Chapter 68: Mom!

Chapter 68: Mom!

Location: Magicon Empire; Axtendus Duchy; Axtul System; Prison Station

“Sara,” the woman before me breathes and a single tear runs down her left cheek. My thoughts grind to a stop. My eyes widen as well and I can just stare back at her some more.

She knows my name. She recognized the bracelet! She feels familiar. Who is she? Before I can think any further, the woman seems to break down and sits down on my bed. She starts sobbing. “Oh Sara… I'm… I'm so sorry!” Her sobs continue and I'm even more confused.

“Uhh…” That’s the only sound I can make right now, but the woman immediately looks back at me. She finally seems to take in my confusion and she suddenly looks slightly embarrassed. Why would an Archmage look embarrassed before me? Even more, why would an Archmage cry before me? And the familiar feeling… Could it be? My family? But still, she’s an Archmage. Were my parents more important than I thought?

Somehow my reaction sobered the woman a little and she asks. “Are you alright?” Then she shakes her head. “No, you’re clearly not… May I?”

I manage to speak this time. “Uhh, sure?” This is awkward. I’m still confused. Aren’t Archmages those all-powerful figures whose power everyone aspires to achieve? And now this woman is just sitting next to me crying. Somehow I feel like I’m missing something but I just don’t get it. Everything’s so crazy right now. I mean the alarm is still going strong, the woman is the cause but she just sits there next to me.

She lifts her hand and holds it close to my face. It starts glowing green and suddenly I feel magic entering my body. The pain fades! I don’t hurt anymore. I lift my uncuffed hand in disbelief and touch my face. The bruises are gone. “I'm… healed,” I whisper and the woman shows me her first smile.

“You are, dear,” she tells me warmly. Dear? Who is she, my grandma? No, that’s ridiculous. She doesn’t even look forty. Wait, Song Medical's longevity treatment! Could that be? Is she older than she looks? The thoughts crash in. Could that be it? The familiarity. The recognized bracelet. I have to know!

“Who are you?” I ask silently, not trusting my voice right now.

She stiffens, stands up, and starts to pace. “Shit, shit, shit. Of course, you wouldn’t recognize me. Those bastards. You were only two!”

I was only two… That was twenty years ago! The freighter. But what bastards? She knees down next to my bed. “I’m sorry, I should have told you earlier after just appearing in your room. I was just so shocked. I… We were searching for you for so long.”

She pauses a bit, clearly searching for the right words. I stare at her in anticipation. I’m pretty sure it’s confirmed that the woman is somehow part of my family.

“Screw it, I’m just saying it. My name is Jasmine Valterion.” Another pause and my eyes widen even more. The confirmation! “I’m your mother, Sara.”

WHAT??? How? The freighter. Was that fake? Was my whole childhood fake? I stare at her in shock. My mouth opens and closes a few times. Worry enters the woman’s gaze. “How?” I ask.

Now it’s her turn to look confused. But at least it gives me more time to sort my thoughts. “What do you mean with how?”

I take a deep breath and lean back in my bed. “My parents… they died to pirates on a freighter… at least that’s what I was told in the orphanage. How can you be here? And why did you leave me in that cruel nation if you survived? How can I even be sure that you are not lying?” Tears start running down my eyes. And Jasmine’s, yeah, I call her Jasmine for now. Jasmine's expression shifts from shock to anger and back to shock.

“They told you what? No, that’s all false. Your father and I… We were never part of a freighter crew.” She takes a deep breath. “Sara, you were kidnapped out of our house when you were two years old.”

I was kidnapped? Holy shit. Then the people from the freighter were my kidnappers, right? And I grieved for them…

“Sara, please say something.”

Jasmine's words shake me out of it. “Sorry, it’s just… It’s a lot.”

“Don’t be sorry. We’ve got all the time in the world now. I’m here and not going anywhere. Take your time. Here look at this.” A holoprojector at her temple comes alive and projects a picture showing a smiling woman with auburn hair and a grinning man with light red hair. The same shade as my own. They sit on a comfortable-looking sofa and in the middle, right between them sits a little girl with red hair as well and grins in the camera.

I immediately recognize the woman as Jasmine despite her different hair. She looks the same age, but there are no worry lines around her eyes. The man looks in his mid-thirties as well and reminds me a bit of Conor Valterion. Then I focus on the little girl. There are a few freckles and her green eyes shine in the light. What draws my eyes is the necklace. The same necklace that now functions as a bracelet and lies less than a meter away from me on the nightstand. I gasp. That’s me! And the man must be my dad!

Jasmine smiles softly and I can’t help but return her smile. I take a few deep breaths. And take another look at my situation. I found the Valterions! Well, they found me, but still. That’s the first goal I had already achieved. Even better, I found my parents who I was led to believe were dead all along. And they, or at least my mom are Very powerful. I somehow doubt that they are only part of a branch family as I believed before…

I open my mouth to say something, but suddenly the forcefield at the door disappears, and a squad of armed guards are about to enter the room. Jasmine’s, no Mom’s, I taste the word, it fits. Mom’s expression turns angry and she waves her hand. An opaque shield covers the entrance and she turns back to me, looking apologetic.

“Sorry about that… I guess I made them a bit angry with my sudden appearance? Guess we’ll have to leave soon and I have to smooth things over…”

I can’t help myself and laugh out loud. “Don’t worry,” I hesitate a bit. “Don’t worry, Mom. I can’t wait to leave this place. I expected a way warmer welcome to The Empire. I…Uhh, can I hug you?”

She chuckles while smiling broadly after I call her Mom. “Of course, you can come here.” She opens her arms widely and I get up, just to get stopped by my one-armed handcuff. Dang it. Mom looks at it, waves her hand, and the cuff snaps open. We hug in silence and share a nice moment. I’m hugging my mom for the first time I can remember after all! We release each other a while later, then she holds out her hand. “Let’s go.”

I hesitate. “Wait, my friends… They are imprisoned here with me!”

Mom thinks for a minute. “Well, I think it’s better if I get them out the correct way...”

“What do you mean? We’re awaiting a trial… They accused us of being spies.”

She chuckles. “Yeah, imagine that. They’ll see soon enough. What do you say, wanna have some fun at the expense of the people who brought you in here? I promise you, we won’t leave without your friends. Besides, the Sulfira is way more comfortable.”

Her smirk looks almost predatory. What is she planning and who is she if she is so confident? Well, I guess I’ll join her. Not that I could resist anyway… Well, maybe with Space Sense but why would my mother break my trust now? That would be completely dumb.

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“Okay, I come with you. But you better make it quick, I don’t want my friends in prison any longer than necessary.”

“Sure thing, Sara. Hold my hand and we’re outta here.”

I grab hold of her hand and she flicks her wrist, then catches my bracelet that floats toward her. A second later a Space magic spell already envelopes me. It’s so quick, that my Space Sense barely activates. In the blink of an eye, we’re already somewhere different. My jaw drops. We’re inside a starship bridge and it looks so similar to the Stargazer. If you take away the holograms or pieces of hard light, it’s almost like I’m standing right on my own bridge, even if it’s bigger.

Mom puts an arm on my shoulder. “Impressive, right? VHI builds the best ships in the galaxy.”

VHI? Ahh, Valterion Heavy Industries. “No, it’s not that. It’s just so similar to the Stargazer. I almost feel at home.”

She looks at me in confusion. “What?”

Before I can answer, a voice comes out of the speakers overhead. “Oh, did I forget to tell you that your daughter owns a VHI ship? Oops, my bad…” I can hear the smirk in the voice and I almost laugh out loud.

Mom groans, “Ugh, Sara, this is Miranda, my annoying AI. You’ll have to explain to me how you own a VHI ship though. Say hi to Sara, Miranda.”

“Hi Sara, nice to meet you again.”

Again? “Uh, hi? Nice to meet you too. Why do you say again?”

“Oh you dummy, I’ve been with Jasmine for almost 300 years now. Of course, I’ve met you before.”

Ehh, that’s insulting! But somehow I still laugh. Wait, 300 years?? Did I hear that right? Mom looks at me with a raised eyebrow. Right, the ship. “Uhh, it’s kind of a long story… Can we get my friends first? And I think, uh Dad, or maybe even the Duke or Duchess should hear it too if you know them?”

I wonder how close my parents are to them with Mom being an Archmage… I probably should have looked up the whole Valterion family before entering The Empire to get a better picture of just who I’m dealing with… But well, everyone was just so excited to finally enter The Empire that we completely forgot about it...

Somehow, I think I’m much closer to the main line than expected. Maybe Mom even is the Duchess? Nah, that would be too ridiculous, right? I mean I’m still assuming that she is an Archmage, she never told me. But she did use all three classes of magic, so it’s plausible… I probably should just ask her, but first my friends!

Miranda snorts and Mom looks a bit conflicted. What is this about? Finally, she nods. “Fine, but I hold you to it. We keep track of every sale of our ships and I want to know how you got yours. As for the Duke and Duchess… That won’t be a problem. I know them quite well.” Somehow she ends up grinning. That sounded ominous, were my thoughts not so absurd after all?

“Now onto your friends… Let me hail the station. You can take a seat. It’s going to be fun.” I follow her suggestion and shamelessly take the Captain’s chair right in the middle. Mom chuckles but doesn’t say anything against it and stands next to me.

Another flash of magic, and her hair changes into a dull brown. I raise my eyebrow at that but don’t get an answer as she is already calling the station. It takes a while, the station is still in lockdown mode even if we are already gone.

Finally, someone picks up. It’s a greying man with Asian features. He wears a short grey beard and his forehead has deep lines from frowning too much. “You!” He shouts, recognizing my grey prison clothes.

“Yes me,” Mom answers grinning, ignoring that the man probably meant me. “You can stop your alarms, I’ve already left as you can see…”

“You even dare to call after that! I've already called for reinforcements to arrest you. You’re going to be behind bars for a long time.”

A holographic file appears in midair, clearly for my benefit that I can read it too. The man is called Michael Chan and is the director of the prison station. Looks like Mom called the right guy. As Miranda is obviously watching everything, I call up a keyboard on the Captain’s console and type in that Lieutenant Larsson from the customs station was the one who arrested me and started all this mess because he didn’t listen.

Mom drops her smile and suddenly radiates a very seriousness. “No, Director Chan. You dared to imprison my daughter!” She snarls and the director flinches a bit but quickly recovers.

“I don’t care who is imprisoned here. They stay here till their sentence is served or they are proven innocent. You’re going to face a heavy sentence yourself for a prison break. You better turn yourself and your daughter in, and I put in a good word for you. Your daughter still has to go to her court hearing.”

I feel a bit bad for the guy now, he did nothing wrong after all. Mom must have read my message about Lieutenant Larsson, as her next words are softer. “Looks like I made an error, Director. You’re just doing your job. Let me just add the right person to the call, one moment please.”

“Thanks, Miranda,” I whisper and the words “You’re welcome” appear before me in mid-air.

A few seconds later, the call is suddenly a three-way call, and the video of Lieutenant Larsson appears next to the Director.

He looks around, watching the different video feeds. First, there is confusion when he sees the Director of the prison. He quickly dismisses Mom, as she looks rather unremarkable with her now brown hair. Then his gaze lands on me and I wave lazily. Understanding dawns on his face as I’m clearly not in prison anymore. “What is this?” He asks, rather annoyed.

“This, Lieutenant Larsson is me asking you why the hell you thought it was a good idea to send the young woman next to me to prison!” All her anger is now directed at the Lieutenant. She didn’t say I’m her daughter this time… What is she planning now?

The man swallows before answering. “This woman,” he points at me. I have to say the video call equipment is very accurate. “Was arrested for claiming to be of the Valterion family.”

The director blanches, his eyes going wide as saucers and his mouth drops open. Looks like he just realized something. Lieutenant Larsson is oblivious to all this and I have to suppress a chuckle. He continues to talk, getting more and more animated, and starts gesturing with his hands. “I suspected her being a spy and an interrogation confirmed my suspicions.”

What a liar! That wasn’t an interrogation. He just called me a spy and arrested me, this ass. I can’t wait for Mom to tear him a new one. The prison Director seems to have collected himself as well now and watches the Lieutenant with rapt attention. There might even be a small smirk hidden on his face. I guess now that he realized who he is talking to and that her anger isn’t directed at him anymore, it’s quite amusing for him. I think he doesn’t like Larsson that much as well.

“So I followed protocol and transferred her and her crew over to the prison station. Director Chan can confirm everything. It’s all in the files.”

“Well, she clearly isn’t a spy though…”

“Of course she is!” He shouts. “I convicted her myself. Who do you think you are to doubt my judgment? I’m gonna have you in court!”

I see the exact moment when Mom’s smirk comes back in full force. She must have waited for him to ask this question. Is that why she left the part with me being her daughter out?

“Well, nice of you to ask, Lieutenant,” she interrupts him in the middle of his rant. “Allow me to introduce myself.” Her hair returns to her strawberry-blonde color and the prison Director jumps out of his chair. His face gets even more white than earlier. “My name is Jasmine Valterion, Duchess of the Valterion Duchy. Now tell me Lieutenant Larsson, is my Daughter a spy?”

Duchess?? Holy shit, things just got even more ridiculous! Oh boy, that explains a lot. The Lieutenant gets white as a sheet and after I blink, he even faints. I can’t help myself and start chuckling. Serves him right!

The Director rejoins the conversation, his voice sounds brittle. “I’m sorry, Duchess for not recognizing you earlier. I’ll immediately call off the reinforcements and the rest of your daughter’s crew will be transferred to your ship immediately.”

Mom’s face softens and Miranda kicks the unconscious Lieutenant off the call. “Don’t worry, Director. I was actually just messing with you a bit for my daughter's sake. The Lieutenant though… That’s another question. There must be an investigation. I can’t believe this is the first time he pulled a stunt like this. Look that you clear this, Director. I don’t want this man running free for another minute. I’ll bring him to your office shortly.

“In the meantime, you can start transferring my daughter’s crew to my ship. See you soon, Director Chan.”

The call ends and mom turns back to me. “So what do you think? This was more fun than just breaking everyone out, right?”

I start laughing. “Oh, I’m glad Lieutenant Larsson gets what he deserves. Him fainting just made my day. I didn’t think the Duchess would be such a fun person, though.” I put a special emphasis on the word Duchess and raise an eyebrow.

She winces a bit, but when I can’t stop laughing, she joins in. “Sorry about that, I thought you knew… I’m pretty famous after all,” she says while dusting off her shoulders.

Her reaction is ridiculous, but reminds me again of my lack of research… Still, the woman, my mom looks not older than 35 but is apparently over 300 years old, and just showed me the personality of someone my age. Actually, I can’t wait to introduce her to the others. This is going to be fun!

“I guess you are… You really have to tell me more! What’s going to happen now? You said something about bringing Lieutenant Larsson to the Director? Can’t he do that by himself?”

“Oh, he can, but I’ve got one more thing to do… You see, technically, you don’t exist… And if some people suddenly start talking about a daughter of mine, that would raise unwanted questions. So I’ll bind them to secrecy until we can make a proper announcement of your existence. But that has to wait at least, until you’ve met your father.”

I don’t exist? What? Why? “Err, okay? Why did you say I don’t exist though?”

She sighs. “Politics… I’ll tell you later, I promise!”

Did my life just get even more complicated?