"Babbyyy, why do you look so thin?!" Phoebe Tyrrell—Merlin's and Nora's mother—voiced, her brown eyes far too close to her phone's camera, making her face appear extremely enlarged to her children through the video call. "Have you not been eating? Nora! Why has your brother not been eating?!"
"Ugh…" Nora rolled her eyes.
"He's not thin, honey; I think he's just building muscles." Those were the words of Arthur Tyrrell, the twins' father, and he was trying his best to keep his wife from jumping in through the phone—which seemed to be more of a task than he might have thought.
They were both dressed in surgical wears with white masks hanging from their ears and below their chin, and, apparently, hiding in a drug storage room just so that they could make the call that the Tyrrell family was currently engaged in.
"Muscles?" Phoebe blinked like she had heard wrongly. She glanced at Merlin and back at her husband. "Such nonsense. Don't push your interests onto our son. Why would he be building muscles?"
Merlin's stomach tightened at those words. What did she mean by that? Yes, he knew that he had once been lazy, preferring to sleep all day than do anything else, but he was different now. Well, she didn't know that, but still.
"Look clearly, honey. He is. Our son's going to the gym. Aren't you, Merlin?" Arthur looked extremely pleased, which didn't surprise Merlin much. His father had always liked keeping his body fit. Despite always being holed up in the hospital, he'd still always found a way to exercise, even a light jog was enough. He'd been surprised when Merlin didn't take after him, but now that he was seeing some changes, there was a glint in his pearly, black eyes.
"I am," Merlin replied with a sigh. The couch sank deeper beneath his buttocks with those words, and that was because he knew what was coming next.
"What?!!!" Phoebe screamed. "You stop that right this instant! Do you hear me?! Do you know how many patients I've performed surgery on because their herniated disc ruptured or shifted out of position? Your body's not strong enough to handle such a thing, and I don't want to have to operate on my own son."
This was the thing about his mother, she always found a way to complain. To her, everything had a negative outcome that she believed only she could see, and she had to warn them about. Merlin didn't like that. It was why he didn't tell her much, and why he was uncomfortable at this moment, considering the changes he was going through, and all that was happening to him. If she was this way about something like exercising, then what would she do when she heard about the System? All hell would break loose, no doubt. He didn't want it to slip from his mouth, so he was looking for every means possible to escape before that could happen. However, he had never been successful before, so he doubted it would be any different at this moment.
"And, you, Nora. Did you know about this and just let him carry on with it?" She continued, shifting her focus onto Nora. It was exactly for this reason that Nora always thought of herself as an elder sister to Merlin; after all, their mother treated her like one.
"Tsk. He's old enough to do what he wants to do, Mom," Nora replied with a dry tone.
"Did you just click your tongue at me, young lady?" Phoebe frowned. Nora didn't reply. "You should be glad we have this screen between us, I would have beat that bad manners out of your little body."
"Honey…" Arthur put his hand on his wife's shoulder; which she immediately pushed away.
"See? We let your children fly across the world and this is what they've become? One's trying to rupture his spine, and the other clicks her tongue at me."
Arthur sighed. "Relax. They're fine. You're just stressed."
Phoebe furrowed her brows and jerked her head back slightly. "Oh. I'm stressed now, am I? And that makes what I'm saying nonsense, I suppose?"
"That's not what I—"
"Alright. Here you go then." She handed the phone to Arthur. "Talk to your children." And all that remained of her presence were murmurs to herself as she left the storage room.
Arthur sighed then, turning back to Merlin and Nora with a smile.
"Don't take what she said to heart. She's been in operations after operations for the past few hours. It's stressing her out. And, you know, she's seen and operated on kids no older than you guys; she's just scared that she might have to be the one doing that to you both one day. Which won't happen, obviously. I trust you guys will take care of yourself."
Merlin understood all that. Even though she was always at the hospital, she was still his mother, and the few times they had spent together was enough for him to notice how much of a burden she always carried. Her eyes were always heavy because she barely had enough sleep. And it had been that way for years on end. Which made him worried about what was to come.
Merlin recalled how his mother had reacted when he and Nora had told her of their decision to become Mages. She had been livid, trying to talk them out of it in every way possible. And when her attempts bore no fruit, she'd switched to asking them to attend the Academy there in London, so she could keep an eye on them. That didn't work as well. At the end, she reluctantly let them go.
Considering all that, Merlin couldn't help but wonder how she would act when it was time for him and Nora to actually start venturing into Dungeons and Towers. And that was why he had to find every means possible to put her mind at ease before the time came. He couldn't have her worrying. And that was the same for his father; even though the man always put on a brave face, always acting like nothing could go wrong, always supportive, Merlin could see that the man also carried weights on his shoulders. After all, he was having the exact same experiences as his wife, and if they had made her paranoid, there was no way he was completely sane. He was perhaps only trying his best to be the anchor between them both. But even that could only last for so long.
"So?" Arthur continued. "How have you guys been?"
"Busy," replied Nora. "This nerd has been having me escort him to the gym everyday. I barely have time for myself."
Merlin scowled. "Hey. I never forced you to come with me."
Nora raised a brow as if to say, 'really?' Merlin pulled back. Maybe her words weren't all false. Technically, he had forced her to come with him everyday. But that went both ways actually. She had been the one to prompt all that was happening. After all, she was the one who had threatened him with practicing her spells without him.
"I've told you to stop calling your brother a nerd, sweetheart," Arthur chimed in. "He has a name, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah." Nora rolled her eyes. In other words, she wouldn't stop, not even if the moon fell to earth.
"Dad," Merlin started with a sigh, Nora stole a glance at him. "How has Mom been these past few days?"
Arthur blinked softly and his shoulders dropped. "Are you talking about you still wanting to take the Academy's exam despite being a Deficient Mage?" Merlin nodded. "Of course she's not taking it well. She believes it would be better if you just came back home already."
"So she still thinks I don't have a shot at getting in?" Merlin interrupted.
Arthur paused. He then exhaled and said, "Yes."
Merlin's head hung loosely. "I thought so. What about you?"
"The truth? I'm the same. Honestly, I'm not against you still trying to become a Mage, but why not go to a different Academy instead? I'm sure the acceptance will not be as rigorous. This is the second best Mage Academy in the world, Merlin. It's nigh impossible—"
"Dad!" Nora voiced with a frown. "Would you stop? He wants to give it a shot, you should be encouraging him, you know? What's the point in pulling out of something without trying? Let me just say it now… I don't stand with yours and Mom's thoughts. At least this way, even if Merlin fails, he'll know he tried his best. That's better than running away."
Merlin turned to Nora. She always did this, yes, but this time she sounded the most genuine he had ever heard her. He couldn't help but wonder if it was because of his possession of the System, or if she did actually believe in him.
Arthur gave a long, low sigh. "I'm sorry," he said. "Your sister's right, Merlin. Never run away from something you want. Pursue it with all your heart, that way you'll have no regrets. I fully support you, and your Mom does too, despite how she acts. If not, I promise you, she would have never let you register in the first place. So, chin up, and just try your best. Your parents are on your side. Understood?"
Merlin smiled softly, Even if those words were a lie, there was no point in dragging the matter out. "Understood."
At that moment, a chime sounded from the other end of the screen, calling for Arthur's presence in the general surgical ward.
"That's me," said Arthur. "One more thing before I leave, when's the date of the assessment?"
Nora shook her head. "We don't know yet. The Academy's yet to send the mail."
"Ah. I guess they're still screening the applicants then. Alright. Let me know once you receive it. And, most of all, don't forget to enjoy yourselves. It's nice and all that you both go to the gym, but what about after that? Don't stay at home all day playing games Nora, and don't just be reading your comics and novels, Merlin. Go out and make friends."
They had actually. And Merlin had a crush on her.
He involuntarily blushed at the thought. Arthur noticed this.
"Wait, is there something I don't know about?" he continued.
Nora grinned. "Yes, Dad. Merlin likes someone."
Huh? What? Merlin was taken aback. How had Nora figured that out? No. That was not the problem here. What was she trying to do saying that to their Dad?
Merlin decided to deny the claim before things escalated.
"I do not!"
"Yes, you do! Do you think I'm blind?"
Arthur laughed. "Tell me all about it later, sweetheart. I'll be off now. Bye. Love you both."
"Bye," Merlin and Nora replied in unison, and the call ended. Merlin turned to his sister in an instant.
"How did you find out?" he asked.
Nora raised a brow at him. "You're always so red that it would be hard for even a bull to miss. Of course, I noticed. And I'm sure Jane has to."
Merlin shot up to his feet, red—again—his heart pounding. That couldn't be true. If it was, then going forward things would get awkward between the both of them. He wouldn't be able to focus on his training due to that.
Actually, he kind of would. He'd finally been able to grasp the concept of how meditation worked, so he should be able to clear his mind if he found it wandering.
And, on that note, he was reminded of something he had made up his mind to do.
"I'm going to my room," he said.
"Sure. Just don't burn down this apartment, in-heat nerd."
Merlin halted, his fists tightening. "I'm not in heat!"
"Yeah, yeah." Nora simply turned her phone horizontal and put on her headsets. "Goodnight."
Merlin clicked his tongue. "Goodness, I hate you so much." And he vanished into his room.