Child of the Moon.

~Chapter Eighteen~

Hector groaned slightly as he stirred from his sleep. His eyelids fluttered open and the first thing he saw was the old wooden ceiling of his brother's farmhouse. He sat up and stretched before looking around the small guest bedroom. Hector had been so tired the night before that he hadn't gotten the chance to inspect his surroundings.

The room was very tiny indeed, only having enough space for the bed, a small wardrobe, a stool in the corner, and a nightstand beside the bed. The room was rather dusty and everything in the room looked like it hadn't been used in years. Evidently, Quirin and Varian didn't receive many guests.

The last thing Hector noticed was the set of clothing laid out on the stool. The boots and gloves were the same ones Hector had been wearing before, though they were cleaned now. But the trousers and long tunic weren't his. When the warrior went over to inspect them, he noticed that the tunic wasn't a tunic at all but a small dress. He raised an eyebrow at the garment and wondered where his brother possibly could have gotten it from. He assumed it must have been from Quirin's wife or girlfriend. How else would Varian have happened?

But where is she?

Hector pushed the question to the back of his mind. He would ask Quirin about it later.

Hector quickly got dressed and hurried down the stairs of the old house. He passed several rooms that appeared to be off limits or under renovations. He wondered if that was a result of the black rocks and the amber or if they had always been falling apart.

The warrior soon rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs. He entered into a living room of sorts and was about to call out for his brother when he heard humming coming from one of the nearby rooms. He leaned his head into what he could only assume was the kitchen and saw Quirin peacefully cooking breakfast. Quirin noticed his brother a moment later.

"Ah, good morning, brother," he greeted with a smile.

"Mornin'," Hector responded before gesturing to the food Quirin was preparing. "You really didn't have to do all this, Quirin. I can make my own food, I promise."

"It's perfectly alright. I want to. It's been a while since I've had a real family meal and I'd like to start doing so again."

"Well, then I'll help."

Hector stepped forward only to be gently stopped by his brother.

"What you can do to help," he said. "Is to go fetch my son. He's overslept again. But don't spoil the surprise."

"I'm guessing there's more to this than just breakfast?"

"Yes, but I don't want you to know. Just in case."

Hector sighed but smiled anyway. He turned to leave and go find wherever it was that Varian's bedroom was, but he was stopped another time by Quirin.

"One more thing, Hector."

"Whaaat?!" Hector groaned in a very agitated and exaggerated way.

Quirin chuckled at Hector's reaction before answering.

"When Varian was younger, me and him used to pray before meals as well as go around the table and say what we're thankful for. I want to start doing that with him again, but if I remember correctly, you aren't a praying man."

"If you're worried that I'm gonna pick a fight over having to pray, you shouldn't be," Hector assured. "If this is how you bond with your son, that's great. I'll survive. And who knows, maybe I'll have some kind of magical conversion."

"It's not magic, Hector, it's faith."

"Yeah, yeah I know."

Hector laughed a little as he left the kitchen and climbed the stairs once again. He looked in all of the rooms that weren't locked, hoping his nephew was in one of them. It didn't take him long though. He soon found a door that looked like it had been burned in multiple places. Paint splattered its surface. A loud clanking sound could be heard from inside the room.