Although only the sun worshippers could sense anything through spirit life, they weren't the only one to feel that something was about to come to a change, the beast worshippers felt their animalistic instincts nudge at them every so often, it was like a warning, but not one that seemed to spell impending doom, more like it was informing them to simply be careful like usual.
The refugees- Who were no longer deserving of such a name as they had thoroughly melded in the society of the Emerald Realm, their presence was no longer a novelty, all had gotten used to it, and it wasn't rare for emerald-folks and people from the outside being together now, plenty of offsprings had been produced from such unions, which had all resulted into children that shared the features of the emerald-folk so far.
Although the realm had been made partly inaccessible to most after the creation of a great barrier to keep the invading forces of the empire out, life was still extraordinarily peaceful, the young had not witnessed conflict even once since the beginning of this entire debacle.
Some of the people who had come from outside the realm could also feel that something was going on, the more sensitive to their surroundings could feel the subtle increason of the tension in the air, their battle-honed minds had not lost their lustre despite of the peace, if anything, this enchanting lull had only pushed them to further sharpen themselves so as to protect it if the time were to come.
Milo felt it particularly well, as he stood over the unmoving body of yet another soldier in white, he sensed that something was going to occur soon, the living soldier, whose face and mask had been caved in by a single kick, dispersed into spirit life.
It seemed to be just on the cusp of occurring, but he did not linger around any longer, his patrol for today was coming to an end anyways, lately, the invaders had been present in much less numbers than they used to be, most had pulled back well away from the edges of the barrier, only small groups or loners were to be found anymore, although, it did not stop them acting in the same manner.
"Rest in peace" he gave a few words to the departed enemy, and turned back, soon traversing the barrier and arriving before his lovely home, instantly tackled by one of his daughters.
"Papa! I missed you!" he picked her up lovingly, it was his oldest, Lizi, who was now seven years old, time truly had moved fast since they had first arrived into the Emerald Realm, and the more time passed, the more his daughters were beginning to look like their mother, it was a good thing obviously, looking like Helena was definitely a bonus in life seeing how gorgeous his wife was, but it certainly was impressive how none of the five had more of his features.
"I missed you two, my little angel, where are-" before he could finish asking, the rest came tackling into him as well, scaling him with remarkable ease.
Louizon and Alize, his second and third, both six years old now, and the twins, Zaya and Zally, dressed in their respective red and blue dresses, the two youngest nearly four years old now.
"Oh oh! Was I this sorely missed? I wasn't even gone for that long, what happened? Let me guess- Did your mother prepare that vegetable soup again?"
"You need to help, papa! Mama is trying to poison us!" responded Louizon.
"Come on now, she wouldn't try to poison you, the taste might be questionable, but if you want to grow as big and strong as your incredible parents, you'll have to endure the soup!" he said, flexing his muscles and lifting them all up as they held onto him.
"Liar! You never eat her soup either!" Alize pulled on his beard with a pout.
'Those kids are awfully observant!'
"Ow ow ow, alright, alright! I'll show you that her soup is perfectly safe to eat, and if you all finish your bowls, I'll convince her to cook a Jokra, deal?" he feigned pain at the pulling and tried to negotiate with the little girls.
"Yeah!" the twins jumped down and hugged his legs, he had the two little ones on his sides, which signified victory as the rest could not possibly go against their adorable little siblings.
Spending some time with his family made the looming dangers feel ever-so distant.
As he was putting the little girls back onto the ground, Helena emerged from the house with a smile, carrying their sixth child in her arms, the first and only boy amongst them, a healthy infant that was barely even one year old, currently sleeping like a log, at least, perhaps, his son would actually bear his own features most prominently.
"Back already? I take it that there weren't many pests around?" she said, laying a quick kiss on her husband's lips.
"Indeed, they must have gone into hiding after being terrified by my overwhelming presence and intensity-"
"Boasting in front of your own daughters now?"
"It is part of my duty as their father, I must look like the most dashing of man in existence"
"Well, you don't need to try so hard, you are already doing very well by just acting normally" she chuckled.
"Waah, are we getting a new sibling?"
"That's exactly what happened last time…"
"Will it be a boy or a girl?"
"Now… Siblings aren't created so willy-nilly, it is very tiring for your mother…"
"Yes, and your father misses my abs when I am carrying a sibling"
"Oof… That was low, Helena"
"What? Don't you love resting your head on them?"
"I do! But this will definitely come up in the future when they get older- I was pre-humiliated…"
As they joked around, the youngest began to stir in his sleep, soon opening his eyes and looking at Milo, his eyes seeming to illuminate with joy, as he stretched his little arms toward Milo.
"Would you look at that, it seems like he already favours his father over his mother" Helena smiled warmly and carefully handed the baby to Milo.
"He must admire my strength, but don't worry little one! I am certain that you'll surpass me in the future" Milo raised him up in the air, which the baby seemed to find hilarious as he began to laugh like no tomorrow.
"You'll grow up into a great man no matter what you do…"