My body feels heavy, I opened my eyelids to see several silhouettes of people standing before me. I seem to be laying down on a bed of some sort, feeling a bit dizzy I pushed myself upwards and I sat on the bed.
"He's finally awake!" shouted a familiar voice
"You took your time sleeping."
"How did this even happen..."
"So it's you guys...when did you even know each other?"
"She was here since the beginning." pointed Celene
"Uh..." flustering a bit, Jade moved her gaze away from me
"So Tarus, what happened?"
"We we're in the same building right?"
"We got knocked out and fortunately we were rescued."
"Is that so...it looks like the Dark disciples from Geltix followed us and coordinated an attack...good thing only one district was harmed..."
"But the innocent lives of bystanders..." Jade continued
"That's unfortunate to hear...by the way what's your relationship to Tarus?"
"I was supposed to be one of his testers if it weren't for the attacks his application to the association would've been smooth."
"Nothing else right?"
"W-what do you mean 'Nothing else'?!"
"A-anyways, Tarus it looks like you've been accepted in the association under special circumstances, you'll be heading to the royal palace with Celene in order to be Allocaded."
"Nice job Celene!"
"You too Tarus!" we high-fived
For some reason, Jade looked displeased and suddenly became silent.
"I'll be going now, there's something I need to do."
"That was quick, why so suddenly?"
"It's something important that I can't disclose to you."
"Oh, okay..."
She flipped the curtain that covered the small bed and space that I had and she walked away. Celene and Nanako turned their gazes to me.
"We'll be leaving in about an hour so get ready in the meantime."
"Alright."
"Are you also leaving Nanako?" Celene asked
"I'm just going to clarify something with the superiors, I'll meet you guys back here."
"Okayyy!"
"How about you Celene? Got something to do?"
"Nah."
"So I guess it's just the two of us then..."
"Sure is!"
Things got tense and awkward as Nanako left us alone, so in order to avoid this awkward moment I went back and laid on the bed and pretended to sleep...but I fell asleep and approximately about fifty minutes had passed I woke up to see Celene drooling on the bed. Nanako frantically came in and she seemed to be in a hurry.
"T-TARUS! C-CELENE! WAKE UP! S-SO-SORRY I'M LATE?! I TOTALLY DIDNT OVEREAT AND FELL ASLEEP!"
"C-calm down! Celene, wake up!" I tugged Celene to wake her up but it was useless, she was in a deep sleep.
"Crap, at this rate we're going to have to carry her!"
Nanako grabbed the sleeping Celene and placed her on her back, I quickly followed after them and we were changed into more formal clothes. I wore a black suit with a pair of long pants. I met up back with Celene and Nanako who wore a long dress, red for Celene and golden for Nanako which matched her eye color, they also had their hair tied.
"There should be a carriage waiting for us outside."
"Ok!"
It's time to say bye to this facility...then the thought of Jade slipped my mind. We hopped on aboard the carriage, it was led by two black horses. The carriage itself was very similar to the one we rode from Esthel to here. We arrived at the magnificent royal palace that was seated at the centermost of Rayonaird, it stood out as the tallest and grandest structure. With the castle's high sharp white peaks it was a sight to see.
"SALUTE!"
Leading to the huge entrance was a long line of fully armored soldiers on each side of the long red carpet leading to the huge double doors. The soldiers were in perfect formation, we got out of the carriage and we were greeted by a butler.
"Ms. Nanako and company, his highness is waiting for you in the crown room, please follow me as I'll be your guide."
He bowed and we followed, entering the royal palace, the inside was even grander than the outside, chandeliers lighted up the place, and paintings were hanged from the walls and red carpets led the way to the crown room where the king awaited us.
"This place sure is magnificent!"
"Shhh! Celene be quiet!"
"O-oh sorry!"
"Nanako, you've been here before?"
"N-no, it's also my first time, I was allocated in headquarters, and not only is the building damaged badly it seems that the king took notice of your actions."
"I tried to hide it as much as possible but I guess nothing can escape the king's gaze."
"Well, unlike us we didn't do much..."
"What even did happen to you guys before getting knocked out?"
"Celene grabbed a testing crown ring and she fought three bandits on her own...she has talent."
"Really Celene?!"
"Y-yeah I guess..."
"That really is impressive! I hope you'll surpass me someday!"
"N-nononono, that just pure impossible for me...even though I want to stand beside you..."
"I didn't quite catch that...what was that again?"
"Hey, you two were already here!"
There were two guards standing on both sides of the heavy double door leading to where the king was, they opened it and the air got tense as the king with his long white beard sitting on his throne that was plated with gold. We walked forward and we were getting gazes from the nobles that lined up, I could hear them whispering about my ash white hair but I didn't mind them.
"Your highness King Viridescent, ruler of Rayonaird, I present to thee the fearless warriors who were candidates to be crown users, they fought relentlessly against their enemies. The special one among the two of them is the corrupted crown user Tarus, please walk forward and kneel."
I walked forward as the captain of the knights asked, I also knelt and the king exclaimed...
"W-white hair?! C-could it be?!"
"Your highness?"
"White hair is proof of one going through hardships...and a mere kid experiencing all of that at such a young age...not only that, he persevered through all that suffering..."
The king stood up and went towards me, the nobles were suddenly surprised. The king put an arm on my shoulder and whispered to me.
"I would gladly give you my daughter's hand but unfortunately she's engaged and missing..."
"Y-your highness, if I may ask, does your daughter have long creamy green hair?"
"So you've met then..."
"She's a good and powerful girl...you raised her up properly and I respect that."
"Don't get me wrong, boy...the reason she ran away was that I neglected her...she was the one who raised herself...that respect should go to her alone...I'm sorry for being such a forsaken father..."
"I guess you two need time alone to sort things out...when we fought together she seemed to be fighting out of revenge for you...I think she just wants to be appreciated by you..."
"Boy...you are one matured kid and I admire that...if only she wasn't missing and engaged you would've been the perfect partner for her..."
"Ah...hehehe..."
Suddenly the double doors were crashed open wide, who the heck even have the strength to open that quickly?! I turned around to take a good look at this arrogant person...Jade was standing there huffing covered in sweat, she wore a creamy green dress, the same color as her hair. Everyone was too surprised and focused on her...what's that thing on her neck?
"Tarus, we need to go quick!"
"Wha-"
She ran straight for me and quickly, she managed to get a hold of my hand.
"H-hey, calm down!"
"There's no time!"
An explosion came from the right-hand side where the windows were, smoke entered the surrounding area and it blocked my vision. I heard some screaming coming from Jade as I felt that she was pulled away from me. I immediately used corrosion on the smoke to make it disappear.
"It seems we have a skilled crown user here! HEE HEE!"
There was a person with wavy purple hair, he floated in the skies as he chuckled while carrying Jade...
"Burst mode: four horns erupt! YOU'LL BE GIVING HER BACK!"
"Come and catch me! If you can!"