Chester's Revelation

They'd been working for three months. Three months dedicating every waking moment to rebuilding the homes they'd lost; improving what had been Toltus and evolving it into the town that would be known as the city of Miguel.

He straightened, eying the barely-existent shadows under the noonday sun, and stretched. "I need a break," he sighed.

Cress nodded and set down the hammer in his hand. Mint joined them. "I can make us a light lunch," she offered.

"No need," a cheery voice piped up from overhead.

Overhead?

All three of them looked up. A figure they hadn't seen in three months appeared, descending rapidly from the sky on a heavily-loaded broom. "I've brought a picnic!"

"You? Brought a picnic? Sorry, I'm not in the mood to die," Chester said.

"Hey!" Arche glared at him as she landed and unloaded the large, heavy sack from the end of the broomstick. "I so happen to be a really good cook!"

"It HAS been a hundred years," Cress pointed out. "She could've gotten better."

Chester eyed his friend skeptically and shook his head. They looked at Arche, who had changed noticeably. She dressed differently, for one thing. More conservatively. She could blend more easily into a town's population the way she was dressed now. Actually, it was a flattering outfit. A deep aqua bodice fitted her now generous figure snugly; her waist was still narrow but her hips flared nicely beneath a flowing skirt of a pink several shades darker than her hair. Beneath the bodice she wore a pale blue shirt which showed her figure flatteringly without exposing much.

"Wow, Arche, you look great! I LOVE your outfit!" Mint ignored the boys and rushed to embrace her friend. The wind was nearly knocked out of her at Arche's return hug. "Oof!"

"Sorry," Arche relented. "I've just... really... REALLY missed you guys. Well, you two for sure," she winked at Cress. Chester glared some more.

"Anyway, I brought some lunch for everyone, and some extra tools and nails and stuff." Arche pulled things out of the large sack, handing them off to a very bemused Cress and an equally amused Mint. Chester refused to have any part of it.

"And this is for you," she said, pulling a small sealed scroll out of the bag. It looked as though it predated their adventure by some time.

Chester raised his eyebrows as she stepped close to him and offered him the scroll. "What is it?"

"It's a letter. It's from someone important. I think you'll want to read it alone," she said. Up close, he saw that her outfit and her figure weren't all that had changed. She still radiated that energy but she looked a little older. The big difference was in her eyes... Meeting them with his own, he saw compassion, warmth, and concern reflected in among the pink. "I know some of what it says but I've never read it. I know what it says because I spent time with the person who wrote it. He sent it to me even though I hadn't seen him in a few years. Why don't you eat and then read it?"

Chester shook his head. He was dying of curiosity, but he could hardly admit it in front of her. After all, it had only been three months for him. He still hadn't quite resolved how he felt about her. "Nah, I'm sure it's no big deal. Lemme see," he said, taking it from her. He tried to be nonchalant about it, but he could feel her eyes on him as he walked across the bridge to what had been and would be again the town square.

Arche had turned to Cress and Mint and was spreading out the picnic. He could see them asking her what was in the letter but felt a surge of gratitude as she adamantly refused to tell them. Her voice carried well.

Taking a deep breath, Chester studied the scroll in his hands. He noticed a scrape that hadn't been there yesterday; at least, he was pretty sure it hadn't. The scroll was tied with a little red ribbon.

It reminded him of the ribbons his sister had worn in her hair when she was little.

Carefully, he untied the knot and the ribbon came loose in his hand. The scroll retained its rolled shape; he wondered how long Arche had kept it. He slit the wax seal open with a fingernail. It, too, looked familiar; though it had been blurred by time, he thought it might be something like his father's seal.

He unrolled the scroll and blinked to make sure his eyes were clear, then stared across the clearing at Arche. It was his father's handwriting. Arche had known his father? He began to read.

"Dearest Son,

"I get the feeling that Arche knows something she can't tell me, so I'm writing you this letter now just in case. She knows what I'm writing about, though. When I first met her, I knew she was something special. When I learned she was one of the four Legendary Heroes, I knew she could be trusted to carry this letter to you. She disappeared when you were born, which is when your mother and I realized she knew more than she could tell us.

"You are my firstborn son, and I have always been proud to bursting since the moment I first held you in my arms. I don't doubt that whatever path your life takes, you will always do me proud, and I can only hope that she will be returning this letter to me so I can tell you in person. If not, it's because things are as I and your mother feared might be the case, and we are no longer able to tell you. You are six now, and your mother and I hope you will love your little brother or sister when he or she is born, even if you don't seem very happy about it now!"

Chester laughed painfully at that. He remembered well how unenthused he'd been at the time!

"In case I haven't already told you, you're old enough to know now that you are descended from a truly great man. Klaus F. Lester, one of the four legendary heroes, was your great-grandfather."

Chester dropped the letter in shock. "My... What?" Slowly he bent over to pick it up and returned to where the others waited. "Is this for real?" he demanded.

"Have you read all of it?" Arche asked.

He shook his head.

"...was your great-grandfather. His story, the love story of him and of Milard, who waited for him though she did not know if he would ever return, was well known throughout the world. Unfortunately, their daughter (my mother) didn't get along with them for her own reasons and left home. She married a half-elf, Davis. Your aunts Loura and Evara moved to Arlee when I was little. Arche can tell you stories of my youth, since I'd rather not commit them to paper. You might want to try to find your aunts someday. They were nice enough as big sisters go.

"So that's the big 'family secret' - but it's something you can be proud of, son. Tell your little sisters or brothers, if we haven't already. Your family heritage is a wonderful blessing. You're one-eighth elven, but we don't really know if that will mean anything. However long, always live well and proudly. And carefully, as your mother reminds me to add.

"Don't tell this to Arche. When I first met her I thought she was quite a woman, but it didn't take long before I realized she was waiting for someone special. By now maybe she's even found him again. I say again because, though she never said as much, I think she'd already met him but in the future, which she won't talk about. With any luck, she's come back from wherever she went, and she's helped to raise you alongside us. She left very suddenly when Cress was born; it was the same day we told her you were expected. She never told us why but your mother figures that it was something future-related. Your mother is a very smart woman. And no, dear, I'm not writing that because you're reading over my shoulder as I write. Then again, son, you're reading this now, so something happened that we didn't expect. Or want. Don't get too close to Arche, Chester. I don't ever want to see you hurting.

"With all the love in our hearts, your parents:

"Travis Alaistair and Rachel Morrisson Burklight.

"PS - No, in case you're wondering, your mother is not related to the famous Morrissons."

Chester had clutched the letter so tightly to his chest that it nearly ripped. His eyes burned and he had turned away. It was Arche he heard telling the other two to let him go; that he would need time, and that the letter was from his father. He fled into a part of the South Forest that wasn't often traveled; it wasn't on the way to Yggdrasil, and it wasn't on the way to the good hunting grounds.

It was dark before he finally returned, and three days more before he could tell Mint and Cress about his relationship with Claus. He never discussed the last paragraph of the letter with anyone, but it burned a hole in his heart. It must be Cress. He was sure she had fallen for Cress.