Chapter 22 - Back To Love -

  At Dawn, when the two finally return to home . As usual , there is not much communication between the two , they are tooo tired to even think straight , much less talk.

  Exhausted and breathing heavy, Sewo returns to his bed , his back against the mattress takes away half the pain, “sigh...I feel like a corpse, I am too tired.” Sewo groans, talking to himself and to let Ceaser know that he will sleep in .

  Sewo shuts his eyes . A pitch black engulfs him , his mind drifts into imagination. A black and dull world, where Sewo appears white. A gentle river flows through the middle of a forest , the water is glowing , a beautiful sight to behold in the pitch black forest.

  The blue colored moon light is reflected in the water as Sewo reaches a certain open area. A woman who unlike the world, is shining in a vibrant light. The women walks around the riverbank and leaves behind a trail of a garden , there are butterflies circling around her, with a peacock dancing vibrantly, these creatures are just fragments of the woman. She brings life to where ever she goes.

  “That’s ... Theia?” his eyes open wide as the vibrant light from the woman shine brightly , The woman notices Sewo and walks up to him . Her gentle hands touch Sewo’s face. Her eyes turn black from Sewo’s reflection, tears roll down her eyes as she asserts“ I love you darling .... don’t forget about me.”

  Suddenly Sewo is sucked out from that world , as if he entered a forbidden world . The woman who now actually looks like Theia and is holding out her hand hoping to pull Sewo back inside .

  Sewo opens his eyes , a loud noise echoes across the room . “ Beep-Beep ... Beep-Beep... Clank” Sewo turns over and shuts the alarm clock. Ceaser is still in bed . Sewo gets up from the bed . His mind filled with thoughts about the dream world.

  He grabs a glass of water as he rests his against the counter top , then he drinks another glass and another and another.

  “hmm...so , woman , river , Theia is woman , called me to visit , hmm ... I think it’s been quite a while since we last met... hmmm” Sewo analyses his dream from what he can remember. It was a strange dream , but it felt real .

  After a bit of contemplation, his gaze shifts as Sewo seems to come to a conclusion, having seen a dream and not having missed her in so long, Sewo decides to head back to the merchant city and visit Theia.

  Ceaser wakes up sometime later and he notices a change in Sewo’s behavior. “ He usually seems quite energetic in the morning and is always quite eager to train , is there something going on with him? Should I wait to ask ? nah... let’s just ask .” Ceaser thinks to himself as he notices Sewo staring outside the window as he waits for Ceaser to make him breakfast.

  Soon the two sit down for breakfast and Ceaser questions Sewo’s behavior –“ Brother,you seem lost in your thoughts. Anything you want to talk about or let me know?”

  “Hmm... yes , there is one thing. I want to visit my lover . I will come back in a week. It’s been sometime since we last met and our relationship is new. So , I think it’s best if I pay her a visit once every now and then.”

  “You are going to check , to make sure she is still faithful to you?” Ceaser asked Sewo without much thought , it just slipped his mouth.

  “I don’t care if she is faithful to me or not. I never asked her for faithfulness. Her love is enough.” Sewo speaks his mind. He had never lived a normal life , so he was unaware of what being faithful and loyal and all these things actually mean. Having spend his teenage years in a prison , isolated from the world , he was not familiar with how to handle these emotions of love .

  “Well, that’s good, you don’t expect much so it’s hard to be disappointed. I hope things go smoothly between the two of you though . You should leave immediately then. Also , make sure that you are not followed as it will be troublesome if people know of your weakness , brother.” Ceaser ends the conversation.

  “Well , what’re you going to do in the meanwhile brother?” Sewo questions as he notices Ceaser put on his training clothes.

  “Isn’t it obvious? I will stick to our routine , I will also have more time everyday , to prepare that prosthetic arm for you. So...when are you heading out?”

  “ I will leave in 10-15 minutes ... I won’t take any clothes , food and water I can just find in the journey , so i will get ready and leave.”

  Sewo starting Wolfing down the pancake & eggs Ceaser made for the two of them. Not wanting to waste time , he even swallowed bigger bites with water and left the table to get ready to leave in under 3 minutes.

  “It will get dirty anyways, I will just wear something simple , which allows me to move freely.” sewo ponders as he looks at the 5 pair of clothes he has.

  Finally settling down on a white Shirt and a black jogger pant, which was baggy towards the end. He then gets leaves for the merchant city , his heart punding hastily from the excitement rushing into his mind, he keeps thinking about Theia , “Soon... pretty damm soon , darling... wait for me.”

  From when he first entered Blackwater , to now when he is headed back, Sewo has improved a lot. His stamina , running speed , his muscular stature, everything has improved significantly. The same distance he would take 1 day to reach in the past, he travels in 2 hours . “I have improved so much...brother’s training have definitely been worth it. When I go back , I? will devote myself to even rigorous training. ”

  He moves fast , sprinting at high speed for 20-40 minutes then at a slower pace for 40 minutes . It saves him from burnout , and every 4 hours he catches fishes or boars for food, ocassionally he even gets to eat mangoes from the trees near the path.

  After a long and intense journey , Sewo finally arrives in the merchant city after 2 days. He uses his worker license under the Iron Lily factory to get into the city as a worker.

  “It feels so different from that hell. I can finally relax and let my guard down, there won’t be someone trying to kill me or hunt me down and I will not have to kill anyon to rise in ranks ... it’s just me and my love , a vacation .”

  Sewo feels relaxed , after such a long time of always having ro be prepared for the worst case scenario, he is now free from those burdens, his shoulders feel relaxed ,he stretches his arms and takes a deep breath of the air in the city.

  I should buy something for her, I don’t know what she will want though ...... I will just buy her some flowers , I brought some money along , now I am glad I did.“

  He heads over to the Flower Market in the cosmetics sector of the city and when he looks at a flower shop , it has all variety of flowers , he doesn’t know the name for any . “Which one do I? buy, they all look pretty. I would buy them all , but I don;t have that much on me right now. I will just ask the shopkeeper.”

  “Hello Aunt, I want to gift this to my lover, I haven’t seen her in some while , which ones should I buy. I need your help with it , I don;t know much about flowers.”

  “ You could give her a bouquet of roses , they are the ones in red . You said it has been sometime since you met her though huh?”

  “ Yes, around 2 months.”

  “Tulips! I will make you a bouquet of pink and white Tulips. It will be perfect because Tulips are not that intense and over the top, but they look pretty and symbolise thoughtfulness and love.”

  “ Wow! Thank you for your help aunt. I? hope she likes them .”

  “ Kid, the flowers are not as important, if you’re both so in love , she will obviously be more happy to see you, the flowers show your efforts . In a good relationship it’s the efforts that count. Remember that , kid!”

  “Bitch just give me the flower, my wife is waiting for me.” Sewo thinks to himself as the woman starts to give him advices on relationships .

  “Yes, aunt I will keep that in mind. Please hurry up with the bouquet , I want to visit her as soon as possible.”

  “So impatient, young one. I get it haha. Wait just a minute.”

  The woman wuickly makes a bouquet for him and hands it over to Sewo.

  After paying for them , Sewo rushes towards the warehouse . “ I can not wait any more. Theiaaaaa .... here I? come.”

  Running through the streets without any care of what is around, Sewo arrives at the warehouse.

  The exteriors have been improved and there is a huge line of customers waiting to put on requests especially when the warehouse opened less than an hour ago. It was 10 am now.

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  As he walks inside the warehouse, the workers recognize him , one after the other , they start noticing him and there were a lot of new workers as well.

  “Is that sir Sewo you mentioned? He seems like a strong person.”

  “He looks young, maybe even younger than our boss.”

  “Someone should go inform the boss.”

  One of the worker immediately goes to the Boss’ room and knocks at the door to her cabin.

  “Come in.”

  “Miss... Sir Sewo has arrived just now.”

  Her gaze shifted from that of cold and calculated to that of love and longing. Her pupils widened and she immediately jumped up from her seat.

  “Call the manager to handle meetings, I will be taking my leave for the day.” Theia orders the worker , who then goes on to call Brent who has now taken up the position of manager and handle’s the organization’s efforts.

  Brent is seen to be hugging Sewo as the two greet each other when the worker calls for him under Theia's under.

  Soon Theia leaves the cabin after explaining the client's needs to Brent and handing over the work to him.

  Her fingers fidgeting and eyes trying to look outside to catch a glimpse of Sewo, Theia hurriedly explained Brent the work and exited the cabin.

  Soon as she exits the cabin, Sewo locks eyes with her and the two run towards each other, they couldn't wait any longer to greet the other .

  Every moment for the past 2 months , Every moment for the past 2 months, Theia has waited and longed for this very moment. To be able to meet him again after 2 months, is nothing short of a blessing , she was even crying over how little time they had spend together , 2 days ago , she spent the whole morning crying and longing for him.

  "I...hey... what made you come here ...

  " Theia stutters with an awkward smile .

  Noticing the longing in her eyes and how she looked at him with love , Sewo wasted no time as he kissed her lips.

  Her eyes widen as to express the disbelief, tears form in her eyes as she feels like melting away in the arms of her lover.

  Soon she closes her eyes and gets lost in the moment , it was all she had wanted in the past 2 months and now that it's happening, there was no way she would stop him.

  They keep kissing , getting lost in the the other's lips. It wasn't the kiss that was important, but the feelings behind it.

  Having shut his eyes, in his mind , Sewo thinks about a distant future where he has a family with Theia and they have 2 cute kids, he imagines living young with her and then dying old next to her.

  Theia is too flustered to think straight , her mind is blank , she doesn't care about neither the workers who are watching nor the queue of people. To her, they are just bystanders of their brilliant love.

  Showing no sign of stopping , Theia finally had to stop Sewo by turning her face away, gasping for air. " gasp.... Let me..gasp....breathe... darling.... gasp."

  "I got too excited it seems ..... gasp.... but I couldn't resist .... my body... I moved on my own , sorry, I love you ".

  The workers turn away , some knew what was going on between them and were shouting " See.. I told you they were lovers ." , while others were happy for their bosses being married.

  Sewo hands over the flower to Theia , his eyes bright , he was looking forward to her reaction for the gift.

  "Love, I got this for you , here ."

  " That's.. That's so sweet ! Oh My God ! I love you... I love you....I love youu."

  The couple take their leave and head out to get food and spend time together as the workers get back to their duty .

  Outside the warehouse, Theia asks Sewo" Did you rush here as fast as possible?"

  " Yes ? I was too impatient and excited to meet you."

  " Let's go to the house , get showered and then we can go eat."

  " You will shower with me ? " Sewo questions as he notices Theia was speaking for both of them, his heart beat raised and he looks at her with piercing sharp gaze.

  Theia looks at him with a sly grin as she makes a poker face , under that face , she is hiding a storm of feelings " Oh no, I was not going to be that obvious about it . Ahhh!!!! I wish I could hide inside the earth, I'd never dig back up."

  Having calmed down a bit , after a bit of a pause, Theia walks ahead a few steps, looks behind at Sewo and gestures him to come to her with her fingers.

  With heart beats so loud , you could hear it from up close, Sewo experiences a surge of joy and excitement , he steps out from the shadow of the tree they were under the whole time, into the sun where Theia holds out her hands and awaits him.

  Sewo steps forward and exits the darkness and shadow into her pure light , his mind and body that have ached for her love , experience feelings they never did before , his mind thinking of love , his mind thinking of the colour pink as he associates Theia to it now.

  "Love... You're Love." Sewo mutters , his eyes wide open , as he focuses only on Theia , the world seems to not exist. No, to him , Theia is the world and apart from Theia, nothing which exists is worth paying attention to.

  They make their way to the house they bought and on the way , they bought a pair of matching clothes for themselves.

  Sewo goes into the shower, he locks the door behind him as he begins to shower. Soon, a knock at the door interrupts him as he opens the door.

  " There is no time , it's best that we shower fast together and head out.... I like to be efficient with my time " Theia asserts as she walks into the bathroom.

  Sewo smirks and then bursts into laughter as he replies " Efficient my ass, let's bathe together."

  Realising that he isn't as dense and her cover has been blown , Theia understands that that there is no more denying it . The two begin to shower , the water from the shower head keeps pouring into them as they start making out.

  After a long and relaxing shower, the couple gets ready.

  Sewo puts on a full sleeve orange shirt with a white pant , while Theia puts on an orange top and a cute skirt.

  They leave the house and go tou a restaurant to eat. They catch upon on everything they have been doing so far .

  Sewo learns that the business has been doing well and that there were some problems here and there like not having finances for few days and some workers getting injured during an expedition, but Theia adapted to the situation and handled things , which saved the company from trouble and from the good working conditions , the workforce has also increased.

  Theia learned about how horrifying the Blackwater city was and about how he found a new friend Ceaser who he treats like a brother. She even noticed how , his muscles have gotten bigger , his forearm was stronger, his back wider and his presence more dominating than ever.

  Having to use a fork and a knife to eat food, Theia had to feed Sewo as well. She did not mind , infact she was too flustered to speak when Sewo pulled his seat right next to her , to her left with his hands resting on her thighs . Her face turned red and she looked into him with eyes of weakness , she rests her head on his shoulder as her body twitches from being hugged in by his arms.

  The couple , then visit other parts of the city and finally head over to a park .

  The sun is about to set and the sky is burning in orange and red.

  They stare into the horzion with eyes capturing the distant sun and the mind thinking of the distant future.

  They look at each other and Sewo asks " Can I confess something?"

  "hmm? Sure"

  " I love you. "

  " I know that already, honey"

  "Will you marry me?"

  "Uhm.."

  " Listen... I am sure about my future with you. You are all I want . I will always be there for you and I will never leave you and go away. So why can't we just marry and start living together rather than just be lovers ? I'll ask again.. Theia, will you marry me , darling?"

  Looking into the eyes of determination and how reliable of a person he has been , Theia understands that she can also not live without him and that there is no such problems of they marry .

  She rests her head on his shoulder and her hands hug his abdomen . Theia slowly leans in close to his ear and whispers " I will marry you in every life I get ."

  She kisses his cheeks and Sewo who just realised what she had said, undergoes an emotional flux.

  His mind thinks of peace and he imagines the colour white as he now associates it to the comfort and harmony he experiences with Theia. His eyes get watery as tears shed from his eyes. The sad past looses it's grip on the bright present he has made for himself.

  Sewo jumps from the bench as he starts to throw his hands into the air and he screams and dances in joy . Theia joins him and the too can't stop laughing and dancing , it's the greatest joy in their life so far.

  Sewo spends the rest of the week helping the warehouse and spending as much time with Theia as possible.

  The two end up marrying on Friday July 27th . The workers attended the wedding , the homeless people , Cassandra , Brent and  visited them and it was the most memorable day for the couple . They go to bed at night planning futures and enjoying this feeling of joy.

  Two days later, Sewo prepares to leave for Blackwater city and greets everyone back at the warehouse, he gives words of encouragement to everyone and asks Brent to get married and live life in a better way, now that he is more stable in life.

  Sewo exits the warehouse with everyone escorting him outside , Theia stands in the front with tears in her eyes, she cries and asks him to stay . Sewo reassures her : " I still have work to do in the city , so I must go. When I've done everything, which I promise to complete as soon as I can, I will stay forever with you. I will visit soon again. I won't stop you from crying, but I'll promise that there will be a next time."

  " Fuck you... fucker ... Be safe. I love you darling " Theia shouts at the top of her lungs as she hugs him tight.

  For the final time, the couple kiss and enjoy a moment to themself before Sewo leaves for the city again.

  He rushes out the city and runs through the forest with an unmatched pace. Even though he was not training , his body felt way stronger now. Sewo could feel his legs muscles warming up , his body bursting with energy and his body accelerating.

  He moved through forests and travelled 100 kilometres of distance in a time of 45 minutes. He was still not nearly as tired , his body sweating profusely, but he could keep going.

  Sewo decides to set up a camp for the night as he spots a monkey eating from a glowing mushroom in the night.

  The monkey didn't seem to be affected which implies the shroom was good to be eaten. Sewo collects a bunch of these mushrooms and places a small portion of them onto FoodGood which he bought out from the Void.

  The device makes mechanical noises as it presents a delicious mushroom pancake with honey syrup. The pancake was a result of Sewo reminiscing about the morning pancakes which Ceaser made.

  After 37 hours of travel , Sewo finally arrives in Blackwater city. The atmosphere is worse as ever . The city air reeks of blood and flesh, there is visible trails of blood all over the street , new corpses hanging on doorstep as decoratives.

  People stumbling and falling all over the street from drug abuse. Brothels running wild as ever and women with eyes more dead than ever.

  Sewo looses all the joy and merriness he had as he closes his heart to the suffering of those around him .

  He heads back to the house , changes into his clothes for the hunt and exits the house again.

  He joins Ceaser and the two start hunting again. " This time, we're hunting a baldy who steals organs from little kids and a drug dealer . " Ceaser explains to Sewo

  " Hmm... will be fun." Sewo replies as he clenched his sword ready to tear apart people.

  " I'm thinking , we will save the kids , if any are alive after killing everyone in the facility. There are 2 stories , the basement is where the children are. First floor has very tight security as that's where the drugs are stored and at the top floor is where you will find the target and probably a bunch of cash and documents. try to avoid burning both and kill everyone ."

  The two , then stretch their body as they get ready for action. Sewo jumps through the glass of second floor as Ceaser jumps at the stair case between the two top floors.

  "Yo, Baldy! " Sewo exclaims ,as he spots the man instructing his minions about handling shipments.