[ KLAIRE HAS RECEIVED THE ARMLET OF CHAOS ]
[ CARL HAS RECEIVED THE DEED OF LAND ]
They were both very confused until an inky black nothingness latched itself onto Klaire's wrist, startling her at first until it mimicked the shape of Carl's armlet, except completely devoid of colour.
she then noticed a small note in the box that simply read:
"it should work the same as a Carl's, the emptiness is meant to be filled.
congratulations.
sincerely
primordial chaos"
When the fright of the inky blackness crawling toward them like a nightmare had passed, it was actually pretty sweet, she had wanted an armlet of her own and it wasn't gaudy which meant no light reflection if she were trying to be stealthy in her armour.
Carl had opened the small tube shaped parcel and was now holding a scroll which he unfurled.
"Well what land did the deed give you?" Klaire asked, apparently they had both received a notification on each other's gift.
Carl didn't answer at first until he suddenly jumped to his feet. "It says:
I, Gaia of earth
Do hereby seed ownership of the land his original home to him.
to do with as he pleases, whether it be to develop or gift to another.
I only ask he and they cherish the land for what it gave him.
Joyous congratulations and warmest welcomes.
sincerely
Gaia, Mother of earth.
Everyone's faces were pictures of disbelief, Carl himself was a little annoyed he had already placed the household on Lugaria. "Mum, I want to gift y-"
"Don't be an idiot, Grandson. Give her that deed and the humans will kill her and seize it. The reclamation of Earth, even a small piece is substantial. You will keep it secret and claim it for the household when the time is right."
Carl was frustrated, but Lillim's words rang truer than any he had heard. "You're right, sorry. Mum I swear I'll make that home truly yours."
"Carl, it's yours, I would decline anyway and I taught you better than to give something gifted. You're being very ungrateful, now apologise."
"Err, Sorry Gaia, I'm truly thankful for this and will do as you ask and cherish it forever... Did she hear?"
"She said "you need to work on your technique a bit, a married man should know how to apologise to a woman" and I happen to agree." Lillim relayed, as all the ladies nodded in agreement.
Next Klaire chose the cartoonish box for Carl to open. He chose the smallest of hers, which was maybe two-and-a-half centimetres squared.
[ KLAIRE HAS RECEIVED THE STARLIGHT BOWSTRING ]
[ CARL HAS RECEIVED LOKI'S MASK ]
Lillim immediately shot up and stormed over to Carl before snatching the item she clearly recognised, after examining it carefully she sighed with relief. "Sorry. I know that buffoon quite well, he has removed the curse, so it should simply make it impossible to recognise you. Don't be surprised if it has some way to mess with you though."
"Klaire, what does yours do?" Danielle asked, still not entirely comfortable around the ancient embodiment of violent deaths.
"No idea, it's call "starlight bowstring" It's beautiful, but I don't use a bow."
"Maybe I can synthesise one for you?"
"No I don't want to risk ruining it, it's just a sha- Oh wait, I just got a wedding card." She withdrew it and read it, then giggled and read it aloud.
Deepest apologies!
We heard you liked ranged weapons and we assumed that meant a bow!
Then to top it off, Artemis was a scatterbrain and forgot the note.
Super sorry Klaire.
It will work with your other gift, so don't worry! Congrats on the marriage and hope we all meet soon!
Sincerely
Skadi, Artemis, Sagittarius
Lillim's growing annoyance was clear and comically restrained, she was clearly familiar with all of them, but so far the only ones she hadn't been annoyed with were the first two.
"Grandma, please don't go causing trouble, they did apologise and Loki removed the curse."
Lillim just grumbled to herself as Carl exchanged the final gift with Klaire.
[ KLAIRE HAS RECEIVED ARMOUR OF NIGHT SKY ]
[ CARL HAS RECEIVED BEAST-MASTER SLEEVES OF NERGAL ]
The two examined the other's gift then traded, Carl pulled the sleeves one of which had a note tucked inside.
"Next time you visit, use the guest entrance, rather than the resident's"
"Ah! Now there is a god with some manners. He used those sleeves whilst training his pets. The guest entrance by the way, is to the left of the residents." She laughed, feeling no need to explain, even when asked.
Klaire's was a ring, made for her middle finger. "Sorry Lillim, feels weird taking a ring from someone I don't know. Can you see who sent it, please?" Lillim scanned the things only she could see.
"Seems like... That is a strange duo. Put it on dear they aren't the types to take ungratefulness well, though they do seem to understand they forgot some manner of note." Lillim chuckled to herself.
When the ring was put on her body was encased in armour much like her old, but pitch black, then the bow string was drawn into it and small star-like dots were speckled through it.
"Hm. I guess that trio of buffoons did alright after all. Hecate and Kali seemed to be an effective team as well."
"Grandma, I'm not stupid... I act it, but I'm not. Why are gods sending us wedding gifts?"
"If you have to ask, then you are. Why am I acting as I am? Alysse, how long to finish what I interrupted?"
"An hour?"
"They have a bath-house at this household and Klaire will be taking one."
"Half-an-hour."
"Good girl. Get it done. Kids, Grandma is going to protect you the best way she knows how."
Carl and Klaire looked at each other, then asked a question they already knew the answer to. "Which is?"
"Teach you how to defend yourselves obviously."
The pair's dreams of a quiet honeymoon were shattered before they had ever considered it. Leanna had already told her mother they had four days before classes resumed and with her power, four days could become eight and eight days training with her was sure to be fruitful.
Alysse retrieved the shielding from Carl and got to work, then when the time came, Carl, Klaire, Alysse, Gillian and Lydia crammed into the wardrobe as Carl opened the gate. There was a moment of tense anticipation as they listened for the siren, but when it became clear it wasn't detecting them they passed through.
"Now kids. Now I'm going to be honest." Lillim said suddenly as Carl and Gillian led the way up. "I am not training to keep you safe, but because I was ordered to. Samael, my king, told me to come and keep tabs on the human with a plus, something I was opposed to.
The kids didn't want to interrupt, but she remained silent as if she insisted they ask questions. "Why would this Samael care about me? Until now everything was normal for me."
"Normal? You were a realm gate orphan, you appeared where you could be adopted by a half-breed easily and conveniently, you "coincidentally" ended up in an area where you would be helped so generously every step of the way... The money, Lydia, the beast keeper, Leanna, the girl you would fall so sickeningly in love with, who is also a direct descendant of Faylorna Bashe the first banshee, the negative number build. Yes idiot, very normal."
"Grandma, I get the feeling you have been protecting me longer than you care to admit."
"Not well enough... I am well aware of my daughters life, I can see her wherever she goes and unlike you mortals I can see another's system without a projector. I have known about you since you met her, I appeared occasionally to deter curious creatures, to stop you drawing unwanted attention and to make the committee suspicious of my daughter."
Carl stopped. "You made Mum's life more difficult... Because of me?"
"No dear, I made her life more difficult for both of you. If I hadn't, the humans would have asked her for reports on you, she would have lied, badly, then she would have had you taken from her, done something stupid and I would have brought all of demon-kind to tear you from their clutches. You are too precious to become a tool for the humans currently in charge."
Carl continued walking, guilt burning in his chest. "Why am I so precious? Plenty of races have pluses."
"Yet not humans, it seems I need to give you a history lesson first, sit down when we get to a damn chair. Were all these stairs necessary? No wonder the king likes you, he likes putting the things everywhere to."
Regardless of the situation, hearing the Mother of Demons griping about stairs was enough to wrench a laugh from everyone, one which continued until they reached the lounge area.
"Oh by the light-bringer, a chair... Ugh, could you not make one comfier. Sit, now, you too Lydia, you are a part of the household, this can be our initiation tradition." She declared it as though it would be fun and with her new demeanour, that actually seemed a possibility.
"You mentioned Faylorna, do you know her well?"
"My girl, I know why you're asking... "Do you wish him to?" That, is the question. Contrary to belief, personal secrets are not an affront to matrimony." Lillim said, a note of grief in her voice.
"I do, I think I need him to know what happened."
"Fine. Yes, I knew her when she was still human. Unfortunately, yes, she is very angry still. You know you committed a terrible crime in her eyes."
"What crime? Why didn't you tell me?" Carl said, not mad or disappointed, just shocked.
"She howled at you in rage. The banshee howl is for the loss of those they hold dear and to protect them from being lost. Harming one they hold dear is an almost unforgivable crime and the only reason Klaire still breathes is because she knows when both hearts are breaking some one or thing else is to blame."
"You mean when I broke up with you? You didn't even howl that much."
"It doesn't matter. Faylorna lost her entire clan to plague, the grief ripped her soul apart as she howled in the way of Brigid for a full year, then I asked some acquaintances to piece her back together again. To her assaulting loved ones with that sacred howl is sacrilegious."
"It's my fau-"
"It's not, it also isn't Klaire's, that is why she breathes. I saw you tell Leanna what happened and foresaw. I then beat Klaire to Faylorn and told the whole story, I then found out the whole story and relayed that. The committee was trying to break you two up and my patience is growing thin, so sit down shut up and learn the story of how the world got this way..." Her voice suddenly reclaimed some of her chilling, piercing, terrifying aspects.
Everyone sat down immediately, they felt blessed to have had Grandma Lillim, they weren't going to expect a mile because they's been given an inch.
"Honestly, you kids have such short attention spans those who write your legends will have an aneurysm by the end..." She huffed impatiently as she began drawing on the table with mana. "Now when you're ready to learn the origins of how things turned out like this, touch the circle."
One-by-one they touched the circle and as each one did they fell into a state not too dissimilar from the one that people usually experience during cultivation. Unfortunately for Carl, he had never experienced a normal cultivation.