Chapter 70: Asylum
"Linel!"
As we approached the entrance of the asylum, one of the two guards seemed to notice us and took a step forward. Squinting his eyes, the moment he recognized Linel, his face lit up and he waved his hands at him. This guard was standing in front of the gate in an eye-catching black uniform. Behind him was the guard house, which was a little shack filled with equipment and fans. Connected to this guard house was a sturdy-looking gate with many bars that allowed air and light to flow freely between the inside of the compound and the rest of the world.
"Henry."
Waving back, Linel led us in front of the gate. The guard who was waving then seemed to notice that Linel wasn't alone and took another couple of steps forward. Panning his gaze over all of us, the moment he saw Oliver, recognition flashed across his eyes and his previously excited hand and facial expression dropped.
"We're here to visit Mary."
Linel announced and gave the guard within the guard house a nod. Tipping his hat in greeting, the guard in the guard house allowed his gaze to wander over all of us, stopping for just a split second on Oliver, before he pulled the cap over his eyes and turned away. His partner, the guard who waved at us on the other hand, was staring fixated at Oliver. In that gaze was a mix of cautiousness, fear, and disgust.
"Henry?"
Snapping his gaze to Linel as he suddenly realized he was staring at Oliver, Henry gave a weary smile as he reigned in the emotions in his eyes and stepped aside to allow us to enter the asylum. Then, giving one last sweeping gaze over the four of us, he gave a fake smile as he spoke.
"You should be able to find Mary in the garden during this time. If not, just ask around. She's pretty popular in the containment area so everyone knows here."
Nodding our heads, we stepped past the large gate and into the asylum. The moment we were inside, we heard the doors quickly swing shut behind us with a soft creak and a rush of wind. Resisting the urge to turn my head, I lifted my chin to take in the sight of the asylum.
It was a building befitting the name 'asylum'. White walls glittered in the sun as the sound of water trickled into my ears. The wind blew kisses at my face as the sun caressed my skin. Taking one step here, it felt safe, comfortable, and definitely not how I would have thought a building that houses High Street's criminals would look or feel.
"Follow me.'
Breaking the peace with a nonchalant voice, Linel gestured for us to follow him as we headed closer and closer to the source of the water noises. First, we walked into what looked like a wide foyer held up by thick pillars. Swerving left, we exited this foyer area and intruded into an extremely quiet garden filled with peace. The flowers bobbed their heads in the wind as a small fountain in the middle of the garden sprayed its contents on all the nearby plants, leaving the leaves and petals wet and dewy even though it was currently the middle of the day. And sitting on a wooden bench near this waterfall was a face I had seen in the newspapers.
"Mary!"
Walking up to the woman with a straight back, a fair face, and large but piercing eyes, we called out to her. Turning to us, Mary seemed slightly surprised at our presence and elegantly stood up from her bench to squat in front of us.
"What are the five of you doing here?"
Under her intensely charismatic gaze, I found myself straightening my back and lining up neatly between Linel and Frank.
"We came to ask you something."
Linel started, using his hand to introduce each of us to Mary before we dove into the meat of our discussion.
"This is Oliver. He's the son of Andrew and is currently adopted into the Evans household. Then, beside me is Dan Evans, son of Elaine and Van. Frank Walton is the son of Jesse and Gilbert."
At the mention of Oliver, Mary showed a sympathetic expression.
"I'm sorry for your loss."
Shaking his head, Oliver thanked Mary and smiled at her. Then, he shot a gaze at Linel. Receiving his look, Linel nodded his head and lowered his voice.
"Actually, we came here to ask you about your arrest 2 months ago."
Mary jerked her eyes to Linel, narrowing them before a beautiful but serious smile graced her lips.
"Then, we should probably talk in my house."
Standing up, she naturally brushed the non-existent dirt and dust off her skirt and led the four of us further into the garden. Heading further left into the compound, we trekked through the beautiful and fantastical garden, walking past weaves of colorful flowers and bushes until we left the large patch of meadow and entered into what looked like a courtyard of grass. We then walked towards a nice-looking house built out of wood just a little distance away from the garden.
Opening the fancy carved wooden door, Mary showed us into a surprisingly bare room that held only the essentials, a simple table, several bookshelves, and a couple of chairs stacked in the corner. Pulling out the chairs, she arranged them around the table and gestured for us to sit.
"So, what caused the four of you to suddenly come here to talk about our arrest?"
Mary smiled as she elegantly laid her hands on her lap. Facing her, the four of us sat up straight and glanced at Oliver.
"Why did you allow yourselves to be caught?"
Noticing our stares, Oliver slightly nodded his head before being the delegate for the three of us. With his chin held up high, he asked this question to Mary as softly and gently as possible, while trying his best to not diminish his posture of confidence and authority. Opposite us, Mary chuckled at this scene and smoothly straightened her spine.
"You ask me this question, but it seems that you have some guesses on the reason."
Dodging our question without even blinking, Mary leaned slightly forward and questioned us back, her tone a mixture of aggressiveness and playfulness.
"If you're going to go straight to the topic, you can't just demand an answer. Don't you also have to put up something of equal value?"
A sharp glint shone in her eyes, and suddenly, we were propelled into a battle of words with her. Widening his eyes a little Oliver tightened the grip of his hands on his knees and attempted to shoot back at her.
"After the two of you got caught, Mark and James ascended to the position of acting leader and vice leader respectively. However, the situation between High Street and Middle Street has been tense lately, and might be similar or even worse than 2 months ago. If you tell us the circumstances of your arrest, we may be able to brainstorm a way to prevent the acting Leader and vice leader from changing positions again."
Listening to his words, Mary gave a particularly venomous but striking smirk as she tilted her head upwards to look down at us.
"You use words like 'may' and 'might'. Does that mean that you have no conclusive reason for your conjectures? Did the four of you come all the way here based on thoughts alone?"
With a smile as beautiful and sharp as glass, Mary check-mated Oliver, leaving him lost for words as he gritted his teeth, his eyes shaking as he scoured his brain for a comeback.
Seeing him struggle, Mary softened her smile and distanced herself a little from us.
"However, for a bunch of children, you've managed to come quite far for you to come all the way here."
Mary laughed as she lightened up the pressure in the air, relaxing her back as she leaned forward to pat Oliver on the head.
"Next time, it might be better to be a little more evasive. Going straight for the jugular would offend some people from High Street, and sometimes letting your opponent know the aim of your conversation would put you at a disadvantage."
Leaning back to rest on her chair, Mary winked and gave us some tips before moving back to our main topic.
"You mentioned that the tension is high between High Street and Middle Street. What happened?
Breaking her regal and aristocratic posture, Mary rested an elbow on her table and laid her cheek on her hand. Staring at us with unreadable eyes, Oliver took a deep breath before leaning forward a little to answer her.
Now that she was no longer playing around, we gave her a brief rundown of what happened in Middle Street in the past couple of weeks. And listening to us, she nodded her head and narrowed her eyebrows in thought.
"After I entered the asylum, Andrew or another researcher would usually visit and tell me the news. Recently, I was wondering why nobody was visiting. So this was why."
Shaking her head, Mary then folded her arms as she leaned forward to whisper to us.
"So, could you tell me why you think Vincent and I allowed our arrest?"
In response to Mary's whispering, Oliver also lowered his voice to whisper back. And in order to hear them, the three of us shifted our chairs closer, forming a tight circle.
"We think that to cover up the existence of the MDVA drug, you and Vincent used your arrest to draw the attention of High Street away from the MDVA team, allowing them to complete the drug in peace."
Mary closed her eyes and slightly pursed her lips, her head giving a half nod as if praising us on our deduction. However, based on her expression, we weren't completely correct.
"Well, you're half right. We did plan our arrest to pull their attention. However, the drug wasn't the only reason."
Giving a slightly bitter smile, Mary let her head flop to one side, her luscious black locks falling slightly as she spoke.
"During that time, the Leader's identity was also at risk of being exposed. That, combined with the MDVA drug having a significant breakthrough, and there wasn't much of a choice."
She shrugged her shoulders, and a small sigh escaped her lips as her eyes clouded over.
"Honestly, although we accepted the position as acting leader and vice leader knowing the risks, when it came, it didn't make the choice less painful."
Seeing Mary's eyes glisten despite their haziness, I could feel the intense emotions radiating in waves off her. However, even though the waves smashed against each other, forming a deep and treacherous whirlpool that would suck in even the most experienced sailors and spit them out bloody and broken, regret wasn't one of the emotions making up this whirlpool of feelings.
While peeking at her, she suddenly jumped out from the whirlpool and shook off the water on her shoulders, redirecting her attention to the four of us.
"You mentioned Mark and James are now the acting leader and vice leader, how are they faring?"
The four of us stared at each other before we turned our eyes onto Oliver. In return, Oliver gave a quick glance to the air beside him before nodding his head.
"They're currently doing their best to shut down the MDVA Prevention Act. The 'Defence Theory' was an addition to their plan that Andrew gave them before his execution. Originally, I think they planned to wait until the drug was fully developed. After that, using the existence of the drug, it would be easier to argue for the MDVA Prevention Act to be abolished."
Mary nodded her head at Oliver's words. However, at the last sentence, she narrowed her eyes and put on a thoughtful look.
"But since Andrew told them about the 'Defence Theory', their current plan should be to suspend the Act as long as possible until the drug has developed. Then, following that they'll proceed with the rest of their original plan."
Breaking her look of concentration, Mary lifted her head.
"The beginning of their original plan sounds reasonable, however, there is a problem with the latter half."
Everyone leaned forward and lowered our voices, going back to whispering as Mary informed us with a serious face.
"Mark and James probably aren't that aware of this, however, the MDVA drug shouldn't be publically released even after its development. It'll cause more harm than good."
Widening our eyes, we showed our surprise as she explained.
"One of the main reasons why kidnapping is not as prevalent as it should be, given the state of Bottom Street and Middle Street, is due to MDVA. it is one of the only 'benefits' that MDVA brought to the table. Ever since the general public became afraid of MDVA and saw it as an illness, especially one that affected children in the lower streets, the rate of kidnappings in general has gone down. Kidnapping still happens in Bottom Street due to how desperate some people down there are for money. But if the MDVA drug becomes widely available, child trafficking will rise in all the lower streets."
Breaking eye contact with Mary, we exchanged glances with each other. What she said made sense in a way that we had never considered before. However, if the MDVA drug doesn't go public...
"If the drug isn't readily available to the public, it defeats the purpose of it."
Speaking up, Oliver frowned as he gave an aggrieved look to Mary. Seeing this, Mary shook her head lightly as she leaned back on her chair.
"It's an inevitable consequence. At best, if the security of Bottom Street and Middle Street increases, we can limit the rise. But we can't stop it."
I bit my lip as I heard the finality in Mary's words. MDVA was the largest evil plaguing the streets currently. However, that didn't mean that kidnapping wasn't an equally large concern. Closing my eyes, I dragged the picture of two personifications of sunshine into my mind as I felt my breathing pick up.
The two boys were holding hands, infectious smiles on their faces as they laughed together. Seeing me, the boy on the left, my dear little brother, seemed to say something to Eren, before letting go of his hands and running over. Smiling, I wanted to reach out, to embrace that little guy into my arms. But as his figure charged towards me, I found that I couldn't move.
Stuck in place, I watched in heightening despair as Leo slowly became more and more transparent as he got closer. The always bright light in his eyes had dulled, becoming emotionless stones as they got further and further away from me as he ran. Then, just inches before he fit into my arms, he vanished.
I widened my eyes, the dread now full-blown panic as I looked up to see a needle where Eren was standing.
They were gone. Both of them.
And there was nothing I could do.
Stuck within this white and empty world, I could hear their voices sound far far away in the distance. But I couldn't even move my neck to see where they were. Everything was useless. I was useless.
"Dan."
Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice call out to me, bringing color back to my eyes, and I could suddenly move again. Turning my head, I saw the worry in Frank's eyes as he placed on hand on my thigh, relief spreading through those orbs as he saw me reacting.
"You alright?"
I nodded my head as he retrieved his hand and suddenly noticed that sweat had gathered on my palms. Wiping them as inconspicuously as I could on my shirt, I gave Frank a reassuring gaze before refocusing my attention back on the conversation.
The atmosphere was cold silence, Oliver and Linel pursing their lips as they took in what Mary had said. Both of them had ugly expressions on their faces, and Oliver would occasionally steal glances at the space beside him.
Taking a deep breath, I snuck a peak at Mary, who was looking over us with gentle eyes.
"Other than increasing security, is there really nothing else we can do?"
Suddenly, from beside me, Frank's hesitant tone rang out in the room. Immediately, everyone's eyes focused on him, and I could see him slightly squirm under the attention. Hearing his nervousness, Mary shot him a benevolent smile before leaning over to stare right into his eyes.
"Make no mistake, increasing the security is the best course of action on a large scale to prevent kidnapping. It's the best preventive measure. Of course, there are other methods that seek to solve the source of the issue rather than prevent its consequences. If the living standards of Bottom Street and Middle Street increase, kidnapping will lessen since people won't have to resort to it to live. Similarly, smaller scale things like having a close bond between communities and looking out for each other can also help decrease successful kidnapping attempts."
Mary reached out a hand to pat Frank's hair, her smile turning extra soft as she listed out many options and solutions. And at the end of it all, she retrieved her hand and reassured us.
"And all these changes will take place in time. However, if you really want to do something, bringing people together would probably be the best bet. Since if the four of you can reach all the way here, you can reach anywhere."
Twisting her neck, Mary casually glanced at the clock on the wall. Seeing the time, her eyes narrowed slightly as she returned her hands to the center of her lap, her noble guise coming back in full force as she gestured for the four of us to leave.
However, before she could say anything, a loud knock on the door violated the serene atmosphere, followed by an oddly familiar loud voice.
"Mary? Are you home?"
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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