About three weeks had passed since the events with Zelos and the Wild Men. In that time, Archie and the rest of the Seekers were put to work helping Shuten Douji and the Oni repair Oni Village. Thanks to the combined efforts of the Seekers, the Silent Hand, and the Wild Men, this effort hadn’t taken much longer than a week. The more laborious task had been the repair of the Wild Man Colony. Rui and Yugo had been the most helpful there, using their Elemental Manipulation abilities to fill in the crater while the Oni rebuilt the Colony and grew trees to make them part of the forest instead of leaving the Colony exposed to the outside. As Shuten Douji put it, this move was to officially cement the beginning of a political partnership between General Denk and the Wild Men with Shuten Douji and the Oni. Once it’d been set in motion, it’d been time for us to finally leave the Wild Men to themselves for the first time in almost a month.
It’d been far more emotional than Archie imagined it would’ve been. He’d given words of encouragement to the now-evolved Wild Men he’d once convinced to act more civilized, Rui traded a few barbs with General Denk, and even Yugo gave some encouragement to the Myths in his own, slightly comedic way. The worst of it came when it was Somnia’s time to part with them, though. It was like separating a toddler from their parents on the first day of school. They were all crying like babies, looking unlike the powerful, dignified Wild Men they were. Even Somnia looked a bit shaken, though just before anything resembling a tear could’ve formed in her eyes she tapped into that Hovering Hand state and whipped them all into shape. In the end, settling matters in Oni Prefecture had been significantly faster than it’d been in Saikou following the Futakuchi-Onna debacle. Shuten Douji credited it to Oni Prefecture’s preparedness in the face of attack and invasion.
Once everyone was settled, it was time for us all to train. The knowledge that Yugo, Mamoru Yugo, was in a battle against his terroristic family was enough to light a fire under Archie unlike anything else ever had. And if that hadn’t been enough, the bloody Light Eater believed he was capable of helping Yugo defeat the Mamoru Clan! Envy fell to the wayside when one of the strongest Myths to ever exist believed in your power! Thankfully, the others were similarly motivated to train. The Seekers had made a home in the Silent Hand Tunnels, mostly living out of their training halls. Somnia had taken responsibility in training Rui, though the latter’s insistence on her teaching him her father’s fighting style made it seem less that she took responsibility and was rather forced to do so. That left Archie with Yugo, who used their training time to push Archie’s body to its limits. Now that he could fully repair a body from near death, Yugo didn’t hold back at all. Archie’d been beaten to a pulp and ripped apart more in just two days than any man ever should. Yugo’d even used these tendrils to impale him and shock him from the inside! Since when could he ever do that?!
It’d worked out in the end, though. After just a few days of training, Archie had jumped up to Level 138, just 8 behind Rui and 15 behind Somnia. There was a point in time where this would’ve been enough for him to celebrate, but not anymore. The enemies he faced, the ones he’d been blessed with the capability to defeat, were far stronger than him. Being in the 100s, hell, being in the 300s, wasn’t enough. He needed power, and he needed it now. Lochness felt the same way, Archie knew, which was why he let her train alongside Rui and Somnia.
After a week of nonstop training, Yugo started letting the Seekers know that it was about time they got on the move. He’d admitted to not knowing where exactly they should go next, something Archie imagined he wouldn’t have normally admitted to if not for the whole “I promise to be more open” thing. Yugo said that his normal criteria for a mission was to pick something difficult enough to push them, but not easy enough to where they’d “get overconfident like Level 20 Rui”. Both Archie and Somnia wanted to get straight to work against the Mamoru Clan while Rui wanted to pursue the Horsemen. Yugo, meanwhile, noted that while he appreciated everyone’s gusto, they simply weren’t ready to face any of those threats head-on. In the end, they’d failed to come to any sort of agreement. Yugo eventually said he’d consult Shuten Douji the following day and called it a night.
When they broke after that meeting, Archie took a walk around Oni Village. It’d been quiet, the empty streets illuminated by the moonlight and the faint orange glow from lamps and lanterns inside the clay homes and businesses that lined the streets. There weren’t many people outside save for a few Oni, some Silent Hand members blending in as citizens that Archie’d begun to recognize, and even a spattering of Wild Men here and there.
Any second now…
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Around the time the Seekers began their intense training in the Silent Hand Tunnels, his parents had started calling him late at night to check in on him. He hadn’t realized how much he needed it, and that call stuck with him for the entirety of the following day. That’d become a nightly tradition now, and Archie found himself looking forward to those calls each night.
*Barring!*
Took them long enough! I was getting worried!
Archie sat on a nearby bench as he reached into his training robes for his phone.
“Hey, Mum!” Archie smiled, making no effort to hide his Burnish accent. Every time he did, his parents grilled him for it.
“Oh, Archie! How’s me boy?”
“Same as I was last night.”
“And where’s my favorite little Myth?”
“Lochness is asleep. She tried to stay up, but she was tired from training. I’ll tell her you all said hello.”
“And that Yugo boy ain’t giving you problems?”
“Nope,” Archie lied. He wasn’t dumb enough to tell her that he’d ripped his arm off just a few hours ago. “Everything’s good. And he isn’t the only member of the Seekers, you know. There’s Somnia and Rui, too.”
Archie heard ruffling before a familiar, gruff voice sounded from the other end of the line. “Yeah, but we ain’t met that Rui boy yet. He treatin’ you good?”
“Yeah, Dad. He’s like my rival.”
“Rival, innit? If you tell me he’s a higher level than you I’m kickin’ yer ass the moment you walk into this shop.”
“Guess I’ll get the gloves ready.”
“Oh, goddamn it, boy! I thought you were the hot shit?”
“Stop being a prick, Gerald! That Rui boy is a Curse User! You know they’re all a bit loony.”
“I’m just yankin’ his chain, Samantha. No need to take everything so seriously!” Archie’s father laughed. “As long as you’re out there kickin’ ass, I’m happ–, hey, boy! I’m on the phone! Don’t you go snatching the– hey! You wait your–”
“Hey, Arch!” His siblings all yelled in unison. Archie heard the wind in the phone as who he assumed was his brother ran with his mother’s phone in his hand. He heard his sisters chase behind him, all three of them telling us all about what they’d been up to and what life in Burnchester had been like. As much as he appreciated it, the sound of them all together having fun made Archie a tad bit homesick. It’d been a while since he’d been with them, and now that he was tied to the Seekers, who knew when he’d see them again?
After five minutes of going back and forth with his siblings, his older brother finally handed the phone back to his mother. He’d expected to hear his father yell at his brother for snatching the phone, but he didn’t. Instead, the other end had gone silent. After a full minute, his mother spoke into the phone, speaking in a soft tone.
“You know we love you, Archie Finch. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”
She only says this when she’s about to tell me something…
“I love you all, too. I’ll never forget that.” He smiled. “Now why are you telling me that? Who’s having the kid?”
His mother laughed. “No new brats, boy. I just want you to know we care about you.” She paused for a long time, audibly swallowing before her voice suddenly broke. “This world is a better place with you in it, Archie. You’re capable of great things, you know that?” Before Archie could answer his mother, she suddenly began to cry.
She hasn’t cried since Granny died…
At first, Archie had just assumed she was sad about him not being home. Homesickness turned to concern, though, when in the background Archie heard his sisters crying as well. His brother was doing his best to support them based on the comforting words he was giving them.
“What’s wrong?” Archie asked into the phone, his heart suddenly racing. “Is everything okay? Do you need me to come back home?”
“Don’t you worry about us, boy.” His father answered. “We just wanted you to know you’re loved. You’re a fucking Finch, and you’d better shout that from the highest bloody rooftop in Minashire. You’re strong, Archie.”
Why are they talking to me like this is the last time we’re ever gonna speak?!
“Ah, right. I almost forgot. We got those herbs you shipped us from Minashire. Your Mum put together a nice focaccia with them.” It was then that his father, the strongest man Archie’d ever known, broke. “Goodbye, son. Make us proud.”
“Hey!” Archie shouted. “Dad? What’s going on?! Answer–”
The call dropped.