Metis Cykes

When Pearl talked Athena about the Kurain channeling technique, she didn't expect her to ask for a demonstration. The channeling of her own mother, none less. But Pearl didn't mind doing it if it was going to help someone.

And that's why she was at the Wright Anything Agency, accompanied by Athena, Prosecutor Blackquill and his sister, recently released from prison. The look in Athena's eyes was of curiosity, while the Blackquill siblings were looking at her with skepticism. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, she decided to just start the channeling.

Balderdash. That's what all that channeling nonsense was to Simon Blackquill. He only was there because he knew that Athena wasn't going to give up on convincing him in the case he refused. Pearl Fey didn't seem to be the type to invent such cruel lies, but those stories could easily be the fantasies of a kid. In any case, he didn't believe a word. That's why he was so taken aback when the girl in the purple robe transformed into a different person, who was, without a doubt, Metis Cykes.

The only differences with the Dr. Cykes he remembered were the clothes and the hairstyle, but the rest was exactly the same. That calm expression on her face, unreadable even for the people closest to her. Those eyes looking around, as if she was analyzing something, and she probably was. That person was definitely his mentor.

"Athena...Is that you?" Metis asked, apparently slightly confused. "You've grown a lot. And...Simon? You've changed a lot too. And..."

Aura hugged her before she could finish the sentence. Strange, since Aura wasn't a hugging person. And had he just heard her sob? He didn't remember ever seeing his sister crying.

"I love you, Metis." Aura said. Everybody remained silent for a moment after that.

"So I'm in the world of the living for a while." Metis finally said. "Is this what the channeling that girl mentioned is about?"

"Mom!" Athena shouted in a scolding tone. "Aren't you going to answer her!?"

"Did she ask any questions?"

"It's implicit! She just told you that she loves you! Do you love her, too!?"

"Of course. You're the best partner I could have asked for, Aura."

"That's all she is for you!? Just a co-worker?"

"No. She's my best friend."

"That's not what...!"

"That's just like you, Metis." Aura interrupted, with a wide smile on her face. "It's fine, princess. I'm not sure myself of what's exactly what I feel. I only know that my only wish is being with you all the time, Metis."

"Then I'm sorry Aura." Metis said. "I'm dead."

"That was really insensitive, mom!" Her mother's obliviousness towards Aura's feelings was starting to annoy Athena.

"When did you become so emotional, Athena?" Her mother asked. "When you were a kid, I even had to create Widget so he could express your emotions for you, because there wasn't any other way to know how you were actually feeling."

"You're one to talk."

"I guess you're right. Emotions were always confusing and mysterious for me. That's why I dedicated my life to study them. And now that I think about it...Where are your headphones?"

"I don't need them anymore!" Athena happily replied. "My hearing is perfectly fine now!"

"Then that's a success." That answer made Athena remember what she didn't like about her mother.

"That's all you care about? If your little experiment was a success? Not 'I'm glad that you're fine, Athena'?"

"Is not the same in this context?"

"No! Have you ever cared about me!?"

"Of course."

"Really!? Because you haven't even asked how's my life going."

"How's your life going?"

"I'm a lawyer now. Thanks for asking." Athena said sarcastically.

"Aren't you too young for that?"

"If that's all you have to say, I'll have you know that I studied very hard to become a lawyer at my age."

"If that's the case, I'm very glad that I have such a hard-working daughter. I'm really proud of you." Metis expression didn't change while she said that. Anyone else would have thought that she was just saying what Athena wanted to hear without really feeling it, but she could hear the overwhelming amount of joy in her mother's voice. That made tears start rolling down her cheeks.

"Y-you do really care." Athena said, sobbing. "T-then why I thought you didn't? I-I'm such a horrible daughter."

"That's not true, Athena." Her mother said. "I wasn't very nice to you when I forced you to use those headphones."

"In m-my memories, you looked like you didn't care about what I thought of y-you."

"That's probably somewhat true. It's not that I didn't care if you disliked me, but I could bear it. What I couldn't bear was seeing you suffering. That's why I had to help you no matter the cost, even if it meant that you hated me."

"But I didn't hate you!" Athena yelled. "I always loved you, mom. I'm sorry I never told you."

"I love you too, Athena." Her mom said, awkwardly pulling her into hug. "I'm sorry I didn't make it clear enough.

Aura was very relieved after getting off her chest what she should have told Metis many years ago, but seeing her hugging her daughter made her feel wrong. And she knew exactly why.

"Metis, There's something I need to tell you." She said. "I'm so sorry." She didn't remember the last time she had apologized. Had she ever even done it? She didn't know what, but Metis Cykes had something that turned her into a completely different person. "I accused Athena of murdering you."

"What?" Metis asked, confused.

"But she had a good reason!" The princess shouted. "They were going to execute Simon for it!"

"Why would they do that?"

"Because I confessed the crime." Simon said.

"Nothing of that makes any sense."

"I guess you deserve to know." Aura said. "We'll tell you the whole story."

"I see." Metis said after hearing the whole story about the UR-1 incident. "I'm sorry that my death caused so much suffering to all of you. I should have listened to you when you told me that having a katana in the laboratory was dangerous, Aura."

"I just said that because I thought that Athena could hurt herself while playing with the robots." Aura replied.

"Don't blame yourself, Cykes-sama." Simon said. "It was me who put you in danger when I asked you for help in that case."

"Don't worry, Simon. At least that psychological profile was helpful in the end."

"And for that I'm in debt with you."

"No. You've never owed me anything. You didn't need to cover for Athena for my sake. But thanks for doing it. I'm glad that someone was willing to protect her when I couldn't. And Aura, thank you for saving Simon. I know he's your brother, but he's also very important to me. So are you. And I'm really sorry that there was nobody for you all these years. But that's over. You're not alone anymore. Neither of you are. None of you needs me now. And that's good because I'm dead. So I'm glad that you don't need to suffer because of me for any longer."

When Pearl came back to her body after the channeling, she was going to ask how everything had gone, but when he noticed that Athena, Simon and Aura were in a group hug with herself, she knew that it wasn't necessary.


End file.
