Chapter 21: Disagreement

Hunter sat at the kitchen table with his younger brother as Theriault, Sawyer, Shen Yi, and Ariana all stood in the living room, speaking hushed.

"Explain now Theriault," Sawyer said, looking at the pale man, glancing over at his son every so often with a worried gaze.

"What is there to explain? I unleashed a divine entity, and he found a vessel strong enough to harness him, nothing I could manipulate," Theriault shrugged off, flopping on the couch as Sawyer shook his head. "And of course... I want him to join my squad, nothing would happen to him-"

"I would believe you..." Sawyer interrupted, his face blank as he watched Theriault intently, "But I know you and the situations you find yourself in, it'd simply be a gateway to more problems... Plus, don't forget about all the blood on your hands.

The tension in the air was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Theriault looked at Sawyer with a calm expression, but his eyes were anything but neutral.

"You say that like I led them to your doorstep, like I leaked the info of your family's secret estate, like I told them about the history of Saberhagen and the Voxlends, don't forget your guilt, I didn't get your family killed, your feelings did."

The two glared at each other as the girls looked at one another. Ariana didn't know what to say, and Shen Yi was trying to connect their words to what she knew.

"This is all irrelevant, it's obvious what the plan of action should be..." Theriault said after a couple of seconds, looking over at Hunter.

"Nope," Sawyer immediately said, stepping in front of Theriault's line of vision and shaking his head. "I will never allow him to be exposed to that life..."

"Can you guys explain?" Shen Yi interjected, feeling lost as the three looked at her.

"That's right, Theriault doesn't trust his own companion enough to tell her his real motives for bringing her along," Sawyer said venomously as Ariana looked at him with a confused expression.

"Look at her Ari, she gives off the exact same vibe as Kira, and we all know how Theriault feels about-"

Sawyer went flying out the house mid-word, a fist connecting with the side of his head as Theriault looked at him with a pissed-off expression.

"Haha... So you still got that stupid strength mate? Oh yeah, this'll be fun, we're both so high-strung from the fight earlier..." Sawyer jumped up, tearing off his shirt and revealing his large toned body, smirking at Theriault as the smaller, paler, and frailer-looking man walked out of the hole.

"What do you think you're doing... Mentioning her," Theriault said, his eyes like voids as his anger rose to a high.

Sawyer rushed forward, kicking out toward the boy, who dodged and grabbed him by the ankle, throwing him to the side swiftly.

"Is it not true? The girl you could never say no to, the girl you loved... The girl who played you, is that not why you chose a female companion who gives off such an innocent vibe, you probably wanted that feeling again..." Sawyer said, rushing Theriault.

"Am I right!" Sawyer yelled as he punched down at Theriault.

The black-haired man quickly put his hands up, his body flying backward through the house and out the other side.

"Nah, you're not right, she's just too weak to be left on her own... Completely useless to me, that's why she's by my side, she's a paperweight... And that's all," Theriault jumped up and slammed his shoulder into Sawyer's chest, grabbing the man by the hair and twisting his body around, slamming his elbow into Sawyer's nose.

Sawyer grunted as he fell back, rolling onto his knees and trying to catch his breath. Theriault looked at him with a cold expression and then grabbed him by the throat.

"And what will my son be to you? Even if I let you take him on a journey, I wouldn't be able to ensure he'd be safe, no offense my heart, but you are a magnet for trouble."

Theriault squeezed harder, "He'd be just like you were, my soul, strong Keymasters are hard to come by..."

Theriault stopped talking as a large mango flew by his ear, the sheer rub of the sonic-flying fruit was enough to cut into his skin, letting the blood drip from his earlobe.

"So he'd be someone to throw away and abandon for 80 years then?" Sawyer said, knocking Theriault's hand off his throat and raising his hand, "Nah, I don't think so."

The Cornucopia flew into Sawyer's hand, glowing gold in the grooves as Ariana and Shen Yi stood in the middle of the two.

"How far are you two going to go? And bringing out the family's sacred treasure? Are you hoping to destroy the entire city?" Ariana glared at the two.

Shen Yi looked at Theriault, not sure what to think about him. 'He'll tell me when he tells me then I guess,' She thought, accepting that she wouldn't learn anything until Theriault revealed it to her.

Theriault looked at both of them, "It doesn't matter, there is nothing more important than my best interest.

"What about our best interest?" Sawyer asked.

Theriault smirked at this, looking past Shen Yi. "Do you know why your father left Sawyer? Because he saw the world as an adventure, a place to roam free unharmed, challenging the hierarchy of the keys. He understood its importance, and you wanna know his main goal? Finding the master key and making that wish..."

Sawyer gritted his teeth at the mention of his father, looking at Theriault with an enraged expression before he calmed down a bit.

"I..." Sawyer started, stopping abruptly and taking a deep breath, "Am tired of this... Let me go, and let's talk later..."

With that, Sawyer lost the joy of fighting, it had been ruined by the intervention, and for good reason. The last time he'd fought with Theriault for real, an entire city was leveled.

Theriault sighed as he lowered his hand, turning around, "Well then, I suggest we all get some sleep, tomorrow might be my last day, and there's a lot to think over..."

***

When Theriault walked out into the morning sun, the entire street was silent. Of course, there was no one around, they'd been massacred long ago.

Theriault shrugged, breathing in a deep breath of fresh air as he looked around.

"Huh, could have sworn you were going to ruin this moment with your presence..." Theriault muttered.

"Ah, how naive of you to say that little Theriault," The Skeleton said, appearing next to Theriault.

"Ah, I spoke too soon."

Theriault looked at him, seeing the dark blue skin of his companion's face, the glowing yellow eyes. His features were so much more human than Theriault had ever been able to see, yet he was the most monstrous thing Theriault could name.

"How dare you interrupt my peaceful meditation, you're lucky I'm not killing you right now," Theriault said, throwing in some light humor, but he wasn't feeling it.

"But you are." The Skeleton said, smiling.

Theriault looked at his skeletal companion, and then back at the ground. "Yeah... What do you want? Come to warn me about some ancient prophecy that says I'll be the chosen one and I need to fight the main bad guy?"

"No of course not, I'm here to talk about the stops you are taking... I woke you during this time for a reason boy, are you going to make me regret it?"

Theriault ignored it, turning and walking down the street.

"You can never have a happy conversation huh? It's all moody death and black roses with your bony ass."

The Skeleton smirked as it faded until it was translucent and started to follow the black-haired man, walking behind him in silence.

***

Sawyer heard a knock on his door as he woke up from his slumber, feeling drowsy and sore as if he had overdone it chopping trees.

"Father?" A voice said as Sawyer fully awoke, seeing Hunter with his bright orange hair standing in front of the doorway.

"Can we talk?" He asked, fidgeting a bit

Sawyer nodded, waving his son in and sitting up in bed.

"We need to talk," Hunter said, looking at the wall before sighing, "About your old friend, is he the same one from the stories?"

"Yes..." Sawyer said, sighing as he could tell from the way this boy's face lit up that whatever decision he made wouldn't matter, his son had chosen the adventurous, hunted, and revolutionary side, and there was nothing he could do stop it.

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