Chapter 38

Jill's house was bigger on the inside than what William had expected. Then again, any house was bigger than the small apartment he used to live in. He had been living with her for well over two weeks now and he still hasn't gotten used to the house. A house that according to her had been a gift from a rich organization she used to work for. 

William made his way to the kitchen, passing the flat screen T.V. on the wall. The news was on, covering the events from three weeks ago. It has been repeating the same information for weeks now, dubbing the incident the Fall of New Miami. The explosion had killed over a hundred people, mostly Royals, injured dozens more, and left High District in a pile of rubble. The World Government - a government composed of governors and rulers from every country around the world - moved in to sift through the rubble. Those that had survived the incident were forced to evacuate, leaving thousands homeless. Spectre had succeeded alright, but at what cost? The Lord Ruler was pronounced dead, though his body was never found, the dome had been destroyed and the secrets of its creation lost. But so many had died, and many more were left injured and without a home. New Miami was no more than ruins now.

William opened the refrigerator and grabbed a six-pack of beer. He walked up the T.V. and turned it off. New Miami was in the past now.

"I wish I could've seen it." 

He turned to see Jill enter. God she was beautiful with her blonde hair tied into a ponytail, her blue eyes almost glowing in the daylight. "Seen what?" William said.

She approached him, a gorgeous smile spreading across her face, and kissed him lightly on the lips. "That place you told me about." She said, "In Garden district, remember? You invited me to a date there." She paused, looking at the T.V. "It's all gone now." 

"Jill, I…"

"She grabbed the beer pack from his hands and urged him out. "Come on, everyone's waiting outside. Today is a day to relax and forget the past."

William smiled and nodded, kissing her. "Yeah." After her daughter Remi had rescued him, and the worst was put behind them, she became his girlfriend. Turned out, she liked him as much as he liked her.

Outside, every was indeed waiting. They were all sitting around a long table, enjoying the day with food and drinks, in a celebratory mood. Claudia was at the far end of the table, sitting next to Zale. Maya was half sitting on Jake's lap, laughing at one of his jokes. According to Claudia they had survived the explosion, barely, thanks to Obex's ability. Though the man had died, his ability had saved Claudia and the others.

"To Obex!" Zale said, raising a cup. Jake and Maya raised theirs. Claudia followed their gestured. "To the Guardian of High Tier." She added, and they clicked their cups together.

"Beers are here." Jill said, setting the pack on the table and starting to hand them over. Claudia took one, thanking Jill, then looking at William. She smiled, and he returned it with a nod. He took a seat next to Jill and her daughter. Remi was laying back on her seat, not paying attention to the others, looking up at the trees nearby. She had a look of sadness about her, and who could blame her. Today she turns 20, and due to Lunam's Law, she'll lose her ability tomorrow. William had thanked her many times for what she had done. For what she had risked in rescuing him. If not for Remi, and her teleportation ability, he would've died alongside the Lord Ruler.

"Hey, Remi, was it?" Zale said.

"Umm?"

"If you had the ability to teleport in and out of the dome without consequence, why didn't you do it sooner? An ability like yours would have definitely helped us deal with the Lord Ruler without…" He stopped for a moment and William knew why. With Remi's ability, they could've brought down the Lord Ruler and ended his reign without the deaths, or the destruction. Without the fighting. "You know. Damn, we knew of your existence, we could've escaped New Miami and kept out abilities."

Remi shrugged. "Mom wouldn't let me."

"I wasn't going to risk my daughter losing her ability." Jill said. "But once I learned from Wren that the dome was created by an ability, I figured it could be done."

"And good that it did." Claudia said. "It saved my brother's life. Thank you Remi."

Jill grabbed William's hand on hers. She tapped the Silver bracelet on his wrist. "It was because he refused to take this off. Remi's ability's limitation required a mark. She can only teleport to places she marks with her Aura."

"Speaking of." Zale said. "Will, can you still ignite your Aura?"

That had been the strangest thing. The Lord Ruler was thought to have broken Lunam's Law when he created the dome, but the dome had been just another ability. Lunam's Law is still held. Yet here was William. After Remi rescued him, he thought he'd lost his power after being teleported out of the dome. And to be fair, he thought so, since he couldn't ignite his Aura. but that had been due to the fact that the Lord Ruler had nullified, and after the effect wore off, William found he could ignite his Aura. Lunam's Law states that one awakens to an ability at 13 and lose it at 20. But here was William well past his 20s, under no dome, and still able to use his ability. In a way, the Lord Ruler had been right. Lunam's Law could be bypassed. William proved that it could be done.

"I can ignite it." William said, nodding. "But I can't replenish it." Normally, Aura replenishes itself much like one recovers one's stamina after a long sprint by simply resting. But his Aura wasn't replenishing. Each time he ignited it, he felt it burnout, like a candle. And once the candle burns out, that was it. "I maybe have enough to use my ability a couple of times, but that's it."

"Still." Zale said. "You were special before due to your rare ability, but now. Now you are practically a true freak of nature. If what you told us about the Lord Ruler is true, than he had done it, albeit unbeknownst to him."

"I though the experiment will be repeated any time soon." Jake said. "You would need Anna's and Remi's ability, both of which will be lost soon."

"Abilities are known to resurface." Maya said. 

"Anyways…" Jill said. "Enough talk about that. I have some news to reveal." She stood up, holding William's hand, and kissed him. "I'm pregnant. Congratulations. You're going to be a dad."