[73.5] A Dream and a Warning

That night, I had a strange dream.

I woke up in the darkness, holding the babies in my arms.

This is a first.

I've never been here with a tag-along before.

But since I'm in this space it means-

Cyrus is here somewhere.

I walked around in the darkness until I noticed some grass growing in the distance. I followed it and it was as if I stepped into a painting.

I looked around in surprise, "Isn't this the gazebo by the lake?"

…The one I accidentally destroyed when I lost control.

"...Reika?"

I spun around in surprise to see Cyrus staring at me from the shade of the gazebo.

He walked toward me, his eyes wide open, "I never thought… You would come to me in a dream looking like this… You… You must have really suffered."

I tilted my head in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Dream?

So he's having a dream inside my dream?

That's confusing.

And what does he mean by suffering?

Oh well.

If this is just a dream, then-

I nuzzled the babies who were awake and staring at the stranger, "Look kids, that's your daddy…. Can you call him Papa?"

Cyrus's face turned red, "W-What!? Papa?!"

Zephyr panicked and hugged me tightly, but Astra stretched out her arms to him. She cooed expectantly at him.

I laughed, "She wants you to hold her."

Confused, he came over to me and took her in his arms. He knitted his brows as she pulled at his silken blonde hair, "How… I really feel like I'm touching a baby… How is this possible?"

I decided to tease dream Cyrus by leaning onto his shoulder with a sultry sigh, "What do you think would happen after all those nights you kept me awake without rest?"

He looked flustered for a moment before bringing his face closer to mine, "Oh? I don't seem to remember that. Shall you refresh my memory?"

Now it was my turn to get embarrassed, "S-Shh! Not in front of the children!!!"

He laughed joyfully and then leaned in to look at the babies, "So whose children are these really?"

I gave him a wink, "Like I said, ours."

He smirked, "I don't recall either of us having fox ears and tails or is there something you need to tell me?"

I chuckled, "Their biological parents may be different, but I did adopt them. So they really are our children."

His lips quirked up into a tantalizing smile. He leaned over and kissed the top of my head, "Why am I not surprised… That's definitely something you would do."

He reached out to touch Zephyr's small hands while Astra was still held in one arm, playing with his blonde hair. Zephyr readily reached out to grab his finger, but this angered Astra who once again slapped Zephyr until he let go wailing. Then she smugly grabbed Cyrus's finger.

Cyrus gave a helpless smile as I offered my finger which Zephyr plopped into his mouth happily, "You seem used to this behavior."

"Oh, they do this all the time."

"What an interesting pair… What are their names?"

"Zephyr and Astra."

His eyes widened in shock, "Huh!? Why would you name them that!?"

"I didn't name them." I let out a sigh, "It seems I am the Great Fairy of the past. I live with all of Zephyr's siblings. At first, I tried to deny it but I really can't anymore-"

"-But Reika… You're in a coma right now. I fell asleep at your bedside holding your hand."

I tilted my head in confusion, "Wow. My dream is so detailed. It even came up with an excuse."

"Wait isn't this my dre-"

It was then that Cyrus was cut off abruptly and disappeared.

I was awakened by a tiny hand lying flat on my face. Astra slept peacefully grabbing onto my nose while Zephyr cooed at me. The two babies were each holding each other's hands.

It was the first time I ever saw them getting along.

I smiled back at him, "I wonder how long it will take before you can talk."

He giggled and put his free hand into his mouth to chew on it. 

I removed his hand, "It's been such a long time since I've had a dream about Cyrus…"

Zephyr grabbed my hand and brought it to his mouth to chew on.

I furrowed my brow as I thought, "Although that dream felt strange… It felt familiar somehow."

"Num num num num~"

"Just where did I encounter that kind of dream before?"

"Gaa!"

"Oh well! I can't remember." I tilted my head, "I wonder why I dreamed about Cryus… Could it be I miss him?"

"Waah!"

I let out a somber sigh, "Duh… Of course, I miss him…"

"Gah?"

"When I left that day, I thought I would be doing him a favor… I wonder… What if I actually made everything worse?"

"Guu!"

"I only seem to make everything worse. It was a blessing for me to finally leave my last world, so why would I wake up in this world? Since I've been here, I've blown up more buildings than I can count, I've set so many forests on fire, there's still a cursed book roaming the Academy, and you can't forget about everything and everyone who has died because of me."

I looked back at Zephyr who was slobbering all over my hand, "Why am I going on about this to you? It's not like you even understand me."

Zephyr chewed on my fingers with his ruby-red eyes shimmering happily.

I sat up while supporting both babies and walked over to the window. The children were all outside playing after their lessons. I rocked the twins in my arms, "Don't they look like they are having fun? I wonder if they've finished their homework…"

Zephyr slobered on my arm as he stared out of the window.

I walked back to the twins' bassinet and laid them down. Astra was still asleep, breathing evenly. However, Zephyr was fidgeting and cooing as if demanding entertainment.

I smiled at him, "Want to see something cool?"

I created a small ice dragon and forced it to fly around him. He squealed in excitement and reached for the dragon, blinking away the snow falling down from its body. His happy laughter woke up his sister who sleepily rubbed her eyes. Zephyr reached out to grab the dragon and caught it. 

I grinned as his eyes sparkled in amazement, "You like that? It's fun right?"

Astra noticed he was getting more attention and grabbed the dragon by the tail. With her strength, she pulled the dragon out of his hands and held it away from him.

Zephyr burst out crying as he tried to grab the dragon back, but couldn't reach.

I picked him up, laughing cheerfully at his high-pitched cries. I brought him to my chest and started patting his back to calm him down, "Awww. My little crybaby…. You don't have to cry."

Once he was in my embrace, his crying died down and he snuggled into me while sucking his thumb. Astra saw the preferential treatment and also started wailing loudly for attention. With a chuckle, I picked her up too, and supported them both in my arms.

"You know… I used to have a friend who was a crybaby. He was scared of everything, even his own shadow. His name was Felix… Oh… But I wonder if that was actually Felix or if it was-"

My eyes were drawn to where Asmonious was happily taking care of his siblings.

If I took the Great Fairy's place in history…

Then does that mean I can change his future?

As soon as this thought crossed my mind, I was running out of the room. I kicked the door off the frame and ran over to Asmonious who was so startled he couldn't even say a word.

I got in his face and started shouting, "Asmonious! You are forbidden from hurting anyone! Humans or demons! You must love them at all costs! Never dirty your hands! Never seek revenge! Don't ever do anything to bring shame to me, do you understand!?!"

Once I spat out the words, my chest was heaving up and down.

He blinked at me in confusion, "Of course, Master… But… Why are you crying?"

Eh? 

I'm crying?

It was only then that I realized, tears were pouring out of my eyes and moistening the ground at my feet.

Why am I crying?

I closed my eyes painfully, "I just… I want you always to stay as you are now…"

He smiled helplessly and wrapped his arms around me, "Master… I will never do anything to disappoint you. I would rather die than do that."

Ah…

My perfect boy…

He's taller than me now…

Lene suddenly threw her arms around us, "Family hug!"

Atta giddily joined in and tightened the hug, causing us to groan. 

Even Rose snuck over and reached out to hold a piece of my dress with blushing cheeks as if that was her way to hug us.

Lene looked over at Lovi, "Come Sissy! Join family hug!"

Lovi averted her gaze shyly, "N-No way…"

I laughed through my tears, "Yes! Come on Lovi. Come hug your crying Master."

She shook her head, "No! I'm good…"

I smirked, "If you don't come over we will come to you~"

"H-Huh?!"

The others all jumped over to her, hugging her until they all fell to the ground in a heap. I went over and bent down to hold the babies out to her.

Both Zephyr and Astra laughed giddily as they reached out to play with her hair.

I felt a smile taking over my face as I watched the children in a heap.

Such sweet kids….

But what happened to them?

In the future, they weren't like this at all.

My eyes were slowly drawn to Lovi.

And why do I never remember them mentioning her?