58 A New Direction (1/2)
It was peculiar, but not in a bad way, sort of.
Caesar's elbow hit my head and I glared at him.
”Sorry Miss Ava, it's just that, I'm nervous right now,” muttered Caesar. ”The tension in the air has changed, and of course, not in a good way, sort of.”
All of us were inside the palace, specifically the overly bright guest room. Golden trophies, jarring vases that did not complement the orange-painted room, and a few miscellaneous items that Gheele had arranged there.
The unconscious Miranda was lying on the red sofa. Aya and Alicia sat next to each other on a luxurious golden sofa in front of her. Caesar and I were standing beside Gheele, where he had an ebony chair propped up for him to sit.
At that point, I was certain Gheele was too rich for his own good.
”Now, I just want to clear something up,” said Gheele. ”Relly and that pink slave won't be coming back to your country. I'm taking custody of them.”
Alicia gulped. ”Why did you bring us here? We're your enemies.”
”I thought we have an agreement, hm? I let you, that kid, Miranda, and Alexander to go back to C.U. in exchange for Relly and the pink slave. I have them underground in my underground prison,” said Gheele, resting his head on his right hand.
Alicia narrowed her eyes at the orange tiles, refusing to speak another word.
”Or you don't want to go back? I don't mind either way. But, I also have one more condition. When my personal jet brings you to the coast of Nigeria, you are to order the navies to retreat. Your land troops will then follow suit,” said Gheele.
”We don't have that authority,” retorted Alicia.
”Lies. I'm sure you Aegis Users are at the top of the chain of command. Caesar here had told me that,” said Gheele.
Alicia clicked her tongue.
”Even if you didn't want to, there's no way for your military to breach my Aegis defenses. It's up to you actually,” continued Gheele.
”We've come this far for nothing. Is that what you're trying to say?” demanded Alicia.
”That's correct. I'm quite sure you're a scientist yourself. Conducting the experiments using Aegis. You're all to blame for creating that weapon. As such, I have that power right now, and there's no one on your side that can defeat me and my country,” said Gheele.
”If you're that powerful, why don't you take Sweden for yourself?” prompted Alicia.
”Are you stupid, woman? You're basically asking me to go to to the frontline myself. This time, it's an emergency. I won't be joining the war myself if it happens.”
”What?! You're that powerful and yet you refuse to involve yourself. I admit that you're a high caliber Aegis User with the ability to take down almost anyone,” said Alicia.
”Almost? That's basically an insult. And to remind you, I have no need to invade your country. I merely want it to be crushed under my feet,” said Gheele. ”Are you suggesting there's an Aegis User far stronger than me? I'm sure Relly is up there, but he had to overwhelm me with numbers beforehand.”
Alicia was silent. There was something in the back of her mind and she brushed it off.
Agatha burst through the bronze door and walked up to Gheele, glancing at Alicia.
She was not any different from before. Her sleek, black jacket adorned her upper body paired with close-fitted blue jeans stretching from her waist. She had tied her dark hair into a ponytail, exposing her brown skin further.
She did not have that bandage around her face anymore. Instead, an ugly scar ran through her left eye.
”Master, the jet has arrived,” said Agatha.
”Perfect.” Gheele s.h.i.+fted his stare at Aya. ”As promised, you three may go. Where's that other guy?”
”Alexander is outside, Master. He's boarding the jet right now,” replied Agatha.
”I see. You may go now, dogs of C.U. The next time we meet, you're all corpses,” said Gheele.
Alicia proceeded to carry Miranda at her back and walked out of the room, glaring at me as she did.
It was natural since I literally sentenced Bart to a near-death state.
Though he would be dead soon enough.
Aya trotted to me. ”Ava.”
”I killed Bart. Why're you so nice to me?” I said.
”You have your reasons. In fact, I blame myself for being weak. But I didn't say I forgive you. If we meet again, I'll not hesitate, Ava. I hate to say this but, our friends.h.i.+p...”
”Is still the same. I'll not hurt you even if we meet again. That's my promise to you as a friend,” I stated.
Aya sighed. ”Then I'll hold onto it. I also wish the same thing but, that would be naive for me. We live in a cruel world, Ava. I'm afraid it will not go as you think it would.”
”Oh, I know that, Aya. Believe me, I know.”
She hugged me and I returned it.
If we lived in an alternate reality of some sort, I'm sure we would be good friends, without having to encounter violence in our lives.
”Goodbye, Ava.”
”Goodbye... Aya.”
We waved at each other before Aya's figure disappeared into the corridor.
After we were certain of the jet's departure, Agatha closed the bronze door and looked at me.
”Why are we letting the enemy go just like that? We could have a great advantage,” said Agatha.
”Why are you looking at me?” I asked.
Caesar stepped in and shook his head. ”No, no, Agatha. This is part of a GRAND PLAN, you see.”
”A plan, you say? Then tell me this plan of yours. Letting a scientist like Alicia who holds key information regarding Aegis goes is never a good choice. We could have prevented more Aegis Users from being created,” said Agatha.
Caesar shrugged. ”Maybe.”
”Then--”
”It doesn't have to be Alicia. There are the others inside that underground factory,” interjected Caesar.