Epiphany Of The Weak 73 Enkhtuya - Part 5

"Superior Aegis."

"Superior? Huh. What does it do?" asked Ulii.

Lily bit her lip, contemplating whether it was okay to answer, but Caesar gave a nod of approval.

"You don't have to tell if you don't want to, Lady Lily."

She smiled. "I think I want to."

"Well, it's your choice."

Lily's eyes met Ulii's as she put up her serious expression. Looking at her, she reminded me of her old, deranged self that I always knew. "I can make any Aegis crystals mine, and I can turn any objects into my own crystals."

"That's crazy!" exclaimed Qara.

"She's unbeatable then," said Khenbish. "No one can hurt her if she's that powerful. Overpowered. Literally broken."

"She's beautiful."

"Wait what?" said those two boys at the same time. They stared at Odval and her mouth curved into an awkward smile.

"She's not wrong though."

"Eh? No, she's not, Khenbish. I hate her."

"You feel like that because she hurt you, Qara."

"No, she did not. I did not feel anything. Nope. Nothing. Doesn't hurt at all."

The sound of Ulii's cane being tapped repeatedly at the cement made the trio stopped what they were doing. Instead, they had their eyes back on the three of us.

I took a deep breath. "I won't tell mine."

Ulii's eyes glinted. "Why?"

"I'm not obliged to. In the end, all of you are still my enemies. We don't know you anyway."

Caesar shrugged. "Lady Ava's right. Right now, the members of Enkhtuya are practically strangers to us. You can say the same about us too, don't you?"

"You're correct. You don't have to tell us. After all, it's your secret," said Segma.

Ulii, however, did not seem to like the answer I'd given her. She was squinting at me, trying to find out about my Aegis's specialty. She breathed a sigh of submission in the end.

"Then, I think we're done here," she said sharply. With a quick spin, she turned her back against us. She proceeded to walk along a small incline at a corner, leaving the rest of us.

"Ulii . . ." muttered Segma. "I've never seen her like that."

"Ah, humans are strange you see," said Caesar. "They're fickle creatures. We never know what they think about you or how they will act when you're around them. There's always that small percentage where a person might do something unbecoming of him or her."

Qara scowled at him. "Hah! You act like you're not a human yourself."

"Well, technically Aegis Users are no longer human. In a way, you can put them in another category entirely."

"What? Hey, you're making it sound like you're this, evolutionary beings, that the humans have created."

"Ah . . . Who knows?"

Qara then glared at Lily, and she countered it with her own.

"Uh, I'm outta here. I want to sleep anyway." Qara walked briskly towards the direction Ulii went to and his two friends followed from behind.

"Your belongings," said Segma as she turned to us. "You can put it in any rooms on the first floor of the apartment. The other ones are occupied."

"Are you lying or are you saying the truth this time?" I asked.

Segma seemed to be shocked at my question. She darted her eyes away from me for a few seconds. "The truth."

Caesar clapped his hands. "Congratulations, Segma."

She clicked her tongue before walking away. "J-Just leave the lantern there."

Her silhouette disappeared from our sight when she went into a corner.

"There's that, I suppose," said Caesar. "Another day of our lives is coming to an end."

"I'll carry the supplies Caesar," said Lily. She already had four heavy-loaded backpacks in her hands.

"No no, that won't do, Lady Lily." He reached out his hand to take those bags but Lily pulled away.

"I know you want to say it's because I'm a lady, I shouldn't burden myself with this. But I'm doing it because I want to."

It was the first time I'd seen her acted like that with him She usually would do anything that he asked.

"My apologies." Caesar backed off and faced me. "I think it's about time we go to sleep too, Lady Ava."

"I feel the same too."

"Caesar!" yelled Lily out of the blue. "You promised you will tell me a story before I sleep. You promised you will accompany me."

"Oh . . . I almost forgot. If you don't mind, Lady Lily, let's get it done quick. I'm actually sleepy right now."

Helena poked at my shoulder. "Are you alright sleeping by yourself?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm fine."

"Helena, you don't have to worry about her," said Caesar.

"I know. That question just lingered on my mind."

"Caesar, let's go." Lily walked past him and he followed.

Helena looked at me. "Shall we, Lady Ava?"

"Yeah . . . I'm tired anyway."

_._

_._

I woke up the next morning feeling dizzy. I grimaced from the pain, but after a while, it disappeared. "What was that about?" I mumbled.

I got up from my bed and immediately put on my black jacket.

"Lady Ava? Are you awake?" said Helena on the other side of my room's door. She knocked at it with minimal effort for a few times.

"Yes!" I said.

"Oh, then let's meet up with the others."

I opened the door and Helena came into view. She wore a long, black dress. A black shawl with intricate gold pattern draped over her shoulder. Her tied dark hair formed a long ponytail.

I blinked. "Where did you get that shawl?"

"I brought it with me. It was in my backpack."

"Oh . . ."

"It's Tabetha's."

"Ah, okay."

I could only guess that shawl reminded her of her place in Neo Africa.

"Let's go," I said.

_._

_._

The four of us had a brief breakfast that morning. After that, we met Ulii and Segma outside of the apartment. The sky was clear, revealing its beautiful blue color. I found myself staring at it for a minute.

"What are you guys doing?" said Caesar.

Segma narrowed her eyes at him. "We are not guys, you know."

"Er, that's not what I meant."

"Patrol, my dear Aegis User," said Ulii. It seemed to me she was back to her normal self. As for what happened the night before, I just shrugged it off. She appeared to be hiding something at the back of her mind, but I'm not that curious to pry about it. Her shocked expression on that night still lingered on my mind.

"Oh . . . I get it," mumbled Caesar. "How about we join you? It seems to me you're patrolling by yourself."

Segma's eyes glinted. "Yes, I'm by myself. Usually, we have about four to five people doing one round of patrol around this whole city. But, for the past weeks, it has been quiet. We found a few of our citizens here and there, but other than that, there has been nothing unusual going on."

Caesar nodded a few times. "I see, I see."

"I want to check out the city as well," I said. "Before we go to the capital city."

Ulii frowned. "Why do you want to go there?"

"You said The People's Light had taken over that place, right? That's the only clue I have if I wanted to find Papa."

"Hmm, you're right about that," admitted Ulii.

"I'm going right now," said Segma.

"Ah, take care." Ulii offered her hand and Segma held it. She then kissed it before looking back at us.

"Are you coming?" she asked.

"Yes, of course!" said Caesar enthusiastically. He followed Segma from behind and Lily did as well.

"How about you?" Ulii asked me.

"I'm going."

"Hmm, take care."

I walked past her and somehow, I got a sensation of someone glaring at me from behind. I looked back. That sensation appeared to come from Ulii's gaze.

"Yes, Ava?"

"Ah, nothing. Never mind."

Both me and Helena joined those three after that, leaving Ulii with the rest of the rebel group.