Bab 24: As good as new
Early the next day, Blackman and Aella went to Roderick's manor and straight into his secret chambers. Only he and them both knew of and had access to the room. They knew he went there every morning and so they waited there for him.
It didn't take long for him to show up. What looked like a regular wall suddenly opened into two doors and Roderick walked in wearing a robe. He was taken aback by the presence of two people.
"What an unpleasant surprise to see you two here," he said. He never liked it when they showed up unannounced especially when they did so in his chambers.
"Surprise? Weren't you the one who sent for us?" Blackman asked.
"I never did that." Roderick casually took off his robe and walked into the warm tub. He sat in it letting his muscles relax. The water reached up to his chest. Aella's cheeks flushed seeing him suddenly drop his robe like that, not like it was the first time he was doing such.
"Rasmus said you wanted to see us and urgently at that," she said.
"He must have gotten the message from someone else. I never said that." Roderick replied. "But, it is a good thing you're here, Blackman. The other rulers are worried about your return, you should be careful. And, if you are going to be around for a while, don't wander too far from this city." He warned.
"They have no need to worry about me, I only came to check if you were keeping your promise about taking care of my sister, and it seems you are. Aella is doing just fine, so I'll be leaving soon." Blackman said and relaxed on the chair he sat on.
"Okay then, you can start by getting yourself out of here. Oh, and disregard any call for you that doesn't come from me directly. You know if I wanted to see you, I would have used the link."
"We know. I just thought to let you know the rulers are now invading your privacy," Blackman said. Roderick said nothing.
"We'll be leaving now." Aella said and stood to leave. So did her brother.
"Aella, tell Rasmus to get the children ready. I want to put them to full use," said Roderick.
"Full use? I thought you said you were getting better, it seems to me you are getting worse. I can smell it off you." Blackman said while walking away.
"What's the point in trying to control myself when I can get as much as I want." Roderick said with a devious smile. "Unless, Aella wants to defy my wish?"
"Not at all, I will tell Rasmus as you have said." Aella complied. Roderick smiled and Blackman shook his head, never in this lifetime would Aella refuse what Roderick ordered. There would be one instance where she would but that seemed unlikely to occur, at least not anytime soon.
********
Malakai explained everything that had happened to Alfred who had his eyes widened in horror.
"Wh-what is the gain in all this? Why?"
His question was same as everyone else's. What would their demise and their torture do for their captors? After a brief moment of silence, the steel doors keeping them locked in the room opened up. Rasmus and Aella walked in.
"Hey kids!" Aella said with a smile. They all moved back on their beds, some of them holding onto each other. With the addition of the recent kidnapping, the children numbered up to eighty and they were all scared seeing the two of them.
"How are we all doing today? You must be hungry, you haven't eaten yet. Say, do you want to eat out today?" She cheerfully asked.
None of them said anything. Staying in the room was probably the best for them. At least they knew they would not be put through any torture.
"You didn't answer, I'll make the choice then. You're eating out," she said and the pins placed on all their lives glowed. They all then got up and began to walk out of the room. They tried to fight hard but it wasn't working.
"N-no, no, no, I don't want to go out!"
"Wait, Kai, no stop this!" Alfred shouted as his body kept moving away. Everyone was being moved out except the two boys that had parts of them connected to the machine. As soon as they stepped out, Rasmus followed.
Aella walked towards Malakai who shifted in fear.
"Oh? Don't move away. I won't hurt you," she said and held his new arm in hers. That part of him still felt foreign, he could barely sense touch with it. She grazed her fingers on it repeatedly. "Do you feel that?" She asked.
He just stared at her. His body trembled as he remembered what she had done to his father. It was almost effortless for her to get rid of him and now she had the brightest smile on asking if he was okay. He somewhat didn't believe she was the same person. That day she looked different from what he had been seeing since being here.
"I said you don't need to be scared of me, as long as I am not mad at you. Feel free to speak, do you feel this?" She asked once more and he nodded.
"Y-yes, just a little bit."
She then moved her hand to the wires and looked at him with smile, "This is going to hurt. If you retain eye contact with me, you'll feel better." Her hands then glowed pink and he felt immense pain enter into his arm.
"AARGHH!" He shouted and moved away, trying to break free from her hold. But, he could barely move the hand from. "Stop it, make it stop!" He begged. The pain was slowly moving to the rest of his body.
"Look at me, you'll feel better." She said still carrying on with what she was doing. Malakai couldn't tell if she was joking or not, but would try anything to ease the pain. He achingly lifted his head to meet her gaze and immediately got locked in a trance. Not just her pupils, but the entirety of he eyes were pink. It glowed as he stared at them. He didn't even remember something was going on with his arm, he could feel nothing but a tingling sensation which he liked.
"Finished," she said and reverted her eyes back to normal. Malakai blinked a few times as he came back to reality.
"Finished?" He saw her take off the wires and whatever punctures that were supposed to be there were gone. He only knew when the pain the started, but what happened next? When did it end?
"As good as knew," she said.
Malakai looked at his arm and noticed it looked more alive and now felt like a part of him. He could move it as he pleased, he could feel it and it now was able to sense touch. But, it still was pulsating with power.
"It's only doing that because of you." Aella said and stood up.
"Me?" He wondered what she meant but she had already moved over to Michael to complete the same process with him.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone