It took a while for the prince to regain his bearings. The man he had met in those cells was a commoner, and now he suddenly was a ruler, of a flourishing nation no less.
This made little sense. But at the same time, he wasn't surprised.
With how Lady Anulo had been vehement about freeing him, she must have seen something in the man. He composed himself once again and cleared his throat.
"Ahem. Then is there a way to speak with Asta–King Astaroth? I have something to ask of him."
Phoenix looked at him and laughed internally.
'I understand his reaction. Even I thought little of him at first.'
"I can try to message him, see where he is and how long it would take him to come back. But he might still be busy. He told me before we came back to New Eden that the position he would be in on this side would be less than ideal."
The prince looked confused.
"Queen Phoenix, I am not sure I understand what you mean by New Eden. That is the name the gods gave to our world. Yet, you keep referring to it as though it is something else."
Phoenix looked at him, perplexed. Khalor wasn't present, and he didn't want this information to become public knowledge yet, but she was in a situation where explaining the entire picture was easier than spinning around the pot.
So she made her choice.
"As you are aware, Prince Nalafein, us 'Abnormals', as you call us, are not from the same world as you. Which is the reason we become stronger, much faster than you natives."
"Yes. I am aware. But I still don't understand why you refer to our world so casually."
Scanning all the players around the table, which now had curious looks on their faces, Phoenix pushed through with her decision.
"The world we come from is called Earth. In our world, we connect here through the use of special technology. To us Abnormals, or players, as we call ourselves, this is all just a game. For most of us, you are considered characters, created by some game designer. Nothing more than lines of code in a program."
All the jargon she used was quite unfamiliar to Nalafein, and his face morphed into a mask of confusion. But before he could digest the information, Phoenix kept talking.
"But a select few of us know something the rest of our world does not."
Violette stiffed up in her seat. She knew what Phoenix was about to say, but she was nervous at the idea of having it aired out so freely.
She trusted the people in the room in battle, yes, but she knew next to nothing about most of them. What if they talked about it outside after?
Phoenix could feel her nervous gaze and smiled reassuringly at her.
"What I am about to say may sound like madness for many of you in this room. But I assure you it is not. I believe this information wholeheartedly, especially after what I have been through recently, outside of New Eden. New Eden is not a game. It is as real as Earth. And they are connected?. Which means the danger spreading in New Eden will soon spill into ours."
The officers started whispering amongst themselves. But, contrary to what Phoenix thought, none of them refuted her statement, or even spoke up against it.
Gulnur was the first one to react.
"I believe you. Too many things are happening to me outside of New Eden, that cannot be explained otherwise."
The other officers slowly started voicing their acknowledgement of her words. Even the rational Morticia nodded in agreement.
The prince was still taking in the information. It was common knowledge that other worlds existed, at least for the natives.
But to think that an entire community of Abnormals suddenly appeared in theirs, thinking this was nothing but a game. The implications of this truth were not without repercussions.
To them, if this was just a game, wouldn't that mean they wouldn't think twice about killing people, or monsters, without thinking of the repercussions to this world? Would it not make these Abnormals the biggest threat to this world?
But a hand landed on his shoulder, stopping his mind from spiraling downward. Looking up, he met Phoenix's fiery red hair and sky-blue eyes.
"I know what you are thinking, Prince Nalafein. But not all of us are inconsiderate enough to act on our impulses, even knowing it is a game. Also, I believe the truth on this matter will soon come to light, and people will readjust their mentality."
Turning her head to look at the officers in the throne room, Phoenix put on a stern face.
"This information cannot leave this room. Understood? If any of you ever peep a word about this to the world, Khalor will probably hunt you down. Violette."
"Yes?!" Violette snapped out of her torpor.
She was terrified at the idea of someone here telling their family or friends what they had heard, and the fault falling on her. But looking into Phoenix's eyes, she understood the woman was ready to take all the blame should it happen.
"Can you contact Astaroth? Ask him when he can come back to the base. Tell him our politics might soon require both him and me to be present."
"On it."
As the girl started sending her friend messages, Phoenix gazed at the officers one by one once more. Seeing all of their serious faces, she understood they would keep quiet.
She turned back toward the prince.
"I will try to get Astaroth here as fast as I can. But he was going back home to see someone, and he told me there might be issues where he was when we left New Eden. So he might not come back right away."
The prince nodded, his mind distracted by the mind-blowing information he had been told. But his brain came to an abrupt stop.
"Wait. Home? So he is back in the Ash Elf kingdom? This is bad. If anyone affiliated with the king finds him, he is surely going to end up getting executed this time."
Phoenix frowned. As she was about to ask why, a knock resounded on the doors.
Leon went to open the door, letting the person outside into the room when he recognized him.
Prince Nalafein frowned at the older Ash Elf.
"Gelum'vire. What is important enough for you to interrupt us?"
The middle-aged Ash Elf bowed slightly to the prince.
"Young Prince. News from the capital just reached me. There is a demon at the gates. The city is under siege."
The ice-cold tone the man said this with almost made everyone believe he didn't care. But Nalafein knew better.
Panic already started seeping into the young man. He might resent his father for banishing him, but he still cared about the kingdom and its inhabitants.
"What about the outside of the walls?!" he asked, his voice trembling.
"Decimated, your highness."
Nalafein's stomach dropped.
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