Night came soon- the sky became dark orange, as the sun sank behind the outskirts of the city, Jenna and Grey moved into the building and went up to their apartment, it wasn't fancy but it was theirs, unlike others who had to survive the wraths of land lords, theirs had been bought.
Jenna stretched out and pulled the door- a familiar scent, met their nose, A wave of nostalgia washed over Grey. "Okay!!" she shot out her feet. Grey moved through the door, trailing his mother with a smile forced on his face, "ha..."
Later that night during dinner after Grey washed himself, Jenna picked up the discussion where tears had interrupted her back at the hospital. She told him of her report to the hunters, her face grimaced as she also added how they shrugged it like a mundane missing person case, "we'll get someone to look at it later."
The thoughts of the hunter who sat lazily at his desk chair agitated her, "lazy bum." She frowned as though Grey had never been in the room this entire time.
Jenna hit the table, the light flicked, her eyes teary, Grey looked at her with rage boiling underneath his skin as this was a side to his mother he hadn't seen in a while, he also felt sadness and a need to explain to her covering for the lazy hunters acts, "em…they only did that because they thought they could track him."
In truth, it was rather easy to track people down in this era. Ekrin and Aura had made their work effortless. Without doing much investigation, they could locate most people confirmed missing, as everyone possessed either Aura or Ekrin—even un-awakened individuals. This had made most hunters rather lazy, dulling their natural sense of observation and inquiry.
She raised an eyebrow in anger but then let out a reluctant sigh before speaking, "you're probably right…
You are the hunter expert after all."
Grey's stomach twisted in anger and a mix of shame, "ye…yeah, tomorrow I'll go take a proper look!"
He hurriedly finished his food and then took away the dishes leaving Jenna seated at the dining room, alone to her thoughts, he washed up and ran off to bed, he wanted to cry but he had already spent most of his tears at the hospital, his mind wasn't that weak anymore, even if he really wanted to- it seemed difficult, but as Jenna walked down the hallway-steadily and opened his door even though she was stressed she kept her routine. Grey's bang raised and her lips gently touched his forehead.
She smiled gently as she left off to her own room, Grey didn't want to believe it, but he knew her good night kiss was strange. It was something she'd normally do and he had also missed it due to being in the system realm for months, even when he knew he had out grown it. But something felt strange, was she just making sure he was still in bed or maybe the incident of Jay had scared her more that he realized, he slept in confusion.
The next day Grey had woken up early, he wanted to look for clues, and he had to do it quickly for today was… "Grey love, don't forget what today is." "Yes momm!" he yelled back with a mouth full of mouth wash, he spat down on the sink as he watched his mouth in a hurry. Minutes later he flung himself into his room after he had dabbed the moisture from his skin, he rubbed a towel on his head brushing the water from his hair; then stretched his face deep into his closet, contemplating on what to wear.
'What to wear, oh… What do I wear?' He picked up a white hoodie and some pants matching, which would fit his favorite hood, later he decided to compliment it with a casual jeans resembling the top he wore within his sleeves, then he moved downstairs to the kitchen where Jenna was, and picked up a slice of bread. Jenna's head tilted at him with a smile "Is that all you're going to eat?" "I'll eat later and besides I'm heading to Grandpa Hal's place." He jolted out opening the door loudly but softly shut it close.
"He might still be at home so I'll check there first," He rushed there fast traveling through the ruffs of the slum, for the streets were way too busy for him to move freely, he reached Hal's house sooner than expected, "I almost forgot, I'm now an awakened." Most of the time Grey felt like he had gone for months but evenly, now it felt like it was just several days.
He knocked slightly, "who is it!" Hal blurted out. "Umm…it's me Grandpa," the old man hurriedly opened the door after hearing a familiar voice. "Is that Greyson?" he asked. "Grandpaa… you're not wearing your glasses," Grey teased. "And it's me so you'll know, it's me." He laughed and gently walked passed Hal.
"Oh, I was in a hurry, so I might not have taken note of that."
Grey's gaze lingered around the house, "can I go up for a sec?" "Sure, but don't take long." Hal conveyed.
Grey who had already made his way to the stairs turned, "umm?" "Yeah I was planning to head out before you came, today's going to be busy so I better open shop." Hal answered. Grey ran upward, "okay, I won't take long."
Hal smiled squinting at Grey, 'good to see the boy in a good mood.'
Grey walked into the guest room he and Jay usually stayed in when they visited, 'so this was where he was last seen… unh? He stared at the room for a while trying to see if anything strange might catch his view. "Law do you see or sense anything strange?" his eyes widened at the silent room, he was quick to forget that Law was rather pissed at him. "Yeah right… you're really not going to talk to me again? so have I become a failed vessel for you?" he argued grumbling… "who're you talking to!" Hal's voice landed on him in consternation, He was standing at the entrance. "Haaa!! You scared the shii…! Oh it's you Grandpa."
He turned around in shock, almost cursing. "I was just rehearsing," "Rehearsing?" Hal asked. "What were you rehearsing about? You and I know you don't attend classes in any academy! So?" "Ha… what? don't lump me in with you." He explained, "I don't understand what you're saying, I'll be heading to the academy soon, so…" he returned trying to change the topic quickly but Hal smirked… "Oh…
and were you about to say shit… you know how bad your mom frown at cursing."
"Ummhhnn? Les…let's go I'll help you open up shop, you're going to miss the rush if we don't go now!" He hurried out pretending to not understand, while Hal trailed him laughing out loud. After a few minutes of trekking, they arrived at the market district. The district was filled with customers and traders alike, most of them were hanging around Hal's shop, a sign that they had been waiting. Hal brought out his jangling bunch of keys as he stared at Grey who chuckled softly pretending not to understand the situation.
The doors finally opened for business. Hal and Grey went in first, afterwards a horde of customers burst through the already closing doors. Grey stepped in front of the crowd in hopes of slowing them down so Hal could set up. He hurriedly turned on the power lighting up the entire shop, that had a faint scent of maintenance and renovation. As though something had clicked, the impatient crowd scattered, going on quick procurement runs, picking groceries and cooking utensils. Grey's face had already gone dark as he couldn't stop them from stretching past him, Hal hurried to the counter as he started his daily task in a rush.
Grey quietly moved towards the counter where Jenna said Jay had been standing during the attack, he shifted his weight down on one knee- inspecting the grounds for clues, he had a talent for observing. Meaning he paid more attention than most, in fact staring was his forte. He felt something nudged his hand, Grey observe the tiled floors scrutinizing ever detail, his gaze met a slit cut crack on the ground.
He smiled. 'I knew it! He had awakened, so he must have gone through the system training, around the same time I did.' His thoughts turned to how it must have felt for his mother to discover that her sons had gone missing. And Law wasn't talking to him now that his brother is in a merciless place. He cursed inwardly…
A phone rang, it was Hal's. He reached for his phone, still fairly busy. "Umm… hello… ha… oh!" His lips curled into a stiff smile while sweat trickled down his temple. "Grey! your mom wants you at the restaurant now. Something about you being late for the Hunter's Academy!"
A / N: I'm going to be releasing chapters at a daily basis from now on, so make sure to follow up daily. Give power stones and a review to keep me motivated, Thank you.