Chapter 345

Return Home (V)

Taking a deep breath, Cain settled on the slightly sparse clouds above the L.A., looking down on the city that seemed a shell of its former self. Its far edges still maintained life, but it mostly appeared hollow and empty, with many buildings in the serious stages of disrepair. The Tower loomed still over the whole area, but it was nowhere near as lively as it used to be--though there was still some ‘traffic’ so to say, people going in and out, it was sparse and in small numbers.

Quinn and the twins didn’t find it strange, though they were quite taken aback with the general level of technology. It wasn’t as though they had never seen a technologically advanced world, but from the way Cain usually spoke of Earth, they had a starkly different image in their minds.

Cain didn’t rush into the Tower, taking a few moments to look at the world that seemed all too alien after all these years. What became of once a thriving city was a shell, a rugged canvas that kind of looks like that picturesque place many dreamed of vacationing in. In due time, however, it will only decline further. It was a city with no future, as most on Earth were. In a couple of generations, he wagered, they’d become dystopian wastelands spewing hellfire from their vents, home to the last dogs of mankind, forgotten and irrecoverable.

It was a strange feeling, he mulled, watching something wane. More and more, the remnants of mankind were being slowly forgotten. Tens of thousands of years of history left behind. Though some effort went into transferring museums into the Tower, a good chunk would end up being lost to the sands of time. Employing a few hundred peeps to salvage as much as possible doesn’t sound too bad, he mused inwardly, a smile cracking on his lips.

“What are you smiling about?” Quinn asked.

“Just the musings of an old, nostalgic man with too much money on his hands,” Cain replied. “Well, what do you think of my home? Wait, that’s wrong. First, not where I grew up--just moved here ‘cause of the Tower. Secondly, it used to look... much better.”

“I don’t doubt it,” either Harmony or Nature said. “Years after Tower-diving does that to any dwelling. We are lucky to have caught a glimpse of what it was at some point. In due time... it will become dust and ash.”

“And silicone,” Cain joked, though quickly realized that the three felt lost at his comment. “Nothing, nothing. Just a thing the city was famous for. Anyway, let’s head inside. I suspect everyone’s neatly settled on the second floor.”

“The city?”

“Aye. You had it too?”

“Most of the Towers have fairly uniform first ten floors,” Quinn commented. “Though, naturally, the worlds and circumstances tend to differ, second floors, almost universally, become natural habitats for the world-dwellers after moving into the Tower.”

“Good to know,” the silence washed over the group of four as they became one with the world, stealthily entering the Tower and slowly making their way through the sparsely-populated first floor. Cain was entirely unaware just how far up did the group climb without him, but considering the emptiness of the first floor, they had likely cracked the 10th floor barrier.

Reaching the second floor, they landed on the very same lake near the city floating in the sky. Unlike the floor ‘below’ them, this one was thriving with life--there were constant flashes of people entering and leaving the city, with hundreds of souls constantly running across the lake’s surface, going places. This was also outside the city--he imagined the city was far more swarmed.

Without lingering, the four headed directly into the city and, as Cain suspected, met a scene directly out of an imaginary metropolis. There were no longer dredges and low-hanging scrapyards. The city was full and brimming, with repaired buildings of wood and stone decorating the first strata. Shouting from the shops was just one of the many noises that made the hubbub of the city, and it was familiar and warm.

However, they didn’t stick around for too long--heading immediately for the higher stratas, specifically Rick’s ‘mansion’ that he knew would become a gathering place for most of the group or, at the very least, where he could find out where they were by talking to the old man.

Arriving, they saw the massive building budding with life--dozens of children were running about a nearby pool, with music blaring like it was the party of a lifetime. On the other side, he saw a massive table stacked with foods and drinks and many-a-familiar faces donning light, casual clothes and laughing in bursts.

Among them, he saw three faces that immediately lit up his heart--Emma, Senna, and Lana were sitting next to one another, laughing at something Sarah seemed to have said moments prior. Nobody noticed him or Quinn or the twins--how could they? Even if Cain hadn’t advanced yet to the twice-Awakened as he rushed here, it would be impossible for them to discover him, let alone Quinn.

“They’re beautiful,” Quinn said suddenly, a smile wringing onto her face. “No wonder you wanted to rush back home.”

“Ain’t they?” Cain chuckled. “I’m the luckiest bastard.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

“A’right, let’s go,” the four descended into the courtyard and walked up to the table. However, as everyone seemed to have been too indulged in a conversation, they didn’t notice him--not even when he stopped right next to it. A moment later, however, Rick glanced to the side as his jaw slacked, mouth hanging open in silence. “What’s so funny, everyone? I’m sorely in need of a good laugh,” Cain’s voice cracked down on the laughter and delivered silence as everyone focused on him. In momentarily disbelief, everyone simply stared for those brief few seconds before erupting in even more boisterous laughter than before.

“DAD!!!”

“C’?!!”

“Cain?!” Lana leaped out of the chair and practically tossed herself into his arms, while Senna snapped to her feet but held back for a moment before also walking over. Soon after, everyone followed, standing up and slowly recovering from the shock.

“Man, what a fanfare this is!” Cain exclaimed, kissing Lana’s forehead and holding her tiny frame tightly. “What? No hug for the old man?” he looked at Senna who was standing next to him. The latter rolled her eyes for a moment before tossing her arms around his next and hugging him tightly.

“Welcome home, dad,” she whispered softly.

“Daddy’s home, yo!”

“Ugh...”

“Jesus, Cain...”

“What was that? Fourteen seconds? Can that be a record?”

“Ha ha ha,” he burst into laughter with everyone else, and though both Lana and Senna wanted to snap away from him, he didn’t let them, holding them tightly still. “Aah, good to see that my cult still worships me. It warms my very big and very loving heart.”

“Did you cheat on me, C’?” Emma asked as she helped poor Lana and Senna out of his embrace.

“Huh? No?” Cain replied. “Ah, the newcomers.”

“No, no, it’s the ghosts boosting your ego.”

“Quinn, Harmony, and Nature. Meet Emma. My lovely wife.”

“Hello,” Quinn smiled and shook Emma’s hand. “Don’t worry. I don’t think he even has the capacity to cheat on you, to be honest.”

“Ah, no, I know that,” Emma chuckled. “But gotta keep boys on their toes, otherwise their heads get too big.”

“Alright, alright, clean up some room for us,” Cain exclaimed. “I’m in dire need of some the homecooking. Anything here made by any one of the loves of my life?”

“Uh, Lana made the salad,” Senna said as Rick had a young lad fetch a few extra chairs for the four newcomers.

“And I bet it’s the greatest salad of all time,” Cain said, sitting down. “But daddy needs his meat.”

“Could you stop with the daddy talk?” Senna groaned. “It’s creepy.”

“What do you mean it’s creepy?” Cain fakely chastised. “Daddy with no love is like a flower with no water. It withers and dies.”

“Your incessant need to make the same joke over and over again,” Emma steered the conversation back. “This is honestly unlike you. I half-expected you to come busting in with some mega fanfare, like splitting the sky open and descending like a God or something. This... this is very tame.”

“Yup,” Senna echoed the sentiment. “Feels very unlike you.”

“Maybe he’s grown?” Jamal chipped in.

“Ah, being dogged and railed on by the ones I love,” Cain chuckled, pouring himself a cup of wine. “This is life. But you are right. I did come busting in from the sky like a God. It’s just unfortunate that it happened in the middle of Pacific so you were unable to witness it. Anyway, I didn’t expect to find y’all just lodging about like this. Taking a vacation?”

“Something like that,” Emma said. “We were climbing till a few days ago. Hit a wall. Decided to rest for a week or two before trying to figure out how to crack it.”

“Good, it seems some of my lessons stuck with you lot,” he chuckled. “Anyway, what’s the wall?”

“Nineteenth Floor,” Emma said, causing one of rare sights--Cain’s shocked expression. “Yes. That’s the face. Aaah. A woman can die a happy death now.”

“Nineteenth... damn,” Cain took in a deep breath. “You musta been hard at it. None of you seem anywhere strong enough for a Nineteenth floor, though...”

“Ouch. Hey!”

“It hurts, but it’s true,” Senna said. “We got our asses whooped hard, barely living.”

“Enough with the Tower and climbing!” Rick said. “We promised this would be a no-Tower-talk dining. Cain, those are the rules.”

“Well damn, I ain’t nothin’ if not the man who lives by the rules,” Cain chuckled, shaking his head. “Fine, Tower’s outta my mind. Now, tell me, what’s the latest celeb gossip in town?”

Quinn and the twins blended into the background, seemingly forgotten. That wasn’t the case entirely; everyone, especially Senna and Emma, noticed them. But they also noticed the gaping void they could not inspect. Trying to see the stat windows of the trio only brought up genuine errors, further fanning the red flags. Though Cain was known to pick up anything and everything, it truly seemed as though he picked up something ridiculous this time. Furthermore, even he appeared different beyond who he was as a person; there was depth to his Mana that could not be explained, the kind that sparked back with fire if inspected.

Both, however, realized that now was neither time nor the place for those conversations. He would tell them in due time--if he wanted to hide it, he would have never brought the three people with him to begin with. As such, they dispelled their thoughts and elected to enjoy the atmosphere--something that always seemed alive with the colors of the rainbow whenever he was involved. An already celebratory and funny lunch became even more engulfed with him present, sucking in even those who liked their silence.