Chapter 117 Catching Up
Not too long before the group reached the town’s gate, Jyuuk momentarily chose to store the six eagles, Tsurishika and Gobu the Hobgoblin on his own skin, that was starting to slowly run out of space. Both of his arms, as well as his whole front torso were now completely covered in tattoos of his beasts and monsters.
Trying to think of a way to help him with that, Eisen began scratching his beard when he looked at the Monkey-Beastperson.
"Hmm, Jyuuk, what are the exact conditions for storing your monsters like that?" Eisen asked, before Jyuuk lightly scratched the back of his head.
"It’s nothing too complicated. Basically just that I have to touch my monsters to store them and that there needs to be enough space on my skin left. Apparently there are some ways to store things externally, but that’s just what my skill told me when it ranked up to two not too long ago. I’ve been storing and taking out all of my monsters non-stop ever since I got this skill to get used to it and rank it up, so it happened quite quickly. But I really don’t know what external storage refers to." Jyuuk explained to Eisen, who then slowly got an idea.
"Hmm, if you have time to stay a day or two, I may come up with something for that. After all, you tamed them as per my request." Eisen chuckled lowly as the group now walked up to the gate, being stopped by the Guards.
"Halt! As I can see, you have monsters with you. Are they tamed?" One of the guards asked, and Eisen nodded.
"Yes, they are! As you can see, these two cuties obviously couldn’t hurt anyone." Eisen said with a smile as he picked up Caria and looked over to Melissa, who was sitting on his shoulder.
The Guard simply scoffed, before shaking his head. "Sure, they seem to be tamed at the very least. What about that winged Lizardman behind you?" He asked, and Eisen turned around to look at Kiron.
"Ah, yeah, he has been tamed as well, of course. Only recently though. He’s civilized, can talk, and is basically harmless all the way through." Eisen said with a small wink directed at Kiron to make him play along, and the Half-Dragon nodded with a smile.
"It is so, I am my Lord’s tamed monster." He said quite clunkily while bowing forward. Obviously he was just a terrible liar, but to others it might seem like a creature that was still bad at speaking, attempting to talk.
"Alright, that should be fine then. Just make sure that they keep close to you, especially the big guy. Many would probably be scared if it was walking around on its own." The Guard told them and waved the group through the gate, before they entered town together.
Once they were out of range, Eisen turned over to look at Kiron. "Sorry about that, this was just far easier than to try and explain who you are and that you are my Knight instead of a tamed monster."
"I understand, M’Lord. I do not mind, since I would have offered to be your tamed monster if it had been possible." Kiron admitted as he kept following behind Eisen, who chuckled softly and nodded.
"Alright, well, as long as it’s fine for you. Anyway, right now we’re just going right to the Inn that I am currently staying at, it’s not far away. I’m sure both of you are hungry, so we can eat something there." Eisen said as he was looking at Sky and Kiron, who were both starting to grab their stomachs as they only just realized how hungry they really were.
They had both spent a long time imprisoned, so maybe they simply tried to ignore and tune out their hunger, but now that they were finally free again and able to eat whatever they wanted, that meant that their sense of hunger returned after being reminded, although it was kind of weird that they even had to be reminded.
With a soft laugh, Eisen looked at the both of them and shook his head while smiling. "Haha, don’t worry, you can eat as much as you want in a bit. Just tell me what you want when you want it, and I’ll buy it for you." He told them, and Sky and Kiron replied with large smiles.
"Thank you, M’Lord!"
"Thanks, Eisen!"
They said basically at the same time, and Eisen chuckled in response while leading the group toward his Inn.
Once they got there, Eisen noticed a very familiar woman standing in the front. It was Evalia, simply waiting for Eisen to arrive, and she was quite surprised to see one face she hadn’t seen in a while, and two she hadn’t ever seen.
"Well hello there, Jyuuk!" She exclaimed as she happily walked up to the group, immediately hugging the Monkey-Beastperson to say hello while getting a good look at Jyuuk’s tattoos. "Huh, I didn’t know that ya were the type for ink all over your skin!" She laughed loudly, but Jyuuk simply shook his head.
"Hello Evalia, long time no see. And this aren’t real, permanent tattoos. They are part of a new taming-related skill that I learned." He explaiend before Evalia placed her fist on her hip and smiled.
"They look good anyway! So, Eisen, why did’cha want Komer to bring Bree to the Inn? Does it have anythin’ to do with those two?" She asked while nudging her chin in the direction of Kiron and Sky, and Eisen slowly nodded.
"Yes, actually. I will explain it to you all later, but for now, it would be great if you two could wait with Caria, Melissa and Kiron outside of the room while I bring Sky to talk to Bree." He said and made his way inside, quickly followed by the group.
"Huh? Why that?" Evalia asked surprised, and Eisen once more simply told her that he would explain everything later.
"Now then, let’s go meet Bree, alright?" Eisen asked as he turned to Sky, who was nervously holding his chest. The both of them made their way to the room alone, and Eisen quickly called Komer and Aulu out so that he would join the others in the front of the Inn to leave Bree, Sky and Eisen alone.
Eisen simply wanted to make sure that everything was going well, and that there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings between anyone, otherwise he would simply wait outside as well. But since he knew what Bree was like, and what of an airhead she was a lot of the time, Eisen chose to be there to support both Bree and Sky throughout this experience.
Slowly, Eisen opened the door and led Sky inside, looking at Bree who was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. "Hey there, Bree. I’ve got a surprise for you!" He chuckled, before the female Fey-kin tilted her head to the side in confusion while looking at the boy behind Eisen, who simply continued to talk.
"While I was out today, a few different things happened, and I coincidentally met this young boy. He’s a Fey-Kin like you, with a Human father and a Pixie Mother. Right now, he’s here in Ornier to look for his sister."
Immediately, Bree jumped up and looked at Sky in surprise and confusion, before finally saying what came to her mind. "Oh... I’m sorry to hear that... I hope you find her soon!" She exclaimed with a bright smile, leaving Eisen to chuckle lightly on reflex. That was exactly why he wanted to be there through this.
"No, Bree... This kid is sky, he’s around the same age as you. His father was a human living in Ornier, while his Mother was a pixie. He is looking for his sister here in Ornier, another Fey-kin. Sky, how about you just continue?" Eisen sighed out loudly and made way for Sky to step toward Bree while the old man stood by the door to give them at least a little bit of space.
"Erm... Bree, I... I think you’re my sister..." Sky slowly muttered out, and instead of saying anything, Bree grew a smile on her face and simply stared forward silently without saying anything or even moving a single muscle in her whole body, it was only about ten seconds later that she actually reacted.
"Eh? I’m your sister...? But... What? I mean, huh? I didn’t... I don’t......what?" Bree muttered out with pure confusion in her voice as she stared forward at the boy in front of her. "You... you’re my brother? I have a brother?" She asked as more excitement began growing in her voice.
Noticing this change in Bree’s voice, Sky nodded slowly. "I think so, yes... My Mother was a Pixie called Ariana, and she told me that I had a twin sister named Bree and a father called Herman here in Ornier. Here, my mother gave me this and told me that I could find her this way." Sky explained and held forward a half of a small ornamental coin that was cracked in half, before Bree pushed her hand into the backpack by the side of the bed and pulled out another half of a coin.
Carefully, she nodded her head in response to seeing Sky’s half of the coin while a big smile grew on her face and tears began building up in her eyes. "My... My father told me I could find my mother with that... So you really are my brother!" She cried out as she immediately jumped off the bed and slung her arms around Sky’s body to give him a hug, toppling him over in the process.
"I never knew I had a brother!" Bree happily yelled out as she way lying on top of her newly found brother, who happily hugged her back while breaking down into a river of tears.
"I... I was looking for you for so long... And now I finally found you! It’s been so, so, so fucking long... thank you, Eisen, thanks for bringing me to my sister..." He cried out as he buried his fingers in the back of his sister, looking over toward Eisen who was smiling softly from the side of the room.
"Of course, don’t worry, Sky. I will leave the two of you alone for a bit now. Just come out whenever you’re ready. And take your time, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do." The old man smiled as he opened the door and left, smiling at the two siblings happily smiling at each other while filled with emotions of all kinds.
Bree, who thought she was all alone for so long had now finally found the last remaining part of her family, despite it not being the part that she had expected to find.
And Sky, who had spent years and years looking for a single person, not even giving up after being enslaved and imprisoned while nearly being sold to some rich guy that has nothing better to do.
They were both reunited by Eisen, who couldn’t help but smile brightly at such a nice little family reunion, making him only more excited for his own. Family was the most important thing for Eisen, so he was happy that Bree and Sky were able to find theirs again, and that he would soon be reunited with his own soon as well.
While thinking about all the wholesome memories that came with family, a few unsavory ones came up as well. Even though there were obviously quite nice and wholesome family relationships as Eisen would expect it to end up between Bree and Sky, there were those that were basically no different than just living with a stranger.
He was faced with something like that with Komer’s family as well. Even though he and his brothers were blood related, it didn’t seem like they truly thought of each other as family, and simply as enemies in a twisted competition that their just as twisted father started.
Maybe Komer could learn something from Bree and Sky. And maybe his own children could too.