Nathasia's house was small and was located down the slope in the middle of beautiful green patches of land.
As she got closer to home, she began to feel nervous thinking that she was bringing a stranger...a man to their home.
She didn't know what came over, but she knew she wouldn't feel good unless she treated him.
All she could hope was that her parents wouldn't overreact, especially her mother.
"Ma, Papa, I am home!" Nathasia called out with a strained smile as she came in.
She then saw how Marcus stood frozen just outside the door and said, "Hey, come in! Don't be shy."
Marcus was about to say something, but then he sighed and came inside.
Nathasia felt embarrassed since she felt as if she was sneaking in her boyfriend when in reality, the situation was entirely different. So, she couldn't understand why she was feeling so embarrassed and nervous about it.
"Aha, you are back so soon!" William laughed as he came out of a room, but his smile froze when he saw a tall man standing behind Nathasia.
In fact, his eyes seemed alert as he scanned the man from top to bottom but didn't notice anything in particular.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Nathasia saw how her father was on his toes and said, "Papa, relax. He is Marcus, a friend who saved me."
Hearing that the man had got something to do with saving his daughter, William's expression softened a bit.
"What's going on here?" Liana came out of the kitchen, but she also stood rooted to the spot just like William.
Her eyebrows wrinkled, and just when she was about to say something, Nathasia said, "Ma, this is Marcus. A friend who saved my life."
Liana had a stupefied expression while William thought through some things and asked in a slightly worried tone, "Saved your life? But what happened? Did any wild animal attack you?"
Nathasia shook her head and said, "Not any animal, Papa. But people. Two hunters tried to...you know...and then Marcus came and punched the living daylights out of them and saved me from them." Her expression became worried as she continued, "But the hunters had guns, and in the process of saving me, Marcus got hurt by a bullet when he tried to protect me. So, Papa, can you help stitch him up? He got hurt because of me."
William's expression relaxed and became gentle as he approached Marcus, "Of course. Marcus, is it? Please have a seat. We can't thank you enough for saving our daughter from those vile men. So, I will at least stitch you up and remove that bullet before it causes any trouble."
Marcus hummed as he sat down while William quickly went back to his room to pick up the doctor's kit he had used when he was in the army.
Liana was not used to seeing strangers and had to take some more time than William to get accustomed to the situation.
However, she greeted Marcus with a smile and said, "Marcus, thank you for saving this mischievous girl….I will now prepare a drink or something to eat for you in the meanwhile."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"No need. I already ate just a while ago," Marcus briefly said as he gestured at Liana.
"Oh, I see. Alright," Liana said with a slight smile and then looked at Nathasia, gesturing to meet her in the kitchen.
Nathasia rolled her eyes and then looked at Marcus with a smile, "I will be right back. And also no need to worry about my papa's skills. He is quite good at it, trust me."
Marcus gave a light nod as Nathasia hurried towards the kitchen, preparing herself for another lecture.
As she came in, Laina closed the kitchen door and turned to look at her with a glare, "Natty, what the hell were you thinking bringing a stranger home?"
Nathasia let out a frustrated sigh and said, "Ma, don't be like this, please. He saved my life, for heaven's sake. How could you be so cold to the savior of your daughter?"
Laina sighed as she hugged Nathasia and said tenderly, "Dear, I am happy that he saved you and that nothing happened to you." She then raised her head and looked at Nathasia as she continued, "But you know the times we live in. We are no longer living in a normal world. These days even a passerby could turn out to be our enemy if our interests clash. You could have thanked him in another way by you know...haa….anyways, about his wound...why does he seem least bothered about it. Don't tell me…"
"He is an Ascended one, Ma," Nathasia confirmed as she continued, "He easily took out those two men with big rifles in their hands. And he even…" Nathasia abruptly stopped since she wasn't sure if she should say this to her mother.
"He what? Natty, tell me the truth. Don't hide any details from your mother," Liana said with a glare.
Nathasia sighed, "Fine. He killed one of them when they tried to shoot me. He was so quick and fast. I couldn't believe that he was able to do it after getting shot in the back."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Liana's eyes widened as she cupped her mouth, "Oh my god...he killed someone?"
Nathasia blew through her lips as she said, "Ma, for heaven's sake, it's not the first time you are hearing about people killing other people. Hell, we all even witnessed people dying before us. And he did it to save me. He offered them the chance to run away, but one of them was too stupid."
Liana said as she slightly shook his head, "No, you are right. I am not blaming him for killing that person. In fact, he did the right thing before those two could hurt you. I just feel it surreal that a person capable of easily killing someone else is sitting in our house right now. I just couldn't help but worry if he—"
Nathasia interjected, "Come on. He is not our enemy. What would he want from us anyway? And besides, we both know that papa also had to kill some people, and he isn't a psycho just because he killed people."
Liana sighed, "Okay, okay. Let's go sit in the hall lest we show ourselves to be rude."
Nathasia smiled, seeing that her mother was able to understand, and felt relieved inwardly thinking that she did the right thing by bringing him here.
As the two came out, they saw William was already busy treating Marcus' wound. However, Marcus had removed his shirt and was half-naked, revealing his perfectly chiseled muscles, rippling with power.
Nathasia blushed to see the half-naked man while Liana gestured at Nathasia to not look. She was also surprised to see how healthy and jacked this man was.
It was not as if Nathasia hadn't seen a half-naked man before. She had seen them in posters, TV, and whatnot. But not one up close, and surely their bodies would pale in comparison to Marcus'.
As William took out the bullet and began to stitch Marcus up, he asked, "So, Marcus, what do you do?"
Nathasia excitedly replied before Marcus could, "He is in the military! Oh, and he is also a part of a very important squad tasked with taking down the Crimson Devil."
William and Liana were surprised and looked at Marcus in a different light. They realized that he should be a powerful Ascended one since only they would remotely stand a chance to fight the Crimson Devil in case they came upon him.
But this also made them feel a bit anxious, wondering whether he knew about Nathasia's uniqueness and if he would report this back to his superiors.
Nathasia saw through their worries and, with a slight head shake, conveyed to them that she hadn't said anything about herself.
Liana and William felt relieved, as if they dodged a bullet. William then asked Marcus, "How is General Alberto doing these days? During my days as an army doctor, I had met him once but never thought he would go on to become the face of humanity in the future."
"I barely met him, so I don't know exactly how he is," Marcus briefly replied.
"Aha, you at least met him, and that's a big achievement in itself. I heard he only bothers to meet bigshots now since he doesn't want to waste time while he is still out trying to hunt down the devil."
"I guess we will see soon if he can or not," Marcus said in an ambiguous tone, making everyone else wonder what he really meant.
Soon enough, William stitched up Marcus and said in an appreciative tone as he shook hands with Marcus, "Thank you again for saving our daughter. If you want, feel free to come here whenever you want. You will always be a precious guest to us."
Liana had a perplexed expression wondering why William was buttering up Marcus, while Nathasia was surprised yet happy.
