Esperra Continent, Vandalar, October 11, 2028
As Ashen and Lapis drew closer to their house, the cheerful chatter that had once flowed beside him began to thin little by little, until at last Lapis lowered her head in silence, much like a timid cat awaiting punishment.
"What's wrong? Are you finally learning the folly of your actions now that the consequences are no longer far away?" Ashen asked with a smug look.
He knew that his heart would eventually soften and he would try to defend her once they stood before their parents, but a small part of him still took a wicked little pleasure in her distressed expression. It was the least she deserved for all the stress she had caused him by coming over to Seravelle.
"Bro! I did it because I was worried about you... please, help me out..."
"Tsk."
Now she was trying to drag him into it. She knew exactly how much he doted on her, and only one sentence from her would be enough to make him fold.
"...Alright, I'll see what I can do. But don't forget, I have my own scolding to handle too after disappearing for more than a year."
"It's not the same... you've got Lucia to cover for you. Even if you don't come back, she is the one always updating them on your condition and reassuring them. Me on the other hand..."
Her face scrunched up as she nearly burst into tears.
"I freakin' ran away from home!"
"No matter what excuses that clever sister-in-law of mine makes, I doubt she'd bail me out of it."
"True... I suppose you have no choice but to take it like a big girl, huh." Ashen agreed with her logic.
"Damn it..."
By the time they finally reached the front door, Lapis was practically trembling. Ashen slid his hand into the Hourvault and fished out the house keys.
Tak—
They stepped inside, with Lapis using him as a shield in a futile attempt to delay the inevitable.
Then their keen senses caught faint sounds from deeper inside the house.
Ashen, suddenly worried about his parents' safety, instantly focused on his hearing and pushed it beyond normal human limits, as far as the restricting bracelet would allow.
He immediately regretted it.
"Ah~ ohhh~ mmm~ honey, harder~"
"..."
"..."
Lapis did not take long to catch the suspicious sounds as well.
"Bro..."
"...yes?"
She slowly turned to him with a strange look.
"Do you think they decided to make another one after their two children ran away from home?"
"Uhhh... maybe they're just letting out some steam after all the stress we caused them."
"Well, I'm betting we're being replaced." Lapis stubbornly held her ground. "I just hope our new sibling will be a cute girl. Having a single brother is more than enough."
"Well... I'm hoping for the opposite. A little brother to share the burden wouldn't be so bad after all."
"What burden? Am I a burden now, huh?"
"I didn't say that..."
"Ahn~ ♡ so deep~"
"So haard~hmm..."
"..."
"..."
"Maybe we should come back another time, little sis?" Ashen was already walking back toward the front door, but Lapis grabbed his hand before he could reach the knob.
"No."
"...what?"
When he looked back, the timid, guilty expression was gone. In its place was a mischievous smile.
Ashen knew it then. Lapis's troublesome nature had been stirred.
And what a time for that little devil to show its face.
"Follow me!"
"Wait..."
"No..."
"Fuck... where are you going..."
Ashen eventually found himself standing right behind his parents' bedroom door, and the suspicious sounds were no longer suspicious at all.
They were clear moans and groans from his father and mother.
Ashen's face went pale as he turned to his sister with a pleading look.
"Little sis, please don't traumatize me for life... I don't need any more PTSD than I already have..."
"Don't worry, hehe..."
With that, she raised her fist and banged on the door three times in quick succession.
"Mom!! Dad!! We're back~! What are you doing in there?!"
Bang... Bang... Bang...
"What are those sounds, Mom?! Is that moaning?! Oh my god!!"
Crash—!
The sounds abruptly cut off, followed by a few crashing noises from inside.
A couple of seconds later, the door slowly opened, revealing only Hans's face. From how disheveled he looked, it was obvious that he had hastily thrown on his pajamas.
The embarrassed father was greeted by two faces he had longed to see for months. One belonged to a daughter wearing a shit-eating grin, and the other belonged to a son palming his face as though trying to pretend he did not exist.
His expression cycled through shame, happiness, and helplessness all at once under his daughter's mischievous gaze.
"You both are back... finally."
"Hi, Dad~"
"Father... sorry about this..."
Hans shook his head silently. For a moment, he did not know how to react, but then he remembered that he had done nothing shameful and promptly forced a stern look onto his face.
He was doing his duty as a husband, after all. No shame in that.
"Go and wait in the living room... and you are not allowed to leave or eavesdrop. Your parents have some unresolved issues. We will see you in a bit."
Bang—!
With that, the door shut once again.
"Come on." Ashen hurriedly grabbed Lapis's hand before she could resume banging and pulled her away. "Let's not bother them."
"Fiii~ne."
As they went down the stairs and sat on the sofa, Ashen had to consciously shut off his hearing, because his father was shameless enough to finish the job even after being caught red-handed in the middle of it.
Before long, Hans and Akidia came downstairs looking refreshed, as though they had just stepped out of a bath.
"My babies—!"
Their mother wasted no time diving between them and pulling both into a smothering hug, rubbing her cheek against their faces while lovingly showering them with kisses.
Ashen looked somewhat embarrassed by his mother's clinginess, but he did not pull away. Lapis, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content to bask in it, even returning a few kisses of her own.
But the blissful moment did not last long.
A long shadow fell over the trio, and when they looked up, they found Hans looming above them with an expressionless face.
"How heartwarming. You two still have the nerve to enjoy your mother's affection after causing her so much distress?
"Utterly shameless."
***
***
***
The scolding lasted far longer than Ashen was willing to endure, but what else could he do besides endure?
The warmth of family always came with its own baggage, and he was required to tolerate the baggage as he basked in the warmth.
The siblings were only spared from further torment when Alice, Seraphine, and Lucia arrived in Esperra a day later, after finishing their respective business.
When the three women visited, Hans had to suppress his grumpiness and play the stoic host he claimed to be.
Afterward, it fell to Akidia to soothe him.
She knew that he only acted this way for her sake, and that despite feeling just as much heartache as she did, he always forced himself to put on a strong front in front of her, trying his best not to distress her any further.
That was why he was her husband. And that was why she had chosen him.
He might not have been the most successful man, nor the most handsome among her suitors back then, but Akidia had seen through all those shallow traits and realized he possessed something far more valuable.
A steadfast personality.
One that would never abandon her. One that would always care for her, emotionally and physically alike. One that would endure no matter what life threw at them.
Her boy had inherited his father's personality, and that made her the happiest.
Her daughter had inherited her capacity to love, and that made her the proudest.
It was just... her babies had been drifting away from her lately, and that only deepened the ache of a mother watching her chicks leave the nest.
She was torn between her logic telling her to support them, and her heart begging her to keep them all within reach.
'Ahh... what to do...'
The distressed mother sighed fondly as she silently watched her son being smothered by three beauties at once.
'My boy really has grown up~ Maybe I should let him do his thing and stop fretting so much.'
***
***
Ashen did not take long to notice that while his parents appeared fine on the surface, the recent stunts he and his sister had pulled had taken a toll on their health.
He, in particular, had caused them the most distress, even before the whole Seravelle matter.
Imagine hearing that your son had participated in a round of Russian roulette...
How would any parent react to that?
And that was only the drop that overflowed the cup.
His suicidal stunts had been numerous and varied. Not to mention his gambling streak, his alcoholic phase, and that deadbeat sloth era of his...
At this point, seeing his parents still sane after all of it, and still willing to treat him as their son, Ashen could only admit that they had nerves of steel.
But even steel melted eventually.
That became clear the moment he secretly scanned them with Somatic Autonomy.
Before even using the skill, he already knew they were not truly fine at a glance. Their skin had dulled, shadows sat beneath their eyes, his mother's nails were constantly damaged from biting them, his father's jaw was always tense, and even his hairline showed signs of receding.
But the hidden ailments made his expression turn ugly.
Both seemed to suffer from sleep deprivation syndromes, while his father carried chronic fatigue and his mother was secretly enduring headaches and migraines.
If not for having the power to at least correct the consequences of his mistakes, he would have already drowned in guilt.
He did not hesitate to use Somatic Autonomy to amend each illness, one by one.
Of course, he did not do it all at once. That would have been far too suspicious. Instead, he could use his and Lapis's return as an excuse for their improved health now that the source of their stress had been removed.
The excuse was weak at best, but what could they do except believe it?
It was not as though they had suddenly been healed by a supernatural being, right?
And so, after two weeks of Ashen and Lapis being grounded at home, their parents slowly but steadily became the healthiest humans in Esperra, if one excluded the supernatural entities.
Using his mana authority, Ashen purified the strand of mana mixed with their vitality, strengthening their life force so they could live for at least a hundred years, provided nothing went wrong.
Every illness was naturally eliminated, and even his father's hairline began to show signs of growing back.
But all of this came with its own drawbacks...
Suddenly feeling younger, they naturally started indulging in the favorite activity of the young...
Fucking each other like there was no tomorrow.
Ashen nearly went insane.
Day after day, night after night, he was ambushed by their voices and forced to shut down his hearing. By the time he did, the damage was already done.
Thankfully, after two weeks, the absurd situation of a fully grown man being grounded finally came to an end, and he was free at last.
...Ashen suspected that his increasingly pitiful face had played a major role in their decision to let him go.
'...Let's pay a visit to that uncle of mine for a change of scenery.'
Ashen decided, hoping to wipe away the recent traumatic memories his parents had imprinted on him.