Epiphany Of The Weak 153 About To End, Finland

Jessie looked at him and shook her head. Realizing what was happening, Evgeny reclaimed back his composure. Of course, he didn't know that Gheele was never with us the entire time, except for Jessie. To hear that Gheele himself was not in Russia from the very beginning made him question a lot of things. It was apparent on his face.

After all, we told him face-to-face that Gheele was watching. Though, it was Caesar who made the bluff, so he had to explain the whole thing sometime later. If not, I would force him, somehow.

"Kuusamo city? In Finland?" I repeated.

From what I had heard, Gheele was traveling around Germany, Sweden, and Italy to disperse his Aegis particles in those regions. If he said that he was in Finland, then there had to be a reason. It could be that he took it upon himself to disperse more of his particles. Perhaps before that, something happened, and it added another goal for him.

Klaus continued, "Gheele wants a Teria airs.h.i.+p to fetch him. He knows what is happening in Russia, and about Ivar's rampage as well. He was following Ivar and Mara all this time. Though, Ivar lost control of his Aegis when he was in Kuusamo and everything we knew started from there."

Hope furrowed his eyebrows. "So, Ivar got his attention. But why was Ivar in Finland?"

"Actually . . . Gheele also said that Ivar had been talking to himself as he followed him." Klaus looked at me. "He was repeating Ava's name. From what Gheele had deduced, it seems like Ivar was trying to meet with Ava."

"M-Me?" I said, surprised.

Caesar breathed a deep sigh. "The Pillars are crazy. Like, really crazy! They are crazy about Ava!"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You said crazy three times . . . And, the word is obsessed. Yes."

"Yup, that's the word!" said Caesar as he pointed at me. "The only thing those four people think about is Ava. Why don't we just give her to them?"

"Hey!" I pouted.

"Um, I don't think they want to take Ava," said Lily. "The Four Pillars have so many chances to do just that, but they never did."

"Remember what Ivar said a year ago . . . when he came to Gheele's palace?" said Hope. "This A.V.A plan. Amathelia has this thing going for a year now in Sweden, Germany, and Italy. She's literally purging anyone she sees fit."

"And Anciles are replacing the soldiers in those regions," said Lily.

It was true. Amathelia, presumably my own mother, had been killing the civilians in the open. Ivar mentioned it a long time ago, that her reason was to create a world just for me, where I would not be in any danger anymore. I could see how she thought that killing civilians would bring her goal to fruition.

It was simple.

By purging a huge number of civilians, she could slowly replace them with newborns. Those newborns were cared for and nurtured in other areas before they were sent to Sweden and such. She started with the three regions first, so that anything that didn't go into plan could be swiftly dealt with. When it came to the economy, she could just rely on the other parts of the Great Corporate United. After all, j.a.pan and China already provided her with insurmountable income and resources.

"Then, our plan to reach Finland is going strong with this," said Jessie. "Gheele needs help, and we are going to Kuusamo anyway."

"Yeah."

"Yup."

Everyone agreed. It was an obvious choice at that point. Gheele's presence in Finland made another point for us to march towards it.

"Oh, I think I will have Maltyie and Gray help Ava," said Klaus through his hologram.

"Help me with what?" I said, puzzled.

"The civilians in those four affected cities. You want to help them, right?"

My eyes gleamed at that. "Yes! I want to. Thank you, Klaus!"

"I'll help Mer Ava too," offered Sofeea.

"Thanks!"

,__.__,

,__.__,

The preparation for the surprise attack on Finland took about two days. The remaining Pseudo Users from The People's Light were to march towards Kuusamo city, where they would take advantage of the chaos there. Lily, Caesar, Evgeny, and Jessie would board a Teria airs.h.i.+p. In order to spearhead our forces into the heart of Finland, those four were crucial. As usual, the Lily and Caesar duo was their greatest offense, meanwhile, the other two would play their part in giving commands and such.

The remaining members of the Freya rebel group stayed back at Moscow. They were needed to quell the unrest after forcefully taking over as Russia's leader. It would take months perhaps for The People's Light to establish themselves properly, but it was within reach nonetheless.

Beatrice wanted to join, but everyone didn't approve of it. She was resting in Klaus's Teria airs.h.i.+p. After all, we were certain that our move against Finland wouldn't require much effort, considering that the Four Pillars were unlikely to be there.

Without them, taking Finland was not far-fetched. With the help of the military coup there and also in Russia, it could be done.

"Hmm."

As for me, Sofeea, Maltyie, and Gray, we headed towards one of the four cities that were destroyed by Ivar's Aegis crystals. The cities were at the edge of Russia, so we could head over to Finland after that. Though, we were the only ones involved in rescuing the civilians. It was the little bit of compromise everyone made at that time.

"Only us, huh?" I mumbled, gradually drinking a mineral bottle. We used a Teria airs.h.i.+p to get to our destination, where dark clouds hovered around us.

When Maltyie entered that lounge area, I adjusted my sitting posture. "Maltyie!"

"Ava, hey." She proceeded to sit next to me.

Sofeea was there as well the entire time, but she remained quiet. In her hands, she held the gold locket Erhi had given me a year ago. It was a locket that Erhi had kept for herself, but decided to give it to me back at Khovd.

Maltyie glanced at me, and I s.h.i.+fted my attention to her. "You know, Maltyie . . . I am still worried about Eugene, and the other Users in Sweden."

Maltyie sighed. "I have been thinking as well. Eugene is fine by himself. That kid knows what's best. Also, I doubt the A.V.A plan affected him since his background and personal records are all normal. At least, he is not tossed into jail."

I rubbed my forehead. "The civilians who are considered green are put in jail, right?"

"Some, yes. From what I had read, it seems the A.V.A plan has exceptions. Actually, I did manage to contact Eugene a while ago."

"Oh?" I shook my head and focused.

"Eugene said that he is safe. Currently, he is in Derrick's house. Now, we know that the 'green' civilians are to be kept inside jails, right? Not all of them go through this. Those who have the potential to become Aegis Users are the only ones kept inside jails. The rest are excluded, and they can do whatever they want."

"Ooh." I nodded. "I suppose Eugene doesn't have potential, huh?"

Maltyie giggled. "Yeah, you can say that. I'm just glad that he's safe . . . I have to thank Derrick when I have the chance."

I nodded again.

"Hmm. Taking over Finland will only take a few days from what it seems like," I said. "There are no Four Pillars in the meantime. At least, I hope they are not there. After we take over Finland, there's no stopping Gheele from cornering Sweden with his own troops."

Maltyie's face darkened. "The time is near. In less than a month, we will surely launch an attack on Sweden. It will be the final battle . . . For most of us."

"Final battle . . ." I mumbled.

After everything was over, all my questions would be answered. After all, when the time came for us to confront Amathelia face-to-face, the answers I had been seeking would be revealed. Amathelia knew everything. She held all the answers.

I would make sure that I got what I wanted when it happened. Deep in my heart, I desired it.

I desired to know who I really was in the past, back when I was still around Amathelia.

Along with her ident.i.ty as well.