(Cyrus POV)
"Do you guys have to do this right here and right now?" Lady Arya asked, crossing her arms, signaling annoyance at the matter.
"Yes, we do actually," my father shouted back. "Before we leave, I need to gain a deeper understanding of what he is and isn't capable of."
"But don't you already know that, Ezra? You even explained it to me yourself. Shoot, for gods' sake, I even witnessed the aftermath," Lady Arya pleaded. But my dad ignored her. Even though Lady Arya knew my father well—and honestly, better than most—she didn't know our dynamic. She didn't understand how my father and I operated. I had been sparring with my father for years now, and as crazy as it may sound, I absolutely loved it. It brought us closer in a way many wouldn't understand.
Most people would have seen it as meaningless violence, but it was really a way for my father to validate me in the only way he could. When warriors are at a high enough level, more is learned and understood through the exchange of blows than through words. Sometimes my father struggled with his words, and I sometimes struggled with my approach.
"Hey Cy, why don't you pick up that blade of yours? I'm curious to see what your uncle really taught you."
"You sure about that, old man?"
"I'm sure, because I'm curious what an expert marksman with a bow could teach you regarding the intricacies of wielding a sword."
"I think you'll be surprised." Then I watched as my father generated a sword of solar energy himself. This was the first time he had used one against me. This action alone told me he recognized my growth.
"Please don't destroy this place! I paid good money for this spot, okay?!"
"Don't you own this entire place technically?" I asked, not taking my eyes off my father.
"That doesn't matter—but whatever. You Solaris men are so difficult. I'm heading out to go pick up the rest of the things I ordered and finish some paperwork."
With Lady Arya gone, my father dashed toward me once again. I knew not to focus on his actual body, so I paid closer attention to the distortions he caused instead. I was only just barely able to predict the downward slash he threw at me. Instinctively, I threw up my blade to counter the attack.
My father was several steps ahead of me. His first strike was merely a feint to draw out my defenses. Just before our blades clashed, he dissolved the blade and conjured another in his off-hand. The blade was coming toward me with immense speed, aimed directly at my abdomen. Using my Gravity Well ability, my father's actions slowed just enough for me to back out of the way and dodge the first assault.
I saw the smirk on his face as he watched me escape a devastating blow. Gritting my teeth, I immediately pivoted and exploded forward toward him. I activated my Gravity Well once again, but this time I expanded the range to about fifteen meters. I'm sure my father felt the immediate difference.
This allowed me to nullify his blazing speed just enough so that I could close the distance. Just a few inches away from his body, I brought my blade around in a diagonal slash aimed at his collarbone. My father timed his escape perfectly, sidestepping out of the way just as my ability wore off. He then tripped me and followed up with a palm strike aimed at my sternum.
With my body in a compromised position, I knew I couldn't block or dodge this attack. So I channeled cosmic energy into my rune one more time. I could tell my father was trying to guess my next move as he glanced at my glowing astral tattoo, signaling what was to come. But what came next was something different. My father's attack didn't land at all. The distance between us started to increase as his body slowly began to float above the ground, taking away all his momentum.
Realizing I had successfully deployed my new ability, I quickly recovered and brought my blade in an upward slash aimed at my father's exposed chest. He couldn't escape in that split second, and I unleashed the extent of my strength on him.
Like I expected, my attack did nothing to the Astral Knight, as his layer of cosmic energy absorbed the entire force of the attack.
"So, do you mind really telling me what's wrong now? You've been acting weird lately. What is it?" my father asked as he gently landed back on the ground now that my ability had faded away.
"What do you mean?" I said, taking deep breaths, trying to catch my breath after the intense exchange.
"Cyrus… Come on now, don't act oblivious. Is it because of Lady Arya?"
"Yes."
"What about her is rubbing you the wrong way, Cy?"
"It's not her in actuality. It's how you act around her. I know you've known her for a while. But you're acting like Mom didn't exist. You act like you don't miss her. Like you don't care that we know who's responsible for her death. Is it that easy for you, Dad? Did you even love her?"
"Cyrus, of course I loved her. I mourn her loss every day. If there was a way I could bring her back, I would. Cyrus, I understand what you're going through. I went through a similar situation with Grandma. She was killed when I was young too. But no matter how much we try and desire to, we can't bring them back. We'll never see them again—at least not in this life. We'll never forget them, but at some point, we do have to move on and accept life for what it currently is."
"I can't, Dad… I saw her. Mom—she came to me."
"Cyrus, what do you mean you saw her? Like in a dream or something?"
"No, I saw her in the rift. I was in a really tough spot in the beginning. She came and saved me. It was her… her spirit or her essence, I don't know exactly, but it was her. She was exactly how I remembered her, but this time she had an aura that I've never seen her exert before. She seemed almost angelic, like… like she wasn't just a normal human."
My father stood silent for a while. "What did she say to you, Cyrus?" he asked softly.
"She told me that she regretted not telling me much about her background and her people, and that she was only able to do this because the rift was in a separate space-time. Dad… I thought Mom's family didn't have a lineage of anyone connected to a constellation—her included."
"I thought so too."
"But she said that I will meet her again one day—the day when the very stars I gaze upon lay at my feet. Do you know what that means?"
"No… I'm not sure at all. She often did speak in riddles, trying to keep me on my toes. But Cyrus… why didn't you tell me this earlier?"
"I was still processing it. It was hard to believe what was real and what wasn't. I went several years knowing my mother was dead after watching it happen with my own eyes… just for her to save me in one of my greatest times of need. So knowing she's out there somewhere makes it hard for me to give up on her. So it just saddens me—seeing you give up on her so easily."
I didn't need Gravisense to predict my father's next actions. In the blink of an eye, my father rushed over to me and wrapped his arms around me. He gave me a hug that could have crushed one of the boulders in Lady Arya's field.
"I'm sorry, son. I won't give up ever again. I'm so sorry I hurt you—it's the last thing I ever want to do."
I responded to my father, not with words but with actions. I raised my arms that were dangling by my sides… and returned the hug as well.