We stood there in silence amid all the destruction in what remained of Grandpa’s house, and the fact that there were bodies outside of our enemies still in the compound. Grandpa’s words still hung in the air as we all took our time digesting exactly what he said.

  Honestly, I want to reject his plan outright.

  We are family still dealing with the loss of two of our members and now we are supposed to become the keepers of Lagia and protect all who live here instead. Especially not when there’s still so much we don’t understand.

  Like for example how Grandpa just became so much stronger than the lava people after a rough integration and a fusing of his Traits. It didn’t make sense.

  So while not having much if any answers at all, mourning our family members, and putting the rest of us that are alive into even more risk is simply not a good idea. Or at least not one where I think the few benefits I could think off would outweigh the negatives.

  No matter which way I spun it, this simply wasn’t a good idea.

  And now here I was trying to figure out a way to tell Grandpa that he was wrong and we needed to think of something else.

  Thankfully I wasn’t the only one he was talking to, and one of his sons spoke up instead.

  Uncle Mack had one hand crossed against his body and the other holding his chin as he spoke his mind.

  “Dad I don’t think this is a good idea. You’re usually right about a lot of things, but this time I think you got it wrong pops. The family just isn’t in a position to go be so heavy handed in controlling all of Lagia.

  “Plus even if we did somehow convince the whole community or hell what’s left of it to let us be in charge, who the hell was going to police them? Who the hell was going to enforce whatever rules you came up with?

  “Just think about it. Wether this is right for the family or not.”

  Grandpa had a tense look on his face that didn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon because Uncle Mack wasn’t the only one who had something to say.

  It was Uncle Robert who was next this time.

  “I agree with Mack. The only reason we’ve even been gainining strength of any kind is just to ensure we are protected. That our family is protected. That when these aliens show up to kill the people we love, we are able to fight back and protect our loved ones and our home.

  “We’ve already failed twice in doing that. We didn’t even get a chance to bury their bodies. What your proposing will just be putting our family in more danger than necessary. That is not something I can support. Not right now.”

  Not giving Grandpa a chance to breathe, It was Uncle Lenny’s turn to lay it on him and let him know how much he disagreed with the plan envisioned for us in the future. Essentially, nobody agreed with almost any part of Grandpa’s plan, and how could they.

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  All it’s asking for is danger and risk we don’t need. And while I can see some benefit of being the decision maker of an entire community, where we can properly plan defenses, attacks, and how to go about it so not just our family but all of Lagia is safe, something like that needs to happen naturally. And even if it’s something we wanted to force ourselves, it couldn’t be done now. Not right now.

  And even after hearing everyone’s explanations, all it did was make me more and more surprised that it was Grandpa who suggested this. I know the concept of this reality we are living through is something he’s joked about since he was a young man.

  But I need him to remember that this isn’t one of his books. This is real life, and I’m sure the loss of my two uncles is likely affecting his decision making in some way.

  Based on his argument and what I was told took place while I was in the dungeon, then he likely feels like if the community itself was more cohesive, perhaps there would have been a better chance of walking away from the initial battle without losing anyone.

  I know for a fact he didn’t want to lose anyone else, and he’s just trying to make sure that’s a reality in whatever way he could think of.

  Unfortunately, I think this time it was a bad decision, and I feel validated based on the thoughts of my uncles.

  But the conversation wasn’t over, and instead of something like putting the final nail in the coffin, my father instead threw Grandpa a lifeline.

  “First of all, Dad, I agree with everyone. I’m not sure what shifted, but this isn’t the right way to go about things. And you know Mom wouldn’t have agreed if she was here.”

  That last line seemed to sting Grandpa more than anything else that was said. Obviously, I wasn’t there when they were younger, but I’ve heard the stories. I’ve seen the old photos and videos. Grandma had that man wrapped around her fingers, and he wouldn’t do a single thing to make her unhappy if he could help it.

  Well, at least from what I’ve heard.

  Anyway, Dad wasn’t done yet.

  “But I won’t beat up on you too much. I agree things need to be different in Lagia. Even if the Williams family continues to grow stronger, we still won’t be strong enough to fight entire armies by ourselves.

  “If the numbers we faced were double or triple what they were today, would we have survived?

  “I don’t think so, which means things gotta change in some way. So instead of the heavy handed way you suggested, I think we can have the best of both worlds if we change just a few things.”

  After saying that, Dad then broke down his thoughts, which sparked something of a discussion with the whole group. Rakeon was the only one who didn’t participate as much, and it was easy to remember why.

  It would be a long time before he got over the loss of his father, and no one could ever blame him for that.

  …

  While Freddy and his family were having their own conversations regarding the future of their ongoing Subjugation, other such conversations were being had.

  Somewhere, in a place far from the eyes of Earth, even far from the eyes pf the subjugators of Earth, was a simple garden.

  Well, simple to the owner.

  To others, it was a place of death, for the ‘flowers’ were not as one would expect, and instead something abnormal to most.

  They were bodies.

  Forever frozen in the state that they died in. Some were a bloody mess that didn’t look like a body at all, but frozen forever in their position.

  While there were others who were mostly intact, some even looked as they did when they were still alive, without blemish of any kind.

  Though the garden itself wasn’t what most people feared.

  It was the being who sat in the center of the garden.

  It was something akin to a centaur, yet its lower half was perpetually shrouded in a grey mist, while its upper half was of a skeletal nature.

  Though what race the skeleton represented never seemed clear, no matter how long one stared at the creature, as the formation of the skeleton seemed to always be on the move the longer one looked.

  This individual was Lord Bash.

  It was quite the simple name for someone so mystical and fear inducing, but no one would dare point that out in his presence

  Lord Bash could be seen meditating quietly at the center of the garden, as he typically did for a few decades at a time, when another figure appeared.

  One completely shrouded in that same grey mist.

  “My Lord.”