31 (XXXI) Well Deserved Rest
An uproar broke out amongst the survivors in the underground shelter at hearing Samael's words, but he stood resolute in his choice. Ignoring their bombardment of questions.
"You can't be serious!!" Kyle shouted, forcing his way through the crowd and approaching the young man, brushing his son out of his way.
"I'm dead serious." Sam replied calmly, staring at the city's mayor, "You can either follow me or leave and seek shelter elsewhere."
"You just said there were monsters!" He yelled, shaking his head, "If what you said is true and they defeated the army, you can't expect us to stand a chance out there!"
"Then I think the choice is a fairly easy one." The young man countered.
"That's no choice, boy!" Kyle roared, growing angrier at the young man's audacity before him.
Sam grabbed Kyle by the collar of his expensive suit and dragged him out of the bunker, pulling him up the ramp to the street and throwing him onto his hands and knees.
"Look around!" He yelled, "Do you think you can lead everyone and guide us toward rebuilding our hometown?"
Kyle was silent as he gasped, looking around at the destroyed skyscrapers in the distance and the rubble of the surrounding buildings. He turned, staring at Sam in shock.
The crowd chased after them, rushing past the young man's companions as they raced up the ramp and looked around at the devastation that befell their home.
"I didn't think so." Sam spoke loudly, "You all will need to make a choice and make it soon. Either grab your things and evacuate to find somewhere else to stay or accept my generosity and follow me."
He didn't even wait for any responses as he pushed through the crowd, entering the underground shelter and sharing glances with his friends and companions.
The entire bunker, besides his mother, Dora, his friends from college, and the group that had been following him since the collapse occurred.
"Here." He said as he reached into his bag, pulled out an A Rank Beast Core, and handed it to Isaac, "Give this to your mother."
'Are you sure you want to do that?' Khrista asked him, shocked he would give away such a precious material.
'Yes.' He replied inside his mind. It was time for him to test another theory of his. Next, he pulled out another C Rank crystal and offered it to Amy; as she took it and awakened her Ability from his past life.
He turned to his friends, handing out orders to prevent anyone from entering. If they did not wish to follow him, they would escort them to their things and then out of the bunker.
If they decided to stay, they would receive one of the countless F Rank Beast Cores they had collected and could return to their cots.
They nodded their understanding, hesitatingly jumping to follow his instructions as he approached his mother and spoke with her...
***
Thirteen people stood around in silence in the center of a pitch-black room. Before them were 43 projections of older men and women wearing suits.
The futuristic doors behind the thirteen people slid open as Vitani casually sauntered into the room and joined his partners as they stood before the holograms.
"Is it finished?" A white man with a mustache asked, and all fourteen nodded once.
"Good." A woman replied, nodding as a dozen holograms agreed.
"You all will need to split up for the time being. Each of you establishing a base of operations across the planet." Another man said with dozens of medals decorating his coat.
"Leo, you head to New York." Vitani nodded and turned around, exiting in silence immediately.
Virgo went to London, Libra was stationed in Buenos Aires, Scorpio to Lagos, Saggitarius went to Cairo, Capricorn to Moscow, Aquarius stationed in Delhi, the siblings making up Pisces to Beijing, Aries went to Bangkok, Taurus in Bali, and the Gemini twins to Melbourne.
"Should we be trusting them this much..?" One of the holograms asked after all fourteen Zodiacs had received their orders and departed.
"They did come to us and warn us of the destruction of the planet..." An older woman replied.
"Not to mention allowing us to escape onto The Fortress and escape the destruction..." Another chimed in as a large group of the projections nodded.
"We will simply have to play this close to the chest..." The man who appeared to be the leader of the entire congregation said, looking around at the other projections, "We let them lay the foundations for us to return to power and dispose of them after they have outlived their usefulness."
"Agreed." A different woman spoke up, adding, "Our families have run this planet for centuries; we all know how to play this game."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and one by one, their projections vanished from the conference room as the planet's leaders disconnected their calls.
Each had been in a different wing of the colossal continental fortress that floated above the Atlantic Ocean. Hundreds of powerful engines roared as it sucked in the surrounding air, superheating and propelling it underneath the mammoth-sized flying structure.
The Zodiacs walked out of the fortress, standing in the center of a platform deck as powerful winds whipped past them.
They shared a brief glance with one another before each one unleashed an aura that corresponded with their sign before launching themselves off the platform and flying away in different directions.
Vitani was the last to leave as he watched his younger brothers and sisters depart before he leaped into the air, surrounded by a brilliant red aura, and flew toward the remnants of New York City.
***
Nearly everyone had chosen to accept Sam as their leader and follow him, receiving a Beast Core and being bestowed an Ability. A couple dozen people decided to risk it, collecting their things and departing as a singular group.
Despite the harsh choices, Sam did provide them with directions toward future settlements, basic instructions on the portals, and combat knives he had collected from the soldiers to defend themselves.
He sighed, placing his hand behind his neck and rolling it as the exhaustion from the prior night had started to bother him.
'Master, would you like a sensual massage?' Khrista asked him, and he shook his head.
'No. You cannot come out unless we are absolutely alone. I don't want anyone to know about you just yet.' He replied, looking around as the survivors chatted amongst their friends.
Samael yawned loudly, covering his mouth and briefly shutting his eyes as he stared at the list of names and abilities he had created of the survivors, working on creating a corresponding list of jobs and work schedules.
'You should get some rest, Master...' Khrista said, 'I understand and agree that there's a lot to get done, but you will be useless to everyone if you are unable to think straight...'
'You're right...' Sam sighed as he groaned, standing up and walking over to where the rest of his group had gathered; nearly all of them had passed out while looking over the younger members.
"You tired?" Ichiko asked, the only one still awake, looking up as he walked over and sat beside her. He nodded, and she smiled softly, talking for a minute before she felt his head fall against her shoulder.
She turned and looked at him, blushing heavily as she smiled, carefully grabbing his head and guiding him to her lap as her mind raced a million miles a minute.
