Chapter 129 - A Friend, Perhaps : Part 1

"Who's that?" Zack dumbfoundedly blinked at the Vergessene family that had just arrived. The brunette put down the broom in his hand as he stared at the silver head soldier.

The said soldier's hands were being held by Cain as he walked in front of the man. Cain gripped Leo's shoulder tightly while forcing him to walk.

"Axel's friend," Kiaran answered nonchalantly as he ruffled Axel's hair. The latter was eating a cupcake with a paper bag in his other hand.

"If you're asking me, that doesn't look like a friend at all." Zack gazed back at Leo's face, which had turned into a white sheet.

"What do you mean? Leo and Axel are good friends." Kiaran retorted back with a sly smile.

Zack's face turned into a deadpan as he wrinkled his nose. "You are mad."

"Thank you." Kiaran grinned as he patted Zack's shoulder and went past him. Cain and Adreanna went past the brunette too, with Leo being held like a hostage in Cain's hands.

Zack sighed and turned around to face the Vergessene family while Axel stood beside him. "So you guys kidnap a child again?"

Leo snapped his head to Zack with widened eyes. He was the fastest one to answer with a terrified tone. "...again?"

"What happened to the previous one?" He continued, raising his voice a little to demand an answer.

Zack smiled apologetically to Leo as he scratched his head awkwardly. He did not answer the boy and diverted his gaze to Axel who was staring at him with his emotionless eye.

"What happened to the previous one?!" Leo repeated his question desperately, and Zack did his best to avoid the silver head's question. The brunette looked at the wall like some kind of museum, pretending to have taken an interest in it.

"Axel! Help me!" Leo's last resort was to beg the emotionless boy for help. The silver head wriggled in Cain's held and thrashed around, trying to reach Axel.

"I don't want to die!" He yelled. Too desperate.

Axel rummaged through his papers after taking them out of his pocket. He picked the one that he had been searching for and showed it to Leo.

'no (≖᷆︵︣≖)????'

Leo suddenly stopped struggling. He could see his life flashing before him at Axel's paper. "...no?"

"What do you mean by no?!" Leo had fallen into a helpless cry this time. He just wanted to help Axel, but not this way!

"That means Axel want you to be his friend and stay here forever!" Kiaran happily exclaimed, ignoring how Axel blinked at his words and tried to shove the paper at Kiaran this time—probably trying to tell Kiaran that it was not what Axel meant.

Leo stiffened in too much shock as he trembly tried to see the youngest Vergessene once again. "Axel-"

Before he could manage to speak a word, Leo was thrown into a fancy room that the Vergessene family used for the guests. Usually, Zack would occupy the room. But lately, he had been sleeping inside Adreanna's room ever since he used his memory manipulation power.

The brunette had become really weak and got tired easily from using too much power. Adreanna did not want to let him go even the slightest and forced him to rest in her room while she watched him sleep.

It was scary and stupid, but both of them were actually foolish at this thing called love. So no one cared anyway.

Leo widened his eyes when there was two undead suddenly appeared from the ground and chained him up to the bed. The chains were long enough for him to roam around the room, but not long enough for him to reach the window with his hands or the door.

"You two play for a while. We're going to discuss something important." Cain smiled at Leo and Axel before leaving the room, followed by Kiaran and Adreanna with Zack waiting outside.

The undead that Cain had summoned suddenly vanished to the ground again while Leo looked at the said undead with leftover fear. His gaze fell down to the chains in his hands and tried to yank them off.

After failing to do so, Leo went to light fire in his arms, trying to melt the chains down. Axel watched the silver head in silence, standing not too far from him as he continued eating his cupcake.

When Leo knew that it was useless to use his power and burnt the bandage on his left hand, he started to give up. He threw his back onto the bed and looked over to Axel that had been standing ominously in front of him.

"I thought your family hated you?" Leo began, exhaling in despair while staring at Axel with half-lidded eyes. "Did they not?"

Axel did not answer. The boy just returned the stare, unblinking.

"So they didn't hate you?" Leo wonderingly moved his head to the left, staring at the door. Then he moved his red eyes to the chains and sighed again.

"Is that the reason why I'm chained up right now? For befriending you?" He frowned while looking outside the window. He wondered if his parents were looking for him right now.

They would, right?

Axel suddenly put a cupcake on Leo's right hand. The boy pulled out a bandage from his pocket and took Leo's other left hand as he sat down beside the silver head.

"Ah. Is this your way of apologizing?" Leo blinked and quickly sat down so Axel could grab his hand better.

"It's weird that you're different from Axel that I knew." His red eyes suddenly turned sad as he observed Axel's cracked face and bandaged neck.

Axel, on the other hand, started to reapply the bandage on Leo's palm that had been burnt as the silver head tried to melt down the chain.

"I guess you were really dead." Leo huffed with a bitter smile toward Axel. "I wonder what happened to you."

"I wished I could've saved you." Leo bit down the lump in his throat as he stared at Axel even longer.

When Axel finished bandaging his hand, they both ate cupcakes together in silence. The two bonded in messed up circumstances to be a friend. Perhaps.

✵✵✵✵✵✵

Kiaran hated everything that was presented to him right now. His blue eyes disgustedly scanned the police clothes he had to wear and the grey fingerless gloved that adorned his hands.

Kiaran also wore a surgical mask and a matching police hat that Valerian lent to him earlier this morning.

And now Kiaran was obediently standing behind Valerian a little as the blond introduced him to the policewoman that guarded the prison.

"This is my new partner." Valerian smiled professionally at her, introducing Kiaran politely. The mercenary almost scoffed at his action if he was not also trying to keep a facade right now.

"You finally get a partner? That's great! After Gina's..." She cleared her throat at the sudden touchy subject that she accidentally uttered and quickly changed the topic.

"But I've never seen him before." She moved her eyes from the tip of Kiaran's head to the bottom of his feet. The man was taller than Valerian, and he had some weird aura around him.

She almost caught Kiaran's blue eyes, but the mercenary quickly lowered the tip of his head to avoid her gaze.

"Ah. He's from another city. He's a little bit sick right now. That's why he's wearing a mask." Valerian quickly covered her question with a made-up story.

"I see. Who's your partner's name?" She cocked her head in wonder with a friendly smile.

There was a moment of silence before Valerian opened his mouth to make up a name. "Um."

"Jeff."

Kiaran's eyes twitched in irritation as he snapped his head toward Valerian. "Are you fucking kidding m-"

Valerian quickly jabbed Kiaran's rib with his elbow and chuckled awkwardly. "Yes. His name is Jeff."

She nodded and continued, "Is he a friend, perhaps?"

Valerian still tried to stay as relaxed as possible and coughed. "Um. Friends for now is a more accurate term, I think."

The policewoman's face morphed into a frown. "Friends for now?"

She stared back and forth between the two and then quickly blushed after a misunderstanding realization hit her. She coughed awkwardly and smiled at the two with hidden thoughts.

"Ah, I see. Good luck."

It was Valerian's turn to frown at her words. "Good luck?

Kiaran was having enough of the nonsense and stepped up, taking the lead away. "We are here to learn about the incident."

"Oh, you mean the mercenary's escape?" She was pretty quick-witted and started to explain the incident. "There is indeed a suspicious person and-"

"No, no. Not that." Kiaran cut her off. "I mean the mute murderer's body disappearance."

"You said the mercenary was the one who took his body?" He added, scanning the policewoman's expression dangerously.

"Yes." She confirmed with truth, and Kiaran got irritated even more. He was irritated that she was telling the truth.

He hated the truth.

"You can just talk to the witnesses for more information. They are in the interrogation room right now.." She continued while pointing at the room where the guards of Axel's grave were being interrogated.