Acheron laughed. "Well, I can always keep the leggy one company!" she offered cheerfully. Then she sobered some.

"No, uhh--no, it backfires. What I was trying to explain is, some magics... some, if they backfire, it's okay. They don't do much. Maybe give you a headache, or make shadows instead of light--that kind of thing. But ours?" she studied Cadenza, surprised the deer-dragon didn't yet know. "It can crush your body, instead, or turn your gemstone into fire, and kill you. Or throw you into the sky. That kind of thing. -You understand? It's--the more powerful spells that'll do that, but our magic can be genuinely dangerous."

Cadenza's last question left her genuinely surprised. "...Upset? No, I don't think so?" ...She couldn't really say it, but she didn't think Pride was really close enough to be upset. They'd met--once? "He'll probably be happy to help," she added sardonically. "He gets kind of bored with nothing to do, I think. Training and teaching kids is kind of his jam." She grinned.

@Cadenza

"Then I would like that very much," Cadenza told their sister again now that they knew none of their children would be excluded.

Cadenza fell quiet as Acheron explained about the magic they both shared. They had known magic could backfire. They had known that their magic could be especially powerful, from what their deer-dad had said. But, they had not realized that meant especially powerful backfiring. "That makes sense," The deer-dragon told her.

"...I do not know if I have use for powerful, destructive spells, but that is good to know. My children will inherit my magic. I will need to make sure they learn it safely if they choose to learn magic," Cadenza stated in musical tones as they thought. Their own magic was mostly learned by practicality and their own ideas of what they might be capable of.

It was a relief to hear that their deer-dad probably would not be upset. The two of them might have only met once, but family was so very important. It was the most important, at least to Cadenza. They felt a creeping hope that this would turn out alright, perhaps. "I would be glad for his help with that," Cadenza decided. They were going to gain as much experience and knowledge as they could, but they still would have less than either of their dads.

@Acheron


if you want Pride to enter soon, that is alright with me! up to you

Phew. That was... a relief. She didn't like the idea of coming down hard with harsh reality, so the fact that Cadenza understood the dangers now without being too upset by doom and gloom was good. Acheron nodded.

A moment later, her eyes were drawn by a white shape approaching from behind Cadenza, in the distance. Acheron rose up, excitement on her face. "HEY, DAD!" she yelled, and would've waved him over if she'd had arms. "CADENZA'S HERE!"

He could almost certainly see that, if she could see him, but never mind. "THEY'VE-" Oh. I should probably let them tell him! she realized, interrupting herself as her gaze cut to the hybrid. She grinned, again. "Go on; tell him!" she urged, excited despite herself.

Pride approached with, at first, very mild concern--was something wrong? But no; Acheron seemed... excited, happy. Then, she is always carefree--perhaps too much so, he reasoned--drilling the idea of 'danger' into her had been a challenge, and had nearly failed.

As it was, everything seemed... okay, so Pride didn't rush as he strode over, each hoof delicately placed as he walked. His diamond armor gleamed at his sides--at at his back, Mischief perched, grooming her face and ears.

"Hello, Cadenza. Acheron," he greeted, his melodic voice fluting. "I apologize for missing your arrival--we were off grazing." Eridanus was simply better for feeding than Orion was--and it wasn't far away. "What is it you wanted to tell me?" he asked, glancing between the two.

Acheron's faint secrecy, twinned with excitement, reminded him of Spark with their hot chocolate powder. Maybe they'd discovered something like that-? He came to a dignified halt before them, wondering.

red deer img credit - dan seagrave

@Cadenza

The loud excitement of Acheron was momentarily contagious.

Still, they hesitated before speaking, anxiety inevitably creeping in. Last time they had told one of their dads about what they had done, it had not gone as well as they had been expecting. They understood why now, but it had still been distressing.

"...I may have acquired three stones from lessers and given them all life?" Cadenza's own musical voice combined with their uncertainty turned it into more of a question.

It occurred to them quickly, however, that they did not want their deer-dad worried about the safety of these new lives, since Cadenza was here and the chrysalises were not. "The chrysalises are in Leo, they are safe. My other dad is watching over them." There was no way they could be safer than that, in Cadenza's mind.

"But I need to learn so I can teach the kids everything so I can be a good parent," Cadenza informed their deer-dad. "And you know a lot, so I has hoping you could try to teach me? And, if you are okay with it, maybe you could teach them magic once they hatch if they want to learn it?"

"Especially if they want to try to learn the more dangerous magic we can learn that I do not know."

They glanced at Acheron for both support and to see if their sister thought that there was anything they should add immediately.

@Acheron

Acheron listened, beaming. She didn't interrupt, or even speak, just sort of hoof-clicked off to one side while the other two exchanged words.

But she nodded along, which somehow seemed very helpful. It was, one could assume, supportive at least. As for training the kids-? "That was my suggestion," she said, but it wasn't in a bragging tone--if anything, it was almost polite. "I figured you're the best to learn from!" Though she didn't spell it out, the meaning was likely clear--that if asking such a thing was an imposition, she was to blame and not Cadenza.

Cadenza was family--Pride would accept them as such, and he felt immensely protective over them even from just one meeting. But he had not raised them. He did not feel the same sense of responsibility that Dread did--the idea that the child's failures or successes rested on his shoulder, nor the idea that helping raise or train the children later was something he somehow had to do. His reaction, then, was purely one of enthusiasm, though tempered with practicality: he simply adored seeing Orion bustling with family and life.

"Oh!" he began. "Congratulations!" And it wasn't lost on him that Cadenza was a little 'young,' in a manner of speaking. It certainly factored into his immediate planning of offering what support was needed, and of course Acheron's suggestion struck him as coming from the same vein. He glanced at her, found her steady excitement all the confirmation he needed, and nodded. "Of course. No, I'd be glad to, and I'd be glad to look after them whenever you need! Training, babysitting when you need a break--three, you say, and only one parent?" He laughed. "Oh, you are in for a surprise. You grew in your chrysalis, yes?"

Mischief sparkled in his eyes. Actual Mischief remained atop his back, peering at the gathering. "Have you ever looked after a child, before?" There wasn't challenge in this--it was still amusement, bright and unburdened. "They're a test, that's for sure. Always running off, getting into everything they shouldn't, getting into trouble," he added, with a mock-harsh tip of his stare at Acheron. His smile never faded, though.

"I'd certainly recommend finding someone to help you raise them--your family, perhaps, either here or in Leo, or both." His tone was easygoing; no sign of judgment here. "I think you'll learn much just from raising them! But of course you may stay as long as you like, and ask anything you want. -Were you hungry? Did you need a rest after that journey?" he added, peering over. "If you do get hungry, we can always go back to Eridanus to graze. There's a great deal of fruit in there, too, if you prefer."

red deer img credit - dan seagrave

@Cadenza

Congratulations, their deer-dad started with and they felt their anxieties beginning to melt away. And then he said he was glad to help. The more that he spoke, the more that Cadenza's posture gradually lost the tension they had been feeling since they arrived.

They dipped their antlered head in confirmation when their deer-dad asked whether they had grown up in their chrysalis. It was a simple question that required only a yes, and they were still awed by this delighted yet mischievous happiness that was displayed before them.

But the next question, rhetorical though it may have been, got them thinking, as did the words that followed. "I have met a few children. I do not think those children had any parents at all. Nymph was very sweet, but also excitable. They're a little bird, and they flew off to help Mimosa as soon as I had helped them find where they had hatched in the long cave with the river, before I could say goodbye," They started, thoughtful.

"Another child was hungry and trying to catch birds but could not fly. I caught that child a few birds, then encouraged the child's magic practice until the child was able to catch a bird on her own with magic. I am uncertain if that child has a name yet, because I asked a few times and she did not tell me of one, but she was also very distracted. And she wandered off too after we spoke," Cadenza explained.

"So children with parents wander off like that too?" They inquired, the end result of following their pathway of thought.

They were not overly surprised to hear it implied that Acheron was the type to get into trouble. After all, their sister had been practicing dangerous magic on her own, and she had admitted such. Did all children get into trouble? Cadenza had not when they were little, but they had been awake for a very short time.

Cadenza paused at the thought of food. They were not tired, they had gotten more used to how to pace themselves during travel while exploring. But they had felt too upset to eat on the way here. "I am not tired, but I am hungry. Could we go to Eridanus?"

They glanced towards Acheron. "Do you want to come with us?" Cadenza inquired.

@Acheron

Acheron considered, briefly. She had--ever since an incident with a tiny bat shortly after hatching--always preferred vegetable matter to meat. She had, in fact, never eaten meat, except maybe as an accidental ingredient in one of Naskital's cakes or the like, and a prawn or two in Fornax. She'd been here for hours, so--"Sure," she offered. "But if you two want to talk I can split off for awhile!"

It was a cheerful offer, unbothered and polite. It was clear that Acheron would not take any offense over such a thing. On the other hand, if they didn't want privacy, she seemed perfectly happy to tag along and interject here and there.

Pride gave a little nod of acknowledgement. "We can go there, then," he offered, though waited to see if Cadenza was quite ready, yet. "As for children--all the ones I've met, yes. And-... A word of parental advice. They sometimes feel a certain way, often intensely, but as a parent you'll have no idea. And as a child? They will have no idea that they need to communicate it with you. I've had times when my children have been deeply upset about something they imagined was true--and it wasn't, and I had to pry it out of them. So being aware of how they feel before they run off upset will at least mitigate some of it."

Temperance, in particular, came to mind. The child had--somehow, beyond all Pride's comprehension--decided that he didn't care for them, that they didn't meet standards, somehow. That still stung, cycles later; he had never shown them anything but support, so his lesson had been learned. Communication was terribly important.

Back to the present, though. "Still, some will absolutely wander off. I'd not suggest trying to restrict them. Encourage curiosity. Use it as a learning experience. Travel with them. You want to aid them in expanding themselves, not try and hold back who they could become. ...But trying to keep them from getting into trouble, well... that is another story." Again, that humor in his tone; and it came, very clearly, from experience.

red deer img credit - dan seagrave

@Cadenza