Chapter 16 - Apologies

"Can you repeat that name please?" Elder Aira stated.

"I-I said Kaden Adams... is someone  with that name here?" Aaron repeated.

Treya and Aira looked over to each other, surprised by the name they just heard.

"Interesting." Elder Alex said as he leaned forward in his seat.

"How do you know him?" Faye asked.

"...He's a long time friend of mine, and I have reasons to believe that he's in this village."

Faye looked over to Treya who slowly nodded to confirm the words he was saying.

"He is here, isn't he?" Aaron questioned.

"I say we grant his wish." Alex stated.

"For what reason?" Mildred questioned. "The longer he's here, the more furious the gods become."

"How much harm can a single conversation do?"

"If we do allow this, then I believe it should happen after Kaden attempts the gate." Treya stated. "I don't think this is the time for him to be exposed to such a situation."

"I agree with sister Treya." Claire said.

"You're both fine with this?" Mildred questioned.

"Of course we'll be voting on this." Faye stated. "All those in favor of reuniting Kaden Adams with Aaron Cooper, please raise your hands."

Five of the six elders promptly raised their hands, everyone except for Elder Mildred.

"I'm sorry sister, but the majority has voted." Faye stated.

"I can't believe this." Mildred replied in disbelief. "We are disgracing all of the previous seatholders before us with this decision. They would all have this anomaly to be dealt with immediately."

"Don't speak on the behalf of people you've never met before." Alex stated. "The last time the lake was illegally used, myself and sister Faye were the only elders then that are still active today. The both of us can tell you that this situation hardly draws any resemblance to the previous one, therefore it's only natural that this will be settled differently."

"No matter the circumstances use of the lake is forbidden, and we have rules set in stone to deal with this."

"If we handled every situation the same way there wouldn't be a need for this gathering. Sister Faye could've killed this boy when she found him and brought back the tortured body of this girl and that could've been the end of this..."

"Our job is to handle each problem with care as they are handed to us." Faye added. "If we had a predetermined answer for everything then as brother Alex said, their wouldn't be a need for this gathering. So if there isn't anymore objections, the decision will be to allow this boy to converse with Kaden Adams but only after Kaden returns."

"Return? Where is he?" Aaron questioned.

"Don't concern yourself with that." Faye answered. "Damien take them away, discreetly."

"Yes ma'am."

"But wait! I have-"

"Aaron." Via said softly from behind him.

Her voice calmed Aaron down immediately and made him give up on arguing. Damien then took the both of them away from the courtyard and left the Elders to continue their discussions.

.....

Knock. Knock.

"Hello?" Mai called out after knocking.

"One second." A deep male voice replied.

"I'm starting to feel a little drowsy." Kaden said.

"That's tragic." Mai sarcastically replied.

The door which they were stood outside of swung open, as it was answered by the man they heard before.

"I figured you'd stop by sometime today." Tez said to Mai. "Come on in, both of you!"

"Thank you Tez." Mai replied. "Is Kuria doing all right?"

"That's a question you should ask her yourself Lady Aira. It's good to see the both of you are in good health though."

"Thanks for making these clothes for me." Kaden said.

"You're very welcome boy! If there's anything else you need feel free to give me a shout."

"Yanno, there is something I wanted to ask you about. It could wait til later though."

"It's okay if we see her right?" Mai asked politely.

"Of course, go right ahead." Tez responded.

"Thank you." Mai said as she walked to the back room with Kaden following.

"Hey kid, there's something I want to talk with you about as well." Tez said.

"...Alright." Kaden replied.

Mai reached out her hand to the handle of Kuria's bedroom door, but before she grabbed it the door opened for her. Kumori stood on the otherside of the door and was shocked for a brief moment by the sudden guest visiting them.

"Miss Mai!" Kumori shouted as she attacked Mai with a tight hug.

"Hey Kumo." Mai said as she rubbed her head.

"Can you take me up to the surface with you next time?"

"Um, about that Kumo-"

"Technically I was the one that carried the other one to the surface." Kaden said walking closer to them.

Kumori's smile slowly faded from her face as she released Mai and steadily approached Kaden. In one swift motion she drove her fist into Kaden's abdomen, immediately dropping him to his knees.

"What the fuck." Kaden struggled to say as he clinched his torso.

"Kumori?!" Mai said surprised.

"Why did you allow my little sister to be placed in danger like that?!"

"What's with this double standard?" Kaden muttered.

"Calm down Kumo." Mai said. "I was the reason Ria was placed in danger, so don't take your anger out on him please."

"...I know that. I know you wouldn't do it on purpose, but it still made me angry... I'm sorry." Kumori said as tears began to form in her eyes.

"I should be the one apologizing." Mai said as she embraced Kumori once again with a warm hug.

"No, I should be the one being apologized to." Kaden said as he climbed back onto his feet. "I'll be waiting outside."

"Wait Ka-"

"Tell the kid I hope she's doing alright." Kaden said as he left.

"...You think he's mad?" Kumori asked.

"Most likely. You're going to have to apologize to him. While you're doing that I'll see how Ria's doing."

"Hmm, if you say so."

Kumori pursued after Kaden as Mai entered the room where Kuria was resting. Before opening the front door of their establishment, Kumori heard Kaden and her Uncle Tez talking just outside the door. She leaned against the door and began listening in.

"Forgive my niece, her aggressiveness and strong personality comes from my side of the family." Tez stated with a grin. "Kuria on the other hand is a lot more reserved like their mother was."

"Say Tez, how often is this place visited by outsiders?" Kaden asked.

"Well, I guess you can say fairly frequently by people from outer settlements. It's rare to see people from other lands like yourself."

...Have the Elders been telling people that I'm from another land? Kaden thought to himself. It doesn't really matter I guess.

"When I first saw you kid I'm not gonna lie, I thought you were gonna be some real trouble."

"Thank you for being honest."

"You're welcome! I should tell you that many people of Aestus are still bothered by you being here. There's people who want answers about your reason for being here, and then there are people like me. Your business is your business, and since the Elders have permitted you to stay here then I who am I to question their decision? However, once my business starts to get involved, then I have no choice but to step in."

"You're meaning what happened with the other twin right?" Kaden questioned.

"The only thing I have a problem with is you accompanying her to the surface without my consent. However she was very adamant that she forced you to go along with her, so I won't say anything more about that."

"Why'd you wanna talk to me about this then?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Lady Aira." Tez answered. "The twins see her as, somewhat of an older sister. They truly look up to her."

"I think she's a great person to look up to." Kaden stated.

"Is she really? Kumo and Ria won't recieve the same treatment that she gets neither the protection. Lady Aira is a good person yes, but she comes from an honorable family which serves as a cushion for any failure she faces. And so far, she's faced a lot of failure. I don't want the twins to become comfortable with failing because they wont recieve the same amount of leniency Lady Aira does."

"So far what you've told me doesn't concern me at all."

"I don't want to stop the twins from spending time with her. But I'm asking that you 'hint' to Lady Aira, to always set a good example for my girls."

I bet he's asking me this cause he's to scared to confront the elder's granddaughter about this. He's trying to look out for the twins while covering his own ass, and keeping a good relationship with everyone. Heh, I hate fake people... kind of hypocritical.

"Sure. I'll try to get the message through to her." Kaden replied.

"Thank you kid!" Tez replied with a grin.

Yeah right, I ain't saying shit.

.....

"...Kuria?"

"You all were awfully noisy out there." Kuria responded as she was sat in her bed.

"How are you feeling?" Mai asked as she sat next to her.

"I've never used that much essence before. I guess my body had a negative reaction because I tend to be quite reserved with my abilities, and that encounter was quite strenuous. Ah but I'm feeling fine no-"

Kuria was interrupted by Mai pulling her closer into a hug.

"Miss Mai?"

"...I'm glad you're okay." She answered. "Sorry for making you fight alongside me, especially when I had you do most of the work. Please forgive me..."

"If you hold me any tighter I'll suffocate."

"Oh, sorry about that." Mai said as she released her.

"That's the only apology I'm accepting from you." Kuria stated. "I saw it as a privilege to fight alongside you, at the very least it made Kumo super jealous. Thank you for that experience Miss Mai."

They both began to cheerfully laugh as the event which brought pain and growth for them was now fully behind them.

.....

"Welcome home." Damien said.

"Home?" Via questioned getting annoyed.

"I guess that joke was to soon."

After escorting Aaron and Via back into their confinement and releasing their hands from the ice shackles, Damien left them alone once again.

"..."

"...I'm sorry Via." Aaron stated.

"You promised that you'd never leave me alone." She immediately replied.

"I know... but as that conversation went on, it was becoming more and more unlikely that they'd let me live. At the very least, I wanted to ensure that you wouldn't be alone if it was inevitable that they were going to kill me. That guy I mentioned, Kaden Adams, I want him to look after you in my place."

"Who is he?"

"A close friend of mine from the world I died in before."

"Then, how did he get here?" Via questioned.

"That's what I wanna ask him. Also, what has he done which made it alright for him stay here. I have... so many questions."

Via crept over to where Aaron was sitting and rested her head on his thigh.

"I hate sleeping you know." Via said.

"Why's that?"

"Because if you sleep, that means tomorrow will come quicker. And it always seems like tomorrow is worst than today."

Aaron was rendered speechless by her remark and couldn't do anything except, carefully pat her head and rub through her hair.

"...Again... I'm sorry V."

.....

The Next Morning.

Kaden was awake on time and prepared to face the challenge ahead of him. He descended from his treehouse home and was warmly greeted by Elder Aira who was waiting for him.

"Good morning Kaden." Aira said with a smile.

"Mornin." Kaden replied. "Are you coming with us today?"

"Unfortunately no, I have other matters that I must tend to. There is a surprise waiting for you that you may find quite pleasant."

"K.F.C.?"

"What's that?"

"A renowned delicacy back on my world." Kaden answered.

"I take that as you're missing your home world?"

"...Parts of it."

"Hmm, come on, I'll walk you to the lake."

"..."

"So, did your 'Elder's Gathering' go well?" Kaden asked.

"Oh so you heard about it?"

"From Mai, yeah."

"Well... it was certainly eventful to say the least. Tell me Kaden, there must people in your past life who would be devastated by you passing away."

"Maybe. I would like to think my mom would be. Other than her I only had one other person that I could say really cared about me, and I got him killed along with me."

"Who was this other person?" Aira asked.

"A very close friend. His name was Aaron."

"Hmm. I'm asking you about your past life because we believe that's what the gates test you on. We can't say for sure because no one here has ever dared to step through any of the gates. However it's been said that you must be strong mentally, not physically if you're going to have any chance at completing the gates. So my advice is that you must come to terms with everything you experienced in your other life. In my eyes it seems that you carry much resentment in yourself."

"No need to worry about me Granny Aira." Kaden replied assertively. "I don't resent anyone in particular, not even the guys that killed me."

"So you admit to harboring aimless aggression?"

"...I wouldn't exactly call it aimless."

.....

A short while later Kaden and Elder Treya arrived at the meeting point. Once there, they were greeted by Elder Treya, Kenzo and Mai.

"Well would ya look at this." Kaden said as his eyes locked onto Mai.

Her attire today was different than her usual fit. Instead of the clothes which were colored light blue with white outlines, this attire was a deep blue color which perfectly matched her hair color.

"I think it fits you." Kaden exclaimed.

Mai couldn't control the slight grin that was sparked from the words he said.

"If you're ready then we'll be leaving now." Treya stated.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Kaden replied.

"Both of you be careful." Elder Aira said to Kaden and Mai. "Best of luck to you Kaden. And you Mai, continue to make me proud."

Elder Aira watched on as two water bubbles engulfed them, and floated towards the suspended lake. Elder Treya, Kenzo, Mai and Kaden left Aestus.