Early in the morning, Rick zaps the road from Jess's grandparent's towards the Merlin's residence. Rick need to tell Will immediately about their change of plan or else, Will who usually acts in advance could do things for nothing.
"Mom, I'll be back later!" Rick only left those words as he passes by his house and sees his mother through an open window.
"What nonsense are you spouting about? You haven't been back since yesterday!" Miss Thompson's shout reverberates throughout the neighborhood. She has been looking through this window early in the morning, hoping to catch the figure of his son who seemingly forgotten his home.
Rick rings the Merlin's doorbell. A few minutes later, Claire opens the door and looks at him with wonder. "Rick? Your so early today. Do you guys have something planned this early? Will and Sean are probably still asleep…" Claire looks upstairs with a troubled expression.
"No, it's okay aunt Claire. We have nothing planned for today. I'm here because I have something urgent to tell Will…" Rick replies vaguely.
"Is that so?... We will go out soon so we can't give Will a message for you. You can only wait for him to wake up." Claire looks at Rick with scrutinizing eyes. Last night, her son was acting strange so she figured that he fought and lost his friends. She believe that something like that wouldn't happen between Will and Rick but if that actually happened, it wouldn't be her son's fault. " Rick, did something happen to Will?. Did you two fight? He looked so depressed last night and wouldn't tell us the details. What we know is that he was so pessimistic and unsure of himself for the very first time… He said that he was hurting people unknowingly…"
"That…" Rick have no idea that something like that happened. He looks at Claire with troubled eyes an didn't know how to explain. "Aunt Claire, it wasn't me. I swear… t-there was some girl who likes him but he don't like her back! That's it!" Rick explain vaguely. He could only ask for Jess's forgiveness in his heart. "Will have someone else he likes…. But we have no idea who… maybe they're someone from the capital?"
Suddenly, Claire's eyes sparkles after hearing this. "Really? So it was a teenage love triangle?... Oh my, it's happening to my Will. I knew this would happen sooner or later… do you know something else? Tell me the details!" Claire ushers Rick inside to sit on the couch.
"What's that about love triangle?" Liam also appears with a cup of coffee in hand.
"Honey, do you know our Will is so popular and a lot of girls are chasing after him? He was acting so strange last night because he probably unknowingly hurt a girl! Rick says that Will probably likes another girl in the capital city!..." Claire beckons her husband over and excitedly explains like a squealing teenage girl.
"I'm so sorry aunt Claire! But that girl is someone like my friend!... Like a distant friend, not a current close friend or anything like that!" Rick can't let them know that it was Jess. "I can't tell you the details… also, that's all I know myself…"
"So, that whole fuss last night wasn't about a fight with you and Will?" Liam sits down on Rick's other side, trapping him between him and his wife.
"Of course! Something like that wouldn't happen to us! You know me and Will! If something goes wrong with our friendship, it would probably most likely be my fault, and you know that I would come straight to your doorstep and beg for his forgiveness! You can be rest assured with that!" Rick straightens his back and says this firmly.
"Of course, we know that…" Liam laughs.
"So, it really wasn't as big deal as we thought… Will can lose as many girl as he want but he can't lose a best friend, right?" Claire smiles at Rick cordially. "So, do you know anything about the girl that Will likes? Did he tell you something like her details? Is she pretty? Wait, more importantly, how old would she be? Did Will meet her at work?..." Claire asks persistently.
Rick swallows a large gulp. He can't possibly tell them that it wasn't a girl, and it's not someone from the capital city either. It was Sean who is living with them and Will and him are having a very romantic and skin-deep relationship. "I'm sorry aunt Claire, but Will didn't tell any details. You know that he isn't someone so talkative about his personal matter like that…" Rick also couldn't lie in details or Claire and Liam would become too hopeful in meeting Will's imaginary girlfriend. He wouldn't have any way out if they happen to know that it was all Rick's lie.
"Is that so?... You're right… but I'm so looking forward to one day that our son will introduce us to his girlfriend!" Claire says and looks at her husband with gleaming eyes.
"You're right! I want to see my beautiful grandchildren soon!" Liam says and replies to his wife with equally bright gleaming eyes.
"Oh! Our grand children! I want as many as six of them!" Claire and Liam stands up and starts discussing names for their grandchildren.
Rick is left on the couch, dying in guilt. He's so sorry for them that they wouldn't have any grandson from Will at all. Not with Will and Sean.
Not long after, Clair and Liam happily left Rick a few words and then finally head out.
"I'm so sorry…" Rick mutters as he close the door. Now that matter is settled, but there's still another one. He needs to tell Will that him and Jess won't come with him in the capital city, however, Rick couldn't tell this to Sean.
Rick couldn't simply stay still and nervously phase around the living room. Rick can't let Sean know this because he might ask why. If Rick tells him that the reason was because he don't want to climb on Will's back for success, Sean might find this offensive because this is what Will suggested for the former to do and he readily agreed. Also, if Tom is awake and happens to hear their conversation while Rick is bringing up Will and Rick's relationship card as the reason, this would turn even more complicated.
Rick should just tell this to Will privately. Will is so simple to tell anything even if it's a grave matter. He wouldn't ask that much and it will end just like that without any fuss.
Rick slowly climbs upstairs and head for Will's room. Rick often comes here so he knows exactly where it is.
"It's open?..." Rick murmurs when he realizes that the door seems caved in. He slowly push it open to make sure it won't make a sound because Tom and Sean's rooms are just on the other side.
Will's dim room comes in display in Rick's vision. The curtain with light-blue and white line patterns is still drawn and the faint features of the stuffs inside is still as prim and proper as always. Rick slowly closes the door behind him and didn't see the lines of complex pattern gleam abruptly.
Then, Rick gets the chair from the study table and sits on it facing Will's bed. He need to make a speech about their reasons so that Will would understand that Jess and Him don't mean to waste his efforts. Rick takes in and out a few deep breath and then slowly slides off the blanket from the top of Will's head. He can't afford to give Will a bad wake up or he might get irritated.
"Was Will this big before?..." Rick mutters. Then, two heads of soft and beautiful hair comes in display to blind Rick. There are two people sleeping on the bed.
Rick jerks in surprise and abruptly stands up. His ability unconsciously activates causing the chair to topple over and hit the carpet with a thump.
On the bed, Will is facing the wall while Sean is hugging him from behind like a koala. Sean wraps Will's stomach with both arms with his face buried on the latter's nape. Under the covers, the figures of their legs appears to be tangled in a mesh.
Rick looks at this beautiful scene with wide gaped mouth and freeze in time.
Because of the noise, the two on the bed inevitably awakens.
"Will… what was that?..." Sean sleepily mutters close to Will's ear.
"I didn't lock the door last night…" Will is trying to say that he purposely left the door open last night because he didn't want for Sean to get himself locked in the room once again.
"Why didn't you tell me?..."
"We were having a good time last night. I didn't even realize when I fell asleep…" Will and Sean had a good time having a hearty talk.
"Oh yeah… But I thought you locked the door…" Sean thought that it was locked with the same energy recognizing effect like last time and didn't bother waking Will up just so he could get out. One thing led to another and they ended up sleeping on the same bed.
"You're right… I don't know if mom, dad, and Tom heard us last night…" Will is worried because they were talking about something regarding their sexuality. "That felt so good… I slept well…" But Sean creasing his hair felt so good and he slept very well.
"You like that? Do you want me to do that often?..." Sean decided last night to be bold when it comes to Will. This might trigger Will to feel conscious of him. Just like how Sean became conscious to the latter due to some misunderstanding.
"Really? That would be great…" Will honestly likes that idea. Will have no experience to a cordial act as nice as having his hair creased. Will was initially awkward in his first few years since he still haven't realized that he was reincarnated back then. He was basically an alien to this new world where familial affection is actually a thing. Claire thought that Will don't like his head being creased as a baby and didn't insist.
"Okay then… I liked the feeling too…" Sean is glad too because Will's hair is so nice to feel.
This is just a normal, not sensual at all conversation for Will and Sean but not for Rick. Rick could only stand there dumbfounded while listening to their pillowtalk. What Rick heard are the two's lethargic bed conversation tinted with something so intimate and sensual. "Will… what was that?..." "I didn't lock the door last night…" "Why didn't you tell me?..." "We were having a good time last night. I didn't even realize when I fell asleep…" "Oh yeah… But I thought you locked the door…" "You're right… I don't know if mom, dad, and Tom heard us last night… That felt so good… I slept well…" "You like that? Do you want me to do that often?..." "Really? That would be great…" "Okay then… I liked the feeling too…"
No matter how many times Rick replaces and substitute other possible meanings to Will and Sean's conversation just now wouldn't fit except about how nice their sex was last night.
Rick tremblingly crawls the floor slowly towards the door. He carefully grab the doorknob however, it wouldn't turn. Rick curses internally. He looks back to check if the two on the bed notices his movements and the noise he is making. He then see their figures moving and wrap each other even more.
"This feels very nice too…" Will turns around and hug Sean back. He buries his face on Sean's soft and slightly cool hair.
"Yes… do you want to do this often too?..." Sean asks and buries his face on Will's warm chest and devour his scent.
"Are you fine with that?" Will raise his hand and creases Sean's hair. It's so silky and smooth.
Rick witness this and realizes that if he still couldn't get out right the next moment, he will be stuck here and be blinded and deafened to what private act that the two are about to do any time soon. He desperately twist, turn, and pull the doorknob but for some unknown reason, it wouldn't even budge. His ability unconsciously activates due to his panic, making the whole door vibrate.
Will and Sean on the bed suddenly feels the sonic vibration permeating the room and even penetrates deep under their skins and onto their bones. It feels as if an upbeat soundless music suddenly starts playing from a large stereo speaker somewhere in the room. They abruptly sit up and immediately sees Rick's blurred figure struggling in opening the door.
"Rick?..." Will could easily tell by the blurred figure who it is, however, he couldn't understand what is happening to that person right now. He looks like he's being electrocuted. He never enchanted the door with anything like that at all.
"Rick? Did you lock yourself in?..." Sean seeing Rick's desperate look could empathize with him.
"I left it open last night… did you stay the night inside too?" Will stands up and heads to Rick to stop him from breaking the door.
"Of course not! I only got here just now!..." Rick urgently explains while his voice glitches with incredibly short frequency.
Will looks at Rick and hesitantly reaches his hand for the doorknob. The door's (blank) is already creaking and Will could tell that it's almost breaking apart. At this rate, the door will fall on top of their heads. Will touches the doorknob and the enchantment on it returns into his hand. With this, the doorknob finally turns and the door suddenly opens, causing Rick to almost fall on his ass. Good thing that Will was able to grab him by his arm. Rick could feel Will's warm hand clutching tightly on his arms. Rick vaguely knows what this hand has been grabbing all this time so he immediately shake it off as if a bug landed on him. Will looks at the Rick and his hand that suddenly got rejected so harshly with confusion. Rick could only look at the former awkwardly with troubled and guilty expression.
"Why?… are you here this early? Do you have something important to say?..." Will asks skeptically. His hand still throbs in pain from being smacked away just now.
Rick looks Will with his sorry eyes but he could also see Sean coming over from the corner of his vision. How should Rick say that he and Jess wouldn't be able to come with them without stepping on anyone's landmines? Rick knows that Sean is a very reasonable person but he can't always just take that for granted even at this time. It's proven that Sean had an issue with Will yesterday because of some misunderstanding that Will couldn't even figure out. What if Sean turns disheartened and wouldn't go along with Will's offer anymore?
Rick and Jess's situation is completely different from Sean's. They could just give up this precious opportunity but it's not the same for Sean at all. Sean needs to grab this chance to work up in life so he could face his tyrannical wealthy parents and block them from doing whatever unreasonable thing they want to do to him. Also, unlike Rick and Jess, Sean have the skills and brains to actually utilize this opportunity and have the highest chance to succeed in life alongside Will.
Not only that, if Sean wouldn't go along with Will because of guilt by Rick's words, it will be in his hands in splitting apart these love birds. They only just recently got back together too.
"... Is it something you can't say in front of me? I should go back first then.." Sean says seeing Rick's reluctant and desperate expression while looking at his direction.
"Actually…" Rick heaves a sigh of resignation. This wouldn't be kept a secret soon anyway, Sean will naturally ask them once he leave with Will with the absence of two people from the original plan. Now that Sean's here, Rick couldn't just leave him out too. He just need to choose his words carefully. "…Jess and I decided to stay in the ardent city"
"Really?... Why?" Sean's eyes widen in surprise.
Rick's irises shifts fidgety around the room, desperately avoiding Will and Sean's figure. "Because… we couldn't just leave tom!... That's right. Tom would be too lonely without his two big brothers right?... Jess and I are also reluctant to leave our parents here… considering…" Rick searches his brains for some plausible reasons. "considering that the dark mountain is nearby! That monster invasion also happened too! Three years ago!..."
Will observes Rick carefully and then thinks for himself. What Rick said is right. Tom will be left behind alone during his vacation. Tom is very close with Sean, Jess, and Rick since he consider them as his playmate inside the VR world. It will be too much for him if they all leave him at once. Of course they could still meet inside the VR world but that would be something completely different. More importantly, Will would also feel at ease in leaving two more powerful ability users to protect the city and his family.
"Is this something you have been thinking about?..." Sean asks. He still couldn't piece together anything about what happened to Jess and Rick yesterday but maybe this have something to do with that.
"Yes we talked about this deeply yesterday. We are sure about this decision… and actually…" Rick looks at Sean with sincerity. "We're not confident that we won't waste this opportunity unlike you, Sean. You need this opportunity and I'm sure you will be able to utilize this to the fullest. You shouldn't worry about us and put yourself first…"
Will couldn't say anything for a long while but ultimately release a sigh. "If this is what you have decided and thought up this much, then, we can't force you. Thank you for thinking about Tom as well…"
Rick wipe the sweat on his forehead and he looks at Will and Sean with exaggerated relief. " Thank you for your understanding Will… I'm so sorry for barging in Will. You could continue what your doing. I'll see my way out… I still need to explain myself to my mom for not coming home last night…" Rick left this words and then walks out with his burdens reduced from weighing his shoulders.
Will sees Rick's figure and could only stay puzzled but the latter's bazaar body language. He knows rick don't usually act this jumpy before. He's usually jumpy due to his excitement, not anxiousness.
"I should go get changed too" Sean says this and walk pass Will and head to his room's door.
"Sean…" Will grabs the other by his wrist and stop him from grabbing his doorknob.
"Will?..." Sean turns around and look's at the other with winder.
Will looks at Tom's door and then grab Sean back to his room. Sean could only get dragged by Will with puzzlement.
"What is it Will?" Sean asks nervously seeing the other's grave expression. His heart is starting to raise for some reason. Is it because he hugged him as they slept on his bed? Will couldn't have minded, that could he?
Will makes Sean sit back on the bed and then enchant the Walls. "We should also change our plan… I decided to stay for five days to let Rick and Jess have time to settle the things they will leave behind. But with just the two of us, we could head to the HQ and make the ultimate weapon immediately… you know that we urgently need to start doing that as soon as possible, right?... Are you fine with that?" Will observes Sean's expression. Unlike Rick and Jess, Sean have no family to leave here, but Sean could have also accumulated some attachment here to like Tom, his mother, and father for the years that he has been with them.
Fortunately, Sean nods since he understand the gravity of their situation. The fate of the world is at stake after all. Even he knows that as they are staying here and doing nothing, as Will said, the monster in that dark mauntain is still currently amassing more power that would one day be used to wreck havoc in the world. Not only that, it's very close to this city where his precious people lives. He should proceed with Will's plans if he want to protect them all. Help Will build that 'ultimate' weapon that could fight whatever monster that's going to come. "I understand… are we going to leave today?"
Will feels honestly glad for Sean's cooperation without any hesitation. "If possible… We have to go as soon as possible… I'll give my mom and dad a call… can you pack your things just in case?"
"Yes… " Sean promptly does as he was told.
Will looks at Sean's back and then remembers Tom once again. He's so sorry for leaving him this soon. They still have a lot of plans set up for the next two days. They haven't even done anything to bond together and yesterday's plan unfortunately broke down completely.
But Will still have to erase the primordial vampire from this world. Only then, Will could be at ease and recollect every time he haven't spent together with Tom and his parents. He vows that after eliminating all these threats, he wont leave his brother as long as he needs him then.
Will opens his Point Link communication and calls his father. After a while, the communication finally connects. Will explains that his schedule has been pushed forward because of some complicated matters regarding work. The founder of the explorer's organization urgently have to deal some things on a distant country so he was called to act as his proxy in the explorer's HQ. With this matter so big, Liam could only ask for a long vacation from his superiors. He left Claire with the job since she's in a much more important juncture in her career.
Tom wakes up and sees Sean in the middle of carrying his luggage down the living room. "Big bro Sean?..."
Sean looks back in surprise. He puts down his luggage first and give Tom a hug. "I'm very sorry tom, but your big bro and I needs to go to the capital city because of something…"
Tom don't know what to say. He hugs Sean back with a sad face. Will comes out of his room to see this and could only hug Tom too, along with Sean.
"Tommy… I'm so sorry. But don't worry, after this, I won't leave once again… also, dad with be here and stay with you for the whole vacation…" Will could only say.
Tom pats his big brother's back and didn't reply. They then all head down to the living room to wait for Liam to arrive.
Later, Liam comes home and give Will and Sean his good luck and say his dad joke. "I wasn't that useful at work anyway. I could stay home for now and probably find another job once Tom go back to school."
"I'm sorry dad…" Will hugs his father.
"It's okay. I was planning this for a long time now… you with Sean will probably do a lot more important jobs to do than me anyway…" Liam rub his son's back and once again gets surprised go tall the other has become. They're already almost at the same height.
Sean also gives his father figure a hug. "Thank you uncle Liam. I promise I will pay you back two folds for you care for me…"
"Nah… just visit us once in a while and introduce us to your girlfriends and wife. I tell you that you have been a big part to us in this house that you thought. You are part of the family…" Liam remembers the first time they met at the hospital three years ago. Sean was still so pale and thin and crying after going through a traumatic experience. Bun now, he has grown to be such a fine young man with a bright future ahead of him.
Later, Sean and Will inevitably have to go. They enter the hover car and wave at Tom and Liam goodbye.
Tom immediately flies to the rooftop to observe his big brother's hover car getting smaller and smaller and disappear on the intersection. His eyes looks at this with sadness. But then, he shift his gaze at the direction to the dark mountain and his eyes sharpens.
Three years ago, Tom was the only one who was witnessing the battle behind the veil behind the barrier set up by Will's drones as the townspeople are celebrating their victory in shouts and cheering. Through his clairvoyance, Tom saw everything up close as if he was there himself.
A hundred of drones set up a powerful barrier that couldn't be seen through by others as well as stall the thousand horses of dark beasts. Behind it, the fierce battle between undying large bats and more than two hundred powerful drones that could fire laser beams in systematic, coordinated timing with terrifyingly high accuracy and lethality is housing the whole dark mountain shake and break in tatters. Tom who could only manipulate three shurikens that time could only watch in awe silently.
However, he also witnesses all those drones getting dominated and destroyed by the dark beast eventually, as well as his brother breaking down in his cries. Tom felt so weak, powerless, and hurt seeing his mighty big brother reduced in that state. While he was being defended by the townspeople's cheering euphoria, he's watching his big brother crying all alone.
Tom was very afraid and insecure. He didn't know what to do and say to appease his crying big brother. He himself is much weaker that him so he couldn't possibly defeat his big brother's enemies for his sake. He could only silently observe his big brother as he locked himself in his room and crying all alone. He couldn't tell anyone because he knows how shameful that defeat for his brother and the latter might hate him for bringing that up to other people without his consent.
As expected, right after his big brother came out of his room, the latter told their parents that he will go somewhere far away to work. But Tom knows the 'truth'. He can't tell others this 'truth' or his big brother won't come back anymore. He could only silently hug him and watch him going along with some strangers in suit.
Tom's eyes burns with intensity as his clairvoyance observe something inside the dark mountain beyond the barrier set up by the military.
"I swear…" Tom comes here to renew his resolution that he made three years ago. Tom then comes back down with his father and acts normal.
After all that he knows, Tom started acting more obedient to his big brother and strive his daily life to sharpen his ability and thought up of new ways to utilize them.
No one knows what resolution Tom made or even have any ideas of what he knows. Even Will.
End of chapter.