Convincing

Lua gave a slightly smiled expression. He put his hands in the pockets of his coat, then made up an excuse.

"The baker was busy with something, took me a while to get him to get me the flour."

"Is that so.." Elizabeth didn't sound convinced, but she didn't question him further. What mattered was that he had the flour, and he was home safely.

Dropping the bag of flour by the kitchen, Lua hung his coat on the coat rack once more. As he passed by a mirror, he was suddenly stunned by his appearance. He was slightly dirty and roughed up due to his encounter with Vision. He suddenly understood why his mother hadn't sounded so convinced about his excuse.

Going up the stairs, he resolved to speak to Arc first. Of course, he couldn't leave Arc behind. Doing so would destroy part of his soul, and kill Arc in the process. He needed to figure out a way - perhaps he could convince Vision to bring Arc with him? There was nothing to lose by trying.

Knocking on the wooden door to Arc's room, he entered to see Arc fiddling his thumbs. He looked like he already knew the topic of the conversation.

Not skipping a beat, Lua quickly asked him. "How do I tell Mother and Father?"

Arc quickly wrote down a few things on his beloved piece of paper. "Don't. Make up an excuse. You know they will both freak out if you tell them a cultist wants to abduct their son for a few years."

Although he chuckled at Arc's spin of events, Lua couldn't help but feel Arc was right. If you really oversimplify the events, it really was just a cultist abduction of a child. He needed some way to spin it that wouldn't make it sound suspicious, but also explain why he came home ruffled from the bakery.

Make up a story about how I got accepted to a school.. No, that wouldn't work.. It's way past season for when school starts. Plus, going tomorrow would be too rash.

Arc wrote down some quicks very quickly, impressing Lua with his speed as usual. "How about you say that you will become the intern of some craftsman?"

"Wouldn't that be too simple? I'm sure they'll ask for who this craftsman is, though.." Lua pondered Arc's suggestion, finding it more and more plausible. "Which name could I give that would convince them?"

Looking at Arc, he expectantly wanted some ideas. "Do you reckon they'd accept it if I said he didn't want to reveal his name?"

Arc jotted down a few words. "They could, but there's no guarantee."

Lua revealed a wicked grin, something he hadn't done often before. He seemed to feel insane enough to just do it. "Let's do it."

The next morning, Lua got out of bed early. He had no time to waste if he wanted to arrange everything before his departure with Vision.

Rushing down the stairs, he saw his mother and father preparing breakfast. Elizabeth showed a warm smile to her son, "Good morning. Did you sleep well."

Lua's expression relaxed slightly after hearing his mother's sweet tone. "Quite well. But I have something I want to discuss."

Daniel, who was sitting on the couch reading a newspaper, looked up at him. "Oh? What is it you want to discuss?"

After seeing that both his parents' attention was fixed on him, he began his streamline of excuses. "Yesterday, when I went to get flour for mother, I saw a man in a coat inviting people to try to fix a machine. Intrigued, I somehow managed to fix the device. The man clapped, and invited me to work under his master, apparently someone very intelligent and powerful. He said he needed my answer then and at that instant, otherwise he wouldn't let me go with him. It was a tough decision, and I know I needed to confirm with you beforehand, but I agreed. He said he was a Wanderer and would take me to his master."

The expressions on both his parents' faces grew grimmer by each word he spoke. By the end, they were both speechless. His mother was in a state of shock, while his father was contemplating something. Finally, Daniel broke the silence.

"When do you leave?"

Lua had intentionally left this out from his story, in order to make it easier for them to process. "This noon."

Lua glanced worriedly at his mother, who looked like she was about to faint. She was very obviously worried.

Daniel finally sighed and relented. "Fine. I trust you know enough to handle your own for some time. How long will you be gone for?"

Lua gulped. This was another subject he wanted to let down on them slowly. "Unsure. The man said it might have been a few years."

Normally father would have definitely asked to see the man at least before accepting.. Something's different. It's like he knows I'm spouting lies.. Lua easily saw through the man he had come to know for many years.

Daniel nodded without further comment and went back to reading his newspaper. Elizabeth finally snapped out of her daze. "Wait, are you just going to agree like that? Do you not want to at least see this 'Wanderer' who will take away our son for a few years?"

Daniel looked at Elizabeth. "What are the chances of a man, whose master doesn't want to be known, wants to introduce himself to people? I don't want to get in between the chance of the century of our boy. Who knows - maybe he'll come back much stronger than now."

Oh yeah, he definitely knows. Lua felt certain his father knew that he was lying. Elizabeth and Daniel argued for a little more, but Daniel continued to protect the man's secrecy with all his might. Lua really felt thankful that he had someone who was willing to hide his secret, and defend it as well.

Finally, his mother relented. She looked at Lua, with a little bit of sorrow in her eyes. "At least write every now and then. I want to know how my boy is doing."