Because the crowd of girls had thinned out, Calvin turned around, and his eyes went wide when he saw Cole, Cyrus, Celes, and Calista standing frozen, watching him and Charlotte, who still looked heartbroken and shaky. Without another delay, Calvin instantly released his daughter and ran over to Cole and Cyrus. "Bwaaak," he immediately grabbed both Cole and Cyrus in a huge hug.
"Hgh," Cole and Cyrus instantly felt crushed. They started patting Calvin's back.
"You're all here. Thank goodness... I've missed all of you so much," Calvin said.
"Y-yeah, l-let go, I can't breathe," Cole said.
"Ugh... B-big Brother Calvin... s-stop, I... I might die," Cyrus added.
Meanwhile, Calista and Celes immediately ran toward Charlotte, who was still looking down, her body trembling, facing the girl who claimed to be Calvin's daughter. After Calvin finally let go of his hug,
"Hoh... hoh," Cole and Cyrus immediately sighed in relief.
"Where have you all been all this time? I thought I was all alone in this world," Calvin said.
"W-we were asleep. When did you wake up?" Cole asked.
Calvin looked around. He realized that the attention of every party guest had shifted to him and his siblings. Many people were staring at Cole and the others with strange looks, as not everyone dared or wanted to approach and speak with Calvin.
"Let's not talk here. Come with me, we'll go inside," Calvin urged.
"Okay, but deal with that first," Cole said, pointing toward Charlotte, who was now arguing with the girl claiming to be Calvin's daughter, while being held back by Celes and Calista.
"Is that girl really Big Brother Calvin's daughter?" Cyrus asked.
"Hmm... technically, yes, but it's a long story. Come on, we're drawing attention out here," Calvin said, turning around.
They immediately approached Charlotte and the girl. Calvin instantly grabbed both Charlotte and the girl by the hand and walked toward a door behind the ballroom podium. Cole, Celes, Calista, and Cyrus followed him from behind. Once inside, it turned out to be a lounge with a large couch in the center. Calvin locked the door, then asked everyone to sit down. Charlotte sat between Celes and Calista, while Cole and Cyrus sat opposite them, facing the coffee table. Calvin sat next to the girl and put his arm around her.
"First, let me introduce you. This is my daughter, Layla," Calvin said, introducing his child.
"Who even are these people, Dad?" Layla asked, annoyed, crossing her arms over her chest.
Calvin turned and put his hands on Layla's shoulders. He looked at Layla with a serious gaze, then took a deep breath and let it out before speaking.
"I once told you you had a mom out there, right... well, she's right here in front of you now," Calvin said, pointing at Charlotte.
"Huh," Layla immediately turned to look at Charlotte, while Cole, Celes, Calista, Cyrus, and Charlotte herself were completely shocked.
"W-what do you mean?" Charlotte stammered.
"Wait a minute,"
Cyrus stood up and looked closely at Charlotte's face, then he walked over to Layla and stared at Layla's face up close, making Layla uncomfortable.
"Hmm... I just realized Big Sister Char looks a lot like Layla," Cyrus said.
"C-could this be possible?" Cole asked.
"But... looking at them, they really do look alike," Celes added.
"Yeah, I just realized it... not only that... Layla looks like a combination of Calvin and Charlotte. I hope my eyes aren't deceiving me," Calista added.
"It's true. Layla is my daughter and Charlotte's," Calvin confirmed.
"S-so... she's... my mom?" Layla asked, staring at Charlotte.
"Yes, that's right, she's your mom," Calvin replied, smiling.
The room immediately fell silent as everyone stopped talking. But then, suddenly, Layla stood up. She walked over to Charlotte and immediately knelt down in front of her.
"Mom... I'm sorry, I yelled at you earlier," Layla said.
"Y-yes, it's okay," Charlotte replied, nervously and hesitantly touching Layla's cheek.
Finally, the two embraced. Cole, Celes, Calista, and Cyrus immediately turned to look at Calvin, as if demanding an explanation, but Calvin just shrugged and gave a proud smile. After a moment of watching Charlotte and Layla talk,
"Layla, can you show Charlotte around? Your dad wants to talk with Uncle Cole, Aunt Celes, and Aunt Calista. Cyrus, you go with them, okay?" Calvin said.
"Huh... why?" Cyrus asked, confused.
"Just listen for now," Calvin answered, winking.
"Oh, okay, but tell me the story later," Cyrus replied.
"Okay, come on, Mom. Let's go out front; there are a lot of people I want to introduce you to," Layla said, standing up.
"Y-yes," replied Charlotte, still confused and not understanding, but following along.
After the three of them left, Calvin re-locked the door and sat back down on the couch. This time, his face was completely serious.
"Okay, can you tell me what happened to all of you?" Calvin asked, seriously.
Cole, Celes, and Calista immediately told Calvin about themselves, Cyrus, and Charlotte. After they finished their story, Calvin lowered his head in silence, his expression growing more serious.
"So that's what happened. No wonder when I went to the orphanage and to Mom Marion's hiding place ten years ago, none of you were there," Calvin said.
"Cyrus should have still been inside Chimaera GZX, but if you came 10 years ago, he hadn't woken up yet," Cole replied.
"When did you wake up, Calvin?" Calista asked.
"20 years after we escaped. That means about 50 years ago," Calvin answered.
"Huh... really?" Celes asked.
"Yes. Let me tell you everything, and the reason why I have a daughter named Layla," Calvin replied.
He immediately told them about himself. 50 years ago, Calvin woke up in this city and was taken in by a Draugr. This city used to be a Draugr city or nest, but the Draugr who took care of Calvin was an inventor and researcher. He found a way to turn tree bark into meat for the Draugr to consume, as they had started eating each other due to a lack of food. His discovery was successful, but production was very draining and time-consuming. Finally, Calvin convinced the Draugr, whom he called "Professor," to go to the orphanage and enter the underground facility.
There, they took the clone technology developed by GDAB to mass-produce Chimaera. After staying there for 10 years and learning everything, they were attacked by the GDA. The Professor was killed, but Calvin managed to escape and returned to his city, bringing the knowledge of the clone machine with him. Over the next 20 years, Calvin continued his research in this city and finally managed to create a machine that could make clones. His first experimental project was to try and clone his siblings because he felt lonely and alone.
Of course, he had many failures, but finally, he tried combining his own DNA with Charlotte's DNA, which he had saved from a strand of hair he got when they escaped and kept. The result of that experiment was Layla, and since then, he developed a machine that could create clones or homunculi using tree bark, and the results were amazing. Then, humans started arriving, and because the Draugr no longer had an appetite for humans—they preferred the meat from the tree bark and became vegan—they lived side-by-side with humans until now.
"Hmm... so that's how it is," Cole muttered.
"Okay, before I continue, there's something I need to test... my apologies beforehand," Calvin said.
"Crak... crak," Calvin suddenly transformed in an instant. His skin turned grayish-black, his eyes became red, four tentacles with sword-like tips emerged from his back, and his arms and legs turned dark blue. "Buaaaak," he immediately attacked Cole, Celes, and Calista with his four sword-tentacles. Cole, who had also transformed, blocked the tentacles by crossing his arms, which looked like a yeti's but were actually hard, impenetrable ice.
Celes deflected the tentacles with her spiky tail, while Calista caught a tentacle with her foot. All three stared at Calvin with their red eyes.
"Oi, oi, just attacking out of nowhere," Cole said in a terrifying voice.
"Haha... I already said sorry. So you've awakened too! Are Charlotte and Cyrus awakened as well?" Calvin asked with a terrifying voice.
"Yeah, they've awakened too," Calista replied with a terrifying voice.
"Don't worry, they're amazing," Celes added with a terrifying voice.
"Good. Now let me tell you the honest truth: we and this city are alone in this world," Calvin said with a terrifying voice.
"Huh," Cole, Celes, and Calista replied with terrifying voices.