"What? 'D-d-dad'?!" Rogue looked back and forth from me to him.
I stepped closer to him. "Are you a Morphix?"
"...Yes..."
"Then, all this time...? Then, you left cause...? And Allois... Al!"
"What are you saying?"
I ran to him and pinned him against the wall by his collar. "Do you know what's going on back home?! Do you know what Al is going through?! You left without a word! It's all your fault! It's because of you that Al... Al..."
His face was stunned at first, but he looked down at me with a sudden anger. "Let go, Amus. Now."
My eyes started tearing up as I looked down. My hands shaking.
"A-Ace..." Rogue gently pulled me back by my shoulders. "Not now."
I looked at him with an obvious scorn. I wanted to make sure that he saw it; my hatred for him.
"What are you kids doing here?"
Rogue spoke, "We heard of someone that can train us. Is it you?"
"Yes, but who are you?"
Rogue introduced herself as I wandered the area. There was a potted plant on top of a cabinet. It didn't seem...real. It looked real. It smelled real. It felt real.
I touched the dark, brown soil. When I saw my fingers, they had golden dust. It sparkled in the slight light.
"Is this... Sphal magic?"
"I'm surprised you caught that. Yes. Yes, it is."
He snapped his fingers, and just like in the alley, the place transformed into training grounds.
Weapons, courses, materials, and more. Specifically made for Morphix.
I looked back at the potted plant, but now it seems to be a clear vase filled with gold flakes.
"So...you want to be trained, eh?"
I crossed my arms and turned away from him. "Yeah."
He came towards me, pat my head, and continued walking.
Rogue was eager. "Are you going to help us? Can you? Please?"
"I would, but I don't know about what my son thinks of me as a teacher." He looked at me. "What do you say?"
I turned to see Rogue. Her hands were brought up to her chest with a hopeful expression on her face.
I don't exactly want to say 'yes', but Rogue really wants this...
"Tsk. Fine! Do what you like."
He smiled at me and became serious. "You two need help with telepathy. Probably fighting too." He turned to me. "You, son, need a weapon."
"...Yeah." I gave in.
He brought us to two separate rooms. After leaving Rogue at her room, he brought me to my own. Seating me on a chair and strapping me in.
I shot a glance at him. "What are you doing?"
"This is to make sure you're using your minds and not using Morse Code or anything."
"Fine."
He left the room, but a few seconds afterward, his voice came on a speaker. "I'm in Rogue's room. She'll tell me something, then she'll think the same thing. Try to see if you know what she thinks. If you've got it, speak it into the microphone that should be... coming there right now."
A hatch in the ceiling opened as a microphone was lowered infront of me. Shortly after, I hear her.
'I want a coconut.'
I spoke into the microphone. "'I want...a...coconut'?"
"Correct."
He walked into my room. Going into one of the corners, he spoke to me. "Ready? Same thing. What will you think?"
I said the first thing that came to my mind at that moment. "...The Philosopher's Stone."
"...O-okay." He went to my microphone. "Begin now."
'The Philosopher's Stone.'
'...Why? Why did you start thinking about that?'
'Am I not allowed to?'
'...uh...no...nothing...'
Rogue mumbled into her microphone, "The Philosopher's Stone."
He smiled. "Correct. Now, think of something embarassing, but try to hold it back."
"What?!" I felt my face redden. "D-d-does it have to be embarassing?"
"No, but it's motivation."
"I-I-I'm not doing that."
Rogue came on the speaker. "Aww...Why not? I can use it for blackmail!"
"N-no! I'm not doing that!"
I think back to the first grade. 'Ugghhh...I vomitted on the teacher...'
She didn't say anything for a while. "Hmm... Nope! I don't know what you're thinking!"
"Oh, good," I sighed.
"Wait," he said. "You didn't tell me what you were thinking!"
"You don't deserve to know!"
"...Okay, Rogue. Your turn."
"Alright!"
...
......
"Nothing."
"Good. It better be nothing!" she yelled.
"You two are practically naturals at this," said Dad. "Great job, son."
He was about to leave the room.
I spoke up, "Mom hates Allois."
He turned around and looked sadly into my eyes. "...Why? Why is that?"
"Obviously it's because you left without a word. Too bad for Al, though. He looks like you."
"Sorry. Tell him I said 'sorry'."
"Yeah," I said, leaving the room. "Whatever."
Rogue was waiting at the other side. "Hey, hey, Amus! You should get a weapon!"
I looked at a wall of different swords, bows and arrows, guns, slingshots, and more. "What would I pick?"
"What do you like?"
I could work with anything. For me, it's about comfort...and looks. "Maybe a sword or a gun?"
Dad came over. "Wanna forge one?"
"...Can I?"
"Yeah. Design it however you'd like. You can come back tomorrow to pick it up, but after school this time."
Rogue's eyes lit up. "You can forge?! Morphix weapons?!"
"Yes. The gold dust that Amus touched is one of the things I use."
"Then please upgrade my naginata!" She placed her ring in his hand.
"Naginata, eh? These are pretty rare nowadays... alright. No need to pay me."
"Eh?! Are you sure? I can pay you!"
"No. Children like you should save up for more important things."
"I have a lot of money. Are you sure?"
"Yes." Dad turned to me and gave a thumbs-up. Oh, so he's doing this to impress me. Lame. "Hey, son. I think I know a weapon that you would like."
"What?"
"It'll be a surprise! Just wait until tomorrow." He gave Rogue another ring. "Use this in case a gostik appears while I have your naginata."
"Alright! Thank you!"
"Once you come back, I'll help you fight. In the meantime, you two should go back."
We left the building. I should mention the fact that we got looks from everyone who saw us walk outside of that haunted-looking place. Since Lite took back the motorcycle, we decided to wait for a bus.
We sat on the bench and I turned to Rogue. "What's the Philosopher's Stone."
"You don't know?"
"No."
"Then why the heck did you think about it?"
"I-I don't know! The words just came into my mind."
"Ehh...? I'll tell you later. Not in public."
"Is it bad?"
"Yes and no... I don't know. I was just surprised at first that you knew what it was. I guess you don't."
A tall, broad figure stood infront of us. "Hello, there."
In the dim light, I could see the face. The man from before. What's-his-face!
Rogue saw me struggling with the name and chose to speak in my absence. "Hello, Cartis."
"Now, would you please cooperate and come with me?"
"No, I think I'll just lounge about and wait for someone to drag my body away and dump me in a wax museum," she said sarcastically.
He raised an eyebrow. "Would you please come along?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Not very much of one, no."
She let out an over-exaggerated sigh. "Alright, then."
As she got up, Cartis pulled me along with them. "Am I going too? Why?"
They were both silent, but Rogue winked at me. 'This isn't anything bad. Just stay quiet and come along.'
I nodded to her and she smiled briefly. Cartis shoved us into his dark, tinted limo.
Rogue spoke, "Where is it this time?"
''This time'?! How many times has this happened?' I think to myself.
He ignored her question. "Will you not run away? It's such a hassle to look for you."
"Then why don't you just leave me be? That can save us all some time."
"Don't shoot the messanger. I don't even know why Garett wants you over every so often, but I must obey and you should too."
"God...! That man is so annoying! I want a life. Maybe he should search for one also."
Cartis chuckled and stayed quiet for the rest of the ride.
Rogue's voice came into my head. 'How's it going, Amus?'
'Good. I'm just wondering how the heck you get into these situations.'
'Don't worry. You'll find out soon enough! There's this whole...competition between multiple guilds. You should hear about it too.'
'Ahh... that's why I'm here. I thought it was something that was only your fault, but they would punish me also.'
'Geez, Amus. They're rude, but not unreasonable. Anyways, I think it has something to do with why you thought of the Philosopher's Stone.'
The car stopped and we were led inside a mansion.
"Not bad..." I whispered to myself.
"It's a beauty isn't it?" said Cartis as he patted my back. "That's the third sentence you've said, boy. I've been waiting for that."
"Can we just hurry up? These meetings take forever," complained Rogue.
"Yeah, yeah. Just hold on." Cartis walked over to the door and pressed his hands against it. A light glowed as the door swung open. "We're here!"
No one responded. Inside was a giant, round table. Eight men, one woman, and a child each sat in a chair. Rogue came over next to the little boy, ruffled his hair, and sat next to him. I stood on the side next to Cartis and nine other people.
The man on the other side of the room began to speak. "Rogue. It's about time you came back."
She scoffed. "Five years isn't that long."
"We need to know what your guild is up to. How you're progressing. It was a pact."
"Well, it's not like I signed a paper or something."
He scrunched up his eyebrows and started talking. After a while, I realized that I couldn't understand the situation.
"How're you holding up there?" asked Cartis.
"Honestly confused," I whispered to him.
He chuckled. "You'll know soon. I think it's best if you get the details from Rogue. Either that, or I can have my daughter tell you."
"You have a daughter?"
"Yeah. Her name's Zoelle."
"...o-o-oh...i-is that so...?" I stuttered.
"Yep."
This whole father-daughter thing got me thinking... "Why did you say that you were Rogue's father?"
"'Cause there's no way that you would hand her over if I said that I wasn't. I could tell...you're a good, protective kid. You'll do what you can for your friends and loved ones." He smiled at me warmly.
"Thanks," was all I could say, but I wanted him to be right.
"A-m-u-s!" called Rogue. "Ahh... I could tell you weren't paying attention. Let's go! I'll explain it on the way back."
"Ahaha..." I laughed nervously. "Yeah. Okay."
Cartis waved to me. "See you later, boy."
I waved back and felt a vibration in my pocket. My phone. I checked my new text message. Allois.
"Amus! There's someone in the house! I'm hiding under my bed! Please come quick! I don't think I can text 911, but I can't calkmnnnbbhbqwwwerrrgrtsfdsuyrgsysqt"
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Hello, friends, enemies, Buds (followers)......stalkers...
How're you doing? I'm doing good. I'm just... typing this out. Yeah.
Thanks for reading unless you just skipped all the other words and read this A/N. Who would do that? I dunno.
Well, yeah! Please vote, comment, follow (if you haven't already), and continue reading! Keep with it, my friends.
-!Ri$
P.S. Papa's on the side picture~