Who is coming?

A warm feeling enveloped me. It was the signal to come back to my senses.

I clenched the small marble in my hand as my senses once again spread around. Rose's soft hug cleansed my mind. A faint smile appeared on my face as I turned around to look at her brown eyes.

I turned around, She kept her hands around my neck. I surrounded her waist with my arms in an intimate way and kissed her neck breathing her smell.

Her sweet voice sounded near my ear.

"Are you sure that this is what you want?"

I could feel her shiver between my arms as she asked, but I had no doubts. This was not a decision made by my mind, I knew all the time that leaving Hayley here would only weaken us. It was my heart, the one that made this decision.

I love Rose and no one else, because of that, I can't take Hayley with us.

I tightened the hug and whispered in her ear.

"A thousand percent sure."

Before she could answer, I sealed her lips with a soft kiss. Unfortunately, that moment didn't last as much as I wanted. Footsteps were coming from the stairs, the door was pushed wide open, and the sound was followed by a fake gasp of surprise.

"Ah! Sorry to interrupt, should we come back later?"

Hope didn't miss her chance to tease us, G was already used to this kind of scenes, but that didn't mean that he liked it.

"Not necessary, we have a lot of time, right?"

Rose smiled at me and nodded.

"Lots of time… let's start the training, we have a lot to talk about during dinner."

Both Hope and G seemed confused by her words, but they knew that whatever it was, they will hear about it soon.

______________________________________

After taking a shower, I went back to the dining room. The table had some food plates. Thanks to the greenhouses in the city and the power of an esper that I don't know, they can grow vegetables in a stable rhythm.

The scene in front of me was almost the same as usual. A little 8-year-old girl was using a feather tied to a cane to play with the cats… Dante was just looking at them, but for some reason, Cai-Cai seemed to be having the time of her life.

On the table Gerard was filling Emma's plate with food while talking something about a new café near the south gate, Hope was in her own world eating French fries with a big smile on her face weirdly laughing to herself.

Isabella was talking about cooking with Rose. The door opened, and Sophie came into the apartment.

"Sophie? I didn't know you were coming."

Isabella stood up and looked at me. I didn't know about it either.

"Yeah, I thought that you were in a mission training with Kamila."

"Hayley came a few hours ago to relieve me… she said that you needed to talk about something tonight and that I should be here."

That makes sense.

I planned to go there myself to talk to her. I needed to explain to her a little more about the system and other stuff before asking her if she was coming.

"I've planned to go there tomorrow, but since you are here… I should start with my power…"

After that, I explained to her about the system and how it works. The tickets, the party (which now had an open spot), the faction which is about to be upgraded, and most of the core functions.

"That's so cool!! I'm part of your clan!"

The reaction went as expected… but the key to this was the next part.

"As I explained, I have a mission function that gives me some clues about the future… right now, thanks to it, I know some things. For example, I know that Isabella's husband is alive, the same as my mom and their parents."

I added the last part as I pointed at G and Rose.

"Also, I know about the danger that the NDR represents and that they plan to take over Aurora City soon."

Sophie might be young, and the mention of our parents made her sad, but she was smart and knew where this was going.

"When you will leave?"

"We plan to leave after the new year. I want to know if you are willing to come with us. Also, this is what I wanted to talk to everyone…"

I swept my gaze, looking at everyone in the table.

"I don't know what to expect of this journey, probably we will not travel to Asia yet, this trip will be around North America, we will focus on two objectives, finding Isabella's husband and stopping the NDR. We can't let the NDR run rampant when we leave the country, so we must take care of it before leaving. We will likely come back to Green Shelter at least once before going to China."

They were looking at me. Isabella was deep in thoughts the same as Sophie. On the other side, G, Hope, and Rose didn't show any reaction.

"No one needs to come if you don't want to, Isabella, I know that you are worried and it's your husband… but it will be a lot safer for you and Dana to stay here. As I said, I plan to come back, and we can bring Jay back with us at that time, also as my power develops, I might find a way to teleport here even sooner."

She nodded, I could see in her eyes how much she wanted to come with us, but she knew that putting Dana in danger wasn't worth it.

"Hayley and her father will stay here too, no one need to answer me now but keep in mind that this is going to be dangerous and even if here we are among the top Espers, other cities will have their own powerhouses, and they will have their own Hamiltons or Jamies."

Sophie seemed a little confused by those names, a lot of what happened, and power struggles were hidden from the people. They just saw the beast as the enemies but some people… like Jamie, were worse than animals.

Isabella nodded at the mention of Jamie… she was kidnapped once by people like that, so she knew how dangerous it was, particularly for someone without an Esper power like her.

"Who is Jamie?"

She heard about Hamilton before but had no idea of who Jamie was. After a short explanation, she nodded, with what she already knows about Hamilton. She had an idea of what to expect of the outside world.

"You don't need to answer now, sleep on it and tell me when you are ready, but remember that the danger you will be exposed to is a lot worse than what you have seen until now.

Once again, I turned my head, this time to look at my best friend, before I spoke with Hayley, I didn't have any doubts about this trip, but the more I thought about it more and more doubts I had.

"G… I don't know how to do with Emma, I know how you feel, but I think it wouldn't be good for her to come with us. You can stay here with her if you want, you can come with me when we go for our parents."

He looked at me, feeling hurt about me doubting him, but I stopped him before he could ask.

"Just think about it. And that goes for everyone."

I added, looking at both Rose and Hope.

"Idiot… what is there to think about?"

G said.

"I know well what I get into... but if I don't go, who is going to cover you as*? Emma will stay here. I already talked about it with her, and she seems to be ok with it."

I have no idea how much Emma has recovered, but she nodded without making eye contact. Rose rested her head on my shoulder, I knew that she was coming with me no matter what happens the same at Hope. Being honest, the only question mark at this point was if Sophie would be the one taking Hayley's spot.

Hope seemed to think about something and asked.

"Since we have some open spots, can I bring my boyfriend?"