Ah...
Everything is shaking or is it just me?
Is this an earthquake.
"Young Master , Young Master"
I slowly opened my eyes .
Nope it's not . It was just these two idiots shaking the bed instead of waking me up .
"Good morning , You two"
I yawned .
"Young Master. It's time."
Shenhe said in her same neutral tone.
Behind her, the clock showed 5 : 00 AM .
"Do I really have to wake up this early? Isn't it our private plane"
"Oh, Master, don't you know waking up early has other benefits?"
"Angy!" I yawned again. "Fine I'll be there soon. "
"Just leave me for 1 hour , you two ," I paused. "I need to get ready."
"And no, Angy, you're not coming in the bathroom."
"Heehee. But I didn't even say anything"
"I know you , idiot."
"Fine , Fine , I'll surrender" , She paused. Her grin widened .
I thought she'd do something but she and Shenhe slowly retreated from the room.
I looked at the window. Still dark . They had woken me up too early .
I stared at the ceiling for some minutes. Watched the fan spin.
I don't know why, but I counted the rotations.
One hundred and thirty-seven.
Then I slowly got up from the bed .
I sighed and slowly walked towards the bathroom.
After I took a shower, I get dressed.
It was still 5 : 35 AM
We'd woken up too early.
I opened the door to go outside.
Shenhe was already waiting by the door. Two bags packed.
Perfect posture as usual and that unreadable expression.
"Young Master. It's time."
I nodded and grabbed my bag.
I walked out without looking back.
Yesterday I met with Cari .
Told him I'm leaving today.
Yesterday...
He'd said , "Huhhhhhhh! That dumb boss of mine is sending you somewhere beyond Aventic."
"It's just Ilsa, Cari. "
"So, what if it is ? I'm coming with you."
"You know that's not possible, Cari. "
"Yeah , I know", He paused , "You're an idiot, and your dad is way more of an idiot than you "
And now I was heading outside with an emotionless Medusa who had mistakenly frozen her own emotions .
The airstrip was small. It's hidden from normal maps.
And there it was.
The plane.
It wasn't like any aircraft I'd seen in RAW. It was sleeker, smoother, and almost organic in its design, like someone had sculpted it from liquid metal and told it to freeze.
"Special transport," Shenhe said from beside me. "Your father arranged it personally."
"Special how exactly?"
"Look inside , Master."
We walked toward the boarding ramp. It extended as we approached—sensing us, welcoming us. There was no crew or any ground staff. Just the plane and us.
Inside was... a room.
Not a cabin. Not a seat row. An actual room. With walls and a door and everything.
I turned to Shenhe. "What the—"
"Your quarters are through there. Mine and Angy's are adjacent. The journey takes approximately twenty hours."
"Twenty hours? To go where?"
She didn't answer.
Just walked past me into the plane.
The interior was absurd.
It had carpeted floors, soft lighting. A small kitchen area with real plates and glasses. Four doors leading off the main corridor—I guess it's to the quarters which she mentioned.
And there was an idiot sitting on a plush couch in the common area, scrolling through a tablet like she owned the place—
Angy.
"Young Master!" She looked up, beaming.
"Finally! I was starting to think you'd miss your own ride."
"What are you doing here?"
She tilted her head, genuinely confused.
"Coming with you, Obviously? Did you think we'd just... stay behind?"
I looked at Shenhe. She raised one eyebrow. The most expression she'd shown all day.
"Father didn't mention—"
"Your father," Angy interrupted, standing and stretching with theatrical slowness, "is very bad at mentioning things. come Sit down, We have twenty hours to kill and I have questions."
She patted her lap .
I didn't move.
"Sit, Young Master." Shenhe's voice, quiet but firm. "We'll explain on the way."
The plane took off without announcement.
One moment we were on the ground. The next, the world tilted and we were rising. There was no engine roar any vibration. Just... smooth ascent, like the plane was defying physics on purpose.
I stood at the window, watching the airstrip shrink until it was nothing.
"Young Master."
I turned.
Angy was holding a cup of something steaming. Tea, maybe. She offered it with both hands—a gesture so formal it looked almost sarcastic on her.
"Drink. You look tense."
I took it.
"I'm fine."
"You're not." She settled onto the couch, pulling her legs up beneath her. "You haven't been fine since that mission. Shenhe and I noticed."
I glanced at Shenhe. She was reading something—or pretending to—in one of the armchairs.
"We're not going to talk about that," I said.
"Didn't ask you to." Angy's voice was light, but her eyes weren't.
"Just— " , She paused. "Wanted you to know that we noticed. That's all."
The tea was good. Better than good. Almost familiar.
"Did you make this?"
"Mmhm. Shenhe brought the leaves and I brought the technique."
"Technique?"
"For making tea that makes people talk." She grinned.
"Is it working?"
I almost smiled. Yeah, almost.
"Obviously not."
"Damn. Gotta work on my technique."
I drank my tea and sat on the couches.
The first five hours passed in strange, suspended time.
Angy talked. Too much. I mean, just too much.
About the village.
About her childhood.
About nothing at all.
She filled the silence like it was her job, and maybe it was—keep her young Master distracted, keep me from thinking too hard.
Shenhe read or meditated or something in between.
Occasionally she'd look up . Her blue eyes scanning the room, then return to whatever she was doing.
Twenty hours.
Where the hell are we going?
I know we are going to Ilsa but actually where?
On the seventh hour,
I explored the plane.
There were four rooms, like Shenhe said.
Mine was first—simple but comfortable. It had a bed , a desk, a small bathroom, and a window that showed nothing but sky.
Angy's room was next. I opened the door. I caught a glimpse of clothes scattered everywhere, a pillow on the floor, something that might have been a snack wrapper.
Complete chaos. It was Angy's room, so it fit her.
Shenhe's room was across from mine. The door was closed. I didn't knock.
The fourth room was a mystery. Locked. No handle visible. Just smooth metal where a door should be.
"What's in there?
I hadn't heard Angy approach. She stood beside me, peering at the seamless surface.
"No idea. Shenhe?"
We both looked at Shenhe, who had materialized silently behind us.
What the heck does she have? How she's walking without making any sound?
"Emergency systems. Flight controls. Nothing you need to access."
"Emergency systems," Angy repeated. "On a plane with no pilot."
Shenhe's expression didn't change.
"Yes."
Angy and I exchanged a look.
She knows more than she's saying.
• • •
At the twelfth hour .
We ate together.
Angy cooked—surprisingly good.
Rice and vegetables and some kind of meat I didn't recognize but didn't question. We sat around the small table in the common area, three people sharing a meal at I don't know how many thousand feet, and for a moment it felt almost normal , Like a—family.
"Your father," Shenhe said quietly, "Asked us to watch over you."
I looked up. "I know."
"Do you know why?"
"Because he's paranoid?"
She shook her head slowly. "Because he trusts us. And because he knows what's coming."
Angy's chopsticks stopped moving. A glance passed between them—that same look I'd seen in Father's office.
"What's coming?" I asked.
No answer.
"Angy. Shenhe. What's coming?"
Shenhe set down her bowl. "When you're ready, Young Master. Not before"
" Currently you're even weaker than us ."
I wanted to argue. I wanted to demand answers.
But the look in her eyes stopped me.
It wasn't secrecy.
It was fear.
And it's true that I'm weak...soo weak.
A weak captain who can't even save his team .
A weak son who needed to send some safe to not happen to him .
A weak person who can't even stand up while a person stronger than that person came.
" I guess it's time for bed , don't you think "
" Yes, Master, " they said in unison.
I entered my room . Locked the door. Lay on the bed .
I closed my eyes . Tried to sleep .
But couldn't.
I couldn't sleep.
Just lying in my bed, staring at the ceiling—smaller than the one at home, but spinning just as endlessly.
My thoughts are coming back to my consciousness.
Marcus's smile . So wrong.
The girl. Arc— or something.
Father's tired eyes.
Angy's chatter. Shenhe's silence.
Twenty hours to run from home , run from responsibility as a son.
A soft knock.
"Young Master?"
Angy's voice. Quiet and careful.
I didn't answer.
The door opened anyway. She slipped inside, closing it behind her. In the dim light, her blonde hair looked silver. Her dark eyes found mine immediately.
"Can't sleep either?"
"No."
She sat on the edge of my bed. Not close enough to touch, but close.
" I used to have nightmares," she said softly.
"When I was young. Before your father found me. Before Shenhe."
She paused.
I waited.
"Bad ones. The kind that feel real. The kind that follow you into waking."
She looked at me.
"Shenhe used to sit with me. Just sit. Didn't talk. Didn't touch. Just... existed nearby. And somehow that helped."
"Is that why you're here?"
"Maybe." A small smile. "Or maybe I just wanted company. Twenty hours is a long time to be alone with your thoughts."
We sat in silence.
After a while, she leaned back against the wall beside the bed. Close enough that I could feel her presence without looking.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"For what?"
"For not asking any questions."
She didn't respond.
But she stayed.
"Sometimes we need to feel what the other person wants to say. "
" Can you? "
" I don't know. Just trying to blend in on this unknown journey "
I don't remember what I said after this . I don't remember if she'd stayed with me whole night or not .
I just remember she was there . Caring . Idiot. Lonely. Just like us .
On the nineteenth hour.
I must have slept, because I found Angy shaking my shoulder gently.
"Young Master. We're almost there."
I sat up. Blinked. The room was brighter—morning light through the window, though morning meant nothing up here.
"How long, Angy?"
"Twenty minutes. Shenhe says to prepare all possible things."
I swung my legs off the bed.
Angy was already standing, dressed, composed.
The night before felt like a dream.
"We'll be with you," she said quietly.
"Whatever this place is. Whatever happens. We'll be there."
I nodded.
Didn't know what else to do.
And I knew they'd be with me no matter what happened.
The descent was smooth.
Through the window, I watched clouds part to reveal... green.
An endless green. Full of hills, fields and forests stretching infinitely .
A river curling through like a silver thread.
Those tiny dots that might be houses, villages or towns.
Ilsa.
This is it.
This is where Father sent me.
This is where I'm supposed to be safe.
_____