Chapter 258

Changes (IV)

Cain realized it the moment he stepped into the Second Floor -- it was a different world. The massive lake that acted as the heart was no longer empty, just a long stretch of glass-like frost beautifying the world, converging toward the massive, floating city. Instead, it was a city unto itself-- hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of buildings stood erect around and about, with the surrounding area being akin to an airport, just after landing from the plane.

The entire world was a swarm of brick and concrete, and the luster-- the thing that made the entire lake special... was gone. He frowned, but only for a moment; this was a change he expected, even more so now than in his previous life. People were less hesitant in this ‘attempt’, more forward-thinking and risky. As such, he suspected, sights like this would continue to crop up, everywhere.

Avoiding the swarming groups, Rick and him moved on swiftly through, straight toward the City of Mirrors, arriving some fifteen minutes later and immediately teleporting up. It was beyond crowded, as above so below, with hundreds of people streaming in and out at any given moment. The city’s ‘slums’ have been completely gentrified, repurposed as the world’s newest metropolis.

Navigating the reborn streets, the two men quickly found their way to the heart and soul from the city’s first strata -- ‘Acin Smithy’. It was a silver-gilded, two stories tall building that had a massive line in front of it. Looking at the name, Cain winced, cursing Taima inwardly. Of all the things to name the shop, the boy settled on a cringeworthy anagram.

“Cute,” Rick mused aloud as the two circumnavigated around the crowds and went to the back exit, entering through. The building’s insides, especially those hidden from the public eyes, were still stuffy and moldy, reminiscent of how the building first looked when Cain and others moved in. “Roughly seventy percent of the buildings within half a mile of here have been bought either directly by me or a subsidiary,” Rick said. “For now, we’re just using them as either temporary homes or shops while the long-term plan is development. The idea is to literally turn this area into the city’s living and beating heart.”

“Fat chance of that,” Cain said. “At least not here. Rather, it’s best you just rent out the space.”

“Eh?”

“I’ll get you up to the higher floors,” Cain elaborated. “For the first while, just deal with the natives. Trickle some goods to one shop here, but mostly just stockpile for when others gain access to the higher stratas.”

“Alright,” Rick nodded. “Anyway, I’m sure you’re excited to meet others, so I’ll get out of your hair. Lemme know before you fly away again. We need to have the parting-ways beer.”

“Okay. See ya’ later.”

“See ya’.”

Rick left right after, straight through the back entrance, while Cain ventured further inside and upstairs. Faint, echoing sounds of the hammer striking metal rang throughout the building, but rather than heading towards them, Cain beelined toward one of the three rooms on the second floor. Opening the wooden doors, they creaked, silencing the chattering crowd inside as countless pairs of eyes shifted toward him. He recognized all of them, the group the size of a massive choir, as his eyes lit up.

Jamal, Daniel, Kramer, and Yuki were sitting on the left, corralling a small girl with pigtails for a haircut and an annoyed expression. On a sofa next to them, Lana, Senna, Anna, Sera, Emma, and another woman sat, three of them on top of the frame itself. Lounging around on the floor in front were Sigmund, Elypso, and Sebas, inspecting a chipped, iron helmet.

Stationed in the far right corner, Taima, Lek, Izirdul, and another, fifteen-sixteen years old looking boy rounded a peculiar-looking blade shimmering in faint crimson. Following the momentary silence, Taima broke it with an ear-piercing shriek.

“MASTER!!!” the boy-- now a man in his twenties-- bawled out like a baby as he jumped over everyone and lounged himself at Cain. Sighing, the latter just let it happen-- a pair of arms tightly wrapped around him as his shirt immediately grew wetter. “Finally... you’re finally back, Master!! Finally, finally, finally!!”

“Hey, hey, look at the hermit!”

“The bear finally ended his hibernation...”

“He looks like shit.”

“Welcome back, Master.”

“The big boss finally makes his return!”

“Ha ha ha, you look like a freakin’ stick! Did you work out at all?! Eh? O’ my, what is this? Are you pregnant... with a burrito?! Ha ha ha...”

Jovial voices swiftly filled up the room as people shot to their feet and quickly crowded him, some expressing genuine welcome, like Lek and Izirdul, and some just firing off at him like a firing squad, all being led by none other but Jamal.

“Alright, alright, pipe down everyone!” he quickly extracted himself from the encirclement. “I understand that, for most of you, seeing me is like seeing a God--”

“Boooo!”, “Laaame!”, “With jokes already?!”, a choir of voices erupted at the same time.

“--buuuut!” he quickly regained control. “Reign in some of that worship of yours. It’s embarrassing, you guys. I’ve got two daughters here; I wanna remain humble in their eyes. Just be a normal dad.”

“A normal dad?” both Lana and Senna mumbled, looking at him queerly.

“That’s right, a normal dad!” Cain quickly reaffirmed. “Don’t I look like one, eh? I got dad’s bod, I make bad puns, and, and, I pretend I don’t hate the concept of you two dating whereas, in fact, every time you even remotely suggest it, I get the arsonist’s urge to set the whole world on fire.”

“... a’right, that’s just creepy, dude.”

“Too far man. Too far.”

“Oh, shut it, you-- things!” Cain growled, holding himself back from cursing. “Catch me when you have a pair of teenage daughters! It is a man’s duty-- nay, honor-- to uphold the ye-old violent dad stereotypes! If we don’t continue the tradition, who will, eh?! Remember, lads-- remember when you first had to meet your girlfriend’s dad back in high school! Remember almost pooping your pants?! Do you want the future generation of boys to get by without experiencing the poop in the pants, eh?!”

“...”

“...”

“Why the hell do you all suddenly look like you’re agreeing with him?!” Senna exploded.

“Khm, he... he makes a valid point,” Jamal coughed awkwardly as he sat back down. “I remember when I went to pick up Trisha for my first date with ‘er. Man, her dad just waited for me on the porch. You know what he was doing?”

“What?”

“Sharpening a knife!”

“No way...”

“Swear to God! There I was, a sixteen years old quip and the bastard’s sharpening his knife while relentlessly staring at me! Cain’s right... nearly pooped my pants...”

“Jessica’s dad,” Sigmund joined in abruptly. “Had a real crime documentary DVD on about some dude who lopped another dude’s head off playing in the background while he kept smiling at me. Swear to God, the greatest laxative in the world...”

“...” soon enough, almost every single man in the room shared their uniquely-- yet eerily similar-- horrifying experience. Cain’s self-affirming grin grew larger the more stories were told, until it was practically beaming.

“See?!” he turned toward Senna and Lana. “It’s dad’s prim and proper duty to uphold the tradition! One day, if things work out, they’ll do the same for their daughters! And the story shall continue until the last dad croaks beneath the hooves of our goat overlords! Ah, what the legends shall say about the dutiful lineage of overly-protective and insecure dads who almost all exclusively contributed to every single relationship mistake their daughters ever made!”

“...”

“...”

“So, you do get it.” Emma said with a chuckle.

“Nah, that doesn’t apply to us,” he said, walking over and kissing her forehead gently. “You fell for me square and proper ‘cause, well, look at this. I mean... who wouldn’t fall in love with all of this?”

“Ah, yeah, that bulge where six-pack should be is really working for me.”

“How is it possible that neither of you changed at all in six years since we last saw you?” Sera asked suddenly.

“’cause we old,” Cain replied without hesitation. “Old people don’t change, kiddo. We let our dreams and hopes and all growth opportunities die on the day we realize we don’t need to be tolerant of anyone else and can do whatever the hell we want anyway.”

“... ‘cause you’re old?”

“’cause we old! Alright, enough about my embittered reality-- what’s been going on with you lot?”

“Introductions first!” Emma exclaimed. “Delilah, this is Cain. What’d I tell you?”

“He really did live up to the hype,” a thirty-something looking woman said with a faint smile as she stood up, shaking Cain’s hand. She was good six feet tall and had long, brown, braided hair.

“I hope all good hype.”

“Nah.”

“...”

“But I do owe you a thanks,” she said.

“You do?”

“Hm. You inspired K’ to finally man the f’ up and put a baby in my belly.”

“Ah,” Cain exclaimed softly. “I see why you fit right into the group so well.”

“... ‘cause I’m old?”

“’cause you old.”

“Alright, that punchline is dead!” Lana said. “Just stop it!”

“Y’know, I always prided myself on being the daddy of the group,” Cain said. “But now... we got so many new mommies and daddies. I feel like I’m losing my identity over here.”

“Nah, I wouldn’t worry; you’re still the very same, creepy, over-the-top-uninhibited psycho that we know and love.”

“... weird way to say ‘an inspiring figure who helped us’, but okay.”

“This is... Diya,” Delilah pointed to the small girl in Kramer’s hands; she had large and round sapphire-blue eyes and her just like her mom. “Diya, come say hello to your Uncle Cain.” the young girl flipped from Kramer’s arms and walked over.

“Hello Uncle Cain.” she said, smiling widely.

“... hello little one,” Cain said, smiling faintly as he suddenly bent forward and heaved her up. “Oh wow. You’re already tougher than your daddy!”

“Really?!”

“Yup, yup, I’m telling you-- if we put some more vegetables into you, you can easily take him.”

“Yea-- ve... veggies? I...”

“Yeah, just look at the mean-lookin’ sister Senna over there,” Cain said. “She used to be really skinny and weak, but she eat her veggies every day and now... she’s the strongest one in this entire room.”

“Even stronger than daddy?”

“Even stronger than daddy.”

“I... I’ll... I’ll try to eat my veggies!”

“I’m sure you will, ha ha.” the young girl jumped down and ran over to Senna, barraging her with questions about exactly how many veggies she ate a day. “She’s amazing.”

“Not for nothin’,” Kramer said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“... nah,” Cain shook his head. “I’m sure that, one day, she’ll grow up to save a lot of people.”

“Yeah.”

“Anyway,” Cain didn’t allow heavy atmosphere to dwell on much longer, clapping to draw everyone’s attention. “Next three days are a free-for-all-- explore the city, do stuff, and reconvene here in three day’s time. By then, I’ll have taken a peak into the 9th floor and formulated a plan. And, as is the tradition, you will shit all over it but still do it nonetheless. Everyone cool with that?”

“...”

“...”

“... what?” Cain asked with furrowed brows, noting everyone’s strange looks.

“Yup, this feels right,” Jamal said. “It hasn’t been the same without you, buddy.”

“Welcome back, C’,” Kramer said. “It was high time.”

“It finally feels like a prelude to an epic adventure again,” Sigmund commented.

“Let’s go and fuck some shit up, yo!”