Everything was so surreal. It was the first time in his life where he had seen such extravagance. He was astonished by the blinding sights and how neat this place was.

After a difficult journey through the journey, he had finally reached Masonry, the grandiose area where the upper-class and Governors lived. He only knew that it was Masonry for it was what was written on the signboards. It was his first time seeing paved roads and beautiful pebbled pavements.

There were water fountains too, and the water glared a silvery white in the afternoon sun. He loved this exquisite place. It was something he had never encountered. There were no dirty, muddy roads or run-down huts with overhanging thatched roofs.

In spite of its beauty, he couldn't help but note that the street was eerily quiet. People dressed in protective gear and some in elegant clothing roamed the streets, seemingly preparing for something.

Suddenly, a stranger approached him.

"Where's your family, kid? The streets won't be safe. The second wave of protests is happening soon. Were you hurt in the first wave?"

Protest? Second wave? First wave?

The stranger took his silence as agreement.

"I'll protect you, boy. I'm bringing you to a safe shelter. Kids like you shouldn't be exposed to violence."

Screams and despondent cries ricocheted from afar, and Renald followed the man, believing that Alara could be there.

I'm coming, Alara.

Whatever Maren had done when she was unconscious, she appreciated it. She was proud of him too that he was able to separate himself from Maren the friend to Maren the leader. There was always time to grieve, but there was no time for survival if he did not act accordingly.

When he had briefed them in private about his plans, it was met with approval from her and Eli.

"The more kids we can save, the better." Alara had chimed in, but really, it was her brother that she was thinking of. It was always him, always her brother who occupied her mind these days. She was certain that he was here, that he was near her.

To have him so close yet so far out of her reach was killing her.

"And thank you for being so quick-witted, Maren. It's a relief that you're back on your feet now." Maren had turned to her and flashed her a smile before donning on the mask of a serious leader. She knew she had to mend ties with, that she had to repair their friendship when she was able to.

But first, the mission.

The town of Masonry was as stunning as a picture and full of picturesque views regardless of what angle one looked at. It was as if it was created to reinforce the Governors' power, for it was so lavish and beautiful that it reinforced the very ideas that were synonymous with the Governors: power and lavishness.

Centered on the further side of Masonry was a great, humongous white dome, with the big words 'THE GOVERNORS' coloured in gold and framed at the centre of the dome. The gold words shone brightly against the white colour, exuding sheer power for it was the first thing one's eyes would be drawn to and see. Even in a word format, they commanded attention.

Whether it was for notoriety or for fame, it was always attention they sought. This time, I'll make them get what they want. I'll give the attention they long for so much for then- and make sure that they will have to deal with it on a global scale.

"Brites, in?"

"Brites, in." Alara responded as soon as she heard the General's voice coming out of the walkie-talkie. 'Brites, in' basically meant that her position was secured and that she was ready to shoot any protester- not that she would, of course- and that she was ready to transport the children. The General had decided to use lady of the de Allura's name as it identified who was in his team and who was not. An outsider was more likely to use 'de Allura, in' instead of casually saying the revered lady's name.

"Roger that, proceed."

The moment she heard that, she switched to the Agency's own walkie-talkie, one that was state-of-the-art and easily worth thousands of bloods, hundred thousands worth' even.

Their walkie-talkie was extremely light, durable, waterproof, anything-proof really. Not to mention it never failed to provide excellent range and was clear as day even if they were three hundred kilometres apart.

She did not even have to worry about its battery life, unlike for the Governors' one as long as there was light, no matter how dim it was, the walkie-talkie would be automatically charged.

"Bear, in," she whispered into the walkie-talkie.

"Bear, roger. In." She could feel Maren rolling his eyes when she used the code name 'bear'. It had actually been Eli's idea- the moment he knew that one of her private nicknames was 'Mare-bear', he insisted on using it as their code name.

"Nobody else in this bloody world will even dream of using that as a code name. It also holds a special and private meaning for us and we will instantly know if somebody somehow infiltrated into our walkie-talkies."

Since neither her nor Maren could argue with his logic, they let him be and ended up using it.

Compared to Maren, her job was an easy one as his task was to bring the children along with the General into the Governors' caravans.

He had sorely underestimated the General's trust in him. He had originally thought that the General would assign him menial tasks at most, but instead of giving trivial jobs to do, the General did the polar opposite of what he had expected of him.

The General assigned him a post as his second-in-command.

How he even managed to get such a high position was beyond him. Perhaps it was because of his honesty and how up-front he had been with the General.

Looking back on his conversations with the General, he then compared it to the ones the General had with his men. He remembered when the General had questioned his men as to how they would deal with a rhetorical situation where the goal would be to at most injure the target, not kill.

"What's your opinion on this, Alistair? I'm thinking of attacking from behind with the hilt of my dagger, to catch him off-guard."

If you attack him from behind, the target will die because the General's hilt is a jagged one. Its sharp ends and points will pierce and slash the target's thin neck, Maren had thought, and was naturally surprised by Alistair's response.

"Excellent strategy, sir. I like it- you are indeed the most gifted General in our time."

Perhaps it was due to his boldness and unwillingness to appeal to the authorities by coating hard truths in a sugary-sweet manner. Perhaps that's what the General liked- honesty and bluntness, something he could not get from his men.

Whatever it was, Maren was thankful for his surprising position, for it made his job easier.

Before they had been separated, Maren had tasked him with the task of creating a diversion. "When you think that I need it, do it. Put your plan into motion."

And so he did.

Ripping off his uniform given by the General, he was thankful that he had worn it over his hidden layer of plainclothes. Running towards the growing crowd of protesters, he hollered, "Hey! There's a group of officers there- they might be employed by the Governors! Let's bring them Hell!"

Hell broke loose the moment the word 'Governors' left his lips. In the past, any king or emperor who treated their people like tyrants always ended up suffering terrible ends. Any tyrannical and authoritarian leader who ruled with an iron fist and uncaring hand met equally brutal ends at the hands of their people.

He was seeing history make another revisit again.

In front of his eyes, history revisited the present.

Whatever shadow of doubt that the General had vanished when he saw the looming crowds emerging from the middle of nowhere. Fear burned in his eyes and his hands trembled.

"How the hell did they find us? How?"

"I don't know, General, and now's not the time for that. We need to fight back."

The General blinked, nodding his head. "You're right. Yes, you're right. The de Alluras always chooses the right men. Let the fight begin! For the Governors!"

Smoke billowed from crashed vehicles, and the pebbled pavements were painted by pools of crimson blood. The stench of rotting death was pervasive and it was making him increasingly nauseous.

The only reason why he remained unnoticed because they were either preoccupied with defending and killing and because of his scrawny build. Since he was never fed enough during his captivity, he was shorter than average- something that he was appreciative of today.

"Alara..." he whispered, for he didn't dare to yell her name. What if I accidentally hurt her by doing that? That's the last thing I want to do.

Uncertain and afraid, he crouched behind a massive tree, blubbering uncontrollably by himself.

BOOM, BOOM,

Startled by the thunderous sounds, Renald jolted out of his sleep. He had unknowingly cried himself to sleep, and had woken up to a nightmare.

The gorgeous city was coming apart as powerful explosives exploded, causing the roads and pavements to begin to crack and be torn apart. Peoples' shrill shrieks of horror was like the climax of an opera; it was booming and whole, and was let go all in one, engulfing the city.

Renald began running for his life when some benches near him broke.

For some unknown reason, he was going towards the place where the majority of the deadly fighting took place. It was as if he was drawn to there by an unknown force, leading him to something, someone.

And then he saw it.

That flash of golden brown hair.

"ALARA! ALARA!"

He ran like the speed of lightning towards his sister, screaming her name.

"ALARA!"