"Alright, you kids ready?"
"I'm ready!"
"Sure."
"Mm-hmm, I'm ready, Papa."
"Don't overdo it, honey."
It was Karrie's fifth birthday, and her rite of passage was a sparring match with her two brothers — and her as support.
They called it Protect the Priestess, with, well, obviously, Karrie as the priestess.
"If you manage to hit a fatal blow, well, a tap with the wooden sword in a vital area, you win! No cheating now."
"
Her mother was, of course, hesitant, but finally said:
"She'll be fine. I won't push her too hard! Plus she's a Fillips!"
That only slightly reassured her. Over the past years, they'd noticed Karrie was a little weaker than other kids her age — more prone to sickness and such. That's why she was wearing pads at her knees and elbows.
They stood in the grassy highlands near the village. Kyleigh sat by the tree with a medkit ready.
"Alright, kids, give me everything you've got—"
Simon had already kicked off his feet, aiming for his father's neck with his wooden sword. Of course, he was too short and had to jump.
"At least let me finish! And you're supposed to be working as a team, Si!"
Finlay countered Simon, pushing his sword to the left. He grabbed him by the collar and threw him across the field, back to where Izekial and Karrie stood.
"Communication is important, Si. This is a team exercise."
"I know, I know! But I wanna protect Karrie from you!"
Finlay took a step back in offense.
"You think I'd do something like that to my own daughter?"
"You're a wild card, Father. You don't know how to hold back sometimes."
Finlay slumped his shoulders, all depressed.
"You really think I'd hurt Karrie? My own kids don't have faith in me…"
"Now," Izekial said softly to Simon.
The two darted to both sides of Finlay — Simon on the left, Izekial on the right. They sandwiched him.
"!!!"
Finlay parried both of their attacks just in the nick of time with a wide slash.
"Ghh, what was that about?"
"That was Plan A," Izekial said.
"Emotional manipulation," Simon added.
"Using my own daughter against me… You're worse than the villains in the stories I read to you as a tot."
"All's fair in love and—gahh!"
Izekial pulled Simon by the collar as Finlay's sword narrowly missed him.
"That was close. Thanks, big bro." Simon looked at Finlay.
"Hey, I thought you said you wouldn't really hurt your children?"
"Hm. I said I wouldn't hurt Karrie. Girls are delicate… However, a few broken bones build a man's character." He said with a wolfish grin.
Simon gulped hard.
"We're moving to Plan B."
"R-right," Karrie stammered.
For a bit, the air seemed still. She closed her eyes. Spirits gathered.
She focused on imagining a water ball in her hands, creating it at her fingertips and thinking of all the ripples inside of it.
She hadn't used magic pretty much at all at this point. She sat in Moria's classes, sure, but putting it into practice was a whole different ordeal entirely.
"aq-ua bwall," she flubbed her words as the shot came out lopsided and wobbly, only going about three feet before hitting the ground.
"Bwaa, I messed up," she said dramatically, placing a hand over her chest.
"That's alright, sweetie. You tried your best. However—"
Finlay began charging at them, stepping into the damp puddle she had made—
—and that's when Izekial placed his hand on the ground.
"!!!"
Using his own magic, he placed a hand in the muddy water.
"Heating."
The muddy patch quickly turned into thick clumps of mud, slowing Finlay down in his tracks, clumping under his boots.
"Tch. Are you really my kids? I swear, you're way too clever…"
As he tried getting his feet unstuck, he looked down for a split second—
—and in that second, Simon raced forward and jumped in the air.
"Rahh!"
Simon came down hard, sword raised and with more confidence than he deserved.
SPLAT!
Finlay had jumped out of his own boots and was now barefoot.
Though this meant Simon had missed entirely… and landed face-first in the mud.
"And you're dead."
Finlay poked Simon with the end of his sword at his neck.
"Tch. Figures," Izekial clicked his tongue.
Kyleigh quickly got up from her seat and went to pull Simon out of the mud.
"Three, two, one—go!"
Finlay charged once again.
Their wooden swords clashed.
Izekial was only a mere boy, so of course, clashing with his father like this in a bout of strength, he had no chance of winning.
When it came to battle, Izekial was well beyond his years. Wit would be the key to his victory.
When he found an opening, Izekial attempted to jump back on his father, who was on him — swinging his sword, not letting him get any breathing room.
"Ah… ah… ah!!!"
Karrie helplessly didn't know what to do. She wanted to support her older brother, but didn't know how. She was worried she'd hit him or upset him — Izekial was finicky that way.
"Ah, thank you, Kyleigh."
Simon was covered head to toe and looked like a mud monster.
"Let's go get you cleaned up, shall we?" Kyleigh said sweetly.
Meanwhile—
"You're starting to get tired, ain't ya, Izzy? What's wrong, your old man wearing ya down?"
His strikes were fast and wild… but not sloppy.
Izekial planted his feet on the ground.
"Oh, you're using that, huh? Well, I'll use it too, then."
Finlay planted his feet and raised his sword.
CRACK
CRACK
The sound of their sword style:
Tor.
They flicked their wrists and the kinetic energy flowed down the sword to the tip, creating shockwaves. It was fast and loud.
"Wow, Father and big brother are strong!" Simon smiled as Kyleigh used a simple water spell to clean him. "I hope one day I can like—blluuurrgg—"
She was basically waterboarding him.
"Ah! Sorry!"
CHK-CHK
Izekial's sword began to crack. His father's strength was overwhelming.
CHK-CHK
"Damn it all…" Izekial tried getting distance and backed up, but it was too late.
CHK-CHK—CRACK!
His sword snapped in two.
THUNK!
Finlay hit Izekial in the back of the neck, knocking him out.
"Phew, I was nervous there for a sec."
CHK-CHK—CRACK!
His own sword gave out as well in the end.
"Now then… to capture the princess."
"Ah!"
Finlay wiggled his fingers as he approached Karrie.
"Papa's gonna get ya!"
He had the look of a villain.
Karrie raised her arms. She didn't know many spells or how to hold a sword…
So she used what Izekial had taught her before the sparring session.
She concentrated her mind, body, and soul once more into her fingertips and imagined a geyser shooting out from her body.
Her eyes glowed a blood red.
"Pila aquae!!!"
"Papa's gonna get ya! Papa's gonna get—GLUB—GLUB—GLBLLLBLRBL!"
A torrent of water shot from her body.
"Wow, Karrie, that was amazing! You totally got 'em!" Simon looked over—
—and froze.
Karrie was standing still.
"K-Karrie?"
She was looking up at the sky, standing still
Suddenly, blood began to run down her face… and even from her eyes like a river
"KARRIE!" Kyleigh shrieked. She rushed over to her as Karrie collapsed.
"Oh, honey—oh baby, are you alright?! Come on, look at me, hon—hey, look at me!"
"Mama… what… my head— it hurts…" she said in a soft, tiny voice.
"Finlay! Help me!"
"What's going on?!" he stumbled. He was still recovering from the water blast.
"Shit, what happened?!"
"I told you, Fin! I told you not to overdo it!"
Finlay wiped the blood from her face.
"You're gonna be okay, Kare Bear… you'll be okay…"
Simon looked over at his sister.
His stomach churned at the sight. He felt lightheaded — so much so that he wanted to throw up.
His heart wavered.
He'd never seen so much blood…
Coming from his own sister.
It was terrifying.
Finlay picked her up, and they rushed back to the village.
The family day ended early.
2.
"She's stable now, though I recommend her not moving too much for a while."
They had called in one of the village's General Practitioners
"She lost quite a bit of blood. Keep a close eye on her and make sure she stays lying down with her feet raised to help with blood circulation to the brain."
"She'll need fluids like milk or porridge and iron-rich foods like liver and greens."
He explained all this. Simon took it all in, even if he wasn't the target for the information.
"Do all that little missy and you'll be right as rain."
The doctor stroked her head
"You know what caused this?" Finlay asked
"---"
"It's best we talk outside."
Finlay nodded, then led him to the hallway
Simon slipped inside her room
"___"
"You awake?"
"Yeah"
"You feeling better?"
"Yeah"
"--"
"I'm glad, you scared me there for a minute there
He looked down at her; she was breathing heavier than usual, her chest heaving up and down, and had a rag draped over her forehead.
'Is mama ok?" she asked in a hoarse voice
"Yeah, she's just resting, a little overwhelmed is all."
He sat on the side of her bed
"__"
"You did well today, you caught father off guard, he totally wasn't expecting that attack!"
"Yeah, I guess so…"
"The doctor says I might not be able to use magic like that ever again…"
She said in a low tone, almost self-deprecating.
"I'm sure we'll figure this all out, I mean, you have a knack for magic unlike me, who can't use it at all," he flashed a smile.
He took her hand and interlocked his fingers with hers
"But if it does come to it, you can't use magic, your big brother will protect you in other ways!"
" Thank you, big brother, you always make me feel calmer," her eyes closed.
" Don't worry, I'll always be with you, Karrie."
A thought crossed his mind, and the strange feeling in his chest loosened. He hated the idea of it, but a small portion, no, maybe even half of him was happy about this outcome.
He who was ignored by the heavens, having no blessing or anything to write home about. This would mean he wouldn't be left behind; he, too, could have someone who depended on him. Was it selfish? Sure, but having someone depending on, looking up to you, and wanting support is the rite of passage for a man, and he hated himself for that.
3
The next few days, Simon pledged to look after her.
When she needed food,
he fed her.
Cloths
He helped change her
When she couldn't sleep, he read to her,
He was doing so much that it started to worry Kyleigh
"Hey, Si, you know you can take a break, right? I'm sure she's grateful for all your help, leave some parenting for the rest of us, ok?"
He adjusted the bucket of water at his waist.
"It's fine, Miss Kyleigh, I don't mind helping, it's my little sister, so I gotta work hard, ya know?"
And there he went off to help her make some more of her world-class mud pie.s
Kyleigh wasn't just worried for Karrie; Simon was her big brother, yes, but he was starting to look after her more than himself. She appreciated that Simon treated Karrie with respect, and she could tell he genuinely loved her, but her mother's intuition had to ask when does one's devotion become obsession.
All of this led to their bond as siblings to Flucaite, and is why, when one day, while training with their father, what she uttered made them both freeze.
"I'm gonna marry big brother!"
Finlay's wooden sword slipped out of his hand and hit Simon square in the forehead.
"Yeoow, what do you think you're doing! You're not supposed to throw it!"
He rubbed his forehead, which left quite a mark.
"Hey, what did you say, Karrie?" Finlay asked, completely ignoring his son,
"I said I wanna marry big brother when I grow up!" She puffed out her chest
He knelt down to her height and in a mock high-pitched voice said, "You're supposed to say, 'I wanna marry Daddy when I grow up!" he said in a high voice.
"Hm, no way Papa's too hairy!"
"That's your reason?!"
"Big brother Simon is cool and he always looks after me!" she smiled big "and he's also super handsome!"
"Eh, you don't think daddy's handsome?"
"---"
"Silence is so much worse!" Finlay grabbed his sword and turned to Simon
"Alright, time for some real TRANNING"
Simon jolted, "Wh-hey, wai,t you're hitting too hard, father!"
Finlay took his frustration out on his secondborn son.
After about seven minutes of trying to fend off his father, he lay flat on his back, and his chest heaved up and down.
"I thought I was gonna die there for a second."
"You did good, big brother!"
"" Yeah, but you were no help… You made Father go into berserker mode with that little joke."
Karrie tilted her head. "Joke?"
"Ah, about um-marrigde and all that…" "That wasn't a joke, big brother, I mean it, I wanna marry you!:
His ears went a little red
"Yo-wh-you can't just say things so flipantly like that!" he sputtered
"Why not?" Her ears wiggled a little
" Because we.. ah, never mind" he rubbed his neck
Suddenly felt put on the spot
"Do you not wanna?" she asked with a curious look on her face
(SO CUTE I CAN'T) he thought
"Su-sure" he said
"Only if you can't find a better ma, which I think you wil-"
She jumped into his arms, "There's no one better," she grinned up at him
She smiled
And so did he.
Though soon enough, their days as a happy family would come to an end.