Flat-Brim Samurai Chapter 147 - After the Tower
Apollo and Cias eventually got up from the ground and looked around them, they were in a big circular room that seemed like an anchor to the universe. It was a raised platform with glass covering all the area around them, the rest of the squad that was brought with them there as well. They all walked to the door and walked through a long hallway to a room with seating. Upon sitting down, Evan walked in the room, greeted everyone and went over the mission they had just compelted…
After all of that was said and done, food was brought out for them to eat and Apollo ate nearly 10 times the amount that the rest of the group had and 2 times more than Cias. He desperately needed to replenish his energy and this was the most efficient way to do it, his body was consuming the calories like it was a black friday sale. Post-eating, Apollo breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at his right arm, he smiled just enough to show happiness but not large enough to show relief. Being stranded and fighting alone for that long with as much damage as he recieved dealt a lot of damage to not only his body but also his psyche.
Fighting for the side of good was always taxing, you usually always give out more than you can take.
He was currently retrieving all of the memories that he had tried to forget about as he turned to Cias ,"Thank you for being my friend."
Cias smiled at him ,"No problem bro."
Apollo almost cried but his shock stopped him from doing so. It was a lot for him, not just this mission, but also all of the things that have happened previously.
Apollo said ,"I couldn't have made it this far without you man, seriously. It's just too much sometimes, you know."
Cias nodded, talking quietly ,"Yeah."
They sat there in silence before Evan came over and sat down by them ,"You guys have earned some RAR, please, relax as much as you can."
Apollo and Cias smiled at him.
Cias spoke for himself and Apollo ,"Thank you."
Evan replied ,"No problem."
Apollo and Cias turned on a terminal and teleported back home, they instantly fell onto the couch and turned on the TV.
Cias looked and said ,"Let's see what they have for gaming here."
Flipping through, they noticed that every game they grew up with was here.
Apollo said ,"They must've transferred them over time, I mean they totally dwarf our home in terms of size and technology so I don't doubt that it'd be easy for them."
… After hours of gaming, they ate dinner and whilst having pizza, they went over their journeys. Cias was stunned by what Apollo had said, he went through so much in such a relatively short period of time.
Cias spoke ,"I'm sorry all of that happened to you."
Apollo looked directly at him ,"It's no one's fault, nobody knew what was going to happen when I took down that guy."
Cias couldn't help but blame himself but he felt a little more at ease than before.
Apollo smiled ," At least we're here now."
Cias smiled back at him and pointed up with his right hand ,"I think I'm gonna go to bed."
Apollo nodded ,"That's a good idea."
When they both got upstairs and went their separate ways they put down their facades, they both hurt extremely badly. Apollo slowly got into bed and tried going to sleep but his eyes just wouldn't close, he stared at the wall for hours, recounting what had happened. He looked down at his right arm and frowned, remembering the pain. There had been many times where he had come close to dying but none were as close nor as painful as this. Having his very soul torn to shreds again and again with the crippling loneliness combined together to create a despair that was hard to replicate. His eyes slowly began to drip water, not from crying, but from how long he was up for. He finally closed his eyes and went to sleep.
In front of him was a man in a black cloak in the center of a long hallway, he looked back at Apollo whilst smiling ear to ear and memories of the man's past came flooding into Apollo once again.
Apollo gasped and woke up, feeling his body to make sure that everything was alright, he looked down at his arms and saw the giant scars, his nightmare reminded him of them. That energy of the man in the voided cloak created these permanent scars that even etched onto his soul. Trying to heal them with Soul Reconstruction didn't do anything either.
When he walked out of the door of his bedroom, Cias hadn't woken up yet so Apollo went downstairs to eat breakfast, in the middle of doing so, the doorbell rang. Apollo got up, confused, and opened the door.
,"How are you, you hooligan?"
Apollo gasped and smiled ,"Grandpa!"