Our groups were led to a spacious room upstairs by Jessie and Evgeny. I expected the other rebels to join us as well, but that didn't happen. Only Jessie and Evgeny represented their rebel organization.
The walls were painted pale yellow, and a large hemispherical table stood there; taking 60% of the space inside the room. There were so many chairs that had been positioned along the edge of the table. After we all sat down, six chairs remained empty.
Evgeny sat on the chair facing the horizontal edge of the table.
"Eh?"
Hope jerked his head when Jessie stood behind him. I had a feeling she wanted to sit next to him, but Beatrice and Jennifer had taken up the seats to his left and right respectively.
"Shall we begin?" Evgeny swept his gaze over to Jessie and she nodded.
"Before that, can I ask you something, Hope?" asked Jessie.
"Er . . . Yes? Look, if you want to sit here then I don't mind standing. I mean, this explanation will sure be a short one, judging from how there are only two of you."
Evgeny squinted at him. "I like the way you're thinking."
"Thanks."
"No," said Jessie. "I'm standing here behind you because I want to. As you said, it will be a short one. I wish that the Lutalo will grant me the opportunity to explain our circumstances."
Caesar nodded. "Yeah. You don't want Master Gheele to barge in here. He's waiting for us to deliver our report. Though, I'm sure he will not be pleased by how you treated us a while ago."
"So, he is here," muttered Evgeny.
'But he's not,' I thought.
I could only guess the reason why Caesar mentioned Gheele's name was to intimidate them. He was the ruler of Neo Africa after all.
Jessie cleared her throat and everyone went silent.
"I'll start with The People's Light temporary defeat a year ago in the hands of the C.U. Back then, they managed to push through our frontline defenses. Most of our troops during that time were Vladimir's bestowed Users, the ones that received their Aegis capabilities from him. We were marching towards Moscow, but, we underestimated our enemy."
"Seems like it," commented Caesar.
Jessie bit her lip and took a breath. "They had reinforcements backing them up, so we retreated a little further back. However, it was when The First Pillar, Kian, stepped in that our forces had to go into hiding."
"Kian," I muttered.
"Currently, the underground cities spread throughout Russia serve as our hideouts. Our members are huge in numbers, so we still have a chance to fight back. What's more, the military coup has been getting bigger and bigger. There will be no other opportunity for us to attack Moscow and take back Russia from the C.U's clutch. With Lutalo backing us up, we can win," continued Jessie.
"Ah, Moscow," said Caesar. "The impregnable city fortress. At least, it got its name by how long it had withstood countless invasion attempts from rebels in the span of two years."
Sofeea nodded. "Time and time again, the ones in charge of that city managed to thwart them."
"But it will not be long," said Jessica.
"Vladimir's specialty is the reason why The People's Light can still fight against the C.U," said Hope finally. "Is that right? Um, Jessie?"
"Yes." Jessie shot a glare at Hope and he looked away. I didn't understand why, but apparently, Hope's statement stirred her emotions a bit. It could be something else entirely.
"Five thousand," muttered Evgeny. "Right now, we have about five thousand of Vladimir's bestowed Users remaining. They are hiding in the other underground cities as we speak."
I shook my head in disbelief.
"Um." Beatrice raised her hand. She and the others were stupefied by what Evgeny just said.
"Yes?" asked Evgeny.
"Er . . ."
"What is it?"
"Did you just say five thousand? Five thousand individuals that have Aegis capabilities?" Beatrice took a deep breath and darted her eyes to the side.
"Yes," answered Evgeny simply.
"Oh . . . Um, thanks."
Strange enough, I was not stupefied by Evgeny like everyone else. Then again, it made sense that Vladimir would use his specialty to bestow Aegis capabilities to as many people as possible. He could've predicted the outcome back in Khovd. And yet, he went out of his way to go there. Had he still been alive, then perhaps the number of people who had the Aegis capabilities would double.
If the influence of The People's Light was growing day by day, then it was not impossible for such a thing to occur.
Jessie had something to say, but Evgeny cut her off quick.
"Your Aegis crystals . . . Is there something wrong?" he asked me.
Caesar, Lily, Sofeea, and I had formed our Aegis crystals on the surface of our uniform's sleeves. It would grow as time passed. I had expected either Jessie or Evgeny to point it out sooner since we basically had our crystals the whole time after we entered the room.
"Safety measure," answered Lily. Her yellow eyes stared at Evgeny.
"I suppose the two of us are rebels, so to speak. I understand. It is hard to gain trust when we just met," said Evegny.
"Hmm."
I could retract my Aegis crystals back into me. But, my hands were shaking in excitement, somewhat eager to head back into combat. It happened quite recently, where my Aegis crystals would pop out in correlation to what I was feeling during that time.
Probably, in a way, the hatred that had etched itself inside me was getting stronger. Still, I couldn't think of anything to back it up.
"Madam Jessie," called Hope.
"Yes, my--" She paused. "What is it?"
I raised an eyebrow at her.
"You have not answered my question," said Hope as he looked over his shoulder, his eyes staring at Jessie. "What is your full name? Why it seems like you're being all secretive about yourself?"
Jessie's smile disappeared. She narrowed her eyes at Hope.
"I know you have the right to not answer me," continued Hope. "But you kept quiet, as if revealing such information would hurt you somehow."
Still, Jessie didn't say a thing.
Hope was curious in the first place, but right then, he was getting annoyed by Jessie blatantly avoiding to answer his questions in front of everyone.
"I will tell you right now," said Jessie. "It was strange, actually. I want to tell you so much about myself and what I have been doing this whole time." She clutched onto the side of her dress, frustrated. "But I have this feeling that if I tell you, then I will lose myself. Lose to the desire of filling this empty hole in my heart that has been longing for Hope Domitius."
I blinked.
Aside from Evgeny, confusion was apparent on everyone's face. Jessie wanted to cry, and Hope immediately waved at her to calm herself.
"Ah, wait, don't cry! I'm sorry. Never mind. Don't tell me," said Hope.
"I am . . ." Jessie reached out for Hope and pulled him so that he stood on his feet. "I'm your mother, Hope. My full name is Jessie Domitius."
"HAH?!"
My body jerked back so hard, my chair stumbled down and I fell onto the floor.
Hope was speechless. He stared into Jessie's eyes and didn't budge from his spot. "My . . . Mother?" He shook his head. "The car crash . . . Aside from me, everyone else in my family should be . . ."
Jessie smiled before she pulled him into her embrace. "Oh, my dear son. When I first met you, I wanted to take you away from the others and just spend my time talking, telling you about what happened."
"You are not lying . . . I can feel that." Hope was still shocked, much like everyone else. "I can sense it. My memory of that incident was vague, but, perhaps you are indeed my mother."
"I am, your one-and-only mother, Hope," said Jessie, still wrapping her arms around him.
"I . . ."
"Perhaps we can continue this meeting later," suggested Caesar to Evgeny.
Jessie pulled away from Hope and shook her head. "No, don't. It's better if I just explain it right now."
She looked at everyone and continued, "We knew that Lutalo, or Gheele himself, wants to attack Sweden in the near future. And the might of The People's Light is necessary for him. Therefore, I would like Lutalo to participate in an upcoming invasion, led by us, to claim Moscow. By doing so, we cut the head off the military forces in Russia and they will crumble sooner or later."
"We do intend to have a go at Moscow," said Caesar, his head was resting on the palm of his right hand. "But it is a mission that Master Gheele had tasked to us. We are to execute it after we completed this one. So, I don't see why we shouldn't join forces with The People's Light if they want to attack Moscow. We kill two birds with one stone this way."
"I see. So you all agree to help us? We will help you no doubt if we succeed in taking Moscow," said Jessie.
"Yes, yes. Just so you know, I'm the acting 'captain' sort of for Lutalo right now. I agree with your conditions. We will, undoubtedly, help you."
"Acting captain? Where is Gheele himself?" asked Evgeny, curious.
"He wants to leave this stuff to me. Don't worry, he had given his permission," replied Caesar.
"Ah, I see . . . I don't want to ask why since I am quite certain he is listening right now through your earpiece," said Evgeny.
"Exactly!"
This kind of bluff worked for Caesar. He wore his Aegis mask all the time, so no one could really tell what kind of face he was making.
"Kian . . ." I said.
Jessie and Evgeny looked at me.
"Ah, The First Pillar," said Jessie. "Evgeny here has the specialty to form a barrier from his Aegis crystals. He can allow anyone to enter the barrier or walk out of it. The underground city is his domain, even the Pillars can't pass through. It will reject them no doubt. Evgeny notices who is going in and out of the city by using his Aegis's specialty in this way."
"Oh, okay," I said.
They did mention about a barrier before, so it made sense. I passed through it without realizing.
We wrapped up the meeting quickly after that and decided to stay in the mansion for the night. The Freya rebel group headed back to the Teria airships, where Klaus, Maltyie, and Gray were at. Of course, we had informed Caesar about the situation.
Jessie herself requested that Lutalo was to stay in that mansion for a while, and everyone knew why.
"Hope . . . And also Ava," called Jessie.
We were in the hallway when she approached us. "I didn't finish what I wanted to say to you, Hope. Can you two come to my room? Please?" Her golden eyes gleamed when we agreed.
Come to think of it, her eyes were the same as Hope.
Golden.
"Alright, Jessie," said Hope.
"Call me Mom, or, mother," muttered Jessie. "But it's okay if you don't want to. It's perfectly fine. It must have been too surreal to find out that your mother is alive after all this time."
Hope looked down at the floor. "Mother . . ."