Standing before the door, Avon rang the bell. Aveline opened the door and was surprised to see him.
"Avon! You're fine now?"
She pulled him in and took a good look at his face, the worry and happiness were evident on her face.
She held his face between her hands and spoke with tears in her eyes,
"When I saw you return in that condition, I was so worried. I heard about what happened there. You did so well to survive boy. I am so happy you are here."
The she hugged him. The warmth felt good. He decided to enjoy the moment and just closed his eyes.
Then she spoke,
"Come sir first, tell me how are you now. I was told that you would be taken to the knight the moment you open your eyes, so did you meet him? Also why do you look so pale, did the capsule not heal you completely?"
Avon just looked at her with a sad expression.
"I have recovered perfectly...I met the knight too and...he is a heretic"
Aveline 's eyes widened.
"What do you mean? Do you understand what you are saying?
"Yes, I asked him the same question you asked me, guess how he replied"
"Purple is the strongest.."
"Yes, by the way how do you know this"
"... let's just say the I am more than just a researcher at the academy. So I have a few contacts and know some things."
"I see, the knight thinks I'm a fellow heretic...I was told to obtain something from the knight but how do I get it now that he became a heretic..."
Avon was completely dejected. He didn't know anything about the heretics so the knight would easily figure out in their next meeting that Avon was not one... pretended to be one was a huge gamble.
Looking at him like that Aveline just pushed his head into her chest and embraced him.
"Don't be so dejected. I will help you. Let's do one thing, we will meet my sister later today and discuss everything with her. She might be able to help you."
Avon was a bit embarrassed to be in such a position but didn't object. He just asked,
"You have a sister?"
"Yes, you will meet her today evening."
Then Aveline asked Avon all about the raid and by the end she was hugging him again
"You could have died so many times...I am so proud of you for surviving. Many cadets died and now an investigation is taking place...I was so afraid to find your name in the list of the deceased."
She kept on caressing his face and hair. After sometime they had some food and set out to meet Aveline's sister.
Aveline took him to a very crowded area and entered smaller and smaller streets and finally they went into a small workshop. It was dark inside.
"Sister, I have come" Aveline spoke.
Soon the lights turned on and commander Astrine walked in.
"Aveline, I-" then she looked at Avon
"Why is he with you, is he the one you said needed my help?"
"Yes" Aveline confirmed
Astrine then narrowed her eyes and said,
"Listen to me, move away from him immediately, he is a heretic."
Aveline was confused, what was her sister saying that?
Avon understood what happened and spoke,
"No,no, wait, commander Astrine, I am not a heretic, I just know their code like the two of you."
Aveline was surprised to see this and asked,
"How do you know each other?"
Astrine said,
"I should be asking the same..."
To this Avon answered.
"Commander Astrine took me to the knight's chamber today and my conversation with him took place in all commanders' presence. So she saw me asking him that question."
The Aveline understood everything. She just laughed a little at the misunderstanding.
"It's okay Astrine, he is no heretic. Don't worry."
"Fine, but how do you know each other?"
Then Aveline explained about how she met Avon and helped him.
After sometime had passed everything was cleared. Then Aveline spoke,
"So the reason you wanted to talk to me immediately was because you found out the knight is a heretic, right?"
To which Astrine nodded.
Then she looked at Avon and said,
" What is it that you need from the knight?"
Avon hesitated slightly
"I can't say..."
Aveline then interjected,
"Astrine, since when do you think the knight became a heretic?"
To which she replied,
"Actually, this is not the knight of Steela we know...he is impersonating him. Our knight probably died succumbing to his injuries which he sustained while defeating the protector of Ferona. "
Aveline and Avon were shocked to hear this.
"Then why wasn't it announced in public?" Aveline questioned.
"Actually...when we attacked Ferona to defeat the protector with the help of the knight, we commanders were busy fighting the army of Ferona and only Sir knight went to the core. It was at that time when the switch happened. The imposter came out pretending to have defeated the protector. Maybe the Holtrons conspired with the heretics...when the raid was done and I had put cadet Avon in the capsule, I went to investigate the core and shut it off. I wanted to know why the protector was still alive and was able to ambush us. After I shut the core, the power died everywhere and the walls of the core crumbled. Then Sir knight's body was revealed to me, it was hidden behind a wall. The protector couldn't destroy his body not kill him. He was barely alive and when I fed him a healing pill he gained consciousness and looking at me he spoke about how he was ambushed by heretics while fighting the protector.
He was paralyzed by their poisons but they couldn't kill him, instead Sir knight managed to kill all the heretics but in his weakened state the protector overpowered him and he lost. When I looked at the injuries he had, it was surprising how he managed to make his heart still beat.
When I tried to carry him to heal him, he said"My time has come, I only stayed alive Knowing you would come back to deactivate the core. That cluster of roda and gears could never kill me."
To be so valiant, he forced himself to bear the pain, all alone while surviving the protector's attacks just so he could help us one last time....
It was also then he gave me access to all his belongings. So if you want something I can help you. You basically confirmed the current knight is a heretic, so let me help you cadet Avon."
Hearing this story Aveline and Avon shocked and in awe of the real knight.
' What a man' Avon thought.