My eyes fluttered open, but it was as if I still had them close as it was pretty dark. All I could make out were my immediate surroundings. Someone had covered me with a blue blanket.
I rubbed my naked arm as the chilly air of the cave hit me. At least I had pants on. Who had gone ahead and changed my clothes?
My eyes widened as I recalled the two figures moving toward me back at the marsh. Would they really clean up a captive? Maybe it was an ally after ail.
I stood up and draped the blanket over my back like a coat. Steadily, I moved forward. Wasn't sure if the exit was this way, but anything was better than staying still.
Tiptoeing, I ran a hand against the cavern wall and followed its path. Along the way, I marked a number using a sharp rock I found. I did so for who knew how long, but I found myself going around in circles.
I leaned against the wall and sighed. So much for being an assassin. A dark place like this shouldn't have given me this much trouble. Usually my eyes were good against the dark.
Shivers ran down my spine as I felt a hand against my back. When had they snuck up behind me?
I turned around and threw my left elbow at the one holding me.
The person groaned. "Did you you have to hit me so hard, Hal?" a voice called out.
My eyes widened. That voice. It belonged to Dad.
"Dad? That you?"
"You can't see me? Guess the side-effects of your burst mode haven't completely worn off."
I touched my head. Right, I went ahead and used that.
"Why did you resort to it? You usually don't use it."
"It was the only way I could think of to defeat that serpent and keep the orphans and their caretakers alive. With the devices my mom made me broken, traps were out of the question."
"You depend too much on those gadgets, son. When you were younger, you used your surroundings."
Dad was right. I'd gotten overly attached to using strings and needles that I'd overlooked using my environment to my advantage.
I smiled weakly. "Guess it's back to the basics for me, since I lost them."
Dad placed a hand on my shoulder. "You'll be fine. Plus, your mom is fixing them. So another tool in your toolkit."
I smiled. "So Mom was the other person with you."
"Yup. Oh, right. I also washed your clothes. You were covered from head to toe in mud. Only had a spare set of pants."
I shook my head. "That's fine. I don't mind being bear footed." A chuckle escaped my lips. "Though I was half hoping that I had been found by a pretty girl." Not that Mom wasn't beautiful, she was but she was also Mom.
Dad snorted. "Were you hoping this hypothetical stranger would fall for you? What kind of girl would fall for a guy with an ugly mug like yours?"
I threw a fist at him, but it missed. "Shut it!"
He laughed. "Come on. I'm just kidding. You got your father's looks after all."
I sighed. "Maybe I am ugly after all."
"Hey!"
I snickered. "I'm kidding!"
Both my parents were good looking. Mom had a curvy figure and medium length light-blond hair and gray eyes. She was about average height, so not too tall. Smart to boot.
Dad on the other hand was tall. A few inches short of seven-feet which was rare in Xeleria. We mages tended to be short compared to the inhabitants of Wynaga and Zionia. He also had a figure that girls would fan girl over. And not the 'for show' kind of muscles either.
While I had gotten my eyes from Mom, Dad is where I got my hair color from. However, dad tended to style it as a long ponytail. Which to me seemed odd as he was an assassin. Then again, the guy also had a long flowing scarf. Guess he didn't fear people grabbing him by the hair or choking him with his own clothes.
Dad scoffed. "Let's get out of this cave. Would give you your clothes here but you can barely see. Don't want you to put them on upside down."
I laughed nervously. That would be embarrassing.
My eyes shrunk against the light as we neared the exit. It felt more intense than usual as if someone were using light magic.
Dad turned around. "That form messed up your eyes badly." He put his hands on his hips and sighed. "Get on my back. Can't have you walking out there like that."
I grumbled as I jumped on his back. Felt as if I was a little kid again.
Dad chuckled. "Let's go, the faster we finish this mission, the quicker we can return to your little brother."
I smiled. Right, Jude was waiting for us.
We stepped out into the warmth of the sun. It was midday now, meaning I had to have slept around three hours or so.
"How long was I out?" I asked as I held on to his shoulders.
Dad smiled. "Relax, only a couple hours. The war has begun. But our allies will take a whole to get here. The Hiearchians are putting up a fight. That's why your mother and I are here, we are to execute the governor of Hiearchian Sera."
"That will be tough too," I mumbled. "Huang wanted me to do that, but I was sent running by a eight-year-old."
Father whistled. "Sounds like a strong kid. You didn't go all out, though."
I smiled. "Did have to use a lot of tricks to get away. That kid nearly set me on fire."
"Yikes. You got to be more careful with the missions you take. You might be skilled, but remember that you're still a kid."
I sighed. "Dad, I'm sixteen."
He grinned. "That's still a kid. You can say that you aren't in two years."
I sighed. It had been a while since he'd called me one. Thought he had finally seen me as an equal.
Father jumped, startling me. He flashed me a toothy smile. "That said, you'll always be my little boy, no matter how old you get."
My face flushed. "How corny," I mumbled. Good thing that no one else was around, I would probably collapse from embarrassment.
I quickly scanned my surroundings just to make sure we were alone. In anime, someone would usually be eavesdropping at times like this.
"Indeed," a voice called out. My eyes shifted upward as Mom fell from the sky.
"There you are, dear," Dad said, laughing.
She sighed as she landed next to him. "Were you missing me? Told you that I would be right back." Mom's gray eyes shifted to me. "Glad to see you awake, Hal."
I smiled. "Me too. Glad that I wasn't out for long." If I'd used Burst Mode for longer, I might've.
"Though, his eyes are still suffering side-effects."
My mom frowned as she walked over to me. "Let me see." She reached out and opened my eye lid wide open. "Seems to be a tad irritated. Probably will take a couple hours to return to normal."
"Huh? How do you figure? Are you an eye doctor?"
Mom scoffed. "No, but your grandma is one. I learned a few things from her."
So that's why Jude and I would see her with a lab coat on. Used to think she was a mad scientist or something like that.
No wonder she often told Jude to blink or his eyes would go bad from too much reading. Turned out she was right as he needed glasses. But, her advice did keep them from being worse than they otherwise could be.
"Is she caring for Jude?" Not that he really needed it as he wasn't a troublemaker, unlike me when I was his age. Plus, he was usually locked up at the library. But he did get lonely once he was done with a book.
"Yup. She asked him to read aloud for her just before we left. Kid seemed to enjoy it."
I smiled. That Jude. That kid loved books more than almost anything else. Though, it was surprising to hear he didn't mind reading aloud. He was a shy kid. Less so around us, but still had a hard time talking. But Jude was close to her. She was a second mother to him. Well, likewise for me and Danmall.
I gasped as I recalled something important. "Wait, where are the orphans?" I asked.
Mom turned around. "They're resting over by the lake. They wanted to have a drink of water. A little boy called Noe is cleaning it for them."
"Was it a good idea to leave them alone?" Dad asked.
Mom nodded. "Plus, they aren't alone."
"Huh? Who else is with them?"
"Hey, Hal," a voice called out. I turned toward the cavern and saw golden locks bouncing up and down.
"Vermeil!" I said. "What are you doing here?"
She giggled. "You really thought that I wouldn't come to assist you after sending me that letter?" Her smile vanished. "I feared something bad had happened to you and the orphanage the Shui royals sponsor."
She let out a sigh. "Thankfully, you managed well on your own. At least until we arrived."
I looked away. "We actually got help."
She gasped. "From who?"
"The water mage Team H.E.H."
"Oh, the hottie?" Vermeil asked. "Why would he betray his own country?"
"He's doing it for Nia," I said.
Vermeil's eyes widened. "Nia? As in Natania? Sarah's friend?"
Fan nodded with a small grin. "Yes. He seems to be in love with her."
Vermeil smiled widely. "How cuteee! Good to know he isn't all looks."
Mom glanced at Dad for a moment. "Reminds me of a certain someone."
Dad blushed and laughed goofily.
I leaned on my dad's head and smiled. My mom might've been rather serious, but she was a romantic at heart."
"How did you join up so quickly with Rebecca and the others?" Dad asked once he was done laughing.
"I got help from a certain someone," Vermeil said with a smirk.
"Who?" I asked.
"Iah."
I gasped. "He's here?"
"Well, seems we completed the bonus mission without even trying," Dad said.
"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.
"Iah left Mina a day and a half ago. King Huang had tasked his special order to locate him. Of course, we got that info should we run into him."
"Why did he leave?" I mumbled.
"We weren't told that, but it sounded serious."
"Where is he?" I asked, staring at the crowd.
"He stayed back by the lake. Seemed he wanted to take a bath," Vermeil said.
"The guy was covered in dust, and it didn't seem to be from here. Rather, it looked like it came from another site," Mom said.
I blinked. "Did you figure that out because of what grandpa taught you?" Man was a forensic scientist. People often hired him to investigate murders rather than to commit them.
Mom nodded. "You got it. Here see for yourself." She held out her palm, on it was a hyper-device. It worked similar to a hyper-ring. Only difference was the shape. Mom often used it in battle to throw what felt like unlimited knives at her opponents.
A yellow robe as well as a set of jeans and a yellow t-shirt appeared on her hand. On the jeans and t-shirt was dust of a different color than the dirt on the robe. The former was more yellow. If she hadn't pointed it out, it probably would've taken me longer to notice. Mom must've been as good a student as Jude. Though, most of my brother's knowledge came from secondary sources, such as books.
"Why did you take his clothes?" Dad asked.
Mom held them toward him. "For you to clean of course. Plus, I was thinking of fixing them. But in hindsight, maybe I shouldn't. That robe is silk after all. He might not like metal string being woven into it."
Dad sighed as he took Iah's clothes from Mom. "Why do I feel as if I'm nothing more than a laundry machine to you? At least give me a couple coins or something."
She smiled slightly, got on her tiptoes, and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "There, my payment."
"Well, that certainly works!" Dad said, grinning even as his face was as red as a cherry. He covered the clothes in a sphere of water and started to work his magic, literally.
"Wonder what happened to the prince. I should go investigate." I jumped off of Dad's back.
"Wait, Hal. Your eyes haven't recovered yet," Dad yelled as he staggered toward me.
I smiled. "Don't worry, in the shade they'll probably be better."
"So confident despite walking blindly. Reminds me of a someone during a certain mission," Mom said, leering at Dad.
He chuckled as he spun Iah's clothes within his sphere quicker. "Well, at least I had you there to guide me, right?"
"I can guide Mister Hal," Noe said, running over to me.
I patted the boy's head. "Thanks, kid."
"Mister Hal? Wouldn't it be Mister Cantarella?" Dad said, smiling.
"So that's your last name," Noe said as if he had just been told a big secret.
I laughed. "Yeah, can be a mouthful for a kid like you, so you can just call me Hal like I told you."
"I can say it. C-Cantare..." He sighed as he slurred the last part into gibberish. "It is hard."
"Told ya! So use Hal from now on. Besides, Mister Cantarella makes me feel as if Dad is the one being called, not me."
Dad chuckled.
"Not that people call me that often. Usually it's M or Emi. Oh, right. Here's your shirt!" Dad said, throwing my clean shirt at me. "I'll give the rest of your clothes later, and here are your friend's garments." He walked over to me and handed me Iah's clothes. They and my shirt were spotless. No wonder Mom preferred him washing our clothes over using a washing machine. Plus, saved us money on energy costs too..
"Thanks," I said. My eyes shifted toward the orphans. The older girls were looking away, blushing while others gawked at me.
I turned my back to them.
Vermeil giggled. "You've gained more muscle since the games."
Swear that most of it was from the past few days alone. I had to have some crazy calves after all that walking too.
I smirked. "Stop checking me out or An will get jealous."
Vermeil coughed. "You really think so? W-wonder if that would be a good thing..."
I sighed. The girl was hopelessly in love with him. Felt bad for her given how dense An could be. Not to mention all the other girls after him. Plus, he appeared to prefer Sarah over her and the others. Not that all hope was lost. If Sarah were to fall for Kun, she might be able to be his rebound.
All that love messiness was why I wanted nothing to do with it. At least for now. Pretty sure that was Lei's thinking too regarding his own harem. Likewise for Nyima.
Wait, could it be that Iah's feelings were hurt by her? No, that guy would always bounce back with a smile.
I put on my shirt and walked ahead. "Noe, show me the way to the lake."
The kid nodded and tugged on my hand. "This way!"
Whatever could've bothered Iah enough for him to runaway from home?
**Solar Note: Finished early, so decided to update early (plus so that it won't clash with my update for my other series) :). Remember to click on that star if you enjoyed the chapters and maybe leave a comment or two.**