As If sensing my sour mood, Essie shot towards me like a bullet from the sky, just before she reached the ground, however, her abnormally large wings opened slowly her descent as she made gently landed on top of my head between my horns, and rubbed her face against mine affectionately.
"Are you ready to go?" I asked, to which she hastily jumped off and turned to face me with a sad expression on her face. "Older brother wants to leave already?" She asked, her head was raised high to stare at me due to our height difference.
I brought my paw on top of her head and gently rubbed It before I replied. "Yes, I'm a little bit tired after my journey, but we can play again later okay?" Hearing that, Essie seemed to be disappointed as she lowered her tiny head and nodded.
"You promise?" She asked to which I let out a laugh and answered. "Of course, I promise!" This seemed to elevate her mood for a bit as she jumped back to her favorite place, between my horns. Throwing the ruined city one final glance, I then stood on my hind legs, the ground cracking as I exerted strength on them before I leaped onto the sky like a bullet.
"Waa!" Essie laughed happily at that as she used my horns to keep herself steady. I didn't mind carrying her, quite the opposite, I was happy to see her enjoying herself. And so I deliberately took the long way back home, taking my time before we finally reached our floating mountain.
As soon as I landed, Essie quickly hopped off and jumped to the sky, we still had a few hours of daylight, which meant more playtime for her. 'She sure is energetic,' I inwardly chuckled before I made my way inside the cave. Glancing around, I was surprised to find out that my father was missing, Immy was the only one present as she laid basking under the sun.
As soon as I entered, she opened her eyes looked at me, and yawned. "Welcome back," She said before she stood up, stretched her limbs, and followed me to my corner of the cave. "Ynos still collecting those things?" I asked while ushering with my head towards the neat pile of fairies' severed heads.
Shrugging, Immy snuggled next to me as I laid down to rest before she replied. "I don't know where he keeps on finding them," I nodded in agreement, none of us had ever stumbled upon a fairy before, yet Ynos's collection of heads somehow keeps on increasing by the day.
"Speaking of which, how was your rite of passage?" I asked in curiosity, Immy yawned lazily before she replied. "It was nothing worth mentioning, I had to hunt down an obsidian monster," Hearing that, I quickly frowned.
"Obsidian monster, you mean a shade?" I asked In surprise. Shaking her head, Immy clarified. "Of course not brother, It was not an actual shade, just a tainted monster," Nodding in understanding, I continued. "Ah, that makes sense, but still you had to hunt a single monster? How is that fair?" I grumbled in annoyance.
Seeing my disappointed look, Immy hastily explained as she stood up and glared at me. "It was really fast and hard to catch!", letting out a sigh, I gently patted her head and replied. "Yes, yes, I'm sure It was,"
Frowning, Immy shook my palm off and added. "I'm serious, It was probably the fastest creature I had ever encountered, even with my light magic, I still couldn't catch up," She said, her gaze cloudy as If she was remembering something before she shook her head. "What about you, what was your rite of passage?" She asked before she laid down again next to me.
"Oh, mine? I just had to destroy a country,"
"Ah, I see...wait what?" She nodded before her body jolted up and turned to stare at me in surprise. "You mean a human country?" She asked with a strange glint in her eyes.
"Yes," I replied hesitantly causing the strange glow in Immy's eye to shine brighter. I could sense her excitement as she asked, "How was It? The lower plane I mean?"
"It was normal, I don't know? I didn't exactly go sightseeing," I replied confused as to why the usually calm Immy was so excited. "Did you meet the nobles?" She asked, her head drawing closer to mine urging me for answers.
"I don't think so? I simply destroyed the whole city, besides how am I supposed to tell them apart?" I asked. My answer seemed to disappoint Immy as she settle back down before speaking. "The nobles live in big castles, that's common knowledge brother how do you not know that," She shook her head.
"Wait a minute, first of all, why should I know that and why care in the first place? Second of all, why are you this interested in the nobles?" I asked to which Immy let out a sigh as she raised her head to stare at the sky from the small opening in the ceiling.
"You wouldn't understand brother," She shook her head, a strange expression on her face. 'What the hell is that supposed to mean?' I inwardly mumbled. It was then that Essie suddenly landed next to us, she didn't use the cave's entrance but instead used one of the many ceiling holes to directly come inside.
"Older sister, when are brother Ynos and Sidus coming back?" She asked as she made her way next to Immy who shook her head.
"I don't know,"
"I wonder what my rite of passage will be like," Mumbled Essie.
"Did you already master your control over your soul space?" I asked in surprise.
With an embarrassed expression, Essie lowered her head and replied. "N-Not yet, but I'm sure I can do It soon!" She added while patting her tiny chest reassuringly.
"Of course you can," I said with a smile.
Immy then suddenly interrupted with a question. "Were the humans strong, brother?"
I paused for a second, as I thought back to my previous battles against them. Although weak individually, they are strong when united. Of there was one thing I learned from my rite of passage, that would be to not underestimate them.
"I wouldn't call them strong per say, but their will and determination, that's something I think is worthy of respect,"
Hearing my reply, Essie just stared at me with a confused look on her face, while Immy nodded solemnly. "Even a cornered rat will fight back, so don't make the same mistake I did, don't underestimate them," I added.
"I understand brother, I won't."
"Good, well I'll try to get some sleep, I'm still a bit tired," I said and closed my eyes. Immy then snuggled closer to me, while Essie hopped on top of her favorite place as I drifted to sleep.