Inverse System

Chapter 158 - Gather

"A lie? What do you mean by that? My father deceived his people?" Chloe outspoke as Rein made the claim.

"Well, maybe saying the king himself lied isn't right. He was most likely made to believe a false scenario, one set up by the true culprit," Rein explained, to which Zane nodded his head.

"Yes… It definitely was not the royal guard, that's for certain," he concurred.

"Right, because if it was, I would've had an earth-based Spring," Emria added.

"I see… But then, who's the culprit? Don't tell me it's her again…" Chloe uttered, with rage welling up in her voice.

"It most likely is. And it was for the same reason that she got rid of your mother. She wanted to take the throne for herself, but she didn't know that the king already had another child in another land," Rein explained. "So when Emria's mother was banished, and he brought your mother over from Draconica, that was not in my aunt's plan," Rein described.

With that, the atmosphere of the room dampened as Chloe's hatred grew, and Emria's saddened expression lingered.

"Hold on, you said your aunt? I thought you looked like her…" Zane pointed out, reminding Rein that he hadn't told him yet.

"Oh, yeah. There's no point in hiding it from you. Yes, Melina Alister is my aunt. My name is Rein Alister," Rein revealed, to which Zane was speechless, with a gaped expression as he looked at Rein.

"Calm down. My name and my family mean nothing now. Melina Alister is my enemy, and that's all there is to it," Rein calmly spoke, the calmest he'd ever been when talking about his aunt.

"You make it sound so simple… But is that really the case?" Zane asked, Rein instantly responding, with no hesitation.

"Yes. It's that simple."

There was a moment of silence in the room when Emria finally spoke out, with a question for Rein.

"Hey, Rein. I know you probably don't know the answer to this, but why do you think your aunt became the queen? Was that her final goal in starting this war, or is there more?" Emria posed, which evoked thought in both Zane and Chloe.

"Yeah, that's right. I've been wondering about that," Chloe joined in. "If her ultimate goal was to become queen, she would've stopped there, right? So why is she continuing?" She posed as Rein stood from his seat.

"Again, that's simple," Rein remarked as he began walking towards the door. "It's because becoming queen is just a prerequisite," he dropped as he opened the door and walked out, leaving everyone in the room bewildered as they followed him outside, the sun beginning to set over the horizon on this long day.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Zane asked as he caught of to him.

"Not too sure myself. It's just obvious that becoming queen isn't her end goal," Rein explained, which didn't satisfy Zane.

"Hey, wait a minute, you know more about this don't yo—"

"Brother," Chloe interrupted him. "Don't pry into it. If Rein withheld that information, it was for a good reason," she stated, her blinding trust for Rein eminent.

The group walked back to Sho's room, through the main lobby and down the hall, the last room at the end of the corridor. As they entered the room, they saw the conscious Sho sitting up on the bed, reading a book without a care in the world, with the old lady, who was his doctor, nowhere to be seen.

  "Yo. You're looking as healthy as ever," Rein said as he held his hand up in greeting.

"Yes, I'm feeling well now. Even the doctor said all I needed was a bit of rest after she treated me," Sho greeted back, moving his arms around, stretching them as they were no longer broken.

"Great. You think you've got enough energy to get back to Almes?" Rein posed, which made the other 3 behind him perk up.

"To Almes? Why? Are we going back home now?" Emria questioned, everyone else also wanting to know the answer.

"Yeah. Think you can make it back, Sho?" Rein asked again, to which Sho nodded affirmatively.

"Yeah, pretty easily too. We can leave whenever."

"Perfect," Rein swung his arm in a forward motion as he exited the room, indicating for the group to follow him.

They walked out into the orange land under the sunset sky, emerging from out of the city, out to the front gate of the town.

"Alright, directly northeast from here is Almes. Chloe, you hold Emria," Rein commanded, which perplexed the stretching girl, interrupting her warm-up.

"Me? What about you?" Chloe posed with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm staying here for now and helping Clyde and Xenia with their quest," Rein revealed. "I want everyone gathered at the gulf as soon as possible. I want to hold a meeting, a very important one. So I want you guys to go on ahead first. I'll join you tomorrow after we're done with the quest," he ordered them, which made Emria uneasy, frowning at him with a lonely expression, which Rein noticed.

"Heh, don't look at me like that Emria. It's only for half a day," Rein patted her on the head, which didn't get rid of the turmoiled expression she wore.

"It's not that…" She furrowed her eyebrows at him, which made him turn his head in confusion.

She let out a sigh, then shook her head.

"Nevermind. Just come home quick, k? Saphy might also be getting lonely," Emria instructed, making Rein chuckle.

"Sure thing. But I think Chloe here will be the most lonely of all," Rein joked, making the girl blush profusely, and making Zane look at the 2 with a suspicious eye, his brotherly senses tingling for some unknown reason.

"Anyways, we'll be going now. Help Clyde and Xenia and get back here," Sho faithfully remarked as they all departed, Rein waving at them as they ran into the distance, his smile fading away as they were out of sight.

"Now then, let's make this quick…"