1325  He Returned

The trials were less than a month away, but Arthur didn"t care. Once Diana awakened and recovered, he was ready to take her on a vacation. However, the first obstacle was a cultural difference between their worlds.

"What is a vacation?" was her first question. "And how would we take one?"

Arthur realized that although Diana had learned the Yalveran language and could converse with others, many things were still foreign to her. The thought of her leaving her world just to be with him made him soften and hold her tighter.

"A vacation is a time when we just travel around and have fun," explained Arthur while running his fingers through her hair. Diana stuck to him like a cat, almost purring as his fingers caressed her head. "We won"t have any fights, just a lot of time together doing fun things."

"But what about—" Diana began but stopped. Arthur knew she was worried about Rain and Valeria, whom she had to leave behind in Sourna. "I don"t think this is the right time."

"There"s never a good time," said Arthur, closing his eyes. "And since the wrath has disabled my creation powers for a little while, I want to look at nothing other than you."

"I"m happy about that too," said Diana as she lifted her head from his chest and caressed his face. "I"m just worried, that"s all. If something happens while we"re gone, it would make you feel guilty."

"Oren is here, and he"ll take care of things," said Arthur with a smile. "He"s an Astra-ranker now, and I doubt anyone can stand against him. I want him to take my place while I take a short break from everything."

Diana was silent, resting her head on his chest again. After a short period of thinking, she whispered her agreement. Arthur held her tightly and began thinking about the places they would go.

Arthur didn"t tell Diana what Rhys had told him. It was a lot to take in, and since the fate of the world rested in his hands now, he wanted to run away from everything, even for a short while. They left the bedroom at noon when Oren knocked on the door and said that lunch was ready. Outside in the garden, a table with several dishes awaited them.

Sitting around the table were Oren, Selena, Benjamin, Alaric, and Nyx. These five awaited the couple"s arrival and rose as they emerged from their room. Arthur stared at them in confusion as he watched them raise their gla.s.ses.

"This is in celebration of your good health," explained Oren, raising a gla.s.s of his own. Arthur stared at his younger brother, whose face bore numerous battle scars that showed how much he had grown. "And for your reunion."

"Thank you, everyone," said Diana with a smile. "A pleasure to meet everyone properly."

Oren grinned as he began introducing Selena, and she too got acquainted with Diana as they began chatting. Arthur introduced Nyx as his teacher, which made her stammer and refute that she had done nothing to help him. The rest chuckled at her shy att.i.tude, despite her being one of the best warriors in the clan.

The group began eating, each catching up with the others. Oren explained what he had been doing and his search for the Netherborne Clan to understand wrath better. Selena was helping her father in the shelter, while Arthur and Diana spoke about their travels with Rain.

Benjamin spoke briefly here and there, pulling Nyx into the conversation as well. It turned out that Nyx had never traveled outside of Sourna before, and the others began telling her about everything they had seen in the rest of the world.

"I have something to announce too," said Arthur as he pulled the crowd"s attention to him. He glanced at Diana, who nodded. "I awakened almost three years ago now, and I haven"t had a break since. For that reason, I"ve decided to go on a vacation with Diana."

"A vacation?" repeated Oren in surprise, before relief appeared on his face. "And here I was worried that you would go straight back to fighting calamities. I think that"s a great idea."

"I concur," added Alaric with a grin. "I think we"re gonna have a lot of fun traveling around."

"…The vacation is for me and Diana only," said Arthur, scratching his nose. Alaric blinked at them and then placed his fork down, looking betrayed. "You can stay here, for now. We need someone to help Oren and Grandpa."

"…I understand," said Alaric with a downcast expression. "Can you at least bring me a souvenir?" he said with a grin. Arthur chuckled and nodded.

"Where are you going, then?" asked Benjamin with glee. "I would recommend a town with very few people, lest you get recognized. A place with good sightseeing would be great."

"I know just the place," said Selena, clapping her hands. "My mother comes from a small town in the Tanera Kingdom. She always described it as peaceful, beautiful, with lots of forests, beaches, and waterfalls."

"That doesn"t sound so bad," said Arthur with a nod as he turned toward Diana. "What do you think?"

"Thank you, Selena," said Diana with a sweet smile. "We would love to."

The plan was set, and Nyx was the only person not chiming in on the conversation. Arthur knew that she had something to say about his decision but didn"t feel comfortable saying it in front of others.

After lunch, Selena offered to help Diana prepare for the trip. After all, Diana had very few clothes that suited this world. Most of her clothes were extravagant dresses made of blue silk. Oren and Alaric went to meet Rhys since Nightroad seemed interested in the hacker.

Benjamin, Arthur, and Nyx were the only ones remaining. Once everyone else left, Arthur turned toward Nyx, who was still deep in thought. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, nothing," she said, still hesitating. Arthur glanced at Benjamin, who sighed and patted Nyx on the back. She flinched and turned toward Benjamin, who nodded at her. "Fine… I"m just worried about you."

"About me?"

"Both of you," said Nyx, shaking her head. "If you can"t master this wrath soon, the same thing could happen again. Diana might get hurt, and you could lose control."

"I understand your worries," said Arthur with a warm smile as he looked at her. "But I"ll be fine. I know that for a fact because nothing is going to happen to us. I need this break to control that wrath."

"I understand," said Nyx with a nod. "But I won"t give up either. After seeing you lose control of your wrath, my resolve to pa.s.s the trial has strengthened. We are rivals from now on."

"That has always been the case," said Arthur with a grin. Nyx left after that, leaving him with his grandfather. "I can"t say I really understand what just happened here."

"After seeing you lose control, she fears that your past experiences and attachments might be a liability to your control," said Benjamin while pouring himself another drink. "She might be right, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Men of our family have never been ones to hold back," said Benjamin as he took a big gulp from his cup. "Let me tell you the same story I told Diana. I feel like you have the right to know the truth, Arthur."

"The truth?"

"About what happened to your father, and why he did the things he did," said Benjamin, his eyes betraying his sadness. "After seeing you lose control like that, I thought it would be that incident all over again. Has your father told you what happened to your grandmother?"

"…He told me that she was killed because he was too weak to defend her, and you blamed him for it," said Arthur, looking at the ground. "But he hasn"t always been honest."

"Your father is not a liar," explained Benjamin. "He is troubled. Because of me."

"What do you mean?"

"In order to regain my position in the clan, I pushed him to harness wrath, to master it," said Benjamin while staring into his cup. "I pushed him too much until wrath entered his body and destroyed his mind. Your father lost control, and your grandmother wanted to save him. In the end, she lost her life just to seal the wrath in him."

"…Seref could use wrath too?"

"I might be the sole person in the Netherborne Clan who failed to harness wrath," laughed Benjamin. "He could, but it was more powerful than he could handle. After killing his mother, Seref almost lost his mind, and his outbursts became a recurring thing, weakening the seal your grandmother placed on him. In the end, I had to alter his memories using my powers."

"You made him believe that monsters killed his mother, not him," said Arthur with a frown. "But why not erase them entirely?"

"Because of his wrath and the trauma that memory gave him, I couldn"t rewrite them entirely. I barely managed to change a few details here and there. In the end, he left the Uncharted Lands. But then, one day, he returned."