Honor The Young [Private | Taizen & Alex]

It was quite early in the morning. Mura had missed his bed and decided to give in his slumber to it as well as responsibility to keep him safe during the gloomy night in Magnolia Town. It was a pleasant night, indeed. Watering, dreaming sweet dreams of bouncing upon cakes and swimming in miso soup made up his night time. No worries overcame him, nor did he feel down at all. However, he knew deep inside that the day tomorrow was expecting a lot from him. He always knew that, even when he barely thought about it. It was a hidden instinct for the young Midian, so restful yet so anxious…

He hit his head. The damned clock had made a troll and ‘accidently’ fell down on his forehead like always. “Ouch, ouch…” he mumbled as his eyes accepted the wake-up and looked around, “… Mhm. It’s already this sunny out there.” Kyuken was making a buzz as he snored at the other end of the room, floating around like that ghost he was. Well, it was morning and all, so Mura decided to make some breakfast as soon as he got out of bed; miso soup and some steamed rice would fit today. However, noticing the lack of herbs in the shelf, his face turned quite dark. Zirconis noticed that as the dragon ghost came flying, looking down to the same shelf and commenting: “… So, no herbs today either?” As soon as that was said, Mura felt overwhelmed by a bottomless misery of missing herbs, which would’ve made quite a scene if anyone watched.

All by himself, he enjoyed the meal that he’d prepared. There was still more rice and soup, but he could always put that in the Lacrima container. Besides, he didn’t expect guests today, so he could do practically whatever he wanted. “I should check out the guild. Maybe new requests have been put up,” he mumbled to himself, “…” He took a quick sip of his soup and thought over the things, because this day started out too silent for a city like Magnolia. Something would happen soon, very soon…

Alex had been in the area of Magnolia town with her partner, Taizen. The last few days they had stayed at a hotel in the town, because they had to adjust to having their child with them. They couldn't just go back to her house in Rose Garden, but then again they also couldn't just permanently stay at the hotel that they were resting at. It wasn't suitable for the parents that they were, nor was it suitable for their daughter, Mai. So Alex posed a possible solution to this problem to her partner, that they go see if they could rest at her cousin's house. He did live in Magnolia, and he was apart of Taizen's guild, plus with him being her cousin, there should have been no reason for him not to let them, right? So, the new mother dressed her child in a new version of the same outfit, made out of dream magic like before. The mage still hadn't gotten to go out shopping for clothes, as Mai's birth was somewhat... sudden.

When traveling through the town, the traveling, sleeping tactician held onto her daughter's hand, who was both extremely curious and yet shy at the same time. Every time something new came about, Mai jumped out and then pointed at it, yelling, "Mommy! Papa! Look at that!" However, once someone came by, she hugged her mother's leg like she normally did, almost tripping the mage countless times because of the sudden action. Alex groaned, however, because she didn't know exactly where her cousin lived. She did know however that he dealt with ghosts, so perhaps he lived in an area with it?

After searching around and asking a bunch of people (against Mai's will, as she HATED that), Alex found out about a house that people avoid for the sheer fact that there were ghosts there. Considering it was the only house that fit the description, Alex decided to take it for a test run, and went there. Knocking on the door, she just held on to her daughter's hand as she began to sleep deeper, and began to dream. and slowly but ever surely placed her head against the door.

"Mommy! Papa! Look at that!" Taizen looked where she pointed with awe, "That's so cool, isn't Mai? The world's so beautiful." He said to his daughter with a bright smile as they continued walking. It was hard finding Mura's house, it seemed that he wasn't like other people that lived in regular homes, instead, he lived in a haunted place? It was all very confusing to Taizen, but kind of interesting at the same time.

They finally reached the place, and Alex slumped against the door, falling asleep like always. Taizen turned towards his daughter, "How has your day been so far, darling? Did you enjoy our stay at the hotel?" Her father crouched down to her level, "I want to show you something honey, I think you'll find it really cool." He winked at Mai as a small ball of light appeared on his fingertip and he started to spin it, "This is papa's magic. I have the ability to control Light Magic, it's really cool," He said throwing the ball in the air, and landing it on his other finger.

He smiled, "Go ahead and touch it." If she touched it, the ball would explode into millions sparkles of light from one little ball, it'd look gorgeous.

Mura was about to tastet hat delicious rice when someone knocked on the door. He called it, a new experience was lying ahead of him; it could be his neighbor who would bring a tremendous news to him, or perhaps Hera who, somehow, found out where Mura lives. It could also be Ezra who had promised to have a battle with the sword mage once in a while, in which Mura picked up his katana and rested it on his shoulder. Who knew, he had to take things a little easier, in which he held it like that. Walking up to the door, he slowly pulled it open only to catch Alex’s sleeping body with his right arm… wait, what was Alex-nee doing here? Also, Taizen was spotted behind her together with a small child. It wouldn’t take long until the green dragon’s spirit appeared behind Mura as a spirit ball. “Oh, who do we have here..?” the jade dragon asked, only being visible by the other guildmate. Mura was getting a little confused, but decided to continue the greeting: “A-Alex-nee, Taizen… uhm, welcome to my house… oh! Please, come in..!” He attempted to pull Alex’s sleeping corpse inside and straighten it a bit, while making space for the White Dragon and the child. “Hey, Alex-nee, wake up…” he spoke to the overwhelmed lady whilst shaking her back and forth, “P-Please, don’t just sleep through it all like old times… also, how’s it going, Taizen? I see that you brought your sister or something with you.” He would keep shake Alex back and forth to try and wake her up, oblivious of her condition. For him, she was merely having a sleeping disorder, which she’d have in ages…

Upon reaching the house, Taizen soon would converse with his daughter, explaining to her the use of light that he controlled. The violet-haired child stared in awe as the ball of light bounced between his fingers, and then exploded once she touched it, to which she looked with dazzling eyes. The young girl then heard the door open, to which she quickly turned to the right to check on her mother, whom was falling asleep... and against some unknown person in front of her.

Alex had passed out against the door, but then soon regained her consciousness once she landed in Mura's arms. It was amazing to see her cousin once again, but the mage / tactician had been more preoccupied with trying to go to sleep than with conversing. So, she just decided against getting up, and allowed Mura to drag her body into the house, not minding the friction or what could possibly happen to her beloved jacket. Finally reaching the inner sanctum of Mura's house, Alex began getting shook furiously, to which her daughter didn't respond very well to. Mai ran over, clutching the so-called "sleeping corpse's" arm, staring at Mura with a face that could only register as a mix of hatred and fear, but the child didn't say a word to him, only stared. She couldn't talk to strangers, and to be honest she didn't exactly want to be this close to Mura at this point right now.

Alex's dreamscape was being altered between violent shakes, and the debate between getting up and staying down. Her spirit animal, the human-sized hawk that Mura had talked to what seemed like ages ago had told her that she needed to get up, so Alex was now contemplating the pros and cons of doing so. Finally deciding to get up, she didn't expect that she'd actually wake up when she made this decision, but that was the result. The giant hawk pushed her through the door of her dreamland that was labeled as "exit," to which Alex's eyes then soon fluttered, then got up. The grey orbs that were normally hidden to the public were now visible, and she raised her hand to her head, and looked around to see Taizen, Mura, and Mai. Anxiety soon came over the hypersomniac, as her senses were overloaded from the waking up. She clutched her head, and then shuffled back a bit, hopped up, then turned to her cousin, unleashing the kick of a thousand soccer players onto him. Alex then shambled away like a zombie, still clutching her head while breathing heavily, looking extremely paranoid to her surroundings. Mai wanted to get closer to her mother, however Alex held out her hand, which began to shake but got its message done, signalling to stay the hell away from her. Mai then ran to Taizen, clutching his leg while hiding behind him, not knowing what to do in this situation.

Alex sat down, sliding against the wall in the process. She counted to ten, closing her eyes, and put her hands to the sides of her head. Pooling her magic energy into herself, Alex then forcefully put herself to sleep, slumping over for a brief moment before getting up. She then rushed over to her cousin, standing a couple feet apart from him, then began to apologize.

"Mura! I'm! So! Sorry!!! I didn't mean - Well I guess I did mean - I uh... Just please forgive me!"

Taizen drawled on with a black face as he witnessed the interaction between Alex and Mura. It was quite amusing, really. For once in their relationship, their eyes had met. A new flurry of emotions rang throughout the black-haired father of Mai, he started to witness her actual emotions, and his crystal blue eyes displayed them back. As quick as that realization had come, it had ended as she started to panic. As she stumbled backward Taizen would begin to rush forward to help her until he saw her super kick Mura away from her, and he stopped cold in his tracks with a comical trail of sweat running down his forehead. Who knew that his girlfriend was able to use such great combat? Taizen slowly stepped backward as his lover tried to regain her bearings. Mai made the horrible mistake of running towards Alex and was swiftly shut down. His father instincts kicked in when his daughter ran and hugged his leg, he gently pats her beautiful hair that was just like her mother's.

"Mura! I'm! So! Sorry!!! I didn't mean - Well I guess I did mean - I uh... Just please forgive me!" Alex sputtered out causing Taizen to gently chuckle to himself as he continued to stroke his daughter's hair for comfort. There was an awkward silence until the White Dragon Slayer remembered what Alex's cousin had mentioned earlier, “P-Please, don’t just sleep through it all like old times… also, how’s it going, Taizen? I see that you brought your sister or something with you.” Taizen blinked, "Sister? Why would you assume this was my sister, she looks exactly like Alex," He cleared his throat and gently pushed Mai so she'd turn to look at Alex's cousin, "This is Alex and I's daughter, Mai Isamaire Silverheart." His smile was bright as he introduced a new member to their family.

Apparently, it took a little longer to wake up Alex-nee now. She used to wake up quicker back at Midi, but it was through the very same procedure; shaking and moving back and forth the slumbering body to awake its nerves and make her open her eyes and all other stuff. Although, he barely remembered her angered face when he did stuff like that, so the sudden greeting was… unexpected. In the blink of an eye, he was to be found at the other side of the room, broken through a wall and causing a crater to form on it. His eyes were blank, almost lifeless… Alex-nee’s kick… he should’ve seen it coming. Her rage wasn’t missed, though, as it did happen a few times back then.

He was almost paralyzed as blurs of images passed his eyes, one being of Alex-nee seemingly excusing for the sudden outrage, and another being Taizen and his…. Daughter? W-Wait, his and Alex’ daughter?! Did Mura’s cousin have a daughter? He never knew that… she could’ve told him, or even showed him the cute, little girl back at Galuna Island, because this was surely surprising. He bounced his torso up and shook his head a little by the statement, then replied: “W-Wait, that’s your daughter? You never told me that you had a daughter…” His eyes zoomed into the child’s, reflecting over the little kid’s spirit; Mai Isamaire Silverheart. It was such a fine name, and it both had some Midian (Mai) and Fiorian (Silverheart) traits in it. He couldn’t but lift up a hand and stroke the kid’s hair whilst still laying on the floor with bruises from the impact. “Ain’t she a cute girl… does that make me her uncle?”

Mura looked dead for quite a few moments, but Alex knew that the teenager was more resilient and strong than he let on, so a simple kick from the enraged tactician wouldn't bring him down that easy. However, the strategist still got a heavy sense of relief once her cousin began to move and prove his vitality was as strong as Alex thought, and she wiped away a bit of sweat from her brow.

"Yes it is as Taizen says, this is our daughter. The reason I never told you is because... Well I was only recently pregnant. There was a massive issue with a time mage who put us in some sort of personal accelerated dome of time, where Mai and I went by 5 or so years in a matter of an hour or so. The only reason I still look just as young as I once did is because the mage reversed me to my state of what feels like 5 years ago. Mai however has to stay in this body... Wow, it feels so strange... Mai is technically not even a year old."

Alex shrugged her shoulders, then responded once again to her cousin.

"You should call her your niece and she is to call you her uncle, however the proper term is actually cousin. You two are distant cousins, but the proper way to address the child of a cousin is niece or nephew."

Mai flinched when Mura reached his hand toward her, not exactly knowing this random person who went to grab her head, however the child couldn't help but smile when her hair was ruffled, the little pigtails bouncing to and fro while she giggled. However, she still was afraid of the person that Alex claimed to be her uncle, but she was taught that only brothers of your parents are uncles... and Alex didn't have any brothers, or even sisters for that matter. It all raised suspiscions in the small child's head.

Taizen laughed once again as Mai's hair was stroked before he picked her up and placed her on his shoulders, "Now that all of that is over, we came here for some help. We need some assistance. You see, we kind of need to get back to Rose Garden, where Alex lives, but we have to get settled down. Could we stay here for a while we get settled down, sort out things for Mai, and just calm down from the events that have perspired?" Taizen would wait for a response before he walked away with Mai into another part of the house, he started to check everything out, admiring his living space.

"It's nice in here Mura, even if you do live in a kind of creepy place."

Okay, things were getting a little complicated. She was recently pregnant? She was pregnant at all? When did she even get pregnant? Mura wondered over that question, until his eyes settled at Taizen… that was when he realized their relation. “… Ohhhhhh,” he sighed. Then, as she furthered the explanation, a time mage had done some weird spell that made them go 5 years or around that into the future… wait, no, that wasn’t exactly what happened to her. She went 5 years ahead of time with Mai… in a split hour. That was breathtaking, and you could see that on the shaman’s face.

“… Hmh, hmh, it feels easier to call her niece,” Mura replied. His hand was still petting the cute niece of his; she sure looked a lot more like her mother, though. He couldn’t see any traits from her father, except the name. He began listening to Taizen’s words; they had to take a rest. A long one. They just gave birth… or well, she just gave birth, they just gained a daughter of their life, and it all presumably happened so fast. He could understand that fully. “O-Of course… anything for my cousins,” was his reply as he smiled, while he stood up again, wiping dust off his leggings, “And for the record, this place isn’t haunted… I don’t house ghosts here. They’re mostly creepy.” He sounded like a guy that had never seen a ghost before, and he was a shaman, so it wouldn’t add up if you didn’t know him that well. He was afraid of the classical term of ghost; the scary types. Obviously, people around here were scared of any type of spirit, in which his house gained reputation. “Oh well, I just prepared some rice… you two need to get some food. That goes for you too, little girl,” he suggested them. with a chuckle.