I'm back from my finals so far. I passed most of my class…just math, ughh I got a 64.2 on that, mostly because my first two tests were bad cause the review sheet he gave us and said what was on there was on the test, guess what, that mf lied hard so I got a 40 on that
Now it's going to take a while for me to get back into writing, cause i also just moved to a new house, while my old one gets repaired and I have no table to put my TV or laptop
Also, my 5 G Wi-Fi is not working!!!
And i forgot the horsemen names again.
I forgot most of what i was going to write for this and most of the old chapters oof
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Azaria let out a sigh; she's been doing that a lot lately. During their birth/forging??, mother had given her and her siblings a lot of visual cues and body language instincts that are very similar to humans. She slightly wonders if that was because Mother Celestia reincarnated as a human that she emulates them.
Azaria was sprawled upside down across one of the penthouse couches, her legs hanging over the backrest while she lazily tossed a hotel mint into the air.
She missed her mouth three times in a row. On the fourth attempt, Maeriva caught it out of the air.
"You've been trying that for ten minutes."
"I almost had it."
"You were off by a foot."
"And? Still almost had it." Maeriva rolled her eyes at that. The suite was unusually quiet. Normally, their mother would've filled the room with something. A joke. A random observation. Some bizarre project she decided to start at three in the morning.
Instead, Celestia was asleep. Actually asleep. The fact that none of them had heard her moving around for nearly six hours was concerning all by itself.
Morrana sat near the balcony doors, reading through a tablet. Famine was poking at their mother's right cheek while obviously listening to everyone else.
Maeriva finally broke the quiet."What's the verdict on Mama?" She had spoken out about what all of them were thinking. It was concerning for all of them to realize that they hadn't seen their mother physically sleep or rest at all. Working and keeping herself up 24/7.
Morrana looked at all of them. "She's healthy. No injuries. No magical damage. No soul instability."
Maeriva took note that he only said physically. Azaria shared the same thought process as his, speaking up. "Mentally?"
Flinching, Morrana shook her head. "Not great. She's trying to wall off her emotions." The room grew quieter.
Azaria stared toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms. After Kyoto, something had changed. Not enough for strangers to notice. But they noticed.
Their mother would stop talking in the middle of her magic high sentence sometimes. She would stare at absolutely nothing for thirty seconds.
Once, Azaria had found her standing in front of a hotel window at four in the morning, watching traffic. She hadn't even realized she'd been standing there."She looked tired."
The others glanced toward her. Azaria usually joked her way through everything. Not this time.
"Back in Kyoto," she continued quietly. "After the dragon thing."
"The dragon got kicked in the balls," Maeriva smirked despite herself. "Yeah."
Azaria pointed accusingly. "Focus."
"Sorry."
Azaria sighed."After that."Nobody interrupted.
"She looked tired."
The playful energy disappeared completely.
"Not physically." Azaria searched for the right words.
"Like... when someone keeps forcing a piece in a puzzle." The room became silent. Because that was almost like iit.
Seraphina slowly lowered her magazine.
Maeriva looked toward the hallway.
Morrana didn't say anything at all.
Azaria laughed weakly.
"Wow."
"What?"
"I accidentally said something smart."
"You'll recover."
"Rude."
Azaria looked around at all of her siblings before she motioned over to the geoscape terminal. "As much as it pains me to say this. We should start thinking about our next moves for dealing with demonic energy. Mother has done a lot for us to have this place to call home. We should do our part in ensuring its safety."
The remaining children of Celestia nodded their heads at that. Although some looked more than a bit uncomfortable at planning their next moves without their mother there with them. Azaria noticed this, her facial expression turning into one of understanding.
"I don't like it either. She's been nothing but kind, caring, and supportive to us ever since she made us. But Mother Solstice is not going to be here all the time. She cannot hold onto our hand -claws for some forever."
Slowly, one by one, they acquiesced to that logic. Zarathos scratched at his skull, the largest of the siblings, then crossed his arms. His eyeholes were shining down at the terminal. "Well, we at least know that the new satan are somewhat allies with what Mother said. But I still don't like them; we should just hunt them down to extinction ."
A door suddenly opened.
Every head turned.
Celestia emerged wearing one of the hotel's oversized bathrobes.
There was a long pause.
Azaria blinked.
War blinked.
Famine blinked.
Death blinked.
Their mother blinked back.
"...why are all of you staring at me?"
Nobody answered. Celestia frowned."Did someone die?"
"No," all reply at once
"Good."She started walking toward the kitchen.
Halfway there, she stopped."...why does my back hurt..pause?"
War raised an eyebrow.
"You slept folded into a chair."
"Oh."
Another pause.
"That explains a lot."
She continued walking.
Azaria watched carefully.
The smile was there.
The jokes were there.
Everything looked normal.
But she still noticed it.
The tiny hesitation before speaking.
The way her eyes drifted sometimes.
The moments where she looked older than she should.
Much older.
Celestia opened the fridge.
Stared inside.
Closed the fridge.
Opened it again.
"What are you doing?" Famine asked.
"I forgot what I was looking for."
"You opened it three seconds ago."
"I know."
Azaria couldn't help laughing.
Their mother pointed at her.
"You."
"Me."
"You are not allowed to laugh."
"Why?"
"Because you're the reason I forgot you distract me."
"That sounds like a you problem." Azaria griggle
"Not if you're the reasons."Celestia replied fast
War snorted.
Death actually smiled.
The atmosphere loosened immediately. Celestia looked pleased with herself.
Then she grabbed a juice bottle.
Success.' Did my kids forget I have super hearing? Cleopatra thought to herself
Azaria watched her for another minute.
Then another.
Then another.
Eventually, she stood up and wandered over.
"What?"
Celestia was already looking at her.
"Nothing."
"You're staring."
"I know."
"That's weird."
"I learned from you."
"...fair."
Azaria leaned against the counter.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then she quietly asked,
"You okay?" The question caught Celestia off guard.
Azaria saw it happen. Just for a second. Then the smile returned.
"Yeah."
A lie. Not even a big one.
Just the kind of parents told when they didn't want their kids worrying.
Azaria recognized it immediately. So she did what she always did.
She changed the subject.
"Good."
"Good."
"Because if you start having an emotional crisis, I'm absolutely not qualified to help."Celestia laughed. A real laugh this time.
"Thank you for the honesty."
"I provide a valuable service."
"You provide chaos."
"Chaos is a service."
From across the room War groaned.
"Please don't encourage her."
Too late.
Azaria was already grinning again. But moments like this helped. Moments where her mother laughed. Moments where everyone was together.
Moments where, for a little while, they could pretend the world wasn't quietly preparing another disaster for them to deal with.
None of them noticed the faint alert appearing on Death's tablet.
A tiny spike.
Strange energy.
Deep beneath Kyoto.
Gone almost as quickly as it appeared.
But not gone enough.
And by tomorrow morning, it would become impossible to ignore.
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I had bad writer's block for this chapters lucky the next chapters are fighting