48 Aftermath

Helena watched with her eyes wider than perhaps they had ever been as Al's shout shocked them all. From the corner of her eye, she saw that some were even so confused that they were scratching their heads, forgetting that they were supposed to be the senior officials of this company, and in fact, she, herself, found it hard to recall that she was the head of them all.

He celebrated for a few moments, oblivious of all the people ogling at him. When he finally began to recover, a slightly sheepish expression entered his face, and with a smile still on his lips, he said, "That was all? I thought you couldn't pay me anything! I was sure that I would be sent out of here without even a sip of water…but you're giving me so much! Why do you still look so dejected? You've done more for me than I could ever have imagined, Madam Helena! If this hadn't happened, I was going to eat rice without— er, forget about that. I'm rich! I'm rich! I'M RICH!"

He looked like he was tempted to jump again, but he controlled himself this time. When Helena had been planning this meeting, she hadn't factored such a thing happening, at all. She had expected hate, dislike, and even curses being spewed at her that she had decided she would take with equanimity…but joy? It had never passed her mind, and as she saw it now, she found herself almost smiling, too.

She stopped the smile in its tracks, though, as she suddenly realized that perhaps…he hadn't really understood what he had missed out on. So, standing up, she touched his shoulder to draw his attention and said, "Listen to me clearly, Al. If the end of the odyssey had also been broadcast…you would have been the star of the entire world, right now! It was so good that we had so many people talking about it, and so much buzz that you would have reached the peak in one go…but all of it amounted to nothing because of that man!"

Al finally grew thoughtful, and seeing him, Helena braced herself, knowing that it was time for what she had thought would come. Only…after a few moments, with an even broader smile, he said, "I do understand, madam. Yes, it would have been better if that had happened…but because it didn't, why feel sad? I did anticipate that there might be some trouble due to the background of the heroes. I even thought that you might hang me out to dry because of their influence…so I'm really glad that no such thing happened! I believe in you! After seeing you just now, I know that you must have done everything that you could have! As for what I have missed…well, I'm confident that I can gain it by myself later on! I've still not even completed my initiate odysseys! I'm gonna have plenty of chances… and because I don't need to worry about money, I can do whatever I want! Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything!"

As she heard him speak so honestly… Helena finally understood that she had been wrong, all along.

More than anything, relief appeared in her mind. A few tears even came to her eyes, and before she could think about it, she stepped forward and hugged him.

He froze in her hands, but she didn't care. His lanky height made it so that her head rested cozily on his chest, and it felt so good that she exhaled and almost all of the negative feelings she had been holding in flew out with the air.

When she stepped back, it was only because she became conscious of all those looking on. A deep blush entered her cheeks, and looking up, she saw Al's eyes fixed on her. He was already blushing harder than her, and as soon as she saw that…she burst out laughing and exclaimed, "You're really something, aren't you? Yes, you're right…and I'll make sure you'll have all those opportunities, and more. For now, though…excuse me. I'll find you later!"

She half-ran, half-walked out of the room. Soon, she reached her office, where she collapsed into the chair.

She might have seemed composed…but in truth, she had been only a moment away from almost fainting as her heart had been beating as fast as if she had run a marathon. Clutching it, she stayed where she was…but try as she might, she couldn't stop herself from remembering just how good that hug had felt, and then blushing, again and again.

…

An hour later.

"There he comes! Wait…why does he look so happy?"

Standing in a dark alley near Al's home, Joseph frowned as he saw the tall boy walking down the street, occasionally jumping up and even skipping forward as if he was the most joyful person in the world.

He kept looking at something he was holding, and he seemed as if he didn't care what anyone watching him thought. He soon entered the apartment and disappeared from his vision, but Joseph still stared at the doors for a few moments, still unable to figure out what was happening here.

"So…is that the guy who missed out on a meteoric rise? He looks more like someone who won the lottery. Are you sure you don't have the wrong fucking boy, Joseph?"

A rough voice behind him made him turn around and frown.

There were four individuals in the alley along with him. The one closest to him was the one who had spoken.

He was as tall as Joseph, with an eye patch and a grizzled face with more scars than wrinkles. He was missing a tooth, and Joseph was sure that in his entire life, he hadn't spoken once without cursing in some or the other way.

Behind him was a bald man with a bald eagle on his shoulder. Both of them looked quite old, but the might they had once had could be spotted in the brief flashes of clarity that appeared in both of their eyes, in sync.

Last in the gang were twins, both sporting shoulder-length, white hair and similar leather jackets. Both of them were also missing their thumbs on both of their hands, but despite their disability and their age, they had goofy smiles on their faces.

"Wait here. I'll go find out."

"You call us for a fight, and you want us to fucking wait? I was all pumped up to go out in a blaze of glory! I—"

"Shut up. Go on, Joseph."

The bald man's deep voice instantly made the other stop. With a nod at them all, he walked to the apartment and headed straight to Al's room.

Soon, he was knocking on the door. As soon as it opened…his nephew jumped onto him with a squeal of delight, and it was all Joseph could do not to look as confused as he felt.

Al stepped back after a moment. Joseph saw that he was grinning so wide that his face almost split in half, and after pulling him inside, his nephew closed the door and exclaimed, "I won, Uncle Joseph! Well, sadly, you won't be able to see it…but I won! And I'm rich! I'm so damn rich! Woo hoo!"

He still had the paper in his hands, and Joseph finally saw what it was. It was a check written to his name with the figure of $200,000, and after seeing it, he asked, "I was watching the rest of it, boy. I'm sure the ending must've been great. I also saw how popular you were starting to prove…so don't you despise the one because of whom it won't be airing? Don't you want revenge?"

Joseph closely studied Al's face. When he stopped speaking, a faint trace of disappointment and frustration appeared in those eyes…but in an instant, they were both swept away.

Without exposing any emotion, Al gave his reply in a steady tone.

"Of course I despise him, uncle. But as someone with so much power…he is justified to do something like that to me, who has no power. It won't always be like this, though. One day, I'll have a chance to get back at him…and then, I won't hold back. Until then, though…why despair, when I have so much money? I'll give you a party! I'm almost 18, so can I have a beer, too?"

Joseph could only look on, for a moment. For a second, it seemed as if he wasn't seeing Al, but a different man with the same conviction and the same confidence in oneself.

'He is truly your son…'

As the thought came into his mind, he shook his head. A smile finally coming on his face, he indulged his nephew for a few moments, then excused himself saying that there was no one at the shop.

As he walked back into the alley, Joseph was chuckling to himself. The others all looked at him curiously; they had seen just how angry he had been when he had called them together, and as squadmates who had danced with death together, they had vowed that they would everything in their power to support him.

Only, when they heard him speak, they couldn't help but gawk, then laugh.

"He doesn't need us. He doesn't! Let's go back, boys. He'll get his revenge himself…and I'm counting on it. I hope I live to see that day, 'cos when it happens…the Dragon's face is going to be priceless."