After climbing for another few minutes, she finally reached the end of the path and rounded the stone pillar blocking the view of the spot. As she rounded the pillar, she was met with a clear view of the sun setting over the ocean and city. She took a moment to marvel at the sight. She quickly refocused as she noticed Zycor sitting on a rock by the edge. He was looking out over the ocean and city. “H-hey, Zycor, are you ok?” Aisha asked, uncertain of what she should say.
After a moment of silence, Aisha went to say something again, but Zycor spoke up, “It’s a beautiful view, isn’t it.”
Aisha, caught off guard, but decided it was better to go with it, responded, “Yeah, it is.”
As Aisha approached him slowly, Zycor said, “...can I ask you something, Aisha.”
Aisha stopped on the right side of Zycor, but remained slightly behind him, and responded, “Yeah, go ahead.”
Aislin finally got to the stone pillar and took up a position to eavesdrop as Zycor asked, “Can you tell me, what it’s like to have a family?”
Aislin and Aisha’s hearts both sank upon hearing the question. “What do you mean? Don’t you have a family?” Aisha asked.
After a momentary pause, almost as if he was struggling to get the words out, “No, I don’t, they… they’re gone, and have been for a long time. I can barely remember their faces. I have been so consumed with anger and the thought of vengeance, I am no longer able to remember how it felt.”
Aisha, shaken by his statement, asked, “What about everyone at the guild? What about Aislin…what about Adria?”
As he continued to look off into the horizon, Zycor responded, “Ma- … Adria, took me in, and has treated me with great kindness. It could get suffocating at times, but it came from a good place. She is the closest thing to a mother I have now, though at times I feel as though I am only hindering her and making life a whole lot harder for her.”
Zycor looked down towards where the guild hall is, and continued, “She probably just feels responsible for being the first person to find me amongst those ruins. That’s probably why she has been pretending for so long.”
Aisha, not knowing what to say, reiterated the rest of her question, “And what about Aislin and the adventurers?”
Zycor responded, “They all work there and Aislin lives there as well, so they are just trying to be nice.”
When she heard this, Aislin began to get upset. How could he think this after everything? As she was about to walk over to Zycor and give him a piece of her mind, Aisha agitatedly spoke up, “Oh my Goddess, what the hell are you talking about!”
As Zycor looked over at Aisha, in an act of karmic retribution, he was met with her hand slapping him across the face, “How dare you say that about all of them, any idiot with a brain could see how much they care about you! And yet, here you are, upset that you can’t remember the faces of your biological family, and rejecting the family you have right here! Do you not care about them!?” Aisha’s rage began to be muffled by tears filling her eyes, “Do you not love them?”
Zycors eyes widened when he heard the last statement. He began to understand what she was trying to say. He began, “I… I don’t know. I have not felt emotions in such a long time that I just… forgot? But,” Zycor began to lift his head and look at Aisha, “I know for a fact, even without understanding the feeling, I care and love them all. But what can I do? I can’t express or feel any emotions.”
Aisha grabbed his shoulders, and looked him in the eyes and answered, “Does that really matter? If you want to call them your family, they call you theirs, can you say it matters?”
As Zycor heard these words he felt something well up from deep within himself. He had not felt this feeling in many years. “Do you really think it’s ok for me to stay with them?” he asked.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Well of course it is,” Aislin said, emerging from the pillar and walking towards him, “After all, if I don’t have my little brother around, who in the hell am I supposed to use to get out of trouble with Adria?!”
She knelt down and told Zycor, “Adria, Clyde, all of the other adventurers at the guild, and I all agree that you bring a certain joy to all of us. Most of the adventurers don’t have kids, and even the ones that do, see you as their kid. Especially Adria, she went through that horrid adoption process to make it official as well. And I… quite like ya too, you did save my life after all.”
Embarrassed, Aislin looked away. After a moment, she looked back at him. And when she did, both Aislin and Aisha saw something they had never seen. Rolling down his cheek from his right eye was a single tear. Before either of them could say anything or react, Zycor hugged them both, and with a shaky voice, he said, “Thank you.”
After a minute or so, Aislin broke up the hug and exclaimed, “OK, it’s time to head home kids, it’s getting rather late and I am certain that the later we are, the worse we will be punished by Adria.”
Zycor’s left eye twitched and Aisha shivered as they thought about the possible punishments for being late. “Alright kids, let’s go, Ai you are coming with me. Zycor, you know how to use your magic to accelerate so~... I’ll see you back at the guild.” She quickly finished before she jumped off the cliff with Aisha on her back screaming.
Aislin used earth magic to create platforms to get down in a controlled fashion. Zycor took one more glance at the almost fully set sun, reflecting on everything that was said. He finally accepted that even though his original family was gone, he had found people who had become his new family. And although Zycor would never forget how he loved his parents, brothers, and sister, nor would he forget how they were taken from him, he was able to find solace in knowing he was no longer alone. Before he could ponder further, the thought of Adria and how upset she would be if he is any later than he already was gave him a new purpose.
With Zycor having returned to the guild hall, he was met with a massive hug by a worried Adria. Aisha boarded the carriage that was sent for her and returned home.
Despite this seemingly happy end to the day, elsewhere in the world sinister things were being set in motion. In the barracks for the king's personnel knights in Velathria, a lone knight trudged down the hall, his armor bore the rank of vice commander. The knight entered the captain's room and greeted him, “Greetings, commander Zeddicus, I am here as you have ordered.”
The commander stood up from his chair to address the knight. “I am well,” The commander began, “However, I have received a troubling report given to me by our underground division. As you know, they are experts at gathering intel about any event, regardless of how long ago it happened.”
Zeddicus walked over to a cabinet to pull out a bottle of liquor along with a single glass, and began to pour himself a drink. “The report actually happened to be about one of the first missions you ever took part in. Do you remember conducting a raid on a village in the southern part of our great nation?”
The vice commander, who was trying to fish for more information, replied, “I conducted multiple raids in that area, sir. Might I inquire for some more detail about the raid in question?”
Zeddicus finished the sip of liquor he had taken and said, “Of course, you make a fair point. Allow me to be a bit more specific, I am referring to the raid where, despite being ordered to slaughter every inhabitant regardless of age or sex, you let a child escape on purpose.”
The vice commander, whose composure began to falter, responded, “Y-yes, I… may recall something like that.”
Zeddicus set his drink on his desk as he turned to face the vice commander, “I see. So, pray tell, what were you planning on doing about him? Surely you were not simply going to let the child go? I mean, that would not only be a blatant disregard for your orders, but it would be cruel for the child in question, especially after you slaughtered his entire family and fellow villagers, don’t you think?”
The vice commander, who was trying to keep himself together, responded, “If I may be permitted to speak freely sir, the reason I did not kill the kid then was because I was not accustomed to such bloodshed at the time. I was a novice during that raid, and could barely be called a soldier. Because of that, I let the kid live due to me having reached the limit of what I could handle.”
Zeddicus nodded his head as he turned around and walked to his chair. After he sat down, Zeddicus began to speak, “I have known you for a long time at this point. Close to eight years now if memory serves correctly, and I have watched you climb through the ranks. You have been a model knight; Strong, courageous, loyal, and honest. Which is why I will choose to believe you. However, in order for you to rectify your mistake, you must begin looking for this child on your own. If my intel is up to date, then all you should need to do is talk about what happened that day. Make sure to word it so no one finds out who carried out the raids, of course. He should jump at the chance for vengeance, and that is when you will finish the job. Are we clear, vice commander Volnir?”
Volnir saluted and replied, “Yes sir!” before he left the room.