Going home

bursting through the doors of the inn Alex headed up the stairs to his father's room.

"dad I need your help to make sure she's fine".

Paul nodded, as he followed his son up to the room, worried for the safety of his wife.

"don't worry, she's just unconscious but being in a crystal, she might have absorbed too much mana, that might end up in her being a Miko, but I don't know what kind of ability she might gain".

Alex tried to reassure him but only made it worse if you judge the look on his face.

his mother was waking up in his arms, as her eyes fluttered open, and looked up at him.

"A-A-A-".

(she can talk, at least make a sound, that was good... right?)

walking into the room and placing her down carefully on the bed.

conjuring water and a cup with magic, he sat Zenith up and gave her the water to drink.

she coughed as Paul rubbed her back comfortingly as he wiped the spilled water.

"... Mom, how are you?".

Alex asked, holding his breath, not wanting to use the Avalon.

"A-Alex".

he released a sigh of relief.

(good, she can still talk, now all I need to do is call Ace and we can go back).

"Alex, Who's Ace?".

"..."

"..."

his eyebrows shot up in surprise, she could still read minds, that might be because she didn't spend as much time in the crystal as before.

"Ace is my pet, you'll love him, Im sure".

he answered while looking at his father's confused expression, looks like he still ain't get it.

"...what just happened?".

Paul asked, looking from his son to his wife.

"looks like she can read minds".

"..."

"..."

they both remained silent, just looking at him, and the silence stretched for a little while before-.

""WHAT?!"".

___

they spent two weeks in the inn, he had to recover the used holy power and Zenith had to relearn how to walk, and Ilia, Paul, and her had a lot of catching up to do...

(wonder what Ace is doing right now, probably eating a griffin, or some fish).

the three as he later found out, stayed behind and collected everything they could, like the scales of the hydra and... other remains.

the sum ended up being a huge amount so they divided everything... more like Alex gave them the equal amount since technically he was the only one who killed the Hydra, he had enough to retire and not worry about anything... probably.

but now it was time to leave, the team was offered a ride but they declined, Roxy was heading to the demon continent to her parents, geese, and Talhand ware heading to the holy capital so they had to part ways.

they walked a little distance away from the town, Paul, Iliya, and Zenith were looking at Alex with an expectant gaze.

who wouldn't, he told them that he had a pet dragon.

looking up to the sky, he flared his holy power for a few seconds then suppressed it again.

his parents were looking expectancy, a few minutes passed and as they were about to sign in resignation, a roar was heard, followed by a flapping of wings.

they looked to the sky, sing a giant figure with four wings, two horns, a large tail, and what looked like it only had two legs.

"I thought you said it was a dragon, it only has two legs".

Paul deadpanned, looking over to his son with a raised eyebrow.

"it's a different species, not all dragons have four legs dad".

Alex returned the stare as Ace landed in front of him, kicking up sand.

when it settled they sweatdropped at the sight.

the dragon -Ace- was licking Alex like an overgrown puppy.

"..."

"..."

"..."

it took a moment for the scene to sink in, then the two women squealed, though one managed to hide it somewhat.

"Cute!"

"that is cute, yes".

they had an agreement, no one could stop them if they wanted cuddles now.

Ace suddenly felt a shiver go down his spine and looked over to the two females, then at his master, then at the females again, before giving puppy dog eyes to Alex.

"you know I can't help you bud if they ware anyone else I would cut off their heads, but I can't with them, they're my parents".

Ace gave him a pointed look while remembering a certain red-haired woman that hugged him even when he grew bigger than her.

"Well Eris is special to me, and admit it you like her too".

Ace grumbled and looked away, not responding to the statement.

he looked at the woman with blonde hair that had the same smell as his master.

with what accounted to a sigh for dragons he resigned himself to his fate.

[I just hope she can't squeeze as hard as the one with red hair].

"red hair? You mean little Eris?".

asked Zenith, getting an alarmed look from ace.

"don't worry bud, she can read minds if she focuses, so she can talk to you".

Alex answered the unasked question.

[...I like her already].

"Awww... I like you too Ace!".

Zenith jumped at him, arms around the dragon's neck and legs dangling above the ground, she wasn't tall enough.

"well, things will get interesting".

Paul laughed, scratching the back of his head.

Alex smiled at the same time as he felt the Little holy power he left inside Geese, he was close, so he could feel it clearly, he could also feel Eris, it was faint but it was still there.

soon he would get rid of a pest, and he would enjoy every few seconds of it.

after all, he had gotten his mother back, fireworks were in order.