The ride to the Ishida Keep on the Sixth was spent in silence. Daisuke, Kaito, and the others were left behind to tend to the fort, and Ryu and Emiko were in no hurry to greet their father, albeit for different reasons. Emiko seemed to be dreading Haru’s harsh criticisms and lofty expectations, while Ryu was afraid he was going to kill the man on sight. It turned out abandoning your child, traumatizing him with the secret of his parentage, and then sending him out into a murderous Trial to die did little to establish a healthy father-son relationship.

A servant took their horses upon arrival, leaving Ryu and Emiko to cross the pond’s stepping stones to the bustling keep. Servants swarmed in and out of the place, and once inside, they were led to one of the huge keep’s many training chambers. Haru waited inside.

Ryu’s biological father had changed little in the past twelve years. His tall, lean frame matched Ryu’s own, and his dark hair was tied behind his head, his cultivation preventing even a speck of gray from appearing. He was dressed in a dark blue and white martial outfit and sat in the middle of the empty room cross-legged.

“Milord,” Emiko said at Ryu’s side, falling to her knees.

“Stand up, girl,” Haru said with a smile, ignoring Ryu’s choice to stay standing. “A tiger does not bow.”

“Just so, milord,” Emiko said, standing. Haru sauntered up to them both, his eyes drifting between his two children. His dangerous smile never left his face.

The tip of his pale sword tapped the sheaths on Emiko’s waist. “Care to show your father how strong you’ve grown?”

“Not at all,” she said, the ghost of a smile flitting across her face.

Ryu watched the two fight in silence, his hands pressed behind his back and his eye twitching. For the most part, Haru had ignored him, a choice he knew to be intentional. Ryu’s turn would come, however. He just wished he knew what to do. Killing Haru would bring the wrath of the Aristocracy down upon him, and even Jinn would not be left untouched. His identity as Ender would also be exposed.

His rage cooled. It would harden into a harder thing, but that was fine. Haru’s day would come. The fate of humanity and Lucius’s plan came first. Besides, exposing his identity would mean fleeing to the Seventh, and he was not quite ready for that.

In the midst of his thoughts, he almost failed to notice the end to Haru and Emiko’s spar. His half-sister feinted low, but Haru saw through it, his sword stopping just in front of her throat. She walked back to his side with a smile.

“Good, good. I am pleased,” Haru said. He turned to look at Ryu. “Now, son. Talk to me. Where have you been all these years? Why did you abandon our House? Did you forget the oath you made? Your life is sworn to House Ishida.”

“Invoke my oath again, and it will be your life that is given to the House.” Perhaps his rage had not cooled as much as he thought.

Haru’s smile turned dangerous. “Threatening me now, are you?” His aura pressed into Ryu with a cold sharpness. “The Aristocracy invited me to the Sixth to have my own participate in a Contest against the talents of the other factions. Like everything in the Aristocracy, failing to participate would have meant alienating our House from its allies, and as for losing… Well, I trust you understand why my House will not lose. You will be my warrior in the Master’s division, like it or not. I’m not above making threats, nor am I above offering rewards. Agree, and you’ll get an Inspiration Stone.”

Contest. Lucius wished him to gain reputation, to reach a high enough position he could throw stones at the Lord’s Flock. A shame, then, that he could not accept so easily as that. He would need respect first. He tossed the offer aside in his mind, meeting Haru’s aura with his own. It shattered. Haru’s smile grew. Ryu’s rage grew, the cooling remains burning hot under Ender’s urgings. [Shadow of One’s Self] came down.

Ryu’s thick, blood-stained aura drenched the room in its oppressive menace, sending Emiko to her knees. Haru’s smile disappeared, and though his aura remained whole, it shuddered under his power.

“Threaten me again, and I will kill you,” Ryu grunted. He was under no illusions. Haru was far older than Ryu and probably stronger, too, but a battle between them would leave the winner crippled and the loser dead. It was a situation in which nobody won. “I will fight in this tournament under the Ishida banner, but it will not be on behalf of your pathetic grasps for power.”

He only hoped he did not sound as foolish as he felt. He activated [Shadow of One’s Self] once more. His aura retreated back to his body.

“On your feet, girl,” Haru snarled, his whimsical attitude gone. “Leave this room, and speak to no one of what you’ve seen here. You will fight for me in this contest, too, so prepare wisely.”

His sister stood and walked out of the room, her body pale and trembling.

“She does not deserve to be treated so,” Ryu said. Of course, she did not deserve to be suppressed by his aura either, but anger was not the most self-aware of emotions.

“Perhaps not, but then, I don’t believe you are fond of my parenting style anyways.”

Ryu chuckled despite himself. “Make no mistake about it, father. I will become strong enough to leave you and the Aristocracy a pile of ash. Harsh words will not protect you from me. Your allies will not protect you from me. Your sword will not protect you from me. Play your games now, for I believe you will find them useless twelve feet under.”

“Arrogant,” Haru said, the hints of a smile appearing on his lips. “But then, you are my blood. Train, my boy. Train as hard as you can. You’ll need it. Hells, I’ll even give you the Inspiration Stone I promised. Until then, however, you fight for me. Keep your strength concealed, and win the damn Contest.”

Ryu grunted his assent and left the room. Aye, he would participate. It was part of his and Lucius’s plan, after all. In the Aristocracy, one needed to win a voice to be heard.

A servant met him outside the training room. “Milord, Lord Jinn invites you to his chambers,” she said with a bow.

Where Haru had made Ryu’s blood boil, Jinn’s name turned him cold. How could he ever look Jinn in the eyes again? How could his dad love a murderer? It had been years since he had seen the man he considered his real father, and his shame had never left him in that time. It was good Ryu was not his true biological son. Jinn deserved better.

“Lead me to him,” Ryu said with a sigh. His feet had never felt so heavy.

Jinn’s chambers were as lavish as Ryu’s own, and he found the large man in a sitting room, playing with a small boy of about nine.

“Ryu!” Jinn said, standing to his feet and pulling him into a tight hug. “I’ve missed you, my son.”

The man’s familiar voice eased Ryu’s worries. For these brief moments, he could act like things were how they used to be.

“I missed you, too,” he said, hugging his dad back. Let Haru call Ryu what he liked. Jinn would always be his father.

Jinn pulled back, eyes wet with tears. “Gods, but it’s good to see you,” he said. “I have someone for you to meet.”

“Oh yeah?” Ryu asked, dropping to one knee to look at the boy hiding behind Jinn’s waist.

“Itsuki, come meet your brother.” Jinn pulled the boy in front of him, ruffling his hair with a life.

“Nice to meet you, Itsuki.” The words felt strange on his tongue. The boy would be better off never knowing of his brother. It would only bring him heartache.

“Hi,” Itsuki said with the charm only children could muster. “So you’re Ryu?”

“I am.”

“Ms. Ito told me you fell off the wall and hit your head when you were little,” the boy said, blushing when he realized he probably wasn’t supposed to repeat what he had heard. His cheeks were chubby with boyishness, and his short brown hair was thoroughly messy from Jinn’s hand.

Ryu and Jinn both laughed. “Suppose I did, or at least, that’s what she liked to tell me.”

“Vicious woman,” Jinn said with a sigh. “A shame she couldn’t come. Haru only allowed me my guards.”

Ryu did not wish to voice his opinion on the man in front of a child, so he just grunted. “Seen much of the city?”

“No,” Jinn said. “We’ve only been here a day. It’s quite big, is it not?”

“Yeah. Even for a Master Class, it would take days to traverse just our side of the river. I can show you two around some tomorrow, though.” Ryu was not worried about training for this Contest, and his depleted body would not allow it anyways. Healing took a lot out of a man.

“Can we, dad?” Itsuki asked.

“Yes,” Jinn said with a smile. “Now run along to your bedroom, okay? I need to catch up with your brother, here.”

Itsuki groaned and left the room. With the child gone, Ryu took a long look at his father. Jinn was as tall and well-muscled as ever, but his black hair was speckled with gray. Worry creased his eyes, and the face that so often wore a smile sported a small frown.

“Mind if I sit?” Ryu asked, gesturing to one of the padded chairs in the room.

“Not at all,” Jinn said. He took a seat across from Ryu, snatching his hand in a tight grip. “Tell me what’s happened to you, my son. Where have you been all these years? I will not force you to share, but it is my job to ask as your father.”

Ryu sighed, thinking for a long moment. Then he answered. He told Jinn of the events in the Trial- minus his role in Marshal’s death-, his journey through the Rings, his stay on the Fifth, and the Last Expedition. He hid some of his worse actions, and he made little mention of Ender. Burdening others would not lessen the weight of his wrongdoings.

After some time, Jinn sat back into his seat. “And you love this Bonny?” he asked.

“I do,” Ryu said, feeling the emotions of her departure crash down upon him once more. “I do.”

“Then it sounds like you need some change in your life, my son. I’m not here to judge you, but you would not be the first man to have to choose between his vices and love. At the end of the day, if you really love her, it's not a hard choice to make.”

“I’m in too deep, dad. My love for Bonny is what keeps me from changing. This world will not be made a better place through kind words, and I must win a better future for her.”

Jinn chuckled. “I believe you, boy, but think for a moment. The fate of the world does not rest on your shoulders alone. I’ll tell you what I did long ago. A man can’t lose sleep over a good deed. They’re not profound words, but perhaps there’s something to be said for simpleness. Nobody is asking you not to fight. Fighting isn’t the problem. Motivations are. Do you really fight for a better world, son? Because it seems like you fight for war, not peace.”

Jinn’s words mimicked his own thoughts of late. Ryu did not hate fighting as much as he wanted to believe, and his rejection of himself was part of the problem. He fought to survive and fight again, but what good was violence for violence’s sake? No, he had to fight for a better world and hope the ends justified the means.

“You’ve grown wise in your old age,” Ryu said with a smile. He could not build himself into a better man in a day, but he would be damned if he didn’t try. Bonny deserved nothing less.

Jinn stroked his beard. “I wish I could say the same about you, my son.”

They laughed.