Van arrived at the training ground to a waiting Thea who was tapping her foot impatiently. “Well, look who finally decided to show up!” she said as she waited for him to stand beside the Annas who were already there and waiting. Luna was also there, but standing on the outskirts looking in as she tended to enjoy watching them work.

Her expression softened once he was in place. “ I heard everything from Luna, thank you for being there for her, It may seem like you didn’t do much, but it meant the world to her.” she then rolled her eyes “know if only Lore didn’t keep you two behind to bore you with all that ‘intellectual stuff’ my day could’ve started off better then having to wait for my turn to whip you guys into shape.” she then beamed “oh we are going to have sooo much fun!”

Van wasn’t sure what he just got himself into, but hopefully, it wouldn’t be as bad as the expression on Thea’s face would entail.

“Alright to start with let's see you all activate your aura” Van and the Annas beside him did so, and he felt the energy inside of him flow throughout his body. “Okayyy, not bad. But not good either, it's clear Alvaroz put more effort into training your body than he did your aura. We’ll be switching gears and start on the training of your aura alongside your body. More importantly, we will be training so that it doesn't take a whole minute to bring out your aura. Such a thing can be a matter of life and death after all.”

“Alright, does anyone know how to flare their aura?” she looked at them expectantly, when none replied or understood what she said she sighed. “Imagine your body being the container and your aura the liquid, just pour it all out. Don’t be afraid, you’ll just tire yourself out doing so, so there's no consequences. I’ll help anyone who has trouble doing it. This is so I can get a read on what type of aura you might have. Knowing what color aura you have can make it easier on me on how to figure out how to train you to increase your proficiency in aura control, amongst other things.”

Van and Anna tried their best to push out as much of their aura, it wasn’t that hard in truth. In fact, once they have let go and had their arua flowing out, they found that it was harder for them to push it back in, making them worried.

“You no doubt have found that it is harder to keep your aura in check, now that you have let it out. That's normal, don’t worry about it, in fact learning how to control your flare is one of the first steps on controlling your aura. When you flare your aura in a controlled way with intent, such as killing intent, it can scare people and creatures weaker than you, so learning how to properly release your aura is very important. The next step after learning how to flare your aura is to spike it, but we’ll go over that later. Now, once you have gotten control over your aura, put it away and we’ll be moving on from here.”

After much struggling, and tiring of themselves, Van and the others were able to bring their aura back under control. Slowly they let the aura within themselves dissipate and slumber once more. Once Van had put his aura away, he found that he was already sweating a little as if he ran a lap around the castle.

Thea shook her head disapprovingly “you all have a long road ahead of you, though I get that you're kids, but that's no excuse to be so bad at it!” she said imperiously

“It kind of is, though.” Van thought to himself.

“I’m sure you all know your meditation practices, correct? We’ll be training that today, I want you all to be able to pull out your aura at a moment's notice, and the first step of that is to be able to reach a state of mind that will allow you to feel out your body and energies even in the midst of battle! To that end you will be drinking these!” she said, pulling out a few vials of liquid out of nothing. “And riding that” she then pointed to a wagon with two horses that were waiting patiently behind her.

“These vials contain a liquid that will greatly upset your stomach, if you're not careful, you will throw up. It's worse on a wagon, where every bump, can and will, make you feel nauseous.” she had an evil smile on her face “you all are to ride the wagon for ten laps, if you don’t do everything to center your mind, you will throw up, there's no ifs ands or buts about it. So if you don’t want your breakfast all over you, you better learn how to center your mind before it's too late!”

Van and Anna paled “you can't be serious right! That's crazy!” Van said, shocked by Thea’s so-called ‘training’.

Thea for her part laughed like a cartoon villain, enjoying this probably far more than she should. “Oh, but I am serious! And you think this is bad! Trust me when me and Al were young we went through the same shit. Except this time” she smiled her evil smile “ I’ve made my own improvements and added a few more of my own special training regimes and programs. And there's nothing you can do to stop me!”

Van and Anna blanched as they realized that they won't be getting out of this that easily. Their minds swirled with thoughts on how to get out of this, but they only had to look at Thea’s face to know that won't be possible. “Where the hell is dad!” he thought, looking around, Taking a deep breath, Van and Anna prepared themselves for the worst.

“Good, good… it seems you all have finally realized that you can’t get away from this.” Thea said with joy “alright everyone follow me” she said in a singsong voice. They followed her and got onto the wagon. “Alright, everyone get comfortable, try to lean on something and make sure that your body is nice and centered.” She then handed out the vial’s. “Each of you will take one, each potion will last about an hour, so you don’t have to worry about feeling sick throughout the day or anything like that.”

Van’s stomach was already beginning to knot, and he didn’t even take the vial yet. His nerves seemed to be working to make him feel sick on their own just fine without it. but he took the potion anyway and on Thea’s command, they all drank the liquid at the same time. It tasted as bad as it looked. With that Thea set the wagon in motion, at first they didn’t feel anything, but then slowly, a sense of vertigo set upon them. Van gritted his teeth as he didn’t expect this to be as painful as he thought it would, and fought for control of his stomach.

Thea was driving the wagon, and as she drove it, she would give suggestions on how to better cope with the sickness. “Relax your body! You can’t control that sickness, remember this is for you to center your mind even under duress. Remember your meditation practices, if you can't enter the zone and all else fails, just try to keep from throwing up.” This and more was said, she said them gently and soothingly, not wanting to be the cause of an accident.

“This can't be a real training exercise!” Van thought as he tried to keep control, he then heard one of the Annas throw up on the side of the wagon.

“Don’t think that just because you throw up once means you can’t again!” Thea said “also, don’t worry, you all will have a nice break and water after this so try to hang in there!”

Van cursed her in his mind, the smell of the throw up making him want to join in, but he forced himself to ignore it. Slowly he worked over his meditation exercise and tried to keep in check each of his senses, such as smell, then hearing, followed by the others ones as he closed his eyes and tried to relax his body. The others saw that and tried to copy him, trying to just block everything out for the sake of their stomach.

Thea looked at that and nodded to herself approvingly “good, looks like they're quick learners, perhaps they have more potential then I first thought?” She remembered back to when she had to take this exercise and how it took her several times before she could pull it off herself. She didn’t know that their success was partially due to the fact they were very much used to practicing their meditation, because of the problems they faced with their soul realm.

Every bump and turn, sent Van and Anna’s stomach reeling, it was a constant battle of the mind to prevent themselves from throwing up. Van was thankful that he had a small breakfast, otherwise, he didn’t believe that he would have made it. Either way, Van and Anna, while having a few close calls, were able to successfully complete the hour without further incident.

“Good, very good. Once you all recover we’ll begin with your other exercises like normal. There is much more to my training than just the wagon, it could be considered a warm-up for what's to come so you better be prepared for the worst!” she said smiling.

“That was just the warm-up!?” Van thought, already worried for what the future will hold for him. His stomach was doing somersaults and he still felt like he was going to throw up.

Thea waited for them to feel better, before she continued on with the training. Once it looked like they were rested she addressed them. “before we begin with normal exercise, I want you all to tap into your aura and bring it out” she then waited for them to do so. Reluctantly they did, unsure where this was going to lead. “Good” she nodded.

“Now in my hand I have a few leaves, these leaves will help determine what kind of aura you might have. You can also do this with water. First, I want all of you to take a leaf.” she then extended them out and slowly Van and Anna took a leaf each. “Now, first put your leaf in the palm of your hand. Then make it so that your leaf is sandwiched between both of your hands, try to keep space between your other hand and the leaf.” she then waited for them to do so.

“Good. Now, have your aura flow through the leaf and into your other hand, like a conduit. The leaf should be similar to an extension of your body. Just let your aura flow, do not be afraid to use up all your arua should you feel like it. Center your mind and feel the leaf, and feel your aura pass through your hand, through the leaf, and into your other hand, completing the circuit. Don’t try to control the leaf, let all control over your aura go, except for trying to pass it from one hand to the other through the leaf.” she spoke soothingly as she tried to help them get their mind centered.

Van did so, he narrowed his eyes in a half dreamlike trance, as he tried to focus his aura through the leaf and back into his other hand.

Thea watched them both intently, or more like, she watched the leaves intently, with her eyes enchanted by aura. After a while she nodded as if she got what she wanted. “Okay you can stop now.”

Van and Anna did so, they were sweating buckets, they hadn’t realized how exhausting it would be to try and manipulate their aura like that.

“Coincidentally, expelling all your aura or manipulating it like that is also a great way to train your aura. But that wasn’t the reason for this test, This was to determine your aura color.” Van and Anna looked up in surprise at that.

“Let me explain a little how the test works. When you let your aura flow naturally through an object like a leaf for long enough, a few things can happen. For example, if you have blue aura, then the leaf might be a little chilly or fried like a spark of electricity went through it, the veins on the leaf can also turn a light shade of blue. If red, burn marks on the leaf, with a light shade of red through the veins. Yellow could make the leaf sticky or move across your hand, also yellowish veins. Orange can make the leaf hard and brittle, orangish veins. Purple would fry the leaf just a tad, purplish veins. Green would make it look like the wind was going to blow it away or make it look healthier, a deeper shade of green on the veins. Finally, neutral would have no effect on the color and is sometimes the hardest to detect any effect on the leaf. After a while, the effects on the leaves color will change back to normal as the supply of aura is cut off.” Thea explained

Van was surprised and looked down on his leaf, trying to figure out what color it was. But he seemed to be too late as it looked like a normal leaf to him. Anna didn’t seem to be happy about her leaf either.

“Don’t worry you two” Thea smiled “I watched carefully, and know what types of aura you both have.” she then looked at Van. “Van you have the potential for both blue and green aura with a little bit of neutral.” she then turned to Anna “Anna you have good potential for neutral, with a touch of both red and orange.”

Van was pretty happy with his aura potential, and it seemed he wasn’t the only one.

“Now that we know what types of aura you both have, we can make training exercises that better match your potential. Thought that probably won't be for a few months, as we will be training your mind and body as well as your neutral and overall aura before we get into anything more.” Thea said. Dashing any hopes of Van and Anna that they will be able to use their aura in any meaningful way.

With that Thea put them through the wringer, forcing them to push themselves past their breaking limit. Running, jogging, push-ups, curl-ups, squats, stretches and more, she didn’t let up even for one bit. “Aura is all about willpower, even if you're broken and bleeding you still have to move forward! The first one to break will have to do another ten laps!” her face curved into an evil smile as she jeered them on.

After an exhausting morning, they were done. Both Van and Anna were lying on her backs. Slowly Luna came over to look over them to see if they were okay, the concern clear on her face. She was wearing a beautiful frilly white dress this morning, and she was a sight for sore eyes for Van.

“Are you all okay?” Luna asked

Van wished he could say he was okay or that he was fine, but unfortunately, he was so tired and sore he couldn’t even gather enough energy to even mouth the words.

“They're fine,” Thea said “they're just being big babies.”

“Fuck you!” Van thought in his mind only for Thea to whip her head around and stare at him. She then gave him an evil smile making him think she somehow read his mind. He paled under her gaze.

Luna saw the exchange and put her hands on her hips looking at her mother. “Don’t bully them!”

That only seemed to make Thea smile more, but a more genuine one. “Don’t worry love, I won’t bully them, I’m only trying to make them stronger, promise.”

Luna continued to glare at her mother but then turned away. She sat down between Van and one of the Annas and started petting them on the head in hopes of making them feel better. Van and Anna exchange a look and accept the kindness as Thea watched amused as Luna tried to reach out to pet both of them at the same time while looking worriedly around at the other Annas who were out of reach.

“Aww that’s so sweet. It reminds me how I would hold her and pet her head to make her feel better.” Thea thought as she watched her daughter. Thoughts and memories of times where she had to console her daughter or how she gently caressed her daughter's head as she slept entered her mind.

As for Van, he was starting to enjoy the feeling of Luna’s hand gently rubbing on his scalp, it did far more for him then he was expecting, and slowly he relaxed into it. For a long while everyone was just quiet and enjoying the time off and they watched the beautiful cloudy sky. Then all of a sudden, Thea said something that grabbed everyone’s attention.

“You know I’m glad I finally married Alv, I can’t wait to look forward to more days like these,” she said somewhat more to herself than anyone else and much to the confusion of everyone at the suddenness of it all. Thea was looking at the sky with a strange happy expression on her face only to look down and realize everyone was staring at her.

“...Ooops. Well... I suppose that cat is out of the bag.” she said a little embarrassed at her mix-up. “I guess this is as good a time as any to make an announcement.” She then turned her gaze to everyone in front of her. “ As you all know, I’ve been engaged to Alvaroz for a long time, and we have decided to make it official, soon everyone will know we are married!”

Everyone was stunned by that, no one said a word for a long time. Then all of a sudden, Luna jumped up and ran over to her mother to give her a hug, she squealed with joy and giggled with happiness for her mother.

Slowly both Van and Anna got up to give their congratulations, Anna far more enthusiastically than Van who was keeping largely quiet. The Annas, Luna, and Thea seemed to have a little hug-fest going on. After everything died down Thea told everyone what was going to happen.

“In four months time, we will be going to my castle to hold a little celebration over our union. Close friends and family, as well as a few others will be invited.” Thea started to explain, with a large smile on her face.

“Umm.” Van interrupted, unsure how to properly phrase his question without sounding rude. “Why are you having a celebration? Not to be rude but can’t you just tell everyone you're married? I thought that was how it worked. Also, why didn’t you tell us sooner that you and my dad were married! Van said a little hurt at having such knowledge be kept from him, he was genuinely confused and wanted some answers.

Thea smiled kindly “while it is true that for the most part, when people marry they don’t have a, what is it called? A Wedding? Yes... that.” she pondered the word for a bit before continuing “Most people are already married even before it is announced that they are. After all, the ritual to bind two people together is somewhat long and tedious and if not careful, someone can try to interrupt it and cause a backlash. But sometimes one still needs to make it ‘announced’ or ‘official’ so that others know. This can either be done by having a small celebration with a few people, who in turn over time will tell others, letting the knowledge spread naturally. Or through the delivering of letters to close family and allies.”

“So this is nothing more than a party of convenience for everyone else who might not know?” Van asked, trying to understand.

Thea laughed “Yes! Something like that!” she then turned a little more serious and looked sadly at Van “sorry, for not telling you sooner, we wanted it to be a surprise, your father was the one that wanted to break it to you. I’m very sorry.” she finished sadly.

Van shook his head as he thought about it, he realized that his parents genuinely love and cherish Thea and if they're happy, he was happy. “no, it's okay…” he then looked up at her with a more genuine expression. “Congratulations on getting married… Mom.” Van said kindly, trying to be polite.

Thea squealed with joy and pushed past everyone to give Van a huge hug and squeeze him tight against her. Luna ran along with her mother, excited and trying to get in on the hug. After fearing being suffocated between Thea’s breasts, Van was finally let go.

Thea put him down and got on his eyes level “Van, I promise I’ll do my best to be a good mother to you, I already love you as one of my own.” She then gave another kind of smile. “ i’m also looking forward to the day where i’m your mom in another sense as well.” she said looking between him and Luna, making them both blush at the suddenness of it.”

“Well that answers that question I suppose” Van thought, wondering how this would affect his and Luna’s engagement.

“Come on,” Thea said, getting up. “ I have some explaining to do to your parents. They're not going to be happy about breaking the surprise to you all early.” then her eyes widened in shock as she realized something. “ I completely forgot! LUNCH! We got to go while the food is still nice and hot! Come on everyone let's go!”

The next thing everyone else knew, she was gone and all they saw was her back. Soon a chuckle spread amongst everyone left as they decided to excitedly follow her, their exhaustion somewhat gone due to all the excitement they had just experienced and newfound anticipation for the future.