Chapter 21: We're Here.
Zen's house was quite far away. It was a nine-hour car journey to get to Shenzhen, but it didn't feel like it was that long. Haru sat and talked to his parents, who were beginning to open up to him about their past. They shared their stories of the military and how they met each other.
It started out on the battlefield. The team Luke was fighting alongside had been defeated, so he ran to aid the team with two other members of his team. As they reached the team, all they found were bodies lay scattered across the floor. There were no enemies around. They had all been burned to a crisp. That is when he saw her.
Krista stood on the battlefield stained in the blood of her enemies as the sun beamed down on her. It sure was a weird scene to fall in love with someone. But Luke described it was like an angel was sent down from heaven to save the rest of the team. Luke stared for a moment before one of his team members recognized her.
"That is the flame empress." He stuttered. It caught Luke's attention. He had heard of her but had never actually seen her before that day.
She flew off into the sky using magic before Luke could even thank her, but after that day he put in a request to join her team and it was accepted. He followed her to battle many times and fell more in love with her. Krista on the other hand was too focused on staying alive; she didn't even see anyone as a potential husband until after the war was over.
They both had gone their separate ways before meeting by coincidence on a train in Tokyo. It was at that time that Krista wanted to get all of her old team together and go out drinking. And after that night, Krista and Luke became good friends before Krista admitted how she felt about him. Luke didn't know what to say because he had a huge crush on her for years, but he told her how he felt and they started dating before getting married three years later.
Haru listened to his parent's stories with admiration. He was in a similar situation to his mom. He had never had time to fall in love. Li Jun sat on the roof of the car invisible to everyone but Haru but poked his head through to laugh at the stories that Haru's parents told. After the stories were finished, Luke and Krista fell asleep as Haru began to cultivate.
Li Jun floated around the car and looked down at the cars below him. He began to feel nostalgic. He had actually come from a world similar to this one. The only difference is that they didn't have magic. He thought back to it. He remembered his life slightly. He had almost forgotten with the time he had spent out exploring all of the realms in his search for power.
The car drove on into the night as Li Jun followed slightly behind taking in the views as he floated through the night sky. The sun came over the horizon warming Haru's cheek as he slowly came out of meditation.
Haru looked over at his parents in the seat next to him, who were both sleeping in each other's arms.
'It must be nice.' He smiled sadly at them as the morning skyline of the Shenzhen skyscrapers came into sight. This was his first time experiencing an actual city. He had lived close to Tokyo but far enough away that he couldn't actually see the sheer size of the buildings. The city was split into three parts.
The downtown area where the skyscrapers were located and then it had two residential areas on either side. As they got closer to the city Luke woke up still holding Krista in his arms.
"We fell asleep?" He asked himself before looking over to Haru whose eyes were glued to the window. "What is it?" He asked.
Haru didn't take his eyes away from the window as he spoke. "It's the city." He said as they got closer and closer.
"Oh, that's right. This is your first time seeing a city isn't it?" He said with a hint of sadness. Luke always wished he could have spent more time with Haru but Haru always seemed so distant.
He wasn't disrespectful and always helped out when he needed to but he just didn't have an interest in the rest of the world. He was always training like it was the only thing he knew how to do. Which wasn't a wrong assumption, how could Haru be gifted in social skills when he had been alone for over twenty years of his life. But in the past day and a half, Haru's parents had seen the change in him. He looked happy and like he was starting to settle into daily life.
Krista also woke up after around five minutes. As the heat in the car began to rise in the sunlight that was beaming down.
"Hey, can you turn on the air conditioning please." She asked the driver who had no issue with the request before reaching over and turning a knob making cold air gently blow around the inside of the car. Krista then looked over to Haru before leaning herself against Luke again.
"Our boy is growing up isn't he?" She asked quietly as not to be heard by Haru.
Li Jun flew in front of Haru on the outside of the car. Haru rolled down the window and smiled at him. Li Jun kept pace with the car.
"It's a beautiful morning. It has been a while since I have seen civilization. You will have to take me out for a walk soon. But I guess I will first need to teach you how to use your spiritual sense so we can talk when there are people around." Haru smiled again before looking back into the city as they drove into the downtown area.
There were hundreds if not thousands of people all walking around as the traffic slowly made its way around.
"Hey what time is it?" Haru turned back to his parents. Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "It is just about to turn seven." He said with a yawn.
Luke and Krista spoke with each other about the situation their son was in.
"Will he be okay living out here on his own?" Krista asked Luke who seemed to believe in their son's ability to adapt.
"Of course he will. Your brother will also be here for him when we can't be. Last time we spoke with him he seemed to be partying a lot but he seemed kind of lonely earlier. It might do both of them some good having the company of family. He isn't too much older than Haru, don't forget." Luke told Krista, putting some of her worries at ease.
"I kind of missed China. I forgot how calm it was. Japan is nice too of course but the people here actually care about each other. Back in Japan, everyone is absorbed in their own mind." Krista said whilst thinking back to her childhood.
"Do you want to visit your mother later?" Luke asked as the car made its way toward a gate with a guard office in front of it. "Sure we should take Haru to pay our respects," Krista said before there was a light tap on the window.
The window came down as a burly looking guard got down on eye level with Krista. "Good morning Ma'am what can I help you with today?" He asked.
Krista handed him a note with a code written down on it. "Good morning. We are here to visit my brother. He told me to give you this note." The guard looked at the code for a second. "Ah, you are Mr. Hao's family. He called ahead last night and told us to expect you. It is the house right at the end of the road. You won't miss it." The guard smiled before standing up and waving his hand to his partner in the office to open the gate.
The gate slowly creaked open as the driver began to set off. The road was privately owned with houses scattered hundreds of meters away from each other and each of the houses was a mansion with their own gates and walls surrounding them.
Haru looked out once again at the houses as they slowly drove past them. Each house was a spectacle in its own right. Some of the houses looked old and styled towards traditional Chinese mansions and some of them looked modern with glass windows and made from smooth concrete.
The road came to an end with by far the biggest house in the area looking out toward the road in front of it. It had a golden metal fence all the way around it and a long driveway leading up to the front door. As they got closer the gate opened on its own as they drove towards it.
"We're here," Krista said before opening the door.