The Newest Family Member

Karia was now off to find the last child who she remembered who looked like her. Although this may have been, the only similarity was their pale skin, nothing more. For days, Karia traveled with the guards, Rol and Filphen. They had been officially assigned as Karia's personal guards, before this, they were part of the cleaning service. The children on the other hand, were left at home, free to do as they please within the house. With some concern for what could happen, Karia made sure there were notes sent to the maids in reassurance that the children were kept safe and sound. The days later felt long, much time was spent riding through warm weather, two days pass…

"Lady Shiarama." Rol sat upon his horse, fanning himself from the immense heat. "We have gone far enough, I beg of you, let these horse rest."

"… Alright," Karia stopped her horse who seemed to be barely out of breath. "We will go somewhere with shade."

The others followed to someplace nearby that looked like a cave entrance. Filphen went inside with a torch to check if anything was lingering inside, but there was nothing other than a small body of glittering water in the corner. He came back out to tell them and had the horses follow along inside. They went through the cave entrance; vines covering most of the area. Karia let them rest their horses inside and noticed the night creeping in. They had lit a small fire to keep them warm and each guard kept watch as the night would pass. Karia slept with a blanket and pillow for little support but dwelt with this as it was the best to travel with. As the morning finally rose with the guards awakening Karia from her slumber, they went out with the horses again. Karia looked back to the glittering water and placed an empty bottle inside, planning taking a small portion of this mysterious liquid back home. Continuing their search for this child, their tracks had been slightly stranded. Karia knew that they had come to the correct area, which had been right next to a beach. The transition from dirt to sand would have been posed as a slightly difficult path for their horses, and so they were left to wait on the dirt. Karia and her guards walked along the sand as the water barely reached them. There was still no sight of anything but sand, shells, and water at their feet. An idea had suddenly sprung into Karia's mind, and she quickly began to slightly "undress." The guards had been caught by surprise, immediately turning to the side as they questioned why their lady would suddenly do such a thing. Fortunately, she had taken off her dress to reveal another outfit underneath, one fit for water. She told them to be at ease and they soon realized, relieved that she was still wearing something, but confused. Karia then told them to hold her dress and shoes, preparing herself to jump inside the water. Before they could react, she quickly ran and dived to enter this large and seemingly endless body of water. The guards barely had a chance to go after her, worried they would be wet and get her clothes wet as well. Their concern for Karia's safety was wavering due to the sight of her swimming far into the distance. A wave was soon to come by, and Karia was far out by then, the guards attempted to yell as the wave was coming closer to her by the seconds. Although, this seemed to be nothing to Karia and she speedily dived into the water, avoiding this wave. The sound of the surface above the water had come to an abrupt stop, now becoming the aquatic music under. Kari had held her breath and fluttered her eyes open, seeing the beauty of this water and its creatures. Many would have wondered why there would be anything touching your body while swimming, she figured out what. Karia glanced at her legs, seeing small colored fish lightly pecking at them, barely doing any harm. They slightly tickled her legs, and she moved them, making the fish scatter away. Karia looked above her, noticing that the wave had finally passed and swam above to take in more air. She'd been sure of what to do now. The guards waiting out at the sand stood there for quite some time. Minutes passed and their concern grew, unsure of what could have happened to Karia. They sat on the sand, continuing to wait for a longer period of time. Then, in their view, Karia was seen in the distance above the water, holding what looked like a small child, sleeping in her arms. They quickly stood, realizing this the closer she became. Karia had been tired due to the amount of swimming she'd done to get through the water. She explained that this was no ordinary child, but the breed of a god and a human. The guards had been startled by this, even more that she included that this was a boy who had been raised to be a "Grandchanger." He was raised by a great octopus god after his biological god father had given him away, to live in safety. This octopus god's name was Halgreter, he accepted to raise the half-breed as he was not seen as either human or god among any. The boy gained the form and abilities of an octopus after raised in such an environment. Still, the guards were unsure of this information and yet they proceeded to trust Karia to go along with this; taking the two back home. The days continued to pass longer, taking another three days until finally arriving to the entry of the main house. The servants once more began to spread rumors around the house as Karia settled in with this child she'd brought back. Throughout the time spent with him as they returned, Karia grew fond of this child and made sure to have him washed and ready to introduce to the others. Kari had peeked around the corner of the washroom door, seeing Karia sitting from across the little boy being washed. His hair looked completely orange and his eyes sparkling in the same color. He noticed her eyes watching from the doorway and looked at her as well. She paid no mind to this and simply smiled at him, making his face have a slightly flustered expression. Karia noticed this and looked back to the doorway, catching Kari's eyes peeking. Kari quickly scurried away before her mother was able to even speak out her name. It seemed odd but Karia placed her attention back to the little boy, waiting for his wash to finish.

"Did you see him?" Jolen sat on a couch, sipping some herbal tea.

"Mhm!" Kari quickly smiled in excitement. "He has really white skin, his eyes and hair are orange, and he looked very adorable!"

Jolen placed down his teacup and sighed, knowing his little sister would be fond of anyone new. "Did he have anything else? A scar like us maybe?"

"Scar?" Kari thought back to when she caught the glimpse of him. All her mind could think of was the amount of sparkle he had in his eyes. "Nope, no scar."

A few knocks came from the door and then a voice announcing that Karia had called the three to meet her at the guest room in the front of the house. Jolen and Kari were the only two in the room, as for Jilliace; she was out "exploring" once more. Kari was the only one to stay in the room and watched Jolen quickly run out to the balcony attached. He jumped off, falling down to the ground from the second floor. He ran out to the nearby forest area and looked for Jilliace. She was seen not too far out, only sitting by a young man who looked around her age. Jolen did not question this because they had met before and simply gestured to the house. Jilliace managed to see him from a short distance and had to leave the young man. This seemed to also be a sort of routine from past situations needing to return to the house. Although, they'd been able to get back just as fast, making it in time to change and follow Kari to the guest room.

"I see you've finally made it," Karia rose from a chair, smiling at the three. She walked over to someone who was standing behind a folding screen that acted as a wall. Karia slowly pushed a little boy out to their view, his orange hair shining and his eyes sparkling in the lighting. "I want you to meet Mizutaka, our newest member of the family."

Jolen and Jilliace were both in shock as to how young the boy looked, even younger than Kari. This was both a wonder and of concern. Karia had been gone for about a week as she expected, but this newcomer was not the same as they would have predicted. Other than them, Kari slightly leaned forward and walked to the little boy. Mizutaka, still in front of Karia, slightly stepped backwards, still a bit flustered of his last memory of her. Karia gently pushed him to move closer, hoping the best would come out of this new interaction.

"Mizutaka." Kari happily held her hand out as she smiled in excitement. "My name is Kari; it is nice to finally meet you!"

The view of this pure gesture had Mizutaka in a tough position. He slowly moved his hand towards hers, not speaking a word. Kari quickly took it and gently shook his hand with both of hers. Karia watched in approval and then looked to the other two who were still standing far behind. They awkwardly looked away as they noticed Karia's gaze. They looked back to her and realized she'd be signaling with her eyes to introduce themselves. Jolen slightly let out a sigh and Jilliace almost looked around before putting her attention to Mizutaka.

"It is nice to meet you, Mizutaka." The two lazily spoke at the same time, making it seem quite literally effortless.

Karia glared at them, making sure they'd known this would be spoken of later. In the meantime, Karia let Mizutaka and Kari sit together in the guest room while maids kept watch over them. Kari was intrigued by his appearance and told everything about herself. Interest and hobbies she managed to look forward to, anything that came to mind. Mizutaka still did not speak a single word, but he simply stared in awe of the cheery and accepting nature that Kari had shown. While leaving the two, Karia walked off with the others to the dining hall. Jolen and Jilliace were slightly prepared as to what was about to happen, being talked to about the new family member. Karia set them to sit in a couch along the wall and she sat across from a smaller couch fit for only one person.

"Now, tell me." Karia sat down in a dissatisfied manner; her face had shown some conflict. "What has you both so far from Mizutaka?"

"His looks?" Jolen spoke out of curiosity of specifics. "His… background?"

"Mother, why would you suddenly bring home another child?" Jilliace blurted out the question, concerned for the future that Karia might see instead. "I know you did the same for us, but what's so special about him? It's all just out of nowhere…"

"Jolen, Jilliace." Karia looked at them both, making sure that her expression had shown a more serious tone. "There is much for you both to know from here on out."

Jolen and Jilliace both turned to each other and then faced Karia, willing to hear whatever she has to say. Karia explained the opportunity that she'd been given by the goddess in the glimmering forest. The two were confused by this sudden rush of information from her, but they were still intent on listening. Karia even knew their background as slaves but even further back into their own bloodline. Queen Hyrestia gave her all the information about how their ancestors were magic users themselves, such as the Shiarama bloodline was. Their families were barely connected by this single thread of magic. Back when magic had been taken in by humans, there were only a select few who had been accepted to bring it into their bloodline. The one who had been accepted was Hofsen Juvuen, a woman of great pride and sole conscience. Similarly to Gremin Shiarama, they both began their bloodlines, unexpectedly together. Due to the separation of their color in skin, they had not been able to bring the surnames together. This would mean that even though they had technically been adopted by Karia, they were very distant relatives. Knowing this, Jolen and Jilliace were shocked at this new information once more. 

"Mizutaka is not of our bloodline, but you must still accept him into this family." Karia looked at the two, concerned for their understanding. "Kari has already done such as that."

"Mother…" Jilliace quietly spoke, still barely grasping this.

Jolen stood from his seat, face it head on. "Mother, with all due respect, this is just too much to handle."

"I understand." Karia also stood and turned to walk away. "We will have further conversations such as these in the future. I suggest you both make an effort to bond with Mizutaka."

Jilliace and Jolen had been left in the room to ponder this new information they finally figured out. Karia went to peek in the room Kari and Mizutaka had still been talking in and let them be together. Mizutaka was heard finally speaking ever since he was brought home. This began their new bond of the 6-year-old Mizutaka with the happily welcoming Kari. Later on, they had been the closest other than the bond with Kari and Jolen. As a few years pass, the once children were then grown up, learning more about their family history. Jilliace went into studies in Karia's library full of scrolls and letters. Jolen would often join as well, even allowing her male partner from the forest to visit. Karia would continue to be unaware of this mystery individual. All the knowledge that had been bestowed to Karia was highly confidential, some notes of them would be found in her personal office. Jolen occasionally sneaked inside anytime she was out the house, having learned forbidden abilities dealing with their bloodline magic. He'd read about the ability called "bloodline sights." Jolen was 20 years old by then, intrigued with this magical ability. It was set to give you silent access to see through the eyes of any within your bloodline. The one who's eyes are used as another pair would have almost no way of knowing this had been used on them unless told. Karia soon realized some of her scrolls went missing from her desk. This led to lining everyone up in front of their bedroom doors. Karia called each of the children she raised to the corridor.

"Mizutaka, Kari, Jolen, and Jilliace." Karia walked in front of each, showing an example of what her scrolls look like. "Scrolls from my office have gone missing. Do any of you know what could have possibly happened with them?"

As Karia stopped walking to look at all four, Jilliace slowly stepped up from the silence. "… It was me."

Karia looked at her and shook her head. She was both impressed and disappointed by this act. "Have I not taught you each to be honest?"

"… Of course, she and I both are at fault." Jolen stepped up and firmly stood his ground next to Jilliace. "I conducted these, Jilliace only helped keep watch as I'd done them."

Kari and Mizutaka watched in confusion, simply sitting back in their obvious innocence. Karia accepted their confession and told the other two to return to their rooms or do as they please. Kari lightly pulled Mizutaka away and walked into the opposite direction and went to the stairs that led down. Karia took both Jolen and Jilliace to her office that was only a hall around the corner. Walking inside, she told them to step in front of the desk and wait as took out what were the missing scrolls from her desk drawers. Jilliace made a shameful reaction, turning away her head as Jolen simply stared at the scrolls with serious attention.

"I am genuinely impressed that you had done this even at your current age, Jolen." Karia lightly leaned onto the desk, somewhat in a faint sort of physical pain. Jolen noticed but would not dare to mention it in such a situation. "You are only 20 years old, but Jilliace, you are 22… I understand that you both would be curious… Get straight to the point." Karia looked directly into Jolen's eyes, slightly angered.

"I wanted to know what bloodline sights was." Jolen slightly tiled his head to the side, keeping a calm and collected expression as he spoke. "It was labeled as forbidden, of course you would not mention it to us."

"That is because it should never be used." Karia sighed, undergoing much stress from this. She lifted her arm to her head, lightly rubbing her left temple. "It can be used good or bad, depending on a person's intentions. I forbid it because it could be used as an intrusive way to spy on family members. Please, do not tell me you have learned this ability, should you ever use it may it be after my death so I cannot sense concern for it." Karia's voice slowly shrank as her breathing patterns depleted the same.

"M-Mother… You should rest…" Jilliace finally pointed this out, walking around the desk to her. "I will help you to your bedroom."

"…" Karia's senses seemed to be faint in the process, barely noticing Jilliace guiding her out the desk. They left the office as Jolen stood there, staring at the scrolls.

Jolen took this opportunity and organized the scrolls onto the desk. This was not only of the bloodline sights but of plentily other information on the goddess Hyrestia. He'd known that this was the goddess who gave Karia her wish on finding them, but he wanted to test this out for himself. So, the plan had begun with the perfect moment, Karia had then fallen ill of her stress from that very day.