The Journey to Prunus

Though there was about a week until we reached our destination, I was told there wouldn't be all too much in between other than nature. This was a problem because only a day and a half into the journey I found myself bored to no end. It took me very little time to get over the part where I was outside since it was mostly through the window of the truck and there was nothing really special about the nature around me after the first 30 minutes. We weren't allowed to do any physical activity while inside the truck, for a few reasons, and there was only so much I could watch on the CCTV until it started to get a little dull.

"Haahhh…"

"Argento, if you sigh one more time I swear I will hit you." I could tell Ivy was also being affected because not only were her buttons easier to push, but her threats seemed to get more real each time she gave them.

"Well I'm sorry if my incredibly large amounts of boredom are annoying you, your highness, but unless you can find some way to stave off my boredom you are going to end up hearing many more sighs."

*Ding*

{Can you two please not act like children? Look, why don't we play some board games?}

"Do we even have those?" Saying this, we all look toward my parents. Having expected the children to be unable to handle the long-distance travel they had thought to bring along some board games. Going towards the back, Amelia proceeds to pull out a few board games, and a deck of cards. One I recognized immediately as Chess, with some extra flat pieces that I can assume was meant for checkers.

After checking out the different games she brought out that I wasn't familiar with, I figured out one of them was basically Remnant's version of Monopoly, and the one to pique my interest the most was a game by the name of 'Remnant: The Game'. Having opened it and taken a look, I recognized it as the game that team RWBY played in the library around the beginning of Volume 2. To explain the game, it is pretty much this world's version of Risk, where a player chooses to start in one of the 4 kingdoms, and the end goal is world domination.

I noticed two things off the get-go from playing this; the first is that despite never having played it before, I seem to be remarkably good at the game. I only know this because each of the adults, having played it before, told me so. The second thing I noticed is that it feels strange. I've never played the game, even on Earth I never experienced playing the game, but when I play it I have a vague feeling of discomfort and… regret? I can't quite place it, but it makes no sense.

At least, it would've, had my head not suddenly begun pounding during our third game. Dropping my cards and pulling my hand to my head, the sounds around me began fading as distant explosions could be heard. Screams began crying out in several languages and of varying ages, while my vision began fading with it. Flashing images, both out of order and without context, flew across my now closed eyes, but as some of them seemed to sort together to make sense, they began to go away.

Ever so slowly the pain began to fade, and as it did my vision and hearing began coming back to me. It was at this time that I could hear the worried voices of all those around me, and now that I could see and hear well enough I realized that I was on the ground with Laela worryingly looking over me. Having noticed my stabilizing condition, she was the first to speak.

"Argento, can you hear me?" Wincing at how loud her voice sounded, I slowly sat up with the help of Maxwell.

"Yeah, a little too well." I couldn't help myself from cracking jokes when I was in these situations, though it seemed no one was in much of a joking mood. Now that I began moving the hand that was not on my head, I realized I was holding Ivy's hand. Feeling comfort from this, I decided to not move it away, and instead, I asked her, "What happened?"

"We were just playing the game like we have been for the past few hours when all of a sudden you grabbed your head and started to yell. We should be asking you what happened."

"I… I don't know. One minute I was deciding which of your two armies I should go after first, and the next thing I knew my head began pounding, I lost my sight and hearing, and I saw something, but I can't remember what it was." Seeing the struggling look on my face, Amelia steps forward.

"Well it's a little early, but how about we set up camp here?" Having already stopped the trucks due to my supposed yelling, which I can't recall ever doing, the guards brought out and set up the different tents. A few for the guards to share, one for the mothers, one for the fathers and Cromwell, and one for the three of us. This was decided by, you guessed it, Laela. I have no clue why she was left with the decision, but I won't argue with her choices.

Now feeling better, I successfully managed to stay out for dinner, but the whole time my mind was wandering. I hadn't actually forgotten everything I saw, it just made no sense. Everything I saw felt familiar, the same type of familiarity I get when I think about Braxely's life, but all of it only gave more questions than answers; by that I mean I got practically no answers and several more questions. Why did I remember those images? What did the images mean? Why now, after all these years?

By now it was dark, and those that didn't have watch duty began retiring to their tents, myself included. Even if it was relatively safe along this route, the danger of an ambush by either Grimm or bandits was always there, but as kids, we were exempt from watch duty.

I'm not sure exactly how the girls could tell, but as soon as I entered the tent I was pulled onto our travel futon and was getting stared at. "Hey, you've been really quiet since your outburst. Are you sure you're okay?"

*Ding*

{It's not like you to be this quiet. You're normally joking or teasing us, but you're never so… down in the dumps.} Staying quiet in response, I was struggling with how, or what, to tell them.

'It's not like I could just spew everything about Braxely for it to make sense, and if I just described the scenes I saw they could cause unnecessary worry.' "Don't worry about it, it's really nothing important. I'm just out of it because of the experience; it might have to do with the sudden loss of two of my senses before suddenly getting them back." It doesn't feel good lying to any of them, especially these two, but until I understand what I saw it's best I don't spread unfounded worry.

In response, both of them stared a little harder, and for a second I thought they would pry even further; at this thought, I realized that if they did I wouldn't be able to do anything other than tell them because it seems the two of them were my weak point. Thankfully though they both let up, and after a little bit of chatting we changed to sleep. Recently they've demanded I don't look at them while they change, which I obviously complied with. The only reason this was demanded was because we had always just changed in front of each other, but I guess after reaching this age and the endless teasing we always give each other they must've started feeling the need for more privacy.

I can't say a small part of me wasn't disappointed, but I quickly controlled that. Even though I know we are technically the same age, thoughts that go beyond simple romance still don't feel right; I assume it will begin to feel more right once we reach a reasonable age.

Successfully distracted and with the girls sleeping soundly by me, I eventually found myself drifting off to sleep. Thankfully my sleep was peaceful, so when I woke up my mind was fresh and ready for the day. Leaving the two girls peacefully sleeping away, I exited my tent and I saw Laela and Amelia cooking away for the group. As I walked closer I could smell the fragrant meat getting stronger.

"Morning Dear, did you sleep well?"

Without even getting the chance to respond, I felt a disturbance in the force as I heard Laela begin her sentence. "Fufu~ I would imagine he did, after all he had two lovely girls by him the whole night." It seems that us being 12 didn't stop her from shipping us harder than most fandoms I had ever seen. Though I refuse to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she is responsible for half of the times I end up staring at one of, if not both of, the two.

I first look at my mother and with a smile say, "Morning Mom." Then with my smile unmoving I looked toward Laela without moving my head and say, "You would think that there would be something other than the love life of three 12-year-olds that could catch your fancy."

"Well, when one of those 12-year-olds happens to be my daughter I get pretty invested. Besides," She then takes on an amused smile and finished with, "The reactions from teasing the two of them is priceless."

"… Alright, fair enough." I can't say anything to retort her sentence because it would simply be hypocritical as a fellow lover of their teasing reactions. Breakfast was swiftly finished and eaten, and with minimal time spent on packing, we were soon off once more. This time I stayed clear of Remnant Risk, though with the other games still being fun-filled time flew by so fast, that hearing we were close enough to see our destination caught me off guard.

Outside the truck in the barely-visible distance was a decent-sized city mostly situated on a series of raised mountainside plateaus. The one common feature that I could see as we got closer was that there was an abundance of pink within and surrounding the city. On one of the highest tiers was a lake that flowed into a waterfall, which fell into a river that led straight to the ocean.

As we began reaching the lowest tier of the city, which was directly connected to everything else without a need to ride any rising trams or elevators, I realized why the city was such a popular visiting city for those in Vale. All of the pink that I had been seeing were large numbers of Cherry Blossom trees, and the same weeb feeling I felt when I first entered the training room at home started to rise in me. Seeing the excitement on the faces of us three, the parents couldn't help but look at each other with smiles.

Amelia got up from her seat and came over to where the three of us were and put her hands on my shoulders. I looked up to see her smiling at the sight, and then looked back forward as she spoke, "I hope the wait was worth it."

The truck pulled to a stop just inside the city for an inspection, and as we all walked off, a soldier came forward to cheerfully greet us while we waited for the inspection to finish. "Welcome to Prunus!"

After the inspection was finally done, my parents led us through the city at a steady pace in order to get to the place we would be staying, and we didn't stop anywhere since we would have all the time in the world to do that for the next little while.

Now I had no clue how much money was going to be spent on this trip, because I honestly have no clue how much money my parents have. Neither of them has worked since I've arrived here, but we don't seem to lack money with how freely we have the others over. But apparently, it was a hell of a lot more than I was thinking because when they said we were at our location I saw a mansion with a few smaller buildings for what I can only assume were the servants.

"Mom, are you sure we're not lost?"

Chuckling at my question she simply walked up to the gate and put her hand on it. At the same time, her hand glowed golden for a second, and in response when she lowered her golden-fading hand the gate began opening on its own. As it did so she looked at me from over her shoulder.

"Of course we're not lost; we're at a Chrono family manor."