The sceneries shifted so quickly until it stopped. I knew for certain that it was a year after Kian's marriage.
Even in that dream, I couldn't help but cherished every single moment of that scene unfolding before my eyes. It was a silent night, where Kian and Felicia visited me in that underground factory. The scientists didn't really mind when Kian said he wanted everyone to leave him and Felicia alone. After all, in Felicia's hands was a one-month-old baby girl wrapped in white clothing.
"Kian . . . This is the first time I have met your mom," said Felicia softly. "I'm sorry. She must have gone through a lot."
Kian smiled at her. "My mother is the strongest woman I have ever known. I have been telling you that she can speak with me through my mind, right?"
"Yes. I believe you. But, is it okay for me to be here?"
"It's fine. I worked hard myself to get a position as a scientist here. I want to save my mom. To do that, I have to be a Head Scientist so that I have the authority to free her. Everything in the reports is all lies. They didn't want anyone to know that Mom is not in a comatose state. It's all because of the paralyzing liquid in that tank of hers, but they were lied into thinking that Mom was already unconscious since the beginning."
"Kian . . . Hehe. This is why I love you so much. Everything you do, it's for your mother," said Felicia.
Kian looked at me and nodded. "Mom . . . This is my daughter, Ava. She's, of course, your granddaughter."
Felicia smiled at me, even though my eyes were closed. It proved that she loved Kian and trusted him. So, I contacted her using my Aegis's specialty, Information Transfer.
'Felicia . . . Nice to meet you,' I said through her mind. 'Kian always said how kind you are towards him back then. Anyway, I welcome you to my family.'
Felicia's cheeks flushed at my statement. "Thank you . . . Mother."
I then talked with Kian using my specialty. 'Ava is a nice name. Simple. I like it.'
Kian laughed at that. He knew about my tendency of keeping everything as simple as it could get. "Mom. You were the one who came up with the name, Ava. Felicia and I like it. Ava Lindberg. Haha . . . I like the ring of it."
'Ava, huh. I can't wait to see her grow up,' I said through his mind.
Kian and Felicia chuckled. Even though I could only see Ava in black and white at that time, I was still grateful for it. A strong feeling of wanting to protect her welled up inside.
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One thing I discovered about my specialty, was that I could also sense the surroundings of whoever I 'talked' with. For example, when I transferred my thoughts to Kian, I could see his surroundings and also hear the sounds he was hearing.
"Daddy! Mommy!" said the seven-year-old Ava.
She was at home with Felicia and Kian, playing tag with both of them. It was a silent night regardless, but they played with lots of energy as if it was still morning. Finally, she managed to catch up with Felicia.
"Hahaha." Felicia lifted Ava up in the air and then hugged her. "I love you, Ava."
"Mommy! I love you too!"
Kian approached them. "What about Daddy?"
Ava turned around and smiled. "Of course I love Daddy too!"
They were at the front door of their house, laughing and playing with each other. My chest was warm, as if I was also there with them, witnessing the speedy growth of my beloved granddaughter.
'Wait . . .'
"What is it, Mom?" whispered Kian to himself.
'I sense two people about ten feet away from your front door.'
"Oh. Then I'll open--"
'No! Get back! This can't be . . . Those two are Alicia and Bart. I have a bad feeling about this.'
Kian, with no hesitation, stood in front of Ava and Felicia, his back facing the front door.
A moment later, the wooden front door exploded into pieces and Kian's figure went flying and crashed against a wall. Felicia immediately shoved Ava to the side, when an emerald blade pierced her torso.
"M-Mommy? Daddy?" Ava sat there on the floor, confused and frozen.
Felicia fell down and Bart entered the house.
"Ah, right. This little girl right here is more important than her parents. The younger the specimen is, the better," he said with a sinister smile.
"You!"
Kian came running towards Bart, but then, his right arm was severed in mere seconds. Bart produced a second emerald blade from his palm and stabbed at Kian's shoulder.
"Don't worry. This won't be enough to be a killing blow. After all, you, the direct descendant of the first Aegis User is vital for a future project. And as for your daughter, I also have something ready for her as well," said Kian.
Kian's body swayed sideways for a few seconds before Bart kicked him to the floor. After that, his emerald blade split off from his palm. The moment it clattered on the floor, Ava's eyes turned emerald in an instant.
"There, there. I will hand over your father to Relly. He will keep him safe until the ideal time comes for him to be used. That other scientist can also keep him in the shadows," said Bart.
He ushered Ava out of the house and met with Alicia.
"You killed the father?" asked Alicia.
"Yup. Don't worry. You won't be seeing him again. Forget about that guy. We got this potential specimen in our hands though. That matters most."
The three of them got inside a truck and drove off from there, leaving Kian in the care of another scientist. Felicia, on the other hand, didn't make it and died a few minutes later.
'BART!' I said through his mind. 'I'LL KILL YOU!'
He halted his truck and stared at the asphalt in front of him. Alicia that was beside him looked worried. "It's nothing, Alicia . . . Let's get Ava quick to my hometown in Mansel Island. We can begin our experiment there."
After I relentlessly attacked his mind, he sought help from Relly. It was, in fact, the last thing I knew before I fell to a deep slumber for years. The reason was that Relly had exchanged the green paralyzing liquid in my cylindrical tank to a more efficient one, forcing my entire being to sleep.
The few, short moments when Relly stood in front of me with an evil grin, I spent it hating on him.
'I'll kill you!'
'I'll kill every last one of you!' I said in his mind a second before I lost complete consciousness.
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"Ava!"
I jolted awake screaming her name. After a few minutes, I finally realized that it was already morning. The dream I had was nothing but a fleeting cloud at that point. At first, I didn't know why such a long dream felt so short. It was like when someone was dying and recalling the events of his or her life at that very moment.
The dream had such a vibe to it. Of course, I was glad to not have it be that way.
I sighed. "Information Transfer, recall Aegis. Form every Aegis crystals that any Aegis Users had used."
After that, the multiple-colored cluster of Aegis crystals sprouted from my right palm. However, only five seconds passed and it already disintegrated into thin air. In a way, I expected that right from the get-go.
"I hate this ability. I don't like how I could recreate any kind of Aegis crystals just from having my passive specialty run rampant," I mumbled to myself. "Receiving any kind of information, including Aegis crystals . . . And to have my body interpret it this way . . . It's sickening."
I shook my head and got up from bed. My right fist smashed into the wall and a small portion of it exploded. That dream I had earlier worsened my mood more than I would've liked.
"Why did I have that dream anyway?" I said as my hand healed itself.
Though, I took the time to calm myself down and changed my clothes to a loose, black dress. Then, I went straight to my office at a brisk pace.
The reason for me heading straight there was simple.
After all, Yvonne had told me about a certain someone's arrival. As arranged, Yvonne was to accompany them as they waited for me in my office at 9:00 A.M.
Though, there was still three more minutes by the time I stepped inside the office.
"Your Most Gracious," said Yvonne.
She quickly bowed at me as I took my seat. There were four other individuals there as well, with one of them being the person of interest. I cast a quick look at the three Vlasta Maidens bowing behind Relly Fernandez.
"Pleased to meet you, Your Supre--"
Yvonne stomped the floor and cut Relly off with an ice cold glare. The Vlasta Maidens shuddered at her sudden movement.
"Didn't I tell you to call Amathelia--Her Most Gracious?" said Yvonne in a high tone. "Don't let me call for the two hundred clones I have on standby, Relly Fernandez."
Relly nodded hastily and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "My apologies. Then, let me repeat myself. Pleased--"
"Cut the formalities," I said. "The only reason I haven't captured and tortured you yet was simple. There are a lot more important things going on currently outside there. Simply put, you and the Vlasta Maidens are nothing but a forgotten fragment of Melker's private forces. Be straightforward, Relly. Tell me what you want to say since yesterday."
Relly nodded shakily. "For the past year, I have been searching for the third User that escaped from Kazakhstan. So far, she's nowhere to be found." He paused.
"And what does that have to do with me?" I simply said.
"Um . . . I thought that you might have known where she is. I wanted to meet with you earlier, but the circumstances didn't allow such a meeting."
"Of course, of course. Don't you forget what you have done to me, Relly. You falsified the reports about me and tricked the scientists working in that lab, including Alicia. That cylindrical tank . . . You imprisoned me in there for more than a decade. The fact that I even allow Yvonne to get you in here is only a matter of interest."
Relly nodded again as he gazed at my feet.
To think that this day would come when Relly would be bowing to me. It was a pleasant feeling.
I parted my lips. "Jessie, the third User you have been searching for is currently in Russia. She's the second-in-command of The People's Light."
Relly's eyes widened in disbelief.
"My Aegis's specialty, Information Transfer can only be used within Sweden as it is. If I move to Finland, then the range of effect would cover Finland instead. I can't communicate with Jessie, but such information is easy to obtain when you have this kind of authority," I said.
Deep inside, I relished Relly's pained expression. He spent a lot of time searching for Jessie, but he came back to the C.U empty-handed. I knew that he wanted to use her for his own gain. Still, fate was kind enough to deny him such an opportunity.
His defeat in the hands of Gheele Folami proved to have made him so weak in front of me. He was literally letting his guard down.
"Pfft. Hahahahahaha!" For some reason, looking at him filled me with so much joy that I burst into laughter. "Relly! I will definitely use you! Don't think that by coming back here, your previous authority will be given back just like that. No! Be grateful that you will be useful to me from now on!"
Yvonne bowed in my direction and so did Relly and the Vlasta Maidens. He was smart not to run away since Kian was just at the office's door.
"Mom."
Kian walked inside and tossed Ivar and Mara to the floor. Mara was unconscious, while Ivar was writhing in pain.
Ivar had been in that state since the fight with Gheele Folami, which caused him his Aegis. To make matters worse, the orange spikes from that fight were still there, poking out of his back and torso. Every time he tried to make it disappear, more would come out from those exact spots.
"Ava . . . Ava . . ." mumbled Ivar as tears formed in his eyes. "She's the True Pillar. A direct descendant of Ama just like Kian. We . . . We need her!"
Kian just shook his head as the rest of us looked at Ivar. After all, Ivar's pain was my pain as well. Unfortunately, I was useless at that point.
My heart twisted further as he screams from the top of his lungs. Truly, it was hard for me to look at him.
"Mom," said Kian as he adjusted his ponytailed blond hair. "I fought with Ava while I was trying to get into the underground city."
"How is she?!" said Yvonne quickly. "She's fine, right? You . . . killed her?"
"I left the battlefield just to take Ivar and Mara to safety. Ava's fine and well. It's just that . . . I couldn't bring it upon myself to fight her seriously."
"You held back," I said. "Poor Ava. We should get her back to our side, don't you think?"
"No," opposed Kian. "Ava lost her past memories. Bringing her in the state she is would definitely cause a lot of problems. She doesn't even remember me, her father, and also Felicia, her mom."
As soon as he said that, a crystallized figure of white sprouted out from his back. It took the form of Felicia, Kian's beloved wife. Her forehead touched Kian's and both of them smiled.
"She . . . She is not Felicia," I reminded him.
"I know. But I can't help but use my Aegis crystals to create her upper body. I miss her."
A thin smile formed on my face. "I miss her too, Kian. Sadly, those happy times are long gone. We have to think about the future, and how we want to approach it from now on."
I held my arms outward and Kian proceeded to hug me along with the crystallized Felicia. Both of us then walked over to Ivar's side.
"I want you to put Ivar in a comatose state using your Aegis," I said to Kian. "I will think of something to get him back to normal after that."
"As you wish."