"And this summarizes almost everything that happened a year ago," said Orechin. While he was telling the group about this, several hours had passed and the group had already eaten some fruit; currently, it was 6:00 p.m., and the whole group had just finished listening to the story.
"The moment Catripple told us about that creature, I couldn't believe it. I wondered how fast someone had to move to actually defeat eleven Alterids, but listening to this story, I understood that it wasn't even hard for him…" murmured Liro, as he still couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"He will definitely be one of the strongest enemies we might ever face," said Vane as he clashed his fists together in both fear and excitement.
"I don't think we are actually able to defeat someone this powerful… but still, why did he decide to let you go like that?" asked Lily, confused. Both Syrmax and Orechin shook their heads.
"Sadly, we don't know that. The moment we were escaping, we thought that we were about to die, as he could have followed us without any problem," said Syrmax. In his body, a sudden shiver hit his spine. "He wasn't even damaged; he could easily have followed us."
"Remember what he told Catripple the moment he saw her?" asked Darian. When he looked at his companions, they all looked confused. 'Oh right, they were too far away and Vane was unconscious,' thought Darian, realizing that he was the only one who had heard it.
"What did he tell Catripple?" asked Orechin, as he gave all his attention to Darian and his expression changed to a fearful one.
"He told her that she had just returned as planned…" Hearing these words, the expression of everyone changed to terror. "At first, I didn't give much weight to it, but now I realize that he probably had planned everything…"
Orechin got up from his chair and, with his hand on his chin, he started to walk around the table while whispering, "Then that is why he killed only Eilwarin that day…"
"Hey, are you…" whispered Lily. Orechin suddenly tilted his head toward her. Lily, seeing the sudden change of expression, gulped in both fear and surprise. "…doing alright?" she asked. Orechin breathed, annoyed, and slowly returned to his chair.
"Yes, yes… it's just that realizing that he had planned all of this took me by surprise," answered Orechin as he suddenly turned his head toward Darian. "But has he said something about you?" he added. Darian shook his head.
"From what I can remember, he didn't say anything about us. I don't know if he had planned that too," murmured Darian.
"Then maybe he didn't expect other people to arrive? Maybe we were able to catch him by surprise," said Vane as he got up from his chair, almost shouting.
Syrmax remained stuck for a moment in his thoughts until he spoke. "I don't think so. From what Isorin told me, Ashikunz's plans never fail. There was this day in which they had to save a rebel from the prison; they had prepared the plan, but Ashikunz had left this prisoner alone on purpose so that the rebels would arrive. Once they were there, Ashikunz easily took care of some of the rebels. It was some years before me and Orechin joined, and from what he told me, Isorin got lucky to escape… but now that I think about it, I feel like it was all part of his plan."
"Then this Ashikunz actually has a plan for everything…" murmured Liro with a low voice so that no one could hear him. "And if he had planned our arrival too? If his plans are extremely precise, it means that he wanted us to arrive there…" said Liro with a voice loud enough so that everyone could hear him too.
"Darian, have you got something in mind?" asked Vane as he looked over at Darian, who was petting Snowy on the table. Darian remained silent for a few seconds, then he shook his head.
"Sadly, no. I don't get why he'd wait for outsiders to come here… or does he get bored easily?" asked Darian while joking. Orechin let out a soft laugh. "I don't think so. Maybe he just wants to kill you… but it doesn't make sense, I don't get why he wants you there."
With that, the group remained silent. As they had spoken the whole day, they were tired of talking, and they remained quiet in the room for a few hours until the door opened and Tyel entered the base.
"I'm back, everyone, and…" he said while smiling happily. Orechin and Syrmax already knew what it meant when Tyel was hiding his hand behind his back. "Oh, finally," said Orechin happily as he returned to his seat and waited calmly for Tyel to arrive. The others remained confused, looking at Tyel and not knowing what was about to happen.
The moment he got closer to the table, he slowly moved his hand from his back to reveal a big plastic bag. "And let's just say that I brought these to the party so that we could celebrate saving all of you." The moment he left the bag on the table, he grabbed something that made everyone gulp in excitement.
From there, Tyel grabbed what looked to be a cheeseburger, the same one the group had eaten in the prison. "I've got one for each of us," he said while he slowly gave a cheeseburger to each person in the room.
"The only thing I was missing from the prison," said Vane as he looked directly at the cheeseburger in his hands. Tears were flowing down his cheeks as he believed he would never eat that again.
"Oh, oh, it's been over a week since you brought these for us, Tyel," said Syrmax as he adjusted his monocle before grabbing the cheeseburger.
"What? Are these cheeseburgers?" asked Darian in surprise, as he had never seen them since he returned to Earth. Tyel, next to him, nodded his head.
"Zrelekai is able to do something good in his life… and it is the food," said Orechin as he couldn't resist anymore and immediately took a huge bite of the burger. Next to him, Vane did the same.
"Hey, you took a huge bite too," said Orechin, joking. Vane didn't listen to him, as he was completely lost in the pleasure of the food.
"This was one of the foods the prisoners could have," pointed out Lily as she started to take a bite too. "In the prison they were cold… but now it's hotter," she noticed happily. Tyel nodded his head as he took a seat.
"I've just bought them. In the prison, the guards can buy them warmer, and honestly, I didn't lose the chance," said Tyel as he took another bite and smiled happily.
'I haven't eaten a cheeseburger for so long…' thought Darian as he looked at the cheeseburger in his hands. 'Weird… is this water? Why is so much water coming out of the burger? Well, maybe it's just extremely juicy!' With this thought, Darian took a bite and he immediately felt a strange flavor. It felt like the hamburger was sweet, and the contrast between salty and sweet was extremely strong.
"What is it?" Liro asked Darian, as he noticed his weird look. Darian remained silent for a moment, trying to understand what Zrelekai had put in this hamburger, and in less than a second he realized immediately. "It's watermelon…" he whispered, both angry and happy.
Happy because it had been over ten years since the last time he was able to eat a cheeseburger, and angry because Zrelekai had ruined it with this weird flavor.
"Better than nothing… at least I'm eating something different…" whispered Darian as he took another bite. Liro was looking at Darian even more confused, as he didn't expect Darian to change expressions this much in just a few seconds.
"Eating it hot… it's extremely good…" said Vane as he was feeling full and was looking directly at the ceiling. Next to him, Orechin had just finished eating and was doing the same. "And the more you stay with us… the more hamburgers you'll be able to eat…"
"I had missed it… but Darian, it felt like you weren't enjoying it… isn't this a food of your times?" asked Lily as she had just finished eating. Darian shook his head.
"Yes and no… at least not with this flavor…" said Darian as he was the last to finish the hamburger. The others gave him a confused look, as they only knew this type of flavor for the meat.
Tyel changed the mood by taking the lead. He first coughed to get everyone's attention and then got up from his chair. "Okay everyone, I've discovered where they are hiding Catripple." Hearing these words, the mood suddenly shifted, and everyone was looking at Tyel with their eyes wide open.
"Can we reach it without any problem?" asked Orechin. Tyel nodded his head.
"I'll get to that… Catripple is currently in a place called the Secret Laboratories. Until today, most of us knew nothing about this place, but today the news has started to spread that a prisoner was brought there recently," answered Tyel. Syrmax nodded his head.
"They must be talking about Catripple…"
"I agree… but then how are we supposed to reach this place? If it is called secret, it means that it isn't easy to reach…" pointed out Lily.
"And this is the second thing I wanted to tell you… some guards noticed that a strange hole appeared in the wall of the city. It is small, and no citizen has discovered it yet." Hearing these words, everyone felt confused.
"A hole? But why haven't they closed it yet?" asked Liro as he tried to find an explanation, but nothing came to mind.
"I don't know… the moment the guards asked Zrelekai about it, he simply said that he needs it to make some objects arrive in secret," answered Tyel.
"It feels like an excuse…" whispered Syrmax. Darian, next to him, agreed.
"Why would Zrelekai need to make some objects arrive? Can't he simply create them with his power?" whispered Darian.
"Well, but we can use that to go outside, right?" pointed out Vane. Orechin, next to him, nodded his head. "But it feels strange… Zrelekai would never leave an opening in the wall, especially because Ashikunz would never allow that…"
"Maybe something bad is going on between them and Zrelekai wants to go against Ashikunz?" proposed Lily. The group immediately shook their heads. "Impossible; Ashikunz would have already killed him," answered Tyel, as he knew well what would happen to traitors.
"Do we have another way to reach these Secret Laboratories?" asked Syrmax. Tyel, without hesitation, shook his head. "They are located underground and, more specifically… outside the prison." Hearing these words, Orechin looked a bit annoyed.
"Then the only way to get outside is through that hole… which is clearly a bait. Tyel, do you know when the guards are around it?" asked Orechin. Tyel shook his head. "I'll get information about this tomorrow; for now, I guess I must return home," said Tyel as he took a look at the clock. "For now rest, and I'll give you information tomorrow." With that, Tyel waved to the group, and the others did the same.
"He's right…" said Vane while stretching out. As he got back to his feet, he started to walk toward his room. "For now we should sleep; we will think about it tomorrow." Orechin agreed with him, and he started to walk toward his room.
Darian took Snowy in his hands and followed the others to reach his room. "Darian, what do you think about this?" asked Liro, as in the main room only he, Darian, and Lily remained.
"I feel like it is our only hope… but how could it even be a bait?" asked Lily, confused.
"I agree with Lily… and the thing that scares me the most is the fact that they can easily wait for us outside and kill us without any problem," answered Darian. Liro nodded his head.
"Maybe you're right… but I feel that once Tyel tells us more about this, we will be able to create a better plan, and I can always create an illusion that goes out of the hole to see if it is safe," said Liro with a proud voice. Darian and Lily laughed softly at this sight.
"We will think about it tomorrow; after hearing that story, I need some rest," said Darian as he started to walk with the others in the hallway.
With that, the group gave one last look to each other before returning to their rooms to sleep and wait for tomorrow.