Chapter 28: Ends and Beginnings

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius!

~Mora’s POV~

Waking up was never easy.

The task would become more difficult to handle if the bed wasn’t any better than anything she had been sleeping onto in the years spent out of her home.

Mora yawned, stretching a bit as she finished her little ‘wake up procedure’.

Green eyes blinked just once as her sight grew more accustomed to the dim illumination offered by the sliver of light coming from the single window of the room.

Her room had been maintained in good condition despite how long she had been on the run. Either her mother or Randal, both would’ve spent precious time to keep the old place clean and ready for her return.

It was kind of heartwarming that they never lost that hope, but at the same time she knew that it was still her fault for things turning out this way.

Noticing the little derail with her plans, Mora shook her head and her eyes regained a hint of determination as she pushed off the bed.

Her sleepwear was something her mother had given to her the night before. The older Prime had mirthfully pointed out to her daughter how her old Pjs no longer fit her current frame.

Years had gone by and she outgrew the old piece of clothes. It was odd to be donning this specific set of sleepwear as it wasn’t skimpy… but it was still nice to be given some actual clothing now that she was back at home.

Home.

The mere thought brought a tingle trailing down her back. Enough to get a happy smile for what was going to be a tough job for today. Humming quietly, she carefully walked out of her room and towards the kitchen.

Her nostrils flared at the delicious smell of food being prepared, and she couldn’t help but lick her lips in anticipation of what was being cooked for breakfast.

Randal was whistling mirthfully, allowing the only human in the house to help around with the eggs and the bacon.

Her big brother always loved to cook. The fact that the food he was producing had no spicy options made it safe for anyone to digest at the moment. The fact that Matt was keeping an eye on the stove was enough to bring a renewed sense of relief within Mora.

The young woman paused, her ears caught a giggle from her mother, the older Prime finishing preparing some jam-filled sandwiches.

“Finally awake, sleepyhead,” The owner of the farm greeted her. “I hope you got a full night of rest.”

Mora nodded, but before she had the chance of adding any extra details to her response, she was interrupted by a sigh from the one sitting across from Diana.

At first her eyes narrowed at Alejandra, expecting for her former childhood friend to provide any snarky remarks on the matter… but, her tiny rage vanished when she noticed the young woman was merely reacting to something on her phone.

Lips twitched at the awkward realization, Mora decided to ‘seek redemption’ by at least greeting Alej properly.

“Good morning, Alej. Good morning, mom.”

Blue eyes looked up from the device and up to the fellow Cow Prime. “Oh Mora- Sorry, I didn’t notice you earlier. Good morning.”

Incredibly friendly. This was the opposite of what she had hoped to find once she encountered her again.

After all, they didn’t part away from each other on the best of terms, and yet the situation was… strange as it was.

While Alejandra was here, the woman’s role here was to keep an eye over Diana. Just to make sure that she would be alright as she recovered.

It was still odd how they were all afraid of some worsening regarding the tough woman’s condition. Mora was quite sure her mother had lived through the worst and was recovering.

Or… Or maybe she was just deluding herself about it. It wouldn’t be the first time a dying individual looked so healthy and well before a sudden fall.

“Good morning!”

The sudden greeting made Mora tense up, her attention turning at the flying Nanozell spirit entering the kitchen just now.

Archie? Yes, that was his name.

“Good morning, little one,” Diana replied happily. “I thought you would’ve arrived sooner.”

He sheepishly grinned for a moment, but it was Matt that answered the woman as he helped Randy settle down the plates with the meals.

“I asked Archie to finish a small task I had him do. Something about backing up my old phone’s data and-”

“The conversion of the data in proper replicable files. Things I can recreate as solid objects.”

Mora looked surprised at this, her interest over the spirits never reaching the point where she actually studied how useful they could be.

Living beings, that was something she knew, but their functionalities were a complete dilemma for the young Cow Prime.

Still, that looked deadly useful considering how important keeping track of documents was nowadays.

Despite the interesting topic, her attention was completely enraptured by her plate and soon she joined the rest of the small family for breakfast.

Just by trying the first bite off from the eggs and… she finally felt back at home.

With a pleased smile on her face, Mora quietly listened at how things unfolded at the table.

Randy mentioned something about leaving to buy groceries and medicines once the breakfast was done. Alejandra was going to spend ‘quality time’ with Diana before taking some time to deal with her job’s paperwork.

Finally, the bit that was the most important about today, Matt was going to be working at the fields until lunch.

As the human commented about this, he made a solid reminder of something Mora herself had asked him yesterday.

“By the way, I guess you’re ready to help me at the fields,” The human said as he turned his sight on the giddy-looking young woman.

“Yep. Just give me the time to get ready and-”

“You will be ready to roll in the mud if it’s needed?”

The snarky comment from Alejandra caused Mora to blush in slight embarrassment. It didn’t take her long to realize that it was a reference to when she was younger and she tended to play roughly by the muddy bits of the fields with Alej and Randy.

“I-I’m not a kid anymore, Patches.”

Instead of a snort to oppose that view, the dark-and-white-haired woman smiled smugly. “Then I want to see you work hard. After all, this is going to be your job now.”

My… job?

She blinked, but instead of finding annoyance in that rebuttal... Mora actually smiled.

“I sure will make this job mine alright!”

The reply gained a twitchy smile from Alejandra, a fit of giggles from Diana, a happy sigh from Randal, and a mirthful nod from Matt.

Her smile flared and as soon as her breakfast was cleaned up, she stood up and… had to wait for her turn at the bathroom.

Now, that was something she had completely forgotten about…

Yet, as soon as she was done getting prepared, Mora happily followed Matt out of the house and she quickly had to shield her eyes from the unforgiving sunlight.

Huffing, she ignored the young man’s chuckle as they both arrived at the tool shed to pick up the stuff needed for their work for today.

“So, do you still remember how things go down from this point?” Matt asked calmly, sounding genuinely interested in what she could remember of the farm life.

It wasn’t much, but it’s not like she was going to be so blunt about it. Not when she was kind of expected to remember a little bit more than she actually could.

“Just give me a few patches and I will start working.”

Inwardly facepalming at her own pride’s cursed timing, the Cow Prime genuinely hoped that things weren’t as complicated as her fuzzy memories were pointing out.

“Are you sure? Maybe I can give you basic instructions and you work on that or-”

“I said I can do it, just give me a patch to start working from and we can get through this,” She interjected fiercely, completely ignoring her own thoughts over the matter.

The human blinked just once, and then nodded. “Sure… but I think I should still explain the newer bits since things have changed here.”

That got a pause out of her. Changes? What exactly changed?

Now curiosity took control and she shrugged at this novelty. “Sure, I guess.”

Nodding again, Matt led her to an empty section of the fields, bringing to attention the seeds, the hoe, and the shovel.

He started to show her how to plant the seed, and then use the other tools to properly settle the dirty and the water applied to it.

As she silently kept watching over his explanation, her mind couldn’t help but poke at her about something oddly suspicious. Something about what he was saying felt familiar.

Then it wasn’t just a feeling, it became a solid memory of when one of the old workers decided to explain to her how to work the land properly.

…

Mora blinked again, hoping that her growing suspicions weren’t true as she was slowly starting to think.

Once the human was done with the explanation, he offered a bright smile and a simple opening for her to use to solve this little curiosity.

“Now, is there something you wish to ask? Anything about what I just said or something like that?”

She gave a slow nod.

“Yes… actually, I wanted to know something that got me fairly… suspicious,” The Cow Prime muttered quietly. “Matt, tell me the truth. There are no changes to the old system, am I right?”

He looked surprised at first, then sheepish. The quick switch of mood was enough to cement her thoughts into reality.

“Sorry?”

“You’re still a jerk,” She replied with a tiny pout. “Like, how did you know that I was lying?”

He blinked at that follow up. “What?”

“Come on, you saw through that lie, now I want to know how?”

“W-Well, you know that… your lips tend to twitch when you’re lying?” He inquired back, a mischievous smile in full display after he said that.

Her eyes widened in a moment of embarrassment as… that was actually an old issue she used to have. One that Mora thought was long gone but… it would seem like it wasn’t the case right now.

Maybe it was the fact she was now back home?

She huffed. “Well… I guess I failed to lie about that.”

“There’s no shame in forgetting about this. You’ve been away from here for years now,” Matt quickly commented, trying to offer her some reprieve over her forgetfulness. “Plus, I know you can still do it.”

“Of course I can, but-”

“Then what’s the problem?” The young man pressed on with a confident look. “Don’t think too much about it, and don’t let it push you down.”

…

Sighing, the Cow Prime nodded. That could work for her, especially since Matt didn’t seem the kind of guy that could rattle out about this awkward moment.

Once they split the empty tiles among themselves, both took their distance so that they could start to work on their current shift.

Smiling determinedly at the tough job at hand, Mora couldn’t help but match the tiredness with more and more happiness.

So much peace, so much calm. Yes, this is what she missed from this place.

Her throat allowed a quiet hum as she went through her task.

Time to break a sweat!

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I should’ve expected for things to be harder to complete with a competitive Mora challenging me around that line of work.

I should’ve suspected that something was off about it just from the cheeky smirk on her face and the good progress already made by her when she proposed to make that bet.

But there wasn’t much I could do except take the L and allow her to redeem her rewards.

Huffing as I sat down by the kitchen’s table, I regaled Diana with a tired look while the woman glanced at me curiously.

“I suppose you and Mora worked hard on the shift.”

I nodded. “There was a ‘bet’ between us about who was going to end the task the fastest and… she won.”

“Not much of a surprise considering how good she was before leaving,” Alejandra pointed out. “In fact, I can tell that she is already in the bathtub and wasting all of the available warm water.”

Surprise adorned my face at that precise suggestion. “How?”

Wait, what was she meaning with ‘wasting all the warm water’?

“Let’s just say that I was foolish enough to challenge her back when we were younger,” The young woman replied, briefly looking away as she said this. “I discovered on these few occasions that brawn can’t be beaten through logical replacements.”

“And now I really want to know more about that,” I mirthfully added, getting a huff from her.

“I can still remember how vexed you were each time you failed to one-up Mora,” Diana pointed out happily. “And every single time you would return to the assault with a newer plan.”

“I never succeeded in any of those,” Alej replied with a frustrated tone. “Which is pretty much a moment of failure after failure.”

“Oh, don’t be like that, dear,” The motherly woman rebuked kindly. “How many times have you found yourself using that experience to deal with grown-up problems?”

The businesswoman prepared to counter that with something smart but… she stopped before she had the chance to say anything. Her blue eyes widened as her brain realized that, within Diana’s simple words, there was a strong truth.

I didn’t need her to say this as her face was just telling her thoughts to the occupants of the room, and I too was aware of this peculiar circumstances that pretty much happened to everyone with that kind of good childhood.

Childhood allowed children to develop their chances of handling complicated messes during their years of adulthood. The means to build up cohesive thoughts, to understand the simple line between giving up and holding to the very end.

“I-I mean, I did look back at those moments from time to time but…”

“While you didn’t succeed in beating Mora in that regard, you still found strength and resolve to fight back other situations that were driving you to defeat,” I quipped before nodding. “In fact, since you have walked the path of building your own company, surely you have your own tales of close encounters with failure.”

She nodded awkwardly, looking quite embarrassed as the thought settled on her mind.

“Still, I wonder if someone should tell Mora to not waste the warm water-”

“I can get some warmed up if there is the need for it,” I offered with a nod. “Shouldn’t be much difficult, just some heat manipulation and it should be ready to use.”

At this change of topic, Alejandra looked at me with a curious tone.

“Still, care to spare some words about what you and the High Prime spoke about yesterday?” The young woman asked. “I understand if it’s anything private but… you both were loud about it. And it kind of stuck around even now.”

I blinked. “Oh? I… I guess we had a heated debate. Nothing too big but… it wasn’t anger directed at each other. Let’s just say that we’re both angry at a specific group of people.”

And boy, how angry Ambar was when we started to discuss them…

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“You didn’t lose your touch in food, Matt,” Ambar stated, patting her full belly as we approached her golden-colored jet. “And to be fair, I missed having you around.”

“Likewise, cuddle bear,” I replied mirthfully, my smile widening at her soft snort at the amusing pet name. “Still, I hope you took precautions about what we talked about a while ago.”

She nodded, but her smile vanished as a tired look appeared on her face.

“We got some knights from the Life Clan and the Light Clan working on this. I thought about calling Kayin and ask for some Love Knights too, but then there’s the thing of you wussing out of calling Grace-”

“I can’t give her the news through the phone,” I interjected with a groan. “You know better than me that if I tried to do something like this with either Addie, Carmesi or Grace, they would skin my hide for being so superficial about it.”

“They are still going to skin you when they learn how much time you wasted from calling them. Also, didn’t Grace already ‘meet’ you?”

Yep, she did. And that was why calling her now would be a tremendous mistake.

“I know what I’m doing. It’s just that… it’s incredibly awkward, and I’m not even sure I won’t get mauled by them once the truth comes out.”

Ambar giggled, and shook her head. “Never change in that regard. It’s peak amusement how much you trouble yourself to find the best way to tell someone one of the ‘truths’.”

“It’s painfully difficult too,” I remarked weakly, allowing for the woman to stare at the acres visible from the distance from where we were.

“I will be honest with you, Matt. What you brought up about the curse will bring no small friction between the Crests and the Gods,” The woman pointed out with a more serious tone. “Let’s just say that... I saw fit to inform Kate about the curse. I spared her from the information of your return, but I felt compelled to tell her about what you discovered.”

Slowly nodding at that, I thought well about this development. Kate was always the stern, impulsive, but tremendously attentive kind of gal.

Never missed a hit with her thoughts over something strange, and her intuition had saved many people’s lives during the war.

“She was already suspecting this?”

“She tried to ask a proper audience to the Gods on the matter, but they would always deny her request at the fact that the curse wasn’t their responsibility, nor their interest.”

I flinched at that, now seeing where the Bear Prime was going with this.

“I can see a Ballistic Samurai trashing left and right at that news. Tell me that she changed in that regard.”

“Partly,” Ambar replied quickly, yet giving me an uneasy look. “Since her children were at home when I told her this, she took a few hours for a ‘special training session’ far from her house.”

I guess that’s an improvement from the instantaneous meltdown she was known for. Those were rare but… when they happened, things would usually escalate in a chaotic manner.

“I was also planning to make a mass gathering of the Crests so that we can pressure the Gods to reveal the truth,” The Crest of Wisdom added with a careful tone. “It’s not because of what happened to you- at least, not the full reason. There are treaties that have been established when the war ended and they broke a few with what you revealed.”

“It’s not a good idea,” I replied tensely.

“We need to make them accountable for mistakes. Do you understand how many lives were wasted when they failed to help us with Prism? Do you know how much destruction was created with their stupidity?”

“And I’m not against this,” I rebuked calmly. “But right now we can’t afford any infighting. Not with the situation at hand.”

“The rogue Narakhans can be held back until we get this done,” She remarked dryly. “This issue can wait.”

“The Emperor will not wait,” I shot back with a louder voice.

Her eyes widened, with her light-blue orbs sporting a degree of surprise that it was just absurd to see on Ambar.

“W-What?” The Bear Prime exclaimed in shock. “Matt, the Emperor was killed- destroyed! We all saw his body disappear-”

“But he’s not gone,” I muttered quietly. “I saw him, Ambar. He is still the one controlling Narakhans through the curse. He never left.”

…

“This- This is big, Matt. C-Can you promise me that this isn’t a lie or-”

“I would never lie on something this important. Not when it’s all about him,” I interrupted again. “The Emperor… he still lives as we speak.”

“B-But how? Where?”

“I don’t know,” I grimly replied. “I really don’t. But I saw him, in an incorporeal state, within the Curse itself.”

…

“I will have to tell Kate as well.”

I nodded. “Tell everyone about this. They need to know if the situation escalates to a terrible degree. They need to be ready.”

The Bear Prime nodded, looking once more at her ship and… then back at me with a perplexed look.

“It’s been centuries since I’ve had the chance to see you and… you look like you’ve grown finely,” She admitted mirthfully. “One can wonder how much will change from now on.”

“I thought you were going out with Pulsar?” I asked as I noticed her half-flirt attempt.

“We’re quite close, and we had Naerie… but we both are busy and have little chances of meeting because of our schedules,” The woman replied with a nod. “We agreed against forming a serious commitment and… it actually works.”

“Are you sure about-”

Her finger was on my lips. “Theo, I’m glad you’re back and all, but don’t think I need help with how complex things are for me,” She remarked sternly. “You’re my friend, and I’m happy that you’re still the helpful goof you were back then… but this is my life. One that I built on a slightly shaky foundation, but still one I wish to deal with on my own and with my close family.”

I flinched at that and then… her hand moved on my cheek.

“I don’t want to shove you away. I know how much you care for us, and I really find it a noble trait. But help those that really need help. Like Addie.”

“How is she?” I blurted out as she was brought up to the conversation

“A little receptive since I tried getting in contact with her,” Ambar answered. “She is still as shut off from the world as I last saw her a few years ago. But I know that she is fine and… not doing anything dumb.”

That was some excellent news. Yet I noticed that there was a degree of uncertainty now in full display on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked and the Bear Prime… sighed.

“While the Crests might be easy to convince about the fact it’s really you… I’ve reason to think Adela will think this is all a ploy to get her to be a proper Queen.”

I frowned. “Why do you say that?”

“It’s been so long and she is still suspicious of any attempts from my part to get her to leave the palace. She is… stubborn and I know she will deny that you’re the real deal.”

I frowned at this, nodding as I turned to grace her with a determined look.

“I think she will recognize me if I bring to her something only her and I know about.”

The Crest of Wisdom frowned. “What is it?”

“A secret,” I rebuked defensively. “Let’s just say that I thought it proper to hide it away in case something like this happened. It’s the ultimate proof that either of us are the one we claim to be.”

“And… you’re sure it will work?”

“Perfectly so,” I added with utmost certainty in my voice. “I will work on recovering it once I’m done here at the farm.”

Ambar gave me a long look and then she nodded.

“I will trust you on this, like usual,” The Bear Prime said while nodding. “But I really hope you know what you’re doing, Matt.”

“Your faith is not misplaced, cuddle bear.”

She snorted, reaching for a hug and I provided her with a tight one.

“Mhhh~ I sure missed these the most,” She hummed happily. “And now I know your form didn’t drop. Not at all.”

I blushed at that, shaking my head at that remark.

“Always the pervert, Ambar.”

She giggled.

“Always!”

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“We just talked about big matters but… it was all right.”

Ultimately, I decided to offer something that wouldn’t give too much about our conversation. While I trusted everyone here to keep their mouths shut about the matter, I couldn’t give her that kind of realization.

The Emperor. While the bastard has been ‘dead’ for centuries now, it would be a mistake to bring up his name even now that peace was still at its peak.

“I thought you would have talked about Ambar’s daughter, Naerie,” Diana muttered with some curiosity. “You spoke highly of her.”

I nodded. “Naerie is a good person. She did an excellent job with the situation, balancing well her interest in keeping me from suffering through exposing me to the truth and actually not leaving me in the dark.”

“I guess the High Prime was glad that her daughter was praised like that.”

“I mean, I think Naerie was the one to feel the happiest about the matter,” I remarked with a nod. “I guess she’s just happy to learn that she got a godfather out of this.”

…

“You- You’re-”

“Her father and I made a drunk bet ages ago. It stuck to the point where I was listed as her godfather despite the fact I wasn’t around.”

Diana giggled a little. “I find it quite… ironic.”

“How so?” Alejandra inquired, clearly taken by this sudden comment.

“Well, Matt is Italian.”

The connection was just obvious at this point, despite the fact that Pulsar had been blissfully unaware of The Godfather to make that joke.

Still, I found it funny enough to make a tiny reference to it now that the right opportunity had arisen.

Alej looked surprised, but still skeptical over the matter. What I said next was as unexpected as mostly entertaining.

“Italians have a little joke. The world is so hard that one should always have two fathers looking after them, and that’s why godfathers are a thing.”

The older Prime snorted, shaking her head as she mirthfully laughed at the quote.

Patches spared a few giggles on her own, the humor cracking at her little shell over the matter.

“And I’m done with the shower!”

Mora’s voice boomed into the kitchen, drawing all attention on her as she walked towards us and…

I found my eyes forcefully directed at her face, a smug look on there highlighting that this little development wasn’t unconscious from her part.

While she had managed to get her hair properly dried up, Mora had ‘mistakenly’ forgotten about putting on a shirt.

She was staring back right at me, her lips twitching as she tried to hold back a fat laugh over my gawking.

Alejandra sputtered, her face exploding in a full blush while Diana looked conflicted between laughing at her daughter’s little attempt or disappointed like many parents would be.

The motherly woman eventually settled for the former, and I found myself drowning more and more in embarrassment at that little prank.

“What’s wrong, big guy? Having some trouble looking below my face?”

I tried to hide a tiny smile at that funny remark, having trouble already keeping up with that test of willpower.

“J-Just a little bit,” I rebuked, getting an amused snort from the cheeky Cow Prime.

I can’t say I didn’t peek down once or twice during that struggle, but I still managed to pull myself before getting swallowed by the sight.

In the end, Mora ended up taking that L and went back to her room to find something to put on to cover her chest.

I was freed from that circumstance, but still found it difficult to stare at the other women in the room.

Alejandra was dealing with the same situation as mine, while Diana lost herself to laughter.

Life at the farm had reached a higher degree of happiness. One that seemed bound to last for a long time.

But just as every good thing, it had to come to an end. The unavoidable had to happen despite our hopes of the best scenario possible.

The next five days passed by smoothly, but each day would see the owner of the place finally losing more and more of what was left of her life.

As the fifth day came to an end, so would twilight, so would Diana Linda.

Surrounded by her closest family, all reunited around her deathbed, the woman passed away with a peaceful smile and a happier outlook for her children’s future.

A proud mother, a kind woman, a loving lady that just wanted the best for everyone… despite the painful price that each decision would take on her difficult life.

Her loving memory would last forever in the minds of those that knew her and… her guidance would never be forgotten by those bestowed with her torch.

I remained for three more days after that, all for the sake of keeping watch over the funeral, helping out with the costs, and helping the rest of the family keep together in facing the pain.

Randal decided not to leave, mentioning that it wouldn’t be right to leave his ‘little sister’ alone with the burden the farm had.

Alejandra eventually had to leave because of her work, but promised to visit frequently to check on both Randy and Mora.

I made a similar promise, but I knew that Mora would’ve been strong enough to hold her own with the farm’s upkeep. A tough woman for sure, but I was still going to keep in touch just to see how things fared at Las Lindas.

And with what tied me to the farm moving from the physical to ascend to the abstract, I prepared for tomorrow. Because from that point onward, I will have to face the music in giving my own farewells to those I would have to leave behind here in town…

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AN

I know, I know- But what about Chapter 30?

It’s an epilogue! One that will open up to what happens… next!

And before.