It was the middle of the night when I was awoken by the door being slammed open. My eyes shot open and I instinctively began reaching for my gun under my pillow. I heard Hanson begin to stand before going back down.
"Are you okay?" A loud voice boomed out. It was my father. I stopped reaching for my gun and moved my back up.
"Y-yeah," I said groggily. My father began to quickly approach me. "This couldn't have waited until morning?"
As he got to the bed, he began to sit down on the bed and put his hands on my shoulders. His eyes were dark but soft, and he felt concerned for my safety. When I answered, he breathed a small sigh of relief before his expression turned back to serious. "What happened?"
I carefully considered my response. I wanted to not have him assign more guards or restrict my freedom and privacy even more. He kept looking at me in the eye pressuring me for a response.
"When I walked into my room at night, an assassin was waiting for me. I managed to flee and returned the next day where he attacked again. It was then that Hanson and Leo killed him," I summarized.
When I finished, he moved his head over to Leo and Hanson in a fury. "And where were you two the first time?! I assigned you to stay with him for every moment of every day!"
His voice echoed throughout the whole room. When it finally stopped, Hanson spoke up in a calm yet respectful voice. "We were told by the head planner that we had to talk to the mistress."
"Do you expect me to be-" My father began to shout out before I interrupted him.
"Father, they're telling the truth," I said. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have risked their lives for me the second time."
Hanson gained a small smirk as he looked at me and winked. My father paused, considering my reasoning, before talking again. "You two still failed in your duty to protect him."
I interrupted once again. "Don't punish them. I would've been dead the second time without them."
His mouth stayed open as he was at a loss for words. He turned to look at me as if asking if that's what I wanted. I nodded my head. He closed his mouth before looking back at Hanson and Leo.
"Where is the head planner now?" My father asked.
"He took his own life in the morning," Leo said.
"Took or was killed?"
"There was a note," Leo said. "He said he was tired of mistreatment and abuse."
My father was silent while thinking about the situation. The whole room was silent for minutes before I broke it.
"It wasn't him," I said as I fell back on the bed and closed my eyes.
"What do you mean it wasn't him?" My father asked. I felt a strange pressure. When I opened my eyes, I saw that he was staring at me.
"The three indicators of suspicion are means, motive, and opportunity," I explained. "I don't think he had the means to hire someone of that caliber. His motive is also a bit flimsy and doesn't make sense. He has the prestige of being head planner for the most powerful family."
"You bring up a good point," My father commented. I began to feel myself going back to sleep. "Who do you think it is?"
"Don't know, but it was an inside job," I quietly muttered out as I started to black out. "Gonna sleep now," I drawled out before I gave in to the darkness and fell asleep. Curse my young body!
"You know," Hanson began, "He really is quite clever."
"I know," My father said. 'But I wonder what brought about this change.'
"Do you have any idea who could be behind it?" He asked Hanson and Leo.
"Unfortunately not," The two of them said.
My father began getting up from the bed with great care, not making any sudden movements as to wake me up. He began walking to the door and just as he was about to leave, he began to speak.
"Thank you for protecting him," My father said as he began to tear up. "It means more to me than you can imagine."
"It is our duty master," Leo said in a disciplined voice.
My father nodded his head and left the room, closing the door quietly.
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"Where exactly are we going?" I asked. Me and my father were rocking up and down on a horse carriage. He gave me vague details about where we were going.
"Are you giving up?" He asked with a playful smirk. He insisted on me guessing where we were going.
"You know what, yeah. It's pointless for me to guess with no clues."
"Clues aren't always going to be given to you. You have to read in between the lines," He stated.
"I know that," I said mildly irritated. "But I see no purpose for this exercise, If I do get kidnapped, knowing where I'm going isn't gonna help me."
"That's a fair point," He said. Suddenly, the carriage abruptly stopped. He looked over to the carriage operator before nodding and opening the door. "You can see for yourself."
When I exited the carriage, the scene that I saw took my breath away. Saying it was magnificent might've been an understatement. It was a big and grand building, with the exterior looking like a cathedral with a dome roof. It was a mixture of light blue and white, transitioning to a gold and green color as it approached the top. On the left and right were bell towers, and elevated in the middle building was a clock.
The building was a stark contrast to the medieval-themed buildings this world had, looking like something from the Renaissance at the earliest.
"It's a work of art," I said as I looked at all the engineering and architecture involved in the building. It was simply brilliant.
My father put his hand on my back and began guiding me to walk forward. "Welcome to the United Nations."
"United Nations?" I asked under my breath. Was it a coincidence or something bigger? My father kept walking forward and forcing me to follow. We approached the big walkway to the entrance.
"Lord Zephyr," The guards said as they assumed a stance where their backs were straight and weapons were up. "Welcome."
He nodded at them before continuing forward. When we approached the meeting room, it looked just as great as the outside. At the end of the room were the tallest seats, but they gradually lessened in height as they moved forward in the room. At the sides were leather chairs where other people who weren't diplomats sat.
Many people were entering the meeting room. However, one person caught my eye. A small boy had a sense of familiarity around him as he walked by with his old father. I tilted my head, trying to figure out why he seemed so familiar.
I looked at him and began to speak. "Aren't you Mic-"
The boy looked at me and his eyes widened. He was about to speak, but his father dragged him away.
I continued watching with narrowed eyes until my father shook me. "Zack! Are you listening?"
"Huh? What?" I asked as I shook my head and turned to face him.
"Go sit in the left gallery. The meeting is about to start," My father instructed.
"Okay," I answered as I began walking. I sat in the front row, trying to look for the kid from before but failing to find him.
It took a few minutes before a gavel was heard and silence replaced the loud noises in the gallery.
"This meeting is officially beginning," The old man from before said. "I am Nacio Payne representing Atlantis."
"Henry Zephyr representing the Avalon Kingdom."
Several other representatives began listing their names and kingdoms. Then, someone said something that caught me by surprise.
"Johnathan Valor, disciple and representative of Hephaestus."
'Hephaestus? As in the Greek god?' I thought. It was confirmed as people began to list more Greek gods.
And after a minute, the last name was said. The man who rose up immediately drew everyone's attention.
He looked regal just like everyone else, yet it was in an entirely different way. He had a sharp-looking three-piece red suit. His skin was fairly tanned, and his eyes were a blazing dark red. His white hair looked messy and had orange highlights. Whereas most of the people in the council looked pleasant, he looked rough, particularly his skin. It looked as if he had thousands of stories to tell.
"Albaz, representative of the seven demon kingdoms," He spoke in a clear and powerful voice. Many people gulped after those words were said.
Nacio cleared his throat. "Now that we've stated who we are, let's get started with the meeting," He turned over to Albaz. "The demon's assault on Avalon."