The last chapter of the story and probably the whole series is here!
World Reset
Chapter 25 – The End of the Battle
Months had passed since the defeat of Thomas and peace had once again returned. The four Chosen Ones had decided their new ways of live once they fully recovered from the injuries from the last battle. Aeolus and Atlas decided to rejoin the Guardians, while Thetis and Siarnaq joined the Hunters along with Ashe and Grey.
The number of Mavericks had rapidly decreased since the defeat of Thomas, but they hadn't disappeared completely. Mikhail, the last of the Sage Trinity, was appointed as the Wise One as he was the remaining one of the three Sage Trinity members. The human and Reploid equality laws which were agreed by Thomas and Albert were still existent, but unlike when Albert was still a member, the Maverick survivors didn't have to report to the Legion HQ.
It was a clear day in the Hunter Camp, but a certain male Hunter wasn't feeling to pleasant himself to enjoy the good weather. Grey let out a sigh as he sat on a rock, looking at the big waterfall in front of him. The image of the certain female Reploid kept coming back to haunt him over and over again, despite the efforts of Ashe and Thetis along with the other Hunters to cheer him up.
"I knew that you're going to be here again," The male Reploid lazily turned to the direction where the familiar voice came from to see his partner, "And what's with that gloomy look on your face?"
"None of your concern," Grey turned away from her, only to have Ashe turn him back to face her, "What? Can you just leave me alone for just one second?"
"Not when you're still that depressed!" Ashe replied with an annoyed tone before letting out a sigh and a frown appeared on her face, "It's Pandora again, isn't it?"
The male Hunter let out a sad sigh before slowly turning away, "Is it really that easy to guess?" Grey looked up at the top of the waterfall, "She's just that hard to forget… not after…"
"Come on, cheer up already!" Ashe put a hand on the Reploid's shoulder, making him turn to her, "Pandora doesn't want you to be sad all the time, don't you think?" Ashe saw the Reploid nodded before he once again turned away from her. The female Hunter let out a sigh before sitting down on the ground, leaning against the rock Grey was sitting on, "Anyway… I've been talking to Prairie lately about her sister Ciel's love interest…"
"Why do you have to bring up similar topics?" The Reploid asked flatly, but was ignored completely.
"I didn't realize that she actually fell in love with a Reploid…" Ashe looked up at the sky with a sad smile, "But too bad that the Reploid was destroyed while saving the world… She also said that it's not possible for a human and a Reploid to be in a relationship back then because of the war between humans and Reploids…"
"I really don't care whatever story it is you're telling," Grey let out another sigh before he noticed that his partner had got up to her feet with her back turned to him.
"Even now, after the humans and Reploids formed a truce… it's still not possible…" A sighing sound was heard coming from her before she turned back to Grey with a smile, "But what I'm going to say is that there are plenty of other girls, though… Whether they're far or near…"
"Huh?" Ashe turned around before Grey got off the rock, "What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing… it's not that important…" Ashe turned her head to Grey, "Aile is going to give birth sooner or later. You wanna come with me to the Guardian Base?"
"Uh…" The Reploid turned his head to the waterfall before turning back to her, "I'll catch up later I guess. I still want to hang out around here a bit longer."
"Okay," Ashe walked away from Grey, leaving him to stare at the waterfall once more before a familiar Biometal suddenly came out of Grey's pocket.
"I think I get it now…" The Biometal spoke up, getting the attention of the Reploid.
"What do you get, Model A? And more importantly, why were you in my pocket?" Grey asked, getting a short silence from the Biometal, "Hey, what's wrong with you anyway?"
"It's just that Ashe hasn't been herself lately…" Model A sighed, "She said something about a love life a few weeks ago," The Biometal turned to Grey, "I think I might have a clue about who the special one she talked about back then…" Grey stared at the Biometal in confusion, still not getting the conversation they were having.
Meanwhile in the highway area, a male brown-haired Guardian was looking at the broken building of Slither Inc. with a brown metal object in his hand. The Guardian let out a smile as he turned to the building's broken front door as the wind blew his long brown hair back and forth. He closed his eyes, recollecting all the happy and the sad moments he had with his boss while clutching the metal object in his hand.
"Today is the day, Boss," The Guardian spoke up, his eyes still closed, "Aile and I are already married, and the child should come today…" He reopened his eyes and looked at the metal object in his hand, "And you're right about my strength. Model O isn't the power I truly need," He put his free hand on his chest, "I'm already strong with my friends by my side and with power of my heart…"
The Guardian threw the brown metal from his hand, far away to drown into the small lake under the highway. He flashed another smile before reaching for his communicator on his ear as the familiar voice of the Guardian commander was heard, "Vent! You have to come back to the base, right now! The baby is coming."
"Don't worry Prairie, I'm doing okay… wait, what!? Aile is going to give birth now!?" Vent suddenly noticed the topic of the conversation and panicked before he ended the connection by accident, "Prairie, transfer me back to the base!" There was no answer, leaving Vent to let an angry growl, "Why do I have to so stupid to disconnect it accidentally?! Now I need to find a transerver to go back, and fast!"
Back in the Guardian Base, Aile was in the medic wing along with Prairie, Muguet, and Rose. The two silver-haired Hunters had already been waiting outside the door when the brown-haired Guardian ran out of the elevator and stopped once he was in front of the Hunters. Ashe let out a sigh, "You're late, Vent! Now you're going to wait out here with us."
"Great! Just great!" Vent leaned on the wall near the door, panting, before he pushed himself up when he heard a pained yell coming from the inside, "Aile? Aile! Is that you?! Are you okay?!"
"It's normal for her to be in pain, Vent," The Guardian turned to the female Hunter, who had let out a sigh, "You know nothing about normal child birth, do you?"
"He's not the only clueless one, though…" Ashe turned to Grey, who was as confused as Vent was, "I'm a Reploid, so I don't think I should naturally know about those stuff…"
"Okay, you're a Reploid, and I'm fine with you not knowing," The Hunters turned to Vent, who had his ear on the door, as Ashe gave him a glare, "But not this guy. He's just too stupid for not knowing!"
"Just a little more! Hang in there, Aile!" The faint voice of the Guardian commander was heard from behind the door before Aile's pained yelling was heard once more, "The baby is almost out!"
"You can do it, Aile…" Rose's very faint voice was heard before the sound of baby crying was heard.
"She… did it…" Vent turned to the Hunters with a big smile, "She did it! The baby is born! I'm officially a father!"
"And a very enthusiastic father, that is," The Guardian turned around to see that the door had opened to reveal Prairie with a smile on her face, "Congratulations, Vent. It's a healthy baby girl."
"C-Can I see her? And how's Aile doing now?" Vent asked nervously before Prairie moved away to reveal Aile on the bed, covered in the newly replaced white blanket.
"She's done a great job and she needs a lot of rest, but you can see her for a moment," Vent immediately rushed into the room and was about to head to Aile's bed before the older nurse stopped him while the younger nurse held a pink blanket in her arms, "I-Is that her? My daughter?"
Rose gave him a nod before giving him the baby for him to hold, "Congratulations, Vent… You're a father…"
"You can see your wife, but you need to let her rest a lot," Muguet smiled at the Guardian before she left along with Rose to leave the two Guardians alone.
Vent took a peek into the pink blanket before smiling as he saw the look of his newborn daughter. The baby had the same hair color as her parents, which was brown, and was sleeping with the heat from her father's body along with the blanket. Seeing that his wife had noticed his presence in the room, Vent walked over to Aile's bed with the baby girl in his arms.
"Good job, Aile," The male Guardian let out a smile before the female let out a weak smile in return before noticing the pink blanket in his arms.
"Vent… is that…?" Aile asked weakly, getting a nod from her husband as he removed some of the pink cloth covering the baby's face.
"She's our beautiful little one. Want to hold her?" Aile nodded weakly before Vent put the baby in Aile's arms.
The baby wriggled a bit as Aile's hand ran through the baby's small face before the female Guardian let out a sad smile as a single tear slid down her face, "She's… really… beautiful… and I'm… so happy…"
More tears started pouring down from her face, making the male Guardian grow worried, "A-Aile, why are you crying? Are you still hurt?"
Aile shook her head before wiping away some of the tears away, "So… this… t-this is what my mom felt… this is the happiness she felt when she had me…"
"I'm sure it is," Vent whispered and smiled before taking a seat on a chair next to her bed and leaned against Aile's head a little, "Thanks, Aile… I can't be happier without you and our daughter…"
"And I bet you're happy to feel how your dad felt when you were born…" Aile turned to her husband with a smile, only to have her smile to turn into a frown after seeing her husband's frown, "What's wrong?"
"My dad… he abandoned my mom after finding out that she was pregnant with me…" Vent curled his hands into fists angrily, "I can't forgive that man…"
"Vent…" The female Guardian whispered before she slowly sat up while pulling up the blanket covering her body, holding the baby in her right arm and put her free hand on Vent's cheek to pull it to her way, "But if it wasn't for your dad… I won't be able to have a brave, kind, caring, and handsome husband like you…"
"Aile…" Vent saw the smile on his wife's face before smiling back and held her hand before getting up from his seat and leaned in to her to give her a kiss on the lips.
"Plus…" The smile on Aile's face soon disappeared, "My dad died out of sickness before I was born, so you and Giro are the only men I know the most other than the other transporters…" Aile let out a sad sigh, "So your dad left, huh…" She looked back at Vent with a worried look on her face, "But you're not going to leave me, are you?"
"I promise, I won't. That day, I vowed to you that I'll stick with you no matter what happens. In sickness or health, I'll be there for you…" Vent let out a smile, which brought more tears to his wife's eyes.
"Thank you, Vent… You've made me so happy…" Aile leaned in for another kiss on the lips, with Vent kissing her back.
"So…" Vent gently broke the kiss and turned to the baby in Aile's arm, "What should we name her?"
"She's a star… our star…" Aile wrapped her arms around the sleeping baby, "How about Estelle?"
"Estelle…" Vent nodded and smiled, "It fits her, Aile…"
As the couple leaned in for another kiss, a small party was being held above the clouds. An orange Reploid was running around in excitement with a silent Reploid who had a white helmet and purple armor in a headlock. As the orange Reploid was approaching a female light blue Reploid, she pulled out her staff before hitting the orange Reploid and left towards a green Reploid who was talking to a male blue Reploid.
Another Reploid, who had blond hair and glasses, watched the whole scene and let out a small laugh, "Fefnir is as wild as ever even in parties like this, I think…"
"It's a happy occasion, Giro," The Reploid turned around to see a red Reploid with a smile on his face as a blonde-haired girl was holding his arm, "It's a new family member for your foster children."
"Zero! Commander Ciel!" The Reploid, Giro, let out a smile before looking down at the couple, "I suppose I couldn't happier…"
"Fefnir, you're so drunk!" A feminine yell was heard as the light blue Reploid had pinned down the orange Reploid down with her staff while having her other arm around the green Reploid's.
"And the four Guardians of Neo Arcadia seem to be enjoying the party to celebrate the new family member as well," The girl, Ciel, spoke up with a smile as she saw the four Guardians along with their leader.
"It's all thanks to you," Giro turned to Zero, who gave him a smile, "If you hadn't rescued them years ago, they wouldn't have lived for this event to happen."
Giro returned the smile before turning back down to the couple, "I suppose… And I'm happy now that they're happy together as a family…"
Thanks for reading everyone! It's kinda sad that this last story isn't as popular as the previous ones, but at least it's not completely dead in the end. I really enjoy writing ZX series the most out of the other fandoms I've done, so I'm sad to see this series ending. Anyways, thanks again and have a good day (or night)!