'Head of Ferrum, huh!' Ray thought, staring at the tank of a man standing in front of Meloni's bed.
'He's pretty good at concealing his core,' He thought. 'Not just him but the snow-white beside him too…Peak Horizon.'
"How's your body holding up, kiddo?" Hugo asked with his hands in his pockets.
"Uh, just some minor injuries, nothing severe…" Meloni replied. She was getting nervous by the minute.
"You're lucky you survived the encounter with hounds, kid. But luck, it has a habit of running out in these things, quite often," Hugo continued.
"…" She didn't say anything. Just stayed there with her head hung low.
"I'm sorry," Hugo, then turned the conversation around. "What happened to you last night should never have happened."
"A rift opened under our jurisdiction. Two agents and a civilian died. Something like this happened right under my watch, I prefer to apologise in person." He said, but his body language didn't match his words. All while saying that, he stood stern.
"…" Meloni stayed quiet, again.
'Is he expecting a response from her? What is she supposed to say? 'It's okay?'' Ray thought, looking at Hugo.
"As an apology, Ferrum will support you with the best of its assistance until you're strong enough to live in the world of conduits alone. Of course, we won't force any contracts on you, this is purely a gesture of apology." Hugo continued.
'What is he getting at?' Ray thought. A support throughout her career, which could even last for a lifetime, without even representing Ferrum. Even as a gesture of apology, that is excessive. Ferrum might not be a global power, but having a national-level authority makes it a pretty domineering organisation.
Meloni was vertiginously bewildered. "Thank you!" She sounded grateful.
"Virris here, will help you with adjustments of your life, and provide you with an information about your further path," Hugo said gesturing at the man in dark red suit beside him with his shoulders.
Virris nodded with eyes closed.
"That's that…"
"Another reason for my visit here, is that I need to ask a few questions from you," Hugo then took his hands of out of his pocket, and stood stern with his arms folded.
Meloni nodded.
"Can you tell me what happened right before you passed out?" He asked.
"Right before I passed out? I don't remember it too clearly… it's all vague. But I remember how those agents died. I-I can control sound, and their sonic boom didn't affect me. So I tried to stun them, in which I succeeded…once. My stun also brought the agents back to reality. But they adapted quickly, they repeated that attack, and before I could even stun or even snap my finger, they-they killed the agents. They moved really fast, spoke the same thing at the same time. They were extremely coordinated…" Meloni began reciting everything that she remembered.
"You were helped there, kid. Don't you remember anything? Any person who appeared there? Or how the hounds died?" Hugo pressed his questions further.
"No…I passed out the moment those agents died, I couldn't bear to see my-end…" She replied.
Hugo nodded and looked down at the floor tiles. He wasn't convinced with those answers. He thought for a while.
Hugo thought that it was either she was hiding something. Or she was completely clueless about how big the power that saved her is.
"One last question…" Hogo's voice got heavier.
He looked straight into her eyes and sharpened his gaze.
"Have you ever heard of a name… Raelion Morrigan?" He asked, and Virris, his assistant, flinched.
'So this is what he's after…' Ray thought.
But unfortunately for him, Raelion has introduced himself as Ray to her. So it was evident she didn't knew that name.
"Raelion Morrigan?" She whispered repeating it. "Its my first time hearing this name? Is this person somehow involved with the incident?" She asked.
"…"
"I see- Well Virris here, will contact you once you're discharged. Don't stress, just think of it that someone saved your life because he thought it was worth saving. So its better to bring out that very worth, its not everyday a lifeline is granted right?" He didn't answer her question but moved the conversation.
"Yes…Thank you!" Meloni thanked again, bowing her head.
Hugo nodded and left with Virris, who opened the gates for him.
"Raelion Morrigan…" Meloni whispered in deep thought after Hugo left.
"Raelion----Rae----Ray" She whispered again and came to a conclusion.
Turning her head left to the bedside table, looking at a black falcon sitting comfortably on the bed of roses, she asked, looking at Ray, "Raelion Morrigan?"
"Yeah, that's me," Ray said, raising a wing like marking his attendance.
"Why was he asking your name?" She asked.
"He must have picked up residual resonance from the field, and I used a reality veil, too, since it's strong, it leaves a trail for a while," Ray replied.
"I get that! But can't he just contact someone on your side and confirm it was you? I mean, he is the head of an organisation! But the way he asked me your name was…Secretive somehow!" Meloni said.
"That's because I've been missing for a year…and I'm pretty popular~" Ray said and hopped on the bed again, looking for another box of fries.
"Missing for a year????" Meloni shouted.
----
"Why did you ask her his name, sir?" Virris questioned, sitting beside Hugo in a black moving sedan.
"That child is beautiful, Virris," Hugo replied. "And Raelion is not someone old like us, if he were with her, then it'd be no problem. However, she didn't know that name. It was visible on her expression."
"And if it's the latter. It just makes the situation worse for all of us, do you know why?" Hugo asked as he turned to Virris.
"Why?" Virris asked.
"Because now, we have his fucking highness walking among civilians," He grunted.