CH532 Thera’s Perspective

The great spirit didn’t get the chance to argue, Insia’s mother Ember dragged him along while she and Thera chatted, enjoying the sort of small talk that Thera had originally expected upon meeting her friend’s parents while the girl looked around not only the city, but the gate and then Anailia too as they walked through it all, taking in the new sights with Rocky before they finally arrived at their destination.

She had no trouble letting herself into her family home, nor did she have any issue finding her father now that he was finally back from helping uncle Falk. She could hear him training around back and found him with not only Karly and Glob, the two summoned both looking exhausted from whatever he’d put them through, but her two aunts as well, with both the light and dark spirits playing their parts in trying to work the two into the best shape they could until as one they seemed to notice all of them, each whipping to their direction and rushing over, their students forgotten.

“So you really did it,” Lux asked Insedis, rage in her voice. Without even having to say it, it was obvious in the eyes of all the great spirits what Insia was, they could feel it in the girl’s mana in a way that the mortal half spirits, Thera and Seren didn’t give off, the fact that she was purely mana-based making the fact so much more distinct.

It was obvious that they all had a lot more to say too, each of them feeling murderous in a way that was making the great fire spirit shrink back, but in an effort to make sure Insia didn’t develop a poor idea of her newfound family from how they very much wanted to treat her father, Thera spoke up, trying to come across as positive.

“Everyone, it looks like Uncle Insedis has a daughter! Can you believe we haven’t met her yet? This is Insia. Insia, this is your uncle Abrus and aunts Lux and Funa! Let’s all try and make a good impression on each other, okay?”

The fact that she of all people was saying that forced the others to calm down given how well-known it was that she hated her uncle, with Lux again being the first to speak up.

“My, where are my manners? Hello sweetheart, it’s so nice to meet you. This all must feel pretty surprising I’d guess.”

“Um, a little,” Insia laughed.

“Of course it is. Why don’t we all head inside and chat for a bit? You can meet your other cousin too. The family sure is getting big.”

“Other cousin?” Insedis asked, getting a barely suppressed glare in return.

“A lot has happened while you’ve been avoiding everyone. We can talk about it later. Karly and Glob, you both get the rest of the day off it looks like.”

The two on the ground didn’t respond but their hearts were filled with gratitude for whatever it was that distracted the spirits.

“Oh my gosh, aren’t you just the sweetest thing!” Pelenia gushed after being pulled from a meeting to be introduced with the rest of them, with she and Writ taking the task of watching and distracting Insia while letting her get acquainted with her far younger cousin while Thera, Ember, and the great spirits all spoke at the side, suppressing their rage enough that it wasn’t immediately clear just how badly they wanted to tear him apart.

“So you really did it,” Abrus almost snarled. “You actually had a child,”

“You already knew?”

“We suspected,” Funa clarified. “Which wouldn’t be bad by itself, if we didn’t also know why.”

“…Who gave it away?”

“Me,” Thera told him. “I overheard you all talking about it when I was younger. You really… Ember, do you know why he had a child with you?”

“Oh, I didn’t until a little after she was born,” The fairy said brightly. “When I said wanting to kill him was the most natural thing in the world, I meant it.”

“Dear-”

“Quiet you, the rest of us are talking.”

“So why are you still with him?” Thera asked. “It’s a bit late now, but I feel like it would have been a better choice to just abandon him and raise Insia without him.”

As it was, she still couldn’t imagine letting him anywhere near Insia if she could help it, she just needed to figure out a good way of making sure he never could again without breaking the girl’s heart. Killing him outright would be so much easier if the other great spirits helped but that was no longer on the table.

While thinking about that problem though, she got to be shocked by his answer.

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“I was wrong,” Insedis told them, hanging his head. “When she was born I explained things to Ember after realizing I couldn’t do it.”

“…What?”

“To be more accurate, he had an emotional breakdown,” Ember told them, seeming uncomfortably pleased as she remembered the result. “I wasn’t exactly thrilled, but the difference in mana meant I couldn’t kill him and he mellowed out significantly afterward so I let him stick around as a trial. Since it didn’t seem he was going to change his mind again there was no reason to throw him away.”

“Dear, I’ve been doing my best to make up for it,” He said meekly, forcing Thera to really look at her uncle.

In her youth, he’d always seemed over the top and boisterous, but not now. Now he came off as almost a shell of who he used to be, the pride and passion gone, to be replaced with his new, milder attitude.

“So you aren’t going to make her fight,” She asked to be sure, with Ember being the one to answer, laughing at the very thought.