62nd chapter : watched out .
As everyone reached the island, most of the eyes were turned at them, since all the other guilds’ members hate the red mermaid at some certain point, calling it a none pure guild. Upon hearing a lot of these words, they didn’t really mind it but found it interesting to smack these hateful looks straight on their face with a beaming confident smile.
“What took you so long?”.
Rebecca asked as she was waiting for the red mermaid outside the small mansion they booked with Emilis’ orders. they entered right away.
“It’s a small mansion but there’s enough room for everyone”.
Milize said as she was sitting on the couch waiting just like the other girls. they were pretty much bored about the empty time they had in hand.
“Ah , glad to hear that but. Master! The festival didn’t even start and they’re putting some watch on us?”.
Xavier responded as he took a seat next to her while the others were looking at the rooms. Something didn’t feel right with the insides of the mansion for all of them.
“You figured that too, I found it weird but I said it’ll be Emilis’ problem!!” responded Miha.
Miha was like everyone, putting all the blame on Emilis while preparing the drinks in the kitchen’s open side they had around.
“It’s gonna be something troublesome, want me to do something about it?”.
Marco said as he addressed Emilis who was sighing straight in front of the hidden euro circles that was doing the work of cameras by envisioning the euro particles of the holders who are standing in the area of the mansion.
“Ah! Please do! I was going to get them in trouble for this but it’s ok if you do so!!” Emilis answered happily.
Emilis joined Miha as he saw Marco approaching another one of those implanted euro circles.
“I guess it’s better to play some little games with them, don’t you think?” said Cedric.
Cedric appeared on Marco’s back as he smiled while looking at the euro circle. Alex and Marco looked at him as they didn’t understand what he meant. Looking by default, Alex and Marco were the only ones around the room to hear him as they showed a surprised face followed by an enthusiasm that no one got what it meant.
Alex was the one with an enthusiastic look on her as she got closer to Marco, fidgeting happily on her own.
“Do it!! Do it!! I’m sure it’s a better idea!!”.
Alex didn’t stop shaking him until Marco looked like a dead fish.
“Actually no one was catching what you’re saying here so care to explain again” Rebecca spoke as she was looking at the two getting fired up on their own.
“Not just that but I’m getting the hunch that Alex started to get crazier lately, like talking on her own in the restaurant from time to time” added Milize.
Milize groaned as she was worried about Alex’s mental health for some reason. On that note, not saying that Alex can see Cedric and the other two made the situation a little weird to explain but Emilis had spoken about it shortly after her question so he would calm them.
“Now can you tell me what he said?”. Emilis wanted to know what Cedric had in mind.
“Well it’s not the second time that I use this but it’ll be the first time out of a serment so there’s no big chance that this will work.Master please can you block the interception of these circles around?”.
Marco said as he didn’t answer Emilis’ question however he gave a hint as Emilis realized that most of them might be already working.
“I did that the moment you all entered. Euro circles or not it’s getting on the privacy of the others so go ahead and do what you want” Emilis said as he looked aside.
Marco took a deep breath then removed the tie from his hair and took a seat in the middle of the living room. Everyone looked at him as half of them knew what Marco was doing.
“Is he going to meditate now?”.
Melu asked as she was waiting for a better explanation.
At that moment, before he could do anything, a sudden window popped up in front of every person that was inside the mansion.
“Invitation for attending the banquet tonight, Did you do that Marco?!” Carla asked as everyone was seeing a letter inside it.
“No I didn’t”.
Marco calmly responded as Emilis started to read it aloud.
“Dear readers, we humbly give this invitation to attend the ceremony of presenting the guilds and other societies as officials. To serve under the council and help the world rise up. As for the location and date, the masters will hold this information and keep you in contact , with all due pleasure of being in utmost health and care during this beautiful day, the council members will be happy to hear your response.”
Everyone heard him as they were also reading their own letters. They were surprised as they got that it was a virtual invitation sent by the council’s system.
Along with it, most of them realized that the delay of the things around as the festival was supposed to be starting on the first day of the month, but seeing the window item showing up explained what they all were wondering about.
“Sigh, I never thought they would do it this way, ID Sam Lockhart accept invitation” Sam spoke, showing them what they needed to do.
“You worked at the council and you didn’t know about what they were preparing for this festival. ID Marco Deca, accept invitation”.
Marco had a sigh too as he saw that Sam put on a disgusted expression, saying that it’s not his fault if some lazy punk decided not to stay calm without him.
As everyone accepted their invitations. Emilis confirmed that the info got to him.
“Anyway, what I was going to do for now is pretty simple”.
Marco said, getting their attention as Emilis said that the invitation emergence was programmed inside the house and the signals weren’t sent yet. As he heard him, Marco grinned a smile as he said thereafter.
“I the one who seeks. Open the scripts and show me the path. I command you thy name Marco Deca”.
In that moment, a different type of euro circles merged with window items showing up around Marco as he was looking around.
The others were impressed as no one was expecting that, even for Marco, he saw that the system was way too advanced for a simple system though he confirmed that Eyezar didn’t put his hands on it.
“What are you going to do now?”. Vanica asked him as she was looking at how amazing the system scriptures are.
“Huh, I guess for now, I’m not going to do a lot but I guess I have a few things that I wanna do first. System command” Marco said as a big window popped up in front of him “Hmm, the system is written the same but the shape of visualizing is turned to windows, that’s pretty helpful but I’m good with the euro circles better. For now command, Give me all the data about the red mermaid members” .
Marco proceeded with what he was doing as the data showed up to show a lot of broken files next to the current members files.
“What are you going to do with that?”.
Emilis asked him as he noticed the broken files too. His reaction was quite surprising given that he approached Marco on the spot.
“Huh, nothing in particular I was testing how fast it could go compared to the euro circles shape but the speed of work is the same”
Marco answered Emilis’ question as he sensed that he had landed on a mine. Thus feeling that ominous vibe, he continued what he wanted.
“System command, generate a second room.”
What Marco delivered an order made the system duplicated itself, making two effective general euro windows.
“Duplicate all the data and encrypt the scriptures, erase all authorities of the council and hide any appearance of the second room around the area”.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Marco took a deep breath as he realized that his euro particles were getting sucked dry faster than what he expected.
“What did you do?” Xavier asked him before he would finish.
“System command, reboot the system after the three seconds countdown and make the second room a hidden administrator before that. After 3..2..1”.
The second that Marco finished his words, right after it with a fragment of a second, all the euro circles around the house got activated again on its own since Emilis removed their disturbance, once Marco started working earlier.
All the invitations around the house were sent again.
After accepting all the invitations again. The red mermaid, all took a seat waiting for answers as Alex was the one to answer since Marco was resting to replenish his reserves.
“You created a system rivaling the council system?!!”.
They all said, amazed and mostly speechless at what Marco just did.
“With this I guess they’ll only check their own system, also I didn’t create it, if you guys were listening, I entered the system easily. This means that this system was never their own in the first place and I got a hunch of my grandpa’s touch in its scriptures after all too”. Marco said as he stood to get some drink.
“What do you mean, this system was here for more than five hundred years ago, are you saying that your grandpa had lived that much?” Tanya asked as they were all stunned about it.
“My family isn’t the same as others and you guys know that. So my grandpa is basically an immortal that lived all that time, more or less between Yuna nee and grandpa’s birth, there was a ten thousand years and she herself lived for more than a thousand years”.
Marco said on his own, explaining something else other than what they were asking for.
“When it comes to you I’m not surprised anymore, so what are we going to do now…?! Marco!!” exclaimed Zack.
Zack said as he was standing next to Marco but wasn’t expecting something to happen to him. Everyone was worried as they saw him collapse out of nowhere.
Right after Marco, Arthur and Sophie followed in the same way.
“Sophie chan!! Arthur kun!!”.
Vanica was worried as she saw that even Arthur and Sophie collapsed with no sign of a heartbeat.
“Don’t worry, I’m not sure but this is, I’m feeling meek cursed euro particles from them. They’re still alive.” Alex said to calm them down.
As they heard her, Alice, Xavier and Zack felt worried about her own safety too after what she said. Alex’s standing right now was tied to knowing what will happen to those collapsed siblings.
“Ugh… What happened?!”.
Arthur said as he woke up in the palace with Sophie alongside Marco too.
“Where are we Marco nii?!” asked Sophie.
Sophie was scared, hugging Marco in fear since it was their first time inside the white palace. Marco wasn’t expecting that someone other than him would be entering this palace in the first place.
“Don’t worry, it’s the place that I come to when I sleep. So it won’t be a problem! I’m sure that Yuna nee will appear any second…Now…”.
Marco was calming Sophie down although he himself was shocked to see another woman standing in front of them, other than Yuna or Selicia.
“Look at you all grown up this way. It’s truly a bliss!!”.
The woman said as she held her arms open to the three of them. At that moment, Arthur on his own said as he was holding some tears.
“Mother?”.
That one word slipped through his mouth before holding on Marco’s shoulder, trembling in front of the woman who indeed was their mother.
“Yeah, that’s true!! it’s mama!! I missed you so much!!” she said, having a teary smile.
Despite knowing it by just a heartwarming feeling in their chests Arthur and Sophie were scared to approach her. Marco was still stunned, however he couldn’t stop himself from pushing Sophie and Arthur at her.
“Yeah. That’s mama!!”.
Marco spoke with a smile, calming their hearts.
Within that fragment of a second, both dashed with everything they got to hug their mother, with every ounce of strength they got.
“I!! I always wanted to meet you!! I wanted to see your face!! Hicc!! I wanted to tell you a lot!!” Arthur shouted loudly, hugging his mother tightly.
Nana Deca. The mother of these three siblings, who appeared out of nowhere, was returning the hugs to her children as she was also crying upon those repressed feelings that her kids had for her.
While hugging Arthur and Sophie, she raised her hand to call for Marco who couldn’t really take another step but Yuna pushed him at her. Marco didn’t want to ruin the moment as Nana hugged him too and patted his head, slowly caressing his hair.
“Look at how you guys grew up to be this wonderful, I’m really sorry that I can’t be around you” Nana was looking at them as Sophie was wiping her tears.
“Marco nii!! It’s really mama!! It’s truly mama!!”.
Sophie was jumping happily as she got her bunny ears appearing.
“Yeah, I guess you preferred Sophie over Elaine!! Mama is a little sad but if Sophie is what Marco chose then I’m ok!! and so this little lightning punk is Arthur!! I guess you three passed a lot of things and it’s early or late but I’ll say it only once!!” Nana responded as she saw that the three of them had a relieved expression.
“Wait!! Mama!! Where are you right now!! I’ll search for you and come to you !! Father is there too right!! I’m sure that in my current state I can find you!! Sophie is getting bigger and healthier and this little punk here!! Arthur is also doing his best!! They’re smart and they’re enjoying being around red mermaid members!! Ah right!! We met a guild of holders!! We!! I!!”.
Marco was rushing his talk as he saw that the presence of Nana started to disappear and so his tears started to flow with hers. Nana smiled and patted his head, therefore the tears didn’t stop at that.
“It was only for a fragment of a second but I can see how wonderful my kids grew up!! I’ll look stupid for that but if I’m sure Marco’s favorite line was this one right?” Nana spoke as her appearance started to get whitish.
“Don’t go mama!! Stay with us!!” Sophie and Arthur said as they were trying to hug her once more.
The last hug wasn’t successful and so Nana smiled at them.
“Always seek the sunny side of the story!!”.
Nana smiled at the last moments of her presence as a faint low voice mentioning something passed through them via Nana’s words.
The three looked at her fragment disappear with no other way to connect to it anymore. In that second, her fragment disappeared and the three woke up.
After collapsing the whole day passed before they would wake up again. At that time, only Carla and Fabia were around the house as they saw Sophie and Arthur rushing to their brother’s lap. Without holding their tears, they cried out loud while trying to hold it in, however, even if it was the first time to see that, Carla was flustered and mostly surprised as she saw that Marco was also crying while hugging his siblings in his arms.
“I’m so sorry!! I won’t do it again so come back!! I’m really sorry!!”.
Marco kept saying until the three of them calmed down.
They couldn’t say a thing so both Fabia and Carla let them be like that for a while until Sophie and Arthur fell asleep from crying their hearts out.
“Are you ok?” asked Carla.
The question came completely unattended as she saw that Marco stood silently from the couch and went outside to sit somewhere else. Not knowing what to do, Carla followed him outside to see him jumping to the roof.
“Thank you for asking, earlier”.
Marco calmly responded as he sat down on the roof. Carla looked at him then sighed before taking a seat next to him, feeling a bit hectic about what he did a few seconds ago.
“Mind telling me what happened?” She asked, wanting to know what made him cry like that.
Marco looked aside as he put on his glasses again then took a while before answering her question.
“What I did earlier. I dunno how but somehow it gave my mother a small fragment of time and euro to call for us in the palace where I train with Yuna nee”.
“You met your mother!!! Where’s she!!? In the first place does this mean she was always around like Cedric and san and the other two”.
Carla flustered as she was acting a little bit childish carefully so she wouldn't ruin the calm mood.
Marco noticed that Carla’s acts were all for comfort as she tried to liven up his mood from the sadness that he went through. For Carla, that was a first, to see a person such as Marco go through a breakdown with no clue for why it happened.
“No she wasn’t. She couldn’t stay a lot since the only thing that we could do was hug her and hear her words of compliment about how we turned up, eventually she even said something that for the first time in my life I wasn’t able to hear. More or less, she was also in pain but she kept apologizing to Arthur and Sophie because she couldn’t stay around”.
Marco said as he took a deep breath then calmly looked down at the horizon ahead of them.
“You’re calm now?”.
Carla asked him, realizing that he never opened to her about anything that concerns his family or his personal life. To her, Marco’s personal life and bottled up thoughts were never conveyed, even during the time they were training in the toss realm.
“I guess, I’m sorry to make you see something that I usually don’t do-”.
Marco said then stopped talking as Carla got close to him. She kissed him on the forehead then grinned at him after that.
“Don’t mention it!! You’re my partner and I’m grateful that I saw that side of yours” responded Carla.
As it was the first time that a person kissed him on the forehead Marco turned red.
“Wha-why did you do that?!” He blushed.
Carla was surprised that he can pull a flustered face as she stood.
“That will be the pay for what you did to me and our little secret!! so have a good night!!”. Carla said then jumped off the roof to go to her room.
After seeing her go, Marco’s face instantly returned to his pale expressionless side, remembering what he was saying while holding his brother and sister in his arms. Feeling a rush of complete emptiness although Carla tried to comfort him back then had Marco questioning his own beliefs, and once more the vague memories that rushed back at him within that split second.
“I wonder why I said that, sigh. And I had to play along or else she would be really mad but I guess that’s not bad to let it go”.
Marco was talking to himself but for some reason he smiled a calm smile touching his forehead for a moment before heaving a deep breath and laying down on the roof.
“I’ll make sure to find you all. And I’ll make sure that you’ll have a good life too”.
Marco blurted the words that were lingering around his head then closed his eyes for a moment before opening them to see Hana with a smug face, standing behind him.
“Wha-why did you do that!?! That was my sacred forehead you kissed!! Now I’m no longer pfft bwahahaha!!” Hana couldn’t hold it while she was teasing him as she sat next to him.
“I’ll really kill you if you say a word to the others, plus I wanted to know. anything happened while I was away?”.
“Not really, the good thing is that the banquet got delayed because the council said it’ll be better to check the things fundamentally before going on live, thanks to your little trick that is. Anyway, now want to tell me how your mother really slipped into that palace, now?”
Hana said as she looked around, both were confirming that no one was listening.
“You say things that mostly hurt my head but I’ll tell you later, for now let’s see what this festival will hold for us. It’s then when I’ll search for a way to fix up my own problems on my own” said Marco.
Marco responded, standing after flicking her forehead as a punishment for the teasing earlier.
“That hurts a little but I get where you’re coming from. It’s not like we will ever hold you responsible so don’t blame yourself that much, alright”.
Hana said out of the blue as she looked straight into Marco’s eyes. The pause and silence that Marco had within his mind made even Hana wonder why she said those words at this timing specifically.
The two sighed as they looked at each other before heading inside.
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