Grey 10th birthday was tomorrow. He was born the morning of November 17th, so his 'Awakening' would take place then. After that, he would have his 10th birthday party, and then Khan would go back to his abode. The old man couldn't stay forever, he had a job, after all. It was surprising enough that he had got a 5 year-leave.
This would be Grey's first birthday party as, before the age of 10, your birthdays were celebrated only with an extra dessert. It was a nice tradition, and Grey looked forward to this one. Apparently, birthday parties had presents, and games. There was also cake, and the extra dessert. It was very grand, in Grey's opinion.
---
Grey's eyelids twitched, before opening abruptly. He sat up and yelled, "BIRTHDAY!" As if responding to his cry, the birds sang a beautiful song.
Chirp, Chirp, Tweet, Tweet.
- Happy birthday, Grey. And congrats on 'Awakening'. - Fallen Star said. The past 10 years It had spent with Grey were fun, to say the least. Although Fallen Star had only resurrected Grey for the sole purpose of killing God, It was glad to see that the boy would be able to live a good life.
Grey ran down the corridor, swinging all the doors open, yelling "BIRTHDAY!" into each one, before moving to the next. It was only 7AM sharp, so there was at least 2 hours before the 'Awakening'.
Everyone was rather groggy as they got out of bed, it seemed none were morning people. Neither was Grey, he just had a very good reason to get up.
"Uurgh, the Great Khan is tired. He shall refrain from getting up." Khan said, which was followed by a remark from Sheila. "Me too."
Unfortunately, the 10 year-old was not having it. Jumping onto the bed, landing in-between them, Grey whispered in their ears, "Birthday."
Khan almost thwacked the child out of the room, but stopped himself from doing so upon remembering who it was.
---
Grey was placed in a room with a tablet and a locked door, whilst the adults went to prepare his party. The boy could easily escape, he just chose not to, planning to spend the time practising and learning more about the world. After all, time flew by when you were focused.
Khan entered the room for a short 5 minutes, speaking a few words before leaving whilst laughing evilly.
At 8:50, the door was unlocked, and Grey was led outside by a tired Lucas. Saturday mornings were his nemesis.
The family of 5 ate breakfast, and the room was filled with cheerful small talk.
At just past 9, the time of Grey's awakening, an elaborate set-up appeared from thin air. There were blinding lights of both purple and gold, and wind machines created a small, weak vortex.
Taken aback, Grey asked what was going on.
"This is to re-create what happens during awakening, son." Khan replied. "The wind replicates the rush of mana, and the lights are your elements."
"I see." Grey said. 'Fallen Star, why did this not happen to me?' Grey inquired.
- The process of creating a mana heart is so gradual that it takes 10 years to make 90% of it. The last 10% is done with a sudden influx of mana, creating this vortex. I'm not sure as to why it doesn't hurt, but that's not important. -
- For you, Grey, I forcefully created around 3.5% of your mana body each day, which is why it hurt. It's also the reason there was no light, the density of mana wasn't enough to create this phenomenon. - Fallen Star gave Grey a detailed explanation, summing it up perfectly.
'Ahh, that makes sense.'
The lights and the wind died down at minute 5, marking the end of Grey's 'Awakening'. The room went black, and faint rustling could be heard around the table.
With a flash, the lights turned back on, and everyone jumped out from behind the table.
'''Happy Birthday!'''¹
POP! POP! POP!
3 confetti cannons exploded, covering Grey in a mess of shiny, colourful paper. A wind spell from Sheila quickly redistributed the confetti, spreading it round the room.
Lucas and Samantha came first, wrapping the boy in a soft, loving hug. They both wished him a happy 10th birthday, before moving out of the way, only for Khan to cover the boy in a bear hug, spinning in a circle.
Sheila was last, and her hug radiated a warmth and care that seemed special only to grandmothers. The other hugs were warm, but something about this one made it seem a lot better.
A couple of kisses and thank-yous later, the family was now in the living room, and Grey was very excited. The coffee table in the middle did little to conceal the boxes underneath, but the birthday boy held it in.
A head nod came from Samantha, and the boy darted to the pile, grabbing the closest one. He caused a few chuckles, but ignored them, choosing instead to place his focus on the box and its contents.
Samantha held a glass rectangle in her hands, a 'phone', and was recording the experience.
The first box was from Khan, and inside was a book. The cover of the book contained only four words, but they were enough to make Grey's heart leap.
'Way of the Wulf'.
"Thank you Grandpa!" He squealed, the joy so clearly evident on his face. He jumped into the old man's embrace, giving him a good, long hug.
"Well, I can't stay here and teach you forever, so this is the least I can do. It has all the techniques you've learned and are yet to learn. Treasure it well, boy, because if you lose it, -" Khan gave his reasoning behind the book, starting to warn the boy about losing it. A glare from behind Grey was all that was needed to shut him up.
Grey moved to the next gift, a long rectangular box from Lucas. Grey opened it, eyes full of expectation, and was not disappointed.
In the box lay a spear of fine quality; its sleek black metal and ornate white wood made a beautiful creation. A red fabric was wound around the intersection of the materials.
"That there is my gift to you. A spear of fine make, one I used myself. You've got a long way to go in your spearmanship, but I have faith. In fact, the red cloth on that spear-" Lucas gave a short explanation, but was shut up before he could ramble, by an elbow to the side.
"So cool!" Grey exclaimed, "Does it have a name?"
"Of course, in fact, the name of this spear dates back to- Oof!" Lucas began to narrate its origin, but an elbow infused with mana shut him up. "It's called Devil's Bane. How's that, I named it myself!"
"Devil's Bane." Grey mumbled. "I love it!" He gave Lucas a long hug, moving onto the next object.
---
The remaining presents were all amazing, and elicited great joy from Grey. However, it was what was coming next that Grey most looked forward to.
"Games! Let's play games!" He giggled. "Let's play Villains and Heroes."
Villain and Hero was a game where there were 2 Heroes, and the rest of the players were Villains. To win the game, the Villains must survive for a certain period of time. For the Heroes, they must catch all the Villains within the time period.²
Grey deemed himself Hero no. 1 and Khan Hero no. 2. The others, playing along with the boy, went to hide in the house. Khan and Grey had their eyes closed, counting to 10.
At the 10th second, Grey yelled, "We're coming to get you, Villains!"
To which Khan added, "Lucas, I'm going to kick your ass!"
Grey ran upstairs whilst Khan checked the garden. Khan spotted Lucas hidden in a corner, presumably waiting for him to move, so he could sneak past him.
Khan's head locked onto Lucas, and the grin he gave the man was so terrifying, Lucas felt like pissing himself.
He started to sprint away from the door, running further into the garden. Khan gave chase, easily catching up. His body was much stronger, he didn't even need to use mana.
Khan grabbed Lucas' head and smashed it into the grass. Out of panic, Lucas instinctually covered his face in mana, just barely avoiding having his head crushed. The impact created a small dust cloud, and a cry came from the man.
"OOOOWWWWW!"
---
The game was stopped early, and whilst Samantha was tending to her poor husband, Grey fist bumped Khan. Sheila spent a few minutes scolding Khan, but it went in one ear and out the other.
The family spent the rest of the time playing board games and card games, and whenever Grey or Khan would look at the bandage on Lucas' face, a stifled snicker would come out.
They earned the ire of Samantha, but seeing Lucas like that made the punishment worth it. Samantha asked Grey to heal him using Light magic, but he denied, saying that he didn't know how.
Samantha then told him a healing spell, causing Grey to stutter. He couldn't exactly tell them that he couldn't use Spells, could he?
"I think Dad looks funny like that." Was the response that he gave in an attempt to avoid the situation.
Samantha didn't want to, but she had no choice to leave it be. Also, Grey was the birthday boy, wasn't he? His birthday, his word.
The atmosphere was lively, filled with laughs and cheer, and the occasional elbow from Samantha, and soon it was dinnertime.
Grey's favourite food was curry, so the dining room had many curry dishes. The family dug in, as they all told stories about Grey. The boy was quickly covered in a red hue, clearly embarrassed, which pushed Lucas to keep speaking as an act of revenge.
Grey got annoyed and, in an accidental outburst, kicked Lucas in the knee. His foot wasn't clad in mana, so it didn't hurt too much, but Lucas still coughed in response. It sent him into a choking fit; he was drinking water at that moment.
Khan suddenly laughed maniacally, which led everyone else to join in, whilst Samantha rubbed his back.
Soon, the plates were cleared away, and the cake came out. On top of it were two candles, a '1' and a '0', creating a 10.
'''Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Grey, happy birthday to you!'''
At the end of the song, Grey blew out the candles, making a wish. Khan asked what he wished for, earning him a slap on the neck and a scolding by Sheila.
Samantha went to grab a knife to cut the cake, and Khan pulled a pie out from nowhere. With uncanny accuracy, the pie found itself on Lucas' face.
As it slid off, the cream from the pie remained on his face. Both Khan and Grey burst out with laughter, causing Samantha to turn around.
THWACK! THWACK!
Khan's neck gained two extra marks on it, one from Sheila and Samantha respectively. However, he didn't seem bothered by it, simply giving Grey a fist bump.
______
¹ = ''' means that multiple people (more than 2) are speaking.
² = Villains And Heroes is just Cops and Robbers.