After Erik left the room and the parents started coming to where Erik's friends rested, Amber gestured to her friends to stay silent about Erik's involvement. They understood what the woman said and refrained from saying anything regarding the fact that the five men went there to kidnap Erik.
The parents were angry, but it was clear they had no intention of withdrawing their children from the Red Palace. If they did, they would jeopardize their future, and since they were obligated to join the military, it would have been counterproductive to do so, as it would have made life difficult for the children in the future.
After the parents left, Amber, Floyd, Gwen, Anderson, Aaron, Mikey, Martha, and Benedict started talking. Amber explained the general situation to them and what happened after they went K.O.
"So, in the end, Nathaniel won?" Anderson asked. It was clear that he was disappointed. He was going to win a brain-stimulating serum not even five hours ago, and now he lost this opportunity because of some random mob. He was pissed. Even the other teams ended up with lower scores, but it was clear that helping their friend came before anything else, so they weren't sad in the end.
Amber nodded at him. "Yep." She sighed as she looked around. The place was dark, meaning the sun was already down, and the stars slowly appeared in the night sky. There were only the lights hanging from the ceiling over the room to illuminate it.
"By the way, any news about Erik? Why isn't he here?" Gwen asked.
"He went to his room," Amber said. "I talked to him earlier."
"Did he say something?" Aaron asked.
"He did tell me something... but I want him to tell you in person since this is not something I can freely talk about..."
This surprised the others; what was so important that Amber couldn't even talk about it? And why wasn't Erik present for them to ask questions themselves instead of asking her if she knew anything? What did he say to her that made Amber keep quiet like this?
"Let him come here," Anderson said.
"Yes," Amber replied. The girl then quickly sent a text message to him. The young man was currently in his room, away from their friends, since he didn't want to meet their parents in case they accused him of being the reason why all of this happened if they said something they shouldn't have.
Erik was reaching a boiling point. It was not only because of what happened that day but also because of his general situation. He wanted to grow stronger quickly so that he could finally escape this shithole called New Alexandria and start a new life elsewhere.
The text message said he had to come to the infirmary since their parents had left, and the others wanted to know what had happened. Erik replied to the message, telling them to meet outside the Red Palace and go to the garden in front of the building. Since it was evident that Erik would say something nobody else could hear and that someone was probably listening to their conversation, the students complied.
Erik walked out of his room and into the hallway, looking for the door leading to the courtyard. After finding it, he opened the door and stepped inside the garden. Not much later, the other eight students finally arrived, and once they saw him, they became quiet.
The young man looked around, searching for hidden cameras and microphones. Apparently, there was no trace of them, but Erik took a safe approach and went deeper into the garden. The area had a cozy atmosphere thanks to the various lamps and lanterns hanging from trees or placed by the side of the road, giving off a soft and calming light.
One bench near an old tree sat right next to the fountain in the middle of the park. Erik decided to sit down and wait until the others arrived. As soon as they reached the bench, the first thing Erik did was apologize to them.
"Sorry guys, really. I didn't want any of you to go through all of this. Especially you guys, Benedict, Martha..." It was obvious. These two only recently became Erik's friends, while the rest of them were already close enough to him before coming to the Red Palace.
Benedict shook his head. "Don't worry about it!"
Martha turned to face him and said, "Yeah..."
Aaron nodded. "Yeah, don't sweat it. However, you owe us an explanation..." Erik frowned. He knew it was true.
"Let's start with: what the hell happened?" Aaron added. Erik looked at the others; they had serious looks on their faces.
"Okay," Erik began. "It started when we were at the clearing and you found us. I casually turned around and saw the five men running toward us," he lied, as he had been alerted by the biological supercomputer.
"After that, I alerted the others, and while they kept the thaids we were killing at bay, I took care of them by throwing some trees at them."
"Trees?" Gwen asked.
"Yes. It was hella scary, to be honest," Anderson chimed in. "It shocked me to know that Erik could do that with his original power..." he added. He then explained what Erik did, leaving them clearly surprised and impressed. This was especially true for the students who went to Thornton High School. After all, Erik was pretty famous for having a trashy power.
Erik then resumed his explanation: "After that, the thaids came, and we battled them. Later on, you came, and the rest is history," he said.
"Ok, but what did those guys want? Why did they attack you?" Gwen chimed in, clearly impatient. She understood Erik was beating around the bush, unaware it was all acting.
Erik gestured for the others to come close to him, replicating the theatrical moves he used with Amber, and they approached him. He looked around again, trying to ensure no one else was there, then started whispering.
"Before I awakened, my father came back home..."
This left them surprised. Lucius Romano was a famous figure inside the city, after all. Only Amber looked unaffected, since she was already aware of this fact.
"The problem is that he didn't come empty-handed..."
"Did he come with the milk?" Floyd suddenly chimed in. His joking attitude was ever-present.
"Shut up, Floyd," Gwen said. Erik eyed his friend. He approached the others even closer and said, "As I've already told Amber," he whispered, then looked around again.
"He brought a USB key, which he claimed had information about the real leader of the Crystal Cross Gang…"
"What?!" Floyd almost shouted.
"FLOYD!" Erik's friend immediately shut up. However, they immediately understood the seriousness of the situation and started to understand why those people attacked him.
"Are you serious?" Anderson said. The young man was not only directly involved in the matter since he was with Erik from the beginning, but he also profoundly admired Erik's father, who was a hero in the fight against the Thaids, but he wondered why he was investigating the Crystal Cross Gang since his main task was to kill the Thaids.
However, with him being a military member, it was still possible that he received a mission from them. However, there was a fault in Anderson's thought process. If that was true, why go to Erik? Why not go to the military? It could be true that his father was aware that someone inside the military was double-crossing them; was this why he went to Erik? Who knew?
"Yes... that's what he told me, at least..." Erik replied.
"That's cool!" Benedict said. Prompting the others to give him the stink eye.
"And where is this USB key now? Did you see what it contained?" Mikey then asked.
Part of Erik's plan had already been achieved. Again, he felt guilty for deceiving his friends, but his safety came before anything or anyone else. Here Erik knew that he had to give the same explanation he gave Amber, so he decided again to tell them that the USB key had been destroyed, but there was no way he could justify destroying something so precious.
Erik felt like an idiot for breaking the glass containing the biological supercomputer. Still, he also considered himself a fortunate idiot because he had gained access to the powerful machine that could give him the power he so desperately sought.
"That... it fell to the ground by accident, and I stepped on it. It got completely destroyed…" Erik said.
"WHAT?!" Amber then shouted. She knew he had destroyed it, but she had no idea it had happened in this manner. Stepping on something so precious was beyond idiotic. What Erik was saying was partially true, as he really destroyed the glass containing the biological supercomputer, but what he told her and the others was a lie. Regardless, he had to now bear the stigma of being an idiot for the sake of his safety.
"Yeah..." he said to Amber. It was an accident! I swear!"
"WHAT THE FUCK, ERIK?!" Aaron said, unaware of what was currently going on inside Erik's mind. "I believe someone was following my father, and I believe it was the Crystal Cross Gang. That's why they attacked me. They must know something about all of this and are trying to get the USB's location from me."
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