Relic-Verse: Champions of Hope

Chapter 2

-- Part 1 --

With the help of Faron, Samuel managed to stumble up the stairs and through the door of his third story apartment. Upon getting inside Faron quickly got Samuel to the couch and sat down next to him, admiring the small, nearly spotless, apartment.

"Sam..." the two turned to see his father, Vishnu, stepping out from the hallway, a look of worry plastered on his face as he pocketed his phone, his black hair a ragged mess, and his white suit a disheveled mess. "You didn't respond to my texts."

Before he could even respond Faron jumped to Samuel's defense, "He's been out cold all morning, I barely managed to get him up the stairs."

Vishnu nodded and sat down in a chair across from them. "Thank you for your help Faron, it means a lot."

"Of course, don't sweat it. I am assuming you got Grey's call?"

"Yes, yes I did. Again I can't thank you all enough for keeping him safe." He smiled warmly and Samuel took note of the bags under his eyes.

Faron seemed to notice as well, standing up and smiling politely, "As I said, it's really nothing! Now from the looks of it, both of you have a lot of sleep to catch up on, so don't keep your beds waiting!" With that he hastily made his leave, which left the father and son sitting in awkward silence.

"I don't think there is much more for me to say," Vishnu stood up, stumbling forward slightly before catching himself. "You heard the Defenders, you're grounded from hero work until you recover... Although it may be bad of me to say, I'm proud of you for taking on Mako. Just... Don't do it again."

He got to the hallway before Samuel spoke up. "I love you dad."

The apartment filled with silence before he got a response, "I love you too, Sam." Seconds later he heard the door to his dad's bedroom open and shut, leaving Samuel alone on the couch.

With his side slightly throbbing in pain, he laid down, getting as comfortable as he could before grabbing the remote and turning on the TV across the room. He switched through channel after channel, hoping to see anything that would catch his eye, until he came across a news report on the upcoming festival.

A white scaled Dralor stood in front of the Capital, a sprawling complex that the Laurion Alliance operated out of. Her wings folded behind her back and she tilted her head to move her horns out of the way and show off the intricate architecture of the building, a marble entrance with beautiful symbols from all of the races carved into the walls, embedded with gemstones or in some cases carved in the perfect way for vines to grow on them.

"As I am sure most people know, this weekend marks the one year anniversary of full life on Vilova! A monumental occasion celebrating just how far this city has come in such a relatively short time since evacuation!" Smoke poured out from her mouth from her excitement. "But obviously, this grand city could not have been made or maintained had it not been for the construction crews and peace keepers! So as our own form of celebration, we have landed an exclusive interview with Von Kennedy himself!"

The screen transitioned from the outside of the Capital and into a sparsely furnished study, with the only things of note being a wooden desk, a window that took up the entire back wall and caused sunlight to pour in, and the tall proud figure of Von Kennedy. He was a stern looking Inhuman man, dressed in a form fitting business suit, with his eagle wings casting a large shadow across the room.

From off screen an interviewer started asking questions, "Sir, how do you feel about this festival? It is partly in your honor after all!"

"The festival is not in my honor. In the grand scheme of things I have done very little aside from fund the construction. Plenty other people are in the exact same position as me, saying this festival is in my honor when I have not picked up a hammer nor caught a criminal. It is disgraceful to our dedicated workers, heroes, SWAN Agents, and Neo World Defenders." His voice was cold and just as stern as his face, and caused Samuel to shift uncomfortably.