(3rd P.O.V.)
Yuki looks at his mother. "After I woke up, with all the confusion I was in, I asked the usual 'where am I?' only to end up with a history book of the world shoved in my head. I was really surprised to know my mother is one of the strongest people in the world and a game changer."
Anna looks at her son with fear and anxiety. "Do you know about... the Akai?"
Yuki nodded, noticing that his mother was starting to freak out, so he came closer and hugged her, saying:
"Thank you."
She was confused for a second before he continued:
"That time, you had the choice to hand me over and live happily, but you protected me and kept doing so until this day." He stopped for a second and hugged her tighter. "Even as I gave you the cold shoulder, you still loved and took care of me. I will never find a greater mother than you, no matter what others say."
What is known to the public is that the Akai family was exterminated in a mutant creature attack, but only the survivors and a couple of related people know the truth.
The day Yuki was born, all the ability users in the clan felt a great deal of danger from him, coupled with the high level of energy.
So some of the higher-ups of the family ordered Anna to hand her son over to help them in some tests, which is the nice way to say 'human experimentation subject.'
After refusing, they began scheming to kidnap Yuki, but she got this intel from her supporters and the more pure-hearted people in the clan, causing an inner conflict to break out.
The battle ended with almost all the Akai family dying that night. The only survivors were the people who backed Anna—now working for the Sky Guild—and some who fled in the middle of the battle.
The funny part: the people who supported Anna could be counted as only around 50 to 60 in total.
And the reason for almost all the deaths that night was Anna and her instinct, "Night Fox."
After hearing her son's words, the tears broke free from her eyes as she hugged him. "You are the best son I could ask for too..." After staying like that for a while, she let him go and looked at him for a moment before standing and wiping her eyes.
"Now that all the things are clear, should we head out?"
Yuki looked confused. "Out where?"
She smiled and took a box from her pocket before clicking on the side, her hand giving a faint dark glow along with the box.
Throwing the box, it transformed into a wheelchair before hitting the ground.
Yuki looked surprised, and after a minute of observing the chair, he looked at his mother. "What was that?!"
She smiled and said with a smug face: "One of the artifacts we got from Flora. You know Flora, right?"
Yuki nodded and started to move the wheelchair in front of him.
Anna looked at him with a fond look, as if this was the first time she saw him smile. "The artifact has the ability to shift to any shape I imagine, but sadly, without knowing the ins and outs of the object, it won't change. And the more complicated the object is, the more energy it needs."
Yuki nodded and looked back at his mother. "So where are we going?"
She chuckled while helping him onto the chair. "First we will take a walk around the base, then we'll take you to my doctor to check on you. Sound good?"
Yuki nodded, as he was curious about the place he was in now.
Pushing her son's chair and exiting the room, what greeted them—to Yuki's surprise—wasn't a wood interior like the room, but a full metallic corridor with lines of rooms on the side, with an elevator and stairs at both ends.
Taking the left, Yuki was shocked as instead of buttons, there was an input panel.
Anna input 'HG-0,' causing another shock for Yuki as the number on top of the door started to go from 100-something to 0 at an insane speed. The numbers started to change randomly. From the feeling he got, they were not only moving vertically but also horizontally.
He looked at his mother, who chuckled. "This elevator is linked with the whole base. Most of the others are normal ones, but this one is V.I.P.-ish, as only a few are allowed to use it. And yes, it also moves horizontally. The number stands for the floor, while the letters stand for the building or the section."
This left Yuki amazed. Although he knew the level of technology was advanced, seeing and reading it were different matters.
After some waiting, the lift opened, and what greeted him was a giant see-through door. What lay behind was a long set of stairs with a road at the lower end, where people and cars were going about their business, showing the high level of activity.
But what caught Yuki's interest was what lay on the horizon: a sea of mist linked to a giant dome of the same mist.
The dome was big enough to think it was a wall instead, even from this far, far away place.