Chapter 19: Krentis

Aksel had thought of various ways how he would be greeted by the other Rues that he was aware was living in Novus apart from the five people he had already met but having him being stared upon like a specimen from a laboratory miracle wasn't particularly one of them.

It was nerve-wracking to be standing there with pairs of different sets of colored orbs observing his every move and nervous scratches that he administered on his body. Beside him, he could feel Yve emotionlessly looking around, and deciding to divert his attention from the awkwardness of being watched he followed her example.

Back in Aquilo, the sewage system was mainly what it was, a sewage system that had few gaps in between their tunnels out of which, one of them was being used by Yve and Daren as a home but that wasn't the case here in Novus. After following through the path of multiple turns in the maze-like structure of the enormous sewage system Sasha and Renee had finally led him to a dead end.

"Did you forget your way?" Yve asked as she noticed the two women stop there. Since Sasha and Renee were standing in front of them Yve couldn't notice what they did but all of a sudden the dead-end that looked like a simple cemented wall quickly flashed and revealed a door behind the hologram.

Although they had been using new-age technology to hide the door, the security in itself was an old, simple, password-oriented lock that the people used a few hundred years ago.

Aksel had wanted to ask her about the reason behind this irony but kept shut when he heard some whispers from inside the now opened door that Sasha had opened after punching in a pin.

"This is our home," Sasha muttered as she ushered the two hesitant bodies inside and quickly shut the door back behind her.

It was here that the newly arrived Rues froze as they saw people excitedly rushing into the plain hall-like structure from six passageways that were spread in different directions from this empty space to who knows where.

It was at least a more decent spot with clean grey cemented walls and a ceiling that had a light system lighting the small hall in a brighter light than that of the tunnels.

"Where is Krentis?" Sasha asked no one in particular when even after two minutes of plainly standing the person in question had emerged forward.

The small crowd of what seemed to be around twenty people rose in a hushed whisper talking to each other when finally a jovial voice called out and said, "I brought him!"

The crowd dispersed to give way to the person called 'Krentis' and the other fellow who had brought him, as they appeared from the second tunnel to the right.

The man named Krentis who came in was a man who looked older than all the faces that he had seen yet. He had a small black beard on his face that he was taming with his fingers as he hobbled to come to stand in front of the crowd.

Now that he was in full view of Aksel's eyes, Aksel noticed that his left leg was missing and was replaced in its place by a metal prosthetic the rounded feet-like structure of which shone in the light. Since the man had been wearing full pants Aksel wasn't able to see how far the metal ran but by the awkward way, he hobbled Aksel had a feeling that it was still far up his leg.

"What is all this commotion Sasha?" the man gruffly asked as he took in Aksel and Yve with his deep blue eyes. The man looked slightly annoyed by the disturbance as he looked around at the crowd that was gathered there murmuring and talking among themselves.

Aksel noticed the way Sasha's bored stance had changed on the arrival of this man and he realized that he must be someone important for him to be treated so differently even by her.

"Krentis, I found these two people outside of Novus. They are also Reus and they claimed to have come from Aquilo," she informed, and the features of the annoyed man changed at once as he now looked at them with a look of joy.

The man who would have risen pity in anyone at his condition quickly hobbled up to Aksel and peering at him from every angle he said, "You are right he is a Rues! I can't believe two Rueses came all the way from Aquilo after so many years!"

This caught Aksel's attention and scrunching his brows he asked, "What do you mean by 'again' and from 'Aquilo'?"

"When I had first arrived here I had been very lonely, being the only Rues alive then. I had to fend for myself with great difficulty as I hid in the sewage, away from the System. It was then when another man who had been looking for a place to hide had bumped across me in this very sewage system. This man was my first friend and had come from Aquilo. He was a real genius and the only reason why this place is so advanced."

Aksel found that Krentis had a deep admiration for this man who had helped him back then and especially learning that there had been such a genius who had set up this whole place for the forthcoming Reus he was looking forward to meeting him.

"Where is he now?" Yve asked noting how the man kept talking in past tense and the fall of his expression was all the information she needed to know that the man who was being spoken in this context was already dead.

"He died two years later after he was killed by a Contrivo," Krentis mourned and looked up with closed eyes, trying to stop himself from shedding tears.

The people around also had sad and grateful expressions on their faces at the end of the story and it was enough to let the two new Rues know that this man was the one who decided the motions here in Novus.

"Let me introduce myself, I am Krentis, and what about you two?" he asked after a silent moment of mourning and wiping his eyes. His expression still had a trace of sadness on it but Aksel decided to ignore that not understanding how he could probably console him.

"I am Aksel and this is Yve," Aksel greeted with a nod and then proceeded to ask the question that was continuously bugging him, "How many years have you been living here if you don't mind me asking?"

This caused a laugh to trickle out from the man beside Krentis's lips. He had been the one who had brought Krentis here and when he saw Aksel looking at him he said, "Sorry it's just that everyone seems to ask the same question to our poor Krentis. He might look old but he has only lived here for eight years so technically our guy is only twenty-eight years old."

The crowd laughed with this brown-haired man but Aksel and Yve were stupefied by the number. To be able to survive the system for so long and that too without one of his legs made this man almost as legendary as the person they had been previously talking about.

"Mort, stop joking around," Sasha scolded the guy, scowling at him, and then bringing her attention back to Krentis she asked, "Since you seem to like them then they are going to stay here with us as well?"

"If they want to then sure. The more people of our kind we have the better it is," Krentis answered smiling at Yve and Aksel to let them choose their own path.

Aksel and Yve had come out on a mission, and staying at another place governed by the System, wasn't the end of it.

"We will stay for a while." Came Yve's reply as she shared a look with Aksel to confirm, who was slightly confused but still nodded along and then turning towards Krentis she explained, "We are actually on our journey to find our origin, the place where we came from, and that which is hopefully not governed by the Branding System."

A curiosity sizzled in Krentis's blue eyes as he looked impressed at Yve's words.

Nodding his head at her he said, "That will be quite a task I suppose."

The words garnered immediate interest from the two as they huddled closer to him with questioning eyes.

"You will probably have to leave this country to find such a place," he again said giving out small pieces of information.

Aksel felt like what he was going to say next would be really important to them and urging him to continue further he noticed that the crowd had been actively taking part in the conversation between the trios as they listened in.

"If you think carefully then you will find that by far everything and every information that you had in your memories except that about your familial life had mostly been true or in my case, it has always been true. It is because of that and a few other reasons that I will let you know later on that I come to this conclusion." Krentis said taking a pause.

He noticed that there was a curiosity burning in their eyes and an impatience to achieve the unknown kindled through their bodies. It made him wonder if these were the type of people he had been waiting for all his life. He felt hopeful at least in being a step closer to achieving his dreams by the arrival of these new guests of his.

Clearing his throat he then said, "Novus is the capital of this country and if the capital itself is being ruled by this system then you can expect that the whole country must be under their rule as well."