The Family Trade
7th of July 2006 A.D.
At the back of your mind temptation whispers and it is not just in Usum's voice. They come in reasonable garb.
What if you need to ask about the swords to make sure you will not harm one by picking it up in battle? What if you need to ask about the Fallen to help dad and the other Knights? They are sort of angels right? But underneath them all stands a starker question:
Why should I have to blind my sight? And that you do not trust.
"Alright, that sounds... good," you say, feeling more lighthearted once the words are out. As much as part of you might want to know about the swords, angels and other things of Heaven the idea of just looking at them stripped of all veils is also daunting. And it's not like you can't find out about them some other way, the only thing you had promised was not to turn the eyes of your crown on them.
"You weren't sure how to answer," your dad's words could have been judgy, but they aren't, just sort of a question without a question, open ended in case you wanted to talk about it.
"When... when I was in Arctis Tor I wished for power to get out, a sword to fight and fire to burn the fey with, a shield from the cold and one from fear, but most of all I asked that I would never again be blind and stumble into evil of my own doing and that of others blind. It
hurts to give some of that away."
"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you Molly," he says squeezing you around the shoulders briefly.
"You were doing good things, saving people," you assure him quietly. Dad might be a hero, but he can only be in one place at a time and this time Providence judged that he should be best somewhere else than cleaning up after your mess.
"I would have rather been there to save you than people." He sighs. "We all have doubts you know, you, me, your mom, your siblings. Doubts don't make you a bad person, it's just part of being human."
A wizard just told me I'm not human enough for their laws though, the thought springs to mind, but you don't say it. It is not like the White Council is the best judge of humanity, they have a standing death warrant on those who commit crimes in ignorance.
"So this mentor thing," you say instead, feeling the beginnings of a smile steal across your face.. "That is not about carpentry is it?"
"No, it's not," he agrees. "Much as I might wish all you wanted and all that had been asked of me was to teach you how to carve wood safe at home."
"What do we tell mom?" you ask, feeling a bit less like smiling. Your first instinct would be to sort of fail to mention some of stuff with the vampires and the monsters from beyond space and time, but that wouldn't cut it with dad.
"We tell her that you have chosen a path and I will be there to guide you and help you to the best of my abilities and more." You swear you can
hear Amoracchius in the silence that follows, like a gentle hum so unlike its song of battle.
***
It is a relief to just let your dad handle things, though you feel a little guilty letting him bear the full weight of your mom's sharp looks and pointed questions he handles them all with grace and understanding, a lot more of both than you might have mustered truth be told. You practically have to bite your tongue when he suggests that you should have run from the vampires. Did she really think you could outrun a swarm of
flying giant bat monsters or just leave it to the wizards to handle the fangs and claws? Wizards being notoriously good at fighting in close quarters.
"I don't see why she has to fight anything!" your mother finally says, her voice going up with every syllable until it is just shy of yelling.
"She does not
have to do anything, she wants to do good with the gifts she has," dad replies gently. "That is all any of us can do."
"She is a child!" You wince, the word had come out less angry and more pleading. At this point you would have probably caved, given her whatever assurances she asked for and then gone behind her back, but dad is made of sterner stuff.
"For four months Charity." The words are... stark. "She is going to be eighteen this November, she was
always going to be eighteen this November. If she decided to be a firefighter, a police officer or an EMT what would you have done?"
"It's not..." she cuts herself off then takes a deep breath, in a gesture so familiar it's startling. "If it's what you choose to do Molly, but I want you to promise me to keep your grades, up listen to your father when you go out and not go off haring off without him into danger. No... stirring up trouble just because you are curious what it looks like."
From the tone, it's clear she would think that
Bock Ordered Books is too dangerous to go into without dad and you really do not want to get into another fight because you went in some place like that alone or went to help Harry when dad was not around. On the other hand you are not sure how much more you can push her tonight.
What do you reply?
[] Agree to her condition
[] Argue (Charisma+Empathy; may use Excellency; Stunt Optional)
[] Write in
OOC: And here we are, things will be speeding up into weekly turns soon. 
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