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8.1 Respite

Respite 8.1

2005, July 2: Cauldron, Ivory Coast, Africa

I couldn't afford to put it off any longer. I woke up yesterday but had the Custodian refrain from informing anyone. I wanted to take a day to collect myself. It only felt like a moment ago that I invoked Lamb's Respite, pausing the literal concept of death for the entire world for just a few seconds. Those few seconds had cost me, the deathly mana coursing through my veins taxing my body in ways I just wasn't equipped to handle.

I found out that I'd been out for three and a half years. My body had grown, and though the potions kept me healthy and hale, I couldn't help but feel a bit like a stranger in my own body. I wasn't too much taller, five-two or three compared to my previous height of four-eight, but it was still jarring.

However, I couldn't afford to sit idle. I'd missed too much. The first thing I did was read the files on the laptop by my nightstand, no doubt Fortuna's work. It contained a brief summary of everything I'd slept through, from endbringer attacks and global crises to the expansion of the Guild and the rise of new S-class threats in China.

More importantly, it contained details about the milestones in the lives of my friends and family: David and Penelope were married with a kid on the way; they were the new power couple in Albuquerque. Steven and Hassana had a daughter, Chioma Kajiya, named for her maternal grandmother. Colin moved up to Brockton Bay and recently took over leadership from Paladin. Eugene led the Guild.

Yasmine was in Oakland and had made a friend who was a part of the local Elite chapter there, though whether she knew that was another matter. I'd have to follow up on that. I wasn't sure who was the head of that chapter, but it couldn't hurt to pay them a visit.

Which only left Raquel from my original team. She graduated from the Wards this June and was making waves before that, helping to take down a human trafficking ring in the area. I heard about her PHO handle and found it hilarious.

But the biggest change, the one that made me hesitate, was Riley Grace Davis, now Davis-Kim technically. I'd missed her trigger, and Fortuna subsequently going to town on Jack and his merry band of psychopaths shortly after. She'd used the Slug to mute Riley's traumas and shaped her into a functioning child before convincing mom to adopt her.

I had a little sister.

I had a little sister.

I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

No, no matter my thoughts, I really couldn't put this off. I got up and called for a Door to Phoenix. It was Saturday morning, which probably meant they'd all be home. I found myself some casual wear courtesy of the Custodian and took the long way around, wandering through the neighborhood as I thought about what I wanted to say.

What could I say? I was gone for three years. "Hi, I'm back?" In what world was that enough?

My heart pounded in my chest. Somehow, as cliche as it was, my body was trembling even more than when I'd chased the Simurgh into the sky. Living in a superhero world, I could usually just stab my problems. A problem I couldn't punch through was a bit more nerve-wracking.

'You fought with power that was not yours, pup,' Wolyo growled, an echo that rang through my soul.

'Yeah, I've got some growing to do,' I admitted. As much as it stung, Wolyo was right. Even before invoking the Lamb's Respite, I felt the stress the Mask put on my young body, like a balloon pumped to bursting. Eventually, when my body could handle no more, the Mask faded back into the altar in my soul.

'In time,' Farya soothed, 'one battle at a time, little flame.'

'Thanks, Farya.'

Too soon, I stood at my mother's doorstep. Her door was as nondescript as could be, a screen door coupled with a flimsy little thing of eggshell-white. My eyes saw the hidden, tinkertech security measures embedded into the walls, but it was otherwise a humble place. I'd read that she got harassed by paparazzi and whatnot early on but Director Lyons made sure she wouldn't be bothered. I'd have to thank her personally for that.

I took a deep breath. I could see mom inside. She was in the master bedroom, seated on her bed and brushing a little, blonde girl's hair. Riley, presumably. My new sister was… adorable. Then again, she was six; that came with the territory. Mom was nodding indulgently as Riley babbled about something I couldn't hear. She had a picture book about dinosaurs on her lap and I wondered if I'd be seeing any additions to Babylon in the near future.

I rang the doorbell. It sounded oppressively loud to my ears. There was a certain finality about it. I was committed now, no putting this off. I watched Riley dash down the stairs to the door.

She knocked back and said with a serious expression. "Knock knock."

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I rolled my eyes but decided to play along. "Who's there?"

"I don't know, I should be asking you that."

"I don't know, I should be asking you that, who?"

"If I knew, I'd open the door but mommy said I shouldn't talk to strangers. Oh well, bye bye, Mr. I don't know, I should be asking you that, who~~"

"Hey, wait a minute," I called as she started to skip back upstairs. I'd just been had by a six year old. "I'm your brother!"

"Lame! Mommy says Andy oppa is asleep," she said with a frown. "Mommy doesn't like talking about him because he makes her sad. He's a bad boy."

I winced at the pang of guilt that shot through my chest. "Yes, yes he is," I agreed, "but he's awake now."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire. When oppa wakes up, he's going to beat you up. He's super strong."

"I would if someone pretended to be me, but I can't because I am me."

"Prove it."

"Okay…" I thought about something I could tell her… that wasn't her trigger… "How about this? Fortuna is my good friend."

"Yeah? You know Miss Fortuna?" she asked, excited now.

"Of course. I can make a Door, just like her. Do you know what a Door is?" I didn't want to just make one into the living room for fear of scaring her. "Has Fortuna shown you Doors?"

"Uh-huh! She says everyone at Cauldron can make Doors and I'll be able to one day too!"

"Well, if I can make a Door, that'll prove I'm Andy, right?"

"But… Nu-uh, only that you're from Cauldron."

"I am from Cauldron."

"Prove it."

"Okay, watch. Door, my living room."

Sure enough, a familiar portal connected the house's doorstep with the living room carpet. I pulled off my shoes and walked on through. There, Riley got her first look at me. She looked even smaller now that we were face to face.

She let out a little gasp and promptly hid behind the couch. I shrugged and put my shoes on a little shelf set aside for the purpose.

"Riley, what are you doing?" I asked curiously. "You know I can see you anyway, right?"

"Nuh-uh, only Andy can do that. Mommy says he can see through walls."

"Yup, that's because I have special eyes I made out of True Ice."

"W-Well, how many fingers am I holding up?" she said stubbornly. Behind the couch, she had two fingers in one hand and four in the other.

"Your left or right hand?"

"Left."

"Four."

"No…"

"And two now. You switched."

"I didn't…"

"Riley, are you lying?'

"... Are you really my big brother?" she asked shyly.

"Yup, why? Is that bad?"

I took a seat on the couch, and reached out to ruffle Riley's hair. Then we heard mom's footsteps on the stairs. "Riley, who was that? Did you scare them away again?"

I froze. This was it. I got swept up in humoring a child and forgot my nerves, but the butterflies returned with a vengeance. Mom came down and froze as she caught sight of me.

"H-Hey, mom, I'm home," I said with a shaky smile.

"You!" The next moment, my own shoe was flying at my head. I grunted in discomfort more than pain.

And then I was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. She held me tight, like her life depended on it, as if I'd vanish into thin air if she dared let go for a second. I felt her body tremble and warm tears wet my cheek. She was still slightly taller than me, but she felt so fragile like this.

The dam broke. Everything she held back, all the feelings she'd stamped down on for the sake of being "Hyunmu's mother," she let it all out. She wailed as I held her. She shook like a leaf in the wind and I felt as if she'd shatter at any moment.

I hugged her fiercely. "I'm home, mom."

"You're home," she said with a watery smile. "You're home."

'I am."

"You… I thought… No, I knew you would wake up."

"Of course, I'm your son."

"You're home…"

"I am."

She held my face in her hands and looked deep into my eyes, the blue crystals I'd carved for myself, as clear a proof as any that I was who I claimed to be. "This isn't a dream."

"It's not."

"You're really home," she whispered, slowly internalizing my return. It wasn't easy for her, even before I left. Dad died in Busan and mom called in every favor she could to move us across the world, away from the sea.

I became a hero. I met people, friends and mentors I cherished. I built miracles and changed the world. I thrived in the States. She… didn't. She had no friends here. She barely spoke the language. She left behind everything. What little she built for herself, she did so around me, catering to my needs, my wants, even moving back to the coast in DC to allow me to grow. For the past several years, it wasn't an exaggeration to say she lived for me.

And I'd left. Faced down an endbringer to be the big damn hero, only to leave her behind. Just like dad.

In that moment, I felt just how fragile a mother's love could be.

"Welcome home, son," she whispered into my ear.

"It's good to be home, mom."

I grabbed Riley and yanked her into a family hug. She let out a cute eep but settled between mom and me. Truthfully, it was a little hard to think of her as "my sister," but I had to make the effort. I owed it to both her and mom to try. She looked thoroughly baffled, the complex wave of grief, relief, and delirious, tear-jerking joy a bit much for her to understand at her age.

There was much to do. I had a little sister to teach. I had so much to build. There were people I needed to check in with, people I had to thank. Then there were people who needed Isolde crammed up their asses, the bird bitch up top included. The PRT would probably make a huge deal of my return; I saw countless PR events in my future. Everything from Babylon to David's therapy sessions, it all needed a more thorough examination than I could manage in a single day of review.

But all of that could wait. Here and now, there was nowhere else I'd rather be.

I was home.

Author's Note

Super short chapter. I don't think I've written one this short since the early days of this story, but maybe that's appropriate. It's a good stopping point and I didn't want to artificially bloat the chapter's word count.

I wrote 3k words on Andy reading reports in bed but there's a 10 chapter arc about what happened in the interim so let's skip that.

I hope I got the childishness and emotional turmoil right. I think I'm getting better, but it's still the weakest part of my writing I think.

Animal fact? Sure, have a cute one, though I don't know if I used it before: Rats are ticklish.

Turns out, rats groom and tickle each other during play. If you use a device keyed to high frequencies, e.g. for detecting bat sonar, you can actually hear them laughing. Humans can tickle them too and lab rats will actively play with their handlers.

Thank you for reading. To reach a wider audience, and because I enjoy a more forum-like setup to facilitate discussion, I like to crosspost to a wide variety of websites. You can find them all on my Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/fabled.webs.