After scaring Asher and placing him in danger, Pinpin felt guilty. Hence, he was assisting the little master find his way home.
Pinpin brushed his hand through his honey-brown hair and sighed. He glanced downwards at Asher's messy dark hair in curiosity and wonder. Feeling a gaze on him, Asher tilted his head, and his dark blue eyes met Pinpin's golden ones.
"Is there something you want to say?"
"N-no. Sorry for staring."
Asher nodded silently as he walked slightly behind Pinpin, his slim legs not keeping up with Pinpin's long ones. His mind was muddled with thoughts about his brother's sudden change in character. Maybe Kio was disappointed that the past Asher had nothing to do with magic?
Despite his ignorance towards this world's Asher, he knew that the past Asher had never studied anything related to magic. The body and mind that was left behind had no idea how to conjure or manipulate magic. There was no shred of magical knowledge in this young body.
Pinpin paid no mind to Asher's silence. His hands were behind the base of his head as he whistled rhythmically, quickly gaining the small boy's attention.
Seeing the massive estate up ahead, Pinpin turned and said with a smile, "Well, here we are! Home sweet home!"
"If you ever need me, then yell out 'Pinpin, save me!'"
The man smiled playfully trying to lift Asher's spirits. However, his smile appeared to be a bit forced as he began worrying. "And please don't tell Mister Arthur about what happened today. I really can't lose my job, okay?"
After receiving a nod from Asher, Pinpin's entire body relaxed as a carefree smile graced his expression. He playfully bowed and laughed while bidding his goodbye. Seeing Pinpin's back as he left made a small smile appear on Asher's face. At least he managed to gain an acquaintance, despite the strange circumstances.
Before Asher managed to get inside the estate, Archer was immediately beside him with the same scrutinizing smile he constantly wore. His lustrous silver eyes narrowed dangerously as he stared at Asher's dirty and disheveled appearance.
"No, this won't do. This isn't how the youngest master of the Pierce household should be portrayed as."
Immediately after saying this, Archer took the filthy Asher in his capable arms and escorted him to the smaller one's room. Asher, already knowing what was to become of him, only sighed in discontent as he allowed Archer to do his way with him.
Archer had just arrived at the room, and he was already throwing Asher into a bathtub for him to remove half a day's grime. He quickly yet gently washed Asher from head to toe, not even allowing the small boy to open his mouth to speak or complain.
After the rushed bath, Archer smiled in content as he gazed at the recently cleaned young master. Who would've thought that on the same second that he arrived, the youngest master would appear as a pig that had just taken a mud bath?
Asher pouted as his eyes trailed elsewhere, not allowing himself to stare at the capable yet pushy butler in front of him. Despite knowing Asher was escaping his gaze, Archer smiled coolly and bowed.
"Forgive me, Young Master Asher. I wasn't aware that the man selected to be your caretaker would end up relinquishing his responsibilities in order to go back to his precious garden. Just how irresponsible is your father. Knowing you didn't have someone attending you, he didn't arrange for someone else to take care of you..."
Archer sighed and shook his head while Asher frowned. His father knew he was without a butler or maid? Why didn't he send anyone to aid him?
"Because of this, my duties have been neglected, so I have to go and quickly finish them before I accompany you anywhere. Young Master, I ask of you to stay here for the time of being while I quickly finish my duties."
Bowing once more, Archer turned around to leave the room. Seeing how Archer was leaving, Asher didn't hesitate to grip the back of his suit, making the butler stop and turn his head to look at the young master.
"Yes, young master?"
Asher blushed. He didn't want to admit it, but the reserved and mysterious butler had grown on him. These last few days without him has been torture. There was no one around to help him get dressed in those fancy and weird clothes!
"... Welcome back," Asher said as he gained the courage to look Archer in the eyes and smile. His cheeks were tainted pink in embarrassment as his body shook slightly.
Seeing the young master's timid appearance made the butler chuckle lightly and ruffle the little one's head. Asher's cheeks burned as he stared at Archer's rare and genuine smile.
"Thank you, Young Master."
Archer left the room leaving Asher all alone with a fresh set of clothes. Pithos hasn't made an appearance since the game of hide-and-seek. Actually, Pithos seemed to have gotten hurt before Asher chased him down.
Recalling this, Asher frowned. He felt disappointed in himself. First of all, he let a precious friend get hurt while fulfilling his childish needs. Second of all, how could he not notice the pain laced with Pithos' meow?
Asher buried himself in the fluffy blankets of his bed and sighed. "I'm sorry, Pithos..."
Closing his eyes softly, the young boy shifted his body to discover the best position to sleep in. Finally, he achieved his goal. His hand went under the pillow as he snuggled deeper into the mattress. Just when Asher was about to fall asleep, his hand fell into... a hole?
Asher uncovered his eyes and lifted the pillow. However, there was nothing there. Confusion overtook Asher as his eyes glinted with curiosity. Did the past Asher hid something important of his inside the mattress?
Overtook by anticipation and renewed vigor, the young boy wasted no time in throwing the bed's sheets and the pillows to the ground, leaving the bed barren. His eyes observed intently the place that was once under the pillows as his hands traveled all around. Despite Asher's willful thinking, he found nothing.
Frowning, the young boy searched harder. He had definitely felt something. It wasn't something he imagined. If it was something truly important, then no wonder the past Asher would try to hide it so well. Besides, the maids clean this room every day, and they have found nothing. In other words, finding it won't be as easy as he had once imagined.
Asher stopped searching and leaned against the bed as he thought of an idea. Since he was a game creator in his past life, he had grown both intrigued and creative when writing his character's back-story and magical powers. There was one in particular that could find anything that had once belonged to him if he thought of the object while using his magic. While it was indeed a brilliant idea that Asher could use, he has no idea how to handle his powers and whether he had any at all. Judging from Kio's reaction, he could be able to guess he does have at least some magical prowess.
Asher hoped that controlling magic would be the same as what he had once imagined it would be. He also hoped that, despite the soul inside the body was different, the object he wished to find would react to his powers and appear before him.
Without any further ado, Asher began trying to use his magical prowess, but to no avail. No matter how hard he imagined himself being able to find and sense objects that had once belonged to him, he wasn't able to use magic.
"Meow."
Pithos' blackish tail swished from side to side as he narrowed his ruby eyes towards Asher. Gracefully walking on his four legs towards Asher, he placed his soft paw on Asher's hand and closed his eyes. Surrounding Pithos was intense red energy that gradually began to surround Asher.
Asher dared not to open his eyes. He felt Pithos' presence in front of him; the energy that both were sharing. It was warm, pleasant, peaceful. The compatibility of their energies was indeed a rather strange one. Red mixed with blue, swirling together and creating a wondrous deep purple.
Both Pithos and Asher opened their eyes at the same time. Their once ruby red and sapphire blue orbs were now shrouded with a purple mist. Neither of them was in control; they are one. They work together as one.
Pithos observed the plain, naked bed with interest. He sauntered over to a specific side of the bed and buried his paws inside of it. Despite his efforts, nothing appeared. Of course, it wouldn't work. They have to work as one, after all.
Appearing as if he were possessed, Asher followed Pithos' previous movements. Both of them, paw in hand, closed their eyes, and exerted their energies. Since this was Asher's first time manipulating the energy he possessed, Pithos naturally took the lead. He was a mighty beast, after all. If he couldn't utilize his magic for such a simple matter, then he didn't deserve to stand beside his precious human.
Finally, after so much work, he was finally able to unveil the secret he was longing to uncover. Opening his eyes, both Asher and Pithos' witnessed a bright, blue light quickly flash before disappearing as if nothing had ever happened. Asher blinked in confusion as Pithos calmly licked his fur. He had witnessed stronger magic, after all.
Right before Asher's eyes was a worn-out wooden box. It held strange, magical carvings that Asher assumed was the reason why it was so hard to find and so well hidden. The box appeared to have been used quite a lot. The edges were worn out; the shine the box once had now disappeared, and there were small pieces of wood sticking out.
Curiosity taking a hold of him, Asher couldn't help but open the box with excitement. He had finally found a personal possession from the past Asher. Maybe with this, Asher can finally understand everything.
Before taking a look at the box's contents, Asher gratefully smiled towards Pithos. "Thank you so much, Pithos. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to find this."
Inside the wooden box were a few letters addressed to his family. There was one letter for each family member, including one for himself.
Maybe this was a time capsule? Asher's eyes brightened as he thought of the possibility of the box containing precious memories. As a young child in his previous world, he had always wanted to do one of these. However, he had no friend to do it with, so he had relinquished the thought. Who knew the past Asher had the same intentions!
Smiling joyously, Asher took out all the letters. Right at the bottom of the box was an old and worn out picture. The picture was greatly taken care of by the past Asher. "It must have been his own personal treasure..." Asher whispered with an affectionate smile as he carefully took the picture, being extremely gentle and handling it as if it was his own.
In the picture, there was a happy family. His family. Asher's father, Arthur, held a young Asher in his arms while smiling broadly and sitting beside Nikola. His mother Nikola was sitting on the ground while holding a blushing Kio that tried to hide his face away from the camera. Ian was between their parents while holding both of their hands. His childish grin was a refreshing sight to behold.
The beautiful picture must've been a fond memory of the past Asher. It was such a shame that the old Asher was gone and that in his place was the current Asher. Asher warm smile turned sad as he held the picture close to his heart. Seeing this picture reminded him of his family back in his own world. Initially, he was certain that the fact that he would never see his parents again wouldn't cause him much trouble. Who knew Asher had become a great liar?
Asher's blue orbs darkened as silent tears traveled across his pinkish cheeks. He was such an ungrateful child. He tried forgetting all about his parents. The way his mother's capable arms comforted him whenever he was ill. The way his father always fussed about Asher whenever he pushed himself too far while working. His parents always wanted the best for him; they wanted him to have a fulfilling life. However, because of his ignorance and oblivious nature, he chose to disregard this and continued to work hard to support them both.
"I'm sorry, mom and dad. This son has failed you," Asher sobbed out painfully. Why? Why did it hurt now? Why can't he just forget about them? About everything?
Pithos had been sitting silently beside Asher. He saw the picture. He saw his human's reaction to the picturesque family that was once his. Frowning ever so slightly, he nuzzled his face against Asher's arm to console him.
Asher forced out a smile out of habit. He petted Pithos' forehead as he closed his eyes and deeply breathed in and out. He needed to calm down. Asher is all alone now in a totally different world. There is no time for such trivial matters such as wondering what could have been.
"Thank you for comforting me, Pithos. What would it do without you?" He said gently. Truly, his only companion in this life was his beloved furry feline.
Calming himself down to some degree, Asher decided it was time to read the letters. His red, swollen eyes and tear-stained cheeks didn't matter much anymore. He had released everything he had bottled up. Or at least, that was what he believed.
Taking the letter addressed to himself, he carefully unfolded it and slowly read the contents. His expression went from slightly calm to surprised, then confused and hurt. Finally, deep sadness and regret filled his eyes as he quickly shut them closed.
After reading the letter, everything felt heavy. The atmosphere, his heart, his tears. Asher couldn't breathe properly as he tightly clutched the letter, creating wrinkles on the once smooth paper.
"It hurts! Pithos, it hurts so much! Archer, please come!"
He yelled out. His voice was laced with deep sadness and regret. Pithos, who had observed the whole ordeal was startled and confused as he rapidly ran out of the room to search for the butler. The problem his little human was currently facing... he won't be able to survive long in that state.