Kaien's original plan had been simple.
Visit his parents.
Stay for dinner.
Leave by evening.
That plan failed immediately.
Violently.
"You're staying."
Lyra Veyr crossed her arms firmly inside the kitchen while Kaien stood there already realizing resistance was pointless.
"I have responsibilities."
"You have exhaustion."
"There are military matters—"
"The council itself ordered you to rest."
Kaien opened his mouth slightly afterward.
Then stopped.
Because unfortunately—
that was true.
Nyra sat nearby trying very hard not to laugh openly while Lyss quietly looked away pretending innocence. Neither intended to help him.
Traitors.
Kaien tried one final attempt anyway.
"We can come back later."
Lyra immediately narrowed her eyes afterward.
"You disappeared for years emotionally and physically because of the war."
That sentence hit much harder than expected.
Her expression softened slightly afterward though.
"I finally have my son home again."
Then quietly—
"So no. You're staying for a few days."
Kaien looked toward Elias for support afterward.
His father calmly sipped tea without even glancing upward.
Coward.
Nyra leaned toward Kaien afterward whispering softly,
"You lost this battle before entering the house."
Kaien quietly realized she was absolutely right.
And somehow—
three days passed almost immediately afterward.
The strange part was not that Lyra forced them to stay.
The strange part was how quickly Kaien adapted to it once he stopped resisting.
For years his life moved constantly.
Battlefields.
Meetings.
Deployments.
Research facilities.
Motion never stopped.
Now though—
mornings became slow.
Peacefully slow.
Kaien woke up without alarms screaming through military systems. Instead he woke up to the smell of breakfast and Lyra loudly arguing with Elias over something completely insignificant every morning.
Usually involving tea.
Nyra found their arguments hilarious.
Lyss secretly recorded one.
Kaien pretended not to notice.
The house itself felt warmer with more people inside.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
At night everyone ended up sitting together in the living room while rain tapped softly against the windows outside. Elias sometimes discussed old military stories while Lyra corrected half of them dramatically from the kitchen.
Nyra and Lyss fit into the family strangely naturally too.
Almost too naturally.
By the second day Lyra had already started treating them exactly like daughters.
Kaien remained deeply suspicious of how fast that happened.
One afternoon Kaien entered the kitchen only to freeze immediately seeing Nyra and Lyss helping Lyra prepare lunch while laughing together.
Lyra looked up first afterward.
"Oh good, you're awake."
Kaien blinked slightly.
"…it's noon."
Nyra immediately answered.
"You slept late."
Kaien frowned afterward.
"I woke up at seven."
Lyss looked entirely unimpressed.
"Then went back to sleep."
Kaien remained silent.
Because unfortunately—
that was true too.
Lyra looked genuinely pleased afterward though.
"Good."
Kaien looked mildly confused immediately.
"…good?"
"You haven't slept properly in years."
The answer came so naturally that Kaien didn't know how to respond immediately.
Lyra handed him a cup afterward before gently pushing him toward the table.
"Sit."
Kaien obeyed automatically.
Because mothers somehow possessed authority beyond military rank.
That was simply reality.
Later that evening the five of them sat together outside on the small rooftop terrace above the house watching Novaris glow beneath the night sky.
The city looked peaceful from here.
Almost normal.
Kaien quietly leaned back in his chair afterward while Nyra rested beside him and Lyss sat near the railing looking toward distant lights.
Elias quietly spoke first afterward.
"You know…"
Everyone looked toward him.
"…this might be the first time we've all actually sat together without discussing war."
Silence followed briefly afterward.
Then Kaien slowly realized—
his father was right.
Every family gathering over the past decade somehow involved battle reports or crisis planning eventually.
This though…
was different.
No strategy maps.
No military pressure.
No fear hanging over every conversation.
Just family.
Lyra smiled softly afterward while holding her tea.
"That's exactly why I refused to let him leave."
Kaien looked mildly betrayed again.
"You imprisoned me emotionally."
"Yes."
Nyra immediately burst laughing afterward while Elias quietly nodded approvingly.
Lyra looked entirely unapologetic.
"You needed it."
Kaien quietly sighed afterward.
Unfortunately…
she was probably right again.
The second night became quieter than the others.
The rain had stopped completely while cool wind drifted through the open windows.
Kaien sat alone briefly in the living room staring absentmindedly at old photographs displayed near the shelves.
Most were ordinary family pictures.
Birthdays.
School ceremonies.
Small moments.
Then one photo caught his attention.
A much younger version of himself standing beside Elias during his early military academy years.
Kaien stared at it silently afterward.
Back then…
he still looked normal somehow.
Before the memories returned fully.
Before Vijaya awakened.
Before the war transformed him into something else.
"You miss it?"
Kaien looked up afterward finding Lyra standing nearby quietly.
He glanced back toward the photograph briefly.
"…maybe."
Lyra slowly sat beside him afterward.
For a while she simply looked at the picture too.
Then softly spoke.
"You changed very quickly after that age."
Kaien remained silent.
"Your father noticed it first."
Her voice stayed gentle afterward.
"The way you looked at things."
"The way you reacted to danger."
"The way you carried yourself."
Kaien quietly lowered his eyes afterward.
Lyra already knew something changed long ago.
Perhaps not the full truth.
But enough.
Then she softly smiled afterward.
"But no matter what happened…"
Kaien looked toward her again.
"…you're still our son."
Simple words.
Yet somehow they reached deeper than complicated speeches ever could.
Kaien slowly looked away afterward while emotion tightened unexpectedly inside his chest.
Because after lifetimes of becoming weapons, warriors, symbols, and monsters—
he still wasn't used to unconditional love.
Lyra gently touched his hair afterward exactly like she used to when he was a child.
"You don't always have to be strong here."
Kaien's eyes closed briefly afterward.
And for one quiet moment—
he allowed himself to simply be someone's son again.
The next few days passed almost peacefully.
Morning breakfasts.
Late-night conversations.
Nyra dragging Kaien into city markets against his will.
Lyss convincing Elias to tell embarrassing childhood stories about Kaien.
Apparently there were many.
Far too many.
Kaien learned betrayal truly existed everywhere.
Especially within families.
Yet despite all the teasing and laughter—
something deeper slowly healed inside him during those days.
Not completely.
The scars of multiple lifetimes could never fully disappear.
But this home…
these people…
gave him something he rarely experienced across any life.
Stillness.
And as the nights passed quietly beneath the peaceful lights of Novaris—
Kaien slowly realized something terrifyingly human.
He no longer fought merely to survive.
He fought because now he finally had things he truly could not bear losing anymore.