According to Stella, they weren’t able to take the two of them to her family’s compound for a few reasons.
For one, she didn’t want anyone in House Quincy to spot Reinera on accident because their arrival would undoubtedly be recorded.
Secondly, there were enchantments placed around Heston and her family’s compound that would trace the spatial movement and she would have liked to avoid any drama that came along with the people who came to investigate.
Thus, it was simpler to just appear outside of Heston. Part of Julius hoped that he would see Orus or Declan at the gates, but he doubted that would happen. He realized that he hadn’t really thought about them or Rae in a long time. He couldn’t help but wonder what they were thinking about or if they even knew if he was gone.
Or worse, they believed that he had forgotten about them entirely. That made him feel way more guilty. He could take it if they were worried if he was alive, but for some reason, the thought that they believed he completely forgot about them was more heartbreaking.
He looked around the road they were walking on and realized that they were actually on the same road that led to the small town outside of Heston where Dante lived.
I think it would be nice of me to let Dante know about my return, he and Alice had helped out a lot. I don’t know if Lily told them or not, but they deserve to hear it from me personally, especially if I am not far away. I could also stop and visit the guardhouse once I enter the city too, he thought to himself while chewing on his lip.
So as they were strolling toward the city, he turned to the others. "Do you mind if we make some stops beforehand?"
They all stopped and looked at him with confused looks.
"You mean like shopping or dinner?" Reinera asked with a hopeful smile.
"No."
Her face deflated just as quickly.
"Then what is it?" Stella asked. "If there is anything you need I don’t mind stopping."
"Me either. We’re not exactly in a rush, nobody is expecting us," Marcus added.
He gave an awkward expression toward them. "I was hoping that you would let me make these stops by myself. There are some people who I haven’t seen or let know about my disappearance who might be worried about me."
"No offense, but I am not letting you out of my sight," Stella said bluntly.
"Why’s that? We’re practically in Heston already, right?"
"Yes, but you seem like the type of person to run all the way back to Blumand if you wanted to," she said, directing a stern look at him.
"You think I am going to run away?" He asked skeptically.
"Hmhm."
"Do you think I would run away too, Marcus?" He asked as he turned to look at the other man with a pleading expression.
"The odds aren’t low," Marcus said simply.
His shoulders drooped upon hearing that. "Come on. Can you just allow me to see them and let them know at least?"
"Not alone."
He sighed in exasperation. "Alright. Would it be okay if you guys came along then?"
"That is acceptable," Marcus said with a nod.
"Fine, just don’t do anything to offend them okay? One of them is a bit cranky," he warned them.
"As long as he doesn’t harm you or is a threat, it will be fine," Marcus said confidently.
Julius opened his mouth to say something but closed it instead. He didn’t exactly know how to explain Dante to them and a part of him also didn’t want to. He wanted to see how they would react in front of the old grumpy man. The only thing he hoped was that Dante wouldn’t hurt them by accident.
He was ninety percent sure that Dante wouldn’t do anything that rash as long as Julius was there with them.
***
When they arrived in front of the cabin, Julius was surprised to see that some changes had been made. Where there had once been an empty grassy space, there was now a large greenhouse.
He walked up to it and examined the glass panes that made up the greenhouse. Upon closer review, he frowned in astonishment at the amount of complex runes he noticed were placed between each panel of glass.
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He had no idea what they did, but he was able to sense the incredible amount of mana they used.
As he was poking at the panes of glass with a curious finger, he sensed someone appears behind him.
"I thought I told you to stop messing with things that aren’t yours, boy."
The others who were busy looking at Julius were surprised at the appearance of the man. This was funny because Julius thought that if he could sense Dante, Marcus, and Stella would be able to as well. Especially Stella considering she was a Tier 5 space and time mage.
Perhaps, Dante was only hiding himself from them and not Julius.
He didn’t turn around and face the grouchy old man and kept poking the runes, injecting a small amount of mana into them, seeing what kind of responses he got.
"This just seems overboard," he said to Dante, knowing that the man would know exactly what he was talking about.
"I had some spare time on my hands. Now will you stop jabbing your mana at them, you might destabilize the careful balance I created," Dante rebuked him.
"It must not be very strong or practical if something like my finger could destabilize them," he noted with a smirk, jabbing another pane of glass with a little more force.
"If you don’t stop you are going to see how much I can destabilize you with my finger," Dante promised.
Julius chuckled and finally turned his attention to the old man. He looked the same, greying hair with a powerfully built body. He did notice the flour stains on the man’s apron though.
"Did Lily tell you? You don’t seem very surprised to see me."
"No, but Alice came over the other month and let me know."
"I see, how is she doing?" He asked curiously.
Dante shook his head at the question. "Busy like usual."
"What about yourself?"
Dante shrugged. "Busy too."
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"Yes, I can see that. I imagine building a glass greenhouse that could withstand a tsunami takes a lot of time."
Julius laughed at his own joke when he was interrupted by the sharp finger that dug into his side, coughing at the sudden attack.
Dante examined the finger he just used to jab Julius. "I see your time away hasn’t done any miracles about your attitude."
"And I see your grouchiness hasn’t changed either," he shot back.
Dante gave him another side eye and looked at his finger once again. Julius stepped back and preemptively protected himself just in case the man decided to attack him again.
Thankfully, the old man had some mercy in his creaky bones because he turned his attention away from Julius and toward the three people who were looking at them with wide eyes.
Marcus and Stella both were pretty tense but didn’t make any moves. Based on their reactions, Julius suspected that the two of them both knew that Dante was a Tier 6. The man’s shroud was good, but Julius had some doubts about whether it could hold up against the senses of very skilled Tier 5s.
"Why did you bring all of them with you?" Dante grumbled.
"They are retainers of House Violet and Zenith," he said to the man, not bothering to hide anything.
Dante grunted and stared at the two Tier 5s with a grumpy frown before turning away from them and looking at Reinera.
"Is this the princess that has been creating so much drama?"
"Why do you think she’s a princess?" He asked, more curious than surprised that the man already knew.
"That item she is wearing has quite an interesting effect," Dante said while getting closer to Reinera.
"Wait? You can sense it?" Reinera asked in surprise.
"Of course, I can girl. Who do you think I am? A blind old man?" Dante asked with a pointed glare.
"Maybe not blind, but definitely old," Julius muttered, aware that Dante would hear him.
"What was that?" Dante asked, not bothering to turn to face him.
"Nothing, just admiring how impressive of a crafter you are," Julius lied shamelessly.
"You better have been," the old man grumbled as he got within a few inches of Reinera.
Reinera to her credit didn’t flinch or shuffle away, but she did look a little uncomfortable with Dante being so close to her. Especially when the man gently reached out and grabbed the necklace in one hand.
"The runic structure is very old, archaic even," Dante muttered with a frown on his face before looking at Reinera.
"Where did your family get this?" He asked the girl.
However, before she could speak up, Stella slid an arm between the two of them. "I’m sorry, but can you not approach her so rudely? You are making her uncomfortable," the woman said in a polite tone.
"Did I say you could interrupt girly?" Dante said sharply, his aura slightly lashing out.
Stella, also to her credit, didn’t back down. She stared at Dante with an impassive stare, releasing her own aura.
Julius grimaced as he spotted Marcus preparing to intervene. That wouldn’t help things.
Before anyone could make things worse, he stepped in. He released a small pulse of his aura, not enough to be interpreted as an attack, but enough to get everyone’s attention.
"Calm down you grumpy old fart. Stella has a point, if you want to look at Reinera’s necklace you should ask before you reach down her shirt and take it," he reproached the Tier 6.
Dante turned to give Julius a glare of his own but thankfully didn’t push things further. Instead, he turned to Reinera who was now visibly sweating and shaking as the strong auras pressured her.
"The stupid boy is correct for once, you have my apologies. With that being said, I still would like to know how your family got such an item."
Reinera looked over at Julius as if asking him for his opinion. He shrugged his shoulders, telling her that it was up to her.
"My family member made it," she said simply.
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Dante seemed interested upon hearing that. "Curious," was all he said before ignoring the girl once more and giving Julius a grim look.
"What did you do to your aura boy? I thought you were done with shredding apart your soul?"
"Hey! I didn’t do anything!" He stated loudly.
Dante didn’t look convinced at all.
"I didn’t do that much!" He revised.
When he heard that, Dante at least had the graciousness to nod albeit with a defeated sag of his shoulders.
"You might as well come inside and tell me how much you actually did."
Julius smiled at the grouchy man and followed him inside, beckoning the others to follow him as well.