It's Time

Taizen had a great time with Alex. He spent most of his time with her, especially at her house, they did certain things in her bedroom that made him blush, but also made him feel really good~.

Ahem. Right now they were currently looking for Alex's bounty, apparently, she was a bounty hunter, and Taizen couldn't help but love it, it was so cool.

The young Dragon Slayer didn't think he could love someone so much. His heart pounded in his chest, his hands grasped hers tightly, his cheeks were flushed pink. The man just loved her dearly, and if anything was to happen to her, he'd never forgive himself.

"Know where we're going, love?" Taizen said, squeezing Alex's hand as he looked towards her.

Alex recently took the bounty for someone that went around using time magic against the civilians. This ability was something Alex herself never had to deal with as a mage, because she had never encountered such a type of magic. But today would be the day, and she'd do it with her partner at her side. Looking aside with her closed, dreaming eyes, Alex saw the face of someone that was nervous, or at least thinking deeply about something that made him nervous. She could assume the male aside from her was blushing, but couldn't actually see the tint of red that was on his face. Soon the question was asked, asking if she knew where the two were going.

"Actually, reports say that the time mage should be right around - ACK!"

Alex's summon, the Pawn, swiftly pushed her and Taizen out of the way, as he detected a magic spell released right beneath the two of them. Suddenly, a clock-shaped magic circle appeared underneath the pawn, as it began to rapidly tick forward as the Pawn stood there, apparently unphased, until it suddenly exploded into golden light, and the silver chess piece now teleported back into Sam's pocket.

"The Pawn is back on cooldown.... Alrigghty then... What's next...? Bishop! Go!"

The bishop was soon summoned, and stood there behind Alex with a scared face.

"Y-Yes Alex?"

"Guard Taizen, if anything harms him I want you to heal him. SHOW YOURSELF, WIZARD! I'M HERE TO CLAIM YOUR BOUNTY!"

Soon a mage materialized, and a clock appeared below Alex's feet, which soon encased her in what looked like a cocoon. The dream mage slammed her fists against the cocoon, but it wouldn't break - it couldn't break, not to a mage even of mage with such random powers like hers.

"Don't try to fight it, woman. I'm here to converse with the lesser mage."

The cocoon would then expand to what looked like Halo's bubble shield, but became a solid white color and began glowing a bright blue light. Alex from inside could no longer be heard, and the mage was left with Taizen and the Bishop.

"I-I got you Ale-AHHHH"

The mage blasted the Bishop away, seemingly more powerful than both Alex and the summon, and he wanted to simply talk to Taizen.

"Son... of Weisslogia, the elder white dragon?"

Taizen's eyes widened as he saw Alex get taken away. Then next, Bishop was destroyed. Taizen felt his fury spike by millions, the fury of a dragon radiating off of his skin. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ALEX!" Taizen screamed loudly. He would've rushed and tried to kill this man already, but he knew how strong he was, he had to be smart or else he'd never get the love of his life back.

"Son... of Weisslogia, the elder white dragon?" Taizen took a deep breath and calmed down, "And what's it to you, scum?" The man subconsciously started to channel mana just in case he needed to fight.

The man known as the time mage stood there with his arms folded. He wore a bright yellow and grey jacket with blue jeans, and had a shaven, but still stubbled beard, as well as the same for his haircut. He looked roughed up, but not enough to say he didn't have any sort of sense of integrity to at least clean himself up before leaving the house.

"I just wanted to know if a dragonslayer's baby had the capacity for dragon slayer magic, is all... I mean, you are a rare breed nowadays, and if it doesn't actually take lacrima or real dragons to train you lot, wouldn't that be amazing? You'd not be alone... or at least as alone as you bunch of slayers come. You're the first one I've seen, but that's because you're also the first to have a child... Or at least... are the first who's going to have a child."

That's when the man stepped aside, and gestured towards the ball of magic energy that encased the dream mage. Alex's hand print could be seen banging on the walls of the ball, but with nothing more than that. The man folded his arms once again, and then began to speak.

"I dunno if you know or not considering how little the dragons teach you kids about humans, but whatever it was you guys did... I don't want to know the specifics... resulted in what is soon to be your kid. And, as I'm sure you don't know, kids take time... and I want to speed that time up, as that is my little gimmick, ya know? Give the orb 1 hour, then you'll be greeted with a gross bundle of whatevers, and your girlfriend back. Then, I'll proceed to perform my test.

The man laughed sinisterly, but still didn't budge. He didn't want to fight, he wanted nothing more than to simply wait out the hour, and then perform his test as he said. However, Taizen's reaction could definitely turn the tide of this time mage's feelings, and could promote a fight.

"I dunno if you know or not considering how little the dragons teach you kids about humans, but whatever it was you guys did... I don't want to know the specifics... resulted in what is soon to be your kid. And, as I'm sure you don't know, kids take time... and I want to speed that time up, as that is my little gimmick, ya know? Give the orb 1 hour, then you'll be greeted with a gross bundle of whatever, and your girlfriend back. Then, I'll proceed to perform my test," The man said gleefully.

"Baby? My child?" Taizen whispered, but loud enough for the Time Mage to hear. As he looked at the cocoon she was stuck in, and her banging desperately on the encasement, Taizen could only see red. "Let them go, or else, I'll kill you." He muttered, his eyes flickering in anger towards him and the cocoon, back-and-forth.

The man wanted nothing to do with fighting, especially not with a mage as weak compared to him as Taizen was. He definitely didn't want that destruction to mess with his morals.

"Fine, if you really want them back so bad then I'll fast forward time. I didn't want to expend so much mana on such a petty reason, but I also don't wanna take your life for no reason other than "you wanted to be macho." So thanks, buddy."

The man lowered his hands to the ground, and then a massive clock-shaped magic circle appeared below him, which glowed a bright blue light, and then the world around him and Taizen began to move much faster than normal. To the rest of the world it'd be normal time, minutes to the eventual half hour to the 45 minute mark, then to the 50 minute mark. However to Taizen and the time mage, it'd only be mere seconds.

Releasing the spell, the man began to pant and breath heavily. The spell he just performed obviously took a lot of mana out of him, especially to sustain multiple people. However, he knew that would be the measure that he'd have to take, considering Taizen's nature to want to protect Alex inside the cocoon.

"There you go... Wait 10 minutes... And you'll meet with your girlfriend... again.."

Taizen thought about attacking him when he was tired, but that wouldn't be a good thing to do, even though he had got a little angry at the comment/insult thrown at him. As he explained himself, Taizen sat down and thought more. So, Alex was pregnant? Why didn't he know? How come this man knew? How did the baby get there? So many questions, no answers for poor old Taizen. So he waited those ten minutes, subconsciously tapping the sidewalk they were sitting on, breaking it with every single touch of his finger.

The cocoon started to hatch and Taizen instantly stood up with wide eyes. "A-Alex!" He screamed. Was she okay? What had happened?

The man saw the cocoon begin to hatch, then unfolded his arms. A glimmer of what looked to be delight sparked in his eyes, and he smirked once he saw the final cracks appear. Suddenly, the cocoon dissipated, and shattered like glass, and who stood there was Alex, facing away from the two of them. She wasn't however wearing her signature jacket that she was wearing moments ago, but instead wore what she had on underneath it. If one paid attention, they could see the jacket connected with the ground, suspended over something. Alex turned around, confronted with Taizen's scream of worry.

"I'm right here Taizen, no need to worry."

If one were to pay much attention, they'd notice that Alex had aged quite a bit. Not much to change her whole visage, but instead just a few aging lines and marks here or there. These were quickly removed however, as time itself began to reverse directly for Alex returning her to herself before the hour's past.

"I told you she'd be fine."

Alex crouched down, not even paying attention to the man that cursed her, but grabbed onto the shoulder of a child, a girl that stood behind her. She clung to Alex's arm, but Alex slowly guided her to stand straight. The child was bare - without any clothes on, but instead had Alex's jacket as a sort of cover, as it was far more than large enough to contain her whole body.

"Taizen... This is our daughter... Come on, dear... Say hi. It's okay, this is Papa...
He won't do anything wrong... just say hi."

The young girl raised her hand with slow speed, still afraid of those that were around her. Alex soon got up, and turned her gaze to the man now.

"Such a heartwarming encounter, now let me perform my test."

Alex raised her hand to try to stop the man, but the mage was launched away like the Bishop was before her, and soon the child had a brand on her neck. The mark that the time mage put on her instantly glowed purple, and the child began to wail and scream, to which a woman instantly appeared to respond to. The Queen, Alex's strongest spell, stood there. This was something Alex couldn't normally do without severing the bond completely to the Queen, but instead Alex sacrificed her consciousness for a fraction of the Queen's true power, to which the woman raised her rapier to the time mage.

"Peasant, grab the King's child. I'll handle this miscreant."

"Woah there, I just simply wanted to test to see if she could be like her father...
Alright, since you're clearly not going to back down.... Fine."

The man seemed to be intimidated by the Queen's appearance on the battlefield, and as such he dematerialized like he did minutes before, when he attacked the two of them. The Queen quickly ran back to where Alex's body was, and brought it over to Taizen. Alex wasn't concsious but she was breathing, and the little girl began to wail once again, but not from the pain of the mark on her neck, but instead because of the silent, unmoving body of her mother.

As Taizen saw the little girl wave at him, he felt his heart clench, and he couldn't help the tears that streamed out of his eyes. The man brought his arm up and wiped away the tears, he didn't know what to say or do, this was all too fast for his liking or comfort. "H-Hi. I'm your father, Taizen Silverheart." The man brought his hand out slowly, grasping the little girl's hand in his hand. Taizen slowly let go of her hand and turned to the time mage, his eyes narrowing in anger, "Now you better leave-"

"Such a heartwarming encounter, now let me perform my test."

Taizen hadn't even known what happened until his arms were wrapped around Alex and his feet weren't touching the ground. Thanks to his Dragon Instincts he had jumped in the way of Alex being thrown away and wrapped his arms around her waist. They slammed into the ground, hard, but thankfully Taizen had softened the blow.

"Peasant, grab the King's child. I'll handle this miscreant." The Queen would say causing Taizen's eyes to flash towards her. The man gently let Alex down and ran over to the little girl, gently wrapping his arms around her in a hug, and jumping backward, trying to keep his distant and watch the Queen absolutely destroy him-

"Woah there, I just simply wanted to test to see if she could be like her father... Alright, since you're clearly not going to back down.... Fine," and then he was gone. Taizen flinched, falling onto one knee in pain as he still held onto his wailing daughter. He gently rubbed her back and caressed her hair, whispering into her ear, "Shhh. It's okay. Everything is going to be okay. Shhh...." Taizen held her tighter until she'd stop crying and fell asleep into his arms. When she did, Taizen would set her into Alex's lap, and then pick both of them up at the same time.

It was time to go home, and speak about what just happened.

The child wrapped in Alex's jacket was wailing until she heard her father's comforting words. It was almost as if his comforting and warm embrace, as well as his calming voice was designed to appeal to her. This man couldn't be anyone other than her papa, as her mum explained moments before. His warm embrace felt entrancing, almost enough to put her to sleep... or rather, just enough to put her to sleep. The girl passed out, and was carried along with Alex to the nearest hotel, with the Queen standing back as a bodyguard of sorts.

After waking up... or rather simply getting up, as Alex didn't awaken and remained asleep... she looked around and noticed that she was in a place that she hadn't ever been in. It wasn't her house, nor was it any house she's ever visited. Alex was about to get up until she felt a weight on her lap. Looking at the child, still asleep the mage just slightly moved her aside, and put her under the comforter of the bed the mage got up from. The young girl still had her coat, which erked the dreamer, but then again she didn't exactly have child-sized clothes just hanging around.

"Taizen...? You there...? Where are we?"

Soon the footsteps of the Queen came running in, to which Alex was greeted with a supersonic hug from.

"Oh dear my darling is alive!!! I was so worried about you! Oh thank goodness.
I know you want to see the peasant, so here you go."

The Queen released Alex and then folded her arms, and began to look at the child that was on the bed fast asleep.

Taizen was currently in the shower right now, letting the warm water pour over his face as he tried to conclude what had happened. Who was that Time Mage and why did he want his daughter? Did he accidentally get Alex pregnant?

Well, that wasn't up for debate anymore. As Taizen washed away his doubts and fears he couldn't help but imagine what it'd be like to start a life with Alex. Sure, they were dating and all, but were they ready yet? They weren't even bound to be mates, or what humans called it, marriage. Taizen blushed furiously as he imagined walking down the aisle with his lover by his side. It was a nice thought.

He took some time to look around at this place. He hadn't ever had a home before, he was just traveling and doing different stuff all the time, so he had no place to stay. Most of the time he'd sleep in alleyways. He was strong enough to protect himself. Taizen imagined living with Alex and doing everything with her.

A warm feeling bubbled up in his chest, that was also a nice thought. Then there was his unnamed daughter. As he turned off the faucet and stepped out of the shower he imagined what life would be like with her.

They'd go to the beach to play in the sand, fly kites together when she's older maybe even spar together. Taizen would raise her and make his father proud. He blushed and wrapped the towel around his cold body as he walked towards the door. He's always wanted a family and now he could start, he felt so happy right now, his whole body started to warm up. The man opened the door still lost in thought, hit his toe on the door, stumbled forward, and ended up losing his towel in the process.

Now, he was standing nude in front of Alex, the Queen, and thank god his daughter was asleep. As he stared at Alex with a huge blush on his face, he was getting a serious sense of deja vu.

"Hello love," He'd say awkwardly.

Alex was waiting for a bit for Taizen, constantly looking back at the child that it felt like ages since she had. Had it really only been about an hour? She couldn't believe it, as it felt like years when she was in that cocoon. She did survive somehow without food and water but... She waited so long to name her child just to name her with Taizen. It just... felt so long ago.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard. Taizen walked in, to which Alex was about to run up to him and give him a hug, until he stubbed his toe, and then lost his towel. This was a strange sense of deja vu that Alex soon got, but the next response was highly unexpected.

Alex once again shrieked (despite her already seeing the man naked), and woke up the child. She quickly turned around to the child, and rushed over and blocked her view. She grabbed the closest thing she could see, which just so happened to be the Hotel Bible, and flung it at Taizen.

"GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY!!!!"

The Queen just sat there, unable to speak just like before. First it was Alex, now it was Taizen. Could she never catch a break with these weird interactions? Well... weird yet mezmorizing.

Taizen naturally caught the Hotel Bible and put it on a nearby cupboard as he grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his waist. He quickly grabbed some clothes and ran into the bathroom, and came back out fully dressed as he looked at Alex. She looked tired, lonely, scared. Taizen looked towards his daughter, how long had he been without her?

"A-Alex," Taizen muttered as he ran over to her and embraced her tightly, "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so, sorry."

He realized how long it was for her, how long she had waited with their child just waiting to see Taizen, waiting for them to be here. He could tell all of her emotions with his Fourth Wall Breaking Ability, and he could feel tears sprouting in his eyes. He felt so bad...

Alex was confused at first, not really understanding why Taizen would apologize so much. He just came out naked, and to be honest the dream mage thought she overreacted a little bit. Should he had not caught the Bible, Taizen might've been quite hurt. Once Taizen returned with clothes, Alex released her hand from the child's visage, and then pulled her onto her lap.

"Darling, I think we should name our daughter. She went so long without one... Imagine that..."

Alex turned to her daughter, staring at her medium-length hair, and Alex's jacket. It really erked her that she couldn't have that back at the moment... Until it dawned on her!The mage summoned a magic circle beneath her, activating her Dream Magic, to which she then collapsed onto the bed. The daughter began freaking out, screaming for her mommy, until seconds later Alex got back up, and a golden light appeared next to her. Materializing from it were some articles of clothing, children's underwear, socks, a violet skirt and a pink blouse. as well as pink shoes and matching hair ties. Quickly dressing the child, ending finally with the shoes, Alex pulled the child's hair into two pigtails, then gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"There we go, now give me my jacket, darling."

Alex really wanted that jacket back, and once she was given it she'd quickly put it back on, then turned to Taizen to continue talking.

"I was thinking about a name. Perhaps Isamaire? Or maybe that could be her middle name?"

Taizen's eyes widened, "Mai. Mai Isamaire Silverheart. Isn't that a beautiful name, love?" Her father walked over to the newly dubbed Mai and wrapped her in a hug, gently kissing her forehead. "Do you enjoy that name darling?" He'd speak to both Alex and Mai as he questioned that.

Alex nodded, gasping as she heard the name for her daughter. Mai, it sounded wonderful. Midian, like her origin, while also having a bit of Fioran in it. Mai'd be a blend, just like Alex was. And Alex would be sure to raise her right, and not be clingy like her own mother was.

"Mai sounds quite lovely, do you like the name dear?"

Alex questioned along with Taizen, to which the young girl bounced up on Alex's lap and clapped her hands.

"Mai loves that name, mommy! Mai loves that name, papa!"

Alex's eyes narrowed, and then she flicked the child on the forehead, making her stop talking altogether. Mai then folded her arms, and looked up at her mother with childish, big teary eyes.

"Don't even. We've talked about being redundant."

"Wee... donn.... daaat?"

"Don't say the same thing more than once, but with only a tiny difference, Mai, you're going to be smart, not dumb. Understand?"

To that, Mai stuck her tongue out at her mother, then jumped out of her lap to go hug her father's leg. She apparently didn't realize that Alex was still within arm's reach, and the purple haired dream mage just flicked Mai's forehead once again.

"PAPAAAA"

Taizen protectively wrapped his arms around her, "Shh, it's okay honey, the big bad Alex won't get you anymore," He said picking her up and walking away from Alex laughing, he was obviously teasing her.

Mai's father threw her in the air and caught her again, laughing as he played with his daughter.

Folding her arms, the tactician simply made a face to the teasing father, whom then began to play with the child. They were quite the pair, however Alex knew that over reliance on her father as a protector over herself would build weakness within her child.

"Ah, you want your Papa now don't you? Whatever, but don't expect him to guard you from my wrath next time, Mai."

The mage released a sly smirk to the child whom was giggling in her father's arms. She was quite the darling, as was Taizen. Both were loved very much from the mage, whom couldn't stay mad at either for very long. They were just so heartwarming.

"Don't try to shelter her either, darling."

Alex would flick Taizen's forehead like she did her daughter moment's before, and then stretch out her arms.
"So! I'm hungry, who else is hungry?"

"Meeeee mommy!"