A delicate balance 1.31 - ING. VERSIÓN

On the eleventh birthday of the three Dragonroad+2 children (Flora, Tatsumi, Viggo, Ottar and María), a meal was held on a Saturday afternoon. At an extensive table set in the courtyard of Kain's house, with the flowery gardens on the sides. All the mothers, father and friends sat down to celebrate the occasion. At the head of the table were the four children sitting in their chairs and María sitting on Viggo's legs, while he hugged her from the waist. As Maria was only 6 years old and was the youngest, she also wanted to celebrate, or at least, also be the protagonist of the celebration. They were all placed side by side forming a semi-circle. In front of them was a large white cake placed on the table and crowned with beautiful strawberries, large and of a beautiful crimson color.

After the children, they were followed by their mothers sitting on the sides of the table: Hephaestus on the right and Isabel on the left. They were followed by Mikoto, Aina, Hera, Demeter and Riveria. Kain was sitting between Hera and Demeter, with a big smile on his lips and looking at the five rascals. At the end of the table were Achilles, Jason, and Odysseus.

"A bite," Kain shouted with a mocking smile and the mothers cheered up, applauded, and shouted in chorus "one bite, one bite."

Then the five children being watched by the adults, blushed, but smiled willingly. They stood up from their seats and approached the big cake. They looked at each other with a wide smile on their lips, nodded, and at the same time, took a big bite off the cake. Once they separated from the cake, savoring the cream and the sweet taste of the biscuit, all the adults burst out laughing. The children had their entire mouths covered in cream, as if they had a thick white beard.

Isabel and Hephaestus got up and went to find cloths and a fountain with water for them to wash.

For his part, Kain just looked at the children and let out a long sigh. Eleven years was a great age, they began to make decisions and think about what they wanted to do. In Orario and the "other side of the world" the age of majority was at 15 years old. You may have little time left to enjoy them, he thought. Hera beside him, looked into his eyes with his intense heavenly eyes, grabbed his hand in a gentle gesture, and stroked the back of his hand. Kain smiled, took her hand, and kissed her back. Hera blushed like few times and the trio of idiots who were a little further away, thought they saw a comet pass by.

Hera came to Kain's ear, and he tilted his head to hear her better.

-Tomorrow is Viggo leaving?- asked Hera in a tone full of concern. Not for the child, but for Kain, as he felt guilty about the selfish state the boy reached two years ago.

Kain smiled, approached, and gave her a tender kiss on the cheek –yes, he's supposed to leave tomorrow– whisper in her ear –there's nothing to worry about, he's in good hands-

-If you say so- Hera replied. She was going to come over to rest his cheek on Kain's shoulder, but someone coughed. Hera and Kain looked at the head of the table and saw Flora, with her beautiful blonde hair neat in spring-shaped slingshots.

-Father, today is my birthday. If you're going to be loving to someone, you must be loving to me- Flora said in a bossy tone.

Kain let out a chuckle, gave Hera one last kiss, and made a look of "there is nothing to do" Hera nodded with a small smile and Kain walked to where the bossy little girl was. Flora awaited him with a face of few friends and arms crossed. Kain sat in her seat, between Viggo and Tatsumi. Flora sat on her right leg as Maria got off Viggo's lap and sat on Kain's other leg.

Kain smiled looking at Flora and Maria and affirming them from the waist. One of them with a face of few friends and a frown. The other, with a dreamy look and kind smile like that of her mother, Demeter. Kain looked at everyone and asked with a smile -I'm a popular boy, right?-

Several bursts out laughing, Flora curled up on Kain's chest and Maria imitated her.

After that joke, the party continued with the distribution of the cake. The children ate happily, each one will have repeated about three servings. At the same time, the adults were talking, drinking, and eating diverse types of food, mostly meat, sausages, and wine.

Shortly after finishing the cake, the children got up from the table and began to play chasing Maria. Kain saw them from his chair, while Hephaestus and Isabel sat next to him, talking to him about certain things. However, kain's entire attention was on the children. Each one was happy playing innocently, without pretending anything, without hatred or resentment. Maria ran around with a contagious laugh as the children chased after her.

-Kain, Kain- Hephaestus said. Kain stopped looking at the children and looked at his wife next to him. Her beautiful red hair framed her face, but her frown muted her beauty a little. Kain smiled and gave her a tender kiss on the lips that made her blush. Then Hephaestus looked down, looked everywhere, and saw that she was being looked at. She turned even redder and punished, looked at Kain reproachfully, and pinched his leg.

-Don't do that in public- Hephaestus said in a reproachful tone.

Kain made an uncomfortable smile and said –I did it because you looked upset-

-Of course, I'm going to be upset, I talk to my husband, and he doesn't pay attention to me-

Kain let out a sigh and asked -What were you talking about?-

-I- Hephaestus said indecisively, under her voice and continuous in a fearful tone -Why don't we tell Mr. Xiao that waited another year?-

Kain instantly denied. Which force is more powerful in the world than knowledge?

There is the force of mana, of the elements, of the soul, but each of those things is only a means to an end. Viggo had the potential to endure the Origin and if that happened, he would be equal to Kain and could bring about great changes in his eternity. Depending on how he grew now, it could be for better or worse. So Kain had a big task with Viggo and with the universes. If Viggo persisted into eternity, he should be the kind of positive person whose efforts produced satisfactory results. Or at least, that he never pursued bad intentions. That he will never become like the Scion of Balance.

-Kain- Hephaestus said with a pleading look.

However, Kain raised his face and looked at her eyes with a coldness never seen before. Hephaestus was surprised and wondered if this was her husband. The man who just a few seconds ago gave her a kiss full of tenderness and love.

-I'm sorry- Kain said, passing his sight from Hephaestus to Viggo, who was running after Maria to catch her and she in turn, would let out childish squeals when she felt she was going to be caught. Kain continues –I'm sorry, but Viggo's soul is too powerful, and we can't afford to be forgiving of him. We cannot force him to anything, but if he chooses a path, we must do everything possible to make that path straight as a sword-

Hephaestus looked down and Kain passed his eyes from the children to her. Her gaze took a soft expression, between melancholy and resignation. He brought his forehead closer to the Hephaestus and they stayed for an instant feeling the temperature of another through the skin. After a minute, Hephaestus looked up and ran his hands over the corner of his eyes to wipe away the shy tears that barely peeked out.

-Mom, is something wrong?- Hephaestus hear, next to a few footsteps approaching from behind.

Hephaestus looked back and saw her son. His blood-red hair rose above his mollera, giving the impression of being a red-hot phosphorus. She smiled, amused by the appearance he had. On the other hand, she notices that Viggo had a stern expression, as if he were willing to fight for her if someone treated her badly.

Viggo advanced to Hephaestus, and she hugged him from the waist. Viggo became attached to Hephaestus and looked at his father sternly. Hephaestus gave him a kiss on the cheek, noticing the animosity.

-Nothing happens to me, Viggo, change that face of few friends- Hephaestus said in a soft voice, full of affection. Viggo nodded unconvincedly and looked at his mother. She smiled sweetly for him and embraced him with all the strength his slender arms allowed.

For his part, Kain smiled too and stretched out his hand to mess up Viggo's hair. The latter looked at him again sternly, but Kain, taking him like a puppy letting out his first grunts, just smiled and winked at him.

After hugging Viggo enough, Hephaestus got up from his seat and went to the house to wash his face. The shy tears had ruined her makeup.

Viggo sat on the seat and looked at Kain.

-What do you need?- asked Kain with a mocking smile. Viggo frowned and looked at him as angrily as he could, but in the end, which smile that emitted all the knowledge you can have of life, as if anything he does will never surprise him, win him over. That always made Viggo feel uncomfortable, because it was as if his father had seen thousands of times everything that happens around him. As if it's all a song that he already knows from beginning to end and knows how it's going to end.

-Father, what did you do to Mom?- asks Viggo in an annoying tone, low enough for others to ignore, but loud enough for Kain to hear.

Kain stretched his hand to a well with beautiful black and fleshy olives. He took one out, ate it, and then turned his mouth away. He put his hand to his mouth and spit out the seed of the olive.

-Nothing, kid- Kain said, shaking his head -she just wanted us to postpone your trip, but I said no-

-I, I also thought the same thing last night- said Viggo, looking down -when I'm with my brothers, Ottar, my mom and my aunts, I feel happy. I think, it was the most valuable thing I learned when I was away. That's why I thought about postponing-

-And with me, right?- ask Kain. Viggo raised his face to give an excuse, but when he saw Kain smiling mockingly, he felt silly. His father was like that, he was always like that, saying things that worried him, but inside, knowing the truth. Viggo looked down feeling annoyed, but then he felt the weightlessness in his body and saw his father's body approaching. Then he looked underneath and noticed how Kain was picking him up with his hands and sitting on his lap.

Viggo raised his face, looked at Kain, tall, slender face and elphycal features, especially that pair of long ears protruding from his long white hair.

Kain gave him a kiss on the forehead and said -continues-

Viggo nodded and said –but even though I want to stay, I also want to continue with what I started-

-Aaaah, that's called justifying the effort- Kain said casually. He takes another olive and put it in Viggo's mouth. He received it enjoying its salty oily taste. Kain also took out another olive and put it in his mouth. Once he finished eating, Kain threw the seed in his hand and then put his hand near Viggo's mouth to spit out the seed. Viggo blushed, Kain laughed and said -go ahead, it doesn't bother me- Viggo threw the olive into Kain's hand, and he took his hand to an empty bowl. He deposits the seeds there and look for a cloth to clean my hand.

-People always follow a path to justify their efforts- Kain said -so it's common for you to want to continue. You've spent a year of your life training, so you want to justify that this was the right thing to do. On the other hand- Kain stopped, smiled, and asked his face -It feels good to be strong, isn't it?-

Viggo smiled and nodded. Kain let out a chuckle, stirred his hair, and kissed her forehead.

-Yes- Kain said with a big smile -being strong feels good. It makes you feel in control, but...-

-Being strong is only a circumstantial result- Viggo continuous with a serious expression and looking into his eyes -we win because we are determined and disciplined-

Kain nodded with a big smile and squeezed Viggo against his chest. Both smiled reaching a mutual understanding.