Arcane Era-Chapter 52: At Crossraods (Part 1)

"I see... so that’s how you reached this point. Well, I’m glad you kids are alright."

Damon grinned wide, even proceeding to rub Theo’s rough hair, which caused him to step back and scowl. He especially disliked how his friends snickered around him, creating a mild moment of embarrassment that he decided to shrug aside.

Theo and his friends were able to inform the two Zenith members of everything they knew, while automatically emptying out the storage room filled with the leftover Armaments that they had to abandon.

With Fae and Damon now present, the group felt they had more time, so Theo had his allies sort through more of them while he refilled Liyah’s pink teddy with Ne’sh. Most importantly, however, he was focused on what the two individuals before him would say or do.

"We pretty much understand the situation." Fae sighed. "It’s not safe within the Inner Court for now, so you all should stick close to us."

"Are you going to rescue Shen?" Theo asked, his eyes gleaming brightly.

Fear and doubt had begun to creep into his mind on whether he and his friends could even pull off a rescue involving the Supreme Lord of Tyranny and Mercenary King—two immensely powerful figures who were way beyond their league. However, with the Zenith now present, and on their side, those worries were vanishing.

With these two... it was possible.

They could win!

"Rescue Shen? No, not that..." Fae smiled, almost suppressing a small laugh that made it seem like Theo had just said something crazy.

"Shen can take care of himself. Right now we should be more concerned with the welfare of our guests, who have been taken prisoner, as well as making sure the integrity of the Outer Court remains intact. If we can disrupt their takeover in the Outer Court and protect the hostages, they’ll have no cards against us and won’t be able to advance to the Middle Court." Damon added, which was followed by Fae nodding.

"Exactly." She said, "We cut off their arms and legs, force them to crawl, and then—"

"What about Lord Shen?" Theo asked, his fists slowly clenched as he alternated stares between the two of them.

"Like I said, Shen can—"

"Handle it? He literally only has a few hours left, and he is trapped in a barrier unable to do anything to stop the enemy, yet you people refuse to take this matter seriously!" Theo responded, unable to hide his annoyance any longer.

"Theo—"

"This is the kind of attitude that got us into this mess, in the first place. If you had just listened the first time, and taken the necessary precautions, this wouldn’t have happened!" He sighed, throwing his hands into the air as he walked away from the group.

"I know Lord Shen is powerful... he might be the most powerful man in the world. But he isn’t invincible! Without the Armaments... without Ne’sh to power them, isn’t he just a Mortal like the rest of us?"

"I wouldn’t be too sure about that." Damon smirked, but after seeing Theo’s glare intensify, he quickly changed his expression and raised both hands to show them apologetically. "Sorry. Go on, Theo."

"Urgh! Even now that I explain the situation, you don’t understand how dire it is?"

"So what would you have us do?" Fae narrowed her eyes. "Abandon the potentially innocent lives that are imprisoned and could be lost at any moment, and go on a rescue operation to save the man who is the strongest in the world?"

"You can’t put it that way, like it’s some kind of dichotomy."

"Isn’t it?"

"No! This is a matter of utility." Theo argued fiercely. "If we rescue Lord Shen in time, we’ve practically won. He can use his Arcane Abilities to fight back against the Mercenary Crew, stop the Mercenary King, and dismantle the Crew."

"And what about the many—"

"I don’t care about them!" Theo snapped, his eyes wide open as he revealed the truth for the very first time in a while.

"...."

"I care about my friends... and the people who treated me with kindness." He shifted his gaze many times as he addressed everyone present. "I care about the Zenith, and I especially care about Lord Shen."

"So screw thousands others that could be potentially saved because they’re strangers?" ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

"They would have walked all over me and not paid me a second thought if they saw me wallowing in the streets or in an underground prison, so yes." Theo said, his defiance clearly visible in his eyes as he firmly stood his ground.

"Really? So your concern for the people in that prison back then wasn’t genuine?" Fae asked, her crimson eyes staring straight into Theo’s. For a moment, sheer silence echoed amidst the two—no, amidst every single person in the room.

Then—

"Are we going to keep wasting time here, or do something productive and save Lord Sh—?"

"Answer my question first, Theo." Fae frowned. "Were you genuine back then?"

"Yes."

Theo sighed. "I genuinely cared about them... but in the end, I chose my freedom and my life over theirs. I always have... and always will."

"I see..."

"If Lord Shen falls, the Ak’ashi Guild falls. Everything I have come to cherish could crumble right in front of my eyes, and I will go down with it, knowing I could have done something—anything to stop it from happening." Theo stated plainly, his voice slowly growing somber until it became nothing but a whisper. "And, I owe him..."

"Well, that’s a nice sentiment to have and all, but we’re sort of running out of time and we’ve made up our mind." Damon groaned and sighed, rubbing his cleanly combed hair so it became unruly.

Then, he brought out a comb and began straightening it out.

Fae stretched her hand, inviting Theo to come nearer, so they could venture back together.

"Yeah... I can see that." Theo shifted back, shaking his head. "But I’ve made up my mind too."

Upon hearing this, Fae sighed in exasperation and lowered her hand.

"Well, that’s unfortunate... though I don’t think we ever said you had a choice in the matter." Damon stepped forward, but was quickly halted in his tracks by a small, feminine figure.

"You wanna get to him, you’re gonna have to go through me!" Liyah said, glaring with determination as she raised both hands to obstruct Damon’s path.

"Are you being serious right now?" He chuckled, trying to bypass her, when two other figures rushed to her side and also stood in his way.

They were Arlet and Kaycee.

Then, Liyah summoned her pink teddy bear, and it turned into a giant, creating an ominous shadow that covered Damon. All four obstacles glared at the man who stood before them, clearly having no intention to budge.

"Okay, you guys should take it easy..." He raised both hands gently. "This is going a little too far..."

"Theo!" Liyah yelled, swiftly turning back. "Go! We’ll hold them off."

"You guys..."

"Hurry!"

Theo nodded, a smile forming on his face as he darted away, packing up as many Armaments as he could as he advanced down the path that led to the Event Hall. Fae watched this from where she stood, groaning silently while Damon tried, but failed to get past the three ’kids’ and their giant sentinel.