Selphira looked at him for a long moment.

Then released a laugh.

Genuine... Almost hysterical.

The sound was unexpected to Ren. Even inappropriate given the gravity of the subject, but for Selphira somehow perfect for the absurdity of the situation.

"Of course you did… Of course." She shook her head, still laughing. "Sirius is going to die when he finds out I didn't keep our promise and a student reached where he did using just a Bronze mantis..."

The laughter contained layers.

Amusement at Ren's audacity.

Respect for his capability.

Perhaps a slight concern about what it meant for his future when as a student he could accomplish what should be impossible so often.

She calmed, but her amusement didn't completely leave her eyes.

"And what did you see there?"

Ren explained his deductions…

♢♢♢♢

Afterwards, something in Selphira's expression softened.

"You cross-referenced… Between what Luna said and what you saw."

She showed her recognition of the factual and unbiased methodology by opening her eyes slightly bigger.

"Yes."

"And?"

"And I believe Sirius lied to her…. Not completely. But he surely omitted many important things." Ren looked at her directly. "That's why I'm here, I need to know what happened exactly if I want to fix the whole thing."

The full truth.

Not the filtered version given to the grieving daughter. Not a sanitized story designed to protect children from themselves, but the actual events with all their horror intact.

Selphira studied his face.

Looking for evidence of readiness, perhaps. Proof he could handle what she was about to reveal without doing something catastrophically stupid.

"You know what surprises me most?" she said finally. "It's not that you went to the cave, nor that you found Sirius or even that Luna confided her story to you."

She stepped closer.

"It's that you're here, so calm and controlled. Asking reasonable questions."

Her gaze intensified.

"Instead of having transformed into that black monster that appears when you decide something is unjust and needs to be 'fixed' immediately..."

The reference to the time he attacked her and Julius was obvious. To the form he took when rage overwhelmed his reason.

If it was possible that a strong sense of justice became a similar weapon that destroyed obstacles without considering consequences…

Ren looked away...

The acknowledgment was silent. Admission that she'd identified his weakness. His tendency was indeed toward an overwhelming response when confronted with injustice…

But that was before.

"It won't happen again, I'll keep full control."

"Good. Sirius kinda broke a promise too… So I guess I'll tell you what I know about that door..."

♢♢♢♢

BACK TO THE PRESENT

"And what makes you think I know the whole truth?"

"You must know what happened after that door opened, at least..."

"You really won't become...?"

"Stupid?" Ren offered dryly.

"Unstoppable," Selphira corrected. "But yes, also a bit stupid."

The distinction mattered.

"I expected that after learning about Luna, about her uncles, about the blackmail..." she shook her head, "I expected that because you're at that age you'd already be planning some dramatic attack to 'rescue her'..."

The expectation was reasonable given his history. A pattern of his behavior that showed he would mostly respond to injustice with a full show of overwhelming force rather than some patient strategy.

"But here you are, asking questions and being patient."

"Well, as I said, I can already control it and..."

Ren considered lying. Saying something noble about maturity or growth or lessons learned.

But Selphira was going to tell him some secret saved from Sirius, that Sirius, so she deserved his honesty too.

"No, honestly I'm not 100% sure, but I'll try as hard as possible... Because if I act like an idiot, I ruin everything for Luna. And she matters more than my need to feel good doing something 'just'."

Simple and direct… Truth.

Honesty that stripped away pretense and revealed the actual motivations underneath.

Selphira smiled.

Approval for growth demonstrated through words that showed real understanding of stakes.

"Good. Then maybe you're ready to hear the rest." Selphira sighed, indicating he should sit.

She moved to her desk.

"Sirius told me everything before leaving. The complete truth, in case something happened to him and Luna needed to know."

"He never told Luna the full details because..." Selphira sighed, her expression showing the weight of secrets kept for protection rather than malice. "Because he knew exactly what would happen. Luna would try to go down to those ruins herself. She'd search for the statues. She'd obsess over finding a way to recover her mother completely."

"And those ruins are dangerous in ways she still can't handle."

Luna was strong, talented, exceptional for her age, but the ruins predated modern understanding of power. They operated on principles that could kill even experienced Gold-rank tamers if approached carelessly.

"So he gave her an edited version. Enough for her to understand why the heart is important, but not so much that she'd attempt something suicidal."

Ren nodded slowly, the pieces falling into place with everything he'd observed. Luna's incomplete knowledge made sense now, not as deliberate cruelty but as desperate protection from a father who'd already lost too much.

"And what did he omit for her?"

Selphira looked at him.

"Almost everything... including what really happened in the tenth chamber… I think it's even slightly different from what he told me..."

She paused, choosing her words carefully.

"What I'm about to tell you," she began, voice taking on the quality of someone revealing carefully guarded secrets, "is not just that knowledge either... And some of it comes from piecing together more fragments. From old conversations with Sirius when he was willing to talk… And from an investigation I had already conducted. Sirius didn't give me the "complete truth" in the end either."

She paused, making sure Ren understood.

"So yes," she continued, meeting his eyes. "I know if that door opened, I know what was behind it and I know what really happened in those tunnels."

Ren leaned forward, every sense focused.

This was it. The truth Luna had never been told. The reality beneath Sirius's careful omissions.

"Tell me," he said simply.

And Selphira began.

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