99 - Tour
Zion's smile cause Cassandra and Raven raise their guarded.
This man was about to do something, and he did. Zion stepped forwards, turning into a blur as he caught Cassandra by the back of her neck and turned to Rachel. His eyes sparkled as the girl had already jumped from the bench and hid in the shadow. Yet her very poor stealth was seen through with ease.
At his next step he caught her,
Now with the two kitten caught in his hand, he turned to the other. "I will show them around. Se ya latter!
Okay, Byeeee~"
Zion had already vanished through the corridor when his final words echoed.
"He is so excited," Harley jumped, mimicking Zion's excitement.
"Children," Nora commented with a small smile on her lips.
"Whatever," Ivy shrugged dryly.
.
.
.
Zion dragged the two kitten through the Castle against their will.
"It is about time you learn of the truth," Zion muttered, his hands holding up his two new kitten.
Raven and Cassandra mirrored their wronged expression. They looked very indignant and cute. Yet Zion could only control his urge to squish them and explain.
"Both silent, yet speak in different language. Empathic and Kinesic, one reads mine while other body. You both one of a kind, with guilt so great that you can only drown it with good and mercy."
Zion understood them both than they could even understand. A heart so kind it would rather kill itself before going against their nature. But he didn't need them as heroes. Not the kind the JL defined.
A rabid dog needs to be put down.
Raven and Cassandra looked at Zion suspiciously, one sensing his emotions, other his twitching grin.
"Raven, you have the potential to be the one, if not the greatest mage in this universe. Cassandra, you have the ability to understand action deeper than the skin, you speak it. Both of you are just the opposite side of a coin I could expect.
And both of you will be good company to each other. With your similar origin and unique upbringing will make you better sisters than blood born."
Raven and Cassandra didn't doubt his words this time, they could tell his truth.
"So be good and take care of each other. Moreover, you are not prisoners. Never. This is your home and you can leave whenever you want. Just take Barda or Nora with you, you will meet Barda later.
But you better return before night."
Zion continued his chatter as he dragged the silent children through the castle, Showing them the layout of the intricate structure.
"This castle was build to stand all things that are a galaxy level threat, so it should be safe. The Castle defenses, the Mechmorphs, should be able to deal with any mode of intergalactic fleet," Zion began to brag about his creation.
"The Castle itself is a Architectural marvel, created on the base of Kryptonian Sunstone mixed with my advance knowledge. It has many facilities. You have already seen the Atrium. It is one of the peaceful spots you will find in this castle. It also functions as Ivy's greenhouse for her exotic plant.
You need to unload some emotional burden, just talk to the plants. They are good listeners."
Zion added the last part with a mischievous smirk. Cassandra though looked very confused, her brain not comprehending Zion's unwanted chapper. Zion continued walking through the delicately 3D printed archway, leading them down a wide hallway adorned with ancient tapestries. Murals depicting the creation of the universe, a story of a kind god.
"Since this will be your home for the possible future, better memories the layout. If you can't, don't worry. Knock on the walls three time and tell it where you want to go. It will open a direct path,"
Zion explained so they would not get lost in this hive city.
They arrived at a set of massive doors, craved from dark crystals, and reinforced with golden filigree. The door opened naturally, with an unnatural silence for the massive size. Beyond them lay the training hall, a vast space filled with everything a warrior could ever need.
"This is your training grounds. I will train you both every other day, you can come here anytime to work up some sweat. There is also colosseum, but you better not go there. Its for older people." Zion said, lifting the kitting to show them their new playground.
The room was bigger than an auditorium, divided into several sections, On one side, there were padded mats for hand-to-hand combat practice, with weapons racks lining the walls—Swords, daggers, staffs and more exotic weapons like a Bazooka and Machine gun. On the others side were mechanical dummies programmed to simulate combat.
"The dummies will simulate real life combat without the endangering you life. If you want to up the challenge, the training ground can also simulate all kind of terrains. To give you additional challenge. You can also use magic in this room without constrain, the wall's were enchanted by yours truly, so even if Trigon come, he will be locked in here."
He then turned to the kittens to face him, staring into their eyes. "And unlike your parents, I am also trying to make you into deadly weapons. Just kidding. You will be trained so you don't end up dying to some stupid idiot on a ditch and disgrace my name."
Zion made sure they understood that before he turned away from the training room and continued the tour. They passed through another hallway, this one more exaggerated, enchantments glowing with power, engraving speaking of unknown truths.
Rachel could feel the energy oozing off these wall. And they were not to be trifled with. Yet she could not read the enchantments to say what kind of power sealed within. She could only expect a monster of ultimate power.
They stood before a mighty door again, words of language that could not be recognized sang songs. The door, unlike before, only opened when Zion stood a feet before it. The door opened with grandeur.
The room was towering, spirals of shelves reaching to the heavens, filled with books of unknown origin. The air smelled of parchment and ink, and the soft glow of ion lamps illuminated the space.
"This is," Zion said, spreading his arms wide, frightening the kittens. "is the library. It's the largest collection of magical, scientific, martial data. It also have the minor stuffs the Earth's library has, whatever whatever. you can also read some novel if you want.
On that note Cassandra, we will be working on your voice thing. I already healed it, so you will be working with me and your sister on that."
Cassandra looked at him a bit surprised, while Raven looked like she just found the shiniest toy in the world.
"All book are lock under age category," Zion bombed her joy before carrying them both away.
After they left the library, he carried them down a flight of stairs, the air growing colder as the descended to the lower level. The light turned floral green as a sterile scent filled the bay.
The crystal door slid open to reveal a pristine room filled with advance medical equipment. Healing pods that can do literally everything, hibernation pods, varieties of medial instruments arranged neatly. Wall lined with shelved containing potions, elixirs and other advance medicine.
"This is the hospital of this castle," Zion introduced.
"We've got everything here to take care of any injuries," Zion explained. "Magical wounds, physical trauma, illnesses—you name it. We even have advanced cryo-chambers for more serious recoveries. Nora, Victor and Ivy keeps this place in check with their expertise, so you're in safe hands."
Zion didn't stay any longer as the kids were healed of any trace of trauma when they entered his home. The healing was a bit extensive for Cassandra as he need to fully resynthesis a voice box and create a new neural path in her brain. So she will not lose her ability to read her opponent like a book while still learn to read and speak.
Her father was a Bitch{Couldn't find a better word}, but he is not going to take away her advantage.
They climbed back up the stairs and arrived at another grand set of doors. Zion pushed them open to reveal the dining hall—a long, elegant room with a high vaulted ceiling and a massive stone fireplace. A long table stretched down the center, surrounded by plush chairs.
"We will have our meals here, mostly breakfast and dinner as others have varying schedule," Zion added, before explaining how to get food. "Press on the table and you can order any kind of food. They are from Gotham's best restaurants."
Rachel's stomach grumbled at the mention of food, and Zion chuckled. "What would you like? but only a snack, J'emm invited me for dinner," Zion dropped rachel down and pressed on the table, the menu popped and he quickly selected.
Two wrapped sandwiches instantly materialized on the table on the plate.
"Eat slow, its still hot," He advised as he handed Rachel a sandwich.
He then turned, walking out the room. He didn't lift raven again as he let her walk on her own. But Cassandra looked very angry at him for that. He just handed her the other sandwich.
"Now be good and I will let you down," Zion booped her nose.
They continued onward, passing another corridor until they reached a staircase leaving to the upper levels.
"Both of you already know your quarters, you are neighbors so help each other. The room can be customized in every way possible, you can find a bot that roams the corridor if you need anything. I just hope its not all black and gloom," Zion advice as they finally arrived at a terrace.
"But now," Zion said, his voice deepening slightly, "Let's get to the part I'm most proud of."
He finally arrived at the top of the castle. There, they stood on the high tower of the Castle, overlooking the entire landscape. The stone battlements stretched out before them, and beyond, the land rolled into a mixture of mountains, forests, and rivers, all made of Black and gold.
"This," Zion said, gesturing to the view, "is My kingdom. built from my sheer ingenuity. A new breath in the Martian soil. A kingdom that would last a century. Oh yeah, you are in Mar."
He turned to his left pointing at the big dot in the sky. "That's earth. I will take you there sometimes."
Rachel and Cassandra gazed out at the horizon. The blue dot in the distance was like a dream. They were on entirely on a different planet. A distance they could not cross with sheer will.
"Okay, its time to go meet out neighbors," Zion said as he flung the kids from the terrace.
Psalm 32:8
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you."
*****
Notice: Restrictions.
Zion's power from hence forth will only be Omnitrix. I have been using other powers because it was convenient. So, due to some divergence and a good reminder. Zion would only be using Omnitix as his main power while Destiny would be used as an enhancement.
PS: Ben's aliens have small scale in power. Even Waybig is only planetary while the power scale jump to Multiversal with Alien X with no in-betweens.
So back to basics, aliens only.
My brain's going to be burnt.
And Hey, Its going to be 100 chaps, a milestone on this journey. It has been good one and the future may be kind to us.
God bless us all.
You can comment any question you have for me on this line, I will answer it on the next chap.
****
This is a review I got on Royal Road.
The scale of the story changes very fast, from meeting the heroes to fighting a war between planets.
MC is basically omnipotent and also is basically always right, or thinks he's right like a psychopath (depending on your interpretation) cos he displays all the characteristics of a narcissistic megalomania. He's only "good" because of the plot armor/writing. It's interesting to me but also boring, it reads like a Chinese novel where the guy becomes a gazillionaire and gets all the things he ever wants and also knows and can do all things. It's a character without any depth. The MC doesn't feel real.
The writing does become a little incoherent towards the later half, and a little fillery and repetitive.
I can't say he is wrong.
*****