Chapter 48: A Place to Return To
Its been a few days since the discoveries at Judas, scratch, Prometheus' headquarters. After confirming its total destruction Joe Dark had gone home with the others with a USB from Saturn be all that remained of its existence.
He's laid on the couch, barely moving or saying a word, staring at the USB in his hand. He's eaten a couple bites off his plate, but he hardly remembers the taste.
Mew's passed off what happened as just another adventure, hardly surprising. Beyond giving him meals he's spent most of his time tending the garden or playing with Maria. But occasionally, he notices Mew staring up at the ceiling with a distant look.
Alura? She's been at his side, staring at him without saying a word...Until now.
"Joe Dark," Her sudden departure from motionlessness made him flinch, "Are you going to sit here forever now?"
He curled the USB into his hand and dropped it down to his chest with a tired huff.
"I don't know what to do..." He said to the last person who could answer.
Alura tilted her head and remarked, "I don't understand. Isn't that device supposed to help you?"
"Yes, but..." He grumbled and pushed the USB out from under thumb.
Why did his second family die? A test of power that happened to be convenient to a megalomaniac's goal...
Who was Judas Jeremiah? A deicide crazing lunatic who appeared to have reincarnated multiple times up until this point, claiming he was Prometheus, the Greek God.
Why was he targeted? Because he got his information from Gravitus.
Why did his first family abandon him? Still no answer...and it was unlikely what the USB contained would solve that.
Julius Talbain...supposedly the former butler of Joe Dark's second father. "Supposedly", because as hard as he's tried he can barely remember who that guy was. He was only six years old when he was forced to become a stray after all.
That butler was the last connection to the Dark family, and maybe his last hope to answer the remaining lingering questions in his heart.
Joe Dark clutched the USB back to his chest and sighed. He heard the door knob click and lazily stared to find Mew and Maria heading out.
"I'm taking her to school then hanging around Sancturia for a bit! If you need lunch I got a couple sandwiches in the fridge for ya. Later!" His merry-go-lucky attitude carried him out the door with a smile.
"..." Joe Dark couldn't shake the feeling that Mew was hiding the fact that he's worried about him. He was always stubbornly bad at concealing that.
"...Alura, I'm going into town for a bit." He pulled his aching legs off onto the ground and stood up, stretching his arms high.
"Can I come with, Joe Dark?" She murmured.
"If you must," He said with barely a care, "But who knows when we'll be back..."
After putting on a fresh set of clothes, with Alura being forced into a casual red t-shirt instead of the midriff exposing one she insisted on, Joe Dark used his powers to take them into the city undetected.
There they made their way to the library, where he'd be able to use the USB on a computer. They waited around until a corner one was open to avoid arousing suspicion, then he plugged it right in.
Saturn had converted the data into easily separated folders, so he went straight for Julius Talbain's stuff, specifically, his profile. It had said his last known location but he wanted to know EXACTLY where that was. Fortunately through the convenience of modern day internet searches, it proved relatively easily...And to his surprise, the address wasn't that far out of town.
He wrote it down and snuck the USB into his pocket before anyone could see. Then the two of them left the library and headed to the bus stop. He had snagged a bit of spare change off of Mew's drawers to pay the driver, who wouldn't be able to take them all the way to their destination.
It was a short ride. Didn't feel like it. His body was tense exiting the bus, and the hiss of its door shutting gave him a minor scare.
They were dropped at the top of a sharp incline overlooking a couple cities and the river that ran between them. One misstep and any normal human would tumble to their deaths. But their destination lied further ahead.
A few blocks was the distance he had to prepare himself for this final confrontation with the truth. "But what if its not?" He asked himself. He could wind up going on a goose chase. Bread crumb after bread crumb, sending him further away from where he started.
"No." He stamped firmly upon the doubts in his mind. No more sleepless nights. No more sorrow. No more pain. Whatever big life-changing revelation he's being guided towards, it'll be the last one. He will make sure of it.
His heart pounded and his tensed his grip on Alura's hand, causing her to grunt. He widened his eyes and pulled his hand off hers, muttering a swift "Sorry" as he put his hands in his pockets.
The woods started giving way to a line of hedge bushes so tall even he could hardly look over them. Just a few yards along the way appeared a riveted metal gate that they stopped in front of.
Joe Dark had a sinking feeling in the pit of his gut as he followed the rising, winding concrete road to the manor at the top. It was white, two stories tall but as wide as two football fields. There was a stone fountain off in a garden to the right, a presumably empty pool on the left, and a giant garage even further to the left of that. There were no lights on but the building looked to be in good shape.
"No one's home? Odd..." The best plan would've been to wait outside for Julius to return...If Alura wasn't the antithesis of best laid plans.
She was already floating over the gate before her mischief registered in his head. He tried to grab her by the ankles only to miss the mark entirely. When she landed on the other side he hissed through her teeth, "What are you doing get back here now!"
She turned her head with a curious tilt and remarked, "Isn't this where you wanted to go, Joe Dark?"
"Yes but...!" He grit his teeth, threw himself into a brief frenzy, then with an angered grunt he flew over the gate himself.
"Don't. Touch. Anything." He said firmly, and thankfully she nodded.
They stuck to the roadway on their way up. A growing sense of familiarity emerged for him on this path...Like he had walked it before.
"That can't be right...We didn't live here. Did we?" This wasn't making him feel any better. His chest tightened as the front door was almost within arms' reach.
Still, no sign anyone was home. Maybe the info was outdated? It felt weird that no one would be occupying this nice manor after all these years.
As his body's instincts raised his hand towards the door, he noticed that it was slightly ajar. He was being invited in? No, this reeked of a tr-
"Don't move."
A cold metal was applied to the back of his skull, and he heard two clicks of differing volumes behind him. A stoic assailant had gotten the drop on him.
There was a faint reflection off the glass panes beside the door. The man behind him was a few inches shorter than him, with shaved black hair and short, rectangular lens glasses. He wore a worn-down black suit with white undershirt and dark-purple bow-tie, a watch on his right cuff, another watch on his left. He was lithe, but the thickness around his chest suggested the pistol trained on his skull wasn't the only heat he was packing.
Worst of all, he had another gun to the side of Alura's head and she was taking it far too calmly.
Joe Dark began to raise his hand only for the gun's barrel to be pushed in further, "I said don't move."
"Can't believe he snuck up on me...! What I wouldn't give to have Mew's powers right about now..." Even for his level of power a bullet at point-blank would probably damage his brain, if not kill him.
The assailant was too steady. He'd kill Alura in an instant if Joe Dark tried to resist. She wasn't prepared for this kind of encounter.
"How did you get in without tripping the alarms?"
"There were alarms? Then how did you know...?"
"Motion sensors buried in the road," The man clicked his gun some more, "Next question. Who sent you? One of the remnants of Judas Jeremiah's forces?"
"That name again...? Wait, could it be...?"
"Julius? Julius Talbain?" Joe Dark got silence in response, which may as well have been an answer.
"Are you kidding...The family butler packs heat?! Why can't there be any normal people in my families?!"
"Joe Dark?" Alura suddenly muttered dryly, "Should I be worried about this cold metal in my face?"
"...!" The assailant gasped and his gun shook. Then, Joe Dark found two barrels of death glued to the back of his skull.
"What did she call you...?"
"Damn it Alura...!" Joe Dark grit his teeth in a hiss and the moment he tried to let it out the man's trigger fingers itched.
"Don't give me a reason to splatter your brains onto perfectly good stone," Even the man's breaths were calm, "Who are you? Acceptable answers extend your clock by ten more seconds."
"I...I am Joe Dark..." Joe Dark replied firmly.
Another click came from the triggers, "Ten seconds gone. Twenty remain."
In a desperate move Joe Dark tried to turn his head so his eyes were visible, "Look at me! Do you know anyone else with red eyes?!"
"A good feint, but easily seen through. Fine, if you insist on saying who you are, then what's my middle name?"
"I-I don't know that...!" Joe Dark sputtered immediately.
"Of course not. If you did I'd have to kill you. Then again...maybe you were just trained that well," The man's strain on the triggers was beginning to fail, "But its not enough."
"Crap! Crap! Crap! Think think! What do I remember about this guy?!" It must have been the stress of the moment because his mind was starting to force important information to the surface.
"Y-You made my father chocolate milk every morning...!" No dice.
"You never used a broom in your life...!" The bullet might as well be licking his scalp right now.
"Joe Dark...?" Alura was worrying behind him.
His heart was pumping. He was going to die to normal guns? Mew would laugh at his funeral if that happened...
"W-WHENEVER I THREW A TANTRUM YOU'D TEASE ME AND CALL ME BLACKBERRY!" Joe Dark screamed that so suddenly it threw him by surprise, and left his cheeks rosy red.
Slowly, he felt the barrels slide off his head.
"I...I called you that once as a jest..." The assailant was speaking like he was seeing a ghost.
"Ungh...!" He collapsed onto his knees, flattening the guns against the ground by the time Joe Dark turned to look at him.
There he clearly saw the man's age on his skin. Wrinkles around the shadows below his eyes, and dark spots forming on the back of his hands.
"I thought I had lost you forever...That I never would've been able to meet your father eye-to-eye in the afterlife again..." He raised his head, and the cold in his eyes melted to tears, "But you're alive...the young master is alive...!"
"Julius, I..." Joe Dark's own heart began to warm as well, and he felt a trickle down his cheeks as he knelt down before him. Seeing this man's face brought back faint memories of him making warm cookies when he was feeling bad, helping tuck him into bed when his father was out of town. Memories lost, now returned.
"Its me...I'm here..."
Julius cried for a few more seconds in silence. Then the two of them stood, and he put his guns away in his suit. Alura tilted her head and remarked, "Joe Dark, is everything ok?"
"Yes Alura. This is the guy we were looking for. We can trust him."
"Oh," She returned plainly, "So why did he have those things pointed at us?"
"Ummm..." Joe Dark gave a casual look at the former butler and said, "Why ARE you carrying guns Julius."
Julius' gave a smile of shaking confidence and chuckled, "There's a lot you never knew about me Master Joseph."
"But we can discuss that inside. Follow me, there's tea on the stove." Julius wandered past them to the front door and they decided to follow.
The inside of the manor was like a swift kick of nostalgia to the brain. There was a curved staircase to the second floor on the left, the entrance to the pool beside it. Below the second floor were doors to the kitchen, lounge, and dining room. A three-tier crystal chandelier hung from a windowed dome on the ceiling, the sun's rays making it sparkle. On the right was the living room. Three couches, a fireplace, two tables, and a giant TV...Nowadays it didn't feel as big though.
The whole manor was bright enough in its natural color palette that it didn't need lights right now. Joe Dark almost hadn't noticed the smile on his face.
He touched it from the side and stared at Julius wandering towards the kitchen, "I...don't remember living in this state before...But this place feels like home."
"It might as well be. Your father had each manor built the same so that no matter where he went, he'd always feel at home."
Once he was in the kitchen Joe Dark walked at a snail's pace through the foyer. The room smelled like a fresh coat of paint with a hint of lavender. His body was wanting to melt away, becoming one with the scent.
Alura had her first encounter with a "rug" by shuffling her feet along it.
In the long span it took him to get to the living room, Julius emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray with three glasses.
"I imagine your tastes have matured Master Joseph but I couldn't help but prepare a glass of warm chocolate milk for you and the young lady."
He set the tray delicately upon the table and picked up his tea cup in a single motion, setting upon the couch opposite of him.
"No this is...fine." Joe Dark picked up the warm glass and could already feel the creamy treat trickling down his throat.
Alura came to join him on the couch, her hair now frizzing up everywhere. She calmly reached for her cup and her whole body flinched a couple times in her attempt to drink from it.
"...Joe Dark, something's wrong with this cup." She muttered.
"Its just your imagination..." He said, hiding a snicker.
They took a moment to drink from their cup. Liquid perfection going right into his stomach...
"I know you've just returned but I'm afraid I must get straight to the point Master Joseph..." Julius laid his cup on a coaster and looked him in the eyes, "Just where have you been all this time?"
Joe Dark closed his eyes and said, "Funny I was going to ask you the same thing..."
"Well its...complicated." Julius said, adjusting his tie.
"I took the complicated route to get here, trust me," Joe Dark waved his hand out and remarked, "And now I know the truth about why my family was killed a decade ago."
Julius' face stiffened into a minor look of surprise, upon which he dropped the grip on his tie and whispered, "I see...that'll help simplify things."
"You mentioned Judas Jeremiah. How much do you know?"
"I imagine our knowledge is about equal if you've gotten that far."
"What do you mean?" Joe Dark leaned in with his arms on his knees.
"Hrrmmm..." Julius unbuttoned his suit and laid it down beside him, guns and all, "If you need to use the restroom I'd advise doing so now."
Joe Dark shook his head.
"Very well Master Joseph..." Julius prepared himself with a rough cough and then closed his eyes, becoming upright like a statue.
"I am Ex-CIA, rank classified. Under your father's employ I performed covert operations on shady politicians and business associates. Undetectable, unreachable, my enemies only knew me as 'The Eye in the Dark'."
"How does an Ex-CIA come to work for my dad anyways...?"
"Your father saved me from torture by ISIS Remnants in the Middle Eastern Wars of the 2010s, and I decided to be in his debt ever since."
"2010s? But that was twenty years ago, that would mean father was..."
"Barely into adulthood yes. He was an upstanding American who valued the lives of his countrymen. A go-getter if I ever knew one. His life on the battlefield taught him a cold, harsh truth...The world is terrible, and something needs to change."
"When he returned from the war he devoted himself to politics and quickly rose the ranks to Senator, with the goal of one day becoming President. I quit the CIA around then and changed professions to a butler. In secret though, I observed those who wanted to see him expunged from politics...Which may or may not involved staining my hands with blood."
The thought made Joe Dark's skin crawl, but...like he had the right to complain.
"Nevertheless my escapades wound up exposing a conspiracy deep within the underbelly of our society...Judas Jeremiah, our very own Secretary of Defense, may very well have been the true ruler of America...Nay, possibly the entire world."
"Documents detailing his role in the most chaotic event on Earth, known today as the 'The Day a Bullet Rang Through the Earth', were found deep within his home. I copied whatever information I could by phone and delivered it to your father immediately."
"The death of our 2020 elected President, the disarmament of all nuclear weaponry, and the sudden massacre of one-thousand billionaires...They were all orchestrated by him alone. And there were documents to suggest that he had installed a puppet into the White House seat to help secure his place as the Secretary of Defense."
"Your father and I decided we'd keep this information to ourselves, until we could truly and utterly prove the man's guilt to the world, leaving him no shadows to crawl under..."
"But as time passed suspicions arouse between both parties. I played Judas Jeremiah's game of shadows until one day, a wild card changed everything..."
Julius raised his pointer finger forward, "You."
Joe Dark's brows slanted, and he groaned uncomfortably...
"A baby, no older than two, dropped upon our doorsteps in a blanket and basket under the rain...Your father, bless his soul, took you in without a second thought, unaware that he had signed his death warrant."
"I discovered a terrible, terrible truth...Judas Jeremiah was working on something called the 'Ultimate Warrior Reborn', and he sought two targets...One of which perfectly matched your description. Your father knew we'd be cornered eventually, but he could not risk doing anything differently to tip our opponent off..."
"For my safety, we staged an argument that led to me being 'fired'...But in reality I never stopped working for him. When the fated day arrived, and I caught wind of your father and his family's demise...I picked up my guns with tears in my eyes and went to work."
"That madman was relentless in his hunt for you, manipulating the police, military and even the FBI and CIA to hunt you down."
"My bullets ran through each of their skulls, even some of my former partners...All to keep your father's hope that you would survive alive."
"Then, one day you simply...vanished. There was no trace of your anywhere on the planet. I...I was grief-stricken. Had I failed you? Had I failed your father? These lives and their blood, covering me from head-to-toe...Was it all for nothing?"
"The guilt followed me for years. A couple times I had even considered putting a bullet through my head..." Julius shook his head, "But I endured, and I'm glad I did."
"I can't believe you did all that..." Joe Dark murmured.
"I'm not proud of it." Julius stated bluntly.
A moment of silence separated the two, giving Joe Dark time to breathe. Julius looked him in the eyes and remarked, "You barely survived the five years on the run even with my help. How'd you escape for five more years...?"
Joe Dark took another sip of his drink slowly and had to ask "Should I tell him the truth...?"
Doing so would expose everything. Just to one man, yes, but could he be trusted to keep his mouth shut...? Then again, he's a friend of the family that's gone this far just to keep his own truth hidden away...
"..." Joe Dark smiled and placed his cup down, humoring the butler by saying, "You might want some stronger tea for this Julius."
Julius' intrigue was piqued, and continued to grow as Joe Dark explained everything. Alex Whiter. The Elemental Overlord and Dark King, his death and rebirth, the trip through space, learning the truth about his family. Everything. Not a single stone was left unturned.
Julius leaned back into the couch and started to nod his head occasionally to confirm he was following along. His expression rarely changed.
Then, as it came to a close, Joe Dark let out a deep sigh and remarked, "And that's how I arrived here."
"I see..." Julius said with one more nod.
Joe Dark frowned and wagged his hand in a circle, "Do you actually believe me or...?"
"I believed every word of it Master Joseph," He opened his eyes and smiled, "The truth is what you see with your own two eyes. That you're here in front of me, alive and well, is proof enough of what you said."
Joe Dark raised both brows and Julius smirked, "Though I will admit that's definitely a...long yarn you spun there."
He took off his glasses and dusted off the lens, "Other worlds, gods, outer space...It makes Judas Jeremiah's conspiracy seem like small talk."
"At least that's over now." Joe Dark remarked.
"Yes," Julius put the glasses back on, "The roots he dug can never be upturned, but at least his corruption will no longer run through them."
"Mew told me that he died in a building fire of all things."
"How ironic...a man who called himself Prometheus dying in such a manner," Julius grimaced with a frown, "Yet it also feels anticlimatic...That nature's wrath delivered justice in our stead."
"..." Joe Dark hung his head.
"Is something the matter Master Joseph?"
"I say its over but...Its not," Joe Dark barely raised an eye towards the butler and said, "T-That basket I arrived in...did it come with a note?"
Julius' mouth began to sag and Joe Dark leaned forward, slamming his hands on the table, "There has to have been something they left behind explaining why they dropped me off!"
Julius shook his head. Joe Dark returned to his seat, his body left limp.
"...I'm sorry Master Joseph. You had but a blanket, and a name tag."
"A dead end..." Joe Dark scowled.
"But..." Julius' utterance made him spring his head up aware, "There IS something I need to show you."
He stood up and gestured towards himself, "Follow me."
Joe Dark turned to the snoring Alura, who still had her cup in hand, and jiggled her by the shoulder, "Wake up Alura."
Her eyes stuttered open and she let out a tiny moan, "We're going upstairs."
"Ok..." She stretched her arms high and yawned, then trailed behind him a few seconds after. Their destination was the first door on the right at the top of the stairs. Behind it was a relatively compact room with a few empty bookshelves and a curved wooden desk to the right. A lone miniature TV and DVD player sat atop it.
"This was your father's study." Julius remarked fondly.
Joe Dark looked at the ground and saw a very faint chocolate milk stain in the carpet.
"I can tell." He said with a smile.
Julius walked ahead of him and reached into his shirt pocket. Inside was a square case with a DVD inside devoid of a label.
"Your father wanted you to see this...In the event that Judas Jeremiah was stopped, and your life returned to normal."
Julius shrugged as he put the DVD into the player, "Half is close enough, right?"
The click of the play button was the last sound for the next few seconds. The TV whirred with the aging sound of static. Then a picture started to come into focus.
A man sat in this same desk. Comfy white business attire, lazily combed black hair, glasses, and a plaid tie. He looked like he was in a cold sweat.
"Take 14..." He muttered through the static.
"Dad...?" Joe Dark said, his tone regressing in age.
"Hey son," The video responded back, "If you're watching this...Then I failed. Not just you, your mother...Everyone. Everyone's probably dead, so Julius had to fight off the vultures trying to snag you back to the nest."
"I hope you're doing well, however old you are now. Is school going ok? No bullies? Got a crush? Maybe a girlfriend? Heck, are you married? C'mon, don't be shy to your prerecorded old man!"
"...Cough, anyways..." The man on the screen sat down in his chair and sighed hard, "You probably have a lot of questions by now about your developing 'powers'..."
Joe Dark's eyes stiffened wide open.
"I knew something was different about you the moment I laid eyes on...well, your eyes. It scared the hell outta your mother lemme tell ya! Ha ha ha..."
"We had always wanted a child. Guess some magic stork was looking out for us. Sorry to tell you but...I never got to meet them."
Joe Dark's lips curled into a frown.
"So if you're looking for answers there, sorry...I ain't got 'em." Senator Dark gazed away and scoffed, leaning a fist upon the side of his face.
"I got so much I want to say and so little time..." The flicker of a tear appeared down his cheek, "I don't care. I just don't care..."
He looked straight into the camera and smiled, "You're not my flesh and blood, but I will love you forever Joseph. I...I can only hope that in our short time together I raised you proper..."
"Ah...! What am I saying, I don't know when this'll get to you...C'mon man, think of the stress you're putting on him!" He paused and then stood up, slamming his hands upon the desk, "Look, this is the best advice I can impart to you from father to son."
"Stand tall and stand proud. Don't be afraid to cry. Never give up on your dreams. And most importantly...If you make mistakes, that's fine. The only one you can disappoint is yourself."
Senator Dark took a deep breath and whispered, "I love you son. Always have, always will..."
The TV went dark, seen through his blurring eyes.
"Hic...hic...!" Joe Dark wept, the tears falling on his shirt, or being dried off on his arm.
"D-Dad...!"
"...I'll give you some space, Master Joseph." Julius exited the room, his cheeks wet.
Joe Dark wandered over to the desk and laid his hand flat on the DVD Player. It felt hot, like it was alive. And it was, with the memory of his deceased father.
He frowned and sat on the ground, back to the desk. He pressed his chin against his chest and his arms and legs sprawled out.
He didn't know what he should feel. Happy? Sad? No. More like confused, unsure, restless...
His heart felt warm but his mind was cold, an iceberg adrift in a sea of clout.
He wanted answers, but now he realized that he didn't know why he wanted them. Security? Closure? Acceptance?
He was born a Whiter, but loved as a Dark. The strength in his blood allowed him to survive, the heart of those who raised him helped him cling to his humanity...
He stared at one shaking hand, and saw the vague memories of his mother's face staring back with an unsure smile. In his other hand was the clean face of his father, staring at him with a look of pride.
He felt torn between two bloodlines, two lives, two identities. And when it all boiled down to it, his past, his present, his future...Could be summed in three words.
"Who am I?" He whimpered in desperation.
Suddenly, the silent Alura threw herself onto him and wrapped him up in her arms. It was a weak hug.
"You're Joe Dark." She stated plainly.
The turmoil in his heart quieted to a whisper, and he put a hand on the back of her shoulder.
"...You're right." He said.
"You're right." Again, with confidence.
He rose to stand and carried her up with him, gently pushing her a couple feet back and looking into her puzzled red eyes.
"That was the answer all along..." His vague whispers were confusing her more than the norm.
He cracked a smirk and shook his head, "It doesn't matter who my parents were. I know who my family is. I AM Joe Dark."
He patted her on the shoulder and whispered, "Thanks Alura."
"So...you feel better now?" She murmured in response.
"Yeah...I think I do." He gave a smile that wasn't plagued with tears.
"I-I see..." She closed her eyes and a light pink shade grew in her cheeks.
Joe Dark walked past her and knocked on the door frame, "Julius, you can come back in now."
The butler had only gone a couple feet away but pretended it was farther, "Feeling better already Master Joseph?"
"Yeah I..." He rubbed the back of his head and let out a light chuckle, "I got a lot of baggage off my shoulders."
"...I hadn't heard your father's voice for a decade," Julius wiped his eyes with a tissue, "How that fumbling fool ever became a senator I'll never know."
"He sounded like he was fun to be around." Joe Dark remarked.
"Yes," Julius nodded, "Though he was terrifying at parties..."
"Ha ha ha...aaah..." Funny, he couldn't remember the last time he laughed like that.
"Master Joseph, there is one other thing your father left in my care..." Julius wandered past the two and went behind the desk, "He said there's a secret button somewhere..."
He reached under the middle shelf and a "click" was heard, "Here."
The shelf pulled back into the wall like something out of a mystery novel. Then it slid into a crevice rapidly, unveiling something bright and shimmering behind it.
"Oh my...!" Julius gasped and pulled away, allowing Joe Dark to see just what...
"What...?!" He gasped.
A silver vault, filled to the roof with thousands upon thousands of stacks of freshly kept bundles of dollar bills, lied beyond.
Joe Dark and Alura wandered into it and he picked up the closest stack he could.
"These are...?!" He was speechless. He had never even heard of 1,000 dollar bills before!
Alura picked up her own stack and rolled it around in her grasp, "Joe Dark, is this a lot of money?"
"A-A lot...?!" Joe Dark sputtered, carefully avoiding his spit on the bills, "We could buy the world with all this dough!"
"A-Ack...!" Alura was put at a loss of words too.
"The Dark family's fortune...That sly dog, hiding that under my nose this whole time," Julius looked to Joe Dark and remarked, "It seems this is all yours now, Master Joseph."
"Wow..." Joe Dark stared at the money for a good few seconds and then shook his head and tossed it down.
"No. No no no this isn't right..."
"Huh?" Alura poked her head up and he looked at her directly.
"We can't accept all this money when I didn't do anything to earn it."
"We can't?" Alura murmured.
"No Alura, we can't." He said with a somewhat hesitant sigh.
He then turned to Julius and remarked, "There were a lot of people who were harmed by Prometheus' work. Its not much to compensate for but...could we divide up the money among those people and their families? I know someone who could help out."
"I think that's the best course of action, Master Joseph," He raised a curious brow towards them, "But, shouldn't you try and keep some of it for yourself?"
"Why...?" Joe Dark said, crossing his arms.
"Why, to keep ownership of the manor until you can land a job capable of paying for it."
Joe Dark stared out into space for a few moments then sputtered, "S-Say that again...?"
"In the event of your family's death I was to keep ownership of the deed to the manors," Julius pulled up a document rolled up in a nice ribbon, "But as you're alive, ownership now falls over to you."
"..." Joe Dark stared at the ground with his mouth agape, then rattled a hand around in the air, "Hold up hold up you can't just drop a big thing like that on me out of the blue...!"
He laid a hand flat on his chest and exclaimed, "I don't even own toilet paper to wipe my own ass, I can't own a manor...!"
Julius retracted the document into his shirt and remarked, "Yes...yes I suppose that is a little much to ask of you."
"Uhhh yeah!" Joe Dark barked in disbelief.
Then in the silence that followed, he closed his eyes and thought to himself, "And besides, Mew..."
"Mrrrn..." With an uncomfortable groan he thought some more. He already had a bed, food, and warmth. But...where could he go from there? Mew's already got it rough enough having to raise Maria. He doesn't need to coddle him and Alura too.
Maybe...maybe this was a sign of change. A chance to find opportunities in the big open world. But still...
"Can you wait right here Julius? I'll be right back..." He raised his right hand out and opened a dark rift, making Julius hop away.
"Wait here Alura. I shouldn't be long." He said, entering the rift a moment after.
His destination? Home. At least...
No. Not yet.
He stared at the door for a good half a minute. His feet felt too stiff to move. The door suddenly opened and Mew stood under the frame with a surprised expression.
"Hey you're back!" He said happily while glancing around, "Uh oh, did Alura get in trouble or something?"
"Why is that your first...?" Joe Dark grit his teeth and steadily raised his head to look him in the eyes, "Can we talk for a minute?"
Mew's expression went full neutral and he gave a short nod, "Y-Yeah. Come here, sit down."
He took a seat on the steps and Joe Dark joined him at his side. He felt a rough pat on the back from Mew, who smirked.
"So, what've you been up to today? You look a lot chipper."
"Well..." Joe Dark briefly explained the talk he had with Julius, including the important matter of revealing his powers at the end.
"I'm sorry, I had to do it. You understand right?" As he expected his plead to raise a scowl, instead Mew crossed his arms and leaned back into the steps.
"I mean you trust the guy that much so its probably ok..."
Joe Dark stared blankly at his face and then shook his head, "You really are impossible to faze..."
"Heh heh!" Mew sprung back up and patted him on the back, "You know it!"
"That was cool of you to donate all that money to the victims though. Seriously bro, I'm proud of ya. God knows I'd lose myself to greed in front of all that moola."
Joe Dark turned his head and muttered, "You? ...Yeah, probably."
"Well you don't have to agree with me!" Mew said back.
"Hahahah..." The two then laughed and for a moment, things felt normal. Normal...one last time.
Joe Dark stared up at the sky, the long, lovingly blue expanse, and saw a few clouds rolling in towards the sun. The breeze was nice and gentle as it flowed between the mountains, and whispered through the leaves.
"..." He closed his eyes and saw a meadow being blown by this same wind. Must have been his imagination...
"Mew..." Joe Dark paused to consider what he was about to say, if this was the right way to go about it.
"I'm going to be moving into that manor." It slipped right out beneath his notice, consequences be damned.
Mew slowly drew his hands away from his cheeks and stared at the side of his face. Joe Dark looked back and saw completely, utter devastation in his eyes.
Mew smiled and said, "R-Really...!"
He patted him on the back some more and said, "Well look at you moving up in the world! Your own manor, a personal butler assassin, all the money in the world..."
"Mew..." Joe Dark felt uneasy hearing this fake praise from him.
"You'll finally get to have some non-crappy food and can stop complaining about your bed, or the lack of air conditioning...!"
"THAT'S NOT IT AT ALL!" Joe Dark sprung to his feet and threw his taut fists by his hips.
He then clutched his teeth together tight and trembled, "I loved your crappy cooking, I loved your rickety bed! I loved everything you did for me, even though you didn't have to...!"
His eyes became wet and his voice wobbled, "That's why this is so hard...! I'd give up everything else in the world if it meant I could stay here with you...!"
"B-But I can't..." As the tears flowed down his cheeks he swung them off with the slight turn of his head, "This is a chance for me to make something of myself. And Alura, she needs to get out and see the world more for what it is...You have a child now Mew, you can't provide for all of us. You'll try goddamn you you'll try but..."
Mew stood and put a hand onto his shoulder softly, "I get it."
Joe Dark sniffled and waited as Mew smiled and looked him directly in the eyes, "Frankly it took you long enough to get out on your own."
He closed his eyes and looked positively smug, "I mean I'm sure its all going to inevitably blow up in your face like it always does and you'll come crawling back to me begging for your daily dose of scrambled eggs..."
Mew chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, "I'm kidding. You'll do fine. And if something does go wrong, which I hope it won't, I'll be right here."
Joe Dark's smile wobbled and he wrapped Mew up in a hug, "Thank you brother...! No matter what, you'll always be family to me!"
Mew froze in place and seemed to be at a loss for words, "...Just don't be a stranger alright? God knows Riku's enjoying himself too much on the moon these days."
"I won't...I owe you that much." He replied as he pulled away.
"Hey, you wanna pay me back...?" Mew held onto his shoulder and flashed a thumbs-up, "Call me brother again."
Joe Dark smirked with a snicker and then turned away from the house. As he went down the stairs he waved one hand up and remarked, "Later Mew."
"You son of a...!" Mew threw his fist up and exclaimed, "Ok fine you know what? I don't want you back! In fact I'm gonna throw your bed into a fire right now!"
The ranting went on for a bit but right before entering the dark rift, Joe Dark glanced over his shoulder and saw his brother's expression sinking. He tried to smile but couldn't pass the halfway point. Instead he slowly waved his hand up, and returned inside...
Joe Dark tucked his hands into his pockets and entered the rift standing tall.
When he arrived back at the manor he had to take a breath before Julius addressed him as such, "D-Did your stroll in the...darkness help?"
Joe Dark closed the rift and murmured, "Yeah it did..."
He then looked him in the eye and remarked, "I've decided I'll move in, but on one condition."
"And that's...?"
"I want you to stay Julius."
Julius winced and his eyes widened, "You do?"
"There's a lot of skills me and Alura are lacking, and you're the only adult I know and trust to teach us. I hope we can make up for lost time."
"From butler to teacher," Julius crossed an arm before his chest and bowed, "I would be honored to help you Master Joseph."
"I don't know where my life will be heading. Its a new horizon to explore..." Joe Dark stared up at the ceiling with a longing gaze, "But I'll hold my head high and embrace tomorrow. So watch over me...dad."
STORY 7: Shadows in our Blood END
NEXT: Story 8: Secondary Lives