As I was telling them about Kunlun, my mother, Casey, her voice soft with a tremor of hope, asked, "Did you get to meet my parents?"
"No," I replied, my voice tinged with a slight regret. "By the time I reached Kunlun, they had already left, venturing out into the world to search for you and the family relic that had been lost. Their mission was already underway. "
"Is that so?" Mom murmured, a faint smile touching her lips. "At least you met the ancestor."
"Yes," I confirmed. "Now that you mention it, they should have just left Kunlun a few days ago, actually, as that was when the gates opened after their long cycle. I was explicitly told they departed around this specific time." The synchronicity was not lost on any of us.
"I see," Grandma Shanti interjected, her voice thoughtful. "Then I will have David send some people to look for them. You continue with your story, Ryan." Her gaze was unwavering, a silent command.
"Yes, so after Danny and I left Kunlun—" I continued, my voice picking up the pace as I launched into the heart of the future. I told them about my and Danny's adventures in a world teetering on the brink, the burgeoning friendship, and then the devastating climax: the death of Grandpa, Grandma, and even Great-Grandma because of some alien entity's cold, calculating desire to wipe out half of the population. I described the sheer terror of fighting against monstrous, giant robots designed specifically to hunt people with mutant genes, the air thick with desperation and the metallic tang of fear. And then, the ultimate sacrifice: how Danny, my best friend, had risked and ultimately given his life to give me the fleeting, agonizing chance to travel back in time, and the solemn promise I made to him in those final, horrific moments.
I explained how, initially, after fainting in the classroom of my new (or rather, old) school, I had only regained fragmented memories of the future, flashes of events, and vague warnings. It was only when I saved Sasha, truly connected with her and this new (old) life, that the dam had broken, and all of my future memories, the crushing weight of everything I'd witnessed and endured, had come flooding back in their entirety.
Before continuing with the rest of my convoluted tale, I looked at Grandma, a silent question in my eyes. "Should I tell them about your friend?"
"No," she said, her voice firm and unequivocal.
"So," I began, carefully navigating her wishes, "one of Grandma's friends, a very… wise individual, visited me and gently, but firmly, reminded me about the promise I made with Danny. That was why I had to leave so hurriedly, to embark on this most recent journey." Though she was being awfully cryptic about it, dropping hints like breadcrumbs without revealing the full feast.
"How did she know about your promise?" Mom asked, her brow furrowed with confusion.
"She has superpowers," I replied, offering the simplest explanation I could manage. Sorcery, magic, and seeing the future can definitely be counted as superpowers, right? It was the best way to explain the unexplainable for now.
"That doesn't explain anything," Dad grumbled, clearly unsatisfied.
"Well, that is all the explanation you will get," Grandma said, cutting him off with a look that immediately withered him into silence. Her authority was absolute.
So I continued, weaving the next thread of my story. "So, I set out to rescue Danny's mother from her… challenging circumstances. And when I was bringing her back, on the way, I even met a magnificent, 20-foot-tall tiger that taught me about my powers, guiding me through the initial chaos of my new abilities."
"Oh, you met the Great Tiger?" Grandma asked, a hint of amusement, almost fondness, in her voice.
"You know Baghraj, Grandma?" I asked, genuinely surprised. The world was clearly much smaller, and more interconnected, than I'd ever imagined.
"Yeah, though I didn't know he was called Baghraj" she replied, a faint smile on her lips. "A lot of descendants of the families that serve the temple work under him. He's quite the figure in certain circles."
"So, how rich is he?" I couldn't help but ask, the thought of a twenty-foot-tall, seemingly ancient tiger owning assets sparking a very Ryan-esque curiosity.
"I don't know," Grandma admitted, shrugging slightly. "The Temple only manages a part of his assets that are present in South India. The full extent is… unknown."
'He is so rich you can't even estimate his wealth, right!? That's the real answer, isn't it?'
"I got it," I conceded, a new appreciation for the mysterious tiger. "So, as I was saying, after he guided me in using my powers, I traveled with Aunt Heather, bringing her back to safety. After leaving her at home with Grandpa, I came back here. It was just a trip to the Himalayas, not like I was kidnapped or anything," I finished, trying to downplay the sheer epic scale of my recent adventures, a last-ditch effort to keep my parents from completely losing it.
As soon as I finished speaking, my mother, her eyes brimming with a mixture of relief, terror, and overwhelming love, stood up. Before I could even ask why, she reached out and, with a soft thwack, slapped me gently on the cheek. But then, almost immediately, she pulled me into a fierce, bone-crushing hug, and started crying, her body shaking with silent sobs.
Soon, my dad came over, wrapping his strong arms around both of us, joining the embrace. "It's okay, son," he murmured into my hair, his voice thick with emotion. "You did good. You succeeded."
I don't know why those simple words, "You did good, you succeeded," stirred something so profound within me. Perhaps it was the release of years of hidden burdens, the validation from the parents I'd feared disappointing, the acknowledgment of a fight they couldn't possibly comprehend.
And soon, before I knew it, tears started falling from my own eyes, hot and unstoppable, and I was crying, openly, vulnerably, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, safe in my mother's arms. It was a raw, cathartic release, washing away fears and anxieties I hadn't realized I was still carrying.