Chapter Eight: Loki

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Kai had to take a detour on his way back to Elrosa, the Rimstein railway not having a train headed directly there. Due to this, Kai found himself in Zodera, the capital of Astrasia. As he pulled into the station, he spotted his father at the station.

When the train allowed passengers to disembark, Kai tried to avoid Leon. Leon had anticipated this, and wound up catching his son. "You seem to be well," Leon spoke with a toneless voice, but he tried to smile at Kai. When Kai tried to ignore him, Leon grabbed his shoulder, "Wait. I know I haven't been the best father, and you resent me. At least let me do one thing for you."

"Like what?" Kai snapped, venom in his voice.

Leon pulled out his wallet, "You must be hungry right? Let me treat you to dinner tonight, just the two of us."

"Sure, whatever," shrugged Kai. He decided to follow Leon through Zodera, the city filled with towering buildings, shining gold from all the lights. Not far from the station, they spotted the Iron Skull guild hall. It was a massive building, towering at least ten stories. A line was forming outside the front door, the number of request they were receiving dwarfing Red Hawk completely.

When Leon started to walk passed the guild hall, Kai was shocked. He figured they would be eating at the guild, but instead wound up at this small family owned restaurant. No other guest were there at this time, so they were all alone just as Leon suggested.

"You planned ahead didn't you?" Kai scoffed, "And imagine, what if I had refused?"

"I would have eaten alone," a deadpan Leon spoke as they took their seats. The two of them ordered drinks while looking over the menu. Kai annoyed they both had decided to drink milk. "The chicken sounds good," Leon muttered, trying to start a conversation.

"I guess," Kai blankly expressed. He had been debating it, but chose not to order it since his father brought it up. In the end, they both wound up ordering meatloaf with stewed potatoes.

Damn bastard, quit liking what I like Kai angrily thought to himself, taking a sip of his milk.

"Today is a great day for this," Leon smiled. He had Kai's attention. Leon then pulled a form out of his pocket, "Iron Skull has been invited to some kind of guild tournament. I don't know who's organizing it, but he is challenging guilds to bring in teams of five."

"Well, my guild probably won't be there. Since we're still rather unknown," Kai answered, only to show he wasn't ignoring his father.

"I was thinking about that," Leon put the form away, "why not transfer to my guild? I'm sure you could do great things in Iron Skull."

"No thanks," Kai said as their food arrived. The two of them wound up completely silent while they ate. Kai mumbling one last thing before starting, "...Happy birthday." He thought Leon wouldn't hear, but he had.

Kai eventually made it back to the guild the next day. He noticed there was a gloom around the guild, a heavy silence. He walked through the hall, looking for Odin or Hide. He tried to talk to anyone else in the guild, but none of them were able to say a thing.

Sabrina finally walked up to Kai, "Headmaster Odin would like to see you in his office." Kai was confused about this, seeing as he had just gotten back. How could he have done anything wrong? Or maybe, this was about his Hibiki. Kai hurried to Odin's office, the guild headmaster sitting in a room lit by candlelight.

"I am glad to see you back safe," Odin smiled, signalling Kai to sit down. "I ask that you remain quiet for a bit, there is much I must say to you now. Firstly, we received a request from your father to transfer you the other day. But, I am sure that you will refuse that offer. Next thing, Hide is dead." Kai tightly gripped his knees, wanting to ask questions. But the look in Odin's eye told him to remain silent for now. Odin lowered his head, "He was found dead the day you left for Rimstein. We can only assume it was Hibiki, but we hold no proof it was him."

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