Chapter 203 - No More Running

If there was one thing Axtorius Ostell Nauveda understood, it was that the biggest enemy people had was often... themselves. Every person had the same blind spot, a fatal weakness that they were born with as intelligent, sapient creatures. 

It was the heart. 

Plain and simple, really. Intellect was a double-edged sword — with the ability to cogitate difficult, abstract concepts came the burden of overthinking those same concepts. 

"And that's exactly what you're doing, kid. You've put so much thought into the matter that you've strangled yourself into a deadlock," said Axtorius in a frustrated voice as he struggled to open a stubborn bottle of frozen liquor. 

"...Let me open that bottle for you," said Reed but was curtly rejected by Axtorius in a heartbeat with a swift slap on the wrist. 

His old mentor paused for a moment before he said, "Sorry, but this bottle right here is a family heirloom — a pristine bottle of Tennessee whiskey hailing from a little blue mudball called Earth." 

Axtorius cradled the bottle gently like a baby as he contemplated his options and said, "There's only so many of these precious babies in existence. The few that exist are the ones that got teleported over here with the First Generation way back in the day. It was pure luck that a couple of idiots were holding on to them when they got dragged to this damned continent..."

Reed's expression turned green in mild disgust and replied, "Then shouldn't that bottle be over five thousand years old? Don't tell me that you actually wanted to drink that... archaeological artifact."

There was little these days that could put off Reed, but the thought of drinking something old enough to be fossilized made his stomach churn. Nostalgia had a limit and Reed had found that limit today... 

"Of all the nerve!" said Axtorius, scowling at Reed with a contemptuous gaze. "You think my family just kept this bottle lying around in some closet?! This has been delicately frozen and kept in a vacuum chamber by my family for millennia! Why the hell do you think I said 'pristine bottle'?!"

Axtorius shook his head and said, "The bottle's priceless. It's real stuff that came from Earth, so the import taxes were stupid high when it got shipped to Mars. Something like this was an average joe's paycheck for the month — and now it's worth as much as a whole goddamned fleet." 

"So you're not going to open it? Then why'd you bring it out in the first place? Just trying to show off, eh?"

"I was going to open it, but now... I think I'll hold onto it for a little while longer," replied Axtorius, unwilling to waste it on the ungrateful brat in front of him. Reed had unfortunately — or perhaps, fortunately — lost his opportunity to taste a priceless treasure... 

Reed shrugged his shoulders in confusion and said, "I've heard about Earth and Mars before; Mars is the dusty red planet, right? Don't tell me you're actually that old. I can accept an Avunian living long enough if he was formerly a Chosen, but a human? That's a bit of a stretch..." 

"No, not me... My great-grandfather was First Generation; a bonafide Otherworlder who was brought along with the rest of the Martian colony. And he fed my father tales of his faraway home — which in return — were fed to me when I was a kid..." 

It was a very strange place, Axtorius's ancestral home. When Reed first entered, he had thought that they had mistakenly entered a private museum rather than an actual residence. 

Words failed to describe what Reed felt as he sat in the middle of a cultural madhouse filled with all manner of peculiar things. 

The walls were adorned with vivid paintings and photographs of strangers — some had sky-blue backgrounds; others had crimson-orange backgrounds. They had people posing in front of places, buildings, and strange objects that Reed had no clue about. 

It might've seemed to have other people's mementos to Reed or any other normal person, to Axtorius's grandfather it had been his life's work. 

Desperate to save what little memories of his home had not been destroyed during the Age of Chaos, he had rummaged across hundreds of different ruins and battlefields to collect these precious few fragments of his people's history and culture...

Tall bookshelves were filled with old-fashioned paper books, which were themselves flanked by several glass enclosures filled with a variety of miscellaneous objects. Some of them were easily identifiable like children's toys, musical instruments, and antique firearms but some items eluded Reed despite his best efforts. 

Why do they do all this? Is it a hobby you just pick when you get old enough? I really don't get it...

They were the same — Axtorius and Velvund. Trying their best to hoard and collect every single piece of knowledge and history that their cultures had before they were taken to Mulia. 

"You know, I know another person who has the same hobby you have... collecting, cataloging, and preserving ancient history," said Reed, chortling at the absurdity of Axtorius's home. 

"Oh? And who would this esteemed, cultured individual be? A member of the Kingscrown family? Or perhaps a historian or collector you've met somewhere? I might know them if that's the case," said Axtorius as he inspected his beloved bottle of whiskey for any potential defects. 

"Velvund Goldentree." 

And for an instant, Axtorius's face turned blank as an empty sheet of paper until he regained his composure and replied with, "Ah, I suppose that makes sense... In any case, though we have similar interests, our origins are not the same."

"Not the same? How so? You both collect antiques, so what's the difference?" 

"I inherited this grand collection from my father, just as he did from his own father, but the Silver Reaper likely collected everything by himself. Sure, I might've added a bit to this collection myself over the years, but I can't compare to him in terms of effort, time, and dedication. That man's on another level compared to me..." 

Though Reed understood their passion, he still did not the most essential part — why they did it.

And so when Reed asked for an explanation, Axtorius smiled and said, "To not forget." 

"To not forget what? Your culture? Your ancestral homeworld?" 

It was beyond irritating; Reed felt as if he was on the cusp of something important but couldn't get how it was all connected. The pieces were all there but he couldn't find out how they fit. 

Overthinking all of it ... Mementos of the past... To not forget....

Axtorius let out a small chuckle and said, "You're not wrong, kid, but that's not what I was talking about. I keep up this hobby of collecting because it's my connection to my family."

"That's why I do it — why I keep my father's stories about Mars and Earth so close in my heart and why I go out of my way to collect and preserve all of this stuff. When you're a foreigner in a strange world, the world can feel pretty cold and distant, don't you think?" 

Though Reed did not reply, the look in his eyes said more than enough...

"Look, kid... You don't have to tell me anything for me to know that you're in a rough place right now. The fact that your girl hasn't been around for a while is enough for me to make an educated guess about the nature of your problem, too." 

A somber silence filled the living room as a lonesome titan listened to his old mentor. 

"You came here without a damn thing. Nothing to your name, except your name."

"I still remember the cautious little boy who couldn't trust anyone. The frightened boy who wanted to, as I recall wanted to 'hide in some remote place and let things pass by'."

Axtorius stared at Reed dead in the eyes and said, "But then something happened, right?" 

"You met someone and before you even knew it, you had started walking forward instead of backward. Hell, the world might've even changed a bit for you in the process. You've certainly changed; the kid I knew would've never had the balls to do what you've done." 

Memories that Reed had kept locked up for the longest time began to spill out onto his vacant mind. Overflowing visions of magnificent gold filled his head as he began to recall how everything started... 

A meaningful smile formed on Axtorius's face and he muttered, "I hate cheap cliches the most, but the saying still holds true: 'You don't know what you've got till it's gone.'  That girl fixed you good, kid, better than I could have ever done. Put you back your feet and put a damn fire in your heart. Considering how bad you were in the beginning, I'd go as far as to call her a f.u.c.kin' miracle worker!" 

Even Reed couldn't help but laugh when he heard Axtorius grill his a.s.s like that. He felt as if he had suddenly been thrust more than half a decade into the past, back when he had been snot-nosed punk who had been terrified of Axtorius's shadow... 

"I can tell you from experience that your girl is the type that you stumble into. You can go searching for a girl like her all your life and never find one. She's your lucky charm, kid — keep her close and you'll always be a winner, but if you lose her... well, you're gonna regret it for the rest of your life."

"Experience? Heh, that sounds like a story I'd love to hear. Consider my interest piqued," said Reed. 

Axtorius snorted contemptuously and said, "I tell you what, kid... you patch things up with your lady and maybe I'll tell you one day. But for now, go get your girl — no, your family back, alright? Stop thinking about who's to blame, who said what, and all that bad shit." 

He stood up and stared at the bottle in his hands for a minute in serious contemplation before he thrust it out to Reed. 

Reed's eyes popped out in surprise and he blurted out, "But isn't that your baby? I can't possibly accept something like this, even if it's from you, old goat." 

Axtorius firmly thrust into Reed's hands and said, "The hell you can't, you little shit! I'm giving you this bottle on a single condition — that you take one good f.u.c.kin' swig from it before you meet your lady. The way you look right now, I'm afraid you'd chicken out at the last minute, so take a shot of liquid courage before you meet her and fix your shit, am I clear?!" 

Speechless was the only world that could describe what Reed felt as he dumbly stared at the bottle in his hands. A priceless family treasure had been given away... just for him to not be a coward.

"Don't lose what matters the most, kid — your family. It's the only thing that foreigners like us have in this miserable world. Lose that and the only thing we'll have left is our names again..." 

The sentiment behind the action, though demeaning, was heartwarming in a way that Reed could not properly express. 

"Thank you, sir. I'm in your debt again," said Reed as he clutched the bottle with a profound, newfound resolve. 

"Damn straight! Now go get your shit together before I regret giving you my baby," said Axtorius.

It terrified Reed for a moment; Axtorius had used his old drill instructor voice, full of the same unholy authority and ferocity that used to put the fear of God in him. 

But Reed took that as the sounding of the war horn. The time had come to go meet Her. He nodded and immediately opened a spatial tear, not even sparing a moment to say goodbye to Axtorius. 

Reed had left... and he would not be coming back until he had accomplished what he needed to do. 

It was time to go pay an overdue visit to Citlai. The time had finally come to clear everything up... come hell or high water.