Chapter 273 273: Part 1: Family I

When he logged back in it was to a very different scene, he found himself in the manor, but very different from what he had left. For one it was not looking dilapidated, and there were not a trace of cobwebs to be found. But beyond all of that was the loud noises he was hearing. He got up and went out the balcony that led to the garden behind, he had not remembered coming to this room when he had to clear the manor of those freaky eyeballs, but it seemed it was the master bedroom or something of the sort.

He looked out into the garden behind the manor and there was so many people working. He knew the system was mainly responsible for fixing things, but things especially when it came to individual houses could be handled by hand if you wanted to build it to your specifications. But they were clearing weeds, building flower beds for some flowers, clearing debris of broken statues and moving resources around the territory.

"Well I see you have decided to join us sleeping beauty, was the beating I gave you that bad? Shucks you're going to make me blush." Cole raised an eyebrow as an unfamiliar Raen looked up at him from the bottom of balcony. Unlike the dark accents most Raens had, this guy had white scaled skin with golden accents, but the tattoos were still swirls and trails of blue, though his had red along the edges. It was only until Cole saw the twin axes on his belt that he finally realized who he was looking at.

"Eze?"

"In the flesh or rather in the scales. I joined up as was our agreement, swore your damn oath too, I couldn't wait for you to come since I had things to do, so I asked the Muslim lady for help. What was her name again…..Farida? Yeah Farida. So she gave me the Oath and lo and behold we both became demons. Which is a far cry from my warrior of light gimmick…..I'm still a man of light but…..the whole impact seems very reduced when you are the fact that I'm a demon and can not use the power of chaos."

Cole blinked his eyes a couple of times as he looked at Eze. "Do you always talk this much? Cause the last time I saw you, you didn't have this much words for me." Eze shrugged as he bent his leg slightly then leaped up onto the balcony to stand besides Cole as he gave Cole a bright grin. "Only to my friends." Cole scoffed, but he could not help the smile that came over his face as he leaned over the balcony to watch the people moving about.

"You brought your people here too huh?" Cole asked, as he recognized someone from the eastern Glade. Eze nodded his head in agreement as he raised his hand to return a wave to some of the workers.

"What we had built in our Glade is something special, and while it might have been militaristic in structure it had still been a home to many. Sir I don't think you understand how much pain is out in our world, you were born rich, so I doubt you could understand the plight and suffering of the common folk. The universe changing, becoming something else is a saving grace for all of us.

When coming here from the second floor, the Glade would put people who have been in contact with each other together, not just for a sense of Community but also for there to be conflict in other to test the minds and hearts of people. Half of the 977 people in my Glade are all army veterans or former PMC operatives, of former spies and special agents from different countries and organizations….some of them are ever former pirates. All of coming from the same rehabilitation center and virtual space….. we had a guild in Titan Rising Online before this event, we weren't successful of course but we looked out for each other." Cole furrowed his eyebrows as he asked.

"By veterans you mean?"

"Broken weapons discarded by the hands that used to wield them. We all had some from of injury from our times of service, the rest of us had PTSD. Somehow we all, well not all of us, just about 15% of us got the lottery. The rest we all used our five spots to get them in when the 5th floor is open, thank you for that by the way. The remaining half are people we met along the way of the event, friends that have been through the fire with us, and understand our bond of brotherhood and decided they would try to build something along with us….. we're a family Cole, and that is something I hope you can acknowledge, if at all you want to utilize us properly.

Because I'll be honest with you, we're hungry for a fight. Our bodies and minds are broken, but that doesn't mean anyone of us was ready to stop serving. We live for it, the thrill, the battlefield, fighting for a cause. It was why it was so much more harder on all of us when we were just given a medal and severance pay then shipped off to rehab with the rest of the broken toys. We treated the event as a retirement, a vacation, but now the world is changing and now we're here with you. The one thing I'd ask of you sir, is that you give us a cause, anyone, anything. But let it be noble, even if it's not….just don't treat us like broken tools and discard us….. because then I'll kill you myself, your fucking oath be damned!"

Cole raised an eyebrow at that, but ultimately he could understand where he was coming from. Cole felt weird, first it was with Delarosa and now it was with Eze. Invariably these were his people, they worked for him, but Cole did not ever think being in a position of leadership or power was a right…..he always felt it was a privilege, being a demon be damned. They will be his foot soldiers, in return he had to be their protector, their cover, the refuge, their fortress of solitude and the one person they could run to should they have problems…..Cole had to be more than just a guild leader or a mayor…..a family huh…..he had to be their father…..their Patriarch, and just as well, because as far as the eyes could see, all Cole could see were Raens.

"Well Eze, before I have to deal with some notifications…..why don't you introduce me to my new family and we can see about getting you guys settled down for the night and tomorrow...we go take the north glade for ourselves and gain total control of this fucking valley! That should be as good a pace to start for a cause…..what do you think?" Cole got a grin in return….

"Exquisite!"

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