Chapter 225: Arrival

Breakfast was nice, our absurdly large table finally felt full. We all ate merrily. The food was good and it felt great. 

Raea had joined us for breakfast and she left after finishing. She was kind of sad to know that yesterday was my birthday and she wasn't invited.

Even I didn't know I had a party- so- yeah. The cake was good though and I let her have a piece of the leftovers before she left. In the end, I understood, she wasn't really sad and was just pretending so I'd treat her a bit nicer. 

'I'm too damn naïve.'

After breakfast was over, we talked over our strategy. Apparently, mom and the rest won't interfere with my fight, assuming a fight breaks out. They'd keep the rest of the Battlesuins in check and only aid me in case I'm in mortal danger- meaning all my initial planning was going to stay intact and with no change. 

I didn't quite agree with all that, but I didn't have reasons to disagree either. 

Elsa and the bunny would stay behind while the rest of us would board a private jet. I wanted Marg to stay behind but she didn't want to and I couldn't force her. 

Elsa however, wasn't listening either. But with all of us against it, she couldn't really argue back. In the end, she cried and went to her room.

I felt bad but I didn't want her to get hurt. 

"We'll leave in half an hour, so go prepare your things," grandma said. 

"But won't we be early?"

She grinned. "Who do you think we are!?"

yeah, I didn't feel like answering and just went to my room instead. 

Suffice to say, I still had no idea what this family even was. 

Weren't we supposed to be villains? 

Why did we need to be early?

***

I didn't need much stuff. I got my stinky gloves, my saber, Gramp's sword, and a pair of sunglasses. I also picked up a sweater. It was winter in Russia and I'd heard winters there were cold. Like really cold, so I didn't want to take any chances. 

And no, it wasn't 'that' sweater.

Anyway, I was done. 

And Marg was kind of done too. All she took was her own saber and that was it. Before coming to this academy, I thought carrying a saber on your waist was stupid and people who were doing it were either mental or just had nothing better to do. 

Let's just say, my brain worked in weird ways. 

I was happy though. I got to see Marg dress up in front of me, put on her underwear, her dress, her socks… okay, this was getting a bit too far. Why the hell was I so horny lately anyway?

Well, I certainly had things to look forward to when we'd get back….

***

There was an airport on this island. It was a small one and I didn't know about private jets being here. I did know about choppers and cruise ships though. 

It didn't take us long to get there as Marg took us there in an instant. She had to teleport three separate times but I got the feeling she didn't mind. She was a bit happier than usual- though to untrained eyes it was impossible to tell.

I needed to give a report to the academy about me leaving but grandma said it was fine. If the headmaster said anything, she'd give him a slap- at least that's how she assured me. Yup, she was a Romswell alright.

And as usual, shocker. A really big shocker when I laid my eyes upon our jet!

The jet wasn't a jet. And it certainly wasn't private.

"What the hell is wrong with you people!?"

"What do you mean?" Uncle said. "The headmaster said they are the best in terms of speed and unity."

And when the hell did he even have time to talk with the geezer?

"That's not what I meant!" I gasped in frustration and stared at the jet with teary eyes. 

I already knew the jet and the people piloting it. 

Apparently, our plane pretenders were pretending to be a jet again. 

"And you guys are okay?" I glared back at mom and grandma. 

"Well, looking at young boys isn't a bad sight," Grandma said. 

My eyes twitched. 

Auntie was expressionless. She almost looked like someone who'd given up.

The same went for Marg. 

Meanwhile, mom kind of had a smile- a very not-so-friendly smile. She almost punched uncle on three separate occasions but stopped at the very last second. 

Yeah, they weren't okay. 

I didn't want to get aboard. I still had to though.

"Can't we just take a chopper?"

"You don't want to be late, right?" Grandma came close. "Romswells are never late!" She hissed.

Uh-huh. I wondered what she'd think about me being late on almost every occasion this year. And even if we'd taken a chopper we wouldn't be that late. 

But still- in the end, we got on the jet- or rather the same damn compartment as last time. It was a tad bigger this time around though. Uncle me and Marg shared one side while mom, auntie, and grandma shared the other.

And technically, this was going to be a solid two-hour flight. 

Oh boy. 

Oh boy, indeed. 

***

"When we get there, you might get a bit surprised over one fact. I'm sorry and I still can't tell you but- it wasn't my intention to hide things from you." This morning, mom had said those words to me. 

I still didn't understand what she was going on about but- at this point, I kind of stopped caring. She was probably referring to my father anyway. The guy probably had a family over the Battlesuins too and he maybe had a kid? I didn't fault mom for keeping a secret, and I didn't want to think about it. 

This journey however, was getting weirder and weirder. 

It was really awkward. But no one said anything. It's already been like 25 minutes and still everyone was silent, like really silent!

Time moved slowly but it still passed. 

Around the half-hour mark, the weather started to get chilly. The temperature was still above ten degrees but the humidity was really low. And as we passed the ocean and flew over dry lands- both got lower and lower.

With every passing minute, the temp and humidity went down by 1. One degree Celsius and one% humidity. 

I was glad I brought my warm clothes. 

Uncle didn't bring anything. Actually, he was just wearing one shirt and I had a feeling he'd take it off the moment he'd get a chance: good thing, grandma was here. The other four girls all had multiple layers and they were wearing fashionable clothes, even mom. 

Mom was actually dressed by grandma today. Otherwise, she'd have never agreed to wear something so full of frills. She didn't like it and that was clear but- she did look good in that. I'd never say it out loud though- she'd kill me.

It wasn't that bad- at least for the next ten minutes… but the last ten- it just got colder and colder and colder. 

It was heavily snowing outside. I could see some kids and even people looking up at the sky with amazement. 'Sorry folks. No round-bellied, bearded guy in red here with presents.'

By the time we landed, I was already freezing and that was inside the compartment with my body heat already going up about four degrees. 

"If you're affected by mere cold like this, you won't be able to lay a scratch on them." Uncle snorted with a bit of laughter and got out. The guy only had one frigging shirt on and he was ready to tear it open. I could make out his nipples for crying out loud!

We also got out. 

I wasn't the only one. Marg and Auntie were also shivering along with me. Mom and Grandma weren't though. They were perfectly fine. Just what kind of crazy genes did they have?

We'd landed exactly half a kilometer away from the Battlesuin mansion and on a rocky mountaintop. 

"We'll take it from here. You boys go rest in the city next to this one."

With our trip done, uncle moved on to talking with the plane pretenders. 

I didn't know any of their names.

"Why, something wrong with this city, sir?" One of the plane pretenders asked. 

"NO, but there might not be a city here once we're done with this place so-" Uncle grinned. 

Almost all the plane pretenders straightened their backs and flew away with the carriage. 

Uncle just laughed. "Let's go!" Well, he sure was happy.