Bleh, another late update. I didn't think about how difficult it would be to write consistently while working full time, which was stupid seeing as how I didn't have time during the school term either. I definitely think this'll be done before September, but honestly my goal was before August, which doesn't look like it'll happen at this rate :/

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

Tension

It should have been perfect. Garet had finally found the resolve to marry Jenna. He had gotten through the hardest year of his life and felt that he could stand tall once again. After all the pain and suffering, the love he felt for the only woman he had eyes for had transcended him to a place where he truly wanted only to be by her side, to make her happy, and to grow old with her.

Why, then, did it have to be this way? Why had things taken this turn when he had finally taken the initiative and gained momentum? Why? Why?

"Why the hell does it take more than a year for one stupid ring?!"

Ivan chuckled and patted the disgruntled Mars adept on the shoulder. Today was supposed to have been some sort of housewarming get-together at Ivan's new estate, but only Garet was able to make it on this particular day. Despite the unbelievable size and furnishings that the Jupiter adept was granted, being the son of the soon-to-be-kingdom's ruler, the redhead was simply in too foul of a mood to express any sincere form of amazement or congratulations.

"Heh, well, didn't Isaac say he had to put off his proposal by two years because of the ring? Besides, it's your own fault for wanting to get it custom-made. You've had a whole month since you placed that order to cancel it, but it's probably too late now."

Ivan hardly reacted to the sharp glare he received. Instead, he hopped up from his seat and wandered aimlessly around the somewhat empty room they were in.

"Anyway," the Jupiter adept continued, "it probably wouldn't be the best idea to propose to her soon; you did say the two of you have been arguing more than normal lately."

Garet dropped his gaze to the ground and let out a sigh. Scratching his upper lip, he wondered if there might be some kind of convincing excuse he could make for his and Jenna's more frequent arguing.

"Maybe…it's because we weren't fighting much over the year," he said unconvincingly. "Things are just catching up…or maybe I just feel like it's a lot but it's really the same as it was before everything happened."

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"

Damn that Ivan and his quick responses. Why was he always so rational when it came to these things?

Still, Garet could not deny that his friend was probably right in this situation. Not only were his arguments weak, but Ivan's control over his mind-reading was fairly unstable now, meaning that keeping secrets from him was close to impossible, despite the disdain the Jupiter adept now felt for his power. Knowing this, Garet groaned and collapsed onto his side so that his cheek was pressed against the sofa's cushion.

"I thought I was done with all this Jenna-Roxy drama," he complained as images of both girls flashed in his mind. "Am I really being dense about it?"

"Heh, if it isn't you being dense, then you're just denying how provocative Roxy is being. I've seen you two at work, Garet; she's definitely not just flirting with you for fun."

"What am I supposed to do about it? It's not like she doesn't know I'm going steady with Jen."

"Have you told her straight-up that it makes you uncomfortable?"

"…Well…no…but that's because it doesn't."

Saying those words aloud suddenly made his conscience act up, and Garet could not help feeling like a scumbag. He did not mean to imply that he liked Roxy's overzealous attention; it was simply that it did not bother him. Since he did not plan on allowing it to go beyond what it was right now, he did not see the problem. It couldn't be considered stringing her along since he never did anything to spurn her advances…could it?

Ivan grabbed a fruit from the bowl on the table and bit into it. "I thought I said before that you need to look at the situation from Jenna's perspective. It isn't enough that it doesn't bother you; she has to feel comfortable or else she'll never let this go."

"I know, I know, it's just…not as easy as you make it sound."

Out of habit, Garet began snapping his fingers, lighting and dousing a small flame on the edge of his index finger with each snap. It was somewhat of a stress reliever, though most who saw him making this action thought of it as some kind of restless tick.

Was there truly no other way to make Jenna happy than to put some distance between himself and Roxy? For Jenna, Garet would readily go to the ends of the world for her, and he had already proved himself of that by doing so. Why, then, was it so difficult to simply back off from this other woman? Surely the shop clerk did not have so much sway over him that she was managing to take control of his actions subconsciously, and especially not in this case where it came down to her or Jenna.

"You're not going to like hearing this," Ivan said after the lengthy silence, "but I honestly think you're just being stubborn about this whole ordeal."

Garet ceased his flame snapping and sat up so he could get a clear look at the younger man. "What makes you say that?"

Ivan shrugged and lobbed a fruit towards Garet before speaking. "Is there some reason why you won't say anything to Roxy about the way she acts towards you? I know you said it doesn't bother you, but it isn't as if you didn't realize Jenna disliked it."

The redhead scratched at his spikes and pondered the thought for a bit. The way Ivan put it made his actions, or lack thereof, seem malicious and uncaring, but in truth Garet simply had not taken the time to think about it before. True, he was aware of Jenna's feelings regarding Roxy, but he had never felt as though it were his job to speak up unless things began to get out of hand. Was this stream of logic misguided?

At the same time, despite understanding what Ivan was saying, Garet could not simply push Roxy away after all she had done to help him as well. Like it or not, she too had been there to help pick the Mars adept back up when he had fallen into a despair that seemed like it might never end. To end their friendship after she had there during such a trying time in his life, Garet would feel worse than he currently did about arguing with Jenna. Stubbornness had nothing to do with it; saying so would be an insult to his morality and integrity.

"Don't get yourself worked up, now," Ivan chuckled from the table. "I never said to cut all ties with her; I said you should talk things out. It's your call on how you end up dealing with all of it, so don't pin it on me if things don't go the way you hope."

"…Is that your way of saying you think I'll mess it up?"

"Heh, not exactly. It's more like Roxy's a bit of a wildcard and you aren't exactly the brightest guy around. She's actually pretty clever even though she comes off as ditzy, so I won't be surprised if she somehow manages to get the jump on you."

"Good to know I can always count on you for a pick-me-up."

"I'm just voicing your own thoughts for you."

"…You know, Ivan, sometimes you can be a real dick…"

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Tyrell pursed his lips as he placed a marker in the book and shut it. He had long since passed the halfway point, and while he was interested in learning about his father's life, he had come to realize that only a couple of his initial questions had been answered. What had happened to Vale and the reason his uncle had never been talked about extensively were honestly only minor questions; the real mysteries had yet to unfold, and he was beginning to grow a bit impatient.

Eyeing the last chunk of pages after the marker, he could not help wondering what happened to lead Garet to where he was now. When and why had he exiled himself along with Isaac? What happened to his relationship with Jenna? Could these questions be answered with only this final section of the book?

More importantly than any of those questions though, Tyrell was well aware of how far along the timeline he had reached in his father's story, and judging by the rate at which things were continuing, it would not be long until Garet reached the important age of thirty-one, the age he was when his son was born. This was the reason Tyrell continued to read, and yet the further along he travelled through his father's history, the more apprehensive he became as the book headed towards its conclusion.

His mother would inevitably enter the story soon, assuming she had not already. This was not some fictional tale where he wanted to curiously make predictions about what might happen; this was the true and actual life that his father had lived, and while he could narrow down the more important women that Garet had met in his younger days, it was too uncomfortable to predict what might happen next.

There was no doubt in Tyrell's mind that the identity of his mother would be revealed very soon, and he could feel his hands begin to tremble at the mere thought of learning whom said woman might be. He feared to learn of the reason he had never met her and why Garet was not with her now. Perhaps she abandoned her responsibilities as a mother, or perhaps there were circumstances that prevented them from continuing on as a family. Maybe it was actually something Garet had done and the woman had nothing to do with the separation of what could have been a family. The fact of the matter was that something had forced the three of them from staying together, and it was highly unlikely that there was a positive explanation for all of this.

A catastrophic natural disaster, the death of a loved one, separation from the woman he loved, isolation in a cabin in the mountains, and the eventual dissolution of what should have been a family of three – what more could Garet possibly be forced to endure? How had he managed to raise a son with a smile on his face after all he had been through? It boggled Tyrell's mind to imagine that his father was once not so different in personality than himself, and he could not help but feel immature after learning so much.

"I can only imagine how anxious you are," Ivan's voice came in through the doorway. A few seconds after, he stepped through the threshold, his spectacles halfway down his nose. "You're so close to finding out about yourself, but everything you've found out so far has been nothing but tragic."

"I-It's a little weird when you say it like that," Tyrell responded slowly. "I mean, you were there when all of this was going down, and my dad must have told you about all this stuff firsthand."

"I could save you the trouble of reading and simply tell you everything you'd like to know right now."

The young adept was not prepared for such an unexpected remark, and immediately tensed up as his eyes darted between Ivan and the book beneath his hands. This tense feeling only lasted for a moment, however, as Ivan laughed softly and waved his hand in a gesture that he was joking.

"If I did that, it would ruin the impact of the story. What good would it be if you got so far into the book only for me to spoil the ending for you?"

Ivan's lighthearted tone gave Tyrell mixed feelings. Of course, there was no denying that this book was more or less a story, regardless of the fact that it was non-fiction and about his own father, but at the same time it was difficult to accept it as being anything other than a reality. To refer to it as a story seemed to lessen the value of the words, of the experiences in Garet's life. In any case, the end of the book did not equate to the end of his father's life, as the man was, to Tyrell's current knowledge, still alive and travelling somewhere with Isaac.

"Is… Is my dad…" He knew the words he wanted to say, yet he found it hard to convey them to Ivan for some reason, and though the man could hear his thoughts without even trying, everything racing around his mind must have turned his mental voice into a chaotic mess.

"Is he what?"

Taking a moment to clear his throat, Tyrell hoped only that his words would come through. "Is he happy with his life? I…can't help wondering if his cheerful personality has been a complete lie for my entire life."

Ivan smiled sympathetically at the young man and pulled his spectacles from his nose, allowing them to dangle around his neck on the attached chain.

"Do you really want me to answer that for you right now? Or is it that you're more nervous to find out that the man you've called your father might really be nothing more than a persona."

Spot-on as usual. Tyrell lowered his gaze back down to the book and clenched his fists atop its surface. The sound of Ivan's footsteps circled around the other side of the room, followed by the sound of a wooden chair squeaking under the weight of the man.

"I'm sorry for being so cryptic about all of this," Ivan spoke softly, his voice seeming to be genuine. "Truly, I would like to answer your questions, but I do feel that Garet wanted you to hear his story directly from him, even if it's being told through a book he wrote instead of from his own mouth." The Jupiter adept paused for a moment, but snapped his fingers soon after, speaking in a brighter tone than before. "Ah, actually, as long as you're okay with it, there is something I can tell you! It seems as though you were just about to reach this part in the story anyhow, and Garet glazed over the whole section despite it being nearly an entire year of his life. If you're okay with hearing me explain and expand on it, I don't mind telling you, Tyrell."

The redhead did not respond at first, but as he slowly straightened up from slouching over, he turned to face Ivan from where he was sitting. Placing the book down on the bedside table, Tyrell cleared his throat and uttered a single statement.

"Let's hear it, then."

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Garet's head throbbed in pain as he lay uncomfortably on the couch in Isaac's newly completed cabin. After a solid evening of drinking with his old friend last night, he was now too hung over to even get up to drink a glass of water. The thought of even trying to move right now made him nauseous.

Despite his hangover and the copious amounts of alcohol consumed, Garet's memory of yesterday was quite coherent; if anything, he was actually disappointed by how clear it was. With a groan, the redhead rolled onto his side and tried to go back to sleep. Perhaps the memories would cloud themselves over if he slept some more.

Ivan's uncontrolled mind-reading presence could be felt as the blond entered the room with a yawn. Recalling what happened last night, he and Sam had met up with Garet and Isaac at Patcher's new inn after a surprising engagement announcement. He truly wanted to feel happy for the younger adept, and it would be a lie to say that he did not feel some semblance of encouragement for his old friend, but Garet knew that his heart was filled with jealousy and a slight hint of resentment, unfounded as it may have been. It was impossible for him to try hiding such strong feelings from Ivan, but thankfully the Jupiter adept had not made any sort of comment, as he seemed to have been too bashful last night to say anything, really.

"I guess our engagement announcement came at a bad time for you and Isaac," Ivan's voice came softly from somewhere above him. Garet peeked one eye open to see his back leaning against the back of the sofa.

"D'you read our thoughts?" he slurred a bit, apparently not having eradicated all of the alcohol from his system yet.

"Not entirely. It's just…well, you wouldn't be all the way out here unless something major happened with Jenna, and Isaac wasn't exactly keeping it a secret that Mia had to return to Imil."

Garet shut his eye again and took a deep breath. "Don't feel bad that you're getting married; Isaac's issues and my issues have nothing to do with you and Sam, at least not in terms of your engagement."

"I suppose… I can't help but feel bad for Isaac, though. He and Mia have been engaged for so long, and for her to have to leave so suddenly right at the very time he seemed like he might be ready to marry her…it must be tough."

The Mars adept thought back on the letter Isaac had showed him the other day. It almost seemed impossible that a peaceful village like Imil would suddenly come under siege by monsters at such an inconvenient time; then again, there was not exactly a convenient time for any kind of disaster to strike. In any case, the letter, written by Justin, was essentially a distress letter, asking for at least one of either Mia or Isaac to return so that they could assist with healing or commanding the militia respectively.

Though he had passed by Mia on his way up the mountain, Garet had been too absorbed by his own troubles back home to take much notice of the upset healer until she was too far to call out to. Had he not been so distracted, he may have been able to convince her to take Isaac with her while he watched over the cabin for them. It could have been one convenience in such a trying time for all of them.

"I'm worried about you too, of course," Ivan added, snapping the redhead back into the present. "You and Jenna were having enough problems as it was. I wasn't as concerned about it as I could have been, but it's a little nerve-wracking to see things going downhill between you two."

Garet peeked his eye open again to see that Ivan was now facing him, his purple irises seeming to scrutinize every detail of his face.

"If you're going to read my mind, just make it quick," Garet grumbled and shut his eye again.

"…You don't mind?"

"I'm not exactly in the mood to fight back."

Without a word, the presence of Ivan's psynergy grew stronger, and Garet could feel the spell invade his head like a pair of hands reaching into his subconscious. With his eyes closed, memories flashed before his eyes, and he could see all of the events that Ivan was searching through until he eventually managed to find the one he was looking for.

As if in a dream, Garet's vision was from his own memory's perspective. It felt extremely odd not to be in control of his body, especially since this was his own memory he was reliving. Following his past self like a second consciousness in his own head, Garet, and Ivan as well, watched along as the past Garet hurriedly entered his home to find Jenna sulking on the sofa.

"Jen, hear me out, please!" Feeling himself speak without being in control of the action itself was much stranger than Garet could have ever imagined, but he ignored it and re-watched the scene that had led to all of this.

"What do I even need to listen to?!" Jenna spat, her glare piercing daggers in his direction. "There's no possible way it was an accident that you two were all over each other the way you were this time!"

"Should I jump back a little further in your memory?" Ivan asked. "It might help me get a better understanding of what happened."

"I'd rather you didn't; it isn't exactly one of my shining moments," Garet sighed.

"I-I…I…" Past-Garet stuttered dumbly. "Look, I'm not trying to make excuses, but I promise you that I didn't do anything."

"Is that supposed to make me feel any better?! Ugh, Garet, sometimes…you're just so dense!"

"But…I don't understand why you're mad at me, then…"

Jenna angrily got to her feet and stormed over towards them, or him rather. Painfully jabbing her index finger into his chest, she glowered at him with ire the likes of which Garet had never seen in her before.

"I'm angry at you because you let her do all this stupid crap! Maybe you haven't noticed, but it seems like she's getting progressively more touchy-feely with you every time I stop by. Don't even try to tell me you've told her to stop, because if you had done it right, she wouldn't be grabbing onto you all the time!"

"I-It isn't all the time…"

"Man, you really butchered the reconciliations yesterday," Ivan commented.

"Just shut up, will you. I was flustered and she was putting me on the spot."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for making the mistake of saying she does this all the time," Jenna groaned over-sarcastically. "I guess I'm just exaggerating a bit because she was practically nibbling my boyfriend's ear!"

"…Roxy was nibbling on your ear…?"

"She jumped on my back and started saying all this sexy stuff right into my ear. I know that's not really much better, but I didn't really have any control over it."

Ivan sighed deeply. "This is why I told you to tell her it made you uncomfortable early on. Now it's gotten to this point and you're paying the price for it."

"You know what, I'm sick of this crap," Jenna huffed and stomped into their bedroom before slamming the door. "I'm not in the mood to try talking it out, and I don't want to see you, so get out!"

"W-Wait, Jenna! Look, I'm sorry; I'll tell her the next time I see her that she can't keep doing stuff like this!"

"Didn't you hear me? I said get out! Go stay at Kay's or your parents'!"

"I can't do that… Kay has a boyfriend for the first time in her life; that's the last place I want to be. My parents will just scold me if I suddenly show up at their house after having an argument with you."

"I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU GO; JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS HOUSE RIGHT NOW, YOU STUPID IDIOT!"

Past-Garet hopped back in shock and scratched his head a couple of times before letting out a long sigh and heading out the door. Almost immediately after he shut it, he heard the lock click behind him; his key was in his pocket, but Jenna was certainly not in the mood to be playing games right now. He continued to stand at the door, as if hopeful that he might hear the lock click open, but after a few minutes with no sign of that happening, he let out a long, defeated sigh.

"Where should I go…?" he mumbled and started walking in a non-specific direction. "Ivan said he'd be gone all of today, and I don't really know a ton of people that'll let me stay at their place. I guess there's always the inn…except that most of my money is in the house…"

The dreamlike memory started to fade away, and the ghostlike presence in Garet's head disappeared as Ivan's mind reading ended. Opening his eyes, the redhead looked up at the Jupiter adept, who had a hand covering the top half of his face in a look of pure disappointment over what he'd just witnessed.

"I get it, I'm a frickin' idiot and I cracked under the pressure."

The longer Ivan remained silent with his hand on his face, the more irritated Garet started to become. Ignoring his splitting headache and unstable footing, he stumbled off to get himself some water.

Chugging back glass after glass, the Mars adept did what he could to push the memories of yesterday to the back of his thoughts. The more he tried, however, the more prominently they resurfaced in his mind, serving only to annoy him further at both himself and Ivan's mockery. So engrossed by these negative feelings was he that he failed to notice the Jupiter adept step into the kitchen.

"You know what I'm going to tell you, right?" Ivan asked flatly.

Finishing what had to have been the tenth glass of water, Garet slammed it down and turned his head towards him. "I'll tell Roxy to back off the next time I see her," he growled. "I have a couple of days off, so get off my case until then."

Ivan sighed deeply and shrugged his shoulders. "Can't be helped, I guess. What are you planning to do about Jenna? Even if you talk to Roxy, I doubt Jenna's going to forgive and forget just like that."

Garet scratched his head. "If nothing else, she'll calm down enough to let me into the house so I can get my money. I can stay at the inn or something until she's cooled off and will let me come back."

It was not the most optimistic plan, but knowing how quickly Jenna seemed to calm down from her quick bursts of anger, Garet did not expect to stay at the inn for more than a few days at most. In that time, he would just have to prove to her that he was trying his best should she ever happen to pass by the item and weapon shops.

The sound of Isaac's footsteps coming down the stairs perked both men's attentions, and with a quick nod to each other, they adopted the false personas of their past selves before going to greet him.

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"Even to this day, I don't think the two of them have ever made up," Ivan mused and scratched his head. "She did let him back home after a few days like he said, but they kept on fighting with each other even after Roxy was clearly showing more restraint."

"Then what were they always fighting about? Wasn't she the root of their problems?"

Ivan paused for a moment to think. "I can't say for sure… On the outside, it seemed like they were just bickering the way they always had before the eruption, but…I think that Aaron's death and Felix's disappearance were too heavy for either of them to really bear."

Tyrell cocked his head to the side. "I don't get it; I thought my dad had mostly recovered from the pain of losing his brother."

"Those two were closer than he really let on. Garet has never recovered from the loss of his brother, and I don't think Jenna lets the pain of losing Felix show, at least not directly. The problem with losing both of them around the same time was that it changed the whole dynamic of Garet and Jenna's relationship. They would bicker, but instead of fizzling out like it used to, it would build into an argument, which would then evolve to the point where one of them would usually storm out of the house or kick the other one out. Things were just too stressful for both of them."

Tyrell turned away from Ivan for a moment and casually flipped the book open to the page he had marked. Reading the sentence "I was already twenty-eight at the time" forced him to realize that this story could really only go on for three more years, possibly only two more since he highly doubted that his father had cheated on Jenna to conceive Tyrell. With that thought in mind, he turned back to Ivan, who was giving the young man a stern look.

"Did things really go downhill in such a short period of time?" the Mars adept asked, starting to feel doubtful of himself. "Was I… Am I nothing more than a mistake to him? A burden that only caused more hardship?"

"You're not," Ivan spoke immediately after. "Tyrell, you are probably the only source of happiness Garet has had for the past sixteen years. No matter how hard times were for him, you are anything but a mistake, and I'm sure he would yell at you for even thinking you were."

"But I came around at arguably one of the worst times in his life. How could he not resent me?"

"You were his salvation. It's been a long, slow climb for him, but you should have seen just how proud he was when you, Karis, and Matthew all set out on your journey. He could see that his efforts had borne fruit, and that you were mature enough to set out from home, even with your rambunctious side."

Tyrell wanted to argue back, but to do so would take away from any growth he felt from his journey across Weyard. He could not confirm nor deny that his father was proud to call him his son, so he had to take Ivan's words for truth. Besides, both this man and Garet had to be feeling something similar for their children, so it would make sense to trust what Ivan was saying.

"Then tell me what happened," Tyrell spoke seriously. "I want to know why my dad and Jenna split up, and I want to know… I want to know my mom…"

The comforting gaze that Ivan was giving him slowly faded away, changing into a look of concern. "If you think you're prepared for it."

"I am."

This was it: the final chapter that would explain everything to him. All of Tyrell's remaining questions would be answered, and he had to brace himself for anything that might happen.

"It started with another journey. You'll have to read the rest for yourself after I tell you about it; are you sure you're ready?"

Tyrell looked down at the book once more, and with his fist clenched, he brought his gaze back up to Ivan and nodded.

"Tell me everything you can."

Just a heads-up, that line about it being the final chapter just now is not indicative of the next chapter being the final one. There is still quite a bit to get covered before I can write the finale, and I'll be quite clear about the upcoming conclusion in the penultimate chapter. There will probably be only one more chapter with a 'present day' Ivan and Tyrell interruption before the finale, so expect to see a lot more relevant content (not that the 'present day' segments are irrelevant, but I usually try to use them conveniently when there are time skips and such).

Anyway, I'm not entirely sure how many more chapters there will be, though the next will obviously be covering Garet's year-long journey (at most this segment will take two chapters). After that, there are only a few more big events that I can think of before the ending with all its revelations and whatnot are had. Honestly, I have my doubts that I can match the emotional impact for the ending that WiH had, but that's still a ways away.

Thanks to Sayaka M for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and please review!

–GengaJupite