Bells of New Life

Elijah walked into his most liked pub as he sat down, drink already being served him by these new, or already old, sexy robot girls, proto-maids or something like that, Elijah mused, they were easy on the eyes, and these curves, Elijah would call bullshit if someone told him they weren't made for pleasure, alas, Elijah knew there was just one man who could use them like that...

"Hard day?"

"Heh, good day."

Elijah said to his pub friend, like him, he was in the late forties and quite normal-ish looking, well, most men and women from Earth were normally looking against these models on Remnant, to say it was hard to find an ugly bastard was more truthful than it should be...

"Still can't get used to this."

Frank, something-something name said as he made hand motions, making Elijah nod in understanding.

"Yea, some days I still look for my cane until I remember I no longer need it."

"Amen to that... Shit, this place is still too surreal, even if I already lived there for months..."

"That's given, they seem to like to make others gape at them..."

"...So, did you already make up your mind?"

"Yea... I will join once I finish my introduction to Solitas course..."

"...Me too, fighting, fighting is all I was good at, and now that I already have back my hand, it would be just fitting to show my thanks, no?"

Frank said, and Elijah nodded as he sipped from his mug, sighing at that heavenly taste, to think a drink that could be sold just in the most prominent and richest restaurants where just the most snobbish pricks were gone was served there in every pub and for free...

Solitas was still a strange country, no matter how much he lived there, he just couldn't get used to this... Strange utopia dictatorship...

Still, Elijah, like Frank, and many more who mostly went to this one particular pub were vets, vets who were discharged from their military branches for most of the reasons, you name one, and there was probably a guy sitting there from honorably discarded, to dishonorably, to released because of injury, all of them there were same...

And he, as most of them, was at their last ropes until some strange folk in white blue suits came to them with an invitation to the Solitas, all they needed was to swear their life to the Schnee dynasty and were given heaven like treatments, guys without limbs were healed, guys with trauma and PTSD were treated, guys that ended up on streets were given free home, and much more...

Elijah scoffed, he still felt conflicted that this Solitas was treating them better than the nations they swore to fight for and protect...

Still, Elijah made up his mind, and by the look of it, most of the present clientele did the same, once they ended up in their introduction course, they would join the Solitas military...

Elijah himself could help but feel like a little kid at the thought of wearing true fucking power armor and shooting from laser guns...

"To the new start!"

"""TO NEW START!"""

Elijah and others screamed as they shot up whatever they drank into their mouths...

All the time, the proto-maids who were serving there smiled, it seemed that Sienna's plan on getting experienced soldiers were bearing more fruits than they hoped for, and best of it, they had their loyalty...

But as the mood was returning to normal, there were the loud sounds of a bell.

"Shit, what is happening?"

"I don't know, an attack?"

"Nah, if it was an attack, this city would be already swarmed by these sci-fi war droids..."

"Look on the TV!"

One of the men said as the occupants of the room looked at the TV where a piece of kingdom-wide news was coming out...

"We are pleased and glad to tell you that this day the Schnee family gained two new full-blooded Schnee's, the two first children of our King Aegis Schnee!"

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"Rias, look at this."

Rias looked at what Akeno pointed out, and her face showed her confusion, which transformed into a smile.

"So, this will be our new school?"

Rias asked with a smile, seeing a building bigger than any Royal palace, or any building she could imagine, as the building she was looking at was a strange mix of a castle, mansion, cathedral, and simple utilitarian architecture of human schools, and all of it looked like it could house more than tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of students at the same time...

"I can feel a dimensional magic in that building..."

Sona said with a frown, still her mind marveled at the white monstrously enormous building.

"That is because what you see is just this, all rooms utilize in some way dimensional folding wards, making all rooms bigger from inside."

Daphne Greengrass said as she took it on herself to show the newcomers this place, that, and she was truly curious about all these Devil and supernatural races that seemed to exist in that version of Earth...

"Truly? I would like to-"

Before Sona could finish her words, there was a sound of bells, making all of them look at the towers.

"From when there were bells in there?"

Tracey confusedly asked...

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Death's head looked in the direction where two new lives were to be welcomed into the world as she frowned...

Gaia's eyes which normally at these times showed a serenity and love at all living things, shoved unnatural scorn as she scoffed.

Ophis just tilted her head as she felt something trying to arrive, just to be plucked out.

"Naughty! Naughty! Sorry sis, cousin, and Ophi-chan! It seems I need to have a word with someone! Don't look at that serial without mee!"

Zoe said with a pout as she teleported away, Death just looked at where Zoe was as she looked at Gaia, who seemed to shrug, no longer seeing the need to act as Zoe made it clear she would take care of it, and Ophis just looked back at the TV...

"Welcome to a New Era!"

The TV screamed as Death unpaused it, not giving Zoe's plea any head...

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"Brother, it would be alright."

Aegis walked back and forth as his hands rubbed each other.

"My little flame, you don't need to worry, you know she gets the best care she could have."

Cinder tenderly said as she and Winter both looked at Aegis, Weiss and others were already on the way, and others gave Aegis time so as not to give him more reason to worry, and they didn't want to make a spectacle that could threaten the birth...

"I know, I know... It's just..."

Aegis said with a frown as he sighed, he didn't even dare to use his enhanced senses to look into the room next to him, to think he would act like this...

There was silence for another while as Aegis just continued walking in circles as both Winter and Cinder sent him either helpless or happy smiles...

Until the doors opened and a baby cry was heard.

"Your majesty! The birth went without complications; congratulations on becoming a father of girl twins."

The female doctor said, making Aegis freeze, for a while, Aegis just stood in the place until he moved, his movement becoming faster as he entered the room where the exhausted form of Willow, his mother, and lover, now the mother of his own children laid on the bed, completely exhausted, yet with an expression of utter happiness and joy as she held two bundles in each arm...

"Son... Aegis, come, and take a look at your work."

Willow said with an exhausted yet happy voice as she looked at Aegis, who slowly walked to her, and as his eyes rested on the two little things that were wrapped in two blue towels of the highest quality, his eyes watered as his lips trembled...

"I... I..."

Aegis couldn't find words, for the first time in life, Aegis couldn't find the right words as he looked at the pale little things, already, he could see sparse little white strands of hair on their heads and their blue eyes...

"They... They're beautiful..."

Aegis managed to say with a trembling voice, all those around looked at him, never they saw Aegis look...

So vulnerable, so unsure...

It was a new thing to both the Aegis family and to the nurses and doctors in the room...

Yet, somehow, this sight that would be leaked out to the public would just enhance Aegis's position, after all, no matter how cold Aegis looked, a man that cried on the first sigh of his children couldn't be bad to most people's eyes...

His trembling hands reached for each girl's cheek, tenderly touching them, one looked at him with shining eyes, as if she recognized him as her father, smiling at him...

The other, the other had a face baby shouldn't have, it was a face of pure shock and or dread...

But Aegis... Aegis didn't care as his tears streamed down his face...

"You... You are my children... My children..."

Aegis whispered with a shaky voice, his hands touching the pale cheeks of his girls, one made a gurgling sound as she happily reacted, and the other started to cry, yet Aegis didn't stop, nor did Willow make him stop, as she looked how her son and father of her newborn children shoved side she never saw in him, Willow knew her son could be gentle, but seeing this side, this vulnerable side was new for her, and Willow smiled, truly, she knew Aegis would come by a loving father, maybe not excellent, but loving surely he would by...

Of that, Willow was certain...