Back on the main ship of the fleet.
James was on his way towards Alex's chamber when he heard a voice resound in his ears. The message was simple and kind of expected.
"Don't bother. The boy disappeared the moment we arrived in the system." The voice belonged to Charlotte.
"Ah, I see. Thank you." James replied with a small smile. With nothing else to do, he returned to the observation deck to report to his master.
Meanwhile, Charlotte and Evelyn contacted the leaders to report what they had seen.
While the message would have likely reached them already, they would need official confirmation from the high-ranking hunters on board.
[I hear the boy has returned. Is that right?]
Lord Basso asked the moment the feed connected. He and the other leaders appeared to be in their offices as the screen was split in three.
"Yes, that is right," Evelyn replied as she and Charlotte gave a polite bow before standing back at attention.
[And…?] Lady Zara asked with a curious tone, the exact opposite of the other two.
"Well…" Charlotte recalled everything they saw and experienced the moment they arrived at the location.
[Are you sure it was the boy's doing?]
Lord Basso asked sceptically, which was understandable. The boy was pretty much a weakling when he disappeared and even if he were to become that strong, five years was just too short a time.
"Given the evidence and the fact that he took down a creature we weren't confident in defeating says a lot," Evelyn said in a firm tone. "There is also the fact that he uses void energy freely."
"Indeed," Charlotte added. "I don't think there is anyone out there who can do that…" She trailed off at the end as she recalled the visitor.
While chances were high, Alex was the only one in sight with the void creature in his hand when he stepped out of the raging cosmic storms.
[…]
The leaders remained quiet for a bit, each with their own thoughts about the situation.
The words spoken by the hunters didn't intend to belittle their strength, but they couldn't help but think that way.
And the thing was even they weren't sure how they would fare against those Class S void creatures. It was a wager, one they weren't ready to play. But for Alex to do that…
Charlotte and Evelyn exchanged a look as they could understand some of their leaders' concerns.
[We have to meet the boy as soon as possible to make him understand a few things.] Lord Basso proposed while Jaseph and Zara frowned slightly.
[Isn't that a bit too fast?] Zara chimed in. [The boy just returned. I don't think he would want to leave his loved ones anytime soon.]
[She's right,] Jaseph supported. [Let's not rush into things. We wouldn't want to start off on the wrong foot.]
Basso, instead did not agree with their take. [Your words are already proving what I'm saying. That boy may potentially be stronger than us. We have to make him under there's a hierarchy to things or he might think he can do whatever he wants.]
Listening to their leaders argue about the boy, Charlotte internally sighed. 'If we don't handle this carefully, this might get messy.' She looked at her companion again and saw her look.
They shared the same thought, but it seems Lord Basso didn't want this issue to become problematic in the future.
[Alright Basso. We can discuss this later.] Jaseph turned to the two hunters. [Stay there and monitor the boy and try to get close to him if possible.]
"Yes." The duo replied with a slight bow. The screen went off shortly after as the leaders moved to discuss what to do with Alexander.
"This can get messy if we don't handle it well," Evelyn muttered under her breath as she took a seat.
"Yeah…" Charlotte nodded and sat down as well. Situations like this were what brought about divisions among some of the most powerful people in the empire over the years as they didn't see eye to eye.
"I barely know the get and now we're supposed to get close to him?" Evelyn complained bitterly. She didn't like how that would make them appear shallow and clichéd.
"Well… Given the circumstances, he's one of us now, no?" Charlotte shrugged in response.
"Yeah…" Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Like we could fight that monster by ourselves and come out in one piece."
"…"
Charlotte didn't have a reply to that. They had no idea what he was capable of, and people don't always remain the same once they obtain power.
"Haa…" Evelyn got up to her feet. "I'm heading to my chambers. And I will inform the others to return to their star systems. There's no point being here."
She reached the door and quickly disappeared, leaving Charlotte alone to her thoughts. 'Maybe I can use that approach?'
Charlotte thought about it and shook her head, 'No. I might anger him…' However, her line of thought made her pause in surprise.
'I can't believe I am already afraid of offending the boy. Haa… Things are really bound to change around here.'
Charlotte turned her gaze towards planet Earth, piercing through the walls of the ship and reaching the blue planet.
'Playing it cool should be the way…' she ended her thoughts there, no longer interested in stressing herself out.
Their ship was in orbit between Mars and Earth as most of the other ships were already returning to their star systems.
With their mission concluded before they could do anything, the hunters could only return home.
At least they had a break from the madness and could go back to their families. Also, they had a lot to say about the return of Alexander as the news continued to spread about his return and what they saw him do.
...….
"And that's how I made it back," Alex concluded his description of events that happened since he disappeared.
His family and friends stared at him in silence as they digested his words. Of course, they knew there were some things Alex was keeping from them, but that was unimportant.
"So, you only found your way home because of this entanglement thing you had with Mom?" Olivia asked for clarity and Alex nodded. "Exactly."
Julia was now asleep in his arms as he sat on one of the sofas. His chest and shoulder supported her, and both his hands held Julia in place.
"And you never felt alone in all that time?"