Walking back to Tanathos' house where everyone was eagerly awaiting us, I could definitely feel the anger welling up within me. Honestly, a large part of me really just wanted to kick open the door and start wailing on my pops, and I'm a large guy in general, but seeing as I'd only be proving my dad's point that the Raamans only know violence, I chose to remain diplomatic. Remember, how we go about dealing with this issue will determine everything that follows it!

"Knock knock." I audibly announced, "Anyone there?"

"Get your ass in here already." My dad's voice could be heard from the other side, "And that's not how the joke goes, dumbass."

"Aww, there was no joke or punchline though." I opened the door before we rejoined the rest of them around the table, "We're back. Cassandra's ready to apologize, that is, if you guys have realized how much you fucked up."

"Hey, language!" Mother decided to reprimand me.

"Not the time, mother." I reclined in my seat, "So, what did we learn from your visit here? Apart from the fact that you two are borderline viciously racist and hypocritical."

The two of them looked at each other with worried expressions, something that made me unexplainably mad. It was just something about their genuinely pitying gazes, as if they were asking each other "What do we do now? Our son is in the wrong, so how do we set him straight?"

"Son, please come back home with us. Shaid, you too, don't think your parents aren't worried sick as well." My dad tried striking a deal with the two of us, "Forget all this nonsense before it's too late. You can still make things right."

"Right?" Shaid once again got antsy from dad's insinuations, "You're saying all the good deeds and hard work we've put into making Havana that bit more livable wasn't right? Tch, you two are on the wrong side of history, y'know..."

"Shai, your mother's still waiting for you back home, crying out for you to come back to her." Mother tried appealing to him, "If not for us, do it for her, please. What do I need to do to get you to do so? Name whatever it is you want."

"Alright then, a night with you, please!" Shaid burst out laughing, "It's literally the only way you could ever convince me I'm not right about running away from home, haha!"

Normally, I'd have punched him for saying such a thing to my mother outright, but it was obvious to anyone that he had no dubious intentions when giving out the conditions. If there's anyone who did the most when it comes to building up Havana, it was Shaid, as he was the one who dug out the road leading to the western dock of the continent. And that's not small feat, mind you. It took him months before we got to the point we're at now, so I know for a fact he only said that to rile my father up whilst simultaneously proving how committed he is to our journey.

"You asshole...!" Dad started rolling up his sleeve, "Why, I oughta'...!"

"Honey, stop." Mom sat him back down before looking over to Shaid, "Shai, where did this come from? You weren't like this back home, so what happened?"

"Nothing happened, Miss Mirka. I always saw you as a woman, there was no doubt in my mind. Seriously, do you have any idea how many nights I've spent up fantasizing about you?" He talked his mouth off before suddenly becoming aware of the people around him, "Ah, sorry amigo."

"How did the topic suddenly switch to love affairs?" Cassandra whispered to the equally as confused Tanathos sitting next to her.

"Let them fight their own battles, Cassandra." He replied, "It is not ours to speak of this taboo. Infidelity is a white man's vice."

"I-I'm not gonna do it, obviously!" Mother blushed, "Geez, Shai, what the hell are you saying..."

"Really? You're not? Cause I'd say it's a pretty good bang for your buck, heh, no pun intended." He raised a point, "Think about it, one night is enough to get us back home by tomorrow morning, right? Me personally, if I was in your shoes, I'd just take the offer."

"Hold on Shaid, I think you're slowly straying from the objective here." I started getting worried, "The plan here is for you not to bang my mother, alright?"

"Honey, what do we do?" Mother turned to my dad, "It'll solve all our problems, won't it? I know Shai, he doesn't go back on his word!"

"Alo! What the hell!" Dad turned livid.

"Yeah, what he said!" I temporarily called a truce with dad to stop mom from doing the unthinkable.

"No, don't listen to them!" Shaid got desperate, "You know deep within your heart that this is the right choice! Just once, try to think for yourself instead of asking your husband for permission! Be free and fall into my embrace!"

As the argument started getting more and more messy again, this time for a completely different and stupid reason, everyone started drowning each other's voices out with their own shouting, until it got to the point where no one could even understand what anyone was saying anymore. Tanathos and Cassandra couldn't believe what they were witnessing, and Olya quietly sat behind and sighed as he kept writing his novel.

"Sigh, and to think, they were the one's calling me an anti-charismatic piece a' shiet."

"Come on, Mirka! Just say the word and we can put everything behind us! I swear on my life I won't ever ask you of anything more for as long as I live!"

"Mn... No!" Mom finally shouted, "I won't do it, Shai! I won't cheat on my husband!"

Breathing a sigh of relief, father and I sat back down on our respective chairs as we enjoyed what could only be described as the best show I'll ever see. Indeed, I'm talking about my mother utterly crushing any and all shred of Shaid's hopes and dreams, and rightfully so!

"You're an amazing guy, Shai, but I'm a married woman with a son your age!" She tried her best to let him down gracefully, "Although I'm sure you can find the perfect girl that's right for you, and I'm even more sure she's way better than an old hag like me."

"Old hag? You look younger than me, dammit!" Shaid cried out before composing himself, "A-Ahem. I think you're right though. It would have never worked out between us, there's just too many hurdles in the way."

Oi. Did he just call me and my dad a hurdle to his goal of courting my mother?

"So does that mean...?" Mother got all happy preemptively, thinking she had convinced him to go back home.

"Thus!" Shaid proudly stood up from his chair and declared, "I'll look for that perfect girl while I'm out in the World, y'hear! That's right, you had your chance to get a taste of this youthful body of mine, but now it's too late, so get lost!"

Phew. Guess I don't have to beat him up after all. Thank goodness he somehow steered the conversation back onto the correct path, otherwise I'd have had to step in and do something. No matter his unsavory means, he somehow reached our preferred ending to this discussion.

***

After this rather eventful discussion we held, these two tried to settle for other ways to convince us, including but not exclusive to: buying us a house in Meridia, letting us quit working for dad and to instead work as traveling merchants within the bounds of Meridia, setting us up with some of the prettiest girls of our little town in Meridia and even offering to bring Cassandra with us to Meridia, which I don't quite understand why that'd convince us to join them at all. Nonetheless, there was but one common word among all these options, and sadly it was the one thing we didn't want. That of course is the location, Meridia. Our goal is to unify the World, and we can't do that from the comforts of our homeland. It's just not possible, so we had Shaid keep insisting on his own ultimatum to get them off our case.

"You're making a big mistake." Dad warned us as he finished up his tea, "This path you two thing is the correct one, it's an impossible endeavor. For God's sake, just think about it! If unifying the world or whatever was so simple, then anyone would've done it by now!"

"Anyone?" I tilted my head, "Of course anyone can do it. We're not calling ourselves any more special than the rest of the World here."

"Amigo?"

"I'm saying we're the only one's that tried!" I shouted, "Of course anyone can do this! We're just going from place to place doing good deeds and propagating for others to do the same, you don't need a degree for that, dammit!"

As the other three of our party snickered at how good of a counterpoint I raised against my parents, Olya was the one to join me and assist my case first. "He's right, y'know? Before I met Shaid and Schnell, I was just some random Revisor who people would occasionally fear due to my antisocial behavior. Without them, I would have still been lost. But they've looked past my shortcomings, found me a diamond in the rubble, and showed my a way for my talents to flourish among finding me some honest to goodness work that pays not in money, but in fulfillment. Everyone could've reached out to me back then, so I ask you, why didn't they?"

Not knowing how exactly to respond to his grand confession, mom and dad just stared at him with empty gazes as the reality of the situation kicked in. Certainly, this is exactly what we had been aiming for from the start. To teach the uncultured masses about the dangers of hatred, and to show them that being kind costs them nothing, but gives countless benefits in return. No matter how, no matter when, or even where for that matter, we'll unify this World - One step at a time.

"Tch. Do as you please." Father opened the front door and signaled for mother to follow him outside, "Piss off, all of you. We tried being civil, but seems there's just no getting through to you. Come on, hun, we're leaving."

"But dear, we can't just leave our son...!" Mom tried desperately to calm him down, only to get yelled at in return.

"Shut it! He ain't our son anymore!" Dad glared back at me, "We raised him, made him into the man he is today, and even when he betrayed us and ran after the dark-skinned, we STILL showed mercy and offered him a place back in Meridia, and what do we get in return? Nothing!"

"..."

"He made his choice. Now come on." Dad quietly turned around, my mother following close behind, "Oh, we'll be taking this animal to the dock. Since you pride yourself so much on how rich and bountiful you've made this place, I'm sure you won't mind."

"Huh?! You're taking Lina with you?!" I ran up to them, "Hell no! Get the fuck down this instant, she's Havana's only camel!"

"Don't care. Just buy a new one with that business you two got going on." Father flashed a smug grin, "Hyah! Go on, girl! Westward!"

Grr...! You ain't getting away with this! Come on, legs, run! Run, like your life depends on it! If they manage to get away with Lina, Tanathos will be devastated! I gotta, I gotta...!

"Schnell!" Tanathos yelled from behind, "Leave 'em be!"

"Old Man, I can't! That's your camel!"

"Not anymore." He smirked with a melancholic expression on his Eyes, "Goodwill and giving out anything we have to people who need it more is Havana's motto, right? Taking the camel back from them will only prove them right about us."

"Tanathos..."

"Schnell, fight hatred with kindness, remember?" He snickered, "You were the one to teach Havana this, so I do hope you haven't forgotten."

I...! Yeah, he's right. My parents, they're just products of their time. Outdated products, yeah, but that doesn't mean I should stoop to their level. I need to be stronger than that. They've lived through an uncertain time that was riddled with Great Wars, and it was thanks to them that Shaid and I managed to enjoy our youth to the fullest in our peaceful little town in Meridia. We'll let them do their thing, and we'll do ours. Then in a couple years, when everything falls into place, we'll see if they've changed their minds.