Even though Culgan's logic for going to Muse without him made sense, Seed still felt restless and anxiously awaited his return and the details of his report. He knew too though that if he had gone with him to Muse, he would be eager to return and reunite with Dermot. He did make finding work his first priority, and having found a job at the foundry within a week, he walked down the streets of his old neighborhood, stopping short of his mother's house. The address Doc had given him, right next door, was where his oldest friend supposedly resided.

He knocked on the door and waited, holding his tension in his throat. When Seed was a child, he'd learned that Dermot was military trained, but having suffered an injury out in the field, he had requested to be stationed within the city as a guard. He still remained on reserve, and so, even before the war began, he had returned to the military, and Seed had scarcely seen him since.

When Dermot answered the door, Seed hardly recognized him. He looked much younger when he last saw him and he had always kept a clean shave. Now his hair had grown ragged and his beard was unkempt, though it hadn't grown long or white like an old man's. He wouldn't have recognized him at all if not for Doc telling him he had gone blind. "Who's there?" he asked.

"Seed." He felt his chin tremble and wiped at his face with his hand to stay his emotions.

Dermot doubted him for a moment, but he knew nobody had any reason to pull such a cruel prank. "I thought…"

"I know."

Dermot reached out with both hands to touch him and found his shoulders before pulling him into a hug. "Where the hell have you been?"

Seed hugged him tightly, less embarrassed by the tears that welled up in his eyes, knowing Dermot couldn't see them. "I'm sorry."

"Get in here," he said, pulling him inside. His apartment was sparsely furnished, providing little in the way of tripping hazards. There was a cane by the door, but Dermot didn't need it around his own home. "Tell me everything."

Seed drew in a deep breath and sighed, "Not a whole lot to tell, but it's a lot to swallow."

"Stories followed you, Seed," Dermot said with a rueful smile. "I listened proudly. You saved the royal family. It was rumored you perished in the final battle, but your body was never recovered."

"About that…"

Seed told him the whole truth as he knew it. That he had betrayed Luca Blight to put Jowy on the throne. That he had been killed during the final battle and hadn't lived to see their escape. That he awoke three years after the war ended, somehow resurrected by some unknown means. That he felt he had one singular purpose, to raise a rebellion. That Culgan was on a mission to Muse.

"You're still at war," Dermot frowned.

It was true. There hadn't been three years of peace for him. It was less than a year since he fell in battle and any day he missed his early morning training regimen, he felt restless and afraid he would become rusty with his sword or runes. "What happened to you?" Seed asked, changing the subject. "Where were you during the war?"

"I was a Captain in the 3rd army under General Kiba Windamier," Dermot said. "I witnessed the cruelty of Luca Blight and his White Wolf Guard firsthand. I heard the way they laughed as they 'sent the pigs to slaughter' in Ryube village. I watched them cut down women and children. I was ordered to set fire to the houses of innocents."

Seed furrowed his brow, considering what Luca Blight made him do. He, too, had witnessed the madness of Luca Blight firsthand, and it was as if his madness was contagious, infecting the elite forces he commanded. That was one of the reasons why he and Culgan had whispered of treason and why they had acted upon their plan. The Mad Prince could not become the Mad King of Highland. "Is that when you lost your sight?"

"Mm," Dermot grunted, nodding. "General Kiba was an honorable man. I knew him for many years. He was a hero of Highland. To see him reduced to a murderer… it was devastating to his men. He didn't take pride in his participation, but he was loyal to King Agares, and Agares had appointed Luca commander-in-chief of the Highland Army. He followed orders."

"I didn't respect the way he defected and actively fought against us," Seed admitted. "I thought he could have found a way to fight for Highland without fighting for Luca Blight. I didn't understand how he could be a Highland hero and throw it away so easily."

"After what we saw… after what we did, I don't blame him," Dermot said. "He turned a blind eye to my insubordination. I tried to help innocent women and children flee through the forest outside Ryube."

Seed wasn't surprised Dermot had disobeyed orders to protect children. He knew he could never harm a child. And he was grateful General Kiba hadn't been a monster himself, even if he was complicit in the attempted genocide committed by Luca Blight.

"I was caught by one of the White Wolf Guard," Dermot continued. "Instead of arresting me for treason or killing me outright, he threw me into one of the burning houses and told me I could 'roast with the rest of the swine.' I held my breath and broke out through a window, but the frame of the house was already coming down. I saw the roof come down on me, and that was the last thing I ever saw. I crawled into the forest and lost consciousness. I don't know if the soldiers saw me and left me for dead or if I had crawled deep enough in to remain hidden. But I was found, days later I suspect, by the surviving villagers of Ryube."

"They took you in, even wearing the Highland uniform?"

"Yes. I had helped some of them escape myself. They treated me like their own wounded," he said. "I moved back to L'Renouille after I recovered and collected my pay. I was considered no longer fit for duty. But it wasn't long before the guards broke down my door and dragged me out into the streets, calling me a traitor. I was charged with treason."

Seed bristled, sickened at the thought of them arresting him for saving innocent lives, even if they weren't Highland lives. "How did they find out about what you did, though? The White Wolf Guard would have been too busy to hunt down one soldier."

"It wasn't for that," Dermot said. "My treason was 'spreading lies' about the royal family and speaking out against Luca Blight. I had spoken about what happened at Ryube village and how I had lost my eyesight. You know how loyal our people are, that they saw Luca Blight as a hero for avenging the children of the Unicorn Brigade. They didn't see what I saw. Hearing it does not have the same impact as seeing it."

"How long were you in jail for?"

"As long as the war ensued. A year, perhaps. I lost track of time. I moved here after I was released. To keep an eye on your mother like I promised you I would."

Seed smiled.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Dermot smiled back.

"Why haven't you swept her off her feet yet?" Seed asked.

"Looking like this? She'd think I crawled out of a ditch."

"Let's start with a clean shave," Seed said, standing up. He went to the bathroom and looked through Dermot's cabinet.

"Really, kid? You're going to rummage through my things and try to make this ugly mug pretty again? She's not interested in me. Hasn't said much in the time I've been here."

"Which one of you knocks on whose door?" Seed asked, gathering up the scissors, brush, cream, and razor.

"Well, she used to bring me leftovers once in a while," he admitted. "If I went over there, your old man wouldn't have any problem pushing a blind man down a set of stairs and kicking him while he's down."

"You could take him, even without your eyes," Seed said, guiding him to a chair with a hand on his shoulder. He grabbed a bowl from the kitchen and filled it with water.

"I know, but your mother would not have liked that."

Seed wasn't sure if he was right or wrong about that. He thought, if she had any proper sense, she would like being rescued by a genuinely good man. But he also knew she had a weakness for his father, some deep misplaced compassion for him, like caring for a broken, rabid dog. "Either way… I want to thank you for everything you've done for me." He stood behind Dermot and tilted his head back to clip away the length of his beard before shaving it.

"You don't have to, kid."

Seed smiled, "You were my best friend growing up. But I didn't see you as just a friend. You were my mentor, a man I could look up to." He set the scissors aside and brushed the cream over his neck, chin, and cheeks. "When I was little, I wished you were my dad instead of Bruss. Sometimes it made me angry that you weren't."

"You always had a lot of anger in you, kid. But you're nothing like him."

"I still remember the first time you told me someday I'd be a man and have my own family, and you told me not to be like him. To be better. Not to hurt women. And not to lose my temper." Seed dragged the blade carefully over his skin, rinsing the hair and cream into the bowl from the blade after every carefully shaved line. "Joining the military gave me an outlet for that. I lost my temper a few times, but having Culgan there to cool me down kept me alive."

"You won't always have a war to fight," Dermot said. "You'll have to find another way to quell that fire."

"I know," he said. "Without you I might've never made it in the army. You taught me how to use runes and got me started with the sword. I was better than everyone else my age because of you."

"That's not true. You had remarkable talent, a gift for adapting, and an even stronger drive and ambition."

"But you armed me with the knowledge I needed to get a foot hold," he said, carefully navigating the curves of his chin and lips. "I know I always wanted to be like General Han Cunningham. He was my hero after saving the Queen and Prince Luca. I didn't want any less than the rank and respect he earned. I wanted to be just like him. But as I grew up, you were the man I aspired to be. And I think I'm more like you than I am like him. I'm proud of that."

"Seed…"

"I'm sorry I didn't reply to all your letters when I was away. I was grateful for all of them. It just made it easier for me to distance myself from you and mom. It made me miss you less. Or, I should say, I didn't think about it as much."

"I understand," Dermot said and waited until Seed rinsed the blade to speak again. "I didn't harbor any ill feelings about your lack of correspondence. I knew you were reading them and doing well. Even when you didn't answer me, your captain gave me word about your accomplishments."

"You kept in touch with my captain?"

"I served with him before I was on the city guard, so it made it easier, but yes. And when I re-enlisted, I was under Kiba Windamier's command. I thought about pulling some strings to have you transferred, but I didn't want to uproot you from your unit. Then, the war started. You know the rest."

Seed nodded and wiped up any remnants of the lathered creamed from his skin, inspecting his handiwork. No nicks or stray hairs. "Why didn't you marry that girl you liked? Lisbeth?

"Huh," Dermot smiled, "Never thought I'd hear that name again. I haven't seen her in nearly as long as I last saw you."

"I thought you were going to propose to her."

"I loved her, but not enough, I guess. She wanted kids, and I didn't."

Seed was surprised at that. He picked up the scissors and went to trimming the mop of hair on his head. "Why not? You would've made a great dad."

"I knew she would be a good mother... It's not her fault," he said. "You know I met her a few years after I met you. I was already teaching you how to fight and use your fire rune. She was putting more and more pressure on me to decide because she was afraid she would run out of time. But I wasn't eager. It wasn't fair to hold her back."

"You had cold feet."

"I thought, if I had a kid, I'd want him to be like you. We spent a lot of time together, you and I. You were already in the Unicorn Brigade and making yourself noticed by the Captains when she gave me the ultimatum. It's selfish, but I was afraid I would be disappointed if we had a kid. I mean, I knew if we did, I'd love him or her no matter what, but what kind of father would I be to think more highly of you than my own flesh and blood? I didn't feel like I needed to mold another person when I put everything I had into you."

Seed stopped, his heart thudding so hard it felt like his ribs would bruise. He never knew he was the reason Dermot was alone. Or that Dermot had felt so emotionally invested in him, enough that he felt like the surrogate father he viewed him as.

Dermot shook his head, "And that was exhausting. You were not an easy kid to work with. You were way too grown up for your age and headstrong. You seemed to grow younger and more silly as you got older though. You had the courage to set my coattails on fire."

"Well, I knew you wouldn't hit me for it," Seed smiled.

"I didn't want to have to teach again. Not to mention before they reach an age where they can learn things, they're running headfirst into danger. I'd have died of a heart attack by now. And I had plans to re-enlist and didn't want to leave Liz home alone with a baby. It'd be just as bad if I were absent. I couldn't do that to them. I've always been okay on my own. It hurt when she left, but it didn't keep me down. She still had time to make a family with somebody else."

Seed wondered if he should have done the same with Corielle before going to war. The end result would have been the same, but he wouldn't have had that regret looming over him as he died. Or the hope that he woke up with that had to be extinguished in the market place. He continued clipping Dermot's hair so the cut wasn't uneven on one side and brushed off his shoulders when he finished. "Better late than never," Seed said.

"What is?"

"To pursue my mom," he grinned. "Unless you're not sweet on her?"

Dermot grumbled, "I am. But your mother isn't a prize to be won. If she is content where she is, why would she choose me?"

"I know that," Seed said, ruffling his hair affectionately. "But women love being romanced. He hasn't treated her like she's special since he knocked her up. She hasn't been given a thing, just taken from. She's probably starved for affection. If you don't go over there and sweep her up off her feet, I'll throw a jar of crickets in your house. And good luck finding them."

"You'd abuse an old blind man," Dermot grinned, taking a swipe at him.

"You can't call yourself old yet," Seed said. "But it'll annoy you so much you won't sleep for weeks. I hear they can live for a few months."

"You don't have to threaten me with childish pranks," Dermot said. "I'll go speak to your mother. But if she's not interested, maybe you should throw them into the window next door instead. It'd drive your old man batty."

Seed chuckled and patted his shoulder. "I'll sweep up the hair."

Dermot ran his hands through his hair and massaged his chin, trusting he looked presentable. "Thanks, kid. So, uh, should I take your mom flowers, you think? Or… chocolate?"

"Invite her out for a walk," Seed suggested. Being blind, his mother would keep her arm on him as they walked, to help him navigate, even with his cane. "Save the gifts for after you two get to know each other again."

"Right, I wouldn't want to come on too strong," Dermot said thoughtfully.

"You remember where you used to train me, outside the city walls?"

"Yes, of course."

"I go out there most mornings. If you ever want to join me…"

Dermot laughed, "You've surpassed me in skill, kid, and I wouldn't make a good sparring partner without my eyes."

"Well, I've never trained a blind man before, but I'll bet you could still wield a sword without cutting yourself."

"You're mad," Dermot grinned. "I would say I'd come out to watch you, but… I'd just hear you grunting."

"I'm serious," Seed said. "I'm not saying you should become a soldier again, but you don't have to give up fighting because you can't see. We don't have to use swords."

"You'd look like you're beating up a homeless man," Dermot scoffed.

"You don't look homeless anymore," Seed said, patting his cheek to remind him of the clean shave and haircut. "Just don't dress in rags. I'd rather not go to jail."

"All right, all right," Dermot said. "I'll meet you out there. But you better set your expectations low, kid. I haven't raised a sword or a fist in four years."

"I'll see you soon, then," Seed said and rinsed out the mucky water bowl in the sink. With winter, darkness fell earlier in the evening. If Senna needed anything from the market, he'd rather get it before dark.

"I'm glad you finally came by, Seed," Dermot said. He had been hoping, ever since the rubble had been cleared and their bodies undiscovered, that Seed would show up at his door one day.

"I'm sorry it took me so long."