Tension arose, and the subject hit like a stone. One might find it hard to conceive in this situation, you know: shocked eyes, cold sweat and sweaty palms.
But for Ivan Kuznetsov, this was nothing but a faded memory.
A memory that will please him and haunt him at the same time.
"That was a long time ago", Ivan responded, "The matter wasn't fully considered to be agreed, given that your current age then was...nine, if I'm not wrong".
"Iva_", Morticia tried to interrupt, but was too late. Orette was already snickering after hearing those words.
"God, you are right", she faces Mortica with a purely innocent smile, "Miss, do you know how old I was when I was sent to that care centre?", she turns to Ivan again, "I was nine".
Silence flooded the air like a storm, only to be even more tense with every second.
Mortica on the brink of tears, and Ivan with his grinding teeth. A perfect stage was displayed.
"Oh, doctor, you just couldn't let me go, now could you? It looks to me that I was the only one you found useful, not that I feel awful about it".
"Stop", Ivan's voice raged with cold.
"Sure, I'll stop, but just a little reminder, you brought this upon yourself".
"I was trying to help you".
"And I really appreciate it, really I do".
"You..." Morticia tried to compose herself, "You have no idea how much regretful I was after I_ no, after we found out what was going on. Till this day, I have stopped at nothing. Nothing at the hands of my power to find_".
"STOP RIGHT THERE".
...
Everyone paused in a sudden anticipation of the disturbance. Mortica and Ivan dragged their gazes to a group of armed men who looked like soldiers, wait, they were soldiers.
"HANDS UP", one of the men yelled at Orette while pointing a rifle at her.
"You have got to be kidding me", she mumbled under her breath. "Who in their right mind decided to get the military involved?" she asked the two tall people who appeared just as shocked as she was.
"It was all Qin's fault", Mortica said with annoyance, "I told him we could handle our business, but noooo~ Apparently, he has connections that don't seem to follow our orders", she glares at the man.
"I SAID HANDS UP,, He yelled again and then turned to face the others who were with him. "Call the Sargent, tell him we have located the_".
Before the man could finish, he was covered in small yet static electric bolts. The bolts flashed into his skin, only causing his hair to puff in spikes and his body to lose balance.
Morticia and Orette looked at Ivan, who didn't flinch for a second after witnessing what he had done. His eyes still glowed blue even after the shock he had passed.
The men who were awaiting orders were now stunned by what had happened to the man in front of them.
"I advise you to stop before you decide to join your friend", a small and clear warning from Ivan was enough for the men to drop their guns and retreat.
"Qin is going to have a long talk with you", Mortica warns him.
"I will be prepared when the time comes", Ivan replies to her while stroking his head. "Right now, I wish to focus on the current affairs, such as your assistance", he points his cane at Orette.
She was staring at him with more rage, yet her smile tried to hide that. Pretty sure she knows it's not working.
"My assistance, by whatever could you mean?" Her joyous tone caught Ivan's frown, which deepened every second.
"The void", Morticia announced, a trigger that struck Orette like a dagger.
"The void?" Orette repeated as she couldn't understand what was going on.
"The void is a place where abnormal creatures are born who feed from the syrium and exist as our enemy". Ivan explained as fast as he could.
"So you want me to...?".
Ivan sighed before he said, "You and your team are going to be trained by us and are going to minimise the damage these creatures are going to cause to the citizens"
"Sounds a bit cliché to me".
"What does that mean?" Ivan asked with sudden rage.
Orette glanced at him and said, "You want to train me, and then want me to stop the so-called creatures from the void since you believe they are going to harm the people of the earth".
"That's precisely right".
"It sounds like I'm chosen to save a world that I don't want to save".
Mortica steps closer to Orette and hands her a hologram showing what happened when the Void opened for the first time, releasing the creature.
"Sorry, sweetie, I guess you don't have a choice".
"In case you don't know", Ivan interrupts, "The sudden increase of Voids started after we lost you from our grasp, and until we could find you, we were cleaning the mess the syrium in your body caused".
"But I didn't want to cause this, it's the syrium", Orette complained, "Can't you find someone else to fix this mess? I mean, don't get me wrong, but I could hardly vouch for myself as being a responsible person".
"That is why I'm going to take you under my wing", Ivan concluded, "This is where you are going to continue your journey as my pupil and my successor".
"So I can't say no".
"No".