Burden of knowledge

As the two of us arrive at the beast glades we startle the guard pretty badly as he stumbles and almost falls.

After confirming that it was indeed us, he hastily made a few calls.

Seems like he was told to report in if he sees us.

Going through the gate we arrive in Xyrus to find a driver already waiting for us.

Tipping his hat he opened the door.

During the ride neither of us spoke.

A heavy burden had been placed on our shoulders.

I will keep my friends and family safe.

I will not let what transpired in my previous life happen again.

I will not go down that path again.

I have power in this world, true power.

And I have a valuable ally and brother.

That's when I decided that I would call out to Noctis tonight.

The carriage stopped as we reached the manor.

Getting out we walk towards the door.

Arthur goes to knock, but hesitates. 

His face contained an expression full of grief.

I place an arm over his shoulder, "Arthur, they will understand."

"Will they?" His voice cracks slightly.

"Yes, they know as well as us that dungeons can be unpredictable." I replied

"This is the second time something like this has happened Fayden." He turned back to face me.

"Look we're gonna need to face them anyways, might as well get it over with." I felt guilty as well, but I'd rather take this head on other than waiting and let it fester and grow.

He sighs, "I know," before sitting down on the stairs, "Just...let me be here for a while."

"Very well." I sit down beside him, gazing at the night sky along with him, before noticing a white blur by the corner of my eyes.

But before I could even react to it, my fathers voice reaches my ear, "Art? Fay?"

I remain silent, and Arthur speaks up.

"Hey dad, we're back."

"Why didn't you two enter? We heard about your arrival from the teleportation gatekeeper."

He sits down in between us.

"He is feeling extremely guilty about the whole thing. Of course I'm not much different." I point at my brother, who doesn't respond.

Father glances at the two of us before settling his gaze to the pavement, "Your mother will be fine."

"I worried you guys again..." 

Father looks up, gazing at the faintly colored sky, "She really loves the Aurora Constellate you know? No matter what it may seem like, she's strong, stronger than me. Worries aren't the only thing you have given us, far from it. The three of you have given us so much more than that, you must realize that. Sure we worry about you two way more than the average parent but, neither of you are normal children. Hell you never were. I have no idea about your destiny, about what you two may face in the future but, I know that you both will be able to handle it." He grins reassuringly.

"You're not a burden to us, you never were. We will always be there for you guys. Never think you are not welcome home, in fact as long as you have both of your legs I expect  both of you to come back and let us love you. That is our right as your parents okay?"

His speech left me speechless and smiling.

Guess there was nothing to worry about anyways.

"Got it, Dad." Arthur spoke, a grin on his face.

"Thank you," 

"You don't need to thank us for anything." He replied, before whispering darkly, "Come on then. Inside the most ferocious beast awaits you."

I chuckle while the other two burst out laughing.

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As we enter the house the temperature drops severely.

Mother stood at the top of the stairs, with a soul piercing glare.

Somehow....she was exuding more pressure than the Elderwood Guardian.

She opened her mouth to speak, likely reprimand us, when another voice cut in.

"BROTHHEERRSSS!!"

And the small form of Ellie slammed down on us, her arms grabbing us in an embrace as our faces stay on her shoulder.

...apparently my wounds still hurt.

What a great way to find out.

"Erk! I-It hurts, Ellie..." Arthur cried out.

"A-A teacher came and said you were lost," She sniffles, "And that you ran off. I-I thought...."

My chest tightens in pain as tears prick my eyes as I return her embrace, "I'm sorry Ellie...but I had to go after Arthur."

"I'm sorry for worrying you guys, again." Arthur looked straight at Mother as he said that.

Father walked up to her and gently led her down, comforting her on the way, "I know you are angry honey, but now isn't the time. Look! Our sons have returned, they always do."

And just like that the tension broke, as her expression softens and her will crumbles.

Breaking down into sobs she wraps her arms around us.

Eliie who had calmed down begins bawling again.

There is something fundamentally upsetting about seeing your own mother cry, it hurts so damn much yet I cannot discern where it hurts.

While she sobbed, she seemed torn about whether to thank God or curse him.

It took them near an hour to calm down, even then she doesn't release us.

In fact she hugs us tighter.

My ribs!

"Why do I feel like you will get hurt again if I leave you?"

A lump forms in my throat, one which I quickly swallow down.

Father places an arm on her shoulder.

She releases us a few seconds later, and we eventually settle down in the living room.

Mother looks over us for any critical wounds, before placing an arm on each of our chests.

"...And let Heaven and Earth heal."

Thank god I healed the worst of our injuries before coming here.

I don't know if she could have taken it.

Mother sighed one more, before embracing us once again.

Fortunately this time she releases us sooner.

As we sat down,  father explained to us that Professor Glory came to inform them what happened before leaving, before looking at us, silently asking for details.

Both of us knew better than to tell them the truth, so we greatly downplayed the events, saying there were more snarlers than we expected.

But from the looks on their faces, they saw right through us.

I sigh, before looking at Arthur who nods.

And so we tell them everything, until Arthur fell down the chasm and I lost consciousness.

As I relayed what happened after waking up, my Father stopped me, "So wait, you just went in there with no idea how to come out. What if there was a S class monster there?"

I sigh once again and stand up.

Father looks at me confused.

I close my eyes.

And when I open them, they both saw my black eyes with blue irises.

"W-wha-"

"This is my beast wills first phase," I explain.

"As for what it does..." I void step to the corner of the room.

"It allows me to effectively teleport as long as there is a shadow in the vicinity."

My Mother gaped at me and my Father spoke up, "So that's how you took Ellie to her room the other day."

"Yes." I answer, then I turn towards Arthur and tilt my head, indicating him to do the same.

He nods before standing up.

"W-Wait don't tell me?"

"Yeah, I too have a beast will." He activates his acquire phase, and runes appear underneath his eyes.

"My beast will has a similar ability like Fayden's, it allows me to stop time and move around for a few seconds before I have to deactivate it. I can't interact with the world while using it."

Now both of their jaws were hung open.

We deactivate our respective beast wills.

"H-How?" Father only spoke one word.

"You remember when we told you about us finding Sylvie and Zeke?" 

They nod.

"We were pretty low on mana back then, so we decided to use their cores to replenish it. What we didn't expect was their beast wills being immediately absorbed by us." I elaborate.

"When we said our mana cores were unstable, it was actually our beast wills rejecting us. So we had to go through a process called assimilation." Arthur continued from where I left off.

"We-We're sorry for hiding it from you, we didn't want to worry you more than you already were." I apologized.

"So you two just teleported out of there?" Father asked.

"In a way, yes."

"It was still dangerous for you to go down there alone, Fayden." Mother spoke.

"I know, I wasn't really thinking back then."

"..." She remains quiet for a few seconds before eventually responding with, "You're both only twelve, but why does it feel like I've lost you so many times?"

I put my head down, staring at the carpet.

"That's enough honey." My father spoke, grasping her hand.

Who knew the once goofy, almost immature person would grow up to be so mature and gentle?

Our conversation after that passed by more smoothly, and soon Tabitha and Vincent entered the room after noticing that we have calmed down.

Soon Ellie began nodding off, so Arthur chose to carry her to her room.

And seeing how late it was, I too departed for my room.

The first thing I did was taking a bath.

And as I came out, I prepared myself to call for 'Celestial Guidance'.

Almost by instinct I knelt down and closed my eyes.

Zeke came out of my shadow to watch.

Clearing my mind of any thoughts, I solely focus on my core.

Specifically the beast will in it.

The shadowy canine form of Noctis came to my mind.

And so I call out.

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