Kain finally touched down on the steps leading into the grand citadel at the heart of Necrograd. The mix of stone and metal that comprised the structure stuck out like a massive sore thumb compared to the rest of the city, the artistic medley of obsidian, black marble, dark granite, and sharp, angled metals gave the building complex a sort of ‘Big Bad Evil Guy’s Lair’ vibe, but as it, Kain, and everything else had been designed partially by his old, cringy, chuuni self back in middle school on Earth, it wasn’t like its sinister form was out of place.

But then again, the rebuilt city was much more vibrant and colorful compared to what had been designed in those times. If memory served, old Necrograd was a place where ‘fun’ was practically illegal and death by any number of methods was a common occurrence. Now, however, the city was a vibrant metropolis where the most a man had to fear for was whether they would be late to one activity or another.

Murder was a near non-issue, burglary was equally uncommon, and most ‘vandalism’ was simply a few bits of graffiti on random structures. Kain liked this version of Necrograd better than the previous one. It reminded him more of his old home back on Earth, compared to the dystopian police state that Necrograd used to be. But he was not here to reminisce about the past and the present, he was here to make sure that his wife and kids never pulled such a trick on him again.

He needed to make sure that they understood how much the average citizen wanted a bit of peace. While the wars up until now had all been relative cakewalks, and while not many people had met a violent end on their side, the average man on the street just wanted a bit of peace. And, despite LW’s inevitable protestations, Kain wanted a bit of peace as well. Maybe it would only be a few years, but that was all that was really needed in the end.

The fact that his own family nearly duped him into start another war almost immediately after a previous one had ended was not something he wanted to deal with, but the fact remained that he had to put his foot down somewhere. And so, he walked up the steps leading to the citadel and steeled himself for what was to come. He was sure that there would be no end to the excuses, but he was not going to take those lying down.

A line needed to be drawn, and that was exactly what he was going to do, and no amount of explanations or excuses would deter him from setting that boundary. It was high time that he acted as a parent should because if he didn’t then he was sure that the kids would find themselves embroiled in yet more hijinks that would cause ever more discord and chaos.

…

Kain stood with his arms crossed and his face stuck in an unamused look. Alexis had been the first to admit that what she had participated in was wrong. She apparently hadn’t quite read the room until after Kain had been halfway back from his errand and only recently had understood that most people didn’t really want to continue a near-endless string of wars. Hell, she had read the minds of the myriad vampires under her control and learned that even they didn’t really want another war so soon.

The twins, on the other hand, didn’t quite seem to get it. Perhaps because they had grown up knowing nothing but war, they didn’t seem to see anything wrong with starting another one so soon after the previous one had ended. Likewise, they were far less caring than one would expect, acting as though the rest of the people in this world existed solely for their amusement. This worried Kain, as he was dreading what would happen if they continued down that particular road. He didn’t need another Kevin or two on his hands, especially if they were his own kids.

This put him in a bit of a pickle. Sure, he wanted to drill into their heads that there was more to power than waving it around without a care and beating people over the head with it, but he didn’t want to push them too much, either. They were still young-ish, and so he was concerned with how they would act in the future if he didn’t do something about this.

He went over a number of possible options in his head before settling on a single one that would, possibly, achieve the result that he was looking for. It was to be a choice for them to make, and they would not be able to avoid choosing. Kain looked down on the twins and spoke, his words filled with a mix of disappointment and a tinge of anger.

“Your actions nearly caused a war, and our people don’t want another one just yet. You do not view our people as being valuable, let alone actual people, and so I give you a choice of how things will go from here.”

The twins obviously didn’t expect that their father would give them a hard time, and thus did not expect that whatever choice that they had to make would be remotely uncomfortable.

“Option number one. You will spend all but a fraction of your free time each day volunteering at any place I send you to. You will act in ways that are appropriate for people such as we, with all the dignity, mercy, compassion, and care that is needed for such places. You will earn nothing from these acts, save for an understanding of how our people think and how you should conduct yourselves.”

The kids didn’t seem too happy about that option, which was why Kain had another, possibly less fun option ready to box them in.

“Or you can take option number two and be sent to a Military Boarding School until you are old enough to go to college. If you choose that option, you will be forced to endure the same treatment as anyone else who gets sent there, with no outside help and no connections of any kind to pull you up and out of any trouble you cause. Likewise, your powers and possessions will either be temporarily stripped or greatly limited in scope and function.”

Kain shifted his gaze from Raziel to Elizabeth and back again, waiting for either one of them to make a choice. Even if they tried to stall for time, he would simply send them to the boarding school and put a damper on their fun for quite a while. While it would only be a few years, those years would likely be enough to drill into them what was needed. The only thing they could do was chose, and they needed to choose quickly. After all, Kain had other things to do, and every moment that they stalled was another chance for Kain to simply consign them to a few years under some harsh military tutelage.