Chapter two:
Halt and Horace looked around, slightly nervous. Arti noticing the movement shook his head slightly.
"We do not wish to harm you, we want help." That did little to displace Halt's feelings of mistrust.
"What kind of help?" he growled.
"Well," Arti said, his voice slightly offended, "we want help with Will."
Halt and Horace's heads snapped around at this, pain, and fury flashing through their eyes. But to their surprise, Arti was pointing at Isa.
"His name is not actually Isa," Ami-hem added, "his real (not code) name is Will (at least we think so), my real name is Alex and Arti, well Arti is Artris not much change." Halt stood, his heart racing. If what Alex had said was true, then Isa could be his son.
"Ok," he growled, determined to keep the plea out of his voice, "what do you want us to do?"
"Confirm or deny what Isa, sorry Will, remembers," Artis said, hope evident in his voice.
"I 'ember, snow. Skandia I think…" Will began, his voice trembling. "Some'un embracing me. With your eye." There was a brief pause before the words started tumbling out. "I remember Temujai, and blood. Something called Tug next to me. I remember a red glowing castle, and a small cabin, situated in the woods." The words were flowing now, with very little fault in them. Halt was beginning to accept that this had to be his Will. "A-And," but here Will stumbled slightly, seemingly afraid to go on.
"And he remembers being called Treaty," Alex finished for him. This last piece of information was all Halt needed. Passionately he threw his arms around Will, feeling his son for the first time in years. Tears slid down his face, and he felt Horace's hands around Will to. Will seemed to freeze, tightening his muscles before melting into the embrace. Tears slid down his face too, and, unknown by any of them, Alex and Artis were crying too, both glad that the brother they loved had finally found his home.
"What happened?" Halt asked eventually, pulling out of the embrace. "How did you survive?"
"That would be our doing," Artis said, an apologetic note in his voice. "When we saw what happened we knew we needed to save him." For the first time, both giants removed their helmets, revelling shockingly sandy eyes and ridiculously chiselled jawlines. Their hair was a bright flame red, falling just like Will's. "Alex knows a lot about healing, even when all hope seemed lost." It was all beginning to make sense but there was something nagging him. Finally he realised what was wrong with Artis's story.
"If you saw.. well that, how were you unable to help Will find his way home. Will's memory might've been fuzzy, but yours wasn't." Halts eyes were cold, and his voice dripped ice. Alex and Artis shifted uncomfortably for a few moments, but it was Will who answered.
"Atri and Ami-hem didn't know what nation I belonged to. They kn-ew I wasn't a Skandian, and they didn't know where to begin looking." There was a small note of fear in Will's voice. Halt mentally kicked himself. He knew Will should be slightly scared of him, with only some memories. When he continued Will's voice seemed stronger. "So they took me to their emperor, Shigeru. He told th-em to try taking me to one of his gardens to try to jog my memory. He'd said he thought he recognised me. Did we know him?" Halt and Horace was surprised when they heard this, though when looking closer at the armour they were all wearing they saw a cherry insignia.
"Yes," Horace answered his question, "he's like a father to me, we met him during a Senshi uprising.
"And" Halt put in, "you're an Araluen ranger. My former apprentice." For some reason all three looked taken aback at this.
"M-me!" Will stuttered, bewildered, "I was a ranger? Th-they use black magic, don't they?" Halt's eyes softened, and he murmured, "no Will, we've never used black magic, we use practice." Will stood silent for a few seconds, thinking hard.
"So. So that's why I like staying out of s-sight?" Will's eyes were shining with the familiar glee in his eyes.
"Yes," Halt said, finally allowing his voice to crack, "yes it is."