brother's retry (the beginning after the end)

confession

ASHTON LEYWIN POV:

Neither of the asura that were now my escorts said a word to me as we walked through the strange dark area that had been conjured for us to head through. Just as suddenly the darkness disappeared and the sight of my stumped arm came into view once more. Pathetic.

I looked up and just followed the two asura until I noticed a familiar path we were walking until we approached the end of the tunnel, I could see the shadows of a few people surrounding a fire. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of my large warrior of a father scrubbing dishes near the underground stream as Elder Rinia, my sister and my mother were concentrated on a simmering pot over the fire.

"Something smells delicious! Did you make enough for me?" I heard Arthur, who was just in front of us, yell out, causing everyone to whip their heads in our direction. I quickly shrunk behind Serena as I hid my arm.

Each of them had a different reaction as they realized who it was that spoke. My father dropped the dented pan he was scrubbing, my mother and sister simultaneously bolted up from the makeshift chair that they were sitting on, while Elder Rinia simply gave me a meaningful smile as she continued peeling the potato in her hand. The only one that I didn't see was Tessia and Alea, but I wasn't sure if they were even here or not.

In seconds, Arthur was wrapped in the embrace of our family as our mother and father checked his body for any signs of injuries while my sister's gaze went straight toward the sleeping Sylvie in his arms.

"Is Sylvie okay?" She asked, concern laced in her voice as she held my bond in her arms.

"Your brother just escaped from prison and you don't even ask if I'm okay?" he croaked, seeming to be hurt.

"Mm... you always seem to come back alive anyway," she shrugged, focusing her attention back to Sylvie. This caused a snort of laughter from my father as my mother did her best to chastise my sister while trying to hide her smile.

I felt a sharp pang in my chest at the sight. They were a family, a real family that I would hate to lose.

It seemed that someone had already informed my family that we would be visiting them soon, and going by expressions, I would bet that it was Elder Rinia.

I watched as they started to Interrogate Arthur but then they're head snapped to my direction. Seems they hadn't noticed us somehow- probably something the asuras had done.

"Ashton!" my mother cried out as she caught my gaze. Quickly her and father rushed to my side as Broly and Serena stepped away. I nearly fell over as she slammed into me.

Quiet sobs echoed in my head as I listened to my mother cry into my chest. "I'm glad you're ok son." My father wrapped us both in a hug. The tiny patter of my sister's feet ran over and joined in the hug. I could feel tears of my own start to build up as I fought to keep them from spilling.

As they pulled back they froze and I heard a new set of footsteps.

The soft footsteps that echoed through the tunnel stopped behind Arthur, and he took no hesitation in introducing the person.

"Everyone, this is the person that helped me through everything while I was imprisoned... and also my prospective master."

He waited for some sort of reaction, but my parents and sister were still silent, frozen in place as their eyes were still glued to the figure behind him.

"Ahem, tone it down." he turned behind himself to see Windsom look at him in confusion before his eyes widened a bit in understanding.

"My apologies," he replied, and the air around us changed back to normal. I had gotten used to the pressure the asuras normally gave off, but to a normal mage, it would be suffocating.