"Wait if you're able to come here that means there's other ways home!"
Lotte flustered. "Damian you can't just abandon these people!"
"Yes I can! I don't owe them anything," he snapped. "They can keep the sword. They haven't given me anything thus I have no need to repay them. As far as I'm concerned this was a really bad day and I don't know how to excuse missing class."Damian huffed.
"It's just the last day of the penultimate week! It's not serious!" Lotte fumed.
"I really need to finish school I already had to take a make up year to accommodate for all the classes I slept through or missed when I was working,"
'Guys," Nico tried to stop them.
"Are you blaming me for you choosing to get a job? I'm just a child!" Lotte defended.
"Apparently that's bullshit since you just admitted you were 73!" Damian's irises flickered red and green instead of the normal brown and green.
Furiated Nico cast a enchantment "Ataraxia!" Both arguing voices went quiet.
"All right both of you stop it," Nico ordered. The adopted siblings stared at each other, seething.
"Let's just drop this argument for now and pick it up again when we aren't in public making a spectacle," Nico insisted. Lotte looked saddened and pouted as though she were going to cry. Damian didn't say anything.
The sword however was eating all that good shit up and had managed to harness Damian's anger as a energy source. Now it had swirling green mist surrounding the blade.
"What is this?"
"It appears you already unlocked one of the sword's seals" Lotte explained.
Nico just looked worriedly at the sword. 'Is Damian really that powerful?'
"Yeah sorry I asked, it just told me," Damian commented absently.
"The sword told you?" Lotte asked.
Damian looked at the blade, subtly nodded as his eyes scanned the surface as the mist disappeared. "The Sword says there are fourteen of them one for each ability. The one I just used according to the sword is 'Venenum Irae: Peridot Velum',"
"Wrath's Poison: The Peridot Curtain," Nico translated. Damian lowered the sword. Closing his eyes he furrowed his brows as if in deep thought. Or trying to concentrate.
"Damian, don't unlock any more seals." Lotte warned.
Damian opened his eyes and stared at her coldly. The Sword glinted ominously and only Nico noticed but a whisp of mist did reappear. Whatever Damian was thinking about was triggering the sword to react.
"Damian you know your sister, you shouldn't let her push all your buttons," he tried.
"Wrong. I don't know this little girl, not at all apparently," he responded without hesitation.
"Damian don't hurt her, the whole point of this- everything she's done now was to stop you from becoming a villain, from playing right into the Prophecy," Nico continued.
Now it was Damian's turn to look conflicted.
"Damian, you're here now, how do you plan on handling your future?" Lotte asked.
"Clearly you guys are able to go back and forth between worlds as you see fit, at the very least, I don't want anything happening to my stuff," Damian decided.
"We could bring everything here?" Nico offered.
"Wouldn't that take awhile?" Damian asked thinking of his book collection and the kitchenware.
"I mean with a spell or two, I could transfer your house here," Nico explained. Damian looked up "You can do that?"
"Yes. The only issue is my mana would be considerably drained from the effort." Nico admitted. At that Damian looked as though he was reconsidering.
"I take it mana is kinda important here," he mused.
"Mana is a basic energy form that is essential to all magic or even small armaments of defense such as the ones from knights or priests. Without it I can't produce very effective spells."
Damian frowned. "So like, if something attacked you and you couldn't properly defend yourself, mana deficiency would be the issue,"
"Well -" Nico started to correct him.
"Mana deficiency that if I go through with your suggestion could be my fault."
Nico blinked "so...? Is that a no on my offer?"
Damian stared at him incredulously. Not unlike the time they were studying together and for their science project Nico suggested displaying the science behind a firework. They got an A+ on the grade.
"It's not that heavy a drain in most cases, and assumedly not for this spell, I can be back to normal after a nap," he insisted.
"The house can wait a little bit," Damian decided uncomfortably and glanced at the sword. Which turned out to be a mistake as it glowed and he winced. Gently he put his hand to his forehead temple.
"....Did Riley know?" Damian asked. Clearly infuriated at the sudden idea that all the people around him knew.
"No," was the response from both Nico and Lotte.
"I was trying to inform everyone that I hadn't actually found a Villain to wield the evil half of the sword of Destiny." Lotte stamped her foot. "It's not my fault he treats me like a actual little sister and got worried about me when I was suddenly gone!" She protested.
"See that's what I don't understand," Damian commented. Nico looked put upon, his amber brown eyes widening after a few seconds. "The Sword of Destiny was once whole but was split in a battle several centuries ago. It's theorized the sword was split when King Garner fought for it against a powerful evil Deity. One half meant to be wielded by a warrior chosen to embody a force of good and that ruler would prosper as long as the Evil half was inactive." He explained.
"However the one holding the Evil half is fated to be a cause of destruction," Lotte explained looking at the weapon even though it was covered by Damian's jacket. Sighing Damian put the jacket back on and the glowing stopped.
"It was my job to find the appointed person who could wield the evil half of the Sword of Destiny. Right when I got used to them…" Lotte fell quiet.
"Let me guess they died?" Damian asked.
"They were taken away to be executed before they became real threats, especially if they were unworthy," she explained.
Nico nodded. "I was observing you too out of curiosity, I really didn't want to believe that Lotte had used her Wand of Selection to study you." Nico responded.
"What's the Wand-" Damian started spinning around to face Lotte.
"This-- it's my wand. All Guardian mages get one when they become official. It's to help them select their heroes or villains." She hurried in her explanation. In her hands was indeed a thin silver wand about the thickness of a ink pen.
Nico looked at the sword. "The sword chose you, of its own accord. I'd almost forgotten it could do that," Nico remarked casually.
Lotte looked as though she was going to burst into tears. Damian felt bad for yelling at her.
"Hey, Lotte, I'm sorry I lashed out at you, I was wrong for that. You were just doing your job and when you had second thoughts, wanted to do the right thing." He apologized.
Lotte blinked away escaping tears and wiped her eyes.
"I want a second opinion," Damian demanded at both the melancholy expressions.
"Well there's a second person we can go see," Nico said standing up and suddenly seeming older and wiser than nineteen. Damian was a few months older than Nico as well as a few inches tall and for some reason felt younger. He half expected him to transform or something.
"We'll visit her at sunset, she'll be accepting visitors then." Nico informed them. "Until then, we should find someplace to eat. And in your case stay," Nico decided.
Lotte tensed. "Can't we stay with you?"
Damian looked at her "That sounds like we're imposing -"
Nico interrupted by chuckling lightly.
"I suppose just for one day it's permitted." He mused.