Chapter 19
Ruins of ancient Dracaenae enclave, Continent: Barat, the Year 2041, Planet: Grimoire
What a nasty situation this was turning into. Chester facepalmed as soon as he knew Cress wouldn't see his actions. How the hell am I supposed to explain all of this to Clarence without him ripping my head off? His shoulders slumped, and then he flopped back into the chair, pushing away from the crystal with a sigh.
Chester muttered. "Hah, I just know she's cursing and laughing her ass off at me simultaneously right about now." She probably knew what he would do once she was out of sight.
Chester rolled his eyes. "Damn, my fucking bad luck." He muttered with a sigh.
Well, that was that.
Talk about being the bad news bearer, which was the last thing Chester anticipated being currently. "Oh well, I'd better get a move on." That was a tight window of escape right there.
However, he didn't want to move just yet. It was a lot to take in. "Maybe I should read the reports before doing anything right now." He could tell that Firenze was still in the turret somewhere.
The fact that he hadn't left yet surprised Chester. Right now, he didn't want to face Firenze when he was departing in such a hurry. "I just hope he has better news to return to than what I have to give Clarence Delarosa."
Chester sat in depressed silence. "Oh, right. I left that running. It's not a good idea, dummy." He shut down the communications channel on his end and sighed.
The bad news about Chester's world status and Clarence's altered status still had to be delivered to Clarence. He just didn't know how Clarence would react to the news. For all Chester knew, he was probably anticipating something along those lines.
Chester shook his head. Nope, he wasn't happy with this latest twist in the circumstances. This meant he might not part with Clarence on amicable terms—the worst parting, though Chester was getting used to those.
"Great, now I must tell Clarence that he's been turned into a villainous fugitive. Just fucking wonderful." He muttered in disgruntlement.
When he looked through the paperwork, Chester saw the reports with all the specific details. "Well, maybe he'd be willing to read this for the details that I'm not able to explain properly." He was doubtful, though.
*
Ouch, shades of the emperors of Galos and Bellonia. Unfortunately, Clarence had watched Naxos following in that direction as well. It had been one of the reasons he'd walked away when he had. It may be fortunate that Clarence had done so. Who knew what would happen to the twins if he hadn't encountered them while walking away from the crown prince's encampment.
Hmm, these two had quite a complicated history. Clarence knew how that had been. He'd once had a family over one thousand years ago. There was no telling what the descendants of his siblings and extended family looked like in this era.
Chester shrugged and looked distinctly upset about that action but merely sighed. "Though now I'm realizing he did it for the betterment of both of us."
Hmm, Clarence felt there was more to what was going on than met the eye. "So, you're gradually accepting what has happened so far?" That wasn't something he could believe was real.
Chester shrugged. "Nope, I think it was a justification to accept his leave-taking when I could've used his support." His smile was mocking. "No, I was just a selfish, immature brat who didn't want to grow up."
Clarence sighed when he heard that. Somehow, he wasn't buying that nonsense either. "What are your plans?" He'd also gained a glimmering of what he could do that would make a difference in both of their lives.
Now that Clarence realized he couldn't stay there, he was at loose ends. Huh, something happened to make Chester react like that. "So, who exactly did you contact to elicit such an altered decision that fast?" Clarence was suspicious.
"Now there's a question, indeed." Chester's smile was ironic. "It only took me this long to realize how inferior I'd felt this entire time." He shook his head. "Not to mention being extremely immature about everything, too." He shrugged with a sigh. "As for my plans? I'm at a loss to be honest." Chester wandered to another window, other than where Clarence had been looking out. "I must impart some bad news, but I don't know how to word it." He glanced at Clarence warily. "It involves both of our futures to a certain degree."
Hmm, Clarence watched him thoughtfully. His restlessness denoted how uneasy he was in what he had to inform Clarence. It must genuinely be worrisome to trigger his reaction right now.
"Go on and tell me," Clarence stated at last, then saw the neatly bundled reports in Clarence's left arm. "Ah, you have reports?"
Chester blinked when he heard Clarence's query. "Uhm, yeah. I spoke to a friend I could trust." He walked over to Clarence and handed him two of the reports. He retained the rest of the paperwork, much to Clarence's surprise and suspicion.
However, when he looked over what Chester had handed over to him, Clarence understood where his wariness had been triggered. He thought Clarence would hold Chester accountable for all this bad news.
"I think you should sit in the chair across from me." From what Clarence ascertained, they had a short period within which to make an escape.
They could either leave together or work apart. "So, what other information can you give me?" Clarence would decide after hearing what else Chester had to tell him.
Chester approached him hesitantly and then switched windows. "To summarize, we're both fugitives, as you know from the reports."
"Yes," Clarence prompted him.
"I didn't know that I would require a new identity and lifestyle." Chester shook his head. "All of this began happening roughly six to eight months ago." His mouth compressed. "Now, even Firenze and Grifton are in danger." His hands fisted at his sides.
At last, Clarence would gain an idea of how Chester was once a naive and idealistic individual in his youth, how this had been quashed through severe brainwashing by his parents.