Chapter 75 - Till We Meet Again

Waking up with a stretch, last night I actually had an amazing night's sleep. 

For the first night in months, I didn't have to be constantly alert and on edge, allowing me to catch up on some much-needed Z's. 

Stepping out of my stone tent, my morning routine was slightly changed. Now, instead of waking up to the calm sounds of Teresa cooking and eating, I was awoken to the boisterous laughs of Gust, the man I now know as Arnold, and Teresa, all sitting around the morning fire with a smile.

"Good morning," I say, walking over to the fire and yawning. Good God how do these people have so much energy this early in the morning.

"Ah, hello there, you must be Antonio. Gust has told me so much about you, very sorry about not greeting you yesterday." Arnold said, standing up and walking over to shake my hand. "What tier was that ice spell you used? Was it a personal spell or an application of ice magic I'm simply unfamiliar with? Did you know you're part wind spirit? How good are you with Earth magic?"

Yep, as unwavering as described. I can barely follow half of what he's saying. 

Wait, what did he say?

"I'm part wind sprite?" I ask, taking a seat and looking curiously between Gust and Arnold. 

That's news to me. How did he know that? How did he know that before I knew that? 

Also damn, that takes the 'half-sprite' count in the part up to three. 

"It's a long story. But no, you're not half sprite, you're half wind spirit." Gust says, placing his hand on my shoulder and looking at me with strangely somber eyes. 

"What's the difference?" I ask, glancing between Gust and Arnold once again. They sound basically the same to me. 

"Hmmm, I guess you could call it purity of blood?" Arnold said, placing his hand on his chin as if he didn't rip a sentence right out of the Third Reich. 

"Come again?" I ask, hoping I had misheard him. Man, please don't tell me nazis somehow exist in this world too, I don't wanna have to fight magic funny mustache man. 

"What he means to say, is that a sprite is a descendant of a spirit. So, very technically, you're a sprite, but in all reality, you're a half-spirit." Gust says, sighing deeply as the look of sadness had yet to be wiped from his face. What's so sad about that!

Isn't it better for me if I have some magic blood in my veins?

"Okay, that clears up the blood part, but how do you know all this? I don't even know this stuff." I say, looking up with a confused tone and face at Gust. 

I don't think they found out I've been aware since I was a baby, but they ought to suspect something is up at this point. 

A magic item? Pay a ton of gold? I thought these people pinched pennies what gives!

"The person who tracked you down for us has, interesting, abilities to say the least. Apparently, your birth mother is a Wind Spirit by the name of Stephanie WitchThread, and we're at least fifty percent sure she is rapidly making her way here." Gust says, his forced smile never extending to his eyes. "Congratulations, we've finally found your birth parents or at least one of them." 

"So what? They didn't raise me, even if some random human is my father, you're still my dad." I say, stealing another line from Earth and giving Gust the biggest hug I can. Yet, it seems I diagnosed his sadness wrong, as the hug and pep talk seemed to only make him more depressed. 

"Listen, Antonio, there's something you need to know," Gust says, literally keeping me at arm's length by putting his hand on my shoulder and solemnly looking into my eyes. "Wind Spirits such as your birth mother and the Tiamat race as a whole have a, disturbing, history to say the least. Just know that I'll always consider you my son, no matter what. You'll always be welcome back home in Taf, and I don't hold you responsible for anything that happened that night or with Surge." 

What? Why are you saying this?

This is the speech that a character gives before he goes out to battle and dies! We're sitting at the morning fire, not fighting an army!

"What? What are you talking about?" I ask as Gust's eyes dart around the campsite, not wanting to land on mine. 

"Antonio, I have a simple question. Do you trust me?" Gust asks, looking down at me and finally meeting my eyes.

"What?" Is all I'm able to mutter out, as Gust simply pulls me into a hug. 

What?

Suddenly, I could feel a strong pressure on the back of my neck. This son of a bitch... 

///

--- Point of View: Gust Renarus ---

Pulling Antonio into a deep hug, I applied a bit of cloak and it took only a minute amount of force to knock him to cleanly.

I'm sorry, but I can't be here when WitchThread gets here. At the same time, I need time away. 

This journey along with Sylvia and Arnold will not only help them but help me. I need time to prepare for Surge's funeral, plan the rebirth of Taf, and find a plan to win back over Antonio. 

Thinking completely frankly, once WitchThread gets here, she'll reveal to him the entire past between the Fay and Demonkind, which ought to drum up some emotions from Antonio that I don't want any of my party to be on the receiving end of. The Spirits are his true people after all. 

Quickly, I signal to Arnold to begin packing up all of our belongings and took out a small piece of blinktree paper. 

'Dear Antonio, Sorry. 

I know you probably don't understand my motives and I know you're most likely upset, but trust me when I say this is for the best. Everything I said today was the truth, I'll always consider you my true son, and you'll always be welcomed with open arms once I've started to rebuild Taf. Your birth mother is also welcome if she's willing to bury the past and come without any unkind intentions. 

According to Arnold's math, she should be upon us within the next to days, so I had to make myself scarce and far enough away to clear out any misunderstandings. You're a smart child, I'm sure you'll understand as soon as someone explains it to you. 

If you still have the heart to call me your father after everything your mother reveals about the past, this piece of paper is made of blinktree parchment, so feel free to contact me. I love you and blame you for nothing. The sins of the father should never be held to the child, or in this case, the sins of mother and father. 

Until we meet again, Gust Renarus.'

The note is short, yet comprehensive enough to get the point across. Antonio is not a stupid child, he's actually far from it. So with this much information, he should be able to piece everything together well enough. 

After Sylvia and Arnold had finished collecting our things, I bowed to Princess Teresa and explained that we would be making our way across the continent. As everyone gathered together and we began to leave the campsite, I could suddenly feel all of the hair stand up on the back of my neck. 

Glancing between Sylvia and Arnold, it was obvious they all felt it as well. 

Thankfully, we were far enough by now that we could move at full speed, as the ground beneath the three of us began to move at an incredible pace, in the direction exactly opposite from the campsite. 

Arnold's personal spell, Slipstream, allows us to move at very quick linear speeds, yet he's completely defenseless whilst controlling it. Thankfully, I doubt the witch would follow us instead of staying back with her son. 

There was an obvious risk of staying the night, and it was a calculated one, but it appears we need to work on our mathematics skills as a group. 

--- Point of View: Stephanie WitchThread ---

Stepping out of the Fae portal, we were now only a few hundred meters away from Antonio's location. Instantly, I could feel a devilish presence, the unmaskable feel of a warrior Tiamat. 

Thankfully, Antonio's kidnapper seems to be moving away from him at an extremely rapid pace, which may mean he's a completely unrelated devil. Either way, I wouldn't give chase. 

Stretching my arms, I finally transformed back into my humanoid form, the form I was most comfortable in taking. 

Stepping out from the portal behind me are my two traveling companions, who've been by my side since I left a body double in charge of the county.

Don't worry Antonio, I'm coming to save you!

Hmmm, approaching the campsite, a few things stuck out to me nearly instantly.

First and foremost, was the royal symbol of Elarus, as well as the young girl happily chatting with my son. The second issue was the lack of chains and bindings or even magic limiting artifacts located on him!

Do you really think that little of Antonio, or has he just grown weak!

No matter, I can take this time to give him a little bit of a test.. A pop quiz if you will.