Year 2033, August
15:00 P.M
Military HQ, Stockholm, Sweden
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I sat next to Mommy in the meeting room, and His Supremacy was also there with us. Alexander then entered the room quite late and bowed at His Supremacy.
"It seems that I'm the last one to arrive," Alexander said.
"So it seems." Mommy's hand brushed over my long, dark hair.
His Supremacy cleared his throat and gestured for Alexander to take a seat.
It was silent for a few minutes before His Supremacy himself called my name.
"Y-Yes, Your Supremacy?" I said in a low tone. At that moment, I thought he didn't hear those words.
He nodded in my direction. "I forgot to thank you for your effort until now." He then looked at Alexander and Mommy respectively. "Thank you for all of your efforts so far . . . I appreciate what you've done for this country."
It was strange. His Supremacy was different at that time as if he was someone else entirely. I waved at him frantically. "T-This is so sudden, Your Supremacy."
Alexander narrowed his eyes. "If this is about the worsening state of our C.U, then there's nothing for you to apologize, Your Supremacy. As it stands, our military forces are divided too much and spread thin that the rebels took that opening."
"And there's that People's Light, or whatever they're called," Mommy said as she patted me in the head.
His Supremacy intertwined his fingers together and rested his forehead on it. "The Four Pillars . . . Their presence can be felt everywhere, picking off and destroying my military bases one by one. In America especially, those four were sighted there recently by the generals before they . . ."
"The Aegis Squad needs to move out, Your Supremacy," suggested Alexander with a tone of urgency. "Our Anciles and Vasquez don't even compare to the likes of those four."
"You're comparing a cat to that of a lion, Alex," said Mommy sharply. She then looked at His Supremacy. "The Four Pillars . . . They are, without a doubt those four test subjects that were kept inside the lab."
Alexander stood up. "Alicia!"
"His Supremacy must know about this, Alex. The fact that those four had escaped along with Ama . . . The Four Pillars have a goal to exact revenge onto us."
Alexander breathed a sigh and sat back down. He cast a glance at His Supremacy, and so did the rest of us.
His Supremacy was silent, as he seemed to be in his own world. His eyes stared at the wooden table for a minute or so with a blank expression.
"I already know about them, Alicia. It has been quite some time, actually," he finally said, his eyes fixated at her.
"W-What? Klaus told you about them, didn't he?"
He shook his head at her question. "No. Amathelia's the one who told me about those four new Users. The latest, improved version of Aegis are within them."
"Aegis Förena," Mommy said. "Only those four people have them. To make another Aegis Förena would take months."
"You've been working on one?" Alexander prompted.
She sighed at his question. "Not me. The others in the lab."
"Your Supremacy mentioned about . . . contacting Amathelia? Is that true?" Alexander asked him, unsure of what he had just heard.
"But she's in a coma, right? This doesn't make any sense." I said out of the blue.
His Supremacy closed his eyes for a moment and then looked at me. "It appears that way on the outside, but she's not in that state at all. Amathelia was helping me secretly through her specialty."
"Wha--" Mommy stood up with her eyes widened. "What is the meaning of this, Your Supremacy? Her specialty? We never found out what it is until now, and yet . . ." She shook her head a few times. "Can you please explain what you have been doing behind our backs?"
His Supremacy sighed. "It was--"
The room's door burst open and Maltyie stepped inside, her hand was pulling at a guy's collar. Her darkened face was enough to send a chill down my spine. After a quick scan of the room, she cast a sideways glance at His Supremacy. "My apologies, father."
She had dragged Klaus by his collar in her right hand. With a swift motion, she threw him at a leather chair and it toppled down onto the floor.
"Ow!" His head hit the matted floor and he grimaced from the pain.
"Father," repeated Maltyie. "He doesn't know anything about how those Pillars had disappeared from our lab."
"Maltyie . . ." His Supremacy's voice trailed off when he gazed at Klaus.
"I really don't know anything! Believe me!" Klaus said as his body was shaking. His eyes were wide open. He then gritted his teeth when I looked at him with a frown. "I don't know anything!"
My eyes scanned him up and down, and surely, Maltyie had confirmed the information in her own way. Klaus's hands were covered in blood. From the looks of it, sharp objects found its way to cut those hands open. His blond hair had traces of dried blood, and presumably, a fresh one among it.
"Poor Klaus," I mumbled. "He's an honest person, and yet, everyone doubts him."
I moved over to Klaus's side and patted his head. "It's fine now. I'm here for you."
He looked at me with teary eyes and sniffed. "Aya, you're kind . . . Unlike Maltyie."
"EH-HEM," muttered Maltyie.
"Ah, s-sorry." Klaus let me pat his head even though in a way, it was childish of him.
After a few moments, everyone had their focus on His Supremacy. He seemed to be waiting for us to do so. With a sigh, he raised his head and narrowed his eyes at us.
"Both Amathelia and Maltyie guided the Great Corporate United to many victories in the past. Amathelia . . . Suggested that me acting as a tyrant will make everyone bow to me. No one will dare to stand up and rebel . . . Was what I thought a long time ago."
"W-What? I don't understand," muttered Mommy. "Ama is your advisor all this time?"
"Was, Alicia. She said that unity can be achieved if the country is ruled by a strong figure. Though, she hasn't contacted me through her Aegis's specialty for months now."
Alexander slammed his fist onto the table and I yelped from it.
"What is the meaning of this, Your Supremacy? Ama's Aegis allows her to talk to you . . . In her comatose state? Telepathy is the logical explanation for this."
His Supremacy nodded slowly. "That's right. You could say her Aegis works that way." He sighed. "And since she had escaped, there's no communication between us until now. Even the Four Pillars left with her, and when you think about it, our invasion attempt against Neo Africa serves no purpose. It's useless."
"Useless?" exclaimed Maltyie. "Then, all those lives that were lost during that 'useless' attempt . . . They died for nothing?"
"Necessary steps must be taken, my daughter. We can only move on toward the next step, even the one before it was meaningless. There's always room for improvements."
Maltyie, however, didn't like what she just heard. "Your mottos, ideals, and all that stuff are there for you to comfort yourself. You're not wrong, father, but those people . . . They also have families."
"I'm completely aware of that, Maltyie," he said.
"Then! When you killed Kurt Holm, do you not consider what Eugene and I had to go through? He . . ." Tears fell from her eyes. "He's my brother, and also your son. You said you killed him because he stole an Aegis container that was meant for Lily."
"Indeed." His Supremacy's empty eyes met Maltyie's. "He broke a rule, and I broke him too, as his punishment."
"I don't even get to see his body . . ." Maltyie's voice trailed off.
"That's because when my men went to get it, he's nowhere to be found. We can only assume he had been buried or taken somewhere else by a bystander. I don't want to raise your hope in thinking that he's alive, somewhat. It has been about four years, I think?"
"Kurt . . . Why did you leave us?" Her shaky voice wrenched my heart.
"Now, if you would excuse me--"
"Father!" interjected Maltyie. "Why did you hide Ama's condition away from us?"
His Supremacy considered what he wanted to say. "I'm afraid that I will lose her, Maltyie."
"And now?"
"Why are you coming down on me so much? This is not like you," said His Supremacy.
"So many innocent people have suffered during your rule, father." Maltyie glared at him. "I will take that authority away from a lustful beast like you."
His Supremacy stood up and punched the wooden table. "Maltyie! Do you realize what you're saying right now?"
"I do. In fact, I've been meaning to do just that for a while now. The Great Corporate United has deteriorated into such a mess of a country. You continued to plunder and pillage any foreign country you have your sight on. Instead, you could've put that time you spent by helping the citizens. You gave away Canada, Japan, and the other countries to some damnable generals! How shameless can you be, father? How can you face the world as it stands now?"
All of us there were shut silent by her.
She was right, in everything she said. Mommy often pointed it out, and to hear the same thing from another person felt satisfying.
"You're not fit to rule a country," Maltyie said with a sharp glare. "You never meant to be."
"Maltyie--"
BOOM!
Something crashed into the building suddenly and I was thrown off onto the floor. Mommy held onto the desk while Klaus fell face first on the ground. Alexander slowly stood up. Maltyie just clicked her tongue at the bad timing of the explosion.
"No . . ." His Supremacy gaped as the ceiling started to crack. "She's here. That witch is talking to me right now."
"Huh?" Alexander manifested his magenta Aegis blade from his right arm.
"What--" I shielded myself from a bright ray of light, and when I looked up, the ceiling was gone. Instead, a man in a hooded red winter faux was floating in the air, looking at us. Then I realized, a pair of what seemed to be crystallized wings had elongated from his shoulders. The ceiling was actually being lifted up by the wings itself far up into the sky with relative ease.
The man rubbed his blond hair and smiled at me. "Aya Andersson." He looked at Mommy and then Alexander. "Alicia Andersson and Alexander . . . Aegis Users from the past generation." Slowly, he cast a menacing glare at His Supremacy. Even if it was not directed at me, I could feel my skin crawled just from the murderous aura he was radiating.
"And Melker Holm . . . You have failed Ama, and therefore, you shall be punished for your sins." He smirked at him.