Going Home

Life, Milestone

Fendir led Kastella into a corner of the fortress where they would be alone. He took her hands and looked nervously into her eyes. She was looking down nervously, no doubt considering what their parents reactions would be to their little adventure. "Stel?" Fendir asked her anxiously, prompting her to look up at him. "They're going to be furious, Fen," she said fearfully. Fendir pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah..." he said sadly. "Look, before we go and... deal with them, I just... I love you," he told her. "I don't want us to go back to how things were. I want to be with you, despite what our parents might think," he told her lovingly. She smiled sweetly at him. "I love you so much, Fendir," she told him adoringly. He pulled her in and kissed her, feeling her tail wrap around his legs affectionately. "You ready?" he asked her. She nodded and held out the stone. Fendir reached out and clutched it, interlacing their fingers together around the stone. He gave her a small smile before closing his eyes and summoning magic in it to send them home. Magic swirled around them for a bit before they suddenly appeared in Niko's room with a loud pop. "Ahhhh!" Niko exclaimed, rolling out of his bed and falling to the ground with a loud thud. He look up at Fendir and Kastella with a look of shock for about two seconds before his eyes flashed red and Kastella jumped as flames lit up around her feet. "Hey! Stop that!" she exclaimed in fear, letting go of Fendir's hand as she jumped through the flames. Fendir stepped back and pouted at Niko who jumped to his feet angrily. "What the hell is wrong with you two?!" he exclaimed loudly. "Do you know how much trouble you got me in?!" He glared at Kastella who rolled her eyes. At that moment Niko's door burst open and Vyndius stood there with a hand full of magic, looking very frazzled by the sudden noise. His demeanor softened instantly upon seeing Fendir and Kastella. "You're back!" he exclaimed joyously. Gwynsickle showed up behind him and squawked excitedly. Fendir heard running coming from down the hall and suddenly saw Killion appear in the doorway and look at Kastella with very worried, but very relieved eyes. He ran to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "You're okay!" he exclaimed lovingly. "I was so worried about you!" he said as he started crying as he held and kissed his baby girl. Fendir saw Lenni walk in and make eye contact with him sending a wave of guilt over Fendir for putting Kastella in danger. Lenni walked up to Kastella and his husband and hugged them both tightly. Fendir backed away and into the hall. He looked around expecting to see his parents. "They're probably in your room," Vyndius told him sadly. Fendir nodded and walked cautiously down the grand staircase and made his way toward his room. He got to the closed door and took a deep breath, worried about the scolding he was about to get. He quietly opened the door and saw his mother holding his father in her arms, meditating in his bed. They both opened their eyes as Fendir walked in and Fenneck burst into tears and bolted toward his son pulling him into a fierce hug and kissing his entire face. "I'm so sorry!" he said, desperately clinging to Fendir who was feeling guiltier by the minute. "I'm so sorry, Fendir!" his father said again, pulling away to study his son's face. "Please forgive me," he begged his son. "I should be the one apologizing," Fendir said, feeling awful for causing them both so much pain and stress. Fenneck shook his head and kissed his son lovingly. "I was too hard on you. I shouldn't have tried to control you or tell you how to feel," he said, looking ashamed of himself. "You have every right to love whoever you wish, freely, without judgement," he told him thoughtfully. "I just want you to know that I love you so much and I'm sorry for making you feel like running away was your only option," he said, looking deep into Fendir's eyes. "You are the most important thing in my life," Fenneck told him, pulling back to let Natalya get to her son. Natalya smiled softly at Fendir and pulled him into a gentle hug and kissing him on the cheek. "Are you okay?" she asked him. Fendir nodded. "Kastella is too," he said. "She's with Killion and Lenni," he told them. "We... we went to another dimension," he explained. Natalya nodded. "Niko told us," she explained. "What happened to you? You've been gone for over two weeks!" she asked him. Fendir smiled. "Well, we helped this local town out with a... problem they had," he explained cryptically. "What kind of problem?" Fenneck asked him. Fendir shrugged guiltily. "A white dragon," he said nervously. Fenneck raised his brow in disapproval but Natalya smiled mischievously at her son. "Did you fight it?" she asked him, surprisingly calm about the issue. Fendir nodded excitedly and pulled out a handful of the dragon's sharp fangs he'd taken from the beast. "We killed him with the help of a couple of the townsfolk!" he said excitedly showing off his trophies. Fenneck seemed upset by this but somewhat impressed. Natalya smiled proudly at her son. "Looks like we've taught you well," she mused. Fendir smiled with relief by their response. "We also fought a bunch of orcs and a mimic and some mercenaries," he said excitedly. "There was a centaur! He was so cool! There were also some weird bug things!" Fenneck looked as if he was fighting himself to not scold Fendir for putting himself and Kastella in so much danger but he stayed quiet. Natalya smiled encouragingly at her son as he told them about their adventures. "The town was called Phandalin," he told them. "Everyone was quite nice. We stayed at the local bar most evenings," he stopped and swallowed. "There's... there's something else, too," he said, looking nervously at his father. "Kastella and I... are together," he told them, holding his breath as he waited for his parents to tell him off for such an idea. Fenneck nodded slowly and looked at Fendir to continue. "We... we love each other," Fendir said. Fenneck smiled sadly down at his son. "That's wonderful," he told him, sending a wave of relief through Fendir. Natalya smiled. "We