Jon arrived at his parents’ house, not thirty minutes later, pulling up alongside the curb beside the driveway. His gaze turning soft as he drove down the familiar alleyways and narrowed streets that he had walked along in his youth.

  A small chuckle escaping his lips, as he placed his car in park.

  ‘Although I suppose two years isn’t enough time to be considered old by any standard of the word. “Youth” feels closer to a lifetime ago, rather than just a ‘mere’ two years…’

  Jon glanced towards the slightly antiquated home on his left, softly sighing as he gazed towards the familiar-looking front door, remembering all the times he had opened it, closed it, and wished that he could see it just one last time.

  The hedges that grew alongside the red-bricked wall at the front of the house would have prevented one from peering into the large windows placed on the right-hand side of the house, into the large living space within.

  Minerva-Infiltration Eyes piercing through the uninitiated hedges, observing traces of movement within the house. [Bestial Intuition] heightening his senses to the point where he could hear two sets of footsteps coming from within and Hades-Draconian Shadow slithering towards the rear entrance of the house, shrunken down the size of an ordinary mouse.

  Pulling out his phone, Jon swiftly opened his recently received messages, smiling as he observed the texts that Ariel and Lydia had sent him.

  “How far away are you Jon!? I know you said that we didn’t need to bring anything, but I was thinking of bringing a few snacks for the road! I don’t know how far it is to your place but neither Lydia nor I have had lunch yet so…”

  “Perhaps our favourite big brother can take us out for lunch while you’re at it?!”

  Lydia’s message was similar, albeit with a considerable number of spelling mistakes.

  “By the way, are you living with anyone at the moment?! I mean, share houses are cheaper right? Is it all right with your roommates if we stay for a few hours? I mean, Ariel and I haven’t seen you in two months, so we were kind of wondering if…”

  “It was possible that Ariel and I can stay the night? If you’re not living with anyone that is.”

  Jon had allowed his Carcosa-Form Horrors to manifest while he was driving, plucking the phone straight out of his pocket and use its pseudo-physical structure to respond to both their messages.

  To Ariel he said:

  “So long as you tell Mum and Dad that you’re with me, it should be fine. I’m currently working at a pub near where I live, so we’ll go there for dinner tonight.”

  And to Lydia:

  “Just let Mum and Dad know that you’re staying over tonight. Pack a small bag with a few essentials that you might need. There is plenty of room where I currently live so if you want to leave a few things behind that is all good with me too.”

  “Oh, and by the way, I live alone.”

  Although Jon would have felt slightly hesitant to let anyone else into his house, Lydia, Ariel, and Cain were the exceptions. His three younger siblings were literally the people that he looked most forward to seeing after coming back to Earth, other than Trevor who was currently undergoing basic training and Summer who was still vacationing overseas.

  His parents… well-.

  ‘I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. For the time being, however, I’ll focus on spending time with Lydia, Cain, and Ariel…’

  Jon stepped out of his car, dressed in uninitiated clothing. His Knight Ranked Metal-Thread Pants left at home, while his Knight Ranked Spirit-Protection Shirt had been destroyed during the battle against the Voracious Swarm Mother. He possessed other shirt-type spiritual items, such as a Spatial-Barrier Shirt and a Silver-Weave Shirt that provided similar defensive properties, keeping most within his [Red Archives Of Mars Quirinus].

  The designs of his spiritual items were somewhat… archaic, to say the least. A strange combination of multiple distinct cultural inspirations, some human and lutin, while others undyne and vermiton.

  Walking around, even in just casual attire would draw the eye.

  And not in a good way.

  Striding up from his car towards the driveway, Jon could not help but flash a small smile, opening the familiar, black-painted gate that stood between the sidewalk and the front yard. The high-pitched squeak that it produced was still the same as before, capable of being heard even from inside the house.

  Alerting the two girls that waited idly within.

  By the time Jon was halfway up towards the front porch, did the large wooden front door swing right open. Revealing two teenage girls with near-identical features.

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  ““Jon!”” Lydia and Ariel both exclaimed, smiles on their faces as the two rushed out towards him. Although Jon could have reacted in time, he did nothing but smile, watching as his two sisters crashed into him, pretending to have wind knocked out of his chest.

  His hands almost unconsciously landing on both of their heads, eyes softening as he tightened his grip over his Fragment Of Mind. Emotions prevented from rising up towards the surface of his Three Seas Of Knowledge.

  “Jon! We’ve missed you so much!” Lydia tried to speak but found herself crying the moment she wrapped her arms around him. Face buried deep within his chest, hands tightening their grip around his jacket.

  “W-we t-thought that you h-hated us! Y-you were g-gone for so long and we didn’t k-know what happened to you!” Ariel chimed in, sniffling in between her sentences. Both of his younger sisters clung to him as though children clutching at their parent’s leg.

  Neither daring to let go, afraid that Jon would vanish if either of them did.

  Lowering his head, Jon smiled at the two of them, knowing that neither of them had seen their older brother for almost two whole months. His index finger on his left hand twitching ever-so-slightly, knowing that it had been almost two whole years since he had seen either of-.

  “… I’m sorry for leaving without saying anything.” He whispered.

  “I didn’t mean to make all of you so worried.”

  “I promise…” Jon muttered, “It won’t happen again.”

  Break.

  The reunion between Ariel, Lydia, and himself was going about as well as it could have gone. There were quite a number of tears, followed by a variety of curses and insults, which was then swiftly accompanied by a plethora of questions and demands, ones that he had expected and ones that he had-.

  “Have you messaged Summer or Trevor yet!?”

  “What about university?! Did you get into Melbourne College?!”

  “Where do you live now!? It is close, or at least close to public transport?!”

  “Why didn’t you text us for two months!?”

  “Was it Mum and Dad, did they tell you not to do it!?”

  “Did you lose your phone, is that why you couldn’t call us!?”

  “And where did you get the money to purchase a ute of all things!?”

  “Also, can you please turn up the air conditioning, its scorching today!”

  Jon listened to each and every one of their questions, half-glancing away from the road for split second in order to turn up the air conditioning. Both of his sisters were wearing oversized hoodies, Ariel in white and Lydia in black, despite it being the height of an Australian summer.

  Ariel had quite vehemently claimed the front seat, forcing Lydia to sit in the centre of the rear passenger seats. Both girls placing their not-so-small bags in the bed of his second-hand car, relishing in the feeling of being so high up while driving.

  Both stared at him intently, alongside the tufts of white-coloured hair that had appeared where his fringe normally sat. Although it was clearly dyed, it seemed as though that the hair had been dyed down to the roots, giving Jon a slightly older appearance too him.

  “And why did you dye your hair white?!”

  “And where are your glasses too!? Did you get contacts or something?”

  Minerva-Infiltration Eyes twitching at the mention of his glasses, knowing that he had not needed them since the integration of his Fragment Of Eyes. Nodding his head, he began to reply to each and every one of their questions.

  “Well, first of all, I did lose my phone. Alongside a few of my other belongings.” Jon began, flicking his indicator to change lanes, Hades-Draconian Shadow glancing behind him as his eyes laid firmly on the road in front of him.

  “That happened a while ago mind you, and considering the amount of money I had to my name, obtaining another phone was not viable in the short term. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily in a way, I got into an accident.”

  Jon lifted his right arm, wiggling the fingers of his Tabitha-Cedarspear Arm. Lydia and Ariel’s eyes widened as they gazed upon the wood-esque structure of his fingers and nails, just now noticing the difference in colour between his left and right hands.

  Their expression shifting, from one of blatant curiosity to unrestrained fear and horror.

  “Y-you lost your-.” Lydia whispered.

  Jon nodded, interjecting before Lydia could finish her sentence.

  “I lost my arm, yeah.” Jon softly tapping his Tabitha-Cedarspear Arm, producing a dull wooden sound.

  “There was… a clear victim in the accident, myself of course, and the other party paid for all my medical expenses in addition to a… well, sizeable settlement in return for me not pressing charges.”

  “A sizeable settlement indeed,” Jon alluded, not noticing both Lydia and Ariel lean closer towards him. Brows twitching, as he felt his two sisters once again envelop him in a tight, somewhat constricting hug.

  “So that’s why you weren’t able to message us…” Ariel muttered.

  “You would have been in hospital for a while then, I’m guessing.” Lydia continued.

  Jon nodded, ignoring the Truthful-Scales in his mind tipping towards falsehood.

  “Unfortunately yes, that was the case. Melbourne College, after hearing my circumstances allowed me to enrol late even though I missed the registration date. The other party in the accident also agreed to pay for all of my student debt as well, so I’ve been a little more liberal with my spending, allowing me to pay for this ute.”

  “Among other things of course.”

  Jon slowly placed his foot on the brake pedal, coming to a slow and steady halt at the sight of another red light. His head turning towards Lydia and Ariel, softly smiling at the two of them before shrugging his shoulder, shaking his head from side-to-side.

  He could see the shifting emotions on their faces.

  Happiness. Sadness. Anger. Resentment. Joy. Regret. Guilt.

  Prompting him to ruffle their hair, earning a high-pitched squeal from the both of them.

  “Hey!”

  “What was that for!?”

  Jon just smiled.

  “I’m sorry for not responding sooner.”

  “After you see the house, you’ll begin to understand just what it is I’ve been doing since leaving the hospital.”

  The two fourteen-year-old girls shared a glance with one another, observing Jon turn down a side street, towards a neighbourhood filled with classic Victorian-Filigree-styled homes. Their eyes gazing towards the three-storied houses, mouths dropping as Jon turned his indicator one, performing a parallel park in front of one house in particular.

  Lydia could not help but softly prod Ariel, as if to gain her attention. The white-clothed sister nodding her head softly, gazing towards the house closest to them, eyes firmly locked onto the number and name placed on the mailbox.

  97 Drummond Street.

  Guilliman.

  “Is that-.”

  “What I think it is?” Ariel finishing Lydia’s sentence, both turning towards Jon in perfect unison. Their older brother grinning at them as he placed his car in park, lifting Resonance-Protection Key out of his pocket and placing them in Ariel’s hands.

  He gestured towards said house, nodding his head with an even wider smile on his face.

  “It is.”

  He could not have run to the door fast enough to catch them.