The next morning, Arianna left early to visit Joseph's house. She was practically bouncing with excitement, mumbling something about experimenting with mana farming and plant mana. Cassis couldn't help but find it unbearably cute. Her bubbly enthusiasm was contagious, and it stayed with him long after she left. He decided to spend the morning at his parents' house.

Specifically: building a den. For the fox. And her cub.

Just before lunch, he took a break and leaned against the garden fence, staring out over the work-in-progress. It was honestly ridiculous, how things had turned out. When he'd come over that morning, it had mostly been out of suspicion. He had wanted to see if the fox had kept her promise and behaved.

The children would start school in a week since their arrival here had such tragic reasons. So he wasn't surprised when Matteo had greeted him immediately and eagerly led him to the back garden. That's where they all were: his parents, Felicia, and the two foxes. The little one was tumbling around with Felicia. The mother? She was pacing the area like an inspector on-site. That... thing never let her guard down.

Cassis still didn't trust her. Not really. He'd told her so, yesterday, before letting her get into a car with his family. He'd said — very clearly — that if anything happened to them, he would kill her. She'd looked him dead in the eyes, nodded solemnly… and then had the audacity to huff out a laugh. Laughed. At him.

Arianna thought he was imagining things. That he was attributing too many human traits to what she claimed was just a very smart animal. But that "animal" was cunning. She was hiding her true intelligence, at least from everyone except maybe Felicia, who didn't grasp the implications. But Cassis saw it. The fox wasn't just aware. She was observant. Calculating. And judgy.

She kept evaluating him like some self-appointed arbiter of worth. And from what he could tell, she found him barely adequate. If he passed her tests at all, it was just by a hair, followed by a dismissive huff or a snort. Sometimes even an actual eye roll. He didn't know what she was grading him on, but he'd find out. She wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, judging by the tools and lumber spread across the back garden.

They'd already marked out the space where the den would be when he and Matteo had joined everyone. And this wasn't going to be just a burrow. No, this was a proper structure. Like a garden shed, with three walls and an open fourth side. No real floor since the fox would dig into the earth herself. Cassis spotted two bowls set up already, one with kibble and one with water. The fox ignored the kibble completely, and her expression made it pretty clear she found the offering offensive.

The cub, meanwhile, was gleefully wrestling with Felicia. The mother fox kept sniffing the marked area, nodding now and then as if approving layout decisions. She only stopped when Cassis' mother brought out several fluffy blankets. The fox actually selected a few, dragging them over to a wooden box they had set up nearby. Curious, Cassis had stepped closer and realized it was a small bed, crafted from wood, lined with a mattress. How had they made this so fast? His father only had one arm now. Matteo had caught his confusion and explained, "Aunt Danielle and I built it when we got back last night. Took a while, but it turned out great. We even cut up one of those bloody mattresses and used the parts that weren't soaked, so the foxes would be comfortable."

They were cutting up bloodied mattresses to make monsters more comfortable. Cassis couldn't help but find the whole thing absurd. Those mattresses had been used in their first trial. They were bloodied because monsters had come after baby Jessica's cries. Now they were used to make a bed for another monster.

Still, he got roped into helping build the lean-to. The fox had already started digging her den, Felicia wanted to help, but she mostly just got in the way. Cassis' mother came up with a clever fix, telling Felicia she had to take care of the cub instead since it would get in the way of building their home. Genius. Cassis smirked. Now that he thought about it, he'd had the same role as a child. Whenever he was in the way, he got assigned babysitting duty for Liam since his mother claimed Liam had been in the way constantly. Hell, he had probably been in the way just as much. He chuckled to himself. Across the garden, his father noticed and gave him a knowing wink. They shared a quiet laugh.

His dad looked good. Better. It wasn't easy losing an arm. It wasn't easy living with the weight of all they had lost, their parents gone, his mother's siblings and cousins, all of it. Yet his parents had never given up. They had each other. And somehow, they kept going. Now, in their sixties, they were raising two orphaned, traumatized kids. As if that wasn't a lot, now they had added a sentient fox monster and her cub. Without a word of complaint, they simply did what needed to be done.

Cassis hadn't been that strong in the other timeline. He'd been lost for a long time. Useless, even. Only Arianna had brought him out of it. And what had he become when she was gone? A madman bent on revenge. But his parents? They faced every new challenge head-on.

He looked back toward the den. The cub was curled up beside Felicia, who was braiding dandelion crowns. The mother fox was busy inspecting blanket placement. They were really doing this. And yet, despite all logic, Cassis was glad. Ridiculously glad. His parents were alive. He had another chance. He never wanted to lose them again. He would help his family however he could. His family, which now included Matteo and Felicia. And if building a den for a monster was what it took, then so be it. They worked a while longer.

Eventually, his mother announced she would start making lunch. Matteo went with her to help, Felicia and the fox cub trailing behind. That left just Cassis, his father, and the adult fox. The lively background noise—his mother's chatter, Matteo's exuberance, Felicia's and the cub's squeals—faded. But to Cassis' surprise, the silence that followed wasn't awkward. It was… comfortable. The fox had already dug quite deep, and together, Cassis and his father managed to raise two walls and secure them. They worked well together.

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When his mother called them in for lunch, they were muddy and tired but satisfied. Arianna had texted earlier to say she would eat with the Morrisons, then continue experimenting in the afternoon. She'd only come home for their dinner with Janice before the online lessons started. Which meant the rest of Cassis' afternoon was free to finish the monster's new home.

Lunch was a lively affair. His mother gave the fox a raw steak, which it accepted with a pleased huff. The cub still nursed from her. Felicia beamed with joy throughout the meal, and even Cassis started to feel comfortable.

Once the plates were cleared, they returned to work. As the late afternoon sun dipped lower, the structure was finally complete. The fox, speaking through Felicia, thanked them before retreating inside with her cub to rest.

The children were tired too, but going to bed now would just mean being wide awake at midnight. Cassis suggested mana meditation which was low-energy, calming, and tiring in its own way. Matteo grimaced. Cassis understood the feeling. Felicia, in contrast, shrugged and sat down cross-legged, already starting. There was a reason she'd chosen mage as her class. She liked playing with mana.

While the kids meditated in the living room, Cassis and his parents stepped into the kitchen. "Thanks for helping out today," his mother said as she wiped her hands on a towel. "It means a lot to Felicia that we accept her friend. Or, well, companion, as the system calls her. And the fox seemed genuinely happy."

His father nodded. "It's strange, how things turned out… but I'm not unhappy about it."

Cassis grimaced. "I still don't understand how a monster can be so tame. I've never seen anything like it. Please be careful."

His mother rolled her eyes, but his father gave him a serious look. "Son, how many monsters have you actually fought?"

Cassis blinked. "What?"

"You're talking like someone with years of experience," his father pressed.

"Marcus!" his mother snapped. "We talked about this!"

His father shook his head, not angry, just firm. "We need to know. It's strange."

"He's our son," his mother said quietly. "He'll tell us when he's ready."

Cassis stared at them, mouth slightly open. Did they suspect?

He started to speak, voice thin. "What…?"

But his father cut him off. "We've noticed changes, Cassis. You fight like someone who's trained for years. You've never held a sword before this, and suddenly you're teaching people, soldiers even, how to fight. Then there's Arianna, the girlfriend you've apparently been living with, but whom we've never heard of until now."

He shook his head slightly. "And the carvings. Arianna showed me. Those are yours, your style. I can recognize it easily enough. But they're too refined, way beyond what you could do just a few months ago."

Cassis froze. No. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't tell them. Not about the other timeline. Not about how he'd failed. How he'd let them and Liam die. How he'd only survived through sheer luck and regret and desperation. They'd blame themselves. They'd worry. They were already doing so much. He couldn't—shouldn't—burden them with a past that wouldn't come to pass again. He'd make sure of it.

"Marcus, stop," his mother said sharply. "Look at him. He's white as a sheet."

Cassis felt her hand on his arm. She stroked it gently, the same soothing motion she'd used when he was a child.

His father's expression softened. "I'm sorry, son. You've done great. You really have."

His mother kept her voice gentle. "We know something's happened to you. We feel it. But you don't have to tell us now. Just… whenever you're ready."

Cassis tried to speak. Nothing came out. His throat was tight. Had it been that obvious? He thought only Helen had picked up on it. And that was only because she was a trained professional. But his parents had too and they had chosen to trust him.

His eyes prickled. Finally, he rasped, "There are some things I haven't told you. But I… I can't. Not right now." He lowered his gaze, voice soft. "Please don't worry. I'm okay. I just… can't talk about it."

His mother nodded. "Okay. That's enough for now."

His father placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Whatever happened… you're still our son."

Cassis nodded. They sat together in silence for a while longer, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, it was time for him to head home for dinner. His mother had packed enough leftovers to feed all three of them. At home, Arianna was already waiting. He hoped she wouldn't notice how unsteady he felt inside but the moment she walked up and hugged him, he knew he hadn't hidden it well. They didn't speak at first. Just hugged. And just like that, he felt better. More grounded.

Arianna smiled up at him. "Everything okay?"

"Not quite," he admitted and told her about his parents suspecting that something wasn't quite right with him. Then he smiled. "But it will be." And he truly believed that. His parents trusted him. One day, he'd be able to tell them everything about his past. But not yet. Not while that old bitterness still clung to him. Right now, he just wanted to be 28-year-old Cassis, not the angry, broken man he used to be.

He changed the subject. "How did the experiments go?"

Arianna sighed, though her expression remained bright. "Nothing conclusive yet, but we're getting closer. We'll continue tomorrow. Marnie's going to join us via video call."

Janice arrived shortly after, and they all sat down to eat. Cassis eyed her carefully. She looked a little thinner than last week. But she chatted like everything was normal: school, her siblings' antics, a few stories about her friends. Any time he tried to steer the conversation toward her uncle, she deflected with a breezy, "He's busy," or "He's working." He still hadn't told the man that he and Arianna had unofficially hired his underage niece. They really needed to clear that up. But Janice insisted her uncle knew about this part-time job and had given his approval. She didn't fully trust them yet, but she was talking more than last week, and that counted for something. Discussing it in their private party chat they agreed to wait a little longer.

That evening, after dinner, they taught the online lessons, talked a little more with Janice, then relaxed. Cassis had wanted to meditate. He felt like he hadn't done anything productive all day, but Arianna gently convinced him to take it easy. He could train tomorrow. When he still looked hesitant, they reached a compromise: he would practice his mana control for the next hour while she caught up with Faith over the phone. Those two had become fast friends, often calling to share updates and talk about their lives. They hadn't managed to meet in person since Faith was usually stationed at the fort and Arianna was always busy. But Cassis was glad she had someone to talk to, even if Faith was quite a suspicious person and connected to Dan Bryce.

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