Chapter 70: I Want To Know The Truth

Mika sat between them, shoulders slouched, as Yelena and Charlotte ganged up on him with matching grins.

"You were the one who burnt the stew that night, weren’t you?" Yelena asked, narrowing her eyes playfully.

Charlotte gasped in exaggerated betrayal. "You totally were! I knew it! I knew it wasn’t me who ruined dinner!"

"What?! No, I wasn’t!" Mika barked, scandalized. "That was not me! I wasn’t even in the kitchen that day!"

"Oh, don’t play innocent." Yelena said with a warm smirk, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "You snuck in and added pepper to ’help’, and that pot turned into lava."

Charlotte immediately jumped in, hugging his other side. "You do have that sneaky habit of pretending to be helpful and then leaving us with the disaster, mister."

Mika’s eyes darted between them, cheeks slightly pink. "You’re both insane. I had nothing to do with that."

They both giggled.

"You’re so cute when you’re flustered." Charlotte teased, pulling his cheek.

"Like a little guilty puppy." Yelena added, snuggling closer.

He groaned but didn’t push them away. Instead, he just sighed and slumped into their affection like someone reluctantly accepting their fate.

This was how most of the night had gone.

The three of them laughed, teased, and reminisced through the strangest dinner imaginable, one made of exotic bird organs and bile-based juice, and yet, it somehow turned into one of the warmest nights they’d had in years.

Between bites and jabs, they kept slipping into memories. Childhood accidents. Embarrassing moments. Late-night adventures. All the little flashes of a time when they’d all lived under the same roof.

The longer they talked, the more nostalgic their eyes became, shining with a warm shimmer that made the food and the hours pass unnoticed.

Despite having long since cleared their plates, none of them moved toward the bedrooms.

For once, it wasn’t Yelena insisting they go to bed, it was quite the opposite. She wanted to hold on to this moment. Keep the conversation going. Keep him here. Keep laughing. Just a little longer.

She didn’t want to admit how much she’d missed the chaos.

But then, as they were all laughing, Mika suddenly paused.

His expression shifted, just slightly. It was quick, but noticeable. A soft twitch in the eyes, a subtle sway in his shoulders.

Both Charlotte and Yelena noticed it immediately.

"Mika?" Yelena asked.

He blinked, looked toward her with that familiar eye smile, and spoke with an almost sheepish tone.

"I think it’s about time I went to bed."

Yelena blinked. "Hm?"

"I’m feeling...really sleepy." He said with a light laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.

But the instant Yelena heard those words, a shadow passed over her face. Her smile faltered just slightly.

"Ah..." She nodded knowingly. "So it’s the fatigue again...from using your abilities today, right?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. If I don’t lie down soon, I’ll be out cold right here."

Charlotte, sitting up straighter, blinked in confusion. "Wait, what do you mean? What does that mean? Why are you tired because of...abilities?"

Before Mika could answer, Yelena gently raised her hand. "It’s a bit much for him to explain right now, sweetheart. Let him rest first."

She turned to Mika and said softly. "You can take the guest room at the end of the hall. It’s already set up for you."

Mika stood, giving them a faint smile. "Got it. Goodnight...both of you. I’ll see you in the morning or maybe in the kitchen later in the night if some of us get hungry for a late night snack."

Watching him turn to leave, Charlotte sat there, stunned. She couldn’t believe it. The night was going so perfectly, and suddenly it just...ended?

And more than that, her mother was just letting him go?

She turned sharply toward Yelena, confusion blooming on her face.

"Mama." She whispered. " what was that about? Why’d you let him go so quickly?"

Yelena blinked and looked at her daughter calmly.

"I thought for sure you’d keep him here." Charlotte continued. "Even if he wanted to go to the toilet, I thought you’d tell him to hold it in just to keep talking with him longer!"

Yelena let out a breath, glancing toward the hallway where Mika had vanished. Her gaze softened.

"Well, I didn’t want to let him go either." She admitted. "But...I had to. Right now, sleep is more important for him than any of us staying up chatting."

Charlotte’s brows knit. "Because of his abilities?"

Yelena nodded slowly, her fingers lightly tapping against her teacup. "Mika...gets tired whenever he uses his powers. You’ve seen it before, right?"

"Yeah, but..." Charlotte’s voice grew quieter. "I never knew why. I mean, no one ever told me. When we were little, and I’d ask, everyone always brushed it off. I figured it wasn’t important. I just...liked being with him."

She looked down at her hands. Then back up, eyes sharp now with a firm resolve.

"But now I want to know. All of it. His abilities. How they affect him. Why he avoids using them. Everything."

Yelena sat in silence for a moment after Charlotte’s demand. Her gaze slowly drifted up toward her daughter, calm yet heavy, her expression unreadable, like a still lake hiding sharp rocks beneath.

Her eyes held that distant, pensive glint Charlotte had only seen when something weighed heavily on her mind. And as that quiet gaze settled on her, Charlotte felt the corners of her chest tighten.

She knew this look. It was the same one her mother wore every time someone brought up Mika’s abilities.

For as long as she could remember, that topic had been practically forbidden.

Whenever Charlotte or one of her sisters asked about Mika’s strengths, his exhaustion, or why he always seemed to hesitate before using his powers, Yelena would shut it down. Not with anger, but with finality.

A quiet dismissal. "You don’t need to know." "Maybe later." "Let’s not talk about that hear." And the subject would disappear like smoke, leaving behind nothing but confused glances between her sisters and a frustrated emptiness in Charlotte’s chest.

So now, sitting at the table, with her heart laid bare and her voice trembling with something close to desperation, Charlotte fully expected to be turned away again. Rejected. Denied.

And that thought, being denied again, hurt more than she expected.

But to her surprise...Yelena didn’t reject her. She didn’t dismiss her. She didn’t even look away.

Instead, with a soft exhale, Yelena’s features shifted, her lips thinned and her brow gently furrowed, as if making peace with something long buried. Her voice, when it came, was quiet and thoughtful.

"You see, Charlotte, the reason we never told you...or your sisters." She said, lifting her hand and brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "...was ecause you were all little kids back then"

Charlotte blinked. "Kids...?"

"Yes, you were all children and because of that we couldn’t tell such a severe matter to you all." Yelena’s voice was patient, but firm. "One that, if exposed, could lead to things much worse than death for him."

Charlotte’s lips parted slightly, confusion clouding her face.

"But...why? Why would knowing his abilities be dangerous?"

"Because it’s not a simple matter of strength, or technique, or blessings." Yelena murmured. "It’s about what he is. And what happens to the world...when someone like him starts using that power openly."

"It’s not something children should’ve known. Not back then. Not when you were still growing and prone to chatter. It could’ve slipped. One whisper to the wrong person, even by accident, could’ve been catastrophic."

Charlotte’s eyes widened. "You’re saying...even back then, Mika’s powers were considered a...a high-level threat?"

Yelena gave a small, almost regretful smile.

"Even the five of us, those who fought to save the world and stood against otherworldly beings, we treated it as something that should never, ever, be brought to light. It was the one secret we never spoke aloud."

"...Not even to each other unless necessary."

Charlotte’s throat tightened as she leaned forward. "Then...why now?"

For the first time since the conversation began, Yelena smiled warmly. She reached out and patted her daughter’s head, her fingers threading through her hair in a way that felt deeply maternal, full of love and pride.

"Because you’ve grown, my adorable little fox. You’re not the same girl who needed to be protected from dangerous truths. You’ve grown into a capable young woman. A proper adult. And with adulthood comes responsibility." Her eyes softened. "I believe it’s time you knew. And that Mika would want you to know too."

Charlotte’s eyes lit up with hope, but the warmth was short-lived.

Yelena’s hand slipped away, her face growing stern once more. Her gaze sharpened, lips tightening into a firm line.

"But this comes with a condition."

Charlotte straightened in her seat, while Yelena’s voice dropped an octave, suddenly colder.

"If you are to learn this...then from this moment forward, this secret never leaves your mouth. Not to your sisters. Not to your friends. Not even to Mika, unless he speaks of it first. If anyone, anyone, were to learn of it...it could detrimental. And not for the better."

Charlotte nodded, swallowing hard. "Yes, Mama. I promise. My lips are sealed. Even if...even if my life was on the line...I won’t tell anyone. I swear it."

Yelena paused. Her eyes narrowed slightly as if studying her daughter’s resolve.

Then, with a soft exhale and a wry smile, she stepped back. "Of course. When it comes to Mika, everything is on the line for you, isn’t it?"

Charlotte’s cheeks turned pink, but she didn’t deny it.

Yelena shook her head, chuckling quietly. "Stupid of me to even think you of all people would reveal Mika’s secret."

Then, with a graceful flick of her wrist, she waved her hand through the air.

In the next instant, several swords burst forth from a small, glowing portal behind her. Sleek and ethereal, they spiraled upward with eerie precision, first a few, then dozens, then hundreds.

The blades curved through the air like silent dancers, forming lines, then walls, then a complete enclosure around the dining table. In seconds, they had created a spiraling dome of interlocking blades, enclosing the three of them inside a shell of glinting steel.

Then, more swords flickered out from the portal, floating above them in mid-air. They hovered for a moment, then began to tremble, lightly at first, then with increasing intensity. A low, humming frequency began to emanate from them, like distant thunder caught in a glass jar.

Charlotte sat stiff, eyes wide. "What is this? Why are we being locked in? What are those swords vibrating?"

"Well, this matter is...delicate, you see." Yelena turned to her calmly, her voice lowered. "And highly secretive. No one should overhear it, not even by accident."

She tapped one of the hovering swirls gently with her knuckle.

"The swords form a shell that blocks any lip-reading. And the vibrating swords? They’re tuned to a specific frequency, one that distorts sound completely. Even if someone had their ear pressed to this shell, they wouldn’t hear a thing."

Charlotte swallowed hard. The pressure in her chest tightened. The flickering steel, the hum, the closed-off space, it all suddenly felt heavy.

She glanced at Yelena again, the air between them stilling. "You’re going this far...just to keep this secret, Mama?" She whispered.

Yelena met her eyes with a grave, unreadable expression.

And that was enough to make Charlotte’s blood chill. Whatever this was, whatever Yelena was about to say, it wasn’t just serious.

It was something that could never, ever be allowed to leave this blade-bound dome...