"What?" Noble began to reach for her hair, but Blaze was faster.
He fished out a reflective piece of glass about half the length of his pinky finger.
"This is part of the taillight of an armored government tank."
"What's this about tanks?" Brock returned, eager to jump into the conversation.
"Mom had a piece of a tank in her hair. Look!" Blaze held out the glass for his brother's perusal.
"Huh, that's so weird!" Noble stepped away and shook out her hair. A few more particles tumbled to the floor and were floated out through the covertly opened back door.
"Weird? It's statistically impossible for a piece of a vehicle to just place itself in your hair." Blaze clicked his tongue.
'Seems Bee Two isn't the only one who enjoys using math against me.'
Brock stroked his chin.
"How did it happen?"
"How do you think it happened?" Noble turned the question back on her son.
Brock thought for a moment. "I don't think you were in a PTV accident with a tank. You usually only ride on trains. Unless it was an accident between a train and a tank…"
"I think I would look a little more disheveled if that were the case." Noble chuckled.
"I don't suppose you were called in to repair a tank and ended up with a piece in your hair when you took a look under the hood?" Blaze raised an eyebrow.
"I have many hidden talents," the mother smiled. "But a tank mechanic is not one of them."
"There's only one answer then." The two boys nodded in unison and smiled. "You were at a gate opening!"
"A gate opened in the NQSC?!"
The front door swung wide as a cold wind filled the house. Fort stood in the doorway, his satchel still swinging slightly by his side.
"Fort, come in! You are just in time for dinner." Noble rushed forward and grabbed her husband's hand.
The door shut behind him as she pulled him toward the table and the food that was now being served by an invisible hand.
"What's this about a Gate opening?" Fort persisted as he was ushered to his seat.
"Mom had a piece of a government tank in her hair." Blaze passed the specimen to his father.
"We think she got it while fighting a gate." Brock nodded.
"I did not do any fighting today." Noble shook her head.
"Oh, good, so there wasn't any gate…" Fort relaxed slightly.
"Oh no, there was absolutely a category three gate that opened today in the middle of the NQSC; I just didn't fight to defend against it. I must have gotten the debris in my hair during the clean up." Noble looked around at the confused faces and smiled slightly. "Sit down, and I'll tell you about the gate over dinner."
The three men could only comply, too hungry and curious to argue about the order of what should come first. When they were all seated and ready, Noble began.
"A gate opened in a park in the NQSC while I was finishing a class. I rushed to it, but four Saints were already present when I arrived."
"And they didn't let you fight because you are a Master?" Brock looked ready to argue with the absent Saints on his mother's behalf.
Noble laughed. "No, they didn't fight either. No human lifted a finger to battle the gate, not even the government strike team."
The mother took a sip of her water, causing the three men to lean closer in the pause.
"Then how did they stop the monsters?" Fort asked the question on all of their minds.
Noble smiled softly.
"They didn't. An Echo did."
"What?" Blaze's arms folded across his chest. "Are you telling me one Echo defended a category three gate all by itself?"
"Herself and, yes, that is exactly what I am telling you. I have never seen anything quite like it. I saw a move or three I would like to try when given the opportunity." Noble's praise wasn't empty.
While she didn't want to run into any monsters, it was only a matter of time. The onyx warrior had given her a lot of food for thought on how to handle an overwhelming force.
"Describe it and don't leave anything out!" Brock waved his fork enthusiastically.
Noble retold her memory of the battle in all its detail. That was the least she could do, and it was a pretty fantastic adventure at least up until the end, where everything went wrong.
"And then the echo disappeared back into the Dark Lord's soul sea. Everyone was in awe." Noble wondered how Sunny had gotten such a powerful echo. What had he killed to get it? Noble didn't think the creature was a human in armor…
"So you got to see the Dark Lord up close?!" Brock's mind was in a very different place from his mother's.
The rumors about the mysterious Saint had been circulating since the last solstice and had gained popularity more recently.
"Close is not the term I would use. He was wearing a mask and wasn't exactly approachable." Noble toyed with telling the boys the Saint's identity.
The twins now knew that Rain had a previously unknown older sibling who was watching over her, but Noble had been intentionally vague on the details for everyone's protection.
'It would blow their mind to know the secret…oh well.'
Someday, everything would reveal itself. Today was not that day.
"A mask? Maybe I should wear one!" Brock contemplated.
"A helmet is better in battle, bro." Blaze moved to rap on his brother's head.
The elder twin raised his arm to block the younger's tap.
"Hey, watch it! You're right, though. This face is too handsome and should be protected." He nodded.
"Both of you boys are the most handsome, and you should protect both those faces and big, smart brains." Noble beamed at them with all her maternal pride.
Blaze smirked.
"Is that your not-so-subtle way of telling us that we need to make sure all our work is done for tomorrow?"
Their mother smiled. "See? I knew you were brilliant!"
"Good grub, Mom. Orange monster meat always hits the spot. Not as good as the meat Rain brings home, but almost as delicious." Brock patted his stomach. "Come on, bro. Math isn't going to solve itself."
Blaze rose. "Thanks for dinner. You sure you don't need help cleaning up?"
The plates began lifting from the table of their own accord. "I think I've got it," Noble winked.
"I'll help." Fort stood.
Nodding, the boys grabbed their bags and headed upstairs. Soon enough, the chatter about which work to do first was about to turn into an arm wrestling match for the third day in a row.
Fort ignored his children's bickering and embraced his wife. "How are you holding up? I imagine experiencing another Gate opening like that would bring back some memories."
"It did." Noble had been more worried about other people than herself, but that didn't mean that thoughts of her last encounter with a gate in the NQSC hadn't flashed across her mind. "It wasn't too bad."
"That's good. It's rare that things go so smoothly with a gate opening like that." The ambassador hugged his wife tightly.
"Smoothly?" Noble winced. "About that…I was going to wait until the boys went to bed, but I may have left out a detail or two about how things happened…"