Chapter 37 - Pilse Arc
On the walk to Zoa’s family home, she talks more freely.
“My parents have lived in Pilse their whole lives,” she says. “But they traveled once. A whole year. They spent time in all five nations.”
Sonny glances over. “Really?”
“Yeah.” She nods, a little proud. “Since Pilse doesn’t interact with the rest of the world, the village wanted to understand what’s out there, so they sent my parents. Villages of the basin have done this from time to time.”
Sonny considers that. “So that’s where your curiosity stems from.”
Zoa smiles. “Pretty much. I grew up hearing those stories over and over.” A beat passes, then she adds, quieter, “I’m twenty-one and I’ve never once stepped outside the basin. I feel like that is sad”
Sonny doesn’t answer right away.
“It’s a big world,” she continues. “I want to see what it has to offer. Like they did.”
She exhales. “Calo even asked both of them to take a foreign affairs role. They turned it down.”
“Because of the Antis?” Sonny asks.
“Yeah.” She shrugs. “Too risky. He wanted them because they actually have experience outside. That’s rare here.”
Sonny walks in silence for a moment.
Then he says, “It’s funny.”
Zoa tilts her head. “What is?”
“You see the world as something to explore,” he says. “I’ve only ever seen it as something to survive without a home to safely return to. I wish I had a home like Pilse to return to familiar faces.”
Zoa slows slightly, studying him.
“I never thought about it like that,” she says. “Travel and living like a drifter sounds fun, but having somewhere to return… that can be special.”
Sonny gives a small nod. “I assume so.”
They arrive at her parents’ house. The home is modest, but the walls are crowded with artifacts. Masks, carved figures, fabrics from other lands. It feels less like a house and more like a memory room.
Zoa steps in first. “Mom, Dad, we’re back.”
She gestures to Sonny. “This is the outsider I told you about. He’s the one they found on the mountain. And… he saved my life earlier today.”
Her parents look at Sonny immediately.
Sonny bows slightly. “It’s nice to meet you.”
They return the gesture.
“Thank you,” her mother says, sincere. “For protecting our daughter.”
Her father nods. “You’re welcome at our table.”
Sonny breathes in the room’s warmth. “It smells great.”
Zoa’s mother smiles. “Lamb stew. It’s simple, but it’s one of my staples.”
As she finishes cooking, her father settles across from Sonny.
“Zoa has told us a bit about you,” he says. “A mountain man who attended the Academy of Magic, but is an ether user… quite a story.”
Sonny nods. “I see she has covered the basics.”
“And a world traveler?” her father adds.
“I’ve been around.”
Her father raises a skeptical eyebrow. “You look too young to have had the chance.”
Zoa cuts in. “I told you, he basically lived on that mountain.”
Sonny gives a small nod. “I did. But the group I was with… moved a lot. Short timeframes in different areas based on need.”
There’s something in the way he says it that shuts down further questions.
Sonny shifts the conversation. “Zoa told me you’ve seen all five nations. Which one stands out the most?”
That’s all they need.
The mood lifts immediately. They begin talking. Stories spill out one after another with Zoa’s parents doing most of the talking. Cities, monuments, strange foods, landscapes Sonny has only partially experienced himself. When he adds something, it’s precise. Just enough to surprise them. Zoa barely speaks. She listens. Absorbs. Every now and then she leans forward with a question she’s probably wanted to ask for years.
Later, Zoa clears the table while her parents sit back down.
Her mother looks at Sonny. “How long are you staying in Pilse?”
Sonny pauses. “I’m not sure.”
“Not long,” he adds after a second.
Her father leans forward. “Where will you go and what will you do?”
Sonny doesn’t answer immediately.
“…I don’t know,” he finally says. “I don’t really have a direction right now.”
The room quiets.
Then he adds, “But before I go, I’ll take care of Anti Society.”
The air shifts.
Her father frowns. “What do you mean by that?”
“I’m going to fight them,” Sonny says. “Hopefully the day after tomorrow.”
“…By yourself?” her father asks.
“Yes.” Sonny says with his normal unphased expression.
There’s a beat of disbelief.
Sonny meets his gaze. “I’ll do everything I can to bring your younger daughter back.”
That lands differently.
Zoa’s mother lowers her eyes. “No one’s ever said that before.”
Her father studies Sonny longer this time.
“You’ve fought before,” he says. “At the Academy.”
“I have.”
“What kind of fights?”
The questions come sharper now. More direct. Sonny answers, but carefully. Enough to satisfy. Not enough to reveal.
Finally, her father exhales. “This won’t be like school. There are no rules out there.” His tone picks up with some anger, “The Antis are a vile group. No honor, no shame, nothing is off the table for them. Just animals”
Sonny nods. “So I’ve heard.”
“You may have to do things most people won’t… get your hands dirty.”
Sonny answers low so only Zoa’s father can hear. “I am far from clean.”
The tension fades after that. They shift again to lighter topics. Zoa’s future comes up. Her goals. Her desire to travel.
She speaks with energy now, but it fades near the end.
“I don’t really have a way out,” she admits.
Sonny hears it. He doesn’t respond. He already knows.
As the night winds down, Zoa’s mother asks, “Where are you staying?”
“Nowhere,” Sonny says. “I’ll sleep outside.”
“That’s not happening,” she says immediately. “You can stay here.”
Sonny shakes his head. “I appreciate it. But I’m more comfortable out there.”
Zoa narrows her eyes. “Comfortable?”
“Yes. I’ve slept most of my life outside.”
She studies him, then sighs. “You’re so weird.”
“Not the first time that has been said about me,” Sonny replies.
He stands, giving a small bow. “Thank you for the meal. I enjoyed hearing your stories.”
He leaves quietly. After the door closes, the house feels different.
Zoa’s mother speaks first. “Do you think he can actually do it?”
Zoa hesitates. “I don’t know… but he believes he can.”
Her father nods. “So do I.”
“Why?” her mother asks.
He leans back. “Because he’s hiding something. Masquerading as just another person.”
Zoa looks at him. “Like what?”
“I can’t put my finger on it entirely, but he’s had a dark past,” he says. “He’s a secretive guy. His expression says it all.”
Her mother shakes her head. “To take on the Antis alone… you’d need someone close to a Top Fifteen in Bronzeland. People like that don’t just appear, especially in Pilse.”
“Maybe,” her father says. “But there is something strong and sinister behind him.”
He smirks slightly. “Or maybe I think that because my daughter has a crush on him.”
“Dad!” Zoa fires back, face flushing. She lightly hits his arm. “I do not.”
“Sure,” he says with a grin.
She turns away, muttering, “He’s just… interesting.”
Her father chuckles. “That he is.”
That night, Sonny finds a quiet place just outside the village. The silence settles around him. For once, there’s nothing pressing on him. No orders. No expectations. He lies back and watches the sky.
Dinner lingers in his mind. Kind people. No judgment. Just conversation.He exhales slowly.
Then the thought returns. “Where do I go next?”
He closes his eyes.
He wants to go back. To Ellie. To the few people he’s let in. But something else sits there louder in his mind. Names. Faces. A weight he hasn’t dealt with.
“I want to fix my past,” he murmurs.
He makes the decision there. He won’t go back until he tries to make things right with the families of the victims he assassinated with the Omegas.
Reaching inward, he calls for Draco. “I have a plan.”
He tells Draco of his atonement plan. He waits for the usual sarcasm. It doesn’t come.
“…Alright,” Draco says.
They talk. Not long. Just enough to shape it. Training. Atonement. Time. Two years.
Sonny exhales when it’s done. For once, his thoughts slow… and he feels good about the path of his life.
He lets himself rest.
