Beyond?

“It's open! It's open!”

-Experiment 667

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

***Stella***

“What are they doing?” Sola asks me while observing Sariel, Zadkiel and Zana while we are having tea in my mansion's living room. Recently Sola is regularly coming over to visit me and deepen our relationship as sisters. I can't say that it's uncomfortable, but it's still hard to overcome our past.

“Playing.” I answer and look up from my tea for a moment. The three of them are sitting on the floor, facing each other and playing.

“No matter how you look at it, that's not playing...” Sola expresses uncomfortably. “Isn't that an advanced training method for acceleration magic?”

I blink and observe them closely. They are slapping their palms together, touching each other's noses and clapping hands with each other. The whole process repeats itself at a speed fast enough to show nothing but the blurry movement of their hands, which results in a rapid staccato of clapping. If someone is too slow he or she gets bitch slapped or poked with a finger. I had to heal blue eyes and broken fingers at regular intervals since Azir taught them this new game. “I see no problem, they are always playing like that.”

“But not like this! Children are supposed to play games at this age. Real games! What they are doing could turn out to be dangerous! What if they get hurt?” Sola gasps. “And why are their powers unsealed!? Sariel and Zadkiel are too young! They aren't even two years old.”

I shrug my shoulders. “Sorry, Sis. Don't get riled up over it. I didn't realize that they are so far ahead of their generation. Maybe having adopted Zana distorted my expectation of the twins. They are doing so well with each other.”

Of course that's a lie, but I don't want Sola getting envious over my children. I am well aware of how outrageous their rate of growth is.

“It's not just the twins! It's Zana too! Someone her age shouldn't be that skilled either!” Sola stabs her finger at the three children who keep playing their game.

“I suppose it's Azir's fault. He is always saying that the teachers in school are incompetent, so he tutors the kids himself for one to two hours each day. I am so glad that I have him. In fact he is also volunteering to deal with the school when the director has an issue.” Okay, that's my last excuse. If she doesn't buy it I have to start spinning tales for her. “Though I don't know why he is so eager to do such an annoying job.”

“Is that so? I'll have to hold Xander responsible then. He is wasting all his time at his parents' hospital and with his studies. Obviously he isn't fulfilling his responsibilities as a father.” Sola nods vehemently. “I hope my little Anna isn't too far behind by now.”

I smile and shake my head. “I don't believe that. They learn so incredibly fast at that age. She'll catch up in no time.” Just don't get the idea that it has something to do with genes! You've been a better sister since you got Xander and your child to mess with! Don't return your attention to my family. Our relationship also improved greatly! Don't destroy that now.

“I understand. It seems like we missed out on Anna's education.” Sola pulls on her lower lip and surveys the living room of my house. “Shouldn't you increase the size of your mansion? It's fine for now, but don't you think that it'll get cramped once the youngsters grow up?”

“I think that won't be a problem. There is still a lot of time and I like it how it is. More than ten square metres per person is much too much space. Don't you think that the palace's private quarters feel lonely because of that?” I pause for a moment. “We actually have to search for our family members once we don't find them at their usual place where they normally spend their time.”

This time Sola tilts her head. “You are right, but I actually like it that way. Having our mother too close always ends with her creating a stupid plan to influence our future.”

I smile and nod vehemently. “You are so right. Damn.”

Helen enters the room as I let out a curse and Sola turns around to take a look at the new arrival. Apparently my mother let herself in. She is the born illegal trespasser and regards the whole country as her personal property.

In fact I am not entirely sure if the two times when she and Lucas walked in on me and Azir weren't planned.

“There are my cute little grandchildren!” Helen rushes over to the trio in a blur of motion and hugs all three of them before they can react. She has to use speed magic in order to catch them. For some strange reason my children tend to disappear when she approaches. Though it seems that their alarm function failed this time.

“F- f- f- fast!” Zana is totally overwhelmed by the sudden attack. “She disabled our warning spell!”

Sariel tried to flee, but got caught anyway. “Whyyyy! We trained so hard and the granny can still pet us like stuffed toys!”

“Mmhmhmhhhh...” Zadkiel drew the worst card with his face buried in Helen's chest. My mother is using her whole body to cuddle the kids in the meantime. The whole scene continues for a little more than a minute until the children get released.

“Oh, you three are the best! Did you already manage to get your clan's ability under control?” Helen finally lets go of them and Zadkiel slides to the ground unconscious.

“Mom, could you please desist from suffocating my children?” I rebuke her angrily.

“She does that to Anna too.” Sola scowls. “Anna is already hiding under the bed when she hears Helen's voice. I have to encourage her to come out again for over an hour each time. Even if Helen's already long gone.”

“But how can I not enjoy the blessing of having so many grandchildren? Anna is just a little shy, Sola.” Helen looks at the three of them intently. “So? How are the prodigies doing?”

Zana raises her hand. “Dad already taught me to gather mana and manipulate it! He also taught me a secret spell for dealing with bullies! It's very easy, so even I can do it. Though Daddy said that I am only allowed to use it against bullies who hurt me.”

“Oh, really? Do you want to share it with your aunt? Azir surely won't have anything against it if you tell it to his loving mother in law.”

“Uhm...” Zana fidgets with her fingers. “First you have to gather enough mana to condense it into a small sphere until it becomes solid. That's easy. The tricky part is to put a second layer of solid mana around the sphere to stabilize it for the second step.”

“The second step?” Helen asks in wonder.

Zana's expression turns really enthusiastic. “Yes. Once that's done you condense the inner sphere over its threshold and throw it at the bullies. The inner sphere explodes because it's too dense and sends out the outer layer as shrapnel! Braaaam!” Zana spreads her hands to substantiate the image bodies being shredded to pieces. “And the bullies are smeared onto the walls with lots and lots of holes in them! No more bullies! Though Daddy admitted that it's unlikely that there is something left behind which is big enough for having holes.” Zana nods satisfied. “He said that I have to close my eyes when I throw that spell at a bully. Then I am not allowed to open them until he says that it's fine.”

“...” Helen's expression is a stiff, smiling mask and for several seconds she just kneels there, not moving at all. Then she turns towards Sariel. “And how are you doing with your ability? Zana is apparently doing fine in school.”

Sariel looks at the floor. “Zadkiel and I still haven't found out what we can do.” Her voice is a little sad. Even though both of them are trying very hard to use either Azir's or my ability, they are still failing at a basic level.

Helen strokes Sariel's head. “Oh, don't worry. It can take a while until a clan ability manifests. That's why schooling starts at the age of five. The Siorda are the only clan who have their ability from the beginning. But it's only a passive ability, so it's okay. Don't fret over it. It was mean of me to ask something like that.”

Zana hugs Sariel from the side. “I am sure that you'll get a great ability. Something like laser eyes!”

Sariel's eyes widen. “I don't want laser eyes!”

Zana tries again. “Duplication?”

“Noooooo!”

.