"Abel!" Audu's loud voiced boomed through the house the moment the young man opened the front door. Abel sighed lowly and shook his head. It seemed Audu had gotten impatient while he was away.
Pulling off his shoes and pushing them to the side, Abel ventured into the house barefooted. Audu sat cross legged on a soft, puffy mat. He held up his head with his hand, leaning on a low table that was placed before him. His eyes looked remarkably clear for someone who was so drunk he couldn't speak properly only a few hours ago.
"I thought you were drunk?" Abel asked as he took a seat on a mat that was opposite the older man. He gently placed the crate of wine beside himself, patting the closed wooden lid.
"Did you get it?" Audu eyed the crate.
"Yes, but before I hand them over, I want some answers." He leveled Audu with a firm gaze.
"Are you using a tone on me, young man? I raised you ever since you were a tiny, pooping baby!" Audu looked exasperated.
"Err, you won't be able to guilt trip me into dropping the questions, old man. You should have known they were coming for a while now." Abel ignored the older man's antiques.
"Fine." Audu grumbled under his breath, "Ask away."
"Good. First of all, you're Heaven's Swordsman?!" Abel jumped to the first question that had been bothering him for the past couple of weeks. His head had never fully wrapped around the idea that the man who had raised him, and the man who he looked up to was 'the Heaven's Swordsman'!
"Yeah, yeah. It shouldn't be all that surprising at this point. I've given you plenty of time to let it sink in." Audu waved his hand in a way that meant he had no care for the matter.
"Still!" Abel bristled. "I've been living with you for what, twenty years, and you never even cared to tell me?!"
"It never came up!"
"Bah! You old fogey! I'm sure you just forgot! You're lazy that way!"
The two of them hurled words back and forth for a couple more minutes before they settled down.
"Wow, I still can't believe you're such a legendary figure." Abel ran his hand down his face and sighed.
"Yeah, well get over it. Now, give me my alcohol."
"I'm not done with my questions just yet."
Abel asked a few more questions about Audu's origins, which the old man answered as vaguely as possible. He completely ignored the questions he didn't want to answer, leaving Abel at a loss for words.
"Fine, if you won't answer those questions, at least answer this. Where did you vanish to last week?" Abel sat forward, his elbows digging into his knees.
"Oh that?" Audu sipped on the wine that Abel had poured him. He swirled the cup around, peering into it to have a look at its dark red contents. "... I went to complete my Final Trial."
Audu's words brought with it a blanket of total silence. Abel only watched the older man with wide eyes. Being able to challenge your Final Trial meant that you had embarked on the final stretch of your journey to Godhood! This declaration wasn't simple at all!
"Forget about me for a bit. It seemed like you had something else on your mind at the beginning of this little questioning session." Audu broke the silence.
"Ah, yeah..." Abel woke up from his stunned state as thoughts of Nicolas came back to him. He had been so engrossed in his little session with Audu that the thoughts of the young boy had been pushed to the back of his mind.
"There's this kid I met at the wine shop today." Abel started. "At first, it seemed he was just timid, but from his interaction with his father, I was able to glean a bit more details on the matter."
"And?" Audu quirked a brow.
"I think his father might be abusive. Either that, or he's maltreating Nick someway." Abel clenched his fist. "I'm not too sure, but from what I saw, I have a pretty good idea that something is going on behind the scenes."
"So? What do you want to do about it? Get to the point, please." Audu groaned as he nursed his cup of wine. A faint blush had already started spreading around his nose, a tell-tale sign that he was at least tipsy. Abel knew he had to round up his discussion soon.
"I asked to meet this night. Perhaps I can get something out of him. Anything. I just wasn't comfortable seeing that and leaving matters as it is."
Audu sighed and placed his head against the table.
"Abel." The old man called. "Do you think it's okay to go about, meddling in people's business?"
"No."
"Good. Well then, if you want to know, I found you abandoned in an alley way. I felt it was wrong for a parent to abandon such a child to fend for themselves, so even as broke as I was, I did what any stupid, selfish, old fool would have done. I picked you up, took you in, cared for you, and raised you up into the respectable young man you are today... What I mean to say, Abel, is that you shouldn't turn your back on people who need it." Audu stood up from the table.
"Do as you wish, Abel. Just know that there will forever be consequences of your actions, whether positive, or negative."
With that said, the aged man carried his open bottle of wine and walked away, leaving Abel sitting down at the table, absorbed in his thoughts.
"The old man's right. What am I still doing, sitting around here like some lost puppy? I gotta get going!" Abel jumped to his feet and ran to the front door, quickly pulling on his shoes.
"I'll be back later tonight, gramps!" With those words, Abel set off down the winding path that connected the town and their small home on the hill.