He's a Mess of a Man

Upright ~ Four

Leviathan awoke to warm, wet doggy kisses all over his face, "Ack-!" he spluttered, "Huh..?" Melchior insistently licked Leviathan whilst Mercedes tugged at his clothes.

"You're awake! Finally!" Lucio squeezed past the dogs and carefully helped Leviathan sit up.

"What... happened..?"

"You passed out. Right after binding The Devil," said Lucio.

"Your friends brought you back here. The venerable turtle and I have spared no effort in bringing you back around," explained Nafizah.

"While Lucio paced and made an anxious nuisance of himself," Nadia smirked.

"Wh-what? T-that's not true! Totally calm here!"

"Suuure. Calm as a cucumber flying toward the sun," said Asra.

Leviathan laughed with sheer relief seeing everyone's faces. The sky was blue, the air was clear, and there was no trace of the chaos left by The Devil. Lucio's pout quickly vanished into a radiant smile, "See? You did it. Just like I said you would."

"I didn't do it alone. Words aren't enough to thank all of you."

Asra chuckled lightly, "Aww, Levi, you're gonna make us blush."

"I do believe my fellow Arcana and I should be thanking you," said The World. "With The Devil safely bound, we will see to the rest." Slowly, stiffly, the tiny World Turtle bowed to each of them in turn. "Now then, how would you like to return home?"

"Home..." - "Julius... Vesuvia... Feels like a lifetime ago." Just the thought of home brought a huge smile to Leviathan's face.

~ A Few Months Later ~

A crisp breeze glided through the market stalls, and delicious smells filled the air. No one would ever guess the world almost ended. Lucio, Leviathan, and Julius were picking up some last-minute supplies before they hit the road again. "Are those fancy dog treats?" Lucio turned to the dogs, "What do you think my lovelies? Pumpkin flavor? Peanut?" he held out two samples to Mercedes and Melchior. Both treats instantly vanished. "I guess we'll just have to take some of each!"

Leviathan cleared his throat, "Did you pick up the supplies on our list?" Lucio flinched slightly when he felt Leviathan gently tap his shoulder.

"Yeah, did you?" Julius asked, trying to match his father's expression.

"Oh! Uh... let's see..." Lucio pulled out the list from his pocket. "New blankets. Sewing kit. Herbs. And... Sorry, Levi. I think you said something else but it's not on the list."

Leviathan sighed lightly, "Compass. Don't worry, I picked that up."

Julius sighed as well, "He always forgets something!"

"Hey!" Lucio gave an unserious scowl.

Leviathan couldn't help but laugh, "Come now, honey. He's getting better about it." He then leaned down to give each of the dogs a quick pat on the head, "Happy with your treats? Everyone have everything?" With full packs, plenty of candy and dog treats, they wound their way toward the road out of Vesuvia.

"Is it just me, or does the list of stuff get longer every time?" asked Lucio.

"Well, we're taking on more and more difficult jobs. So it's your fault for being such a good adventurer," Leviathan said with a smirk, leaning a bit too close to Lucio.

Julius fake gagged and yelled, "PAPA STOP EWWW!"

Leviathan laughed as Lucio wrapped his arms around his waist, "Well, sorry Juli, but I love your papa so he's gonna be as close to me as he wants!" He scattered kisses across Leviathan's face, making him giggle more. The domino effect being Julius's more insistent whining.