Epiphany Of The Weak 120 Planned Endeavour

Certainly, his specialty was dependant on how much Aegis particles he had spread beforehand. Without doing so, as he said, there would be fewer options available for him during a fight.

About ten minutes later, the Neo African soldiers that accompanied us secured the compound. Qara and a few other soldiers helped the prisoners instead and gathered them at one spot. I didn't move from my spot at all, as I watched them from the side. Hope, Lily, Caesar, and Maltyie approached me from my right side, and I turned to look at them. Gheele was beside me too, watching.

"Wait, wait! Aren't you that guy from Neo Africa?!" said the guy I saved before, as he scrambled his way towards us. Before, an Ancile was about to deliver the killing blow for him when I sliced it apart back inside the hall.

Though, everyone near the area heard him except for Gheele. Instead, he turned to me and spoke about the Pillar, Yvonne.

"I heard one of my soldiers said this Yvonne he found in this prison is a clone. The real Yvonne is nowhere nearby," he said.

"Yeah," Hope said. "That is her specialty after all, as Klaus explained. Cloning. She can morph someone's appearance to look like her and that someone will have the basic abilities of a User."

Gheele rolled his eyes. "I know that, slave. As for the prison itself, there should be nothing to worry about. My Aegis particles had been spread throughout the area, so any remaining enemies will be immediately dealt with by me."

"G-Gheele Folami. I'm Gray!" said the guy from before, as he tried to catch his breath. He had run from where Qara was, which was about a hundred meters away.

'So his name is Gray,' I thought.

Gray rubbed his dark hair and looked at Gheele with gleaming eyes. "I can't believe it. It really is you."

Gheele, however, looked at him with contempt. He waved his hand lazily at him. "A mere stranger doesn't have any right to talk to me without my permission."

My mouth twitched at his statement. Even though a year had pa.s.sed since Amathelia's rule, Gheele was still the same.

Caesar coughed a few times and stepped in between Gray and Gheele. "I think we should take Gray with us, Master Gheele."

Gheele frowned. "Explain."

"Well, this mission's objective was to take down the two enemy Aegis Users that had been confirmed to be here. Unlike the Lutalo's previous missions, where all of it involved helping the rebel groups at some parts of the world, this one is different. To reduce Amathelia's fighting strength, we have decided to take down each of her Users one by one."

"That much is obvious to me," said Gheele. "Continue."

Caesar grabbed Gray by the shoulders and pulled him to his side. "And we need some more expertise on our side as well, in order to weaken Amathelia. Gray Ludwig, right here, is a renowned pharmacist and a good friend of Doctor Oz. His medical skills are otherworldly!"

Gray stared at Caesar, confused. "I'm not that great. Doctor Oz is much more dependable than me--"

"Shhhhhhh." Caesar put his finger at his mouth. "No need to be so humble. Oh, by the way, he's quite a humble guy."

Hope smiled. "I can see that."

"Of course you can, edgy blonde teen," said Caesar.

I looked at everyone and then back at Gheele. "I agree with Caesar. Even though Master Gheele has his own medical specialists, we can use someone like him on our side."

"I agree," said Lily.

"Haha! You like Caesar. There's no way you wouldn't agree with him," said Maltyie as she nudged Lily in the shoulder.

"I'm concerned about his well being . . . And everything about him."

"Of course, of course." Maltyie then grinned in Caesar's direction.

"Then you all agree with him," said Gheele.

We nodded.

"I see . . . What do you think, Gray Ludwig?"

Gray's brown eyes opened wide at Gheele's question. Perhaps he didn't expect to be accepted so easily by everyone. "I'm not sure myself. But, there's nowhere for me to go right now. My pharmacy is nothing without its customers. As you guys already know, the streets are empty, and it is because of Amathelia's stupid rules. She wants the people that she considered bad to be executed, and those who don't, get to sit inside the prisons. Like, why? Is she trying to cleanse Germany, Italy, and Sweden?"

"Right now, it's just those regions," said Caesar. "She has not implemented the rules in the other parts of C.U yet."

Gray nodded. "I want to help you guys fight this new C.U. Not that the previous ruler is good, but I can't stand all of this. Who does Amathelia think she is? Who is she doing this for anyway? Herself?"

Hope glanced at me and put a hand on my shoulder. I smiled at him.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Maybe there's more to it. Don't think too much about her," said Hope.

For the past year, Amathelia was on my mind a lot of times. I saw her on the television back at Neo Africa. I couldn't help but kept thinking that she had a connection with me somehow.

I had a theory that Amathelia was my mother, considering how young she looked, and what Ivar had said. I still clung onto that theory. Though, if I wanted to know about the whole thing, I had to ask Amathelia herself.

"I want to ask Amathelia about what she knows about me," I said to Hope. "That is my goal right now, aside from saving all those people that are suffering under her reign."

"I know. Haha, we will get to her."

Caesar talked with Gray for a while, and finally Gray looked back at the rest of us. "I will join you guys. Would you allow me, um, Gheele . . . Master Gheele?"

"Hah. If you insist, I shall allow it."

"Thank you. Thank you so much!" Gray proceeded to shake Gheele's hands, which resulted in Gheele glaring at him after that.

"Hmm?"

I noticed a figure walking towards us and I turned around. "Oh, it's Ulii!"

"Ava," called Ulii. "I heard there's nothing else for me to do, eh? I need to rest after we get back." Ulii halted in front of me. Gray gasped when he looked at her.

"You're . . . That old woman!" He shouted.

"Hmm?" Ulii stared at him. "Oh, Mister Gray Ludwig. Nice to see you all well and not dead. Hahaha!" She opened the bandages that were wrapping a part of her head and then the bandages on her right arm.

"Wait, wait . . . You're not injured? Your face looks . . . Fine. And so does your arm," said Gray.

Ulii laughed at him. She wiped her tears and tried to look at him without laughing again. "I was disguising. You young folks call it being on an undercover, I think. Yeah. I was carrying Ava's green Aegis crystals the whole time. It was quite small, so no one noticed. Ava used the Aegis to control the guards, and that's why the alarm came off too little too late when they attacked."

"Aegis . . ." Gray looked at me. "So you guys are Aegis Users too. That explains those weird abilities."

"You have seen an Aegis User fight before?" asked Hope.

"No. I'm a.s.suming you guys are Users too since Reinhart kept mumbling about how he surpa.s.ses humans all the time. He's an Aegis User too. I just connect the dots, and that's how I came into that conclusion."

"You are a smart youngin!" Ulii rubbed Gray's dark hair and then laughed again.

The rest of us started to ask questions to Gray too, and he answered it while being pestered by Ulii.

It was a nice sight.

After the fighting and whatnot, the light atmosphere was a good change. I could join them, but in the end, I didn't. Amathelia and her Pillars were on my mind at that time, and I kept thinking about her. She was truly beautiful the first time I laid my eyes on her. On the television, it appeared that she didn't wear any makeup. However, her skin was abnormally white, and it bothered me.

Maybe it was her genetics.

Not long after we interacted with Gray, three Teria airships that belonged to ours had arrived. It landed on an empty s.p.a.ce at the prison's large yard. Erhi and Odval walked out of one of the ships and I waved at them.

Gheele sighed. "It's time for me to do my thing, I suppose. Caesar, take care of the things back at my Neo Africa." He left us and walked out of the prison using the front entrance, without looking back.

"He reeeally likes to do everything himself. I'm not sure if I will ever be as confident as him," said Hope.

"Well . . ." Maltyie turned to us. "He wants to spread his Aegis particles throughout Germany, Italy, and Sweden. Doing it himself is the best option since he can move however he wants to. Makes a future invasion by Neo Africa easier for him, no?"

"Yup," I nodded.

"Anyway, this guy here!" She patted Hope in the back. "I'm surprised at first when you said you're an Aegis User. Look at you right now. Back at my house, you look all pale and weak."

"Haha . . . I'm different now, of course."

Maltyie set her eyes on me next. "And as for you, Ava. Look how tall you have grown!" She hugged me tightly, and I found myself being crushed in her embrace. "You're all matured and pretty now!"

She then let go of me. I cleared my throat after that and looked at her. "It's because of my past experiences. Anyway, I'm fourteen now Maltyie."

"Yup."

"And, I want to be treated like a fourteen-year-old."

"Ohhhhh. Look at you." Maltyie embraced me again. "You're almost as tall as me. Ava trying to act like a grown-up is the best medicine for my heart."

Hope giggled next to me. He turned his head around when Erhi approached us. "Hi, Erhi."

"Hope." She showed a toothy grin. "I managed to hack an Ancile we caught before. I had it to help Gheele, thanks to you of course."

"Not really. Mister Klaus was the one who taught us a lot of things about machines and such."

A few minutes later, everyone boarded the Teria ships, including the prisoners. I was about to board too but stopped when I heard Maltyie was talking to Caesar behind me.

"What is it?" said Caesar, as Maltyie just stared at him without uttering a word.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You kept reminding me of someone I knew. Though, his voice was different."

"And, who is this someone?"

She sighed. "You reminded me of my . . . Dead brother. I can't really put it into words, but you have a vibe about you that reminds me of him. If that makes any sense."

"I'm sorry."

Maltyie waved at him. "It's fine. His name was Kurt. He was a really good guy, you see . . . I'll just board the ship right now." She then walked past us and stepped into a Teria ship in front of me.

"When will you the truth to your Sis, Caesar?" I said to him. "Your true ident.i.ty is her supposedly dead brother, Kurt Holm . . . Am I right?"

"I don't think I've ever disclosed my ident.i.ty to anyone," he said.

"Well, you kind of revealed it a lot of times. Hope brought it up to me, and I just connect the dots."

"Ah . . ." Caesar looked up at the sky. "Not now, Lady Ava. Certainly not anytime soon. Perhaps after everything is over, I will. Being the person I am right now kind of help to not overcomplicate things."

"You mean, you don't want to tell her and keep it a secret . . . Forever?"

Caesar shook his head. "To be honest, Sis already suffered a lot. She seems to have moved on, you see. I like her to stay this way for a little longer."

"Ohh. I can tell her anytime you wish. Just give me the word and I will have it done," I said.

"Thank you, Lady Ava." I couldn't see what his expression was behind that mask of his. Though, I was sure he was smiling when he said it.

,__.__,

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Back at Gheele's palace, some of the Neo African soldiers had rounded up the prisoners at the entrance. They talked about what not to do in the compound, as the rest of us stepped inside the palace.

"Hmm?"

I noticed Amaryllis, Tabetha, and Helena walked towards us from the front. Perhaps something had happened while we were gone.

"Ah, lady Ava . . . And Hope too," said Amaryllis. "Those people are waiting in the lounge room. That group."

Hope's eyes widened. I couldn't help but gasped, my heart thumping loudly against my chest.

"They are definitely the group from Mansel Island. Master Gheele had approved of them coming here, right? And, they seem eager to meet both of you."

Hope and I looked at each other, and we knew exactly what to expect. It was already three whole years since I last set foot in Mansel Island, and to meet those people again . . .