"After that, I went on with missions with Cassian. He taught me, helped me, even became my benefactor."
Sirius says with a chuckle but not before stopping himself.
"Well... some of the way he teached me were questionable though. At one point I asked if whether he would give the same kind of treatment to his own daughters, he said no. Flat out no."
Sirius closed his eyes with a smile.
"I really did want to kill that bastard honestly at one point. Held myself back though. No, I don't have any grudges. I understood why he taught me like that and I know how much it benefits me."
Sirius looks at Sol and Thea with a smile, it was a bit weird why he skipped a lot of part and instead opt to give them a summary of his past, but most of them are okay with it.
Keyword, "most".
"Sirius, that was too short! Tell us more!"
Sirius blinks a few time, looking at Chad before chuckling.
"That's a story for another time. How about you and Anna tell me about your stories? How you met Thea and such."
Sirius tilts his head with a smile, leaving Thea raising one of her eyebrows.
"You're not even asking about me and Sol?"
"... I disturbingly know something about you two quite a lot."
Sirius adds with a scratch to the back of his head as he coughs. Sol and Thea could only groan in embarrassment.
"I swear I'll kill that old geezer myself..."
Thea mutters darkly underneath her breath, a slight pink tint shading her cheeks.
Sol simply sighs, as if used to the fact that her father occasionally talks about his daughters with someone close to him.
Sirius looks between Thea and Sol before chuckling and lean his face down to look at Sol's downcasted sight.
"It's fine though. Like I said, I could see how much your father loves the both of you. He also speaks highly of the two of you, he simply told me about some of your childhood."
"Even worse..."
Sol says, slumped as she covers her face with her palms. She slightly part her fingers and look at Sirius who's staring at her with a smile.
"Can you look away..?"
Sirius chuckles before nodding.
He looks at the outside of the supermarket and thinks to himself,
'I wonder how they're doing...'
***
Adam looks around while avoiding any Calamities that roam arounds the area. They move from the inside of buildings to another, staying as stealthy as possible.
Looking at the area around, Adam starts to understand where they are. Added with the sun, his earlier conjecture seems to be valid.
"We're definitely southeast of the Post. Alright, we'll scout the path to our north. Please help with the masking again Luna."
Adam turns to face Luna and gives her a nod. Luna closes her eyes before giving Adam a nod after a few seconds.
Adam nods as they walk out of the building, the three of them walk on the side of the streets with confidence but caution.
Adam stops on his tracks, he looks to his right as he narrows his eyes.
Suddenly, roars echoes the desolate city. Bulls covered with jagged rocks that protrude out of their bodies could be seen chasing a horde of huge white coloured bats.
Those hords came straight at the three of them as it came out of a corner from nowhere.
The three of them simply steps to the side, letting the horde of bats fly past them, screeching.
[Calamity]: [Light Bats]
Soon, the horde of bulls also rush past the three Blessed as the notification window register another Calamity.
[Calamity]: [Rock Bull]
[Class]: [Fallen]
"Fallens. A lot of them."
Adam mutters, looking at the back of those Calamities.
Looking back to Luna, he voice out his concern.
"How much mana did it drain?"
"Manageable. It took quite a bit."
"Can you keep it up for a few kilometers?"
"I'll try."
Adam nods before turning back to the road in front of him.
"Let me know when you need time to recover your mana. Once that happens, we'll mark the place and then go back to the others before combing back here again and set up a base if both Thea and Sirius stilll hasn't recover."
Luna nods back as Adam takes the lead once more. Meanwhile, her gaze settles over at Yuki as she sees him watching over the desolate city.
Luna tilts her head, her lips part slightly but tighten a second later as she stays silent.
Yuki looks back at her, and upon noticing her hesitating gaze, he raise one of his brows.
"What's wrong?"
Luna looks at him, staring right at his eyes as she shakes her head.
"It's nothing."
Yuki knows that she was thinking of something, but decided not to press further as he nods.
"Okay."
The three of them walk silently, passing by buildings and a ruined park. Their sight settling over those spots where friends used to be, where couples used to be, where parents watching over their childs used to be.
Used to.
Yuki looks at those park solemnly as though a hint of nostalgia apparent on his face.
Adam, redirects his gaze after a contemplative stare with grit teeth.
Luna... simply look at the park silently. She doesn't know what to feel, how exactly is she supposed to feel, and why should she.
But, seeing those looks on her comrade's faces leaves her with a contemplation in her mind.
She knows that she is not normal, having no knowledge of her biological parents, living in an orphanage at an early age, made her disassociate.
The only friend she made that lasted long... had been Thea and Sol.
Shaking those thoughts away, she follows the two boys in front of her as they walk the desolate and ruined city.
***
It didn't take long until Luna's mana run out, they dodged a few apes, Seed class Apes that crawled on the street while ransacking the buildings.
They have carved out an outline of the city and how things are going as they walked through the desolate city.
On the east side of the city, there were groups of [Rock Bulls] judging by the frequency of how many times they saw them.
On the center, [Furious Apes] crawled and ransack the area, they were more like half-gorilla and half-apes with the way they have muscular limbs.
On the west side of the city, they spotted some [Light Bats] crowding in a building. So most likely, the group of [Light Bats] live on the west.
Camping near the center area of the city, Adam and Yuki watches over the surrounding. While Luna sit cross-legged as she pull in the ambient mana from the atmosphere.
Yuki absent-mindedly grab his phone before opening up a gallery. Photos of him hanging out with his friends and videos scroll past his eyes as he smiled at the memories.
He opened up a chat app and stop at the family group chat.
All that he could see from the group chats are his unsent messages.
After the Apocalypse came, network services seems to be down. Which led to a world-wide panic.
People now have to meet each other by the sea or planes. It was surprising how those machinery still works.
Cars still work too but oil has become stagnant, a rarity for public use.
Oil usages are redirected for airplanes, ships, or other important matters that House of Posts manage. Government officials and scientists has a hand in that too, the House doesn't exactly rule a Post as if it is the dictator or tryant.
The people also has a say in it, as the House holds a monthly assembly where people can voice out their opinions and such. But, the final decision lands in the hands of the Houses.
Sighing, Yuki closes his phone as he sees Luna standing up.
"Are you all good now? Do you feel okay?"
Yuki asks, walking up to Luna as he awkwardly shift his arms from slipping them into his pockets before crossing them and then letting them fall next to his sides.
Luna watches his awkward gestures, it seems as though he was confused on how to approach her.
Luna blinks a few time before a soft, quiet giggle escapes her lips.
Yuki blinks, looking at her with wide eyes.
Luna sees Yuki looking at her with those wide eyes tilts her head, before realizing that the edges of her lips had curled.
'Hm..? Why am I smiling?'
Luna asks to herself as Yuki coughs.
"You look nice with a smile... you should smile more you know."
Yuki says awkwardly as Luna stares at him before her eyes soften.
"Mmhm."
Adam watches their interaction from the sides, a tug on his heart that leaves an empty hollow ache sears him.
He shakes his head, letting those two talk.
Well... stare at each other awkwardly to be exact.
Anyway, he'll let them come to him after they finish their business.
His mind drifts off to a hazy memory, a memory he had tried to bury deep as he closed his eyes.
"Adam, we're ready to set off."
Opening his eyes, he looks at the boy and the girl, who is around the same age as him.
Nodding, he straightens his posture.
"Let's go."
Surprisingly, the way back to the base was uneventful.
They tried out a different path, but still close to the original one where they took. Albeit longer, it was a bit more desolate and safe if Adam had to be honest.
Walking past the ruined park once again, Adam this time doesn't look at it and simply keep his gaze steady to the front.
But both Luna and Yuki looks at the park, one with curiosity, eagerness, while the other looks at it with melancholy which turns to a soothing feeling.
Yuki looks at Luna who is practically eyeing the park and the swings. Surprisingly, those swings are intact and not lost to the ravages of the Apocalypse.
Yuki unconsciously opens his mouth.
"Do you want to try that swing?"
Yuki asks in a low tone of voice, careful not to let Adam hear him.
Adam had always been kind to the group, akin of an older brother, hell, like a father even. Even though it had only been a few months ever since this party was made.
So, Yuki knew that Adam would most likely let Luna go on the swings if Luna ever wants to.
Luna, looking at Yuki with surprise on her aloof face turns her head to look at Adam's back.
Her mind slows, her head hurts as she is deciding on her thoughts, but eventually she shakes her head.
"Nnh. I'm okay."
Looking at her, Yuki could see that she is holding herself back.
Though it was only for a few months that he had known her, he had grown to... learn about her.
So, deciding upon a decision, Yuki merely nods.
"Okay."
Luna nods back at Yuki as she stares at the swings one last time before turning her gaze up front.
***
"Then, I dropped the shield and aked, "Boom, you looking for this?""
Sirius chuckles at his joke, while the other three seems to be listening silently.
Chad, noticing his leader's empty silent reaction said it again.
"Boom you looking for this?"
"I get it, Chad. It was funny, thank you for the story."
Thea said with a smile before letting out a sigh.
Chad, seeing her reaction droops a bit, like a saddened puppy as Sol chuckles nervously upon seeing his reaction.
But soon, from the corner of her eyes she noticed three figures coming towards their direction.
Sirius had noticed it too as he turns his head to look at the three closing figures.
Soon, Adam, Yuki, and Luna finds themself back to the market where Sirius and the others had hidden themselves.
"We're back, we got good news and bad news."
Adam didnt bother asking whether the others want to hear the good news or bad news first as he explain their findings.
Listening to it, Thea nods a few times, her mind registering his words.
"Sure, let's do your plan."
Thea approves of Adam's plan as she looks at the others.
"No objections right?"
No objections followed.
Nodding one last time, she was about to stand up but not before Yuki suddenly moved towards her and lean down to whisper a few words to her.
Thea subtly glances at Luna a few times with wide eyes before quickly erasing those expression as she smiles and nod at Yuki at the end.
"Alright, we'll move at dawn. As to make sure everyone stays in top form, understood?"
Everyone nods in response to Thea as she smiles in satisfaction.