Chapter Text
A deep, rich smell tickles Justin’s nose as he walks through the entrance of the restaurant, paired with the sound of bubbling from the simmering pot of stew sitting on the stove.
A woman is tending to the stew. Her brow is matted with sweat, and a tan hairnet is wrapped around her mint-green hair. As she turns around to greet Justin and Sue, her brilliantly green eyes wander to the floor.
“HEY! Justin!”
She grabs a wooden serving tray, and strikes its side directly into Justin’s noggin.
“OUCH! Mom! What'd I do!?”
“How many times do I have to tell you!? No dirty shoes in the kitchen!”
“I don’t think that warrants more head trauma!”
“Don’t talk back to me! You know the rules of the resturant anyways! ‘Always Keep the Kitchen Clean!’ Come on, I have work to do. Out you go!”
And with that, Justin is ushered out of the kitchen.
“Well, what should we do now?” asks Sue.
“Do you wanna head up to my room for a little bit and admire our spoils?”
“Sure, why not. It’s not like we can really do anything else right now…”
Justin and Sue then make their way upstairs, careful to not make too much noise on the old rickety staircase. As they get to the second floor, and are making their way to the third, Justin steals a quick glance over at the line of portraits on the wall, before silently walking up the next flight of stairs. The two of them get to Justin’s room, which is about as messy as always. His chest is ajar, with some clothes hanging out of it. His bed also isn’t necessarily in the best state, with his bedrolls coming off of his mattress. “It’s kinda messy in here Justin, I just know that your mom’s gonna be mad at you as soon as she sees this.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll probably just fix it later though.”
The two of them sit down on the edge of Justin’s bed, on one of the sides that the bedsheets haven’t peeled off yet.
“So, do you wanna see some of the stuff my dad brought back again?”
“Sure, why not.”
Justin gets up, and walks over to his desk to grab an old looking statue. The statue is grey, with orange being used for the facial features, alongside verdant green wings. “This is one of the old Icarian statues Dad found when he discovered Sult ruins all that time ago. I’d say that it’s definitely cooler than all the ones you’d find over at the museum!” He hands it over to Sue, who runs her hands over its rough, time-worn surface, turning it over in her hands, and admiring every last inch of it, before handing it back to Justin. He places it on his nightstand, and excitedly says, “Do you wanna see my favorite thing that he gave me?”, and pulls out a dark rock, with glowing jade-green veins pulsing throughout it. The stone is roughly 5 inches in length, and has this iridescent sheen to it, making it look like an emerald trapped in a stony prison, or rather some type of ore eating its way through the rock. “He called it ‘The Spirit Stone’. Cool, right?”
“It was the last thing he gave me before he died, so I make sure to take good care of it. I can’t exactly let a gift from one of the greatest adventurers ever get dirty after all.”
Justin puts both the Spirit stone, and the statue back where they were, before sitting back down next to Sue.
“Do you think that your dad’s the greatest adventurers ever? My mom and dad always tell me that he used to go on and on about your grandpa being the best” Sue says.
“Yeah, dad did use to talk about grandpa a lot, but dad discovered the new world, so he’s definitely way better than grandpa! Anyways, do you think that we’re in the clear now? It’s been a bit, so maybe Chris isn’t still looking for us.”
“Maybe. We should still be careful though, you know your mom would never let you hear the end of it if you got in trouble again.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll be careful.”
As the two of them head downstairs, Lily beckons them over, saying “Hey you two, lunch is ready, head back upstairs, I’ll be up there with the stew in a moment.”
“You made stew!?”
“Of course I did. I know it’s your favorite, and I have something special to tell you about too, so go on and get ready to eat.”
“Alright, we’ll go get ready!”
The two of them go off to wash their hands, and then take their spots at the table, as Lily brings the stew.
The two of them immediately start digging in, letting the savory, enticing broth turn them into gluttons.
“Slow down you two, if you keep eating like that you’re going to choke!”
As much as the two of them want to keep stuffing their faces, they do end up heeding Lily’s advice, and slow down a bit.
“I really needed this…” says Sue.
“I’ve been running around so much, especially after the whole thing with Gantz. I was starving!”
Lily’s eyes narrow. “What do you mean by ‘That whole thing with Gantz’? What were you two up to today?”
With a sudden jolt, Justin sits up straighter “Uhhh, we’ve actually been busy since this morning.”
“Busy doing what?”
“Uh, it’s been so long that I actually forgot…..”
With a groan, Lily mutters “You’ve gotta be kidding me…” before raising her tone, “Justin, just tell me the truth, I promise I won’t get mad.”
“I wasn’t up to any trouble, honest! You can ask Sue if you don’t trust me!”
“Y-yeah, it’s not like Justin can get in trouble every day.”
Lily stares at the two of them for a second, like she’s trying to peer into their souls, before finally relenting.
“Alright, if you say so.”
“Anyways, what I wanted to tell you about was the fact that the museum director swung by earlier, and asked if you could stop by the museum sometime today. He said he wanted to give you a gift, since you let him take a look at the spirit stone for a little while.”
“Oh, really? I’ll make sure to stop by the museum then.”
And with that, the two of them got right back to finishing their meal.