Chapter 189 The Gathering

"If you say that you are serious in your plan, does that mean that you are prepared to do it now?" Alina asked Alex as he looked extremely determined to recreate Professor Frances' body.

"We already had 3 weeks of acclimation time here, so getting out won't hurt that much." Alex replied as he pocketed the professor's head back to Alina's Storage.

As Alex kept the professor's head, he started to look around, as if he was looking for someone.

"Hey, where's Queen Mother anyway? I hadn't seen her talking with me today." Alex asked Alina as he tilted his head. "Did she do something else again?"

"Don't be that worried, Alex." Alina replied as she seemed to be chiding Alex. "Right now, Queen Mother is playing with Kiera. And she's… not staring at the skies like what she did yesterday or the days before that."

"Oh. That's reassuring to me." That was all that Alex could say as he received Alina's answer.

"Reassuring you? Are you really that worried for Queen Mother too?" At this point, Alina's voice rose by a fraction, which was already impressive, as Alex could feel irritation rolling of Alina in waves.

"You've seen what happened to her after we encountered Turtel." Alex replied, indicating the Titan that they met 3 weeks ago. "After we separated with Turtel, Queen Mother started to act a little… weird. She even began staring blankly at the horizon… Even if there's nothing wrong with her body, I still could not help but get worried for her…"

"There's no need for you to get that worried, Alex." Alina suddenly replied as she shook her head. "I already talked with Queen Mother about what she was doing. She… already explained to me why. And from what I can see, there's actually no need for us to be that worried about her."

"Oh, she told to you why she's like this? Can you tell it to me too?" Alex pleased as he stared at Alina. "You know I can't just let go of a good gossip…"

"…If you want to know, just ask her later." Alina replied brusquely as she let out a light hmph. "I'm not in the mood right now to entertain your…. snoopy ears."

"Oh."

"Instead of talking with Queen Mother, why don't you focus on talking with Asteria?" Alina said as she glared at Alex. "She's planning to tell us about her past, right?"

"You know that Asteria's weird in her own way." Alex said as he let out a frustrated sigh.

"So, she refused talking about her past again?"

"Hmph, I don't know what that dumb fairy is thinking right now. So god**** irritating." Alex said as he let out a low growl. "3 weeks ago, she seemed to be prepared to tell her story. But after we encountered Turtel, she won't talk about her story anymore! What the hell is wrong with her?"

"…"

Just like what Alex said, Asteria, who seemed to be prepared to tell her story 3 weeks ago, suddenly changed her tune after they left the Titan.

She went back to her normal routine, with the addition of her refusing to talk about her past anymore.

It was as if she lost the courage and initiative to open up herself.

"Asteria… must have worked up a lot of courage to start talking about her past." Alina hesitantly replied, as if she was trying to paint Asteria in a good light. "But after the Titan interrupted her, she could have lost that courage to talk. Maybe that is why she's acting like this again."

"Alina, you give that dumb fairy too much credit." Alex replied as he let out another sigh. "Haven't you read the books about creatures like Asteria, which include creatures like Faerires? They are agents of chaos, and they love pranking people. I won't be surprised to see that what Asteria was doing now was just one of her pranks."

"Alex, if I give Asteria too much credit, you on the other hand give her too little." Alina replied with an icy tone to her voice. "Are you really that angry with her?"

"…Except for me, you're the one that interacted with my Guide the most." Alex replied as he narrowed his eyes. "With that time that you had with Asteria, can you confidently say to me that Asteria was a good person? Say that to me with conviction."

"Asteria… Well, she's warm and fluffy." After struggling for 5 seconds, this is the best answer that Alina could give to Alex.

"See? Even you could see that there's something wrong with her, or whatever she is." Alex replied as he shook his head.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Alex then shook his head once more as he realized that they were back again on the awkward territory.

"Speaking of that fairy, where is she anyway?"

"She's with Queen Mother." Alina replied as she fingered the handle of her sword. "She told me that she was interested to see on what Kiera could be doing right now."

"I'm pretty sure that Kiera's trying to activate her power again." Alex said as he started to walk towards a certain direction. Alina followed behind him, with her long legs allowing her to keep up with Alex's pace.

"Kiera's trying to activate her power again? She seems to be serious about this..." Alina muttered behind Alex with a tone of wonder and incredulity.

"Well, if you tell a kid that she had powers now, there is no way that she would not be interested." Alex replied as he let out a yawn. "With Kiera knowing that she has powers now, there's no wonder that she's trying her best to activate it."

"But unfortunately, her power's still not activating now." Alina murmured behind Alex, with curiosity and a little resignation on her tone.

"Yeah, that's really unfortunate." Alex replied back, as he adjusted the lining of his collar. "Alina, do you have any idea on why Kiera can't activate her power yet?"

"I have no idea too." Alina replied with slight irritation back on her voice. "But do you really need to be worried about that? We have a lot of time to use in this world. I'm sure that there will come a time that Kiera's power will start to work. All that we have to do right now is to just wait."

"Well, try telling that to the little girl." Alex replied as he let out a chuckle. "I bet she will start pouting to you."

"…You really like teasing others this much huh." Alina muttered behind Alex as she let out a sigh. "It's no wonder that Kiera's a little afraid of you."

"She's afraid of me?"

"Just a little."

"…"

"…"

The two then stopped talking at that point, as they both realized that they were out of topics to talk about.

A few seconds after they stopped talking, Alex paused in his tracks as he spun around, facing Alina herself.

"Ok, now that I have told you everything, it's time for me to go." Alex said as he started to change paths. "I'll see you once I'm done!"

"Wait! What the hell are you doing now?" Alina asked Alex as she glared at him. "Why are you leaving by yourself?"

"Well, it's because what I will do is essentially a reconnaissance mission." Alex replied as he shrugged his shoulders. "If only one us goes, then there is a low chance of us being caught by the Three Factions."

"But…"

"No buts, Alina." Alex replied as he placed a finger of his on her lips. "If I do everything perfectly, I can come back later night or tomorrow morning."

"But you are going to a conference that will be attended by some important members of the Three Factions." Alina replied in a stubborn tone. "Are you confident on going there by yourself to obtain the materials?"

"…."

**********

Just like what Alina had just said, Alex was planning on infiltrating a gathering of some members of the Three Factions.

Alex was able to find out about this gathering by using his powers to gather information from nearby cities and settlements.

As it turns out, the Three Factions were extremely wary and worried by the appearance of the Red Moon.

This worry had forced some of their members to organize a gathering that will include select members of the Three Factions.

Alex was not sure on what will be talked about in this gathering, but he knew that going to this gathering will be his best bet to spy on them and obtain the materials that he wanted.

He just have to employ all the best spying techniques that he had, and victory will be in his hands.

"Well, me going there is much better compared to us three going there…." Alex said to Alina as he gave her another cheeky smile. "Well, are you going to refute that statement too?"

"…" After Alex said these words, Alina only stared at him, as if she was trying to find the right words to say to him.

But after a few seconds, her body started to slump, as she seemed to be admitting her defeat.

"…Fine, you win." Alina replied as she let out an exasperated sigh. "However, you should remember this. If you will not come back within a week, I will personally look for you and drag you back here, no matter what your state will be at that time. Are we clear on that?"

"…"

"ARE WE CLEAR ON THAT?"

"Yes, we're… clear on that." Alex said as he tried to not show any hints of nervousness from him. "I definitely promise to come back within a week! If you want I can even make a pinky promise with you!"

"…There's no need for you to do that Alex. Just… don't fool around there." Alina said these words coldly, which promptly shot down Alex's attempts to make more jokes.

"….Ok."