I woke up in the morning, with Lux ready for another wrestling match. My mom was in the room, so I shook my head, to which Lux pouted slightly. I was taken to the dining room, and Lux followed. I was given a mix of baby food and being breastfed. Lux was given some crystals and meat to eat, where Lux dug in with pleasure.

My uncle was at the table, eating some breakfast (dinner to him I guess?). The air between him and my mom was tense. Now I feel bad. Can I fix this? I look around. Mom likes when I say mama, and when I use my <Magic> to do a few tricks she loved. Maybe if I use the new <Magic> my uncle showed me would help? I looked at what I could try to move. There was really nothing. Then I set my eyes on a table ornament between them, about three feet in front of my dad. This will hopefully work.

I felt the anchor form, and tried to gently flow <Mana> through it. Like trickle <Mana> into it. There was good news and bad news. Good news: it didn’t launch at the ceiling like a racecar. Bad news: I still launched it into the ceiling shattering it. Everyone turned to see the falling shards. My control needed some work for sure. My <Mana> had taken a hit, but it was much more controlled than before.

“Did he just? I liked that table ornament.” my dad proclaimed. My mom shot him a look.

“Way to go Nil!” my mom praised. Come on. Please help.

“Better than his first attempt. Control needs some improvement.” my uncle evaluated.

“What do you mean?” my mom asked, her voice a little icy. Not as cold as before! Please bring it home Uncle.

“He was trying to wrestle around and play with Lux, but he didn’t have any <Magic> suited to the task. I gave him some hints and he picked up the general form. Nil needs a bit more time for getting the control right.” my uncle explained. Good lie. Or bending of the truth. Makes it sound like it wasn’t Lux wailing on me.

“Oh.” my mom replied. Is she at a loss for words? Is this improvement? I am not sure? Is this how adults start to mend things?

Something inside me felt like it died; that realization hit me hard. My dad was looking on in shock. Clearly this was a step in the right direction. I think. There was an awkward silence at the table.

“So he was playing with his <Familiar> and you showed him a <Magic> to help him play with Lux better?” my mom asked. I think she is giving him a lifeline.

So Lux is called a <Familiar>. Wondered if it was a pet, or something. I remember that contract that states if one of us dies, we both do. I thought.

“Yes.Nil with a bit of practice should be able to play just fine with Lux.” my uncle elaborated. Wait, I just realized, he was giving me hints.

“Thank, you.” my mom replied. It came out gritted and sounded forced. I think this is an improvement. My dad looked stunned.

“Do you think Cesar will be able to find a way to get that ornament replaced with a similar one?” my dad asked.

“Your son just used an incredibly rough version of <Domination>, and you are concerned about replacing the ornament he shattered with <Domination>?” my uncle questioned.

“I really liked that ornament.” my dad replied pathetically. I sympathized with him. I am sorry dad. I will work on making papa sound right!

“Nox is right. Nil just used <Domination> and you want to replace the ornament he broke?” my mom lectured.

“That one was part of the set my mom gifted us on our wedding day.” my dad explained, somewhat dejectedly. Dad, I AM SORRY. I DID NOT KNOW.

My mom quickly looked away. As did my uncle. I might have fixed one problem by creating another. Now that I thought about it, I did not recall seeing any of my grandparents. I hope they are alive. The rest of breakfast was awkward, and not much else was said. Before my uncle left to sleep, or maybe find love, he produced a small, black ball.

“Nil, play with this ball.” he instructed as he set it down near me.

I tried to lift it with my hand. What is this ball made out of? It was maybe the size of a baseball, but it felt like it weighed a ton. I tried lifting it with <Mana>. The ball lifted maybe an inch before I lost control and it slammed back down with a thud. Definitely not something I was going to launch.

My dad grabbed me and the ball. So I am spending today with my dad. I was happy, as he was usually too busy to spend much time with me. He tried to make time whenever he could, but being Emperor did have its downsides. He took me to his office, and Lux followed behind. The first thing I noticed though, was the lack of papers on his desk. So that’s what the top of his desk looks like. I then noticed no Cesar.

“Cesar’s son is sick and I finished enough of my work where I can spend all day with my son!” my dad exclaimed happily once we were in his office.

My dad set me down in the center with the ball, and Lux came up next to me.He cast several <Barriers> around the room. I wonder what he wanted to do? His office was quite large, and I got the distinct feeling we were confined to the office until later.

“Okay Nil, can you say, pa-pa.” my dad instructed. His eyes looked awfully desperate. I guess I did say mama first.

“Ba-ba.” I replied.

“It is pa-pa. Pa.” he explained, emphasizing the mouth movement to get the pa sound instead of ba. It is a lot harder than you think!

He coached me for over 20 minutes before I finally got pretty close to pronouncing it correctly. When I finally did, he did a little victory dance. Clearly the stakes were higher than I was giving them credit.

“Okay. Now let’s try a sentence. Papa is the best.” he enunciated.

“Papa itha bets.” I tried. Not bad. I do need to actually get better at speaking so I guess

practicing with my dad isn’t the worst thing in the world.

“Is the. Is, thee.” my dad pressed, again emphasizing the mouth motion slowly to try and make it clear. I know what the words are, these vocal cords don’t exactly cooperate.

“Papa iss tha bets.” I replied.

Again, my dad did not relent until I got the sentence down. He wanted to make sure I could repeatedly repeat it without making a mistake. Is he that jealous I said mama before papa? I wondered. After I was able to accurately say the sentence he did another mini celebration.

“Yes. Now I get him to repeat it at dinner. His first word was mama, he must love me more. I will show you Senna!” my dad proclaimed.

“Mama is the best.” I said aloud. My dad whipped around on a dime and faced me.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Papa is the best.” My dad desperately tried to correct. The look in his eyes was a bit pained. Okay I won’t mess with you like that.

“Papa is the best!” I replied. He let out a sigh of relief. Lux was looking on, clearly bored.

“Now that we got it down, do you two want to fly?” my dad asked. Fly? How? From what I can tell demons don’t have wings.

Lux and I gave him a confused look, which he took as a yes. I could feel <Magic> grab my body delicately, and began to float. It had the same sensation of when he would lightly toss me up and down. He is using <Domination> right now. So it can be used on living objects. I got the distinct feeling though, with how fast Lux was, my attempts would be in vain. My dad started moving us in gentle circles around his office. It was actually pretty fun.

We fly! Lux said excitedly. She seemed to be enjoying this much more than being <Shifted> repeatedly.

I am going to master <Domination> and make it so I can fly. I lost track of time as my dad started doing more complex paths, adding in small loop-the-loops in and slightly harsher turns. It was like a tiny little roller coaster. Eventually, my dad took a break and set us back down in the middle of the office. My dad pushed the ball towards me. Meanwhile, a small cage appeared around Lux.

“Now time to work on <Magic>!” he declared. Is he trying to mix in some form of training while playing with us?

Lux attacked the bars with a strong kick, then immediately started grasping her foot. My dad used <Warp> to get in front of the cage. Then used it again to go away. Lux’s eyes narrowed at him.

Me. Out. Lux ordered.

I think you need to use <Warp> to get out. I replied. Lux just pouted in response. I tried moving the ball with <Domination>.

At the end of an hour, neither of us were overly successful. Not sure because Lux was not trying, or Lux just didn’t grasp how to use <Warp>. I on the other hand, struggled with control. I could not get that ball anywhere near where I wanted it. I could somewhat lift it, and hold it. Unfortunately it would start to spin and kind of fall off of where I was trying to hold it.

I stopped before I was completely out of <Mana>. I had just enough to do some <Tempering> but that was it. Once Lux was free from the cage, she tried to attack my dad. He easily intercepted her mid-air and lightly swatted her on the head, sending her to the ground.

“Want to ‘wrestle’ as Nox called it, Lux?” my dad asked, a snarky smile on his face. He knows Lux whooped my butt at first.

Lux nodded furiously and tried again. My dad the instant she moved lifted her into the air with <Domination>, followed by the same <Shift> loop I put her in. He made it look effortless. After a few minutes she gave up; she was simply no match for my dad.

My dad let out a laugh and proceeded to pick me up. Lux curled into a ball and pouted. My dad walked to the window, and showed me a majestic view. His office could see over the entire city. Or at least the half on the side of his office window.

“This is one of my favorite views, Nil. Someday, you hopefully will have this office. I hope you and your siblings get along. Of course, I hope you have siblings. On the other hand, everyone keeps saying you are going to be a problem child.” my dad told me.

Who is calling me a problem child? Why am I a problem child? I wondered. I had a distinct feeling Cesar was one of the ones calling me a problem child to be.

“I mean, I guess you won’t necessarily become Emperor. Being firstborn doesn’t guarantee that. It is whoever is most suited; it is hard to say what will happen. I doubt any siblings you do have will have your innate talent with <Magic> though. I do hope you all get along, I don’t want to see my family fight over who inherits my position. I am looking forward to your <Appraisal> in a few months though.” my dad continued.

I was not sure how I felt hearing him talk to me. What is this feeling? I didn’t recognize it. I definitely enjoyed it. I don’t know why. It did feel like he was rambling a bit, but I didn’t mind. It was oddly comforting.

“I guess I am rambling a bit much. Let’s do some <Tempering> together!” my dad exclaimed.

“Papa is the best!” I replied as he set me down in the center of the floor, taking a seat behind me. I didn’t see his face, but I could sense he was happy as he began helping me <Temper>.