"Legacy"

LUNETH POV

It was only upon waking up and seeing the empty sleeping mat next to me that I remembered Refia and Ingus were going to visit today. It's been months since we've seen each other, the last being the time after the World of Darkness. It was Ingus who suggested the reunion, to be held specifically in Ur, through letter. Arc had been excited about it since receiving the news, and I could tell more so since he wasn't usually the early bird between us. I got dressed, headed out of the room and to the kitchen, and was immediately welcomed by the sight of Arc silently cooking up breakfast.

"Good morning, Arc," I greeted him, as I got a waft of the food he was making.

He turned around to greet me back, and it took me only a while to notice the dark circles underneath his eyes. I walked towards him to take a closer look, but he continued to loom over the pot before him. "Didn't get enough sleep last night?" I asked. His expression suddenly changed to a more brooding one, and he sighed quietly. "Is there something wrong?"

Arc spoke in a noticeably hoarser voice. "It's just … I was too excited for today … I almost forgot about…"

I remembered how the mat was still sprawled on the floor. Usually he would tuck it away before heading out. He was definitely preoccupied, and knowing Arc, there was one thing in particular that he never wanted to forget, despite other occasions. "Oh," I said. He felt guilty every time he almost did, but I tried to reassure him. "Hey, it's okay. She'll understand. If you want I can go with you."

He shook his head as he watched and stirred the food. "No, you don't have to. I'll just go there early before Ingus and Refia get here."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded, and proceeded to ladle some food into a bowl. I helped him out with it and prepared the table afterwards. Mom came back in from outside the house a bit later, and she carried with her a vase with freshly picked sunflowers. She placed it on the center table upon greeting me and Arc a good morning. We waited for Topapa for a few minutes and finally had our breakfast.

I wanted to make sure to eat a hefty serving, and I could see Arc happily looking at me as I finished my first bowl. As we ate he told me about how last night as he couldn't fall asleep he saw how I almost kicked a nightstand over in my sleep, and how I scared off a bird that flew by the window with my snoring. Naturally, I made sure to get back at him.

"At least I don't cast Aeroga and knock bookshelves over in my sleep." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Hmph." He turned back to his food, silenced and a bit disconcerted.

Then again I was glad to see him eat more than he was used to today. I constantly praised his cooking, too. And as I was about to finish my second bowl, there was a loud knocking on our door. Arc stood to answer it, and I saw him jump as Refia appeared before him. She just happened to bear the most eager smile I've seen anyone have this early in the morning.

"Hello, Arc!" She grabbed Arc into a hug. She turned to the rest of us. "Good morning, Luneth, Nina, Elder Topapa."

"Refia!" I called out as I placed my finished bowl down. I walked to her and also got caught in one of her hugs. "Well, you're pretty early." I said.

"Why?" She scoffed, at me in particular. "Kazus is practically next door." Arc and I took her to the table before he excused himself to go back to our room and get dressed. Mom gave Refia a bowl of breakfast, which she coyly accepted and thanked her for. She then proceeded to eat, and was probably determined in beating my record for the day.

"Delicious," she said as she finished. "Better than what I get at home, actually." She chuckled.

I cleared my throat. "Well, mythril isn't exactly food, so…" She shot a glare of death and I stopped before I could further provoke it.

It was then that Arc returned. He went to mom, who gave him another hug and a pat on the head. He looked towards me and mouthed the words, "I'll be back." I could tell he was in a hurry and all giddy, since Refia arrived much earlier than we expected.

"Be safe, okay?" Mom told him.

"I will, Nina. Thank you." He said, letting go from her embrace and heading out the door.

Refia and I waved as he left. We helped mom clean up and before she went off outside with the elders again, she made us cups of tea. As soon as we've sat down again I saw the puzzled look on Refia. "Uhh, Luneth?" She looked at me and asked. "I know you two aren't actually brothers and all, but … why doesn't Arc call Nina 'mom', like you?"

I paused, thinking of what to answer. I wasn't sure if Arc would mind if I told Refia, but I'm sure she'd understand, anyway. I guess she had always noticed it and found it worth asking. "I … well, it's kinda complicated."

"Try me." She moved her seat closer and placed her hands on the table.

Thinking of what to tell Refia took me back to that day. The day I first met Arc. We were about five. He was reading by the lake, surrounded by the flowers and damp grass. No wonder he looked familiar at that time, that I felt so drawn to him. Turns out we had been in the same airship ride some time before. I approached him, who was to me the strange brown-haired boy with a book too big for his small hands, and his response was just a meager "Hi" followed by "I'm just waiting for mama". From there, I somehow started a conversation with him by telling him about the traveling merchant who sold books and stopped by Ur every other week.

After that, it wasn't until a few days later that I saw him again, and that was when I found out he and his mama didn't really live in town, instead just by its outskirts. But since then he's always visited, at first just to look at the books for sale and eventually he told me he came by to see me. Then mom let me take him to our house and we would talk there, get out every once in a while, but we were already inseparable.

One thing I did notice was Arc never stayed later than sundown, because, in his own words… "Mama's waiting for me."

"Well, because I was the one given to Nina. Arc was first given to someone else. I first met Arc when she brought him to town with her." I explained.

I continued as I saw Refia's increasingly curious stare. "This woman, I think she was an ex-Scholar, or something like that. So in case you were also wondering why Arc loves books…" The fellow warrior before him smiled at the thought. "Mom has actually heard of her before. According to the Elders, she traveled to Ur wanting to break away from a hunter group she used to be part of. She settled in a place far from them, determined to have her own family, so she adopted Arc. Arc lived there with her until we were eight."

"...Why?" Refia wondered. "What do you mean? What happened?"

I crossed my legs as I sat. "Oh, uhh, she … died a long time ago. Seven years now, actually. It's her anniversary today. That's why Arc was in a hurry. He's going to her … resting place."

"Oh … oh, dear." The look on her eyes softened. She put a hand over her mouth.

"This.. hunter group went rogue and looked for her. They thought she lived in Ur, so they invaded us and sent a hoard of monsters crawling through town. The monsters were too strong for us villagers so in the end the Elders just evacuated us, and I think we all hid in this cave for three days." I felt a lump in my throat as I spoke, but dismissed it. "Arc's mother… she was the one who took them all down. She used a banishing spell … it used up too much of her strength that it killed her."

I remembered that, too. Being in that cave with Arc, who cried for days on end after it happened. And what made it worse was how some of the villagers blamed his mother—who at most was considered a martyr, not even a hero—for the destruction, for which he became known to some as an exile's child. I had seen how he took this all in, and it always pained me how I couldn't do anything about how these others saw him.

But I was always there.

"It was only after that that my mom Nina also took him in, and when Topapa heard of this, he let us move with him here at the Elders' home."

Refia fell silent. She got her cup of tea and sipped from it, trying to reconnect with her words. "You two … I never would have thought…"

I nodded, and the combined look of awe and empathy continued to linger on her face.

She laid the teacup down and coughed. Moments later there was another knock on the door. I stood up to get it, to be welcomed by none other than our favorite chivalrous condescending elder brother, Ingus. He greeted us as he entered, and Refia offered him the seat next to hers. I got Ingus a drink and laid some fruit and bread on the table, and Refia, eager to lift the tense air I had just created with the things I've said, quickly propelled a more lighthearted conversation onto Ingus's face.

At one point he finally managed to steer way from Refia's questions (most of which were about Princess Sara) to ask one himself. "Where's Arc, anyway?"

I bowed my head. "Don't worry, I'll go get him now. You two just stay here." I excused myself and got up, strapping my pack onto my belt. "Be back in a jiffy," I bid as I ran outside to get Arc. Hopefully he can feel better again upon seeing us all together.

-x-

(Just a thought I had after noticing Arc never explicitly called Nina his mom; only Luneth did.)