Rough shaking followed by a stern voice cause me to wake up with a completely sore body.
"Leone. Wake up"
Flinching from the loud voice and pain I try to reply "Y-Yes?"
Another shake follows causing me to open my eyes gazing at a serious looking Zhloe while in a cold and sterile looking white room.
"W-Wherrre… am I?"
Her face doesn't show any kindness, but as soon as I'm able to look up, relief shows in her eyes. "You're in the forced recovery room, before you try to move, don't you're tied down"
Confused and startled I look around "Why am I h-" Suddenly I remember losing control, my eyes widen and my skin turns moist while a chill runs down my spine. "Did… Did I hurrt them?"
"Yes, quite seriously too"
Turning pale I gaze at the padded ceiling while trying to remember what precisely happened. Remembering my claws formed and that I was angry, fear begins to claw at my mind. "N-No.. W-Why…"
Suddenly I feel a tap on my cheek causing me to shake my head and look up towards Zhloe "Snap out of it"
With tears rolling down my cheeks I gawk at her in desperation.
"Yes they're hurt and a few of them in a critical state, so we can't just dismiss the issue. Officially I have to make a report as to what caused this."
Depressed, guilty and defeated I close my eyes "I'm so sorrrry"
Softly sighing she places her hand on my head "Don't beat yourself up too much, Danny and I both know you were overwhelmed and after my report the other staff will know as well.
Conflicted I turn back towards her "I just… I'm so confused…"
Her stern expression has already made way for a compassionate smile while she softly strokes my head "That I can really understand, but please try to be patient while we explain and discover it all."
Letting go of my tears I look away as I'm not sure how to act, yet she never stops patting my head causing me to purr softly. Eventually I turn back towards her causing her to smile "You are rather cute though"
When I turn red, she just chuckles "Let me untie you, you're calm enough" She quickly loosens the latches before handing me a cup "Here, drink some water"
When she hands it to me, I once again take a quick sniff before taking a sip. "I just… what should I do with my life? I've always been working, always been studying. Just to make sure that I'd get my grade two degree enabling me and my mom to move to the Alliance"
Hearing my words her expression saddens "I guess I still owe you an explanation about that…"
Surprised by her tone I turn my head "Why do you look sad? It's that serious?"
She takes a deep breath before sighing "Because it'll turn your life upside down"
With a scoff I shrug "Just tell me, it's not like I can change any of it and my life's already a giant mess"
Hesitant she stays silent for a moment before nodding. "It's true that the Legion has been highly aggressive throughout history. Truthfully however these days the roles of the Alliance and Legion are pretty much reversed."
My confused frown makes her nod "You see, the Legion is called the Holy Legion for a reason, it is because our behavior defines our nation. After the mysterious tragedy that caused society to collapse thousands of years ago, there are barely any scraps of recorded history left. However way back then, a collective of societies and nations banded together and devoted themselves to the gods and their ways. Since then we try to live in the ways they have taught us."
Curious I turn my head "Do they… You know… Communicate?"
An amused smile forms on her face "Yes, multiple have throughout history and not in the cryptic ways as written down in pre-ancient tomes. But to get back to the history lesson. After the collective eventually founded the Holy Legion, the majority of the leaders of the countless societies and nations were in favor of expanding through whatever means possible. They wanted to share their believes, teachings, wealth and prosperity. But as you can imagine far from everyone would be willing to give up everything they've forged themselves to join a collective instead."
You are reading story Transcendence to Guardian of Subsistence at novel35.com
Nodding I faintly remember tales of nobles and royalty committing atrocious acts simply to remain in a position of power. "Yeah, I get what you mean"
She smiles and continues. "These back then called crusades earned the scorn and hostility of many some of which decided to band together in a similar yet at the time different manner forming the Alliance. The results were countless conflicts throughout history, but in the last hundred to two hundred years, the roles have slowly reversed. The Alliance has taken our ancient crusades as a love for war and keeps this belief alive by altering news, media, history, almost everything is changed by the Alliance simply to keep this war going. Over time, the Alliance became a monarchy which slowly turned it into an ironclad dictatorship."
Baffled I shake my head "Wait, Wait, What? That can't be trrue"
Grabbing a tablet of the table next to her, she gives me a kind smile. "You said you remembered your best friend right? Do you recall her name?"
"Yeah, Emma Cloudwalkerrr"
Tapping on the tablet a satisfied smile appears on her face "This is her now"
She hands me the tablet and once I take a look my jaw almost drops. "She and herrr family arre all employed? Herr sisterr is even in college?"
Nodding she takes back the tablet back "Emma Cloudwalker is now called Eloise Cloudrunner and is a highly ranked IT networking-specialist, her parents have gotten jobs in retail while her younger sister has achieved her grade four degree and is working towards a master specialization in healthcare."
"And her grandparents?"
She scrolls through the information before her smile dims slightly "Sadly her grandmother has passed away last year because of liver failure, however her grandfather is now living in a center specialized for elderly that have lost one or multiple family members."
Baffled I shake my head "I… I still can't believe it… I mean I grrew up in a neutrral city-state, we shouldn't be-"
With a kind voice she interrupts "Well… that's where the black and white history lesson becomes a bit blurry. It's true that the Alliance alters almost everything before it reaches the public, but it's also true that the Legion hasn't done much to change that. Our borders are surrounded by walls and are generally closed to immigrants or refugees. That what happens behind these walls is often kept secret and due to a few questionable Legatus' the military has been able to ignore certain rules and boundaries for quite some time."
Confused and frustrated I look up "Like what happened to my city?"
With a saddened look she nods "While the annexation was planned and approved by the entire council, the treatment you and many others received was inhumane and cruel. Once the council received word of these events, many high ranking officials were charged with crimes against humanity and it eventually led to the abdication of the Legatus."
Sighing deeply I hang my head. "You said this facility changed… Is therre still a rroom…?"
Rapidly she shakes her head "no-no-no nothing like that exists anymore. I mean, the people are still there, the mutations too… But since the Animus project has been shackled most people were free to choose what they wanted. Some chose to live on within this facility, some chose to gain freedom in exchange for work in the military and some even chose death…"
Closing her eyes she gently shakes her head before taking a deep breath "Among those who live in this facility, blood is still spilled, injury is a common case among those with demonic animus. But nowadays, they're no longer kept in cages, the injuries are treated and their environment is kept clean. It's just that once overcome by the demonic Animus… there's very little that can be done."
With a deep sigh I rub my face before squeezing my hands together "I…" With an awkward smile I chuckle "I feel like all my memories are worthless"
A sound of compassion escapes her lips before she gently grabs my hands "Some of them might be incorrect, but don't forsake everything"
Doubtful I simply nod before looking at my hands "How come they change into claws?"
She shakes her head "We aren't completely sure, but the initial analysis shows it may be related to your balance. They believe that because you have a perfect balance between angelic and demonic Animus, you are able to minutely alter the balance yourself and thus can form claws when succumbing to the demonic side. However before you worry, it hasn't changed more than 0.03 percent"
Astonished I gaze at my hands before looking into her eyes "That little is enough to make such a big change to my body?!"
Clearly unsure she nods before quickly changing the subject to hide her awkwardness "Come, I suspect the tranquilizers are still somewhat in effect so I prepared a wheelchair in case you're unable to walk."
Hearing that, I try to lift up my legs but it costs a great amount of effort to simply lift it, let alone walk with it. "Yeah.. I might need it" With a shallow sigh I slide into the wheelchair.
"Let me show you the other special subjects"