The two were united in their panic.
Zenith did not appreciate this. Not at all. He came to the game to have fun, not be more stressed out, but he couldn't just leave a pregnant woman – err – man to his own devices without feeling like shit afterwards.
Dimitri, Deltan's Hidden Guard, appeared in a split second the moment he realized that his Master was in pain. Quickly, he checked over the prince whilst the other two were losing their cool.
"Okay, okay…" Zenith trailed off, looking completely frazzled. "Alright, so! Aren't you going to quickly bring him to his residence?"
Aciel blanked. "Right. Yes," she blurted out, finally on the right track. Now that she had a solid goal to work towards, she felt calmer. The panic was still there, but more muted in a sense. It was controllable.
She grabbed Deltan, causing him to groan. The blonde mage steadfastly ignored his groan. She gestured for the eccentric man to grab onto her, which he did, and teleported the both of them.
The three landed as gently as was possible in Aciel's steady teleportation. The woman inwardly heaved a sigh of relief that she went through her Teacher's spartan training. She had never been gladder than at this moment.
Dimitri teleported himself, saying, "I will go get Master's brother."
Aciel nodded. "Thank you, Dimitri."
Dimitri nodded and blinked away, reappearing within five minutes in tow with more people.
Nine had uncharacteristically lost her cool when she heard that her brother was 'giving birth'. She had panicked for a full four minutes upon receiving the news, and she wasn't even the one giving birth.
In the end, it was Nocturne who had retained his cool and snapped her out of it quickly. She lightly squeezed his hand in thanks, receiving a smile that made her feel gooey in return.
"Alright, everybody out!" she said lowly, silencing all protests.
Everyone left the room except for Dimitri. She frowned at him, but he stubbornly retained his gaze on Deltan's pained face, causing Nine to relent slightly. She supposed it was fine. It wasn't like he was *really* giving birth.
Nine approached the pained Deltan, who had been relocated to his bed whilst help was found. The Eldest Prince's face was a pasty white from the pain he was feeling in his head. He felt like his head was ringing as he tried hard not to think of anything.
Nine sighed upon seeing him like this. "Elder brother," Nine said, trying to project as much calm as possible. "Take deep breaths, okay? Release the tension you're holding in your body."
Deltan, upon hearing Nine's voice, subconsciously and obediently listened to her instructions, having been somewhat conditioned to do so. It was a relief when the pain that had been blaring a constant siren in his head receded, and before long, it was as if the pain had never been there in the first place.
"Ah? It doesn't hurt anymore?" Deltan said, mystified.
Nine gave him a droll look. "It wasn't meant to hurt in the first place. It was only because you were trying to stop the spatial hole from growing, so the magic all rebounded onto your body."
"Oh," Deltan said blankly.
"Yes, 'oh'. Look, the hole's growing now. Why were you trying to stop it anyway?"
Deltan's pale face flushed, feeling sheepish. "I panicked at the thought of water going into the hole."
The prince scratched the back of his head at the looks his younger brother and Hidden Guard were giving him, though Dimitri looked more relieved than anything.
"So why did you chase everyone out?"
Nine shot him another hard to decipher look. "Think about it after you get my nephew out of you," Nine said, effectively silencing all of Deltan's words.
The three looked at the hole still growing on Deltan's abdomen area with abject curiosity. The hole was black and looked like it could suck in all light. As it grew, Deltan waved a hand around it, only it distorted rather than going through. In fact, the hole wasn't even on his body per se, it was just hovering in the air around his abdomen area, moving when Deltan himself moved.
Their father quietly slipped into the room, giving his son and daughter a large grin. He could hardly believe that he was about to have a grandchild already.
"Son how are you doing?" the Emperor asked, all but beaming.
Deltan paused, feeling giddy with happiness. Now that his panic and pain had faded, he couldn't wait. "Good," he said. "Am I not supposed to be feeling pain?"
Avner shot his son a strange look. "Were you feeling pain? It's supposed to be painless though?"
"He tried to stop the hole from growing, so the magic rebounded."
The baffled look the Emperor gave his son caused Deltan to flush in shame. "I wasn't thinking straight. We were outside in the water, and I just… panicked."
"Ah."
There was a strange pause in the conversation as the rest of the inhabitants tried to ignore Deltan's growing embarrassment.
"Master, there's something coming out of the hole," Dimitri gruffly reminded.
All eyes locked on the hole, noting that it had grown to roughly the size of a watermelon. Slowly, a round, smooth object emerged from the space, the hole closing under it as it emerged.
Deltan clutched the blue egg to himself, his eyes widening at the smooth, warm texture of the egg. A sense of wonder and fulfilment coursed through his veins the moment his hands landed on the egg. This was… his son. The son that he had nurtured for the last couple of months.
Nine stared at the egg in curiosity. Her body had come out of something like that as well? It felt strange to think that she had been born like that rather than the natural childbearing process, but she didn't hate it.
Avner reached forward and gently patted the blue egg, his eyes sparkling. "My first grandchild," he said, almost wistful.
Similarly, Dimitri was making an expression that no one had seen before. A little lost, a little bewildered, but there was something light in his eyes that made the rest of the inhabitants in the room feel that he would willingly put his life on the line to ensure the safety of Deltan's heir.
"Want to touch?" Deltan said, holding out the egg abruptly to Dimitri.
The man all but lurched to stop the egg from jostling. He held the egg with both hands, his eyes widened with panic and shock. His heart was pounding a steady staccato at the near drop.
The ex-general looked at the blue egg, so small, yet containing a life, and couldn't help but fall a little in love, just like the rest of the room seemed to be doing.
Deltan hopped out of bed and gently took the egg back from the awe-struck Hidden Guard, exiting the room.
The chaos upon exiting the room was expected, but upon hearing the door of Deltan's room click open, the earlier chaos was completely silenced.
All of Nine's students were standing outside, along with Seyton, Shade and Misha, and the eccentric man, Zenith. Their eyes locked onto the blue egg resting in Deltan's hands, eyes filled with curiosity and worry.
Deltan beamed at his friends, looking like he was on the top of the world. For the first time in a long while, he felt like he was untouchable by anything he witnessed. Nothing would be able to bring him down in this moment.
"May I present to you Raphael Destan," the father said proudly, his face containing a grin so wide that no one would have been surprised if his face split open.
It was at this moment when an ominous crack sounded.
The panic that ensued could not be described as anything less than pandemonium.
"Father, is the egg supposed to hatch this soon?!"
Avner was trying hard to maintain his calm, but obviously failing to do so. "No, it isn't."
"What do we do!"
The cracking sounds continued, causing Deltan to crash down from his earlier high and descend straight into the panic territory. The panic he had earlier when the hole first developed and now were in two completely different leagues.
The egg wasn't supposed to hatch yet!