“So…” Adam said, glancing between them all suspiciously. “Gifts?”

The group, not wanting to tell Adam they hadn’t brought him any gifts, instead revealed a long strip of leather. It was snake skin, specifically Prince Forest Snake skin, which was a deep green, almost like an emerald.

“The Prince Forest Snake?” Adam asked, glancing between them all.

Jurot nodded. 

“Isn’t that expensive?” Adam asked.

Jurot nodded.

“How expensive?”

“This would be worth at least ten gold,” Jurot said.

“Ten gold?” Adam said. ‘So about a grand or so?’ “That’s pretty expensive.”

“It is for you,” Jurot said. “You could make a sheath out of it for a weapon.”

“It’s at times like this, Jurot, that I wish I was as smart as you,” Adam said.

Jurot, taking the compliment at face value, nodded. “You are plenty intelligent, Adam.”

Adam accepted the snake skin. “I feel bad accepting such an expensive gift. I mean, I didn’t even get the children something so expensive.”

The group stared at him, their eyes accusatory.

“What?”

“You did,” Jurot said. “The White Wolf pelts.”

Jaygak then tapped her Bloodseeker, the beautiful sword at her side.

For a moment, Adam didn’t quite understand. “Oh,” he said, when he eventually understood their point. “Right.” He turned tomato red with embarrassment. ‘I can’t just decline it now.’ “Thanks.”

“Sometimes I don’t know if you’re smart or stupid,” Jaygak said. “You should be like me, and reveal that you’re neither, not until it’s the right time to strike.”

Adam had a feeling that she was talking about her various pranks, not that he had seen any. “Right.”

The group retired for the evening when it began to rain, with Nirot chatting away with Jurot about the people she had met on her adventures. She spoke in their own tongue, and Adam assumed that he should probably ignore whatever she was saying, since she didn’t know he spoke their language.

Adam lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Lanarot came crawling on top of him, planting her head on his chest.

“Abubaba?” she asked.

“No,” Adam said. “I’m fine.”

“Ooh.”

He wrapped his arms around her legs and leaned down to kiss her forehead, causing her to smile and laugh, before she crawled over to kiss his forehead, her hands firmly pressed against his forehead and shoulder so she could stabilise herself.

“Oi,” Adam said, feeling her half spit during the kiss. “What’s that about?”

“Hehe,” Lanarot giggled before she squealed. 

Omen: 3, 3

"Lanarot,” Adam called, reaching down to pinch her cheek. “Are you going to watch me fight during the Duskval festival?”

"Oah,” Lanarot replied, holding up her block at him, before she tossed it away.

“Thank you,” Adam said, patting her head. “You better not look away, okay? I’ll definitely make you proud.”

Lanarot crawled away from him to grab her block which had rudely disappeared from her hand when she had tossed it. 

“Why do you spend so much time with her?” Lucy asked, staring at the pair of siblings. Adam was a grown man, taller than her, and twice as wide, thick with muscle. Lanarot was just a tiny little thing, and she also didn’t do anything fun like fight. The Iyrmen had influenced her far too much, as they were the thoughts of most teens when it came to their younger siblings, including Jurot. 

“Every second I spend with my adorable little sister is worth more than gold,” Adam said, reaching over to pick the girl up in her arms, rubbing his cheek against hers. “You can’t get time back. Tomorrow, my little Lanababy might be able to stand. The next month, she’ll be cruising along furniture. The month after that, she might walk for the first time. The time after that, she might start to dance and sing.”

Lanarot squirmed in his hands, before she was finally set free, sitting as she picked up another block and placed it on the first, dropping both of them.

“The moment we step out of the Iyr, there’s every chance we’ll never return,” Adam said. “I’m acutely aware of that fact. My friend and I were in school, just kicking it. We had both brought our consoles and were playing a game together, hunting down one bitch of a monster we were facing for the first time. It was like any other day, really.”

Jurot, who had been whittling away at some wood, stopped to listen to the story. 

Adam looked past to another time. “His teacher came to take him away somewhere private. His dad had been involved in a car accident, and just like that, he was gone. Forever. He might very well be in another world, slaying monsters, or laying them if it’s that kind of story, but I’m not holding my breath.”

Lucy stared at Adam, watching as he picked up the girl and held her tight. 

“I’m sure if I die tomorrow, Lanarot won’t remember me. She’s too young. But that doesn’t stop me from hoping. Hoping that she remembers the warmth, and that I loved her very deeply.” Adam closed his eyes, resting his head against Lanarot’s, feeling her cheek against his. 

Lucy hadn’t expected anything deep by her question, but even she felt a little uncomfortable. ‘I shouldn’t have taken a day off.’

“I would be more than happy to spend my entire days in the Iyr. Training, working, and looking after my adorable little Lanabunny. I know that’s impossible, though, so that’s remain in my dreams.”

“Why is it impossible?” Lucy asked.

"Because," he began, staring down at Lanarot's adorable face as she stared up at him, showing her near toothless smile. "I'm the protagonist." 

Lucy narrowed her eyes, which were full of confusion. "What?"

"You're the Demon Lord, right?" Adam asked, kissing Lanarot’s forehead, causing the girl to squirm again before smiling up at him

Lucy puffed out her chest, flashing a smirk. “That’s right, and don’t you forget it.”

"So there will come a day, inevitably, that someone will try to cut you down,” Adam said, brushing Lanarot’s thin hair. “Even if you spent your entire days farming, someone would come to try and cut you in half."

“Right, they would try,” Lucy stated, though she understood his point behind it.

"Just like you, I have something which draws someone to me. Chaos. Fate. We are all just pawns for the greater powers that be." Adam stared down at the adorable little baby. "But that’s okay. If it means I can be a decent brother in this life, then I don't mind being a pawn." He rubbed Lanarot's head. "As long as they don't try anything with my sister."
 
Lucy smiled at his response. She was someone who went against the Gods too. “You aren’t so bad, Adam.”

Adam chuckled. “Thanks.”
 
Lucy, in the conversation, had gained a small amount of self awareness. "So if she means so much to you, why are you leaving her to come with me? Shouldn’t you stay behind to look after her?”

Adam chuckled again. “Aren’t we friends?” he asked.

"Yes?”

“You don’t sound very certain.”

“We are, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“That had everything to do with it,” Adam replied, firmly.

"Is that your definition of friend?"

"If I didn't help you in your most trying time, how could I possibly call myself your friend?" Adam chuckled, shaking his head. "Lanarot will be safe and sound in the Iyr, which is the most important thing. Even if I miss her taking her first steps, miss her when she says her first words, some of her most important milestones…” 

Adam picked the girl up, staring at her as she dropped her cubes, but looked down at Adam. She brought her knees up to her chest and kicked downwards, before laughing at her pointy eared brother. “I may end up regretting not helping you sooner.”

“We still have a few years,” Lucy said, awkwardly. She had been at his throat to try and get him to take the matter seriously, and now she was trying to stop him.

“What if something happens to the forest? Even with the Iyrmen’s protection, there are many things which could go wrong. What happens if something happens to Mara before the ten years pass? What happens if you die before that?” Adam placed Lanarot down, letting her play in peace.

“That’s highly unlikely,” Lucy said. “I won’t let it happen.”

“There’s no such thing as impossible,” Adam said. “Not any more. Not after I was killed and brought back. Not after I was killed and brought back a second time.”

“Do you think about everything like that?” Lucy asked, staring at the Half Elf, almost in despair at his thoughts. 

“Yeah,” Adam replied, casually.

“Why?”

Adam stared at Lanarot, trying to not look at her brother who was still not whittling his wood. “I don’t want any regrets in this life.” 

"You'll always regret something."
 
"Lana’s first steps and you reuniting with Mara, both of them will be great. I’m sure I’ll be happy seeing either. However, only one of those stops suffering. As much as I am a sentimental idiot, emphasis on the mental idiot, I know where my priorities should lay.”

“Now I feel guilty,” Lucy said, glancing aside.

"Good,” Adam said. “I want you to remember what I've done for you. My friends mean a lot to me, and I’ll go through hell with them if I need to. I want you to know how important you are to me.”

"Why are you going so far for me?” Lucy whispered, as though she didn’t want to ask. “You don’t really know me, and we haven’t spent that much time with each other."

“Because,” Adam said. “That’s manly.”

 

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Manly indeed.

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Had another idea today for a cultivation series in the shower. Why am I trying to write other stuff?