Soul of a Human

As the sun set over the main isle of the soul-kin, Mor and his parents reached their tiny home, snugly placed between their neighbor's houses. With a strange sense of belonging, Mor opened their front door and took a deep breath. It felt like he had been gone for much longer than this shortened school year. He stood inside the door for a second before carefully stepping in like he couldn't believe he was home again. His gaze swept over the furniture and the walls, and his mind was flooded with innocent memories and happy times. Mor let out a deep sigh. Those times were definitely over.

"Are you okay, son?" Morokhan asked, and Mor shook his head.

"No, father. I'm angry." He answered. "All this time, I was living my life knowing nothing. How much was true? How much was a lie? Were we a real family, or is this just something you needed to pretend?"

"Mor..." His mother started to say appeasing, but Mor shut her up.

"No platitudes, mother, I want the complete truth." He said coldly.

°You're an ass. You could at least hear her out.° The human said, but Mor wouldn't have it.

°Keep out of this, I need to know what was real.° He said.

°And then?° The human asked.

°I don't know.° Mor said, and the human sighed but stayed quiet.

Mor turned around, looking at his parents, and noticed that his mother had tears in her eyes, while his father wore a hurt expression. The human was right, he was an ass, but he was too far in it to turn back now.

"You know why we kept those secrets from you, but never once for a single second was this family not real," Morokhan growled, and Mor was surprised at the intensity of his father's gaze.

But they needed this fight to mend the cracks all those secrets created, and Mor held his ground.

"I need to hear everything in your words," Mor said, returning his father's intense look.

"Can't we forget this and be happy that we are all together now?" Sophie asked, hopefully.

"No. Not after everything I went through. You sent me to that school specifically. You used my desire to be my own mage against me." Mor shattered that hope.

Morokhan wanted to argue, to deny this allegation, and Sophie did so, but the truth was that it would have been a lie. So, while his wife tried to tell their son that it was not like this, he sighed deeply.

"You're right. We wanted you to go to this school and become the princess's bodyguard, but it doesn't diminish your accomplishment of getting into it. We didn't have any say in that matter." He finally confessed, and Sophie looked at him wide-eyed and scared.

°Oh, shit.° The human commented.

"I knew it!" Mor growled, his fury burning brighter.

"Mor. Could we sit down, and would you let us explain?" Morokhan asked, defeated.

Mor wanted to deny it, to rage further, but the human's calmer head prevailed.

°You can continue to be angry later, but you should at least hear them out.° They offered a compromise.

"Fine." Mor just huffed.

The family sat at the dinner table, Sophie fidgeting in her seat while Morokhan buried his face in his hands. Mor was sitting defiant, his arms crossed before his chest, looking at his parents expectantly.

°Turn down the hostility... Gosh, you only took on the bad human habits...° The human said, exasperated.

"And?" Mor asked, provoking his father to let out a deep sigh.

"As you already know, secrecy is a big part of being an Agaton. Our true duty is not allowed to get out, and ironically, this is why the Agaton family was chosen. The Agaton are commoners but also one of the biggest families, and honestly, they take a stupid amount of pride in that." Morokhan smiled at a bittersweet memory.

"You know, I was adopted into this big family to protect the next royal heir. And at that time, I was already older than you. I had reached adulthood and was courting Sophie when I got the offer. I couldn't deny my friend or this honor, but this would mean I had to cut ties with Sophie..." He continued in a sad voice.

"But you couldn't," Mor said, and his father's face showed a sad smile as his mother held on to his father's arm.

"I could, and I did," he said instead. This time, Mor looked shocked, but this quickly changed to confusion.

"I was a wreck at this time, but my predecessor took me in and dragged me to a "family reunion". To meet the rest of the Agatons, and I don't have to explain to you what this had looked like," Morokhan said, and now Mor had to grin.

°Someone explain to me!° The human demanded.

°Well, our family has two crucial qualities. They are many, and they are loud. Family festivals are always wild but very fun. And as long as someone says you belong there, you will be treated like you have been part of the family forever.° Mor explained, and the human laughed at this.

"They welcomed you into that chaos and fun without hesitation," Mor said, and Morokhan nodded.

"They almost made me forget my pain for those moments, but well..." He continued, looking over at his wife.

Sophie giggled and continued the story.

"I crashed that party." She began, and Mor looked shocked.

"You did what? Why?" He asked.

"Many reasons first." She held up one finger. "Your father was a lousy liar, and he only said to me that "It is over with us, and he has to go." which, of course, pissed me off. And there was another big problem." Sophie said, smiling at her husband.

"She came in like a thunderstorm, literally. I had to defend against three lightning strikes, and the party devolved into confusion and quite a bit of panic", Morokhan continued.

"Well, I had no choice, did I?" Sophie asked, teasing, and Morokhan gave her a quick kiss.

Mor looked at both of them in confusion.

"What had happened?" He asked.

"Well..." Morokhan started.

"I had a little surprise... You. I found out just after Morokhan said we can't see each other anymore." Sophie said, and Morokhan looked away, embarrassed.

"I think you can guess how this turned out. The panic of the Agatons was instantly gone, and the whole family scolded or congratulated me, depending on who talked to me. And just like that, Sophie was also part of the family. In that turmoil, I was just asked if we would like to do the bonding ritual right there and then." He said.

"And you said yes." Mor guessed, getting a nod from his father.

"I didn't let him a choice," Sophie stated proudly.

"But what has this to do with me?" Mor asked, his anger almost forgotten.

"Well, normally, I wouldn't have been allowed to have children because it would distract from my duty. But then, it was already too late, and instead, the king ordered me to raise you just like any other commoner. It was a happy time, and I prefer the easy and fun way of the Agaton family to the constraints of a noble life. But it also meant we couldn't tell you anything, which brings us to the last part." Morokhan explained, and his wife took over again.

"They wanted us to "vanish" or fake our deaths and leave you in the protection of one of your relatives. But I wouldn't have that. I almost broke off a fight with the king himself!" She said.

"Because of this, we made a deal, and luckily, Dino was on our side. You needed to prove that you could carry the family name and take over our duty in the future. But we didn't want to lose you and accepted, even if we were still forbidden from telling you anything. Please forgive our willfulness." Morokhan added.

°Well, that seems like a good enough reason. They just didn't want to leave you behind.° The human said with a sniffle.

"I understand. You could have explained this to me earlier, but I get it. I wouldn't want to be taken away from you either. Sorry for being so angry with you," Mor said, and Morokhan felt a tenseness leaving his body, which he didn't notice beforehand.

Sophie, in turn, almost jumped over the table, gathering her boy into a tight hug. She cried in relief, happy everything had turned out well.

"And now, what did you agree with Orth?" Mor asked as he fended off the smothering attacks from his mother.

"I will train him, and therefore, he will live with us," Morokhan simply stated with an indulgent smile.

"He will?" Mor asked again, and his father nodded.

"Also, I want you to be responsible for our food while you are here. Your mother and I will join you boys in your training. Both of them, magic and body." He added, surprising Mor even more.