On a planet far, far away from our own, lies a world where magic runs free and mages are the norm. The planet, appropriately named Terra, houses two large super-continents, Alvarez, and Ishgar. Alvarez, the larger of the two, is what one would call a large military fortress(which it is in its own right). Ruled by the Emperor Spriggan and it's land enforced by his elite guard, the Spriggan Twelve, this place is full of many great innovations other than magic. However, our story does not begin there, oh no. Before we start the story however, we must travel to Ishgar, in the year X791, during the Battle of Tartaros, to where it all began.
The battle that would decide the fate of magic everywhere.
Natsu, Gray, Sting, and Rogue at the glared the the leader of Nine Demon Gates of Hell. "So," Natsu began. "You're the one who's behind all this." Mard Geer, a young aristocratic-looking man merely flashed a calm yet smug smile. However, despite his outward appearance, he was no man. Rather, he, like the Nine Demon Gates, was an Etherious, a race of demons created by the Black Wizard Zeref for the sole purpose of killing him.
"One could say that. But this plan was set into motion long ago by our Lord Zeref. Mard Geer is simply here to help move it along. And at long last," he spread out his hands in a grandiose fashion, as if he was about to reveal something miraculous. Well, maybe for the Etherious in this case. "Our one true master, E.N.D., will be resurrected!" At this, Gray's eye twitched. "So, that's it then. It all leads back to him." The devil slayer activated his magic, his voice becoming deeper and more guttural. Natsu looked at his fellow mage in worry. "Gray, don't-," but it was too late.
"Ice Devil's...Zeroth Longsword!" The Devil Slayer created a demonic sword of ice and swung it right at the Underworld King, Mard Geer, who had a smug look on his face. "So, Silver decided to betray us after all. How predictable. But that's why you're here to take out the trash..." Mard Geer said to thin air, until-
*Crash!*
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant shadowed figure landed right in front of the attack, blocked it, then crushed Gray's sword with his bare hands. "What the?!" Gray suddenly found himself being thrown back into a wall. "Oomph!" The figure, obscured by the dust, rose to its full height into the dark moonlight, and they all gasped when they saw his visage.
"No way…"
"Is that…?"
"…Jiemma." Mard Geer finished, as if he hadn't heard the others. The three Dragon Slayers and Gray all looked at the now demonic former guild master of Sabertooth. "Urk…" Sting's breath got caught up in his throat and his palms began to get sweaty. Why did he have to return of all people? Blasting him in the stomach point blank should've been more than enough to kill him. Not even the mightiest of men should survive something like that, not without some divine being coming to save them! 'But then,' he thought, 'I suppose this guy come pretty close to that.
"Sting, Rogue, I will enjoy crushing the two of you into a pulp!" Jiemma faced the two Dragon Slayers, whose minds were still in turmoil at the new appearance of their former guild master. Mard Geer slowly walked around the battlefield, looking at Jiemma with a contempt expression.
"You are now a demon, a servant even more powerful than even the Nine Gates of Hell." Jiemma arched an eyebrow. Apparently he didn't like the sound of that. "A servant, you say? Are you implying that one whose power traverses above and beyond is anyone's servant?!" He charged straight towards the four Slayers. "Underworld King, once I am done with these brats, you're next!"
"What the hell are you guys doing standing there?!" The two broke out of their thoughts as they saw Natsu, their fellow Dragon Slayer, ignite his fist. "CHARGE!"
He met with Jiemma in a clash of fists, magical energy exploding everywhere. It was a brief struggle, but Jiemma's newfound strength proved to be too much, sending the Fire Dragon Slayer flying. "Gah!"
"Natsu!" Sting called out in worry. Eventually, Natsu landed in a heap of rubble, before slowly getting up, somewhat battered, but otherwise okay. "Heh, as if I would let something like that bring me down." He punched his fists together, once, twice, and then a fiery aura surrounded him.(*)
Once again, he took off towards Jiemma. Once again, they fought. And once again, he was thrown back.
Seeing his determination, Sting prepared to use White Dragon's Claw. "Rogue!" The Shadow Dragon Slayer looked at him, also charging up an attack. "Right!"
They sprinted towards their former guildmaster, pale light and dark shadow glowing at their hands and feet. "Take this!" Sting leapt at Jiema from above, and Rogue turned into a shadow before attcaking from below. However, within two feet of their target, Jiemma shot his hands out and grabbed their heads before smashing their faces together. ""AGH!"" Both of their skulls nearly cracked at the force exerted, and they struggled to get out of his grip. "Hah! You are nothing! If this is the power you used to kill your parents, then they must have been weak!" As their faces began to get pressed together, they suddenly remembered what Natsu said, his impassioned words filling them with newfound strength and resolve.
'He's right…' The two stopped their struggle with Jiemma's hands and calmed down. Taking this as a sign of giving up, the former guild master pressed their heads harder against each other, intent on crushing them into bits and pieces.
'There ain't no need to be afraid,' They began charging their limbs with magic energy. 'Because we're…charging ahead!' With thoughts connected as one, the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth struck back at Jiemma, who effortlessly blocked their attacks with his hands. He counterattacked, and the two leapt back to a safe distance to gain some reprieve.
"Natsu! Gray!" The Fire Dragon Slayer and Ice Demon Slayer both turned toward the sound of Sting's voice. "Take care of calm and bitchy! We've got this handled!" Natsu grinned and gave him a thumbs up, before tackling the Underworld King to the ground, who had been watching from the sidelines in amusement.
"White Dragon's…Roar!" The familiar white laser shot out of Sting's mouth, heading straight for Jiemma's face. As he hoped, the former guild master raised his hand arm to block the attack, thus obscuring his vision. While Sting had him distracted, Rogue came out of a shadow, crossing his arms while dark energy swirled around them until he pushed them out on either side of him. "Shadow Dragon's Waxwing Flash!"
Jiemma barely had time to put up a defense before a wave of Rogue's power crashed right into him. While he was distracted by his fellow Dragon Slayer's attack, Sting came back at him before giving him one swift punch in the gut. He quickly got out of the way of the arms that swung at him and rejoined with Rogue a fair distance away from their target. "Ha! Was that supposed to hurt, boy!" Jiemma laughed arrogantly. Sting, however, had a cheeky grin on his face.
"Nah, but this will."
The Twin Dragons, now synchronized in mind, body, spirit, and magic, both swung their inside hands behind them, a ball of Holy and Shadow energy already in between them. "Holy-Shadow Dragon's…" They both thrusted their hands in an imitation of a punch. "Flash Fang!" The former master of Sabertooth attempted to block the oncoming Unison Raid, but found himself unable to do so. "What?!"
Sting smirked. "Did becoming a demon addle that small brain of yours? Surely you didn't forget about my White Dragon's Talon?" Jiemma's eyes widened. "The stigmata!" The Unison Raid crashed into him.
A large explosion of the combined energy, followed by a cloud of dust and debris covered the battlefield. Once the dust cleared, the two saw Jiemma on the ground, unconscious. "Not so tough now, are you?" Sting asked. His fellow Dragon Slayer put a hand on his shoulder. "You can find the time to gloat later, Sting. We should go help the others." Sting rubbed the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Sorry." He and Rogue turned away, ready to go help Natsu and Gray. The explosions in the distance really showed how intense it was getting.
"And where do you think you're going?" The two Dragon Slayers quickly turned around in alarm...only to get clotheslined by a further transformed and pissed off Jiemma. ""Gah!""
They quickly recovered from the initial attack and
Jiemma shot out his other hand, and grabbed Rogue's right arm. With a mighty heave, he threw him to the ground. The Shadow Dragon Slayer bounced once...twice… and then he crashed into a wall, sliding down in a crumpled heap.
"Rogue! You Bastard, eat this!" Sting put his palms together before swinging them to a nine o-clock position and opening them, his hands splayed out like a claw.. A ball of holy energy grew to his size as multiple white shards flew out towards his former guild master. "HOLY RAY!" After what seemed to be an eternity, his attack ceased, and he stopped his attack and put his arms down, exhausted. The spot where Jiemma once stood was obscured by smoke. 'Did I…get him?'
As if to answer his question, a large hand quickly reached out of the smoke and grabbed his torso before dragging it towards its owner. Sting tried to escape, but his arms were caught in his vice-like grip. The smoke cleared, and out came Jiemma. His skin had many scratches and there was a large scorch mark on his back, but he only seemed to be angrier than before. He smashed Sting into the ground, and the White Dragon Slayer fell limp. "You know…" The former guildmaster of Sabertooth raised a hand, his fingers arrayed like a knife blade. "I vaguely remember you blowing a hole in my stomach all those months ago." Sting's eyes widened when he realized what was going to happen and attempted a breath attack, his mouth glowing with holy energy.
But it was far, far too late.
"Allow me...to return the favor!" Jiemma plunged his hand straight through his torso. "ARRRGGGHHH!" Sting never felt this much pain in his life, not when he killed his father, Weisslogia, and not when he thought he had lost Lector. Granted, that was more of emotional pain, but that wasn't the point. It felt like the blood in his veins had turned into Natsu's fire, which he knew could be very painful. The Grand Magic Games easily proved that.
(Meanwhile, in the subconscious part of his mind, a chibi Sting silently lamented that he would never be able to have a rematch with Natsu now.)
"Sting!" He felt a tug in his now almost non-existent gut, before suddenly losing sight of Jiemma, and soon finding himself face-to-face with a tired Rogue, a concerned expression on his face. "Are you alright?" Sting looked down at his wound, and instantly knew he only had a small amount of time left. Rogue followed his gaze before his face paled at what Sting's eyes saw. "No…" He put his head in his hands, unable to accept the reality of the situation. "Nononono…"
Sting weakly raised his arm. "C'mon, we still have to…finish the fight." Rogue bowed his head. "We can't. He's too strong." Sting stubbornly shook his head. "We still…have that…move." Rogue cocked his head to one side in confusion before his eyes widened at what Sting was insinuating. "But…if we do that, you'll die from both exhaustion and magical depletion!" Sting rolled his eyes, something which shouldn't have taken much energy to do, but now felt like he had to put all his effort in doing so. "I'm...already dying if you…haven't noticed…baka. Please, let me…go out with...a…bang."
Rogue looked like he was weighing his options before closing his eyes and sighing in frustration and sadness. "There's no way to stop you, is there." It sounded more like a statement than a question. Sting laughed softly, blood and spittle flying out from his mouth as he did so. "You know...there never was. Now…help me up." Rogue carefully lifted Sting making sure that he didn't cause any further damage. Pain flared through his body, but he ignored it, focusing all his strength and his mind on getting up. With great effort, the White Dragon Slayer managed to stay on his own two feet without any support, facing Jiemma with a frown. "I have to say, I'm impressed boy. I thought you'd be dead by now." Sting growled. "Then you should…remember…I wasn't one to…give up that easily." Jiemma laughed cruelly. "Ah, yes. That tenacity that you and that other weakling share is truly astounding. If only you were my child instead. You would've been so much better than that spawn of a failure."
Sting slowly felt his pain ebb and give way to rage at what his former guild master was implying. "You bastard…that's your daughter we're talking about! Your-!" Jiemma cut him off. "NO! She was the vessel for my bloodline, the strongest of all the bloodlines in Fiore! And she would've been the perfect vessel too, had those accursed fairies not knocked any sense into her!" At this point, Sting's pain was gone, having been replaced by pure and utter fury. "Then it seems…that your heart is still corrupted. So allow us to sow it up with the threads of black and white!" He all but yelled, his voice getting stronger and steadier with each word. He looked at his fellow Dragon Slayer. "Rogue! We've got no choice but to take him down. So, let's do this. One last time." Rogue nodded. "Together!"
The two sprinted towards Jiemma, dots of White and Shadow energy glowing at their fingertips. "Last chance, Jiemma! Stand down!" The former guild master scoffed, and did not budge a single inch.
""White-Shadow Dragon's…"" The dots of White and Shadow flared out in each of the Twin Dragon's fingers. ""Rough Silk!"" Threads of holy and dark energy spewed out of their fingertips, each one as tough as adamantine, and as sharp as a dragon's tooth. The threads shot out everywhere, piercing Jiemma's arms, legs, and head before they finally barraged into his corrupted heart. "No!" He thrashed around, trying to escape the pain that the threads of black and and white were causing him. But it was of no use. Slowly, his movements began to get more sluggish, and his breathing became heavily labored, until all he could do was fall to his knees, dying and defeated.
"This is impossible! How...could I...fail?" He let out one final strangled cry before toppling to the ground like a sack of bricks, gone for good. "Hah...looks like your game's up. But it looks like, so…is mine." Sting looked back at the dead guild master with a weak grin, before he himself fell to the ground, feeling the effects of the adrenaline rush begin to fade. "Sting!"
The White Dragon Slayer saw his vision beginning to blur. "Dammit...my time here…is nearing its end." He looked at Rogue, tears steadily streaming down his face. "Well, I guess this is it…" He gazed weakly at the corpse of Jiemma, his face still frozen in his final moments of shock and agony. In the distance, he could hear an unfamiliar scream of pain, and the absence of the explosions. 'Ah. Looks like those two finished their fight.' "At least…I got to…take him with me...yeah?" Rogue shook his head. "C'mon, don't say things like that. We can get you Wendy. Her powers should be enough to save you." Sting grinned weakly, but it looked more like a grimace to the Shadow Dragon Slayer. "We both know…that won't be possible. Even if she was with us, which..." Sting coughed, and even more blood spewed out of his mouth. "Which she isn't, her...power isn't at..a level where she can heal something like...this. Not ye, at leastt."
The sound of pounding feet and two familiar scents caught their attention, and they turned their heads to see Natsu and Gray running up to them.
.
"Hey, Sting! Rogue! What's up?" Natsu and Gray came to a stop, out of breath and exhausted, but triumphant. "What's going on, guys? Sting, you-." Natsu stopped mid-sentence and in his tracks to look at the grievous wound on Sting's stomach. "No…" The White Dragon Slayer smiled at Natsu. "Sorry man, looks like…I won't be able to have…that rematch with you." Natsu shook his head.
"We can get-" Sting cut him off. "I know what...your going to… say. Rogue said the same thing...but I think…we all know…she won't…be able to." Gray put a hand on the Fire Dragon Slayer's shoulder. "I hate to say it, but he's right. The wound on his stomach would be too much for her to handle. Not to mention," He turned around, spotting some flying figures in the distance. "We've got some more demons incoming." Natsu clenched his fists, looking to be on the verge of breaking down. "Dammit, if only we came sooner, then…" The Fire Dragon Slayer trailed off. Sting pulled Natsu down to his face.
"Hey, I don't…blame you. The Underworld King would've been a…tough opponent to take down…anyways." Sting noticed that he could barely see at this point. "Please…tell Lecter…I'm…sorry." Rogue shook his brother in everything but blood in desperation. "C'mon Sting, stay awake, please." However, at this point, Sting could only just see the desperate eyes of his comrades for a few moments before his vision faded completely. "So...tired…I'll just…take…a…nap…"
And on August 13, X791, Sting Eucliffe, son of Weisslogia, the White Dragon Slayer became the first and only casualty of the Light in the battle of Tartaros.
But his story was far from over.
Unknown location, some time later…
*Groan…* Sting slowly opened his eyes to find himself lying in an open field of grass, the landscape going on for miles and miles, with only about less than two dozen trees in sight. "Where…am I?" Only silence greeted him. "Am I in heaven?" It suddenly occurred to him that he didn't feel the pain in his stomach anymore. He looked down, and instead of being greeted with a scratched up torso with a gaping hole on the right side, he saw it was healed up and looked like it hadn't been cut up at all, with the exception of the scars before the fated battle. Despite feeling relieved that he was all headed up, he still felt felt wary, and tried to activate his Dragon Slayer magic.
Keyword: Tried.
Sting tried a second time, but there was no sign of the usual white aura surrounding his body.
"What?! Why can't I activate my magic?!" Sting was a loss. That meant almost everything to him, and it was the last thing he had to remember his father by. It was what made him well, him. Not being able to utilize it now made him feel weak and vulnerable. He could feel it just bubbling underneath his skin, but just couldn't let it out.
"Sorry, but I let you activate your magic here. Draconian relics, or anything dragon-related have a tendency to cause this plane of reality to crash. Though somehow dragons don't seem to fit into that."
Sting whipped around, putting his fists up to guard his face. "Who's there?!" A figure suddenly materialized right next to him, causing him to fall over in surprise. "Whoa!" A strong, firm, yet gentle hand grabbed his arm, stopping his fall.
"Easy there! I may have healed you, but you still need rest." Sting looked up to see a black-haired Asian man with black fingerless gloves and a dark leather jacket. Actually, his entire attire was just about all black, similar to Rogue's color scheme. "Who...are you?" The man laughed. "I go by many names. God, The Creator, the Brother-Who-Embodies-Light, and so much more, but please, call me Monty."
"Okay…so, where am I and what do you want from me?" Monty's smile faded at that question. "You weren't supposed to die, Sting. You would've gone on and helped Natsu defeat Acnologia." The White Dragon Slayer's head shot up so fast that Monty thought he would've gotten whiplash. "What?!" Monty nodded. "It's true. Fate had been tampered with somehow, and with that, it influenced Jiemma, who had decided to take you out. An 'eye-for-an-eye', so to speak. In this case, blowing a hole in your stomach, which I have to say, took a while to heal in your spirit body. So I'll cut to the chase." He looked at Sting straight in the eye.
"I can't fix Fate, nor can I return your soul to your body, it's already gone and buried six feet underground. But, I can send you to another world in a body that's more or less genetically the same as your old one. If you don't choose to accept this offer, I can send your soul to the heavens. I won't interfere with your ultimate decision." Seeing his distress, he turned around and walked away, slowly fading away. "Take your time. When you've made your choice, I'll know." He stopped some feet away, and turned back to face him, barely visible, but Sting could see a gentle smile adorning his face just before he disappeared.
"Great…" Sting sat back down, looking up at the sky and closing his eyes. *Sigh* "It's one thing after another, isn't it."
"Heh. I think you know the answer to that."
The White Dragon Slayer's eyes shot open, hearing a voice belonging to someone he had long since thought dead.
"Weisslogia?"
Suddenly the world around him warped and twisted until it settled. He was no long standing within the open field, but rather, a large white marble temple.
And before him towered his deceased father.
He grinned, or at least gave the dragon equivalent of a grin. "Hello, son. Long time no see, eh?"
Sting couldn't respond, much less react to his deceased father's presence. There were a million thoughts flying through his head at the same time, rushing like a raging river. It took a few minutes, but he eventually got himself under control enough to ask one very important question.
"...eh?"
Or not.
The White Dragon chuckled at his son's 'smart' question. "I see that you are is still having a hard time reacting to my presence. Not to worry, I had a feeling this would happen. In the meantime, sit, and collect yourself."
Somehow Sting managed to do so, idly noting that the marble floor felt more fluffy and softer than it should be. When he finally calmed down to rein in his mental faculties, he asked, "How are you here? I killed you years ago." Weisslogia smirked at that. "Ha! As if. Skiadrum and I simply altered yours and Rogue's memories." Sting's eye widened at that. "What?!" The White Dragon simply nodded.
"It's the truth, son. We had to make it convincing, and hoped that by doing so it would boost your confidence. Of course, we saw where that went." Sting blushed in embarrassment. Was his ego really that bad back then? Still, he looked up at his father, quest urging for him to go on. The White Dragon sighed. "In reality, Skiadrum and I went inside your bodies, in order to prolong our lives for the final fight against Acnologia, and…for a much more serious purpose." Sting looked at his father in suspicion. "And that reason was?"
"The prevention of your dragonification. By placing ourselves inside your bodies, we created antibodies to prevent the side effects of your magic. Had all of the dragons not intervened, you and the rest of the first generation Dragon Slayers would have turned into corrupt dragons."
Sting abruptly stood up. "No!" Weisslogia stared hard at him. "Yes."
The White Dragon Slayer fell to his knees, the knowledge imparted to him making him feel cold on the inside. The fact that he could have hurt his friends and family had his father not intervened most certainly did not bode well with him. "Then…what was the point of having us learn your magic if it could have had such a negative rebound?" His father lightly bopped him on the head, which meant he face-planted on the floor. Hard.
"Foolish child, we cared about you. Having you successfully learn to wield our powers brought us untold amounts of joy, and seeing you grow into who you are today could not have made us any prouder. We wanted all of you to have a great and lively future, surrounded by people you could count on, trust, and love. It has hard for us to leave you, so young and isolated, but we knew what the future held in store for you with your magic." Hearing these words, Sting start to tear up.
Suddenly, reality started shifting again, and he saw his father begin to fade out of existence. "Damn, I guess we don't have much time left. Before I go, there is one thing I must I must give you." A bright orb of light appeared in front of them, and slowly started to move towards the White Dragon Slayer. "In life, aside from being the White Dragon, I held another title. It was 'Sanctus ab Aurora Mundi', the 'Holy Blade of Dawn'. The reason why I had this title was simple." The orb drew closer as his father spoke, and Sting found himself transfixed to it.
"My powers did not just lie in the simple usage of our 'Holy' attribute for temporary movement restriction and power cancellation, but if used against the right ev b nemies, they had the power to cleanse and purge any soul of dark taint, no matter what defenses were put up against it. However, this was something I used as an absolute last resort, because not only would it kill your opponent and eradicate everything else within a ten meter radius of them, but you would also take on a small portion of your target's darkness. Should enough accurate, there is a chance that you could turn against your loved ones, and there is almost nothing you can do to stop it."
The orb finally sunk into Sting, there was a sharp pain in his head from the rush of knowledge he was receiving. New moves, new uses for his 'Holy' attribute, ways to manipulate his magic into solid constructs, a better grasp of his dragon senses, and much, much more. But none of that mattered as he looked up at his father, fear etched on his face. "Why give this to me? If this power can corrupt me and turn me against my friends and family, then what's the point?" Weisslogia gently smiled.
"There is still hope. When that time does come where it begins to take over, and you have enough willpower to resist that corruption, you will receive a power beyond anything you could imagine. And I have faith in you. Goodbye, my son."
With those parting words, the world around Sting faded to white until he found himself back on the endless plains. For a few seconds, he only stood there.
Then he cried.
He cried like there was no tomorrow, letting all the anguish and rage of recent events just wash away with his tears. He cried at his inability to be able to support his friends from now on. He cried because he had failed to be strong for them. But most of all, he cried because he was freely given a second chance, in a new world, to start over and make things right.
He didn't know how long he cried, nor when he had fallen to his knees, his right hand punching the ground until he was sure it should have broken after the first two hundred punches. What he did know was that when he got up, there was a fire burning in his belly, just like Natsu whenever he had his resolve set in stone.
So he looked up towards the sky, a wide grin on his face.
"I'm ready."
And just like that, Monty warped into existence. "You're absolutely sure? You could wait for your friends in heaven." Despite his words, he looked slightly hopeful. Sting laughed at his expression. "Even if I won't be seeing them for a little longer, what does it matter? I'll still be seeing them in the end, won't I? And I'll have more friends to bring with me for them to meet." The god smiled wide. "Then rejoice, Sting Eucliffe! Your wish will be granted!"
With that, the world turned white once more.
And then he saw darkness.
Okay, perhaps not. There was a faint red but his eyes should have-
'Wait a sec. Why are my eyes closed? Why can't I open them?, Sting tried to force his eyes to open up, but to no avail. 'I believe I can be of help here.' The sound of Monty's voice calmed Sting down. 'Oh thank goodness! Could you tell me what's going on here?'
'Well…you remember when I said that I would send you to another world with a body that was more or less genetically the same?' The god sounded nervous, and Sting had a bad feeling in his gut. 'Uh, yeah?'
"Erm…in order to make the changes necessary, I had to revert your body into a premature state.'
'Wait, premature? Are you saying what I think you're saying?!'
'Yup! Have fun with your new life!'' And with those parting words, Sting finally felt Monty's presence leave for good.
'Oh, you no good, little sh-!'
Arc residence, infirmary, Remnant…
"You're almost there, Mrs. Arc, just another push!" A middle-aged doctor did his best to reassure the Arc matriarch, while her husband rubbed her hand to comfort her. With one last scream, a baby emerged, with the trademark patch of blond hair all Arcs had.
"WAAAHAAAAHHHHHH!" The baby started screaming like no tomorrow, but eventually calmed down after twenty minutes.
"Congratulations Mrs. Arc, you've given birth your first son." The doctor said, evidently pleased at the new form of life that had just been introduced to the world, but still recovering from the effects of the baby's screams. "Now, I just need to sew you up again and then you can hold him. Sir, if you would?"
The doctor held out a pair of scissors to the man. He cut the umbilical cords, and the doctor slowly and gently put them back in Mrs. Arc's stomach, making sure she didn't cause her any pain before he sewed her back up. "Thank you Robert, you've done so much for us these past seven years." The doctor grinned, scratching his curly salt and pepper hair in embarrassment. "No need to thank me Mr. Arc. I'm just doing my job. After all," he looked at him, a warm smile on his face. "Your other kids have grown up to be wonderful children. I'd be surprised if they all didn't become top huntsman by twenty five." Mr. Arc laughed. "Please, there is no need for formalities, old friend." Robert chuckled. "Alright, alright, whatever you say, Scott. Besides, what will you name him?"
"I think…" He turned to his wife, who was now cooing at their newborn child in affection. "I agreed to let Marie name the baby. What will it be, dear?" The Arc matriarch, looked at her husband, a radiant smile on her face. "I'm naming this one here," she pointed to the blonde-haired boy. "Sting. He's already tried to bite me at least three times already." Scott laughed. "Surely he can't be that bad already."
Had the adults paid more attention to the their newborn child, they would've seen Sting briefly open his eyes and look at the adults with amusement.
Scott held out his arms, and Marie gave the boy to him. "Hello, Sting. Daddy's here." Scott started making silly faces at the baby, making the others laugh. Both Robert and Marie rolled their eyes in amusement at how Scott was acting with the child. Five other kids and he still acted like this.
"Woah! Stop trying to bite me!"
"Told you dear…"
Yes, it truly was a blessed day.
