Epiphany Of The Weak 98 Most Precious

15:00 P.M

Goz Beida, Chad, Africa

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Three days have pa.s.sed since the crew arrived in Goz Beida. The Mongolians were given the privilege to stay at Gheele's palace there. Other than that, he took some effort in giving them much needed hospitality.

I knew Gheele could be kind sometimes, but during those three days, he seemed different. In a way, he was merely masking his menacing aura when he met them.

An actor was what I called him during that time.

And so, on the fourth day we were back, I followed Caesar into the palace's lounge room.

He was being adamant about it, so I did what he asked.

I sat on a red couch inside the room, though Caesar just stood a few feet away from me. somewhat staring at me from under his Aegis mask.

He patted at his dark robe a few times, then he continued his stare.

'What does he want from me?' I thought.

Perhaps me wearing a plain, white dress with a red scarf draped around my neck bothered him. After all, it was summer. No sane people would wear multi-layered clothing in such a hot weather.

'Wait, is it still summer? Or summer hasn't started yet?' I thought.

Caesar being silent for a good amount of minutes seemed to have made my mind blank.

I raised an eyebrow at him, and he tapped his dark boot onto the floor.

"Caesar?" I said.

He crossed his arms together, and I gulped.

'Is he mad at me for some reason?' I thought.

"Lady Ava," he finally said after what felt like months since he stood there.

"Y-Yes?" His serious tone even made me nervous.

"Have you heard? About the effect of Mongolia's fall?" He asked.

"Er." I fidgeted with the sleeve of my dress. "I do know about the recent uprisings in China."

"The Four Pillars," muttered Caesar. "They're putting up quite a fight against the C.U these few days. One way or another, they managed to get the citizens of Germany and Italy to support them."

"Support?" I repeated. "Oh, the announcement they made."

"Yeah. They've taken over Mongolia just like they said, and C.U's forces can't get into that place. They're that powerful," he said sharply.

"I mean, anything is better than the C.U for the regular civilians. The Four Pillars taking over Mongolia encouraged them, I suppose." My small fingers played with a strand of my long, dark hair.

"Mobs, Lady Ava. They're everywhere in Germany and Italy. Though . . ." He sighed. "Military forces there will get rid of them as quick as they came."

I nodded. "It still doesn't change the fact that The Four Pillars are a force to be reckoned with. Then again, we don't know where they come from, or what their goals are. The People's Light main group, um, is all about freedom, right?"

Caesar sat next to me on the couch. He then patted my back and let out a long sigh. "Some people have twisted perception of freedom Lady Ava. Er, also, the. C.U has two organizations that they're fighting right now."

"Yeah, aside from Neo Africa," I said in a low tone.

"The Yellow Rebellion," said Caesar. "That group in Canada is growing. I'm not quite sure about this info, but I heard they have expanded their influence to America."

"The Yellow Rebellion," I said under my breath.

That name brought back some memories.

'The rebels are on the rise, huh. I'm not sure even the C.U can handle all these things coming at them,' I thought.

"But those Pillars are not rebels, in a sense," said Caesar as he looked at me. "They're after something."

"And it involves me, right?" I said.

My heart thumped against my chest.

"Amathelia . . ." said Caesar. "We haven't heard a word from Alicia since she left. I wonder if something had happened on that side."

Hearing her name made my blood boiled. I'd been contemplating whether my action of letting her go was justified. My hatred towards that vile woman threatened to drown me, and I took a deep breath.

The lounge room's door clicked open and Hope stepped inside.

He then adjusted his brown V-shaped neck T-shirt. "I heard from the maids that you two are here."

"What is this?" Caesar stood up. "Who are you?"

"Huh?" Hope took a few steps forward. He slid his right hand into the pocket of his black jeans slowly. "We've met before, remember?"

"Hmm." Caesar considered his words. "Nope. You're not that angsty blond teen."

Hope's jaw dropped. "W-What? I don't want to admit it, but that angsty blond teen from way back then is indeed me. Actually, drop that angsty part."

"But your angst is gone." Caesar raised his left hand and slapped Hope in the face.

"Ouch?" I said to myself.

"Ow! What's that for?" Hope rubbed his left cheek, baffled by what was happening.

"Nah, still no angst." Caesar paused. "Well, time for a name change."

"I'm Hope, look at me here!" He gestured at his whole body. "You're being weird right now."

"Actually." I raised my right hand. "Caesar is the definition of weird at this point."

I wanted Hope to ignore Caesar making a fool out of him. Though, seeing him fumbling about in that situation amused me.

'I'm cheering you Hope,' I thought.

"I shall name you . . ." Caesar adjusted his Aegis mask.

"Hope . . . Please," he insisted.

"Edgy blond teen. Yup. I'm going with that."

Hope rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on."

"Wait, why are you here again?" asked Caesar after he sat back down next to me.

Hope narrowed his eyes at him, then he looked at me. "Tuya and the others have been provided with a house."

I clapped my hands joyfully. "That's great!"

"Yeah. Anyway, see ya Ava." Hope was about to turn around when I grabbed his hand.

"Where are you going? You came here just to tell us that?"

He looked at me with the 'yes, yes I did' face.

"Oh, please stay here Hope," I requested.

"But, I have something to do, actually." His blond hair ruffled under his hand. "I need to know if Evgeny is doing something about the Pillars."

"Hope . . ." I glared at him. "Stay . . . Please."

"Ava, I need to figure out where the Pillars come from." He yanked his hand away from my grasp and I grumbled.

"You're always overthinking about stuff. Just stay here for half an hour."

He squinted his eyes at me and sighed. "There's no reason for me to stay here."

"But--"

"Ava!" he said sharply and I was startled from it.

He glanced at Caesar. "We've seen what the Pillars can do. Any bit of information about them is crucial. There's no time to be playing around."

My wide eyes just stared at him. Slowly, I clenched my fists and lowered my head. "S-Sorry . . . Hope."

"Edgy blond teen," Caesar said suddenly. "There's no need to rush things. As it stands now, no one knows where the Pillars are hiding." He patted at my shoulder, and I looked at him. "Lady Ava here needs you. Master Gheele is also doing his part you see. Remember, you're in Neo Africa. There's not much you can do here."

Hope caresses his forehead. "Still, it's better than sitting around doing nothing--"

"Priorities," Caesar said. He stood up and moved slowly towards the door. "Right now, someone needs your company . . . There's a huge difference between trying to find something with a clue than attempting to do so with none at all." He turned around and looked at Hope, his hand was on the doork.n.o.b. "You said once that Lady Ava is the sole reason for the actions you've taken . . . So, do this for her sake too. It's never wrong to spend quality time with someone you love, especially her."

Caesar twisted the doork.n.o.b and pulled the door wide open.

"Caesar!"

Lily threw herself at him and they both fell to the orange-matted floor.

"Lady Lily? What are you doing here? He pulled himself away from her and stood up. "You still need to rest."

Lily recovered from the fall quickly and hugged him. "Oh, I'm fine now. See? You forgot that my regeneration is superior to the other Users."

Caesar sighed. "Well, there's a diner near the palace. We should head there now."

With that, they walked out of the room, leaving me with Hope.

"Um." He looked at me awkwardly and I couldn't help but smiled. "You see, Ava . . . I'm sorry." He bowed deeply at me and I gaped. "I'm so, so sorry for what I did." He kneeled down and looked at me.

"Er, the Pillars have been on my mind these past few days . . . And because of that, I've been ignoring you, so--"

I giggled and shook my head after that. "Don't be sorry Hope. I'm at wrong here . . . I've been selfish, wanting you for myself." I clenched my fists.

"But I've been ignoring you, and that's a fact." He stood up. "I haven't thanked you for before. About the team of Aegis Users that Gheele formed. You requested me to be in it, and he accepted." He bowed again. "Thank you Ava."

My cheeks flushed and I waved my hands frantically at him. "N-No need to thank me. It's just that having you in the team will benefit Gheele too." I paused. "If you don't like it, then--"

"No, it's fine. I'm grateful for that." He proceeded to pat my head. "Also, a good parent must be willing to sacrifice his needs for his daughter. I should remember that from now on really."

I pouted. "You're treating me like a kid." Immediately, I hugged him, embracing the fact that he was there with me. "Hope is not my Papa anymore. From now on, you're just Hope."

"Eh?" Hope raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hihi." I flashed a smile at him. "Because you're not just Papa. You're the most precious person in my life Hope. There's no one in this world that I love more than you. I adore you Hope . . . Don't leave me."

Hope laughed and brushed his hand over my hair. "I won't leave you Ava. No matter what happens, I'll always be at your side." He returned my hug, and for some reason, tears fell from my eyes.

He kissed my forehead. "You're the reason I can keep going and do what I did all this time . . . And that will never change."