The Null Standing. An odd name for an organisation if you asked me, but what did I know? Lemon sat quiet in the manager's chair as we watched Ratchina pace up and down the room. To be fair, she didn't have a choice but to be silent. I had activated the system, it floated in the middle of the room, large enough to take nearly half of the room. Apparently, everyone else could see it except Lemon.
"Initiate freeform," she said looking at me.
"What, what's freeform?"
Ratchina exhaled, grabbing her green fiery hair in a fit of anger. Then she let go, exhaling.
"It's an option for taking off your training wheels," she replied calmly.
"Training wheels?"
"Yes, it is the ability to control your system without having to activate it verbally," Ciliam explained. "You'd be able to use the system with just your mind."
That sounded quite convenient. On a normal day with Ezekiel, I would have probably been extremely excited to hear I could do that, an ability that would allow me save a lot of time on the battlefield if I ever had the chance to use it in my field of work. But all I could think about at that very point was the safety of Lemon.
"Give Lemon her voice back," I said to Ratchina.
"In due time," she replied. Those words again. Then she continued from where Ciliam stopped. "Freeform is an ability secluded for the Guardians and a few selected knights. If you had read the book Zeno gave you, you would know this, or if your father was as responsible as I thought he was, you would have known about this, bottom line is—"
"If I initiate freeform, will you give me partner her voice back?" I interrupted.
She noticed the anger in my eyes, her elevated fiery hair dropped as she stared. Then she cleared her throat and said;
"Of course. But we need to take the enveloping attention off of us."
"What enveloping attention?" I asked.
She looked at the door of the office and then back at me. At that moment I remembered the supposed suspect outside the room, waiting for our verdict. Immediately I walked out, closing the door behind me and then I smiled looking at everyone.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, you can all go to your various rooms now, this interrogation is over."
Immediately I was done talking Ratchina, Ciliam and Lemon walked out the room. Lemon's face looked rather pissed at that moment but she tried to hide it.
"Did you find the killer?" The Baroness asked.
"We found a cause," I replied.
"A cause, a cause of what?" The Zander blurted out.
"The death of the man," I replied looking down at the body. "He died of a heart attack. Someone at least put this person in a body bag!"
"What, heart attack?" Fabian asked. "That makes absolutely no sense, how do you explain the marks and the crushed glasses?"
I walked up to him slowly, my flipflops making a squishy sound with every step I make, then I stopped before him. Looking him in the eyes, I replied;
"The man, died of a heart attack. Now it's either you go to your rooms, or you stay here and wait for the local troopers that'll be here later in the morning. As for me and my partner, we'll be in our rooms."
I took a hold of Lemon's hand, walking past everyone towards the elevator. They watched in quiet murmur as we entered the elevator.
"You know where to find us if you need us." I said, then my eyes fell on Ratchina and the door closed up.
As soon as the doors closed up and the elevator started going up, Lemon pushed me against the wall like we were about to have sex, then she glared at me in the same manner Tinkerbell glared at Peter Pan whenever she was angry with him. Then she started signing, aggressively.
"Oh, sign language," I said, looking at her hands. She was ranting on about a lot of things, she said;
"Tell me what's going on Ezra. I don't understand. Are we not looking for the criminal again? What is this Null Standing thing about? How the hell do you know those people? And what's this about your father?!"
"Everything will be fine Lemon," I replied, holding her hands. "I'll explain everything to you once I'm done with Ratchina."
She looked me in the eyes, then gave an exhale, or at least that's what I thought that was. She folded hands as she leaned on the wall looking at the doors of the elevator. I looked up at the ceiling. Same old elevator music, I gave a short smile and sighed as I leaned next to her. This vacation is turning out to be less of a vacation and more of a workation.
Also, I wondered how I was going to explain everything to Lemon, when she can't even see the system. I could have sworn she could, I mean, it felt like she did back then with the 'incident' with Levion. Or was I just imagining things? Then again, it's like I always say, assumptions will end your life if you're not careful. Ratchina said that only knights and guardians had the ability to see someone else's system…normies only see us punching the air like we're wearing some pairs of ancient VR goggles.
The elevator stopped and the door ding open. Ratchina was already waiting for us at our door. Apparently she had dismissed her loyal servant Ciliam.
"How did you get here so fast?" I asked as we walked up to her.
She rolled her eyes, opening the door to our room and walking in. We followed, slamming the door behind us.
"I teleported," she replied, turning to us and striping her 'bultler' clothes off. "A useful perk I stole from a fellow knight after a game of Caldoran. I have only three tries before it's gone."
She threw her jacket, shirt and skirt, all she had on now was her underwear…a sturdy handless green bra and green panties.
"What in the world are you doing Ratchina?" I asked, attempting to close my eyes.
She looked at me raising a brow. "Oh please, I just wanted to change into a more comfortable outfit. Honestly, you humans are the most hypocritical species in the multiverse."
"Forgive me for trying to be decent enough to respect you like that," I replied, dropping my hand.
"You guys are all talk," she chuckled. "Initiate treasure box."
A big virtual chest appeared in front of her the moment she said that. She waved her hand above it and it opened up, revealing the sparkly gems, gold coins and clothes it harboured. I looked at Lemon's face, it was awestruck. So she could not see the system but she could see that? Then again, that was cool the way she did it.
She pulled out a long green coat, a black short skirt, a pair of above the knee boots heels, brown, and a black shirt designed to look like a garment that covered from her neck down to her belly button, like a turtleneck crop-top. And lastly, two thigh straps that resembled small holsters for her daggers.
"Studies and experience show that humans are the most lustful and greedy species in the multiverse," she said as she put on her clothes. "You would do anything for your desires, even though they're wrong…well most of you though, the exception being only to the few who fights back."
Lemon scoffed with her hands, sitting on the bed. She pulled up the skirt and strapped on the straps. Her thighs were quite thick and white. Her tummy very flat like she does not eat at all and her chest relatively small. She was a beautiful alien to be honest, and apparently it seemed she had the whole of humankind figured out.
"So humans are scums in your opinion?" I asked.
"Oh no, don't get me wrong," she replied putting on the coat. "As much as their bad side is conspicuous, their good side is equally very bold to see. The love you possess with in, is the envy of all alien specie."
She smiled walking closer to me, very close. She held my eyes in a staring context, leaving silence in the room. I did not know what she was doing but it felt like she was about to kiss me, which would have been weird, but thankfully Lemon separated us immediately she felt uncomfortable with it.
"Stay away from him," she signed. "Are you here to flirt or to teach?"
"Hmm, right," Ratchina said, adjusting her coat. "To be able to initiate free form, you must have a proper control of your energy, your power level should be at a minimum of ten and your training level should be at least five."
Lemon looked at her like she was talking nonsense. I raised my brows up, then I folded my hands.
"Were you blind when I activated my system?" I asked. "My energy control level is—"
"Good enough," she completed.
"And my power level is—"
"Close enough," she added, folding her hands.
"It's not going to work," I said. "My training level is barely above five, I can't initiate freeform!"
She exhaled, walking up to Lemon and caressing her hair. Lemon didn't like that, she angrily knocked her hand off as if it was an annoying fly.
"Ouch," Ratchina said looking at the girl. "I was just trying to be friendly. Anyway, without freeform, you won't stand a chance against the Null Standing."
"Again with this Null Standing," Lemon signed.
"What the heck is a Null Standing?" I asked.
"Not what, who," she replied. "According to the rumours, they're a group of rouge knights…supposedly blue knights, that surface a few years back and started killing other knights."
"Blue knights?" I asked. "Why are they killing other knights?"
She shrugged. "But what's weird about it is that so far, their only victims have been fellow blue knights. That's why none of the other Guardians have involved themselves in the matter. It is your business to solve alone."
The Null Standing. Come to think of it, Ezekiel had told me about something similar back in the Arena.
"I don't know their agenda, directive or goal," she added, snapping her fingers and watching the chest disappear. "But I've lost a lot of good friends because of them, my favourite being Dolly and her beautiful daughter Caroline, the only humans I've ever cried for."
Dolly and Caroline. It felt like I had heard those names before. I looked at Lemon and instantly realised who they were…the victims of that Mind walker nd Halo, that mother and her daughter. Lemon had a look of shock as her eyes widened why she listened to Ratchina. A few tears dropped from her eyes as she recalled how they were killed.
"You need to stop them Guardian, control your household before the others decide to control it for you. And to do that, you must learn Freeform."
I looked at her, determination all over my face. "How do I start?"
She gave a sinister smile, placing her hand on my shoulder.