[Wei's Tower]
Parveen squinted down at the holographic map glowing in his palm. Its pale blue light cast flickering shadows in the cramped metal vent.
"We're close," he whispered, his voice barely louder than a breath. "Just two more turns and then straight down."
Alektos followed behind him, fidgeting uncomfortably, the vents creaking beneath his weight. "Why does it always have to be vented?" he complained.
"If I knew that this mission came with all this squeezing, I would have passed."
Parveen rolled his eyes, pushing forward on his elbows. "You'd think with all that training you'd be used to it by now."
"Oh, I'm used to it," Alektos retorted, his tone laced with annoyance. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."
They reached the next vent split in two directions. Parveen consulted the map again, adjusting the projection with a swipe of his finger. "Left," he said, crawling into the narrower path. "The lab's ventilation system ties into this one here."
Alektos grunted as he squeezed himself into the narrower space. "If you're lying and we find ourselves in the waste processing unit, I'm holding you personally accountable."
Parveen grinned back at him. "Oh, please. Waste processing is three floors down. You would have known that if you'd read the schematics."
"Yeah, well, I didn't think we'd be taking the scenic route," Alektos said, trying to shift his shoulders into a more comfortable position. "Couldn't we have just hacked the elevator system? Or take a window, like anyone else?"
"Any normal people break into Wei's tower," Parveen whispered with a grin. "And besides, the elevator's on a closed circuit. We'd be flagged before we even hit the third floor."
They walked silently for a few minutes, the hum of building air systems the only sound around them. Finally, Alektos whispered, "How much farther?"
Parveen checked the map; his finger traced the lines. "Just down this chute and one more turn. You ready?"
Alektos's laugh was dry almost inaudible. "Ready as I'll ever be."
He slid down the shaft first, landing muffled as he pressed himself against the grating which overlooked a dimly lit lab below. Alektos landed beside him a second later, eyes scanning the room below.
Rows of tables lined with pieces of equipment with screens flickering with data, and that faint, sterile chemical smell floated up through the vent.
"That's where they keep the prototypes," Parveen whispered and pointed.
Alektos's eyes closed, an unmistakable glint in his look. "Let's just get on with it."
As Parveen and Alektos stood at the vent opening above the entrance to the lab, he stopped, his finger spread across his lips. Alektos looked over Parveen's shoulder, frowning over the lay of things down there.
"Must be," Parveen whispered, barely audible over the hum of the lab's machinery. "Now we just need to—"
Before he could do that, a metallic groan came from the vent beneath Alektos, and it suddenly gave way, collapsing in a sharp snap. Alektos crashed through, landing hard on the floor in front of the lab's double doors. "Come on," Parveen cursed under his breath as Alektos scrambled to his feet.
The two android guards at the door immediately turned around, and their eyes brightened up with a mechanical glow.
"Who the hell are you?" one of them demanded his synthetic voice sharp and menacing.
Alektos didn't waste a second. He raised his hand with a swift motion and the whirls of water coalesced into a shimmering dagger. The androids moved to draw their weapons, but they were too slow.
Alektos moved forward in a fluid motion. He thrust his water dagger out, sinking it into the neck of the first guard. Sparks can be seen as some circuits had been severed; he collapsed to the ground. The second guard readied his weapon, but Alektos was already upon him. He thrust the dagger into the chest of the android. The blade sank into its chest, and, with a hiss, the guard convulsed before falling to the ground.
Alektos breathed, the water dagger dissipating as fast as it had formed, its droplets hitting the floor.
He looked up at the vent where Parveen was watching him with big eyes.
"Not exactly subtle," Parveen whispered, sliding down beside him.
Alektos smirked, shaking himself to dust off his clothes. "Did not have time for subtle."
Parveen shook his head, a small grin forming. "Come on, let's go before backup arrives."
Alektos and Parveen crept through the lab, a low hum of machinery punctuated only by a soft rustling of papers. Alektos's heart was racing as he quickly scanned a stack of files, his fingers shaking slightly. Parveen lingered a few feet away, eyes scanning the room, ever watchful for danger.
"Look at this," Alektos said suddenly, his voice low but urgent. He raised a file; the cover was stained and crumpled. Parveen came closer to look over Alektos's shoulder.
Inside were photographs that made Alektos's stomach churn. Pictures of Aurelians were pinned under harsh lights, and their bodies had been dissected and cut open for examination. The colored plumage that the feathers once had seemed almost a parody against the seeming coldness and sterility of the lab.
"Is this the work of IRIS?" Alektos whispered to himself, his voice laced with disbelief. Anger simmered just below the surface, a familiar heat building in his chest.
Parveen gulped, his eyes wide in shocked incredulity. "I don't know," he said without thinking. "But it doesn't make sense. Why would they do such a thing to innocents?"
Alektos curled his fists up and squeezed them tight.
"We need to know why," Alektos said, pushing the file back at Parveen. "There must be more information on this…research."
Parveen nodded, his hands shaking as he flipped through the papers. "If they're experimenting on Aurelians, nothing's preventing them from turning their attention on us."
Alektos dug deeper into the stacks as his heart raged inside his chest. Every file opened showed more atrocities and more images of tortured Aurelians were poured out before him, making the weight of such a find press down on him brutally. He clamped his jaw tightly in an attempt to hold back the bile racing up into his throat, prompting him to want to spew and cause violence.
Then, hidden under a heap of papers, he discovered another picture. But this was different it was a girl's portraiture, her tiny features on her face, framed by rich locks, the embodiment of elegance. Alektos felt for a moment, his breath catch up in his throat.
"Princess?" he said, his disbelief slipping over the words like a patina.
He looked at the picture, something stirring in recognition. This was a picture twenty years old, when Lynsithea had vanished, a name spoken only in whispered, questionable murmurs by the Sylphs. The features were so delicate, and the hair flowed in just the way the stories had painted them, in a frame from before she ever vanished.
"What is it?" Parveen asked, leaning in to see. His eyes went wide as he recognized the face. "Is that…? But how?"
"I don't know," Alektos said, his voice barely above a whisper, disbelief mingling with fear. "Twenty years ago… she was contaminated? What does that even mean?"
Parveen's expression darkened. "If they've done this to her… what hope is there for the Aurelians? Or for us?"
Alektos's gut knotted tight with cold rage. "We can't let this keep happening. We have to stop them."
"Then let's learn everything we can," Parveen urged, determination leaping to life in his eyes. "For the Aurelians. We have to expose this madness."
As they rummaged through piles of files and pieces of equipment strewn all over the place, Parveen leaned forward, casting a brief sidelong glance at Alektos. "Mind if I hold onto this keycard?" he asked, flicking his eyes toward a sealed door at the far end of the lab.
Alektos hesitated for a moment, then passed over the card. "Sure. I'll just start going through this stuff here."
Parveen accepted the card and headed over toward the door. He swiped it through the reader, the mechanism clicking open with a soft hiss. The door slid aside to reveal a dimly lit chamber. Parveen's breath caught as he stepped inside, the cold, sterile air washing over him. Floating in massive cylindrical tanks filled with greenish fluid were all manner of creatures, their eyes closed, their forms suspended in what looked like an unnatural sleep.
He could just make out the unmistakable shape of feathered wings of an Aurelian in one of the tanks, the form of the creature just barely illuminated by the faint glow of the water.
"Hey, Alektos, you should see this," Parveen called, his voice taut with tension.
Alektos hurried forward, his eyes widening as he saw everything. Together they stepped inside the room, their footsteps echoing through metallic floors. Each of these tanks seemed to hold another odd creature- beings with stretches of limbs or with scales shining, those with wings and plumage that stirred within Alektos's memories of Sylph's forests.
They moved slowly to the end of the room, where a pedestal was enclosed in glass. On it lay a gem, bigger and more irregular than the Elthernium they had known. It pulsed with a soft rhythm, casting eerie shadows around the chamber, its dark surface etched with veins that seemed to shift under their observation.
Alektos leaned in, peering at it intently. "It's not like any Elthernium we've have ever seen," he breathed, reaching out but stopping himself, just short of touching the thing. It hummed faintly-a gentle vibration, almost as if alive-and he felt an indefinable urge for it, a queer magnetism that was simultaneously unsettling and intriguing.
Meanwhile, Parveen reached into his quantum bracelet. His fingers flew across the buttons as he tried to reach Sasha. He looked back at Alektos. His eyes were fixed intently on the gem.
"We have to get this to Sasha," Parveen said, his voice becoming urgent. "She needs to know what we've found."
Parveen activated his quantum bracelet communicator, which crackled faintly in the room as he stood up and showed it to Jax. "Sasha, can you hear us? We found something. strange," he says, his eyes flicking back up to the gem's faint, pulsing glow.
A moment later, Sasha's distorted-but-clear voice came through. [I'm here. What is it?]
Parveen adjusted the communicator so she could see the pedestal and the gemstone. "D'you think you can identify what kind of gem this is? We are not sure if it is an Elthernium gem."
Sasha squinted, studying the image on her end. [You're right,] she said in a thoughtful tone. [That's not Elthernium. It almost looks. alive.]
Alektos looked around the room, taking in the ominous tanks and floating creatures within. "Okay," he said into the communicator, turning back. "So if it's not from Elthernium, then what in God's name is it?"
[I don't know,] Sasha admitted, frowning uncomfortably. [There were whispers that IRIS Corp was playing around with new power sources. I never heard anything like this, though.]
Parveen edged forward, the buzzing increasing faintly as he did so. "There's something funny about it," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "The way it is pulsing.it's like it's taking energy out of the room."
Alektos's brow furrowed as he scanned the surrounding tanks. "And look at what they're doing here," he said, gesturing toward the Aurelians and the rest of the creatures suspended in water. "Whatever this gem is, it's keyed to these experiments. Maybe they're using it to feed off the life force of these creatures."
Sasha's voice had taken on a sharper edge. [You two must be careful. If they are using some novel sort of energy, we don't know what it can do—or how dangerous it could be.]
Parveen nodded, shooting Alektos a wary glance. "Agreed. But if we're going to stop this, we have to know what we're up against."
Alektos breathed out, a cold determination settling over him. "Well then, we dig deeper. We find out what this thing is and where it stands in all of this."
Sasha's voice took on a softer tone, concern clear in her voice. [Just. be careful. We need you guys back here in one piece.]
As they made their way out of the room, Alektos caught himself, patting his pockets. "Wait. One thing more," he said, pulling out a crumpled page he'd pulled free from behind a drawer. He held it up to the communicator so Sasha could see.
"Sasha, we found this… it's about Lynsithea. Looks like they were experimenting on her twenty years ago. I can hardly read it, the handwriting is a mess, as if someone scribbled it down quickly."
Sasha leaned forward, her brow furrowing, scrutiny of the screen. [Experiments on Lynsithea?] She whispered the words, dripping them with disbelief. [They said she was gone, but they never told me why. If she's been experimenting all this time for twenty years.]
Alektos's face darkened, his jaw set. "So that's why she was so different when she came back with Zane. But I can barely make it out—the words are all over the place. Whoever wrote this wasn't thinking straight, like they were trying to hide it, even as they wrote."
Parveen swallowed, his eyes darting back to the gem and then to the tanks lining the walls. "Twenty years… If they did this to her, how many others suffered the same fate? How she came out in one piece is something I will never believe."
Sasha's voice shook with anger and relief. "Thank the stars she got out of there. But Alektos, Parveen, you have to get out of there. It's not just a lab- it's a torture chamber. If they've been concealing all this for decades, we can't let them keep this up."
Alektos stuffed the crumpled paper into his pocket and nodded firmly. "Fine. We have what we need for now. Let's regroup and figure out our next step."
They sprinted toward the door but hadn't hit it when a loud clang boomed down the hallway. A line of android guards rounded the corner, their red eyes blazing, weapons at the ready.
"Halt right there!" one of the androids snapped, its voice cold as a snake's belly. "You're in a prohibited area. Surrender immediately or be erased!"
Alektos shot a look over at Parveen, the tension sizzling between them. "Looks like we're not leaving without a fight."
Parveen scrunched up his fists, water swirling around them. "We've come too far to turn back now," he said, bracing himself.
Sasha's voice trembled through comms. Urgent, frantic, [You have to get out of there! Fight your way through if you must, but don't let them capture you!]
Alektos stood ready with his water daggers held in place, a fierce determination burning in his gaze. "Copy that. We'll see you on the other side, Sasha."
Alektos felt the power flow through him as he tapped into his Aqua Essence. With a flick of his wrist, thousands of shimmering water daggers materialized, floating in an entrancing dance around him.
This will show them, he thought, determination hardening his resolve. "Aqua Essence: Tide Piercer!" he shouted, sending the daggers toward the approaching androids.
Beside him, Parveen steadied his grip on his claymore, its blade flaring to life with flames as he infused it with Pyro Essence.
Time to turn up the heat, he thought, a fierce grin spreading across his face. "Pyro Essence: Inferno Edge!" he roared, swinging the flaming sword through the air as bursts of fire shot toward the androids.
The androids responded instantly, their mechanical eyes narrowing as they released fire, sending a hail of bullets.
They don't stand a chance, Alektos thought, and the coolness of the daggers cut through the air with perfect accuracy, guiding them to intercept the incoming bullets. The sound of clashing was sharp and hissing, dashing water droplets down like glimmering diamonds.
In this, the fire consumed Parveen and hurtled him forward, licking at the edge of his sword. "Come on!" he shouted in excitement.
"Show me what you have got!" Incinerating any android that dared come close, he flung the claymore in wild arcs, and sparkled flames danced in the air, leaving scorched metal in their wake.
"Push forward!" Alektos shouted his eyes on the unrelenting tide of the foes. "Not to let them overwhelm us."
The droids pick themselves together and reassess their attack in coordinated mechanical maneuvers. [Attack intruders! Kill them!] one at the top voice, its voice icy and unfaltering.
Alektos felt his adrenaline pump up as he dialed in more daggers, swirling them around in a halo of motion. "They're not getting past us!" he declared, his inner heat from the flames of Parveen met with the cold mist from the water.
Parveen looked at Alektos like he had seen something, heaved over from exhaustion. "We have to find our way out before it's too late. This is a trap!"
"Right!" Alektos bellowed, sending a wave of water knives into the ranks of the androids. "Let's carve a path!"
Together, Alektos and Parveen charged as one unit, weaving through the chaos of the lab, as their powers were somehow combined in some sort of vivid display of elemental fury. Metallic clangs of their enemies reverberated in the confined space as they carved a path toward the exit.
"Almost there!" Alektos shouted, his voice almost drowned by the din. He launched another wave of water daggers at a cluster of androids, the sparkling projectiles leaving glistening trails in the air.
He smashes his fiery claymore in with conviction, with flames dancing and billowing as they engulf the foes before them.
"Let's make it count!" he screams, eyes focused on the door but a good few strides ahead.
Just as they changed direction to move away from the exit, a blaring siren cut through the sounds of battle, freezing everything.
"No, not now!" Alektos reflected as he spun back toward the horde of oncoming androids, red lights strobing ominously around the room.
[Alert! Intruders detected! Lockdown in progress,] a robotic voice announced, echoing with an unnerving urgency.
Parveen's heart was racing. "We have to go now. The alarms will summon all guards in the place on us!"
With one final push, Alektos accumulated a good strength of water current and sent it forward, slamming into the nearest androids, and sending them crashing to the ground.
"Go! I'll give you some extra minutes!" he shouted, gritting his teeth against the burden of his choice.
"No way!" Parveen protested with stiff muscles, his voice fierce. "We hold together. Can't leave people behind!" He turned toward Alektos, his gaze hard and unyielding.
Abruptly a hail of gunfire erupted, bullets ricocheting off the walls as the androids regrouped, their red eyes glowing like a menacing swarm of bikers. The air crackled with tension.
"Now!" Alektos yelled, running forward as if he could catch up to Parveen, running alongside. They exploded out of the exit just as it slammed sealed shut behind them with a thump that strongly betrayed its heavy panel.
And they hadn't even reached safety yet; the cries of the alarms grew more shrill, piercing the corridor with their shriek as if announcing their escape and warning all who were within the facility that it was now on their loose.
"Which way?" Parveen panted, scanning the dimly lit hallways. Shadows loomed ahead, and the distant sounds of marching feet sent a chill down his spine.
"Down this way!" Alektos pointed, adrenaline surging as they sprinted deeper into the labyrinth of corridors, their hearts pounding in sync with the blaring alarm.
Alektos and Parveen sprinted down the corridor, their footsteps returning a staccato echo to the pitiless alarm that riveted them to its rhythmic drone. Every door they passed was locked, and their choices dwindled. Alektos glanced over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing as he caught sight of a faint blur of daylight filtering through a high window down at the end of the hall.
"Window?" Parveen asked, catching Alektos's look.
"Let's give it a shot," Alektos said to Karas as she looked ahead at them and accelerated toward the window. She readied herself to jump without thinking, but an impulse of raw power surged through the air, striking them both and forcing them backward.
"What in the—?" Alektos gasped as his water daggers dissolved into mere droplets that splashed onto the floor. He turned to Parveen, whose fiery claymore had disintegrated; all that remained was the cold ash held in his hands. A shriek, a high-pitched frequency filled the air, crashing over them in a wave of dizziness. Alektos clutched his head, this awful sound gnawing at his senses.
Parveen staggered backward, wincing. "What's. happening?" he stammered, his strained voice barely audible.
"Well, well," a voice drawled from the corner of the room.
Wei emerged from the shadows, a self-satisfied smile playing on his lips. "You two do have guts, I'll give you that. But did you think you could sneak past my building so easily?" His eyes sparkled with amusement as he took in their dazed forms.
Alektos's eyes narrowed, and he strained to keep himself upright. He concentrated then with all his might on bringing up his water daggers once more, but nothing was forthcoming. His hands quivered with the effort of the strain, but no magic would come out.
"It's useless," Wei declared, crossing his arms over his chest. "You two are powerless now." He swept his gaze about the room, his smirk growing even wider.
"This is my Essence Disruptor. That is, it nullifies the 'magic essence' that you Sylphs go on and on about. Rather effective, don't you agree?"
Alektos ground his fists against his thighs, frustration churning in his chest. "You can't just—"
"Oh, I can," Wei interrupted his tone ice cold.
"You see, Dimitri may be soft, but I have no qualms about using my resources to control things around here." He took a step closer, eyeing them like trapped prey. "Now, tell me—what made you think you could waltz in here without facing the consequences?"
Parveen set his jaw, glancing at Alektos. No matter the dire situation, he could feel the spark of determination flicker to life. "We're not leaving without getting some answers," he shot back wildly, standing his ground.
Wei's smile doesn't even flicker. "Oh, you'll get answers. The question is, will you be in one piece by the time I'm done with you?"
Alektos struggled against the tide of helplessness that overwhelmed him, his instincts screaming to fight, but his powers were completely damped down. He glared back at Wei. "Not nearly over," he sneered, determination driving a hardness into his voice.
Wei laughed, tilting his head as he studied them with a calculating interest. "Oh, I'm dying to see you try. But for now, you're coming with me."
Alektos and Parveen steeled themselves, not that they hoped to escape; they knew it was impossible, but they wouldn't give Wei the pleasure of the fear that overcame them. The corridor seemed to narrow, the walls closing in on either side as Wei's men emerged from behind him, forming a wall that barred the way forward or back.
Alektos and Parveen shifted their stances, preparing for battle. But Wei raised his hand, his expression growing chill.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You're both surrounded and one wrong move …" He held up a tablet, its screen lighting up to show a live feed. Alektos and Parveen's eyes widened as they recognized Sasha, walking casually down a darkened alley.
"Sasha!" Parveen's voice was shaking with fear and anger mixed.
Wei smiled wider, angling the screen toward them. "That's right. One word from me and she's as good as dead. So, do you still think you're so brave?"
Alektos shot Parveen a look. A mutual understanding passed between them, but they both kept raising their hands in surrender.
"We're surrendering," Alektos said in a defeated tone but his eyes still holding defiance. "But you won't get away with this."
Wei's face brightened, his shoulders relaxing as he lowered the tablet. "Good thinking. I was expecting a little more of a struggle, but I'm glad to see that you also know when the opposing side has the upper hand."
He took a step closer to them, watching with an ugly grin in his mouth. "You want to know about the Elthernium gem, eh?"
Alektos ground his teeth. Taking a step forward, he asked, "What do you intend to do with it?"
Wei laughed with a brevity, almost as if he were expecting that response. "The gem? You think that's all there is to it?"
He turned to them, the predatory glint in his eye sharp. "You saw that gem in the lab, the one with the pulse? No common gem. That's called Seraphim's Tear."
"That's not just a gem; that's the heart of this city, Aerathis. Those tears? That's ancient machinery, fuel for the power source of the city, keeping everything running. The steam cloud that floats over the city of Aerathis? It runs on the essence of the Tears, the energy converted into steam that brings every mechanism, machine, every single light to life."
Parveen looked at Alektos, her brow furrowing in confusion. "You're saying the city's entire lifeblood is these gemstones? And you intend to meld this energy with Elthernium?"
Wei shrugged and gave only a faint, disdainful smirk. "Exactly. Alone, the Tear is an amazing engine, but when brought with the body of Elthernium, it opens up a whole new level of potential. The combined force can generate not only energy but also shape reality itself. Power beyond your imagination—the power to reshape the very fabric of Aerathis."
"It is also said to be created by one of the gods of Aerathis. It possesses power unlike any you have ever seen." Wei said.
Wei's face had changed, a dark fascination crossing his countenance. "Elthernium alone is incredible, but its powers are only good for human levels. However, if you do the Tear with Elthernium."
He paused, savoring the moment, "You could transcend mortality itself. Just think of it becoming a god in the world where power is everything."
Alektos squints, forcing himself to comprehend the depth of Wei's ambition. "You are crazy," he rasps, muffling his revulsion to utter the words. "You think you're God?"
Wei shrugged and grinned. "Insanity is relative, isn't it? With both the gem of Elthernium and the Tear, I could remake Aerathis in my image. No more bottlenecks, no more compromise. Pure, unadulterated power. And who's going to stop me? Certainly not a pair of Sylphs interfering in matters they don't begin to understand."
And then Parveen stepped forward, defiance blazing up in his eyes as desperate as the situation would have made it seem. "You might think you've had your victory, but you don't know the forces you're playing with. You can't just bend Aerathis to your will."
Wei laughed, his sound was hollow - it echoed down the corridor. "You are right. I do not understand it - I control it. And soon, I will have everything I need to bring this world under my dominion."
Alektos turned a glance at Parveen; they were barely holding their anger. They had known they needed to find a way of getting out and preventing Wei, but for now, they could not do much. However, one thing was sure: no way would they let Wei complete his mad schemes.
"Now, let's go," he said as he turned away, interested in taking over a whole world and having his two, albeit unwilling, companions in tow with him. Alektos held his head up and kept moving, his mind streaming behind him with a desperation he made himself believe was the only thing that gave him hope it was far from over.
Alektos could hardly attempt to restrain himself. "This has to be the most stupid reason for this kind of thing I ever heard. Do you think becoming some deformed god is going to make some difference?"
Wei narrowed his eyes, and the air around him dropped ten degrees in temperature. "Dumb?" He leaned forward, his face a mask of icy disdain.
"Only dumb to those too small-minded to grasp it. But for someone like me, who's clawed his way to the top—power is the only thing that matters. You Sylphs, with your naive ideals, can't possibly understand what it's like to wield true influence."
Then he stood, arms crossed, his eyes pinning into Alektos. "You see but one path, don't you? That is what makes you a plaything of someone else's game. Do you think you're here to save the world? You are little more than an inconvenience, and soon, a mere footnote."
Alektos's teeth were bared in a snarl, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, but he forced himself to subside. Wei's emotionless, steel-like face didn't falter even as he gave a dismissive wave of his hand to his guards. "Take them. I have no time for insects who think they can lecture me on power."
Just as Alektos and Parveen were dragged off by the android guards, Wei's communicator buzzed. He glanced down to see Dimitri's name flash across the screen. He answered steadily. "What is it?"
[What's happening, Wei? I heard there were intruders in the tower—are you harmed?] Dimitri's voice was tight, tinged with concern.
Wei let out a slow breath and allowed himself a wry grimace. "I'm fine, Dimitri. Two Sylphs snuck in here. They're controlled."
Dimitri's voice cut in, sounding sharply honed. [Sylphs? You don't mean… Alektos and Parveen?!?]
"Yes, those two," Wei said coolly and dismissively. "They managed to get into the lab, but they're being taken care of now."
[But why, Wei? What do they want here?] Dimitri was bewildered, but Wei raised his eyebrows and a mild rebuke began to creep into his voice.
[They came poking around the wrong places, Dimitri. They don't know what they are dealing with,] Wei said his voice close to mocking. [They put themselves in the middle of something they shouldn't have been in, and now they have to face it. I would not worry about them anymore.]
"I have to go," he said impromptu. He cut the call just when Dimitri could say something. The silence swayed in the air; Dimitri stared through the whirlwind of questions bending in his mind.
"Why were Sasha's friends visiting Wei's tower?" he paced the room. "Sasha… was everything she said a lie?" Frustration prickled at him as he recalled her words especially that warning that kept echoing in his mind, you don't have to carry her with you.
A knot pressed inside his stomach.
Was Sasha hiding something?
Did she know about Alektos and Parveen?
What went on in the background?
His heart was pounding as he churned through these mixed emotions of uncertainty. He quickly looked down at his call list, directing his eyes to his mother's name—Iris Veyamin Vanya.
He paused because a storm of thoughts clashed inside of him. She might have all the answers he so desperately needed, but it scared him.
He took a deep breath and pressed the call button. The line connected with the soft beep of the phone ringing. Trying to gather his thoughts, he could not help but wonder why the Sylphs were looking for the IRIS Corp. Whats with the connection with the Sylphs?
The line had connected when he was met with her warm voice over the phone. [Dimitri? Is everything okay?]
His heart would pound as he prepared himself to jump into the unknown, ready to unearth truths hidden in the shadows. "Mom, I need to talk to you about something important."