“Feather! Aye, Feather’s back!” came the voices crying, the town in an immediate uproar the moment the blond showed his face. It left Cirrus and his party to watch as people waved to him no matter where they went, and this looked like a fairly large town. There were two story houses all built alongside each other, with signs directing to a shopping center a few miles in. Feather seemed to already know where he was going, seeing as he must’ve been here a lot with how the people all knew his name, waving at him and cheering when he passed and all.

  “What did you do to these people? Put ‘em under a spell?” Jayce winced while looking around, automatically distrustful of so many welcoming faces as Feather just laughed.

  “Nah, no way. Just because nobody loves you, Jayce, doesn’t mean nobody loves me!”

  “Eh? Come again?” Jayce snarled as Eve burst into laughter, the werewolf immediately turning to glare at her as he grabbed hold of her shoulder. “Ey, don’t laugh at that!”

  “My! Feather, have ya made some new friends? I see you brought another new kid along with you,” came a loud voice, a woman behind a pastry vendor looking mighty pleased as she tossed two scones high up into the air, Feather catching them with the concept of telekinesis as he carefully placed it into his hand before handing one to Kylan as if it were routine. “That’s fer helpin’ me with my harvests last season! Ya know it’s always free ov’ charge fer ya! I gave ya the honey one, just the way yeh like it, right?”

  “Aw, that’s sweet, both literally and figuratively,” Feather thanked smoothly, taking a pause in his pace to go over there and properly greet her. “Thanks Auntie May, you always have the best pastries. You really don’t have to give me everything for free, though.”

  “Yer kiddin’! After you saved mah wife, I’d be ashamed not to!” May protested, Feather chuckling at her as he began taking a bite into the honey-filled scone. He looked happy, Cirrus noticed. Happier and more satisfied than he’d ever seen him before. Kylan was also being obedient and quiet in this new open space surrounded by so many adults, the kid quickly beginning to mimic Feather’s way of eating as if he was some sort of baby bird mimicking its mother. But when the dark-haired prince made eye contact with May, the woman suddenly smiled at him, looking ever elated. “Right, are you lot Feather’s new friends? It’s nice to meetcha! What’re yer names? If yer polite, I’ll give ya some free snacks, too, on the house!”

  “Don’t do that, Auntie,” Feather suddenly quipped, leaning over the table to give her a disapproving look, as if he were ashamed of the people he was traveling with. “This here man is a prince. You better make him pay.”

  “Ohh? So yer travelin’ with royalty again, eh? What’s with that?” May laughed heartily, Cirrus and his squad getting stuck on the word ‘again’ as they tried to process what that meant. So Feather had traveled with royalty… before? Who had he traveled with? Cirrus didn’t like the feeling of jealousy, and he often felt guilty for feeling it, but he’d somewhat liked the idea of being one of the few royals Feather would at least tolerate. But of course, that was just silly of him to think, wasn’t it… of course the miracle man had other connections, it’d be weirder if he didn’t… though May only laughed even further, giving the table a light slap before she announced pleasantly, “Fine, then! For these fellers here, I’ll up my prices! How’s that, Feather?”

  “Haha, perfect! That’ll be great!” the man laughed, Achitha looking very concerned as she gave the woman a stare.

  “I don’t get it… how can you dare to treat royalty this way? Doesn’t it make you worry of how we might retaliate, if we ever decide to?” she asked honestly, yet despite all her sincere concern, May merely scoffed at her as Feather munched on his scone, giggling when the honey dripped out, though he quickly moved to devour every lost drop that got on his hands, Kylan watching and repeating.

  May watched him fondly, like a mother watching her child, before she gave Achitha a bright smile that got everything across. “Because we have Feather protectin’ us, ah course.”

  It was a simple mindset. One that Achitha personally found dangerous. Feather was powerful, sure, and she knew she probably hadn’t even seen the full extent of his power yet, but surely that was a risky attitude to have when dealing with planetary powers. Surely Feather couldn’t protect them from everyone. But despite her thoughts, Achitha kept them to herself, following Feather along being the only thing she could do as May waved them goodbye. And they made it a little while, before they were stopped yet again by another townsperson.

  This one looked like a teenage boy, and he was running to Feather at full speeds. He sprinted until he came to a skidding halt right in front of the blond man’s smile, looking rather disheveled with charcoal still covered on his hands, before he carefully sat himself up straight and announced, “Feather, sir! I did it! I kept my job while you were away! I still work as an apprentice at the smithy!”

  “Oh? Well isn’t that great for you, Lonny,” Feather smiled, smoothly reaching out a hand to ruffle the boy’s hair, who revealed a giddy smile as he seemed to be vibrating in place. And Kylan watched him with an openly jealous stare, only to be ignored.

  “You betcha! I’ve been on mah best behavior! Though it helps that you put in a good word for me!”

  “Well as long as you haven’t reverted back to being a petty thief, then I’d say you’re doing great. Keep up the good work,” Feather complimented, Lonny brimming at the compliment as he started following Feather along the town road he was walking down.

  “Are you back to visit the Kavrill’s? They’ll be excited to see you since it’s been so long! I was chattin’ with Lian and he said they were gettin’ pretty worried since you hadn’t came for a visit in almost four months,” the boy rambled, Feather nodding along as he gave the lad his attention.

  “Yeah, sorry about that! I’ve been busy exploring the apocalypse!” he revealed openly, not a secretive bone in his body as Lonny gasped. Though Cirrus was a bit nervous, because as far as he’d always been told, he wasn’t supposed to talk about the apocalypse with regular civilians unless they were trying to recruit those people or get them onto their side.

  But Lonny didn’t even seem scared, not like he would’ve expected. Instead, his wide eyes glowed, and he became even more excited. “Wow, that’s amazing! I bet you’ll be able to solve the whole thing on yer own, sir!”

  “Oh? You think?” Feather revealed an amused grin, looking behind himself to smirk at Cirrus, and the prince began to feel inexplicably offended by that annoying face as Lonny kept rambling.

  “You know, half of us don’t even think that darn prophecy is gonna come true! What’s Lilino even been doing, ya know?! I’ve been listening to my aunts and uncles around here in the bars, and they say that besides killing those monsters and getting people off infected planets, they’ve been doing diddly squat to prevent it from happenin’ in the first place! And this Cirrus Aixon what’s-his-face, do you really think he can save us? I mean, look at him! Feather, you’re so much better than he is! I know you don’t have a prophecy yourself, but I bet you’re the one who’s actually gon’ save the day! Because you’re great like that!”

  And Cirrus had to lay a reprimanding hand on Jayce’s shoulder to stop him from snapping at the poor kid despite how slighted he felt himself, before Feather burst into laughter, which… of course he did. The prince wasn’t surprised by that, and merely watched as the tall blond moved forward to lean himself onto Lonny as the boy blinked at him, confused.

  “Eh? Um, sorry sir, did I say somethin’ wrong?”

  “Hahahah noooo… Lonny, Lonny, you’re a good kid… but you gotta be more careful when you start badmouthing people. Doing it in front of their faces isn’t very nice, ya know?” Feather giggled, still leaning all his weight on the boy as Lonny moved to prop him up, before he began looking around in only increased confusion.

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  “Huh? Whaddyu mean? Is Cirrus right here?”

  “...um, hello,” Cirrus decided to speak up, waving slightly at the poor kid as Lonny’s gaze began to take a closer look at him, like he hadn’t noticed he was there before.

  Ah, and what he had heard about Cirrus Aixon? Dark skin and black hair, classic Aixon family traits, check. Eyepatch with hair covering it, weird fashion sense, but check. Insanely tall, check. Damn, Lonny wished he could be that tall. From what he’d heard, Cirrus was six feet and five inches tall, so looking at the man in front of him, it checked out! It all… it all checked out… it all checked out, uh…

  “Holy fudgin’ shit on a stick! Are you Cirrus Aixon?!” Lonny exclaimed after a good five seconds of silence, having had to process the things in his head for a bit as Feather doubled over with more insane amounts of laughter. “Ah, sir, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize you were friends with Feather! Um, I know executing me looks awfully tempting right now, but uh.. I’m just a boy!! You wouldn’t kill a kid who’s not even fifty years old yet, wouldja?!” Lonny cried, moving to hide behind Feather who was still leaning entirely on his shoulders, the boy looking a bit timid now as Cirrus relented a sigh.

  “I have no intention to kill you over this, that’s not even something I would consider… you don’t have to worry about that…”

  “So it’s true that you’re a pushover, then?!” Lonny pressed, Feather starting to choke on his own laughter as he moved to stagger into Leo, who was there at just the perfect time to be a sturdy stone for him to laugh on.

  “Lonny, by the fuckin’ gods! Do you not wanna be killed or do you?!” Feather wheezed, head stuck on Leo’s shoulder as he turned to grin at the boy whose cheeks were beginning to blare bright red. “If Cirrus here were the typa man to attack you right now, I wouldn’t even be able to blame him!”

  “Ahh, you’re right sir, I’m sorry sir! Then before I can die, I’m gonna go back to the smithy and hide!”

  “Then don’t tell him where you’re going, you brat!” Feather hollered after him, Lonny beginning to take off in a sprint down the paved streets as he jumped and skipped, before he disappeared around the corner while Feather kept shaking with his laughs. “Man… that kid’s gonna get himself beat up, and he’s only thirty-eight years old…”

  “Do… do people really think so little of me…?” Cirrus trailed off in his defeat, Feather turned to look at him with a smug smile as he lifted himself off Leocadies.

  And he approached the prince casually, landing a firm hand on Cirrus’ shoulder almost like he was about to comfort him, rubbing it slightly and giving it a sturdy pat, before he exploded with, “They sure do! Everyone ‘round here thinks you’re absolutely useless, haha!”

  “Aye, you take that back!” Jayce snapped, Cirrus giving another sigh as he felt himself get dragged along by this unrighteous bunch.

  Maybe he should’ve expected that. It wasn’t like he or his family, despite being the head of such a strong alliance that included over half of the planets and universes in all of the galaxies, had even figured out a way to prevent an apocalypse from happening. They knew it had something to do with reality cracking, as the waypoints tethered together by reality’s threads fading and crumbling was proof enough of that, but… they didn’t know how to prevent it, much less stop it.

  So far, there’d been seven planets that had succumbed to reality’s cracks, which really wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things, with there being billions upon billions of planets out there… but something they’d discovered was that the speed was slowly increasing. At first, Viscendant had been the only apocalypse to take place within a hundred years, before within the next two hundred years afterward, there were two apocalypses. And it just kept increasing in numbers. The next apocalypse was predicted to start within the next decade or so, and of course, Cirrus would be expected to deal with it. But he didn’t know how to prevent it from happening. No one did. Yet since he was the one with a prophecy branded on him, the blame went to him, no matter what the circumstances were. It really was tiring…

  Though, aside from that, the deeper they went into town, the more the prince noticed Kylan was glaring at the ground, apparently angry at the lack of attention he’d been receiving, before Feather noticed his little attitude as well. And it made the blond smile, carefully moving a hand to ruffle the boy’s smooth black hair before he pinched his pale little cheek. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there. Not much longer now and you’ll be able to meet the people you’ll be staying with,” Feather offered calmly, Kylan still clinging to his shirt and walking all clung up next to him pace for pace.

  “Will… will you come to visit?” the boy murmured, as if he were ashamed to ask, but Feather only wrapped his arm around his neck with a smile to reassure him.

  “Of course I will. And I’ll update you on news of your mother, as well. I promise you I haven’t forgotten, okay?”

  And Kylan’s eyes were the widest they’d ever been as he stared at Feather, entirely awe-struck. This large man in front of him hadn’t known him for long, and he hadn’t had any reason to go this far out of his way just to help a kid like him, and yet here he was. When his mother was found, Kylan hoped she would like him, too, so he lowered his chin and knocked his head onto the man’s waist, satisfied with that. “Okay,” he said smally, before going back to being obedient and docile, following along dutifully. The only way Feather knew he was there was because of the tight grip Kylan had on his hand and on the back of his shirt, but he didn’t have a problem with that. If anything, the boy could do with being a bit more assertive about his presence. Wouldn’t want him ending up like Cirrus, haha!

  Arriving at their destination seemed to be a relief for many. When they finally made it, Feather’s entire face seemed to light up when they saw a young man sitting on the front steps of a large two-story house to the far side of town, with bright and curly hair that resembled the flames of a fire, and dark orange eyes along with pale freckled skin. He looked so excited the moment Feather came into view, immediately standing up and stumbling off the stairs with imprecise movements to wait for him right at the foot, like a dutiful puppy waiting for its owner to come home.

  Feather was far more energetic, immediately dashing off with wide open arms to tackle the man, both of them stumbling backward as the blond’s taller height seemed to overwhelm the man of such a smaller build, but Feather was quick to catch them both with his levitation so that they didn’t fall over, bringing them both back up with a grin. “Lian! It’s so good to see you! It’s been so long!”

  “Heh, yes… hi Feather,” Lian hummed, taking it in happily when Feather began ruffling his heap of orange curly hair with both hands. “How was your trip?”

  “Dangerous!”

  “Oh… are you okay?”

  “As good as could be!”

  “Oh, I see… what good news,” Lian sighed, stumbling a bit when Feather pulled away from his hair to gesture to all his new teammates.

  “And would ya look at this, Lian! I’ve been put in charge of these runts! I was hoping I could have them spar with Glen and Iden, is she home?”

  “Huh? Oh…” Lian glanced over, eyes taking in the large, tall man with the eyepatch that he immediately clocked as Cirrus, as well as the muscular woman at his side and the scarred man with the scowl that seemed to be permanent on his face. “That’s Cirrus Aixon, isn’t it? Will they be strong enough?”

  “I plan to give them both special bonuses. It should be fun! You know how much Iden likes those.”

  “Well, that’s true… um, dad's not home right now, but he'll be back later this week… though actually, I think Iden would, um, uh, I think… she’d probably be a better sparring partner for the Crown Prince of Lilino,” Lian stumbled out, getting tongue-tied with his words as Feather patiently listened to everything he said with a smile still wrapped around his face. “She’s just developed her strength concept, you know… not long after you left. She’s been, well, she’s been really… really, excited to show you, and has been counting down the days since you left… she’s obsessed with you, Feather. You gotta be careful, because she, she— oh no,” his eyes suddenly widened, Feather finding that a bit odd as he turned around to where the young man was looking with so much horror. But his eyes only laid their sights on something familiar, a brash red-head with the same flame orange hair as Lian, her younger brother. Except her hair was much longer, more untamed and chaotic, and she was charging towards them at full speed.

  Ah, Iden Kavrill. Feather first met her when she was only nine years old and he was one-hundred and nineteen. She’d been such a cute and snotty little thing. He’d watched her grow and develop a speed concept as well as a stamina concept, so you could imagine she was always bouncing off the walls, and she never did seem to run out of energy no matter how much she ran around and chattered people’s ears off. And now she’d finally mastered the strength concept she’d been developing for so many centuries? Feather was proud of her, very proud indeed. In fact, as she got closer, he was just about to give her the same hair ruffling treatment he’d given Lian and congratulate her on such an impressive feat, when… well, he didn’t quite get the chance.

  Iden was immediately in front of him, stepping down onto one knee as she extended a deep velvet box in front of him, a dazzling golden ring with an oval gemstone the same vibrant sky blue as his eyes placed in its center. “FEATHER!!!!! PLEASE MARRY ME!!!!!” she yelled desperately, Feather staring at her in complete disbelief as she lowered her head in front of him. “Please, I’ll be the best wife ever!!! I’ll make your favorite meals every day and I’ll bring my best to all of our hunting expeditions!!! I won’t slow you down!!! I’ll make you the happiest man in the world, I swear it!!! Just please… please please please please please please please, marry me, I’m begging you!!!”