No Second Chances: The Beginning Of The End - Chapter 32

Once a special team, which arrived along with the Jets, took down the rest of the horde, they placed a quarantine barrier around the entrance of the mine as well as the giant frog guarded the place while the man who came in contact with Chronos escorted him to Casamira. The gates then opened again with the help of the same dwarves who let Elvira and Sinns pass through, allowing Chronos to see the village which happened to be rather larger than Argos.

Suddenly, Chronos felt a sharp pain on his face after being pulled down and slapped hard by Nat, who was furious and stressed. “WHO THE FRICK YOU THINK YOU ARE BY LEAVING US LIKE THAT?!” –Nat yelled while continuously trashing Chronos who took a brief moment to realize who it was and what was going on. A couple of minutes later, Nat drops Chronos on the ground and looked at him in disdain before tears began to fall from her eyes. “You are all that is left from Doc…” –She muttered while sobbing and cleaning her tears.

“I’m sorry; I caused more problems than I should have.” –Chronos apologize while Phil was approaching them, followed by Sinns and Elvira who met with him after entering through the gate.

“I didn’t expect to see you here; I thought you would go back to where you came from given the dangers we were facing. But what was all that about? Who are you?” –Phil asked, aiming a handgun at Chronos as a preventive measure.

“I am not sure how but-“ –Chronos attempted to explain before being interrupted by Lorenz’s car stopping in front of them. Gree came out of the backseat and inspected Chronos in silence, to then read a report in her tablet just to confirm something.

“You went to Pandora’s forest, I presume?” –Gree asked coldly while narrowing her eyes. “Meaning that the package you had in the past was an egg close to hatch. Where is it now? Did the ruler take it?” –She continued questioning Chronos in a serious tone while everyone remained silent in order to hear the answer.

“Wait, what? An egg? What happened in Pandora’s forest? What is going on now?” –Nat asked once she caught up with the conversation, looking at Chronos trying to get answers with a confused and fragile expression.

“It was dead all along…” –Chronos replied while clenching his fists, recalling the moment he witnessed the insides of the egg falling from it in the form of a dark gooey mass back in Pandora’s forest.

“This is not the place to discuss this matter, so take him to the commissary and lock him in there; we need to avoid any more public disturbance.” –Ivan ordered as there were people already gathering around them. Phil demanded Chronos to raise his hands and proceeded to restrain him using handcuffs that Lorenz threw at him.

Nat felt betrayed, the only person she thought could be anything related to her former tutor, ended up being a liar from the beginning. She sat on the ground and simply reflected in silence, while everyone left. Pascal and Marco tried to make her go to rest by sending her to the apartment and so she did.

Meanwhile, Elvira and Sinns were being interrogated by Gree on what happened the past weeks as she also explained how she got a hold of some information. Chronos was locked in a cell underground and being watched by Phill who as felt betrayed but attempted to avoid mixing his feeling with the situation.

“Answer me Chronos; I asked you once and I am asking you this again, who are you?” –Phil asked, calm but annoyance could be noticed in his tone.

“The only thing I know about myself is that my name is Chronos, I thought I was a guardian when I first heard the term, but I failed, the egg I was carrying was dead, and I couldn’t become one. I was lured to Pandora’s forest by something I couldn’t understand, my mind broke into pieces, and after learning magic, I felt like I could defend myself.” –Chronos explain trying to summarize the past events while gesturing with his hands as they reflected his feelings through the explanation.

“Was the magic those needles you summoned while fighting gigantic infected?” –Phil asked while analyzing the information Chronos just gave him. “And what do you think lured you to the forest? Was it the elves living in there? Did you meet any elf there? Did you understand anything about what they said?” –He continued to ask in order to find out more.

“I somehow knew what they were saying all the time, there was an elf called Archival, he helped me to enter in a state to learn magic and said he lured me to the forest but it wasn’t him, because I could feel something else in my head, I kept thinking about it but it keeps fading away from my thoughts.” –Chronos explained, remembering how he saw Archival die in the forest as everything was in flames.

“And you learned magic just like that? Out of the blue? I’ve seen very experienced people in the matter and never heard of anyone mastering it so simply and at such degree.” –Phil countered in order to press Chronos for details, the information was vague and he knew there had to be more behind what Chronos said.

“There was a trial, to see if I was worthy of bearing Pandora’s duty. After I completed it, I felt stronger, but then I was taught the base of magic by Archival. He just simplified it but it came to me faster than he expected and I woke up from a dream where Pandora helped me break free from a transparent cage. Once that happened I could see the spears appear whenever I called them.” –Chronos continued narrating his past experience within the forest, before briefly looking at his hands in the end.

“And how did you end up meeting with Elvira and Sinns?” –Phill crossed his arms and sat down while sighing, trying to believe what Chronos just said.

“I can answer that.” –Gree mentioned as she walked in and sat next to Phil. “Sorry for taking long, I just had a very emotive reunion with Sinns and Elvira. I would tell them they are cuter than before but my pride wouldn’t let me.” –She added with a sassy tone. “Anyways, back to the point. Chronos fought them in Pandora’s forest and seemingly defeated Sinns because he took her by surprise with his new flying sticks, which I have to add, are a huge surprise to me too, since you seemed to be more of dead weight in the beginning.” –She added bluntly. “So according to Sinns you are more dangerous than the elf on the shelf or archive or something.” –She finished by gesticulating with her hand in a dismissive way to subtract importance to the matter.

“For how long were you hearing this conversation before you entered the room?” –Phil asked Gree who seemed very satisfied with the answers Chronos gave to him since it made sense according to the conversations she had with Elvira and Sinns.

“Everything; I didn’t want to ruin the mood so I waited outside and entered when necessary.” –Gree answered while passing Phil her tablet with a report on it. The report consisted of the investigation team receiving an anomalous incoming signal from the Pandora’s forest, which affected the frequency of the measuring devices, forcing a protocol scan of the zone with a recon team.

Phil read the report in silence and continued by reading the plan of raiding the forest after a special prototype of the new AMHAR series was destroyed mysteriously in the middle of the failed dragon extermination. He saw all the participants’ names in a list and the date of the operation. After that, there were no other reports concerning the Pandora’s forest raid and Phil leaned back on his chair while sighing as Chronos was in silence looking and them.

“A dragon, the same one we saw in Argos? But that doesn’t make any sense. It is too much of a coincidence as if-“ –Phil began to give his opinion before being interrupted by Gree who took back her tablet.

“As if someone sent the Dragon to Argos, yes; but this someone is dead, along with the dragon. However, there was no more information about the anomaly other than the brief reading the investigation department got.” –Gree continued, explaining to Phil the missing point. “So yes, Chronos, Sinns, and Elvira fought. Chronos won. And everything he has said is true, but the anomaly, the source of it was not Chronos. Because if it was him, the readings the investigation department got, wouldn’t have stopped.” –Gree concluded by looking at Chronos fascinated and pointing him with her index finger.

“So what is Chronos then? Is he a mage? Or is he a Guardian? Or is he something we haven’t discovered yet? This is so confusing.” –Phil pondered in the matter while holding his head to ease the headache he was getting from all this matter.

“For now, it is best for me to use him as a lab rat and find out what is he, and why is he always in between so many causalities.” –Gree pointed out before Phil stood up and gave a last look at Chronos before leaving the room. “Oh right, try to talk with Nat, she is sulky since the horde was wiped out. Maybe you can find out what is the matter with her.” –She gave Phil a thumb up and let him leave.

Once Phil exited the room, he was met by Lorenz and the leader of the team that helped wiping out the horde. “Mr. Moroc, I know you are busy with the reunions but this is an official from the capital and leader of the rapid response team who came to help us thanks to the distress message I sent before. He wants to ask you a few things, so now if you excuse me I need to leave.” –Lorenz quickly pointed out before leaving them to attend other matters concerning the workshop as his phone began to ring during the time he spoke.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Moroc, I’m Charles Ford, and as the workshop director said, I dedicate myself to reach and quickly deal with situations like the horde. However there are other missions I get regarding border patrolling, and I hope you understand where this is explanation is heading.” –Charles talked in a very formal tone and took a couple of handcuffs from the back of his belt. “According to the law of this kingdom, the party that traveled with you and the newcomers that recently helped in the battle with the horde are under arrest and you will be escorted to the capital for interrogation.” –Charles stated while arresting Phil who was surprised by this sudden outcome. A couple of agents that accompanied Charles entered the room where Phil came out from to arrest Chronos and Gree, who didn’t resist, however, Chronos didn’t understand what was happening and Gree willingly walked along with the agent.

While they were escorted out, Chronos saw Elvira and Sinns being politely told to accompany them while Nat was trying to resist since she wasn’t sure of why they were being taken away. Nat then calmed down as she saw Gree being quiet and serious while following the agents to a helicopter situated in the vicinity of the Village.

Phil noticed the old Innkeeper talking with one of the agents, the innkeeper casually shifted his attention to Phil and grinned, which made Phil realize Lorenz wasn’t the one who sold them out, but the innkeeper. He clenched his fists in anger but Gree immediately tapped his arm in order to snap him out of it. “Keep calm; there was nothing else here for us.” –She muttered while walking towards the helicopter.

Charles was following them and made sure every one of them got up in the helicopter before looking back at his team. “Make sure to confiscate and investigate all their belongings. Interrogate everyone who made contact with them.” –He commanded before putting on some straps and heading towards his dragon, which was the giant frog-looking beast, fully equipped with several belts and cargo.

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