Amends

Chapter 17: Amended

But what to do with a small, lonely, anxious boy who now knows too much? And what to do once life resumes as normal for Ingressus as he returns to Northwind once again? Well it would seem that there is a solution that may just benefit them both

And they can both go home with the knowledge that they are both safe in secrets

Author's note (hefty): gonna get this word wad out of the way now so I don't kill the mood after reading. so my thanks go to y'all who stuck around to the end, even despite the mishaps and the interruptions. if you joined after reading "Unbroken" then I bless you. rest easy. you have been through a lot. if you joined fresh into this spin-off, bless you too, for you dodged a bullet and dove straight into the good stuff. good on you

my biggest thanks ofc goes to my beta, Cloudless_Sky, who had suffered through UB with me, as well as my rants of non-stop "what-ifs" as we planned this little thing, finalising details and adding little notes. she had put up with a lot of very sudden, random brain storms from me at all kinds of wack hours XD

god only knows how much I appreciate her

this fic should have concluded nearly two months ago, but here we are, later than planned; but we made it. I suppose now I should explain myself

"Amends" had nothing to do with the content of the fic, per se. I had people believe that Ingry was gonna find Achi and everything was gonna be fine again; but I had made a point of that level of trauma from UB could not be forgotten, therefore forgiveness wasn't going to be easy to come by. that would have been bad writing on my part, and very lazy storytelling. instead, call it my attempt to 'make amends' with my readers who suffered through UB with me, hence the lack of angst and the abundance of fluff. I couldn't tell y'all too soon, otherwise it would've given the plot away, and I am nothing if not sneaky XD

last thing, this chapter does indeed have two illustrations for it because I just couldn't help myself; but ykw, worth it. I regret nothing. and it has some old pieces of work that I had done before writing had even started, just to show you where we started - including Jerome's first ever drawn appearance XD

enjoy the last chapter for a surprise or two at the end!

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The tears that streamed down the small Nestoris' cheeks were real. As was the fierce grip of his arms wrapped around Ingressus' waist as he dug his fingers into the small of his back, pinching the skin as if clinging for dear life. Ingressus didn't know what to do about the boy who had buried his tiny head into his hip, sobbing. He couldn't move. Even for someone as small as Amantius, Ingressus could not put one foot in front of the other, for the child was every kind of obstruction, determined to remain statuette – unmoving, unceasing. Nakiri and Jerome could only look at the situation that they found Ingressus encased in, fighting the small boy to go home. He stood with his arms raised as if to make room for Amantius, and the only reason he was tense was because of the proximity of the boy's face to his scars on his front.

Regardless of anything, he still could not stomach people near his burn scars. Those were his to bear.

Both Nakiri and Jerome had attempted to soothe the small Nestoris into relaxing and releasing their Master from his desperately pained grip and letting him return home, but with every word they spoke, Amantius grew more desperate and more determined to hang on.

"P-p-pwease K-Ky'Voltawis-s! Pwease d-don't g-g-go! Y-you awe d-de only f-f-fwiend I ev-evew h-had!" Amantius could barely speak for tears, blubbering uncontrollably.

Ingressus emitted a hefty sigh, allowing his shoulders to drop, and his arms fell to his sides. He was just about to speak when Amantius cried again.

"T-take me w-wid you! T-take m-me to de oder wed A-A-Awdoni!"

Another sigh from Ingressus, only this time it was of pity, because not only did he now have to leave the attached Nestoris, but he also had to turn him away and tell him that he could not come with him. Ingressus could be heartless when he so wished, but here and now were a time and a place that he did not wish to be. After all, he thought he would never have otherwise found himself in Nestoria. He would never have thought to check this one spot that was his and Achillean's alone, for he had thought Achillean would know better than to come into Nestoria with a target on his back the size that it was; but it would seem that, thanks to a very special, hyperactive, nervous boy, he had gotten as close to Achillean as he ever will again.