"Bravo team to base! We need immediate medical support!" Varun dropped his lunch and answered the call "Base here, what is the emergency?" his hands flew over the keyboard and activated the medical emergency. Somewhere in the base people started running, getting ready to move out. "We encountered a remnant from an expedition. We thought he was a Wildling and attacked." Varun furrowed his brows, a remnant of a lost expedition? He was not aware of people missing over the last months from this RD base. Maybe it was an unaffiliated expedition?

"How bad are his injuries?" Varun asked and pinpointed the position of the Bravo team and send the info to the medical team. "He is not injured, several of our team are down." after a pause "He got us good." Varun blinked, the team jumped him and they are the ones who need medical attention? Did they attack a level 100+ class holder? "Emergency team is on the way. Has the man identified himself?" Varun was already doing his magic with the computer while he waited for an answer. He connected to the UN services and brought up the list of missing person on other worlds. "Base, he says his name is Marcus Freimann." Varun tipped in the name and a data window opened. "Bring him home, he has been missing since...holy shit...nearly four years. How the hell did he end up here? How did he survive?"

Fourteen hours later, Marcus Freimann stepped through the portal of the RD base in southern Egypt. Marcus took a deep breath and savored the moment. Welcome to Earth Xeen.

At last we are here. But you should not make them wait. We will celebrate later Marcus.

Marcus smiled and went into mute mode and walked down the ramp towards the security area. He had no luggage and wore some badly fitting RD company clothes. At least he had been able to clean up a bit. Marcus' heart was beating like a drum and he made it through the security check like he was in a trance. "You are free to go." A young woman said with a smile and Marcus nodded. People, voices and sounds everything was strange and wonderful. He was so nervous, what would have changed? Was everybody okay? Had they moved on? His hands were shaking, what a joke. After all what he had been through now he was too afraid to step forward? He moved out of the security area into the bright sun light.

Marcus had not taken two steps and a sniffy, crying Janette jumped him. Tears and laughter mixed, he wanted to say something but it felt too good to just embrace her. Two heart beats later Cherry threw her arms around him and more tears followed. The two women nearly brought Marcus down to his knees and he had to beg for mercy to get enough air. "I told them, I always told them you are alive." Janette sniffed and cried. "She did and she did not let anybody say anything else." Cherry laughed with tears in her eyes. Marcus was overwhelmed with feelings and only tears came out. They had never given up on him! He looked up and the rest of his clan was waiting to hug him too.

The two women made space but Janette did not let go of his hand. Achara and Kou stood a few meters away with tears in their eyes. They looked changed and after a second Marcus found the source of this change in Achara's arms. A small bundle of joy, with dark eyes and a head full of dark hair, watched what all the ruckus was all about. "Baby." Marcus said and walked closer.

"Welcome home." Achara said and pressed his hand while he looked at the proud parents and the impossibly cute little angel. "His name is Sophon." Kou said with a teary voice. "We are also married." He said with a smile, holding the hand of his wife. Marcus cried tears of joy and regret. He had missed it all, their wedding, Achara pregnant… But he would not miss anything from now on.

"Is it my time now?" Grace said and Marcus turned to the powerhouse of the clan. "You bet." Marcus said and they shared a meaningful hug. "It has been far too boring without you." She said and now she also cried. "I bet you kicked everyone's ass." Marcus said and laughed. He was surrounded by love and friendship but there were still people left waiting to welcome him.

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A woman with auburn hair and a soft smile stepped closer and held his hand. "Welcome home Marcus, we all missed you so much." Marcus needed a second or two "Candis?" His jaw fell, everybody had changed but she looked at least twenty or thirty years younger than the last time he had seen her. "CANDIS!" he laughed and she smiled. "You look amazing!" He said and she actually blushed. "Wow, and we did not get any compliments." Janette said who still held his hand. Marcus looked at her and her long blonde hair "All I see is a demon with surprisingly long hair." he lied through his teeth because Janette always looked wonderful in his eyes. "Janette vowed not to cut her hair until you returned home. You can imagine how happy I'm you are back." Cherry said with a cheeky tone. She preferred her wife with short hair and so did Marcus.

It was all so much, he nearly overlooked the two men who were still waiting. "Rian? Russo?" Marcus was dumbstruck. The men hugged him one after the other and they looked as relived to see him as the rest of the clan. "They are both part of the clan now." Kou said with a bright smile. Marcus felt overwhelmed. So many new things, his head was swimming. "I think our clan leader needs some time." Grace said, keeping the big picture in mind. "Let's bring him home. There will be more than enough time to tell him everything."

Marcus was grateful to Grace who understood how he felt. "You all look great and wonderful. I want to hear everything but… it has been some time…" He said and they understood. On the way back to Italy in a private jet he caught some more information. For example, the clan had over twenty members now. But for the most part he just wanted to be with his friends and family. Eventually he fell asleep in the plane, Janette was still holding on to his hand while Cherry put a blanket over him.

Sounds of people and the smell of food pulled Marcus back into reality. He was in his bed, in his room and Janette was still next to him, watching him with a smile. "Your stomach still rules your actions." she said and after a moment he realized her hair was short again. He pointed it out and she smiled "Cherry could not wait to get her hot wife back. She hated the long hair on me." He laughed silently and she gently pulled him up. "Come, people want to meet their clan leader for the first time." She said with a smile.

Marcus put on some clothes, REAL CLOTHES! And followed Janette into the area behind the villa. He saw that several new buildings now stood next to the villa and a lot of work had gone into improving the whole estate. But the most shocking part was the amount of people that waited for him around a large blazing fire pit. His heart started to race but Janette was right next to him. "I have told you about him many times but now you can see I have not lied. I present to you, Marcus Freimann the Titan, leader of the Colors of the Wild." cheering went through the ranks and Marcus took in the view. A lot of young people were under the new faces but also some older, more hardened eyes welcomed him. "He has come back only today, so he needs some time to adjust. Give him some space for now." Grace's voice boomed over the party and Marcus could tell she had absolute authority over them "That is our assault commander for you." Kou said with a smile.

Marcus spent the evening eating self made food from Achara and nearly cried his eyes out because it tasted so good. "It is only chicken with soy sauce Marcus!" she said but Marcus had not tasted real food in nearly four years. "It is divine. I never realized how good chicken tastes." He said and Cheery moved a plate to him "Then try freshly roasted slices of beef." Marcus was in heaven.

Time went by and Marcus got more used to all the people talking around him. Kou sat next to Marcus and he had a certain kind of look on his face while he poked his food. Marcus leaned over to him and whispered "If you say anything about a burner unit, or how you should have done this or that, I'm going to punch you with all my strength." Kou got big eyes and nodded. Marcus watched Achara remove a few tears from the face of her husband and smiled at Marcus. With a muted voice Marcus said "I know you all have a lot of questions for me. But I'm too exhausted today, I will explain things to you tomorrow." nobody argued with his wish.

Marcus lay on the floor of his room with only a blanket under his back. The bed was impossibly soft and he preferred the stable floor. Janette was sleeping right next to him in her caterpillar sleeping bag, holding on to his shirt even now. Cherry was lying on his bed, her green eyes observed her wife and Marcus. "She was not the same without you. She put on a brave face but I could always tell, that I had lost a part of her together with you." Cherry whispered and Marcus looked into her eyes. He wanted to say something important but did not know the right words. "Marcus" she whispered as if she understood him anyway, "There are only two people in this world I call family." she said with a warm smile, "They are both right here.". Her words meant the world to Marcus and he soon slept like a stone.

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