Purple eyes, silvery hair, and a spear…

I wiggle around in my kidnapper’s arm and slap a hand on his face to pat it down. Nose, eyes, ears… a goatee? No way…

Then I start slapping him, properly, while also trying to drag the hand away from my mouth.

The man finally lets go of my mouth, only to speak before I can. “Eli, it's okay, it's me-”

“Shut up Dad, and stop Mom.” I yell right away and we come to a sudden halt. I keep slapping him to vent some frustration and show some love which seems to have some sort of stunning effect. “They’re with me, with the Fist. Put. Me. Down!” I tell him in the commanding tone the true owner of our household so often employed.

It doesn’t even take a moment for me to get released and pull that stupid maks obscuring my father’s face along with me. A face I yearned to see since day one of falling off that stupid cliff.

I give him a quick hug and murmur into his chest. “I missed you, Dad.” Then let go and bolt back towards the others. I need more of those hugs but they can wait a little.

Rhythmic Strides makes my steps burst with enough wind to create small dust clouds wherever my feet leave the ground. My magic carries me with swiftness like never before and just a few seconds later I slam into the woman carrying the spear, about to clash with Fleur.

“Stop it, Mom!” I shout and try holding onto her arms.

It’s not my strength that prevents the attack, that's for sure. Even though Mom is mostly a Mage her second Class is that of a Warrior and her level is more than three times mine. So to obscure her tunnel vision, focused only on smiting those who kidnapped her daughter I raise a wall of my own. My earthen barricade is a joke compared to my mother's solid ice barrier and anyone here could punch right through with no effort whatsoever. That’s not the point though.

“They’re with the Fist Mom, here to accompany me home. They’re okay people.” I say as quickly as my mouth can before any further fighting or property damage occurs.

Right this moment Aaron swoops down, crushes my flimsy wall, and levitates above our heads menacingly. Like the hero arriving a little too late. Even without Mana Perception, I can see a cavalcade of murderous wind blades dancing in his palm but Mom doesn’t care.

She just throws down her mask and collapses onto me with a big, crushing hug. No tears this time, just a big goofy smile. “Hey there Eli.”

“What are you even doing here?” I croak with the little air left in my lungs, still a bit on the edge after the sudden kidnapping.

“Looking for you, my idiot of a daughter.” She giggles in my ears, her breath tickling my neck... but I don’t mind.

“Wha- how?” I stutter.

“We met the elk in the forest.” It’s not Mom who answers but I’m just as elated to hear this other voice.

That's it? The word of a beast about two weeks travel from here? And among the thousands of people, hundreds of cities we happen to walk the same streets?

Luck... I guess I do deserve some good by now.

I glance up and see Dad looking for a good spot to contribute to the hug so I stand up. Now that the re-reunion is complete a serene moment passes before a caught interrupts.

“We should get outta here.” Aaron points out the obvious. “The guards won't appreciate the ruckus.”

“Shut up, you were slow.” Fleur shoots him down. “Are they good?” She aims the question at me and towards my parents.

“The best.” I giggle, all too happy to care about food or a place to stay anymore.

And shocked, and tired, but also really antsy. There are too many emotions swirling inside me and it feels like my skin is itching to do everything at once. But I go for some more huggies before anything, I needed that.

This is the best day, recently. The first half was pretty shit. But now my mood is through the roof, although some nearby faces clearly don’t share my sentiment.

Reluctantly we break the family embrace and make a run for it as previously suggested although with some tension still up in the air. The lovebirds are still wary and clearly a bit miffed, while Val is… awkward. Me on the other hand, I’m giggling like a child as we bolt down the dark streets in the middle of the night.

“Have you found a good place to stay?” I lean over and whisper into Dad’s as we round the eighth corner already.

“No, we heard there is one not far from where-” His mouth is left open for a second without any voice leaving it.

“You kidnapped me?” I ask with a furious laugh.

We steer towards the major streets with more activity to blend into the crowds however I doubt that level of caution is warranted at this point. We’re far, and it’s late, and there are only three things I need in this world right now. Food, a bed and all the time to tell them our crazy adventures.

“Hey, we thought they held you hostage.” Mom interjects. “The irritated tone, short temper, and just the general vicinity.” Her eyes fail to meet mine but I still cough pointedly because she’s clearly forgetting something. “Yeah, sorry for attacking you.”

“No worries, we’re more than used to it.” Aaron chuckles, but I can see from his eyes that he’s still not entirely on board.

“Yeah, so… long story.” I sigh. “But I’m still here and stronger than ever and with a lot of stories and… maybe with a hefty bounty on our heads in Turan.” I add the last part as quietly as humanly possible. The Night Fiends did make quite the name for themselves.

“And she’s your little friend I presume?” Mom signals I’m off the hook for now but it’d be surprising if she didn’t notice Val sticking close to me the whole time. That and her collar and anxious glances and how she was about to attack a woman a few times stronger than herself to defend me.

“Little?” Dad asks. “She’s about the same size as you, dear.”

“Men…” Mom and Fleur huff as one, the spirit of ‘women’ guiding them.

Then why didn’t I react? I had the same reaction as Dad… Am I wrong too?

***

It didn’t take much effort to completely make our pursuers, if there were any in the first place, lose our tail, and from there on take a leisurely walk to the central districts. The expensive parts with fancy homes and glamorous restaurants and the Golden Rooster.

Looking for a place like this, meant mostly for nobility to stay for the night was sort of a last resort because explaining such outrageous expenses to the administrators back in Fort Karon sounded like a nightmare. But I was in a good mood, and my bag was heavy and I am very much rich.

They had two rooms empty for the night, which is not unusual since Turan is the busiest in the winter when beasts sleep and humans celebrate. They enjoy the Respite and spend this quarter of the year making up for the lost time on the frontlines and making memories they can bring with them when Malor comes to reap.

Two rooms, ninety silver and almost one and a half gold respectively… Or one smaller piece of diamond. I have a few handfuls, and I’m drunk on bliss and I also wanted to show off a little.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

One room for the lovely dovely duo and the other for the family, which leaves Val… The dumbass who’s been looking like a lost puppy ever since my parents popped out of nowhere and…

I don’t like that.

“So a room for the family and the other one for the rest. Sound right?” Aaron asks and hands over the key to Dad.

“Nope.” I declare right away. “Val comes with me.”

“There are only two beds in a room though, plus maybe the sofa.” Aaron looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

Fleur just laughs and slaps him on the back. “Stop nitpicking! Obviously one is for the parents while the kids sleep curled up like kittens. As always.” She grabs their key and basically drags the man away by his collar. “Be grateful we got a room just for us. I’m full of frustration that needs to be vented.” She throws me a thankful wink and walks on.

Well, they might be fine with eating each other for dinner but not me.

“Dinner?” I ask the rest of our group and they just nod unanimously, all too baffled to speak. Except for Mom, she seems to be deep in thought.

The other notable this is how fiddly the otherwise dominant, sassy, and quite blockheaded brute acts by my side. But I can understand. Her parents are like ninety percent dead, then there’s the whole loneliness thing, her worries about a nonexistent timelimit, and most importantly the contrasting familiar warm we’re oozing… Yeah, I’ll do my best to include her.

I’m done dealing with sad stuff, I deserve to have it easy now.

The dinery is hard to miss and everything is way too fancy for my taste. Way too many plates, types of cutlery glasses, golden candlesticks… At least they don’t make us sit around for long and serve us… something extraordinary.

The food is delightful. Meals are included in the price of the stay and let me say it is worth every silver. Six courses of pure culinary miracle. I can't even name what is being served served one after another and I know my food. Either way, names can’t play on my tongue the way our six-course dinner had.

I like being rich. I don’t exactly like where my money came from but I’m pretty sure every piece of coin was involved in a shady deal be that years or only days ago. Better spend it all and return it to the people.

As always we eat in silence, a tradition in my family still holding strong, although I feel like Valka just keeps quiet because she doesn’t know what to say. The portions leave much to be desired but at least the servers are dutiful and bring us a new delicacy the moment one of our plates goes empty.

Servants are also pretty handy… Is money already corrupting me even though I haven’t gotten to spend it properly yet?

When the food disappears and we are all groaning and holding our stomachs the little group retires to our room. There I realize Aaron didn’t lie, there really are only two beds. Two huge, absolutely massive double beds.

Paintings on the wall, a nice view from the balcony, and flowers on the table. We even had a private bathroom with a bathtub and some sort of water system controlled with inscriptions. Perfect temperature in the room and probably many more features I’m not gonna explore.

Maybe tomorrow.

“So what was this sleeping in one bed thing Fleur mentioned?” Dad sits down at the table, and links his fingers, looking at us like an interrogator.

“That’s not so simple.” I hold my hands up defensively. “We were poor so that was all we could afford and the winter up here is pretty cold. Right, Val?”

I try to drag her into the flow of the conversation while also appeasing the two adults now sitting side by side on their bed.

“Yeah, telling the whole story might be in order though.” She nods meekly.

***

And the whole story it was. After all, lying, or at least trying to keep quiet about a few elements, in front of the two people fortunate enough to raise me was a futile effort. Not when telling them the tale of me burning down a patch of the forest, or my meeting with the Fluffs, or when I burned down a much larger patch of the forest. Meeting here of all places was an accident though. They just started searching randomly after exiting the woods, or what I left of them, and came here to hire some help.

After all, these were the tracks they followed after hearing the news of my untimely demise. They had a good giggle when the news got delivered of me falling off the cliff and being declared lost even after the Fist returned with a search party.

Lost does not mean dead and they had enough faith in me to know I wouldn’t kick the bucket that easy. Or at least that’s what they told me. I’m pretty sure they were desperate, maybe even a little delusional… but I really did live up to their expectations.

“You ate one?” Dad springs to his feet when I casually mention my experience with the lightning fruits. “By the Abyss, was it really a Stormcast Fruit? What did it taste like?”

“Lucious!” Mom reprimands him and I also can’t understand his enthusiasm.

“Sweet?” I don’t know what he’s expecting. “I mean it tasted the best and I felt wonderful until the dream took me and…”

“Hm.” Mom just nods as if she understands everything. “What did you dream about?” Her words come out extra gentle and I somehow feel the words just stuck in my throat.

“Normal.” I whisper in the end. “Peaceful and happy. Sure maybe a little mundane but it was good. I didn’t have to- at least there I didn’t…”

I just can’t bring myself to say it. I’m ashamed. I did bad things and even if I can justify them and even if I tell myself that I had to, it doesn’t change anything.

So Val takes over and tells the story where I left off. “When we first met I was a slave owned by the Turan army on my way to the Elder Line.” Distaste is instantly obvious on my parents’ faces.

“She’s not a criminal.” My voice is weak but I do my best to clear up any possible misunderstandings. “Just got dragged here from Koleth. I stabbed a knife through a man’s throat.” It slips out. Then comes the flood. “I killed people, many of them. They all wanted us and if I hesitated- if I didn’t fight back-”

“Sssh.” Mom basically jumps up and yanks me into her embrace before settling back on the bed. “It’s okay sweetie. I know it must’ve been hard.” At her words, the walls holding it all in burst.

Dad is quick to join, whispering his own words of wisdom meant to soothe me while I’m drowning in my own snot and tears. “I’m sorry Eli you had to lose a piece of your youth this early. Now let it all out.” He strokes my back but I feel him shift slightly. “You too, come here.”

It takes a few seconds for me to understand his words as a fourth warm body joins and I do as my father said. The guilt I can’t explain, the pain of everything I had to endure, the worries, the fear, the injuries and… everything.

The warm embrace of people I treasure above everything else, far more than the fortune sitting in my bag, or my Classes or my Blessing… it melts everything dark I bundled up in the back of my mind and washes it out through my tears.

I thought I was ready to face to world. To beat everything I come across and outsmart even dragons if I have to but this adventure has been a painful wakeup call. I might be a little special and my efforts are clearly way above those of the average folk but the world is simply too big.

Seconds turn into minutes and I wouldn’t be surprised if those minutes creep close to an hour by the time my tears dry up. “I’m thirsty.”

Dad chivalrously satisfies my need, at which point I finally break away because the tear and snot-covered clothes are a bit gross and I feel embarrassed. I’ll be back for more hugs though, I’m still in a huge deficit.

“I’m proud you endured and proud you came out victorious.” He says and ruffles my hair. “I’m also eternally thankful, Valka, for being a good friend to my daughter and getting her back to us alive. I’m sure your parents would be just as proud.” He smiles unknowingly.

Val flashes an empty smile and turns away. That was a terrible miss. Of course, Dad has no way of knowing her circumstances so I won't beat him, but he won't get away unscathed either.

I throw an arm around Valka’s shoulder and whisper into her ear. “Sorry, he doesn’t know.”

“I know.” She sighs. “You have wonderful parents.”

“They’re showing their public side, the better one. They can be unbearable.” I complain and we both break out in giggles.

“I don’t know about you kids but I’m drowsy and can hear everything.” Mom’s gaze on us turns dangerous. “I need to get something first though.” She walks up to us. “Valka, would you be so kind as to give me a hand?” She smiles and drags my friend away without her consent.

A second after they leave Dad whistles. “Divide and conquer. What a scary woman…”

“And you love every second of it.” Comes the comment from the other side of the door.

Place not soundproof, got it.

Mom clearly took Val for some private talk and the excuse was so blatant that she might as well haven’t tried. Now that both are gone I jog over to Dad and whack him with my full might. He acts hurt to give me satisfaction, although most of the damage should be emotional.

“Why?” He whimpers.

“Her parents are like ninety percent dead, you idiot!” I whisper-yell at my own birth father.

He drops the act and cringes at his own previous words. “I didn’t-”

“Of course you didn’t know.” I slap again. “That won't revert things though, will it?”

He just smiles and hugs me again. “Did you find yourself someone important?” He asks gently and strokes my hair.

Anger leaves me like a smooth fart and I lean onto his chest. “Top three.” I smile. “She’s like a sister to me.” I push away and turn dead serious. “Don’t tell her that, it’s embarrassing.”

My father laughs and pats my head gently. “Only if she doesn’t yet know.”

“Sorry for disappearing again. I’m not doing it on purpose, I promise.” I jest at my own misfortune with some sincerity.

“Was it all bad?” Dad asks with the patience only a parent can muster.

I just grin like an idiot and stay quiet.

Who knows…

“What do you think Mom is up to?” I ask, concerned for my friend.

“She’s a woman of many talents and intent shrouded in mystery.” Is the only reasonable answer my seven decades old father can muster.

Coward.