More than the harsh demonstration of his weakness, Nero was alarmed by his mothers sudden hug, and show of emotion. Although Irene could not be called an outsider, it wasn’t as if they had spent much time together as a family. Marilyn was very particular about showing affection in public - in such matters she was very private.
His mind could not help but go to all the danger he had faced, not just in Lumina, but in Perilith as well, as he hugged her back. His parents, too, must have faced such similar dangers in their life as they grew up, which is why they had prepared Nero and Patrick so well. Even so, they could not help but worry.
In truth, because of how limited his exposure to actual missions was, and how extreme that limited exposure was, Nero’s perception of what the average soldier experienced was extremely skewed. How could a normal soldier go through the kings he had and come out unharmed?
Yet, told countless stories since birth about fighting on the edge of death, facing impossible odds, and overcoming all obstacles, Nero just took everything in his stride, because that was literally what he had been doing.
Still, his multiple hospitalisations in such a short span was a clear indication that either he was doing something wrong, or he was being pushed into things far beyond his level.
His mothers unexpected tenderness forced Nero to amend his plans. Although it would require a lot of work on his part, he made the resolution to reach the Arcanist rank before graduating from KMA! That, alongside his upcoming training, should drastically improve his chances of survival!
"I’m sorry ma," Nero said softly. "I’ll take better care of myself."
Marilyn let go of the hug and took a step back, studying Nero’s appearance from up close. Although there were no scars left on his body, there were still signs of the injuries he’d suffered. The close trim of his hair was one such sign. The sense of hollowness in his body which only she, as a Mystic, could sense was another.
"You haven’t been eating well," she said. "I remember a time where you wouldn’t have spared the entire kitchen in this place, and now you have such a measly breakfast."
"Come on in and take a seat. We have some things to talk about," she said, pulling Nero in and closing the door. She spread her Dominion across the room once more, but this time with Nero and Irene as allies, so they were empowered instead of weakened.
This was one, simple and effective way of making sure there were no invisible or camouflaged enemies nearby. To hide from her Dominion, they would need an ability stronger than hers, and such abilities were not easy to come across. Of course, a competent Spectre might be able to avoid detection like this using their Mystic ability called Incognito, which literally made them invisible. But alone, Incognito was not enough to evade the reach of Monarch’s Dominion, so they would need to pair it with something.
Yet just as Spectre’s could pair their abilities with cards, so could Monarchs. Marilyn used a card to erect a barrier inside the room, first to prevent intruders, and then another to prevent the contents of their conversation from leaking.
"In case you did not recognise Irene, that is your sister-in-law," Marilyn said, getting straight to the point. "The poor lass has been through some... difficult ordeals, let’s say. But upon her return she has brought back the best gift. The best gift!"
Marilyn’s voice nearly trembled as she spoke, unable to control her excitement!
"Your father was able to learn that Patrick... had been sentenced to Kilachi, the Cursed zone on our western border. Pulling some strings, he was able to find a way to smuggle your brother out of there! Patrick... Patrick is alive!"
Nero clenched his fists as a sudden rush of emotions filled him, his eyes widened as he turned to look towards Irene for confirmation. She only smirked, and nodded, sending enormous waves of euphoria through his body!
"But!" Marilyn said strongly, cutting through his emotions before he could celebrate. "But since he was smuggled out, officially, he is K.I.A. This means that as far as Kolar is concerned, your brother died in combat, so he cannot return. Until we can find a proper solution that can allow him to come back, he will have to stay hidden. Your father made some arrangements for him abroad, but I do not know what they are. It’s better if we don’t find out either. I only wanted you to know so that... no one can use the news of his death against you."
A solemn expression appeared on his face as Nero nodded, and thought back to what Vanessa had told him.
"A friend of mine suggested that the reason Patrick might have been targeted was because he might have learned something relating to some Sage level resources. Or he might have even encountered them. There are some... Ascendants who have been harbouring ulterior agendas."
Nero did not need to say the name - they all knew who he was talking about. Yet, unexpectedly, Marilyn shook her head.
"It’s not necessarily that simple," she said. "He could have been targeted because of that, or because he was exposed to secrets relating to the ruins, or he may have even been targeted because of my family. I’m afraid that jumping to conclusions too quickly will only blind us to the real truth."
Nero was taken aback.
"The ruins? The ruins were revealed years after he was sent away. How could what happened to him be related to the ruins?" he asked.
"Officially, that’s the story. Unofficially, who knows how long Kolar has known about the ruins? Who’s to say that they hadn’t been entering the ruins in secret for years already? There’s no power in the world that will easily reveal their secrets. All information publicly available about any country is carefully planted propaganda or a ruse to confuse their enemies. How do you know that New Velariya doesn’t have any ruins? Or Creta? Or Dolziya? None of them are simple, or else how could they have avoided Kolari conquest for so long?"
Nero pressed his lips as he thought about his mothers words. If everything was always propaganda, how was he supposed to learn anything? In a world where all knowledge was closely guarded and distributed through official channels, the truth could become exceedingly valuable.
Suddenly, he could not help but think of Unity. Did it play a part in spreading the propaganda too, or was it genuinely an organisation that spread genuine knowledge and information? If it was genuine... then the origins of this organisation started to seem even more mysterious than he had imagined.