Spellbound Empire: Reincarnated in Balance

After the soccer match, I got home to find Dad pacing the living room, looking all serious. Mom sat on the couch, scrolling through some complicated schematic like she wasn't married to a guy who could destroy mountains with a sneeze. And between them sat a tiny, wide-eyed kid clutching a stuffed bunny like it held all the secrets of the universe.

"Ah, finally," Dad said as I walked in, still basking in the glory of being a sports hero. "Laziel, meet your new brother, Zyron."

The kid looked at me like I'd just descended from the heavens.

I squatted down to his level, ruffling my hair to look even cooler. "Sup, buddy? I'm Laziel. Big bro. Soccer legend. Monster hunter. Certified cool guy."

"Monster hunter?" My dad looked at me with an raised eyebrow.

"That's the story for next time~!"

"Big brother!" Zyron squeaked, suddenly launching himself at me. For someone who looked like a cinnamon roll, he had the grip strength of a bear.

"Whoa, champ! Ease up, or I'll need a chiropractor before dinner!" I said, prying him off my legs.

"Laziel," Mom said, without looking up from her tablet, "don't corrupt him"

"Corrupt him?" I gasped, feigning offense. "Me? Corrupt? I'm a role model! Right, Zyron?"

Zyron nodded enthusiastically. "Big brother's the coolest!"

Dad smirked. "You say that now, but wait until you see him trip over his own shoelaces."

"Hey! That was one time!" I protested, pointing at him. "And in my defense, the shoelace was clearly enchanted!"

"Yeah yeah, go get changed we're going out" dad said as he sneakily hid his staff in his pocket.

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To celebrate Zyron officially joining the family, we went out for dinner at this fancy-but-not-too-fancy restaurant. You know, the kind of place where they give you free breadsticks, but the portions are small enough to make you cry.

Zyron was glued to my side, firing off questions faster than I could answer.

"Big brother, what's your favorite monster?"

"The one that doesn't try to eat me."

"Do you have magic powers?"

"Of course! I'm practically a fireball and water cannon machine."

"Can I have magic powers too?"

"Maybe when you're older. Or if you eat enough veggies."

Zyron gasped. "Veggies give you magic?!"

"Yep. Especially broccoli. That's why I never eat it- I'd be too powerful."

Dad gave me a look over his glass of wine. "Stop lying to the kid."

"Lying? I prefer 'creative storytelling,'" I said, winking at Zyron.

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We'd just started eating when, naturally, chaos decided to enter the room. The restaurant doors slammed open, and a group of masked terrorists stormed in, shouting and waving weapons around.

"NOBODY MOVE!" their leader yelled, pointing his gun at the ceiling.

I sighed, putting my fork down. "Really? During dessert? This is why I have trust issues."

"Hand over all your valuables!" another one demanded, waving a bag around.

Zyron clung to my arm. "Big brother, what's happening?"

"Just some bad guys trying to ruin dinner," I said, patting his head. "Don't worry. Mom and Dad have got this"

"EVERYONE, HAND OVER YOUR STUFF!" the leader barked, pointing at our table. "Starting with you, old man!"

Dad raised an eyebrow. "Old man?" he repeated, looking genuinely offended.

"Kid," Mom said, leaning back in her chair, "they just signed their death warrant."

The leader jabbed a finger at her. "Hey, lady, don't get smart-"

Before he could finish, Dad casually waved his hand, and the guy's gun melted into a puddle of goo.

"Oops," Dad said, smirking. "Butterfingers."

The room fell silent as the terrorists stared in horror.

"My gun!! My baby!!" The leader of the terrorist got on his knees piling up the melted gun.

One of them tried to backtrack. "Uh, we- we didn't mean to- uh-"

"You barged in here," Mom said, standing up and cracking her knuckles, "on my family dinner. Do you know how much aggression I've been suppressing?"

One of the terrorists made the mistake of charging at her. She sidestepped him, grabbed a breadstick, and whacked him so hard he flew into the salad bar.

"Breadsticks of doom," I muttered, impressed. "Classic Mom move"

The others weren't smart enough to quit while they were behind. They swarmed toward us, yelling, but Dad raised his staff, which he totally wasn't supposed to bring to dinner.

"You've made a grave mistake," Dad said, his voice echoing with magical power. "But don't worry- I'll make it quick."

With a flick of his wrist, a glowing circle appeared beneath the terrorists. Before they could react, vines shot up, wrapping around their legs and yanking them to the floor.

Meanwhile, Mom was having the time of her life. She used one of her gadgets to create a magnetic field, pulling all the remaining weapons into a neat pile. Then she picked up another breadstick and launched it at the leader like a throwing knife.

"Direct hit," I muttered, biting back a laugh as the guy stumbled backward into a fountain.

Zyron watched all this with wide eyes. "Big brother, are Mommy and Daddy superheroes?"

I leaned down and whispered, "More like overpowered video game bosses"

The last terrorist tried to escape, but Dad casually snapped his fingers, and the restaurant doors slammed shut.

"Going somewhere?" Dad asked, his tone cheerful in the way that made me nervous.

The guy whimpered, dropping to his knees. "We're sorry! We didn't know you were the Celestine!"

"Didn't do your homework, huh?" I said, smirking. "Rookie mistake"

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By the time the cops showed up, the terrorists were tied up, weaponless, and looking like they'd aged ten years.

"Good teamwork, everyone," Mom said, sitting back down and picking up her wine glass like nothing happened.

Zyron was still buzzing with excitement. "Big brother! Mommy and Daddy are so cool!"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, ruffling his hair. "But let's not forget who the real MVP is"

"Who?"

"Me, obviously. If I hadn't been here to keep you entertained, you might've been bored out of your mind~"

Mom rolled her eyes. "Sure, Laziel. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Another normal day with the Celestine family," I said. "Zyron, you're gonna love it here."

After a while the waiter finally set our another set of desserts down, shaking like he thought Mom might use another breadstick as a weapon. Zyron clutched his chocolate cake like it was the greatest treasure in the world.

"Big brother," he said between bites, "you're the coolest."

"Yeah, I know," I said, leaning back in my chair.

Mom and Dad exchanged amused glances, and I decided it was the perfect time to drop some wisdom.

"Anyway, dear readers," I said, turning slightly as if addressing an invisible camera, "this is why you should always listen to your parents. Sure, they might embarrass you, nag you about cleaning your room, or, I dunno, publicly humiliate a group of terrorists during dinner- but at the end of the day, they've got your back. So, remember, don't disobey them. Or, you know, you might end up like these guys" I gestured to the tied-up terrorists groaning in the corner.

Zyron froze mid-bite, his eyes darting around. "Big brother, who are you talking to?"

"Uh...no one, champ," I said quickly, waving him off.

"But you said 'dear readers.' Are there people watching us?" he asked, clutching his bunny like it might explain things.

"Nah, nah, it's just a little thing I do sometimes," I said, laughing and brushing his question off. "You'll get used to it."

Zyron tilted his head, looking like he didn't quite believe me, but then he shrugged and went back to his cake.

I smirked, leaning closer giving a wink to the imaginary audience. "See? Cinnamon roll. Pure, adorable cinnamon roll. My little brother, everyone."

"Big brother, you are doing it again?!" Zyron asked, glaring suspiciously.

"Not at all," I said with a grin, ruffling his hair. "Now, eat your cake before I do."

And just like that, life with the Celestine family was already shaping up to be pretty awesome.

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_To Be Continue_