Your paranoid advisors will call this an attempt to ambush you as I suspect that they have no understanding of our relationship. How could I ever harm the little brother that I carried as this Universe stole away our previous lives? No matter how much it pains me to see what you are becoming I will never be able to take your life.

I’ve never understood how the blanket reached such a vaulted position in regards to recovery. Every show I watched as a teenager always showed first responders putting blankets around the shoulders of those involved in any incident, regardless of whether or not they were cold. Even those rescued from fire were covered in blankets, the last individuals you’d expect to want the extra heat provided by the cloth.

I mention this because my Mom’s first instinct is to command her guard to fetch her a blanket, wrapping me up in it and quickly dragging me back to the large manor that she now calls home. We attract a lot of attention as we walk down the streets, people poking their heads out of ramshackle homes to try and catch a peak of the person that can inspire this type of reaction within Mary King. For the sake of her privacy, and perhaps just mildly for my own sanity, I refuse to use Passive Search while I’m around my own mother. I’d probably be able to learn a good amount about the city but Passive Search could pick up something I have no desire to know.

It also helps that the guards had provided answers to a lot of my questions, their open minds containing a veritable treasure trove of information that I dove into as we waited for them to retrieve her after first arriving.

One piece of information not related to the internal politics of the city that interests me, a topic I hadn’t expected the guards to pay as much attention to until I realized they were worried about their pay, is the arrival of some group called ‘The Empire of Sol Invictus’. None of the guards in my vicinity had interacted with the group but they’d each heard bits and pieces from others, describing creatures that sound suspiciously like beings from another planet. If Faul’s people have already made their way to Earth then my time table is completely shot and I’ll need to speed up my plans somehow. If they are some other people… well then I’ll just have to meet them and see how they can fit into my plans. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to pick up more information about the Empire before all thoughts of plans and time tables were vacated from my mind at the sight of my Mom.

Which brings me to my current location, sitting on a couch in the manor while wrapped up in a blanket and a small cup of tea in my hands. The rough fabric itches against my neck, the tea is so hot that it burns my tongue, and a beam of light is breaking through the window to hit me directly in the eye but I wouldn’t trade this moment for anything. It may have only been fifteen days for my parents but it’s been nearly five hundred for me, almost a year and a half spent wondering if they’d made it through the initial arrival of Genesis.

“Son. You’re alive, thank god”, a deep gruff voice bellows from behind me. I rise to me feet and turn around to see my father barreling towards me, tears in his eyes as his arms spread out and wrap me in a tight hug. Sobs of happiness manage to escape from me as we both laugh and cry for a few

I’d known that both of them were alive since Peter told me back at his camp but there is a massive difference in hearing it versus seeing them in the flesh. Just one look at either of them fills me with love and emotion, the likes of which I haven’t experienced in far too long. The analytical side of me, while important and integral to my survival on Helldarvin, is cast aside for a few moments as I let myself just experience the feeling of loving and being loved.

We spend the next few minutes just letting ourselves experience the emotions before we all wipe away the tears and temporarily put emotion to the side. It’s obvious that my ability to suppress my feelings and focus on what’s in front of me is derived from my parents, something I’d never thought about too deeply but at this moment becomes very apparent. Getting back on his feet and stretching his arms, my father steps out for a drink of water and allows me time to look around the manor that is now their home.

A high ceiling stretches far above me, wooden beams crossing in an x shaped pattern, and windows dot the north and south walls, a stream of light gently gleaming through. One lone circular window rests on the eastern wall, a strange fixture whose purpose I can’t imagine, and beneath it rests a large carapace of a claw. Purple, with a bumpy and rough texture, it stretches four feet wide and appears to be nailed into place. If I was forced to guess I’d put money on the possibility that the claw came from some strange beast called ‘The Fisher Crab’. One of the guard’s thoughts had dwelled on it quite extensively, his impressions of the beast so closely tied to his impressions of Marc that I had pulled away from his mind out of fear of experiencing vivid memories of his death.

My thoughts are interrupted as Mom coughs to get my attention. My eyes drift over to her and I take in her appearance. There are more stress lines near her eyes than when I last saw her but that seems to be the only physical difference I can spot. More obvious is the change in her demeanor, appearing more in control. For my entire life she’d held leadership positions within a various assortment of organizations but they pale in comparison to the power and influence that she seems to now hold within Everwall.

She looks at me with concern in her eyes. She’s always been a protective mother and I smile slightly as I realize that aspect of her hasn’t changed. My father walks back into the room right as she begins to speak.

“Darling, where have you been? We sent out search parties to the college but half of it was transported and no one seemed to know where you’d gone.” Concern and curiosity are evident in her eyes and I consider my next words wisely.

“I was studying in a library when Genesis arrived and ended up in a nearby forest. I survived off things I found and hid in trees until I was found by Peter’s Hunters just a few days ago. He told me that the two of you were here and I left as soon as I could.”

I’ve never claimed to be an amazing person, a stalwart champion of morals and ethics. I take every decision head on and decide based on what I think the best option is. Sometimes my decisions are wrong, sometimes they lead to unintended consequences, and sometimes they make me feel terrible for having made them. The response I decided upon is the perfect example of the latter.

It pains me to lie to my parents but I let my guard down when I came back and it already came back to hurt me. Peter’s little test was a helpful reminder that people have their own motivations, their own goals that may not line up with mine. If I truly want to become Primus then I need to learn how to better handle interactions with those around me, even with family.

My main reason for lying, however, is the fact that I was randomly selected. In those few minutes I’d gotten to look around the minds of the guards I’d seen the overwhelming fear and anger they had towards the man who killed Marc. The Hunters had become slightly hostile upon my reveal and most of them had only heard second-hand knowledge of what had happened. The people of Everwall would most likely drive me out or try to kill me if that information became common knowledge too soon. Better to win over their trust first and then reveal the information later. The Hunter’s interact with the city so there’s no way that it won’t become public knowledge, but if I can generate some goodwill and then tell them on my own terms then I might have a chance of turning public sentiment my way.

“We are so glad that you are okay. You have no idea how worried we were about you … but … Cael there’s something we need to tell you”. From the pained look on her face and the sorrow in her eyes, what they are trying to bring up is quite obvious.

I let out a sigh of sadness as I respond. “It’s okay, I know about Marc. I overheard people discussing it at the Hunter’s camp. It was hard to hear but … I’m doing better now. How are you two doing? I can’t imagine what it was like to … to be here during that.”

The tension in their bodies releases, a small physical cue that most people wouldn’t pick up on. It’s always been funny to me that, despite or perhaps because of my somewhat bookish nature, I’ve always been able to read my parents, the supposedly unreadable power couple. Proximity breeds familiarity.

They both look at each other. It’s clear that there is pain and sadness but also a strong resiliency, a burning desire to turn the loss into motivation. Chuckling in a self-deprecating manner, my father responds, “You know us, we throw ourselves into work. I imagine Peter told you but your Mom here has become the leader of Everwall. She’s turning this little city into a bastion of survival for all those who can’t live outside the walls.”

Pretending to not notice the quick conversation diversion, I nod my head. “He might have mentioned Mom’s very quick rise to power. Imagine my surprise.” Responding with a deadpan voice, my little joke gets a chuckle out of the two of them.

After laughing for a moment, Mom deftly changes the topic to something that I’d been expecting since the second I had seen her. “Darling, would you be willing to help me out now that you are here? Your father runs the guards but that is dangerous work and I could use someone with your intelligence. We are about to open up a new project and Julian would love to have you on board.”

My eyebrows raise up as she mentions her assistant’s name. He’d been around for a few years before I went off to school and we had always gotten along. Most people had been annoyed by his almost debilitating stutter but I didn’t mind it, a fact that had endeared me to him very quickly. In any other circumstance, working for Julian would be a dream come true. The man is bright, funny, friendly, and we think in a very similar way. Unfortunately, that doesn’t line up with my plans.

Taking a breath, I steel myself for the fight that I know will follow my response. “Actually Mom, I was hoping you or Dad could direct me to somewhere near the city where I could train alone. I picked up a few Skills while I was in the forest, but I can only really improve them when I’m by myself.”

Seeing the refusal in her eyes and the confusion in his, I try to clarify. “I promise I’ll stay within a day’s travel so that you can send someone to check on me every once in a while. I also want to make it clear that … that I’m not asking for permission. I will go regardless but I’d like to help around the city for a few days before I leave.”

Rising to her feet, I watch her pace around the room and ready myself for the response.

“Absolutely not! Do you have any idea what has gone on since Genesis arrived? The world is completely different now and I am not sending my only son into some god-forsaken forest just so that he can improve a few Skills! You will stay in Everwall and work with Jul –”

A knock on the door interrupts her, surprising all of us. A few of the guards had set up a perimeter around the manor before we had entered and she had clearly told them to keep everyone away. Curiosity, and a healthy dose of caution, make me reactivate my Passive Search, focusing with all I can to only direct it towards the other side of the door and away from my parents. It is a hard to accomplish, but after a few moments I’m able to feel the mind that knocked.

My mouth opens in complete shock as my Passive Search is repelled, feeling as if it has gone against a wall that cannot be broken down. Even Albasalas’s mental defenses didn’t completely block me out, only hiding or obscuring certain paths that she refused to let me go down. Whoever is behind that door must have Willpower beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. Quickly and subtly conjuring up a Mana Bullet within my Field of Mana, I position it right over my shoulder, out of the sight of both of my parents.

Her hand reaching down and grasping the doorknob, my Mom opens the door to expose a strange creature lounging against the frame and eating an apple. Standing at nearly seven feet, it has blueish skin and short black hair. Two bright red eyes bring attention towards its face, almost identical to a humans except for his eyes and slightly smaller ears. His hand, holding the apple and biting into it as if he has no worries in the world, has five fingers. If it weren’t for his height, eyes, and skin color, I would have mistaken him for a human.

He wears a red and black jacket, almost military in design but lacking the medals that are common on Earth. The sleeves only stretch down to his elbows, ending and exposing the blue skin of his wrists, while the shoulders emphasize the wideness of his frame. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the outfit, however, is the design of the sun sewn onto his right shoulder. Instead of an orange, red, or yellow color, the sun is sewn in white, pierced through the middle by a golden weapon of unknown design.

My mom immediately adopts a more commanding persona, her outburst against my response seeming to disappear behind her impressive façade. “Octavian, what are you doing at my house? Did we not agree that you and your people would remain outside the city until our next meeting?”

Nodding his head in agreement, he smiles widely, a strange look that leaves me feeling slightly uncomfortable. “That is true, that is true. However, a little bird told me … that’s the phrase correct? I just LOVE your idioms … that you were welcoming an important guest! I couldn’t let your son arrive without introducing myself.”

Walking right past her, he strides toward me, his eyes quickly flickering to the Mana Bullet that I’ve lowered down behind one of the couches. His smile just widens more at the sight of my possible attack, putting me even more on guard. Each of his steps seems relaxed and comfortable but he moves with the contained grace of someone who knows how to handle themselves in a battle.

He stretches his arms out and pulls me into a hug, loudly proclaiming, “Wonderful to meet you Cael. I am Octavian, Representative Merchant from the Empire of Sol Invictus.”

The words he speaks next are whispered, clearly only meant for me. They send a shiver of fear down my back and my entire body stiffens.

“Welcome back from the Dungeon World.”