"I will make an axe that is also a sword... and possibly a spoon."~ Ornn, The Fire Under The Mountain
Exam cleared! Should score well high.
Anyway this is the 1st of the 4 chapter daily release to cover for the past week. That is 3 missed days + 1. The release might just be multiple chapters a day if I make it in time.
Finally something stupid. Tybaluk is spelled Tybaulk. I just started spelling it wrong somewhere down the line. My bad. But I'll continue doing so for clarity. Maybe it will be a small inside joke.
Another thing to clarify, Caalyx being split in two halves should be impossible since Darkin weapons are indestructible. But Naafiri's dogs all have pieces of the blade in them. They can be broken but not destroyed and only at the will of the Darkin itself.
I'm mentioning this here as well.... Images are updated from chapter 43 onwards. So Naganeka and others have images now. Take a look!
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A few days before news of the invasion.....
Gregori sat on the floor. His eyes level with the being in the chair. The kids sat around them.
"Care to explain where you have been?" Gregori asked.
None of your business.
Gregori sighed. "Part of the family. Part of my responsibility. And you have been here since the very beginning."
Still none of your business.
The doll propped up on the chair replied instantly. Gregori raised an eyebrow at the doll. The demon inhabiting the doll was making the conversation quite a hassle. What was worse was that the conversation was with a doll. An unmoving, expressionless and unfeeling doll. Even animals and beasts displayed emotion. Talking with or rather talking to them felt like something that could happen on a regular basis and still feel normal.
But talking to a doll wasn't exactly normal. That became worse when he had objectively never spoken to it like this in the decade that it had been near him, the occasional words to it were to influence Annie into doing something she didn't like. Tybaluk's existence was a recent revelation but he had never felt any ill-intent from the demon.
"Part of the family Tibbers. You owe all of us an explanation."
The reply did not come instantly.
Gregori leaned forward. Silence was good. Silence meant thinking. Silence meant hesitation. Silence would mean answers.
The kids followed Gregori's example and leaned closer as well.
There is another demon in Noxus.
"One of the ten?" Gregori asked.
Yes.
"So you went to help it?" Came the follow up question.
The reply was a little later than the previous one.
Yes.
"I see. Next time.... let us know before you go around disappearing." Gregori answered and stood up to leave.
This time a panicked reply shot out.
That's it?
Gregori nodded. "You are back. And Annie missed you. The other children would like to get to know you as well. The details of your mission in Noxus doesn't really matter since we are not going there anytime in the future."
Tybaluk had expected a lot of questions out of the man who he deemed delicious but acceptance was something he couldn't have ever imagined.
You would trust me that easily?
Gregori gave it a look over his shoulder, "Amoline trusted you enough to protect Annie and you have done that. You also protected the kids against a Darkin. Trust is something you earned a long time ago Tibbers."
He had thought of the various ways he could question the demon but Gregori had come to the realization that it was all effectively useless. The demon had never done anything wrong and had protected his family. It protected Annie during the entire time he was separated from her.
He owed it.
And favors must be repaid.
Which was why he would never ask why the demon did what it did. They were fundamentally different creatures and they behaved in various ways but Tibbers had never done anything to harm his family. A small annoyance like this could be ignored entirely. There were more humans with worse intentions.
And above all, Tibbers was a reliable ally. Someone who could step in to protect the children when he was indisposed. And that was the most important reason.
Demons were all evil.
Those were the words of all who had researched them. Demonic magic brought owe to the researchers but they all believed that demons existed to destroy.
But Tibbers... no. Tybaluk had proved that wrong.
Amoline had trusted it. Annie trusts it. And it had done nothing to break that trust.
And it was time for Gregori to do the same.
Part of the family.
Part of his responsibility.
--x--
Gregori had things to take care of. The revelation of an attack planned on Demacia was a hard pill to swallow.
It made the things he had wanted to do infinitely harder.
The goal was to just waltz in and just get the other half of Caalyx while taking care of the sealed Darkin weapon and to display the changes in his life to his family.
It was supposed to be a much needed closure to his own demons.
The slow walk back was excruciating. Endless thoughts ran through his head.
"Any problems Gregori?" Braum's hand landed on his shoulder.
Gregori shook his head, "No. Just.... thinking...."
"Is it about going back to Demacia?"
Gregori gave him a look. Braum seemed to be surprisingly preceptive in situations like these. The man's heart of gold shone through whenever he spotted someone in a dilemma and it didn't seem like the right thing to do by ignoring him or denying his help.
Gregori nodded. " The past year....." He sighed as he raised his palms to his face. "It has been unpredictable. I've done more dangerous things in a single year than the half decade I was at war. Things are not straightforward and I am being pulled into battles that are not mine."
Braum winced at the last line. His mind instantly flagging it as the services he had rendered the Avarosan tribesmen.
"Now I have to go to Demacia but things have just escalated once again. The stakes keep raising and I am not sure if I am ready to pay for failure." That was it. Gregori's greatest fear. The price of failure. His life mattered nothing to him but if the stakes involved his children then and only then did he fear.
Braum's hand patted him on the shoulder, "If things were predictable and easy all the time would you really be living?"
It was a simple question. He had not thought of thanking him for helping push off an invasion. He had not tried to console him. He had not forced him to feel better.
Braum just asked him a simple question.
"I liked that life. The peace was all I wanted." Gregori answered slowly.
"But you stayed." Braum rough voice pushed. "You could have left with the children once you saved them. But you stayed to fight off the others."
Gregori replied indignantly, "That was as payment for the hospitality."
Braum shook his head, "If you wanted peace, you would have left." He moved his own hand in front of him and clenched it. "You stayed because you want to fight. Fighting is important for you. If you truly wanted peace you would never fight. But you cannot do that. In the Freljord we have this saying, to fight is to eat and to eat is to live. It is not our best saying but it shapes the lives of all in these lands. Our lives revolve around it." Braum's eyes bore into Gregori's. "You are the same. You may have not been born in the Freljord but you are on of us. What really matters is if you are willing to fight simply to eat or to live? Will you fight because you are the only one who can or only when your life is threatened? That is what you need to decide."
Gregori turned away from the man and slowly began walking home. "Braum..... you have given me much to think about... Thank you."
"Do not thank me friend." Braum flashed him a large smile, "Braum is always there for you."
Returning his smile, Gregori continued to his home. This time instead of worrying, he started planning his next course of actions. The same way he had done when he was preparing for his journey to find Annie.
Things were bound to happen. They always did.
Not everything could be predicted before hand. Those things could turn the tide of a battle.
His body was in great condition. The healing he had received not only saved him but completely brought him back to prime condition. He was ready for a fight. He was ready TO fight.
But despite trying to plan, Gregori's thoughts kept flashing back to Braum's words.
"Will you fight for yourself alone or fight for those who cannot." An inference of Braum's words.
He was not one to go out of his way to do something for another. That was something that would not change.
But if it involved something that he could do along his way... he would not mind helping out.
This incident was one such thing. He had planned to go to Demacia before. That was not something that would change. But this was just a little extra. A small chore on the side.
....
And then it hit him. He needed an identity in Demacia. His old one was too high profile but this one? A messenger from the tribes of Freljord here to warn the kingdom of an attack? That was perfect.
It could also give him the cover to complete all of his work without alerting anyone.
He could rely on his other identity when things got dicey.
An idea.
He looked forward with a smile.
There was only one thing left to do. Tell his kids to pack up and get ready to go on an adventure.