Rise of Legends - DISCONTINUED

Director Goodsky

(A/N: This takes place after Alistair and Arthur return home.)

Arthur POV:

"Arthur! Alistair!"

The sound of my mother's voice snapped me back to reality. She and my father came running forward, both with relieved and joyful expressions lined in their faces.

My father, whose body seemed to even be muscular despite his age, scooped me up with a bright grin.

"My boys!" he beamed. "You haven't grown at all!"

"Your beard's longer, old man. Trying to match the wrinkles on your face?" I smirked, wrapping my arm around my dad's neck.

"Hey! That's my husband you're talking about!" my mother chided as my father put me back down. "Now come here."

My mother wrapped her arms around me in warm embrace. As she let me go, I could tell by her red eyes that she was trying her best to keep her tears back.

"Sorry for worrying you," I said, seeing the pain in her eyes.

Sniffing a sob back, she looked up and quickly wiped away a stray tear before smiling at me. "You take just after your father, you know that? Always getting into trouble, always worrying me. W-When the ring activated..."

She stopped talking as tears rolled down her cheeks. Still, her smile never went away as she chided me, her eyes peering at me with love and worry.

My father wrapped his arm around Mother's shoulder, pulling her close. "Your mother couldn't sleep for days after the ring activated. We both knew you wouldn't have died that easily, but it couldn't stop us from worrying."

"I'm sorry for worrying you," I repeated as my heart dropped to my stomach.

"Thankfully, the status on the masked swordsman, or Note, was updated at Guild Hall, saying that you and your party arrived at the branch near the Beast Glades," my father continued, tousling my hair with his free hand.

Ellie, who was hiding behind Father for some reason, took a peek out from behind him.

"I seem to cause nothing but concerns for you guys," I said with a wry smile before looking at my sister. "I'm sorry, Ellie, for being away so much and making Mom and Dad cry."

"I forgive you," Ellie sniffled, hiding behind our father again.

"It's a parent's job to worry for her children," my mother soothed. "Although, you seem to be fulfilling your end of the bargain a little too well."

My mother, taking a glance at my little sister, turned to me and whispered just loudly enough for everyone to hear, "And don't worry about your sister. She was waiting by the window the whole day since your friend, Elijah, came in with Jasmine."

"Mom!" Ellie gasped. "That was supposed to be a secret!"

My little sister clung hard onto my mother, making her submit as we all laughed.

"I guess that's my cue?" Elijah chimed in from the top of the stairs leading to the second floor. My newfound friend had been waiting for our little family reunion to end with Vincent and Tabitha.

"Took you long enough to get here. Did you decide to take a small tour before coming here?" Elijah joked as he hopped down the stairs.

"I wanted a break from your unsightly mug," I retorted, giving him a snide grin. "Where's Jasmine, anyway?"

"She already went back with the Twin Horns," he answered, removing his glasses and wiping them with the end of his shirt.

Looking at the bespectacled young man, it was hard for me to recall how inexpressive and cold he appeared to be when I had first seen him in the testing grounds.