Calm Wanderer
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(AKJ) Chapter 63 - Leaving their home for the capital
🕑 Added 2024-06-04 14:06:15 +0000 UTCDamovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.
Demian's P.O.V.
With Seraphine in tow, Demian was quick to reach his bedroom and start packing his belongings. A few sets of clothes, some basic toiletries, and a few random stuff ended up in a big sports bag prepared for the occasion. Looking at his clean-shaven face in the mirror, he muttered, undecided. “Should I grow a beard again? I do look good with it. Gives me a bit of a rough vibe.”
His inner struggle did not last long as Sera, who was a few meters away, exclaimed. “No way!” Turning his face toward her, he cocked his brow, questioning. “You can’t even see it! Why are you so against it?” His question brought an amused smile on the face of the woman who answered. “It just gets in the way.” It took a second for his brain to catch the implied meaning, prompting him to roll his eyes. “What have you done with my pure Seraphine, you lusty demon...?”
The giggles that followed made him shake his head with amusement. “Forget it.” He muttered before looking back at his reflection in the mirror while muttering ‘sadly’. “Goodbye beard. It was nice knowing you, even if it was only for a short while!” Letting out a sigh, his gaze then fell on his shoulder-length hair. Unlike his facial hair, however, he decided to keep it that way.
‘I didn’t get to have long hair in my previous life so I might as well rectify that regret. In any case, if it gets in the way, I can just cut it later.’ He inwardly decided, turning his head from left to right to admire himself. ‘I really look incredible... Handsome, tall, and muscular, what a combo! I’m almost falling in love with myself.’ He joked before moving his eyes toward Sera and stating. “I’m keeping the long hair for now. Just letting you know.”
After a few chuckles escaped her lips, the young woman replied. “Come on, Babe. I was against the beard, not the hair.” Narrowing his eyes with doubt, Demian said. “Riiight. Anyway, let’s finish our preparations.” The two then went on to pack the redhead’s belongings, paying special attention to the Fairy Dust dress he had bought her during their previous date. The latter was put away in the special bag that came along with the dress, away from the other clothes she packed.
When everything was ready, Demian exclaimed. “Finally done! Thank God, we don’t need to bring that much stuff with us.” Sera nodded before adding. “If my body gets as big as yours when I break through to the Chi Gathering Rank, there’s no point bringing that many clothes. I’d need to swap them with bigger ones anyway.” Scratching his chin in thought, the young man replied. “Makes sense.” Turning his head toward her, he asked. “Will you be okay with helping me carry all those bags?”
Setting her fists on her hips while turning her body toward him, Sera exclaimed. “What about me says ‘frail woman in need of a strong man to help’?” Her question prompted him to roam all over her toned body before replying with a smile on his face. “What if I want to play that strong man helping a frail woman?” His retort made her giggle briefly. She then approached him and with a seductive smile on her face, patted his chest gently and whispered. “I wouldn’t mind being embraced by your strong arms...” Resuming a normal tone of voice, she added playfully. “But let’s keep that for the bedroom, shall we?”
Laughing together, the two then went on to bring the few bags downstairs by the entrance. There, they found Bryn chatting with Adeliya, the two immediately spotting them as soon as they arrived. “There you are! I just got off the phone with Roman and he agreed to take us in until all of it blows over.” The middle-aged woman exclaimed suddenly.
Cocking his brow, Demian commented sarcastically. “How kind of him to protect us from the problem he caused himself.” Unlike him, Sera had noticed something, evidenced by her following question. “It can only blow over if Danilov disappears. Does that mean that Uncle has a plan to get rid of that man?” Despite feeling a bit annoyed at her use of the word ‘Uncle’, he kept silent, knowing that there was a time and a place to be childish and now was not it.
Looking hesitant, Adeliya replied. “He didn’t say, but knowing the man, I wouldn’t be too surprised. It HAS been a while since I’ve seen him, though, so he could have changed... I guess we’ll just have to see when we arrive in Molvograd.” Her words brought a pondering look on the other three’s faces before Bryn stated calmly. “You should go pack your things, Mom. We can leave afterwards.”
Nodding her head, she replied. “The three of you can bring your bags to the two cars. We’re bringing them, by the way. It’ll make it much easier for us to move about if we need to.” Pausing for a second, her gaze fell on the two tallest people present before adding. “Even if it might be a bit problematic for the two of you.” The two concerned people had wry smiles on their faces with Bryn even replying with irritation. “I really hope Uncle will get us a bigger place and bigger vehicles. It’s starting to get on my nerves having to be careful every time I move around.”
Chuckling at her remark, Demian nodded. “I second that.” Shaking her head while sporting an amused smile on her face, Adeliya exclaimed. “We’ll see. In the meantime, you guys should get moving. Any minutes we stay here increases the risk of getting attacked by Danilov’s men.” The three youngest assented before they separated with the middle-aged woman dashing upstairs to pack her bags while the other three grabbed the many bags lying around before moving them to the cars parked in their garage.
With their current size and strength, it did not take too long for the three to reach the cars, settle the luggage in the SUV’s trunk, and come back upstairs, leaving them waiting for a few minutes for the older woman. After a short while they noticed her coming down through the staircase, her hands full with a few heavy bags of her own. With no prior consultation, Demian and Bryn seemed to teleport to her side before taking the bags from her hands despite her protestation. “Why are the two of you acting like I’m a weak woman?”
With her balled fists set on her hips, she looked visibly annoyed, making the young man’s body tense unconsciously in guilt. As he was ‘desperately’ looking for a good reply, his older cousin immediately turned back to join her younger sister while claiming. “It’s Demian’s idea!” Feeling suddenly backstabbed, his head swiveled toward the tall redhead, catching the small playful smile gracing her lips. Outraged at the betrayal, he exclaimed inwardly. ‘Goddamnit woman! Did you have to throw me under the bus like that? With teammates like that who needs enemies...’
Knowing that pushing it further would only increase his Aunt’s annoyance, he decided to simply bite the bullet and said while moving his gaze back toward Adeliya. “I was just taught by the best Aunt in the world that I needed to be gallant toward women. Was I wrong?” The ‘innocent’ expression plastered on his face would not even convince a three-year-old. Surprisingly, it did seem to work on Adeliya as her body visibly relaxed, the frown she sported turning into a pleased smile.
Shaking her head, she responded. “You’re not wrong. But that doesn’t mean you can’t let me do anything. With my current strength, I should be at least as powerful as a strong grown man, so I can also participate in the physical stuff, alright?” Nodding his head a few times like a chicken pecking rice, the young man replied. “I’ll remember that. I just wanted to help you, Aunty. Nothing else.” The small smile turned bigger on her face as his words reached her ears.
Walking by his side slowly, she raised her hand higher to pat his shoulder gently and stated. “You’re not the only one trying to help, Dem. Don’t forget that.” The emotions hiding in her words plunged his mind into a brief daze. Letting out a small sigh, he turned back and followed the three women who had already crossed the entrance of the penthouse and were waiting for him.
As the four Mikhailovs left the place they had been living in for years, silence fell for a while. Staring at the door, the four were lost in their thoughts until Demian’s voice broke the quiet atmosphere. “I guess this is it, isn’t it?” Adeliya swiftly responded in an absent-minded tone. “Yes. I’m sure we’ll be back once our trouble’s been taken care of...”
Despite the optimistic words, Demian was not very confident that they would ever return. For a visit maybe, but nothing permanent. And from the tone she used, she most likely thought the same. She just had a hard time accepting it. ‘What was that quote again?... I think it goes something like ‘You can either accept reality and grow or let yourself die in your illusion’. Well, I’m ready to accept reality but I still feel a little down...’
As no one answered her words, the older woman’s face turned resigned before she shook her head slightly. “Forget it...” She muttered before she closed the door, turned her head in their direction, and exclaimed. “Let’s leave. Waiting here is just a waste of time.” Her body language radiated melancholy, making Demian’s heart ache slightly.
Bracing himself, he grabbed Sera’s hand in his left one before catching up to his Aunt. Setting his right hand gently on her shoulder, he declared firmly. “As long as the four of us are together, it doesn’t matter where we go. So... Don’t beat yourself over us having to leave the penthouse behind. It’s just a building in the end.” His words seemed to lift her mood a little as the crease between her brow smoothened out and a tentative smile surfaced on her face.
While meeting his gaze, she replied. “I know.... But it’s just a lot to take in.... I’ll be fine in a while.” Nodding his head, he said as his lips formed into a warm smile. “Whatever you need. In any case, I’ll be here if you need someone to talk to.” Despite not being an expert in psychology, he did get killed and sent reincarnating into another universe, giving him an interesting perspective on leaving a ‘known and safe’ place for the ‘unknown’.
Not wanting to press the woman, Demian exclaimed before moving toward the elevator. “Let’s go, then. A new adventure’s waiting for us.” All of them then fell into a peaceful silence as they were brought all the way down to the garage where they quickly reached the two parked vehicles. Turning her head toward the other three, Adeliya instructed. “Dem and Sera, you both take the muscle car and I’ll take the SUV with Bryn.”
As soon as her words reached their ears, they all moved toward their own car without protesting. It did take a bit more time for Demian to fit into the driver’s seat than before his size increased, but after fiddling with the seat, he was finally ready to drive away from there. Scanning quickly with his Divine Sense, he noticed that his Aunt and oldest cousin had much less trouble than him, the former being the one driving, which gave the latter the much-needed space for her massive frame to fit in the ‘cramped’ space.
Not bothering with lowering his window, he calmly said. “I’m ready. We’ll follow behind you two.” Feeling Bryn’s Soul Sense falling on him, he knew that she would transmit his words to her mother. Indeed, a brief second later, he heard the SUV’s engine firing up, prompting him to do the same with the muscle car. Half a minute later, the garage’s closing gate reflection appeared in his interior rearview mirror, bringing a brief melancholic feeling to his heart. The latter, however, disappeared quickly as his attention returned to the road and the sizable vehicle he was following.
As minutes passed by amidst peaceful silence, the car reached the city’s southern limits, leaving room for fields and forests on each side of the high-speed road leading them to the country’s capital. The traffic was relatively fluid, especially once they left the city, with only a few vehicles here and there going both ways. At one point, his mind, which had fallen into contemplation, was jolted awake by Seraphine’s voice resounding in the car interior. “Do you think we’ll like our new place?” Unlike what he observed from Adeliya’s and Bryn’s body language, the younger redhead seemed completely at peace with the decision to leave their home.
Throwing a brief glance in her direction, he replied with a small playful grin on his face. “I’m sure we will. It might not be perfect, but we’ll make do until we can get rid of that man.” Scratching his chin in thought, he added. “Aren’t you upset about leaving our place? Bryn and your Mom seemed a bit shaken about it. Especially Aunty.” Shaking her head, she replied playfully. “Not really. I have an unbreakable soul bond with you, so it’s not like you can leave me behind. That means I can never be alone. At least not when it comes to my Soul. And if you’re with me, I don’t really care where we live at.” With a slight upturned of his lips, he replied. “Why do I feel both happy and horrified at the same time?”
His words were followed by the two breaking into light chuckles before she added. “You’re the one who asked me to bond with you, so you’ll have to face the consequences.” Pausing for a second, she added. “Joke aside, I’m sure Mom and big sis only need some time to get used to it. It’s hard for now because of all the memories we made there, but it’ll probably fade away as time passes.”
In a pensive tone, he commented. “Time heals all wounds, right? It’s still weird how the mind can be either something that weighs us down or pushes us in the right direction.” Shaking her head, she corrected him while wearing an amused grin on her pretty face. “You forgot both at the same time.” Pausing for a second, she added. “In any case, we just need to take things as they come and we should be fine.”
Aware of his current and potential strength, Demian felt a strange surge of confidence and eagerness at the idea of what was waiting for them in Molvograd. Danger and opportunities usually went hand-in-hand, and this might be the biggest opportunity of his life so far. “A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step as the Chinese like to say.” He claimed while sporting an eager smile on his face, giving him an air of attractive confidence, not completely lost on the petite redhead sitting by his side thanks to their bond.
Grabbing his right hand in her left one, she added. “And the path to greatness starts with one mad decision. So, let’s be mad together, Babe, shall we?” As the roaring noise of the engine resounded on the somewhat empty high-speed road, it was accompanied by the intermittent sound of two people laughing their worries away, their minds filled with excitement for the future.
