After throwing away Connors's body, Michael and Gaya left the dark forest with Nightmare accompanying them. Vedora stayed in the mansion as they planned. Gaya promised them to bring a lot of snacks and reading materials for Cain.
"Do you remember the times we went to buy some alchemy stuff for you in Bradford and Jade bitch messed with us?" She amused,
"Hmm" nodded Michael recalling the past events. It felt as though everything happened yesterday.
"That bitch Peyton spied on us. We spy on others, not the other way around. We should find her and make an example out of her before going to eww" she stuck her tongue out,
"school"
"No, Aria can take care of spying on her. We should leave for Mazeroth as soon as possible"
She was flying a couple of meters ahead of him but when he heard him, she flew closer to him. Her face showed signs of concern,
"You will be okay human. We are gonna find the dark elf in the tree and fix you"
Rather than speak anything, he just nodded. Positivity was the thing that kept him going ever since he was born. He couldn't think he won't be cured at all at this point. He had to stay positive and hope the dark elf in the tree would have answers for all of their problems.
Three hours of flying later, Gaya saw the outskirts of the Sunrise sect after a long time. The images of shabby buildings in the mountain range flashed across her mind as she flew closer and closer to the sect. Now the sect looked completely different. Alive, that was the word that best described the sect. Even from a distance, they could see the lines of carriages going in and out of the mountain, groups of nobles dressed in fancy clothes, youngsters dressed in their new black sunrise sect uniform, buildings built with eye-catching architecture, and neatly pruned trees and plants.
The mountain range was buzzing with chit-chatter of people. There was only a barren land void of buildings in the mountain which was supposed to have the main headquarters of the sect and a huge library.
"Remind me to draw plans for the main building and library" She directed her request towards Nightmare. The dragon was enjoying the flying and occasionally sticking his tongue out against the wind.
"Stop that brat"
Despite her warning, Nightmare kept sticking his tongue out.
Rolling her eyes at Nightmare, she descended towards Claire's manor which now acted as the headquarters. Claire dealt with all the sect business in her manor.
"Look"
"Brother Ghost"
"Is that Sister Aelia?"
"Yey she is back!"
"Oh my god a dragon!"
"They are back!"
The disciples on the ground cheered excitedly. The senior disciples who spent more time with Gaya and Michael were a little too excited. Those girls were jumping up and down clapping their hands together.
"You two have an important announcement to make, so go ahead. I'll deal with your fans club" Nightmare willed himself to grow a bit bigger. A few seconds later when they landed on the ground, he had grown into the size of a fully grown elephant.
"Hey guys"
"If you hug me"
Michael greeted them with a smile as usual while Gaya warned the girls not to hug her because they looked like they were going to squeeze her to death. Most of the disciples were stopped from reaching Ghost and Gaya by Nightmare. Of course, those disciples were happy to feel the scales of a dragon and remain so close to one. After this day, they could brag about them being friends with Nightmare which would surely let them land a girlfriend or boyfriend from either of the three big sects.
The corridors were lit with mini light bulbs which looked like the miniature version of chandeliers. Many of the lights were switched off or put out by the maids because the sun was rising on the horizon and soon, the mansion would be filled with natural sunlight.
As the narrow corridors opened up to the spacious hall, they saw little Cindy meditating on the sofa. Her eyes abruptly opened as though she sensed their arrival.
"Sister Aelia!" Cindy jumped up from the sofa so fast shouting in her childish voice.
"Brother!"
She leaped into the air and flew towards them with her hands wide open. Cindy wished she had bigger arms so she could hug both of them so tight. Gaya caught her in the mid-air.
"You've grown up. Soon, you won't be a tiny human anymore" Gaya ruffled Cindy's head frantically, making her neatly combed and pony-tailed hair into a mess.
"Ummmuuaaaa"
"Ummmuuaaaa"
"Ummmuuaaaa"
"Ummmuuaaaa"
Cindy showered Gaya with kisses. She cupped Gaya's face with her little hand and kept kissing her,
"Aelia" her rapid kisses were interrupted by Claire's voice. They looked up to see Claire climbing down the stairs. Her face was beaming in joy seeing Aelia after a long time.
Ghost snatched Cindy from her hands as Claire hugged Gaya without uttering a word. Michael squeezed her baby cheeks and gave her a kiss on the fluffy cheeks.
"Where did you go brother?"
"Aelia, I'm glad you are fine. Where were you? We were worried" Still keeping her in the hug, Claire asked,
"We are engaged"
Gaya avoided answering the question by stunning Claire. Gaya felt the hug getting tighter. Claire let go of Gaya and then grabbed her hands to see the ring on her finger,
For a few moments, Claire did not speak anything. She just stared at Gaya with utter shock. But soon, her face brightened up as she hugged her yet again even tighter.
"I am so happy for you two. We must celebrate this. Ghost come here" While holding Gaya in her hug, she reached out to hug him too. Since she was looking funny holding out her hand, Michael reluctantly joined the group hug.
After almost five minutes of hugging, she finally let them go. Cindy seemed confused about what made Claire so happy, She kept gawking at the adults in the room.
Ghost took the single-seater sofa while Claire forced Gaya to sit beside her. She squeezed Gaya's hand. Cindy on the other hand left the hall to play with her friends after giving everyone a loving kiss on their cheeks.
"You two enjoy your days before leaving for MAzeroth.Im gonna throw a huge party at Hades. We should invite everyone we know"
Usually, Ghost would have rejected Claire's idea. But this seemed to be a good way to get closer to Peyton and place the Spycam on her. Moreover, he could invite many important figures and spy on them too. Mazeroth was connected to Skyhall which was more powerful than the Great clans themselves. Hence, letting people know that he was connected with Skyhall through Mazeroth would boost his reputation as well as prevent the powers such as the three big sects from thinking of harming the Sunrise sect.
Even the Guardians might think twice before messing with him in the future if he was connected with Skyhall. Granted, Skyhall could be more dangerous to him than the Guardian guild. It didn't stop Michael from turning the invitation into an opportunity and a platform to spread his influence.
"We should do it, Ghost" Gaya agreed with Claire. Somehow Michael felt as Gaya also planned to use the party as a way to get closer to Peyton.
"Like it or not, you are a king now. And a king needs connections. Parties like these will get you just that" Claire was used to the wisdom of Gaya when it comes to managing. Be that it was managing the sect or the restaurant, she always had the best plans in her mind. Claire lost the count of times Gaya helped her with the problems in the sect.
"Besides, it had been so long since I ate Raylene's cooking" Gaya licked her lips. The fury in her eyes about Jack's death slowly disappeared after meeting Cindy and Claire.
"By the way, where is your grandpa Claire?" asked Gaya as the brightness in Claire's face slowly dimmed down,
She sighed, "ever since he came back, he's spending all his time in the Royal land library. You know, I do want to find mom and break the curse permanently. When he told me everything, I wanted to go to Awor myself and search for mom"
"What changed?" asked Gaya. She knew the pain Claire is going through. Her mother was alive yet Claire was too weak to look for her. That pain and helplessness would soon turn into a self-blame. Gaya didn't want Claire to go on the road of self-destruction.
"Everyone Aelia. Everyone told me not to rush and they are right. I can't get myself or grandpa killed or worse end up in prison. We need to deal with the problem cautiously. Any mishap and yet another tragedy would fall on us"
Michael and Gaya both felt pity for Claire. Although they wanted to help her, now was not the time to get meddled with the elves who were the most powerful race in the entire world. Going against them at this point in time would be nothing but suicidal.
"I'm glad you're being patient, Sect leader Claire. Focus on getting stronger, no one will mess with you if you are the top dog in the yard" said Michael leaning back on his sofa.
"And oh" all of a sudden, Claire seemed like she had remembered something,
"King Bredia's men are waiting for you in Bradford manor. You still haven't gone to check out the treasury"
He almost forgot about the treasury visit amidst his problems. This was the last thing he planned to do in Elon before departing to Mazeroth. He just hoped he would find something interesting in the treasury. Little did he know, he is going to find something that would make him the most dangerous man in the world.