A World Outgrown (Finale)

Rowan had talked with Camille and Emily before he left Raid tower for what would be the last time, he gave them the same coordinates that Feng had given him for the relay station that would be located on this planet and told them when they would need to meet him there. They both nodded, as they had their own things to do as well before they left this world and, just like that, they were off. Rowan was flying in the sky towards the one location he thought would have a single inkling as to where Akari went.

Rowan flew down and in front of a two story family home as he walked up to the front door with light steps. When they were younger, Akari had taken him to this building. It was the home that she grew up in, the only home she had ever known. It was the best place to start the search and maybe the only real viable option that he had left.

The entire house was falling to pieces, but it had looked like this even before the apocalypse. The door hung open with a creak as it swayed in the wind but the first thing that Rowan noticed was that the dust was so thick past the threshold of the building that he could clearly see footprints in the dust of the house that coated the entire thing. Rowan didn't have to look long to find the clue that he was looking for.

There was a crimson knife impaled to the wall with a note written in blood red. "Meet me at the place where we first met." There was an orphanage on the outskirts of the city that Rowan and Akari had met in, it was in a scenic location actually it was a mansion that was donated by some billionaire that had simply one day vanished from the city but the building itself was this mansion that had been repurposed with hundreds of rooms, every child had their own room unless they were too young to stay alone. The orphanage had not only been where they both met, but had been a kind place to them both during the darkest periods of their lives.

Rowan took the knife and the note and vanished from the house just as quickly as he had come as he sped towards the outskirts of the city. Rowan was fast, and this world was tiny compared to his master's domain. He was nothing more than a blur as he breezed to his destination in a matter of moments. Rowan looked at the building and realized exactly why Akari would want to meet here. The orphanage was another location important to Rowan, but after he was done here and moved on, he had hardly looked back. He donated funds to the orphanage, but he had not appeared back here since the day he was finally able to be on his own.

Rowan reached the border of the grounds and immediately realized that something was off. There was a layer of blood red runes on the ground that formed a semicircle that blocked the front of the grounds. It had formed some type of barrier that nothing could pass through, but Rowan stood in front of it waiting for something to happen for close to ten minutes when he decided to walk through. Rowan took one step and felt some resistance that seemed to stem from his blood, which caused his own bloodline to act up in response. The barrier managed to trigger the primal portion of his bloodline as a massive falcon formed behind him and let out a raptor call that released itself as a vermillion wave that shattered the barrier like it was glass.

Rowan kept his stride and walked right towards the main building, the barrier had blocked it before but now things were different, and without the barrier he could see that two hooded men stood at the entrance of the facility with blood red spears in their hands and when they saw Rowan they signaled someone inside which led to a short alarm playing before 20 people strode from the interior of the mansion and formed tunnel for him to walk down. Rowan was confused. He had never seen these people before, not in the least, but all of them seemed familiar. He was sure of it. The bigger thing was that each of them had a single defining feature that he couldn't help but notice. They each had crimson eyes and sported a pair of glistening fangs.

Rowan walked through the front door and there was a butler there to greet him. "Young master Raid, the Queen is just beyond the double doors in the back she is awaiting your arrival." Rowan never acknowledged the man, not because of rudeness but because he had too many questions now and ultimately, he already knew where Akari would be. The ball room in the mansion had been remade into a recreational room for everyone that stayed here with games for all ages, including some of the newest video games. It was where he and Akari had spent most of their time growing up.

Rowan reached the door and waved his hand and a gust of wind pushed it open before his hands even had to touch it. It revealed a room much different than the rec room he had grown up in. Now it was the throne room to the woman that meant the world to him. Akari somehow was even more beautiful than the last time he had seen her. Her hair was now a dark black but with highlights of crimson throughout it and her already busty chest was even more apparent, partially due to the beautiful crimson dress she wore. Her skin was as perfect as the last time he had seen her, but she also released this steady pulse of mana that even he could feel.

Rowan made eye contact with her as he walked up towards her, while at the same time, he took in her surroundings. A dog or wolf, he couldn't tell as it lounged by her feet , but it also gave off a slight mana pressure. Then there were several figures standing in a v shape behind her, with her chair being the point of it. He could not see most of them, just the first two. To her left was an African American woman that Rowan knew as well a blond-haired, tan skin young man that Rowan knew as well, which allowed him to connect a few more dots.

Rowan finally looked at Akari, who held his gaze, her eyes never leaving him from the moment that he walked through the door. Rowan smiled lightly, but his words came with a certain sense of melancholy and heaviness. "You always were more caring than I could ever be Akari. Of course, you came back to save our old home." The man with blonde hair clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. "How typical of Rowan Raid. If his money can't solve it then forget it." Rowan didn't bother to turn away from Akari, he wanted to take her entire image in and imprint it in his soul. He was not dumb. He knew how this would go. "Yea, Tyler, I missed you as well, your welcome for all the donations." The man known as Tyler was childhood friend to him and Akari, and the son of the orphanage director.

"You never did get your father's disposition, Tyler, truly unfortunate." Tyler went red in the face and took a step forward when Akari held her hand out and he stopped in his tracks. Akari's voice had changed but only slightly, but she had a certain divine quality to it. "His father died during the start of the apocalypse, and had to be killed by Tyler." Rowan shrugged, much to several people in the room's surprise. "That's unfortunate, but still true none the less." Everyone's jaws collectively dropped as this time when Tyler jumped forward. Crimson strings burst from the black armor that adorned his body before twisting into a spiked mallet. Then a fiery red light wrapped around the whole thing as he swung it down towards Rowan's head with his eyes a fiery crimson glow.

To Rowan, it looked like a child was swinging an oversized hammer at him, one of the squeaky kinds. He never even bothered to take the threat seriously. He looked at Akari as he stepped into the attack and reached out with one hand and caught Tyler by the face before mercilessly slamming him into the ground over and over again. His armor cracked and his weapon vanished before he fell unconscious, but he was bloodied and lying in a heap on the ground when Rowan kicked him out of the way. "Akari, don't you think we should have this conversation alone?" She nodded to him, which was all the room needed to start to clear out the woman Rowan had pointed out before pulling a wand from her robes and waving it, causing Tyler's body to float and follow her as she looked at Rowan and winked. "She was Magdalena, or mags, as Rowan and Akari both called her and were Akari's best friend.

The moment they were all let out of the room, a smile lit up Akari's facer as she stood up and let out a massive sigh. "Holy Shit Rowan this whole queen thing is fuckin tiresome, my god, ya slap the title on something and everything gets so official and all these people are expecting me of all people to have things to do for them, all I've got is the damn system to help me, shit its exhausting Row." Rowan smiled, there his best friend was, for a moment he had started to think that she was actually gone. He wrapped her in his arms and hoisted her up in a massive hug, which, in turn, caused her to giggle. "You've changed Rowan Raid, I might say for the better. Now tell me about it all and I'll do the same."