My Servant Is An Elf Knight From Another World

Chapter 440 - Homecoming, Part 1

"Y-You didn't… you didn't… have to do that…" He slurred at me, blinking seemingly for the first time in hours. "I… was going to stop… anyway."

I ignored him. Sammy not so much though.

"Stop what?" She asked, staring across my shoulder, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. "What did you do?"

Her, unfortunately, I couldn't ignore, and answered as fast as I could, before he could, "Nothing," then subtly began to push Harry faster forward. "Just keep walking."

Disembarking after hours of sitting was a rude tingly awakening for the legs. Shuffling one foot at a time, in a cramped congested line was only just exacerbating matters. I was hungry, exhausted, and now with Harry's first words announcing his return to lucidity, very, very cranky. 

I was leading the pack, with Sammy closely behind, and finally, Ash bringing up the rear with our luggage in both hands. Where's Adalia you ask? Well, cramped space, noisy place, rousing awake, take a guess where she'd go to look for comfort. 

"How… long more…?" She asked, burying her face deeper into my arm, making it even harder to hear her already quiet voice from the chaos. 

"Well…" I peeked over the long line of swaying heads in front of us. "Give or take, another two minutes?"

Adalia slightly lifted herself away from the fabric, her misty eyes like beads of gray looking through my soul. "Promise…?"

"Nope," I sighed, sad to disappoint. "I'm just guessing."

And disappoint I did. Adalia held on tighter. "Oh…"

Not to fret, however, in time, one by one, our feet finally met with solid ground once more, the station platform providing free reign like no other. A place where I could finally stretch my legs, get away from the pandemonium, yet unfortunately, not from Harry though. No, he stuck to me like a leeching parasite on my shoulder, feasting on my morale.

"I'm getting very hungry," He said, loudly smacking his chapped, slightly bloodied lips as if wanting to get the message across clearly. "When do we eat? The detective used to feed me soup. What are you going to feed me?" 

"Nothing yet," I muttered, continuing to lug him around the platform by the arm as quickly as I could. "Please shut up." 

"I think it is about this time where the detective would wake me up to eat," He continued to speak, obviously my words falling on deaf ears. "The body needs the energy to fight me. Don't you want that? You want that, don't you?" 

"I said," I flashed him a look. "Shut up."

Harry smiled, finally complying. In the meantime, I made a mental note as well to get some food as soon as possible. Back at home, I'm sure Mom's already prepared a feast. No doubt about it.

Many instances I took a turn, stop, only to immediately redirect elsewhere, still weaving and funneling through the crowds. Happened so many times that Adalia finally took notice of what I was trying to do.

"You're… looking for him… aren't you?" She asked, no longer hiding herself in my clothes, and staring up at me once more. "Leo… nardo…"

Wasn't gonna ask how she knew… because well, of course, she knows, only nodded in confirmation, saying, "So many exits, he never specified which one. He's not responding anymore either." 

I was about to lead us through another path, before Adalia suddenly spoke up, "He's… on the left…" 

The split-second sharp course correction I took had Sammy nearly crashing into another group of people, distracted apparently by the view of the outside that we were gradually inching closer and closer to. 

"Keep going…" Adalia whispered, wincing in discomfort as the train screeched to depart. "I… can sense him… he is… close…" 

"Great, nice," I said, beaming down at her in thanks. "Just what would I do without you, huh?" 

"Ask… Ash…" She suggested, slowly shifting her eyes elsewhere. 

Now that's not very subtle of you, ain't it?

"Maybe," I beamed even wider. "Why, would you prefer I did?" 

Adalia preferred to not answer, instead, avoiding the question altogether by playing ostrich again and burying her head into the warmth and comfort of my clothes. 

As soon as I saw she wasn't looking, my lips quickly faded from a smile, and every step further, turning my muscles tense. There were no more swaying heads to obstruct, no longer any large crowds to circumvent, and I could see it easily… the parking lot, his truck parked to the side, engine still rattling, just like he said it would be.

So how do I even start with this, huh? 

Hey there Dad, long time no see, how have you been? Mind telling why you kinda left an entire realm for dead and went eloping off to another world entirely with its literal harbinger of destruction? How about over dinner, eh? That cool with you?

"Why are you holding my arm tighter? It hurts," Harry said, his tone free from any pain or discomfort. "I will not run, you don't need to worry. I'm just hungry." 

Quickly, I loosened my grip, spoke, "Sorry…" wait, why was I even apologizing to him anyway? "Just - I said don't talk. Listen for God's sake." 

I shook myself, both on the inside and the outside, trying to quell all the unease I had building in me. What am I even tripping for? I lived with him my whole life - that's still my life, ain't it? Just act like it still is.

We weren't as close as I was with Mom, but I still loved him. All my heart, I loved him. Growing up, he was the softie to Mom's usual stern rules. No snacks before dinner, yet somehow I'd find a chocolate bar or two in my room somewhere. Accidentally broke a vase dashing through the house and in imminent inevitable danger of being grounded for life, no problem either - Dad would bring the pieces into the basement, and twenty minutes later, voila… good as new, and Mom was never the wiser.

I always wondered how the hell he did that, no cracks even showed. I just always assumed superglue and the steadiest hands anywhere. Guess I know the magician's tricks now, don't I?

"Oh, finally! There's the truck!" Sammy exclaimed, quickly striding forward ahead of me. "Big bro, I thought you'd lost us for a sec. Ugh, I'm tired." 

Slept for most of the journey, and still shambling exhausted like a zombie. Yeah, that's Sammy, alright. 

I picked up the pace after her, mentally counting down the steps before first contact, and there - that's when it happened. The creaky slam of the driver door, the slight push after clicking it close - he still never got that fixed, I see. 

Sammy rushed ahead even more, arms wide, before tightly embracing a figure obstructed by the roof of the truck. I heard her voice, elated, delighted, "Okay, Dad! Dad! It's only been a few days! Come on," She chuckled. "You can let go! Alright, alright, fine! I miss you too!"

I see they're still as close as ever too… 

"Your father," Ash muttered close from behind, her tone going rigid. "He's… more than I originally anticipated." 

I didn't need to ask what she meant by that. I already knew. When I blinked, if I tried, I could easily feel it too. I let both Harry and Adalia go, my eyes glued forward.

"Wait here, Ash, Adalia, watch Harry," I said to them both. "I'll just…"

I didn't finish, I didn't even know what I was gonna say, slow as I could, I came to a stop. And quickly as I could, his image came whirling through my mind. Almost a year ago, I waved farewell to him - stark blue eyes staring proud, a stubble smile beaming wide, waving a large burly arm in goodbye. 

Fast forward to present time, and not a single thing has changed from that day. He slowly emerged into view, still towering as ever as high over me, his size still twice mine. His bright blue eyes stared in the black of my own, the stubble on his large chin slightly grown… silently, he opened those large burly arms of his, and just as wordlessly, I let myself be enveloped in his embrace. It was just as I remembered it from that day. The warmth, the love, from him to me, I felt it. 

"Welcome back," His deep voice resounded, as always lacking in feeling, but nevertheless brimming with emotion. I heard it. "We've missed you. I missed you."

And just like that, all my worries, all my qualms, gone with the wind blew with the orange of dusk. In his arms, I didn't see Leonardo, I didn't see the Hero. All I felt, all I could hear, was the man that taught me that it was always alright to cry, to always be brave, and to always do good by others. The unwavering pillar of support I knew I could always lean on when times were rough.

In his arms, all I could see was my father. Nothing more, nothing less. 

"Yeah," I said, burying my face into his shoulder, the smell of dust and dirt on his clothes finally affirming the reality of it all, "I'm home."