Similarity Of The Five

"Okay... Let's do a break, shall we? Before someone gets murdered in this room..." said Raiyen, coming into the room.

The Time Mage went up to the Slayer to drag him out of the room, much to Bryan's confusion. I think I had just witnessed a kidnapping, but the room had no air for laughter or jokes.

"I rarely agree with you, which is one of those times. Come on, old pal. Let's get you some drinks... Perhaps some tea?" asked Baldwin, patting his friend on the shoulders.

Gillian was the final one to arrive since he heard the slamming of the table and found that his wife was missing from her bed. The Headmaster picked Ysabeau up with his arms and proceeded as if nothing had happened. But the guy stopped right outside of the room to look at me.

"Young Elizabeth... Mavislin is lucky to have found you as a member of the Arks. Your words couldn't be more accurate than my mind about feeling guilty for what Old Man Pond did throughout the years. Maybe I should adopt your mindset but then again..."

Gillian smiled as he tilted his head.

"My wife would dump me in the sewers of Teuton if I became unsympathetic again. So I can only tell you good luck with the upcoming missions as I know you won't fall for the cliche use of feelings against yourself. Have a nice day ahead, Lady Elizabeth," waved Gillian as he walked away.

Z shook his head as Baldwin tried to get him out of the room. Mavislin, in her child form, pushed a chair towards me and offered me to sit down. As I did, Mavislin hopped onto my lap to snuggle against me. I guess she used a non-verbal way of comfort to release my stress.

And I'm ashamed to say it worked. Those words were coming from my mouth were knives in the back for me. I described my guilt for being powerless to stop those men from burning down the place I called home. And the coward I was for not searching for my baby brother first.

I hugged the child on my lap tightly, causing Mavislin to turn around and look at me with curious eyes. But the Valkyrie didn't say anything as she snuggled closer.

"I can't leave the room without finishing the work for tomorrow's plans. Lizzie hasn't completed her investigation on the Dollhouse Mission, and this is my room. Perhaps you can bring the drinks in here," said Z, pleadingly looking at Baldwin.

"And while you are at it, please ask the Time Mage to bring back my partner. We've yet to discuss the plans of action against the enemies. Because I've realized that these five children we are facing are our enemies before Fabian," I instructed, finally linking all of them together.

While Z was speaking about the story about the Unknown Children, I was reading about the case files of the Congregation during the disappearance of all five kids. Astria's case checks out with Z's recount of the aftermath of the Unknown Children program.

After accessing the Congregation's previous investigations, I finally found the bond these few shared. First, they didn't have a death date, only dates of their disappearances. Second, after joining the names together and searching for the linking words, those children knew the Founders.

Each of the five kids has met the Founders right before the fall of the Congregation. And they were all survivors of the many investigations that had terrible aftermath, such as the Unknown Children program. So they must've sought refuge with Mr. Brookes after things they went through.

"Did you find a relation to all these kids?" asked Bryan, returning to the room with a toast in his mouth.

My god, how hungry is this kid?! Does he have a black hole for his stomach?! Never mind about that now. I've got to tell him about my findings. I quickly enlarged all the evidence that linked the kids to the Founders.

"All five of them have met the Founders of the Arks before. This is the only common thing they share; that's why they were all different. And since Mavislin and Raiyen are here, would you guys care to tell me about the profiles of these few kids?" I asked, looking at Raiyen and Mavislin.

I showed the two Mages the investigations and missions they participated in when the Congregation was active. Mavislin was drawing a blank while Raiyen knew precisely what I was talking about. As a Time Mage, recollection of names and faces should be a breeze for him.

Raiyen pointed to a tiny little boy with bright yellow, spiky hair and orange eyes. The boy had a distinct scar running over his right eye—a boy named Fujimaru Raijin. A very familiar name to me.