Page 3 of Legendary

“It’s just Ariel, calm down. A gust of wind could blow the guy over. I’m not scared of him.”

Reese tilted his head from left to right, his blonde hair swinging back and forth. “No one isactuallyscared of Ariel, Nick.”

We both let out a laugh, as I toed off my shoes and slid them to the side. I heard my door open and watched as my father’s face came into view. His mustache was cleanly trimmed, and his hair looked softer than normal which I knew was due to Daya’s daughter, Alex, giving him styling product recommendations. He had changed out of his ceremony attire into a pair of black sweatpants and a T-shirt. He looked from me to Reese, who cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I’ll let you guys do your thing. I’ll just be—,” He shoved his thumb over his shoulder towards the direction of the living room before he leaned down and patted my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Always have your back, man.”

I gave one solid nod before he turned to leave, closing the door on his way out.

My father had the same expression on his face as he did at the ceremony. He looked tense, as if he wanted to say something yet he was holding himself back. I remember Reese tugging on my jacket when everyone had started to disperse after the ceremony, silently telling me it was time to go. Natalia had already left without another word to us, but I had seen the colors of her portal in the distance.

I remember turning around thinking I would find my father and Daya following behind us, but I just saw my father standing in the same spot as Daya kissed his cheek and walked away, giving him his space. I’d watched him for a few minutes, remembering him just looking at the ground and then up to the sky. I recalled seeing his mouth moving as he spoke, but I couldn’t make out the words.

I blinked over to my father, realizing he had gotten closer during my small memory. He still cared about Jonah, as messy as their relationship supposedly was. He sat down next to me on my bed, and I moved over a bit to give him more room.

“How are you feeling, son?” he asked, turning his body slightly so he could look at me.

I heaved out a sigh, really hating this kind of questioning nowadays. “Never better.” I didn’t look at him; if my eyes could have burned a hole in my plain beige wall, they would have done it, right then and there.

“Nick, I’ve let you do your own thing since you’ve been here. I didn’t bother you much while you were healing, but the ceremony is over, and youhave some very big plans. I just want to make sure you’re alright.” His voice shook a bit as if he didn’t exactly know how to phrase his words, but he was trying his best.

I nodded absentmindedly, looking down at my carpet. “I know, Dad. I’m really trying not to overload myself with…everything, but let me tell you, it’s really fucking difficult. I just can’t…I can’t think about the Jonah part of this right now.” I cut my eyes to my father, noticing that he was staring at me. “Especially since I’ll never have the full story in the first place.”

Once the words left my mouth, his eyes closed, and he raised his head towards the ceiling. We’d been dancing around each other for three months, and I was still no closer to understanding anything. It was all half-truths and one-off statements that amounted to me being back to square one with the same amount of information I’d started with. My father had never said he didn’t know what Jonah meant but getting him to let up on what he knew was like pulling teeth.

She deserved so much better.

As much as my father tried to cast it aside, no one says that to someone without it meaning something, particularly when you’re dying from a sword wound in their lap.

“Nick, I…If you...”

I shook my head and pushed off my bed, heading towards my closet. I unbuttoned and removed my shirt, my pants following straight after it. “Dad, it’s whatever. I’ll be okay here, and I’ll be okay in Purgatory. I really don’t need you to be more worried than you already will be.”

My back was turned to him as I tugged on a shirt, but I could feel him staring. No matter how old I got, the feeling of his eyes on me still made me tense as if he could read my every thought just by glancing in my vicinity. I heard him let out a breath and swallow loudly in my quiet room.

“It’s been awhile since you’ve all worked together,” he pointed out.

I buttoned my pants and turned around, leaning against the door frame of my closet. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out. We kind of have to.”

“And Dani?”

I narrowed my eyes, but my heart stuttered at mention of her name. “What about Dani?”

“We both know you feel a lot differently about her now as opposed to when this all started.”

I cleared my throat. I knew my father well enough, but it still surprised me that he had taken the news that Dani was actually a halfling so well. They all had, actually—Daya and Alex as well. Alex had said it made her even more out of my league than she already was. “What’s your point?”

My father ran his index finger over his mustache, letting out a small chuckle. “The point, son, is that you feel bad about what happened between you and that girl. What I wonder is why you never took your ass over to Oculus and did something about it.”

“It’s called giving her space,” I explained. “Besides, she knows I care about her. I mean I may have said some things in between the caring parts that didn’t come off so well, but I still said it.” I sounded like I was trying to convince myself that the words I was speaking were good enough, even though they really fucking weren’t.

I narrowed my eyes at my father as he placed his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking. This man was laughing at me. Fan-fucking-tastic.

He took a few breaths and looked up at me. “You are really lucky Daya isn’t here to hear what you just said.”

I raised an eyebrow expectedly.

My father gave me a side smile. “Nicholas, you remind me of myself when I was your age, always wanting to do what’s right but not looking at it from the angle of anyone else. I have always prided myself onshowingpeople how I felt. Words are wonderful, but they are just words. Action needs to be taken to make those words valid, because if not, they just fall flat.”

---