Mavislin cleared her throat as she continued the initial story.
"As I was saying, Ysabeau had already given up, I stepped in to help, delivering the babies. At that point, I was only a child as well. I could only save the infant's lives since the mother was a gone case."
"But I thought Mages could use powers? Why didn't you?" asked Clement, in disbelief.
"It was already a miracle that the four kids came out, they were not full term. And all of them had underdeveloped organs. We have no problem healing that, but no one had the power and right to revive the dead."
"By the time the last baby had come out, the mother was so tired. She wanted to live, so I prepared a plan for her."
No matter how many years had passed, she could never forget the tears that the mother shed as she begged Mavislin not to let her babies die. She kept telling the young Valkyrie to save her children. To her, dying was nothing if it meant she could save her four children.
"When I told her I could save her, I would have to convert her into a Mage. But even then, the chances of the human body accepting Mage's Power is so low. Especially one as fatigued as her. She adamantly refused, even when Gab was begging her to do it."
Mavislin remembered when Gab was crying his eyes out for his mother to continue living. But she could tell, she could tell that the mother was tired. They've already lost their father and now they are on the verge of losing their mother.
She wanted to be human to the very end. Back then, Mavislin thought it was such a selfish reason. To abandon your children just because you didn't want to be a Mage. It's not as if you can't live a proper life, you still keep your powers hidden.
But thinking back, she was thankful the mother did not take up on the offer. The mother might turn into a monster or some other nasty thing would have happened.
"She wanted to die human and peacefully. She carried her children for the last time before passing on. Straight after that, Ysabeau and I got to work to make sure the babies survived. They did, at least for another decade."
"So they grew up with Mages?" asked Bryan, tilting his head.
"Yea, you would be surprised to know that Yan didn't start as best buddies with Gab. We found the two at the back alley, beating the ever-loving life out of each other. But after the birth of his siblings, Gab became less hot-headed."
"I was a young one so I had no problems taking care of all the kids. In fact, it made a big impression on me. Since their first thing to look at was me, constantly," said Mavislin, as she remembered the fun and cute moments they had.
She fondly remembered how she'd be studying her elements before being pestered by four babies. Four pairs of shining eyes would stare back at her as she tried her best to try small spells to learn about control.
It would always end up with her giving in or four little minions following her around. Usually, it's the first, since she couldn't do much with human kids in the way. Ysabeau would try her best to pry the children away from the Valkyrie.
And that would usually result in a whole ruckus of screams and cries from the four kids. And having that amount of noise made it impossible to study, so the lesson was constantly delayed. When Mavislin gained better control with her powers, she could use her Magecraft with the kids.
They were soon known as the 'Four Minions', courtesy of Baldwin's comment when he caught Mavislin walking around with the kids on her tail. Quite literally, since she had accidentally forgotten to keep her tail after her transformation.
One particular thing the kids witnessed was Mavislin pouring Elemental Energy into a solid object. It was their first time witnessing proper Magecraft usage. Young Mavislin was merely stocking up some extra Elemental Energy when four kids were falling on top of each other.
The Valkyrie sighed as she led the four kids to the waterfall. She then conjured a water mirage, a beautiful image of what Mavislin liked; bunnies. The kids all laughed and that's where the young Valkyrie figured to raise them to accept Mages and their powers.
Kids are smarter and more accepting than adults give them credit for. They don't question too much, yet they ask a lot. But whatever you answer them, they have the capacity to accept and understand. They are more open to accepting explanations rather than refuting all the time.