The tendrils stopped right in front of the old woman's face. It swished sideways subtly, waiting for her to make a move.
However, she seemed undeterred.
No, she was literally unfazed by those things in front of her. That expression on her face was as calm as someone could've ever been in that kind of situation.
Her blue eyes narrowed at me.
She fiddled with the red shawl over her head, as that black blouse of hers shuffled slightly from her movements. The dark blue skirt that covered her lower body until the ends of her feet swished as she stood up.
"Don't move," I said to her.
My tendrils threatened to pierce her throat but she yawned from it as if it was nothing.
'Is she not afraid?' I thought.
Lily then went over to my side. "Maybe she knows about your parent, Ava."
I nodded. "I'll try."
The color of my eyes slowly reverted itself back to the bright red I fond of and glared at that old woman.
She frowned. "Oh? Voluntary Aegis Interference? Well, this is a discovery. The first I've seen an Aegis User did one successfully. Usually, it happens when an Aegis is unstable."
I found myself asking her, "You know about Aegis Users?"
"We all do. In fact . . ."
Segma rushed into the room and one of my tendrils pointed at her as an act of defense.
"Tsetsegmaa, stay there," ordered the old woman.
"But--"
"I'll be alright."
The old woman coughed and looked at me again. "What is your name?"
I held my head high. "Ava."
"Hmm. Ava . . . never heard of it. I can only guess you're the newest member?"
"I'm not one of them."
"Ah, I see. An escapee." She coughed. "My name is Uuliinyagaantsetseg."
"What?!" yelled Caesar. He shook his head and wrapped his arms around himself. "Why do Mongolians have such long names? Unbelievable. What's with that weird name?!"
"Uuliinyagaantsetseg," she repeated.
"No! Stop!" demanded Caesar.
"Uuliinyagaantsetseg."
He shivered from it. "No, no. My ears. It's hurting. My brain . . . cannot comprehend that name." Caesar crouched as his hands clawed at his short, dark hair.
"Uuliinyagaantsetseg, Uuliinyagaantsetseg. Uuliinyagaantsetseg," she repeated again.
"NOOOOOO!"
Caesar ran out of the room, bumping into Helena and Segma as he made his way out.
"Caesar!" yelled Lily. She quickly ran after him, leaving me and Helena to deal with the two rebels.
The old woman laughed frantically.
"I've never laughed like this in a long while!" She cleared her throat after that and squinted at me.
"You can call me, Ulii," she said with a serious tone. "That's what my son used to call me too. Haha! He's a disrespectful child I can tell you that!"
Her eyes then glanced at the flames that were still burning the ashes of the door.
Helena and I looked at each other.
"I don't think she can be a threat to us, lady Ava," remarked Helena.
"I thought so too. . . perhaps I'm going overboard."
I retracted my tendrils away from Ulii but maintained the one that had Segma in check.
"Huh?" Ulii grinned at me, revealing nothing but one flimsy tooth at the front. "What makes you think that's a wise decision?"
"You're not a threat," I said.
"Is this what the young people have gotten into their head?"
Helena raised an eyebrow at Ulii's statement.
The old woman sighed and went over back to her chair. Her hand swiftly grabbed the cane at its side, which surprised me. It didn't seem that she needed it.
"When you're in an enemy's lair, do you think people like me wouldn't attack you? Hmm?!" she said sharply.
"Even if you did, I--"
"NO!" she interrupted me. "In war, there's no such thing as a person that wouldn't attack anyone in sight. Everyone is an enemy to everyone in times of battle and war. I don't think you're from Mongolia either."
Ulii's intense aura wrapped around me and seeped into my skin all of a sudden, sending fear directly into my muscles and eventually making my head dizzy.
Despite her age, she was able to threaten me without even moving an inch. I remembered the time when I stood frozen in front of Gheele, but it was different. Ulii's aura had some sort of seriousness in it that would make someone cleared his or her ears out to listen to what she had to say.
However, Gheele's aura was menacing. If one was to casually walk right into the same room as him, that person would drop to his knees in fear.
In fear of getting killed right away.
"You may think we're not in a war right now. But, with the military coup growing even bolder these days, and The People's Light taking roots at the capital, the situation is worse than before," spat Ulii.
"Coup? The People's Light?" repeated Helena.
I took a deep breath as my crystals liquefy itself, returning back to my arms.
If there was something I gained from going in there, it was the confirmation of an Aegis User other than me, Lily, and Caesar. They repeatedly mentioned it a few times, and Ulii's statement of her having not heard my name before seemed to be connected at last.
"You said that I'm the newest member . . . were you part of the Aegis squad in C.U in the past?" I asked.
Ulii snorted. "Do I look I'm one of them, khüükhed? I want to get into your head that an old woman like me does not have a chance to be in it, even if I'm a User myself."
"Hm? You're an Aegis User?" I prompted.
"No. At least, I'm half of what you all call, a User."
Helena glanced at me, and I understood what she meant.
"Can you tell us more about all of that? The coup, The People's Light, everything. The situation on Mongolia right now," said Helena.
"Oh? What makes you think I'll spit it out to you?" retorted Ulii.
I took a few steps towards her as she grinned at me.
"Ava," said Aegis in my head. It was weird in that I'd not heard from that in a long while. Hearing its monotone voice sparked a bit of happiness inside me. "I'm certain she's a pseudo Aegis User. And by that, I mean, she might have taken in an Aegis container prematurely, causing the essence of her Aegis to be subpar. It's incomplete."
I stopped a few meters in front of Ulii, looking directly in her eyes. From there, I could assume she was about 165 cm in height.
My chest puffed outward as the air went into my lungs. "By half of an Aegis User, you mean that . . . you're a pseudo Aegis User, right?" I said.
Ulii's eyes widened and she laughed again.
"Interesting! Someone figured it out?!" she exclaimed. "How do you know? I don't think you found that out just from me telling you that one sentence!"
I darted my eyes away for a second. "That's . . . what I did."
'Why am I revealing my weak side to her?' I thought.
What Ulii said was true. I couldn't drop my guard for even a moment in a place where anything was possible.
Ulii tapped at the cement with her wooden cane. "Putting that aside, what brought these kids to my place?! Aegis Users or not, I don't like people disturbs my reading."
"We were looking for someone named Hope Domitius," replied Helena. "We've received information that he's here in Mongolia. Something about a rebel group that knows his whereabouts."
Ulii raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Sadly, we don't have any Hope Domitius. If you insist on a rebel group that knows him, I suppose The People's Light might know."
"The People's Light . . . Are they new?" prompted Helena.
"They are," replied Ulii. "I think you do not have any ill intent whatsoever by coming here, no? I believe in my instincts more than anything. Especially you, khüükhed. Your eyes tell me you only have that one goal."
I nodded at her. The reason why I came all the way to Mongolia in the first place was for him. Nothing more, nothing less.
"And I don't suppose all of you are connected to The People's Light somehow. They have an Aegis User too," continued Ulii.
I gaped. "They have one? Then that means . . ."
"Can you tell us more--"
"Now then! I'm not someone who wants to talk in this kind of place. Follow me downstairs," announced Ulii, interrupting Helena in the process. She walked past me as she swung the cane over her head a few times, seemingly ignoring everything that had happened. "Tsetsegmaa, tell the rest to not interfere."
"Wait!"
Ulii turned her head sideways to me. Her lips curved downwards slightly as if my presence there did not matter.
"What is it, khüükhed?"
"You seem very calm despite me having the advantage here," I said.
"HAH?" exclaimed Ulii. "I'm certain the reason you come here is to search for that Hope. I already told you. The People's Light might have him. You want to know more about that group, isn't it? Then the rest of Enkhtuya should know of our conversation here as well."
"You can tell me right now," I insisted. My red eyes glared at her. "There's no need for you to go anywhere."
Ulii's eyes widened. "Well now."
Segma trotted to Ulii's side and whispered to her. Segma turned back her attention towards me with a worried face.
I suppose her heavy gears was only for display if she showed me that kind of face.
"We never stood a chance against you and your crew, We know the difference between our strengths. But please, allow me to treat you as our guest. You could kill any one of us back then, but you didn't. I appreciate that," said Segma.
"I tried to kill you," I said.
"That's my fault since I broke our promise. Even so, I beg you to come with us downstairs and meet the others. We don't want any unnecessary bloodshed. There are children down there, and they need us to take care of them," said Segma with a more apologetic tone.
"Lady Ava," called Helena.
I considered the available options.
I had the capability to make them reveal the information I wanted then and there. The rest of the rebel group was never my concern.
Going with their suggestion would make us temporary acquaintances, albeit the unknown benefit of it.
Then there was that possibility of making an enemy of that rebel group, Enkhtuya. If I killed one of them there, or perhaps everyone in that hideout, there was no guarantee they don't have leftover members hiding in the other parts of Mongolia.
Making another enemy despite the presence of the Great Corporate United in that place would be foolish. It would make the search for Hope to be harder than before.
I sighed under my breath. "You mentioned the coup. Does that mean a group of the soldiers is taking over Mongolia for their own?"
"Exactly. Since Mongolia right now is overwhelmed with the coup, it's only a matter of time before they will get us. And perhaps even you," said Segma.
Helena looked at me.
I darted my eyes away from her since I knew what she wanted to say.
"Helena," I said.
She cleared her throat. "We accept your proposal, Uuliinyagaantsetseg, and Tsetsegmaa."
Ulii laughed while Segma leaned at the wall and loosen a bit of the stiff expression she had.
"But before that, khüükhed," said Ulii as she wiped her tears. "We have to get your friends back. I'm certain that man is mulling to himself. I can only guess he really hates my name. HAHA!"