Beyond?

“The flying fortress arrived at our eastern borders as scheduled and will continue towards the south. As soon as it arrives at our southern military base it'll be used as a prototype for a new generation of mobile troop transporters.”

-Weapon report II. Free City States of Nict, Armoury.

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Azir***

Two more shards are pushed out from the egg and two little hands appear from the holes, which breaks the tense atmosphere. The red eye from within the egg caused me to imagine the worst, but the two chubby hands protruding left and right from the egg look hilarious. The hands wiggle helplessly through the air and I have to chuckle.

Stella steps forward to peel the egg open. It takes her only a few seconds and we finally get to see the chubby face of our baby daughter.

“She is so cute!” Stella calls out and reaches for a fluffy towel from under the pedestal. I force a smile onto my face and inspect our daughter, who is watching us with big, round eyes.

She looks like a normal chubby baby with the age of a few months. Her hair is very similar to mine, but of a lighter blue metallic colour. Mine is dark and if you don't pay attention you might mistake it for black. Taking a closer look I notice that her eyes aren't really red, probably it was just a reflection by the room's light.

Her eyes have my silvery, grey tone on the inside and shift into Stella's golden tone towards the rim.

While Stella is occupied with cleaning our daughter I step closer to the second egg which has already a big hole inside it. Interested in how my son turned out, I carefully peel the eggshell apart. It feels like unpacking a rather strange present. What greets me is a boy with silver hair which is more on the bluish end of the spectrum.

His eyes are the perfect opposite of his sister's with the golden ring inside and the more greyish, silvery part on the outside.

Having a closer look I notice that their eyes shift their colour just a bit, depending on how light falls onto them. “Hopefully their eyes don't mean that they are like the Emperor.” I start cleaning him with another big towel while he is surveying the room with great interest.

Both of them have small stubby horns on their foreheads, which also reminds me of Valeria when she was smaller.

“Hahaha. I was right. My instincts didn't fail me.” Stella laughs and points a finger at me. “You should see your face. It looks like the boy leans a little more to my line of the family, while the girl takes after you.”

I purse my lips. “Then I guess your only hope is that she won't look like me when she is bigger.”

Stella turns serious again and takes the girl up in her arms. “Anyway. Not having names prepared is a real blunder. What should we do?”

My eyes wander between the boy and the girl. “She looks like her name is Sariel and the boy is... Zadkiel.” I take the boy in my arms, but he stretches his hands for Stella who tilts her head in thought. “Those are strange names, but somehow I like them. They are mysterious!”

The girl in Stella's arms mirrors Zadkiel's action and I draw the only conclusion which comes to my mind. “Looks like they want to be together. The names are from my old world by the way.”

Stella sighs and places Sariel in my arm and takes Zadkiel away from me. The girl nestles in my armpit and lets out a few satisfied noises. “No! That can't be! I want the boy!” I point at Zadkiel who buries his face in Stella's chest.

Stella shakes her head. “That's not our decision. Come. We should get them some clothes and I have to feed the both of them.” Her tail slides around Sariel and takes her out of my arms, which is obviously not well received by her, but she doesn't cry and her eyes stay glued to me. I wonder what will happen if I leave her field of vision?

Stella heads out of the room, carrying both babies with her. My eyes start closing as I feel the tiredness overwhelming me again, so I follow her to help in taking care of the kids.

After Stella fed them thoroughly we took care of proper clothes and took them to our room, which made me aware of another problem. “We are fine parents! First we forget to find a name beforehand and now we don't even have a small bed for them.”

Stella shrugs her shoulders. “It's fine. This night they can sleep with us.”

I grumble. “As long as it doesn't turn into a habit.”

So we settle down. I lie down on my back with Stella hugging me from the left side as she always does. She has made a habit out of using me as a body pillow. The boy is placed on my chest as it is the closest spot to Stella and the girl to my right between my body and my arm. I sigh and finally get to close my eyes to sleep.

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Twins***

But unknown to the parents the twins stay awake for a while longer, crawling through the bed and studying room and bed with great interest. They file away the noises of their parents as something to be studied later on and try to understand the world which belongs to them from now on.

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Stella***

“They are so cute! Oh, I was right to allow Azir as your husband.” Helen rubs both of my kids to her cheeks, holding them in her arms with an iron grip. The twins aren't exactly happy with the treatment, but my mother simply ignores their attempts to escape.

“Where is Azir by the way?” Valda asks and surveys the living room with great care, like expecting to find her son hidden somewhere.

“He has to attend to his tutoring lessons if he wants to get a title.” I smirk. “He didn't manage to persuade all professors to simply let him take the last tests of their subjects.”

Helen nods. “That reminds me, isn't it overdue to finally tell me where Azir's abnormal amount of knowledge comes from?” She pulls the twins tighter to her chest. “I think since these two are now proof of the bond between our clans, I have a right to know too.”

Valda's eyes wander to me. “So you really kept your mouth shut for all this time? I didn't expect that.”

My mother's expression turns sharp and her eyes focus on me. “So you knew after all. Do you mind speaking now, dear daughter?”

“Oooh... I think... I kind of forgot something in the kitchen.” I get up and attempt to leave, but suddenly a tentacle made out of mana wraps around my ankle and I fall flat on my belly.

Looking up I find Valda staring down at me and shaking her head. “Daughter in law. I won't be the one who explains the situation to Helen.”

Damn! I get to my knees and start telling Helen the whole story. My mother's eyes widen several times while I speak, but after a long monologue I finally end my explanations about the origins of Azir's personality. I emphasize the point that he isn't some kind of alien from another dimension.

He simply has memories of his past life, that's all. At the end of my story Valda claps her hands to applause me. “You surely told her the sugarcoated version. I couldn't have done better.”

Helen massages her forehead. “If Stella hides something as grave as this from me, then there is no telling what other secrets she might have.” She turns her attention to the twins, hugging them even tighter. “I simply have to do everything better with my grandchildren.”

I wisely keep my mouth shut about the true reasons of why I persuaded my mother to outlaw experiments on creating heavy elements with our ability. She knows that a terrible weapon could be created by using those elements, but she doesn't know that I had a part in creating the first one of its kind.

.