Curse the Mainframe! 341 What's The Ash Phoenix Saying?

"Elysia!" Alec hissed, causing her to jump right outside the cell door.

Luckily he managed to stop her before she put her hands on the door that had a multitude of alarms and shocks that would keep the intruder from entering.

Elysia's familiar figure whirled around as she scratched her cheek, feeling strangely guilty.

She mimed a bit, successfully getting across her surprise to see him here.

The smile on Alec's face twitched, and his lips fought not to frown. How could he ever have expected for one of his Main Characters to stay out of trouble indeed.

…Wait.

Wasn't he doing the same thing right now?

Alec made himself speechless, then he put aside the matter for the time being.

[What are you doing here?] He signed to her.

Elysia smiled sheepishly. [Ashy went missing!] She made the name signs for her Ash Phoenix, whom she hadn't seen for a bit.

Alec resisted the urge to frown again.

He didn't think that the people in charge of this place would be so sloppy as to kidnap familiars when the people on board still had a chance to make a mess of things, so that shouldn't be it.

Then, he remembered how the Ash Phoenix had tendencies to fly right into trouble, and he strained his ears a bit, listening for any sounds that would give him a hint.

Now that he was focusing only on the sound, he could hear the faintest echoes of a song that sometimes haunted his dreams.

He faintly despaired.

Was there going to be a massacre tonight?

[He wasn't kidnapped by these people.]

Elysia looked surprised. [How do you know?]

Alec pointed at his ears. [Listening. Ashy is further down below.]

Elysia was curious about what he was hearing to realize that it was her Ash Phoenix, this probably wasn't the time for them to chat about it casually.

She nodded and hopped down, abandoning the empty 'cell'.

Alec quickly checked the next magical signature nearest to them, then the next few.

He was confused, because there were a mix of creatures as well as people, and there were even some treasures in each cell.

There didn't seem to be a rhyme or reason for the segregation.

The most surprising thing was that other than the group who had hurriedly run around on the top earlier, there were no other guards in this place at all.

It was utterly unconceivable.

Considering the people and creatures as well as the other things inside the 'cells', they should all be relatively valuable, but there weren't any guards at all, and were instead just left inside the cells.

There were seals on the doors, sure, but they were only basic seals that a normal seal master could use, let alone and array master.

More than that, the Ash Phoenix had come down here by itself, so there should be something up.

Not to mention, Alec could still hear the haunting sounds that were coming out of the Ash Phoenix's mouth.

It was a song that was hard to describe, and it felt like nothing living could ever make a sound like that.

Once you heard it, you would never be able to forget it for the rest of your life.

It was, at once, chilling and also solemn and respectful at the same time.

The emotions that it inspired in a person was different from person to person, but that was only if they had the ability to hear the Ash Phoenix in the first place.

Some people, no matter how long or how often they stared at the Ash Phoenix's open mouth that was clearly singing, they would never be able to hear the sounds that left its mouth.

The last time he'd heard the Ash Phoenix sing was when he was in the Rothschild's Family Manor, and there had definitely been a small-scale massacre in the manor that involved the spies that had infiltrated the servants.

Alec suddenly had to acknowledge the bad feeling that was telling him this smelt of a plot. He'd already denied it as long as he could.

Damn his curiosity!

But at least it let him run into Elysia who had also come running down here without a second thought.

Who knows what would have happened if he left her alone?

It wasn't that he was worried about her safety, but rather, the chaos that she could cause. It was on a whole different level!

Alec listened closely to the Ash Phoenix's song, and he could tell that he was getting nearer. The song was louder, and hauntingly chilling.

Every time he listened back to it or listened to it closely, it gave him a strange sensation. As if someone was walking over his grave, or he was having a close brush with the personification of death.

Still, he found it strange that he was the only one who had ever heard the Ash Phoenix's song.

Even Elysia had no idea what he was talking about just now when she asked how he knew.

Or maybe she just wasn't close enough to hear it?

After all, it had been faint even to his ears.

Alec found Elysia with the Ash Phoenix perched on her shoulders, and Loeri was chanting again.

"Yummy things, yummy things all around!" Loeri sang happily.

She burrowed down happily into Alec's hair, showing her happiness.

Alec suddenly had a thought. Was what Loeri called 'yummy things' referring to the people or the creatures that were around? Or was it the treasures that were scattered here and there?

They were stationed outside of a cell that contained a person.

The Ash Phoenix's haunting song resounded in his ears.

That person looked like they'd seen better days.

It was a young man with dark brown hair. His eyes were shut so that they couldn't see what colour his eyes were, but his complexion was waxen and pallid.

He looked like he was on the verge of death, and he was coughing weakly.

The cough seemed to have taken quite a lot out of him, and he had to take deep, heaving breaths that drained all of the energy out of him.

Something inside Alec screamed at him, and he couldn't help but frown when he stared at this young man.

It wasn't that often that his gut screamed at him for something, let alone for another person. It wasn't like this man was the only one who was in distress, and it wasn't like he was the only one who was suffering.

What, then, did it mean for him that his gut was telling him something about this man here in the cell?

This was the first time that he felt something this strongly, but he couldn't tell what his gut was telling him to do.

Still, it wasn't like he was going to ignore his gut after getting this far.

He stopped Elysia before she was about to touch the door.

Somehow, the seals on this one cell were a lot more severe than the rest.

Should he take this as a sign that the young man inside was more important or valuable than the rest of the things in here?

But what was it exactly that made him more important than the rest?

If he was so important to them, then why was he inside and practically dying while no one else cared?

One look at him could tell you that he wasn't in a good condition. He looked like he could die at any moment.

Likewise, Elysia originally hadn't been planning on helping, but the more she looked at him, the more she felt like he was going to die if she left him there like this.

Alec wondered if this was what the Ash Phoenix was warning them about.

The moment he got the seals off the door, he strode forward.

At this moment, the young man let out a series of gut-wrenching coughs, and the loudness of it echoed in the silence of the place.

Elysia and Alec were too well-trained to react other than quickly grabbing him from inside.

Alec carried him bridal style. He didn't think that he would survive any other method of carrying him.

Already, there were footsteps that were thundering above them.

Chapter end

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