A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

At first, she didn't move. Her eyes were unfocused as they wandered around the ceiling aimlessly. Yet, there was a clear struggle within them. As if she was fighting desperately to focus herself, but found it nearly impossible to do so.

"Her soul is still weak,"

Elora whispered softly in his mind.

"It's only barely strong enough now for her to wake up, but she'll still feel a certain level of disconnect between herself and her body for a while. She's probably confused, so give her a little time to adapt."

Finally, her eyes found some focus, and she began to groan weakly. At the same time, her body began to tense as she became alert. "W— Where…?" she groaned weakly as she tried to sit up. Finally, she noticed the large group of people around her, most of whom were staring at her with various degrees of anxiety, excitement, and trepidation.

Instantly, she became even more alert.

Since she'd been in her werewolf form when she fell into the coma, she still was now. She quickly tried to brandish her claws and tense her muscles more, but, to her, it felt like she was trying to control her body while it was submerged in water, and her brain was wrapped in cotton.

"W— Who…!" she panted with a hint of panic as her eyes were stuck in a cycle of losing and gaining focus.

"Quickly, calm her down, and send everyone else out!"

Elora muttered in Erik's mind.

"We probably shouldn't have all been in here at the same time…"

she finished wryly, realizing they'd all been far too excited by gathering here in such a large group.

Quickly, Erik told everyone to wait outside for a moment through his various bonds with them. Even Elora quickly left with them, until it was only Erik and Runa left in the room.

Runa quickly calmed down a little, but her eyes were now trained on Erik. She frowned, but it quickly became obvious she was failing to get a clear image of him. She continued to pant and panic, but there was a spark of recognition there as well.

With a complicated expression, Erik sat down next to her. It was hard to see his mother like this, but he knew it was only temporary, and he refused to let his image of her be tainted by her current weakness.

"Hey, Mom…" he whispered hoarsely as he put a hand on her knee. "Long time no see…" Considering everything that happened in Djibouti, he refused to consider that as a real meeting.

As soon as his voice fell into her ears, it was as if lightning struck. She stopped breathing, stopped trembling, stopped trying to sit up fruitlessly, now merely leaning on her elbows. At the same time, as if a switch was flipped, her body slowly began to groan and crack as it returned to human form.

Fortunately, Erik's wives previously had the presence of mind to put her in some real clothes.

"S— Silvy….?" she whispered hesitantly, as if unwilling to believe her own ears. Afraid it was all a lie.

Erik's face twitched slightly when he heard the way she addressed him. In his childhood, many people called him silver, due to his hair, but his mother always took it one step further.

Unsurprisingly, he always hated the overly feminine nickname, but right now, nothing sounded sweeter to his ears. Still, he couldn't help but rejoice that the others weren't there to hear it.

"Yeah, Mom… It's me," he sighed contentedly, a relieved smile playing on his lips. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, even as he couldn't remember the last time he cried.

Runa began to struggle again. Her face twisted in anxiety as she tried to lift her body up further again, before sagging back and leaning on one elbow, while trying to reach towards him with her other hand.

"P— Please, Silvy…! I— I can't…!" she panted desperately, her voice cracking, and her eyes wandering even as they tried to focus on Erik.

Naturally, Erik didn't waste a breath, but rather than simply take her arm, he leaned over and hugged her, even lying down next to her. "It's alright, Mom… I'm here. You're alright… we both are."

Runa began to tremble as tears welled up in her eyes. Slowly, hesitantly, she wrapped her own arms around her son and buried her face in his shoulder. Despite her weakness, she found a surprising amount of strength now, as Erik felt his mother's arms squeeze around him.

Or, perhaps, it simply felt that way to him.

Slowly, Runa started to sob. Her eyes still couldn't focus well, but everything else told her this was the son she'd lost for so many years.

No words were spoken from that point.

It still wasn't clear if Runa actually realized this was happening, or simply assumed it was some kind of dream—according to Elora, the latter was very likely.

But it didn't matter. Reality could come later. For now, mother and son simply stayed in each other's arms. Runa continued sobbing softly, tears trickling down Erik's shoulder, until she released a shuddering breath and fell asleep once again.

In the end, she was still far too weak to stay awake for long. But that was fine. Erik didn't care, as he simply stayed in his current position, slowly caressing his mother's grey hair.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside her room, a small crowd had gathered. Erik's family and servants were standing in front of the door, with Elora at their head. In front of them was the Bastet-Seti family, with Ankhur at their head.

After Elora's treatment, Ankhur had transformed back into a tall man with brimming muscles and healthy skin, the weeks of weakness and suffering he'd gone through reduced to a distant memory.

He wore traditional Egyptian clothing, much like Naeku and the rest of their family did, but they were all in there werepanther forms, as tradition demanded. Unfortunately, despite his returned strength, one of his outfit's sleaves still dangled uselessly by his side…

His third rank pressure basically seeped out of him, almost uncontrollable due to his anxiety. Yet, Elora was unimpressed, and easily countered it. She may not be able to fight, but her pressure and aura were no different from any other third ranker.

In fact, Ankhur felt that she was stronger than him, which helped to temper his impatience.

But despite his feelings, he didn't say anything. Setting aside that he didn't want a conflict with Elora, he knew he had no rights here, despite the fact it was his home. There was nothing between him and Runa, after all. At best he was a friend, while Erik and most of these women were family.

But realizing that did not calm down the beating of his heart—something that even he could hardly believe.

He liked Runa, sure, but he didn't believe he'd be so nervous to see her again after believing her to have died.

Finally, the hallway's tension was relieved when the door opened again, and Erik stepped out calmly.