Chapter 24: At Home

*AETHERIUS*

After Aetheria defeated the Fenrir, I passed out. When I regained consciousness, I found myself in my father's arms. We were heading towards what seemed to be my mother, who was running towards us. My arm and leg were throbbing with pain like never before.

"Please, Dad, put me down," I asked, and he did. I noticed my mother stumbling as I took a few steps. Due to the pain, I almost fell, but my mother managed to catch me in her arms.

"Aetherius, baby, how could you end up like this?" my mother scolded me. "Hi, Mom, I told you I'd keep Elowen safe," I replied, feeling my mind drift before falling asleep again.

When I woke up, I felt something on my left side with my arm bandaged. It was Elowen, who apparently stayed with me again. "Elowen, Elowen, wake up," I said to her.

She got up and rubbed her eye, then regained her senses. "Ther, you're awake, what a relief that you didn't fall asleep for too long. Mom and Dad were here all night along with Damian, Lora, and the village chief," she told me while hugging me. I could see that we were at Lora's house.

Elowen didn't want to let go of me, so I hugged her back. When I tried to step down with my left foot, it still hurt as much as when I woke up. "Ther, don't get up. I'll go get Dad and Mom," Elowen said to me. "Okay, Wen, go get them," I replied as she got off the bed and ran out, and I drank the water that was nearby.

"Therius, you're awake," I heard my parents enter my room. "Oh my God, my baby, I finally found you," my mother said. My father looked at me. "Thank you so much for being alive, son, thank you for saving your sister," he said while still hugging me. My head started to hurt, and my parents noticed.

"Therius, does anything hurt? Look at me," my mother said, looking at me with concern. "Children, what happened to your eyes?" my mother asked, afraid. "When we were finishing the fight with the Fenrir, its son assimilated with its element, and his eyes started turning red," Jafet, who was at the door, replied.

My parents looked at him and then at me. I saw my father with an angry face. "What the hell were you thinking when you decided to leave your sister and come back to fight?" my father asked angrily. "You could have died this time," he continued scolding me.

"Dear, please calm down," my mother said to him. They looked at me, and I felt a horrible itching in my eyes. "Son, calm down, your eyes seem to be returning to normal," my father said while treating me with his magic. "I couldn't leave them behind, Dad. They saved me and Wen. If it weren't for them, she and I could have died," I finally replied to my father.

"And what if that was the case? How could you leave your sister? What would have happened if the reinforcements weren't us, and they took your sister somewhere else, and you died here?" he continued to scold me.

"I hope you don't think we could have stayed with her. They told us they came from the Shira village, so if we ran, it would be there to leave her," Jeff finally said. "Also, if something worse happened, I intended to knock him out and make the mages take him to where the refugees were," Jafet finished.

"Listen, I didn't mean to say anything bad with the intention of offending you, but there were possibilities that that could happen. I'm sorry," my father said, rubbing his temple. "It's okay; I could see that. Also, the boy is already awake; take him outside so he can eat something," Jafet said.

Although I was embarrassed, my father carried me while my mother took Elowen with her. Everyone was gathered outside. In the distance, I saw the pile of incinerated corpses. Lora and her family, along with Gregor, Damian, and the healer, were there, while on the other side were my parents' guild members. "Therius, young Therius," they all shouted at the same time, already sounding like a cheerleading squad.

"Sir, let me see your son," Jeff said to my father, who accepted. They sat me down, and Jeff examined my leg, which was also bandaged. "If we can treat all three of them at the same time for the rest of the day, this will change from being a fracture to a simple sprain," Jeff said, and I agreed. They brought me food, and I calmly started devouring all the food served. "If I keep this up, I'm going to get fat," I said aloud, and everyone started laughing, as I always felt hungry after using my power.

As agreed, for the rest of the day, my mother, Jeff, and his assistant started treating my leg as it was the priority. My head was bandaged, but they didn't pay much attention to it since it was already fixed, and we agreed to let my arm heal while I meditated on my core. "Ready to finally go home?" my father asked. "Yes, I hope we actually make it home this time," I joked.

"We'll accompany you to the village; after all, we have nothing else to do, so we'll clear paths through the forest since the ones that were there were erased by the landslide," Atheria said.

"Hello, dear, we meet again. I saw you fight against the Fenrir; you were amazing," Atheria praised me, and the others asked what she had seen. "Shortly after I rushed to the village, I saw Therius and the village chief fighting. I watched their movements were coordinated, and how Therius and Jafet struck and cast spells one after another, making the Fenrir defend itself.

"Then I saw spikes of metal coming out of the ground from the Fenrir's roar, and how they dodged them. I even saw how they blocked the spikes from above and dodged them, until Jeff got scratched by one of the spikes, and Therius saved him," she said, getting more excited.

"Then I saw how Therius and Jafet stood side by side, charging their mana and assimilating with them. I could see that Therius' body started to have static until his body began to show electricity around him, and his hair turned completely white like the strand he has there, and how his injured limbs wrapped in black shadows along with the weapon blade that seemed like fire.

Jafet did the same with his magic and burst into flames, and in one leap, they both broke the ground they were standing on and launched themselves at the Fenrir, who had summoned the metal spikes again, and how their weapons and spells collided with the Fenrir's body, defeating it. But the Fenrir got up again, and both were out of energy, so I ran towards them, assimilated with my magic and sword, After a few hits, I finished him off", she concluded, taking a breath.

Everyone was amazed by my joint fight with Jafet. He and I just smiled proudly, but my father seemed more angry, proud but angry, and so we decided to head towards Shira.

"Goodbye, Therius, please take care of yourself and your sister," Lora said. "Of course," I replied. Then Tiara said goodbye to Elowen. "Thank you very much for healing me once again," I said to Jeff and his assistant. "Thanks for your hospitality, chief," I said to Jafet. "You're welcome, Therius. Come back someday, alright?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Therius," Evan spoke to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Please take care of yourself, okay? Next year it's my turn to go to the academy, so I hope we can see each other there," he said after giving me the kiss. "Of course, Evan, take care and see you there," I said, and so we calmly set off towards Shira.

After a few hours, we finally arrived in Shira. The people of the village watched as all the carriages arrived, and I saw Viola and her parents cooking there. "Are you guys okay?" the people of the village asked me, and I just smiled, "Yes, thanks for your concern".

"Therius, you're back!" Viola hugged me tightly, making me wince from the pain in my arm. "I'm back, Viola," "Hello, sister Viola, we're back," Elowen said, and then Viola hugged her, and finally, we were able to make it home.