As soon as the Alchemist said that Leo turned straight towards us and donned a shaky smile, looking between us all and trying to figure out what to say without shedding a tear; on our part Mother was the only one who stepped forwards and immediately pulled him into a hug, her voice somewhat shaky.
"We'll be up there with you soon, Leo, I promise... So be good for your Master and make her proud, alright..?"
The younger man nodded and hugged Mother tighter before stepping back from her, looking up towards Father and immediately biting his lip as he waited for the ever stoic mountain of a man to say something.
When he finally spoke it was just a simple, quiet "Be good for her, Leo, and congratulations..." which made the youngest of our family nod his head a few times as he continued to hold back his tears, something that I didn't think was needed right now.
So before they could fall I stepped forwards and ruffled his hair again, saying "You'll do well, Leo, I know you will. And hey, when we meet up there in the city you can go ahead and get me a nice steak with this salary of yours~!" and causing him to give me a bemused smile.
"All you ever think about is food, Izzy... Leo, I'll head on up with you, alright? Show you around, if Alchemist Vi permits..?"
"Sure, don't see why not. We weren't going to be doing much today anyways; I just need him fresh for tomorrow, and the rest of this week really. But aren't you on break right now?"
Our older brother nodded and said "Only for a few more days, but I figured I might as well make sure he's comfortable and knows where things are. Besides, that exam is coming up soon, so maybe a few more days of studying would be more prudent."
Having both of my brothers leave so soon definitely made me sad but seeing them standing together only caused that ambitious flame from last night to swell to new heights, because there was no way I was going to fail now.
I just couldn't, not when everyone was going to be in the city now; Giovanni's words from the mine echoed in my ears again about whether I was really willing to live a life like this for so many years to come... and I knew that I had lied to him.
It was the realist in me that had answered them, but no one wanted to just accept a worse reality for themselves if they could help it, and for me that idea of just being here, mining away for decades... it obviously wasn't what I wanted...
I wanted to do something with my life, to live in luxury and never have to worry about whether my next meal is actually something edible or nutritious, to have something stable and 'safe' compared to the long hours deep in a mine.
That was what I wanted, and in order to get it the best option - and really the only one that I could see for myself - was to get into the Sect, so although I had told Giovanni otherwise I was beginning to believe more and more in changing things for myself.
"Well... you should all get goin' then. It's a long ways up to the city, right? Don't waste what little light we get."
Both of my brothers gave me a small smile and nod at that, while Mother hugged them both tight and murmured another goodbye as she prepared to see them off, though we were all surprised when the Alchemist laughed a tad bit loudly.
"We'll be back in the city in no time at all. You both have everything? You're not missing anything?"
When both Giovanni and Leo shook their heads no she waved her hand to the side, a glimmer of light flickering around her outstretched hand before a thick bladed sword appeared beside her, hovering lazily in the air.
About as tall as me and made from a gorgeous, pristine silvery metal, the large sword hovered beside Alchemist Vi before it rotated slowly to become 'flat', and after another wave of her hand - this time enveloped by Qi instead of just pure light - the blade grew many times larger.
Stepping up onto the flat of the blade, she gave us a grin that had a tinge of superiority in it as she took in our reactions, though it softened when she reached down for Leo and offered him her hand, helping him onto the blade and steadying him the moment he stood beside her.
I didn't miss how her hand lingered for a few moments too long on his waist, nor did I miss the hunger that shone in her eyes for a moment, but she eventually helped Giovanni onto the blade too before turning back down towards us with that lazy grin.
"We'll be going now. I'll take good care of Leo here, I swear it. He won't want for anything, and after these five years you might even have an Alchemist in the family~!"
That choice of wording was most certainly deliberate, but there was no reason to be combative with someone who was helping to raise my brother out of these rainswept, somewhat impoverished lands.
So I just waved goodbye to both Giovanni and Leo before I could find any sliver of malice to bring against her, standing beside Mother and Father as we watched that sword lift into the air with the remaining two members of our family as well as this new 'addition' that was helping us immensely.
Even if she wasn't doing it so directly the influence she had would be useful in keeping Leo safe since no one would want to mess with the apprentice of an Alchemist, and even if that just instilled a little bit of hesitation in them towards Giovanni and I, that would be more than enough.