Dungeon Walkers 3, page 34
Chapter Forty-five
Stern eventually left Josie with his brother and sister. He chatted with his even younger siblings, telling them about the runs and the dangers he hadn’t been prepared for. He brought out all three of his summons so they could not only see Pawly again, but also meet his new friends.
A few of them really liked Zasha, especially when he was bigger. Calius got some attention and trilled for those who showed him affection. Pawly got the most love, though, as they all knew her.
In the end, Stern had the smaller-sized Pawly and Zasha with him when he eventually made it inside the manor. He found a maid to get directed to where his mothers and future wives were and, as he was reaching the door, Jon and Nicole came out of the room.
“How did it go?” Stern asked.
Nicole’s smile was bright. “Good. We have even more to thank you for now.”
“Agreed. She’s already feeling much better,” Jon added with a soft smile. “Seeing the pain that she endured was rough... so much worse than my father’s rejection of us.”
“I’m glad she was able to help,” Stern said, giving Nicole a hug and slapping Jon’s shoulder. “Your sister is outside, in the back. She’s already agreed to run with Joe and Ana— Joe will be their bulwark while the other two are casters. I hope one of dad’s friends is a trap finder.”
“It would be best if one of them is,” Jon nodded. “If not, there’s still a sixth slot open.”
“True,” Stern agreed, then turned to the maid. “Miss, can you escort them to the back garden, please?”
“Of course. Please follow me.”
“We’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Stern told the couple. “I’m sure you want to really talk to my sister and brother, since they’ll be with Josie.”
“I do, indeed,” Jon nodded.
The couple parted with Stern, letting him take a calming breath before he knocked on the door. His mother’s voice told him it was okay to enter, so he walked in.
“Am I interrupting?” Stern asked.
“We were just about to start wedding planning,” Stacia said.
“How did the other parts go?”
“Wonderfully,” Cyra sniffled. “I saw them…” She wiped her eyes, and Cammie and Trish hugged her from either side.
Stern knelt in front of Cyra, holding her, too. “That’s great, love.”
“I have their portraits done,” Julia said from the side of the room where she was drawing. “I’m making copies of them now. This way, we can send them north to help with the search for what happened to them.”
“Thank you, Mom.”
“We want to help,” Stacia said softly. “All three of them are lovely. The love they have for each other is nearly as high as ours. You’ll be just as loved as your father is. That makes me very happy.” Stacia sniffled, blinking happy tears back. “I had hoped for so much, and here you found three wonderful women who will love you as much as you can handle.”
“I’m going to be doing a portrait of the four of you,” Julia added. “It’ll be my gift to you.”
“Is this your second summons?” Stacia asked, finally seeing Zasha.
“Zasha, my mom and my mom.”
Zasha went over to put his head in Stacia’s lap. Pawly jumped up to flop onto the sofa beside her, wiggling for attention.
That gave Cyra time to calm again. “She helped me a lot...” Cyra whispered to Stern, who was still kneeling in front of her. “With my parents and with the trauma... Then, she helped Nicole.”
“I’m glad. How are you feeling?”
“Good. I keep recalling their faces... it makes me happy and sad, but hopeful that it’ll mean we can learn more soon.”
Stern kissed her forehead. “That’s what we hope for.”
The door opened, getting Stern to look over his shoulder at Karen and Seamus entering the room. “Mom, Dad.”
Karen grinned. “I didn’t miss the planning, right?”
“No. We were about to start on that,” Stacia said.
“Oh? Who are you, boy?” Seamus asked, seeing Zasha coming his way. He took a knee to pet the dog.
“Zasha, this is my other mother and my dad,” Stern said. “Dad, this is Zasha, my second summons.”
Pawly leapt over the back of the sofa, rushing to Seamus and rubbing against his leg.
Seamus laughed before petting them both. “You can have two out already? Amazing. I had to get to the steel tier for that. Of course, I had three of them by then, too.”
Stern smirked as he unsummoned Zasha, then let Calius come into being. “And this is Calius. He’s my third summons.”
Karen started laughing. “He’s surpassed you.”
Seamus raised his arm and whistled softly. “Calius, will you come say hello?”
Calius trilled, then launched into the air to fly to Seamus.
“We’d like to hear about your runs,” Karen said as she took the seat Pawly had vacated. “Then, we’ll kick the men out and talk about the wedding.”
“They can take these drawings to send north,” Julia said. “I’ll have enough done for at least six halls.”
“Drawings?” Karen asked.
“My parents,” Cyra said softly. “Stacia helped me, and Julia is drawing them.”
“That’s fantastic!” Seamus grinned. “That’ll help even more. It’s been confusing to separate out who might’ve been your parents. With clear drawings of them, it’ll make it much easier. I’ll get them sent off right away.”
Calius trilled, pushing his head into the side of Seamus’.
“Do all of your pets like him?” Trish asked.
“Seems so,” Stern said, then focused on Pawly’s and Calius’ emotions. “They’re... thankful to him…”
“For you,” Seamus said. “They’re thanking me for you. I have limited empathy. It only works with those I love and can see.” He lifted his eyes to Stern. “I picked it up once we knew you had yours. I wanted to help. I never mentioned it because I knew your siblings had trouble with it.”
Stern’s eyes burned for a moment. His father had been aware of his emotions, and had even deliberately taken a perk to help him understand. “I…”
“Wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it,” Seamus said softly, “so we didn’t tell you. It’s why I didn’t fight you when you went to leave. I knew you were dug in on it. I did the best I could, and then Gerald one-upped me.”
Stern snorted, wiping his eyes. “He didn’t one-up you. Gerald just thinks of law, first. That’s all. Besides, I have your letter now, too.”
Cyra, Cammie, and Trish leaned forward to hug him, as he was still in front of Cyra.
“Want some good news?” Karen asked to help Stern. “We went to the Walkers’ hall and made sure it was clear how irregulars should be treated. As we went to leave, your ‘friends’ showed up.”
Stern started to chuckle. “And?”
“We didn’t have our badges on,” Seamus grinned. “We’d just come down from talking to the guild leader. The four of them were spouting off about irregulars right outside the hall. We might have made a few comments.”
“They didn’t!” Stern’s smile was wide.
“Took a swing at me,” Seamus chuckled. “We left them alive. The guards arrested them for starting a fight.”
“That was a close one,” Karen said. “One of them almost drew on you. I would’ve killed him if he had.”
“Wait, it was just you against all four of them?” Cammie asked.
“Oh, it’s not hard when you have certain perks,” Seamus chuckled. “They couldn’t hurt me even if they’d pulled weapons.”
“Won’t condone them trying. Period,” Karen said.
“Not saying you’d be wrong. Goddess knows we’ve had enough troubles before.”
“Done,” Julia said, setting her stylus down. “Seamus, take these, please.”
“Got it,” Seamus said, scratching Pawly’s chin. “You’ve always been a good girl, Pawly. And it was good to meet you, Calius. I’m curious about Pawly’s color change.”
“I’ll explain while we walk,” Stern said as he hugged his lovers. “Ladies, we’ll be back. I’m fine with whatever you want for the wedding.”
The trio kissed him before they let him go. Stern had to wait as his mothers did the same with his dad. When they were done, the father and son left them to plan.
“Skip the carriage?” Seamus asked.
“Yeah. Calius, go home.”
Calius trilled, then vanished in a small flash of light.
Stern summoned Zasha back. “I was going to tell you their perks, but some are just easier to show.”
“He’s a Tibetan mastiff,” Seamus said, motioning to Zasha.
“From your old world? Like Pawly? You’re the only one who knows what a Maine Coon is.”
“Both of them are.”
Stern started explaining his perks, starting with Pawly’s first upgrades. Seamus laughed when he heard about Pawly’s original perks, calling her a “Displacer Cat.”
“You did the right thing. She would’ve caught other attacks the same way,” Seamus said after Stern told him about the elemental perk.
“That’s what caused her color change. She’s air now,” Stern grinned, as Pawly had been trotting along with them. “Now, let me tell you about her perks and Zasha, who’s earth-based.”
Seamus was nodding along, grinning widely as he listened. He reached up, petting Pawly, when she flew past him. When Stern was done with that, he put them back to normal, but let Pawly keep her flying. He then launched into explaining Calius’ affinity for light and his perks.
“That’s why the name sounded like I should know it,” Seamus said. “‘Caladrius’ was a white bird that was said to heal from myth. That last perk to deliver whatever it absorbed to a foe? That’ll become more amazing as you keep running.”
“We think so, too,” Stern agreed.
“Might make some bosses pushovers if you can just keep removing status ailments,” Seamus snorted.
“I remember you telling me about some of the bosses you’ve fought.”
“If you’d gone with fire, he’d likely have been a phoenix.”
“I’d debated going that route, but light felt better.”
“Trust your gut,” Seamus nodded as they approached the post office.
“I trust Pawly a lot, and Ria some.”
“Ria?”
“The shopkeeper. She’s been good for us.”
Seamus’ lips pursed. “Ria? Hmm... what does she look like?”
“Dark hair, gray eyes... feels like she has a mischievous streak. Got in trouble once for saying more than she should have.”
“Hmm... I wonder...?”
“What?”
“‘Ria’ is a shortened name for Victoria. I knew a Victoria, but I’m not allowed to talk about her. The Goddess forbids it.”
“The Goddess does?” Stern asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah. Trust her,” Seamus said softly. “I have a feeling that your Ria is someone who really does want to help.”
“Okay...” Stern said slowly, his mind working over what Seamus had said.
“Let’s get these sent off,” Seamus said, quickly changing the subject. “Maybe we’ll have answers soon.”
Stern nodded as he trailed his father into the building.
Chapter Forty-six
A few days flew by for the crew— they went over to the manor every day to work on wedding planning and spend time with Stern’s family. They got everything set for the event to be held in a couple of days.
Josie spent a lot of time with Anastacia and Joseph. Seamus even paid for the trio to run the mock dungeon a few times so they had a grasp of how to work together. Dinner the evening afterward had the budding crew discussing how they could improve; Cyra, Trish, and Stern exchanged fond smiles, remembering doing the same together.
Stern triggered his empathy on his family, but he didn’t keep it on— he just wanted to see how his siblings felt around him since he got his perk. All of them were thrilled for him, and none harbored the old wariness they used to have around him, though a couple felt envious of Joseph and Anastacia.
Stern spent extra time with the next trio of eldest, talking with them about dungeons to make sure they’d be ready for the academy in two more years. William, named for Seamus’ father, was a bulwark, having long wanted to be like his father. The problem was with the pair of sisters, Sheryl and Kaylee, who hadn’t enjoyed the idea of being Walkers when Stern had left home. They only planned to go through the lowest three dungeons, as there were perks they wanted and hoped to see early. His talk with them had Kaylee pondering over maybe doing more than just the bottom three.
Odilia, Lilith, and David, the youngest three, spent time with Pawly and Zasha. They were just barely reaching their teens, so they had time before they had to focus on dungeons. Lilith had been born with bulwark perks, and trained with that in mind. David was glad for his sister, since he was clearly slanted toward casting. Odilia, however, was the pacifist of the family— she never wanted to be a Walker. She even disliked the camping trips her family took, because that meant hunting. She would not join the other two youngest in becoming a Walker.
~*~*~
“Tomorrow’s the big day,” Seamus grinned when they showed up at the manor. “Cammie, your mother should be here for dinner tonight. We reserved a table at the same place we met you.”
“She’ll love meeting you, Father,” Cammie smirked.
Seamus shook his head ruefully. “Shouldn’t have said anything about being called that. Ah, well. Come on in. We have gifts before you all get dressed for tonight.”
“What?” Stern asked.
“Our wedding presents to you all,” Seamus grinned.
“What?” Stern reiterated.
“It’ll be dungeon gear,” Karen snickered.
“Mostly,” Stacia smirked.
Stern shook his head. “It’s the ‘mostly’ that worries me.”
His parents laughed.
“I really like your mothers,” Trish laughed.
“Told you you’d get along with them,” Stern said.
“Come inside,” Seamus grinned. “I can’t wait to see your faces. Jon, Nicole, you should come, too. After all, you should know what they’re getting for gear, at least.”
“Is that okay with you?” Jon asked Stern and the others.
“You’re family,” Stern said, nodding.
“It’s better if we all know,” Trish added.
“Very well. Josie, we’ll see you in a bit.”
Josie nodded. “I’ll go spar with Joseph and Ana.”
They followed Stern’s parents inside to one of the larger sitting rooms. Seamus directed his son and his fiancées to an extra-large sofa, then Nicole and Jon to a smaller one to the side. Seamus went to stand in front of them, wearing a knowing smile.
“We’ll start with armor. We love the fact that you took after us and started showing camo around at the lower tiers,” Seamus said. “Trish, you did good work for all of them, but we want to make sure you’re as well protected as we can make you.”
“I’m not going to take offense,” Trish said. “I knew we’d upgrade all of them eventually.”
“I doubt you expect what we have, though,” he snickered.
Stern looked around, noticing that his mothers hadn’t followed them into the room. “Moms are bringing it?”
“They are,” Seamus replied.
“If it took more than one...?” Stern murmured, his mind working through the implications.
“Just wait,” Seamus chuckled.
The door opened a moment later, letting Stacia, Karen, and Julia into the room. Each of them had a large sack over their shoulders. They took spots next to Seamus with wide smiles.
“I’ll go first,” Stacia said. The bag she set down clinked with metal shifting. Untying the top, she let it fall open to reveal the set of armor.
It was mottled in shades of gray the way their older armor had been, but this was clearly full plate. Stacia knelt down to pull the pieces out, showing it to be a full set.
“Prismatic steel,” Seamus said. “Hard to tell with the camo on it, but it is. Had four rune slots, but those are filled with greater runes of fire, earth, water, and air. Good solid resistance base for you. Add in your perks and this armor should last you for a long time.”
