Summary: Yugo ponders the inevitable change of aging and adventures ending while doing his best to stay connected with those he'd come to call family during those now-finished travels.
AN: The spelling I got for Tristepin's nickname from TV Tropes was 'Pinpin'. To me, this sounds nothing like how the name is verbalized, but I stuck with the accepted spelling. The mention of him and Eva having twins is in reference to Elely and Flopin from season 3.
Lots of Amalia this chapter but she's a wordy one and demanded screen time.
Also prepare for a rapid abuse of parenthesis and commas. You have been warned of the grammatical atrocities that await.
After what happened at the Crimson Claws Archipelago, his time adventuring with his group had come to its conclusion. So far, nothing new had come up that let them all run off on one again.
They all kept up with visiting after it all though anyways. The days after returning on Phaeris had been busy for the Sadida Kingdom. Not only were some diplomats from the Council of Twelve still around (and confused at the sudden disappearance of the Eliatrope and dragon representatives) and shocked at the news the group brought back (though none got a full story at by any rate; some things had to go hidden, of that Yugo deferred to his brother on as Adamaï was the one to have seen the council in action before; if Ad said it would cause more problems than was worth it to let them know Qilby, the representative they'd seen before, had turned out rotten, then Yugo would trust his judgement and keep it quiet), but their arrival heralded the news of Sufokia.
Alone, Adamaï caught Yugo up on the Council of Twelve's events and they had to laugh over the prince of Brakmar. If the royal had been unhappy at one new kingdom joining the world, he had to be even more displeased at a second showing up out in the seas. Normally, Yugo wouldn't find someone's misfortune funny, but...the prince had tried to cut off Kris and the rest of his friend's heads and Adamaï had told him that the royal had also caused him and Qilby problems at the council meeting. The amusement felt earned enough.
Later, Amalia had heard the same story and also cackled at it (she was insulted on many grounds over Brakmar, some of which was deserved and some of which just Amalia being Amalia). She had a lot of chances for those borderline maniacal laughs (she got pretty fierce, he'd found that out long before, and when it wasn't threatening, he'd gotten to be rather amused by her temper) upon returning. Any chance to get lectured for running away (again) were completely thrown for a loop when she returned with a new dragon and news of a rising civilization in the sea that may or may not have had the supplies to wreak havoc on the world. Amalia got a clear kick out of acting smugly calm while others panicked at this news.
She still was, apparently. Yugo had sat in place for nearly an hour listening to her talk at typical-Amalia rapid speeds about Sufokia, and her father, and the diplomats, and her brother being "dumb" about the whole thing, and other aides worrying where she was calm, and more insults towards Armand's opinion on Sufokia, and- well. It was hard to know, honestly. She brought up a lot and a brain could only keep track of so much.
Apparently, Sufokia was still a big deal on her plate. It'd been months now but things like new kingdoms appearing out of nowhere didn't get resolved and wrapped up neatly.
(He would know, he thought, picturing the Eliatrope people waiting for him to get this world to accept that they wanted in)
This time the visit was just him. Alibert may have come on many an occasion (Amalia's father rather liked his cooking and company, many did, even if his children always happened to show up to remind him of his diet before he could enjoy any of Alibert's chef work), but that week had been a busy one and Adamaï had his hands full with Grougal so, in the end, Yugo had made his way by Zaap to Sadida alone. Just because the adventures were done didn't mean he could really just accept not seeing the people he'd traveled around the world with. Ruel spent a large amount of time at the inn, Adamaï lived there full time, and Pinpin and Eva brought their toddlers over at least every month to visit. The last member of the brotherhood was supposed to stay in her kingdom, but she pulled strings one way or another to show up without warning or her family's approval. Despite her involvement in the ongoing diplomacy with Sufokia, she was still the same old Amalia. She missed free worriless adventuring as much as he did.
As sad as it was, Yugo didn't think it'd ever happen again. He was trying to pull a kingdom into this world and once they did enter, he wouldn't have the chance to leave them for adventures. And two of the party were parents now. How were they ever supposed to go back to the lifestyle they'd had when their current status made it impossible to go back in time (and oh, wouldn't they know everything there was to know on that topic, thanks to Nox) to when they were free of family responsibilities? It was rhetorical enough.
Besides, for every fun day helping Xav or catching voice thieves or winning Boufbowl matches, there were the days spent seeing Grougaloragran's island get destroyed, watching Adamaï hold himself together by playing fine after the old dragon's death, seeing Sadida fall, looking on as Phaeris took blow after blow from Qilby and Anathar, as Adamaï went trapped in possession, as Qilby threw him around in a blank dimension before taunting him with the Eliatrope people...
For all the wonder those years of travel held, the goal of those journeys- to find family, to stop Nox, to stop Qilby and Rushu- included things he'd never forget. Even if he wanted to forget some.
Even if some things witnessed (or worse: done) kept him from sleeping soundly.
Amalia felt the same when it came to the former topic. She talked all about what she was doing now and reminiscenced on the past, because all they got to do these days was talk rather than act. The freedom to do and the painful consequences of said doing were both over. Maybe she felt the same on the latter topic too then. She certainly didn't want to remember the pain of watching Sadida crumble, of feeling its forests die while the Tree of Life took her as a host to save them.
And yet what bothered Yugo wasn't anything it should have been (at least from his brother's perspective): he didn't find himself caught up in grief over what had failed as often as he sat trapped thinking about victories.
Beating Nox had felt all the worth it in the beginning of the moment- he'd been so angry over Pinpin's death, so willing to make the Xelor pay. The victory there hadn't been as satisfying once the clock had turned back and fallen apart, once he'd seen the raw grief from an enemy that hadn't expected any of his actions to stick and didn't want to face the responsibility that they all had. Still, it was worth celebrating over.
It was clean, in its own way. Sad, in another. Yugo had grown cautious of the Eliacube from it all. If it drove a human to madness like that, why wouldn't it do the same to a child no matter if it was a child of its creators?
He should have stayed cautious. He shouldn't have let Adamaï pressure him into using it when neither knew what they were doing.
It had been different with the traitor.
Adamaï didn't insult him outright for feeling unhappy with how he'd beaten Qilby, but it felt to Yugo like his twin didn't think he should be upset. Where in that was the apology for having taken the Eliacube and dofus in the first place? For pressuring Yugo into using them before he felt ready? Where in that was the acknowledgement that by doing so, Qilby had been tugged from his prison in the first place?
It wasn't true bitterness. Just passive observation. Passive observation that went unshared and thus unheard by Adamaï. Yugo felt bad enough for excluding him, forgetting him, leaving him behind so that Qilby had the chance to hand him over to Rushu. He wasn't about to start a fight over guilt neither of them probably deserved.
Besides, the few times he'd tried to bring it up, he'd get responses that seemed to imply his brother didn't want to talk about it. Probably didn't want to remember any of it. Yugo couldn't imagine being possessed was a pleasant experience. Pinpin was always upset with it before he and Rubilax had made the deal that the Iop could have full senses and control during it. Anathar was no Rubilax, that much Yugo could tell from their experience with him in Rushu's world. Rushu's lieutenant was...
Yugo didn't judge Adamaï for not wanting to talk about Anathar and the topic of Qilby was irreversibly tied to how Ad had been handed over to the Shushu.
So he'd gone quiet on it at home, other than a few instances of having to break down with Alibert there to comfort him.
The rest of the world looked on to see him as a king of a starfaring civilization. They easily forgot to see his age in all that. Yugo himself had gotten in the habit of looking past his age in order to be what the Eliatrope children needed to get a home and what they needed could hardly be another child, now could it? He had to be more. His adopted father knew better.
He'd stayed quiet when he could, however. And keeping things in was stifling, suffocating.
Maybe that was why he did enjoy visits to Sadida. Working with the diplomats for grueling hours on his Eliatrope matters was unpleasant, but getting to hang out with a friend made it worth it. It was worth it for both him and Amalia. It let her talk while she had someone- not Eva but someone- listen, and it let him mention this or that as hints of a deeper issue he was facing. Even if he felt like he couldn't elaborate, at least the mentions let him have a bit less tension.
They'd both grown very attached to the brotherhood. They needed the visits, the reminders that the brotherhood was still there even if the adventures were over.
Amalia missed Eva. She wanted someone to talk to about the latest handbag style and no matter if Eva wasn't personally all that interested, she'd always listened. For the years and years it had been since the young Cra had left her sister to go be a bodyguard for Sadida's princess, she'd been listening. Now, Eva was gone from that role as she and her boyfriend lived away with their children. Amalia didn't have her best friend. She didn't have that friend to show off a fancy new bag to or to rant to about how Armand was telling her she ought to start considering a political marriage now that he'd started seeing that Osamodas princess. Well, she'd certainly still spoke it all, but when they both were calm (tired and worn out, as happened after hours of dealing with bureaucracy for their respective reasons) and doing nothing more than flopping down on Sadida's poofy plant furniture, she'd mention it. Complain about it. Cry about it. Be honest in how much she missed her friend as she adjusted to a world without Eva at her side for the first time since she was a young child.
Yugo got the chance to hear a lot of what Amalia grieved over these days. And Amalia got to hear a lot of his own likewise.
When both were serious, she made for a great friend rather than just talking at hyperspeed about her random new presents or such.
Yugo wondered if it was a sign they both were getting older or if this was a consequence of what they'd been through together and what pressures they faced now after those adventures. Whatever it was, he was no replacement Evangelyne but that wasn't how Amalia saw him anyways, never had been.
He got to hear about Sufokia, and about how she had no one to show off her latest buys to, and how she really disliked Armand's new girlfriend even though her presence meant Eva no longer had to get pursued by him and no matter that Aurora herself tried to get somewhat close to the lonely Sadida princess (if all Amalia wanted from Eva was a listener while she talked about clothes, surely Aurora could fill that role) (besides, given how the Osamodas princess always focused on the two of them when they'd be holding hands or commenting on Yugo's status as a king or mentioning her own relatives in Osmodos royalty as 'options' for Amalia to 'meet', Yugo could understand a desire to avoid the lady, no matter if he didn't dislike her as Amalia did- Amalia, he felt, just disliked the change Aurora represented: the change that came inevitably that she felt unready for), and finally how she just wished she wasn't stuck in royalty alone. She always had Eva there to vent to, day and night. There was no one like that in Sadida anymore. Maybe that was also just a part of time moving on. Yugo similarly hardly had his best friends with him all the time. He was lucky Ruel stayed on so often for Alibert and his sakes' but even he would still have to go to his own home on every once in a while. The world changed from traveling the world with a tight knit group. If he was still traveling, it would be easier to feel distracted from worries or mistakes or non-mistakes that bothered him right or not. When onto the next adventure, entering new environments, making new plans, he always had to stay focused on the moment (too much, in Eva and Ruel's attention; she, for one, focused rather on an end goal instead of the day to day moment and often tried to convince him to not pause to help in each new stranger's situation impulsively) (he wondered, if he was less impulsive, if he'd been more apt to pause before acting, if he would now have less to stress over when reminiscing on past actions). Now, he had too much time to consider the past and future so long as the present stayed stationary.
It was a shame for Amalia that Eva had moved off to her own house with Pinpin and their kids. Good, of course, for Eva and Pinpin. It was good for Yugo too that he got to live with his dad again, alongside three new brothers in that inn home. He really was happy about it most of the time. He just missed adventure anyways. Missed the lack of pressure traveling made for. True, it was a dream to get that old life back at the inn with his dad (plus extra members, but he'd never wish them away; he loved Chibi and Grougal and loved giving Adamaï a spot in his childhood life at the inn like Ad had given him a spot into his old life with Grougaloragran by teaching him wakfu sense), but he felt tired of sleeplessness, of worries; tired of worrying about getting the Eliatropes a home or of thinking of- of being begged with and ignoring any reaction, any emotion, in the face of pleas for mercy in the moment out of necessity, only to remember it all in a dull day's quiet again and again and again.
The point was, it could be a shame and be wonderful at the same time. The greatest life changes had some drawbacks, the sad life changes had things to be positive with. Amalia may throw fits but she was happy for her best friend anyways. It was mature. Moreso than she'd been when he first met her a few years ago. They'd aged, even if Yugo didn't seem to physically show it. At least Amalia had given up on teasing him about when he would ever start growing a while back at his latest birthday. That birthday had shown that it'd stopped being very funny.
Time kept moving, the world kept moving, and it still felt more stagnant than it ever had when they'd been running around the world on quests. It took adjusting to.
When it came to some things, Yugo just couldn't seem to adjust. He wasn't moving on, he wasn't growing satisfied and content enough to leave as is.
And it seemed lately focused around one ghost. He knew he had to address it someday. Waiting for the unease to go away on its own wasn't going to work. Suppressing wasn't going to work.
He just didn't know what he could do to make this haunting any better.
It was Amalia that gave him the idea. Since he was already there in Sadida, he took the opportunity she'd led him to.
Yugo would ask for advice from Master Joris.