Chapter 22: Meeting the Leaf Party again

After some asking around, Filarion found out where the three kids, that Johnny called ducklings, lived. He had a box with pastries in one hand, and a box with chicken and rice in the other.

The inn hushed, when he entered. Still, Filarion grinned and bore it. With sure steps, he walked to the bar. The barkeeper eyed him warily, but Filarion just stopped before him and cleared his throat.

"There are three kids in this inn. Gregory, Nathaniel and Zaine. They are in my party. In which room are they staying?" The elf asked, and the barkeeper narrowed his eyes.

"If they are in your party, why are you even asking me? Shouldn't they have told you?" The barkeeper eyed the two boxes, and his eyebrow rose.

"We are a new party. And I had some... troubles... with the law," Filarion admitted, and then he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Zaine, who stared at him with wide eyes.

"Fil, you got out?" Zaine asked, and Filarion was glad that the boy was using the nickname the three had saddled him with, and not his full name. Or worse, his last name.

"All cleared up. The emperor remembered that we had his blessings all this time. My uncle's memory is bad, these days," Filarion winked at Zaine, who nodded, but his expression remained the same collected one. "Where are your brothers?"

"Over there. We were just going to discuss what sort of quests we can take," Zaine pointed at a table in a dark corner, close to the kitchen door. Filarion nodded, and followed the berserker to it.

"What sort of quests did you take, while I was in prison?" Filarion asked, ready to scold.

"We didn't take any. We were too busy trying to get an appointment with sheriff Rocco," Zaine told him. "Sorry for not visiting."

Filarion blinked at the boy. An appointment with the sheriff? What for?

"You three didn't think about giving yourselves up, did you?" Filarion asked. Zaine looked at him apologetically.

"Our Pa always taught us that we have to return kindness with kindness. You took us in, made us into a party with a name. We thought that, if we gave the sheriff that information, he could see you in a different light. The old codger didn't want to speak with us, however," Zaine scrunched up his nose at that.

When they neared the table, Filarion placed the two boxes on the it.

"Eat up. In an hour, we are going on a quest," Filarion opened the boxes, and the smell of rice with sour cream, chicken and vegetables wafted in the inn.

"Fil!" Nathaniel and Gregory shouted at the same time. They stood, and tackled Filarion on the floor, hugging him tightly.

"Kids, my ribs are not what they were, fifty years ago," Filarion complained, but he was glad that he had gotten such a welcome.

"Who are you calling a kid? I am fifteen," Gregory protested. Filarion freed one of his hands from the hug pile, and patted the archer on the head.

"You, Greg. You and Nate too," Filarion barked a laugh, when the two groaned.

They got up from the floor, and sat around the table. A maid came with plates and forks, and the rice was placed in three portions. Filarion watched as the three attacked their meal as if they had been starving. Knowing they had not been on quests lately; they might have been.

"Why didn't you go to Prisila? She would have given you better accommodation that this here," Filarion asked. The inn was well-kept, but there lay the problem. It must be pricey, or, pricey for the three, at least.

"We didn't want to bother the lady," Nathaniel said between bites. "We couldn't protect you, so..."

Filarion reached out, and flicked the healer's nose.

"Your job is not to protect me. My job, as your teacher and party leader, is to protect you and take care of you. Next time I end up in prison, go to Prisi," Filarion told the boy with a stern look. Nathaniel shook his head.

"It is so our job to protect you, Fil. We are three, you are one. And don't say we are just kids!" Nathaniel argued, and his brothers nodded.

"You are so still children. Even Zaine, who I won't consider an adult. Not even when he turns eighteen," Filarion stated, and closed his eyes. When he opened them, the three were bristling.

"How old do we have to become, for you to see us as adults?" Zaine asked, nose scrunched up.

"Well, I am seventy, so I would say at least sixty," Filarion joked, and Zaine's eyes widened.

"You are a grandpa!" Gregory teased; his amazement clear in his voice. "A cradle robber!"

"Wait, what?" Filarion blinked. When had he ever made any moves towards the ducklings?

"That man who got you into this mess, the tank? We saw his prison records. He is just twenty-eight! Grandpa Fil, you like fresh meat?" Zaine wiggled his eyebrows, and Filarion groaned.

"Johnny and I can go back together," Filarion told them, and they began shaking their heads.

"He will break your heart again," came from Zaine, who nodded sagely at his own pearl of wisdom.

"He is too young for you," Nathaniel added, and then nodded much like his brother.

"You can do better, grandpa Fil! Aren't there nice elves that look well-preserved and are about your age?" Gregory asked, and then nodded as well.

"What is with all of you nodding? Agreeing to what you are saying, even though I do not? What nerve you have," Filarion chastised, but his heart was not in it.

The three cared. They liked him enough to care about his heart. One that was still on the mend. But they didn't know that his heart only wanted Johnny, despite them being right about everything.

"Look, grandpa Fil, what if he tries to get you into prison again?" Gregory asked, as if he was speaking about something that would definitely happen.

"Then, one of my siblings will drag him into the same cell as me, and we will make up. Don't worry about me getting into prison again. I will keep to the straight and narrow. For you, for Johnny," Filarion said, and gave them a soft smile.

"He is love sick," Nathaniel said, and then wolfed down another helping of rice. "If I ever get like that, hit me over the head."

"Will do," Zaine nodded, and then hit his brother over the head.

"Hey!" The healer protested, as Zaine smirked.