"Mr…. Can you please put me down?"
Untying the kid from myself, I put the kid down and then look at him, observing me with a kind of reverent look. I observed his face and found his features to be quite similar to mine in some aspects… makes me wonder if there is anything peculiar about this similarity between him and I.
'White eyes, white hair and a face which looks like a younger version of me but with some obvious differences… is it some kind of test?' I thought as I observed the kid in front of me.
"Thank you for saving me, mister. What is your name?" he asked with some curiosity, but tried to keep it as formal as a child could. I looked at him for a few moments before asking,
"Shouldn't the one asking this question need to be the one who tells his name first?"
Hearing my question, he makes an 'oops' sound before realising his mistake and then answering,"Sorry! My name is Dion."
After telling me his name, he turned quiet, and I looked at him for a few moments before sighing and then turning to that Angel as I asked,"what about you?"
She looks at me with a slight smirk as she remarks in the same tone which I used,"shouldn't the one asking this question need to be the one who tells his name first?"
I kinda got irked a little at her words before sighing and speaking with a forced smile on my face,"I apologise. My name is Zero. Would you be kind enough to grace me with your name, your highness?"
She smirks again before chuckling a little at my small act and then speaks,"Zuriel." She then looks deep into my eyes before speaking,"you have a fascinating presence. What exactly are you?"
I look at her with a confused expression as I ask,"what do you mean by that?" and then I glanced at the ring on my finger and added one more question to my sentence,"and how does this ring exactly function?"
"It's a gift from a certain someone. There are only two of its kind, the one I have and the other one on your finger," she answers as she then takes out something from her storage ring.
It was a small ball-like thing which she threw at a distance and in an instant a huge tent made up of metal appeared in front of us. It looked quite durable, to be honest.
"Are you sure you should be giving me something so precious?" I asked again as my confusion only grew from her sentence, but she simply smiled as she looked at me,"it is okay as long as I achieve my goal here."
"Well.. that was very helpful," I answered sarcastically as I looked at her going inside the tent and turned to the boy as I asked,"what do you say, partner? Shall we go in or shall we stay outside?"
He looked at me with a slightly dumbfounded expression before looking around and then almost making a crying expression as he failed to get the correct answer.
I sigh at his reaction and then ponder at the odds of going in versus staying out.
'First, this place is unknown and there is no guarantee that I would be safe outside the tent and the fact she showed us the tent could be interpreted that there might be some possibility of danger outside. On the other hand, it could as well be a trap, but that wouldn't make sense unless the deal which we made was fabricated as well. Again, why would she even give me such a special ring if this all were a trap?'
I kept thinking over things analytically, but the fact that I was missing a hell lot of information was making things way more difficult than it should have been.
I sigh before looking at the boy and then speaking,"let's see for a while. If there comes any danger, we will go in, else we'll just stay outside as long as we can."
He observes me as his expression brightens up as he looks at me before he nods cheerfully. I smile at him before asking,"hmmm… just standing here and doing nothing would be boring, so let's talk, shall we?"
I ask him and he makes an understandable expression and then I observe him before asking,"so I have been wondering, what are you doing in this forest, in the middle of nowhere?"
At my question, he makes a sad face before speaking,"I escaped from my home… my family was at war against the lower ones… and to protect me, they used a random location spell because they didn't have any other options…"
I looked at his sad face before asking,"they?" and tears started flowing out of his eyes as he answered,"my mother and father… they sacrificed themselves to send me here…"
I observed him as I could kind of understand the situation a little and then proceeded to ask,"did you see them dying with your own eyes?" and he looked at me with a slightly confused expression before he answered,"no… I did not."
"Then… doesn't that mean that they could still be alive?" I spoke, trying to cheer him up, but he shakes his head as he counters,"the lower ones never forgive, they are angry… They wanted to kill them at all costs. I saw them… they were very furious…"
I then sighed a little before asking,"did you know what they wanted?" and he nodded before crying out loud as he spoke,"they… they wanted to kill my mother, father and me…" I saw his sobbing face but did not proceed to calm him… he needed to cry it all out before I could console him… he needs to grow up a little…
"I know you are hearing this… come out," I spoke as I didn't shift my gaze from Dion. The gate of the tent opens and Zuriel comes out as she looks at me with a slightly serious expression and asks me,"what is it?"
"What is your relation to this whole situation?" I inquire with an emotionless voice and she then answers,"he has a massive bounty on his head. Everyone on Planet Vermillion is searching for him… it's not just a couple of strong ones, but people that could topple the world upside down are searching for this kid. Now that you know what you are getting yourself into, what is it that you will do?"
I could hear the peculiarity in her voice as I asked,"can you tell me the year in which we are right now?" and she looks at me with a slightly confused look as she says,"it is the 423rd year of the Light Bearer's Foundation."
'Doesn't ring a bell… hmmmm, the records never said anything about the Light Bearer's Foundation… or anything related to it… The only thing we had was the System Foundation year. That too with a strange combination of letters and numbers, Year:23I12NMK. I wonder if it is the future or the past… but then… the spirit world died in the previous timeline, so does that mean it's the past? Or is it a totally different timeline again?' I kept racking my brain before asking,
"Do you know why they were trying to kill him and his parents?" I asked to change the topic, but unfortunately Zuriel did not know the answer to it. She only shook her head before asking the question.
"You do not belong to this timeline?"
'Well… my question should have given the hint to her but honestly…' I thought as I spoke,"Honestly… I don't know myself. All these things are foreign to me."
She nods at this before asking again,"so, what are you going to do with this kid?"
I look at the crying kid who has almost stopped crying and look at me with a slightly horrified expression on his face and I close my eyes as I give a deep sigh as I mutter in an extremely silent voice,"he is clearly related to what I want in this world… otherwise I wouldn't have been so close to this kid… well… doesn't look like I have much of a choice in these things, I suppose,' I thought before smiling at him and then speaking,
"Well… I guess we can start by finding out if your parents are dead or alive."
Zuriel makes a shocked expression as she looks at me and the kid makes a surprised face before smiling at me.
"Are you crazy-" she speaks but I stop her from speaking as I start speaking in between as,
"What is it that you wanted instead of this translator?"
She looks at me with a slightly stumped expression before speaking,"I.. Uh… I need you to help me kill something… or someone… a group of people actually… But wait! You did not answer my question… hey are you listening? Hey!"
I then pick up the kid as I ignore Zuriel for a moment and then move towards the tent and answer as I look deep into her eyes, making her close her mouth shut,"sure, I will kill them."
She just stood there blankly with her mouth shut as she saw me walking towards the tent.
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