The Celestial Apostles are dead...so are the Sin Demons.
Ashton's grand scheme played out well, everything fell within his expectations and Humanity went home with another victory under their name.
The Qliphoth and Laguna were still there. Ashton made a conscious decision to not destroy either for now since they still have a purpose. However, its citizens no longer had freedom.
Before he left the Qliphoth with his men, Ashton pulled every single demon and angel into a dream.
A dream that he fabricated to make them believe that everything was just fine. He erased their memories of the battle. He fabricated a memory for them which made them believe that the Apostles and the Sin Demons entered solitary seclusion to prepare for their attack against Humanity.
He even delegated tasks for them to follow in the absence of their leaders, which will mostly come from him.
In short, Ashton had taken over the Qliphoth and Laguna without them knowing. He will continue to mask the disappearance of the Apostles and the Sin Demons for as long as he can to let Humanity prosper even further.
Their recent operation was rather covert. He made sure that neither the Demon Emperor nor the Miraculous Son would notice it. And since those two are still under the influence of a dream, they wouldn't do anything to ruin this chance for Humanity.
Ashton just bought several years of peace for Humanity pretty easily. With this, they have enough time to develop more, expand their territory even more, and become stronger overall.
They walked out of this fight with a massive victory, and it's all due to Ashton's meticulous schemes.
At his office, Ashton sat in front of his desk. He just finished today's tasks pretty early and he's now thinking about his next moves.
There's already a list of things that should be done right away, but of course, it's never enough. The time was ripe for a more aggressive advance of progress so he must add more to that list.
He quickly listed several things that should be added to the priorities for Humanity's development. He then left it for Jerry to analyze and give him feedback before he ultimately decides if they should go for it.
After doing that, Ashton left his office and made his way back home.
Aria was waiting for him there. It was kind of surprising since usually, she'd still be at her lab, busying herself with work.
"You're home early. What's the occasion?" He asked.
"Nothing much," Aria replied as she served a freshly cooked meal to him. "I didn't have much to do. My students had already grown big enough to handle themselves. My presence there isn't needed for now so I just went home instead."
Ashton smiled and pulled her to his lap. He pressed a kiss on her cheeks and buried his face in her bosom. This way, he just basked in the silence they both shared.
Moments like this are rare. If he's not busy then Aria would be. Although they still make time for each other by the end of the day, oftentimes they're just too tired to even do anything other than sleep.
This is why Ashton treasures these rare moments with her, he grabs onto it and holds it for as long as he could, because he'll never know when they'll have time to be like this again.
"Come, eat up. Food's getting cold." Aria chuckled while blushing.
She still couldn't get used to Ashton's little antics but that doesn't mean that she hates it. If anything, she adores this too so she just lets him do as he pleases.
They ate in peace for a bit before they moved onto the couch to chill. They're both free for the rest of the day but don't feel like going outside. So, they decided to just watch movies indoors and cuddle.
Later then, the mood between them became hot enough for them to be bothered. So they did something about it.
Both of them felt relief upon knowing that they still want and need each other even after this long. Proof of this could be seen in how they yearn for each other on a daily and especially in bed.
But if Aria were to be completely honest, she wants more. She wants so much more than what she has right now.
She doesn't have the heart to ask the question yet...to ask Ashton to give her a child. And there are a ton of reasons as to why that is...
The most important reason was that the world is still too chaotic for both of their liking.
Aria personally doesn't want to raise her child in this kind of world, where at any given moment, their freedom might get taken away from them. And while yes, Ashton is there to prevent that from happening, the man himself isn't infallible just yet.
He's just as vulnerable as any Human being out there. If anything, he's at very risk of being in danger due to his role in this whole thing.
As much as having a child sounded so good for her, she couldn't bear the idea of causing her child any pain, especially if they could do something about it.
Their environment is nowhere near safe for the two of them to start their little family. And unless it comes to that point, Aria knew that both of them would prefer to be by themselves.
So, even though it was so tempting to just drop the question sometimes, she couldn't do it.
It helps that Ashton seems to have understood what she feels as well. She wants to think that his thoughts are on the same wavelength as hers because that will justify why he's pressed about ending the threat once and for all.
Ashton works harder and smarter than anybody else. His role in this whole thing was something that only he could do.
'To my future child. Please forgive us. We're still a little preoccupied with something rather important. Please understand that this is for your sake as well. Don't worry, we will meet soon. Just have some patience.'
In a galaxy far, far away from where the Blue Planet was...
A place that was bathed in white ivories and gold could be seen.
This place was so unique that its presence could easily be noticed from far away.
There were hordes of winged creatures and eye freaks here. There are also a lot of infrastructures that don't make sense here. Still, just from a single glance, anybody could recognize the sheer prosperity of this galaxy, not to mention, its might.
This, is none other than the real home of the Celestials; Paradiso.
At the very core of this galaxy, there is a majestic island. This island is something that cannot be seen through normal means. Its very existence is a closely-guarded secret of this race.
This island didn't look any special at first glance. It has a bountiful nature. Flora and fauna thrive here, and there were also small animals around here, living and enjoying the peaceful environment of this island.
This is what the Celestials refer to as; The Garden of Eden.
Somewhere around here was a straw hut. It looks shabby and not special at all. In its vicinity, there is a garden that's obviously looked after. There are tilled fields and fruit trees around.
Inside the straw hut, was an old man. He wore plain white robes which looked rather dirty and loose. He's also wearing a pair of straw sandals.
There were strange tribal marks all over his body. His eyes were featureless, just plain white just like the hairs all over his body.
This old man was humming a tune while rocking back and forth on his rocking chair. He's also feeding an apple to a little white worm on his palms.
Out of nowhere, the rocking motion of his stopped. And when he stopped, the worm stopped eating the apple as well.
The old man then looked straight ahead. The walls of the straw hut were blocking his vision but his gaze gives the impression that he could see through that wall.
It's as if everything went still the moment he did, which was rather bizarre.
The old man kept acting strangely like this for a good while. He was also tapping his fingers on the armrest of the rocking chair, possibly out of habit.
Shortly after that, a sigh escaped from his lips. And everything seems to resume its movement once he did so, the rocking motion was back as well.
The old man wore a kind smile on his face, and his gaze landed on the little worm he was feeding. The little thing looked at him and tilted its head as if it were asking him a question.
"Oho...everything's alright little one. I just had a rather unpleasant feeling."
"..."
"Well, I'm not so sure. It's quite distant you see. What I'm certain of is that it's just an impression. It shouldn't be harmless."
"..."
"Yes, worse comes to worst, I could just lift a finger, and the problem will solve itself. So don't you worry about it anymore. Just keep eating, you're nearly done."
