They took a taxi and arrived at the main headquarters. It was a massive building with more than 100 floors, made of a glowing silver material, making it resemble a beacon in the city. Azure stepped out of the car, gazing up at it in awe.
Evelyn guided Azure and the girls inside the building. There were hundreds of people inside in groups, discussing or talking with the workers in the building.
They stopped and stared at Azure's group. Azure felt embarrassed by the number of eyes watching him. He examined the people around him; most of them wore armor, and some wore strange clothes—like wizards—but with weapons like swords. Their gazes were odd as they looked at him.
Raven let out a mocking laugh, glancing around. Kira shot her a stern look to quiet her. Leading the way, Kira guided them to an elevator, swiping her card to open it before selecting the 15th floor.
No one spoke during the elevator ride. Evelyn's face was like poker, showing no emotions, and Kira was calm, looking ahead. Raven was staring at her ring, while Azure was nervous about what would happen.
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out. Evelyn headed straight to one of the rooms, followed by Azure, Raven, and Kira.
The guard at the door stepped aside and opened it after seeing Evelyn. They entered the room and found many devices and large screens.
This doesn't look... overly magical, Azure expected something a bit different, he didn't expect devices and machines. He looked in amazement at the large screens and the strange devices around him.
There was one researcher in the room, examining one of the devices. She glanced at those who entered the room and sighed, leaving the device and approaching, "You're really late."
The researcher had short yellow hair and brown eyes behind her glasses, wearing a long white coat.
"There was an incident on the way," Evelyn replied coolly. The researcher stared into her eyes for a moment before looking at Azure.
Her expression soured. She approached cautiously, examining Azure from head to toe, and asked Evelyn, "Is this the person you talked about?"
Evelyn nodded silently. The researcher came closer, grabbed Azure's face with both hands, and stared directly into his eyes. Azure didn't understand anything and stared blankly into her eyes.
She held Azure's face and stared at him for more than a minute. Kira cleared her throat loudly before speaking, "We didn't bring him here for you to gawk at him."
She stared at him for one last second before letting him go with a sigh. She approached the computer, pointed toward a device resembling a standing sleep chamber, her voice calm, "Enter that machine."
Azure approached the machine with worry. His heart was pounding hard; he had a bad feeling inside him. He opened the machine's door before slowly entering. As soon as he entered, the machine lit up and closed the door immediately.
The researcher controlled the machine from the computer. A 3D scan of Azure's body appeared on the screens. She started the scanning process, but as soon as she pressed the start button, a sudden tremor shook the building.
The lights in the room all turned to a dark red color. The machines and screens exploded one after another. The researcher looked seriously at the screen in front of her. The red screen on the computer was the only one with text, written in an incomprehensible language.
The researcher tried to type something on the device but to no avail. A second tremor hit the building, but this time, the building began to collapse slowly. Alarms went off everywhere.
[Warning, security system breached]
[Warning, security system breached]
[Please evacuate the building immediately]
Evelyn and Raven's expressions changed; they didn't understand what happened. Meanwhile, Kira moved quickly to approach the machine with Azure, trying to get him out, but the ceiling began to collapse suddenly, blocking her path. The floor with the machine then caved in and fell with the debris.
All Kira could do was let out a final scream for Azure.
...
Azure felt as if his body was being pierced by a thousand needles, and every cell in his body was burning. He lost consciousness as soon as the machine's door closed.
He opened his eyes slowly and found himself in a completely white fog. He felt a deep fear overtake him as he looked around. He tried to step forward but felt a sudden chill in his body, like an electric shockwave. He knelt on the ground and clutched his chest with both hands.
What is happening?? Azure didn't understand where he was or what was happening. All he felt was a chill taking over every cell in his body, as if someone was watching him.
"You're not entirely wrong, we are indeed being watched," suddenly he heard a voice behind him . He turned around and found a man with long, dark azure hair tied in a long ponytail, azure eyes, wearing a tight black suit and a black coat. His features looked exactly like Azure.
Azure was shocked by the man's appearance. He tried to stand and found the pain had disappeared. He stood quickly and examined his body; he no longer felt any pain.
"Don't worry, I transferred all the pain to me," the man smiled as he stared at Azure.
Azure approached the man and looked at him in shock and confusion. His heart was pounding hard. He asked in a shaky tone, "Who are you?"
The man chuckled softly and stepped closer to Azure, standing a foot away. "Me? I am you," the man's eyes gleamed for a second as he spoke.
Azure was stunned by this statement. He stared at the man in horror, not knowing how to respond.
The man looked at Azure's reaction and rolled his eyes as he walked, "For heaven's sake, the line does sound a bit cliché for you to be this shocked, but I suppose the strange world and the shock's effect are greater than the line," the man mocked as he moved beside Azure. Azure watched him warily.
"No need to be so cautious. I didn't lie when I said I am you. There are some differences, but... anyway, the reason for my presence and yours here is because some fools tried to activate the curse. I stopped it before something terrible happened," he paused for a moment and tilted his head to the side, "maybe I was a bit slow... half the building is destroyed, that's not good at all."
Azure didn't understand what the man was talking about, but hearing that the building was destroyed scared him greatly. "Are Kira and the girls okay?"
The man stared at him, raising an eyebrow in surprise, "Shouldn't you think of yourself first? Your body is still in the building, and unlike the girls, you fell into the debris."
"What?" Azure was shocked.
The man sighed and stopped moving, "Don't worry, the girls are safe. As for your 'body,' it fell with the collapse, but you're fine, don't worry. Your body was protected by the machine. There are still some minor injuries, but mostly thanks go to Diamond. Without the clothes he chose, you'd be lucky to survive without any fractures," he paused to reflect on the events again, "quite a strange coincidence, honestly."
He thought for a few seconds before shrugging in resignation, "Never mind, he helped us. Coincidence or not, it worked in our favor." He then looked at Azure's facial expressions and laughed, "Sorry, I guess in the future you'll develop a habit of talking and explaining a lot. Let me clarify some things for you and, at the same time, restore your memories, okay, and the reason you lost them in the first place."
Azure narrowed his eyes as he stared at the man, "Were you the reason I lost my memories?"
"Yes and no, you'll understand once I explain, but first, look at this," the man pointed his finger upward. Azure looked up and was shocked by what he saw.