Siblings

The kids were staring at Alin intently. Hari looked the most excited sitting on the edge of the couch grabbing it with both her hands while slightly bouncing up and down.

Leo who was sitting right next to her however still had an anxious expression on his face and looked as if he was shying away slightly but he still made sure to keep Alin in the corner of his eyes and pay attention to what he was saying.

Sitting opposing them Uriel kept daring his eyes between the pair of kids and his grandfather. He was as excited as Hari but unlike her, he managed to somewhat curb his enthusiasm.

Alin's face looked expressionless and tranquil, he sat up on the couch straightening himself up. Closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening his mouth. No words came out for a second. Just as Hari was just about to burst from excitement he spoke in a deep and low voice.

"Around 7 years ago I had decided to take a leisurely stroll as I have not had one in quite some time back then. I came across a certain village…"

His voice turned slightly sombre as if he had regrets regarding the village.

"The village was up in flames, it had been razed to the ground. Unfortunately, no one was alive."

The kid's faces turned gloomy at the thought of an entire village being slaughtered and burnt to a crisp.

"As I walked through the village I could smell blood and charred corpses, wood crackled as the fires roared. Houses were falling apart, I thought it was a terrible tragedy. I went throughout the whole village in hopes that at the very least a blade of grass survived."

"G-gramps, was the village important to you?" Uriel couldn't help but ask his grandpa whose voice sounded more and more distant.

"Brat, what did I say about interrupting me?!" Alin roared turning his head to Uriel.

Uriel smirked happily with the knowledge that his grandfather still seemed to be okay.

"Sorry gramps you just looked a bit upset."

Alin frowned slightly before sighing heavily

"Ahh, it is fine. Do not worry about it now. Just stop doing it over and over again…"

Uriel nodded vigorously before locking his eyes onto Alin

Alin cleared his throat and continued.

"Hopefully that's the last time I'll be interrupted" he peeked at Hari who awkwardly turned away while scratching her face and chuckling gently.

"Where was I? Ah right blade of grass. As I walked deeper and deeper into the village the sights became more and more despicable and deplorable. Eventually, I walked past a small field that had been torched. As I was walking past it I heard a cry..."

He looked at each of the children individually intensely, his face was expressionless however his eyes betrayed his true emotions. They had a hint of love and joy hidden deep within them.

"I turned around frantically thinking I might have misheard, then another cry came. This time I was ready and turned to the field. Far into the distance, I saw it. A straw picnic basket sitting on a round patch of grass that in turn was surrounded by black desolate charred land. I dashed towards the unexpected sight."

The corner of his lips curved slightly as he reminisced. "I could feel powerful mana coming from the area as I got closer and closer. At first, I thought it was either mana that has not yet had time to dissipate or a powerful artefact hidden within the picnic basket"

"Nothing however could have prepared me to see what I saw within it"

He looked around at the kid's expressions. Hari still looked as if she would die if she didn't stop moving, Leo on the other hand looked as if he had gotten a lot more comfortable as he focused only on Alin and his story.

Peaking to his side he could tell that Uriel was now 100% certain that he was correct in his earlier assumption. He couldn't help but nod slightly in acknowledgement.

"Within the basket, I saw 3 little heads popping up from underneath the blanket that covered each one… Those 3 heads belonged to each one of you"

Hari and Leo finally understood what Alin was trying to say, their mouths formed a big O while their eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of their sockets as they looked between Alin and Uriel.

Alin smiled tenderly "The three of you are siblings. It is finally time that you reunite. Unfortunately due to certain circumstances, I could have only looked after one of you by myself and Uriel is the one who ended up coming with me. I left Hari and Leo with Expor because I trusted him with this task. I knew he could help me raise the pair of you, but I thought now was the best time for all of you to meet seeing how the 3 of you are nearing... " He trailed off slightly as if he wasn't sure if he should go on.

"...well that's a matter for another time. I hope you three will get along well. I will go look for Expor while you guys chat between yourselves for a bit.

Just as Alin finished his last word Hari jumped off her seat dashing with arms extended at Uriel whose face quickly became shocked at the young girl flying at him. He closed his eyes and went to cower behind his arms turning his head slightly to the side but at the same instant, he saw her disappear before seeing a pair of hands ambush him from behind.

Hari embraced Uriel into a hug from behind, she spoke rapidly with her voice sounding cute and adorable "Hey, you're my brother now aren't you. Well, I guess you always were my brother HAHAHAHA, oh sorry I haven't really said hello or introduced myself yet have I?."

"I'm Hari I'm 7 years old. I love pancakes and I fighting is fun. Actually, anything fun is fun. Want to go explore an abandoned building? Could be exciting. I've heard there are ghouls there. Have you seen a ghoul? They look ghoulish HAHAHAHA…"

Uriel looked awkwardly at Alin and Leo. Hari who had her eyes closed as she squeezed the life out of Uriel opened them and saw him glancing at Leo.

"That's Leo, he looks big and scary like a Lion but really he is like a cute kitten. He becomes super shy all the time but he is very useful and strong in a fight even if he is scared of fighting."