Bonding Time

It took quite a while for the crowd to disperse.

By then, the only ones left were Arthur, Sylvie, and my parents.

Turns out they wanted to join the Twin Horns in the war.

"Is there anything we can do to change your minds?" I all but plead.

Dad shook his head, "No, nothing you say is going to change our minds."

I sighed, there's no stopping him when he's made up his mind, "Fine," then something struck me.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" I turned to look at Alice.

She nodded, "Yes, this was my idea after all."

I furrowed my brows, "What?"

"I'll explain later. Now help me convince them to stay." Arthur whispered to me.

"I don't think we can keep them from going, unless we tie them up." I whispered, giving him a look that said 'trust me'.

I can always have someone from my team look after them… that is if I am able to make the team anytime soon.

Soon they left, albeit not before arguing with Arthur for a few more minutes.

"So, how was training in Epheotus?" I broke the silence.

"Hellish." He shivered.

"You sound like they were torturing you."

"They might as well have."

Compared to that my training seems mild.

'Flux chamber.' Those two words from Zeke were enough to change my mind.

Now that was hell.

"I can relate."

"Did you learn anything about the shell?"

"What do you mean?"

"The shell covering your core." He elaborated.

"Ah yes, I did learn something. To shorten it, the shell protects my core and prepares my body for metamorphosis."

"Metamorphosis?"

"Yep, I'm slowly turning to a Marchosias. I'm not 100% human anymore." I shrugged.

"How?"

"I don't know either. All I know is that my beast will is not what it seems and is a device to help the Marchosias in their salvation." I admitted.

"Why did they give it to you? Weren't you four when you first met Noctis?" He asked, confused.

"Arthur, he knows."

"How did he-?"

"They have abilities that affect the very soul. It isn't surprising they can see the age of a soul as well." I cut him off.

"That makes sense." He muttered.

"Yeah, so now you know why they handed me that."

"They could have used it on one of their own." He suggested.

"They did, no one was compatible."

"Even so... "

"What's the issue?" I asked.

"That makes it seem like you are a tool for them." He reasoned.

"Trust me, they don't think of me as a tool." I reassured him.

"You can never know. You told me the Asuras waged war on the Marchosias because they were becoming too strong, but from what I saw during my time in Epheotus, they didn't seem like the kind who would do it."

"It's a possibility that their leader ordered for a war without telling the rest the true reason behind it."

"That... doesn't seem too far-fetched for Kezess." He muttered.

By now we had reached Arthur's room.

"Well, your stop is here. I'll be seeing you then." I waved at him as I began walking away, looking for any familiar mana signatures.

A few minutes of walking later I sensed it, a cold and tranquil feel of mana.

There you are.

I knocked at the door, waiting for someone to open it.

It didn't take long for the door to swing open, a familiar face on the other side.

"Sup princess."

Instantly she was upon me, wrapping her arms around my torso and resting her head on my chest.

I chuckled at her, "Someone's happy."

As she pulled away from me, Zeke jumped out of my shadow in his miniature form, his tail wagging.

Kathyln knelt down and scratched behind his ears, earning a growl of pleasure from him.

As we went inside her room, Kathyln had Zeke clutched in her arms.

"It's been 3 years," she stated.

"Has it? I hadn't realized," came my remark.

"Will you stay?"

"Yes, I'm not going to leave anytime soon."

Unless I die of course.

"I was worried." she said, a faint dusting of pink blossoming on her cheeks.

"You didn't need to, the Mar- my benefactors kept good care of me." And they had, even though I came close to death a few times, but she doesn't need to know that.

"I know." she muttered.

"Hey, I'm fine, relax." I tried to reassure her.

[You really have no idea of how to handle women do you?]

Didn't really have the chance to pursue romance in my last life, you know.

[I do…]

Exactl- Wait, how do you know about my past life?

[...]

Fine, don't answer me.

"Fayden?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry about that. I was talking to a nagging voice in my head." I apologized sheepishly.

She shook her head, "It's fine."

"So, how have you been these last 3 or so years?" I asked.

"After the… incident at Xyrus Academy we moved to Lancellor. Curtis is actually teaching there now."

"Him? Teaching? Can't say I saw that one coming."

"Yes, it was surprising for me too." she admitted.

A moment of silence passes.

Why is this so awkward…

[Get a grip you lovestruck fool.]

I shook my head, "Anyways, have you been participating in the war?"

"No, my father does not want me to," her expression changed into one of frustration.

"Does not mean you have to follow what he says."

"What do you mean?" she asked slowly.

"I mean, you could join me. I am creating a team to work with me." I suggested.

"A team... "

"Yep, we're not going to be shackled down by the council's orders. Sure we will take their advice, but we have freedom to follow that order or not." I added.

"Are you sure about doing something like this? The last time…" she trailed off, referring to my imprisonment.

I shrugged, "They can't really do anything against me. I am already on par with a lance and have Zeke, a deity, to help me. Besides I am one of the strongest mages in this continent and they need strong mages, and you are one. I can understand they want to keep you safe, but you could help turn the tides of this war."

She hesitated for a moment, before relenting with a nod.

"With that said, I want you to have this." I handed her one of the chips.

She looked at it, confused for a moment, before accepting it.

Almost immediately it began "melting" in her hand.

Unlike Owen, she didn't panic, instead she waited patiently.

The metal took the shape of a stick, a wand, with the black and white intertwining with each other.

She stared at it in curiosity, turning it around in her hand.

"That's a device made by a deity, it enhances your magic and makes it easier to manipulate mana. It also has an emergency mana storage if you run out of mana mid battle." I explained.

She stilled in shock, holding the wand as if it was a fragile piece of glass.

"You don't need to handle it that carefully, it's not gonna break easily." I pointed out.

She blushed in embarrassment, muttering a "sorry."

"No need to apologize," I waved her apology off. "Welcome to the team, I guess."

"Who else is there?" She asked.

I shrugged, "For now, no one. I do plan to ask Claire, Brandon and Owen though."

"This team will consist of the five of us?"

I shook my head, "No, I have asked Virion to look for two more members to join, so seven of us in total."

We spent the next hour or so speaking about what we went through in the 3 years since my departure.

I omitted some parts of course, like the whole thing about the key and being named successor.

By the time we finished catching up it was almost nightfall.

"I'll see you tomorrow then princess."

She pouted at my nickname for her, but I wasn't going to stop.

"Must you keep calling me that. You can just call me Kathyln...or Kath." She whined, the last bit almost inaudible.

"What can I say, it's fun. Besides, you look cute pouting like that."

[Smooth.]

"Cute…?" She muttered, her cheeks flushed pink.

Zeke took that moment to jump down from her arms, 'I have to agree with him here, that was smooth.'

[Yeah, I didn't think you had it in you.]

I chose to ignore them.

"Anyways I really should get going, haven't met up with Ellie since I got back." I began inching towards the door.

But as I twist the knob to open it, Kathyln speaks up, "Wait."

During the time it took for me to turn around, she had already reached me and I didn't even have time to register as her lips pressed against mine in a chaste kiss.

A second later she let go, "Give your sister my regards," she muttered, her face redder than i have ever seen.

"Uh….Yeah will do." I muttered, leaving the room.

It still took me some time to get back on track.

Dammit, get a hold of yourself Fayden! Don't act like a teenager in love.

[As I said before, get a grip you lovestruck fool.]

Shaking my head I moved away, searching for Eleanor.

________________________

A while later I sensed a mana signature very familiar, yet I was sure I hadn't sensed it before.

It was similar to mine and Arthur's, and it was coming from the outdoor terrace of the castle.

Arthur is in his room, Mom and Dad are with the Twin Horns, that only leaves one person.

I jogged my way to the terrace, where an interesting scene awaited me.

Planks of wood hung from dozens of branches, some of which were impaled with arrows.

But a larger number was on the floor, misses.

She's been practicing archery?

As if on cue another arrow whistled past me with inches to spare.

"Watch out!" The cry came too late, the arrow had already embedded itself into a plank.

"I'm so sor-" She stopped in her tracks, staring at me.

I cracked a grin, "Hey Ellie, long time no see."

Immediately, a brown blur smashed into me.

I patted her head affectionately as my grin widened.

As she broke away from the hug, a humongous bear walked up to us.

"Brother! Say hi to my Boo!" she chirped, pointing to the bear.

I did a double take, "What?"

The bear stared down at me, and without another word raised its equally giant claw and swung down at me.

"Brother!" Ellie cried out in warning.

Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence.

Before the claw had crossed even half of the distance between us, I was already behind the bear, Shroud pressed against his neck. Zeke had come out, and was now growling at the bear.

"Does Boo always greet people with a claw to the face?" I remarked without tearing my gaze from the bear.

"No, he's a bit competitive and wanted to see if I was telling the truth when I told him how strong you were. He even did that to Arthur." She explained, before turning to Boo a finger held up, "Bad Boo."

[Seems like they are bonded.]

Yeah.

"How'd you even get the guy?" I asked.

"Big brother Arthur's teacher gave him to me."

"So… Windsom just casually gave you a life sized teddy bear?" I raised an eyebrow.

Boo let out a whine at that.

"Shut up plushie." I retorted.

Ellie shook her head, "He was much smaller then."

Hmm…

"Is that Zeke?" she asked, pointing towards my bond.

"Yep."

Just like that she was upon him, cuddling with him.

'Father….help!'

I only chuckled at him.

After a few minutes of cuddling Ellie let Zeke go, who ran up to me, hiding behind my leg.

'What has the mighty Marchosias been reduced to.'

'Shaddup.'

I chuckled once again.

"So, you have been practicing archery?" I asked rhetorically.

She nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, yeah. Watch this."

She knocked two arrows from her quiver and shot them one after another.

Mid-air the two arrows collided, sending each to a different location.

The first one hit its mark dead on, but the second one missed by inches.

While I was amazed, Ellie looked disappointed at the result.

"That's pretty darn impressive." I breathed out.

"But I missed…" she pointed out.

I kneeled down to her level, "Ellie, don't be so hard on yourself. That trick is something even veteran archers would find difficult to achieve. And I know I can't do it either. Besides you are only twelve, you're better than most of your peers."

"He is right, that trick is hard to master. It took me years to do it." I heard a familiar voice speak.

"Hello Helen." I spoke before I turned around to greet her.

"Welcome back Fayden." She replied, patting my shoulder.

"Now, Ellie, why don't you show your brother what you have been really working on?"

Wait, there's more?

Ellie nodded meekly, bringing her bow up and muttering a chant as her fingertips began glowing white.

She placed her fingers on the string of the bow, but without an arrow.

I opened my mouth to point it out, but what I saw next took me by surprise.

The mana in her fingers moulded itself to a thin arrow that glowed a soft white.

She's already conjuring weapons from mana? When did she awaken? It couldn't be that long.

She released the arrow, which hummed instead of whistling, and raced towards the plank she had chosen as her target.

The arrow hit the plank, digging into the wood, before dissipating.

My mouth, which was already half open, opened even further in shock.

It can't be more than 3 years since her awakening.

And even I had difficulty moulding mana into a physical construct back then.

"Ellie…" I trailed off, "That…was amazing! You're better than me at constructs!"

"You're exaggerating." She said, flustered.

I shook my head, "No, I am serious. How long has it been since you awakened?"

"2 years…" She muttered.

"Exactly! I couldn't conjure constructs properly even after 5 years, you saw how my sword dissipated when I sparred against Father. To be able to do this in only 2 years is truly astounding. With that said, I was never able to conjure pure mana, it was always elemental."

"But, isn't it better to use the elements?" She asked.

"Not necessarily," I shook my head, "You use mana from your core to make the arrows don't you?"

She nodded.

"So when you unlock your elemental affinity, you might be able to transform the mana in the arrow to that element, giving you an element of surprise. Think of it like this, people underestimate a single arrow, especially if it doesn't have an elemental coating. Imagine their surprise when the seemingly harmless arrow turns into a torrent of blazing hot fire, or razor sharp wind. By then it would be too late to block it."

Her face visibly brightened at that.

"I can help you out when I'm in the castle, so don't hesitate to call for me okay?"

She nodded.

"It's getting dark, we should return." Helen cut in on our conversation.

"Yeah."

Inside, we talked for a few more minutes, walking through the corridors.

Upon reaching my room, I halted, "Goodnight then Ellie, Helen."

"Goodnight brother."

Helen only nodded in response.

Once inside, I sat on my bed.

I need to form the rest of the team, Claire, Owen and Brandon would probably agree.

Now I only need to wait for the two candidates Virion would bring.

'Have you even chosen a name for the team?'

No, not yet.

Do we even need a name?

'What are you going to refer to them as then?'

Fair enough.

"A name huh…" I pondered as I began falling into the comfort of sleep.