BXBX NOVEL Chapter 505 An Offer
[I have a p-a-t-r-e-o-n with exclusive stories on it! I hope you guys will give it a chance. The link is https://www.p-a-t-r-e-o-n.com/easyread. Remove the dashes. Webnovel censors the word.]
~~~(POV: Mary Grant)~~~
~~~(Location: Center for Impacted Families of The Collision, Capital City Avalon)~~~
~~~(Time: 10:58 AM)~~~
Violet looks back at me after taking a look at Kyle from over my shoulder. I turn my head slightly and motion for Kyle to come over and meet her. Leaving like that probably wasn\'t a nice thing to do after talking about such personal things with her.
She\'s tracked me down, though. So it\'s not all bad. After a couple of seconds, Kyle stands next to me and holds out his hand, and Violet grabs it for a handshake.
"I wasn\'t expecting you to disappear like that on me. You didn\'t even give me a chance to add you as a Friend. And there is another thing I\'d like to talk with you about, but that can wait."
As she finishes talking, her attention turns to Kyle, and there is an awkward silence. But we both catch on, and Kyle hasn\'t been officially introduced yet.
My friend rubs the back of his head with a nervous smile. And I\'m starting to think if he\'ll talk or not. After a little bit more of the awkward silence, he takes a breath and relaxes.
"I\'m Kyle, and I\'ve known Mary since we were kids. We grew up on the same street, and I thought she was dead before I met her on the way here. We both lost everything when The Collision happened..."
The Collision is a severe trigger for trauma here in the Center for Impacted Families of The Collision. Many parents lost their toddlers and infants, and the few families that did make it still lost an important person.
Violet and her family are the only ones that I\'ve met where all parents and children survived... They\'re lucky that they all created a Player before The Collision happened. If the government didn\'t hide it from us, more people probably would\'ve made it.
But they hid it from us. Thinking that was the best idea.
"I\'m happy to hear that you actually have someone to call a friend, Mary."
She turns her attention to my friend with a smile.
"I\'m Violet Adamo, Kyle. My family is here to meet up. My two oldest children won\'t be coming, but my Husband and I are here with our youngest. Mary and I talked for a while before she left while I was in the arms of my Husband."
His look of confusion and surprise is evident. The Adamo family is a rare circumstance in this world.
"For your own safety, don\'t tell anyone here about that. The worst ones will attack you from how far they\'re gone mentally. And others will resent you and try to make life harder for you. There hasn\'t been a single family with your circumstances."
Violet takes a moment to register what was just said to her, and her expression changes to a sad one after it sinks in.
"I knew there are billions missing, but I never thought that others would resent the people who didn\'t suffer a similar fate... I guess I\'d be the same way if I were the only member of my family to survive..."
Kyle is called over by another worker, leaving Violet and me to talk alone. She smiles at me, and I know she\'s going to talk about what she wanted to since Kyle is gone.
"You\'re part of a nice place here... But I was wondering if you\'d like to travel with me?"
Of all the things she could\'ve said, that wasn\'t what I was expecting.
"My Husband and Son don\'t think that I know what they\'re talking about right now, but I know Marcus has no plans to stay with his Father and me. So I was hoping you\'d join us."
I don\'t know what to say...
One thing is for sure. I\'m not going to get in the middle of a relationship. I\'d be third-wheeling if I left with Violet and her Husband. I don\'t even know his name. Besides, I\'ve gotten used to being alone. It\'s something that\'ll be hard to break.
"It\'s going to be a no from me, Violet. I don\'t want to travel with a Husband and Wife. I\'d be a third-wheel. And besides, I\'ve gotten used to the solitude. It\'d be weird to be in constant contact with people now..."
Violet could have many reactions to my answer, but I didn\'t expect her to start crying. Before I can say anything, she wraps her arms around me and squeezes me in her arms.
All I can do is hug her back and do my best to try and understand what\'s happening. There are soft sobs in my ears, and I really didn\'t think someone cared for me this much. Violet is a very emotional person that attaches to people.
In more simple terms, she\'s a symbiotic parasite.
"I had a feeling that\'s what you\'d say, and what I\'m about to say is going to be hard. But Marcus could be willing to take you with him... I don\'t want him traveling alone, and I know he\'ll be leaving us after a couple of days together here... Hows that sound?"
It\'s funny how much she\'s trying to hang onto me, but Marcus reminds me too much of my younger brother, and it\'d be painful to travel with him. She pulls away and sees in my eyes that\'s not something I want to do either.
She dries her tears and opens her Player Interface. The next thing I know, I\'m getting a friend request from her.
The pressure to accept right away is on, and I do what she wants. I see her on my Friend\'s Tab, and now I\'ve made a friend with someone who actually cares about me.
Kyle cares, but not enough to cry about me.
"Thanks for caring about me, Violet. If there were more people like you, the world would be a better place. And I don\'t want to keep you from your family any longer than I already have."
Violet gives me one more hug, and I watch her leave the room.
After a few seconds, Kyle walks up beside me and folds his arms looking the same way Violet left.
"I\'m not going to pester you about what was talked about. But I want you to know that Violet is a rare find. I don\'t think you should make a decision about whatever she offered without thorough consideration."
Some things are better left the way you have them. If I\'m going to travel with someone, they have to be my age.
"They\'re good people, but I have my own path to travel now... The pain from losing my brother is still there, but I\'m moving forward. I\'m making sure that I\'m not dragged down by my guilt or pain."
A lot of change is needed for anyone that\'s lost people in The Collision.
~~~(POV: Marcus Adamo)~~~
~~~(Location: Bench near Teleportation Area, Capital City Avalon)~~~
~~~(Time: 11:11 AM)~~~
"If you happen to get a girl older than you pregnant, I\'m not backing you up. You\'ll have to deal with your Mother on your own. And finally, if you do find yourself in any of these situations. Be smart. It\'s easier than you think to screw up."
This has been the longest 30-minute talk of my entire life.
When Dad said, we needed to talk about things regarding girls and what I do with them when they\'re no longer with me. I didn\'t think he\'d go this far.
"And just so you know, if you do pull a girl older than you. You can be sure as hell I\'ll be proud, but we\'ll never tell your Mother, okay?"
Ugh! Dad!
How old does he think I\'ll go after. He sees my reaction and laughs.
"Marcus, you\'re a cute kid and women like that. If you decide to pursue a girl 6 or 7 years older than you, you\'ve got a shot. Girls feel different about age than men do. If you\'re charming them, the age doesn\'t matter."
It would\'ve mattered back in the 21st century... But in the 23rd century, he\'s right. And I\'m glad this conversation is over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Below this line, I\'ll be keeping Cera\'s player information. That way, I won\'t have to place it into the story above anymore. It takes about 180 words up.
[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.228][Tier-3]
[Exp: 42/100%]
[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden)]
[Stats] [Strength - 7095][Endurance - 7045][Dexterity - 7215][Speed - 8240][Focus - 19,660]
[Mana aura control: 6/100%]
[Health: 76,560,000,000/76,560,000,000] [Mana: 216,600,000,000/216,600,000,000]
[Stat Points: 350] [Armor rating: 500]
[Inventory] [Dice of Wayland (Divine)] [Hardened Tree sap Armor (Very Rare)] [The Witness (Legendary Sword)] [Fenrir\'s Whistle (Divine)] [Camping gear] [Food Rations 3x] [Dried meat 3x] [Fishing poles 2x] [Fish 8x] [Festival Garbs 2x] [4x EXP Boosts]
[Passive Perks]
[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver] [An Overachiever]
[Active Skills]
[Heavens light Lvl.74 325/7400] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.74 225/7400] [Slash Lvl.92 4600/21000] [Parry Lvl.68 85/6800] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A] [Winged Glory] [Angelic Flight] [Divine Pressure Exertion] [Divinity Pulse] [Controlled Fun]