Harlan opened the door to his room and pulled the reconstructed letter from the false bottom in his desk, handing it to Adina to read while sitting across from him.

“You remembered that I can’t see, right?”

“Shit, sorry, I’ll feed you my sight.”

‘Adina, my dear daughter. Though it pains me to admit, I was perhaps too hard on you. But I still feel that it is my duty, as your father, to be the one who walks you down the aisle on your wedding day. I would also remove the restrictions that prevent you from entering my lands and pay for half the wedding, no matter the cost. Signed lovingly, Malachi.’

Adina burst into laughter.

“Oh, that is rich. 15 years of treating me like a cursed doll, and then he doesn’t even have the balls to face me in person. What a fucking bastard.”

Harlan didn’t need empathy to see that Adina was furious at the man.

“Why would you think I want to avoid you? I want to be obnoxiously romantic in public, especially around the Catos, so they can report it to that rotten, vile, cur.”

“Well, I’ve hidden it from you since Cato tried to give it to you.”

“I absolutely, genuinely, do not care. But, why did you even hide it? I can understand destroying it publicly to spit in Cato’s face. But why keep it from me?”

“I’ve spoken about this. I might’ve been afraid that you could forgive him, that some stupid part of you would desire his approval enough that you might hurt yourself.”

“Could you forgive him?”

“Never. He tried to take you away, if Mary and Sepul didn’t step in, you might be dead. And then I’d have to burn that country to the ground.”

She snuggled closer to him, laying her head on his chest as her anger started to lose against her feeling for him.

“If he tries to cross the border and come to the wedding, I might actually kill him.”

“Do you want me to prepare for that possibility? I could erase a large area of nearly all life if I had the time.”

“No. We can figure that out when it comes to pass. Don’t let him take even an inch inside your mind, just push him out like I did. Anything else to say?”

“Are you really alright?”

“If your mother came back, after everything you now know, would you just accept her?”

“Dawn, are you going to be upset?”

“You already accepted me, if she came back to life through some insanity. I’d be pissed if you did accept her.”

Adina noticed how sometimes Harlan would stop talking sometimes when certain subjects came up, then join back in like he was being fed answers.

There were times when she thought it might’ve been The Darkness, but his eyes always went black, without fail and he lost awareness of his surroundings whenever he spoke to her.

“No, I couldn’t accept her. She made her choices. She threw away my sister, her daughter, I can’t forgive that.”

“You make it sound like you can forgive her for leaving you behind.”

“I know what I was born from. Even if it would hurt, I don’t know if I can blame her for what she did to me.”

Harlan awkwardly chuckled and scratched his chin.

“I guess we are both victims of our births in that sense.”

“Yeah, I guess we are.”

Adina pushed him over so she could lay down with him.

Harlan’s body reacted like a boy 16 years of age might, so he had to bring down the mood.

“Earlier today, I was working with a Ghoul. He was begging me to cure him, even if there was an almost zero chance of success, and even if it worked, I had no idea if it wouldn’t leave him permanently crippled with soul damage.”

“Way to crush the mood.”

“If you weren’t such a powerful seductress I wouldn’t need to do things like this.”

She jokingly scoffed and hit him.

“I am not a seductress.”

“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, how else could I possibly react to lying down with you?”

“That just makes you weak willed, it isn’t my fault.”

Harlan had to force his way out from behind her before something happened.

“You’re going to make me feel ugly if you keep going to such lengths to avoid me.”

“I’m avoiding what I want to do to you. I mean, what if I lost myself and dislocated your hips?”

“I’m not feeling the romance anymore.”

“Hey, maybe when I fix your eyes I can also make you strong enough to survive me.”

Harlan pumped his muscles that he kept hidden under his shirt and jacket.

He was built strongly, but he was lean and lithe, not bulky like a man who builds muscles for others to see.

“That is just… gross.”

“But I can see you smiling.”

“It is nice to see you joking. Even if it is weird and uncomfortable.”

“Life is weird and uncomfortable. I’m just being honest.”

Harlan lost his own smile.

“I am genuinely worried about something like that happening, when I get passionate, I risk reacting with my body instead of my mind. I don’t know if something like doing… that, would make me dangerous to you.”

“World of glass?”

“World of glass.”

“Well, I am not against me being stronger. But please, never, ever, say that I wanted it so we could get physical without you killing me. I think I would die from embarrassment.”

“So long as you never say that I’m the one who suggested it.”

“Yeah, it is your fault, you horndog.”

It was now new years eve, and Harlan had gathered his facility friends, gating them all to his home.

Reet looked at Harlan, who now stood taller than him.

“I didn’t know they stacked shit that high.”

“Your mother’s stacking skills must be lacking then. Can you find a woman, or are they scared when your crotch catches on fire?”

“That only happened once.”

Harlan gave him a big hug.

“It has been a long time.”

Reet hugged him back.

“Still a creepy little shit who only makes friends with freaks?”

“Of course not. Look how big I got.”

“Am I going to meet your fiance?”

“Sorry, I told her about you and she fled.”

Reet had received an amulet from Harlan in the mail and they had spoken to one another a few times, so their reunion was not quite as awkward or full of discussions on their lives as it could’ve been.

“But really, she is at my parents' farm getting ready for a party. I mentioned it before, my oldest sister Autumn got married to the local baron’s son. Well, he is hosting a big end of the year party.”

“I’m not good at formal occasions.”

“Hey, don’t worry, I was kinda planning for our party to end at nine or ten so you can spend the end of the year with your family. But if you want to go, I can pick up your brothers and sisters and your parents. It is a private party, nobody but people Redwall invites are going to be there.”

“How old is your youngest sister?”

“Ava. is going to be 16 in another 2 months.”

“Ah, bit too young for me.”

“Wait, how old are you?”

“18, 19 in spring.”

“I thought you would be. I don’t know, 20 at least by now.”

“I’m sure I looked a lot bigger when you were 11. Is she going to be here today? Not as a date.”

“If you get all… like yourself-”

“I know, you’ll tear my arms off and then turn me into a living sculpture.”

“No, I mean she is going to knock your jaw off.”

“So she is fiery?”

“Ha ha ha, if you need anything, ask Isha. I’m going to pick up Ky and then Relly. Zella is at the farm with Adina.”

Reet whistled when he saw the gate form.

“I can’t get over that thing.”

“Neither can Zella, so please, don’t bring up how impressive you think it is.”

Harlan arrived outside of Direhold, waving to the guards.

“Morning. Sil, Hed.”

“Morning, Sir Fomoria.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

He made frequent trips to the town even after Jas and Kelly left and these two were most often the guards who got gate duty since they were low on the hierarchy.

He made his way through the town with practiced ease to Ky’s home.

“Good morning, Mister Hargrave.”

Sela was a little mad at him for his act.

“Find what seems like a good man and he’s young enough to be my son.”

“I can’t tell if you are speaking your mind by accident or if you are trying to make me feel bad.”

“KY, HARLAN IS HERE.”

“I'LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE.”

Harlan heard a crash and then childish laughter.

“GIVE ME BACK MY- Hey Harlan. ”

When Kylie, the youngest, came near enough to the door Harlan lifted her with telekinesis.

“CHEATER, LET ME DOWN.”

“Be good for your big brother.”

Ky got his amulet back from her and slipped it into his breast pocket.

“I was wondering why I couldn’t get in touch with you.”

He patted his sister on the head.

“I’ll be back before the night is over, we can go see the lights together.”

“Promise?”

“When have I ever broken my promises to you?”

“Remember when you said that-”

“Alright, ready to go. Goodbye everyone.”

“HEY.”

Ky practically ran out of the house, leaving Harlan standing in the doorway.

“Anyway, you have a communicator, right?”

“I use the town station.”

“Here you go then, I put my contact in it already alongside Ky’s. If you ever need anything, just ask.”

Harlan had experimented, and found out how to add the contacts from his own amulet to others by connecting them inside of the crossroads and copying over the pathways. It was neat, but mostly useless.

He would write a letter explaining the process and hand it over to Rosewell, just an achievement to keep ready for when she wanted to show off something on a slow month for magical advances.

Back home Ky met with Amber while Harlan went off to pick up Relly.

“It has been a while.”

“Yes, it has.”

Zella was hiding around the corner, wondering where this was going.

“How has your mother been?”

“She has been fine.”

“Harlan ever poke around your soul?”

“Yeah, a little bit. Said he found something important and then kept muttering to himself while drawing stuff I didn’t understand in a book.”

“Yeah, well, that’s Harlan. Have you gotten the chance to speak with Zella?”

“Outside of letters? No, I just got here.”

“I think I should make it clear, she likes you, and I’m not getting in the way of that.”

“So you’re still single?”

“I’ve had too many bad experiences. I’m looking for someone more mature. Who already got past the whiny entitled phase of their lives.”

“I can be mature.”

Amber took on a harsh tone, not much caring that Ky was still trying to push the issue.

“I’m serious, give up on me, go find Zella. But if you hurt her, then-”

Reet was around the corner with Zella listening in.

Then Adina came from behind and loudly closed a door in the hallway, causing the pair to jump and tumble with one another.

Adina stepped over them and scolded the two for listening in. Adina was doing it too, but she did it where nobody could prove she was.

Harlan arrived to find the odd scene, with Reet taking full responsibility for it.

“I was just listening and then Zella came by and got spooked by Adina closing the door.”

“Yeah, that sounds like you. What did you hear?”

“Everything? I mean, I was basically here the entire time. But don’t worry, my lips are sealed.”

“What is happening here?”

“Reet was being a creep.”

Amber was not happy and grabbed him by the loose skin at the back of his neck.

“Fuck, ouch. You two were talking in a hallway, not exactly private.”

“It is about the intent you prick.”

“Sorry, it wasn’t like you said anything important.”

“That is not for you to-”

“Amber, calm down, Reet is just bad at social interactions and growing up with a huge family made him bad with privacy. I don’t think he really meant anything bad.”

“Harlan, you… whatever, I expect an apology from you though, fire head.”

“I’m sorry, just like Harlan said, I barely ever got privacy, it just didn’t seem like a big deal.”

“Adina, Zella, do you want to go on a quick walk, make sure our dresses are comfortable?”

Reet hesitantly raised his hand.

“Actually I was hoping that I could talk to Zella, privately.”

“Amber, I’m going to see what he wants, but I will join you when I am done.”

Relly eyed Reet with an odd respect before heading off with Adina and Amber.

She could only be there for a few hours while Rosewell was in meetings, and Safira accompanied her still.

When the girls left, Ky and Harlan wanted to test their strength against one another, but were quickly finding that anything around the house was too fragile for the two monstrous men to use for arm wrestling.

Meanwhile Zella and Reet were in a bunker meeting room.

“Reminds me a lot of the facility. Do you feel the same way?”

“Why did you take the blame for me?”

“Ah, yeah, um. It just seemed right, and I wanted to say something. I’m sorry, I treated you pretty poorly sometimes. When I gave you guys that hard cider back then, that was crossing a line, I could’ve… I almost killed people for some stupid prank. I’m sorry that I was a shitty friend. And I like your hair, it looks nice with those clips in it.”

Zella felt wildly uncomfortable.

“Are you serious?”

Reet thought she was upset with him.

“I know, I fucked up and I should’ve-”

“No, I mean. Really? You are… growing up?”

“Yeah, crazy how that works out. A 13 year old is mean to the girl he likes and drives her to hate him.”

“I guess we were all pretty- Wait, what was that?”

“I like you. I didn’t at first, but the longer we were together… I’m glad that Relly can keep a secret.”

“I don’t know how to even… I mean, you and…”

“I just wanted to clear the air, I’m not trying to do anything. It is good to see you again.”

“Do you really like my hair?”

“I think the fires over your ginger locks remind me of a sunset.”

“That’s…sweet.”

“Thanks. I guess we should get back to the others.”

Once Zella was out of the house Reet found Harlan and Ky arm wrestling on a solid stone block that they poured quite a bit of their mana into fortifying while Harlan was cheered on by Kass and Isha and Sara.

Both of them were sweating and their veins looked ready to burst as the first signs of cracks showed up in the stone.

They struggled for another minute before Ky began to tire out, ever so slightly tilting closer to a loss.

Feeling it was a bit unfair, Reet cheered for Ky. It didn’t do anything, but the thought was there.

Both men let out a roar as the dragon curse inside of the life they consumed had not yet dissipated and the wyvern nature demanded to dominate its opponent.

Finally, Harlan performed one final push and Ky’s hand barely touched the block as it crumbled to pieces.

Both of them panted.

“How… the… fuck.”

Harlan waited to respond, drinking from a flask of tonic that he started carrying on him.

“I’m shocked it took so long for me to win.”

“Harlan, I’ve been eating monsters for a long time now, I tapped into three of them just to keep up with you. How does that even make sense?”

Harlan grabbed a piece of stone, placing it at his bicep and then closing on it like a press to shatter it.

“I’m 1398 pounds of wyvern muscle and bone. With what I learned from you, I’m only going to get stronger.”

“Well, shit. I heard you could leech people dry to steal their strength, I just didn’t think it was accurate.”

Harlan pulled Reet close and then placed his hand on his shoulder.

“How did it go? You didn’t chicken out, right?”

“She reacted… fine. Disbelief mostly, but she is thinking about it, I hope. She liked the line about her hair looking like the sunset.”

“Sunrise, I wanted you to say sunrise because it has more positive connotations.”

“Wait, what did you two talk about?”

“I like Zella, in that way. So I finally told her I was a prick when we were kids because I was an idiot who didn’t understand what I was feeling or how to express it.”

“Huh, wow, that is…”

“Sorry, but even if things aren’t working out with Amber, I’m not going to give up on Zella.”

Ky put his hand out for a shake.

“May the best man win.”

“I intend to.”

The girls got back from their walk at the same time Ava called Harlan for pick up.

Harlan found it bothersome how he had to feel out places to avoid bypassing their wards and causing a panic whenever he cast gate.

It was the first time they met since Harlan had been back, even with gate, she had been avoiding him.

Once she stepped through she cocked her arm back and with her armor in its combat mode, tried to strike Harlan, who just caught the blow.

“I’m not letting you hit me, I didn’t do anything that deserves it.”

“You disappeared on everyone, you-”

Harlan covered her mouth.

“Don’t swear around Relly.”

She bit his fingers and chipped a tooth.

“Let me fix that.”

“What the hell are you made out of?”

“Wyvern parts right now, hope to upgrade to drake one day if i can find one that I can actually justify killing.

I actually need to keep working out with these new muscles, I don’t think I am getting as much power as I could out of them.”

“How long before you can get that for me?”

“I’ve never enhanced another person quite like this, I intend to start experiments within the next month using animals. Then eventually I will find human volunteers, then I can start to think about enhancing you.”

“I’ll be your first volunteer then.”

“I’m not arguing about this. Ava, meet Reet, from back at the facility. He is a good guy.”

“Really? Because I’ve heard Zella talk about him.”

“He grew up, just think how I was when I was 14 compared to now.”

“A violent, dangerous man with no morals? I don’t see the change.”

“I was hoping we moved past that…”

“I’m still here, but I am also not going to pretend that you are anything else.”

“Hey, don’t say that about Harlan.”

Ava found the young girl’s pouting face cute rather than threatening.

“Your name is… Relly? Right?”

“Hypocrite.”

Ava scoffed and laughed.

“What?”

“You want him to make you stronger, but you keep judging him for how he got where he is now. Are you going to pretend that you don’t know how he got that power? That an idea popped in his head one day?

You don’t deserve it, because your morals should tell you that it is as bad as he is.”

Relly could see how poorly Ava thought of Harlan, but how strongly she desired the strength she could get from him.

Harlan lowered his head to eye level and put his hand on her shoulder, which Safira didn’t like very much.

“Relly, hey, it’s fine. It doesn’t bother me.”

“Yes, it does.”

“Yes, alright, it does bother me, but it doesn’t matter. She is allowed to be upset with me. I’ve done bad things.”

Harlan thought of a few of those things, hoping to get her to back off of Ava.

But Relly didn’t care, she knew everything he did back at the facility, those were the thoughts that consumed his mind every time they met until he had a chance to unwind.

“You had good reasons for… most of that. She-”

“Shh. No need to get upset.”

“You would get upset, I know you would. Back when I… that thing happened at the facility. Your last thoughts were about everyone else, not about yourself. You are still like that. You shouldn’t have someone like her complaining about what you do.”

“Oh? Someone like ME? What about HIM? I’m not the one who killed a man in cold blood and covered it up.”

“Oh don’t get so high and mighty, what is the worst thing you’ve done?”

“I’m not telling you that.”

Relly stuck her tongue out at Ava.

“I can read minds, so I knew what it was as soon as you thought about it. You-”

Harlan put his hand over her mouth.

“Whatever Ava did, or however much you want to defend me, revealing someone's secrets like that is very rude. Why don’t we go inside, sit at the table, and catch up?”

Harlan took his hand away from her.

“Fine.”

On the way inside Ava was glaring at Relly, which got her a much stronger glare from Safira.