Sitting before his parents, Torus couldn't help but to feel his nerves starting to rise as the atmosphere seemed to grow more and more tense as time passed and the awkward silence continued to linger on.
After sitting in a contemplative silence where his mother and father gained struggling looks within their eyes, their gazes occasionally locking with one another in a silent conversation, something finally changed.
Suddenly shifting forward rather awkwardly, Blau put his elbow on his knee as he cupped the side of his face with his hand and spoke with a resigned tone, gaze containing a hint of reluctance within it as he locked gazes with Torus, his other leg rapidly tapped up and down in a clear sign of a nervous tic, "Son, we didn't want to have to tell you this." Blau said, his voice containing reluctance within it as he noticeably avoided Torus' gaze.
This was as far as his Father managed to get before he seemed to have once more fallen into a bout of silence, seemingly contemplating not telling Torus whatever it was that he had started talking about.
Seemingly not wanting to give Blau that chance, Maddie jumped in at this point to continue where his Father had left off, "What your father is trying to say is that, as you know, we're your adopted parents, right?" As she got to here, his mother, who had been to that moment pointedly looking away from Torus, now glanced up at him to make sure he was following along.
Giving a nod of his head to confirm his Mother's words, Torus tilted his head to the side in mild confusion, wondering exactly what this was about.
Steeling herself to continue, Maddie started where she had left off with a deep breath, "Well, the truth is, we actually did know a bit about your real parents. While what we know isn't something we would normally hide from you, the truth is that they told us this information could put you in grave danger.
The only reason we're actually willing to tell you this at all is that they made us promise to tell you if you awakened a God Seed fit for a Warrior and showed an inclination toward that path," Maddie spoke, her voice seeming to take on a reluctant tone toward the end of her words.
"!!!" As Torus listened to the words of his mother, he could feel as his mind slightly shook at this new revelation.
While his parents had always been truthful in telling him things about themselves and had told him about his adoption from an early age, they hadn't really told him much at all about his birth parents.
As he grew up, Torus actually didn't find himself drawn to learning more about them, considering his adoptive parents treated him and acted as if they were his real parents, he'd never felt the need to learn more about his actual parents who he'd never even met.
However, the revelation that there might actually be a reason for their abandonment of him and the fact that they seemed to be in some kind of danger gave him a mild shock.
While he hadn't thought of them much throughout the years, Torus did sometimes have some dark thoughts about if they maybe didn't want him and had abandoned him.
However, learning the truth was that they seemed to be in some danger themselves and were just protecting him from it, made him feel some warmth growing in his chest that he'd only ever previously felt for the two people sitting before him now.
Maddie continued where she left off once more, drawing Torus out of his contemplations, "You see, your parents were both very powerful Warriors.
While we had no way of knowing their exact strength considering just how much stronger than us they were, we can confidently say they were either approaching Godhood or were already Gods." These words left Torus even more speechless, 'My parents were really that powerful?' He thought to himself, even thinking such a thing seemed foreign to him.
Nodding at the shocked look on his face, Maddie continued, "Yes, we were shocked about this at the time as well. However, it only let us know that the danger they were facing truly was something astronomical.
That was why they left you to us, claiming that they would come back to see you had the danger that was chasing them ever gone away." As she got to here, Torus could feel a certain dawning understanding rising within him, but this understanding only led to Torus becoming horror-stricken, his eyebrows now furrowing in worry.
At this point, it seemed his Mother wasn't able to continue telling Torus about past events, turning to look at her husband with barely constrained tears in her eyes, not wishing to introduce this new form of grief and worry onto her little boy.
With a slight nod that showed a lot of emotion from the usually stoic man that was Torus' Father, he continued where Maddie had left off, "Yes, that means that either your parents are still in grave danger, or that they've already died. This is the reason we didn't want to tell you about this; knowing this information could easily be detrimental to your future well-being, and we know that with your personality, there's no way you won't seek out your birth parents after knowing the truth." Blau carried on where his wife had left off, sending a knowing look toward the young adult across from them, someone he had personally raised into the fine young man he had grown to be.
As he said these words, Blau stared down at the boy he had raised as his own for the past 20 years, his gaze only hardening as he saw the slightly guilty yet determined look within Torus' eyes, "However, just because we can't stop you from doing something so dangerous doesn't mean we can't prepare you for it." As he got to here, Torus watched as his Father reached behind the couch he was sitting on, grabbing something behind it before hefting it over his head with two hands.
With a loud thud, Blau slowly lowered the object he had just picked up onto the table in-between Torus and his parents, revealing it to be a chest around 1.5 meters across.
After placing it on the table, Blau slowly opened it before the curious eyes of Torus, wondering exactly what this was.
Noticing the curious glint contained within Torus' gaze, Blau let out a soft chuckle before explaining to him exactly what this chest was, "Your parents left this here with us, they said to only give it to you when we deemed you were ready.
Seeing the differences within you after Awakening your God Seed and knowing that it won't be long before you leave this backwater place to go out into the wider world, we've deemed the time right." Blau said, his tone taking on a serious hint as he leveled a look of solemnity at the young man across from him.
As he listened to the words of his Father, Torus could feel as his curiosity toward the chest doubled, 'I wonder what my parents left for me?' Torus wondered to himself, his eyes now zoning in on the chest with unconcealed curiosity, a hint of giddy excitement welling up within him as if he were a kid opening a present on Christmas.
Opening the chest toward Torus, Blau watched on with no small amount of curiosity himself. While the chest had been left for Torus, Blau and Maddie had never opened it, respecting that it wasn't for them but for their Son.
Now that he finally had the chance, it was no wonder that Blau felt some amount of curiosity toward what the chest contained himself.
As they opened the chest, a couple of items came into view; there were three dark blue leather-bound books that seemed to be worn from use, a pair of what looked to be arm sleeves that were a beautiful sleek black, and a sealed letter with a rather unique stamp on it.
After seeing the assortment of items, Blau's curiosity faltered as he could tell these items were placed especially for Torus and could only show their true value for him.