The fact that he was back where he'd grown up hit Kaleth only after they climbed out of the metal tunnel and into the mansion's basement. The place might have looked a bit different on the outside than he remembered, but inside it was exactly the same, and it was making him feel some kind of strange mix of anger and nostalgia. He already needed a drink, and he hadn't even talked to his father yet.
Kaleth was grateful no one questioned why there were so many things in the basement, or what those things were. He didn't stop to check, but he was sure he'd find something of his around here—the whole purpose of the room was to store things deemed useless and unwanted, after all. His father just didn't know how to throw anything away.
"So, what now?" Alor asked as they walked into the main corridor. The floors were made of wood now, not marble like he remembered, but all the paintings on the walls and the shelves with fake flowers on them were still the same.
"I need to talk to my father," Kaleth said, not bothering to hide the resentment in his voice. "And it would probably be best if he didn't know you are here as well. He doesn't react well to surprises."
"You want us to hide somewhere?" Kara asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Kaleth replied. "The west wing should be closed off. I highly doubt you'll run into anyone there."
He was glad no one argued with him. To be honest, Kaleth had been expecting them to just stop listening to him since the moment Luxarx had been destroyed because with their organization destroyed, he didn't have the authority to give orders anymore. Maybe they trusted his judgment more than he had thought they did and believed he'd figure out what they were going to do.
Noticing that Mel had raised his hand shyly, Kaleth was brought out of his thoughts, his pensive frown replaced by a small smile for a second before he managed to hide it.
"Yes, Mel?"
"Uh, well, I was thinking maybe I could try to help you convince Mr. Garen to let us stay here. Because I'm, um, I can tell what people think and...." He trailed off, looking very self-conscious as he lowered his gaze. "N-nevermind, it's a bad idea."
"No, no, that's not a bad idea," Kaleth said quickly, trying to assure Mel. Besides, he might be onto something. Since the moment Relioth had told him the truth, or some of it at least, Kaleth had been questioning if his father was actually his father. He was sure he was—the memories Kaleth had were just too real to be fake. And if he really was, he might know why Kaleth had these powers. He might even be somehow connected to the Eternals. If so, maybe he could use it to manipulate him. Mel would also be able to tell if Kaleth's father was lying or not, which would certainly help. "I will need your help, I think. I could never tell when Father lied."
Mel gave him a pitying look and nodded. Kaleth didn't like how that made him feel.
"Great, so, you go find your dad, we'll go hang out somewhere," Rayni said, giving him a thumbs up. Kaleth nodded, turning around to leave before anyone else could say anything and stop him. It seemed it was time to talk to the man he'd spent half his life avoiding.
He barely heard Kara hiss at him to go back. Kaleth knew she hated when she had questions and no answers, but she'd have to wait until after he was done with his father. Thankfully, it wasn't that far to the man's study. At least Kaleth assumed that was where his father would be since that was the room he had always spent most of his time in. Kaleth doubted that had changed—he was a workaholic which was a trait they unfortunately shared.
"K-Kaleth? Is that you?"
Kaleth quickly turned his head to where the shocked voice and the sound of breaking glass had come from and froze when he saw who it was. His half-sister was standing there, staring at him, shattered remains of a glass with what looked like whiskey on the floor next to her. Despite not seeing her for so long, he could recognize his sister immediately. The hazel eyes and freckles were still the same. Kaleth didn't get a chance to say anything before Edras pulled him into a hug.
"Oh my gods, I thought you were dead!"
"Well, I'm not," Kaleth replied after a few seconds, having no clue what else to say but didn't return the hug. He hadn't seen his sister in two decades, and the last time they had spoken it had ended rather badly. Kaleth had thought Edras wouldn't care where he was, or what he was doing, much less that she would miss him. But it certainly seemed she had.
She finally let go and gave Kaleth an alarmed look. "You aren't here to kill Father, are you?" Kaleth frowned and then remembered he had a sniper rifle with him. He should probably hide that somewhere before talking to Ramien.
"No," Kaleth replied and while Edras looked relieved, she still seemed a bit wary. Not that Kaleth was surprised by this. If their roles were reversed, and Edras showed up here with a gun, Kaleth would be suspicious as well, to say the least.
"Okay, good," she said, nodding, obviously ready to stop talking about this topic. "Well, it's great to see you again. And who's this? Have you found yourself a boyfriend? A bit young, but who am I to judge? My husband is eight years younger than me."
Kaleth looked at Mel who was watching Edras with interest, and he felt the urge to laugh. Mel might look young, but he was much, much older than Kaleth. He had to wonder about Edras' husband, though. When had she gotten married?
"This is Mel. He's a friend," Kaleth said, giving Edras a pointed look to underline it. "I must say, I find it surprising you've decided to settle down. I remember you being very much against even the idea."
"I changed my mind, I guess. I've changed a lot since, um, since you left." Edras looked at her brother apologetically and grimaced.
Kaleth narrowed his eyes. Was she feeling guilty about what she had told Kaleth all those years ago? It seemed Edras was full of surprises. This also meant that she could remember the same things as he did, which made him feel better.
Kaleth hadn't come here to mend his broken relationship with his sister, but he found he wasn't opposed to the idea. He hadn't tried before, mostly because he had thought that Edras wanted nothing to do with him, and to be honest, he had been bitter about what had happened between them for a few good years, too.
"I'm so sorry about your mother," Mel said all of a sudden, looking at Edras with about the most sympathy Kaleth had ever seen a person express. Edras gaped at Mel in shock.
"Has something happened to Feria?" Kaleth asked. The question was quite unnecessary judging by Edras' expression, but she nodded in reply, anyway.
"She...she died," continued Edras, letting out a sad sigh. "During the attack yesterday. That's why I'm here—I wanted to check up on Father, to see how he was dealing with it."
There had been so much else on his mind that it hadn't even occurred to Kaleth that someone close to him besides members of Luxarx could have been in the Flare when it exploded.
He had never particularly liked Feria. How could he have? She had been the reason his parents had had a divorce, but she hadn't deserved to die like that. Kaleth suddenly got an urge to visit his own mother, just to make sure she was all right. Though immediately he remembered how visiting his mother usually went, and the feeling went away immediately.
"I'm sorry," Kaleth told his sister, feeling awkwardness setting in. She just nodded again.
"How did you know?" Edras asked Mel. The Eternal looked sad now, and Kaleth really didn't like seeing that expression on him. He opened his mouth to reply, no doubt about to say the truth, so Kaleth answered for him.
"He is a psychic."
"Really? Cool," said Edras, her voice full of wonder. It seemed his little sister still believed in things like this. At least something hadn't changed. "Can you see the future?"
"No, sorry," replied Mel regretfully. If Mel had said yes, Kaleth didn't think he'd be able to process that, which was a bit ridiculous since he could handle the other supernatural abilities just fine. The whole concept of knowing what will happen seemed ludicrous to him. And also rather disturbing.
"Where is Father? I need to have a word with him," Kaleth asked his sister.
"In his study," Edras replied, "but I'm not sure he'll be all that welcoming. He is actually quite angry."
Well, that was hardly surprising. His wife had just died, and knowing his father, he blamed Irithara for it. The man thought everything bad was the northern country's fault, no matter how unrelated it was. But this time Kaleth couldn't even blame him for thinking it. The Empire seemed like the logical culprit, even though Kaleth had his own suspicions of who was responsible. He hoped he was wrong.
"When is he not angry?" Kaleth muttered and continued walking where he had originally been heading. He glared at the familiar set of stairs and walked up to the door to his father's study. He almost opened it, but then he stopped himself at the last moment, remembering to take off the goggles and put down the rifle.
"I will just...um, I'll stay here, so I can intervene in case it goes wrong," Edras said awkwardly and coughed into her hand. Kaleth nodded, but he couldn't help but notice how his sister was looking at his rifle.
"Do not touch the gun."
Edras scoffed and looked away from the sniper rifle. "That never even occurred to me."
Kaleth shook his head and focused on the door again. Mel gave him an encouraging smile when Kaleth looked at him, which helped him relax at least a little bit before he finally swung the door open without bothering to knock.
He had never actually been in the study, but it looked very close to what he had imagined it would look like. A square rug covered most of the round room's floor, and the parts that it didn't reach were mostly hidden by large ornate bookcases, which were filled with not only books but also many shiny trinkets. Kaleth didn't bother trying to identify them, but he did notice several spy glasses and a gold model of a boat. In the spaces between the bookcases were the occasional abstract painting and his father's three diplomas in copper frames.
And, of course, in the middle of it all, by the square windows, was a large desk at which Ramien Garen was sitting, typing away at his laptop. Seeing his father with grey hair was a surreal sight, but Kaleth didn't let his surprise show on his face.
It seemed his father didn't share his problem with aging.
"Edras, I told you that—" He froze when he saw who had just barged into the room. His shocked expression quickly turned into a furious one, and the glare had so much intensity it almost made Kaleth take a step back. Almost. "Oh, the gods hate me."
"Ah, yes, being rich and successful is truly a divine punishment." So far it was going as well as Kaleth had imagined it would. Maybe he should have brought the gun.
"What do you want?" his father growled at him, slamming his laptop shut and getting up. "Did you come here to taunt me about my wife's death?"
Kaleth stared at him in disbelief. "I didn't know about it until a moment ago, and even if I knew before, I wouldn't fly halfway across Enoria to rub it in. It must be hard for you to believe, but I do have better things to do."
He wouldn't lie, talking to his father this way made him feel kind of good. There was this well-concealed fear right under the anger in everything the older man said, which made Kaleth wonder how much his father knew about what Kaleth had done with his life.
"Such as murder?" Kaleth's glare turned more deadly at that. So he did know. Although he conveniently left out the part where Kaleth had been forced into resorting to that because of his father in the first place. "Don't think I haven't been keeping an eye on you."
"I doubt you have the moral high ground here," Kaleth replied coldly. "How many of your enemies have died or disappeared under odd circumstances over the years?"
"If you are implying that I had them killed..." he growled threateningly, letting the sentence trail off. Kaleth was about to snap something back at him, but Mel spoke up from behind him.
"Please stop fighting. A family shouldn't do that," he said, looking at both of them with incredible sadness in his eyes. Kaleth immediately felt his anger dissipate in emotional exhaustion. Now he mostly felt bad about forcing Mel to witness all of this drama.
"We're not a family anymore, Mel. He's made it very clear that I am not his son," Kaleth explained, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. But he quickly turned back to his father when he heard him gasp. The older man was now staring at Mel with wide eyes.
"Y-you are one of them," he stammered, which Kaleth doubted he had ever heard his father do. So he had been right—Ramien truly did know about the Eternals. But how could he possibly know Mel was one of them? "What do you require? I was told I would never see you again."
Seeing Mel's badly hidden look of panic, Kaleth quickly steered the conversation elsewhere. "You've met them before? What did they want with you?"
"I don't believe I owe you any answers or anything at all for that matter," his father hissed at him, his glare returning.
Kaleth was all too ready to tell him to go to hell just then, but thankfully Mel interfered.
"Please, sir, we didn't come here to cause you trouble," the Eternal said sincerely. Kaleth expected his father to yell at Mel and was already ready to defend him, but nothing happened. In fact, Ramien's glare lessened in intensity. Kaleth looked at Mel in an attempt to understand how he was doing this, and he quickly got his answer. Mel's eyes were glowing again, but this time the light was much, much brighter than in Carcer.
"I know you're upset about what happened, but yelling at your son won't bring her back," Mel continued. "You should tell Kaleth the truth. He's waited long enough, don't you think?"
"I...I suppose you're right," his father said, and Kaleth had to blink a few times. Was he serious? Ramien was a stubborn bastard. Kaleth had really doubted even Mel could change his mind. He made a mental note not to underestimate him.
"Our family was close to penniless at one point," his father began, sitting down and pouring himself a glass of clear liquid that was definitely not water. Kaleth frowned. He had never heard of this. And he had read about their family history, so he would think he'd remember something like that. "And that ended with me. When they came to me."
"They gave you money? What did you do for them?"
Ramien downed his drink and sighed. "One of them contacted me. He never told me who he was, just that he would make us as powerful as we had been if I...fathered a child with Aleia Areon."
Kaleth's eyes widened, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. He didn't know how to react to that. His father had only had him so he'd regain wealth?
He should feel angry, furious even, but he just felt numb. At least now he understood why his father had barely paid any attention to him when he was a child. And it meant that his life hadn't been a lie.
Kaleth wondered if that was a good thing, though.
"I didn't think it appropriate to renew my family's glory with an illegitimate child, so I married her, thinking that we might at least tolerate each other. Unfortunately, she, hm, misunderstood the arrangement."
Kaleth almost lost his cool at that moment. He didn't particularly care when Ramien insulted him, but talking like this about his mother made him want to break his father's nose. And Kaleth didn't even like her. "You're a cold bastard."
"I don't think I'm alone in that," Ramien retorted sarcastically, but his sharp smirk disappeared almost immediately, probably thanks to Mel.
Kaleth sighed, trying to calm down as well. "Why? Why would they want you to have a child?" he asked, unable to mask his frustration. It was easier to focus on the slightly less personal things—especially if he pretended the question had nothing to do with his situation.
"I have no idea," he replied, shrugging as if it were an unimportant detail. To him it probably was. "But you have one of them standing next to you, so I think you might find out soon."
That made sense, but Kaleth would never tell his father he was right. Besides, he already knew who had answers to these questions, he just wanted nothing to do with him. And even if he did, Relioth might not even want to tell him now.
"Why are you here?"
Kaleth didn't think he could lie well right now, after what he had just learned. Thankfully, Mel answered the question instead.
"We need this house for a very important mission," he said, and Kaleth cringed at how obvious the lie was. Ramien didn't seem to notice though. "Because, um—"
"I do not need to know," he said and frowned at them. "I don't think I want to. I know better than to get involved in the matters of the gods. You can have the house."
Kaleth's eyes went as wide as they could. Was Mel mind-controlling his father to make him say that? He had never seen him give anything to anyone for free outside the family, much less a whole residence.
"I don't want to stay here anymore, anyway. Too many memories. It is too quiet here now." Ramien trailed off with a sigh. "This house is yours now," he told Kaleth and put his keys and a card on the table. "I'll tell my lawyer to take care of the paperwork."
Without another word, the man got up, took his diplomas off the wall, put them under his arm, and left the room. Kaleth stared after him for ten whole seconds before he registered that his half-sister had come in and was watching him with concern and sympathy.
"You've heard all of that, haven't you?"
"Yes," Edras admitted, running a hand through her shoulder-length hair. "Kal, I'm...I am so sorry."
"It's fine."
"No, it really isn't."
This time, when Edras hugged him, Kaleth returned it. His sister had always been generous with hugs.
"Thank you," Kaleth muttered when they separated, feeling a bit better. All in all, it had gone much better than he had imagined it could go. Owning the house meant that they could stay here indefinitely, so it could serve as a temporary base of operations.
"It doesn't matter what Father thinks—you are a part of this family, and you are my big brother," Edras told him, smiling widely and looking teary-eyed. "And I'm so very sorry for telling you the opposite all those years ago." Kaleth didn't know what to say, so he just smiled back. Edras probably didn't realize just how much hearing that meant to him.
He broke the eye contact first, turning to look at Mel instead. The Eternal had been smiling at them until that moment—now he looked very nervous.
"May I ask what you've done to convince Father?" Kaleth asked, and Mel winced and looked down at his sneakers guiltily. So, he was worried Kaleth and Edras would be mad at him for influencing their father's mind. Kaleth wanted to tell him that was not the case, but Mel spoke first.
"W-well," Mel began, still not looking up. "I'm not really good at controlling what people think, but, um, I can sort of calm them down, and stuff?"
"That's incredible. I didn't think it was possible to convince Father to give anything to anyone without hypnosis or something," Edras commented, sounding very impressed and amused. Mel raised his head in shock and blinked at the two siblings a few times.
"You're...not angry?"
"Of course not, Mel," Kaleth assured him, smiling slightly. "I couldn't care less about what happens to Father. We never exactly liked each other."
"I see you still very much deserve the Understatement of the Year award," Edras joked, and Kaleth frowned at her in thought. He doubted Edras lived in Imbera anymore with the way she was talking. Not just the words themselves but also the accent. It was still very much Imberan, but it differed from the one he had been used to hearing.
"So, uh, your friend here isn't a psychic, is he?"
Kaleth scowled at the tone but nodded, anyway. "You seem to be taking this rather well."
"Well, I've always thought gods existed. I mean, why would someone make them up?"
There could be a lot of reasons for that, but Kaleth decided not to comment. He really shouldn't have been surprised that his sister thought like that. Edras had loved conspiracy theories when she had been younger and even believed some of the semi-plausible ones. It seemed that was still true to this day.
"I'm assuming there is an actual reason you needed this house?" Edras asked with way too much interest.
Kaleth didn't want to lie to her, but he would have to. The more his sister knew, the more she would want to know, and knowledge of this kind was a dangerous thing. Especially if the danger was posed by an immortal, very powerful being.
"Yes, indeed, and that reason is classified," Kaleth answered, grabbing the keys to the house and the card and pocketing them. For a moment his sister looked like she couldn't believe Kaleth had just said that before her expression changed into a worried one.
"What is it you do, anyway? Didn't you want to study diplomacy or something?" Kaleth groaned internally. That wasn't a topic he wanted to talk about right now. Or ever. "You haven't really killed anyone, right?"
Edras' voice shook a tiny bit now. Kaleth pinched the bridge of his nose. He wished that particular aspect of his past hadn't come up in his exchange with his father—Kaleth would have never had to tell Edras, and everyone would have been happy. Unfortunately, it had come up, and now he would probably lose another important person to him because of it. Again.
"I own a sniper rifle. That is not exactly a weapon used for self-defense." Edras paled a little. Thankfully, just then Kaleth felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, so he had an excuse not to continue the conversation.
He sighed when he saw who it was calling him before picking it up and turning to face the desk instead. He wasn't really looking at anything in the room, he just didn't want to face Edras right now.
"I hope this is important, Rayni." He wasn't even sure why he said that—it was like an automatic reaction to her calling him.
"Trust me, it is. We've got a problem."
Kaleth closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Could you be slightly more specific?"
"All right, sure. So, guess what, we're terrorists now."