Chapter 336: Contact
"I knew it! I knew there was something wrong here!"
"..."
Paragon watched as Empress started walking around his now ruined office. She didn't seem to care that she made a mess at all; grabbing one of the sofas she caused to tumble to the floor when she rushed towards Paragon and placing it upright, sitting on it while surrounded by everything else she destroyed.
"Aerith wouldn't just suddenly come back out of nowhere and then conveniently find someone like you," Empress repeatedly let out sighs, enough to fill Paragon's office with her breaths, "I knew something was also up when I asked Dom what else he had to do for Aerith. He also forged your identity!"
"..."
"But why… why would he bring another Themarian here?" Empress then turned her head towards Paragon,
"What are you doing here?"
"You should ask Aerith that."
"Wait… is she your real mother?"
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"...I'm her Themarian lover," Paragon took in a deep breath as he closed his eyes.
"...What?" Empress slightly squinted her eyes, "What do you mea–"
"What happened!?"
And before Empress could continue her words, Paige and the Baby Crew suddenly barged into the office,
"Are we under attack again!?" Paige was the first to step inside; her clothes, once again imitating Paragon's outfit.
"What's going on, Empress!?"
Hannah and the others also quickly jumped inside, their eyes surveying every inch of the office in no time; with Gary even rolling on the ground as he entered for some reason.
The 5 were previously just chatting in the lobby when they heard a loud noise strong enough to shake the entire building coming from the top floor. They truly thought they were under attack again as soon as they saw the state of Paragon's office…
…but as soon as they saw the two just calmly sitting through the mess, they all could not help but drop their arms in confusion.
"What… the fuck happened here?"
***
"T… today was crazy, wasn't it?"
"You will get used to it, Paige."
"It's… not that bad."
Paige and Riley were now back at their penthouse. Empress quickly cleared out the group's confusion by telling them that Paragon just wanted to spar with her– one of the strongest supers in the world.
In which she completely surprised them by telling them that it was a draw. Of course, Empress said this so that if Paragon ever accidentally releases his full strength as a 'Themarian', Hannah and the others wouldn't be too surprised.
The Baby Crew still wanted to stay, but Empress told her that they'll be frequenting the agency every day anyway– what they needed now was to find a place to stay. And so, with a slight reluctance, Paige said her first goodbye to the members of the Baby Crew; still not sure…
…how everything turned out like this.
"3 days."
Paige and Riley were outside on the terrace, overlooking the crowded and bright lights of the city. They couldn't really see the ocean and their agency from where they were standing, but Paige was still looking towards the horizon where the agency building should be.
"3 days and my life is completely different with you, Adam," Paige sighed as she leaned her head on Riley's arm,
"I… I wished I met you sooner. Or even yet, maybe we could have been siblings, you know. When I saw Hannah breaking down when she remembered Riley, I wondered how beautiful their relationship must have been."
"..." ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴡᴇʙ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ. ᴄᴏᴍ
"It was also really nice what you told her. Calling her a beautiful person and telling her that Riley would have wanted her to move on," Paige then walked away as she sat on the outdoor couch,
"You… you're a good person, Adam. Well, despite your impulse for violence, that is."
"..." Riley glanced at Paige as she started giggling,
"...Is that what you really think of me, Paige? A good person?"
"Yeah, I mean why not?" Paige patted the sofa, gesturing to Riley to sit next to her, "You helped me during the registration, you talk to me even though I always repeat what I say for hours on end… and you didn't even treat me differently even after I told you my past…
…most would have tried to leave as soon as they heard I'm like half crazy, and most did."
"..." Riley did not really say anything as he sat beside Paige.
"As pathetic as it might sound, even though we've only known each other for the better of three days, you… you're closer to me than any other people I've met. Thank you, Adam… really. With you…
…I can just be who I am."
"..."
"And I know… I know that you're still hiding a lot of things from me. I know you're lying to me about things," Paige once again leaned her head on Riley's shoulder,
"But know that I am ready to accept you too. You can show me who you are."
Paige then once again leaned her face closer to Riley's, their eyes, only inches away from each other. Paige stayed like this for a while, with seemingly no intention of leaning away.
As for Riley, he finally moved his eyes away after a few seconds and shook his head,
"Who I really am is something unacceptable, Paige," Riley sighed as he rested the back of his head on the sofa; causing Paige to slightly lose balance and fall on his lap. Paige, however, did not move and just stayed there instead of moving away– even resting her leg and stretching it on the sofa.
"There is no person in this world that is completely unacceptable, Adam," Paige said as she too, looked at the sky and stretched her hand towards it, "Surely, there… there's someone you've shared your true self with? A friend? A… girlfriend?"
"I did show my true self to someone very dear to me."
"Oh? Tell me about–"
"And she killed me for it."
"..."
"..."
"That's tough," Paige then let out a sigh as she shook her hand, summoning dozens of bubbles that looked like they had butterflies flying inside of them,
"I won't do that to you, Adam. Even though I've only just met you, I promise to you and myself that I will never betray you," Paige breathed out as she looked at Riley's face, before gently trailing her fingers on his mask,
"It's fine that you hide your face with a mask. We all have masks– what's important is that you yourself know who you are even underneath it."
"..."
"..."
"I… I learned that from my shrink, by the way," Paige then let out a giggle as the bubbles started flying around them; with Riley popping one of them and letting the butterfly rest on his finger. The two then stared at the butterfly… letting the seconds go by in silence.
But after a few seconds, the small smile on Paige's face disappeared; her eyes, slowly widening as they looked back and forth between Riley's face and the butterfly sitting on his finger.
"Y… y… you," Paige then quickly sat up, causing all the bubbles and butterflies to instantly disappear as her face was once again only inches away from Riley's,
"Did…
…did you just pop the bubble?"