Chapter 255 Lead The Way

Crouched on the floor, Ayanami covered her head as she prepared for the worst that could happen.

"Do you want to live and get out of here alive?"

She peeked through the narrow space created by her palms on her face when she heard those life-saving words.

With a nod of her head, she hoped the dragon would pause in its actions against her.

When she could see that the dragon had suspended its movements, she let out a breath of relief.

"What do you want?!" Ayanami questioned knowing there must be a catch to why she was trapped in the first place.

"Finally, you're showing less stupidity." Nix laughed at her answer.

'Raiken be on the guard.' Nix commanded and gave a nod.

Reluctantly obeying, Raiken placed his talon on the ground. And snorted onto her once more to establish dominance.

Ayanami straightened her clothes and got her composure in check, ready to find some way out of her predicament.

"I need you to lure Arion here in your place. That shouldn't be such a hassle, right?"

Ayanami tilted her head at the strange occurrence of hearing the name of her ex-classmate. What was more intriguing was the fact that this strange voice knew who Arion was.

'What's the use of Arion in all of this? What sort of connection am I not getting?' Ayanami thought suspiciously as she narrowed her eyes. All of what was happening sounded a bit too strange and targeted.

A part of her was willing to go along because it meant she would be let off but the curious side of her wanted to understand why Arion was chosen.

"Was he the original target?" She bravely spoke up, not bothered about what that might mean for her freedom.

Nix facepalmed at her inquisitive spirit and was bound to flare up if she was trying to play smart on him.

"Do you want answers or a chance to leave this place free from harm?"

Ayanami thought for a moment on the offer and racked her thoughts for the best method of approach to her situation.

"I agree." Ayanami obliged with a nod.

After getting the confirmation he wanted to hear, he signaled Raiken on the main plan.

Raiken used its claw to draw an amateur-looking shape of his scale on the floor, pointing at it.

Nix held back laughter at the drawing and shook his head before relating the message he needed to finalize everything.

"Drop the scale, only when you have accomplished your task can you be allowed to get it back."

Ayanami's jaw dropped, she could feel something was fishy with the condition and wasn't all too pleased with the condition.

'Mr. Zhao would kill me if he knew about this! How am I meant to carry out my task?' She thought in a panic.

She also knew it would be foolishness on her part to ask how true his statement was.

Her eyes narrowed at the dragon in disbelief at how a human could control the monstrosity and what's more, it didn't seem to mind being ordered around.

Reluctantly, she placed the scale on the floor and kicked it in the direction of the dragon.

Raiken slapped his talons onto it before it could skid away from his grasp.

Ayanami raised her chin with newfound pride. "I had done what you asked, now open that goddamned door!"

Nix shook his head at her tone but chose to be patient as that was the only way he could get her to do his bidding without suspecting a thing.

Click!

The door flung open. As soon as she shape-shifted into a snake, she was about to slither out when she was stopped by thin metal bars raising from the floor.

Reverting to her human form, she was able to avert the danger that would have been disastrous if she had collided with the bars.

"You said you would let me out if I kept my end of the bargain!" Ayanami whined and stomped her feet in irritation.

She could see the door wide open, yet nothing could be done about her situation.

"If you think for a second of double-crossing me, your life would be on the line. You have an hour to search and convince him here." He warned before giving her fill access out.

Ayanami scurried out like she had been trapped in there for years. "You can count on me!"

Slam!

Once the door shut behind her, she crouched on her knees to catch her breath. That was by far the scariest experience she had ever witnessed.

Looking behind her, she was shocked to find the door gone. 'Was that all an illusion?'

Walking towards the door just to be sure, she stretched out her hands and was startled by the ripple effect that gave her a glimpse of the concealment magic done.

'A magic user controls a dragon?' She retracted her hands and grimaced.

'An hour!' She reminded herself as she sprinted in search of Arion.

–––––––––––

Ayanami's heart pounded as twenty minutes had passed and yet no sign of Arion nor Miss Sesa.

'Where could they be?' She rushed in search of them, skillfully evading colliding with any, and wasn't bothered by the stares she got from the members of the organization.

Crash!

She was thrown back and onto the floor.

"Would you watch where you're going?!" She snapped at the person she had collided with, rubbing her head to the pain.

"Are you alright?" The voice questioned in worry.

"How can I be alright when you–" Ayanami's lips quivered at the sight of the culprit.

'Arion!' Her thoughts leaped up for joy at finally seeing him in an unfortunate situation.

"Ayanami?" Arion took a step back in surprise.

After her last stunt in the academy, he was beyond stunned that she had managed to end up in the organization.

Pointing an accusing finger at her, he narrowed his eyes and questioned, "How did you–"

Ayanami left no time to spare in listening to his questions as she pulled him by the wrist. "Come with me."

Without giving it much of a thought, he found himself being pulled towards the left corridor.

Not wanting it to look awkward when the others stared at their hands, he pulled his hand away and held her to a stop. "Do I look like some sort of animal that would await a beck and call?"

Ayanami grimaced at his reference, it almost seemed to her as though he was making fun of her ability. "Are you mocking me?

"What?"

Arion scratched his head as he tried to piece the information together and pinpoint what he might have said wrongly.

He hadn't thought about his innocent question until it left his lips, "are you an animal?"

Ayanami let out a gasp and had wanted to slap him across the cheek but her wrist was held by Arion.

"Even though your methods in the academy were trash, I chose to overlook that because you went against the two people I detest the most." He hissed and threw back her hand.

His mood darkened as he continued. "Just because you feel offended doesn't mean everything revolves around you. In case you're curious, I wasn't speaking about you in that sense."

Ayanami gulped and nodded her head. Accepting her place, and looking for better ways of convincing him to tag along.

"How about we start over, I had made a big mistake and misunderstood you. I apologize." She meekly responded with a slight bow of her head.

Arion had a big grin and patted her head, there was no way he could stay angry at someone who shared the same goals as he does.

Recollecting what had happened before the brief interruption, he leaned forward and questioned. "What am I missing?"

Ayanami looked away suspiciously, "missing? What's missing?"

'She is hiding something. I need her to lead me to where Mr. Zhao is.' He thought with a mischievous smirk.

"Silly!" He flicked her forehead and have an eye-shut smile.

"I was talking about the knowledge of where you were leading me." Arion clarified and wiggled his brows.

'Damn it, you're gonna blow this if you keep thinking like this!' Ayanami scolded herself and forced a smile to calm her pounding heart.

Her hour was nearly completed, it was only a matter of time before she would be demanded her report someway.

"About that, I had heard that something was missing in the organization and of importance." Ayanami made use of her trump card.

Arion's eyes widened at her words and he had to pull her to the corner so they could discuss quietly.

"Where did you hear that?" He said in a whisper and followed along with her words.

'He bought it!' Ayanami whooped in her thoughts.

"Well, I had heard some sketchy people speaking on it in a particular direction that I had wanted you to see." Ayanami smiled.

Arion narrowed his eyes, he couldn't tell if she was speaking the truth or playing him on.

On second thought, he couldn't understand how she had known about something even miss Sesa had kept him in the dark–except she did hear of it from whoever she had heard.

'This could aid Miss Sesa in her plans!' Arion thought with a smile.

"Lead the way, let's take a look." He prompted with a smirk.