Chapter 209 209- Food To Cry For And a Revelation

Chapter 209 Chapter 209- Food To Cry For And a Revelation

An hour passed before Aria finally woke up, just when Kai and Eva were about to leave the apartement to buy some stuff. So, Kai simply told her to eat the food on the table and stay put. Kaya had already left to deal with some matters and wouldn't be back till later so the apartement would be empty except for Aria.

He also made sure to keep track of her at all times. Transferring her to the school will take at least one day even if Eva pulled some strings to make it happen quickly and they were still in winter break so they can't go to school either.

Keeping a small tracker on Aria should be more than enough for him to react in time if something happens.

With that, he left with Eva. The two walked out of the apartement complex.

"Are you sure it's gonna be ok?"

"Yes. I doubt they will try to target her when I'm here. I made sure to expand my aura to cover the whole city so unless they have some kind of way to evade my aura, they won't be able to get close."

"I guess that's right." Eva nodded her head as she turned around to look at the house one last time.

She secretly wished that the girl would be fine, even if she was merely a prisoner in that place.

***

Meanwhile, Aria stood near the door for a few seconds and watched it silently as if she was waiting for something before she turned around walked toward the table, and sat down. Her face was emotionless but inwardly, her stomach was screaming with happiness at the smell of food in front of her.

So, with elegant movement, she picked up the spoon and started eating. However, the moment her mouth tasted the food, her expression changed as she chewed on it. Then, her hand moved down quicker to pick up another spoonful. Then another one and another one after that.

In a matter of moments, she wolfed down half of the food. As she chewed on the food, her stoic expression started slowly crumbling. Behind the red cloth, her eyes welled up with tears. Each spoon she ate hit her with nostalgia like nothing else.

A distant past where she truly felt happy and satisfied. A distant past that crumbled right in front of her eyes. She watched it crumble and even pushed for it to crumble because of a choice. Either she protects that happiness selfishly and watches it end quickly or ends it quickly and protects the source of that happiness. Either way, she was going to lose so she decided to do what her heart told her, to sacrifice everything and keep the most important thing.

It was a painful choice to make that twisted and shredded every part of her into pieces. This food was that past and she was eating it gluttonously, as if her subconscious mind wanted to return there, to get back what was lost and to feel the euphoric happiness of a free life.

Alas, no such thing could happen and the food that she hoped would make her feel better, only crumbled down the walls that she built up for years to keep herself from breaking down from that pain.

Each taste of this warm, delicious food made her realize one important thing. That even after all these years, even after she did what she did, Kai never changed. His food never changed just like how he never changed. He was still him, even after she tore apart everything he cherished.

Moments passed and the tears that wailed up turned into silent weeping as she held her shuddering hands. She quietly cursed everything that happened, including herself. She cursed her existence, her choices except for one, and even her very reason for living for this long. Perhaps she didn't end it all just because of a small hope that after all the pain and suffering, after the hell that she built and dived into, there could be a future where she would feel happy.

That was wishful thinking in its own right but it was still good enough to keep her from killing herself. Perhaps she was meant to save him one last time and then die so that at least she fulfills her purpose that she destroyed everything to achieve.

"It's... delicious..." She murmured to herself.

***

Kai and Eva took a few hours before returning to the apartement as they had to buy many things for the next few weeks.

When they were back home, they found Aria sitting on the couch motionlessly as if she were a doll. She simply stared at the wall ahead of her without doing anything. One would wonder for how long she stared at that wall but the answer would most likely stay unknown.

'She's really an odd one.' Eva thought as she looked at Kai who didn't spare Aria a glance and walked straight to the kitchen. So, Eva decided to approach the silent girl.

"Do you want some snacks?" She asked.

However, the latter shook her head in response.

"Uuuh, how about a shower? I can lend you some clothes if you want."

The second offer seemed to entice Aria as she hesitated to shake her head. Eventually, she nodded.

"I see, follow me."

Eva then led Aria to the bag she had brought with her to stay over. She luckily had a spare change of clothes she still didn't use so she gave it to Aria.

"Kai, can I let her have a shower?" She asked with a loud voice for him to hear.

"Do what you want." She heard a reply before she smiled and nodded her head.

'My beloved is still kind even to her. I'm proud of him.' She felt warm inside her chest.

"Go ahead and use the shower. Do you need my help?"

Aria shook her head as she took the clothes and walked toward the bathroom alone.

Walking inside the kitchen, Eva found Kai cooking silently with his back toward her. So, she approached him and gave him a hug from the back before she kissed his neck.

"You're doing the right thing, my love. Believe me." She whispered.

"We will see..." Kai replied.

That was indeed his honest thoughts. Whether what he was doing will be fruitful or not is still up to fate to decide.

***

At the same time, while working on her computer Kaya received a phone call that surprised her. The name was all too familiar after all.

"Old man! Where have you been all this time?! Not even a single call!" She immediately said as she picked up the phone.

However, the caller, who was Mikayla didn't respond immediately.

"Can we meet, Kaya?" A weak yet still powerful voice finally spoke from the other side. "I'm in your city right now."

"You're already here?! Where are you?"

Mikayla went to describe the cafe he was at for Kaya who immediately told him to wait for her and hang up.

It only took her a few minutes to reach her destination.

"Old ma-" Entering the cafe, Kaya spotted her old man, only to be shocked at what she saw.

She hadn't seen Mikayla for a few weeks yet that was more than enough to change the old man drastically. His muscular build and healthy skin were nowhere to be seen. Now, he was looking like an actual frail old man near his death.

His presence was also way weaker than ever before. His radiant, strong gaze turned meek and emotionless.

"What... happened to you?" Kaya asked with a shocked expression as she approached him.

"Sit down and we will talk." The old man replied coldly as he sipped on the coffee he had. Kaya also noticed that his demeanor changed.

'What happened to him during these past few weeks?' She thought to herself with a worried expression.

"Where have you been this whole time?" She took a deep breath and asked.

"I've been roaming the world," Mikayla replied. n/.0velB1n

"Roaming the world isn't enough to turn you into this state, old man. What happened?"

Mikayla seemed hesitant at first to speak but he then remembered that he came all the way there to tell Kaya so hesitating is pointless.

"In reality, I didn't roam the world for no reason. After what happened on that day, I decided to focus on something else to divert my focus from the dark thoughts that kept bugging my mind. What I focused on was to find a particular place."

"Particular place?"

"A temple... A temple said to have the remains of the arsenal of weapons the Progenitor had."

Hearing that revelation, Kaya's eyes widened as she immediately remembered what happened to Eva on the night of Operation: Behemoth. The fact that she had the sword the progenitor used in his hay days almost killed her and Kai was still a shocking thing to think about.

Ever since then, Kaya had a fear of anything related to the progenitor as it most likely spilled destruction along with it.