1:00 A.M.

Khovd, Mongolia

_._

_._

"Hughes . . . Is your son?" I said.

Ulii's sad expression proved what I had in mind.

She sighed. "It all started after the C.U's invasion. When their military coup started to act, the struggle between those two sides led to insurmountable deaths." She adjusted the red shawl on her head. "That Aegis User I spoke of appeared at my house and I treated her. She gave me an Aegis container before she pa.s.sed away. I consumed that thing despite most of its contents had been spilled out."

"That was when Enkhtuya took you in, right?" I asked.

"Quite frankly. After they realized I'm a pseudo Aegis User, which is what I am, they suggested for me to stay in the hideout. Of course, I've wandered a bit around here but that's only when Tsetsegmaa or Qara is with me."

I nodded. "Hmm, did that Aegis User told you anything?"

She frowned. "About what?"

"The other Users that escaped from Kazakhstan."

"Ah . . . That." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm not certain if you already have this information yet. But, Evgeny is one. He's the leader of The People's Light in Russia."

"Oh, him. You mentioned it the other day."

"Yes. I believe the other two . . ." Her head drooped as she thought about it. "One of them is Vladimir . . . Don't take my word for that. The last one is a girl I think. I'm not quite sure what's her name. Wait . . . What's her name again?"

Ulii's cane tapped at the floor repeatedly as she pondered.

I just sat there on the chair, waiting for her answer.

After a few minutes, she just shrugged. "I have no idea what that girl's name is."

"Eh?" Right then, I wanted to know more about the female Aegis User that escaped. Considering that Ulii didn't remember, I brushed it off my mind.

Ulii stood up and unknowingly, I did too.

She smiled. "You're tired, aren't you? This boring old woman doesn't have an interesting story to tell you anyway."

"N-No. Your story just now gives a new light as to how Hughes and Miranda's were before. Thank you, Ulii," I said.

"I see." She grinned. "The others told the truth after all. You've changed somehow. For the better."

I nodded. Those words were not foreign to me since almost everyone I'd meet in that place said the same thing.

She looked at me with sad eyes. "I can only guess Arban . . . I mean, Hughes, is dead, right? Along with Miranda?"

"I-I . . ." My eyes glanced at the wall. "I killed Hughes . . . Miranda is safe back in Sweden."

"I see," said Ulii. "Don't beat yourself about it, Ava. If anything, I'm grateful to you."

"Eh?" I looked at her. "Even though . . . I--"

"You have helped him to escape from this h.e.l.lish world. At least now, he wouldn't have to suffer anymore."

I lowered my head, making a slight bow to her. "I'm sorry, Ulii."

"Bah! There's nothing for you to apologize about. It has to be done one way or another . . . Now, if you excuse me, I want to take a good night's sleep." Ulii walked past me and opened the door with one hand. She pointed her cane at me. "You're leaving tomorrow, isn't it? Take care, Ava."

I reluctantly bowed. "T-Thank you."

With that, she left my room and I was there by myself. Ulii's past with Hughes and Miranda still lingered in my mind; how they were connected as a family, far away from each other. I sighed and threw myself onto the bed. With no time to spare, I slept like there was no tomorrow.

_._

_._

The next morning, Erhi told me to come to the rooftop. I expected a warm goodbye hug from her, but it was something else.

"What is it, Erhi? I'm about to leave," I said.

"O-Oh. Haha . . . It's just that I've got something for you," she said.

"Hmm? What is it?"

She went over to my side and pulled my right hand. "Here."

I opened my palm and she shoved a gold locket into it. "Eh? Isn't this--"

"The locket that my father gave to me. But that one is different. I have an extra all this time you see." She darted her eyes away. "It's for my mom actually. She's gone now . . . So you can have it, Ava."

"But Erhi--"

She held my right hand in hers and smiled. "It's fine. I want you to have it. Please. Take this as a gift from me."

"Erhi . . ." I nodded and immediately wore the gold locket. Its surface glinted under the bright sun.

"Oh, Ava. You don't have to wear it right now," said Erhi.

"But I want to, Erhi." I smiled at her. "I a.s.sume everyone else doesn't know about that locket?"

"Ah . . . Yes. You're the first one I showed it to since that thing is hidden underneath my jacket."

I hugged her and she almost jumped from it. "Thank you, Erhi. I'll treasure this forever."

"Ava . . . I should be the one thanking you." She returned my hug. "It's only for a few days, but you have helped me a lot. You've changed me."

"Erhi. Thank you for accompanying me all this time," I said.

She pulled away from me slowly. "I'll be seeing you any time soon?"

I grinned. "Perhaps in the next few days, you can expect me here again."

"Ah--okay."

We talked a bit after that and went straight to the lobby. Along the way, the rebels were running past us. Their faces were enough to tell me that something was amiss.

Erhi's legs s.h.i.+vered when we arrived at the lobby. Somehow, the tension in the air seeped into Erhi's consciousness, rendering her from moving. A group of Enkhtuya's members encircled Caesar and Lily. Ulii was also there with those two.

"Ava," Erhi muttered.

"Ulii and the others are discussing something. We have to get closer," I said. Though, the way those people moved about already gave me a clue as to what was happening. Rifles were slung around their shoulders as those people ran upstairs. A few others exited through the entrance of the apartment.

"It's that bad, huh." I pulled Erhi with me and we squeezed ourselves into the crowd. My hand shoved the members to the side as Ulii, Caesar, and Lily came into view.

"Lady Ava," said Caesar.

"Where have you been?" asked Ulii.

"That locket looks good on you, Ava," remarked Lily.

Both me and Erhi halted in front of those three. I narrowed my eyes at them. "I can only a.s.sume it's about The People's Light if you were expecting me."

Lily nodded. "Their members are Aegis Users, Ava. But as to why there were so many, we haven't found out yet . . . They are coming to Khovd right now."

Ulii sighed. "I didn't expect them to come at us so early."

"They want to seize Khovd. And since the members of Enkhtuya are guarding this city, it's only logical that this hideout is their target," said Caesar.

I put my hand at my chin. "How can they know about this place? I'm sure we haven't encountered any of them, right?"

Caesar shrugged. "Lily spotted about a dozen of them in hooded jackets at the edge of the city. When you think about it, no one in this day and age would attack a place like this wearing nothing but hooded jackets." He shook his head. "Mind-boggling isn't it?"

Segma emerged from the crowd and looked at Ulii. "We have moved the injured and those with them to the underground parking lot."

Ulii nodded. She then focused her attention on the rest of us. "Segma had just received a report regarding the current situation in Mongolia. This is purely on based on the information that our own scouts had gathered."

Erhi grabbed onto my shoulders, her legs were still s.h.i.+vering.

Ulii continued, "Yesterday, The People's Light had completely destroyed the military coup residing in the city just next to this. With this information, it's safe to a.s.sume this place is their next target."

"Considering how close Khovd is, it didn't take long for them to be here." Caesar lowered his head. "Then those scouts from before are just there for less than a day. That's why I didn't spot them these past few days."

Lily raised her hand. "We should get ready to greet them."

Segma narrowed her eyes at her. "Greet? That's quite a casual way to put it. Our most experienced members are already in their positions. Frankly, we--"

"Tsetsegmaa," said Ulii.

She tensed up from Ulii's call and glanced at her.

"These Aegis Users can help us," said Ulii. "It's also possible to have our members to come out unharmed when this is over. With them on our side, we can focus our energy on protecting the civilians." She looked at me. "Will you lend us your strength, Ava? I know I'm asking too much, but The People's Light must be stopped."

Quickly, I glanced at Caesar and Lily. They nodded and gestured for me to join the fight too.

"We'll help," I said. "There's a possibility that Hope is with them."

Ulii smiled. "Thank you. The people from Khovd offer you their deepest grat.i.tude."

Segma bowed, and the crowd behind us soon followed.

"Eh? This . . . Feels weird." I scratched at my head, unsure of how to act during that moment. It felt great being relied on, but deep inside me, I could sense most of them were not happy with Ulii's decision.

Basically, they wanted to protect their own city with the strength that they had. Caesar, me, Lily, and Helena were outsiders to begin with, so, having to rely on foreigners to protect their beloved city could've sparked the sense of unrest inside their hearts.

"I'll protect all of you," I said. "You don't need to worry, Erhi. Just sit tight in the parking lot."

"Wait a minute!" yelled Qara from the crowd. He forced himself through, and when he did manage to reach the four of us in the center, he scowled. "What is this, Ulii? We can defend ourselves from The People's Light without their help."

Ulii drew her eyebrows together. "Their members consist of Aegis Users, Qara. You know that we had never made contact with them directly. Ordinary people like us have no fighting chance against Aegis Users. Even one of them could eliminate us if we're not careful."

Qara gritted his teeth. After a few moments, he stared at Ulii. "Khenbish and I can join the rest at the front line this time, right?"

Ulii shook her head. "You two must stay here along with Odval. The civilians down there in the parking lot need your help."

He clicked his tongue.

"Um, h.e.l.lo," said Caesar as he raised his right hand. "I got a plan, actually."

"Hoh?" Ulii grinned at him. "What is this plan of yours?"

Caesar clapped his hands. "It's more of an offensive move from us. Both me and Lily will head out first and wait for the enemy to arrive. Then, we'll swoop down at them when they lower their guard down. After all, no one would expect this rebel group to be aided by Aegis Users, right? Hm?"

The rest of us nodded at his seemingly foolproof strategy.