United Front
As could be expected, Da Vinci's surprise reveal of Sophia had sent a few ripples throughout the castle. He got an earful from the other girls for keeping it hidden but, as he had already informed Artoria, they couldn't really be mad at him. It was, after all, a harmless prank on Da Vinci's end and, as her character wasn't unknown to the others, the only person genuinely upset was Gawain.
Since Sophia was still a member of the Imperial Family, he didn't think it was wise to keep the matter of her birth low-key. The birth of a Princess was an auspicious event that should be celebrated by the people as it reinforced the idea that the Imperial Family was flourishing. Though it was a little jarring to have so many births back to back, Gawain argued that they could just dedicate the entire month as a celebration period that praised the successive births of the Empire's future that ushered in the end of Winter.
Vahn didn't have an easy way to refute Gawain so, after discussing the matter with Artoria, it was decided that the period between February 14th and March 15th would be an extended holiday for the Empire. Both Luvia and Circe would have given birth by then and, as Gawain pointed out, this was also around the time Spring would officially descend upon the land. He felt it was indeed an ideal period for celebration and, if he was 'careful' about his future actions, Vahn figured it would be possible to ensure all of his children were born around the same time period.
While it would certainly be peculiar to have so many birthdays around the same time period, it also made things simpler for him in the long run, even with the Projection. Instead of having dozens of birthday celebrations throughout the year, they could have a holiday period that was completely dedicated to his children. He would still give them presents every 365 days, aided by the reminders of Sis, but having official holidays was a hallmark of a stable country.
Da Vinci obviously wanted nothing to do with any major celebration so, after a short appearance, she left Sophia in the care of Vahn before retiring to the Workshop. This left him carrying around the infinitely curious infant for the remainder of the evening but, as Vahn obviously had no problem with taking care of his daughter, he didn't complain. Though this resulted in him also having to carry his other children around, especially Isanna and Naavi, he enjoyed being the center of attention for his precious little angels.
While he was carrying Sophia on his right arm and Isanna in his left arm, Vahn had to ignore the fact that the two were having a conversation in baby-speak while, at his side, Luvia curiously asked, "That onesie...is that something Da Vinci made? What kind of functions does it have...?"
Hearing Luvia's question, Vahn briefly glanced at the peculiar garb worn by Sophia. It had a color similar to lapis-lazuli and was covered in stars, much like some of Da Vinci's favorite outfits. This was enough to make it stand out but, if you looked closely, there was an inner layer to the suit that clung to Sophia's body while, at various locations, small access valves blended almost seamlessly into the fabric.
Recalling what Da Vinci had told him, Vahn answered, "It has temperature regulation functions, an automatic defense system, and a total of five nano-golem factories. According to Da Vinci, anything less than a B-Rank Noble Phantasm wouldn't even be able to harm a single hair on Sophia's head."
As could be expected, Vahn's explanation had caught the attention of, not just the mothers, but just about everyone in earshot. After all, anything that could block a B-Rank Noble Phantasm was already nearing the pinnacle of defensive equipment. More importantly, at least for the mothers present, the onesie produced by Da Vinci had an 'auto cleaning' function, even though Sophia seemingly had no need for it.
After the initial shock, Luvia asked the question on everyone's mind, "How are we only just hearing about this now? Shouldn't Da Vinci have made versions for each of the children?" Since it was an item that could protect all of their children, Luvia felt that Da Vinci was being selfish by not giving a set to each of Vahn's children.
Understanding what Luvia must be thinking, Vahn, very lightly, flicked her head as he stated, "These are hand-made by her due to their complex structure. The one she produced for Sophia was made only a few hours ago so don't go around making assumptions. Da Vinci might be a lot of things, but selfish isn't one of them."
By the time he was done speaking, Vahn was lightly rubbing Luvia's head as she hung her head with an embarrassed expression on her face. Fortunately, someone stepped in to change the topic as, like a phantom, Rin snatched the hovering Isanna from Vahn after knocking him on the head, hard. She had an angry expression on her face as she, with a voice tinged by Ishtar's, exclaimed, "Don't just use your Telekinesis to hold my daughter. Be more sensible, you dummy...!"
Though Rin/Ishtar's fist dealt no damage to him, Vahn winced in pain before rubbing the spot where her fist struck with an apologetic look on his face. This didn't stop Rin/Ishtar from glaring at him but, as if they found it very amusing, Sophia and Isanna both began laughing. Upon hearing this, Vahn's expression momentarily blanked, not entirely due to the laughter, but the fact that Sophia, despite her words being incoherent to others, said, "Papa is bad~"
At this point, Sophia wasn't even five days old so Vahn felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, despite the fact she had been 'conversing' with Isanna earlier. He suddenly remembered that, due to the strange circumstances of Sophia's birth, he had never given her a [Heroic Tale]. Now, he knew she must have an Innate similar to her mother's as, despite being an infant, Sophia was very clearly aware of everything going on around her. He even suspected that the only reason she was using baby speech was due to her vocal cords not having fully developed...
Seeing Vahn's shock, Rin had an apologetic expression of her own how as she lowered her head and said, "We shouldn't use violence in front of the children. I don't want them thinking it is normal to go around hitting others." Though this sounds rather 'strange' coming from Rin, as her nature made her prone to violence when she was embarrassed, everyone around nodded their head in agreement.
Though it was a bit of a misunderstanding, Vahn had also nodded his head before creating a sound isolation barrier around the children and saying, "We need to talk about the children's development in private. For now, let's enjoy the rest of the banquet."
Hearing Vahn's words, everyone couldn't help but agree as, even without him explaining things now, Rin had already realized she had misunderstood his previous shock. They had also been aware of the soundproof barrier he had made so, for the remainder of the evening, they were very careful with their words. It was obvious that he had realized something and, though they had all agreed not to arbitrarily keep secrets from the children, that didn't mean they could just ignore their responsibility as parents.
---
After dropping Sophia off at the Workshop, Vahn, accompanied by Gareth, joined Artoria, Gray, Rin, Luvia, Kenshin, and Nobunaga in the latter's room, a common meet-up location. The children had, for the time being, been left in the care of their Governesses, the Homunculi that would be caring for and educating them until they matured.
Since the atmosphere was a little tense, Vahn greeted everyone with a smile before gesturing with his hand and saying, "It isn't that serious. We'll just have to take special precautions in rearing the Vanir. As for Sophia, I don't think there will be any issues with Da Vinci and myself around."
Though his words eased most of the tensions in the room, Rin/Ishtar/Ereshkigal, the mothers of said Vanir, immediately asked, "What's going on, Vahn? Don't beat around the bush." Since it concerned their children, they were obviously less patient than they otherwise would have been.
Before answering them, Vahn sat down on the sofa next to Artoria before explaining, "I'm certain that, at the very least, Isanna has a similar level of omniscience as Ishtar and Ereshkigal. It is a little different for Sophia, but I've also confirmed that she has the [Natural Born Genius] Innate at the EX-Rank, just like her mother. The most terrifying thing, however, is her mental development...though she is only five days old, she has the mental age of a fourteen-year-old...and it is rapidly increasing."
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[Status]
Name: Sophia Mason
Title: Progeny of the Omnipotent Genius [Promotes Mental Development]
Race: Demigod
Age: C0, P0, M14
Strength: 1E-
Endurance: 4E-
Agility: 1E-
Magical Power: 9E
Good Luck: ★
Circuit Quality: EX
SOUL: 3 [Lord Soul]
Divinity: Innovation(pseudo: 44%), Wisdom(pseudo: 68%), Creation(pseudo: 1%
Skills: [Natural Born Genius:Innate:EX], [Artificer's Eye:Innate:B], [Promise of the Future:Innate:(sealed)], [Eidetic Memory:B], [Mind Workshop:D], [Golden Rule:A]
Magic: (-)
Magecraft: (-)
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When the others saw the [Heroic Tale of Sophia Mason], they were more than a little shocked. This meant that, despite her appearance, Sophia's mental maturity was even higher than that of Modred and Sakura. It was even higher than Isanna's who, at this point, had a mental age of 5, despite only being less than a week old and having the physical development of a two-month-old infant.
What mattered the most, at least to Rin, Ishtar, and Ereshkigal, however, was Vahn's first claim about Isanna having the limited omniscience granted to all Gods and Goddesses. As they needed to be able to perform their duties immediately after birth, most Gods were born fully formed. They also had access to the 'Wisdom of the Gaia', giving them knowledge of everything transpiring within the world's past and present. Those with the associated Divinity could even know the future and, unlike Scáthach, they could easily control this ability from birth.
If what Vahn said was true, which was very likely the case, this meant that Isanna already had access to the entire recorded history of the planet and everything happening in the modern world. Though there were obvious exceptions, as even Gaia and Alaya could not know everything, it was still a very powerful ability. This meant that, so long as she wanted to know something, Isanna would always have the answer she seeks, despite not having the mental development to properly understand the information she was obtaining.
Being the de facto mother of Isanna, Ishtar became the dominant personality in Rin's body as she crossed her arms and said, "I will guide Isanna like a proper Goddess. Do not worry."
Vahn didn't doubt that Ishtar would do her best but, as they all carried the responsibility of rearing the children born within the castle, he gave a small nod before adding, "We all need to do our best. Isanna shouldn't be afraid of her power, nor should she feel like she is being restrained. It is fine to let her exercise her power and make a few mistakes, so long as they are not irreversible. We need to make sure she doesn't pick up any dangerous habits. I already expect her to be a little precocious so we'll have to be strict whenever she pushes the boundaries too far..."
Following this statement, Vahn had a 'very' long discussion with everyone about maintaining holding a unified front and proper communication. One of the biggest dangers to Isanna's development was her believing she would be able to get away with certain things around certain people. If she started trying to take advantage of this realization, she would start to develop a manipulative and deceitful nature as a matter of course.
Structure and consistency were important for the development of all children, Vanir included, so they needed to be on the same page until Isanna, and the other children, had matured. The only reason she became the central figure of this discussion was due to her pseudo-Divinities being Sky(69%), Authority(37%), War(82%), and Love(95%). This was an especially troublesome combination as, when she had a better grasp of her abilities, Isanna would be able to teleport and send her intent out, just like when he was teleporting in his Qinglong form. She would also be able to command and order simple-minded creatures to do her bidding and, after maturing, there was a good chance she would have the same influence of humans and spirits. To exacerbate matters even further, it wouldn't take long before her Love pseudo-Divinity evolved into an actual Divinity. Depending on when and how this manifested, Isanna could become a danger to herself and others in a very short period of time.
Fortunately, Isanna's Love didn't seem to be the same kind as Ishtar's, which would be troublesome for an entire slew of reasons. He had made sure of this as, when they spent time together during the pregnancy, Vahn had informed them about the development of the Vanir and how they were heavily influenced by the intentions and hopes of their parents. This meant that Isanna's Love would most likely manifest as familial love and a strong desire to protect her family. She would probably become a little overprotective, but that was better than having a 'Lenneth' around the castle...especially one that could freely spy on others and teleport around freely.
---
While Vahn and the others were discussing her, Isanna was doing exactly what Vahn was worried about, albeit with purely innocent intent. She was pretending to sleep while hugging her beloved little brother when, in actuality, her intent was roaming the halls freely. Though there were some places she couldn't venture, such as the room where her parents were currently 'hiding', she was able to move almost uninhibitedly through much of the castle. Even solid walls and the complex magical formations were unable to stop her as, rather than 'move', it was more accurate to say that her intent was simply wherever she wanted it to be.
One of Isanna's favorite past times, despite having lived for less than two weeks, was spying on her other siblings. She liked to follow Mordred around, watching as the girl got into all kinds of mischief alongside her other big sister, Sakura. It was also very entertaining to see them training as, despite it looking boring and repetitive at times, she thought the flashy lights and explosions appearing during spars were very entertaining. She was even tempted to join them at times but, as there was always a 'presence' following her around, Isanna made sure to be on her best behavior, at least for the time being.
This time around, Isanna tried to sneak into one of the places she had never been able to enter, the Magus Tower belonging to Merlin. Unfortunately, any attempt she made to probe the interior would just send her intent elsewhere, causing the young Vanir a great deal of confusion. She still tried to go inside a few more times but, having no success, she decided to go explore the outside for a bit. From her perspective, the world was full of vibrant colors as she could easily see the flow of mana, both in the environment and the creatures calling Avalon home.
Since the Island had felt somewhat 'ghostly' before, Vahn had brought various harmless animals into the Projection in the past. This mainly included sheep, deer, squirrels, rabbits, and other herbivores as they made the Island more scenic and fantastical with their presence. There was nothing quite like walking through the woods in the early morning twilight and stumbling across a few deers grazing in the expansive forest of apple trees. He had also taught Mordred not to antagonize them so, after a while, most of the animals on the Island had become very friendly toward humans.
After sending her intent near a few life signs located within the forest, Isanna did something that, if Vahn knew about it, would result in him having a very long, and potentially violent, conversation with Merlin. This was because, much like an actual Goddess, Isanna was already able to manifest herself in other forms, without needing to appear in her main body. Thus, after finding a small family of deer, a stream of mana began to flow from the surroundings before forming into a wispy figure not all that dissimilar to Ishtar.
Rather than panic at the unexpected appearance of a person, the adult deer in the small herd bent down on the joints of their knees, seemingly bowing to Isanna's manifestation while the fawns in the group began to gather around her. Isanna giggled in response to the subservient adult deer before saying, "Awue goo ga fuuwaa~" as she pet the young fawns surrounding her. The adult deer, as if understanding her nonsensical words, rose to their feet before joining their children around Isanna and allowing her to freely pet them...
Though Isanna was enjoying her time quite a bit, her eyes suddenly flashed with divine light just as she was feeding an apple to one of the smaller fawns. In the next moment, she had vanished from the forest as, back in the castle, her little brother had started to cry. This might have annoyed other infants but Isanna and Naavi were never troubled by Daiki's loud bellows. Instead, they both began to hug him in order to calm his crying until two of their caretakers arrived, both wearing the strange contraption that was filled with delicious milk.
Isanna personally preferred her mother's milk but, as the flavors were comparable, she chose not to complain. Since the woman who picked up Daiki also picked her up, meaning she had 'won' against her younger sister, Isanna even graced the pale-haired Homunculus with a few praises while, at the side, Naavi had a pouting expression. This gave Isanna the urge to laugh but, as she was also quite hungry, she began to suckle on the artificial teet with vigor while holding onto Daiki's blanket with her right hand.
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Where's my super suit!?','Vahn and Da Vinci have created a monster xD...','The Adventures of Isanna, Vol. 1')
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