Kaël's eyes slowly opened, numb to all sensation, the feeling of having a body slowly resurfaced. Out of breath, some words difficulty escaped his mouth.
"Huh ?"
A still and infuriating sound resonated in his mind, like a loud insect flying over his ears, making his head hurt. He was feeling exhausted and heavy, similar to having finished intense exercizing.
Before his eyes could adjust to the darkness or before he could remember anything of where he was, he heard a loud and imposing voice.
"So you finally woke up ?"
Startled by the sudden voice, Kaël instinctivly tried to put himself in a defensive position. However, his action were proven useless. He noticed a thick glowing bright orange silk like material bounding his arms and everything down the waist of his body.
"Don't try, that's not gonna work. We made sure it was strong enough to bound you despite your great physical prowess."
Noticing his state, he turned his head toward the voice to see the face of his likely aggressor.
His eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light, outlining a figure, a man one head taller than him with short black hair sticking to his cheeks from sweat.
His dark grey eyes and the hideous scar that span from his cheek to his right eye synonym of his experience in battle.
He was sporting a full body bright grey armor, safe for the helmet, with hint of green stripes.
Even though the arm of the armor made it difficult to notice, Kaël noticed the abscence of a left hand from the man standing in front of him.
Locking eyes with the person in front of him, he showed a bright smile and spoke with a clear voice.
"It would appear I have been kidnapped. Who are you ?"
The man in front of Kaël, Delman Allog, the atlas of Aize, eyes squinted at the mocking voice.
*He's not acting the same as before. Did he lost in mind and altered his personality ? Sounds unlikely but if he trully is an ancient race then it's hard to judge.*
The first thing Delman wanted to know was whether Kaël could be cooperated with. With his displayed strength it was likely he was stronger than Delman. If he could become an ally, even just as bait, he could proves extremely useful. Especially with the pitiful state of the Azerian survivor.
The previous frenzy was clearly caused by an unstable mental state from remembering some memories. It was necessary to understand Kaël's current mental state to not make him have another breakdown.
"You're not acting like previously. I don't think you are in the state to be asking question. I only want to see if we can cooperate. We can take turn asking question."
By clearly expressing his intention, he made the other party know that there was a common ground that could be reached. And it might benefit the both of them. It was left to Kaël to see whether he could be trusted or not.
*Taking turn asking question ? It could be so easy to just lie and gain a question. I'm at the loosing end, I don't know what he know about me.*
Kaël contemplated the man in armor decision before giving an answer.
"Fine, we'll trade 1 question for one question."
He needed information anyway. Even if the other party lied, if he played his cards right, he could gain informations. It was better than nothing.
*Let's start the mind game.*
Delman was pleased with the answer. He never intended to not trade questions in order to show his 'sympathy', but hearing Kaël comply made it easier.
"I'll start, who are you ?"
Kaël was surprised by such a straight forward first question. And began to try to understand where is the trap in the question.
*He know the answer. And most likely know I know, except if he underestimate my intelligence. Is he trying to test my honesty ?*
Seeing Kaël deep in thought, Delman waited silently for the answer.
"I am Kaël Lavius, an Aporiph..."
Suddenly becoming silent. Kaël tried to think of other things that could describe him. However he could not remember any detail. It was like there was a void in his memories.
*Who am I ?*
Before he could worry about his lack of memory. Having already stopped talking for a few seconds. He finished his sentence to not make the black haired man suspicious of his abnormal state.
"I am Kaël Lavius, an Aporiphian. The last Aporiphian."
The simple answer left Delman baffled.
*The last Aporiphian ? Isn't this what caused his breakdown ?*
He couldn't hide is surprise, his body language betrayed him. It could have been missed, but not far Kaël who was looking for such sign to obtain even the slight useful information.
*Is he surprised ? What could have surprise him ? My name is impossible he wouldn't care. My race is unlikely he should know if he kidnapped or even attack me. The fact I'm the last Aporiphian alive should not be it, if he know that ...*
Suddenly, Kaël realized a problem with his train of thought. Or rather his memory that has showed some inconsistency.
*Why do I know for a fact that I am the last Aporiphian alive yet I have no memory of living in Aporiph. I can describe what Aporiph looks like, its fauna and flora, its weapons and traditions. Yet I can't remember seeing them. My mind feels like it has a giant hole inside of it.*
Noticing the issue with his memory, Kaël momentarily stopped caring about the presence of his, maybe, aggressor. Realizing his situation might be stranger than he realized. He tried to figure out what he could and what he couldn't remember.
After some time, he made a condensed list of what he could figure out.
*No matter what I try, I can't visualize any scene, it's as if I only remember information without having experiencing them. What I remember are the local ecosystem, some traditions and festival, some recipes and finally some minor information like date and time, measurement.*
However, there was two piece of information he noticed and believe were the most important.
First, he couldn't remember anybody. It felt like he knew nobody. Kaël couldn't of the name or personality, even appearance, of any of his friends.
Second, he could remember his military training and daily exercizing clearly, way to clearly compared to other memories. He could think and recite every step of his daily routine or more extreme training. However, the voice instructing him was his own, as if he was teaching himself how to fight.
Those restricted memories appeared ingraved in Kaël's soul, making him have hard time considering they might be false. However there was two thing he was sure was true : He is the last Aporiphian alive and the Aporiphian were an ancient race that lived around 80.000 years ago.
*Things are more complex than I thought. I need way more information than I thought.*
Kaël understood that he likely misunderstood the situation he is in. He could be interrogated rather than being kidnapped. The prospect of a peaceful encounter could be reached. He still needed to understand his precise situation.
In the meanwhile, Delman calmed himself down and noticed the uncany silence of Kaël followed by his change in demeanor, his smile morphing to a pensive expression.
He needed to make sure that Kaël mental state was stable enough to be an ally. If it wasn't he would be abandonned. Knocking him out or killing him would waste to much ressource, after all, he could break the Rapiid binding him if he wanted, he just needed to realize that fact.
With a silent sigh comming from Delman, the interrogation continued.
"I believe its my turn to ask the question. Where are we and what time is it ?"
Delman quickly recalled all the event that transpired after his arrival in Exax and pieced the simplest answer.
"We are, most likely, in the planet Exax, a desertic planet with no life force that inhabit it. In the middle of a battle with some Abyssial, some sort of explosion happened. After that me and my team woke up in this cave like formation. It is most likely an ancient underground passage that has long been abandoned. We quickly explored the cave and found you lying unconsious on the ground."
Delman chose not to disclose their previous encounter with Kaël to avoid a repeat of his breakdown.
Kaël learned some things from the answer that, even if his answer could be a lie, most likely contained some truth.
The first, and main information, was that the man was not alone. It was something expected but it was now confirmed.
The second was the name of the planet, Exax. There was no reason to lie about it, he couldn't use it to escape, except if he found a way to communicate to other planet and disclose his location.
Even then, he could be anywhere on the planet. He knew of some people for who finding would not be an issue. But he did not thought there was anything he could say that would convince someone from such a level to come to his aid. The best he could disclose was his identity as the last Aporiphian, but if he just say it like that, it would never be taken seriously.
The third piece of information Kaël got was that the Abyss was still roaming. It didn't quite surprised him beceause it always looked like a pest that never seem to weaken or disappear. Even after 80.000 years it was still present.
However this also meant that it didn't manage to erase all life on the multiverse. The descendants of whatever race survived 80.000 years ago are still fighting to this day.
Only two questions were asked, yet Kaël gained a lot of important information. It was going much smoother than he expected.
Delman also made observations, he figured that Kaël was thinking a lot between each question.
*If his previous demeanor was his true personality, then he would have made more comment or asked my name as a free question.*
With this, the first round of question ended and Delman asked his second one.
"Do any of those terms mean something to you ? Aizemi, Imperia, Grayzik, Great nation, Abyss, Quax and Atlas."
Delman wanted to test Kaël knowledge, he don't expect for Abyss to not be known, if Alissia could pinpoint the era where Aporiphian existed, then the Abyss, with an unregistered date of creation, existed before.
However, he purposefully mixed it in the middle to make the importance if each words confusing.
Aizemi, the race of Delman, was something that had no value in hiding, if he knew what an Aizemi was, then he knew that Delman was one beceause of his black hair and tall figure. This meant that if Kaël knew the word Aizemi, he would say it. Asking this was also to test whether he had any memory of their previous encounter beceause he had yet to show proof of this.
Imperia and Grazyk were 2 out of the 7 great nations. They were the 2 largest one due to their military power, size and contribution in the war against the Abyss. They were in the same situation as Aizemi but were never brought up in their previous confrontation.
The Quax race was, by Alissia's account, the descendant of the Zaettey race that lived in the same era as the Aporiphian. Maybe he had information of where the name Quax came from.
Great nation was not to gain much information, after all, if he knew of Imperia or Grayzik, he knew what a great nation was.
Finally, Atlas was to confirm some of Delman's suspicion. After all, he met Kaël the day he was going to join the other Atlases and he happen to have been teleported, most likely, to an unknown place by an orb emmiting pink energy.
Later on, he meet with Kaël, before encountering any Abyssial, who exhibit an unstable mental state and pass out after creating an omminous pink aura, the same color as the orb.
It was a bit to coincidental and could mean that he was some sort of spy. After all, if you trully hate a great nation, and wish to ruin them, trying to assasinate their Atlas is a good idea.
With the reason of Kaël's mental breakdown, it was unlikely. But since he now has no problem remembering he is the last Aporiphian alive, it could be possible. Delman didn't wanted to dismiss any possibility.
Kaël quickly figured out that there was no way he could lie. So he stayed honest.
"I'm only familiar with Abyss. Nothing else ring a bell."
This satisfied Delman, he was now sure that Kaël did not remembered their previous interaction. After all, him knowing about the situation of his race but not what an Aizemi was would be impossible.
To help Delman in maintaning a friendly relationship with Kaël, he decided do disclose some informations.
"An Aizemi is a member of my race from the planet Aize. Quax is the name of another race, their planet Quanöll has been taken over 21 years ago. Imperia and Grazyk are planets ... somewhat, with a strong authority over other. They are part of a group called the great nations along with other planet. I cannot disclose what does Atlas mean."
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Kaël listened and absorbed the informations give by Delman. Some detail were confusing him, after some consideration, he decided to use his question on it.
"There are planets who have authority over other ? How does one gain authority over another planet ? Who chose this ? It sound like it lead to mass invasion or rebellion. I hardly how it is enforced."
Delman thought for a moment before answering.
"To explain the complicated process we would need more time than we have here. There should be some Abyssial around so we don't have much time. I'll be brief then, the authorities are not directed to planets but universes, so multiple planet. This allow you one to oversee and regulate the interplanetar and, or, interuniverse trade of the universe. One could also propose the addition of some law that are applied with the majority of vote of a council representative of the universe. There are actually a lot of things decided by some sort of council."
After Delman's long explanation, Kaël, somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of information, tried to remember as much as possible.
"Yeah. I suppose it should not be a situation were one decide all laws in entire planets. However, having some authority over a universe ? How many of them were discovered to need such system ?"
Delman chuckled in his mind by Kaël's ignorance. It was like child asking an evident question that he didn't knew the answer of.
"I'm pretty sure nobody knows the exact number. Probably 90% of their existence are lost to time anyway. Maybe some folk in Imperia has an approximate, they tend to know the weirdest things. What i'm sure is that its at least 1 billion. There's likely an infinity of them anyway. Even if there's not, some scientist in Grayzik must have created a universe generator by now."
Receiving another wave of information, Kaël tried to memorize it. Kaël couldn't help complaining to vent some of his frustration, it wasn't a something he felt often, thus he had a hard time keeping it to himself.
The corner of his mouth sligthly moved up into a smirk.
"You say to much important things, i'm not gonna be able to remember anything at this point. Can't you slow down ?"
At the response of Kaël, Delman couldn't help but laugh quietly for a little while.
*Yeah. This a face I like. You have a warrior spirit.*
Delman returned the smile while putting his only remaining arm behind his head.
"My turn to ask. As I said, there should Abyssial around here and me and my team are trying to get out. I'm sure you want the same so. Are you willing to accompany us until we're out ?"
After the few question, he already concluded that Kaël was stable enough to be an ally. There would be no problem as long they didn't inquire about his past.
Kaël, still smiling, returned the response.
"I'd be glad to help."