Stepping out of the twins' room, Yuki went inside his own, calling his mother.And soon the line connected.
"So, how's it going?" Anna asked, smiling. Even though she was monitoring him all the time, she still asked.
"Well, as you saw, I'm good. I still don't know the reason for that, honestly," Yuki said, lighting a joint. But his words froze Anna in place. Remembering something, she sighed, massaging her eyebrow.
"I completely forgot you're a technopath," Anna murmured, and Yuki smirked. Looking at him, she asked, "Oh, you heard our conversation?"
"Nope," Yuki said, surprising her. "I may have noticed all the cameras on me and the heavy mood of the group despite the festive act."
Taking a puff, he sighed. "But I won't go out of my way to listen to your conversation."
Thanks to his high control over his ability, he could easily spot the workings of all technology and what was going on around him, but he wouldn't be able to see what was really happening without fully focusing.Meaning, he could spot everything that was happening, but he could choose whether to listen or not. Not doing it this time was out of respect and trust, as he knew that if anything happened, those two ladies would probably lay down their lives for him. And if they were hiding something, it was for a reason.
Smiling at his answer, Anna nodded and decided to explain the reason behind her actions, along with the purpose of this mission.
"The blood ritual is something you'll have to go through if you're going to travel Flana," Anna said, dropping a bomb. "After all, the avatars, as you called them, tend to lose control in their…"
This surprised Yuki, though at the same time he found it normal. Just the concentration of energy could leave a normal person dead after long exposure, and adding the true form of that containment, he wasn't shocked.
"But still, never in my wildest thoughts did I think the killing is tied to our power," Yuki said, but Anna refuted him immediately.
"No, it's actually normal, you know," Anna said in a matter-of-fact tone. "After all, even for normal humans, most people whose lives are full of bloodshed—either as soldiers or assassins—end up with three results."
"Yeah," Yuki nodded. "That's true. Either the end of a barrel, the edge of a knife, or a broken mind… what's the third?"
"Broken heart," Anna said sadly. Yuki could tell this came from personal experience.
"I understand, but…" Yuki nodded and tried to change the conversation's direction, not wanting to bring up Anna's bad memories. "Why is the current team tagging along?"
"Weren't they supposed to get back to the main base?" Yuki was still confused about this point. After the mission, they had changed into normal clothes and were heading to the same place as him.
"Ah, well, Wanda didn't tell you," Anna added with a thankful smile. "They are your security team and your bodyguards."
Yuki somehow ended up making a funny face, pointing at himself. "Mine?"
As a matter of fact, both of them found it funny—and the same fact that Wanda didn't tell him. In her opinion, it didn't matter much.
"Well, just go with it," Anna scratched her cheek. "It's ordered by the council."
The team escorting Yuki this time had two objectives: monitoring him in case he reacted unnoticed, and the second was actual protection, as despite everything, he was still the only son of the guild leader.
[Landing point in view, please stand by.] Ali's voice came from the speakers, cutting their conversation short.
"Well, I guess it's time to land. I'll call you later?" Yuki said, bidding Anna goodbye.
"Oh, I guess. See you later. Also, don't push yourself too much, please?" Anna waved to him and closed the call.
Standing up, he headed to fetch the twins. He found them looking out from the half-open door of their room.
"Oh, so you heard the announcement. Let's go." Yuki called to them and started heading to the back of the aircraft.
Following behind him, they noticed that all the people were wearing normal clothes and no masks. Surprisingly, all of them were good-looking.
"You guys are quite good-looking. I expected the opposite with all the masks," Hana said absentmindedly, stopping everyone in their tracks.
This caused her to get nervous for a second, but the silent mood turned completely opposite as they all started to laugh, confusing them.
"No, this is interesting. I like you, little one," Wanda patted Hana's head and dropped in front of her. "My name is Wanda Anise. Nice to meet you."
"Eh, are you the skull-mask lady?" Sophia asked. Instead of an answer, she got patted on the head.
"Who knows?" Wanda said, standing up as the craft landed. "Also, don't ask that question—it's rude, you know," she added with a playful smile.
"Ali, thanks for the ride. See you later. Give my greetings to your brat, will ya!" Yuki picked up the intercom on the side, talking to their current pilot before stepping out of the plane.
They landed on a beach with a cliff not far away. It was familiar to Yuki—not a place he had been to in recent years, but his body autopilot memory remembered it.
"This… this is the cliff beach?" Yuki asked Wanda on his side. She nodded before he sighed. "Well, home sweet home, I guess."
This place was actually a private beach under his mother's name, including the cliff and the unique house beside it—where Yuki had grown up.And this private sea-cliff beach was close to California, LA, with a forest nearby hiding what Yuki would later call a Batcave replica.
"Well, then lead the way." Wanda patted his shoulder before taking Sophia and Hana's hands, leading them to the cliff along with Yuki.
The group, led by Yuki, got closer to the cliff wall. The latter started to look at something in the wall.
Before they could ask, they heard a clicking sound, and part of the cliff wall opened up, revealing what looked like an elevator room.
"Well, it's still working," Yuki said, looking back at his current team. "Let's go. This will take us directly to the garage above."
"What? That's cool!" Hana got closer, looking at the wall, then the inside of the elevator. "Are you some kind of special agent family?"
"Well… you can say that," Yuki said playfully, putting a finger on his mouth. "Keep it secret, okay!"
Still not used to their real age, and Hana's airheadedness pushed him to keep treating them like kids.
"So everyone, let's go." Yuki entered, followed by the others. He entered a code into the elevator panel. The door closed and started to move up.
A couple of minutes later, the door opened again, revealing what looked like a garage with a few vehicles warped in the dark.
Leaving the elevator, Yuki's interest was piqued by one that had a familiar shape. Taking the cover off, he was shocked to find it was his personal bike.
"They sent our vehicles while we were on the mission," Wanda said, taking the cover off a vehicle on the side, revealing a red Dodge with bonus painting on the sides. "I also heard they got this house overhauled. Let's take a tour."
"Ok, let's see what we got?" Yuki announced, opening the door leading to the house. Instead of entering, he dodged as something came flying from inside.
"Rory, that was dangerous." Looking back, he sighed.
The one in question, a small flying device with a girl hologram in pilot costume, was looking at the twins with interest while floating around them.