Three Days
"At the time, we didn't know that the sovereign's names couldn't be referenced, even to their own offspring."
Sorin widened his eyes.
An image involuntarily entered his mind. A little baby girl in her father's embrace... ears exploded... broken skull...
"Thankfully, Mama was able to immediately heal her. I remembered blood staining Papa's white robe, and he stood there as silent as a statue."
Brother snapped back and closed his mouth. He recalled how Papa couldn't even raise his voice near Elara after that. No... he stopped speaking completely the moment Elara entered his sight.
A father who welcomed his beloved baby to the world, and the first word he said to her destroyed her ears. It was quite a trauma for that man.
"Sister grew up not knowing the name of her own parents, and her parents couldn't give her any of their names. But the first word she said when she could finally speak at one year old was 'Papa'."
Brother smiled, looking at Elara's back in the distance. "From that day on, Papa announced that his name was 'Papa'."
The blonde man pushed Sorin's back and walked with him to chase Elara.
"It might be silly for you, but from that day on, for Papa, his true name is 'Papa', not his real name. That's why he expected you to also call him that because you are young. Moreover, you had learned Elara's name."
Sorin blinked at him. Now his eyes also looked complicated.
He understood the reason why it was important now.
Because they couldn't even know each other's names even though they were family, now the term Papa itself became the man's identity.
That man preferred Papa to be his name and not his real name because he wanted to cherish his daughter...
"But still, I can't call a stranger Papa on the first day I met him, right?"
For Sorin, calling someone any version of 'father' also had immense significance. After his past, something like that... was just too much of a luxury.
Brother grinned at him. The blonde man couldn't believe how dense this boy was.
For Elara to introduce herself with her own name the first time they met, only that was proof of her acknowledgment of him.
And even though he didn't know the significance, did he not notice Elara's interest in him? Brother closed his eyes and prayed for Elara's success.
"So, actually, how old are you guys?" Sorin asked.
"Grandpa awakened when he turned 60 around 70 years ago. We called him grandpa to humor him, even though he's the youngest," Brother said.
"Huh?!" Sorin was shocked. "So he's not the oldest?!"
"Hahaha, the oldest is Papa, though. But age never mattered to us since we rarely judge people by their age. Everyone is equal in status," Brother explained.
Sorin looked at Brother. His carefree nature made him seem and sound the youngest. But maybe he wasn't...?
"What about you, Brother? How old are you?" Sorin asked carefully.
"Me?" Brother laughed. "I'm... ah... wait, I forgot."
Huh?
"He's really, really old," Elara mocked after they were finally able to chase her.
"I-I'm not that old!" Brother yelled.
Sorin could only laugh.
They ate their lunch and then chatted a little more about demons and anything Sorin asked them about. Sorin also understood why they could easily say everything.
He could become one of them. And even if he didn't, they could erase his memory.
"Now that you've mastered the fundamental basics of the system, let's put it into practice," Brother suggested.
Eh?
Sorin's train of thought had been disturbed. But then, he narrowed his eyes.
"You've surprised me left and right, and now this. It's fine to drag me around, but what are you going to do to me next?" Sorin asked.
"Are you tired?" Elara asked worriedly.
"What tired. Isn't he an immortal?" Brother brushed it off.
Sorin just realized it too. He didn't feel tired at all...
"And I got just three days to convince you to join us, so be prepared," Brother warned, his gaze intense and full of ambition.
This...
Sorin started to regret his decision.
***
"Now, let's learn about warping."
First, Brother asked him to open their reign domain's map. Sorin yelled 'MAP', and while he expected a transparent flat screen map, he flinched when suddenly, a hologram of the solar system appeared.
"Oh! What?!" Sorin turned around him to see the map expand in the whole room—faraway stars and galaxies, nebulas, and the vast expanse of nothingness that separated them.
"Can you see this?" he asked Brother and Elara.
But they shook their head. "No, because even though we share the same system, we can't see your status window and your map without your permission."
"Oh, but we have the same 3D map of the universe, right?" Sorin asked.
"Well, yes. Should we share our perspective?" Elara tapped her screen, followed by Brother.
[DING!]
Sorin received a notification. He turned to his left to see a pop-up transparent window.
[Join multiplayer mode?]
[Seventh's Party]
[Accept] [Decline]
Sorin tapped the accept button, and suddenly, the hologram refreshed. Zooming into the 3D, blue round object near the sun, passing the other planet and the moon, they found themselves with the globe between them.
The earth spinning in its rotation.
Sorin saw the Mediterranean Sea and then Italy... where three simplified icons appeared.
The first one was an icon of a black balance scale. The other two were a golden hourglass and a pair of white wings. He thought of zooming it in even more, and the earth expanded below their waist.
Now, it was easier for him to see their accurate location. Covolo, inside a big building. The black scale was him, the golden hourglass was Elara, and the pair of white wings was Brother.
He was still marveling at everything when suddenly, Brother double-tapped their building image. They could finally able to see even the interior of the building and then their lifesize icon.
"Now, this might not be the last updated map terrain because the world changes every day, and we only have one Uncle," Brother said.
"And we can't risk warping in front of other people, so let's choose a discreet location," Elara continued and shifted the map to another city in Italy.
"Tuscany."