~BAM! BAM! BAM!~

The door shook as the pounds on the door echoed throughout the room.

"What?" Aegon muttered as he finally woke up, blinking to clear his eyes. "Who is it?" He said but couldn't get up as Diane was using him as a mattress.

~BAM! BAM! BAM!~

No answer. Just the continuation of furious knocks.

He groaned as he managed to slide out from underneath her. He pulled his pants up and headed to the door.

~BAM! BAM! BAM!~

"I'm fucking coming." He rubbed his eyes as he proceeded, wondering why no one else heard the knock or how Diane was still asleep.

An unconscious smile tugged at his lips, reveling in his sexual prowess. He grabbed the handle and a quiet muse rose. 'Who could it be?'

He pulled the door open.

The early morning cold blew past him but no one was there. He stepped out, looked left and right.

Still no one.

He shrugged, turned back to enter his home.

~Pffft! Pffft! Pffft!~

He felt something in his back— like a pinch, a number of them. Stretched a hand to feel it. He pulled it and brought it to his face.

Thin metal body, little empty vial behind it and what looked like tiny feathers at its end— a dart.

Then the dizziness came, his vision blurred the longer he stood. He tried to run inside but his movements lagged. He dropped to his knees trying to warn Diane to run but he knew he wouldn't make it.

He finally gave in and slumped to the floor there.

---

"Hhhhhh—AHHhh!"

His eyes snapped wide, his breath fractured in his throat. He immediately tried to stand but his hands and feet were chained together and into the floor.

Aegon's gaze swept across the room. 'FUUCK!' He screamed internally. Dampeners sat at each corner of the room which meant he couldn't draw on Aether.

The room, if it could be called that, was completely bare. About a closet size, thick cement wall, a single light bulb hung above, two metal chairs— the one he sat in and the other opposite him, and finally, no windows.

"The perfect place for torture." He muttered under his breath as he racked his mind for a way out.

They, or whoever took him, had kidnapped him bare. No shirt, no shoes, just the pair of pants he wore when he opened the door.

'Could this be the mercenary group? Did they take Diane? What do they even want with me?' His thoughts raged on before the door eased open.

Revealing an average height man, brown skin, short greying hair, subtly sagged face and sharp suit.

He initially ignored Aegon completely. Stepping in and locking the door behind him. In his hand was a simple tablet.

He sat down. And smiled. Passing him a simple waving gesture. "Hello, Mr Dhalar."

"Errr..." Aegon's mind stuttered for a second due to his actions. "What am I doing here?"

"You're doing a lot here." He said simply. "Sorry we had to result in cruel tactics to get you here—"

"You kidnapped me." Aegon snapped. "You shot me in the back with tranquilizing darts. A lot of them."

"We had to make sure you weren't going to do something stupid."

"Ha." He gave a short sarcastic laugh. "You think I'm the dangerous one?" He paused for a moment, eyes narrowing. "You even are you?"

"Oh..." His eyes widened in realization. He reached for the inside of his suit pocket and retrieved a badge. "I'm Agent Alexander Miller. And I'm in charge of—" he pointed at Aegon. "—your school's attack case."

Aegon gave a long sigh. "You're V.A.L.O.R"

Alex grin widened, he leaned back against the chair. "Correct."

"Then I have a pro tip." Aegon leaned in, whispering now. "You don't kidnap students for an interview."

"Aegon, you and your friends trespassed on the academy grounds, broke into the principal's office, hacked into secure government files and then infiltrated a secure underground base underneath the school." He finally took a breath. "Should I go on?"

His heartbeat quickened, his mind raced and a sweat trickled down the side on his face. "I don't know what you're talking about." He lied smoothly.

Alex tilted his head back. "You don't?" He said already taking out his tablet. He turned to Aegon. "Perhaps you could tell me who this is then."

The image on the screen was security cameras footage of everything. With a flick of his finger, Alex scrolled through the entire thing.

From them jumping into school, to them in the principal's office all the way back to their fight with the witch in the field.

He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing. "Are the others here too?"

"What? No." Alex said firmly, already putting away the tablet. "Right now they're not important."

"Then why am I important?"

"What's your affinity Aegon?" Alex asked simply.

'Shit!' But instead he went with, "Replication. What else?"

"Hmm." He leaned in. "I'm just asking because I've watched this footage repeatedly and I seem to see you using fire on different occasions."

He leaned back, but his eyes stayed on Aegon, studying his every movement. "Then I thought well maybe he could have copied it, right?"

"Right."

Aegon answered a little too fast.

"Wrong." He shot back, all the seriousness in the world on one man's face. "There was no one in your party with fire so now I'm gonna ask you a question and if you lie to me then I guess I could lock you up and throw away the key."

"Don't think you can do that to a minor." He tried to rebuttal.

"You're not a minor. You turned eighteen yesterday. Happy belated birthday." He paused for a moment. "Do you have a double affinity?"

"Yes!" His mind and his mouth said at the same time. Technically it wasn't a lie, he had a double affinity... well it was now triple but still.

"Then how did you pass registration without the software detecting it?" His voice was still highly skeptical. "And why did you lie? How the hell is it from two different faculties?"

His mind and pulse raced. Sweat had already made him sleek and glistening in his chair. He needed a lie. A goddamn amazing one.

One that would answer all Alex's questions without a silver of doubt.

Feeling Alex's anticipation, he opened his mouth. "I didn't have it during registration. I got it in the Adept Trial. That's why the software didn't detect it and also why I didn't say anything about it before."

Silence was what followed after Aegon's lies. Alex just stared with a blank expression, making it impossible to tell if he bought it or not.

But he finally opened his mouth...

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