'Babe...' Aria's voice sounded in his ears.
Ashton nodded to himself and replied: 'I know, Babe...I know.'
Mary...damn it's been a while since he heard that name. An overwhelming sense of nostalgia struck Ashton out of nowhere, causing his eyes to turn misty.
"She's still alive...good, very good." Ashton muttered. He had to put down his teacup due to how shaky his grip was.
The rest were a bit surprised by how he reacted. They silently looked at each other. Jane shrugged, signifying that she doesn't understand it either.
"...just to be clear, your friend's name is Rosemary Summers right?"
"Yes, that's right." Jane confirmed.
Ashton drew a sigh of relief while nodding to himself once more.
"Great. It's her. Yes, it's good that she's still alive." He muttered, "And what of her other friends? Like, Blake Reed and Alice Chrome?"
"Their both doing fine. Big Sis Alice just got recently conferred the title of a Ruby Knight by the Federation since she became a Grandmaster Knight. As for my brother well...he's struggling a bit but he's happy where he's at."
"...brother?" Ashton stared at Jane. "Blake's your brother?"
"Adopted, yes." Jane supplied, "A few years back, when the disaster of the City M occurred, he as well as Big Sis Mary and Big Sis Alice were the only ones who managed to escape. Blake stayed with us for a time and my parents took a liking to him so they adopted him, hence he became my foster brother."
"...I see. Good for him." Ashton smiled despite himself. He took a sip of his tea and his expression turned distant for a bit.
The others conversed through their eyes once more, not really knowing how to deal with this situation.
At this point, they all have their suspicions but none of them voiced them out just yet, instead, they just let Ashton simmer in his memories for a bit.
"...sorry, I got lost in my own thoughts there for a moment." Ashton smiled and shook his head. "Can you guys update me about the current situation of the Last Bastion? Like, what were the big things that had happened during the past five years? It's been a while you see."
"Sir, you..." Jane hesitated.
Ashton then waved his hand and said: "I'm sure you all realized it at this point so there's no reason to hide it anymore. Indeed, I am someone from City M as well."
"I was teleported along with the ruins of the City M. I've been stuck, wandering the outside world on my own for five years, trying to find a way back home. You all are the first group of humans I see during the past five years so excuse me if I'm being a little bit dramatic."
Ashton chuckled but all of them could feel the strong sadness and loneliness behind his tone.
And although they indeed had guessed it, for the most part, it is still rather surprising to hear it coming from him.
Surviving all on his own for five years in the Outside World? The mere fact that he's still alive and well is a miracle in itself! How difficult must that have been? Constantly being surrounded by all kinds of danger while navigating the way back home? That sounds like an impossible thing to do.
Yet, here this man was...
"...it wasn't just City M." Dennis muttered softly, but it was heard clearly by Ashton, causing him to focus on the captain.
"At this point, City Divisions are no more, meaning that there's no City A, City B, and so on...during the past five years, every six months, there'd be a City that would just suddenly disappear from the map."
"First it was City M. Next was City B, then City Z, City P...it went on and on until a total of 12 Cities were lost and millions of people died," Dennis recalled in a somber tone.
Ashton's eyes darkened but he didn't say anything. He maintained a flat expression and allowed Dennis to continue his story.
"Because of that, the Federation's hands were tied. In the end, the solution they came up with was to merge all the city in one place to combine our strength so that we can defend against the invaders."
"We entered a Warring State." Harry supplied, "There was an announcement that the invaders defied the Peace Treaty or something...nobody truly understand what that meant but what was clear is that we'll be preparing for war."
"Every abled body was expected to contribute to the war efforts. There hasn't been peace since then. Now and then, we would see several teams and squads braving the dangers outside. Some returned, others didn't. There's also frequent news whenever an intense clash happens between our kind and the invaders. The harassment never stopped since it began."
"That's mostly how we ended up here." Olivia said, "Recently, there had been many sightings of Demons and Angels around here. Our task is to observe originally but we didn't expect that we'll fall into a difficult position. Fortunately, you came to our rescue."
"In summary, the situation isn't looking so good. I'm afraid you returned at a bad time." Dennis smiled wryly as he said this.
Ashton nodded and sighed.
It seems that no matter where he goes, there will always be conflict. He didn't expect that the invaders had gotten so bold during his disappearance.
'...it's not that the Invaders broke the Peace Treaty since there was no treaty, to begin with. The so-called leaders of Humanity just failed to 'submit their quota' in time, that's why the Invaders taught them a painful lesson.'
'...I probably shouldn't tell them any of this. After all, I wasn't supposed to know any of this, to begin with.'
'Still...12 Cities, millions of people. I will remember this.' Ashton thought frigidly to himself.
"So, if all the cities were merged as one, what's it called now?" Ashton asked.
"Fantasia," Jane answered. "It's originally City F's name but since the merge, City F became the heart of the entire city. To honor that, the federation decided to name the new city: Fantasia."
"Fantasia, huh..." Ashton mused to himself, "And because of the merge, this new city must be as big as an entire country."
"More or less..." Dennis replied, "It's packed with people and there's not much space around, but it would suffice for now. The situation's dire anyway."
"Thanks to the efforts of inventors, there is now a more reliable way to defend the city against the invaders. People had lost faith in the bubble the moment City M disappeared so a new one was built."
"That makes sense." Ashton nodded.
"...that's pretty much it, really. There's nothing much to see back there. Actually, you'll most likely be drafted in this war as well if you choose to return now." Dennis stated while looking at him.
Ashton understood the underlying meaning behind his words. Nevertheless, he just smiled and didn't mind it. This guy doesn't understand anything anyway.
"Thank you for telling me all this." Ashton smiled at them and felt a little bit at ease.
Hey, the situation might look rather dire but it's better than nothing! He'd rather return to a rather tense home rather than see nobody at all. At least there's still hope on the horizon.
Ashton can totally work with this.
"Can I tag along with you all? I want to see the new city for myself." He asked them.
"Sure. If that's what you want." Dennis shrugged, "However, do note that you might be taken for questioning by our supervisors there. We're at war, after all, we can't be careless."
"I understand." Ashton nodded.
They then stood up and Ashton took all of his things away. They then began walking south of where they were.
"...are we not flying there?" Ashton couldn't help but ask.
The team look at him with weird expressions and suddenly Ashton understood.
"Oh, you guys don't know how to fly?"
Nobody answered. Well, they really don't need to. The answer was written on their faces.
Ashton smiled and shook his head. He then thought: 'There are 2 Warlocks and 2 Master Knights in this team, yet none of them knows how to fly.'
For a team that was supposed to be scouting the immediate vicinity of their base, this was unacceptable. Yet Ashton didn't say a word.
Instead, he just waved his hand and all of sudden, everyone was swept off of their feet. They started floating several meters above the ground. They looked at Ashton with sparkling gazes which caused him to chuckle and ask:
"Point where I should go, I'll take us there."
Instantly, all four of them pointed south -- which, he should've known since that's where they were heading earlier, but oh well...
Ashton then flew there, taking the team with him. He flew at an astounding speed, causing everything to turn into a blur. The team was encapsulated with some kind of invisible barrier which protected them from the air currents as they flew.
After a couple of minutes, Ashton paused in the air and looked at the place in front of him.
A deep sense of nostalgia and familiarity struck him. Once again, he couldn't help but tear up at the sight of that unreliable bubble and tense yet bustling city beneath it.
Whispering to himself, he said:
"I'm home..."
