Priestess Zelenia prepares lunch with the help of her familiar. In the kitchen, Luna slices the vegetables with her skills, and using blades is a piece of cake for her. Now that the kids have learned the truth, they need not hide anything.
Outside, Janus and Aisha joined Lionel since he did not want to transform into his human form. His reason...
"I have been missing this body! So, I will stay like this for a while."
Zelenia giggles, remembering his pride. Also, the kids had a splendid time playing with him. They were checking out his wings, and they were back into their fluffy feathers and tickled them instead.
Seeing her kids this cheerful since they moved into this state made her smile.
"That lion... He should shrink his body in half!" Luna complains.
Every time Lionel stomps his feet, jumping and rolling in the grassland, it quakes the ground. The frying pan she attends to bounces from the stove.
"That's it! I will roast that lion!" She exclaims while holding the frying pan.
"Eek. Someone is in a bad mood again." Lionel smirked. He could hear Luna complaining and loves to tease her further, but he considers that the kids will witness his naughtiness. "All right. Sorry kids, we can't play further. I might become a roasted lion toni— Eek!"
An apple flew from the kitchen window and hit Lionel on the head.
"Hey!" he shouted at Luna.
"Can't you both settle down in front of the kids?" said Sora.
Aisha and Janus giggled. Sora heaves a sigh, seeing them acting like kids again.
"Heh. That bird wishes to fry!" Lionel stated while eating the apple.
"You were teaching the kids to be naughty!" Sora scolded him.
"Ah, about that master and princess. Just pretend that you see noth— ugh." Lionel could not finish his words and seemed to choke on the apple he ate.
"What happened to you?"
"Hooooottt!" He screamed while holding his throat and running toward the lake. He drank a ton of water after the apple he ate tasted and burned like a thousand chilies.
"Sigh. The two of you won't stop." Sora shook her head. She then turned to Janus and Aisha, who was stunned at how the familiars teased each other. "Please, don't mind these two who were known adults. They have been like this since the very first day they met."
"Oh…" the twin giggles.
"Let's grill some fish!" Suddenly, Lionel shouted from the lake.
Janus ran toward Lionel but then halted when he shook his body to dry off.
"Master, hop in!"
"Can I really ride with you?"
"Any time as you wish, master." Lionel bent down, lowering his body for Janus to ride him.
"Awesome!" When they ran above the lake, Janus leaped and held tight to Lionel's fur, and Lionel flapped his wings.
"Now that they plan to grill some fish, we need firewood. I'll gather some," said Sora.
"Can I go with you, Sora?"
"Sure, young lady. Give me your hand."
"Oh, the left hand?"
"That would do, and close your eyes." Sora clasps Aisha's hand. The princess could feel a warm tickle as electricity ran throughout her body. Later, gradually, she could feel like she was floating in the air.
"Cool!" Janus was amazed, watching Aisha and Sora slowly floating in the air. Lionel flew higher, and he shouted. "Awesome!"
Slowly, Aisha opens her eyes. "Whoa!" she exclaimed.
Entwining hands with Sora, they teleported into the middle of the woods. Using magic, Sora gathered the firewood and prepared to return to the lake.
Riding on Lionel's back, Janus still feels like he is dreaming. Lionel flew higher so Janus could have a view of the entire area.
"Master, I can now spot the giant fish underwater."
"Oh. Are we going to catch them underwater?"
"We don't need to dive into the lake, master. We will just carefully aim for them."
"Oh, like? Are we using a sword?"
"Hm, something like..." Lionel halted in mid-air. He widens his visual view beneath the water, prepares two feathers, and transforms them into spears.
"Cool! You can also turn your wings into spears!"
"Yes, master," Lionel replied. "And I can do more with a master. During battles, we were fused with the Priestess for the time being to use the full capacity of our power, and it's different when we have our very own master."
"Then, if we successfully fuse?"
"With your overwhelming energy, we can work better than these spears and swords, young prince. We can forge your energy with novel types of blades as weapons."
"Ah, then, I can't wait!" Janus gleefully exclaimed.
"Oh, stay still, master."
"Ah. I'm sorry." Janus settles down and observes the lake below. "Oh!"
"Can you have a visual underwater?" asked Lionel. He could also begin linking to his master's mind, which they weren't performing the ritual yet. Maybe this is what they say, 'someone born to be your master.'
"Yes! I can do it! But this is your vision, is it?" Janus asked. He was thrilled with the power he discovered that he possessed. It was only in manga, webtoons, and anime he watched and read about powers and cultivation.
"It is mine, master. It is our bond. With a successful bond, performing a Fusion Ritual will come easily, and we won't need to put in much effort to be as one."
"I see."
"Now, let's catch this fish!" Lionel releases the spears into the lake. Two giant carp fish weighing fifty pounds each are hooked to the spears when he retrieves them.
"Whoa. They are huge!" Janus exclaimed. He never sees one for real but on TV.
"Let us grill them while freshly caught, master!"
Lionel flew back to the cottage. He landed in the area where Sora set the firewood. He breathes in, then carefully releases the fire from his mouth and places the fish on the fire.
"Wow. Your feather can actually be useful like this!" Aisha commended. Her eyes are gleaming, watching the fish slowly grilling.
"I learned to forge my energy as a weapon using my feathers. That is one of my abilities, princess."
"Cool! Mommy has been your master ever since, Lionel?" Aisha asked with curiosity. She was intrigued to know more about their mother's life as a Priestess.
"Ah, about that…." Lionel pause. His eyes are full of sadness when he meets Sora's eyes.
"It seems it's not good to talk about it. You need not, Lionel." Janus said, pressing his back into Lionel's soft body.
Lionel shakes his head before he rests on the ground. Aisha hugs him on the neck, where his fur is fluffier.
"As for my master, I won't mind telling it. Although that was a complete failure, I learned from it," he began.
"I was from the Clan of the Sun as the Spirit Animal of Celestial Winged Beasts calling us Lions. They trained me for decades and took evaluations of how capable I was. Finally, I have a master's. I was sent to the world of Immortals. Watching him grow until he trains by entering the Academy of Immortals brings me joy. You will meet every immortal that has great familiars. Later, I realized my master could only forge an average type of magic with his energy, limiting my full power. He passed his Academy, went home, and became a Knight of the kingdom he was living in. Until we were under attack, and he died, I blamed myself. But it left me to wonder. Why didn't I die along with him? When the kingdom invaded, and a new king was seated on the throne? A failure familiar like me thrown into slavery. I have worked tens fold of years as an enslaved person."
"Just say a hundred years," Sora intervened.
"Ah, right! Ahem! A hundred years of labor which we cannot escape. They put us in a Mark of Slavery. Whoever tries to escape will turn us into stone. My family denounced me and proclaimed a shame of the Clan. But after a hundred years of labor. I want to run away with the others. A Hundred Years, I forge my strength to erase the Mark of Slavery on my forehead. But then, half of us were murdered when a few familiars escaped once they successfully erased the Mark of Slavery. However, those who left behind double our work to replace those who died. Until everyone revolted, it was more like suicide. Most of us lost hope in wishing to die. We are a complete failure being a Spirit Animal.
"But Lionel fought back." Sora continued.
"Don't make me blush." Lionel covers his face.
Sora played with air to add pressure to the firewood. She then continued while watching the fish that didn't get burned. "With his bravery protecting the other slaves familiar, he earns the Lordship."
"Lordship?" Janus asked excitedly.
"Lordship is the ability to call The Spirit of Fire."
"Wowww…" Aisha and Janus said at once.
"It means the Spirit of Fire chooses him to be one with him. The mark of slavery was replaced on his forehead. And whoever carries the Mark of Fire is recognized as a higher rank of Familiars." Sora added.
"Since then, I could fight alone without relying on a master. But then they began hunting me! And they want me to become someone familiar! Even the Celestial Elders invited me but, humph! I will serve no master!"
"Ahh…"
"But once a Celestial Warrior could win during a duel, a loser must follow his master."
"Do you mean?"
"Some are not born with familiars but have to earn it. They trained for years or decades to capture a Legendary Familiar." Sora explains. "Celestial Universe has this kind of game each year."
"Then, you are a Legendary familiar, Lionel! That was cool!" Aisha tightens her hug.
"Ahh, that tickles, princess. Don't…. Hahaha!" Lionel rolls in the grassland, lying on his back.
"Through time, winning numerous battles, they recognize Lionel as a Legendary Spirit Animal. But a day came when a king fell, and the Priestess found him dying," Sora went on.
"Since then, I live, and I promised to serve the Priestess through eternity." Lionel pledged.
"I also offered my life to serve the Priestess. Although I was born in the Sanctuary, I was brought up when I was just an egg. My Clan has been wiped out, and I was the only survivor from The Clan of Wind, Celestial Spirit Animal of Peacocks." Sora shared her backstory. Aisha runs to her and hugs her tight.
"Sora, we will always be together from now on!"
Teary-eyed, Sora nodded and said. "It is my honor to be your familiar, Lady Aisha, Princess of the Moon."
"Oh. Mommy told me that my name also has meanings related to the moon and Janus!"
"Yes, they are."
Meanwhile, Janus has been pondering something. Hearing Lionel's story made him curious. "Then, being my familiar, I have to be stronger for you to fight and use your full strength, Lionel?"
"You need not worry about that, master. The ten years I live inside you, the Chi flows enormously."
"Hum? Chi?" Janus and Aisha do not understand this.
"Chi is your life force, energy flowing inside your bodies," Sora explained.
"Oh…" Janus and Aisha look at each other. There are so many things they need to know, more than studying Science at their school.