Way of the Knights

Chapter 779: Hide and Seek

In a large grassy plain filled with wild flowers, tall grass and trees, three kids could be seen playing hide and seek. 

A young boy was standing in front of a tree with his eyes closed, one can hear him counting down out loud. This young boy had a deeply tanned skin, he was a bit on the fluffier side but that just added to his cuteness even more, he also had a mop of blonde hair and he’s wearing loose yellow robes. 

A few meters away from him was a girl who hide beneath within the bushes. This girl had a pair of mischievous and witty eyes that’s locked onto the boy who was counting down. She has a platinum blonde hair, a pair of sharp ears much like the elves and a fair, spotless skin tone. She’s wearing a tight violet robes and her hair was tied in a ponytail. 

“Three…two…one! Ready or not, here I come!” The little fatty opened his eyes, revealing a pair of silver eyes which scanned his surroundings. He looked around him, searching for clues or any kind of movement he can track in order to find his playmates. 

“Darn…they didn’t even leave any kind of tracks behind.” The little fatty sighed in helplessness, nevertheless, he still felt excited and determined. His opponents were good which roused his competitiveness. 

“If that’s the case, then I’ll do this.” 

Little Fatty removed his shoes and stepped on the grass with his bare foot, he then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When the girl who’s hiding within the bushes saw this, she inwardly panicked and carefully took pre-cautions. She too took a deep breath but she held his breath, her eyes also dimmed for a bit. 

The Little Fatty’s eyes suddenly snapped wide open, he yelped and slammed his foot on the ground, causing earth to tremor beneath him. 

“Hmm?” Little Fatty was confused, he then laughed and snorted, saying: “Darn it, they found a way to counter my Tremorsense! Not bad!” 

Anybody who heard this little guy would’ve been shocked. He just admitted to using Tremorsense – an advanced skill learned by Knights, as a tool to help him in this little game of hide and seek! What’s more is that, his friends actually found out a way to neutralize it! This was absurd. 

“Okay, since Tremorsense doesn’t work, how about this?” Little Fatty then raised his index finger which was glowing with a faint blue light. He once again closed his eyes as the light on his finger slowly turned into smoke which blended in the air. 

A couple of seconds later, Little Fatty opened his eyes with a smile on his face. He immediately disappeared from his position, leaving only an afterimage behind, and appearing in front of a tall bush. He pushed his palm forward and a gust of air blew the bushes away, revealing the girl hiding there. 

“Found you, Jeanne! ” 

“Aww, darn it!” The girl who’s now known as Jeanne, whined. Pouting as she stood up from her hiding spot. “How did you find me?” 

“Energy Sense!” Little Fatty replied, “Mom told me how I works and I figured out the rest.” 

“You can already emit your energy!?” Jeanne was surprised, “Darn it, I’m jealous. I swear I’ll pester mom to teach me later.”

“Haha! Isn’t this Big Brother awesome? Come, admire me! Don’t be shy!” 

“Shut it, Fatty Richard!” Jeanne snorted, “Don’t be so smug, you haven’t won yet. You still haven’t found Vanessa yet.” 

“Tsk. Tsk.” Richard waved a finger at Jeanne while shaking his head. “Wrong. It’s not whether I find her or not. It’s about whether she wanted to be found or not. I, your Big Brother Fatty, is smart! No way, I’d fight a losing battle!” 

“Right.” Jeanne chuckled wryly, she can’t really disagree with what he said. “I mean, she could’ve went home for all we know and we’d remain clueless.”

“Hey, that’s mean.”

“Aahhh!!” 

Richard and Jeanne got startled pretty bad when they felt a hand grabbing them from behind, they turned around only to see Vanessa pouting at them with a wronged expression. 

“Geez, Nessa! Stop doing that!” Jeanne said while dramatically clutching her chest. 

“Yeah, I agree!” Richard stated, “What if you startled me so bad that I started losing my lovely flabs? I won’t be cute anymore! I’ll forever blame you for that you know!”

“Stupid, shameless fatty!” Jeanne and Vanessa both said while mercilessly pinching Richard’s belly much to his despair. 

The three of them started play-fighting until they collapsed on the grass filled ground beneath them and started laughing. 

“Where were you hiding anyway?” Richard asked Vanessa. 

“…on top of the same tree you faced while counting down.” She replied after catching her breath. 

“Seriously?” Jeanne asked. 

“Yep. Seriously.” Vanessa nodded, “I was there the whole time. Fatty’s Tremorsense can’t reach where I was yet, and the way he used his Energy Sense was bad, he only searched on the ground, not even bothering to look up. I wasn’t even deliberately hiding yet he still couldn’t find me. Then you two meanies started talking behind my back.” 

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Fatty and Jeanne cried when Vanessa started pinching their cheeks, ensuing another round of play-fighting. 

It has been five years since Vanessa’s birth, now she’s grown into an energetic young girl. She’s the oldest amongst them, only a few months older though. 

Vanessa looked just like Luna, the only difference was her hair. Unlike Luna who’s fully blonde, Vanessa’s hair was black on the roots until the halfway down, then the rest were aqua-marine, just like her father. 

At this point, there’s only a few select people who knew that Vanessa was Luna and Raven’s child. They could’ve announced her existence to the whole world of course but Vanessa herself didn’t want that so they didn’t. 

Richard was the son of Ellen and Paul. Jeanne was Anne and Mark’s daughter. Just like what Vanessa promised, they became playmates as soon as they were born. Diaper-buddies, if you will. They were pretty much inseparable. 

It would be best to not underestimate these kids though. Despite their cute and adorable faces, the potential they carried was off the charts, which is to be expected for their parents were Empyreans. And precisely because they were still kids that they are under their protection. 

Their parents gave them as much freedom as they could, but they’re also strictly monitored. The kids themselves are smart enough already to understand that not everything in this world is safe. They also understood that just because their parents are famous, it doesn’t mean they could wantonly throw their weight around and become arrogant. They understand that the moment they did that, their parents will be the first ones to admonish them. 

The Legendary Six had no choice but to be strict when it comes to educating their children. Even with great reluctance in their hearts, soon they will have to leave them behind. 

Speaking of that matter. That’s another headache that they have to deal with. It’s difficult to bring themselves to tell their kids that they’ll be leaving soon. It’s even more difficult to answer when they’re going to return. 

Just thinking that they would probably miss out on the chance to see their child grow up filled them with unspeakable agony. They even debated amongst themselves if they should just bring them around but it’s too risky and dangerous. Divine Realm is an unforgiving land, at least here they can ensure their absolute safety. 

“…it’s probably soon.” Vanessa murmured softly, but her friends still heard it.

She probably wasn’t even aware that she said that out loud but the effect was already there. The atmosphere around them turned mildly gloomy and depressed. 

“You just had to ruin it, didn’t you?” Richard snorted, causing Vanessa to become startled. “The whole point of us playing around is to get our mind out of it, yet you just as to say that. Aish…”

“N-no! I-…did I say it out loud?” 

“Yeah, you did.” Jeanne rolled her eyes at Vanessa. “You really have to be careful with that mouth of yours you know? They’re doing their best to make the most out of the remaining time they’re here, don’t ruin it.” 

“I-…” Vanessa wanted to refute them so bad because they’re being mean to her again, but then again, “You’re right…sorry. I just can’t help it sometimes.” 

The gloomy atmosphere just remained around them. 

Their parents would’ve never expected their kids to know about their departure soon. They tried their best to not talk about it when they’re around, in fact they even told the others to keep it a secret but the kids still managed to figure it out. 

It’s not like the kids were too damn smart, it’s just their parents were bad liars and it’s too obvious by how they were raised. It wasn’t really hard for them to come up to that conclusion with all the clues all around them. 

“Aish! Enough with this depressing mood!” Fatty stood up and dusted his clothes. “Let’s play again! This time Nessa’s it! The first one to get caught will have to treat the others dumplings! Deal?”

“Deal!”