A worker quickly rushed to pick up the jug that had fallen to the ground. Another worker brought a bucket and mop to wipe the water.
Spot stopped him, and with a wave of his hand, all the water that was on the floor flew into the bucket.
As kids saw Uncle Spot use his power to control the spilled water, and rushed back to the table, amazed.
"You can do that as well, Uncle Spot!" the kids exclaimed.
"It's a pretty small feat," Spot nonchalantly replied.
He got up and walked away to wash his hands, but what he did was wipe away the tears that were obstructing his vision. The moments he lived with Samuel and Eliza in this exact spot were coming back to him, and it was filled with bitter nostalgia, and the last thing he wanted to do was see Happy Rosy Aunt cry; she was like a mother to Uncle Spot and Sam.
Suddenly, Ry asked Aunt Rosy a question, "Are you okay?"
The boy could see the tears that hadn't been wiped.
Taken aback, Aunt Rosy quickly answered back with a gentle smile on her face, "Yes, I am."
Ry saw that Rosy's handkerchief was completely soaked, so Ry handed her his handkerchief and said, "You can use this".
Aunt Rosy accepted his kind gesture and asked, "You are a kind boy. Who taught you this?"
Ry pointed his finger towards Zen and quickly replied, "My big brother Zen taught me to do this".
She was giving back Ry's handkerchief while Ry said You can keep it, Aunt Rosy. I can use Zen's shirt to clean myself, so it's fine. Aunt Rosy and Ry both shared a laugh.
"I have something that all three of you would like," said Aunt Rosy and rushed to the kitchen.
Spot, on his way back to the table, heard her say that and said, "You don't need to give them anything".
Aunt Rosy pretended not to hear his words and went inside the kitchen.
Spot arrived at the table and asked the boys if they liked the food.
"It was really good," a quick answer came out of their mouth.
"Uncle Spot, you have a dad as well ?" Ry asked.
"What kind of question is that?" Zen interjected his brother's question.
Spot nodded and said, "Yes, I do have a father."
"Does that mean he is our grandfather?"Ry continued with more questions as Zen just rolled his eyes.
"Yes, that would be correct," Spot nodded once again.
"Can I meet him?" Ry asked innocently.
Spot did not know if he could answer this question, just looked at Ry and smiled to say something.
But suddenly Aunt Rosy appeared with 3 plates of something.
"Have this." The plate contained a half-spherical dish which was neither completely solid nor a liquid, and was slightly cold to the touch.
Ry looked at Spot and then at Aunt Rosy and asked, "Is this thing edible?"
Zen also looked at them to hear the answer.
Aunt Rosy and Spot laughed together, hearing the question.
Aunt Rosy gently pressed the spoon against the smooth, frozen curve of the sphere. With a slight twist of her wrist, the spoon sank in, carving out a small, clean scoop.
A delicate curl of the creamy surface gave way, leaving behind a shallow hollow in the once-perfect sphere. The spoon held a modest, cold bite—just enough to taste without disturbing too much of its round elegance.
"Open your mouth," She said as she directed that spoon near Ry's little mouth.
Ry was reluctant at first, but opened his mouth wide and finally tasted it.
Words weren't enough to describe the craze that took over him. His eyes lit up like a madman, and hence couldn't stop himself from diving in for another bite.
Aunt Rosy scooped up a bite and tried to feed it to Zen.
"I can eat it by myself," Zen explained.
But Aunt Rosy had no intention of stopping her advance as she inched the spoon closer to his mouth.
Zen had no option but to open his mouth and accept her gesture.
The nonchalant Zen, too, could not contain the feeling of ecstasy that took over him. He too dived in to eat.
Spot looked to be waiting for his turn and tried to signal his intention with his eyes.
Aunt Rosy caught his intentions and said, "You are not a kid anymore, Spot".
"Well, I am at least in front of you," Replied Spot.
Her heart warmed hearing his words, and she repeated her prior action and fed Spot.
Just the sound of spoons scraping the plate remained, but slowly died down as they had completely finished their dish.
"Thank you," said the kids, and Aunt Rosy ordered one of her workers to pick up the plates.
"Where are you staying?" Aunt Rosy asked Spot.
"Our old house on the outskirts," Spot replied.
"Didn't you own a house in the city as well?" Aunt Rosy asked.
Spot replied, "That dark city, along with that house, is not as good as our old home on the outskirts."
Aunt Rosy asked Spot what his plans were.
"I am going to meet up with Drun and have him check something," said Spot, and got up from his seat, ready to leave, as they had already gotten late.
The kids also got up, seeing Spot get up from his seat.
Aunt Rosy walked with them to the glider bike and, with a melancholic smile, she said, "You are always welcome here, Spotty."
Spot gently nodded his head in approval, and Ry asked, "What about us?".
"You and your brother are also always welcome here," replied Aunt Rosy as she kissed Ry's forehead.
As our trio sat on the bike, Ry and Zen waved to the people at the restaurant. Goodbye.
Aunt Rosy stared after them, their backs growing smaller as they vanished into the horizon.
Ry looked behind to see if they were still visible to the people at the restaurant, as the restaurant faded along with the people, he asked, "Now, where are we going next?".
"You want to go somewhere?" A quick question was thrown back at him by Uncle Spot.
"Not really, I do not know this place as well," replied the boy.
"Do you want to look around? We can do that as well," said Uncle Spot.
"I think we should directly go and do the work first," Zen said.
"I think you are right, we do not want to be late now," Said Uncle Spot and continued by saying that they will go sightseeing after they complete the task at hand.
Ry nodded as he agreed with what Spot had to say.
Some time passed as our trio glided past the traffic and chaos of the slave colony. The dilapidated houses were small, made of mud and stones, and the small buildings had no windows and were badly maintained.
But this place was still bustling with life, with people struggling to live. The trio could see a variety of shops, entertainment houses, and more.
They finally reached the inner city walls that stretched high till they reached the heavens.
These walls looked ancient yet were strong and imposing.
The trio got off the glider bike and started to walk on foot to get in line.
Ry tried to look as high as he could to see if there was any end in sight and was about to fall, but was caught by his uncle, who was pushing the glider bike.
"They reach the end of the planet's atmosphere, so no use in trying to look at their end." Said Uncle Spot.
"Who built them?" questioned Zen.
"It was built by the Undead King and his people," said Spot.
"But why did they need to make something like this?" Another question emerged from the boys.
"The Undead King and his empire had a lot of enemies, so they needed to build things like these walls," answered Uncle Spot.
"What else did they build, Uncle Spot?" asked Ry.
"We do not know. As these things were built a long time ago," said Uncle Spot.
"How long ago?" was the question that arose.
"Around 50,000 years ago," said Spot after thinking a bit.
"Is that true?" exclaimed Zen.
"It is the truth, but do not speak about this in front of other people," said Spot calmly.
"Why do you want us not to speak about these things, Uncle Spot?" questioned a curious Ry.
Zen nods in agreement with his brother's question.
"How can I say this to you guys?" thought Uncle Spot before saying, "It's a taboo topic. You can be punished if you speak about the Undead King and his people".
"Why is that?" spoke Ry.
"It's complicated. But all the people in the confederacy hate the Undead king," said Spot.
"But why is that?" is another question.
"Well, Undead King did some things that people did not like," replied an exhausted Spot as he was exhausted by answering the nonstop questionnaire that the kids were conducting.
"Why did he do that?" Another question, but was cut short as it was their turn to check in to pass these walls that mesmerised the boys.
"Name?" enquired the burly guard.
"We have an entry permit," said Spot as he showed their passes with the details of the boys.
"Look at this permit and note down their details," ordered the burly guard to his colleague with the glasses.
"Two authorized slave kids and an adult man, whose names are Zen Ford, Ry Ford, and Spot. Permit was allotted at the outer checkpoint," informed the glasses-wearing guard who was responsible for checking the details.
"Can you tell me what your reason is for entering the city?" enquired the main guard, who was above the other two guards in superiority.
"For work, of course," replied Spot.
"Didn't most of the slaves get transported to another planet?" the main guard questioned.
"Yes, they were, but these kids were transferred back here on the request of the mayor," explained Spot.
"How can you prove that, Mister Spot?" questioned the burly guard.
"You can check the database," answered Spot.
"Check it," the main guard asked the guard who was responsible for checking the details..
"Give me a minute," said the guard with glasses.
"What about you?" asked the main guard, pointing his finger at Spot.
"I am their guardian," Calmly answered Spot.
"Aren't all slaves of the Confederacy supposed to be supervised by authorised government personnel? You don't appear to be a civil servant," enquired the main guard.
"These kids have some special circumstances. Thus, they were transferred here by the city mayor," another clear response by Spot.
"What is that?" asked the burly guard as he pointed towards the bracers on Ry's forearm.
"This is some family heirloom of the boy," explained Spot.
"Let me take a look at it," said the burly guard as he stretched his arm to look at the bracer, but Spot stopped him by grabbing the burly guard's forearm with his hand before he could touch the bracer.
"They have the mayor's approval," said the guard wearing glasses.
"Stop, let them pass," said the main guard.
Hearing this, Spot let go and walked into the city.
"That bracer looked expensive," said the burly guard, motivated by greed.
"Yeah, it did. But we do not want to mess with the mayor's people," said the main guard as he looked at Spot's back, clearly remembering some things from the past.
"Name?" The guards continued with their work.