[Drew 5,000 Gold Coins from Host’s bank balance.]
[Activating Mystical Compass: Teleporting to Red Star Base.]
In an instant, the white, sterile surroundings lted away, replaced by the familiar sight of stone walls and the warmth of laughter echoing around them.
They were back at the Red Star Alliance.
deia gripped Lucian’s arm, trying to calm herself. Her breathing was uneven, and her heart pounded in her chest like a war drum. She took a deep breath and sighed slowly, willing herself to calm down.
What the hell was that?!
Why had she felt afraid when facing that man?
It didn’t make sense. She had never reacted like that before, especially not to humans.
Was it really her fear? Or was it just ... her body’s reaction?
"What’s wrong?" Lucian’s voice was calm, but his hand tightened around hers. He had noticed sothing was off.
"I don’t know." deia crouched down, still clutching Lucian’s arm like a lifeline. "Just ... give a mont." She tried to slow her racing heart, but it was hamring against her ribs, like she had just been run over by a truck.
’Is this really my fear? Did the original deia have so kind of history with the General?’ asked deia to herself.
She thought about it for a mont, searching through the mories buried deep in her mind. But for so reason, everything before ’deia’ arrived at the village was ... blurry.
She rembered ’deia’ traveling with her family and group—Wait. Were they really her family?
There was a middle-aged man and a middle-aged woman who were always by ’deia’s’ side. But as she dug deeper into ’deia’s’ mories, she realized sothing strange, ’deia’ had never called them Mom and Dad.
She only ever referred to them as Mr. and Mrs. Vega. Why?
If they weren’t her real parents, then who were her actual parents?
No, the real question was, where had ’deia’ co from before she t them?
"Lucian." deia turned to him. "I think deia has so kind of connection to the General."
Lucian stared at her in silence, looking completely lost for words.
Seeing his confusion, deia quickly added, "I an the real ’deia.’ Not ."
Lucian nodded slowly, as if finally rembering that the ’deia’ he knew was different from the original. Honestly, hearing that na over and over again was starting to give him a headache.
"Do you rember sothing?" Lucian crouched beside her.
They were standing not far from the gate, but instead of heading inside the base, they had chosen to stay hidden behind the rocks to talk.
"I’m not sure." deia admitted. "Her mories are blurry, like sothing’s blocking them. Either they were erased, or she went through sothing so traumatic that parts of them are just... missing."
She hesitated, fingers curling slightly. "But when I saw the General ... I felt afraid."
Lucian’s expression darkened. "You? Afraid?"
deia let out a dry laugh. "I know, right? It doesn’t make sense. I wasn’t even scared when I fought Orlon back when I was weak."
The system couldn’t detect General Voss’s ability, but that alone wasn’t enough to make her freeze up like that.
No, that fear hadn’t felt like hers. It felt like ... soone else’s.
Like it had belonged to the original deia.
Lucian watched her carefully before speaking. "You should’ve told sooner."
deia sighed. "I’m telling you now, aren’t I?" She reached out and lightly patted his arm, offering a small smile. "Lucian, I’m fine."
She didn’t understand why he was acting like she had been hiding so dark secret for years. It had barely been thirty minutes since she t General Voss!
"But your hands are freezing." Lucian took her hands gently, rubbing them between his palms before blowing warm air over her cold skin. "You must have been really scared. I’m sorry for not noticing it sooner."
Why was he apologizing?!
He didn’t do anything wrong!
"I—I’m really fine!" deia insisted, though she didn’t pull her hands away.
She quickly changed the subject. "What if the original deia ca from that base too? If she was taken in around 13 or 14 years ago ... that ans she was only 10 or 11 at the ti."
Lucian suddenly stopped moving his hands. His gaze dropped to their intertwined fingers. "What if she ca to the base... while I was still there?"
deia’s eyes widened. Without thinking, she smacked his cheeks lightly a few tis, as if trying to wake him up. "No, Lucian. Even if she was there while you were, that doesn’t an it was your fault!"
She held his face firmly, forcing him to et her eyes. "Besides, this body is standing right here, isn’t it? That ans she escaped. She made it out."
Lucian stayed quiet, but she could see the storm of thoughts swirling in his head.
But then, a strange thought popped into her mind.
If Lucian had actually t the real deia back then ... would he still be able to have romantic feelings for her now?
He had been twenty at the ti, and ’deia’ would’ve been just a child.
Knowing Lucian’s personality, she was 100% sure he would’ve imdiately seen her as a little sister.
No way!
Getting friend-zoned was bad enough, but being brother-zoned by Lucian? That would be a disaster!
In the end, maybe it was a good thing they had only t now.
Lucian seed to think the sa because he didn’t bring up the topic again.
"Do you want to keep looking into her past?" he finally asked.
deia hesitated for a mont before nodding. "I managed to grab a bunch of docunts about the kids used in experints, from Batch 1 to 20. I don’t know for sure, but if the original ’deia’ was really there, her na might be in those files."
Lucian stared at her, speechless. She was only gone for a short ti, so how did she get her hands on sothing that important so fast?
"Wait ... was that alarm on the third floor because of you?" he asked suspiciously.
deia grinned, completely unapologetic. "Honey, you really do know too well."
She then told Lucian about the map she got from the system and the children she saw on the second floor.
"I’ve seen them too." Lucian let out a forlorn sigh. "Those poor kids ... they can’t even step outside unless the soldiers allow it."
In the end, they were nothing more than caged animals, test subjects waiting for orders. And yet, despite everything, many of them still had hope in their eyes.
Like they truly believed that one day, they’d finally be free.
"Leader! What are you doing over there?!" The guard at the gate shouted the mont he spotted deia and Lucian crouching in the snow, looking like a couple of thieves planning a break-in. "Aren’t you cold?!"
Both of them lifted their heads at the sa ti, their expressions slightly annoyed because, honestly, the guard had just ruined their mont together.
"We just got back," deia said flatly. Lucian stood up first, then offered a hand to help deia up.
They were still in military uniforms, so it made sense that the guard didn’t recognize them right away.
He looked like he was about to question their outfits but then suddenly rembered sothing. "Oh! Right. Sister Jeanne was looking for you earlier."
His tone shifted, his expression turning a little more serious. "She said sothing’s wrong with your daughter."
deia’s eyes widened. "What happened?!" she shouted, her voice filled with urgency, like she had just heard news of soone’s death.
The guard flinched at deia’s sharp tone, raising his hands as if to calm her down. "I—I don’t know the details!" he stamred. "Sister Jeanne just told to pass the ssage. She seed really worried, though."
deia didn’t waste another second. She turned on her heel and started running straight toward the base, her heart pounding against her ribs.
She just realized how long she had left Sierra for too long. Ever since the soldiers attacked their base, she had been too caught up in everything else. And after that? She had been busy baking pancakes and sending gifts to the General.
What the hell was she doing?
A sharp pang of guilt filled her chest. She hadn’t even checked on Sierra, not even once.
Lucian quickly followed behind her. Even though he was just as worried as deia, he still tried to stay calm.
"Calm down," he said. "She’s with Sister Jeanne. If she had a fever, Sister Jeanne would have already treated her."
deia didn’t slow down. She didn’t even answer.
She just ran faster.
The guards had told her that Sierra was in the church with Sister Jeanne since the building was warr than the rest of the base.
Normally, deia avoided stepping into the church and she always found an excuse whenever soone tried to get her inside.
But right now? She didn’t even hesitate.
She pushed the heavy doors open and stepped inside.
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