Chapter 86

  Eyes of the World (V)

“Finally... we’re finally out!!” Jamal cried out as the beams of warm, golden light swelled over his figure, the giant, burning dot in the sky illuminating the world. Though others weren’t as verbal about it, their joy was evident on their faces that lit up like lanterns as soon as they stepped out of the Tower and onto the ever-familiar soil of the Earth.

The group quickly ducked to the side, away from the extended line of people waiting to dip into the Tower. To their surprise, the line had, once again, grown considerably. Well... notification that the floor was cleared does tend to do that... Cain chuckled inwardly, though didn’t explain.

Luckily, they didn’t run into any more incidents on their way out. Though they saw a few scuffles, mostly between military and the Conquerors, the group didn’t meddle, merely passing by silently.

“You got anything to do, or do you wanna come back with us right away?” Cain asked Senna who also appeared rather happy to be out.

“I--I... I have nothing...” she replied lowly, her cheeks flushing red.

“Great!” Emma exclaimed, tossing her arm around the young girl. “You get to meet Lana right away!”

“Ah... yes...”

“Do you two wanna join us for a meal?” Cain asked Jamal and Diya. “Or you got any other plans?”

“Let’s go eat,” Jamal said with a grin. “And drink. A lot. I just wanna wipe the Tower out of my mind for at least a day.”

“Ha ha ha, alright, let’s go...”

The group headed straight for their ‘home’, passing the robustly-operating ‘Tower Den’ as they heard it being called on their way over. Tsk, that old fart must be swimming in gold by now... Cain mused inwardly, noting hundreds of people going in and out of shops, and hundreds more waiting in lines or just walking around.

To their surprise, their ‘home’ was flanked by a fully ringed wall, now. It almost looked like the ones built for prisons, casting an eerie shade to it, and the guards patrolling around did little to ease that image. As the group approached, the patrols immediately focused on them.

"Stop!" someone called them out. "This is private property! You are not allowed to trespass!"

“It’s partly our property, though?” Cain said, tilting his head and smiling.

“Hm? Ah, Mr. Gregory! My apologies. I didn’t recognize you.”

“No worries,” Cain said. “What’s with the wall? It wasn’t here the last time.”

“Mr. Garcia was worried about potential intruders, especially when the number of crimes in the areas around the Tower spiked, so he had the wall built. Additionally, he’d assigned 24/7 protection on the members of your family.”

“Oh... how encouraging...”

“Would you like me to connect you to Mr. Garcia? He asked us to immediately inform him--”

“No need, I already did,” Cain quickly concocted a lie; though he wanted to talk to Rick about many things, those could wait as he just wanted to relax for at least a day. “Keep up the good work. I just hope he’s paying you well...”

“Ha ha, he indeed is!” the man said. “We do rotational shifts, seven days out and seven days in the Tower, and Mr. Garcia pays us with items directly. I don’t want to brag, but we’re really among the strongest Conquerors, ha ha ha. Of course, not counting Mr. Garcia or you.”

“Good to know,” Cain chuckled as their group was let through. “Ah, she’s a kid we picked up in the Tower. Add her to the registry.” Cain said, pointing at Senna whose expression immediately dropped.

“Oh? Will do--”

“What do you mean ‘a kid you picked up in the Tower’?!! Am I an item to you?! An object?! Say it to my face, old man!”

“You know,” Jamal commented. “You ain’t doing that ‘a kid’ comment any favors.”

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“S-shut up!”

“Ha ha ha...”

They easily made it past the front gate, not drawing too many eyes on them as they’ve changed into casual clothes from their Tower equipment. The high-rise appeared in front of them just as they remembered it, with the exception being quite a few extra cameras spread around everywhere and a few extra guards patrolling the compound.

“... oi, isn’t he a bit too paranoid?” Jamal quizzed, frowning. “This reminds me of those dictator mansions from the movies when they spend their lives terrified their starving people will rebel...”

"Eh... this ain't too far from that," Cain shrugged. "Right now, Rick essentially has a monopoly over the best items in the Tower. How much do you think that's worth? And how far do you think others are willing to go to even the grounds out?"

“Aah... didn’t think about that...”

“’cause you never think.”

“Fuck you! Stop taking jabs at me all the time!”

“Eh?!! Dad!!” a young, melodic voice drew their attention to the front of the building as the doors flung open, a tiny create racing out with a big grin on her face.

Cain’s eyes lit up as ignored everyone else, his lips curling up into a brilliant smile as he waited for Lana’s awkward sprint to end. She leaped at him and he gently grabbed her, lifting her above his head as he laughed.

“Ha ha ha, can’t believe the Princess herself decided to welcome me! Ha ha ha...”

“D-dad!” Lana protested with a pout, though quickly turned to all-smiles again as she set her on top of his head. “Whaaa...”

“You missed me?”

“Y-yeah...” she replied.

“Good,” Cain was already walking toward the building. “’cause I missed you tons, you know? Every time I fell asleep... I’d dream about you. We’d play and play until we were so exhausted we fell asleep.”

“I... I dreamed you too...” Lana replied gingerly, locking her tiny arms beneath his jaw.

“Heh, you did, huh? Aah, I’ve so many stories to share with you,” Cain said. “You know, your dad was pretty cool recently.”

“Really?”

“Really, really... this one time, I fought this ninja-lookin’ dude. He went bwam and whazam all over the place, but he couldn’t escape daddy’s mighty fireball!”

“Eeeeh?! Really?! A real ninja?!”

“Oh, that’s nothing! This one time, an old man crawled out of a grave, full of worms and stuff--pheew, it was disgusting! But your dad had to protect mommy so he killed him all by himself!”

“Ewww... you... you fought a zombie?!”

“Yes, yes! And I--”

“... just how much bullshit do you think he can make up until he runs out of ideas?” Senna asked bitterly-smiling Emma. Her own daughter... outright ignored her and instead was completely sucked into Cain’s world.

“The day he runs out of bullshit to say,” Emma replied, stretching. “Is likely the day the whole world will end. Anyway, let’s head inside as well guys. I’ve already sent a text to my sis; she should have cooked something up for us.”

By the time the other four reached the top floor and entered Emma’s and Diya’s apartment, laughter was already echoing throughout the hallway. Emma spotted Jennifer and her husband, Lyde, standing in the hallway and looking into one of the rooms, their expressions strange.

“Yo, Jen, what’s wrong?”

“Eh? Em’? You guys are back too?” she spun around in surprise, smiling right after. “Uh... Cain’s... Cain’s babysitting the kids while we prepare the table...”

"... you... you mean Sam and Trixie aren't ripping him apart already?" Emma asked with an incredulous expression.

“See for yourself...” Jennifer shrugged as the group walked over to the doors and glanced in.

They saw Cain, with a can of beer in his hands, sitting on a couch, one leg flung over another, wildly gesturing with his hands while telling a story to the three kids sitting on the rug on the floor, staring at him star-eyed.

“What then?! What then, uncle C’?!” the only boy asked excitedly.

“And then--bwam!!”

“Bwam?!”

“That’s right!! Out of nowhere, that ugly thing spits out a fireball!”

“No way!”

“Yes way! That thing was so huge, like the sun! But, y’know, your uncle C’ is pretty strong now, so I punched out! And boom! I shot a fireball as well, and kicked the other fireball’s ass!”

“Eeh?! You can shoot fireballs?!” the other girl, sitting right next to Lana, asked with shimmering eyes. “Show us! Show us!”

“Ohoh~~ you wanna see the mighty fireball?!”

“Yes!”

“Oi, don’t blow up the room!” Emma warned from the doors.

“Mom!” Lana shot up to her feet and ran over, jumping into her arms. “You’re back too?!”

“... aah, you little rascal. I was down there, too. What? You like your daddy so much now that you don’t need your mom anymore?”

“N-no, of course not! I love you tons too, mom!”

“Ha ha ha, hear that, C’? She loves me tons, too! By the way, what the hell are you telling the poor kids? Don’t go play with magic indoors, you’ll blow something up...”

“Oi, just how little in control do you think I am?” Cain asked. “Watch this, kids!” he added, extending his palm and summoning a head-sized sphere of flames, dyeing it in cool blue. The sphere rotated and roared, though it was entirely harmless in nature.

“Oh my God! He really--he really--” Jennifer exclaimed from the doors rushing in.

“Put that thing out, you idiot!” Emma cried out.

“Wooooooow!” Sam and Trixie exclaimed at the same time, their gazes fixed at the beautiful ball of fire in front of them. “That’s so cool! You’re the coolest, uncle C’!”

“Ha ha ha, I am, aren’t I?! You guys wanna see a legit Phoenix of the Legends--”

“Stop! Stop!” Jennifer rushed in front of him with a threatening glare. “No more fires, no more phoenixes, no more nothing! No more magic in the house! You got it?”

“The kids--”

“You... got... it?”

“Y-yes... yes, m’am.”

“Good. Now, go take a shower, all of you, while we finish the preparations. Are we clear?”

“Y-yes...”

“Humph.”

“... dude,” Cain whispered at Lyde. “It ain’t easy, is it? Mathews women... are... intense.”

“That’s one way to put it...” the shy-seeming Lyde, a man Cain really remembered little of, mumbled back, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“Oi, don’t talk behind my sister’s back,” Emma slapped the back of Cain’s head gently after putting Lana down. “And go take a shower.”

“Wanna come with?” he winked at her and asked.

“... eh, why not,” Emma shrugged. “Let’s go.”

“...” Cain stroked his chin for a moment as he barely held back a grin. “Tsk, still got it.”