"Come with me and take the journey."
」The three will start to unite, the past shall be restored. The mourners wail for war, glory shall be forevermore.「
"And she said..." "Oh Mary, contrary, how does your garden grow?" –Secret Garden, EmpathP
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"C'mon, c'mon! Faster, faster!" An excited Eleanor pushed her blindfolded brother outside, Lilia and Alden in her trail holding hands to lead them for the surprise.
The two birthday kids laughed, as they stood still and let their friend and youngest do the job.
Finally, the blindfolds were removed as the two's blue eyes adjusted to the newfound light of afternoon. Then...
"Happy birthday, Alden and Arthur!"
×××
| Alden Leywin, few months later |
Party poppers went wild as the conjoined birthday greetings of the Twin Horns, our parents, and the Helsteas were shouted, accompanied by the giggles of the Walker triplets. Me and Brother nodded and bowed at the same time, with me holding back tears as this was the first "birthday" that we celebrated with our family.
"Thank you for bearing with us, especially Alden's shenanigans."
"Don't sell me out as if you aren't included!"
The rest laughed at our little exchange with the food being rolled into the table, our mouths watering at the delicious smells of said meals.
As we soon conversed, cackled, and shared stories with one another throughout this birthday lunch, the atmosphere was generally happy as the food was generally yummy. So yummy that Caecius popped in back to his human form to enjoy some grub, freaking out some but not all.
And finally, it was time for the gifting ceremony.
"Now that we all had our fill, both food and embarrassing Adam, it's time for gifts!"
Angela happily said, clapping her hands as we gathered around the living room. Since we were the birthday people, all of them forced us to sit together in the large armchair so we wouldn't be separated.
"Here you go, son and daughter. A gift from me, your mom, and your sister."
Father handed it over to us with Ellie climbing to rest on our backs, excited in our sakes. Arthur and I carefully opened the lid, greeted by matching black and white gloves with three gems attached to its knuckles.
"This is..."
"The leather are from a large Spiked Aurochs that your father hunted then dyed to your colors, with the gems having a minor healing spell incase. They're only a single-use spell, but safety measures are still safety measures."
