The day was peaceful in the Aurelion house—the sun shining brightly, the trees bristling calmly, and the birds chirping happily. Dain was swinging his wooden sword repeatedly, while Elara was making food, singing to herself as she did. All was well in the house, until—
"Give me back my disk, you stupid idiot!" called out an angry voice.
Elara, hearing this, sighed, already knowing what was happening.
"You have to catch me if you want it!"
A boy zoomed past the kitchen table, with a fuming girl chasing after him.
Malrik turned around, smirking deviously at his irritated sister. Sarah pounced on him as they wrestled for the round object in Malrik's hands. Malrik laughed as he struggled to get out of the raging animal's grasp. Elara soon rushed over, stopping the two siblings' squabble.
"What is going on here? Why do I have eight-year-old children fighting like five-year-olds?" she snapped, crossing her arms and glaring at the two.
"Malrik took my disk that has all my music on it," responded Sarah, equally as mad.
Malrik scoffed. "Well, if you wouldn't keep blasting that stupid music, I would be able to read in peace and I wouldn't have had to take it from you, now, would I?"
"Nova Lira's music isn't stupid! She's the best artist in the world, and I won't stand for you disrespecting her!"
She tried lunging at Malrik once again, before Elara quickly grabbed her, stopping the mad charge.
"Will you two calm down?" she said, stretching her arms between them to prevent any more attacks. "Now, Malrik, what exactly is the problem with Nova Lira's music?"
The woman raised her eyebrows, gazing at the boy.
"What isn't wrong with her music? Her songs aren't catchy at all. I don't get all the hype around her."
"That's because you don't get music at all, you dunce," retorted Sarah.
"Whatever. The point is, you don't have to play it that loud. I can barely hear myself reading."
Sarah frowned. "Oh really? Well, let me tell you what I think of your reading—"
Another argument sprang to life as the two siblings bickered. Their poor mother stood in the middle, looking from side to side at her children.
"Okay, enough!"
The two instantly fell silent at the sound of their stern mother's voice. Elara crossed her arms, glaring at them both.
"This whole week, you two have been arguing about something. If it's not music, it's your food; if it's not food, it's your magic. Is it that hard for you two to get along?"
She didn't give them time to answer.
"I've decided—we are going on a family trip. Maybe some fresh air outside the house will bring you two closer together."
Malrik looked up at Elara, confused. "What's a family trip?"
Sarah breathed out in annoyance. "It's a journey to somewhere you want to go, with the whole family, you dunce."
Dain finally finished his workout and walked inside just as Sarah finished her explanation.
"Did someone say a family trip?" he asked.
"Mum is trying to make us get along by sending us on some trip," answered Sarah.
Dain rubbed his hands in excitement. "Great! Where are we going?"
Both Dain and Malrik looked at Elara in anticipation. Malrik had never gone on a trip and was excited to experience one. For Dain, any trip was exciting.
Elara smiled as she gazed upon her family. "We are going to Nova Lira's live concert."
Dain and Malrik's excitement dropped instantly.
Everyone shouted, "What?!"
Sarah instantly rushed to her mother, took her hands, and pleaded with Elara to ensure she was telling the truth. Elara chuckled and nodded.
"Mhm, I heard she's performing nearby, so I figured we should go."
Sarah cheered before grabbing the music disk from Malrik's hand and rushing to her room.
The woman looked towards the two stunned males in front of her. Dain suddenly started coughing.
"Cough, cough… Oh my, I—I think I'm sick—cough—I don't think I'll be able to go," he said, holding his stomach like he was in pain.
Malrik patted his father's back.
"Oh no… this is bad. Mum, I—I think I should stay back and help Dad recover from this terrible illness."
Elara looked at them with an uninterested expression. An orange aura started radiating throughout the room, shocking the two boys. They both gulped as they stared at the serious woman in front of them.
"We are going on this family trip, and you two are going to enjoy it. Understand?"
They both sighed in defeat.
"Fine."
The next day, the Aurelion family were on the road. Elara sat in the front, her hand on the obsidian disk glowing a brown colour, while Malrik and Sarah sat in the back. Sarah had her earplugs in, nodding to the beat, while Malrik sat next to her, reading his book.
Sarah sighed, then took off her earphones. "I can't believe Father had to work today."
Elara also sighed. Her eyes looked a little distant for a moment. "Well, you know how it is—no rest for the Paladins. Your father must defeat all those scary monsters lurking in this world."
"I know that, but today is Sunday. It's supposed to be his rest day. He hasn't worked on a Sunday in years."
Malrik looked up, noticing Elara's hand clench slightly.
"How about this—let's have all the fun your father was supposed to have," she said, glancing at Malrik through the mirror. "And having fun doesn't mean reading."
The boy frowned. "I know, but this is important."
Sarah looked at the book, genuinely curious. She suddenly grabbed it from Malrik's hands, surprising him.
"Hey! Let go of it—it's mine!"
"Not until you tell me what you're reading."
Sarah looked at the title. Titles.
"Huh, you're reading about Titles?"
Malrik snatched the book back. "Yeah. After last week's lesson on magic, I asked Dad if he could give me some books to read more about it. Magic is such an interesting topic, so I'm studying all I can."
"Titles are an interesting topic to research. Are you aware of what Titles are?" Elara asked.
Malrik scratched his head, hesitating. "Well… I have to admit I'm struggling a bit to grasp everything, but from what I understand, it's something that gives magic meaning."
Sarah frowned, trying to remember. "I think Dad said something similar when I first got mine."
Malrik looked at his sister in surprise. He grabbed her and moved his face a little too close.
"You have a Title?!"
Sarah's face morphed in disgust at the spit covering her face. She pushed Malrik off and glared at him.
"Yes, I have a Title. Mine's called The Rising Nova."
Sarah suddenly had a dreamy look as she stared out the window.
"Fitting, right? Nova Lira, the greatest singer in the world, is considered a supernova. I guess that means I'm going to be a supernova someday."
Sarah placed both hands on her face, giggling like a girl with a crush.
Malrik gave her a side-eye. "The delulu is strong with this one," he whispered.
Thanks to his father's teachings, he now knew what it's called when people are dreaming.
"Moving on… how do I know if I have a Title?"
Elara, who seemed lost in thought, snapped out of it. "Well, Titles are usually given at the age of four. If you had one, you'd already know."
"Damn, I guess having my memories erased means I don't remember my titl—"
"It doesn't matter; you don't have one," interrupted Sarah.
"How do you know?" Malrik snapped.
"I know because your magical colour is blue."
Malrik looked at her in confusion.
"If you finished the book, you'd know that Titles not only determine the abilities your magic can do, but also its colour."
"its colour? Wait! Is that why everyone has different coloured auras?"
Sarah nodded. "Exactly. How about this—I'll give you a little lesson on Titles."
Malrik faced Sarah, eager to learn.
"Alright, so there are four different stages of Titles: Prologue, Awakened, Enlightened, and Epilogue. Each one comes in its own unique colour. The magical colour of a Prologue is green—like mine. The second stage, Awakened, is yellow. The third stage, Enlightened, gives you an orange colour."
Sarah pointed to the plate Elara had her hand on.
"If you turn on your Arcane Sight, you'll see the Ignition Plate oozing orange magic. That's because Mum has an Enlightened Title."
"Now, the final stage—Epilogue—"
"Gives the user a golden colour of magic," muttered Malrik in awe. "That's why Dad's magical colour is gold."
"Exactly."
The two looked at their mother, who decided to speak up.
"In this world, an Epilogue is the pinnacle of humanity's powers. To become a true Champion, that pinnacle is essential."
Malrik stared at his hands before clenching them. His eyes glowed blue as his magic flared.
"But my magic is blue. Is that why you said I don't have a Title?"
Sarah nodded. "Yeah. Like Father said, magic is an essence—it's invisible to the naked eye. The natural colour of that essence is blue, at least for humans."
Malrik pondered the information for a while, looking at his book as if more answers might appear. Seeing the lesson was over, Sarah put her earphones back in and blasted her music.
Elara smiled through the window. Her children were getting along.
'This is what you're missing, Dain.'
An hour later, the trio finally arrived at the city. The place was beautiful—decorations and lights everywhere. Even the two guards outside the gate were in a joyful mood. The trees swayed as if welcoming the family.
"We're here, guys!" Elara called out, grabbing the siblings' attention. "Welcome to St Alesia City."
—The Aurelion House—
Back at the house, Dain was sitting quietly with a phone to his ear. A soft, sultry feminine voice spoke from the other end, sending chills down Dain's spine.
The man sighed. "Eve, just tell me what they're planning, and I'll entertain you later."
"Now, now, babe, you shouldn't get snappy with me. Imagine what your wife would say if she knew you were entertaining a baddy like me tonight."
Dain gritted his teeth. He could already visualise her smirking face on the other end.
"As for the captives… well, they weren't very cooperative. You wouldn't believe what I had to do to get them to speak. Although, I wouldn't mind showing you in our session tonight."
Dain tried desperately to suppress his blush.
"If you're not going to tell me, then this relationship is over."
"Oh, come on, no need for haste, darling. Although I must say, I'm very intrigued to know that the great Blinking Star would betray his guild and family just to gain a small amount of information from one infamous organisation. Not to mention our relationship—it's kind of interesting, don't you think?"
The sound of glass breaking echoed through the house.
A fascinated moan rang from the phone as Dain stood, pure anger radiating from him. Shards of glass were stuck between his fingers, but he paid no attention. Raising a bloodied finger towards the phone—calm, cold, like a parent silencing a child—he spoke.
"Now you listen to me and listen closely. The guild hired us to spy on the Court of Darkness. Delivering the captives to you instead of the guild was a tactical decision to act fast on their plans. Our relationship is nothing more than a job—and that's it. Now, do you have any news for me, or am I wasting my time?"
Eve chuckled. "Whatever helps you sleep at night. As for the Court of Darkness… according to the captives, a Fracture Gate will fully open outside a city, allowing magical creatures to invade. The Court is planning to capture them for some… unusual experiments."
Dain narrowed his eyes. "Where?"
"St Alesia City."
Dain's eyes widened. 'That's where Elara and the kids went for the concert.'
"The gate is estimated to open today at midnight. Which means we've got time to play before the chaos. Meet me tonight—I'll be dressed for war… and pleasure."
Dain leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. His hands dropped to his side as his eyes grew distant.
'Elara… please keep them safe.'