Even after a full day of the liberated city, things were still uneasy. The city military wasn't going to give up their land that easy, as it turned out that several holdouts still existed in certain sections of their held territory, forcing the rebelling forces to clear them out as carefully as possible. Jamal rathered this than having to fight their main forces again, but at least home was going to be an option now. The late-night temperature provided a tremendous relief from a long day of work, and the city's loud cleanup and reconstruction echoed throughout the background. Not minding the noise compared to the sounds of war, Jamal had finally made it to the large complex and was greeted by a large crowd of citizens awaiting for his return.
"We should have trusted you!" one elderly woman attempted to grab him in joy. "Our hero!"
"This man is an absolute legend!"
"Can we get a picture? We are setting up the camera right now?"
"This had to be the greatest comeback of the century!"
"Alright guys, it's time to back up." The security detail assigned to the building started to push forward, creating a path for the man to get inside. "He'll be open for proper greetings and appreciation tomorrow."
"Thank you, guys." Jamal nodded, as he quickly made his way toward the door and indoors.
Surprisingly, the lights in the building were working again, as they had been out for an entire week due to the substation nearby getting destroyed by enemy artillery. But more importantly, everyone except for Sera was relaxing in the lobby, as if they knew he was coming in at that exact moment. Perhaps it was Alice's or Fonda's power in the work? Jamal couldn't really care less, as the group started to quickly run up to him.
"That was some insane planning we managed to pull off, I must say." Jamal laughed off, just as Ula pressed her lips into his.
Staying embraced in the intense moment together, Jamal was just glad that she was safe during the entire ordeal and that nothing serious occurred here. His family was a much bigger concern to protect and care for than anything else, and nothing could ever top that for him.
"You're not hurt are you?" Ula started to check around him once she pulled back. "You know I still worry about you, even after all of this."
"As long as you are all okay, then it is fine with me." Jamal turned towards Laken, who was grabbing his father's leg. "You protected your mother?"
"Yeah, no baddie here!" Laken leaped in joy, as Jamal shared a deep embrace with him too.
"I wish I had joined that fighting." Brat rolled his eyes, with Fonda chuckling from the scene the day before.
"I doubt that." Alice looked back at Hops, "Ryan, how did you guys really win again?"
"Uh, well I mean, we kind of just really surprised them initially, before we began to pres-" Hops started to go off on the situation.
"I was just joking! Please don't go off on that again! You told us this already, don't you remember?" the woman grabbed his arm, causing him to lose the thought.
"Sheesh, you guys still realize we have a lot more work to do, right?" Heskins injected himself into the conversation, leaning against the wall nearest to them.
"Of course, I have to leave early in the morning to plan on the city rebuilding proc-" Jamal started to ensure him.
"No, I mean Youden's forces!" Heskins spoke a bit louder than intended, before taking a quick pause, "I'm trying to say, we got them out of the city, but we still got several divisions holding down the airport and the rest of the ones that did escape, heading deeper into the mainland. And we both know that at least eighty-five percent of them survived and got out. Bare minimum."
That quickly brought down the conversation, as even Leon kept his silence going before turning his head towards the window. Just a few seconds later, Sera walked through the door with her head held high and sword sheathed next to her. It appeared that even after regaining control, did she not truly feel safe just yet.
"You good?" Leon noticed the scene of urgency the woman had made her way toward them.
"The prophet commands all of your presence at once." was all that she said to them.
"Who?" Brat broke the silence after everyone quieted down for several seconds.
"That doesn't matter, just know she can see the future and it is imperative that we all speak to here now. The quicker we go, the less time we have to wait and can get back here as soon as possible." Sera started to ramble a bit more urgency.
"You sure you are alright?" Jamal looked at the uneasy woman, "You did cut off a man's hand, so I'm not sure if you're traumatiz-"
"That didn't scar me at all, I've done way worse then that. I'm here to let you guys know that this is vital that you hear what she has to say."
"And what could that possibly be?" Heskins seemed a bit skeptical of such a character. "What can they do that Alice hasn't been able to do-"
"She knows how everything is going to play out for us within the year," Sera looked at each of them before taking a deep breath, "And at least one of us is going to die in that timeframe."