Without warning, Mike transformed, grabbed Mason, and took to the sky, flapping his enormous wings as he gained amazing ferocity. Scared, Mason let out a bone-chilling scream. The suddenness had caught him off guard.
"What do you feel now when you look at the ground?" Mike shouted.
"Fear!" Mason replied in a shout.
"Of what?"
"Of falling!"
"No, that's not it."
"Of course it is."
Mike smiled and ascended deeper into the orangish sky.
"Falling is not why you're scared, Mason," he said, and all of a sudden began to dive.
His speed was so immense that Mason felt his heart jump out of his mouth. "Too fast! Reduce the speed, please!" he cried.
"Why?" Mike asked, as though he didn't care about the outcome.
"I don't want to fall!" Mason replied, his trembling voice almost lost in the wind.
"Why don't you want to fall?"
"Because I don't want to die!!"
At this, Mike flipped and descended on a large wall a few distance from the palace, allowing Mason to catch his breath.
"Now you got your answer," Mike said. "You're not scared of falling, Mason. You're scared of dying. All of us are, but that shouldn't block your sight from your purpose."
Mason looked at the warrior in confusion. "My purpose?"
Mike nodded and sat on the edge of the wall. His wings furled and pinned against his back.
"I was once like you, Mason," he began. "I was still in high school when my destiny found me. Clueless then, the one who told me what my purpose was made it clear that he wouldn't motivate me to not run from my destiny. He said giving up means death."
Mason sat down beside him, his legs dangling in the air. Several guards are standing beside them, holding their weapons firmly. Their ever-serious gaze fixed at the distance as if oblivious to the people beside them.
"My point is," Mike continued, "you can't keep running forever. I won't tell you to face your pursuers and die like a rat. However, you must find your own strength and your purpose and make peace with it." He paused, glanced at Mason, and smiled faintly.
"It's alright to make a mistake, you can fail too. It's okay to cry when things are difficult but never run away from your destiny. Everything happening to you has a reason, and you must find it. Only then would a solution come to you."
Mason pondered for a moment and turned to Mike. "Thank you. I keep owing you."
"Repay me by becoming stronger," Mike said without looking at him. "The world is harsh on the weak. Only when you are strong can you survive and manipulate it to your desires."
"I promise I'll become stronger," Mason said, his face adopting a firm expression. "I won't run anymore."
"I didn't say you shouldn't run," Mike chuckled, staring at Mason with those frightening eyes. "Run when you meet foes that are more stronger than you. But think of a solution while you run. Think of surviving, not just escaping." He clapped Mason on the shoulder and smiled.
The atmosphere fell silent for a while until Mike broke it.
"I've been looking for an organization behind the shadow for a while now," he said. "They came here while I was on Earth and they…" He sighed. "They brought destruction with them and unleashed it upon the innocent people."
"I'm sorry," Mason said after a full minute pause.
"It's alright. I'll continue to look for them until I find them. I won't rest."
"Are they not the people in the prison?"
Mike's eyebrow raised. "What people? What prison?"
"Where me and my friends were being held," Mason replied. "There are men wearing clothes like the police, with something like–"
"APA?" Mike cut in.
"Yes. Are you aware of that?"
Mike shook his head slowly.
"I believe they've been here for a long time," Mason continued. "Judging by what they said, they must have been captured ever since the day of their attack."
Mike stood up abruptly. "Thanks for the information," he said, and he leaped off the wall and fluttered back to the palace, which was now a few meters away.
"What about me?" Mason called out. "I can't fly!"
But Mike was gone and out of sight before he could finish his words. "He's so fucking fast!" Mason breathed and sat down in resignation.
A few moments later he heard the flapping of wings and he turned back and saw Gandoro approaching. A small smile escaped his lips. Iknew he wouldn't abandon me here, he thought.
Meanwhile, in the prison where Mason's party was being held. Nathalie rose up on her feet, pacing around the room anxiously.
"Is something wrong?" Raymond asked.
"My Lord. I can't feel him," Nat replied. "Something is not right."
"Perhaps he's dead already," one of the APA agents said in a low cracking voice.
"No, he's not!" Nana growled even before Nathalie could retort. "My brother is alive!"
"Chill, guys. You probably can't feel him because of the shield," Raymond intervened.
"I hope so," Nat said sadly and fell on her knees.
The door suddenly opened and a frightening bat-man appeared, his eyes glowing with an eerie orange light. His vertical jet-black pupils left a sense of foreboding in everyone's hearts.
As the alien emerged he turned to Mason's party. "I have no malice towards you guys. You're free to go meet your friend, Mason," he said and motioned for the guards behind him to lead the humans out.
He then stepped closer to the APA agent clustered in the dark corner of the room. With the way he looked at them, one could assume his unnerving and frightening eyes could pierce the dark. Which probably could.
"Let's talk, you fuckers!" he sneered, his voice echoing through the room and inflicting fear and anxiety.
Mason's party got out of the prison, following the guards. As they walked the corridor toward the exit they heard the screams of the APA agents, sending jolts of panic to their hearts.
Nana turned to see Nat; the succubus was quiet, perhaps also shocked at the sight of the frightening alien.
The guards grabbed the humans and flew up to the palace. When they got to the front of the palace they dropped them on the ground and flew back to where they came from.
"I can't see Mason," Nana said, staring into the circular hall.
"I see him," Raymond laughed.
Nana and Nathalie followed his gaze and they saw Mason a few meters away, held by one of the bat-men guards. Gandoro arrived and dropped Mason on the ground a few distance from his friends and went into the hall.
"Mason!" Nana called as she took rapid steps toward him. But someone ran past her and embraced Mason.
It was Nathalie.
"I miss you, my Lord," she said, hugging Mason tightly.
Mason was surprised. He wondered if it was the effect of the spell or if she was just exaggerating. Or perhaps another trick? She dared not.
He slowly disengaged and looked at her. The succubus was smiling, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Are you okay, Nat?" he said.
"Not before, but I am now," she replied and hugged Mason once more. "I was so worried something had happened to you, my Lord."
Nana hissed contemptuously, and she retraced her steps back toward Raymond, who seemed to mirror Mason's stunned surprise.
The moment was interrupted by the old bat-woman, Cat, who stood at the entrance, staring at them.
"The Jyuran told me about you," she said. "I hope you understand the reason for our hatred for your kind."
"What about the Jyuran, he's also human, isn't he?" Mason asked and he moved close her.
Cat was silent for a moment. She stared at the party and a faint smile left her eyes.
"He's no longer a full human as you all," she said finally. "He's one of us, whether he likes it or not."
"A bat-man?" Nathalie quizzed.
"We're not bats!" Cat stated firmly. "We are Anthropters. Because you people look like apes doesn't make you ape-people."
"Apologies for the misunderstanding," Raymond said.
"If he's one of you, why did you hide those men in your custody from him?" Mason asked. "He is your protector, and yet you don't trust him."
"You don't understand," Cat said. "Mike is a good person, and I don't want to ruin his good heart. Some things are meant to be done the hard way for the greater good."
"You can't decide for a man what is right or wrong," Mason replied. "And don't justify your reckless action by pretending you care about who he was."
"Of course I care!"
"You don't! The solution was right in your hand all along, but you failed to realize it because of your hatred. Your protector was having a difficult time finding the enemies while you hid the fastest route from him."
Cat opened her mouth to speak but she closed it back when she couldn't decide what to say. The other Anthropters in the hall stared at themselves, perhaps realizing their mistakes.
"Now tell me the difference between you and the humans you resent?" Mason continued. "Mike was a good man, no doubt. But did you give him your full trust? He was doing everything to protect you yet you only made it difficult for him."
"Mason, it's alright," Nana whispered, trying to calm the tension in the air. She gently patted him on the back.
Mason let out a deep breath and stepped back. As he turned around he spotted Mike staring at them. With the look in his eyes, Mason knew he wanted to scold him for interfering in the affairs of his kind, but he couldn't do anything knowing everything he said was right.
"We need to leave," Mike finally said, his voice barely a whisper. "But I don't know how to carry all of you at a time."
"You don't need to do that, handsome," Nat intervened, winking at the warrior despite her lingering fear.
She raised her hand and muttered some dark words. The air cracked open, revealing a glowing portal.
"We're going through our gateway," she said and winked once more. "Care to join us?"
The Anthropters gasped in disbelief as they beheld the sight of the portal, which confused Mason as to why they were surprised when they definitely knew what it was.
"I'm joining you, definitely," Mike said absently.
The humans shared a pleased smile and stepped into the portal. Mike turned to the dumbfounded Anthropters and sighed before entering the gateway.
Just as he stepped inside the portal sparked and crackled like electricity and disappeared into thin air.
"Goodbye, Perebia!"