"All in all this was quite the haul, wasn't it?"
Father just grunted while Giovanni pulled the almost empty cart behind him, his head slightly pointed down as he thought about what had happened earlier at the pavilion; thanks to that I just sighed loudly before adding "Think Mother'll make that meat tonight? I'm famished~!"
"Yer Mother'll make it 'cause otherwise it'll go bad. Giovanni, that blue parcel there is for you, and Isabella, the green one is for you."
Tilting my head, I slowed down and slipped beside the cart, perusing the contents before hoisting up the soaked green parcel, wondering what was inside; undoing the strings and peeking in, I gasped as a pale green light shone onto my face, causing me to immediately pull the strings tight.
"Father, what-?"
"The Elder's are gonna be comin' down again sometime soon. Shore up whatever you've managed to Cultivate and do well. Get into that Sect, Isabella. You don't deserve mud and stone."
Tears stung my eyes as I looked at the broad back of the man who had raised me, and my fingers wrapped around the parcel before I grabbed the blue one and handed it to Giovanni, watching as he peeked inside too before he slipped it into his pocket.
"Both of ya are far too good for this town. Yer brother too, but I've already got his apprenticeship figured out. One of them fancy Alchemists or whatever came around yesterday, askin' 'round for a skilled gardener. Told 'er 'bout Leo, and if he does well tomorrow he'll head on up to the city with ya when ya return, Giovanni."
Giovanni and I stared at the man in shock, unable to really process what he had been saying; the fact that he was using our full names meant he wasn't joking about any of this, and that just made my eyes water even more...
"Father, wh-?"
"Isabella, Giovanni... if ya both get yerselves sorted and settled, yer Mother and I can sell the mine and purchase a cozy place up in the city outskirts. Yer Mother cooks well enough, and someone always needs something moved... We'll do fine for ourselves, but we can't go anywhere 'till you three are situated."
Staring out over the drenched mountains around us, Father took a long breath before sighing, his shoulders slumping slightly as he added "It's for the best anyways. We're only gettin' older, yer Mother and I. Tendin' to this garden, it just... her knees are gettin' worse, and that pinky of er's... Then there's me. Can't keep doin' this, not for much longer."
He turned and looked at us both, his dark obsidian eyes twinkling slightly in the dim light as he nodded to himself, like he was certain of something; Giovanni stood straighter while I... well...
"B-But Father, w-what if I-?"
I couldn't even finish before he said "Yer gonna do just fine, Isabella. Sixth Foundation out 'ere, that's talent. I only ever made it to Third Foundation when I was a lad, and since then I've barely clawed to Seventh Foundation. But if ya keep tellin' yerself that ya can't, that it's not possible..."
He pointed a somewhat gnarled finger at me, those dark eyes shining now with slight anger as he growled "Then it's not gonna happen. I ain't raise no quitter now, ya hear me? Yer brother here is gettin' top marks. Leo's done impossible things with those plants. Yer not as flashy, but flashy ain't always better. Yer solid, stable, consistent... that's what matters. So when this Elder comes down by the end of the month, yer gonna do the best ya can. Understood?"
Swallowing down the sob that had threatened to come out, I nodded and barely managed to croak "Y-Yes sir..!", though it did nothing to hide the fear that was now swirling around in me; thinking that I could just keep this going had been my own illusion, I suppose, and now it was crumbling down around me.
Giovanni patted my shoulder before lifting the handles of the cart again, resuming his walk back to our home; Father gave me a long stare before turning back around, leaving me there on the path for a few moments as I clenched my fists hard enough for my nails to leave deep marks in my calloused palms.
There was no guarantee that even with this Sixth Foundation Spirit Root of mine that the Elder would let me head into the Sect for further training, and it wasn't like that was a solid, stable Sixth Foundation either.
It was a somewhat shaky Sixth Foundation that had come from a moment of overzealous hope a few months ago, and ever since I had been recuperating slightly from the small amounts of damage I had done to myself.
Now it was almost back to normal, but it left me weaker than I should be... or at least weaker than I thought I should be, which only further fueled my fears of what the Elder might say in a few weeks time.
If Giovanni passed his exam and became an official while Leo became the student of an Alchemist, there was nothing left for me besides success... because failing would mean that I was a failure when compared to my two brothers.
They might not say it, and they definitely wouldn't believe it, but it would be the harsh reality of the situation, one that would force Father and Mother to stick around for longer than they had wanted as they continued to support me.
I couldn't fail them, not after they had done so much - sacrificed so much - for me already, and while I was certain it hadn't been his intention when he had said those things, the idea of failing my Father was a rather strong - and definitely not the healthiest or best - motivator for me.
So I swallowed down the rest of my tears, took a few calming breaths and then rushed off after them both, wanting to get home now so that I could make use of that Spirit Jade that Father had saved for me.
With it I could shore up my Cultivation even more and slowly improve my odds of the Elder accepting me as an Outer Disciple of the Moon Resplendent Sect, which could practically guarantee a life of comfort so long as I continued to diligently train and devote myself to the Sect.