Anthony found himself standing in the living room of a house. Logically it should have shocked him to be presented with such a scene but the room was so familiar Anthony felt like he had been in this room, stood in that spot, rested there hundreds of times.
The room wasn't scary, it was homey, a coffee table, a couch adorned with pillows and scrunched up blankets, a fireplace only lightly ablaze for warmth. In the corner to his left there was a magical device with a spinning disc atop it that was seemingly producing music.
The sound was calming, consistent drums with jangly piano fills, a lovely chord striking every two beats. Anthony felt comfortable in this house, despite it being the first time he'd ever seen it.
"Shhh, shhh," Anthony heard, flinching away from the sudden sound. To his right a woman sat comfortably in a chair, cradling a baby in her arms. She didn't appear to notice him as she calmly cooed at her child attempting to keep them from stirring.
"Hey," Anthony said as he waved his hand in front of her face yet still nothing, almost like he wasn't there at all. He took a step back in confusion and started to observe her, trying to figure out who she was and what was going on.
Despite being covered in blankets, the scars on the little skin that showed, and the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, she was beautiful. Her long, wavy, black hair fell graciously on each shoulder and her belly protruded a bit, demarcating her recent pregnancy.
Despite the pain this woman had clearly been through, the way her brown eyes gazed down at her child exuded nothing but loving warmth.
Suddenly Anthony heard a click followed by a loud creak as a door hinged open to his right. A man emerged, shoulders slumped, bags under his eyes, his scruffy black hair sprinkled with grays. He wore a long black trench coat covered in gold designs and carried a sheathed sword in his hand.
Behind him followed a girl, around Evelyn's age followed him, looking equally tired. Her short, wavy white hair contrasted the dark black that sat on the heads of the man and the woman. Even more mysterious than her hair she had short horns protruding from her head and the iris of her eyes were a peculiar shade of gold.
"I'm home," the man announced in between exhausted breaths as he rested his sword against the wall and hung up his coat. "How is she?"
"She's doing great," the woman answered, looking at the man as he walked right past Anthony without either acknowledging him in the slightest. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she rested her head on his arm before continuing, "We had a short little lunch earlier and she has been out cold since then."
"Oh to be a baby again," he said with a tired chuckle as he and the girl slumped down on the couch across from her. "Being able to just eat and sleep all day, I can't think of a greater bliss than that."
"I hear you guys," announced the girl next to him. "Everything is so tiring."
"Kid you don't know anything," the man said through a hearty laugh. "You've never been a parent, I had to raise you all on my own and now we have little baby Juneaux."
"Hey," the woman chimed in with lament.
"But we have my perfect angel, gorgeous wife who is doing an amazing job even though it's her first time as a mother," the man quickly noted.
"Damn right," the woman said with a nod and a laugh. "I run this house, daughter happy and well fed, husband and weird adopted other daughter scared to death of pissing me off. Any woman knows I got shit together."
"Hell yeah, wait what?" The man said, at first in agreement then turning to his wife as he realized the slight slander upon his name to which his wife met with a laugh.
"Hey I ain't scared to death of you, I just need to keep you on my side because I can confirm you have him whipped," the girl responded, shoving her thumb in the man's direction, to his visible shock and the woman's enjoyment. "Don't react like that, you know I'm right, pops."
"Yeah," he said, elongating the end as he rolled his eyes. "You might have me a little bit there."
"You know what Lena," the wife said as their laughter calmed. "If you want to be on my good side maybe you could go make all of us some dinner? I have pasta noodles for you to boil out on the counter?"
"Yeah yeah, I gotcha," the girl responded, climbing to her feet and exiting the room for the kitchen.
The scene felt so incredibly familiar to Anthony but he didn't know why. Observing them, he knew he had never seen any of them before.
The man felt distinctly familiar in comparison to the rest but Anthony didn't know how he could meet someone so distinct and not remember them. He was tall, taller than anyone Anthony had met before and he had distinct scars under his left eye and across his right cheek, not exactly a forgettable sight.
As the girl left earshot their demeanor changed and the scene felt darker. "Okay," said the woman with dire importance in her voice. "What happened?"
"I'm just so tired," the man responded as he rested his head in his hands. "I thought- I thought that after the war everything would be okay, that the bloodshed would be over."
"But it's not," she said firmly, still cradling their child.
"But it's not," he echoed before slumping back. "Now that there's no outside threat everyone's turning on each other, everywhere I go I see people fighting and then she's consolidating more power at the top."
"Hey," she said imperatively. "It's okay, none of this is our fault or even our responsibility now. We put too many protections in place for her to just take over, it's a new country, a new republic, we just need some time."
"But that's not all that's happening Liv," he said, gravely, as he finally met her eyes. "I was out with Lena and I can feel something stirring in the north, monsters are stirring, tribes are being pushed towards our borders. We are about to be hit with a disaster and the way things are going. It will be devastating and we will not be prepared."
Anthony turned to the woman and saw the fear in her eyes, he didn't realize how much closer he'd gotten to them during their conversation. She began to shift her weight and move her mouth to speak but she suddenly stopped, almost as if she was frozen in time.
He leaned down to examine her yet she did not move. "What's going on," Anthony whispered to himself before a hand suddenly clasped his shoulder.
He jumped backwards, turning around just to see his dad in the man's place, gazing at Anthony with a worried expression. "Hey Ant, settle down, are you okay? You're looking pale."
Anthony's eyes darted looking for the woman but she was gone, the only person before him now was his father, perfectly healthy, looking down on him from the couch. "Dad? Is that really you?"
"Who else would it-" He started but was interrupted by Anthony flinging himself into his father's arms. He was taken by surprise as his son tackled him but soon met Anthony's hug with a comforting tightness.
"I'm so sorry!" Anthony shouted as tears began to leak from his eyes. "I thought I lost you."
"Hey," the warmhearted Parker Vahleer responded. "You could never get rid of me even if you tried, I'll always be right here."
"You promise?"
"Of course," Anthony's father said, neither one of them willing to break the embrace. "I'll always be here, but how about you tell me what happened?"
"Giants attacked the town, I panicked so I left Eve to go help but I rushed in and then," Anthony said, grabbing on to his father even tighter. "I'm so sorry, I rushed in and then you- you had to save me-"
"What happened next?" His father asked, slightly more sternly.
"Uh… it's hard to explain, I guess. I fought back with the help of a friend but then I used too much mana, and- and-"
"You left," his father determined.
"What? I didn't?" Anthony said confused, backing out of the hug. He looked down at his dad's stomach and it started to get wet as his shirt became drenched in a dark red. Anthony looked down at his hands and saw them covered in his father's blood.
Suddenly his father grabbed Anthony by his shoulders and shook him. His hands had a strong, cold grip, Anthony looked up at his father. His eyes were blank, his skin was pale, he looked as if life had been entirely drained from him.
As his father coughed up blood he shouted "You left! How could you?! You left Evelyn! You left April! You left your mother! You left me! They're alone and in danger all because of YOU!"
Anthony's eyes fluttered open as he sprouted up, he looked at his hands, shaking with fear. But the only things on his hands were dirt and grime. With his mouth continuously agape, heart beating heavily, and body shivering, he reached up to his face to make sure he was alive.
Hey kid! Are you okay? What's going on?
"Huh?" Anthony said, his heart suddenly slowing, allowing his hands to fall to his sides, coming back to reality. "Oh, it's nothing, just a bad dream."
You sure it was just a bad dream? You're crying.
"I'm crying?" Anthony asked, slowly feeling his face as he wiped the tears from underneath his eyes. "I guess I was crying, it's not important anymore though, what happened?"
You've been out cold for a day. I think what happened in your village, the teleportation, plus drawing the sword just put you under mana exhaustion.
"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense," Anthony said calmly. "I guess I'll have to be careful from now on."
Yeah, Nate said tentatively. I suppose you will.
"Okay!" Anthony shouted, clapping his hands on his thighs before he climbed to his feet. "Training right? We gotta get to work."
Yeah, training. Are you sure you don't want to take a second, you-
"Nope, don't need it, I need to get stronger, there's no time to waste." Anthony declared, marching towards the temple's entrance. "Should we do it outside? For the room?"
I suppose yeah. Let's get to it.
"Let's get to it!"