The door calmly locked with a *click* behind me. As I stood faced with the man who had pulled me into this mess.

"Welcome back", Dalton's voice resounded in the room, as he patiently waited my response, sitting in his chair with a book in his hand, overseeing my every action.

I had to admit, the audacity for him to not even acknowledge this mess was astounding. But I suppose you needed to have that level of pride to run such a big place.

I stood wordlessly facing him, unsure of what to even say...

I mean I couldn't just ask him for an apology or even an explanation. I knew he was as shocked as I to hear the news of the war... Looking around his office I could see signs of exhaustive work as a few papers were scattered on his desk.

Dalton saw as I darted my eyes around. He saw through my anger in a matter of seconds, shifting forward in his chair as he closed the book and put it down. He raised his eyebrows intently and clamped his hands together.

"How was your trip back home?" Dalton asked, brooding resting his chin on his hands.

"You know I thought you would at least acknowledge that you left me behind." I retorted, clearly not happy with the hassle I had to go through.

He exhaled and nodded, slightly massaging his forehead.

" If I had abandoned you, I wouldn't have sent my best men to escort you. Besides, you need to realize that plans cannot revolve around you. I trusted that Sophie would keep you safe, however Ivan's life held no guarantee. If throwing tantrums is all you can do... perhaps I had judged you too hastily". Dalton lightly tapped the table with his hands and leaned back into his chair.

He was harsh in his words, and I hated that I could see reason within them. Yet I could also see Dalton's cunning tongue manipulating my perception, he had somehow twisted my own words to favor his own side. Perhaps he was right, and perhaps he was just being glib.....

I could only hang my head in mild frustration as he stared me down, sitting there menacingly.

"Take a seat" he said, inching his fingers towards me as the chair slipped back from the table.

Unable to respond any further, I slumped in the chair, exhaling a deep sigh. I suppose he was right, to be angry at an unexpected occurrence was idiotic at best.

"You've not wasted these years, I can feel you improving. I was surprised to hear that you've practiced dueling Ivan frequently...At your age, it is remarkable. Why don't you tell me all about it."

Dalton commented, seemingly interested in my gradual progress.

I wasn't quite expecting an invitation to talk, but being slightly cut-off from the world, I appreciated anyone willing to discuss my interests.

"Well, it all started when I learned about transfiguration-"

I began recounting my story as Dalton listened along, occasionally chiming in to depart his own experiences and stories.

======================================================

[Underground Base]

Two men sat together in the cafeteria, joining the other for a light snack before they continued their respective duties, due to the recent events, every day had been hectic. Hence, these small breaks were their only respite from tiring surveillance and reconnaissance.

"Say Zag don't you find it weird?" Dmitry chugged another Wizard's Brew in his hand and slammed the cup on the cluttered table, heaving a satisfied sigh.

"What are you talking about?" Zagreus shrugged, he was far too invested in the cheesecake Infront of him to pay any attention to Dmitry's drunken mumbling. In fact, he knew not to pay heed to whatever that was going to come out of that mouth. - For god sake, he had just seen that idiot chug a few Wizard's Brew.

"I mean, come on, we just escorted a single kid out of the frontier. I understand safety and all, but three of us went to fetch a kid? Specially Syed, that narcissist would never agree for just a fetch quest. Something's clearly off about this whole ordeal."

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Dmitry grumbled, seeing the cheesecake on Zag's plate, he reached out to sneak a piece with his fork, only for it to get swatted away mercilessly.

"Don't think too much about it, we just did our job." Despite saying that, Zagreus himself was quite curious on who the kid was....But being a senior agent in the society, he knew full well that questions about the mission were not allowed.

As long as they performed their duties within reason, they would be compensated and rewarded. Ask too many questions, and he might as well be labelled a spy. The information policy was uber strict for the past few years, and he was not in the mood to test the waters on this occasion.

"Who do you think it was? Some VIP with a silver spoon? Maybe even the boss's kid from an affair or somethi-? "

Dalton rambled on for a second before Zagreus harshly whispered to him.

"Lower your fucking voice." As soon as he had uttered something about the boss, Zagreus had immediately intervened. Drunk or not, that big mouth would get them both into deep shit if he continued.

"Go get a sober shot before you say anything stupid."

Dmitry cleared his throat a few times, slightly surprised at his own words, knowing how he had almost screwed up. He obediently went and ordered a sober shot from the bar, but he could almost swear the bartender glared daggers right through him.

Luckily he hadn't completed that previous sentence.

He was promptly handed a small shot glass filled with a clear sour liquid. It gave off an acidic scent and Dmitry swiftly gulped the drink. He clearly felt a menthol sensation jolting through his nerves, as the intoxication faded away.

A close call if he might add. He had practically vowed to never drink on the job any longer.

Scuttling back to his table, still slightly nauseous from the remaining hangover, Dmitry held his head in pain. He glanced over to his watch and saw that about thirty minutes had passed, and their break was over.

Seeing as Zagreus had finished indulging himself and was ready to leave, they left the cafeteria, making their way to the central hall.

As the two made their way towards their colleagues, Zagreus spotted the boy just exiting the long winding corridors. Slightly curious as to what the kid would do, he followed him with his gaze, subtly peeking at odd intervals.

====================================================

Haah.... To think that I would end up talking to Dalton for a few hours. Quite unbelievable, we had never really talked prior to this. I guess meeting again after a few years had really pushed the conversation between us.

On one hand I was quite excited to know his thoughts on my journey. To me he was very close to a mentor, and someone I wished to surpass. On the other hand, I was quite apprehensive to find my own route to power. I didn't want to owe anyone my success. Hence, I had taken his words with a grain of salt.

Learning under Ivan had made me quite the pragmatist.

Astonishingly, Dalton also agreed to make up for his absence with a surprise. I had no idea what it was, but I was quite satisfied just sharing my progress with him.

Unknowingly I had trapped myself in a box, clueless if my steps were leading me to the right direction. His evaluation although wasn't absolute, it was still quite helpful in determining if my choices were right up to this point.

I shuffled through the corridors until I reached the main hall. I could see that a group of wizards had gathered near the entrance, perhaps they were preparing to leave?

Amongst the crowd I could also spot the two faces who had a hand in escorting me here. I was quite curious as to what their jobs were. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to leave the base for many reasons.

Though, Dalton had called them some of his best men. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to observe and see what I could learn from them.

I sat down in the lounge near some of the members. Immediately, I could feel their eyes on me, as they tried to speculate who the hell I was.

I won't lie, it was quite entertaining seeing them flabbergasted to see a literal child walking around in their "secret" headquarters. My identity wasn't exactly made public, and only a few high ranking members knew who I was.

However soon their gazes shifted towards the ceiling as a red artificial cloud formed above us. It's indication was clear, and soon flashing lights and blaring alarms followed.

I could only guess that their alarm system had caught wind of magical movement on one of the frontiers.

Within seconds, I could see the active duty members rush through to chambers built into the walls quite similar to the chimney's in the ministry of magic from the movies.

Except the fireplace lit ablaze as they did and they flared up into small pellets of flame, teleporting away.

I didn't expect an attack to happen so soon....if I was only a few hours late, it could very well had been our group to be attacked. I slightly shuddered at that implication.

Amidst the rushing wizards and the gathering crowd, I spotted Zagreus and the fellow who had pushed me also teleporting through this network. I could see the seriousness in their expressions, they were quite battle ready to face whatever creature had trespassed their borders.

Soon almost all active members had gone back to their posts, the rest who stayed behind were responsible for security and communication. Quite the quiet bunch might I add.

As I had nothing to do, I started wondering why I hadn't just taking this seemingly similar Flu network to arrive here. But at a closer examination I could see that not a single chamber was intended to "receive" traffic.

Rather all their cavities were quite angled outward, as if it was an exit.

Transportation magic was quite interesting to me, there were so many alternatives, and today I had seen some I was completely oblivious to.

So naturally, I wondered how others got to this base. Of course, they could use a network of portkeys, or simply apparate here as long as there wasn't a barrier.

Although I doubt there wasn't...

It was quite an interesting question to think through, and I chose to spend my time in silence in the lounge as I waited for Dalton to finish whatever he was busy with.

I almost felt like a kid who'd come to "bring your kid to work day" and was tired of waiting. Hey, I mean it was kind of true....

=====================================