As Abby moved, the voices of the outside world beca dimr, despite the fact that her path led her from the outskirts of the space to the light-filled, hectic center. All her focus was internal. Her thumping heart had never felt so disruptive for as long as she rembered, and her stiff body seed to beco even slower with every step, as though she was in an odd pocket of ti.
It was a feeling not too dissimilar to what she had felt prior to her eting with Regrit. She had spent so long ntally preparing herself to et that one person, yet in the end, her feeble spirit could not bear it and she chose to divert her path elsewhere.
She knew she was weak, but her eting with Regrit suddenly fueled her to push farther than she did before.
The odd sensation rattled her, yet, she could never claim to hate it. Indeed, for the past year, this feeling in her heart, this nervousness, had yet to manifest in her even a single ti. That was why, in face of it all, there was a small glimr of a smile seen on her face; it was proof of her humanity.
Still, despite her conviction, she could not maintain her aloofness from her surroundings for long as the bustling sound of the outside world pierced her self-contained mind and the light of the night-ti city found its way into her lethargic eyes.
"What… What is this?" She muttered.
As she took a single step into the center square, it was as though she had strolled into the heart of a tornado. From all angles, she was pushed around by a vast sea of bodies. Screams filled her ears as she was mangled like a pinball.
"FIND HIM!!"
"WHERE THE HELL IS HE!?"
"HE CAN'T BE DEAD!"
"IT CAN'T BE TRUE! SUPRE GENERAL!!"
It was absolute pandemonium, yet despite it all, Abby kept her sharp composure, looking up at the reddened faces of the masses, her keen demon ears managing to isolate nearly every voice within the ocean of disarray.
'The supre general?' Her cheeks twitched. 'Did sothing happen to him?'
She loosened her ears further, and she began to think. But, before the gears within her mind started turning, she felt a tight, unyielding hold grasp her from her right arm.
"Ah—" her mouth opened and her stomach sank.
Instinctually, she tried breaking free from the hold, but all her efforts proved futile.
"Ah—" Her mouth opened again, looking at the hand that held her.
That was when she stopped resisting. Not because she knew there was no escape, but because the sensation from that grasp felt oddly calming, like sothing she knew all too well.
And in the next instant, rather than being dragged into the endless crowd, she found herself soaring high in the sky above everything but the bright light of the brilliant moon. And there, as she looked up at the face of her kidnapper, her thoughts were proven true.
"Of all places, what the hell were you doing stuck in a place like that? I've been looking all over for you!" The man laughed.
Abby's eyes twinkled brighter than the very stars above her, her hands shaking and chest thumping ever louder. She knew the man, she could never forget him in a million years, yet it was as though it was the first ti they ever t.
All she could do was stare at his smiling visage and waving black hair before unconsciously uttering the very first thing that ca to mind.
"Moby?"
"Hmm?" That was when Moby looked down towards her with a genuine look of surprise, but he received no answer before his face softened once more as they began their slow descent down, their feet now planted on a tall building overlooking the mayhem below.
"Abby! Didn't think you'd suddenly run off on like that! Where were you?"
The grasp on Abby's hands suddenly removed itself, and the abrupt impact of the only other person stood on that building snapped her out of her daze as she held her tight.
"Sister…" Her mouth opened. "Were you worried?" She looked around before gradually wrapping her arms around Jayden's soft blue hair.
"? Worried? Not really." She chuckled. "I was just curious where you'd run off to instead of eting Moby. You didn't really show it, but I was sure that you were even more excited than !"
"Moby?" She spoke once more, before her eyes snapped back to the man gazing at her from afar.
And as she spoke his na, that look of perplexity once again reappeared on Moby's face.
"Say that again, what did you call ?" His tone suddenly shifted, eyes broadened, slowly pacing close to Abby who suddenly let go of Jayden, standing but centitres away from her face.
Any normal person what have quivered in his presence, but Abby did not even shake nor stutter as she repeated herself with a single deep breath.
"Moby."
"HAHAHAHA! Are you really the sa Abby? This must be the first ti I've heard her call anything that isn't 'Lord Kane' or 'My Lord,'" The tense atmosphere subsided as Moby broke out into laughter, but Abby who was ahead of him did not share in the mont and simply stared.
"It was told to several tis to cease calling you with such honorifics. So, I stopped, is that a problem?"
"No! Not at all!" He wiped his face.
"I told you she's changed! But she's still Abby. Even though she doesn't rember much before the past year." Jayden comnted.
"Is that true?" Moby leaned in closer, which led Abby to nod.
"Yes, I only rember a few things,"
"Do you still rember ?"
"Of course. How could I ever forget! You're the man who brought out of my depravity. I owe you very much."
"Do you rember Alex?"
As Moby asked that question, there was a montary silence. Jayden, who stood not too far behind had a complete shift in expression, yet she could not force her mouth to speak as she listened to the sound of the breeze.
For the past year, she had not ntioned Alex to her even a single ti; she did not want to bring her sister pain or make her unlock harsh mories, so even she did not know the answer to this question.
"Mostly…" She finally answered.
"Mostly?" Moby's face grew puzzled.
"Yes." She nodded. "Most of what I rember are emotions from my past… Loyalty, happiness, hardship, hate… But one of those emotions was also love. My mories are hazy; all I rember are odd pockets of mories, especially around the sources, but there was no doubt about the feelings themselves. It was Alucard, my faithful servant who finally conveyed to these sources, these stories."
For the very first ti, her face wavered, and her gaze dropped to the ground below. But that was when once again, she was held tight and forced to soar.
"I see… Your mories may be hazy, known to you by only stories. But… Your emotions and experiences still are ingrained within your very being. Hold on to them tightly and never let go. Okay?"
"Okay…" She steadily nodded, slowly wrapping her shaking hands around his broad shoulders.
"I'm sure that's what Alex would have wanted."
"..."
"Y—yes…"
Any normal woman who was looking at their man hugging another would have been furious. But, that was not what Jayden felt. In fact, she did not know what to feel. It was a sight she had not witnessed in so long. To her, it was not like the hold of two lovers, but the embrace a father would give to their daughter after a long reunion.
Still, that was not the only thing she had noticed. Her new step-sister had been lacking many emotions, and this was the most emotional she had seen her in months. In fact, she could have sworn that she had seen a small tear shed from Abby's eyes, but her disbelief made her reconsider if that was truly what she saw.
They continued hugging, but unexpectedly, it was Abby who was the one to end it, letting go and taking a few steps back with a deep breath
"Thank you." She lowered her head. "My heart feels more at ease. No wonder I yearned to et you after so long…"
She took a small pause.
"Nevertheless, this feels wrong… Why are we having such a happy reunion when the Populus is in chaos? Sothing may have happened to the supre general… Are you not at all curious or disturbed?"
"Ah! Serious and quick-witted as always," Moby sighed. "The answer is, I'm not too worried, because I know exactly what happened, and nothing I can do will change the outcos. I'd tell you everything now, but I'd rather speak sowhere more private first."
"Understood." To the normal eye, Abby's mannerisms seed to suggest things had not surprised her, but her genuine impression could not escape the eyes of her sister.
"Sooooo… Abby! You still didn't tell what you were doing when you ran off on earlier!" Jayden butted in and asked.
"Oh yes." Abby looked over towards Jayden. "I went to go see Regrit Oswald."
"You know him?" Moby raised an eyebrow.
"Not well at all... Still, oddly enough, he and his brother are in so of my most vivid mories, despite the fact that he and I had not t ever since we were children." She shook her head. "I still don't understand it much myself. I had spoken to his brother earlier, and seeing how he acted in the tournant, I felt an odd connection to him. It was almost like my body was calling to see him."
"Ummm… That sounds weird." Jayden remarked before Moby interjected.
"Not at all! I see a lot of similarities between the two."
"Mhm… He was an interesting man. But, even I could admit that he was not the brightest. He wants revenge, but the way he does it is very odd… When I tried to tell him that, he simply scread at and left…"
"Yeah, sounds just like him," Moby sighed. "But, I wouldn't worry about him if I were you."
"Why?" Abby leaned in closer.
"Good question." He pondered, his hands massaging his chin. "I guess you can call it instinct. That man is so headstrong that I'm sure he can brute force his way out of anything."
"Now, that's a flattering way to call soone a dumbass." Jayden chuckled.
"You think so?" Moby looked over.
"I personally think so," Abby added. "No matter what he does, I do not see a happy ending for him…"
Moby opened his mouth about to retort, but his line of thinking was abruptly cut off, not by sound, but by sudden silence. The air was filled with the cries of panic from the square, but now, it was as though those screams were a distant mory.
And when Moby looked over to the square below, he saw just that. Everyone in complete silence gazing at the previously empty stage.
There, he saw soone enter upon the light, a man he did not know for long but nonetheless well understood.
"Greetings to you all, and thank you for your attention. My na is Adam Walker, grandson of the late supre general, Cade Walker."
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