Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to Mysteries of Magic. So, what do we have today:

johannvanguard: Thank you very much, I always appreciate it when those scenes work out. We shall see.

Thanks for the feedback! With that said, let's continue!

Chapter 18: The Idea of Family

Visor was currently sleeping in his bed rather peacefully as the morning sun was slowly rising, the sun's rays shining through his window that he feels on his face. Despite the warmth he felt, the cold air was rather prominent still even with his blankets on top. The quietness of the morning was then interrupted as he hears a familiar click, one that belongs to a camera.

"Mom, are you taking pictures again?" He mutters under his breath.

"Nooo..." Her voice answers, trying not to laugh in the process.

He opens his eyes as he turns over, looking right at his mom who was standing in the center of the room with her signature camera in her hands. Already awake and dressed, she had her long crimson red hair tied in a ponytail by a black scrunchie bracelet that she usually uses it for. Her persimmon orange eyes look at him with a rather funny expression, adding to it her pale light amaranth skin that was currently lit up by the sun outside.

She wore a simple yellow sweater and red pants with black boots as her feet moves her closer to his bed, "Just how long are ya gonna be sleeping today?"

"Well, it's a school day-" He was suddenly cut off as his mom casually interrupts him, "School's closed today."

Visor immediately sat up at this news, "Closed?"

"Yeah. Candid texted me earlier, saying that the snow is getting dangerous for students to get through right now." His mom then points towards the window, "Look for yourself."

He does just that, seeing that the snow outside is practically over two inches at this point. Though, the way the window frames it with the sun in the sky, he sees why she was taking photos earlier.

"Oh, wow. No kidding." He comments on it before feeling his blankets get pulled off.

"Come on, let's get the snow out of the driveway before it gets too slippery." She simply said as she walks towards the door.

"Now?" He was surprised, considering how early it is.

"Yeah, since you're off school today. Nothing like some good old physical labor to wake you up." His mom had pretty good points there.

He only sighs in response as he get out of his bed, standing up to then hear their doorbell ring. His mom goes to answer it as he gets dressed to endure the cold outside.

Opening the front door, it turns out to be Shade with his Aunt Candid. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Sky." The former greets the homeowner.

"Shade, Candid. You didn't tell me you were coming over." Mrs. Sky recalls the texts she read earlier as she reflexively lets the two in, closing the door behind them soon after.

"Well, Shade wanted to come over after hearing school's out." Aunt Candid corrects her on that part.

"Did you walk all the way here?" Mrs. Sky wonders, which Shade answers this time. "I figured since the snowfall was thicker than before, you wouldn't mind some help on cleaning the driveway."

"Is Visor awake yet?" Aunt Candid asks her, making Mrs. Sky chuckle a bit that gave away her answer. "Ataraxy, you sly fox."

"I let him sleep in. He should be done dressing up about..." She stops intentionally as she heard footsteps coming from down the hall.

"Mom, who's at the door?" Visor's voice called out.

"Some familiar faces!" Mrs. Sky calls back, being intentionally vague to mess with him.

Visor came around the corner with a confused expression on his face before seeing their guests, "Oh! Morning, Shade. Mrs. Brace."

"It's past noon, dude." His friend informs him, which he changes his expression to shock.

"What!? Then-" A brief flash blinded him for a moment, disappearing as soon as he realizes what just happened. "Mom!"

"You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to disturb you!" Mrs. Sky nonchalantly excuses her actions as she then looks at the photo she took, "This will be great to have next to the last one."

"Can't wait to see them." Aunt Candid smiles at the result as Shade walks over to his friend.

"There is actually two reasons why I came over." He speaks to Visor in a lower volume, which the latter catches on what he means.

"Yeah. Perfect opportunity to catch the magic." An eager smirk went on Visor's face as he said that.

"Yup. Once we do the driveway, we get Levin and head to CHS." Shade told him the plan.

"And what about them?" Visor gestures with his thumb towards his mom and Mrs. Brace.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Shade admits with a nervous smile.

"Come on, boys! Let's get the tools from the garage!" Mrs. Sky places her camera on a nearby table as she said that.

"Yes, ma'am." Shade responds with right before jogging down the hallway towards where the garage is, Visor following soon after.

"Still lively as ever, aren't they?" Candid asks, walking alongside her friend for a conversation.

"They should, being in high school and all. Don't tell me you're already-" Ataraxy was cut off before finishing by Candid, "No! Just that seeing them like that makes me feel energetic."

"Ah, OK. I was just saying that you still have that youthful energy at your age." Ataraxy finishes what she was talking about.

Candid chuckles at that part, "Said the one who still acts like a teen."

"Good point. Guess the energy stays with some more than others." Ataraxy had a smirk after saying that, making her friend shake her head in response.

"I bet I'm one of them." Candid sounds assured about that part.

"Bet money on that?" A small jab in the arm was Candid's response to Ataraxy's little joke, "Just kidding."


Adagio and Aria stood outside Sonata's bedroom door, bracing themselves for their attempt to reach out as the two look at each other.

"Ready?" The former asks the latter.

"As I'll ever be." The latter simply answers with, which is enough for Adagio right before she knocks on the door.

They stood there for a couple of seconds to only get nothing but silence, making the two feel a bit worried before she knocks on the door again. Still, silence was the only answer they got in response. Curiosity seeps in as Aria tries the doorknob, which turns out to be unlocked.

The two spare a glance at each other before opening the door, revealing that she wasn't in her bedroom.

"Where did she go?" Aria wonders out loud.

They didn't wait long as their answer came as the front door was starting to unlock downstairs. Figuring that it might be her coming back from somewhere, the two hurried down the stairs and reached the entrance hall as the door opens.

"Hey, you two are awake!" Levin greets the two as he enters, carrying a big pine tree wrapped in rope in his hands in the process.

"What's with the tree?" Aria points out.

"It's our Christmas tree!" He answers, placing the tree on the floor close to the wall.

Looking outside, they saw a truck carrying similar trees in the back as the driver was talking with Sonata outside his window before sharing a wave goodbye. The driver drove off as Sonata quickly jogs up to the open door to enter the house, Levin closing it behind her soon after before locking it.

"I thought you would be in school by now." Adagio was a bit confused on this sudden change.

"Believe it or not, the schools are closed for snow days. Early weekend!" Levin cheers in excitement at that with a smile, "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go place a pot for the tree to stay alive."

He then quickly walks off, leaving the three sisters alone for the time being. Sonata looks at them with a rather sad smile as she tries to start a conversation.

"I was already awake by the time he heard about it." She briefly explains to them, "I didn't want to wake you two up for something you might not like to do."

The two were surprised by her consideration despite their current heat, but quickly recover to continue their discussion.

"How nice of you. Look, we need to talk to you about what happened the day before." Adagio didn't waste time beating around the bush, which Sonata drops her smile at this.

"What about it?" Her tone was a bit somber at the memory resurfacing, but it was for good reason.

"About the whole 'revenge' thing. What you said... kinda puts our goals into perspective." Aria wasn't used to being sympathetic often, but she is capable of such.

"It did." Adagio bluntly corrects her, which Aria eventually repeated. "...It did."

"It did?" Sonata also repeats, more so out of surprise.

"Yes. We were really just going through this cycle of anger and stress, rambling and complaining about the Rainbooms and what they did to us." Adagio recalls last night during this sentence, as it honestly sums up what she feels right now.

"We were pretty bad back then. That in itself was eventually gonna bring in the 'goody two-shoes' to stop us in our tracks." Aria adds in, "Once we figured that part out, it was down to whether or not we just accept the consequences and move on with our lives."

Sonata was now astonished at what she's hearing, her sisters are actually admitting this in front of her! But why would this be?

Adagio steps a bit closer to her before speaking once more with sincerity in her voice, "And we might have not realized this without you telling us. So, we're sorry for putting you through all that."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Aria simply repeats in her own way, but still as sincere.

Sonata just stood there, processing all that had just transpired. The two were a bit concerned about her state, only to then see her shed a tear before pulling them into a big hug.

"I... I..." She couldn't even form words at this point, only sobbing left her lips as her sisters hug her back.

"We're staying together, no matter what." Adagio simply said as her eyes started to tear up.

Aria simply nods in agreement, tears forming in her eyes as well as their hug held on longer.

Levin had already came back, but stayed behind the corner to avoid interrupting their little heart-to-heart. Admittedly, he has to wipe the tears from his eyes near the end to avoid suspicion since he still needs to get the tree. Peeking around the corner to make sure they weren't looking, he carefully moves around it and gently drags it across the floor into the living room.

Once he places the tree in the stand pot he set up that was placed near the wall in between the stairs and the kitchen, he then carefully removes the rope to avoid damaging the pine before wrapping it up. Taking the extra time to do so, he then quickly goes to the garage to put away the rope and comes back inside to then head upstairs to get the box of decorations.

After some time, the three girls let go of each other before drying their eyes and regaining their composures.

"Thank you! I-I don't know what to say." Sonata admits.

"No need." Adagio reassures her before realizing something, "I think Levin may be done by now."

"Oh right, he wants us to decorate the tree together!" Sonata remembers before eagerly walking into the living room.

The two follow after her as Levin was coming back down with the box, "All right, now for the fun part!"

Sonata was doing short hops up and down as he places the box down near the tree was, opening it to reveal various decorations with the lights neatly wrapped up on top. Getting the obvious part out of the way, he takes the lights and starts to undo them as the girls were curious about what else was inside.

"Do you girls celebrate the holidays often?" Levin wonders as he was carefully unwrapping the lights.

"We try to. Some more than others, but we do for a little bit of fun." Adagio answers, pulling out a strange homemade ornament as she does.

"Aww, it's a kitty!" Sonata points out, making Levin glance for a second to see.

"Yeah it is, I made that when I was in fifth grade for arts and crafts." Levin reminisces just as he finishes unfurling the lights.

He then goes ahead and starts wrapping them around the tree from top to bottom as Aria pulls out a rather interesting photo with a hook placed on the top of the small frame. Showing the other two what she held in her hand, the three grew curious on who they were looking at.

"Is this your mom and dad?" She asks as he reaches the bottom before suddenly stopping.

"I'm sorry?" Levin didn't catch their question, wanting to make sure he heard right.

Aria turns the photo around for him to see, his face changing to a saddened expression once he realizes what he sees.

It was indeed a photo of his parents with a younger him in the middle, back when the two were home most of the time. His hair was down and shorter in length as he has a big toothy smile on his face as he held a big stuffed bear from winning one of the games at the carnival.

His father was on his right with an equally big toothy smile, holding the camera at an angle for the three to fit in the frame. He has neat black hair that reaches the top of his ears and the bangs covering his forehead, ruby red eyes, and light tangelo skin. He wore a black t-shirt, a silver digital watch on his left wrist, and blue pants.

His mother was on his left with a closed-mouthed smile that conveys equal joy, her hands on his shoulders to keep him still. She has navy blue hair with yellow highlights cut in a bowl-shaped hairstyle, her bangs neatly combed to the right to show her sapphire eyes, and pale amberish gray skin. She wore a yellow t-shirt under a blue vest and gray shorts.

He took the photo and looks at it with a distant gaze in his eyes, "Yeah, this is them." He confirms to the three.

"You look really happy in that." Sonata points out the obvious.

Levin looks up at them for a second before looking back at the photo, "Yep. Won my first carnival game and got my prize, so my dad immediately took this for the occasion. One of the best days we had, honestly."

He then realizes that the mood shifted a bit from what he intended as he stands up and places the photo on one of the branches, "OK, get ready."

Going back down for a moment, he plugs the lights into a nearby wall outlet to turn them on. Multiple colors shine all round the tree as the girls took in the image, him stepping back to where they were to see for himself.

"Cool, right?" He rhetorically asks them, "I usually see just one or two colors on other people's trees, so I figured why not all of them."

"As we can see." Adagio simply said, "Did your younger self do this?"

"...Maybe." He admits, rubbing the back of his neck soon after.

"It's very pretty." Sonata compliments the creative choice before pulling out another ornament from the box, "And we're gonna make it pop!"

Levin smiles at her enthusiasm, "Oh yeah!"

Adagio and Aria were not as obvious, but might be lying if they weren't excited at least a little bit.


The Rainbooms are currently hanging at Pinkie's house after finding out that school was cancelled, now wondering on what to do on their early weekend. So far, they have been tossing a couple of suggestions around like darts at a dartboard with none hitting bullseye yet.

"Are you sure you don't wanna have another snowball fight?" Pinkie sounded a bit disappointed about that.

"With the snow as it is now, it's probably best that we-" Sunset was then cut off by a sudden slam from up above, on the roof of the house.

The slam was tamed compared to what follows after as a loud sliding sound was heard, hurting their eardrums until finishing with an abrupt stop.

"AAAAAA-!"

A voice screams as the person fell to the ground, right into the pile of snow that was up against Pinkie's window. All the girls saw as a result was a bandaged hand half-buried near the glass.

"Why was someone on your roof?" Fluttershy asks her friend, who simply shrugged.

"No idea! Let's ask him!" Pinkie was rather casual about this as she walks over to the window.

Unlocking it, she then pulls it up to let in the cool air as she then spoke to the unfortunate person. "Excuse me, why were you on the roof!?"

The hand sprung to life in response, making a gesture to send the message of grabbing and pulling it out. Pinkie caught on instantly, doing just that as she pulls the stranger into her room through the window. Her friends were surprised at first before coming in to help out, easing the man onto the floor before Pinkie closes the window back up.

"OK, Ah know you're trying to help, but did you really had to drag him inside instead of going out yourself?" Applejack questions why.

"Of course, silly! He might freeze out there if I didn't!" Pinkie had a good point there.

Speaking of the man, he was shivering quite a bit as he tries to get up to his feet. Pinkie runs off to the kitchen as Applejack takes the nearest blanket and wraps it around the man to warm him up.

"T-Thank you." He mutters before being placed in a nearby chair to sit.

"So, why were you on the roof?" Rainbow questions, which is still important to know.

"W-Would you believe I'm a roof inspector?" The man answers with a little joke, which didn't make anyone laugh. "Y-Yeah, of course not."

"Here you go!" Pinkie comes back with a mug filled with hot chocolate, handing it to the man who gladly accepts it.

"Thank you-" The man then realizes who she was, "Pinkie, a pleasure to meet you again."

"Oh yeah, you were the gentleman who was short on change before. What brings you to my humble abode?" She carries the conversation on so casually as the other girls were processing what they were hearing.

"My usual travel method has been malfunctioning recently. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it until about... oh, about a minute ago?" The man admits.

Before Pinkie continued, Rarity pulls her away for a sec to ask her what was going on. "Do you know this man, Pinkie?"

"Yup! He showed up at the cafe right after you guys left." She recalls their meeting as she answered. "I think his name is... Eon?"

"Aeon." The man finally introduces himself before taking a sip of his coco, "These are your friends, correct?"

"Yup! This is Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Sunset, and Twilight!" The hyperactive girl gestures to who's who in one swift motion.

His eyes looks at each girl present until focusing on Twilight, who simply gives a nervous smile in response.

"I-I'm sorry for staring, but I think I met you two days ago." That comment has their full attention, "Y-You wore glasses and had your hair tied in a bun. Even having the same name."

"You might have met her twin!" Pinkie simply said as the answer for it.

"Really? Well, what are the odds?" Aeon was rather intrigued by that, more towards the coincidence of that happening.

"Yeah, my long-lost sister. Don't worry, we get that a lot." Pri-Twi hesitantly adds before quickly changing the topic, "So, your travel method is rooftops? Kinda strange to do with snow outside."

"You're telling me. Especially since this part of the city has the houses spread pretty far from each other." Sunset deduces, adding more questions for them.

Aeon then gets up and takes another sip of hot coco before putting it down on the desk, "All right, I'll tell you."

The girls were confused by this until he dramatically pulls off the blanket, it landing neatly on the bed, before an instant flash of light appears in his right hand.

"This is my travel method." He holds up a rather interesting cane, the 'hilt' of the handle designed to resemble an eagle.

"Ooo, his cane just appeared like magic!" That claim made him smirk at her, giving them the answer right there.

"Wait, you know about magic too!?" Rainbow was understandably surprised at this.

"Says the ones who also know about it." Aeon simply responds back with, "Not exactly subtle about it, either."

"Says the one who came crashing down." Sunset retorts, which got an actual laugh out of him.

This lasted for a moment before he spoke, "All right, I'll give you that one. Though, as for how I knew..."

He then lifts the cane up a bit, the 'eyes' of the eagle head glowing with energy as he moves his arm slowly in a sweeping motion.

"My cane is able to detect abnormal energy within the souls of others, which I feel in an instant." He briefly explains, "Ever since that day, I knew I had to observe you all for the time being."

"For how long, exactly?" Sunset questions, feeling a bit on guard for what this meant.

"I could simply say long enough, but that wouldn't be much of an answer." Aeon then walks back over to the chair he sat in before, taking a seat right back in it before grabbing his mug of hot coco. "Feel free to prepare some snacks, for I shall tell a little story of how I know all of you."

And done! Well, this has been quite the turn of events, snow day included.

She has been mentioned in the early parts of the story, but the mother of Visor has finally made her appearance! It took me quite awhile to put her in a chapter, mainly since I keep forgetting to, but better late than never. This was also a good opportunity to bring back Aunt Candid after a few chapters. Honestly, those two elements made this scene with a small bit between Visor and Shade of their plan.

Oh, my heart! Not gonna lie, I was a bit emotional when I was writing the Dazzlings talking to each other. Short and sweet, the three has found their strength again. Soon after that, Levin has them join in decorating their new tree. I was kinda hesitant on having the whole sequence of them doing the decorations, but it wasn't my main focus for this scene in particular.

Aeon has finally met the Humane Six and Pri-Twi after all this time... or did he? Well, not face-to-face like now, but he will explain this soon enough. That's right, for one chapter only, Aeon is taking the spotlight as he tells us his side of the story while Levin and the others were doing their thing. More on that later.

And now, I have a little announcement. For those who have known me just for this story, this was originally gonna be part of a crossover series that I did last year. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to incorporate the stories that my OCs appear in for the other main characters effectively. Soon afterwards, I felt a bit burned out from it and wanted to move on with other projects.

After some serious consideration and motivation, I have brought it back with the third story in the lineup:

Persona EG: Lunar Star!

I expanded on my thoughts and more in the debut chapter, but I am continuing it alongside the other main stories.

With all of that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!