As the gate creaked open, the shelter came into Northern’s view. Its rough-hewn wooden structures were enough to tell him that this place was hastily assembled; however, it was undeniably resilient.
Northern felt his spit grow dry as Ellis said the word ’Home’.
Had he at any time considered this place his home? Lotheliwan?
’What the hell is he talking about home?’
Northern, dumbfounded with what Ellis just spurted, gave a dismissive look at the boy and stepped forward.
The structures within the shelter were rugged and raw, their wooden frames crudely yet solidly built.
The wood, aged and splintered, told stories of makeshift repairs.
A central building stood out, its broad, sagging roof patched with mismatched shingles and pieces of tarp. Its walls, a haphazard mix of planks and logs, were braced with ropes and metal scraps.
Surrounding this main structure were smaller shacks and lean-tos, each one a testament to survival and resourcefulness.
Some were barely more than frames with tattered cloth or sheets of metal as walls, while others were slightly more enclosed, offering a modicum of privacy.
The ground was uneven, a mix of dirt and scattered stones, with patches of wild grass pushing through.
Groups of people who looked like they had been worn and battered by the relentless trials of life moved around with a determined grace.
Their clothes were tattered, their faces lined with hardship, yet a spark of tenacity gleamed in their eyes.
Despite their weary appearance, they carried on with a sense of purpose and camaraderie.
Northern and Jeci followed Ellis closely behind; the people that walked around went about their business without paying any attention to the newers.
That was indicative of how used they were to new people ing around.
If only they knew that these weren’t just new people.
If only they knew Northern.
Unlike Raven, Northern doubted if anyone amongst these people knew what he looked like or even his name.
Soon they were at the central building.
Ellis pushed the door of the walls, and together all three of them entered.
Inside the walls of the central building, the people here looked more presentable than those outside; they were scattered around, some bandaged, around the head, hand, leg, leaning against the seemingly fragile wall.
Northern raised a brow.
From what he had seen of Night Terror’s memories, he knew that Lotheliwan had been divided into two factions.
One was being led by Braham and the delegates of Sloria, the other was being led by Annette and Night Terror.
Those were the two main factions that were currently warring against each other.
But there was one more faction.
Northern decided to call them the hiding faction, led by Gilbert and some of the party leaders.
Of course, there were some party leaders here too and some with Braham.
Northern was even more surprised to find out that Ryan and Arlem were in this faction.
He didn’t think that those two, most especially, would be here... after their fight with Night Terror.
Why would they choose to serve him?
He was not able to get what had inspired their decision from Night Terror’s memory.
There were a couple of other things he was unable to get too, which was why he still needed more information.
Hence, he would allow Annette to explain everything to him from the beginning and look at the whole narrative from her own point of view.
Northern glanced around and entered the building.
He came into a not-so-large hall, but it was large enough to acmodate a long table with Annette and a few other people without feeling cozy.
Annette was surrounded by them and seemed to be talking to them.
As he, Ellis, and Jeci entered, her eyes drifted towards the entrance and immediately widened.
Immediately followed was a broad, maniacal grin.
She rudely burst through the people in front of her and hurtled towards Northern; upon reaching his front, she pulled him into her bosom and wrapped her hands around him.
Northern found it so hard to breathe as Annette stuffed his face into her breasts.
He forced himself away from her and glared.
"Ah ah, I never thought a day would e that I would be so happy to see you!"
Annette said.
Slowly though, she began to feel the room temperature rise; she subconsciously wiped her forehead, only to realize she was sweating.
Frozen for a moment, she looked at her hand and then at Northern.
Behind Northern was a dark-haired lady, fuming. She darted a strong vicious scowl at Annette, her essence was all over the place and affecting the room.
Northern gave her a side eye.
"Hey."
Immediately Jeci closed her eyes and breathed out. She bowed her head and said:
"I apologize."
Annette instantly felt the temperature in the room drop rapidly immediately after the lady apologized.
She then took another look at the lady, her armor. Then a frown creased her brow.
"Hey Northy. Do you know who that is?"
Northern looked at her.
"No need to get all edgy. I know and she can’t harm anyone."
"Northy, you don’t—"
"Should this be what we are talking about right now?" he interrupted her.
Annette froze, observed him and smiled broadly again.
"You’re right. That’s not even what should be on our lips right now. e, I’ll introduce you to everyone and keep you up to speed on things."
Annette walked back to the group of people who were now looking at her and the white-haired boy.
"Please, care to treat Ellis first. He received a critical hit..."
Ellis was surprised.
’Where did that e from?’
Northern looked at him.
"What? I don’t want your back breaking when I just came back to use you."
Ellis smiled sweetly.
"Of course. I will get treated. I think you should talk to Annette first."
Annette gave a small smile and nodded at him.
Northern then moved forward; he could recognize some faces.
Such as Arlem who was standing with his hands folded, muscles coiling beneath his skin like they were alive.
Ryan was standing behind Arlem, gaze distant and lost, but radiating a cold air of power.
’I still look forward to copying his talent’
There were other people such as Vida, the dark-skinned lady with a gorgeous voluptuous body, which seemed to have gotten even better.
Like the state of this desolation just did not have any effect on her.
The others looked young as him, some a little bit older, and Annette was the one leading all of them.
Annette, after reaching amidst them, looked at Northern, lingered, then said:
"This is Northern, well, there are a lot of things I can say about him. But I guess the first thing I’ll have you know is... he is the master of our monster hero."
All their faces went blank.
Annette repeated proudly,
"Yep. This is The Dark Terror’s master."
Even Northern was shocked.
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