Chapter 948 - 948 Chapter 948 Opening the Presents! Most of them…

948 Chapter 948 Opening the Presents! Most of them…

After ‘some’ prodding from the children in the room, said children of course being Vivian and Roxy, regardless of what others might say, Sylvie chose a familiar shape as her first present. It was unmistakably a book, and rather appropriate considering the bookshelf Vivian claimed to have acquired.

When Sylvie tore into it though… instead of a fantasy novel or a science fiction story… it was a university level medical textbook. “Thanks so much Callisto!” cheered Sylvie.

“That is not the only present of mine, but I am glad you enjoyed it,” returned Callisto with a smile on her face as Sylvie set the book off to the side. Kat and Lily nodded as if this was expected, and Vivian didn’t even blink.

“Callisto… why are you giving a… actually I’m not sure if you ever mentioned Sylvie’s exact age but she can’t be more than nine I want to say? Not the point. Why are you giving her advanced medical textbooks? Isn’t it a bit early to be pushing her towards being a doctor?”

“Sylvie is in fact ten today,” said Callisto, “and the reason she was provided such books is because she was enjoying my digital copies until now, but professed both an interest in further reading and a proper book to look through when doing so. As such I see no reason not to supply her with said book. I also do not see how it would push her to becoming a doctor,”

“You don’t think giving her medical books will push her towards being a doctor?” asked Bruce more in defence of Roxy then anything else. He already had an inkling as to what Callisto had done. Especially with the other suspiciously book shaped packages still on the table.

Callisto passed Sylvie the next present she was making her way towards and tore it open. This one was another book of course… but it was about high level mathematics instead of medical techniques. “I do believe Sylvie has inadvertently provided you with the answer to the question. The books are not all related to the medical profession, or even further restricted to topics required to become a doctor.”

Roxy spluttered dramatically, hand over her heart as if she’d just taken a major blow. “Urgh, your plan is too much for me. I cannot withstand the sheer brilliance!” Roxy then slumped down onto the carpeted floor and made choking sounds.

Sylvie wiggled out of Callisto’s arms easily and walked over to where Roxy was laying on the ground. Sylvie quickly poked a few places on Roxy’s body, and ignored the slight twitching a few of the pokes caused. “My professional medical opinion is that she’s beyond saving,” said Sylvie ‘sadly’.

.....

“Tell my grandchildren I love them!” coughed Roxy.

“Your grandchildren are all in this room, unless there’s something you haven’t told me Mum,” accused Vivian. Roxy glared at her daughter but didn’t get to respond…

“No, no. No secret nieces or nephews hidden away,” said Bruce easily as Roxy remembered she was supposed to be playing dead and made a few more random noises before flopping back down on the ground. Sylvie thought that was a bit silly.

“I pronounced you dead. Stop getting back up,” said Sylvie with a pout.

“Naw… does my granddaughter hate me so much?” whined Roxy with tears in her eyes.

“Your ability to cry on command will not save you this time,” said Sylvie with confidence.

“Wait did Callisto warn you about that?” Roxy said with a large pout.

“No you just confirmed it to me right at this moment,” said Sylvie easily.

“Ugh! Hoisted by my own petard!” ‘coughed’ Roxy.

“What is a petard?” questioned Sylvie.

*Do you know Lily?*

[I do not I’m afraid. Not sure I’ve ever thought to look it up]

“Err… um… Callisto?” asked Roxy after a few seconds of confusion. “Do you know because I don’t,”

“It is a device from the 16th century. A sort of rudimentary cannon that was stuck against fortifications and filled with gunpowder to bring down fortress walls or doors,” explained Callisto.

“Wait how can you be hoisted by a cannon?” asked Roxy very confused… and leaning up on her arm to get a better angle to look at everyone.

“I was curious myself but truth be told I do not think it is an entirely accurate saying. The cannon is not hoisted during operation, and I do not know how the petard could be used to hoist anyone. It is a saying made famous by Shakespeare, but I do not believe it made all that much sense back in his day and does not make any sense now that they are no longer in use,” explained Callisto.

“Huh…” said Roxy as she finally got off the floor, giving Sylvie a quick kiss on the cheek as she did so, “I always just assumed that it was some form of underwear you know? Like a leotard meant to be warn as underclothes of something of that nature. To hear that it’s a cannon… are you sure?”

Callisto nodded, “That is what I managed to uncover in my research. Admittedly I did not spend long on the topic because it was merely a fleeting interest but I did do enough work to confirm that a petard is a cannon,”

Vivian clapped her hands twice, “Right well, while I’m sure this is fun for you all to discuss and Sylvie is too nice to interrupt it, I feel like we should get through the rest of the presents! I want to see what else is in there!”

“You’d think it was your birthday,” scoffed Roxy.

Vivian pouted but Roxy’s comment was otherwise ignored as Sylvie made her way through two more books from Callisto and then got onto Kat’s presents. The first happened to be DDK. Sylvie flipped the box and read through the little blurb on the back with a frown on her face before nodding and saying, “Thanks Kat,” though it wasn’t quite as genuine as the one she’d given Callisto.

“Hey don’t forget Lily! She helped me pick it out. Plus, two more are from the both of us, not just that one,” said Kat firmly.

Sylvie’s eyes shone at the confirmation two more of the presents were from her big sister. She examined the pile again with newfound interest. There was of course the present from Bruce and Roxy, and then two more boxes. One had the same wrapping paper as the first board game, and Sylvie had mistakenly assumed that one was Lily’s present to her. Now that she knew there was 3 combined gifts from the demonic duo… well that was much more interesting.

She was smart enough to work out DDK was probably to encourage her to play with friends. What else was there? Sylvie grabbed the other ‘small’ present from Kat and Lily tearing it open. It just so happened it was upside down. It was heavy and Sylvie struggled to lift it over to see what it was. Callisto reached over and helped the motion to reveal a gorgeous chess set made of gemstones in a nice wooden box. There was a glass window at the front showing of all the pieces. The board itself was hidden inside and made of black onyx and white quartz.

Sylvie nearly dropped the gift in her surprise, but Callisto held on tighter. “W-what?” whispered Sylvie shocked as she looked at the most wonderful chess set she’d ever seen.

“Damn Kat, Lily… making it hard to compete,” muttered Vivian under her breath.

“This was actually the cheapest of Sylvie’s gifts,” said Kat offhandedly.

Vivian glared at that Kat who quickly waved the concern off. “No, no it was a great deal. For demons these gems just aren’t all that valuable. That doesn’t mean it looks anything less then spectacular but without any enchantments on it, they’re just shiny rocks to a lot of demons no research and development, just a fancy chess set. Sue thought it was likely someone’s prototype for their graduation piece,”

Sylvie gulped and nodded before putting it to the side with Callisto’s help. “Um… how am I even supposed to open that last one…”

It was a valid concern. The final box was much larger than Sylvie herself… in fact it took up most of the table all by itself. The other presents had been stacked on top of it. “Perhaps leave it to last? We can move the other presents first,” said Callisto.

Sylvie nodded, and made for the final gift tearing into it. Sylvie looked at it with confusion as she looked over the box. It seemed to be a kit specialised in making bracelets out of… not quite rubber bands? “I don’t understand what this is…”

“Ah… our bad,” said Roxy with a small sigh. “It’s a kit for making bracelets. From what Bruce and I knew of you… it was clear you were a little Callisto in most ways so… we thought getting you a good way to use your hands to make things would be nice. It’s a bit like knitting your own bracelet, and you might be able to make some for friends but well… it does seem we might have underestimated your intelligence…”