"You were lucky to have survived the attack." A voice cooed, the source from Maeve as she glanced at Kaelin who was lost in the scene. Still, the image of the Ark Facility being in cinders and ash seemed foreign to her regardless how long she stared at the results.
There weren't much she cared about at the facility before her mind clicked. "What about Brose and Vhorren? Did they make it?" Maeve paused, seeing Kaelin's question as her caring and empathetic side. "They were able to survive the attack however Vhorren wasn't as lucky as he was brutally injured."
Kaelin seemed to fall into thought recalling Jarren's words from way back then. "So it would seem that Brose truly is the chosen one but why did Vhorren survive? Is he chosen as well?" So far she knew that Brose was a champion of one of the gods, Vhorren on the other hand was a figure she hadn't calculated.
"Or maybe he's a person of great interest that those above don't want to die so easily." She muttered, her frame covered with a blanket as she was hauled away onto one of the vehicles for the site. People could be seen search for survivors, others trying to study the attack of the abominations and others mumbling of what would be of the Ark.
"Here." One of the many drones made their way to her handing her a letter. Skimming through it's contents, it further solidified her thoughts about her mother. 'You don't have to be so watchful over me.' On it spoke about her termination from the Ark program and now with the hit by the abomination, she was sure that it would come to pass.
Taking in the sight once more, she let out a sigh knowing that with such a valuable program taken off the shelf would make Reuthar weaker. 'Did Redfall plan this attack or was it based on pure luck on their end?' She knew how deep the base was and somehow their location was known by the abominations.
'Or the likelihood of someone being a mole is high. In such dire times, it's clear that Redfall would resort to such tactics.' She couldn't help but wonder recalling the conquest of Redfall. At first she didn't know whether to support it or wish it to come to a close but now, she was fearful of what was to come.
'Will he remember me or will he simply cast me aside?' A question rose in her mind and the more she thought about it, the more it unnerved her. 'I shouldn't think too much about it.' She consoled herself making her way to her ride out of the mountain base shrouded in the canopy of the forest and highlands.
...
'I didn't think that mother would ever consider moving to Reuthar.' Looking outside, she saw the changes that happened to the outside world. The scene of horses and carriages were no more in the main capital, now the roads were all tarmacked with cars and other military vehicles patrolled the streets.
The air was heavy that spoke of war and bloodshed in the end. Her breathe hitched at the thought, each day cursing at how passive she was with Jarren at the time. 'I should have taken the time back then and formed a solid rapport however I wasted it.' Biting her lower lip, she could only sigh, reminiscing how Jarren would give her advice akin to a mentor.
'But I guess it wasn't a complete waste of time.' A giggle escaped her lips recalling how she would hunt the other students, the thrill, the adrenaline back then left her starved for more and her program at the Ark Facility catered to it. With it now gone, she had no other outlet for her to quench her thirst for growth and thrill.
It wasn't long before the car she was in came to a stop, a military jeep with the personnel manning the artillery positions which scared some of the kids who saw the beast of a car parade down the road to her new home. The door opened for her revealing her parents.
"Omph!" A hug from her mother took her by surprise as she wrapped her hands around her figure. "Mom!" Kaelin pouted as she tried to break free from her mother who seemed to tighten her grasp on her child. "Did you know how scared I was when I heard about the attack on the base?!"
She mused cupping Kaelin's face. The jeep began to roll out of their premises leaving the drone of servants to take care of her luggage. "Well you didn't have to be soon stressed about me that much. As you can see, I'm okay." Kaelin posed as she made a light twirl showing her state. Still, her mother pressed on with her training at the facility.
With her attention locked onto her mother, she barely noticed her father walk up behind the two. "Thanks to you we had to move here. Something about your mother being unable to sleep well knowing that you would be too far away from her." The man gave a low hearty chuckle. "Dad!" Kaelin cheered as she crashed onto her father's chest.
"How have you been?" The two quickly broke into casual sentiment before Kaelin's mother broke the interaction. "Your father is more than delighted to see you well however I already have this day planned just for the two of us. I'm sure that you will love it. Just head to your room." She lightly clapped her hands summoning a maid.
"Please make sure that you have her take a long and relaxing shower. I'm just glad that my baby is okay." Stealing a light kiss of Kaelin's cheek, the latter tried to break off from the embarrassing encounter. "Mom I'm not a child anymore, I can think and act for myself." The parental pair let out a knowing chuckle.
"Okay, just head to your room." Kaelin let out a laugh before making her way into the house. With her gone, the air shifted from the usual lightheartedness into something heavier. "You don't have to try so hard to distract her falling world." Kaelin's father stated watching Kaelin's disappearing figure into the house.
"I just can't let my baby cry all the time, there's more to life than just suffering." Her mother posed, clicking her tongue. "And a shame is that she's not married yet." Nysa joked before the two headed inside. The day was wasted with the mother daughter pair spending the day on shopping, with their high class status, it was nothing more than a breeze for the two before the day came to an end.
Making her way back to her room, Kaelin crashed onto her new bed. She still couldn't believe the change she had to live with. Unlike her old room, this one was far bigger in every scale she thought off. The bed, her closet and the servants disposability she had waiting for her word to act.
A part of her could see the fear between her mother's laughs and her father's stares. It belonged to those who had already known what was to come and could only embrace the unknown with open arms. Before she let slumber overwhelm her, she received a message from her phone, the Mark II series from an individual she thought had considered her as dead.
[{Jarren: Hello Kaelin}]
Her eyes squinted, thinking that she was merely hallucinating given her unhealthy fixation of the times she had recalled about him.
[{Kaelin: Is this a joke?}]
She laughed, not thinking much about her response.
[{Jarren: Depends, how is your new bed treating you?}]
Her body froze reading this as she scrambled to get back on her legs. 'Is this a stalker or one of the staff playing games with me?' She tried to recall anyone who seemed out of place and her mind turned up blank.
[{Jarren: It truly is a shame about what happened at the Ark Facility}]
'Either this person is the actual Jarren or someone who happens to know that I moved here and is privy to the fall of the base.' With the amount of elites swelling in Reuthar, she saw the latter being a possibility rather than the former.
[{Kaelin: Stop playing games with me, I already know that this is nothing more than a game you're playing}]
The response from the other end paused eliciting a grin from Kaelin that lasted no longer than a second before a response came.
[{Jarren: What do I have to do to prove to you that I'm the real Jarren Velros?}]
She gave a knowing scoff ready to type her response before pausing. With a devilish grin tugging on her lips, she typed her heart away.
[{Jarren: Very well, how about we meet a week from now at that restaurant you and your mother were?}]
The more the other party revealed about her, the more it unnerved her that thinking that someone was constantly watching her.
[{Jarren: Just don't tell your parents about this exchange, I'm sure they won't take it kindly}]
Her mind froze as that was what she had on her mind. It such hectic times however, she knew that it would be smart to play safe rather than take an unnecessary risk.
[{Kaelin: Of course, just don't be late}]
And with that the conversation between the two came to an end. She didn't bother wasting any time showing the flux of conversation to her parents. From there she had a tighter security watching her, as for the alleged meet up, she never bothered with it.
*Two weeks later*
Kaelin was on her porch, her eyes half open as she took a sip of her tea before a notification threw her out of the experience.
[{Jarren: I didn't think that you would leave me so callously miss Kaelin}]
Her face soured as if sighting an insect. She was about to turn off her phone and drown in the bliss before the following message unnerved her. What she has once thought was nothing more than a joke now seemed to devolve into something far more scary for her expectations.
[{Jarren: Then how about a challenge to prove that I am the actual and true Jarren}]
[{Jarren: I'll take you to another world that will function like the real one, you won't be able to tell the difference however none of it will be real. It will be nothing more than a coded cage of purgatory}]
Her face tightened before shooting back at the comment.
[{Kaelin: If you don't stop harassing me then you'll force my hand to do something you'll regret for the rest of your days}]
[{Kaelin: So it would be best to use the last few days of your wasted life and devote it to something far more productive than bother me.}]
She didn't bother waiting for a response as she placed her phone down and took another sip of her tea. 'How did this bastard even come to know about my number?' Rubbing her brows, she felt another head ache in bound. 'It would be best to take a small nap.' With a yawn, her vision blurred into darkness as as her frame was suspended in the dark abyss.
Looking around, she was shocked with how lucid she seemed to be as she could easily fold her palms as if she was still awake. "Do you still think that I am toying with you Kaelin?" A voice echoed through the black expanse that made her spine shiver. It was a voice that she wouldn't dare to forget. "Jarren Velros?!" Her face portraying her shock.
"It would seem that you have been training well so far, but I'm sure that you could make more progress with a bit more help. But first I'm sure that a formal reunion is in order. I take it you know where we should meet." Following that, she was back in the real world, her heart racing as her mind recalled what she had heard.
"There's no way that some random poser would be capable of something like that. Unless they put something in the tea." Still, her guard remained up and with a sigh, she rose to her feet and made her way to her father's office.