Chapter 69: The journey to Zenith city VII

{I'm going to start working on my past tense and present tense sentence structures, only one person I know of has a problem. It is a good point though, I want this story make sense structure wise. I don't make to many of these mistakes, but they shouldn't happen at all. So please mark any of the past tense used in the wrong way for me, I know I cant get them all.}

They both smell and look ready to eat, I don't know what's wrong with mom at the moment. She just came into the kitchen and started crying, maybe its lady problem. I fix myself a plate of pancakes and bacon and make my way to the living room. I sit on the couch with the steaming food and look at the rest of my family. "The foods done so you guys can have some. Its not as good as moms, but its edible." I pick up the remote as my sister and brother go into the kitchen to get plates for themselves. I turn on the news station and see that its on another commercial break, since there is no news at this second its time to dig in. I wield my fork and butter knife and I cut into the fluffy pancakes, they don't taste as good as moms. They are nice though, easy to eat and have a good flavor.

As I munch down on my food I can feel a glare coming from somewhere, I look to the only people near me at the moment and I see the gaze of my mother. She has red puffy eyes and looks like she wants to ask me something. "What? If you have any questions for me I might be able to answer them, I do know a lot about Ancients World." My mom seems to get mad at my reaction, she gets up and walks up beside me. I have a bad feeling about this. "I'm sorry?" I might as well pre-emptively apologize. I watch her sit next to me and bare a look of sadness, mood swing much mom.

She takes a shaky sigh and clutches her knees till her knuckles get white. "I'm sorry that I haven't spent a lot of time with you Cera. I've come to realize that I haven't invested any quality time with you, I just learned that you could cook for yourself for gods sake. If you want we can go and do something together, I want to know things about you that I don't know." I guess she thinks she failed somehow. I don't know why she thinks like this, she has made my life great. I learned that hard work is what's needed to make things work, watching her and dad gave me the principles and morals to become who I am. I just didn't implement them till they were gone, and I was alone with Marcus.

I don't want to reject her request to hang out, but I have things to do in Ancients World. It feels horrible to put a game above spending time with your mom, but if I want to protect my family I need strength. I know she isn't going to like my answer. "Sorry mom, but I got important things to take care of in Ancients World. We can hang out a little when I meet you guys in Nelmorp, but I don't have the time outside of the game." I watch her face go from hopeful to heartbroken, I feel even worse now. She looks ready to start crying again, I'm about to say something else. She gets up and leaves the living room in a calm manner before I can say anything else.

I look over to my dad and I can tell by the look on his face that I made the wrong play. In hindsight it was a mean and cruel thing to do, but its not like I hate her. I don't even think of her as a failure, and I didn't feel neglected once growing up. I felt loved and cherished growing up, I don't know where she got the idea that she didn't invest time with me. "You know you screwed up Cera, I'll go talk to her this time. When you screw up again it will be your turn, and you will screw up. You can count on that." I watch dad get up and head the same direction mom went. I'll find some time for mom, either in Ancients World or in the real world. I turn my attention back to the T.V. and its still on commercial break. I wonder why this one is so much longer than the others, I start to eat my food again and I hear footsteps come out of the kitchen. I see Hailey carrying a plate of food for Marcus and her.

She sits down next to me and starts watching the commercial to. I turn my attention back to the T.V. and wait for the news to turn back on. "I'm surprised that you can be so dumb when you have proven to be very smart. Looks like your the fool this time around, even though I'm the one that drives mom crazy. I'm not stupid enough to do that." I don't know if she believes those words or not, because she has been that stupid. I turn my head to her and give her a questioning look. "Okay, maybe I have been that stupid, but you shouldn't. Your her favorite after all." I don't take mom as the one to choose a favorite, if she did she hides it very well.

I wonder why Hailey is talking to me about this, I have helped her in the past. She isn't the one to repay that though, well I'm thinking of the old Hailey. This Hailey sure has changed, and I should listen to what she has to say. "If you have advice then go ahead and tell me, but I doubt it will be sound. You have proven to be the biggest fool in this house." She lightly socks my shoulder and I release a chuckle. I miss these moments with Hailey, she taught me a lot about life. Even though it was indirect, she still taught me none the less.

She takes a few bites of food before she talks to me, fits her personality to make me wait. "When it comes to mom asking you to spend time with her, its a bad idea to reject. She feels bad about something and wants to make it up, and now she feels like she'll never get the chance. You owe her that much, she gave you life after all." I think that when someone should make something up, both parties need to agree. I don't feel like mom needs to make anything up, and that should be enough. If she doesn't get that, then its her own stubbornness getting in the way.

As Hailey is about to say something again the T.V. turns on and its in a breaking news segment. I hold up my hand to stop her, and I can tell that made her upset. I want to listen to the news though, so she has to take a backseat. "In a shocking development, the government is also helping in the mass production of gaming pods. Many don't understand what's going on, but the gaming pods being made by the government are also at a 95% discount. Even more people will join in the coming days and weeks, and all this begs the question. What is really going on at J&X?" Hailey's attention as shifted from me to the T.V. after hearing that as well. Now the government is helping J&X instead of questioning their actions, this reeks of hidden truths and deceptions. Anyone with a brain can deduce that whatever is happening at J&X will affect the people, if it didn't they wouldn't be trying to get so many gaming pods out for practically nothing.

Hailey has lost interest in talking to me about mom, she is more concerned about this new development. "What does that mean? I thought the government would punish J&X for destroying most of the economy. This doesn't make sense." I should give Hailey more credit after her observation, I didn't think her observation and deduction would be that good. Runs in the family I guess. I don't have a solid answer, but whatever the reason isn't a good one. To get the cooperation of the world government means something big is happening.

I have lost my appetite after this, I set my food on the coffee table and lean back in the couch. "I don't know Hailey, whatever is going on isn't something the public is going to find out. If the government doesn't want us to know then we wont. The only thing I can say for certain is that it has to do with Ancients World, its a good thing our family is already on." For all the knowledge I have of the future, this has never happened. Nothing of a similar course occurred like this, which means this is also my fault. The only thing that has changed in this timeline is me and my actions, which means this is all because of me. "Make sure all of you get as high of a level as you can in Ancients World. I have a bad feeling about this." I don't want to think of my family being in danger because of my actions, why didn't this happen when Blue Chaos was the one wielding my class. It makes no sense. I should make sure mom and dad know what's going on, they need to be aware as well.