I do not own Martin Mystery.

The characters Colin Price, Arisawa Tatsuki and Algernon D'evreaux are all characters of The Kage Tenshi's "The Red Monarch", and belong to her.

Revelations

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN KEEP QUIET ABOUT IT?!"

"Son, calm down."

M.O.M sighed. She had expected this kind of reaction from Martin. Despite how much it seems like he doesn't take things seriously, whenever it involves someone close to him, there is usually no room for jokes. "Isaac's condition has always been on a need-to-know basis," she explained to Martin. "You and your father saw it up close and personal, so you two needed to know. Diana, on the other hand, and anyone else in the Center not already aware of it do not need to know."

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!"

M.O.M's eyes widened. But in this case, Martin was uncharacteristically angry. "Son, watch that language of yours!"

She gritted her teeth. "Martin, it is necessary! When Algernon's regime was ousted, I made a promise to myself to protect those people that Algernon hurt, and that includes Harold and his son!"

Martin restrained himself. Gerard could see the rage visible on his son's face. He looked at M.O.M. "It's about discrimination, isn't it?"

M.O.M remained silent. Gerard decided to continue. "From what I've heard, very bad things happened to people like your son during your predecessor's reign because of prejudices against them, and you are keeping it all secret because you are afraid some of your current agents might feel the same way about them as people in the past did."

M.O.M answered. "You couldn't be more right. People like Isaac were viewed as nothing more than monsters by the Center under Algernon. People fear what they do not understand, and that fear leads to discrimination, and eventually hate. I want to protect my son – and any other people like him – from that discrimination. Sousuke was exposed to that discrimination since he was a child…" M.O.M's voice cracked, "it turned him into a monster, and made him open to being manipulated by Algernon."

"…You do not know that," Martin whispered, "things are different now. I mean, maybe people won't think Isaac is some kind of monster."

"…Martin, that is exactly what Sergei felt."

Martin's eyes widened, in shock and confusion.

"What did you say?"

Sergej's words echoed through Martin's head.

"The Center was made to imprison monsters, yet it lets monsters roam free in Human society! I'll destroy the Center, and use my power to hunt down and kill them all!"

The last time Martin saw Sergej, the latter had used various magical rituals to turn into a dark fae of great magical power. Martin had thought those were ravings, a product of Sergej's mind being corrupted by magical energy. But with what he knew now…

"You mean he found out about people like Isaac?"

"I did not know either until I did some digging," M.O.M explained. "Organizations like Octavia's Creature Intelligence Hybrid Laboratories do not pop up out of nowhere. From what I found at the base where her creature was made, there were files indicating that Octavia came into contact with Sergej at one point in the past – specifically, just days before he disappeared."

"Why didn't you tell us," Martin demanded.

"Because I believed it was irrelevant, since you already stopped Sergej in the past. I also said nothing because Octavia effectively disclosed everything to Sergej – specifically about Tatsuki, and my husband and son. I did not want that information getting out, and because it also gave me another possible reason why Octavia made that monster in the first place."

"After it was done with you," Martin surmised, "she was going to send it after your family and Tatsuki."

M.O.M gave a strange knowing smile. "I know now it would not have worked," the smile vanished, "but the motive is what matters. If Sergej could go rogue after learning that truth, then it confirmed my fears: despite having rid the Center of Algernon, there would still be those who would fear and hate people like my family and Tatsuki if they learnt the truth."

"But why…" Martin asked, "Why are you keeping this all a secret from Diana? She loves Isaac; she deserves to know more than anybody."

M.O.M gave Isaac a crest-fallen look. "That is the problem. She does love my son, but I don't know how she would react…"

"To what!? Diana's good friends with Tatsuki; she'd understand that!"

"It is not just that, Martin. I am also referring to Void, and the deadline on Isaac's life. Isaac is very different from Tatsuki, and Void is proof of that. As for Isaac's life…How would you feel if you found out someone close to you had only a set amount of time left to live? What would you do? I know how…" M.O.M restrained herself, and she let the sentence finish in her head.

I know how Diana and her mother reacted when they found out Marcus died. How could I not know? I was watching from the car when the news was broken to them. I know how much anger and pain they felt when they heard the center of their lives died.

I had to know for one simple reason…

She forced the thought aside. "I know how it feels when you learn a person you love is going to die," she spoke, tears streaming down her face, "and you know exactly when and how it will happen. How do you think Diana would react to hearing that?"

Martin's eyes narrowed. "I know what my sister would do: she would to find a way to save Isaac's life. If she could not do that, she would at least try to make those last days the happiest of Isaac's life. It's what I'd do for her, and I wish I could do the same for Isaac, but…"

M.O.M closed her eyes, and wiped the tears away. "It's not just your decision to not tell Diana," Gerard realized, "Isaac told you to not tell her anything, didn't he?"

She looked at Gerard. "That is exactly what he said."

The door behind Martin and Gerard beeped, and opened. Isaac stood there in the open door, and walked in. "I've already moved everything to Tatsuki's home in Osaka," he told his mother.

"Are you sure you do not want to say goodbye to Diana," M.O.M asked him.

Isaac's eyes softened, as he walked over to M.O.M. "I already left something behind for her," he stated, "so I do not need to say goodbye. Besides, if I tried to tell her face to face…"

M.O.M looked back at Gerard and Martin, who left wordlessly, knowing that mother and son wanted a moment alone.

"Isaac," she said, placing a gentle hand on her son's shoulder, "you don't have to hide anything from me. Colin told me that you had apparently resigned yourself to your fate, but I know that you must have some reservations."

Isaac looked solemnly at his mother. "…If I told her everything, she would never let go. She would try any means to save me, and I know that she would not give a damn if it destroyed her in the process. She did that once for her family before…" He gently brushed his mother's arm aside. "I will not drag Diana into any of this."

"…We found a way to save you, Isaac," M.O.M finally confessed.***

Isaac's eyes widened in hope…but that hope faded when he registered the tone in M.O.M's voice. "But it would have taken time…Time that I do not have left."

"I'm sorry," Olivia pleaded, a single tear streaming down her face. "If we had only told you sooner…"

"…But it will mean nothing if we do not try it."

Olivia looked at her son. There was determination in his eyes. "I accept that I am going to die in six months. Now that I know everything about myself, I will be able to make my own choices about how I will live out the rest of my life. That includes trying to fix my soul to avert it."

"But there are problems," Olivia explained. "When Void and your powers were still sealed away, the method would have been safe to use, and you would have the pre-requisite time to make it work. But with both your souls actively clashing now that the seal is gone, it will be very dangerous. Not only could it not work now, but it could even destroy you prematurely if something goes wrong."

"Every mission we go on involves us putting our lives – our Humanity on the line to protect others. I see no reason why I should not try this method because it might endanger my life."

"Does Colin know about this?" Isaac asked.

"No," Olivia replied, "only your father and I know so far. Preparing it is why I negotiated for you to remain at Torrington for those remaining two weeks – that is the amount that would be left to prepare it once you returned to Torrington. We were planning to tell you, Colin, and Tatsuki about it once the preparations were made."

"After that, how long would it have taken?"

"That is the problem: the process was meant to cause two souls – that were originally one but became divided – to fuse together into one soul once more. From what Harold found, it usually takes six months, but considering that is how much time you have left at the most, it will be…"

"Four months."

"What?" M.O.M asked incredulously.

"That is the time I will do it in. Three months at best, four at the most."

"But the risks I mentioned,"
M.O.M reminded him. "This is usually done when a person is under a seal. Even with a normal soul, trying to rush things could cause the mutual destruction of both souls."

"But my soul is not normal," Isaac reminded her, "So it could be done. Even if I have to drag Void kicking and screaming into it…I will make the two of us whole again."

M.O.M stared wide-eyed at her son, but her expression eventually settled into a solemn smile. It seems there is no talking him out of it.

"I guess this settles things," M.O.M stated. "I'll go tell your father we are going to go through with it, and then he'll tell Colin tomorrow."

"…Thank you, Mother." Isaac then left the office.

Olivia walked over to the portrait on a nearby wall, if only to have something to look at. "If anyone is listening," she spoke to no one in particular, "I suggest you come out right now."

The sound of footsteps and a staff on the floor echoed in reply. "Really? You still have not told him about Him?"

Olivia glared back at Hades, Lord of the Underworld. "Isaac does not need to know about that."

Hades smiled sarcastically. "Of course not. You give him hope that he will be able to come out of his current debacle alive, leaving out the small detail that he's going to be murdered, anyway."

"You do not know when it is going to happen," she protested, "because it is only a possibility so long as Oboro is chained up in Tartarus. As long as he is still down there, Isaac is safe."

"That is true," Hades mentioned. "As I told your husband, it is almost as if someone is biding their time for something…" He smiled coldly. "…Such as your son fixing his soul."

Olivia's eyes widened in horror; Hades did not know, but now she knew who was behind it all. Only two other men knew of that, and it could have been that man in particular who could plan things out so meticulously…Who could have known about the means to save Isaac before anyone else did. "But why…?"

Hades' eyes darkened. "You do not remember," he told her, "but that boy – not yours, the other one," referring off-handedly to Martin, "will be at the center of it all."

"Keep. Vigilant," Hades warned her. "Some men are willing to tear down Creation itself if it means achieving their petty desires…"

Olivia spun around on her heels, and Hades was gone.

*phew* I think this is the longest chapter I have posted in a while, and I just wrote it up today to boot. Please read and review.

*** Harold having found a way to save Isaac is not out of nowhere. I'm in the process of re-writing "Mission to Transylvania", and that event will play out in that story.