A reason to leave

"I'm guessing that was you" Von said as he lazily signaled Eckart's wife with his finger, "And I guess the death from above was the Richerz ability,"

"That would be correct in both cases, you're pretty perceptive" Eckart pointed out, "After that we got back to the farm, we saved Bertholdt, barely, his leg needed to be completely amputated and even after that the other wounds proved to be extremely difficult to heal, thanks to god he recovered"

"It has been hard, trusting soulbinders again," He looked towards his son and then back at Von "Yet, you saved my son, twice apparently and that I won't forget either." He stood up, balancing himself and walked towards the great fireplace which was lit with several wooden logs burning inside, the warmth irradiated within the confines of the house "I am sorry for my slight accusation"

With this last comment, Jochen's features finally softened, he looked towards Von, and he saw nothing but interest and curiosity, instead of the expected offense or even outrage at his father's comment about him,

"You think they deserved it?" Von said in a low almost hushed tone, he looked towards the floor "You think despite everything, they deserved what they got?" It was almost imperceptible and yet Eckart heard it for he rose his head ,only to look back at the fireplace,

"I know I would kill anyone who hurt my son, I don't think they were that much different" He answered plainly, he pondered for a moment and then continued, "They killed dozens, hundreds. But so did the rest, the only difference, they were all killed"

He turned around and looked directly towards Von "To be fair, I don't envy you, being born with such a gift can also be a curse" He finished and walked back towards the table "I'm tired I'll go to sleep now, welcome to our house" Eckart aimed towards the main chambers where all sleeping rooms resided and vanished behind the door, the tension suddenly lifted and the room was almost normal again. Martha was relieved that the situation was over and started picking up the bowls and cups and headed back to the kitchen, Summer followed suit.

"What's on your mind?" Jochen asked Von as he downed his cup, Von looked pensive, lost in his own mind, out of nowhere he looked like he struggled with something, like he was suddenly revealed an information he didn't know he would find, his eyes widened only to close and then open just slightly. The struggle continued for a few seconds where his face changed constantly and then..

"Clans" Von blurted out,

"Clans?" Jochen answered unable to understand Von's reasoning

"Nothing" Von replied as he realized he had thought that out loud, he got up "I'm very tired, I'll go to sleep"

"Sure… It's the second room on the right after entering the chambers'' Jochen directed with a slight hesitancy in his voice, Von knew something or thought something he didn't want to reveal. He walked towards the kitchen and found Summer and Martha piling the bowls and cups in one side of the completely wood and stone kitchen, the floors proved very cold for his bare feet so he quickly went and told Summer to go to their room when she finished and kissed his mother goodnight.

Summer entered the room under the cover of darkness only a slight candle light illuminated the otherwise completely pitch black room, she realized that his soon to be husband was still awake and he seemed restless, she approached the bed and laid next to him placing her head in his chest to hear his heartbeat and his breathing which always soothed her to sleep,

"What 's wrong? Is it about yesterday again?" She asked carefully

"No.. Yes and no" Jochen began "I'm still frustrated and angry about that but Von said something I still can't understand and It's bothering me"

"What did he say?" She asked again as she got fully in bed and covered herself with the blanket laying next to her partner looking at him directly as he looked towards the dancing light and shadows in the ceiling,

"Clans" Jochen said

"Clans?" Summer asked baffled by the fact that a single word was the great mystery

"Yes, he just said clans, but it was the way he said it that concerned me"

"How did he say it?" She asked now intrigued by the situation

"Like he had just realized something that he hadn't before and with the conversation with my father and his memories I can't figure out exactly what he realized" He finished explaining

"Why don't you ask him tomorrow? He is your friend. Maybe he'll tell you, if not then you will have to accept that too" Summer said trying to comfort Jochen, he looked off and all she wanted was to be at peace after yesterday "You won't get anything now so why don't we try to sleep?"

"Yes, you're right" Jochen answered and leaned over and snuffed the flame with a strong blow covering them in darkness, quickly after they were both asleep, weared down by the travel.

Dawn pierced through the sky as sunlight caressed Jochen's face, he stirred awake only to find his golden locked lover still soundly asleep, he carefully removed himself of the bed and allowed her an extra minute of sleep, with his conversation with Von in mind he set to see if he was awake.

He walked towards his room only to see the door opened ajar, he entered with a knock to make sure he wasn't interrupting "Von?" He asked, when he wasn't answered he stepped inside. Clean, empty, the room was as if it was never used, either Von was an amazing guest and did all the cleaning or he never used it, clinging to the latter he walked out and started looking for him.

He headed towards the kitchen only to find his mother picking up the bowls to clean them, "Mom, have you seen Von?" He inquired as he looked around seeing no one else

"No why?" she asked back

"Nothing" he replied as he left running towards the main door, Von's boots were gone, as were his weapons and gear, Summer now awake because of all the ruckus came and hugged Jochen from behind, "What is it?" she asked with a yawn as she covered her mouth,

"He left, Von left" Jochen answered as he looked towards the place where Von's boots should be

"He's gone"