Living Room of Natula's House

"Haha! Aww, you were so cute!" Gwyn was laughing her ass off at some stories about Nathan that his mother was oh so lovingly telling.

"Uuuugh?" While Nathan, on the other hand, was more or less trying to figure out if he had any spells that erased memories, if not, he better well find one and soon. "Well, at least she's enjoying herself..." His worries stopped for a moment as he stared at the toothy grin on Gwyn's face.

"Oh? I didn't know you fancied her type, son?" Natula randomly asked after taking notice of Nathan's staring.

"Mo-mo-mother!" Nathan snapped at his mother as a shuttering mess of himself.

"Hehe! What can I say this is the first time you brought anyone home that wasn't a teacher from that school up there." Natula teased with a finger held up as if pointing at the magic school in the area. "So? How far have you two gotten?" Then she brought it down on Gwyn.

"Haha! She got yo-...!?" Gwyn was laughing at Nathan like she was doing the whole, but once Natula turned to her, she went quiet. "Woah! We're not like that!" She threw her hands up in protest the next moment. "The only reason why I'm here is cause I gave him a day off from our training! Yeah! That's all!" She slapped the back of Nathan after that.

"AHH!" Which put the mage to the floor in one go, bashing his face into the hardwood floor. "You brutish knight! Ease up for once!" He bounced back with his eyes glared and a veil of mana coming off his hands.

"Well?! Guess what!? If it weren't for me! Then your back would've split in two! Cause, I wasn't holding back!" Gwyn barked back at the mage while her hands were balled into fists about ready to... "Ow! Ow! Ow!" ...cry in pain as her cheek was trapped in the iron vice of Natula's fingers.

"MOTHER!" Nathan shared a similar cry to the knight's as the two of them were moved from left to right and were somehow helpless against this normal middle-aged woman.

"So, you're that type of couple, eh?" Natula mused as she broke the two apart and let go. "Now sit." She commanded like the annoyed teacher of a misbehaving class.

"But mother that's not the ca-" Nathan tried to correct his mother, but she held a finger to her lips, and he went quiet.

"You forget my past occupation, my dear son." Natula pointed out as she moved her finger from her lips and waved it at Nathan and Gwyn. "From those night bars and inns, I've come to know exactly what type of relationships people have, friendly, vile, and intimate. You two are a perfect case of hate-love. The only question is which of you is going to come out first?" She mused with her finger going to her chin as she raised a brow at the mage and knight.

"Hmm?" Who soon turned to eachother expecting the other to say something. "Ugh!" They groaned together and went back to looking at Natula.

"Well, at least you tried." Natula shrugged then something from earlier came to her mind. "By the by, what did she mean by training you, Nathan?" She asked Nathan while looking between him and Gwyn a bit confused. "I know that opposites some times go well, but mixing is usually saved for ~later~" She winked at the end, getting a short grunt of embarrassment out of the two. "So, they aren't that far yet, eh?"

Nathan began speaking after recovering from his mother's teasing. "Well, you see mother, I do not know if you have gotten word yet, but the Sigil Sect is holding a recruitment summons tomorrow, and I was planning o-ah?" But like before he stopped when Natula put a finger to her lips.

"None of that talk here, boy," Natula said, dropping any of that playfulness she had as her face was set in an expression that let all of her age show through.

"Ugh?" Leaving Gwyn to switch between the mother and son as they sat in eerie silence. "Uh, what's so bad about that?" Not knowing why that happened, she raised her hand still swapping between the two.

"Because she has gotten tired of listening to a failure's words." A dry woman's voice came from the doorway leading into the living room.

"Who?" Gwyn, along with Nathan and Natula, turned to see who the voice belonged to and standing there was a woman in her late 20s.

Her purple hair was set a long braided ponytail with the sides of her head put into a special almost magical looking pattern, and like Nathan and Natula she had those dot eyebrows above her sky blue eyes. The left one was hidden away by a simple eye patch with two silver S's over it, and if one looked closer, they could see some discolored skin around it.

She dressed in a white long-sleeved dress shirt with a purple vest over it, a short dark purple skirt with black frills and her feet were bare keeping to the unspoken rule of Natula's home. Over her shoulders was a high-collar purple robe with black dots lining its unused sleeves and collar, that all came together as a golden apple was held by a pair of hands coming out of a large black portal looking spot on the back of her robe. All in all, she looked more or less like a younger version of Natula with Nathan's eye color and fashion sense.

"Greetings..." She chose to greet the room with a bow of her head. "..." Then locked eyes with Nathan. "...that notice wasn't meant to be seen by your eyes." Her voice was one of malice and disgust as her one cold eye stabbed into Nathan's.

"Good day to you as well, sister..." Nathan threw his own voice of malice back at his sister as a heavy feeling filled the room from the two siblings having a staredown.

"You have a backbone now? How nice..." Nathan's sister muttered as her sharp gaze went from her brother to Gwyn. "And who's this unwanted house guest?"

"Isn't it nice to give your name first?" Gwyn shot back giving this woman a glare of her own.

"I suppose that's all well and good," Nathan's sister nodded in agreement as she brought a hand to her chest. "Nathalie, Witch Of The Gaps and 2nd in command of the Sigil Sect..." Nathalie introduced herself with her head held high mimicking how Nathan does all the time.

"Wait? She works with those S.S guys!?" Gwyn's eyes widen in shock. This entire week was spent training Nathan so he could have a shot at the Sigil Sect, but the 2nd highest spot was his sister. "What? You guys have a no family rule?" She asked, holding a hand to Nathan.

"Gwy-" Nathan tried to stop her, but one look from his sister stopped him dead.

"Not at all, I just know a failure when I see one..." Nathalie stated, pulling her gaze away from Nathan and back to Gwyn.

"And how do you know that, witch!?" Gwyn stood up from her seat with a pissed off look on her face. "Last I checked you weren't anywhere around us while I was whipping this guy into shape!" She barked at the witch as she walked to Nathalie to cast a shadow over her. "Not like a little thing like you could tell?" She smirked down at Nathalie, who was a twig compared to Gwyn.

"That is true without any doubt," Nathalie stated in a matter of fact kind of tone. "But I do not see how a mage taking up physical training gives them any kind of advantage unless they have found a spell that backs up their weakness...?" She asked Nathan unseen by her as Gwyn was bearing over her. "Now, will you move, or do you have something else to say?" She locked eyes with Gwyn then looked down at her balled fists. "Ah? I see you are enraged by my views on that brother of mine? If you have an issue with them, you are welcome to relieve yourself in any way you see satisfactory."

"Wha?" Gwyn didn't get any of that either it was her blind rage or the fact that Nathalie's words were too hard for the knight.

"Ah..." Causing Nathalie to let out a sigh then chose to explain herself. "...You can hit me ver-"

"You asked for it!" Gwyn instantly swung her right arm the moment the words 'you can hit me' left Nathalie's lips. "Hah!" And went for a right hook, intent on sending this witch across the room. "GAH!" However, Gwyn's right fist was currently driving its way through the left side of her face.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm!" Allowing her to hear that same weird laugh Nathan had escape Nathalie's lips while a small purple tear in space was on the left of her head with Gwyn's arm sticking into it and came out of another tear that was near Gwyn's left side.

"GAUH!" That moment of realization didn't last long as Gwyn's punch kept going and sent her flying into a chest of drawers. "Shit!" It shattered on impact with everything in and on top of it falling on Gwyn.

"Hmm? You held back..." The witch noted as the tears in space around her disappeared. "...you are paying for that, by the way..." She added in a dry tone before setting her eye on Nathan, who was out of his seat with his hands to his spellbooks. "Oh? That is new? But, I do not think our mother would like that."

"Very true," Natula spoke up finally after everything that went on in her home. "Sadly, as much I want to stop the both of you, I don't think that's a good idea. You haven't seen eachother in some time...so take it outside..." Her voice was heavy and firm with her eyes set in a demanding stare mainly pinned on Nathalie.

"..." Who was silent under it and only bowed her head in answer before turning around to head out. "Follow, Nathan." She called out to her brother as she left the room.

"Tch!" Nathan clicked his tongue as his hands dropped to his sides and followed Nathalie out with anything more.

"Hey! Get back here! Witch!" Gwyn, on the other hand, wasn't having any of that and shot up from the floor then stomped after them. "I said; get back here!" She roared, looking at the front door where the pair of siblings were about to leave.

"Stay out of this Gwyndolin," Nathan warned as he closed the door behind him with a chilling wind flowing into the house as he did.

"Like hell!" Which Gwyn paid no mind to, as she was already slamming the door open to grab Nathan by his neck for telling her off. "Wha?" But the only thing she saw was the front yard with Caul still standing guard at Nathan's stuff.

"!" It jumped at Gwyn once it noticed her. "?" Then wiggled around a bit as if looking for something likely Nathan.

"How?" As was Gwyn whipping her head left and right for any sign of those dot brow siblings. "Snow?" When she looked down at Caul going to ask if it saw anything she found a patch of melting snow near the front door.

"Leave it be, girly," Natula said from the doorway to the living room with an upset look to her face. "Just close the door and come back here." She went back to the living room after that.

"Ugh, yeah...?" Gwyn could only nod as she closed the door with Caul going back to guard duty. "...and sorry about the drawers." She apologized, grimacing at the pieces of wood and broken knickknacks. "I'll pay for it!" She promised, trying to clean up the mess she made with her body.

"That's fine, things happen..." Natula muttered, having lost any of that playful glee she had before Nathalie showed up as she sat down on a chair. "...I'm more worried about what those two are going to do to eachother..." Her thoughts were on her children, even though she was the one who told them to go off and settle their differences, it never worked out. "...if you were here this wouldn't happen..."

"If who were here?" Gwyn asked, taking a seat next to Natula.

"Thier father..." Natula answered, getting up to going over to a bookshelf. "...this is it..." She pulled out a book then back to Gwyn. "...care to listen to an old woman's story of love and loss?" She asked with the book tightly held to her chest.

"I...I don't think I should..." Gwyn shook her head, by the look and sound of Natula this was something painful for her to talk about despite the soft smile she was putting on.

"But you want to know what's got those two like that...?" Natula questioned further with the knight reluctantly nodding in answer. "...and I want to tell you..." She nodded back then opened the book, but oddly its pages were blank. "...hold on, give me a bit, I not really the magic type like the rest of my dysfunctional family."

"Huh? You're not a spell-slinger?" Gwyn looked a bit confused by Natula's words. Nathan was some rare once in a few generations mage that could all types of magic, and by what happened a while ago his sister could make portals faster than someone could throw a punch without saying a word.

"Oh no, I am just your normal retired singer, their father on the other hand..." Natula answered but trail off once she started talking about her husband. "...he was a good man..." She added, and the book's pages began to glow. "Oh? Here we go!" Then brighten up as she held it up.

"Whoa..." Gwyn softly gasped when out of the glowing pages came images of a young-looking Nathan maybe around 5 or 6 trying to cast a spell as a teenaged Nathalie was keeping both of her eyes on him with a sweet smile on her face a complete contrast to how things are today. "...what happened?" She asked, continuing to watch image after image, some had a child Nathalie holding a baby Nathan, others were of the two eating together, all smiles. "Ugh!" The knight turned her head away when one showed a butt naked 3-year-old Nathan floating inside a bubble.

"This man left us..." Natula bitterly answered as the images shifted from her children to the face of a man who looked like a more hardened and older version of Nathan. He had unkempt silver hair and the sky blue eyes that Nathan and Nathalie had, oddly enough he didn't have those eyebrows that his wife and children had. "..." Natula went silent as the images went on from there; showing the two parents taking care of their children; sometimes praising them, other times scolding.

"..." But while all this was nice and heartwarming, it left Gwyn wondering or more like doubting what Natula meant by her husband leaving her and his family with the look on the man's face showing that he cared about them more than anything else. "..." Which only left one answer swimming around the knight's head that she didn't want to speak.

"His name was Bellgate, Bells to me cause that was the only thing I felt ringing in my heart when he was next to me..." Natula started as the book showed a younger version of herself up on a stage in a beautiful evening dress and singing to a cheering crowd in what looked like an inn. "...He found me after one of his 'missions,' and he always had a scowl on until he heard my voice..." She nodded over to a far end of the book where Bellgate dressed mostly like Nathan minus his son's flashy robe replaced by a hooded cape, a cup of ale in hand and a goofy smile on his partly hidden face as he listened to Natula's song.

"One night, I don't know if he was drunk or just got enough courage maybe both? But he finally came up to me and asked if he could take me home..." Natula kept going since Gwyn stayed quiet and the book showed Bellgate shyly offering a hand to her, and once she took it, he opened a portal. "...I was creeped out at first when he said knew where I lived, but that was because of his job..." She bit her lip after saying that, and after a deep breath, she continued.

"...He was a bounty hunter for spellcasters that tried to leave the kingdom on not so friendly terms. In his words 'they were fools who thought a bit of power gave them the right to do what they pleased' or 'bastards that tried to take what wasn't earned by them.' That's spellbooks and stuff like this..." She held up the book as it showed Bellgate coming back to the inn Natula sang at with drops of blood on his clothing, but with no wounds on his person meant that it was someone else's. "...He should have never told me about that...any of night where he didn't show up gave me so much pain..." A hand went to her chest when images of them getting closer began appearing.

With the highlight of the show being Natula in Bellgate's arm as they stared at the very house she and Gwyn were in. From there it went back to shots of the family living together starting with a baby Nathalie. Next came Bellgate trying to teach a young Nathalie to use Portal Magic. Then came Nathan and the shocked looks on the rest of the family's faces when he started showing senses of being Loved By Mana.

"And here we go..." Natula whispered so softly that if it wasn't for the already dead silence, Gwyn might not have picked it up.

The images of a happy family were replaced with the sight of Bellgate patting the back of a tearful 17-year-old Nathalie who was hugging him tightly while Nathan at age 7 was clinging to his leg with Natula trying to drag them away from their father about to set off on another mission.

"It was like all the otherss...no, it wasn't...he didn't come back from this one..." Natula explained as a now freed Bellgate smiled at his wife then his children. "...it was a family of 3, a father, mother and their son. The parents had stolen a one of a kind book of Enchantment Magic from Le Fay and were trying to flee to Lloegyr where they would be protected from Le Fay's hands. Bellgate was tasked with finding them and getting the book back at any cost...a cost too high and one that was wasted..."

"He told me he wanted to come home to a new song just for him and then he told our children something that I wish I could erase from their minds." The image of Bellgate looking sternly between Nathalie and Nathan as it mouthed the next words that came from Natula's lips. "'Now, I want you two to be good and protect your mother and eachother cause you're the best two mages in this whole wide world and make sure by the time I get back you two are members of the Sigil Sect, got that?'" From there Bellgate made a portal for himself and left the 3 there.

The next thing to appear from the book was the 3 who were left behind by the man they loved all standing together in front of a tombstone mark with Bellgate's name. Natula and Nathan were in tears while Nathalie's face was warped in a mix of hatred and sorrow before she stormed off.

"From there, things slowly became as they are today; Nathan and Nathalie were possessed by this need to prove themselves to all other spellcasters..." Natula, nearly put to tears, spoke up after looking at the tombstone for some time. "...but they drew further and further apart as they got stronger and fought."

Now the book showed Nathan and Nathalie battling, with each match having the older sibling coming out the winner and Nathan left in her shadow as she climbed higher and out of his reach. Until she nearly stood at the top of the very group their father wanted them to join, losing an eye along the way.

"I hate myself for letting them cling to their father's words, but even I couldn't let go...I still practice that song he asked for to this day..." A tear finally escaped her eyes as the book showed Natula singing to Bellgate's tombstone. "...the only thing I can say is that despite how things may look on the outside we still care about eachother."

Next and final thing the book showed Gwyn and Natula was Nathan and Nathalie coming up to comfort their mother who cried into their arms before it all faded away.

"So, whatever you may see or think when those two get back, please try to understand that we're all in pain," Natula said to Gwyn after wiping her eyes and closed the book. "..." Then waited for the knight to speak.

"Alright, I will..." Gwyn had nothing much else to say, everything she heard and saw was replaying in her head all at once. "...I want to help you guys, but I don't even know if I can do anything? All I can do right now is stick by Nathan's side...if that's okay with you?" She rubbed the back of her neck after speaking. Seriously she was only ever good at hitting things at full force.

"Hehe..." But for whatever reason Natula lightly giggled at her offer. "...oh don't worry you can do ~whatever~ you want with my son..." She teased, smirking at the red shellshocked look that came to Gwyn's face. "...it's that overprotective daughter of his you should be worried about."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Gwyn came out of her shock to give Natula still red-faced look. "Did they go off to fight eachother?"

"Most likely, but like you, with Nathan, that's just how Nathalie shows how much she loves him," Natula explained, standing up with a bit more life to herself. "Come on! We better get ready to welcome them back!" She forced out a cheer as she returned the book to its shelf.

Mt. Tenkai within the Tenno Empire

Nearly 3000 thousand miles away from Gorz and near the peak of an over 6000-meter tall mountain was the aftermath of a magical battle between two siblings.

"Ugh!" Heavily breathing from the pain and the thin air was Nathan with most of his clothes in disarray, wounds all over and all 3 of his spellbooks out in front him as he was bearly holding himself up.

"Hmph, you have gotten stronger yet again, brother," Standing opposite the nearly drained mage was Nathalie in perfect condition other than a small cut on her right cheek and around her were multiple small portals that kept falling snow from reaching her. "But you still have a ways to go before you have the right to stand on your own..." She belittled her brother before taking a glance to her right at a deep molten and sparking gash in the earth that went on some distance behind her until whatever made it sped off into another mountain where it left a smoking cloud of lightning in its wake. "...And you are still holding back against me." She turned back to its creator soon after.

"That was merely a warning shot!" Nathan was currently taking a knee as his spellbooks fell to the ground. "Hmm, hmm, hmm!" He still let out a laugh at the damage his new spell dealt to his sister even if it was a paper cut it meant he was getting somewhere. "Also, I was not holding back *pant* I missed..." He muttered, trying to get back to his feet. "Wha?" But fell over and right into his sister's arms after being brought over to her by a portal.

"Then you're still a failure..." Nathalie softly brushed a hand through Nathan's hair as her portals were combing and went down on them.

Back at Natula's house

"Alright, they should be back by now..." Natula and Gwyn were standing in front of the door leading outside.

"So, they're just gonna poof back in after fighting eachother?" The knight asked with a thumb pointed at the door. "Huh?" Then a flash of purple light coming from it caught her attention.

"We have returned." With a dry greeting, Nathalie opened the door with some snow coming through as she stepped inside with Nathan still in her arms. "You can have this..." Which she handed off to Gwyn, who was glaring at her. "...and if you still wish to harm me, then I am ready at any time."

"Yeah? Well, I will! When this useless mage shows you up tomorrow!" Gwyn spat at the witch while pressing Nathan to her chest without a second thought.

"Gwy-!" Nathan tried to stop her but found his face stuffed behind the muscular knight's breasts.

"..." Which caused Nathalie to stare hard at Nathan not fighting back at all. "...hmm, hmm, hmm. I will be waiting then." She stepped back to her still open portal and disappeared with it.

"?" And after the portal went away, Caul was there wiggling itself at Gwyn and Nathan seemingly wanting to join in on the hug.

"Huh? You want in? Then come here!" Gwyn called the walking cauldron over, and it jumped into the knight's arms.

"Hehe!" Natula chose to let out a giggled at the sight before her. "You just might be what he needed, knightly girl..."

"BAHAHAHA! Back to training!" And in one move Gwyn picked up all of Nathan's stuff while still having enough room to carry the mage himself and Caul then made a mad dash out of there with Natula waving them off.

Chapter end