Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 737 - Taming the Fifth Year - Stars of the Past - Half Truths

They continued dancing for 5 days.

The music swelled. Their movements perfectly synchronized in ways that required trust and connection.

And Luna felt something shift inside her.

Not breaking. Not shattering.

Just... settling.

Like pieces that had been scattered finally finding their proper places. Like chaos organizing into something that made sense.

♢♢♢♢

PRESENT - FIFTH DAY OF PRACTICE

Luna and Ren danced in silence.

Theyʼd been like this for almost an hour. Moving to the musicʼs rhythm while Luna spoke in whispers.

Telling.

Unloading.

Still sharing pieces of the story Sirius had told her bit by bit as she grew.

Each fragment coming with old pain. With weight and a careful delivery that suggested sheʼd rehearsed these words in her mind countless times but never spoken them aloud.

Ren still didnʼt interrupt. Just listened. Nodded when appropriate and squeezed her hand when he felt Luna needed silent support.

”...The corrupt beasts arrived in waves and then the trap door activated, trapping Mother and Aunt. Father and Uncle both took the artifacts and left that secret tunnel whose door they couldnʼt open and that for some reason my father believed I could open when I came of age,” Luna murmured, her voice loaded with the memoryʼs weight. ”Dad told me the mutants invaded the tunnel at the worst moment and despite his efforts, he couldnʼt save my mother...”

She stopped, swallowing hard.

The pain visible despite years of practice hiding emotion. Despite all her training in maintaining composure.

”My mother couldnʼt return with me that night of the attack.”

Ren processed the words carefully, but his mind worked.

Something didnʼt fit.

Luna wasnʼt lying… That was obvious for him. Every word she said was truth according to her mana. This was what she knew.

What she believed had happened based on information given to her by someone she trusted.

But there were... gaps. Too many vague details. Too many things that didnʼt make complete sense.

Sirius had told her an edited version, Ren realized again. Enough for her to understand most of it… But not everything.

The story had been missing many parts of the true story told before.

Parts Ren knew from his own investigation. From what heʼd seen in Siriusʼs cave and from what Selphira had revealed in fragments.

Luna didnʼt know anything about the statues. Had never seen them.

Never witnessed the crystallization results. Never understood that her mother may still be trapped in a crystal somewhere beneath the stone.

About the crystallized heart she only knew by word. Sirius had spoken of its existence as a vague result of the ”trap door,” but Luna had never seen it in person either.

Had never held it.

Never touched the last physical remnant of the woman whoʼd loved her with embarrassing intensity.

”You really never saw the heart?” he asked softly when Luna finished. ”In person?”

Luna shook her head. ”Only by word. Dad explained it but told me that removing it from its pedestal deactivates the barrier and could invite using it and spending it.”

The explanation made sense on surface level. Protecting Luna from temptation. From the urge to retrieve something precious at the cost of its preservation.

”But he didnʼt show it to me before leaving. And my uncles...” her expression darkened, anger breaking through careful neutrality, ”obviously donʼt let me see it either.”

Everything was secondhand knowledge. Story told with embellishments by a shattered father to a small daughter.

And there was so much missing.

So much Sirius had clearly omitted.

Details that would have painted a completely different picture. That would have revealed depths of tragedy Luna couldnʼt imagine because sheʼd never been given the full truth.

ʼBecause he didnʼt want Luna obsessing over dangerous ruins,ʼ Ren thought, remembering what heʼd seen and heard yesterday and the days before. ʼDidnʼt want her attempting to go down.ʼ

Protection through ignorance. Keeping her safe by keeping her uninformed. The kind of well-meaning deception parents told themselves was for their childrenʼs good.

But how did Ren know so much about the statues and truth then? If Selphira was involved, how had he convinced her?

”Thank you,” Ren finally whispered when Luna finished, pulling himself from the analysis back to the moment. ”For trusting me enough to tell me this.”

Luna looked at him, her eyes showing vulnerability she rarely let visible.

The mask cracking more each day. Allowing him to see the girl underneath who was drowning in obligations and impossible choices.

”I needed... I needed someone to know. For someone to understand why this matters so much.”

”I understand,” Ren promised. ”And Iʼll help you. Like I said… When youʼre ready.”

The music ended. Practice hour had finished.

But neither released immediately.

They stayed there, in the center of the nearly empty hall, holding hands as if letting go meant losing something precious.

Finally, Luna retreated blushing into the shadows after a while.

”Tomorrow,” she said simply.

”Tomorrow,” Ren agreed.

And he felt her leave, her shadow wolf dragging her away through spaces between light where she could hide from scrutiny and process everything sheʼd shared.

When he was certain sheʼd gone, Ren turned.

Selphira was standing at the entrance, watching him with that impossible-to-read expression.

”You didnʼt tell her,” she said without preamble. ”Good. Iʼll tell you the rest...”

SELPHIRAʼS TEMPORARY OFFICE

Selphiraʼs office in the academy was elegant but functional. Books filling every wall. Ancient artifacts decorating shelves. The type of space belonging to someone whoʼd lived long and learned more.

Ren sat when indicated.

Selphira studied him for a long moment before speaking.

Like she was making decisions about what to reveal based on what she saw in his expression and posture.

”Are you sure you want to know the ending, Ren?” she asked without turning. ”Or wonʼt you be able to manage yourself against Orion if I tell you what I believe?”

The question carried weight… A warning. Acknowledgment that some knowledge came with prices in the form of rage that became hard to contain.

”I need to know,” Ren said directly. ”About everything. About what really happened in those ruins.”

Now she turned. Her eyes assessing him with that gaze that saw too much.

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

♢♢♢♢

TWO DAYS BEFORE

Selphira raised an eyebrow. ”Luna told you? Voluntarily?”

Surprise coloring her tone. Genuine surprise that suggested sheʼd thought Luna would maintain her walls longer.

”During dance practices... Over the last two days sheʼs revealed up to me.”

”Hm.” Selphira murmured, thoughtful. ”And how much exactly do you ʼknowʼ?”

”More than her... She knows the basics. Nothing about the battle with the wolf you told me about. Nothing about the statues that must exist somewhere. Also nothing about her mother sacrificing herself for her father like you mentioned.” Ren paused. ”She never saw the heart. Never saw the statues... Everything is by word.”

Everything filtered through Siriusʼs careful editing. Through omissions designed to protect that instead created ignorance.

”What statues? I donʼt know about...”

”Remember I can read lies in your mana even when you spin it...” Ren interrupted, meeting her eyes steadily. ”And when I took a look at Siriusʼs cave...”

”Wait.” Selphira interrupted him, turning completely now. ”You went WHERE?”

The question sharp. Shocked. Carrying undertones of something between admiration and exasperation.

”To the cave where Sirius crystallized in what I assume was the same way.” Ren held firm under her gaze, refusing to be intimidated by reaction. ”I used my Mantis... Found the truth and donʼt regret it.”

The declaration bold… Unapologetic. Statement of fact rather than request for approval.

Dagzo