[Chapter Size: 2300 Words.]
Third Person POV
Temeria.
...
...
Yen couldn't stop crying when she hugged Ciri early that morning, and Ciri hugged her back.
However, the very next moment, Yennefer was immediately scolded by Ciri. She had no choice but to lower her head and apologize.
Ciri was still upset with her for distancing herself from everyone all those years, especially for leaving Aren alone, with practically no support other than the temple staff and Geralt, who visited him every six months.
At that point, Yennefer knew she was truly at fault.
After some shouting and tears, Ciri simply gave Madara a good morning kiss and went back to talking with Geralt. She didn't ask anything about what had happened in the south. She had absolute confidence that Madara would handle everything without difficulty. That would be a conversation for later.
For now, it was simply their reunion after so many years.
Aren woke up some time later and walked over to Madara, clinging to his legs while raising his little arms, asking to be picked up.
"Well... it looks like since I held him all night, now he's decided to switch sides," Ciri commented with a soft laugh, watching the scene with a gentle smile.
Madara simply picked him up, and the boy broke into a huge smile. "Good morning, Dad."
Madara was pleased. He couldn't help but notice that, compared to the first time they had met again after his return, Aren was much more open. It almost felt as though they had never spent years apart.
"I missed you," he said shyly. "Mom said you were in the south. She came back alone... Did you fight a lot of bad people?" the boy asked.
Madara had practically been a tyrant in Nilfgaard the previous night. At that moment, he was probably the most hated person in the entire empire.
Even so, he simply nodded. "Yes. I dealt with the enemies of our family and our lands. Soon, we'll have a home."
Ciri didn't stop watching him for even a moment, already observing the interaction. There were many questions she intended to ask later, now that Madara had resolved the situation in Nilfgaard without her knowing all the details. Even so, she could easily discover everything by observing the flow of time through her own powers.
In any case, Madara turned his attention back to his son. Before Aren could understand what was happening, he felt his body leave his father's arms.
He began to float. "What's happening?" he asked, completely surprised.
Madara merely kept the palm of his hand raised, using one of the Rinnegan's Paths to keep him suspended in the air.
The boy looked at his father and then noticed something else. "Dad... your eyes changed. Can you use magic too?" he asked, still trying to understand his parents' powers. He knew his mother had told him that Madara didn't use magic.
"It's not magic," Madara replied. "These are our ocular abilities. You'll awaken them someday as well."
"Really?" The boy became even more excited, having fun as he floated around the room.
"It still looks like magic..." Yennefer commented, unable to hide her curiosity. Her eyes remained fixed on Madara's new dōjutsu. "Your eyes changed again..." she murmured.
"This is the final evolution of my eyes. I awakened it after unlocking all of my abilities."
The Rinnegan was the last thing he managed to unlock. When they left that world, the system was close to ninety percent. It was at that exact moment, upon reaching 90%, that he was finally able to form a contract with the Nine-Tailed Fox.
This particular contract was strange to Madara. Kurama remained in a separate space. Curiously, he could summon her in any world he was in, as though she came from another dimension permanently connected to him.
That was why, when the fox the size of a mountain disappeared the previous night, she did not appear anywhere on the continent.
In any case, the boy began to laugh as Madara guided his movements using the Rinnegan's gravitational and telekinetic powers.
It wasn't as though a shinobi were a mage. Even so, Madara could simply pull an object into his hand without making any movement. He could also repel everything around him with absurd force, just as Nagato had done when he pulled a nail into his hand and hurled it at Kakashi, believing he had killed him. On that occasion, Kakashi escaped by using Kamui, although he ended up dying shortly afterward from chakra exhaustion.
Compared to the rest of his abilities, however, that was nothing. After all, he was also capable of summoning meteors from the sky.
Madara let his son fly around, playing with him for a while longer, until Hilda brought breakfast. Everyone sat down at the table while continuing their conversation.
"We'll have a lot to do. First, we'll meet with the Northern organization," Madara said, becoming serious again.
Ciri and Madara exchanged a glance. Now that everything was over, everyone had finally been reunited. Their next objective was Cintra...
"Dear, can we visit everyone first? Let's go to Skellige and Kaer Morhen?" Ciri asked immediately. "I want to see Bran, he's bedridden, Grandpa Mousesack too, and Vesemir is in Kaedwen as well!" Ciri practically pleaded.
Madara looked at her for a few seconds before nodding. "All right."
The reconstruction of Cintra could wait one more day. "Then we'll go to Skellige first."
Madara ruffled his son's hair before setting him back down in his chair. The boy grabbed his spoon and began his first meal of the day. His diet had changed quite a bit ever since Madara had started preparing healthier meals for him, although Aren practically never got sick.
Nenneke also joined the group and spoke briefly with everyone. When they finished eating, Madara, his wife, his son, Yennefer, and Geralt all left together. Although this was also a reunion for the four of them, there was no longer any reason for them to remain apart.
They appeared in one corner of the village, where Madara had still managed to maintain a few Hiraishin seals even after three years.
"Teleport us to the front of the castle," Madara asked Ciri.
Everyone was still connected. A greenish glow enveloped the group, and in the next instant, they appeared in front of the castle, startling the guards and several people who were leaving the place in wagons after delivering their goods.
Madara couldn't help but smile as he looked at Geralt. The witcher had certainly enjoyed Ciri's teleportation far more than Yennefer's. Her spatial ability was much gentler than that of the sorceresses and didn't cause the slightest hint of nausea. Although Hiraishin was even smoother.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" one of the guards asked, looking at the group nervously. They had not been informed that any witchers would be appearing at that moment.
"Wait." A voice interrupted the tension.
The commotion drew the attention of several people inspecting the goods at the castle entrance. A large man stepped forward and soon stood before them.
It was Crach. "Geralt... Yennefer..." Then his gaze shifted to Madara, Ciri, and finally the child Madara was carrying in his arms. "You... Weren't you missing?"
Madara merely gave a faint smile. "We returned a little over a week ago." There was a slight hint of guilt in his voice. After all, they had been to Skellige and then left for the Continent again without even visiting them after leaving the other world...
Crach broke into a broad smile and first approached Ciri, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Look at you... You've grown!" Then he looked at the boy in her arms.
"And this... Is it what I think it is?" His eyes widened in surprise.
Aren looked at him curiously, and Ciri nodded.
"Aren. Three years old. Our son, our heir."
The man burst into laughter. "Hello there, boy! If you've inherited the blood of these two, then you're no ordinary child!"
Aren merely became embarrassed, and Crach continued.
"I've seen your father riding a real dragon, taking your mother on their honeymoon! I think you were conceived on that trip," he said, laughing even harder.
"Really?" Aren murmured, completely astonished.
"Yes, yes. But I don't think this is the time for that." He turned his attention back to Madara. "You came to see Bran, right? He'll be very happy to receive you. Mousesack will be too."
Crach greeted Geralt and Yennefer before embracing Madara once again. "You still need to put on a little more muscle." He pointed at Madara's chest while laughing.
He didn't have the excessively bulky physique of the warriors of Skellige, who looked like true bears. Madara was more athletic. He had no fat, but he wasn't skinny either. His body was well-defined and muscular, though without exaggeration.
After all, he was a shinobi. Besides, Ciri would certainly complain if he had a different physique.
Amid the confusion of some guards and the surprise of others, who still remembered Madara from years ago, the group entered the castle. Crach continued leading everyone directly to Bran's chambers.
"Summon Mousesack immediately. Tell him to come to Bran's room. It's important."
He ordered several guards, who nodded and hurried off.
Shortly afterward, the queen approached, surprised by all the commotion.
"Crach..." She stopped mid-sentence the moment she saw who was behind him. "You... You've returned after all this time..." A glimmer appeared in her ever-calculating eyes. Soon, those eyes filled with panic and surprise.
"It seems some people never change..." Ciri murmured. That woman certainly still irritated her. There had been a time when she had the audacity to suggest to Ciri that she should marry her son instead of Madara, during the banquet celebrating the two of their marriage.
They had been only words, but Ciri had been annoyed and mocked her son. All because she wanted her son to have the chance to inherit not only Skellige but also Cintra. As if that would ever happen.
Soon, her eyes turned back to Crach. "Crach... I hope you still remember our conversation." she said in a harsh tone, trying to maintain some composure, but Ciri, Madara, and Geralt could hear her heartbeat quicken from the moment she saw them as she looked at Crach, whose expression immediately hardened.
"The throne of Skellige is inherited through merit. I've already told you that." he replied firmly, while everyone watched the argument in silence.
The woman merely stared at him for a few seconds. Then she turned her back, but before leaving, she cast one last glance at Madara and Ciri without greeting either of them. She seemed afraid of something.
"What happened here?" Geralt asked as he approached Crach.
"It seems she wants her son to inherit Bran's position when he dies. Isn't that it?" Madara asked.
Crach looked at him in surprise. Even so, it really was quite obvious.
"Yes." He let out a long sigh.
"But the Kingdom of Skellige has never worked that way. After all, we choose our king. It doesn't matter who his father is. The one who proves himself the worthiest, the greatest warrior, and the most capable leader will rule." Crach said.
Well, it was obvious that Birna had always been greedy and feared that, with Bran's death, she would lose all the influence she possessed.
"Many are rooting for my son," Crach added with a faint smile. "But Bran's son is already at a good age to compete as well. He could very well defeat mine."
Madara remained thoughtful. Although the giant was no longer causing trouble on the islands, for Crach's son to go and fight against him...
The giant still belonged to him and was bound by a summoning contract. Madara had also changed its mindset when he used the Sharingan on it years ago. During those three years, it hadn't caused any trouble like it had in the original story.
But if Hjalmar wanted to face it, Madara wouldn't mind helping him. As long as Hjalmar didn't kill the giant, Madara could simply summon it right there for him to fight.
In any case, Crach continued explaining Skellige's political situation as they walked with the guards toward Bran's chambers.
When they entered, they found the old king lying in bed with his eyes closed.
"Do you think he's sleeping? Aren't we bothering him?" Ciri murmured worriedly while holding Aren.
"It's all right," Crach replied with a laugh. "Even if he were asleep, he'd kill me if he found out I didn't wake him after you showed up."
He walked over to the bed and began shaking Bran's shoulder. "Old man... Wake up!" Crach said.
"What are you doing?" Bran grumbled before starting to cough.
A moment later, however, his eyes turned toward the people gathered around the bed. The instant he recognized the group, his eyes widened.
"By the beautiful curves of the goddess Freya... Am I dreaming, or am I seeing ghosts I haven't seen in years?"
"We're not ghosts," Ciri replied immediately, complaining while wearing a smile.
Bran looked at her for a few seconds. Then he looked at the child and back at her again.
"Did you have another child... or is it the same one?" he asked.
"It's him, Bran." Ciri rolled her eyes. "We were in other worlds. We couldn't have a child back then. But this is Aren Uchiha," Ciri replied with a smile.
Bran nodded slowly before turning his attention to Madara. "So it's really been all this time... And now you've returned from other... worlds?" he said, somewhat skeptical of the idea, but let out a small laugh.
He soon stopped and continued. "That sounds like quite an interesting story." His smile grew even wider. "I hope to hear the whole thing."
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