The elf was left alone in his own room. The servants had just gone their way out after dressing him up for the operation in two hours. His body still felt a bit heavy, but he had rested enough to be able to stand and walk on his own.
He stared at himself in the mirror and found himself thinking;
I slept for five years straight... yet, my body... it didn't stop growing. Is this the effect of that drug?
The others had given him a summary of what has been happening for the past weeks. Cimmerian was surprised at how much his friends had grown for the past five years.
Kian was taller and more rugged. He explored the world to search for all of them. Ezio looked more mature, but he still carries that child-like atmosphere that lets everyone warm up on first talk. He himself wandered around the empire for the sake of finding the others as well.
The girls… Milera began to resemble a mother. She seemed to be embracing gentleness and the rough nature of a dwarf at the same time. And Dolunay, on the other hand… was the one who changed most. Maybe it's also because he's not seen her for seven years. She turned from fairy to faerie…
Each of them had their own rough path, Cimmerian thought to himself as he sighed.
A heavy feeling weighed on his shoulders.
"You know where Lysander is…?"
Kian's hurting tone. He couldn't get it out of his mind. He knew exactly why Kian felt betrayed. He had expected that somehow they'd feel disappointed in him.
The last time they met, he already had an idea about where Lysander could have gone to… He investigated Lydander's tower and went to meet them before someone had gone to ambush him in his own home.
A moment of hesitation and pride stopped him…
"How are you feeling now?" Cimmerian nearly jumped at the voice behind him. It was Yves, standing ready for their operation today. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."
"No, no. It's okay. I'm fine."
Contrary to what he'd said, Cimmerian's heart was pumping in and out of his chest. What happened just now took his mind back to when he was ambushed… which then had Cimmerian thinking once again.
"Yves…" He called for him, as Yves took a seat by the couch next to the mirror.
"Yes?" Yves responded calmly, and Cimmerian stared at him.
Above everything that has changed, Syvestian… simply looked older to him. He did not seem to have changed at all over the decade of not seeing each other. The others have said the same thing about him.
He was still the same Yves that they've met when they were kids… he simply looks older.
However, it's not like they knew so much about him in the first place.
"You know, that man who put me to sleep… he asked me to say hi."
Yves cracked a smile at Cimmerian's words, but tension grew as he's aware that this, once again, makes things suspiciously connected to him. It seems he's unable to hide that much anymore now that Celio basically gave Cimmerian the answer to everything.
Celio, you cunning bastard… Syvestian cursed in his mind.
Cimmerian observed Yves' change in expression, but it seems that didn't faze him, which then leads him to a conclusion;
"You know that man, don't you? He called you Syvestian."
Cimmerian was met with silence. Syvestian couldn't go out of his way to reason, deny, or lie for his own sake. It was futile.
Although he knew Cimmerian knows not everything, his connection to the same being that had attacked and ambushed Cimmerian is already the biggest evidence that proves that he's the reason behind all this mess.
Yves sighed.
"Celio."
"Pardon?" Cimmerian was confused.
"His name is Celio," Yves continued. "He's a deity, like I was."
"What?"
Cimmerian was taken aback by Yves' sudden revelation. Well, he surely was never the type to beat around the bush, but it never occurred to him that he would find out as soon as he'd confronted him about it.
Now, his mind seems to have everything jumbled, and he doesn't know how he should react to what was given to him.
Seeing Cimmerian looking lost, Yves let out a chuckle. It seems he's not aware of everything yet, he thought.
"Remember the secret I told you a decade ago?"
Cimmerian nodded at that. How could he forget? It was the one thing that had motivated him to continue on with studying and training.
"Those high beings that have been looking for me, have found me here on this earth."
There was no denying it.
He was sure that they know exactly what form he's taken at this point. Given his success as VOID's owner, they would be fools to know nothing about his current identity. Yves himself was surprised that they haven't attacked him for the past decade, despite how obvious it is to them.
However, it turns out they had other plans.
They decided to make me surrender myself by using the people I hold dear. What a twisted game you're playing here, Izar.
Izar, the Deity of Light, was the only living being that would go such lengths to bring him down to his knees.
"They found you already?"
They all turned to the door, only to see Kian and the others already entering.
They were all wearing the same suit that Yves invented for stealth and protection. It wasn't completely necessary for them to wear it, but it would be useful because of the extra protection.
Who knows what they might encounter in that tower…
It's Lysander's after all.
Yves smiled at what Kian had said as they all entered. It was a direct declaration that they are aware of what could be going on inside Yves' head for now. Cimmerian on the other hand was confused once again.
"Do you mean, you all know he's being chased down?" Cimmerian asked them, and they simply nodded.
"He's been highly cooperative since the beginning, when all he'd done was hide for the past decade—" Milera called him out, but Yves cut off her sentence.
"Hey! I was just laying low!"
"After establishing a company that basically has your name written on it, sure…" Kian backed up.
"I just wanted to improve the quality of life here in the Empire!"
"This bastard thinks no one from his past life would know where the fuck he is, when all he'd done is write books and conduct research that only he would write. Who is he fooling?" Ezio added, rolling his eyes.
"True," Luna chimed in. " He probably thinks his enemies all have their brain in their asses—"
"Luna, your words!" Yves cut her off, but she simply turned her gaze away from him.
Cimmerian could only form a thought.
They were right. Yves is the stupid one in this situation. However…
He looked at Yves. And yet, nothing. He felt nothing other than relief…
I can't seem to blame him at all… Cimmerian thought to himself as he looked over at Yves scolding Dolunay, then to Kian and the others. Is this how they feel? Or… could they be missing the whole idea of why this was happening in the first place…?
Whether they knew or not is not for him to decide. At the moment, he's content at knowing the reason why all of this had to happen, and that Yves is taking responsibility to bring everything back to normal.
Yes, everything will be back to normal after all this… right?