Steel and Mana

It had been a few hours since Leon had his meeting with the owner of the voice calling out for his eldest child throughout the years. While he was still being looked after by his wives, making sure everything was alright, Arthur had decided to call on his siblings and finally tell them everything. It got to a point where this was not just about him anymore. Inside the palace's main library, he stood nervously at the window, drumming on his forearm, his arms crossed, his brow furrowed, his mind racing back and forth.

"Don't think it's your fault," Leyla said softly, stepping next to him, gently rubbing his back to let his arms loosen and finally fall beside his body.

"This one is, because I didn't shut it out in time like you." He shrugged, smiling a little.

"Well... now it should be better!" She tried, glancing at his hand where the temporary blood tattoo was applied, trying to help him with the visions and, possibly, future intrusion by the Vasas. Which would be put to the test the moment Arthur decided it was time to go to sleep again. "It's still inside you? I mean... the feeling?" she asked quietly.

"Kind of," Arthur nodded once. "While Dad, as he said, intercepted the call, I still felt it going through me. It's mostly about sensations, like heat, and the smell of sulfur."

It was then that the door creaked open and Lancelot stormed in, looking like he was ready to throw hands.

"Alright, who are we fighting?" he asked immediately, eyes locking on Arthur. "I knew you looked like shit when you came back, but I thought it was about traveling too much... Now I just learned that Dad collapsed for two minutes, and that he had some weird experience, talking with ghosts or whatever. What's happening?"

"It wasn't a ghost," Arthur said with a shake of his head, "Turns out, it is something worse."

"Good," Lancelot grinned, throwing himself into a chair. "Wouldn't be worth our time otherwise! The monsters were getting stale already anyway!"

"We are not Jila," Leyla rolled her eyes but kept smiling, "No need to put on a bravado."

Before saying anything, Morgan was next to push the door open. She was wearing a thick robe with a stuffy scarf still wrapped around her neck, clearly coming from somewhere outside the palace. As she closed the door quietly behind her, she started to throw the snow off her shoulders, measuring Arthur, watching his face.

"What happened?" she asked, eyebrows raised. "It sounded urgent, and I had to send Meyli back to her room early."

"You'll see," Arthur answered. "We are still waiting for–" On cue came Galahad, silently slipping in, looking at his siblings.

"I went to see Dad first," he said, coming closer and sitting on the armrest of Lancelot's chair. "He looks fine, but Mother is like a poisoned mouse, working the kitchen like a battlefield to make soup for him."

"My fault," Arthur started, without knowing how to begin, so he got straight to the point, "I called you here because… something happened. It is my fault..."

Their expressions shifted at once, hearing that. Looking at each other, they could see how the concern she was feeling hardened in Morgan's eyes, while Lancelot sat up straighter, and Galahad's fingers curled into a fist.

"Did a spell go awry?" Morgan asked, breaking the short silence, "I didn't feel any residue of something like that...

"Yes and no..." Arthur began to explain. "Let's start at the beginning..."

He told them how it started when they were still little, how Leyla managed to ignore it, but he foolishly chose not to. Then he spoke of the visions he was seeing in his sleep, the burning volcano rim, the flashes of monsters and humans fighting, and now their Father's own recollection about the red-haired man who called himself Zah'Ratil, the Sect Master of the Vasas. He told them of the supposed creature sleeping beneath the volcano, Ignis Primordia, a beast that shared the blood with the Vasas, and in turn, most likely with all of them. But more importantly... with him...

"I never had seen it like Dad did," Arthur finished, shaking his head, "But I felt it, even though it was Father who was there. I may have felt it even better than he did. That monster is indeed real, and it has a very potent rage… and power."

"Yeah, that's the thing," Lancelot cracked his knuckles. "I agree with Dad. We can kill monsters, and these... Vasas, or whoever they are, don't know our powers. Did they ever see us fight? No. So they are talking nonsense!"

"Well... yeah, but," Leyla leaned forward, but Galahad interrupted her.

"Lancelot is right, we kill it." He said firmly, looking at her siblings, "They can't kill it, no? Then we can."

"They said..." Arthur muttered, rubbing his forehead, "That's not that simple. Zah'Ratil said—"

"I don't care what he said," Galahad replied, making Lancelot chuckle and nod his head in agreement, "If it threatens you… If it threatens any of us… We destroy it. We already have a weapon powerful enough to vaporize a monster's core. So, we blow up the entire volcano if we must."

"You know what? They are right!" Morgan nodded. "You're not alone in this, Arthur. I don't care about bloodlines or prophecies or ancient beasts either, hmph! I care about you and Dad. I won't let anything take either of you, so if there is a danger, we will eradicate it! Simple."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Thinking about it," Leyla spoke, humming, glancing at her brother. "We are not the Vasa, so... Yeah. It won't affect us, and don't let them influence you, Arthur. Maybe that's what they want, to make you think their version is the only option remaining for you! Hmph! Manipulators!"

"I..." Arthur looked down, showing weakness for the first time, "I know."

"But," Leyla continued, "Don't even try to fool us! If you have any stupid ideas and want to go at it alone, we can hold you down. Or because you are curious... We can also keep you locked up. Doing anything alone... That is no longer an option, understand?!"

"Well, yeah, now you told us, you little secret hoarder! Hmph," Lancelot added, standing now. "This is now a family matter. And... Keeping this a secret... We will talk about it after all is done, hmph. Anyway... I was going to keep training as a swordsman, because I like fighting on the ground... but it seems this issue requires me to pester Dad to give me a mech. It shouldn't be an issue with this winter's harvest."

"I already have mine to help." Galahad stood, making Leyla and Morgan look at each other, mouthing one word: 'boys...'

Yet, while listening to his siblings, Arthur looked around the room, stunned at hearing their voices, and knew he was not in a position to say no.

"I don't want to put you in danger," he tried, but he didn't get far.

"You already did." Leyla snorted. "But even if you don't put us anywhere, Arthur, we will stand beside you."

"You think this is just your fight?" Morgan asked, also standing up, looking into his eyes, "Arthur, we all carry Father's blood, even if we don't have your red hair! Even if we're from different mothers, we're still his children and we are siblings. If those Vasa freaks think you're the chosen one, they're wrong! Don't just hog that title because you came out first or because they chose you as their little bloodline messiah. We, too, have a say in that."

"That's right," Lancelot laughed, standing with Morgan, "You think some giant lava lizard's gonna scare us? Or lava spider? Lava something-something? Bah. We are part of Avalon, and Avalon won't be scared just because there is a horrible monster waiting on the other side. It always was the case.. And we would always stand up to it."

"And now we know, so we can prepare," Galahad agreed, nodding his head rapidly. "We can study what we can, come up with new designs, build weapons. Morgan, Leyla, and you can sense magic, you can come up with something against this bloodline thing. Then, Fila and I can make things from that spell for our machines!"

"You are already including Fila in the family business?" Lancelot teased him, making Galahad blush.

"Well..." He mumbled, looking down, "I heard Mom saying she is writing a letter to let Empress Mirian know we agree to her proposal..."

"You are getting married?!" They all gawked at him, including Arthur.

"No, no, not yet!" He protested, waving his hands, looking panicked, "It's just... a proposal-like thing. If we are still... feel like it... Later... we can do the... marry thing..."

"Damn!" Lancelot laughed even harder, repeatedly slapping his back, "From last to first... That's something!"

"Color me surprised!" Morgan joined in on the slaps, making Galahad groan and bend over as soon as Leyla joined in on slapping his back to oblivion.

Arthur couldn't help but chuckle as he stared at them. Then, for a brief moment, his chest tightened... not wanting to lose what he was seeing before his eyes now. This was more important than anything... They were his family, and no matter what, he would do his best to protect them, not because of any kind of weird, unknown prophecy, but because they are his blood.

"I won't let it take us," Arthur finally said, his voice powerful and his eyes showing his resolve. "Whatever will the future bring, I know I can trust you guys... Thank you for being my sisters and brothers..."

"Heh!" Morgan grinned, winking at him, "Thank Dad for his endless stamina... Otherwise... Oooooh boy!"

...
....
......

The good news was that I wasn't dying at all. Phew, I was a bit angry when I found myself standing on that rainbow road again... I wasn't even put there when the monster mauled me all those years ago... So it did scare the shit out of me. But I'm back and now I'm sure, I wasn't just dreaming it... The bad news was that Luna had decided that meant it was the perfect time to smother me in soup.

"Eat," she said, even while my mouth was still full of hot soup, trying not to cry because the heat was turning my tongue into a well-made roast.

"I can feed myself," I tried, eyeing the bowl she was balancing in her lap, "And I can't inhale it at once, let me enjoy the taste first!" I moaned, gulping down the next bite, already feeling full.

"Your face is still pale," She leaned in, touching my forehead, "No fever though... Anyway, this helps, now open up and eat!"

"Okay, okay... seesh~!" I sighed, but it was easier to just give in than fight her when she got something into her head. Also... The soup was good, rich, and spiced the way she knew I liked it.

"You know," I said between mouthfuls, "Why is that you girls only act like this when something happens to me?" I joked, glancing at the others.

"Please, that's not true, we are pleasing you at every corner~!" Yuri snorted, looking at me from the door, "Anyway, now that you are indeed better, I'm going to check on the kids, before they do something stupid."

"Tell them to stay put," Sasha added, sitting at the edge of my bed, "They tend to be like their Father and come up with a stupid idea all of a sudden."

"It wasn't my idea to go visit an ancestor of ours via spirit walking..." I grumbled, but I was muted by Luna, who pushed another spoonful into my mouth.

"Stay still, please..." Mikan whispered, sitting behind me, because while I was being nursed like a half-broken soldier, she had my shirt collar pulled aside and her hand was moving carefully, drawing the symbols onto me with her tiny little brush.

"Sorry..." I mumbled between two spoonfuls.

"It's alright, I am finishing soon," Mikan said calmly, her voice gentle and caring. "This should also help you, if any residual connection is still up... I think."

"Even if not, it is better to be safe than sorry," Sasha agreed, moving over and sitting across from me. She wasn't speaking much since I recalled everything, laying it out for them, but I could tell from the way she kept watching Mikan's work and Luna's fussing that she was chewing over more than one could tell from just glancing at her.

I knew her well enough... How her brows were drawn tight, not the angry kind of version either... More like... Resolute.

"You're thinking too loudly," I told her, smiling as the soup was finally gone from Luna's bowl and there was nothing else to eat.

"Mh?" Her gaze lifted to me, finally blinking her eyes, "Yeah... I'm thinking about how I'm not going to let some ancient family take our children. Or you."

"Same," I said, agreeing with her wholly. "I think, after we cleaned up this end of the continent... the other side will come next."

"If you told me this a year or two ago," She nodded slowly, looking at me and then the others, "I would have said no way we are going to go there... But now? Yes. You are right... There is no other way but to find those bastards and finish what the old Ishillians started."

"Isn't that a bit... extreme?" Mikan asked, finishing my blood tattoo, and looking over at Sasha.

"Maybe..." She shrugged, but then again, she didn't relent, "But if they keep insisting on what they told Leon, they leave no other option for us. They want my son? They can go and walk that rainbow road for all I care!"