Chapter 73 - Telling the truth

Upon arriving home, Prime was greeted by Sara, who simply said "Hey" without even looking up from her phone. This wasn't anything new for Prime, so he just brushed it off. As he sat down on the couch and took a deep breath, Sara took notice.

"Something wrong? You seem a bit tense" Sara asked, noticing Prime's expression.

Upon hearing Sara's words, Prime briefly turned his gaze towards her before returning it to the ceiling. He wasn't sure where to start, or if he should start at all, but there wasn't much to say. In the end, Prime decided to be direct.

"I ran into the girls' father at the restaurant I took them to..." Prime began, pondering his next words. "Things took an unexpected turn and I ended up revealing my true form. I doubt anyone would believe him, or that he even remembers it, since he passed out as soon as he saw me... But the problem is I'm almost certain Annie saw me in that state... Honestly, I don't know how to proceed"

Upon hearing Prime's words, Sara just sighed. She had anticipated something like this might happen, but she didn't expect it to happen so soon. At most, she had imagined they could hide it for a month or two, but this totally exceeded her expectations.

"Now that things have come to this point, I believe the best course of action would be for you to tell her the truth... When she arrived, she didn't seem too shaken by what happened. In fact, it might just be me, but she even seemed happy for some reason" Sara said, with a hint of uncertainty in her own words.

Upon hearing Sara's words, Prime stared at her for a few seconds, clearly questioning whether her sight was okay or not.

"You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, but I'm sure of what I saw... Almost" Sara said, shrugging.

Sighing again at Sara's words, Prime leaned back on the couch, pondering what he should do. In the end, as much as Prime pondered, Sara was right. Although he had previously decided to tell the truth to the girls, Prime had to admit he felt unsure about being accepted by them.

Even Prime couldn't understand the reason behind this feeling, considering that since he got his new body, he had lost the ability to feel any emotion towards most humans, even in cases of death. This led him to believe that such a change occurred after the incident at the Xavier mansion.

Of course, it's not like he suddenly wanted to become a hero or something to save people. He didn't feel inclined to kindness on that level. At most, Prime might ponder a bit before taking someone's life, although he still believed he could do it without feeling many complex emotions.

Minutes later, as night fell, Prime, Sara, Annie, and Ema were all gathered in the living room. Prime and Sara occupied one side, while Annie and Ema were on the other. Since they arrived, Ema had been alternating her gaze between her father and older sister, as both seemed different since they had arrived.

"Girls"

When their father called them, Ema looked directly at him. Her new father was quite tall, at least from Ema's point of view. Moreover, he was extremely handsome, with his silver hair and blue eyes, the most beautiful Ema had ever seen. Although Ema felt a little sad for not having the same characteristics as her father, she didn't pay much attention to it.

Regardless, this was the perfect father for Ema. He was affectionate and genuinely seemed to love her. Even now, with a serious expression, Ema could sense a certain anxiety in him, probably related to what he was about to tell them.

Regardless of what happened, Ema was sure she would continue to love her new father. She didn't have good memories of her childhood: her father always intimidated her and was scary, often making Ema cry. Moreover, he treated her older sister badly, whom Ema deeply loved. In comparison, her new father was the best she could wish for.

"I want to tell you something... about me and, actually, also about Sara" as their father continued, Ema kept her attention fixed on his words.

"I'm sure you two must have seen videos on the internet about the appearance of a... red monster fighting against another green monster, haven't you?"

Ema just nodded in response to the question. It was hard not to have seen the video, given how quickly it went viral. However, Ema simply assumed they were visual effects or something like that. To her, the idea of real monsters would be the scariest thing possible.

"Before we proceed... I would like to know what you think about those monsters?"

Upon hearing her father's words, Ema became pensive. However, no matter how much she reflected, she always ended up reaching the same conclusion.

"They scare me" Ema replied simply.

"I personally don't care much..." Annie replied, shrugging.

After all this, Ema noticed that her father's expression seemed a bit crestfallen, but she chose not to comment.

"Okay, so what I wanted to talk to you guys about is related to this" Ema watched closely as her dad took a deep breath. He seemed even more nervous than before, though Ema couldn't quite put her finger on why.

"Actually... Sara and I are that red monster from the videos"

after her dad's words, the room fell silent. Ema wasn't sure if she had understood correctly or if it was a joke, but after a few seconds, she realized it was true as he remained silent. Then, Ema felt excited, her eyes started to sparkle like stars, and she quickly stood up, addressing her dad.

"Is that true? So, Dad has superpowers? Is he a superhero? Like Superman?" Ema asked, excited.

"Super what? Never heard of him" Prime replied, stepping back a bit as Ema practically closed in on him.

"Aren't you scared of me? Didn't you just say you find monsters scary?" Hearing her dad's words, Ema wondered why he was asking that. She didn't understand why she should be afraid of him.

"But Dad is Dad, right? Why should I be scared?" Ema asked, tilting her head to the side, confused.

Though puzzled by Ema's words, Prime felt a sense of relief. Besides Annie, he feared Ema might be afraid of him. However, to his surprise, Ema seemed to like the news even more.

"So... what exactly are you?" Annie asked, rejoining the conversation.

After hearing Annie, Prime pondered on how he should approach the subject with them. Instead of hiding certain information, he chose to tell the truth, recognizing the need for their trust in what he was proposing for the future.

"I'm a symbiotic life form from space... not entirely sure where I came from or why I ended up on Earth" Prime replied.

"Wait, aliens exist?" Annie asked, surprised.

"Probably? I mean, haven't seen any other alien besides him yet, but who knows, if he exists, I wonder what else might be out there" Sara replied, shrugging.

"That's exactly what I wanted to address. Also, it's part of the reason why I sought adoption. While initially my plan was to protect just Sara, that's changed a bit now. I consider you two my true daughters. I'm not exactly sure what happened in your pasts, but I hope we can rely on each other in the future. However, I'm not sure to what extent I'll be able to keep us safe while we're staying hidden in the future" Prime responded after a brief reflection.

Though Prime's current powers didn't match what he had initially, still he didn't feel like he could protect anyone. Prime recognized it was easier for him to destroy than to protect. Moreover, the properties of his new powers were somewhat strange to him. Currently, he could barely comprehend them fully.

"That's why I want to propose something to you two" Prime said, with a calm smile on his face. "I'll give you my power, and in return, I want you to protect each other and yourselves with it. That would bring me more peace of mind"

"Will I be able to protect Dad from the bad aliens?" Ema asked, her eyes sparkling like stars. "I'll be a hero who will save Dad!"

Hearing those words, Prime let out a laugh. Instead of thinking about protecting herself, Ema seemed concerned about protecting him.