Okay. A new chapter is now a go!
Dont expect anything. This is more a set up chapter but there will be some moment that I often dream about writing about.
]
"..."
"..."
Njord and Nott.
The two being that might be the only people that could understand each other.
It was not guaranteed but they stood a higher chance than any other.
Nott told him about everything.
Everything.
Who was he?
What was he?
Why was he here?
How did he end up here?
Nothing was left for him to keep secrets too.
It was an odd feeling, having nothing to hide. Even the most trusted people that he knew, Nott never told them this much.
When he had nothing to say, the both were left to digest what Nott said.
It truly felt like a lifetime.
His lifetime.
So quite long.
When he thought it would never end, Nott heard him speak.
"So that's why you're so dumb. No cool, trauma dumping all of this to me."
"...Pftttt!"
With how out of left field the comment Njord gave him, how could you blame Nott from laughing his ass off.
Even Njord himself cracked a smile when he glanced at Nott, laughing until he was out of breath.
He admitted how obscure his response was.
When Nott finally had some control of his lungs, he spoke to Njord.
"Haha! I just gave my heart out, sharing my deepest darkest secret! My most traumatic life you now know! And that's how you responded! Oh! Oh! Fuck! I might have burst something important! What the fuck!? Gahahahah!"
"... Hahaha.."
Even Njord started to laugh alongside him.
After a few more chuckles between the two, they finally calm down and let themselves lean into the dead tree bark behind them.
"Phew… Were you trying to kill me cause that was the closest to death I had ever been… coming from me of all people, that's saying something!"
"Had to admit, not really the best thing to say in that situation."
"You think!? I take back everything about you being a good therapist! You might make your patience have a mental breakdown!"
They shared a few more exchanges. Then Nott let himself sit on the snowy ground, making no trace of his presence on it.
Hugging his knees and pulling them close to his chest, Nott's face felt like a permanent smile was carved into it. Njord is still standing beside him.
"Forgot the last time I burst out laughing this much…"
"Yeah. Yeah."
"Hey…"
Trying to hide his expression from Njord, Nott rested his head on his knees and sighed. Hearing no denials from Njord, steeling his nerve, Nott pushed on.
He always wanted to hear this from someone not related to him.
He needed to know.
"In your opinion… my actions at the time… were they correct?"
"Never thought that you wanted to hear my opinion of all people."
Nott looked up and smiled at Njord, looking even confused at being asked that.
"Never expected me to have a heart to heart with anyone but here we are."
"... Here we are."
Njord shook his head. Then he contemplated on how to answer Nott.
After sorting his thoughts, he stood in front of Nott, looking down at him.
In a way, Nott felt like he was on trial.
… A bit fitting.
"Before we start, I want this to be abundantly clear, you're a fucking dick."
"Geezzz… Kick a man while he's down, why don't you?"
Njord rolled his eyes at a quip he got.
"I want to make sure you know, I won't be biassed. You and the people that were related to your mess? Don't care. Are we clear?"
"... Crystal. But did you need to say your previous comments?"
Njord shrugged his shoulders.
"I wanted to."
"Yeah… Love you too."
He sighed and continued on his little rant.
"They were assholes."
"... P-Pardon?"
The ex-therapist massaged his forehead in annoyance.
"Seeing your confusion only makes them look even worse now."
"... You listened to everything I told you just now, right?"
"Nooooo. I was deaf the whole time. Of course I listened. But did you?"
"You aren't making a lot of sense here."
To get his points across, he sat right next to Nott. Njord never wanted to get close to Nott since they knew each other so this caught him off guard.
"Okay, work with me here dumbass. What were you doing before everything went down?"
"I… I was in a deep sleep."
"Why did you wake up on this floating space rock? It's not like you have an alarm clock set as "wake me up when everything is the most fucked", did you?"
"Heh… No. She woke me up."
Nott chuckled at the harsh comments, shaking his head at his question.
Njord stared at him right in his eyes, unwavering.
"And why did she wake you up?…"
"She… She…"
Nott started to hesitate now.
Njord did not give him a chance to answer.
"She dragged you into a problem you had no need to be in. Why? They felt like it."
"... You don't know that."
"See. Even now you're defending them. Helping them."
Pointing a finger into his face made Nott jerked back.
"And don't give her excuses. If what you said was right and she was the closest person that you knew on this rock, that woman would know who you are as a person. She knew you would agree to help them. Even when she knew somewhat of your situation at the time, she still threw you into all this mess."
Njord stood up and glared at Nott, disappointed at how he was being.
"And for what? A doom planet? She gave up on you for a person that she knew for a fraction of the time you knew her?"
"... I… I never thought it like that before."
"Of course you didn't! You did not have the time to even do it in the first place!"
"... You're a bit heated."
Nott then realised how Niord was reacting to all of this. With both hands messing up his hair, Njord let out a frustrated groan.
"Of course I am! Cause I can see me doing the same shit you've done but worse!"
"You are exaggerating."
"Look. I am not as smart as you, no matter how hard you act like a dumbass and succeeding in doing so."
"... Thank you? A-Arte you praising me or making fun of me here!... Man, this is a weird day."
"If I was to do the same thing as you? At least you have the decency to feel guilty about the whole betrayal. Me? Nah. Fuck 'em. Dragging me into this mess? I would have gone to sleep again!"
Njord placed his hand on his chest like he was admitting something to be prideful of. He then smirked at the now rare sight of Nott looking dumbfounded.
Placing his hands on his hips, Njord sighed at this whole situation.
"Look. It wasn't their fault they needed you, you were the best person for their problem. Neither were you when you betrayed them. There were no innocent people as there were no single people at fault. It was just a shitty situation."
"... Never saw it like that."
"Thus to my last point!"
Bending down in front of him, Njord placed his hand on Nott's shoulder, giving it a good grip.
"Henceforth, starting now! You are going to live for yourself. If you did something you knew you wanted but the rest would, do it!"
".. T-That's…"
Nott could hardly understand how to live like that. To only do things that benefit yourself.
"I… I don't even know… how to start."
"It's easy! Just ask the man that abandoned all of his friends for an illusion of a better life! You cannot get any more selfish than that."
The long forgotten being stared at his companion in other shock. What he was suggesting was…
For him to abandon everything that made him… him.
To let go of the hopes that his people put on him…
Throw away the trust that people had on him…
"That's… how do I even start?"
He… never had a time where he did not have a goal to stride to. The being always had something that must be done.
Shackles that would always hold him down to a road that was set for him to walk upon.
Something that Njord never had. He was forced to have responsibilities, even people that he cares for needed him to do those things.
However, Njord… Lin Ye threw them all away the moment he saw something that he wanted.
He… He did not know if he could do that.
His people, what would happen to them?
Their project, will it all go to waste?
Million of life, an unfathomable amount of time, all for nothing?
The lives that he took?
The trust that he gave up?
Will they all also go to waste if he was to do what Njord said?
He… mustn't do-
Flick!
A burst of pain snapped him out of his thoughts, hands went to his forehead to quell the pain he felt on it.
"Hey! The fuck! What was that for!m? W-Why are you winding up another one! W-Wait, get away! Its fucking hurt dammit!"
The person responsible still had his weapon, his finger to his head, readying another blow. This made Nott hold out a hand in fear.
Seeing that he now had his attention, Njord withdrew his hand. Njord sighed at this poor sight as he folded his arms.
"You really got it bad, huh? You were needed, not wanted. Man, that's sad."
It was like being washed by ice cold water.
He wanted to rebuke.
He truly wanted to.
He wanted to believe that…. That he was worth something to them.
To the people that he cared for.
No… His words never left his mouth.
"Did they even know what your favourite colour is?"
"..."
"You didn't even have time to think about colours, huh?"
He is starting to see the problem now. As Nott rested his head on his knees, Njord made himself comfortable and plopped next to him.
"Mine's white, just so you know."
"... That's… quite a surprise."
Nott glimpsed from his knees to look at Njord's relaxed expression.
Then a question appeared in Nott's mind.
"White… Why is it your favourite?"
Njord smiled at the simple question.
"Do you need to know?"
"...No. But…"
Nott returned Njord's smile with his own.
"I want to. It might help me figure out what mine will be."
"... I want to know that too. You took a week to tell me about your life. It's only fair that I tell all of my useless facts about myself."
"... Wouldn't want it any other way."
The two nobodies, out in the middle of nowhere, talked about something worthless for no reason.
They both liked that.
They wanted it to be that way.
]
Two weeks had passed since the girl named Talulah arrived at their village. He didn't really have the time to interact with her though as Adrik rushed back to Chernobog to buy supplies.
He left Lina to take care of the guest. She was much more suitable in that situation. Although, Adrik would often feel Talulah's gaze lingered on him often before he would leave the village.
Not something he needed to know but still, quite peculiar.
After he was done getting what he needed from the city, Adrik stayed in it for a few more days.
Something made him feel like he needed to collect more information.
As he went digging, Adrik found a lot of interesting facts.
Like how a certain duke was killed.
It was not public knowledge but a few drinks and good questions gave him a lot of information from the Ursus' guards.
With Talulah clothing being quite… royalish, Adrik had a good guess why the duke was dead.
Trully, a pub is an informant's best ally.
Speculation at best, a dumb guess at worst.
But one thing was for sure, Talulah was more than a wanderer.
Adrik needed to keep a close eye on her.
But what news that got Adrik's blood went cold was another one.
Ursus was getting more active in… dealing with Infected.
Much more, further away from the city and into the tundra.
There was a pogrom on Infected happening in Ursus led by its very government.
And from what Adrik gathered, the soldier would kill a village that housed an Infected in it.
Either they rat out who the Infected were or the soldiers would kill everyone in the village.
His village shouldn't have any Infected so they should be fine…
Was what he would have thought if it weren't for the fact that was not the truth.
Adrik knew there was one Infected among them.
Alina.
No matter how much she tried to hide them, Adrik saw crystals hidden in her selves.
And that was not the worse part…
A group of soldiers were heading in the direction of his village.
"Hurry Ash! They might have arrived in the village!"
That was the reason Adik was on his sled, shouting at Ash to run as fast he possibly could.
The soldiers left about two days after Adrik learned about it.
Normally the trip from the village to Chernobog would take him and Ash three days if they rested in between days.
Not this time.
The moment they found out the government was about to harm the village, they rode into the white tundra, never stopping to rest, full speed.
The trip was taking tolls on the two of them.
Adrik could barely stay awake, often burning some part of his skin to prevent him from sleeping.
Ash was also getting slower and slower with each passing hour. Adrik even was considering pulling on the sled himself, to let Ash rest but he threw that thought away.
Not because he couldn't do it.
Ash would just bite him to even insinuate that he couldn't do it.
They did not stop.
They could not.
Lives were on the lines.
Lives that Adrik comes to care of.
After what left an eternity of white nothingness, Adrik saw it.
His village.
Just when his ecstasy was about to appear on his face, he saw something that snuff out it immediately.
The Infected Patrol Unit!
They shouldn't be here. The unit only came to a location when they were sure there was an Infected.
They shouldn't know Alina was infected.
'… Someone told them.'
High chance of that person being a local.
… Adrik would deal with that later.
From the looks of it, there were about twenty of them in total.
However that was not what made Adrik feel dread.
It was the lone old man that stood in front of one officer.
"Fuck! Come on buddy! Mr. Iziaslav! Don't!"
Adrik saw Mr. Iziaslav, shouting something at them, pointing at himself.
With what remaining strength he had, Ash burst into speed. With how far they were, Adrik's shout did nothing as no one could hear him.
'He's trying to frame himself!'
It was evidence he could not hear him when Adrik saw the old man slice his arm.
Adrik did not know why he did that, but that didn't matter.
They will make it-
Snnnrrttt!
He saw it.
The knife lounged between the old man's chest.
Red liquid poured out of his mouth as he started to cough.
Ivan Iziaslav then fell on the ground, snow jumping up to the air.
The world went quiet, only his heartbeat could be heard.
A pool surrounded his body.
Time slowed down.
Then Adrik saw his ring, the black ring that father gave him, flying from his neck and hovered in front of him.
"Father."
He muttered a silent plea. What should he do?
What was the course of action that he needed to do?
Mr. Iziaslav…
He died.
Adrik knew that his heart stopped.
He was killed in front of him.
Adrik watched as this happened.
He was hurt in front of Adrik.
Adrik did not know what to do.
His emotions, they were all over the place.
His torrent of emotions made him freeze.
Then when he felt his most lost, Adrik heard him answering.
Guiding him, always.
'Kill them.'
Adrik got an answer from his father.
He did not need anything else.
"Ash… Slaughter them…"
"Grrrrr!"
Adrik burnt the rope on Ask's leash, breaking him free from the sled's weight.
It did not take long for him to crush the skull of an officer.
'One.'
Adrik's cold voice echoed in his head as he picked up a wooden spear, aiming it at a person's head.
The wooden spear started to vibrate, splinters started to break off from its body as Adrik's could feel the Orginium sipped into its frame.
"Wha-"
Snrrtt!
Before the closest officer of the murder, the same bastard that killed Mr. Iziasla could react, a spear went through his head.
The rest of them stood in place, too shocked to even move.
As the body finally dropped onto the cold ground, the body started to bulge.
Their bodies moved at the sight of their fallen comrade's body to start glowing, but they were too late.
Booom!
He exploded in a bright red.
What followed was utter chaos.
A chaos that Adrik rushed into.
]
Talulah rushed towards where the mister should be, she could hear footsteps not far behind her.
Alina must be following her.
Just when Talulah thought about running faster….
Booom!
An explosion stopped her in her tracks. Smokes rose into the sky.
Talulah thought the worst reason for this was that the patrol unit was blowing up houses, so she ran towards the smoke.
As she got closer, Talulah something was off.
She did not see any houses in flames and the smoke was coming a bit further away from the village.
Talulah put those thoughts to the side as she continued onward to the smoke.
When she was close enough, Talulah saw it.
Hell crept onto the snow plane of Ursus. V Body parts, some she couldn't even identify scattered throughout the ground. With red flames and the blood from the bodies, dyed the snow red.
Heat so intense that even Talulah started to get cautious in getting closer to the hell that was in front of him.
The smell of burnt flesh lingered in the air.
"Help!"
"My arm! My arm!"
Screams filled the often quiet land of snow.
Then she saw him.
His white fur cloak, patches of blood on it helped her see him clearer.
The orange scarf around the man's neck almost looked like it was on fire as well, part of it even was burnt.
Dusty blonde hair flicked alongside the embers that were flying in the air.
His left hand outstretched…
Through the torso of a body.
"A-Adrik."
"Mer… Mer…"
Incredibly, the man that had an arm through him could still talk, albeit broken.
Adrik did not give him the luxury of finishing it though.
He clenched his arm into a fist…
The reaction was immediate.
The man exploded…
Blood splashed onto Adrik's body, drenching him in blood, something that did not bother him in the slightest.
"Nineteen."
Ash slowly walked to his side, fur and fangs covered with red.
The dog looked around and his eyes landed on something.
He slowly prowled towards it.
"Nngghhh!... Ahhnnggghh!"
It was an officer dragging his body through the snow.
He could not stand up, how could he?
His legs were not used to him with how mangled they were, with only a few veins keeping them not breaking apart from his body.
The officer stopped and dared to look behind him.
The reasons why his whole unit was wiped out.
They were caught by surprise, they did not stand a chance.
Most of them were killed after the explosion, the rest were mortally wounded.
Then the man… The monster started killing any survivors. His hound aided him to find them, making the process even easier for him to do.
Until he was only left.
In an act of utter desperation, he begged.
"P-Please! No! I was just following-"
"Shut him."
The last thing he saw was a row of teeth and the sensation of his skull being crushed.
"... Twenty. Complete."
Adrik turned his gaze towards the village.
People were gathering to see the commotion. Eyes on him, but they did not bother him.
However, his blood clutched his heart when Adrik saw a certain someone staring at him.
Those eyes that would warmly welcome him after a long hunt.
Those eyes that could light the night every time she would meet up with him even against her late father's wishes.
Those eyes…
They were not the ones on Alina as she stared at him.
Alina was a few miles away from him, so Adrik could easily see her expression.
An expression that Adrik never knew she would show him.
Fear.
She was afraid of him.
Adrik outstretched his hand toward her, to explain himself but he stopped when he saw for himself.
Red.
The colour covered his arm, some even dripped down and soaking the very ground he stood on.
He noticed blood even covering a large part of the scarf that Alina gave him.
Looking around, he noticed how much destruction there was. The flames melting the snow. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
The sight of him covered with blood.
Her feeling echoed amongst the rest of the villagers.
They were terrified of him.
'... Make sense.'
They were normal people.
Adrik lowered his gaze.
It was odd, she was just like any other person. A normal human.
But why…
Why does it make him hurt to see her looking at him like that?
'... Leaving might be the best thing to do.'
If Ursus got wind of this, with a rat in the village they highly will, they will hunt him down.
Running… wWould make sure no one would get hurt.
Adrik turned his legs and was about to run for it, where to, he did not know.
Something stopped him though.
Bite!
"Let go, Ash."
Looking down, Ash had his fangs deep in his ankle, stopping him from moving.
"Grrrrr!"
"... It is for the better."
"Grrr!"
"... Being unreasonable here."
Adrik shocked his leg but Ash would let go of him.
Just when Adrik was considering yanking his leg from his jaw, Ash might even lose some teeth in the process, he heard it.
He heard her.
"Adrik."
She was calling him.
So he needed to answer.
"..."
But he couldn't.
Adrik stopped struggling and faced where he heard her.
However, his gaze was planted down on the ground, rooted to the now red snow under his feet.
Seeing Adrik stop moving, Ash finally let go of his ankle but still kept a close eye on him.
Footsteps were getting closer to him and it stopped when a pair of shoes came into his view, standing in the few places where the blood did not stain.
"Adrik."
She called him again.
His mouth still did not want to answer her.
She took a step closer to him, Adrik took a step away in response.
"Don't… Don't come near me."
"... Why?"
Adrik glanced towards his hand, red still from the murders he just did, clutching it.
How can her voice still be so gentle in his ears after what he had done?
"... I'm…. An unpleasant thing to see…"
"..."
With her being silent, Adrik knew that she agreed.
Sighing, he was questioning himself on why he was still here.
He took another step away.
"I need to leave… I need to get as far away as I can…"
"... More of them will come?"
"Sorry for ruining your gift."
The orange scarf around his neck was burnt on its end and some blood was still on it.
He ruined it.
Like how he ruined everything else.
Adrik turned around and was about to leave.
However, a hand gasped his, making him stop.
Adrik did not look back, but he knew who it was.
They were the same hand that pulled him out from the woods.
"... Let go Lina. You will get dirty."
"I don't care."
The hand tightened when she spoke, blood smudging on her hand.
Alina then, with her other hand, guided Adrik's face to look at her.
When her eyes locked with his, Adrik's eyes widened.
"... Are you not scared?"
The fear that he saw in them before, her eyes didn't have anymore.
"I am, Ad…"
Alina pulled her sleeve and used it to rub off some blood that was on his face, soaking it with it.
"I am scared at how this cruel world manages to make someone so kind be so terrifying."
Alina did not hide the fact she was afraid of him but she did not run away from him, rather she ran towards him.
"I won't let it do it again. I won't let someone so kind to turn out like that. I won't be abandoning you, Ad."
Adrik stared at the other person that changed his left beside his family.
The girl that he learned how the good of people still existed.
Even in the harshest of places, someone still manages to care for others.
'Humans… They are incredible.'
Adrik muttered in his head as he let his body that was unconsciously tense finally relax, letting Alina wipe away any remaining blood on his face.
"My boy…"
When aAlina was cleaning his face, they heard someone calling him. Raising his gaze he saw a concerned old lady.
"... I am sorry. I-If i was just a bit faster -"
"Oh shush dear. My husband knew what he did. We knew that Alina was infected for a long time now."
The small old woman looked around the scotch land and knew her husband did not have any remaining left, burnt away like the rest.
However she did not show any hate towards him.
"She's like a grandchild to us so even if I tried to stop him he would still be stubborn and go off when I was not looking. The old boot wouldn't be mad at you either dear."
The Old lady patted him on his back gently, smiling as she did.
"Now come, we need to pack both of you before leaving. Seeing that Alina won't be letting you go on your lonesome."
Adrik felt her grip on his hand tightened, afraid that he would run the moment she let go
Adrik smiled and nodded to the lady, alongside Alina.
"I couldn't even if I wanted to."
"That I agreed with you, Ad."
"Ash, do keep them safe."
"Ruff!"
"And one more thing. Talulah dear! You might have to come along with them."
Talulah was snapped back to Terra when she was called.
"... Pardon?"
"She's…"
Alina glanced towards Adrik and he nodded to her unsaid question.
"She's an Infected too."
"How-"
"Just accept as… I can feel it."
Shrugging as he answered her, Adrik looked back at Mrs. Iziaslav.
"The supplies, they are about a couple of walks there. Let me get them-"
"No. You must be tired. If I knew you, in which I do, you must have come here without getting any rest."
"Ash can rest. I am still able enough to-"
"No."
"Lina, the villager needs-"
"Let it be someone else then."
"..."
"No."
"... Lead the way then."
Seeing that he had no choice, he let himself be dragged by the smaller woman, her dog not far beside them.
Their bodies disappeared as they got further away from the site.
Suddenly, a loud clap echoed in the silence.
"Okay, you lots! Let's get this over with."
Mrs. Iziaslav took the innersitive and instructed the locals.
Talulah stared at the surroundings that Adrik left behind and she finally took in the sight of it.
It was like the very land was scorched by flames that shouldn't exist.
She knew her flames were powerful, able to melt metals if she controlled it.
However, the marks that his flames made, it looked like they permanently scared the land.
His flames… It was no Arts.
Talulah turned around and looked at where Alina dragged him away with Ash. thought lingered in her mind.
'Who is he?'
]
After he took a quick bath to clean off the blood covering him, he sat on a bed that should be for Alina's late father. His hair was still a bit damped but at least he was cleaner now.
He even got something to eat after. Alina really knew how to make a good porridge even with how little ingredients that she had.
Adrik even saw her giving some to her neighbours.
Truly spoke volume at how much she worked hard to provide the best for people.
Now clean and filled, Adrik did not understand how he felt more troubled than when he needed to go through the horrible weather of the white desert that was his home.
That was a lie, he knew why he felt this way.
The problem was he was being glared at by a certain woman.
"Is this really necessary?"
"... Yes it is."
Adrik never was one that stayed in one place for a long time. Not doing anything was something Adrik never thought of doing.
If he wasn't hunting, he would be checking supplies.
If he wasn't doing that, then he would be learning things from Father and Uncle.
Doing nothing made him feel… like he was wasting time.
He thought he would go back to the village and help in any way that he could but the moment Adrik got changed and was about to leave the room, he was caught.
Standing as his obstacle was a very angry woman and a smug mutt. Alina didn't say a word and pushed him onto the bed.
That was how he got here, being glared down by a woman that didn't even have a fraction of his strength.
"Ash!"
"Awo?"
"Sleep on him! Don't let him get up until he gets enough rest!"
"Wait- Uuff!"
The dumb dog tackled him to the bed, making him laid on the bed with a large furball on his chest.
Alina didn't even need to say more as she went out, closing the door behind her. Now alone with a huge dog on his chest, pinning him down, Adrik could only do one thing.
Complained.
"..."
"... You're enjoying this too much, damn mutt."
'Let's just sleep.'
He rested his hand on Ash's head and closed his eyes, letting him drift to slumber.
]
Adrik felt a nudge on his forehead.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and what greeted him was not a wooden ceiling but a concrete floor.
Adrik was not even lying down rather sitting against something hard. As he was about to collect his thoughts, a faint flicker caught his attention.
A bug.
A bug that had a peculiar azure light emitting behind it back.
This bug was a new species, a Hyperfly.
How did he know this fact?
Adrik made them a few years ago, 'course.
A species of firefly that emits azure blue light, that had a lifespan far exceeding the normal ones.
Then he remembered why he was here.
Adrik started to remember now.
He wasn't on a snow plane anymore.
He was in a chamber underground in the city of Chernobog.
Adrik wasn't a hunter or a nomad.
He was a leader in Reunion. The well known terrorist group that he unconsciously built with his friends.
The man sighed as he remembered this. Holding his left hand out, the bug landed on it, light still bright.
"About time? Thank you for waking me up?"
With a little help from Adrik pushing his hand up, the firefly flew away.
His eyes then landed on a furball curled next to him, its head resting comfortably on his lap.
Although Adrik didn't want to disturb his sleep, their visitors were about to arrive.
A smile formed on his face as he started to pet him.
This made the dog wake up.
Adrik hummed as he looked at his surroundings. Artificial lights lit the room that he was in, the sound of beeping from a medical device echoed in the quiet room.
"Sorry bud. Time to wake up."
"... Hrrmmm?"
"They are about to arrive."
Although the mutt didn't want to do so, when Adrik rose up, he was next to him.
Then, his body melted into his shadow, leaving alone in the minimal room.
"Might tidy myself."
He readjusted the white cloak over his body, making sure that it hid his other… arm.
His guests might get tense seeing it so might as well, better to be safe than sorry.
The orange scarf around his neck, that had a view burn marks and tears felt a bit tight so he loosen it up.
Adrik turned to admire the room he was in. He stood on a platform that had a machine standing on it.
All the equipment here looked not from this world.
Tubes and wires connected to a single machine that looked like a function to monitor a box located below it.
It hung above him and the scale of the contraption made him small in comparison.
The monitor that was located not far from him showed some medical data.
He got closer to the box or rather the sarcophagus, and placed his hand on the glass that let him see the sole person in it.
Adrik wiped away the moisture on the glass and started at two eyelids.
"So this is him? The most important person on Terra."
As he pondered on the person, the knob of the steel door in front of him started to move.
Hand still on the coffin, Adrik turned and faced the door, it slowly opened.
He was greeted by a girl leading a group of two inside the room.
"Medic, quickly link the device to the-"
The people in front of him froze when their eyes landed on him.
He understood why they looked so confused at him being here.
Knowledge of this place shouldn't be known by any one other than them and few others.
Luckily for Adrik, Father and Uncle were in the latter.
This was where the most important person of their organisation was located.
Although his guardians already told him about the leader of the group prior to this, Adrik couldn't help but raise a brow at how young she really was.
This small girl… had to bear all of the responsibility at such a young age…
'Not even twenty?... To make someone so young… Ironic, we have Sasha but still!'
The young cautus, the leader of the group, stared at him in pure horror as his hand was placed on a coffin behind him.
"I heard a lot of things about you people."
Adrik hummed when he saw an arrow head aim to his head.
"Rhodes Island."