Way of the Knights

Chapter 776: V

“Mama…clouds…”

“Yes, Baby. There are clouds everywhere. Aren’t they pretty?”

“Pretty! Very pretty. Mama…Papa likes clouds…too?”

“Mn! Papa likes clouds too, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, I do like clouds. But I like Baby more.”

“Hihi! Baby likes…Papa…and Mama too!” 

“Aww….”

The little one was talkative, a but strange but not totally unexpected since the baby’s isn’t a normal one. 

Ever since the little one spoke for the first time, their parents had been talking to them ever since. The little one loves it when they talk to them. They curiosities were endless but it brought immense joy to Luna and Raven. 

What the Little One loves the most is clouds. Everyday they will ask Luna to face clouds surrounding the Sky Palace. The Little One can spend most of their waking hour staring at it while their Papa played the flute for them. 

The Little One can share vision with Luna so anything that she saw can be seen by the child. Raven also has a way to do this himself but he doesn’t do it very often since the Little One found it weird. 

Luna and Raven never ran out of patience explaining things for the Little One even though most of the questions were repetitive. In fact, they liked talking to their child as much as possible but the child can’t be awake for as long as they could.

At most, the Little One can be awake for two hours, one hour in the morning and one hour at night. Despite that little time though, Luna and Raven made the most out of it by making sure to talk to the child as much as they could. 

“Mama…sleepy. Sing?” 

“Alright, Baby. Mama will sing, while Papa plays the flute. Sleep well okay?” 

“M-mn!”

After that, Luna started humming a specific tune, the same one that her mother use to sing to her all the time. Accompanied by the soft and gentle melody from Raven’s flute, they sang the Little One to sleep. 

Luna coaxed the child while slowly cutting off the sensory link between them. By the time the child fell asleep, Luna already turned the connection off in order to not disturb the child’s sleep. 

Raven stopped playing the flute and went to Luna, he knelt down in front of her and kissed her stomach, gently saying: “Rest well, Little One.” 

He then carried Luna towards their room. He gently placed her down on the bed so as to not disturb the child from any sudden movement. The little one was sound asleep this time and usually, Luna would take a nap around this time too. 

“Should we ask the Little One about their name next time?” Luna asked as she gently caressed her stomach. 

“Sure.” Raven had no problems with that. “You’re about to give birth right?”

“Yes.” Luna nodded, “Second week of the next month I think, I should be good to go.”

“Do we have everything prepared?” 

“Yes.” Luna chuckled , “We checked it just this morning again right? Don’t be so nervous, will you? It’s not like you’re the one who’s going to push the little out.” 

Raven pouted and said: “I’m just making sure that everything’s ready.” 

Luna laughed at her husband. Raven was indeed feeling a little bit antsy about their child’s birth. It was so obvious by the way how he always inspected the items that Luna needed for giving birth. He always inspects it everyday but he just can’t seem to be satisfied even after checking it already since he’ll still ask if they’re missing something or if everything’s ready. 

It was both annoying and adorable at the same time. Luna can’t really blame her husband though, after all he’s just worried. The two of them didn’t want any complications during the process. 

The two of them decided there will be only the two of them during the child birth. There’s no need for midwives to be there since both of them knew how to do it themselves anyways. 

They wanted to cherish the moment, just the two of them and their child. They wanted to be selfish for just a bit since it won’t be long before the two of them needed to return to the Divine Realm in future. They can only spend so much time with their child since their work is still not done yet. 

Luna and Raven wanted to make use good use of their remaining time here. They wanted to have as many memories with their child as they possibly could. After all, it’ll be a good while before they can meet the Little One again. 

—

“…name?”

“Yes, Baby.” Raven nodded as he faced the child in Luna’s womb. “We decided to let you pick your own name.”

“…name, what is…it?” 

“A name is a part of your identity.” Luna interjected, “For example, you know the white and fluffy thing outside right? The one that you like so much?” 

“Clouds?”action

“Yep, Clouds.” Luna nodded, “That’s its name. Clouds. We use name to establish and identity for ourselves.”

“Since we are your parents, we’re the ones to give you a name, but we decided that since you can talk and think now, we should let you come up with a name for yourself. So? Do you have anything in mind?” 

“…name…name…” The Little One murmured. It was clear that the child was thinking hard about this. Neither Luna nor Raven disturbed the child. They wanted to give the child as much freedom as they could. 

“What is…name, Mama?”

“You want to know my name?” Luna asked in clarification. 

“Mn!” 

“My name is Lunafreya Moonsong – Luna for short. Lunafreya is the name bestowed to me by my mother, your grandmother. Moonsong is the inherited name of our clan.”

“T-then…Papa?” 

“Papa’s name is Vendrick Valorheart, but the name I like the people close to me to use is Raven – like those black birds that I’ve shown you before? You remember it right?”

“M-mn!” 

“Vendrick is the name my father – your grandfather, bestowed to me. Valorheart is the name I inherited from our clan.” 

“Mama L-Luna…Papa R-R…Wayven?”

‘Cute!’ The child’s parents thought to themselves before chuckling. 

“Raven.” He repeated. 

“R-Wayven?” 

“Yup.” Raven nodded helplessly. He didn’t even bother correcting the child anymore since they were clearly struggling. 

“T-then…me…name…hmm…” The child started wondering again. “A-ah!” 

“What’s wrong, Baby?” Luna was alarmed. 

“I…know! Name! Me, name!!” 

“Oh, you have thought of a name for yourself? What is it?” Raven asked. 

“V-Vanessa!” The child answered. 

Luna and Raven looked at each other in shock. How can they not be? Their child just picked the name they mutually agreed upon in the past. 

They decided that at the chance that the child wanted to hear their suggestions or can’t think of a name for themself, they will suggest either ‘Vanessa’ or ‘Magenta’ if they were a girl, and ‘Varkiel’ or ‘Phineas’ if they were a boy. 

“That’s a wonderful name, Sweetheart.” Luna cheered. “Do you know that we’re actually planning to suggest this name for you?” 

“Mn! I know!” The child cheerfully replied. “I…heard…a little…in past.” 

“You heard us talking about it in the past?” Raven asked. 

“Mn!” The child replied, “Me like…Vanessa…I….girl! Like, Mama!” 

“Okay!” Raven chuckled as he planted a kiss on Luna’s stomach. “We’ll call you Vanessa from now on.”

“Yay~!” The child giggled inside Luna, causing her parents to chuckle. “Papa…me sleepy! Bedtime story…pwease?” 

Raven chuckled at Vanessa’s cuteness and nodded his head. “Alright, Papa will tell Little Vanessa a bedtime story. Let’s dim the lights a bit.” 

The two of them shifted positions in the bed. Raven dimmed the lights and lied down on the bed. He then began telling Vanessa her favorite bedtime story which was about a Valiant Princess and her Funny Best friend. 

This story was something that Raven made for the sake of eliciting a reaction from the child. It was fairly light-hearted, funny and short enough to distract Vanessa and trick her to falling asleep. 

Just like before, as they felt the child becoming drowsy, Luna slowly turned off the sensory link in order to not startle the child. Vanessa fell asleep as soon as Raven finished the story. Luna turned the connection off as they both lied on their bed. 

“Who would’ve thought…” Raven mumbled softly, “Even my own child’s name will start with ‘V’.”

“Right?” Luna chuckled upon hearing that. “I though the trend will end on the twins but it seems like we have to continue it now.” 

From Vendrick, to Venina and Victoria…now Vendrick’s child – Vanessa. It really was a trend of names starting the letter ‘V’. 

“Well, she likes the name at least. That’s what’s important.” Raven stated, “She had choices but she ultimately still picked this. I guess we are continuing the trend.” 

The two of them didn’t think too much about this since Raven was right, if the child likes her name, then it’s all fine and dandy. 

Plus, the trend might not be so bad…

…after all, the word ‘Victory’ also starts with a V.