"I don't like the way Zara departed." Jaseph expressed with a worried look. "What do you think that was about?"
"How should I know?" Basso shrugged. "We both know her well. Despite her sweet and friendly appearance, she is the most ambitious of us all. She probably did something the boy found out."
Jaseph knew his friend was right. Still, it worried him slightly. As the strongest of humanity-- well former strongest-- there were not a lot of things that could scare them.
'I'll speak with her after this and find out what she's hiding.' Jaseph made his decision. 'Hopefully, it's not that bad.'
Sometime later, Alex suddenly appeared in their midst, scaring the hell out of them. The two leaders recoiled and jumped out of their seats in fright.
"Fuck!" Basso cursed out loud when he realized who it was. "You shouldn't scare people like that, especially people like us." The man grumbled and returned to his seat.
"Sorry about that," Alex apologized with a mischievous smile. "It wasn't intentional."
He found a seat opposite the two leaders with Julia by his side. The girl was slightly nervous as she hadn't seen the leaders in the flesh before.
"Right…" Basso sneered, not believing the boy one bit. "And why is she with you?" His attention went to the nervous Julia who clung to Alexander for dear life.
"Because I want her to," Alex replied flatly. "Got a problem with that?" His cheeky remark and smile dared them to say no.
"You've grown some balls, kid." Basso shook his head. "Whatever…"
He looked at his friend who replied with a curt nod before turning back to Alex, his expression turning serious.
"You already know why we're here," Basso said and Alex nodded for him to continue. "I don't care what kind of business you have with The Order, but their leader claims they're yours to command now. Will this be a problem?"
"What do you think?" Alex questioned instead of replying. "From what you know about me, how do you see this playing out?"
The two took a moment of silence to ponder his question. Since his accident, their people if not themselves kept tabs on his growth, studying his character and what drove him forward.
'The boy doesn't seem to have any bad bone in his body.' The two reached similar conclusions. 'Yet, power is like a raging inferno. If not handled properly, it could consume even the nicest of people.
'The again, why can't we hand everything to him? We respect the strong and the boy is the strongest.' Basso thought as his gaze lingered on Alex.
"I believe you…" Basso said, surprising his friend. "You being here now and not that void creature proves the kind of strength and power you wield. You could suppress us and do whatever you wish and there is nothing we can do about it."
'Is this the same person I know?' Jaseph was still in shock over his friend's words. But as he thought about it, he realized why he spoke the way he did. 'There's no use fighting a losing battle. We can only take his word for it.'
Alex could see his soul fluctuations and knew the man was speaking sincerely. It brought a smile to his face as well.
"I appreciate your words, Lord Basso," Alex replied, his gaze shifting to the open window. "But as I mentioned before, my goal is to rid our universe of this madness. I won't have time to sit and order people to do this or that."
Under his gaze, Alx saw how miserable the people were and it broke his heart. H turned his attention back to the leaders, his brows slightly furrowed.
"But there is something I intend to do before that." Alex went ahead and told them the message he wished to share with the people. "The people can't continue living like this."
"I know…" Basso and Jaseph nodded in agreement. "What do you need us to do?"
"Just make the people aware I wish to share a message," Alex said and got up. "There is a loose end I need to tie."
The coldness and trace of anger in his tone made Basso and Jaspeh shudder. They both knew what or rather who he was referring to.
"What did she do exactly?" Jaseph asked as he and Basso stood up. "Whatever it is, she is still one of us. You don't plan on harming her, do you?"
"It's best if I show you," Alex said and stepped forward, prompting the two to step back. "You do not need to fear, and you already know that.."
Realizing the truth in his words, the two sighed and stood in place. Alex arrived before the two, appearing on the shorter side.
With the index finger of both hands, Alex placed them on their foreheads and showed them what happened when he was captured.
'Soul manipulation makes things a whole lot easier.' It was a neat trick. The mind connected the physical body to the soul and through that connection, Alex could share his memories with whomever he pleased.
"That woman decided to use me as a guinea pig when she could have brought me back," Alex sneered after redrawing his fingers. " But my main issue is what she intends to do with those cells.
"So don't worry. I have no intention of harming her the way you're thinking. But she won't be the same after I'm through with her."
The faces of Basso and Jaseph turned pale as they listened to his words. What Alex had shown them wasn't something new as there have been many happenings like that.
Unfortunately…
'That dumb bitch had to do it to Alexander of all people!' Jaseph cursed Zara for her stupidity. 'I can't believe she was that power-hungry. Just what exactly did she want?'
In the back, Julia narrowed her eyes as she listened to what Alexander said. She had no idea what he was talking about as Alex never mentioned this to anyone since his return.
However, the little bit she heard was enough to make her understand a few things. Then again, even if he did tell them, there was nothing they could have done at the time.
"Please, let us come with you." Basso steeled himself and proposed. "As Jaseph said, she is one of us and we have the right to confront her about this."
Alex pondered for a moment and then agreed. He had no reason to refuse and a power display would make them understand just how vast the difference in strength was.
"Only you two are coming with us…" Alex said as he turned to Julia, flashing her a reassuring smile. 'I'll explain everything later…'