Chapter 85: A Bigger Family

News From Around The World

A Case Of The Chimera Disease Discovered In Karma, Belarus

Authorities Rush To Contain The Chimera Disease

Governments Allay Fears Over Kobolds In Cities Around The World

"Think of them like harmless raccoons with the intelligence of a chimp," Mayor Of Frankfort, Kentucky, says of Kobolds. "Just don't feed them."

VVVVVV

"M-My aunt?" Tala muttered.

Lynia nodded with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

At this time, Tom and the others walked over to her to see what was going on between the two. The audience was muttering in confusion over the declaration of Tala's lineage.

"Hey, Tala," Reia said. "Is everything okay?"

"Guys, she's saying that she's my aunt," Tala said in excitement.

"You're Tala's aunt?" Tom skeptically asked.

"I am," Lynia answered. "Leo was my younger brother. After his death, Hastur's minions hunted down every relative of the Six Heroes. I changed my name to help hide myself."

"Before we go any further," Tom stopped her. He gestured towards the audience. "We should go. Especially after that public declaration from Leo. Also, I need to test something."

"Before you go, don't you want to say a few things to the crowd?" Wunyar asked.

Tala shook her head. "I'm sorry, Headmaster, but something has come up. We have to go."

"And leave me with this situation," he mumbled to himself. "Very well. Go on, daughter of Ordata."

Tom and the girls quickly grabbed each other's shoulders. Tala grabbed Lynia's arm and the group vanished from sight, leaving the area to dwell on their confusion.

Tom's group reappeared in a waiting room with a receptionist at the desk. The chairs in the room were empty. The receptionist jumped out of their chair upon the group's appearance.

"Specialist Everett," she gasped. "Why are you here?"

"I need a priority DNA test done," Tom explained. He gestured towards Lynia. "I need her DNA compared to Tala's DNA on record."

The receptionist nodded and replied, "Yes, sir. Right away." She picked up her phone to relay the orders.

"You have Fast Travel?!" Lynia exclaimed. "Where did you get this ability?"

"I was gifted it by Kara."

"I was too. You usually have to do some great task in the name of Kara. I saved a city from a platoon of Hastur's army."

"I was briefly an Agent of Kara."

"Briefly?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but Kara is gone. Hastur's machinations took away her energy and it resulted in her death."

Lynia was quiet for a moment as she processed the sad news.

"I see..." Lynia scanned the area. "Where are we? And what was that about DNA?"

"This is a DNA testing centre that is working alongside the United Nations. As for DNA..." Tom thought on a way to explain to someone what DNA is without them knowing about biology. "It's a chemical structure in your body that identifies you... If people are related then their DNA will share extremely similar structure. This place will take a cheek swab from you to get a DNA sample. From there we can test it. Is that understandable?"

"I... guess. You want to see if Tala and I are actually related?"

"I don't mean any offense, but we have Hastur coming after us and we need to take every precaution."

"I get it, I do. It makes me happy that Tala is with someone who is so protective of her."

A man in a lab coat came out of one of the doors wearing latex gloves and while holding a vial with a cotton swab in it.

"Specialist Everett," he greeted. "I heard you wanted to do a DNA test."

"Yes, her," Tom said as he pointed his thumb at Lynia. "This is Lynia Ocelo. She claims to be Tala's aunt on her father's side. Can you check for us?"

"Her aunt?! Yes, right away." The scientist walked over to Lynia. "Please open your mouth so I can take a cheek sample."

With a look of confusion, Lynia did as he said. The scientist took out the stick with the cotton swab and twisted it against Lynia's inner cheek. He placed the sample back in the container and then wrote some information on the side. "Can you spell her name for me?"

"L-Y-N-I-A O-C-E-L-O," Tom replied.

"This will take several hours," the scientist notified the group. "Can you wait that long?"

"Is that pizza place still open?" Vivian asked.

"Time zones, right," he muttered to himself. "It's early evening, so yeah, you'll be good there."

"Thank you," Sylmae said.

"What's pizza?" Lynia asked.

"It's delicious food," Vivian answered. "Come on."

They walked out of the clinic and towards the pizza place just down the street. There were a few people inside the restaurant who stopped eating when Tom's group entered. The host saw the group entered, a smile came to his face.

"Ah, Thunder, good to see you again."

"Thunder?" Lynia repeated.

Tom groaned. "An old nickname I went by when I fought incognito." He looked to the host. "A table for nine."

"Right this way," the host said as he gestured.

The group was seated and quickly made their orders.

"So now that we are all settled," Sylmae said. "We can finally talk."

"I believe that we both have many stories to tell each other," Lynia said.

"What happened to you?" Tala asked.

"Now there's the question." Lynia took a long sip of the lager she ordered. "The last time I saw Leo was shortly after his wives' funeral. He along with Fiele, were just... dead inside. All I could see in their eyes was just sorrow and hate. With their wives dead, they were hellbent on taking revenge on Hastur. They ignored my begging for them to stay with the Bohalen army. No one wanted to admit it publicly, but everyone was tired of every nation fighting each other almost as much as we were fighting Hastur's forces. Through their rage, they united an army of people who felt the same rage. An army led by the Six Heroes. They managed to repel Hastur's army but at the cost of the Six Heroes' lives. It was devastating the day I got the news that Leo died. And things only got worse from there."

"How so?" Amber asked.

"When I said that all relatives of the Six Heroes were hunted down, I meant systematically. Every mother and father. Sister and brother. Cousins, aunts, uncles. Neighbours. Acquaintances. Hastur's rage knew no limits. I survived by abandoning my name and taking up a new life elsewhere. Tala, if I had known about you, I would have taken you in."

"I believe you," Tala said. "But it turned out great for me in the end. I found my family because I was sent to an orphanage."

"And a big family at that. Well, I managed to escape the purge and went to Misakeh where I did quests for the Adventurer's Guild. Misakeh can always use more vampire hunters. Once I heard that they were holding a tournament to get possession of it, I knew I had to participate. I lost the first time, so I trained longer. I assumed when I heard that it had a protection that it was meant for family members only. It seems I was partially right. I'd kicked Leo's ass if he was still alive for not telling me that I have a niece."

The group spent the next several hours eating, drinking, and catching up on life stories. Those hours passed by and before they knew it, Tom's phone went off. He picked it up to find it was the DNA centre.

"Specialist Everett, we got the results from the DNA test."

"And?" he replied.

"It is a 95% likelihood that Lynia is Tala's aunt."

"Thank you for your help," he said.

"Any time. Good bye."

"Bye."

Tom put the phone down and saw everyone at the table was leaned forward in anticipation.

"Lynia is Tala's aunt."

They all let out a collective breath.

"I think we already knew," Sylmae said.

"I'm glad that's out of the way," Lynia said. "It fills my heart with joy that I still have family."

"Where are you staying tonight, Aunt Lynia?" Tala asked.

"Well, I was going to stay at the local inn in Skysign before I moved on."

"Why not stay with us at our home tonight? I want to learn more about my parents."

"I hate to impose."

"It's fine," Tom assured her. "We have guest rooms. Spend some time with your niece."

"Tala is lucky to have found you. Thank you."

Tom signaled for a server to come over with the POS device so he can pay. After he paid, he teleported everyone to their island.

"This is our private island," Reia introduced Lynia to the area. "Tom was the one who found it. It used to be a smaller island, but with Amber's and Vivian's help, we've expanded it. Originally, it was to be used as an emergency home in case our original home was attacked. Turned out Tom was right about that precaution, now this place serves as our main home."

"This place looks like a paradise," Lynia gasped.

"We try to make it like that," Vivian said.

"So Lynia, would you be interested in helping us take the fight to Hastur?" Tom asked as he walked towards their home.

"How so?"

"The UNDF have a lot of soldiers recruited to help protect humanity and any allies of humanity. The problem is that many of them are low level because they only recently joined the SYSTEM. The UNDF has a program to hire trustworthy Adventurers to aid UNDF soldiers in protecting civilians. Interested in doing work for the UNDF?"

With a grin, Lynia replied, "Definitely."

Tala went ahead with Lynia, Amber, and Lucia. Tom was about to join them, but Sylmae placed a hand in front of him to hold him back. Lucia briefly looked back to Tom, Sylmae, Reia, and Vivian. Vivian gave her a wink and gestured with her hand to keep moving.

"Something you three want to talk about?" Tom asked.

"Yes, there is," Reia replied. "Remember how we promised in the future that if there are any girls we're interested in joining our family, we would discuss it."

"I see where this is going."

"Yup, Lucia is interested," Vivian said.

"That's putting it lightly," Sylmae said with a chuckle. "The girl is in love with you. What do you think about her?"

"I like her a lot. She is beautiful and she has this charm about her when she quotes action movies."

"Good," Reia said as she pound her fist into her palm. "We already spoke with Lucia. She's into the idea and wants you to take her on a date."

"Now's a good a time as any," Vivian reminded. "We can spend time with Lynia tomorrow and catch up on Tala's family history. You can take Lucia to do something fun."

"Vi, you're drooling," Sylmae scolded.

"Hey, she pretty hot. I would like to know her more... intimately."

"Do I need to tie you up?"

"Is that a promise?"

"Goddess damn it!"

VVVVVV

Hastur's Throne Room, Almawt

A lone figure in a black cloak walked into a large unlit throne room. Despite the city being in the middle of a desert, the inside of the throne room was ice cold. The figure's every breath could be seen. They reached the middle of the room before they took a knee to bow.

"You have called me, Lord Hastur," she said.

Hastur's form could not be seen as he embodied a darkness that sat on the throne. Hastur was massive compared to the cloaked woman who walked in; at least three times her height.

"I have new targets for you," Hastur declared. His every word seemingly vibrated the air and sent chills down the woman's spine. "There is a new race of people on this world now. They are known as humans. Your primary target is their champion. A male by the name of Thomas Everett. I want him dead along with his females."

"My humblest apologies, milord, but you don't usually call for me for assassinations of strong warriors. I would like to know more about this human to ensure a successful hunt."

"Understandable. This human, along with his females, killed my son Ithaqua. They also killed your teacher Mordiggian."

The woman briefly stiffened when she heard the news. She then relaxed herself.

"I-I see."

"My wife wanted to torture them before killing them, but I will not take any chances. Just kill them."

"Yes, Milord."

"You will head to the Zokot Kingdom. Dellik Morbus is the new king after a mass killing by Tuilene Morbus. She exposed her identity as the Liberator. She is now, according to some of my spies, by Everett's side. At Zokot, you will join up with Alala. She will aid you in the assassination."

Hastur noticed the woman shift uncomfortably.

"Is there something the matter, Shade?"

"I usually work alone, Milord."

"This isn't an easy task. They killed my son and they killed your teacher. I understand if you want revenge for his death, but I am not taking any chances. Alala will go with you. Kill them and let their mission come to an end."

Shade stood up and pulled her hood back. Her skin was as black as night and her eyes red as blood. Shade had her black hair tied behind in a pony tail.

"It will be done, Milord."