The hideout. A lovely little two story house that never even got to the facade stage of its construction, now only made more beautiful by the overgrown vines and grass seemingly all but having taken it over. Its walls are showing visible signs of cracking, and I'm sure it's not long before this archaic structure falls before mother nature either. I never thought I'd see the day where I'd get to once again look at it with my very own two Eyes, and yet here we are.

"Is this the famous hideout?" Cecily smiled, picking Cene up as she started walking towards it, "Welp, time for some explorin-!"

"H-Hey!" I stopped her, "You can't be serious, right? It's like one puff away from crashing to the ground!"

"Huh? But didn't you wanna show us this place you and Ed spent so long meticulously trying to revive?" She pouted.

"Yeah, from the outside." I sighed, "Obviously I wasn't gonna get you guys dirtied up by making you go in there. Regardless, there may not be snairs in there anymore, but snakes are still a huge issue."

"Oh come on, what's gotten into you lately?" She sulked, "The Lune I know would've jumped straight in without a second thought. It's like ever since we got married, you got super scared for whatever reason..."

Whatever reason!? There's plenty of reasons for me to start treating my family with the respect they've been robbed of until now! And besides, hasn't SHE been acting pretty defiantly careless as well? It's because of her teaching Cene to be a daredevil that he almost died in front of my very Eyes today, and yet she still glosses over it with but a single shrug. Tch, there's nothing wrong with me, she's the one in the wrong...!

"The Lune you know caused this family so much trouble all his life." I crossed my arms, "You're saying you want that prick to return after hurting you? What are you, a masochist?"

"Call me however you want, I just want to see the man I fell in love with."

"Huh!? Grr...!" I felt a pang in my chest followed by a vein popping, but I held it in in favor of not ruining the mood, "Look, we're not going inside the hideout and that's it. Now come on, I'll set up the blanket, so stop being difficult."

"Mn..." She looked at me disappointedly before glancing back at the hideout with an annoying smile, "Sayyy, I'm just gonna go water some flowers while I'm here~"

"You don't need to bring Cene with you for that." I saw right through her as I plopped the picnic blanket down, "Cecily, please just listen-"

"Gotta go!" She bolted in the opposite direction, hauling ass towards the hideout with Cene in her arms, "We'll be fine, just come on!"

"Dammit, Cecily, you're gonna get hurt!"

"Hehe, if you're so worried, come and get us!" She cheekily stuck her tongue out, making me lose my cool for real.

Cene, Cecily, you guys are being a real pain in the ass, y'know...! Dammit, I just wanted a regular little outing with my family, and they've both been causing me nothing but stress the entire time we've been here! As I ran into the hideout's entrance to go after them, the same criticizing words from my wife kept repeating in my head over and over. She thinks I got way too boring and wary after we got married, but isn't that just growing up? You can't keep acting like a child forever, otherwise you hurt the people around you. I know that feeling all too well... Mn, no time to think about it! For now I need to focus on catching them and dragging them back to safety!

"Hey, come back here!" I shouted, "I really don't like being in here!"

That being said, the house is oddly well-kempt, in spite of it being Gods know how old. Weirdly enough, now I'm starting to feel the same way Latham felt during my first prank, because there's a lot of things that Ed and I never put in the rooms. The hallways have no debris, the rooms are mostly cobweb free, and I'm honestly expecting to see a well-furnished room at any moment.

"Whoa, you think someone actually lives here?" Cecily smirked, "Oooh~! It might be a spooky ghooooost~!"

"Eep!" Cene yelped.

"Or we're just intruding on some homeless guy's turf. Seriously, what if the person who cleaned this place up is dangerous? We really should go... back."

"Whoa!" Cecily and Cene gawked at the centerpiece of a giant room way in the back on the second floor, "What the hell is up with this!? A sword in a stone!"

"This is...?" I inched closer towards it.

The room we were in was, as I said, the farthest room away from the entrance below. As we were on the second floor, the wall where there should have been a window had completely fallen apart, allowing a stunning beam of dusk's sunlight to shine through. This, when coupled with the numerous vines, leaves and flowers, all surrounding this one giant stone in which someone had placed an iron sword made for quite the magical experience. But this isn't the reason I'm so surprised, rather it's because...

"I know this sword." I approached it.

"Huh, did you guys place it here?" Cecily buzzed around me as I took a closer look at the hilt, "Or was it here when you found it? Though it looks kinda expensive, why would anyone just leave it here?"

Without paying her too much mind, I proceeded to extend my hand towards the handle. Comparing the heart engraving on mine and Cecily's wedding ring with the one on the sword, it turned out to be a match. Indeed, this sword is the one my father gifted me for my 13th birthday.

Stolen story; please report.

"Eh? They match..." Cecily looked too stunned to speak, "Is this that thing? Like, the chosen one heroically pulls out the sword in the stone, a feat no other man could accomplish?"

For a moment, I considered ruining the entire moment by just yanking it out unenthusiastically, but decided not to in the end. In truth, it doesn't even look that well wedged in. I'm pretty sure even Cene could take it out without too much of an issue, which leads me to my next course of action...

"Hng!!" I pretended to not be able to pull the sword out, "Hrghhhhh!!!!! Ghk! Ugh, phew... Nah, no way that's getting out."

"Oh, that's a shame." Cecily shrugged, a tad disappointed, "Guess they must've put it in before the malter hardened."

"No, I might not be able to, but if there was someone in this world who could, they'd surely earn the right to keep it." I winked over at Cene, "What do you say, bud? Doesn't hurt to try."

Finally picking up on what I was trying to do, Cecily giggled at the hopeful and excited Cene before giving him a helpful push to try and yank the sword out. A bit uncertain, a bit scared, yet equally as happy to see something never before witnessed, those were the Eyes of a boy starved for novelty, for adventure. He went up to the stone pedestal where the sword awaited its new young master, and with but a single strong tug...!

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"Wah!" He could barely hold the sword that was double the size of him up, the tip wobbling in the air as if it was about to tumble with him at any moment, "I did it!"

"Huh????" I acted all surprised and bewildered, "But how!? That sword was lodged in so deep that even I couldn't have taken it out!"

"Ehe, I'm sure the sword just noticed you were being a prune, so it didn't accept you as its master." Cecily teased, "Our son, on the other hand, has quite the adventurous spirit. Who knows, maybe the sword likes people like him more?"

Hearing our little unserious banter, Cene felt a bit sad that I "wasn't happy for him", so instead of rubbing it in my face or even just being proud, he instead waddled over to me and asked me to take the sword.

"Oh sure." I smiled, "I'll hold onto it until we get back home. Congratulations again, son."

"No, you did it, not me..." He sulked, "You pulled suuuupew hawd, so it was pwobably alweady supew loose when it was my tuwn..."

What the hell? This kid's logic is sometimes really sound, but despite that, this wasn't the case. Whilst true that the sword was loose from the get-go, it doesn't mean he doesn't deserve it. Sometimes he's way too eager to put others ahead of him. Can't say the same for that sister of his, though...

"Cene, I didn't pull this sword out." I lifted him onto my shoulders, showing him the blade of the sword from an adult's perspective, "You did, so that means this blade belongs to you."

"That's right." Cecily smiled, "Don't share your success with people who did nothing to help you attain it."

"Hey, what the hell's that supposed to mean?" I retorted.

"Mn, but still..." Cene couldn't leave it at that, "You have to take something, daddy!"

Glancing at each other with light smiles on our faces, Cecily and I couldn't help but feel proud of our little boy who grew up so generous. Kind and reasonable, the boy surely has a bright future ahead of him. But well, I guess that leaves me in a tight spot.

"Oh, I know." Cecily suggested, "How about this? Daddy gets to name the sword, and you get to keep it! Sound good?"

"Yeah!" Cene looked stoked, "Pick a weaaally cool name, daddy!"

"Oof, no pressure, heh." I chuckled before sifting through all sorts of names, "Alright, a cool sword like this needs a cool name, doesn't it? Let's see here..."

Obviously, a sword can go without a name just fine, but christening it adds to the coolness factor. It shouldn't be something long and hard to announce, like Ultra Super Strong Killer Of All Things Living 3000. No, it should be kept short and simple. So like, Killer? No, that's too gruesome for a kid to say out loud. He needs something that he can freely tell other people and won't get in trouble. A name that emphasizes its background moreso than its intent....... In which case, I think I got it!

"The Prototype." I proudly declared.

"Pwototype..." Cene's Eyes followed along the shimmer of the blade, "Huh, what's that?"

"A prototype is the first rendition of an invention, isn't it?" Cecily thought about it, "Is this because Cene's our first son?"

"Heh, that's a nice way of putting it, but there's another reason I'll tell you about later." I grinned, "So, what do you guys think? I didn't flub it, did I?"

Glancing at each other before nodding in unison, mother and son both turned to me with their Eyes bursting with happiness.

"It's perfect!" They shouted.

And with that, Cene had acquired the Grimheart Family Sword without even realising it already had a history in our family. Granted, the history isn't all that long or anything, but frankly I'm just glad we got to make his day a bit more memorable today. He still isn't strong enough to wield it, and in all honesty I doubt he'd ever be able to use it in today's gun-littered world (talking about self-defense obviously), but it could light a flame in him that could lead to him becoming a knight one day. A well-paid job, good living conditions... Hold on, I'm starting to sound like my old man now.