Chapter 687: Family
"Sylas!"
Elara hopped into her big brother's arms, wrapping her arms and legs around him like she was some sort of koala bear.
Sylas smiled lightly, catching her before she fell to the ground. He had barely stepped foot into the door when this little munchkin came barreling out.
"You really are getting too big for this."
Sylas had been gone for almost a year and he had already missed Elara's fourteenth birthday. His little sister was already budding into a young woman, but she seemed to still insist on acting like a toddler when she was around him.
In the end, Sylas was forced to greet his parents with the little monkey clinging to him.
For a while, he seemed to forget about a great many things.
Sure, he had come here because the sensationalized headlines were troubling. It was the start of an undercurrent that would almost certainly lead to an all-out war between Earth's factions, and that sort of thing was precisely the sort of matter that he had to get out ahead of.
But while all of this was true, how long had it been since he had seen his family? How could he miss a valid excuse to do so?
-
"You look healthier," Sylas said to his grandfather, taking a seat in the middle of the not on a family bench.
"You say this like I had a foot in the grave."
"Maybe not, but you definitely look ten years younger."
Magnus laughed heartily.
There were many good things that Aether could do. The effects weren't as exaggerated as Sylas said, and there wouldn't be such a helpful push to lifespan unless one could transcend the Grade barrier. But for a healthy old man like Magnus, the supplementation of Aether only made a good thing better.
"It seems that you've taken advantage of the chance quite well."
"Somewhat. I would still say that Luck played a major factor."
"You know what they say. Luck triggers when opportunity meets preparation."
"Not in this case. I feel like I'm not in control of too much."
How much would he have accomplished had he not been forced to enter the Slithering Madness Dungeon? He couldn't say that he was prepared to enter that Dungeon.
Then again, maybe someone else wouldn't have been able to grasp Madness Comprehension in that situation.
Magnus was about to reply when another voice interjected.
"I knew you two would be having your little secret meetings out here. Tell me the truth, dad. You're making Syl do all of this, aren't you?"
Cedric appeared with a frown, his arms crossed.
Sylas wasn't using his visualization much here, out of respect for both his family and in wariness of the Grimblades, but he had still sensed his father coming.
"I've done no such thing," Magnus denied it immediately.
"If you're going to say that, at least try to hide the smirk on your face."
"This isn't a smirk of subterfuge, it's a smile of pride. Can't a grandfather be happy in his grandson's accomplishments?"
Cedric was trying his best to hold onto a stern expression, but he didn't last long as he began to laugh as well.
The trio of men talked into the night before Magnus and Cedric headed off to bed. Their ability to stay up was severely lacking when compared to Sylas, who seemed to go several days at a time without sleep these days.
'I should head to bed as well. This will probably be the last bit of good sleep I will have for a while...'
He stood to leave, only to suddenly be alerted by something.
His hand snapped upward and he caught something out of the air.
He looked at it for a moment, his eyes narrowing before the item vanished. He entered the home without a word, took a shower, and then went to bed.
...
The next morning, Sylas guided his sister more seriously in Rune Mastery. He gave her the foundation she needed and even copied the pages of the tome he had received so that she could study them.
He gave her warnings about the Secret Realm, telling her to take her time and to delay every step as much as possible.
It was fine if he became the target of others because he had appeared on the under-50 rankings, but he didn't want his sister to accidentally do the same.
Whether she could or not, he didn't know. But it was better to be safe than sorry.
By the time they were done, he had become the obligatory "big brother bank," and he gave her some spending money. While it seemed like the Grimblades here were trapped on the compound, they all had access to the Nexus through special means, so they were actually quite connected with the outside world. Elara had even managed to find some of her friends from school.
After learning this, Sylas actually felt much better about leaving them here. They weren't trapped pigeons.
One of these days, he would take them away. But that day would not be today.
...
Sylas gave his mother a hug. Her tears were already flowing, but there wasn't much he could
do.
Of all his family members, his mother seemed to be the one that took his absence the hardest. She looked healthy, but Sylas could immediately tell she was about five pounds lighter than she was normally.
Maybe that was because she was more active these days, but seeing the worry in her eyes, he knew that that was only part of the story.
His mother cupped his cheeks, pressing her hands together maybe a little bit too hard.
"Don't do anything foolish, okay?"
"I won't, mother."
Isolde smiled bitterly. "You've never been very good at lying."
"I'm actually very good at lying. It's just that mother always sees through me."
The small joke made Isolde's heavy mood lighten somewhat.
"Okay, go go go before I chain you up."
Sylas nodded, grabbing at a vine in the air and hoisting himself up to the peacock above in a
single bound.
With a flap, he vanished into the distance.
Down below, the ice-cold gaze of Lucius watched as Sylas became nothing more than a dot on
the horizon.
...
Long after Sylas left the range of the Grimblades, he pulled out what had been thrown at him
last night.
It was a special communication device, but that wasn't what was interesting.
What caught his attention was that it was from Nathan, Lucius' former right-hand man.
In truth, Sylas wanted to kill Lucius, but there were certain things that he couldn't do just yet
if he wanted to keep a working relationship with the Grimblades. He also had to be mindful of
his own family.
For now, the Grimblades continued to treat Magnus and the others just like every other member of their extended family, and that was good enough for Sylas.
If he wanted to keep such a thing going, he couldn't antagonize the Grimblades until he had
absolute power.
What he didn't expect, though, was that Nathan would contact him of his own volition. Now
this... was quite interesting.
Sylas was very interested in what this business mogul had to say.