Chapter 89: To Fatherion!
The day seemed to pass in mere moments as the world once again finished the cycle of day and night. The Bannister’s mansion was dressed in the morning gold of the sun as most of the world woke up with it to continue their respective tasks.
Maria stood in the mansion’s parking lot, examining the ASUV closely as she asked.
"You checked everything already, right, Lane?"
Lane, who was checking everything for the third time, looked at her with the usual annoyed expression and retorted. "I am just making sure."
Maria shook her head. It was clear that she was thinking too much... She had already checked the vehicle twice.
’Well, she is doing it for Jamie.’
Lane always treated Jamie as her younger brother and always treated everything related to him with extra seriousness.
Just then, she heard the sound of steps coming towards them. Turning back, her eyes fell upon the two young men walking towards them.
One of them had short, elegantly styled black hair resembling the night sky. His bright blue eyes were like a calm blue moon, looking at everything with subtle playfulness as a small playful smile tugged at his lips. Two puppies followed him, with their big black eyes reflecting the world. One of them had white fur, while another had black fur; both had a few colourful strands that gave them a mystical look.
Jaden didn’t wear anything fancy; instead, he wore a simple black shirt and trousers which had golden buttons and delicate embroidery along the collar and cuffs.
The other young man also had hair similar to Jaden’s, but his hair had a hint of brown at the ends, similar to the colour of his brown eyes. Unlike Jaden’s playful demeanour, however, he had a noble yet untamed presence. His indifferent gaze swept over everything before resting on Lane. A slight smile tugged at his lips as he called out.
"Lane."
Lane, who was checking the ASUV’s control panel once more, stopped and looked at Jamie with a wide smile. She jumped out of the ASUV as she called out.
"James!"
Seeing that, Maria shot him a betrayed look, "How heartless can you be? You didn’t even greet me."
Jamie looked at her for a moment, then turned towards Lane and said, "I missed you, Lane."
A vein popped on Maria’s forehead, but before she could impart him with tough sibling love, Jaden called out to her with a smile.
"Big sis."
Hearing him, her lips curved up as she lowered her gaze and looked at the devouring pups that looked way different than before.
’How curious,’ she thought before she responded.
"Little Judy."
She stepped forward and hugged him, and Jaden simply stood there while looking at the garden, which was just as beautiful as it had been a few days ago.
"I missed you too," Lane said as she hugged Jamie, her voice softening, " Maria told me what happened to you... I am sorry—"
Jaden’s voice cut her off as he said, "You don’t have to be sorry for me. I am fine."
Lane blinked upon hearing his words and stammered. "A-ah o-okay."
She glanced at Jaden, who was speaking with Maria, and asked, "Is he the one who helped you all survive?"
Jamie also looked at Jaden and replied with a nod, "He is."
"Bree!"
"Bruu!"
The devouring pups suddenly began to let out strange noises as Maria hit Jaden’s head and questioned while glaring.
"You! Did you just call me old?!"
Jaden rubbed his head and answered with tears at the corners of his eyes. "No, I said that you are too mature for me."
Another vein throbbed on Maria’s forehead as she spoke. "You are saying it again, huh? Seems you have lived long enough to start teasing me."
"Okay. Everyone’s here, so let’s get going." Lane stated as she boarded the ASUV, Jamie looked at Maria and Jaden before stepping inside the ASUV.
"Big sis, we should get going," Jaden suggested, quickly turning toward the ASUV.
Maria gave him an eerily wide smile as she responded, "Of course, we should. I will get to be your Instructor there, after all."
Jaden stopped in his tracks as a shiver ran down his spine before responding weakly, "Y-yes."
He quickened his steps and boarded the ASUV. Lane looked out the window as she scowled.
"What are you standing there for? Get in already!"
"Yes, yes," Maria replied as she walked towards the ASUV while shaking her head. She also boarded it right after.
Jaden looked at the ASUV’s control panel with wide eyes as the devouring pups sat in his lap while getting caressed by him.
He began counting the switches lined up in the control panel and gave up midway.
’One, two, three... yeah, that’s a lot of buttons.’
Lane looked at everyone, her gaze stopped at Jaden for a moment longer before she pressed the green button and pressed the accelerator.
"Let’s go."
The ASUV roared to life and rolled toward the iron gates, which opened by themselves. They crossed the gates, and the ASUV began to speed towards its next destination—Fatherion.
As the monstrous machine made its way towards Arcane Knight Academy, Jaden looked at the buildings with a flat face. His eyes, however, had a reminiscing light to them.
’How strange... I never knew that I had such a side to myself, getting all sad over something from the past.’
He let out a low chuckle, and the devouring pups lifted their small heads to look at him as Whitey spoke.
"Bree bre!" And Blacky added "Bru bru bru."
Jaden ruffled their tiny heads and spoke with a chuckle.
"Alright, I won’t get all sad anymore."
Hearing his words, Jamie questioned.
"Do you understand them?"
Jaden shook his head and replied with a smile, "I do not."
Jamie just dumbfoundedly stared at him, while Maria burst into laughter. However, Jaden ignored all of that and once again turned towards the window, looking at the world outside.