“Mother! Mother!” My daughter shouts, as she runs up to me. “What is it, sweetie?” I say, as she runs to me until I kneel down to hug her. “Welcome home, mother! I missed you!” She says, as I lift her up.

My daughter… She’s already six years old… Things have been getting worse, I don’t know why… I had to leave the Kingdom for the nine months it has been taking for my next child...

“How has your day been?” I say, as I walk over to my throne with her. “Me and father have been playing all day!” She says, as I sit her down on the armrest of the throne, and then sit down myself.

Before we can continue though, Sirius bursts through the front door, and runs over to me- “Y-Your highness!” He shouts, as he trips over himself trying to get to me. I roll my eyes, while my daughter can’t help but be confused by him. “Yes, I know Sirius…” I say, as he picks himself up again. “Well, you shouldn’t run off like this, not in your state- Here.” He says, as he begins sharing his mana with me again. “This coming from the boy who couldn’t even stay conscious when I-” His eyes snap open, and he loudly clears his throat. “Y-Yes, I know, your majesty. But don’t worry, I promise I WON’T fall unconscious this time!” He says, as he finishes sharing his mana. “What are you talking about, Mother?” My daughter says, as I embrace her. “You’ll know when you’re older, honey.” I say, as I release her.

My daughter jumps down from my throne. “So, what games have you and your father been playing?” I ask, as her little head barely reaches above my throne’s armrest. “Oh! Tag, basketball, tennis, he even lets me play soccer with the other children.” She says, surprising me… “That’s interesting, I’ll need to have a word with him… Have you been winning?” I ask, as one of the servants enters the room- “Of course, I always win!” She says, as she throws her fists into the air, while the servant leans in to whisper in my ear. “She only plays while under the protective presence of the royal guards. His Highness is on his way to the castle now.” I simply nod, thank him, and motion him to leave. “That’s very impressive, honey.” I say, thinking about how powerful she must already be. “Have you any premonitions?” I ask, surprising her. “Oh, earlier I had a premonition of your return! It made me very happy!” She says, as she climbs on her father’s throne, and then on its armrest so that she can better see me. “Did YOU get any premonitions of coming home?” She says, as she sits herself down. “Oh, no, I didn’t. My premonitions are a little different from yours.” I say, surprising her again. “You don’t have premonitions of me?” She says, a little saddened by the thought of it. “We don’t control our premonitions, sweetie. We can’t tell ourselves to have whatever premonition we want.” I say, causing her to give me an audible “Oh…” sound.

The front door opens up, and none other than my husband comes dashing in. I stand up from my chair before he picks me up, and embraces me in a bear hug. “It’s so good to finally see you again!” I of course hug him back, while our daughter watches. He let’s go of me, and hugs his daughter, as I finally speak up. “It’s good to see you too, Polar.” I say, surprising him with his name. “I’ve missed you so much.” He says, as he sets our daughter on the floor. “I’m just glad to be home.” I say, as I hug him again. “Are you ready for your first sibling, Rigel?” He says, causing her to nod happily. “Yes, I saw him in a vision!” This stuns my husband and I… “I’m gonna’ have a son?” He says, the sudden change of emotion making her nervous- “Y-Yes.” She says, as he suddenly picks her up- “Thank you Rigel!” He gleams with a bright smile, and holds her up for a moment, until he pulls her into a hug- “I just knew I was gonna’ have a son” He says, making me laugh. “What, are you suddenly getting premonitions too?” I ask, causing him to laugh with me. “Maybe it’s rubbing off on me.” He sets her on his lap, and looks at me. “Would you like to go out today? Turns out Rigel is great at sports, I could tell you all about it.” He says, reminding me of that part- “Ah yes, she told me you got her into sports.” I say, with a slowly changing tone. “Y-Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t have suspected such a change in nine months…” He says, as he himself grows more nervous. “Since she’s a Kraken like us, she’s already incredible at them though.” He says, as he leans away, Rigel confused by the sudden fear in his voice. “I see…” I say, as I decide to let it go. For now... “Yeah, okay, sounds like fun. Maybe we can bring Rigel and the soon to be Pollux along.” I say, as he calms down. “Yeah, sounds good.” He says, and we finally share our first kiss in months…

“Well, it’s late, I think it’s time we all head to bed.” He says, upsetting Rigel. “But-” Before she can say anything, I quickly kneel down and hug her. “It’s alright sweetie, I’ll be here tomorrow when you wake up. Alright?” I say, causing her to nod. Finally, I can get some sleep…

My husband and I find ourselves in our bedroom, simply lying down. He looks at me, and speaks up. “The kingdom is still getting a little worse every day, and I can’t find out why…” He says, as he stares at the ceiling. “I just hope you can figure something out… I was forced to leave…” I say, as I begin clinging to him with a hug. “I’ve been gone so long… What’s wrong currently?” I continue, as he embraces me back, the last hug of the night. “If I knew, I would have fixed it by now…” He says, obviously frustrated with his inability to solve a problem in these nine months… “I wanted so bad for you to come home to a once more happy kingdom, but I just… I’m so sorry…” He must feel terrible about everything… He’s watching the home he’s loved his entire life fall apart around him. “Certainly you must know SOMETHING?” I say, causing him to think to himself for a moment. “I guess I do… It’s just, I’m not very certain on anything yet in the first place. As you remember, there were small problems sparking up here and there. But now, they’ve been getting worse and worse, and I don’t know how to stop it… I don’t know where to start with how many there are. Thanks to the armies of Utopia, war hasn’t broken out with the kingdoms that reside upon the ancients... Even still, trade relations with some kingdoms have been breaking down overtime, we’ve been relying on trade with Utopia, but because of that, living conditions have also been getting worse… The prosthetics Demistar promised have been a silver lining, if anything… Our people are suffering, Regel…” He says, as I finally decide to let go of him… “I should have never left, even if it was for our baby boy… I should have stayed, and helped…” I say, as I curl into the fetal position… What was I thinking? My home needs me… “It’s not your fault, honey… If you could have dealt with this, you would have never left.” He says, as he lies on his back again. “I’m going to bed, I love you, Regel.” He continues, as he turns off the lamp on his side. I kiss his cheek, and follow his lead...

A little less than a week later.

Rigel holds her baby brother in her arms, completely stunned by how tiny he is… She looks at us, then back at him, multiple times before she’s mesemerized again. “He’s so much tinier, than in the visions…” She says, making me laugh. “Yes, yes he is.” I say, as I reach down so she can hand him to me. “Of course he’s a lot smaller like this, your visions were showing you what he looked like many years in the future.” I say, as I hold him in my arms. “You were once this big, you know.” My husband says, surprising her. “Oh, huh, yeah.” She says, realizing she was a baby once too. “When will he be as big as I remember?” She says, looking up at us, with stary eyes. “Well, we’re not sure. You never really told us how old he was in your visions.” I say, as I walk over to my throne to sit down. I’m very exhausted, I just got home… “Well, I’m not sure… I was taller, and I spoke in a different way.” She says, thinking deeply to herself, as my husband himself sits down. “Must have been a vision from multiple years in advance. Can you tell us how tall he was specifically? Also, were there any more children in your visions?” I ask, as I rest my chin on my hand… My visions have been fading lately. The same thing happened to my mother, when she was having me. The doctor said it was most likely due to a lack of mana, that would be needed for such a powerful ability. “I guess… Maybe as old as I am right now? I saw myself playing with him, and our even younger brother, Castor… Castor was...” I quickly interrupt her- “So I’m going to have another one- Ah, it’ll be another six years before Pollux here is as old as what you’re remembering. Thank you, Rigel, please tell me if you see anything else. My premonitions are still… Returning to me.” I say, as I watch my daughter walk over to my husband, and hold her arms up at him. “Up-” She says, causing him to pick her up, and sit her on his lap again. “There you go.” he says, as she looks at me. “Okay mother, I’ll tell you. I hope I get more visions… I want to see my little brother again…” She says, as I hold him up. “He’s right here, just six years early.” I say, as we stare at him. “Were you small, once?” She asks, as she turns her attention to me.

Before I can say anything though, Sirius comes running through the doorway- “I’m so sorry your majesty! I’m late!” He shouts, before being stunned by the fact that I’m holding another baby- “D-Did…” He tries to manage, but he doesn’t seem to find the words. “Yes, I had him earlier today. Would you like to see him?” I ask, as he simply nods, and I beckon him forward. My husband and daughter simply watch, as he steps forward. I hold my baby in front of him, and he just stares at him, until he holds out his arms. He’s trembling, I can’t imagine what he might be thinking at this moment- I place my baby in his arms, and he suddenly freezes, as though Pollux sucked the life out of him. “He’s so small…” He says, as he holds my baby close to his chest- He seems peaceful, in Sirius’s arms… This lasts for a few minutes, him just staring at my son, until he realizes how much time has passed, and hands him back to me. “I-I should share my-” He tries to say, but I interrupt him again before he can finish. “It’s quite alright, the Doctor was quite happy to share again.” I say, stopping him in his tracks… “Ah, I guess I’m no longer needed here then...” He says, as he begins to turn around- “Will you play with me, Uncle Sirius?” Rigel says, as she climbs down from her father’s lap, surprising Sirius.

Sirius has been spending a lot of his time with Rigel, he’s currently in his twenties at the moment, so he may be very young, but he’s still a man. I actually got to attend his eighteenth birthday, you should have seen the looks on his relatives’ faces, it gave me such a good laugh. Anyways, she’s taken to thinking of him as an uncle, because of that.

“Oh, of course, your highness. But only with their Majesties’ permission.” He says, causing my daughter to look at me. I simply nod at them, and my husband folds his arms. They exit the room, and I look over at him. “I don’t know what you see in that Sirius kid.” He says, staring off into the empty space to the left of him. “Oh you know, he was the youngest person there, I think I was still under baby influence. Besides, he’s like a son to me now.” I say, making him look at me again, then sigh… “Whatever… I don’t have time for this anyways. Now that you’ve finally gotten our son out of you... Would you like to come visit the Kingdom? I know you’ve been waiting this whole time.” He says, as he stands up, and offers me his hand.

I accept it, and he helps me up. “I guess it would be nice, I’d like to get as much done as I can, before I have to give birth to Castor.” I say, surprising him with the reminder of his THIRD child. “Ah, yes, that’s a good idea. Now that you’re free to wield your strength, we can start getting things done around here.” He says, as I simply nod. I admit I’m still pretty exhausted, but I can’t waste a moment longer, while my kingdom suffers.

End of chapter: 2√Z “Gone for too long, Ryleth returning.”

Thank you for reading.

“Thank you, everyone!”