Chapter 350

13 Days (I)

Having finished his Second Awakening, at least partially, Cain retreated from the mountaintop and toward the second floor, where everyone else was currently vacationing. Well, they were supposed to be, at least--some had already departed, like Kramer and Delilah, in hunt for the better items. Others, like Jamal, Daniel, and Ethan were in the process of deciding where the go, while Sigmund had, apparently, never even returned, already having veered off from the main group in search of a better weapon, particularly jealous of Jamal’s.

As such, there was little fanfare for his return this time around. In fact, the ‘mansion’ was virtually empty, with even kids being elsewhere, only staff seemingly there to maintain. Well, staff and Rick, who was in his office, perusing papers.

He’d gotten quite youthful, Cain mused as he saw the man through the walls, despite pushing late sixties. Then again, sixties was childhood in terms of longevity with the help of Mana, so it wasn’t all that strange either.

As though having expected it, Rick wasn’t surprised when Cain burst through the doors of his office, already taking out a bottle of scotch and two glasses, smiling faintly at the newcomer. Neither spoke while he poured them both a glass, with the two clanking them in a nameless cause, drinking.

“Welcome back,” Rick said, sucking his lips and pouring them both another.

“Good to be back,” Cain said. “My new friends aren’t making any problems?”

“New friends? Oh, you mean the three? Uh, no, honestly. I... I completely forgot they even existed ‘till you reminded me,” Rick said. “They do give off a weird vibe.”

“That’s because they could erase this entire floor with a sneeze,” Cain said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“... I’ll just pretend I never heard that.”

“Good on you,” Cain chuckled. “How have you been? Heard from Em’ you picked up quite a nice few fruits for the group.”

“They pick themselves up by now,” Rick replied with a hearty chuckle himself, taking a sip of the scotch. “We have a brand, actually, without even building one. Em’, Senna, and other kids went all apeish on the floors ever since you left, leaving the rest of the world to eat their dust. There’s always been a myth associated with us, but it was mostly ‘cause of you. Now, to be honest, you’re kind of an irrelevant spec. You hadn’t done much for what, ten years now? So, you have been forgotten. But they kind of took your legacy and made it a mythology.”

“... I’ve heard many hurtful things in my life,” Cain said. “But ‘an irrelevant spec’ still stung, man.”

“You’ve gotten pretty big,” Rick said. “Need to keep you anchored.”

“It doesn’t feel like anchoring any more, more like abuse.”

“And thanks to that, you haven’t begun thinking you’re a God. Well, yet, anyway.”

“How’s Sarah and the kids?” Cain asked.

“Well, they’re kids no longer, I’m afraid,” Rick laughed for a moment. “They’re spitfire little demons, to be honest.”

“Yeah, they do become that eventually.”

“But they’re good people, luckily,” Rick added. “While I was quite busy building a magical empire, Sarah... well, she did what parents are supposed to.”

“You can always tell ‘em, ‘look at uncle Cain; he literally left this entire world for years, at least I ain’t that bad!’,” Cain joked.

“Oh, I did. Bought me some good will. Speaking of leaving the world, what was it like?”

“Eh, more of the same,” Cain shrugged. “Every new floor in the Tower is a new world too, Ricky.”

“Yeah. I usually go visit them for a few weeks once they’re stabilized,” Rick said. “Did you know that, on the 14th floor, there’s a sea... that drains into rivers... that feed one, central lake... at the center of which the only humanoid species lives? They’re like, really, really primitive, barely-invented-a-few-words primitive, but it’s such a weird, doesn’t-make-any-sense world that it’s become my favorite spot to just unwind. The people just accept us since we bring ‘em tasty food and fun toys, and I’m pretty sure they’re starting to form a cult around us, so it’s gotten pretty weird.”

“Ha ha,” Cain laughed, realizing that history truly was repeating itself. ‘Woners’ as they were named in his past life did, in fact, create a cult of personality--it’s just that the personality wasn’t of one or even two people, but everyone who ‘looked like a man from the stars’, as they’d later describe it. “Yeah, sounds remarkable. Way better than vacationing in Bahamas every year, no?”

“Oh, don’t worry, the rich have already found the new Bahamas and the new Balis and the new-whatever-exotic-locations. There’s this specific beach on the twelfth floor, they call it Sunburnt ‘cause the sand is that particular, pinkish color of the sunburn. Anyway, I admit--been there with Sarah and kids, and even Emma, Senna, and Lana tagged along, and yea, it’s a paradise. But... it’s a paradise with hefty price. A two-day stay for a child is 10 S-tier items, at minimum. It’s fucking nuts. When I asked the tall, tail-having owner of the place ‘how much to buy it?’, he laughed at my face, and then his entire staff laughed, and I want to bury myself alive out of embarrassment.”

“Wow, looks like age hasn’t hampered your thirst for adventures,” Cain laughed along, as though he’d been hearing these stories for the first time. However, it was a fun experience, being reminded of the many mundane things that he just heard in the passing and forgot as they never truly concerned him.

“Ah, the spirit is the last to die, young boy!”

“Haah, been a while since I’ve been called young,” Cain said. “Every time I look at Lana these days, I’m thinking, ‘God, like two years ago I was her age, and I was too busy boozing out with friends to care for anything’. Time flies like a fuckin’ eagle.”

“More like a supersonic missile,” Rick chimed in. “While the Towers slowed everything down... they also sped it up. Years just blend in together, thousands of meetings, inventions, changes... you can’t keep up with everything. Honestly, in some ways, I miss my old life. Even if hectic, it had consistent pace. And I got used to it.”

“I don’t,” Cain shook his head. “My old life... was a catastrophe.”

“To put it mildly.”

“To put it mildly, yeah,” the two laughed for a moment. “I don’t mind growing old, to be honest. Especially now that growing old is simply growing older.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Besides, it’s always like my father used to tell me--things ain’t ever been as good as you remember ‘em, and they ain’t ever gonna be as good as you expect them to be.”

“A wise man.”

“An angry drunkard,” Rick laughed. “I hated that man. No, still hate him, actually. Nearly became him, too.”

“Hard to escape the clutches of our past.”

“... here’s to escaping them, then,” yet again, the two cheered--at least for a named thing this time around, however. “Is your plan really to just sit around until they clear the floor themselves?”

“Yep, pretty much.”

“Another one of your lessons?”

“A bit, but I need ‘em to grow much, much stronger,” Cain decided to start the conversation he wanted to have with Rick when he walked in here. “And I need you to pick up the pace.”

“With what?” Rick, realizing it was business-time, immediately shifted his demeanour to that of a professional.

“Everything,” Cain said. “I’ve gotten my ass involved in something cosmic. It’s on the hush-and-hush right now, and will be for probably decades if not centuries, but when it blows, it’s gonna blow. So, in lieu of that, we need to big.”

“When you say cosmic,” Rick said. “You mean--”

“Cosmic,” Cain said. “As in, I’ve defacto become a part of an inevitable civil war of sorts between the most powerful cosmic forces in the existence.”

“Aha, aha,” not bothering to pour it into a glass, Rick took a few swigs from the bottle. “And, by proxy, so have I?”

“Yeah. You’re in the big leagues now, man.”

“...”

“...”

“I don’t like it here, man,” Rick sighed, taking another swig. “Jesus. You never go small, do you? Man ‘o man.”

“Relax, relax. As I said, long ways off.”

“You mean, like, we’re gonna be going to war against... Gods?”

“... yeah, something like that, I suppose.”

“Jesus!”

“Well, not Jesus--”

“Not funny, Cain!” Rick exclaimed, standing up. “There’s big and then there’s... well, this.”

“... I get it,” Cain relaxed, smoothing the tone of his voice as he stood up. “But remember one thing: I just said ‘something like that’. They’re not omnipotent and they’re certainly not all-loving. Besides, though I like to include everyone, I didn’t really mean ‘we’. I don’t think anyone except for me is gonna be fighting them directly. The reason I’m telling you all this so early on--and only you, by the way. Not even Emma or Senna know this, and it’s gonna stay that way.”

“Cain--”

“It’s gonna stay that way, Ricky,” Cain said, grabbing the man’s shoulder tightly and locking his gaze. “The reason I’m telling you this is because you are one of the few people in my life I know can look past the next five years. But I need you to go even bigger. I know that our brains aren’t exactly wired for long-term thinking, but you’ll need to re-wire yours. Eventually, we’ll have to have contingencies for the contingencies, for when shit hits the fan, where those we love and those we tolerate and simply the mankind at large will need a safe haven. And so, we’ll build that world for them. ‘cause I’m stealing it to begin with. And I know we haven’t exchanged vows yet, but I figured our friendship was through thick and thin.”

“... are you confident?” Rick asked.

“Fuck no. I’m a tiny tadpole in the sea of dragons, man. I’m lost, too, believe it or not. While I can’t say it was hung on me against my will, it did come from the blue yonder. But... I’m hopeful. I’m hopeful that, when that day comes, I’ll brave the front and have all of you stare at my ass while I keep you safe. But, just in case it’s more than I can handle... I’ll need ‘em to become much, much, much more. Defeating Guardians is just the first, baby step.”

“What’s the next one, if that’s the first?” Rick asked, fearing the answer.

“Being able to solo kill ‘em.”

“... you’re insane. There’s literally nobody in the world who can do that except for you.”

“Well, they’ll have to, one day. Not today, not tomorrow, not even in a year or two or ten. But, one day, we’ll get them there. However--however... this is your out, Ricky.”

“Out?”

“Yeah, out. If you don’t want to do it, this is the day you step away. After today, there will be no cutting of the string of fate we’d have woven.”

“Fuck you, there’s no way I can step away now! You cheat!”

“Good,” Cain grinned, slapping the man’s back gently. “Brothers in arms we stay, then. Again, though, not a word to anyone else.”

“Why? At least Senna worships you so much she’d jump on the whole train with feverish excitement,” he said. “And I can’t claim others wouldn’t do the same, to be honest. Whether you wanted to or not, you kind of started a cult yourself, man.”

“Why? I love ‘em more than you.”

“Ouch.”

“And because they’ll need to become at least as strong as the three newcomers before I do disclose anything. But, anyway. Good chatting.”

“Yeah, great chatting--if not for that last part.”

“The least important one.”

“Sure, yes, the least--just get out. Get out and let me get drunk in silence.”

“Ha ha ha, don’t think too hard on it and change your mind. As always... appreciate it, Ricky. This whole shit would have been a nightmare without you.”

“Ironically, it’s the opposite for me. It’s been a nightmare because of you.”

“Alright, alright, I deserved that. See ya’. I’ll wring Emma one of these days and come over for a dinner with Sarah. I heard she makes a mean lasagna, and I am a cook of many desires. See ya’.”

“Likewise...”