The room regained its usual appearance, as if the intense spatial magic that had just occurred was merely a fleeting illusion.
And The couch, which had been the center of Rose's mind while the extraordinary phenomenon, remained intact, and the air settled back into its normal stillness.
Ding*
The sudden chime of the doorbell jolted all of them back to reality, breaking the lingering tension in the room.
"Who might be here at this time?" Rose asked, her voice tinged with curiosity and concern. She glanced at Marylin, who was still catching her breath, and Chris, who was carefully putting the ring back on his finger to suppress his mana levels.
"Do you want me to check?" Chris offered, attempting to get up, but Rose shook her head gently and said, "I will go..."
Her gaze shifted to Chris, her loving husband, and she noticed his slightly disheveled appearance with his shirt almost torn. Concerned, she turned to Marylin. "Marylin, why don't you erase the mana signature?"
...
Tap tap.
Leaving the living room behind, Rose walked through the corridor to the front door. Reaching for the knob, she hesitated for a moment before turning it and opening the door.
"Surprise!" A familiar voice exclaimed, and Rose felt a sudden rush of joy and disbelief as she looked at the tall figure standing before her.
His hair had grown longer, and the fiery red hues at the ends added a touch of uniqueness to his appearance. The long hooded robe he wore draped over his body, and the large bag on his back towered above his head, giving him an air of mystery and adventure. But it was his eyes that caught her attention the most. They glowed with a different kind of light, reflecting the experiences and knowledge he must have gained during his journey.
He looked quite different from the time he left home; he was more mature, and his features were sharper, but to Rose, he was still her beloved boy, her son.
"Mom?" Ren waved his hand in front of her as if to snap her out of her stupor.
"Eh? Ehhhhhhhhh!!!!" Her eyes widened to the widest range, and she instinctively reached out to grab her boy's arm for a second, as if to check if he was real or not.
"Ruu!!!" She then pulled her sweet boy into a warm and tight embrace, feeling her eyes moisten with tears of joy and relief.
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[Ren Hilton's POV]
"!!" I was startled as Mom immediately pulled me into a tight hug, but I regained my composure and hugged her back.
"I am back," I said as we parted from the embrace.
Mom stepped back, wiping her tears, and was about to say something when I asked, "Is Dad home?" Mom raised a brow but then immediately caught on and nodded excitedly.
"Let's give him a surprise," I suggested, tiptoeing inside the house with Mom following me.
As we entered the house, Mom followed me from behind, a smile still on her face. Little did she know that this wasn't the surprise she thought it was. Upon reaching the door, I sensed a sudden surge of dense mana, like a protective barrier had been triggered. I was prepared to break through it if needed, but thankfully, Mom opened the door just in time, and the barrier dissipated.
'Smokeball, be ready,' I transmitted through my mind to my trusty companion tucked away in the inner pocket of my robe. If things got messy, I knew he'd be there to back me up.
Cautiously, I entered the living room, my left leg strengthened in case I needed to push myself back. To my surprise, I was met with two confused adults sitting opposite each other, sipping tea. One of them nearly dropped their cup upon seeing me, and the other froze in place like a statue.
"Surprise!!" I had been prepared for anything, but it seems my arrival caught them off guard.
"Ruu?" Marylin, looking bewildered, called out my nickname, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"Son?" My father's voice was laced with astonishment.
The atmosphere in the room was peculiar, swirling with an unusual mana pattern that seemed to be fading away. I wondered if Marylin had used some kind of magic, as my parents weren't usually into that sort of thing in the house.
Or perhaps there was something else at play here.
Sigh*
Can't happen, I guess. Maybe it was just Marylin showing off her magic to both of them. I shook off that thought.
"Yep, it is— wha!" I was given another hug by Marylin as she practically collided with me.
'I'll be squished, princess!!!!!' Blaze cried for help.
"You're back!!" She said, hugging me tighter. Her chest was rubbing against my side, but I decided to ignore it and gave her a hug back. Then, I waved at my father, who was still looking at me like a frozen statue.
"Son!!!!!" He got up and... yeah, he hugged me too. Am I getting a lot of hugs today?
'Yep, you don't deserve those,' Blaze threw in.
"Now, now, don't cry. He just got back. Let's sit down and talk," Mom said as she pulled both of them away from me, and I sighed in relief.
...
After a few minutes, all of them were calmed down as we sat on the couch. This couch... was it moved?
There were some dragging marks on the floor. This couch was my mom's favorite, as it was the first thing they bought when they moved into this house years ago.
"Ten months," said Mom as she brought some snacks for me along with the fragrant tea they were drinking before.
"Ten months?" I tilted my head as I picked up a cookie from the plate that was placed in front of Marylin, who sat beside me, and then pushed it into my mouth.
They were delicious.
"Yep, ten months of no letter and no contact of any sort," Mother smiled as she sat beside Father. However, her eyes weren't smiling at all.
I robotically turned my head to Marylin, and she was smiling at me, but like my mother, her eyes weren't smiling at all. I also saw my father trying to look away, as if saying he couldn't save me. The atmosphere felt heavy and suffocating.
"Well- I..." I tried to come up with an excuse, but nothing came to my mind because it's true.
Even after coming from the Nightshade Sanctum, I had many occasions where I could've simply written them a letter, but I didn't because I was quite preoccupied with a lot of stuff.
""No excuses!"" Both of them shouted at the same time.
'Why does it feel like you have two mothers now?' Blaze questioned.
And after that, I was lectured on my carelessness for a straight half-hour. It felt nice to be home finally, even if I was being scolded.
*Grr*
"..." I looked at Mom and Marylin with an upturned gaze as soon as my stomach grumbled for food.
It was quite a long journey.
"Wait a minute, I'll make something," Mom immediately panicked, forgetting that she was supposed to be angry.
"Nyaa" and out of nowhere, someone meowed.
"Ruu's stomach is meowing?" Marylin's face went green.
Sigh*
I sighed and immediately pulled out the cat that was sitting inside my hooded robe.
"Nya" Blaze shamelessly meowed as I held him in front of everyone.
Mom immediately backed down, and Marylin's eyes began sparkling.Marylin reached out to pet Blaze, who seemed to enjoy the attention.
"He's so adorable!" Marylin exclaimed, scratching Blaze behind the ears.
"He's been quite the companion on my journey," I said as I tried to put him on the ground.
"Can I hold him?" Marylin asked with a hopeful expression.
I glanced at Blaze, who gave me a look as if to say, "Well, why not?" So, I handed Blaze over to Marylin.
"Be gentle with him," I said, half-jokingly.
"Don't worry, I love cats!" Marylin said, cradling Blaze in her arms.
"You sure do," I said with a chuckle, as I saw Blaze nestling in Marylin's embrace. She held him closer to her chest and began petting his head, and he purred—or at least that's what all of them would think. But for me, this guy was lost in his own world.
'Booba!' Blaze continued his chant, completely absorbed.
"I think you should put him on the ground; you'll get fur all over your clothes. He's in a shedding period," I said as I grabbed the closest pervert and threw him on the ground.
'You are just jealous!!!' he hissed at me.
'Yeah, yeah, keep dreaming,' I retorted in my mind.
"Mom?" I looked over at Mom, who stood a little farther away.
"This... is a cat?" She asked uncertainly.
"Why does it have those wings?" My father inquired, observing Blaze's form and his two small wings.
"It's a familiar creature," I answered.
"Oh! Is it?" He clasped his hand in front of him, squatting down and pointed at Blaze. "Still, it's useless, isn't it? You should've made an Astral hound as a familiar if you were looking for one," he sighed.
*Hiss*
"Ouch!" He groaned in pain as Blaze clawed his hand slightly, as if expressing his anger at my father's comments.
It earned a few chuckles from Marylin, and Mom said, "Well, at least it's smart, I guess." She turned around and left for the kitchen.
'Keep your father away from me from now on, hmph,' Blaze pouted and... what the heck, he made his way to Marylin.
Well looks like I am back Home.
Why's there a torn shirt on the corner of the room though? Rag cloth?
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[A/N: You'll never know my friend Ren what that cloth is.]
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