Chapter 34 - 31: Testimonials.

After the explosion was triggered, Lawrence managed to escape using the chaos and confusion. He recalled the whole conversation he had with Hisato before making him a living bomb. The conversation consisted on asking everything Hisato knew about the dragon and if he knew about the whereabouts of others like him. Despite answering everything without being forced to, Lawrence still decided to dispose of Hisato and leave a gift from his part to the police or swat team that would be after him.

The news reported broadcasted everything from the safety of the street and keep narrating the situation, asking the neighbors gathered around about what they knew of the current situation. However, she didn’t get many positive interviews, and most of them presented a rather aggressive opinion towards the government before the explosion went off.

Lawrence walked towards the usual place where Hisato sneaked to meet the dragon and spend time with it. As soon as Lawrence was detected by the dragon, two large fangs quickly flashed to tear him apart but before contact was made, a sudden curtain of mist overwhelmed the dragon’s mouth and made it shake its mouth in confusion due to the uncertainty of what happened. In a quick maneuver, Lawrence threw a long chain around the long mouth of the dragon and slammed it to the ground, making the dragon pass out while twitching. Lawrence then proceeded to drag the dragon away from Carca in order to train it properly afterward.

As Carca began to fall into anarchy due to the terrorist attacks, Gree, Sinns, Nat, Elvira, Phil, and Chronos were transported to the main headquarters of the military forces in the capital of Falladis itself. Charles was escorting them while mounting on his dragon which leaped at immense heights with really high speeds in order to keep up with the helicopter's pace.

Inside of the helicopter, Nat was sitting next to Gree and leaned on her trying to receive comfort, to which Gree sighed and held her hand. “I’m pretty sure nothing is going to happen to us, don’t worry.” –Gree whispered and Nat nodded in response, feeling more relaxed since Gree answered her main doubt.

Phil was sitting next to Chronos while feeling rather uncomfortable due to the little space he had, and also felt rather bad since the reunion with Chronos turned out to be just an interrogation to pull information out of him. Honestly, I’m quite glad Chronos arrived at the right time; otherwise, we would’ve been in a huge problem with that absurdly big monster that came out of the caves. It just doesn’t add up how he was able to learn magic so fast, even a genius like Gree is not able to do such a feat. –He thought while some turbulence shook the helicopter a bit.

Elvira seemed calmer than usual while sitting next to Phil as Sinns began to take a nap, leaning towards Gree after seeing Nat leaning on her too. These kids seem too comfy nowadays. –Gree thought while being squished between the two of them.

The helicopter took several hours to arrive at the capital, as at the heliport the group was greeted by a whole platoon of soldiers who readied their weapons in case there was any hostility from the incoming apprehended group. The leader of the large team walked forth and saluted, before escorting the team and announcing the reason they were brought into the capital besides trespassing illegally. “We suspect you are people who used to work in the military of Delcyt so we require your cooperation to guarantee your safety. I hope you understand the position you are in.” –The Leader commented to Phil, thinking he is the one who brought them all across the border. Once Nat heard this she got confused since the only two she thought might have worked with the military were Chronos and Sinns.

Before Phil said anything Gree walked faster and pushed him aside to properly speak with the Leader of the platoon. “Excuse me, but I am the one who is in charge of these youngsters. I am Grace Myers, former director of the research department of the military forces and main attributor to the weapon developing programs. I beg your pardon as for we escaped from possibly slavery and/or death if we happened to stay in Delcyt.” –She spoke politely and with proper manners, the Leader briefly looked at her and then back at Phil to be certain this is not a joke of bad taste, however, Phil explained she is an elf older than anyone present. Nat, who was hearing everything, choked on her own saliva after what Gree said, and immediately looked desperately at Elvira and Sinns for any type of visual confirmation to which they bluntly nodded in sync.

“In that case Miss Myers, I have to have a formal interrogation session with you and the rest of people who came with you in order for us to be sure of your intentions in Falladis.” –The leader explained while entering into a building to then walk down several staircases.

Nat felt very confused and unsafe but simply sighed as she couldn’t make a scene in the middle of armed soldiers. Phil noticed how Nat began to space out as she walked along and he couldn’t help but worry since he also was guilty of hiding their true identity from Nat, so he refrained to go out of the way since the soldier would take it as a threat and probably shoot him.

It even makes sense, all this time Gree knew where to go and what to do, as well as she knew Sinns beforehand, was her the reason why the military went to Argos? Then why would they react the way they did when Chronos came back? Something doesn’t fit well –Nat thought while walking behind Gree and next to Phil.

Chronos felt like a stranger to the whole situation, looking around to inspect everything he could, and always trying to look into the soldiers’ faces so he could remember them later on. He was the last one in the line who walked down the staircase being followed by 4 soldiers, Elvira and Sinns were walking in front of him and Sinns looked back a couple of times, keeping her guard up in case Chronos turned against them in this situation, which would be very beneficial to him given the small space to maneuver.

It still bothers me the fact that we need to put up with him, the danger he poses by only existing is greater than those things we fought at Casamira. We would be lucky if he doesn’t see us as obstacles. –Sinns thought while Elvira stared at her for a while as Sinns kept her bad habit of holding her chin while thinking about something. After pondering for a couple of minutes, Sinns realizes Elvira was looking at her and shakes herself off from that brief trance. “What is it? Why are you staring at me so much?” –Sinns whispered.

“You seemed very worried about something, are these soldiers intimidating you?” –Elvira joked while walking down the last set of stairs and being directed to different rooms which functioned as waiting and interrogation rooms. Elvira was the first one to enter the closest one which was a small and cubic-like room with a table in the middle, two chairs, and a couple of water bottles on top of the chair. A uniformed man was waiting, while sitting by the next side of the table, expecting Elvira to sit as well. “I already know the drill, skip to the important questions.” –She pointed out without much interest in talking.

“Very well, miss; I need your real name and purpose of illegally crossing the border, I am a border officer that will hear what you have to say and produce a report accordingly.” –The officer explained as he pulled out a pen from his shirt pocket and opened a notebook. Elvira, surprised as the situation was further from what she expected, sat down quietly and signed with her name on the notebook before starting to talk about what happened to her in Delcyt for the last month.

A few hours later, Elvira walked out of the room, and the officer called Nat to go in now. As she was spacing out, the officer got closer and shook her shoulder to then call her in again. She was a bit disoriented but followed after him. Once inside, Nat sat in silence while the officer mentioned the protocol rundown that needed to be said in order to get the information he needed. Nat reluctantly answered some bits but then started to space out again thinking if it was all real for a second. Ever since I knew Gree and Phil, it felt so warm and welcoming, but then Doc died after Chronos appeared and just Gree, Phil, and I escaped? Why did I have to escape as well? Why did they have to escape too? Was Chronos the one who came for them? Or was Chronos the one being chased? If that is the case why didn’t we go back and get a normal life? Why do we have to fight hordes and then get jailed in another kingdom? Why is all this happening? –Nat thought while breaking down in tears, worrying the officer who felt rather uncomfortable and wary of what was going on. “I’m sorry; I lost it for a moment.” –Nat sighed while wiping her tears after a couple of minutes of crying.

The interrogation with Nat took the longest as she explained with a lot of detail what she experienced since she left Argos and how everything seemed to go well for her somehow. After leaving the room, Nat felt relieved, as if a weight was a lift from her chest, a similar sensation she had when she used to talk with Doc, but she tried to brush it off as it was a gloomy memory. As Nat sat down the officer came out of the room and asked For Phil to enter. Given his very personality and train of thought, Phil’s interview was the fastest so far, taking only 20 minutes.

The officer called Sinns after Phil came out of the room and as he began to ask the same questions to her, she presented herself as the daughter of Delcyt’s ruler. As soon as she mentioned it, the officer looked at her directly into her eyes. “It was never public the Ruler had a family, how do I know you are not lying?” –The officer asked while writing his report. Sinns then began to explain the countless experiments she has been subjected to since the moment she was born and the purpose for her birth as a living weapon that the ruler could use in case of contingencies. With what Sinns said, the officer thought it would be alright for the interrogation, so she could call Gree on her way out.

As Gree entered the room, the officer sighed as he knew beforehand who she is since the leader of the platoon informed him a couple of minutes before the interrogations. “What’s up, I strongly believe you already know who I am so let’s make it brief. I need you to tell me whatever that Chronos guy mentions to you because he looks kinda iffy and I’m not really sure of what he actually is.” –Gree casually spoke as the officer raised an eyebrow and looked at her dumbfounded. “I know I know, not a request I should be asking given my position as a potentially dangerous, and stunningly beautiful spy from Delcyt.” –She dramatically stated. “But, I don’t gain anything from lying here so I will quickly update you with everything I know, and maybe if you guys think a tiny bit about helping us I could also leak some info of Delcyt’s military.” –She concluded while raising both of her hands together and keeping them in a praying position.

“I will do what I can Miss Myers, just please begin to explain your reasons why illegally entering Falladis.” –The officer mentioned while writing on his notebook once again.

After a long interrogation session, Gree came out of the room and happily sat between Elvira and Phil, as the officer called Chronos in and gestured a couple of soldiers to dismiss the rest of the group to another place inside the facility in the meanwhile. When Chronos sat in front of the officer, he was requested to give his real and complete name in order to start the interrogation. “The only thing I know about my identity is that my name is Chronos, and I am approximately 20 years old.” –Chronos commenced the interrogation by introducing himself. “I don’t have memories of my parents, and I am unaware of any living relatives, so I took a surname from a book I read, Van Weils.” –He continued before the officer stopped him.

“So are you telling me you never met your family, and then who raised you?” –The officer asked while looking confused at Chronos.

Before Chronos could say anything, in his mind a faint voice echoed, repeating on itself continuously, attempting to make Chronos lie instead of what he was about to answer. “A dragon took me and fed me until I was able to hunt by myself, then an Elf suddenly arrived, searching for me and gave me proper education, at a basic level at least. I never knew the elf’s name, or their intentions on why they taught me so much.” –Chronos answered, trying to ignore the voice inside of his mind.

“I see, so you are a guardian or about to be one, Falladis employs them so it is not rare. Could you tell me the attributes your dragon possesses so I can register it?” –The officer pointed out and asked naturally while writing his report.

Hesitantly, Chronos stayed quiet for a minute before speaking. “It died; seemingly, it was already dead since before it hatched.” –He replied while clenching his fists as a sudden feeling of frustration and sadness invaded him briefly.

The officer placed down his pen and looked at Chronos directly into his eyes while keeping a very serious face. “Where you realized it was dead and what did you do after you lost the egg?” –He asked while remembering what Gree mentioned to him before.

“It happened in Pandora’s Forest, I learned magic from an old elf that used to live there, and I’m not very sure, I tried to protect him, but he was killed and I was knocked out, when I woke up, I took Miss Elvira and Sinns from the burning forest and tried to make my way back to Gree. I thought she would have an answer to my situation, but we had to fight our way to finally meet her, and in the end, no one trusted me.” –Chronos stopped explaining for a second after realizing how he didn’t really have anyone to help him anymore. “And finally, the Bordering team that helped to fight the horde took us here.” –He finished and took a deep breath while waiting for the next question.

The officer narrowed his eyes and tapped his finger on the table before picking up his pen and silently began to write on his notebook. “Chronos, you have learned magic in the time you spent in Pandora’s forest, correct? –He asked while shifting his eyes from the notebook to Chronos and vice-versa, to which Chronos simply nodded. “Magic is an extremely dangerous law of nature that could put in a comatose state those who can’t control their desires, and takes years if not a lifetime to learn and control it, this applies for dwarves, Half-breeds, Elves and human beings. There are some who can potentially learn it faster than others, but it still would take discipline and years of training. Could you please tell me the time you spent in the forest before your departure from it? –the officer explained in order to see a reaction from Chronos and notice if he is about to lie or not.

“Around 3 weeks if I’m not mistaken.” –Chronos hesitantly answered as he wasn’t sure for how long he slept while being caged on his own mind. The officer wrote silently on his notebook once again and closed it.

“You may leave now.” –The officer stated while following Chronos out of the room and called for the same two soldiers from before to take Chronos with the rest.

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