"Oooouuupppp!" Shry made a sound as she began falling.
Shry closed his eyes, bracing for an impact that will never come.
Within milliseconds Kanum performed a smooth motion, causing two black petals to appear in between his fingers and as soon as it appeared, it disappeared afterwards
Within moments, two petal-like barriers appeared, catching Shry in midair, cradling him like a mother to her newborn baby.
*Bang! Bung! Bung!* As if time had suddenly resumed, Shry's structure crumbled and collapsed.
*Hooo...* When Kanum saw that Shry was safe in his petal barriers, he released a breath he didn't know he was holding in and proceeded to gasp for air.
Relieved, Kanum began to slowly lower his barriers to the ground.
As the barriers touched the ground, Shry felt a bump, causing him to open his eyes frantically. Because of that, Shry had tightened his eyes a bit too hard, so when he opened them, his vision wasn't completely clear due to the strain he put on his eyes.
"Ow?" Shry muttered in confusion.
As his vision cleared, Shry tried to look around to see what happe, but halfway through, he stopped. In front of him was someone he's very familiar with but also not, as the vibe this person gives is completely different from what he's used to.
"Never do that again!" Kanum scolded sternly in a serious demeanor.
Shry looked down, defeated. He knew he made a mistake, and to add on to that, the proof of it was scattered all around his room.
Without saying anything, Kanum began picking up the scattered items. It was quite unsettling as the items got picked up one by one; it felt as if this Kanum was a doppelganger, as all his usual goofiness was nowhere to be seen.
"Dad..." Shry uttered as he snapped out of his daze.
Deciding to stay quiet, Shry silently began picking up the mess he made. When suddenly, rushing footsteps pounded from downstairs, getting closer with each second passed
"ARE YOU TWO ALRIGHT?" Shelt called out in worry.
Even though she was still highly alarmed by the loud and violent crashing of the falling furniture, Shelt stayed true to her previous conviction and waited for Kanum or Shry to answer her first before she goes rushing upstairs to check on them, even so, she didn't give them much time to answer.
At first Kanum and Shry were both shocked, but very soon both of them rushed out of the room to meet Shelt before she saw anything.
"We're fine; something just fell!" Kanum yelled as he exited the room
As soon as Kanum said that, Shelt, who was already halfway upstairs, instantly stopped and quickly looked up to where Kanum's voice came from.
"Thank goodness," Shelt said in relief
When Shelt saw that both Kanum and Shry standing in front of her with seemingly no bruises or injuries, she was extremely relieved. For a second, she thought about going upstairs to check on the two since she was still worried about the potential injuries that may be hidden.
(You're both fine, right?) Shelt asked Kanum with her eyes without speaking.
After thinking about it for a bit, Shelt knew that despite how fun-loving Kanum could be, when it comes to something like this, he spares no effort in taking care of Shry. In fact, Shelt is more worried about Kanum since he tends to ignore his own needs when their son is involved.
Deciphering Shelt's gaze, Kanum nodded with all the seriousness he could muster but returned back to his usual self right afterwards in order to quietly signify that his confidence on the issue
"Come on, son! Let's continue before the spoilsport stops us." Kanum said out loud childishly.
Smiling smugly, Kanum put his hand on Shry's shoulder and pulled him back into the room, shutting the door behind them
Being left alone on the stair, Shelt was a bit stunned for a moment since it all happened so quickly. It took her over a minute to finally move again.
(Dammit, Kanum!) Shelt scorned Kanum in her heart before going back to the kitchen.
Back in the room, Kanum slumped over the closed door and complained to himself.
"Hoooo, That was close" Kanum said as he leaned his back onto the closed door
Kanum closed his eyes, relaxing himself for a moment. He suddenly began to feel a bit nostalgic. Opening his eyes, Numerous thoughts flooded through Kanum's head.
Gazing into the sky through the window, Kanum thought about the past and how he ended up in this position. All the ambitions he had when he was a kid and all the adventures that he could've gone
Kanum felt like he missed out, he instinctually glanced at the source for his inability to go on these adventures. However, when he saw Shry's face, a different rush of memories countered his negative thought, reminding him on the reason why he chose this path in the first place
Standing up with a refreshed mindset, Kanum returned back to his normal self and began stretching, getting ready for what comes next.
"Let's get to work!" Kanum said energetically, bouncing back from his momentary depression.
Because of Shelt's intervention, the air between Kanum and Shry was cleared up. It was as if Kanum had forgotten about everything that happened before.
As for Shry, he is still dealing with the guilt of worrying his father so much, but then he began to recall what happened this morning.
Arguing with himself, Shry pushed and pulled an argument in his head. He felt that, he should treat the situation, like an equivalent exchange, balancing his guilt with Kanum's transgression this morning
Seeing that his father had forgotten about the issue, Shry caved and chose to momentarily forget about his reckless behavior
With both their emotional issues temporarily solved, Kanum and Shry began to work together to clear up the space below the window for the table and chairs they'll be bringing in later.
As an adult, Kanum did all the rearranging while Shry, who couldn't the heavy furniture guided his father around in where to move his furniture to.
Every time something was moved, clumps of dust would reveal themselves and spread everywhere. So before it could do more damage, Kanum quickly ran downstairs and grabbed a vacuum from the storage room.
As he returned, Kanum first propped the vacuum against the wall and pulled out what looked like a battery from his pocket.
The battery was slightly transparent and glowed a gentle light green; it also emanated a familiar energy signature, everyone in their world would recognize as Node
Kanum held the battery to the light for a second to check its charge. The light shone through the battery, making it look transparent, and through that, Kanum was able to figure out that the battery still had about half of it's charge left by its transparency levels
After a moment, Kanum grabbed the vacuum and opened its battery compartment. Quickly slotting the light green battery into the compartment, he made sure that it was secure before putting the cover back on
Even though the battery is in the vacuum, it didn't come online, almost like it's missing something.
Familiar with its activation requirement, Kanum channeled an energy similar to the one emanated from the Battery. His right hand turned orange and a gentle orange fog-like light began to emanate from his hand
Holding onto the handle of the vacuum, Kanum circulated a knick of Node into the handle and almost immediately, the vacuum began to make noise, signifying its activation.
*Ding... Ding... Ding!…*
With each 'ding,' the vacuum greenlit each of its components, and as the final 'ding' resounded, the control panel glowed and came online.
Hearing it activate, Kanum's right hand returned to normal. After that, he kneeled down and began scrolling past a couple of options on its control panel, and when he found the option he was looking for, he smiled and selected it immediately.
Before turning it on, Kanum aimed the nozzle at where one of the bookshelves used to be.
"Now meet your greatest enemy!" Kanum's snickered as his smile turned twisted
After doing that, Kanum turned it on, and moments later, the nozzle of the vacuum created a miniature tornado, sucking up all dust within a 40-centimeter radius of it.
While Kanum was cleaning, Instead of waiting idly, Shry ran around the house gathering materials and tools that they might need later.
After a while, when Kanum was finished, Shry was also done with arranging the tools and materials he gathered. Scissors, tape, etc were laid neatly placed all around the box of decorations, primed and ready to be used.
(I don't think I forgot anything?) Shry thought to himself as the feeling that forgot something grew within him
Ignoring it for now, Shry Looked at Kanum with starry eyes, staring expectantly at his father's figure, waiting for him to declare the start of their decorating bonanza.
"LET'S GOOO!" Kanum announced like a king to his knights.
In the distance, loud but soothing melodies covered the area, bringing the celebratory mood to all who heard it.
*WA DUU WA DAA~*
Hundreds of performers accompanied by numerous moving structures moved in tandem as they rolled down the street
Half the performers stayed on the ground, marching while creating beautiful imagery with numerous types of elements through teamwork. While the other half flew in the sky, interacting with the people that were watching.
Due to the differences in elements and power, the performers who were in the sky had to utilize various creative ways in order to keep themselves in the air; some rode on controlled stone platforms, while some commanded their own element to shoot at themselves in order to bounce in the air.
In addition to that, all the elemental powers in the air seem to follow a rhythm, and upon a closer inspection, the music in the air didn't just come from anywhere; it came from the collaboration of elements and their respective sound signatures, clashing together to create a harmonious melody.
"Don't push yourself; there's a reason why we all had to have a partner." One of the performers scolded their partner
Due to the constant effort needed to maintain the splendor of the parade, the performers had to constantly emit their Node, which caused them to get exhausted far quicker than usual
Unlike Kanum, who only had to ignite his node for a second to activate a vacuum, all the performers hands constantly glowed with their corresponding elemental power. Not only that, they also had to constantly move their fingers like a conducting wand in order to utilizing Node to create all the imagery in the air.
"Shry, are you done over there!?" Kanum asked as he pinned a cute car ornament onto the curtain.
Holding off on answering his father for a second, Shry continued to tie the last bow on one of his bed columns. As he pulled the final knot, Shry stood back and looked at his work. Satisfied, Shry finally answered.
"Done!" Shry announced brightly, raising a thumbs up to accentuate his point.
Now that they were done with the room, the father-and-son duo stepped to a corner near the door and basked in their creation.
Shry's room couldn't be distinguished from what it used to look like. Yellow and green lights hung across the ceiling, while vibrant yellow streamers hung below it, contrasting the white walls behind them. Additionally, there were also dozens of festive ornaments like toys, trees, and flowers hung everywhere and anywhere all around the room, some tasteful, some odd.
All in all though, the bedroom didn't look as horrendous as they thought it, which filled them with pride
*Tab... Tab... Tab...*
While they were still basking in the glory of this wonderfully decorated room, soft footsteps could be heard, creeping up behind them.
Not noticing anything, the footsteps that were approaching them got closer and closer until the frame of familiar crimson haired woman began to peep in from the doorway.
"You two... why....." Shelt's shoulders slumped as she finished her words.
Shelt went upstairs to check up on the two, but when she saw what happened to Shry's room, she didn't know how to feel. She had to admit that the room did look surprisingly good, especially after taking into account what she thought they were doing.
Even so, Shelt can't help but feel frustrated at the situation. Especially at Kanum, but, as for Shry, she doesn't know how to feel; She wanted to be happy for him, but she also doesn't want to encourage this either
"Isn't this great!" Kanum faced Shelt, spreading his arms out, trying to show off their work.
(Really...) Shelt thought, annoyed as she sucked in her lips while looking at Kanum with slightly furrowed eyebrows.
"YEAH!" Shry raised his fist as he expressed the same sentiment.
"Yeah..." Shelt tried to reciprocate Shry's enthusiasm but fell short.
Bombarded by their enthusiasm, Shelt, who couldn't keep up felt a migraine coming up. She looked around the room, trying to alleviate herself from her migraine but all it did was make worse
"Where are the chairs and table?" She placed her hand onto her wrist and stared at the blank space beneath the window.
A strain of thought suddenly entered Kanum's eyes when he heard his wife. As he followed his wife's line of sight, his eyes slowly began to widen in recognition. Looking at the empty space below the window
"Emmn..." A guilty noise left Kanum's mouth
Kanum was speechless; he was so occupied with decorating the room with his son that he forgot to move the furniture up into the room.
Slowly turning around, Kanum was expecting to see his wife's frustrated face but he was met with an unexpected sight instead. From where Shelt stood moments ago, now only air remained.
"Shelt?" Kanum unintentionally muttered out
Confused, Kanum looked out of the room to his left and saw his wife's figure descending down the stairs.
"Hey! Wait for us..." Kanum called out to Shelt, but right when he looked to his side, expecting to see his son. Kanum saw that he was gone as well.
"Hey! Don't leave me behind!" Kanum complained, realizing that he'd been left behind.
Kanum ran after the two frantically, but right when he took his last step down the stairs, he slipped.
Before Kanum could hit the floor, metallic particles came in between him and the floor, and moments later, a thin metallic plate magically appeared and caught him right on time.
The metal plate was shaped like an L, with one half facing the floor and the other half facing Kanum to absorb the impact of his fall
*Hah hhaaaaah...* Seeing that she managed to catch Kanum in time, Shelt breathed a sigh of relief.
Right before Kanum slipped, Shelt suddenly had a bad premonition, possessing her to turn around. Right as she did, she saw Kanum running down and predicted his feet would lose grip, causing him to fall.
In that moment, Shelt made a split-second decision; her arms up to her elbow glowed silver. Her fingers moved so fast that it looked like a blur, producing a clunky melody with each twist, and right when she finished. Metallic particles appeared and traveled to Kanum mid-fall and instantly dispersed, turning into the metal plate that caught him.
"Thanks, Shelt" Kanum expressed his gratitude and raised a thumbs-up with his face sinking into the metal plate
After recovering from the fall, Kanum quickly peeled himself away from the metal plate and stared for a moment, almost like he was paying respect to it.
(Thank you, mystical metal... and Shelt. I really appreciate it) Kanum expressed his gratitude internally.
Because they can't leave a chunk of metal in the middle of the stairway, Kanum volunteered himself to move it to an unoccupied corner
Done with that, Kanum began by moving the table first before the chair. While, Shry and Shelt worked together to bring their breakfast, snacks, and other amenities upstairs.
Shelt and Shry finished early, and seeing that there was only one chair missing, both of them decided to stay there and wait for him.
Shelt took one of the chairs and sat on it, while Shry continued to stand despite there being a chair for him as well
"Do you need any help dad!?" Shry asked impatiently, glancing back and forth between the window and the door
Right as Shry asked, Kanum's frame came into vision with a black chair with round curves in his hands. Walking into the room, Kanum put down the chair and sat on it
"Nope!" Kanum belatedly answered with a semi sarcasticly
With nothing holding him back, Shry ignored everything else and ran to the window. Peeking his little head out the window, his sky blue hair flowed with the gentle wind currents as he looked left and right, trying to spot the parade.
To his left, Shry saw practically nothing, but when he turned right, a bombardment of colors and sounds suddenly struck him all at once
*MU SING BANG BANG~* A collage of noises blared and bounced off one another, forming a cheerful melody.
Even looking from afar, the parade didn't disappoint. In fact, seeing it in its entirety like that almost looked unreal; what made it even more unbelievable was the sheer amount of effects surrounding it. With all of that combined, the parade almost looked like an oversized fireball with hundreds of colors mixing together.
"Woah..." Shry couldn't take his eyes off the moving spectacle as it got closer.
"Mmm-hmm..." Shelt nodded to Shry's exclamation.
Enjoying her breakfast, Shelt happily watched over Shry while simultaneously appreciating this year's parade. Meanwhile, on the other side, Kanum held onto his plate nervously without taking a single bite. His eyes were purely concentrated on Shry, ready to prevent him from falling out the window anytime.
(Please don't go any further...) Kanum thought, trying to hold back his urge to chain Shry to a chair.
As per Kanum's foresight, Shry's feet left the floor as he continued to peer further and further out.
(That's a bit too far!) Kanum nervously thought
Right when Shry got dangerously close to falling out the window, Kanum pursed his lips and stood up, ready to catch Shry in case he fell.
Kanum was about to run and pull Shry back, but before he could take one step, a familiar hand reached out and pulled on Shry's shirt, preventing him from going any further.