Hatchling No Longer

Saif half carried Bron into the elevator, thanking Greater Luck for the fact that it was so close to their home. It made the trip back quick and mostly painless for Bron, who’d nearly passed out by now.

Hylfa didn't even wait for them to open the front door, or anywhere near the house at all. She leapt at them while they were still walking in the middle of the street. She tackled Bron into her arms, hugging him tight, with tears flowing freely down her face. When Saif stepped within her reach, she grabbed him too.

She sobbed, shaking, struggling to string a straight sentence.

“You’re alive? Both of you, Oh,” She held on tighter, like if she left enough space between their bodies, Bron and Saif would disappear. “I thought I’d lost you. I believed in you, but I still thought I lost you, oh, my heart.”

Saif couldn't blame her. They both did disappear within the same night. He had no idea what must have been going through her mind this entire time they were gone. Saif hugged her back with his thin arms, squeezing tight to prove that he was here.

When they finally picked themselves off the floor, Hylfa had to support Bron upright to get him indoors.

Saif couldn’t pay too much attention to Bron back in the Hall, but now that they were home, he had nothing to hide.

He was lifeless, a shell of his usual, jovial self. He lost weight, both fat and muscle, and was swimming in his own set of clothes, the same ones he wore to his trip to the farm with Saif, still muddy and in desperate need of a wash. Without his glasses, Bron had to squint to be able to see, and it showed just how hollow and gaunt his face had gotten, his cheeks collapsing in on themselves.

“Bronnie sweet, what did they do to you? Where did they keep you all this time?” Hylfa caressed his face with a shaking hand, holding him with the other.

“My love,” he rasped, throat stiff and dry with disuse. “I do not know.”

Hylfa went into the kitchen to bring him water, her own throat drying up.

Saif saw the shadows walk behind her, waiting for her to notice them. Hylfa paid them no mind, or she pretended to. He noticed that a particular ghost had taken her seat.

She returned but didn’t try to sit down. “Is there anything you’d like to eat, my sweet? Anything at all. Say it, and it will be yours.”

Bron smiled, gentle. “So long as it's made with your hands, and cooked in our kitchen, it will be enough.”

Eventually, they fell asleep in the living room, neither Bron nor Hylfa of them willing or able to mind. A knock came to the door, startling them both out of the confines of sleep. Hylfa stiffened, burring her heart deep in her chest before going to answer it.

“Hi! You must be Hero’s mom,” Saif recognized Shay Kha’s voice. He came up to the front door, peering out from behind Hylfa’s legs. Shay Kha noticed him, kneeling slightly to see him face-to-face. “Hey Hero! Congrats on the successful mission.”

Saif nodded, but Hylfa wasn’t ready to put her son back in harm’s way. She blocked the door more so Saif couldn’t be seen.

“State your business.” She spoke from behind the door frame.

“Oh, well,” Shay Kha blushed, turning a shade of pink that matched her purple hair. Saif noticed she had a strand above her temples, the exact shade of Laiton’s hair. It looked like a wedding custom or something. “I was hoping that Hero would like to come to Laiton and I’s wedding.”

Hylfa relaxed her arms, opening the door a little more, “congratulations.”

“Thank you. I had sent regular mail for the other guests, but I wanted to make sure I sent the hero’s invite personally. He still can’t read yet, right?” She handed the card to Hylfa, who instead of taking it, opened the door wider to be handed the letter directly.

“Oh! I also have this,” Shay Kha pulled out a large, fancy envelope. “It’s from the Great Abode for ‘the little one’ and I’m sure they meant Hero.”

Saif took it as well, silently promising to be at the wedding. He wondered if he could get some custom clothes made. He wondered if they had suits in this world, imagining himself in one and giggling at the idea.

The Greater Beings will be holding a celebration tomorrow. An open invitation celebration, something that had never happened since before the Greater Beings took over. They were going to use the party as a chance to introduce the changes made to the council to the citizens of the capital. Saif was supposed to be the guest of honor. Hylfa read out the letter from the Great Abode to them
Bron freaked out over that, scrambling to his workshop to prepare something for Saif, even in his tired state. Hylfa had to physically sit on him so he wouldn’t get up without exerting enough energy.
“Ah, this is different. No worries, you’ll be strong enough to buck me off anytime, but for now, you need to rest, not address the dresses.”
“No no, dear, then let me at least start to sketch. I need to put down my ideas somewhere or I’ll lose them.”
Saif watched amazed at Bron’s drawing of him and a bunch of new outfits.

“Don’t tell me you didn't know your father could sew! Haven’t you seen my gloves and coats, little one? Even the coat you’re wearing now was his creation. He worried he wouldn’t have time to finish it with the meetings dragging on for so long, so I took it upon myself to finish them in his place.”

The very next day, and exactly at the correct time, Saif showed up at Great Abode alone with his new silver cloak. He took the triple-decker bus and sat all the way on the top floor, jumping off rather than taking the stairs when he arrived.

The guards pulled back their spears. “You know, this is the Hero of the Avian, right?” one whispered to the other. “Yes. I tossed them out once.”

Many of the Greaters welcomed him warmly, others respecting his existence with only a nod.

“For the ceremony, don’t worry about anything. All you have to do is come up when we call your name. If you’d like to help us, you can pass these out. Little mementos of the party.”
Saif was given a box filled to the brim with all sorts of Beetle clock pins. He hopped with excitement, Instinct flickering to life inside him to admire them.

The party was a raging success. It lasted from that afternoon until midnight three days later. And even then, some kept celebrating through the streets. He saw almost everyone he met on the adventures he’d gone on. The only ones missing were the monsters, though he doubted the city was ready to respect their existence just yet.

He still had to figure out what was going on with Instinct, and It was still strange how the world seemed to bend to his will at times.

He ate all sorts of foods, indulging like he never had before. He danced, giving rise to the move later known as the Beetle Bash.

Saif woke up the next day feeling… strange.

He wanted to lounge and laze, if only for another 15 minutes. Ever since he died, it’s just been one thing after the other. Saif left his bed, but he felt cold and a little too exposed. He wrapped his cloak around himself, but it didn’t feel secure enough.

Eyeing the bedsheets, Saif snuggled in them rubbing his face all over them before wrapping them around himself and leaving his room. He was hungry, although he ate quite a bit last night.

Yawning, he made his way through the house with his eyes closed, letting his other senses guide him.

He smelled za’atar. What? He headed into the kitchen, finding it warm with Bron’s cooking, and the specific blend of spices and sesame seeds, roasted and doused in olive oil and baked on a flatbread dough to make manaeesh.

Saif loved za’atar. It was his favorite herb blend. He used to put it on everything from eggs to pasta to cheese. How did they know?

Saif looked between Hylfa and Bron, watching as they flit back and forth from the kitchen to the table.

“Honey, it can handle the truth.”
“Oh, I know my darling, it's I who cannot bear it.”
“It has to know we aren’t his real parents before we can register it as our own!”
“Please, Hylfa, my heart is already weak and made weaker by the torment. Let's wait until after breakfast, shall we?”
“Alright. Although, I wonder how old he is now.”
“About thirteen million, unless the silksong worms dug deep enough to avoid it.” Bron said, Hylfa falling into a fit of laughter.

Saif snuggled further into his blanket. Things will be alright. For now.