Chapter 69: Azure basilisk (9)
The grandma sat at the crusty wooden table while Jaster sat on the wet floor. They both stared at the TV as he kept eating the noodles.
Surprisingly, it was delicious. He ate all the noodles and drank the remaining soup. He accidentally burped, and the old lady looked at him. A moment of awkward silence passed, until the grandma started chuckling, then burst out laughing. Soon Jaster couldn’t hold back either, and started laughing too.
"Oh, you boys. Here, have some tissue!" She pulled out the last tissue from the box and handed it to Jaster. He wiped his mouth, still chuckling.
For the first time, he felt fond of an elder. Back on Earth, Adam had always hated old people. They were so judgmental, talked without thinking, and always picked the meanest words to say.
But this grandma was different. She didn’t judge Jaster for wearing that pink shirt. Everything she’d said so far seemed kind. She’d even made a stranger a very good bowl of ramen.
Well, he didn’t know if it was just because he was starving after being chased by a colossal basilisk.
Jaster wiped his mouth a bit more and threw the tissue into the trash can. His eyes accidentally glanced at the photo of the grandma with the two girls.
He wanted to ask who they were, but he was afraid of crossing boundaries. Looking at the old lady’s apartment, it seemed only one person lived here.
Jaster held back, but his curiosity was too strong. He was about to open his mouth when—
"You wanted to ask about the photo, right?" Jaster’s eyes shot up. He looked back at the grandma as she rocked back and forth in the wooden chair.
Her face was impassive while she watched the show on TV. Jaster didn’t know what to do. He kept fiddling with his fingers until the old lady finally spoke.
"Those girls in the photo... were my grandkids. Twins. Oh, how I remember when we went on vacation together." Her stoic face remained unchanged, but there was a slight crack in her voice.
Jaster looked down at the floor, then back at the picture.
"What happened?" He asked, still looking at one of the girls.
"Their family got divorced, and they got separated after that... Their father put me in this place instead of a retirement home. It was cheaper this way..."
Jaster was shocked by the story. He turned his head to look at the grandma. He could see a tear starting to drip from her eye, forming a clear white line before eventually dropping into the ramen bowl.
"I... couldn’t even see any of them..." The old lady sobbed uncontrollably while still watching the TV.
Jaster stared at her crying and gritted his teeth. Then he lunged forward and hugged her tightly.
The grandma’s eyes went wide as Jaster wrapped his arms around her back. Tears started dripping onto the pink shirt, but he kept holding her.
"Granny... I know we just met, but please don’t cry!" He pulled back to look the old lady straight in the face.
"I’m sure you’ll meet your grandkids again. I promise." The grandma was still in shock, but a smile formed on her face. She slowly leaned in to hug the boy back.
"Thank you, my boy..." She patted his back. "I bet your family is so proud of you..."
Jaster’s smile immediately faded into a frown. All he could think about was the family Adam had back on Earth.
They were emotionally abusive. Ignored him. Complained about him constantly. Even hit him multiple times when he misbehaved.
But after thinking for a while, he realized something. He was in Boundara now, not Earth. All he could think about now was his current family. "Jaster’s" family.
Lake... Mom...
They were so different from his Earth family. They supported him. Cared about him. He chuckled, remembering Lake screaming at him when he went to get his first spirit animal.
I guess they’re not so bad now.
They finally pulled away from the hug. The granny caressed his face, smiling warmly at him.
"Oh, right." She started waddling toward the kitchen to grab something while Jaster waited.
The grandma came back with a bunch of keys in her hands.
"What are the keys for?" He asked as she handed them to him.
"They’re for the exit to this neighborhood, remember?" Jaster’s eyes widened. He looked at the keys in his hand and gripped them tight.
"The key to the gate is one of them. I barely leave this neighborhood, so I always forget which one it is. Just try them all."
"Do you not want me to bring them back to you?" He asked. If he kept them, how would she get out later?
The grandma smiled at him and tiptoed to pat his hair.
"No need. You can return them when we meet again." Jaster’s gaze softened. He smiled back and wrapped his arms around her one last time.
"Thank you, granny. I’ll come back to you. I promise."
They shared another hug for a long moment before finally letting go.
"You know, granny, that grand—"
CRASHHH.
A loud sound of a building collapsing erupted outside. Both of them jumped.
"What was that?" The grandma’s voice was full of panic.
"I don’t know. Wait here." Jaster ran to the small window and looked outside. What he saw made his expression go blank.
Outside, the Azure Basilisk was rampaging through the street. It swung its colossal tail at an apartment building, and the tall structure began to crumble. Homeless people scattered, trying to escape.
Shit. Did the snake follow me here? Jaster’s gaze remained frozen on the beast.
The grandma tilted her head, then spotted a big puffy jacket in a basket. She grabbed it and walked toward Jaster to put it on him.
"We should leave." He turned around and found the grandma holding the jacket wide open for him.
"Granny, we need to go. Right now!" He grabbed her hand, but she pulled away.
Confused, Jaster gave her a questioning look. The old lady shook her head.
"I’m too slow. I’ll only slow you down. Here, take this jacket and run." She wrapped the puffy polyester around him.
"BUT—"
"Shoo... It’s fine. The exit gate is in an alleyway from my apartment. Just keep walking to the left, and you’ll find it." She finished tucking the jacket around him.
She looked at him—maybe for the last time—and hugged him. They held each other tight again. He squeezed her back hard.
He tried to form words through his sobs. "I... I’ll come back."
"SHRAKKKKKK!" They both pulled away at the snake’s screech. The grandma smiled confidently at him and patted his hair. Jaster smiled back.
Then he ran out of her apartment, forcing himself not to look back.
He burst out of the building and saw the giant snake destroying apartment after apartment. It was still a little distance away. This was his chance.
He sprinted left, eyes fixed forward, trying not to think about the old lady.
"I’m so sorry, granny...."
Unbeknownst to Jaster, after the basilisk finished destroying one building, it slowly turned its head toward the grandma’s apartment. Its eyes narrowed.
