Everyone moved from the town hall into the streets to begin preparations for the night's feast and festival. It wasn't something that always happened when one of their own Ascended, but tonight was a special night. Not only did two of their own Ascend on the same day, but they were Omegas. Both of them were born from parents with abilities. The Kingdom sent out a message the year prior mentioning that Omegas might carry powerful abilities that could finally end the war against the Corrupted.

The sun started to set, but the town was as lively as ever. Lanterns that glowed with flickering flames littered the streets and houses. Amanda, a telekinetic, placed these lanterns all around the giant willow tree. The lanterns hung off the low-level branches. The lights cast a star-like glow over the town. Tables and chairs were pulled from the houses and arranged in the open area in front of the Town Hall. Lloyd had yet to be part of the setup. He had spent most of the time training and avoiding the large crowds. People approached him all day and wished him luck on the journey. Now, he stood on the balcony of his home with his forearms resting on the railing. Lloyd looked down on his town and watched the children running around, kicking balls or playing tag. Boisterous laughter ebbed and flowed throughout Breakwater. Many a mug sloshed with wine or ale.

After another moment of admiring the scene, he decided it was best to head down there and help. After a short lift ride to the ground, he helped move a few tables and set up lanterns that Amanda wasn't telekinetically tossing around.

Lloyd seemed to skim through most of the night. The feast was filled with lots of the town wishing the three men good luck on their journey, although most people only addressed Regal and Cassius. Lloyd could see the twinkle in their eyes as they talked with them. They straightened their backs and shook Regal and Cassius' hands firmly. Whenever they addressed Lloyd, he saw them slump their shoulders, and their eyes softened when talking about the journey. He could understand where they were coming from, after all. Lloyd was preparing to partake in a journey that many of the Ascended feared doing. Until the three of them, Gareth was the only crazed fool to make it all the way. A few others tried, but they never reached Citadel.

After a while, and once people were gorged and tipsy, the festival started to petter out. Most young children were put to bed, and many adults had already begun shifting to their part of town.

"Man, this was one hell of a party. I really am going to miss this," Regal said, sipping his glass of wine.

Lloyd wasn't accustomed to seeing his brother drink and was happy to see him let off some steam. Lloyd intensely trained to improve daily, and Regal was the only person he knew who out-trained him. It didn't hurt that Regal had more talent, either. Thus far, throughout the night, Lloyd had gone with water. He didn't want to end up worse for wear the next day. He would already be the weakest link; there was no need to worsen it.

Upon hearing his brother's words, Lloyd felt a twinge of pain and discomfort. A small part of him, he supposed, would indeed miss this town. How could I not, Lloyd thought. Breakwater was the only home he had ever known. That alone should have made him yearn to stay. It should have made him hesitant to leave on this dangerous journey. But it didn't. Knowing there were dozens of cities and sights to see outside of Breakwater made Lloyd want to experience it all. He wanted to experience everything. We all die one day; if my day is fighting one of those red-eyed beasts, so be it, he thought.

"Yeah, I'm glad the town could pull together something like this," Lloyd said.

"Nothing like the feast they had when I left," Gareth said from behind the men.

Both Regal and Lloyd turned to see Gareth approaching, mug in hand. He finally forwent his Guard attire and wore a simple white shirt. Regal and Lloyd lifted their cups and clattered them against Gareth's, the mug's contents sloshing about.

"Yeah, I remember that. It was the moment I knew I wanted to follow in your footsteps," Regal said before sipping his drink.

"Not sure I'm the greatest of role models, but I appreciate the sentiment," Gareth said as he bowed his head slightly. "I was happy to hear you wanted to go; someone needed to keep my shadow safe."

Lloyd picked up the remaining piece of bread from his plate and chucked it at Gareth. The well-placed toss harmlessly bounced off his head and fell onto the ground.

"I kid, I kid. I'm glad you spent so much time with me. Seems like my fighting style works well with you." Gareth said.

Lloyd hadn't heard that nickname in a few years. When he was young, Lloyd was told he was adopted. Fantasies often flittered through his head about venturing west to find his birth parents, even though everyone told him they were dead. Gavin would have been the obvious person to follow, but he spent most of his time creating weapons, not using them. Lloyd clung to his Uncle Gareth because he wanted to be big and strong like him. Gareth would practice combat, and Lloyd would mimic his movements with invisible swords. The kids started to call Lloyd a shadow for how often he was with Gareth and how he mimicked his every move. Gareth picked up on this and added the personalization of my shadow.

"Thank you for that. I'm not sure I've mentioned that enough throughout the years, but...thank you," Lloyd said.

"Anytime, kid. It was my pleasure. Another piece of parting advice?" Gareth asked.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Regal and Lloyd put down their mugs and leaned toward their uncle.

"Save your trophy for the last few days. You don't want to be carrying around a severed head for weeks." Gareth said before draining the contents of his mug.

Regal scoffed before briefly chuckling. "Seriously? I thought you were going to give us some actual helpful advice." Regal said.

"It is. I had to carry this thirty-pound boar's head for three weeks. Granted, I only encountered a few things to fight and tried to avoid what I could with my teleportation. Still, that thing was rotten and rank when I got to the Citadel. You three will likely have more fighting to do than I did; just wait. Anyway, I have to take off and get some sleep. I recommend that you two and Cassius do the same. I will catch you guys in the morning." Gareth said as he stood up from the table.

After each hugged their uncle, they remained standing by their table. Lloyd looked around to see there were still a few brave souls celebrating. The lanterns had begun to run aground of their flames and now sat darkened amongst the housing and branches where they hung.

"Where to next?" Regal asked.

"Bed. I think Gareth was onto something." Lloyd said, taking a sip of his water.

"Oh, come on," Regal said as he smiled and saw that his brother didn't return the gesture.

Regal then lightly shoved Lloyd sideways into the table. Lloyd's cup spilled and dropped from his hand as he tried to brace his fall. He ended up in a sitting position as his side crashed into the tabletop. The silverware clanged off the plate and speared into the dirt. Lloyd gathered his bearing just as Regal started to sprint away, with Lloyd chasing shortly after. A few other guys their age saw them sprinting and joined in.

They ran down towards the east side of the town when Cassius, who was just coming around the corner, saw Regal running from Lloyd and a pack of their friends. Regal was better than Lloyd in almost every way; he was taller, stronger, and better looking. Lloyd won in the speed department. Lloyd was just about to catch him as Cassius jumped in front and tackled Regal. Both of them started wrestling for a bit as Lloyd jumped in and hopped on the pile. The other guys caught up a few moments later and added to the human pile. They were all laughing as the pile of grown men started turning over and tossing people off the top as they all struggled to get down to where Regal was. Even a few guys began throwing jabs at Regal; they knew he could take it. This lasted for a few minutes until everyone started getting gassed and began to peel themselves away from the pile.

"All right, I give, I give," Regal said to the remaining men in the dog pile.

Cassius started to push off Regal but jabbed him quickly in the ribs before he did. Lloyd could swear he caught a faint glimmer of electricity at the last minute before he connected. Regal swatted at Cassius, but he was already out of range. Lloyd was the last person in the pile, and he slapped his brother on the cheek and then rolled away. Regal haphazardly swung a closed fist but missed his counterattack yet again. Lloyd got to his feet, and Regal tried one last time to retaliate against his attackers. Regal swept out with one of his legs, attempting to clip Lloyd. Fortunately, Lloyd was quick enough to jump over the attack and land without being hit.

Lloyd extended a hand to his brother, which he took, and he pulled Regal to his feet. Lloyd looked around at the group that he found himself in. This group consisted of his brother, best friend, and most of the guys he grew up with. He trained against them, went to class with them, and chatted about who the most attractive girl in town was. He loved this town and all the people within it. Lloyd knew he would not have been the person he was today if it wasn't for everybody who currently surrounded him. He also knew he could not become the person he needed to be with everybody here. He needed to leave many of these people behind to grow into that person. As he looked around, smiling at the group, he pondered a bit longer on that last thought. He wondered who would stay in his life. Who would help him become the person that he needed to be? He was adventuring with Cassius and Regal tomorrow, confident they made the list. Then his eyes caught his brother's eyes. The previous thought wavered for a moment. He felt disgusted for thinking of it, but he wondered if his Omega brother would find Lloyd a burden. If Regal would finally give up on him when they were on the road and he saw just how helpless he was. He shook his head, attempting to chuck the thoughts from his consciousness.

"Thank you, all of you guys. I appreciate you all being here right now and for all of you being here in my life. I…kind of wish I had something more impactful to say in this moment." Regal said as he reached up to scratch the back of his head.

"Yeah, not very inspirational. Let's hope you won't be a leader anytime soon, huh buddy. We will leave the motivational speeches to your brother," Cassius said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Regal said.

Each of the men took their time to approach Regal and give him a handshake or a hug, then ventured off to their homes or back to the party. Only Cassius and Lloyd were left standing next to Regal.

"I heard Martinez has got some stiff moonshine. We should go over there and take a shot, all of us," Cassius said, then slapping Regal and Lloyd on the shoulder. Cassius tightened his grip on Lloyd's shoulder.

"No, I'm good. I would hate to start off the first day hungover." Lloyd said.

"Yeah, I don't know if it's the greatest idea if I'm being honest," Regal confirmed.

"Oh boo! Boring!" Cassius said with a double thumbs down, and then he made a slight fart noise with his mouth. "Oh, come on, guys. It's not like we will be fighting west of the Kingdom tomorrow. We're just going for a little stroll into the woods. The same woods we fought many beasts before in. They will die just as they've died before. We will then fight that fight dozens of times more. Hell, probably hundreds of times if we're lucky." Cassius said as he pounded his chest and sternly looked Regal and Lloyd in the eyes.

"Tonight is it; there is only one more of these, never once to be had again. Are you really going to say no to that?" Cassius asked. His hands found their way to Regal and Lloyd's shoulders again as he continued through his speech, gripping them and shaking them with each sentence.

"Shiiiiit," Lloyd said as a smirk began growing on his face. I think you should be the one giving us the motivational speeches."

He really had not been planning on doing anything crazy that night. No drinking, no crazy mushrooms, nothing that would alter or deter and take away from his performance the next day. He didn't want to be the weak link in the three since he knew he already technically was. But Cassius did make a good point.

"Fuck it, let's do it!" Lloyd said as he raised his arm and placed his hand on Cassius's shoulder, Regal mimicking them both. They all started to laugh, and then they sprinted off towards the party. Their destination was Martinez and his high proof moonshine that he cooked up.