Chapter: 590 – A Dozen Baker’s Dozen

Tala stood beside the portal out of Kit, patiently waiting, even as she held her uncertainty deep within herself, not letting it show.

On the inside, the portal opened into a hallway within their guest area, making it unremarkable should anyone look inside.

On the outside, it was resting against a wall on a side-street, in the general area they wanted to go toward. Kit was large, allowing for near-immediate access to much of the city, but not all.

Tala could have willed herself and her family out to the superficial in an instant, and usually she would have, except that her entire immediate human family—not her family of origin—was here, ready to pass through.

Rane was already through the portal, standing, looking back with an encouraging smile. “Take all the time you need, little Lea.”

Lea stood at the threshold, looking out. A mix of fear and excitement were plain on her features even as she hesitated. “It’s going to be alright?”

He nodded, and Tala smiled from beside the girl. “Yes, Lea. Your new soul-medium is stable and fully able to support you. You don’t need to stay within the sanctum any longer.”

“But… out there… It’s not home.”

Tala shrugged. “You’re right, in a way. This has been like a womb to you, a place where you were safe and could grow and develop. While you weren’t in here for anywhere close to ten months, you have still grown and learned. You are ready to take your first steps on Zeme.”

Lea gave a slow, careful nod. “One small step for Lea, one large step for the Sappherrous.”

Rane gave her a funny, confused look. “What?”

“Well, I’m the only natural born Sappherrous.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.

“You know what I meant.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You and mom adopted the name. I was born to it.”

“Sure, I suppose. What’s your point?” He seemed genuinely curious.

“Well, Zeme has never felt the tread of a natural Sappherrous.”

Tala held in her laughter, feeling the uncertainty within her be pushed aside as she did so.

“If you and mom are capable of so much, what more can I do?”

Rane huffed a little laugh. “Eventually, sweet. Eventually.”

“Sure, but imagine it.”

“I am. Now, come on. Pastries await.”

She gave a little bounce in place, excitement seemingly blossoming within her before she looked down, again, at the threshold. Her bravado and playing fell away as she looked to first her dad, then her mom. “Will I really be okay?”

Tala smiled. “Yes.”

Without waiting another moment, Lea stepped forward, her foot making hardly a sound on the stone paved, Bandfast street. She stared down at the first foot before bringing the next to rest beside it.

“Are you alright?”

Lea nodded.

“What’s wrong?”

“It… it just felt like any other step.”

Rane pulled her into a hug. “Many important things can seem that way in the moment, even when we realize they are important. Don’t put too much emphasis on how you feel right now. This is a memory we’ll always have, and whether it feels special now or not, it is.”

She looked up, smiling. “It definitely is different out here.”

Tala stepped through and the portal closed.

“In there, it was like you and mom were always hugging me, even when you weren’t. Now? I can feel you nearby, but it’s like you’re a bit removed.”

Rane squeezed her again. “Even while I’m actually hugging you?”

Lea squirmed, laughing. “Yes!” She giggled. “Let me go, Dad. I want to walk.”

He laughed too, then let her go. “Of course, little miss. I live to serve.”

“Daaad.” She drew out the word, making her non-amusement clear even as she fought a smile. “Come on. I was promised pastries.”

“Well, then, my promise is my command.”

“Daaad!” She huffed, her poorly-suppressed smile continuing to break through, even as Rane caught her up and tossed her into the air. “Eeee!”

He caught her, setting her down gently before putting an arm around Tala and drawing both his girls onward. “To pastries!”

* * *

Ten minutes later, Tala felt like she was on the edge of a knife as she sat in her reality-iron-reinforced chair in a little bakery that she remembered from her time in Bandfast. She’d remembered it fondly enough to come back after all this time, passing quite a few others that either didn’t quite spring to mind or that she remembered as being not quite as good as this one.

Rane and Lea sat with her, a beautiful platter laden with a veritable mountain of various pastries, sitting on the table between them.

The source of Tala’s tension wasn’t the amazing smelling food, nor the quaint atmosphere. Instead, it was the various glances that they garnered, Lea most of all.

-That’s not necessarily true. Many people going by are staring at you or Rane for various reasons. Rust, with how young you two look, and how old she looks, you three could be siblings, or friends out for an… admittedly insane breakfast. I think most of the looks you’re getting are because of the food, honestly. Who buys a dozen baker’s dozens of pastries?-

We do. And, really? The two teens in the back talking about how beautiful the ‘porcelain white’ girl is? Wondering if she’d want to come back after their shift ended?

-Yeah, well, I said most weren’t looking at her specifically. Our daughter is stunning. People are going to be interested in her.-

Most, eh? What about—

-Fine, fine. I get your point. You do have to admit, though, Lea is stunning, and I don’t just mean her complexion.-

Tala had to agree. Her daughter was beautiful.

She lacked basically every flaw in her features that Tala had disliked in herself, switching in a few hints of Rane that just made her more endearing from Tala’s point of view. Add to that the fact that it was their features after Refining?

Yeah, the girl was likely one of the most beautiful women in the city. Her albino appearance simply added an element of the exotic on top of the already almost unnatural beauty.

-Yet, the couple of small flaws make her human.-

Her smile was just slightly lopsided, as Rane’s so often was. Her bone-structure—or her equivalent—was symmetrical but not perfectly so. She truly did look human.

-Because she is.-

Exactly. The soul is what matters, not the physical.

-Exactly.-

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Rane and Lea were laughing as they tried various pastries, taking bites and then demanding that the other sample that particular one as well.

Tala had a moment of disconnect on how she could be so concerned about what was going on around them, while her husband didn’t seem to care.

Alat cleared her throat within Tala’s head. -He set Enar to watch and record everything. That man also has magics actively rotating, ready to shred and obliterate the city block at a moment’s notice. You’re watchful? He’s prepared, and actively continues to prepare.-

Only then did Tala turn her focus inward, toward her family, noticing for the first time how her husband had been using her magical control and aura to hide his own magics from outside scrutiny.

If she was a hollow sphere of all-but indestructible glass around their family, he was a thousand coiled springs, ready to reinforce her defences and to lash outward in equal measure.

She felt a blossoming of warmth within her chest. He was caring for the protection of their family even while engaging with their daughter, while she was sitting to the side. He made her want to reach further, be better than she had been.

He glanced her way, smiling warmly. “Come on, love. This one is practically transcendent in its construction.”

Tala shook her head, laughing under her breath as she accepted the pastry.

This was not something that she should miss.

“Oh! Oh… that is… that is amazing.” She heard herself practically purr. It shouldn’t be possible for it to taste better than I remember, but it does.

-Huh, seems the same from my perspective.-

That’s what I mean. It tastes better than I even remember it, now. She frowned, each taste being better than she remembered the last, but as soon as both were mere memories, they were the same. It wasn’t magic, just that the pastries were somehow better when experienced than when remembered.

It was… odd. -And frustrating, I can only experience them via memory…-

I’m sorry, Alat.