The Arks - Chapter 400

Charisma opened it with Kai by her leg. A few words were enough to bring her to tears and the painful news. Mavislin stood there with her head bowed and her arms stretched out to give the pillow and blanket that Gab earned.

Charisma was still weeping when Kai took the pillow and blanket and cuddled with it. Wrapping himself with the blanket and hugging the pillow, he muttered his first few words.

“Papa… Smell…”

Charisma was in shock as she picked Kai up in her arms. Using the blanket to gently wipe away his mother’s tears, Kai turned to the group to give his greetings. He kept burying his nose into the pillow and his mother’s arms. He was giggling, much to Mavislin’s shock.

To Mavislin’s surprise, Charisma invited the group to come in for tea and to discuss the next move for Albion. Initially, she wanted the victims to return but Mavislin, Raiyen, and Tomoe strictly forbade it, stating that they were special kids with powers.

“We don’t know if they can control their powers and there’s a few hundred of them. No way we can let them go loose like that. Albion is not stable enough for this,” reasoned Mavislin, giving the same expression as a stern leader.

“How about the mothers? Can they still live among us?” asked Charisma, with Kai bouncing happily on her ŀȧp.

“Give me about a week and they’ll return safely. They’ve just woke up from a catatonic state so they aren’t fully functional yet. But I promise to return them,” stated Mavislin.

“That’s good to hear.”

Silence caked the room as Kai hopped off to Mavislin’s ŀȧp. The baby looked at the Valkyrie with a tilted head. Sadness welled up inside Mavislin as she looked at the familiar face. Kai tried patting Mavislin’s thɨġhs as a form of comfort to the girl.

But it looked like he was hitting her so Charisma asked Kai to stop.

“It’s alright, it does not hurt at all. He sensed that I have a heavy heart, he’s trying to comfort me but he can’t control his strength yet,” explained Mavislin, smoothing Kai’s hair.

“Oh… That’s what he was doing. He does that to his father at times, mostly after missions. I kept telling him it was wrong to hit people but I didn’t realize that he just wanted to comfort them,” replied Charisma.

“I wished I was better at my healing to take care of Gab’s wounds. That way, Kai would still have a father now…” said Mavislin, fists clenching the hem of her dress.

Charisma got up from her seat and headed to the Valkyrie’s side. Her two guardian boys were still on high alert as Charisma moved but remained still. She then embraced Mavislin from the front, stunning the Valkyrie. Kai hugged the two women as well, not knowing why.

“He did what he was meant to do. He served his mission well and to the very end. I’m sure he passed with that goofy grin on his face, right? Don’t be too upset about it, it will be fine,” said Charisma, still hugging Mavislin.

“You know, he used to tell Kai bedtime stories about how fun it was working with the Arks. You saved our lives and many others, over and over again. Without you, I won’t be with Gab in the first place or have Kai. So don’t punch yourself for his death.”

“But it’s alright to cry, I don’t know why you holding it back but you should learn to express your emotions. Don’t hold back just because you are the leader or a Mage. If one is truly close to you, you are free to cry whenever you like. After that, look ahead and continue.”

The Valkyrie started tearing up and cried silently in Charisma’s embrace. Kai was still very confused and Clement coaxed the child to hobble over to his ŀȧp. But Clement was sadly rejected as Kai laid eyes on Tomoe, who had his ears and fluffy tail out.

The child buried his face into Tomoe’s tail, shocking the fox. But Tomoe couldn’t do anything so he allowed the child to play with his tail. Seeing the kid snuggle his tail reminded me how Mavislin would cuddle with him.

After a few minutes of crying, Raiyen passed Mavislin a cloth to wipe her tears. Charisma returned to her seat and Kai was happily playing with Tomoe. Sitting upright once more, she continued the discussion of what would be the next step for Albion.

“I will follow in my late husband’s footsteps. For now, I will take up the position of Baroness to lead Albion. When Kai is ready, I will hand it over to him.. Gab has already handed me information that I need to run the Domain,” said Charisma, looking at Mavislin.