Watching as my two brothers flew up into the air atop that giant sword, I took a deep breath and quelled the small amount of anxiety that brewed within my heart, keeping my eyes locked to their rapidly disappearing figures before finally turning back towards my adoptive parents, catching the wetness in my Father's eye that was 'masked' as nothing more than rain and smiling wryly.
Meanwhile Mother was openly sobbing, hugging Father's arm and clearly letting her emotions get to her now that both of her boys were heading on up to the city; for a moment that stark reminder that I wasn't actually her daughter by blood stayed my hand, but I pushed past that since something like that never mattered before.
"It'll be fine, Mother. Leo'll do well up in the city, you know that. And Giovanni's gonna show him around and make sure he's comfortable..."
The shorter woman just nodded even as she continued to tremble, causing me to purse my lips before I glanced at Father and suggested "Why don't the two of you enjoy some time together here in town, hm? I'll head back and get some training done.", earning a nod from the older man as he guided Mother towards a nearby bench.
Watching them go, I reached inside myself for those earlier embers of ambition and stoked them as best as I could, swearing to myself that we would all be up in the city sometime shortly, that we would turn a new leaf in our lives and begin something wonderful.
They could finally live a life of peace and relaxation instead of having to toil hard day in and day out, and on top of that they could watch us go from just being a family of laborers to instead being a family of influential people.
In order to fulfill that wish though I needed to go from being Sixth Foundation to being Seventh Foundation, and with a deadline of at least two weeks that wasn't something that was a guarantee... unless I really, seriously put my head down and focused on nothing but cultivation.
That was the current plan that I had though, so after seeing Mother and Father off I made my way back home immediately and plopped down onto my bed, not letting any unnecessary thoughts enter my head as I shut my eyes and focused on gathering a lot of Qi.
By the time I opened them again it was already nighttime, and I only knew that thanks to Mother coming in and gently rapping her knuckles against the side of my head as she quietly said "Dinner is ready, Izzy.", which had me on my feet immediately.
When I stepped into the kitchen and found another plate of meat resting on the table I almost started dancing, though seeing the somewhat saddened gleam in Mother's eyes as she looked at the empty spots on either side of me mellowed me out quickly.
Dinner itself was a quiet endeavor, the only noise being that of our knives scraping against the wooden plates as we cut the meat into neat chunks that were easy to chew, and by the time anyone felt the need to drum up conversation the food was practically gone.
"Did you two enjoy yourselves..?"
It was a hesitant question that forced Mother to smile somewhat stiffly at me as she nodded, while Father began to gather up his plate and utensils as he replied "It was quiet. Peaceful.", which wasn't that much of an answer to my question.
Still, I just left it at that before turning towards him when he added "And Izzy, there's no need for us to head into the mine this week, alright?", which got another nod from me as I began to take my own things over to get washed.
When I scooped up Mother's as well the older woman tried to get up and do it herself, but the moment I gave her a smile and waved her away she just bit her lip and joined Father in their bedroom, calling it for the night.
Getting the dishes clean didn't take all that long, and it gave me some more time to think about everything before I followed suit, heading back into my room and getting comfortable on my bed once again.
Eventually I felt my exhaustion begin to take hold, so I finished up this last round of Qi gathering before promptly falling back onto my pillow and drifting away, heading to sleep for the first time when it was just Mother, Fath and I in the house.
Breakfast was quiet and the sadness that Mother radiated was a tad stifling, putting me into a position that I had no idea how to react to, so I did the first thing that came to mind; went outside and began to do some training beneath the rain, just like I used to when I was younger and finally wanted to try and get strong enough to not be beneath Giovanni forever.
The various stones that we had extracted from the mine that were perfectly shaped rested in the yard around our house, and each one served a purpose for my training that I was adamant to make use of.
Small plates that I could lift with my hands, a large spherical stone that was heavier than it looked, and many others that I had fastened with whatever I could find to further improve whatever gains I could possibly attain.
Training was something I had come to love quite a bit since it helped take my mind off of almost everything and showed how I could improve even in a situation like this, and it was something that I was praying would continue to improve me for the rest of my life.
At the very least I was very proud of what it had created of me so far, because with my effort came a rather amazing~ body that made all of my 'friends' rather happy every single time we 'played' together~!