Chapter 32: Family in Vietnam

Though Rick failed to earn any more seals, it didn't bother him at all. His card held five seals, which was unusually high for a new Showdown contestant. In most events he performed closer to the top of the group now, which was enough to keep H happy. Even that wasn't too important to him: every month was a victory, taking him a little closer to all his goals.

As the month in Vietnam, and the meeting with Melissa, drew closer, he knew that he would be training less. But not only would that be worth it to spend time with family, it actually coincided well with a plateau in his growth. He still took Formula T regularly, but it grew more and more difficult to layer lucrim onto the Triune Golden Spheres. H suggested that he needed something more dramatic to break through and that all he could do for the time being was proceed slowly.

When at last the helicopter headed down toward their destination, Rick found himself pacing back and forth across the main chamber. They were headed to the hotel as planned and he'd gotten texts from Melissa confirming that she had arrived first. Also confirmations that she had developed a crippling heroin addiction and sold her kidneys.

Yet he still found himself struggling against formless anxiety. Maybe it was just the amount of time it had been since he'd seen his sister in person, or maybe it was the abrupt shift away from his focus on the Showdown. It was easy to fall into a cycle of training and fighting, and that cycle was now disrupted.

"Stop that." H emerged from the cockpit, glaring at Rick's feet as if his shoes had personally insulted him. "Have you been keeping something from me?"

"It's exactly what I said. I'm just anxious to meet my sister."

"I don't care about that. Showdown candidates have family visit them all the time. What I don't like is taking us in to a smaller location just so you can meet this uncle."

"He's busy with work. This is the best way to make it convenient." Rick smiled at his mentor, anticipation briefly overcoming both annoyance and anxiety. "Thanks for this, H. Trust me, I'll keep up my training and I'll be there to meet you for every event."

"You'd better. And don't neglect your exact schedule." H shoved a case of Formula T at him, which Rick took carefully. Not long after, they landed at their destination. It was a small airfield cleared from the jungle, not a helipad, but the town nearby catered to many international travelers with large amounts of lucrim.

Rick checked into his hotel, confirmed the training schedule, and dropped off his things. Meaningless details. Since he was running exactly on time, he headed down to find Melissa.

They'd agreed to meet in a plaza that, on the internet, looked like a safe public place. In reality there were a lot more street carts and random people. Given how many of them were foreigners there for work or pleasure, it wasn't easy to find Melissa either, but eventually he spotted familiar waves of brown hair.

She was just sitting on a bench, toying with her phone and occasionally looking around, yet Rick felt a huge flood of relief. He'd been planning to sneak up on her or play some sort of trick, but all such thoughts vanished as soon as he got close. Somehow she still hadn't noticed, so he just shuffled up beside her, taking a moment to swallow before he could speak.

"Hey." It wasn't eloquent, but it was enough.

"Brother!" Melissa beamed as soon as she saw him, abandoning her phone to leap up and hug him. He squeezed back tightly before they parted to grin at one another. "God, it's so good to see you again. I mean, I've seen you a lot, but you know what I mean. Have you found Uncle Frank yet?"

"I literally just flew in. I sent him a message about meeting up at a town further north, but haven't gotten a response back yet. So let's just catch up."

"I have so much to tell you about Europe! Did you know that mimes aren't actually trapped in boxes?" Melissa grabbed her things, which included his arm. She stayed latched to him as they wandered back toward the hotel, talking about everything that had passed since they'd last spoken.

It turned out that Melissa kept fairly close tabs on him, which made him regret that he couldn't do the same for her. But the Showdown was a public event, whereas YLAA activities were decidedly not. He reconsidered his thought as he realized how much she enjoyed telling him about everything, and how much he enjoyed hearing it.

When they got back to the hotel, Melissa insisted they walk a little longer. He was happy to do so, but it made him realize just how hot it was. It hadn't reached him much when he'd just come out of the air-conditioned hotel, but now it was seeping into his body and oozing from his pores. When they got back, he let Melissa set up her things on the second bed while he ducked into the bathroom to clean up and change.

Rick returned in a short-sleeved shirt and saw Melissa staring at him. He expected a joke of some kind, then all at once realized that her eyes were on his demonic tattoo.

"When did you get that?" she asked, much quieter than before.

"In Siberia - not everything that happened there was public. But don't worry, it's not like the demonic bonds we've always worried about. Actually... well, I imagine you don't want to talk about finance right now, but I'm starting to think we might have been misled about those."

"Oh, that isn't going to shock me." Melissa sat down on her bed and swung her legs idly. "A lot of people in the YLAA pay for everything via a demonic bond. Like they didn't even think about it, or couldn't imagine that bonds could be bad. I figured maybe that only applied to the types of bonds you get if you were mega rich, but I guess it makes sense."

Having worried about a potential conflict, Rick smiled in relief. "It really depends on the quality. And picking the right demon, of course."

"The right demon, huh?" Melissa wiggled her eyebrows at him. "Is that what they call it these days? Do you have a sexy succubus living in your right arm, dearest brother?"

"So this is your sister?" Katenka swirled into being beside her. "I understand that she's just joking, but tell her that assumption is offensive."

"Uh..." Rick looked back and forth between the two of them, attention suddenly split. "Is there any way I can manifest you so we can just talk?"

"It would be an unnecessary expense, really."

"Are you talking to the demon now?" Melissa poked her head up into his line of sight. "Oh, dang, I didn't think there would actually be an intelligent demon around. Or, wait, is this a bit? Are you just messing with me?"

Rick focused back on his sister. "She's actually here, but she's not a succubus. It's some sort of demonic fusion they do in Siberia. Anyway, she didn't like your joke."

"Oh no!" Melissa abruptly bowed down against the bed, though not quite facing Katenka. "Please don't eat me for my impertinence, oh devourer of souls!"

Katenka chuckled. "I think I will get along with your sister."

"Hmm? What's that?" Rick pretended to cock his head in her direction, then looked back to Melissa. "She says you're a big doodoo head."

"Oh dearie me!" Melissa drew back with a fake gasp. "You don't think she's into coprophilia, do you?"

That drew a curious glance from Katenka - apparently she didn't know everything about the human realm after all. "It's when you're aroused by..." Rick cut off his explanation. "You know what, you can figure it out on your own. Am I going to have to keep repeating everything you say?"

"You haven't repeated much of anything," Katenka pointed out, but she began to fade away. "Tell your sister that it was nice to meet her, but that I'll leave the two of you alone for now."

Once Katenka left, Rick was able to relax. Not because the demon bothered him - he actually thought that she would get along with Melissa - but because participating in two separated conversations at once had been chaotic. Melissa had a ton of questions to ask him about what had happened, so they both lounged on their beds and just caught up.

They didn't hear from Uncle Frank that night, but the next morning Rick got a text. Not only was their uncle ready for them, he was coming to meet them. The two wolfed down the hotel's breakfast, grabbed a few simple things, and then headed out.

It took them longer than he expected, since they were meeting their uncle half way. Though Rick considered manifesting his bike, some of the streets had horrible potholes and the lanes weren't very well respected. For that matter, displaying something that expensive might mark him as a target. In the end it didn't matter at all, as taking the rickety buses together with Melissa was fun in a different way.

Though they kept chatting as they headed north of the city, their conversation faded when they finally saw their uncle. They'd seen him many times via video, but Rick still paused to finally see him in the flesh. He was a bit heavier than he had been before, but the durable pants, brightly colored shirt, and broad hat were much the same. When he saw them, he spread his arms wide in the middle of the street.

"Rick! Melissa!"

"Uncle Frank!" Melissa ran to embrace him and he squeezed her tight. Rick followed at a more measured pace, though he didn't really care that people were watching them. When Melissa pulled away, their uncle turned to Rick and clasped his hand firmly. His grip was strong, but it was a warm strength that didn't try to break his hand.

"You're looking strong, Rick. I worried that the Showdown might be bad for you, but you seem to have done well for yourself."

"I'm managing so far." Rick smiled back at their uncle, but found himself considering. Uncle Frank's generation rate was only 85,000 lucrim... he immediately hesitated at the word "only".

For so many years, his uncle had been far stronger, wealthier, and more successful than the rest of their family. That was still unquestionably true, and Rick could tell that his uncle's Lucores were formidable. Yet in terms of raw power, he wasn't a monster like so many of the people he'd encountered with generation rates in six digits.

"I'm so glad this finally worked out." Uncle Frank gestured for them to follow him and began heading down a smaller side street. "I'd wanted you to visit for years, but I've been traveling too much, and some areas are too risky. But the timing couldn't be better."

"You don't have too much work?" Melissa asked. Their uncle shook his head.

"Not that, exactly, more that I've been in Vietnam long enough to know a little about it. If we'd met up somewhere I just arrived, I'd be as much a tourist as you and we'd... all go around being tourists, I suppose. But this way, I can actually improve your visit."

"Yup, that's the real reason we visited you, Uncle Frank. We just wanted a free tour guide."

Uncle Frank chuckled. "Well, I can only tell you very narrow things about history, but if you want some good food, you've come to the right place. Is it too early for lunch? I skipped breakfast."

He led them to a noodle place, and just as promised, it was good. Despite the fact that they'd spoken many times, they found themselves catching up anyway. Just being together in person brought up so many details lost in their brief conversations. There was relatively little new, and everything Melissa shared was repetitive, but Rick found that he didn't care.

Despite the hideously moist heat, Rick kept a long-sleeved shirt on the entire time, as he didn't want to have a conversation with his uncle about the demonic bond. Maybe it would have been nothing. Uncle Frank certainly wouldn't have raged like so many in their family often did. But he would have noticed, and it would have shifted the conversation. At the moment, he preferred their comfortable family ties.

They spent the rest of the day without any set agenda, but their uncle had more than a few things he wanted to show them. He only pointed out a local museum he said was worth visiting, instead using their time together to go see a series of waterfalls. Though not usually Rick's thing, he could admit they were beautiful, and Melissa seemed entranced.

For the most part Rick simply relaxed, but he couldn't help but go through his exercises during one of their trips on a bus. He noticed that Melissa was doing something as well, her inner void seething in a way that was new. It was unclear if Uncle Frank was training as well, but there were a couple occasions when he had to step aside to take a call. Apparently even now he couldn't get entirely off work.

As the sun set, they visited a hole in the wall restaurant for dinner and ate slowly. At the end of the meal, Uncle Frank ordered some sort of local alcohol and seemed surprised when Rick ordered some as well. Melissa played at doing the same, and likely could have given local laws, but instead got some locally squeezed fruit juice. By the end of the night, they both followed her lead.

"You two need to get back, don't you?" Uncle Frank eventually sat back and laced his fingers over his stomach. "It's a couple hours at least, and sometimes the power goes out. Best to be in a hotel with a generator when that happens."

"We can't stay wherever you sleep?" Melissa asked. Their uncle only shook his head.

"It's just a little tent alongside other tents. Plus, there are a few shady types."

Rick hadn't been thinking about the length of the trip back, but now considered the darkness skeptically. "How cautious do we need to be on the way back?"

"Not very." To his surprise, Uncle Frank waved the issue aside. "The towns and cities are actually safer in this part of the country, so someone with your strength doesn't need to be worried. If you want to avoid getting into any fights, take a taxi. I can tell you the names of reputable ones when you go."

Melissa sat forward, watching him carefully. "Did you imply that it's more dangerous out in the wild? Does that mean we won't get to see your work?"

"Don't worry, it's not so bad as all that. No, I actually had a few secure locations to show you. I may not be able to narrate the history of every location, but they'll probably be different from anything else you've seen before."

"So we can see you tomorrow?"

"I don't know about tomorrow, but the day after, maybe. Let's set a date."

They scheduled the next time they'd meet, then finally headed back to their hotel. Though the day had been relaxed compared to many lately, it felt richer and fuller than most of them in a way that Rick didn't expect. In the taxi Melissa slumped against him and actually drifted to sleep.

He would have picked her up and carried her to bed... except he realized how incredibly suspicious that would look. So he poked his sister awake and kept her that way long enough for them to get back. She kicked off her shoes and fell straight onto her bed, while he cleaned up a bit and went through final exercises before retiring as well.

His sister began snoring, but he only fell asleep more easily.