Spectacular World

Setting Out

"Careful not to hurt yourself, sweetie!" Jane Lauren called out.

"Mom, I'm literally bulletproof. Pretty sure I'll be fine." Hope said flatly.

"Knowing you, you'll somehow find a way to wind up in the hospital." Jane huffed out.

Hope rolled her eyes and brought the farming tool down into the soil. The streets of Oleander were still messy, filled with large walls of rubble and abandoned cars, but that didn't stop them from expanding out. Sky had finally decided that it was time to leave the underground subway. Many of Sky's people walked the streets, doing the smaller jobs that Battery's massive Giants couldn't, like picking up the trash, while Sky herself used her power to separate the stone and raise the ground, creating small patches of farmland. They were able to get actual seeds, and now that they weren't underground and had access to the sun, they were doing their best to grow crops and other such things.

She currently held onto a hoe and brought it down through the soil again and again, doing her best to mimic what her father had shown her.

Sky had created four twenty-by-twenty square feet of soil, and in one of them, Alexander Lauren twirled his farm gear around, burying the seeds beneath the soil and piling it up in an almost perfect way. Compared to him, Hope found hers looking very sloppy and nasty.

She gritted her teeth and tried putting her back into it but was once again stopped by her mom. "Don't do anything that could harm yourself, Hope!"

"Mom, I'm fine!" She did her best to not yell. Jane Lauren rested in a lawn chair, the woman's body still not having fully recovered. The metal pod was in Jane's lap, squirming around as if it were some sort of cat that was trying to get comfortable. Every time she tried to even use an ounce of her strength, her mom was there to stop her.

"Your mom is just worried." Alexander let out a low chuckle and stabbed his hoe into the ground. He seemed to be doing a lot better now that his daughter was back. He was finally starting to get proper muscle on his body once more and even grow back some of his reddish hair. His eyes held a twinkle in them as he glanced at his daughter. "You know, Hope, with everything that has happened recently, I don't think you can blame us for being a bit paranoid about the danger you might put yourself in."

Hope placed her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "What? You think I'm going to go do something reckless and shatter?"

"That's exactly what would happen to you, thanks to your luck." Jane snorted. "I'm honestly shocked that you actually stayed put for so long."

Hope remained silent and looked away, not meeting her mother's eye. It had been a week since she had returned. She had kept her word and stayed to rest and regain her strength and energy. During that week, Sky had put her to work, helping out when she could. She didn't go out at all, though. Her parents had kept her at the base while Sky and a few other hunters would run off to go get supplies or stop some minor threat that popped up. Her fire powers still hadn't returned, and she didn't get to talk with Myth or the Sub Enforcers at all either.

Red Ape had created dozens of monsters and left them beneath the city all over the place. The Sub Enforcers had been busy cleaning up and finding all the animals. Part of her also thought Myth might have been avoiding her after she rejected his offer to join his team.

Now just wasn't the best time...

Speaking of the best time, she also hadn't told her parents of her plan...

She wasn't going to stay here. It was nearly time for her to set out, like how she discussed with Sky last week. Despite having thought it through for a full week, she hadn't gotten the courage to drop that bombshell to her parents. As far as they knew, she was just content with staying with them and living such a mundane life.