Gourry wrapped an arm around Lina, and she leaned her head against him as they watched as the twins slept, snug and secure back in their cradles at Maninstit. "We brought them home safe." Gourry said.
"We did." Lina agreed as she took a moment to savor how content she felt. Any remaining doubts that she was making the wrong decision were banished. Maninstit was home now, and her family belonged here. There mere thought of what it would have been like to return without the twins was unendurable. Bringing them home felt right and safe. It was filled with people who would love and protect them. And, should the Mazoku ever succeed in kidnapping them again, there would be plenty of people here they would be eager to return to. They were home.
"How can someone who is so good at caring for babies be so bad at keeping their clean and dirty clothes separate?" Alona asked as she went around the nursery staff the gather the dirty laundry.
"What can I say?" Moe asked, "If you want I'll just wear it all again and pass it on to you next week. Proper penance for not keeping on top of it, it seems."
Alona hmphed as she grabbed the bag, "But we'll all have to live with the smell! I'll clean it all, this time!"
"Thanks, Alona! Let me know when you need a favor."
"Alona, I forgot to give you this!" Connie said as she ran out of her room and put another garment in the bag of laundry.
Lina sighed, and marveled at how they slept through all the noise. But then, with a busy nursery like this filled with the wet nurses toddlers, they were probably used to it. Still, Moe did keep his booming voice down as he walked up to them and said, "I don't know if you were waiting for us to unpack, but we're all settled in if you're wanting to catch up with your folks."
Lina and Gourry exchanged a glance as Lina's heart started to race. Moe smiled at them reassuringly, "We'll keep them safe and happy."
"I guess we should fill in Mom and Dad." Lina said. She didn't state that she was having to relearn to step back. Gourry grabbed her hand and squeezed it as Lina reminded herself that the twins had the power to get themselves home. They were far from helpless newborns. "Hold down the fort until we get back."
"Will do." Moe said.
Quietly, Lina and Gourry turned around and walked softly towards the door and into the hallway without waking the babies. Once they'd made it down the hallway Gourry asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Fine." Lina lied.
She realized that she hadn't fooled him when he said, "I'm a bit worried too. But I don't sense anything dangerous right now."
"Me neither." Lina said, "And I do need a bit of a break from them."
"Yeah, we put the family in family vacation!" Gourry said with a laugh.
"Yeah, we didn't even get that bed to ourselves." Lina said. "But we brought them home. That's the only thing that matters."
"You'll find no argument from me there." Gourry said as the sound of their friends and family started to waft down the hallway as they reached the upstairs parlor.
"And as I was falling one of the Mazoku appeared behind me and kidnapped the twins." Sylphiel said.
The color was drained from Leia's face as she said, "How did you get them back?"
"That's the incredible thing." Rick said, "The twins got themselves back."
"Most people have to worry about late night feedings and overflowing diapers. Your grandchildren can navigate the astral plane." Naga said.
"What!?" Han and Leia exclaimed.
Luna brushed a hand through her hair as she said, "That's a skill that I wouldn't have dared consider them capable of. And a remarkable claim. How do you know they navigated it?"
"As incredible as it may sound, it's the most reasonable explanation." Lina said. "I started to glow, and then I saw a portal open up to where they were."
"I could sense them, before it appeared." Gourry said, "As though they were searching for us."
"I doubt my encounter with the Lord of Nightmares left me with the ability to open portals and travel the astral realms to worlds outside the barrier." Lina said, "So it must have been the twins. Unless some other entity intervened."
"I'm just so glad they came back that I don't care how it happened!" Leia exclaimed as she ran up to throw her arms around Lina and Gourry, "I can barely stand to imagine what you must have gone through after they were taken."
"It was horrible." Lina said as her stomach churned as she returned her mother's hug. Now that it was over she didn't want to dwell on it. Especially in front of Luna, "But we got them back. They're safe in the nursery, ready for snuggles whenever you want one."
"Are you two okay?" Leia asked as she pulled away.
"A bit shaken. But getting better by the day." Lina said as Leia guided them to sit on the same couch as her and Han.
"I think that we're all glad that Midas and Aurelia are back safely." Zelgadis said as he stood behind the chair Amelia was sitting on as he gripped the backrest, "But I would like to visit the question of how they got back."
"Do you have any ideas?" Luna asked.
"Well, I know that you have seen the twins as having a nature similar to what you and Moe have with the respective gods whose soul you house. Basically possessing tremendous power, but greatly watered down and bounded by human limits. But the Lord of Nightmares, well, we don't exactly know what they are. But they are not gods."
"You have my attention." Luna said as she sat up straighter.
"And mine!" Lina said.
"It's natural you would come to that conclusion because that is what you have known, intimately. But I know chimeras intimately. You, Luna, have a fragment of Ceiphied in your soul. But what If the twins are more like a chimera, a combining of body and soul with whatever the Lord of Nightmares is?"
"Well, if that was the case, it would explain how they can navigate the astral plane." Luna said softly.
"But it begs the question of what else are they capable of?" Lina asked as an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach.
"Or what they are aware of." Gourry said.
"What do you mean?" Luna asked.
"Well, it's like the Eternal Queen. Born with all of that knowledge."
"When you remember something like that, it's a bit unnerving." Han said.
Lina ran her hand over her knees and squeezed, "Well, it's not as though any baby comes with an instruction manual. There's a lot we don't know about their nature, but what we do know is that they love us and our on our side. They came back to Gourry and me. And when they glow, they hurt Mazoku, but not humans."
"I'm not suggesting there's anything nefarious about them." Luna said as she reached over and put a hand on her arm. "But the combination of extreme power with youth and naivete can led to unintended consequences."
Lina couldn't argue with that, and she looked at her knees as Luna continued, "Your husband has a good point, though, about them potentially having access to their knowledge. Time will reveal all. You have already done so well with them, as this latest instance proves. Somehow, I have a feeling that you will know what to do from here on out."
Lina looked up at Luna, "Well, it's about damn time you gave me a vote of confidence."
"You've earned it. I just had a hard time letting go of the idea of you as that reckless thirteen-year-old who left." Luna said as she pulled away, "On that note, have you made a decision about where to live?"
Lina looked at Gourry, who smiled at her as he grabbed her hand. "We're staying at Maninstit." She announced.
Amelia shrieked and ran up and threw her arms around both Lina and Gourry, "I don't think I realized just how much I wanted you to stay until you said it! It wouldn't have been just for our children to grow up apart after everything they've already been through."
"Looking back, I don't think that leaving was ever really an option." Lina agreed as Amelia pulled away and walked back to her chair with a spring in her step. "But we got some good information from the trip. Some security that the twins can find a way back to us."
"So, the semester starts in a few days." Zelgadis said.
"We'll be ready." Lina said.
"Did you make a decision about whether or not to accept Elmekian students?" Luna asked.
"We did." Lina said, "And I think we should. It's a risk, but the benefits would be huge."
"I will let the Empress know." Luna said.
"Granted, we'll need more teachers." Lina said. "We're likely going to need introductory classes and upper levels ones."
"It will also be more for you to manage as headmistress." Han said. "You may want to consider cutting back on the amount you are teaching so you can focus more on running the school. Especially now that you have twins."
"I hadn't thought of that." Lina said, feeling a bit reluctant to give up her classes. "Well, I want to keep Black Magic, and I am the only one who can do Chaos Magic. But Mom could take over the Folklore and Mazoku classes. Or, perhaps, Sis, you'd like to take one." Lina suggested, and secretly she was proud of her daring to suggest that Luna should work under her.
Luna smiled, but it wasn't the smile that sent chills down Lina's spine. It was a different smile. One that she rarely saw Luna give and always derailed Lina when it appeared. It was a smile filled with anxiety and uncertainty, "I guess now is the time to make the announcement."
"Huh?" Lina said.
"I have already promised Empress Gertrude that, should you decide to stay at Maninstit, I would travel with my family to the Elmekian Empire to provide protection at the border."
Silence so profound that it seemed to paralyze everyone in the room fell for a few moments, and the only thing Lina could think to say was, "Oh."
"But…that means the boys will be…" Leia said.
"It will only be for two or three years, until students start graduating and can return to the Elmekian Empire to take over." Luna said. "But this will be for the best for a lot of reasons."
"What reasons?" Leia asked, and Lina could well detect the dangerous edge to her mother's voice that would have sent her running to her room to hide as a child.
"For one, I think I need to get more of an idea of what things are like at the front lines." Luna explained. "Further, too many powerful people are concentrated in this part of Zeferia. Since Lina returned we've never redistributed that power. This will allow me to be at a place where I am needed. Finally, this will allow Lina the freedom she needs to grow, and force me to step back and let her."
Lina exhaled as Luna continued, "Plus, I want to get a ground eyes view of the situation in the Elmekian Empire."
"And what type of ruler Trudy is?" Gourry asked.
Luna smiled. "At least we have inroads here. Finally. I wish we could say the same for Dils."
"What is happening in Dils?" Lina asked as she noticed that her mother was looking livid. Lina started to wonder if she would have been just as mad and upset if she'd decided to move.
"The same holding pattern it's been since they conquered Lyzeille. I think the Mazoku are too weak to continue expanding. The Eternal Queen is raising troops with several neighboring kingdoms to reclaim Dils and Lyzeille and form stable governments there."
"What?" Sylphiel said.
"She's even been talking about putting you and Rick on the throne in Lyzeille." Luna said.
"You're joking!" Rick exclaimed.
"Sylphiel has some noble blood." Luna reminded them, "And she is also married and obviously fertile. And, to be honest, those are the two big requirements."
"But what about diplomacy and being able to negotiate and…." Sylphiel said.
"Icing on the cake, really. Having the right bloodlines and producing heirs is what people are more interested in. Being competent at the job is optional." Luna said.
"Hey!" Amelia squeaked.
"But I must protest," Sylphiel said, "Given all that Lyzeille has been through, having someone competent behind the throne is paramount…"
"I must say, you do seem to be selling yourself short.' Zelgadis said, "You are the daughter of Sairaag's high priest."
"Your manners are impeccable." Lina added, "And really, you're more diplomatic and regal than Naga."
"Pardon?" Naga asked sharply.
"While I protest that Miss Luna is greatly underestimating how much work goes into be royalty," Amelia said, "I agree that Sylphiel would make a good one."
"That, and the story of how you and Rick found each other after the destruction of Sairaag would be great dynasty founding mythology. It could even be exaggerated a bit that you were childhood lovers who were reunited."
"I really don't want to use my story in that way." Sylphiel protested.
"Suit yourself." Luna said as everyone stared at Sylphiel and Rick expectantly.
Rick was unreadable as Sylphiel looked distressed as she shook her head and said, "But there must be better people with a claim to the throne than me."
"You may be right." Luna said, "But be aware that this is on the table. Talk it over with each other, think about it."
"Well, it would be an amazing opportunity." Lina said, "Still, we'd hate to lose you. Especially since we need more good teachers at the rate we're growing. And people who are as qualified as Sylphiel are rare."
"Yes, I would suggest that you start the search for more teachers now." Luna said.
"Hey!" Naga said, "Has everyone forgotten me?"
"Not really. You're rather hard to forget." Lina said, "Why, do you know someone who would be a good teacher for our school?"
"Of course I know someone who would be a good teacher." Naga said.
"Who?" Lina said.
"You have to ask?" Naga said as she stood up and struck a dramatic pose that inadvertently caused her boobs to bounce so dramatically that for one moment Lina feared that those puny cups would spill over. Somehow they managed to keep their contents contained as Naga declared, "Me!"
Everyone stared at Naga in silence for a moment. And then Sylphiel threw her hand in front of her mouth in a desperate attempt to stifle a giggle. Sylphiel looked mortified, but there was no going back. A dynamo effect happened as Lina met Sylphiel's giggle with a loud guffaw of laughter, and soon the entire room was joining in. Zelgadis, who had moved from standing behind Amelia's chair to sitting on the armrest, pitched sideways and started to crowd Amelia out of her chair as he grabbed his stomach and laughed more deeply than Lina had ever seen him as Amelia wrapped her arm around him as they started laughing together.
Even Luna seemed to have a hard time remaining upright as convulsions of laughter shook her as Han shamelessly pitched forward and rolled onto the floor as he clutched his stomach. Naga looked at all of them in confusion as they tried unsuccessfully to reign themselves in. "So is that a yes?"
Lina took a deep breath and put her hand on her stomach as she tried to suppress the giggles long enough to say, "I'll consider it." She didn't succeed, and soon she was consumed with laughter once more as she collapsed against Gourry, who loosely wrapped an arm around her as they continued chortling with abandon.