Franklin led Dex up to the frontdoor. Opening it, they both were greeting by the sounds of crying coming from inside. It sounded like a young boy.
"Henry??" Franklin shouted, running to the source of the cries.
Dex quickly shut the door behind him, and made towards the noise as well. As he followed Franklin, he heard another voice as well, one belonging to a female.
"I told you to watch what you are doing. Stay still!" The woman said, and once Dex and Franklin made their way to a large living space, they found her and the boy.
Henry was sitting on a wooden chair, crying as the woman, presumably Jess, was tending to him. Henry was a young boy, probably no older than 10 or 11, but Jess was not what he expected. She looked to be younger than he himself was, but not by much. He estimated her age to be around roughly 20 years old, and just from behind, he could tell that she was quite feminine, as she had a very firm and round ass.
"Good lord. Jess, what happened?" Franklin asked as they drew closer.
Jess turned her head to look at him, and when she saw Dex following her father, she froze and met his gaze for several seconds. She seemed to come to her senses eventually, as she answered.
"He was outside playing. I heard him screaming and when I went to check on he tripped and cut his leg open. Looked like it was on a broken fence." She answered, and once Dex was closer, he could see the issue.
A gash ran along his calf, at least six inches across, and it was pretty deep. It was bleeding quite profusely, and it no doubt was very painful, especially for a young child.
"Henry, what did I tell you?? This looks bad. We should take him to see the doctor." Franklin said, running a hand through his hair.
"I'm sorry, papa! I didn't see it, and I wasn't paying attention. It hurts so much." Henry cried.
Dex studied the gash. He had access to quite a few spells, and one of them just happened to be a very powerful healing spell. He'd been able to regrow people's limbs with it beforehand, so a small cut like this shouldn't be an issue.
Revealing more of his powers would make it harder to keep the secret of what he truly was, but the kid was in pain, and he wanted to help. He didn't really even have a reason to hide who he was besides how people might view him, so building some good will among the people here would be a good start.
He was basically starting fresh again, as much as it pained him to do so. He just couldn't bare to stay where tragedy struck him, as it hurt far too much. Even ending his own life wasn't an option, as everything he tried in the past had failed. He either did no damage to himself, or he healed too quickly for anything he tried to be effective, so his only true choice was to keep going.
Continued sobs brought him back to the present, and he cleared his throat, drawing their attention.
"If you want, I can see what I can do?" Dex said.
Franklin looked at him, and then at Henry's leg, then he nodded.
"If you think you can, you can try." Franklin answered.
"Dad, who is this? Are you sure we can trust him in our house?" Jess asked, a little cautiously, but her eyes roaming his body was not subtle in the least.
"I promise I won't do any harm." Dex told her.
She pouted, but then backed up, letting Dex squeeze in between her and Franklin.
"Hey kiddo, that looks painful. You gotta be more careful." Dex said, giving the kid a smile.
Henry nodded vigorously as he sniffled.
"I was just having fun. Ben and I were playing tag, and I just wasn't watching my feet." Henry told him, wiping snot from his nose.
"Just hang tight for just a second." Dex told him.
He hovered his hand over the gash in Henry's leg, and used his Mending ability. In the span of mere seconds, the tissue put itself back together, and the wound closed, not even leaving a scar behind.
"By Ornium's grace... it's like it never even happened." Franklin said, astonished.
Ornium, the God spoken of as the creator of this world, had nothing to do with this. It was just Dextros, a monstrously powerful demon lord who had a vast array of abilities at his disposal, but none of them knew that, and for how long that would last, he couldn't be sure.
Jess just stared incomprehensibly at the admittedly very handsome man that had just healed her little brother in mere moments. Even the town doctor's healing magic wouldn't have worked that fast, and she'd be doing it for years.
"How?" She asked in disbelief.
Dex just shrugged.
"I have many talents." Dex answered.
"But magic can't heal." Jess said, and Dex just shrugged.
Henry had stopped crying the moment his leg was healed, as the pain had abruptly ceased.
"Woah. That's so cool!" Henry said, his pained cries and sadness now completely gone.
Dextros couldn't help but smile a little, but only a little. He'd never been great with children, but once he got married to his wives, he'd always wanted to be a father. He wanted to give his child the life he had never had, and just when he thought that dream would be realized, it came crashing down. His smile faded.
Franklin cleared his throat, sensing the emotions from Dex. He was very good at that these days.
"Jess, Henry, this is Dex. Dex, these are my children." Franklin told them.
He then went on to explain his day hunting, and how he just wasn't finding anything. Then, by chance, he happened upon Dex sitting at a nearby river. He was telling them about the dire bear attack when Jess went wide eyed and looked panicked.
"Woah, calm down sweetheart. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine. Dex made sure of that. He killed it so fast it didn't even see it coming. I don't know much about him, but I know enough to know that he's a good man, even if he won't tell me much. He's a man of very few words." Franklin explain, smiling at his kids.
Jess looked Dex over up and down, while Henry looked like a kid who just found a new friend. Dex didn't know exactly what to say. It wasn't that he didn't like talking to people, but his drive and ambition to communicate with others had somewhat died with his lovers. Still, he knew they would want him to keep going, and to not give up, so he would try, but he doubted he'd ever find what he found in them ever again.
"I just do what I think is right." Dex replied, sticking to short and to the point for now.
Franklin never backed down from a challenge, and the prospect of unraveling the mystery of this man got him a little giddy if he was being honest.
"What else can you do? Can you reign down fire from the sky??" Henry asked, and Franklin promptly scolded him.
Dextros just chuckled, but more so at the accuracy of that statement. He could indeed reign down fire from the sky, but he opted to leave that part of his powers out for now. He would probably cave, or someone wouod figure him out sooner or later, and honestly, it didn't really bother him one way or the other. It would be convenient to remain anonymous for now, mostly to remain in these people's good graces, but he had no need to fear anyone finding out about his abilities. Many of his enemies thought they had him figured out, and many did have a good grasp on his power, but that still didn't save them from the overwhelming force that his power truly was.
"Where did you even come from?" Jess asked, still the more skeptical one oflut of the three.
She had the right to be, if Dex was being honest. He just came out of nowhere to her, and her father just decided to trust someone he had just met. He would be shocked if she wasn't.
"I traveled from the far north. Circumstances outside of my control led me here, and I happened to run into your father along the way." Dex said, not lying to them, but still keeping the bulk of his story to himself.
"Any family or friends?" Jess asked.
A pained look crossed Dex's features, and it must have been strong, because both Jess and Franklin both seen and felt a profound sense of sorrow. Henry was blissfully ignorant, still just in awe at his uninjured leg. After a short silence, Dex spoke.
"I have no one. I did, at one point, but..." He said, unable to say more.
He wanted to, but he had to choke off the words as he felt his emotions coming at him in waves. Anger for the loss of his family, then sadness at their absence in his life. The loss of his wives hit differently though, especially considering Mira was carrying his unborn child. Thankfully, Franklin was adept at realizing people's mental struggles, and he came to Dex's aid.
"It's quite all right if you don't want to talk about it. None of us here will push you to do so." Franklin said, then turned to his children.
"Speaking of which, I told our friend here that he could stay with us for a while. We have a spare room, and well, I wanted to help him."
Jess frowned at first, but then a ghost of a smile appeared on her face.
"Just like you to help someone in need. Mom would have done the same thing." She said, her smile becoming more genuine.
Franklin just smiled back.
"Yes. Yes she would have."
Dex bowed his head towards all of them, the gesture surprising Jess.
"Thank you for your hospitality. I will help you all in any way I can to repay the favor." Dex said.
"Can I show him around??" Henry asked, excited by the prospect of someone staying with them.
Franklin just chuckled and nodded at Dex.
"Lead on, kid." Dex said, and Henry beamed, ushering him towards the other rooms in the house.
Once Franklin was alone with Jess, she spoke.
"Something is different about him. I don't sense anything malicious from him, but he's like... a restrained beast. I can feel it in his aura." Jess said, and Franklin nodded.
"He is quite strong, and I doubt I have even seen a fraction of what he can do. Still, he looked so sad and venerable when I found him. Sounded like he was contemplating suicide and well... I couldn't ignore that. I don't know anything about him, but I know that he is a good man, and that something terrible must have happened to him. I feel like we will learn more as time goes on, and hopefully, in time, we can help him heal from whatever happened." Franklin said, and Jess smiled at her caring father.
Jess wasn't sure what the future was going to hold, and she wasn't sure if she trusted this man like her dad seemed to, but her father was never wrong about people. He was always like this, and she knew why mom chose him. Always kind, always caring, always showing compassion. Her father was the perfect role model for how a man should be, and she would also accept no less for herself, if she ever found that special someone.
"I hope you're watching us right now, mom. I know you'd be proud." Jess thought as she followed her father into the kitchen.