. What a crazy world this is."
"What in the crazy morbid jokes…" Michelle said. "Holy…"
"Actually wow," I added. "You went there."
"I don't know what to say to that," Luma said.
Alethea only smiled. "I'm just airing out my one misgiving. I've already forgiven her and gotten over the trauma. I felt it was important to say, and I was feeling a little tense about it so it came out as a joke. Sorry it came out like that. But that was my one misgiving."
Luma scratched the back of her head. "Well, I'm glad that's not going to be a problem."
I smirked. "You got caught up in the moment and that slipped your mind, didn't it?"
"I…" She sighed. "I didn't know how to talk about it, and I didn't want to bring that up haphazardly."
Alethea shook her head. "I figured you were thinking about it. Honestly, I got a bit caught up in my emotions and desires, but that was still on my mind. I chose to prioritize what we want over an issue that is already resolved, but then I started thinking about it and-"
She stopped short when Luma hugged her. "I understand what you're trying to say. I do think we will need to talk to Lana later."
Alethea nodded.
"It'll be okay. Lana's a good girl," I said. "We may need to worry about Lane more than Lana. I'm pretty certain Lana will be excited, but Lane is a little tsundere and will probably be thorny about his mom suddenly bringing home multiple girlfriends."
Luma laughed dryly. "Yeah… about that. Heh. He warmed up to me quickly after our duel at the school. As it turns out, his hesitance to forgive me for staying away all these years lost out right away to his desire to have a mother. And Lana has told me he's gotten into a few fights with his peers over me. Something about ridiculing me for not being around, and he didn't take it well. I had to go to the school a few times for that."
"How'd that turn out?" I asked.
"Lane was in the office waiting each time I went there. I told the dean the same thing every time, right in front of him. 'My son loves me enough to defend me from the very thing that he resented me for? I'm not going to punish him for that.' And then explained to the dean how the behavior is actually quite normal in cat person culture. A lot of times, cat kids fighting like that leads to friendships. It'll probably be similar here. He might hate it at first, and if he tries to fight you over me, you know how to handle that."
I couldn't help but laugh. "You are telling us fight him if he doesn't like us. Hahaha."
"Anyway. Where were we?"
"We were at the part where you're not dating me yet." Sanae smiled, walked over to Luma, and held out her hand. "I want to talk in private."
Everyone knew what she wanted, and smiled as soon as Luma took her hand and disappeared together.
*****
I brought Luma to a different place in the Athas palace. It didn't feel right to go to Eli's private residence. It may as well be both of ours, but I wanted to go somewhere different from her. I took us to the residence I used as Alfia Athas. It was in the same building as Eli's, but on the opposite side of the building.
"This isn't the same room as earlier."
I shook my head. "No. This is where I stayed as Alfia."
"Yeah, I recognize it now. It's been a long time."
"This room is where I spent eons in loneliness."
She gasped. "Fia..."
"It represents an old me."
"You didn't bring me here to say no, did you? You didn't have to go out of your way-"
I held up a finger to your lips. "Please don't say that, of course I'm not... I..." There were tears in her eyes.
I scared her.
"I wanted to chat here for a bit alone. Before that..." I wiped her tears away and took her hand. "Luma, I don't want to simply be girlfriends. I want more."
With those words, it sank in. I could tell by her expression. "Fia... are you saying?"
"Marry me, Luma Valentine. I want to skip straight to eternity."
"Even Eli didn't..." She held on to my hand.
"Because Fia asked me not to," said Eli. She had followed us here and kept her presence hidden. I told her what I meant to do.
"Eli?"
"Marry us, Luma Valentine."
Eli took her other hand. We exchanged glances and held her hands to our hearts. "These belong to Alethea, Mavel, Adele, Adara..."
"And you."
""Marry us, Luma Valentine.""
With new tears in her eyes, she pulled us both closer and put her arms about us. "Is this real? I was so scared when you took me somewhere else. I was afraid you didn't want to say no in front of the others and brought me here to... no, saying to save me some heartache makes no sense. I was afraid and didn't know what to think. When you said that getting together with Eli didn't mean we were together made me think things. But you brought me here to propose of all things. You planned this together, didn't you?"
Eli and I smiled. ""Marry us, Luma Valentine.""
"Eli... Fia... Are you sure? It's okay for me to want this?"
"You ask that after f***ing my brains out earlier?"
Luma froze. Even I was not expecting to hear that from her. "Language, young lady."
"Pfft."
"You actually said that."
"Yep. Well, Luma? Oh, hehe. Fia, look. She's wagging her tail."
I reached out and grabbed her tail as it came around near me.
"EEP!"
"C'mon, Luma. You have two hot blondes proposing to you. How long are you going to leave us han-?"
"Yes!" She pushed up against me, not even trying to get her tail out of my hand. She pushed me backwards and onto the bed.
"Oh my," Eli said.
She looked up at Eli and started to get up, but I pulled her down on me.
"I love you, Luma! Love you, Fia! Enjoy yourselves~ I'll see you in a bit!" She turned around, but then turned back. "Lux, sweetie. Come with me!"
A shorter version of Luma appeared and took her hand. She took after Luma just like how Joey took after Eli and me. "Coming, mom!" She smirked at us. "Have fun, moms."
"Pfft." Eli and Lux vanished.
"Hey!"
I turned her head to face me. "Heh."
"You two are something else."
"Well, we do think alike. But enough about that. It's just us now."
"I love you, Fia."
I smirked and snapped my finger to undress us. "Show me how mummpf."
Finally...
*****
Revision: 2025-5-11