A/N: Hi guys! So here's chapter 22 I'm trying to get back to writing this weekly, not much happens in this chapter you learn a little bit about Alistar's mom (not much I admit) but there is also a little YamiChar here too hehe, also in case anyone is confused or can't keep track of the kids there's a masterlist on my tumblr for you guys! Anyway I hope you all enjoy~!

—

William watched Alistar curiously as the two walked through the woods. The young man had been acting odd since the incident with Aloys Adlai, he was unusually quiet.

" Is everything alright?" William finally asked, Alistar jumped slightly as he was pulled out of his thoughts, but he nodded simply.

" I'm fine, just thinking." He told the older man with a small smile, but as soon as he said that he appeared to become lost in thought again. William sighed.

" Are you sure? You don't like alright." William pushed slightly, Alistar turned to look at his 'father' and gave him a warm and charming smile.

" I'm sure father-, ah sorry, Captain. I'm fine." He insisted, but William frowned. This smile that Alistar was showing him looked forced, and the words that came out of his mouth sounded rehearsed. It seemed like this was something Alistar said and did often.

William gently grabbed him by his arm and made him stop.

" Alistar, I can tell you're not alright. So I'd like for you to tell me what happened." He almost pleaded, the younger man frowned thoughtfully for a moment, William could clearly see he was choosing his words carefully.

" It's just a misunderstanding that's all." Alistar muttered as he gave a small shrug.

" It didn't look like a misunderstanding."

" It is, Aloys thinks that I'm the one at fault for what happened." Alistar said vaguely as he gently pulled his arm out of his 'father's' grasp. William frowned as the young man began to walk a little bit ahead of him. " I can't tell you anything more than that because of spoilers." Alistar added as he turned slightly. William saw his charming smile still in place and began to wonder how long he planned on wearing that mask of his.

—

The two Vangeance's sat in the middle of the woods as they practiced their magic. Alistar didn't really feel like he needed anymore training so he decided to make small little plants with his magic while William made a few trees grow taller and had them grow more limbs. He watched Alistar's plants curiously.

" When we first met, you told me your magic was 'World Plant Magic', is that the same magic your mother has?" He asked. Ever since he had met Alistar he had been pretty curious about who his mother was, of course he knew better than to ask as it would be labeled as 'spoilers', but he figured it would be harmless to ask about her magic.

Alistar suddenly paused, it was as though William's question paralyzed him or something. He watched as the plants Alistar had been growing with his magic began to wilt.

" My mom just had regular plant magic, the 'world' part came from yours I think." Alistar said softly before shaking his head a little bit, William nodded before walking over to stand next to him.

" I see. You and your mom must be close since your magic is similar?" William asked, he frowned a bit as Alistar's hand trembled slightly. Did he and his mother actually not have a good relationship?

" I'd like to think we are, but I can't be sure." Alistar answered vaguely again. William nodded, he and his foster mother didn't have a good relationship so he had hoped maybe Alistar's would be different.

" The only thing I can say for sure is that my mom and I share a love of plants." Alistar told him with a small chuckle, William turned and saw the young man had a genuinely warm and kind smile on his face. The mask appeared to be slipping for just a little bit.

" Really? There's someone out there who loves plants more than you?" William gently teased deciding to try and make the subject lighter, Alistar suddenly looked over at him, his cheeks a bright pink.

" I-I don't like plants that much!" He stammered, William laughed. " Between you and Hikari I'm not sure who likes to tease me more." He muttered under his breath, causing William to laugh again.

" You and Hikari seem pretty close." William started after the two Vangeance's had sat quietly for a few minutes, Alistar nodded in agreement.

" She's my best friend, my self appointed bodyguard, and the only other person who knows everything about me." Alistar agreed, his warm genuine smile returning but there was a hint of something else in it, William raised a curious eyebrow.

" I see. Well, I wouldn't let Yami find out about this, otherwise you may not make it back home alive." William chuckled, he heard Alistar make a gagging noise before he stammered again.

" It's not like that! Hikari's just a friend, that's all!" Alistar denied as his face grew red once again, William gave the young boy a skeptical look. " It's true, just ask her!" He insisted again.

" Then why did you nearly flinch when Hikari said you two were friends that time Zora accused you both of 'fooling' around'?" William asked with a tilt of his head, Alistar only shrugged.

" I don't know, maybe because I was being accused of doing something with someone I consider family?" He suggested calmly, William continued to stare at him skeptically, but decided he wouldn't push it any farther.

" Well if that's all it was then I won't tease you anymore. So let's get back to training." William said as he patted Alistar on the shoulder, they both stood up and began to train again.

As William watched Alistar he couldn't help but be a little happy, the younger man's mask had slipped just a bit today.

—

Two Days Later

Yami yawned loudly as he walked into the common area of the house, he had been helping Charlotte train Hikari the past few days and he had to admit, the girl was pretty good. Especially when it came to Ki. She was pretty on par with him and Asta when it came to that, but then again Yami wasn't really surprised, she was his daughter. Yami froze for a minute as something caught his attention, he turned a bit.

" Good morning Prickly Princess." He watched as Charlotte jumped slightly at the noise and she turned to look at him. " Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

" It's alright Yami, and Good morning." She told him with a small sigh, she walked over to the table and sat down with Yami following suit.

" Would you like some coffee?" She asked, Yami shook his head.

" Nah, if I even think of taking a sip of that stuff I'm gonna be in the can all day." Yami explained with a shrug, Charlotte nearly grimaced, that was a little too much information.

The two then sat there quietly for a while, Charlotte drank her coffee while Yami ate a piece of bread, she chuckled a bit when he muttered he missed Charmy's cooking.

" So, how do you think Hikari is doing with her training?" Charlotte asked curiously as she set her coffee down, Yami thought for a minute.

" To be honest I wasn't quite sure where she stood as far as power and skill, but she met my expectations and even succeeded them. She's a chip off the old block as they say." Yami said with a laugh, she smiled and nodded.

" I agree, she's a lot like you both in skill and in magic power." Yami made a weird, grunt-like noise as he turned a bit in his chair and rubbed the back of his head.

" I dunno, I think she's more like you than me. The way she moved, and the way she thought out her attacks and counterattacks, they reminded me a lot of the way you fight." He muttered almost sheepishly, Charlotte blinked in surprise and felt a blush begin to creep up her cheeks.

" T-That's not true-." Charlotte began but Yami cut her off.

" No it is, even her Ki is similar to yours." He insisted as he took another bite of his bread, Charlotte had noticed during their training that Hikari used some of the same attacks she did, but they usually had a little bit of Yami in them as well.

" We'll just say she's the perfect mixture of both our styles." Charlotte compromised, Yami nodded in agreement and they fell into silence again.

Charlotte grabbed a piece of bread and began to eat it as well. She watched Yami curiously for a moment as he appeared lost in thought, she had noticed him doing that a lot more lately. Ever since the meeting he would sit or stand and just…get lost in whatever he was thinking about.

" Somethings worrying you, isn't it?" She finally asked, Yami quickly looked over at her before giving a slight nod. " Is it what happened at the meeting? Or does it still have to do with Alistar?" Yami sighed.

" Both. Alistar, he keeps trying to hide his Ki from me, which makes me even more suspicious of him than I was when I first met him." Yami began slowly as he began to get lost in his thoughts again.

" Do you think he had something to do with Spade falling?" Charlotte asked as she crossed her arms, Yami shook his head.

" His Ki doesn't give off those kinds of 'vibes' or whatever the kids are calling it these days." Yami said with a shake of his head.

" You said the same thing about William and Patolli. Look how that turned out." Charlotte pointed out, Yami rubbed the back of his head.

" Fair point Princess." He muttered, there was no way Alistar would have done that to Spade. The kid gave off a lot of mana, which meant he was pretty powerful, but it was nowhere near powerful enough to take out an entire kingdom. But then again, the kid did know a lot of information that none of the others did, and the way he pushed Miku on showing everyone her memories of that night.

" Y'know," Charlotte began softly as she took a sip of her coffee. " you keep bouncing back and forth between calling me 'Prickly Princess' and just 'Princess'. Why did you start doing that?" She asked.

Yami was somewhat thankful for the change of subject as it was a little too early in the morning to be thinking of possible betrayals. He made a humming noise in thought, had he been bouncing between calling her that? As to her asking 'why' he tilted his head slightly.

" I dunno, maybe it's because you're not as Prickly as you were before, or, I like the way you blush when I just call you Princess?" He said before they both froze in place. That last part, that was supposed to stay in his head.

They both just sat there staring at each other as they processed what Yami had accidentally said. Charlotte's face was as red as a tomato, and Yami's face was pretty red as well.

'He, he likes it when I blush when he calls me 'Princess'? N-No, he probably meant he thinks it's funny to see me all embarrassed over something so silly! Yeah that's right, that's probably what he meant and it just came out wrong. No need to get all worked up over it Charlotte!' She thought to herself with a firm nod.

" Hey Char-." Yami began before she suddenly jumped up out of her seat and accidentally slammed her hands onto the table.

" T-The kids! I'm going to go wake the kids up so we can start training, excuse me!" She shouted quickly before taking off at lightning speed down the hall to go wake up the children and their 'parents'.

—

Later

The kids all stood in the front yard, watched as their 'parents' all talked amongst themselves. Apparently they were planning something.

" You know whenever they're all standing there like that something fishy's going on." Hikari stated, Alistar chuckled but nodded in agreement.

" I wonder what they're doing." Maelie said softly as she stood next to her brother.

" Maybe they're going to trade kids? Y'know, like we'll get to work with different parents?" Brielle suggested. " Aww that'd be super cool!" She exclaimed excitedly.

The parents came back, most of the parents face's were neutral, except for Yami's. He had a bright yet slightly wicked grin on his face.

" So, how do you kids feel about a few Versus battles?"