Brook had already packed her things and was ready to head out on vacation; it started next week. Some backpacking in Xiva, while also visiting the artificial islands, sounded really good; maybe, just maybe, she would do some Primal stuff, but she didn’t want to work on vacation. She had already set things up with her work and got the allotted vacation time. She, of course, left out the part where she nearly got killed the other day.

Ethan and her didn’t talk too much, but they remained on relatively good terms; maybe not good terms, but certainly not bad terms.

As for Eli, he was still in a recovery state, even days after the fight. He’d be okay, according to Beryl and the medics, but he was definitely spending the next few days almost comatose; that bite from Pilotte, the beatings, and the amount of blood lost, he deserved a long vacation of his own, as much as he wanted to return to fighting. They said that the might might scar though, but he was beaming with excitement, happy to have a cool looking scar.

As for Pocketknife, according to Iago, he was very much the same; sleeping most of the day, but still raring to go out and fight someone. Warrior minded combat fighters think alike, so it seems.

So, it looks like things had returned to some sense of normality, as normal as things could get at this point.

In her office, Miss Siebert attempted to type up her novel, get a few pages out. It was a war story, inspired by her time in serving the in military; of course with a few fantasy elements thrown in to keep it from just being a retelling of that time, some magic here and there as well as a completely different world than Qest. To her side was some tea and snacks, keeping her blood sugar up. Having stared at the screen for the past few minutes, with no progress made, she sighed and closed the application, only to look over to her door to see Ethan standing there. Oh yes, that’s right, he wanted to talk to her. With a nod, she invited him in, “Come.” She said, getting up and fetching some more tea; the teapot was still a bit full, just enough matcha for a second person. “I heard you and Brook had a falling out. Is that what you wanted to talk about? I’m not exactly the best person to give a boy advice about girls.” Why was that the first thing she had to bring up?

“Why do you make it sound like we’re a couple? I’ve never seen her that way. But, no, that’s not what it’s about.” Ethan sat down, getting comfy in a nearby sofa; Siebert sat in front of him, handing him his cup of lukewarm matcha. It was fine, he preferred hot drinks to be drinkable; he’d rather not wait for it to not burn his tongue. “I just wanted someone to talk to.”

“When you talked to me the other day, Ethan, you made it sound like it was important.” Siebert frowned, looking at him with those narrow, old eyes. Eyes that have seen all sorts of drama, big, small, grandiose, and mundane. She was far too old to be fooled by wishy washy people like Ethan, trying to tip toe around things. “Come on, tell me, what did you actually want? You’ve been hanging around a lot of weird people lately, so I assume it’s about them.”

“Well,” Ethan groaned, sipping his tea, liking the plain grassy taste of the matcha. “In truth, I do want someone to talk to, anyone that isn’t Brook or Eli, that much is true. But I picked you specifically because I feel you’re the only person who can answer my questions.” He paused, setting his cup down, staring into the green liquid inside. So opaque that he couldn’t even see his reflection in it. “You knew my mother, right? I remember you saying you were friends.”

“Prudence.” She nodded, closing her eyes, inhaling and exhaling through her nose. She looked oddly content or nostalgic, Ethan wasn’t sure. Maybe it was both. “Ah… The times we spent together. Yes, her and I were quite close. Why?”

“What about my father?” He asked, only now getting straight to the point.

Siebert paused, her eyes widening. As if caught off guard by the question, the old woman paused for a good bit. Like she didn’t even know how to answer, or that she didn’t want to answer it, she stared into her drink, pursing her lips, humming. Her expression was the opposite of her expression when thinking about Prudence. “…What about your father?”

“Did you know him?” Ethan said, leaning forward. “Recently I’ve been trying, emphasis on trying, to find him or find more about him.” He frowned, taking another sip of his matcha, the tea keeping his nerves relaxed, anything to keep him from having his occasional panic attacks. “I haven’t thought this much about him. He never really crossed my mind in decades, but what really got me obsessed with finding him is that I realized I know nothing about him. I just realized last week that I don’t even know his name. I don’t know the name of my own father.”

“Simon.” Siebert said.

“Simon?” Ethan repeated.

“Yes, Simon Vanderville.” Siebert nodded. “I don’t blame you for not knowing him. After all, how old were you when he left you? Two?”

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“I think I was three.” Ethan said, not even sure himself.

“Yes, yes,” She nodded, “Well, he was Prudence’s husband, so I knew him. But even ‘knew him’ isn’t the best phrase. The only times I ever talked with him was when I interacted with Prudence. He was a very distant person, rarely talking with people and keeping everyone at an arm’s length. Even Prudence. Not once did I see him show any romantic interest in her, outside of the first time they met, that is. They had a dance. But after that, it felt like the spark immediately faded, no matter what Prudence did.”

“Did he ever interact with me.” Ethan furrowed his brow, feeling a heavy feeling in his stomach and chest. Why? Did his father even love his mother? Why would someone not show romantic feelings for someone that he had a kid with? He tried to brush it off as anxiety, something Ethan clearly inherited from him, and continued to listen.

“It was more or less the same with you.” Siebert said, “Not once did I see him hold you. I’m pretty sure that I spent more time with you and took care of you more or you more than he did. That’s why you took on your mother’s last name instead of his. It was by my suggestion.” She drank the rest of her tea, her voice, for the first time, Ethan heard sorrow in her voice. She didn’t cry, she would never cry in front of someone, especially Ethan. But she sniffled. “I couldn’t stand the way he acted so distance from Prudence. I just couldn’t stand it. So I wanted you to take on her name, because she loved you vastly more than he ever did.” She paused again, for a good long while, giving Ethan time to absorb this information.

“I see… If he didn’t care for me, why did he even have me? If he didn’t love mom, why did he marry her?” He said, feeling his hands tremble as he held his glass of tea, now more than half empty. “Did he even plan to have me?”

“I don’t know,” She shook her head. “That’s all I know. If it helps, Prudence was excited when she learned she was pregnant, so I doubt you were an accident. But, again, he was certainly not excited as her.” She slowly nodded. “Regardless, I hope this will stop you from digging further into this. He was a distant, socially awkward man, but I don’t think that gave him an excuse for the complete lack of love in him, or how he treated you and Prudence.” She nodded, taking a deep breath, returning to her normal stoic personality. “Is that everything? Everything you need?”

“Yeah, that’s everything.” Ethan nodded, unable to shake things off as well as she did. “I… Will continue my search though. I’m not giving up on this.”

“Why?” She asked, “You know he wasn’t a good person, why do you have to keep searching for someone who clearly didn’t love you? Knowing this should be enough closure.”

“No,” Ethan shook his head, finishing the rest of his tea, setting it down, hunched over in his seat slightly. “I want to find him even more now. I had questions but I now have even more. I want to know why he didn’t love me, I want to know where he went, and I want to know why he didn’t love mother; I’m fine with him showing no love for me, I never knew him, but I can’t forgive someone who mistreated mom like that. A person just doesn’t disappear off the face of Qest with zero signs or trail. My new job can help me with this, so I have a lead… Well, a way to get a lead.” He didn’t notice it, but he clenched his fist, til he could feel a strong ache in his hand, only unclenching it when he finally noticed the pain.

“Just don’t dig too deep.” Siebert said, “Maybe you’ll find what you want. But what makes you think that it will be the answer you’re looking for?”

“I don’t know…” Ethan now fully hunched over in his seat. “I really don’t know what I’ll do.” It could be the most anticlimatic answer, maybe it’ll be just what he’s looking for. But at the end of the day, all he wanted was a single answer.

“What makes you think that Primal will help you?”

Well, for one, it was the most powerful company in the world. Even though it mostly hosted underground fights, it was still ran by the most powerful people in the world, so if anyone could help him find out about his father, it was them; this was the answer that Ethan had in mind, at first, but he quickly realized something off about her question. He rose up, staring at Siebert in wide eyed surprise. “Wait… How do you know about Primal?”

“Don’t ask questions that you don’t want to know the answer to.” Siebert said. “That is something you should keep in mind while you’re at this. I won’t stop you, however, but keep in mind that you might not be happy about what you learn.” Taking her empty cup and Ethan’s, she stood up. “Are we done here?”

“Yeah, we’re done here.” Ethan nodded. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t do much, but you’re welcome.”

“No, you helped clear my mind. After the argument a few days ago, I needed to talk with someone. Someone that wasn’t Brook or Eli. Plus, this helped clear my head. Lots of things going on up there.”

“What are you going to do next?”

“Don’t know, but I think I know who to go to next.” That was, a lie, he actually had no idea who he’d go to next.

“Well, no matter what happens, I can help you in any way I can.” She might’ve been a hard ass, but she was the closest thing to a second parent he had. She was a rarity, an absolute one in a million type of person: A good landlord… Still a cranky and scary hard ass though. “I won’t stop you from doing anything though. I’m not your mother after all.”

“If mom was here, what do you think she’d say?”

Siebert sighed, closing her yes, but smiled, “I have no right to put words in her mouth. I guess follow your heart and think about it yourself. Of all people, you should know what she wanted more than anyone.”

All things settled, Ethan left her office. His heart still felt a bit empty, and as he said, he left with only more questions. Questions he needed to answer. But one thing was now certain; if he could find his father, if he wasn’t dead, and if he truly had no love for him or mother and that this wasn’t just a brutal misunderstanding, then he had to find him; if he didn’t, then his mother would never rest in peace. His heart set in this, he headed out on a walk, wanting to be alone for now.