Chapter Text
“Kalroi!”
Cubaryi’s voice echoes through the hallways of the Sacred Guard’s headquarters, turning curious heads and raising confused eyebrows. She ignores all of these looks, instead darting straight towards one particular place: the leader’s quarters. Once upon a time, this room belonged to Kaldena. Now, it is solely occupied by her son, the ex-captain stepping down from her role as soon as her offspring turned eighteen a few weeks ago.
For a time, silence fills the air. The sanctum knights return to whatever they were doing before the unwelcome interruption, convinced that Cubaryi found Kalroi at last. Then, out of nowhere, the peace is interrupted in the form of the door to the captain’s room abruptly swinging open. Cubaryi practically scrambles into the room, face under that signature helmet of hers looking a lot more frazzled than it typically would. Her eyes dart around before mercifully landing on the very person whose name she said a few seconds prior.
Naturally, now that a full eighteen years have passed since he was first brought into this world, Kalroi looks a lot different than he once had. His mother’s determination burns in his brown eyes, with a touch of his father’s shrewdness to boot. The shining red-and-black armor that he wears makes it clear which of them he took after the most, though. Seeing that Kalroi is very much here and not lost or away, Cubaryi lets out a sigh of relief, smiling at him as best as she can in her tired state.
Kalroi, for his part, stares at her like she killed his entire bloodline.
“Here you are, Kalroi! I’m happy that I found you so soon, I wasn’t really looking forward to facing the wrath of your mother,” Cubaryi sighs again, crossing her arms like a parent scolding their child, “Why didn’t you answer me when I called you?”
“Because,” starts Kalroi, dusting off the signature armor worn by the Sacred Guard’s mighty captain, “I was too busy to be bothered by what I assume will be something meaningless.”
Cubaryi opens her mouth to respond, closes it to ponder on if what she wants to say is actually worth vocalizing or not, and then shuts it completely. This doesn’t last long, unfortunately, as she quickly returns to blathering.
“Well…has Temenos come in here yet?” she asks, keeping her tone calm and steady, “I thought that he would give you some encouraging words or whatever. Your coronation is soon, he should be here by now.”
Unimpressed, Kalroi crosses his arms, “Really? That was what you were hollering about, Aunt Cubaryi? How about you take a look around my room?”
Despite already knowing what his room looks like, having been in it plenty of times for both good and bad reasons, Cubaryi immediately heeds Kalroi’s order. She looks around with obviously faux interest. Noticing this, Kalroi rolls his eyes, waving his hand dismissively to non-verbally order her to stop. Cubaryi does so without hesitation, which only seems to make Kalroi all the more annoyed. There isn’t any playing around with this coronation business, it seems.
“See, if Dad came in here when he was supposed to, then I would not be in this room right now, I would be outside giving my speech like I should have been doing minutes ago. So no, he is not here yet, you can stop asking.”
“Alright, Kalroi, I get it,” Cubaryi throws her hands up to placate the annoyed Kalroi, “Listen, I know that this is hard for you, but I’m sure that Temenos is beating himself up right now over not being here on time. Don’t be too mad at him.”
“Whatever,” Kalroi huffs out, acting more like a child than someone about to be appointed to the important position that is the leader of the Sacred Guard.
Frustration aside, Kalroi does feel thankful for Cubaryi’s clear attempts to cheer him up. They may not be working very well due to his generally foul mood, but the fact that she cares about him enough to do so at all is flattering. Aside from his position as the son of her former crush, Cubaryi never had any reason to spoil him as much as she did for the past eighteen years of his life. Kalroi doesn’t know where he’d be without her and the other sanctum knights around to watch over him.
Thus, rather than continuing to antagonize Cubaryi, the soon-to-be captain of the Sacred Guard lifts himself up to give her a big hug. The visible surprise on her face nearly makes Kalroi frown more. Fortunately, said frown turns upside-down when Cubaryi happily hugs him back, squeezing him tight. She isn’t as strong as she used to be, but Kalroi appreciates her embrace all the same. Every day may be the last time he feels it at all, so he’ll cherish relatively peaceful moments like these while they last.
A shame that this doesn’t last long as Kalroi would like it to. Before long, a knock at the door draws his and Cubaryi’s attention over to it, both of them rolling their eyes and huffing over the unwelcome interruption. Kalroi begrudgingly trudges towards the door, his steps suggesting that he is preparing to bury a corpse, rather than merely opening the entrance to his personal quarters. He pulls on the doorknob with visible annoyance, grumbling under his breath and glaring down at whoever would be idiotic enough to try and visit him at an important time like this.
“What?!” snaps Kalroi, “I-”
Kalroi’s frustration evaporates when he gets a good look at who is here. If the white hair failed to instantaneously tip off the person’s identity, then the ever-tired look in those blue eyes would have done so even sooner. Without hesitation, Kalroi leans down to scoop up his beloved father into a hug even tighter than the one Cubaryi gave him earlier. The grip of his now-adult son is strong enough to make Temenos let out a desperate gasp for air, but he still does his best to reciprocate the gesture nonetheless, knowing that Kalroi is no doubt already mad at him for being late.
“My apologies,” Temenos chuckles, “Your mother was busy choking the life out of me with those hugs of hers.”
“I can tell,” Kalroi snarks, “Well, at least you came here at all, Father. Aunt Cubaryi and I were beginning to get worried.”
“Oh?” Temenos raises a playful eyebrow, turning to face Cubaryi, “I never thought I’d live to see the day that your aunt showed any semblance of care for me. What a joyous occasion this is! A shame that the pontiff is no longer here to witness this momentous occasion...”
Cubaryi rolls her eyes underneath her helmet, “Quiet, you. Was I really supposed to assume anything other than the worst for you being late to your own son’s induction into the Sacred Guard proper? You’d never do such a thing normally.”
“...yes. Indeed, you are correct on that note,” Temenos relents, letting out an overly-dramatic sigh, “Truly, I do apologize, to both you and Kalroi. Roi can get rather shy when I’m not around to protect him from the judgment of the villagers.”
Both Kalroi and Cubaryi can’t help but smile a bit at the mention of Roi. After years of the Sacred Guard searching for Temenos’ long-lost brother all across Solistia, they had recently located him hiding on an isolated island in Toto’haha. How he got there and why he chose that as his new home, none of them knew, but they were just happy to find him alive at all. Granted, he hadn’t been found in the same human form. Roi instead appeared to be a beast that looked like no monster anyone had ever seen before, and to this very day, his appearance was nothing short of brutish.
Regardless, Temenos and the late Pontiff Jörg cried so much on that fateful day that Kaldena worried he’d perish from running his tear ducts dry. Obviously, he didn’t, otherwise he wouldn’t be here to congratulate his son on eighteen years of living (and his new title as captain of the Sacred Guard shortly). The joy within Temenos was still great enough to brighten up the spirits of the entire Sacred Guard. Including Kalroi, who never even knew Roi personally, aside from being aware that one-half of his name was derived from the lost-and-found cleric.
Kalroi hasn’t actually been able to see Roi himself yet. The weeks leading up to his eventual eighteenth birthday today have been so hectic that he hardly had any time to do much. Aside from annoying the people in charge of making the Sacred Guard’s attire to make his armor extra-shiny, of course. Let it be known that Kalroi would never allow himself to take up the mantle of captain without letting himself appear pretty first. Even now, he looks down at the shiny metal protecting his body with admiration and amazement, still gobsmacked by how gorgeous it looks whenever it gleams in the gentle snows of Stormhail.
I’ll have to pay the armorers extra later on, Kalroi muses. But that can wait for a later time, a later time that he doesn’t need to worry about right now. For now, Kalroi pulls away from his father at last, giving Temenos plenty of much-needed air, “Sorry, Father. I should have known that Roi would keep you busy.”
“No need to worry about that,” Temenos says, waving a dismissive hand to add to his statement, “Were the roles reversed between us, I would likely feel quite perturbed by the absence of my father as well. However, now that I am here at last, would you please follow me?”
Never before has Kalroi nodded faster. He looks up at his aunt, giving her one last parting hug for the time being. There isn’t much point in doing so, considering that she wouldn’t dare to miss the moment when he becomes captain of the Sacred Guard. Still, Kalroi considers Cubaryi to be like the best friend that he never had in his childhood. If an ultimately useless gesture is what he must do to show his admiration, then so be it.
“Thank you,” Kalroi whispers in her ear.
“You’re welcome,” is Cubaryi’s immediate reply, “I’m proud to call you my nephew, Kalroi.”
“And I’m proud to call you my aunt…even if sometimes I didn’t really want to.”
Kalroi and Cubaryi both share snorts of amusem*nt. Despite not hearing their very brief conversation, Temenos can’t help but join in, only to quiet himself down when Cubaryi gives him a dirty look. As soon as he sees her face scrunch up, he quiets his loud and hearty laughter to be nothing more than a low chuckle. Temenos instead takes his son’s hand, smiling when Kalroi immediately squeezes it. Eighteen years of Kalroi’s life have all built up to this coming moment.
Together, father and son walk to the entrance of the Sacred Guard’s headquarters. Normally, it’s a place that people shy away from, unless they actually need the assistance of the sanctum knights. It’s not often that they do, but the general courtesy is to not bother the captain unless their strength is truly needed. A quick look out the window, though, reveals that Stormhail staying a bit isolated from their protectors out of respect hasn’t stopped most, if not all of the city’s denizens from attending Kalroi’s coming coronation.
When Kalroi notices how many people are waiting for him to be appointed the leader of the Sacred Guard, a warm smile spreads across his face. Seeing that so many folks want to see him rise in power is nothing short of inspiring and heartwarming. Kalroi squeezes his father’s hand once more, silently thanking him for allowing him to live in this wonderful world. Temenos wastes no time in giving him a pat on the shoulder back, grinning down at his precious son.
Only one person separates Kalroi from exiting the building. Everyone else (aside from Cubaryi, who prefers to watch events like these from a window) is already outside, eagerly waiting for their new captain to be appointed already. The previous captain in question waves to Kalroi and his father, though the movements of her hand are a lot slower than they would be if this were happening years back. Kalroi nonetheless rushes to pull his mother into a tight embrace, not even minding how she can’t squeeze him back as much as she used to.
“Kaldena,” Temenos nods, “How have you been lately, my dear?”
“Kindly refrain from calling me that,” counters the captain, “I have been well, I suppose. My health is not what it used to be, admittedly.”
Kalroi and Temenos frown at this. The former gives Kaldena an adorable little peck on the cheek, “Are you sure that you feel alright, Mother? Is there anything that you need? I would do anything for you!”
“Yes, Kalroi, I am fine,” Kaldena assures her son gently, giving him a pat on the head for good measure, “Both me and Temenos are more worried about you. I must ask: are you sure that becoming the captain of the Sacred Guard is what you want for yourself, my son?”
“Huh?” Kalroi pulls away from his mother to sassily cross his arms, “What kind of stupid question is that? I have been training for this position for all of my life. Only a fool would back out now, and the heir to the Kal clan is no fool!”
Kalroi finishes his declaration with a proud hand to his chest, subtly mourning the lives of those that came before him and Kaldena. Every day, he feels sad that the biological only family he has are his parents. His siblings, cousins, grandparents, all of them died in the horrible massacre that the Moonshade Order had incited in Crackridge. When Kaldena first told him about the incident, Kalroi was nothing short of furious. A fury that could rival a thousand suns (or, well, sons) filled him in that moment.
The only reason why Kalroi didn’t trudge straight to Crackridge to wipe out everyone that killed his family was because they had already been dealt with. Very few people who helped contribute to the massacre of the Kal clan were still around to tell the tale. As for those who were, they seemed to carry enough guilt with them for Kaldena to spare their lives. It wasn’t an approach that Kalroi ever really agreed with, even now, but it was one he could nonetheless respect for its lack of relatively senseless violence.
In his head, Kalroi makes a note to visit the many graves littering the Fellsun Ruins. He hasn’t seen his extended family in quite some time, not when life in Stormhail has been so busy lately. Besides, Kaldena will likely be proud of him for taking initiative by visiting his grandfather and other relatives without being dragged along first. Kalroi can feel tears beginning to gather in his eyes from thinking of how proud his clan will be when he tells them the good news at last.
Temenos and Kaldena are perceptive enough to immediately notice that their son is beginning to cry. Both of them don’t waste an ounce of time before approaching Kalroi and pulling him into a tight family embrace. Kalroi happily hugs them back, despite so desperately wanting to wipe the tears from his eyes before he looks weak in front of them. From the beginning of his life, his mother and father were always keen on telling him that it’s okay to let out his emotions when he needs to.
Mainly because neither of them were ever good at following their own advice. Kaldena and Temenos were very much people that told people what to do while then following through with the exact opposite of their words. That was something Kalroi always found rather frustrating about his parents. At a young age, he could tell that both of them were always poor at taking care of themselves, and that never failed to frighten him more than some of the more creative sanctum knights’ frankly ridiculous ghost stories ever could.
Kalroi gets over his sadness rather quickly. Within minutes, the tears are completely gone from his face, leaving only a bit of water residue to suggest that he had been crying at all. Temenos quickly wipes off the liquid with a hand, both him and Kaldena looking up at their son with admiration and reverence. Laughing, Kalroi bows to both of them, to which they awkwardly follow the same gesture while smiling like idiots.
“I am proud,” says Kaldena, the tears audible in her voice, “To call you my son.”
“Oh, Mother! I hate to see you cry…” Kalroi sulks. His words are rather ironic, considering that he had just been bawling his eyes out a few minutes prior, but the dichotomy goes rather unnoticed.
“They a-are happy tears,” Kaldena swears, wiping a few away from her eyes, “I p-promise.”
Since Kalroi has no reason not to believe that statement, he nods, mentally praying that his mother will be alright. He is no fool - he knows that both her and his father are aging rapidly as the years pass by. Right now, on the day that he turns eighteen, Kaldena and Temenos are both well into their late-forties, if not their fifties in the former’s case. Kalroi is aware that one day, both of them will pass on, as everyone in this world eventually does, but that doesn’t mean he particularly wants to think about it.
So, he chooses not to, instead nodding to the two of them one last time. The day that both of them pass is well into the future, and Kalroi has no reason to worry about that when the present holds so much joy and laughter in store. Kaldena and Temenos intertwine their hands as their son walks out of the Sacred Guard headquarters. Once this coming moment passes, Kalroi will be an adult, the captain of an organization that operates all across Solistia.
Neither of them bother to make fun of the other for the sloppy tears that run down from their eyes. Why would they do so, when this moment is nothing short of a tender experience for both of them to share and cherish until the day that they die? Kalroi, initially a pest that neither of them wanted to take care of, has now grown up into a capable adult. A capable adult that will lead the charge for a better future in both Stormhail, the eastern continent, and possibly even the world itself.
Kaldena’s pride is too great for her to comprehend alone. She leans over to pick up Temenos and hug him tight, her powerful grip nearly crushing his much frailer bones. Fortunately, he hasn’t gotten old enough for a mere hug to kill him yet, and so Temenos merely laughs as he does his best to return the embrace. It doesn’t work as well as it once would, but the fact that he tries to comfort Kaldena at all is good enough. Temenos even lets out a loud, clearly faux wheeze when Kaldena pulls away from him, eliciting an eye roll from the former captain.
“Still got any chips on your shoulder?” Temenos asks once the embrace ends.
“Your continued existence,” Kaldena replies, her tone equally as lighthearted, “Now, shoo. Back to Flamechurch you go. Roi will have a fit if you come back to him with snow all over you.”
“Indeed. Being a monster never meant that he lost his gentle heart,” Temenos says with a smile, “He just needed someone to help him find it. And truly, I’m glad that person happened to be you, Kaldena.”
“Oh, enough with that sappy nonsense. Go on and hug me already, because I know you will regardless of if I want you to or not.”
With plenty of hearty laughter shared between them, the two embrace again under the sunlight of a metaphorical new dawn. Years have been spent on their respective duties, even after their journey to find the truth was completed years ago; now, it’s about time for a well-deserved, long break!
