"Hmm, you have a sister?" Marcus asked.
"Y-yeah, an older sister" Jules replied.
"Ah, I see" Marcus smiled.
PLOP! a can of beer fell down the vending machine and another can with soda followed it.
"Here, have this" Marcus stretched out the can of soda towards Jules.
"Oh, thank you" Jules accepted it.
The sound of the opening cans and the liquid flowing through their throats were the only audible sounds in the room.
"Jules Martin" Marcus called out afterwards, his eyes darting towards Jules.
"Uh...yes..Marcus" Jules answered. He wasn't exactly sure of how to address Marcus given that he was much older than him and the leader of the saviours, drinking soda while being alone with him only made things even more awkward.
"Do you enjoy being a saviour?" Marcus suddenly asked.
"Huh? Do I..." Jules paused. 'Do I enjoy it?' He wondered. His mind wavered back to how it all began; he was presented with a really cool ability, made new friends and even got a best friend, a master who was cunning but cared about his interests, got to see his crush a lot and get closer to her as time passed.
"Hmm, I do" He smiled.
"I do hope you'll be able to say that even after a few more missions" Marcus spoke in a serious tone.
"Huh?" Jules raised a brow
"It's nothing" Marcus suddenly smiled.
"Now, not to waste your time" He said. He then looked up and let out a heavy sigh.
"The dark associates...." He spoke.
"The evil organization whose plans and goals remain unknown"
"So, does that imply that we're fighting without a purpose?" Jules asked. What was the point of fighting the dark associates if their plans were unknown to them?.
"Well, not exactly..." Marcus spoke while looking up. He then took another gulp from his can of beer.
"We just assumed that their main aim is to make it to the human territory and if that were to happen...." He paused, his expression turning serious once again.
Jules looked towards Marcus with a curious gaze. "What's gonna happen if..."
"Jules" Marcus cut him short. "How about I tell you a little story" he smiled.
Jules' eyes peered at him with intense curiosity afterwards.
"From your reaction, I can see you're pretty much invested in what I'm about to say" Marcus chuckled and only chuckled further when Jules abruptly looked away.
Marcus leaned back slightly, his gaze distant.
"It happened over a century ago..."
Jules leaned forward, his curiosity growing.
"Good looks, Intellect, outgoing personality, perfect physique. It was extremely difficult to find every single one of these qualities in one person, but it just so happens that the universe possesses it's favorites"
"Griffin Darwin was a world class and well renowned scientist known for his amazing skills and perseverance. He was even given the nickname 'persistent doctor' due to the fact that he never gave up on a project. Not only was he great at his job, he was also very handsome, well built and had a kind and friendly personality making him the ideal man for a large population of women back when Giylberd was merely a small town"
Jules furrowed his brows. "You talk like you knew him personally"
"Haha" Marcus laughed. "Let's just say I'm well knowledgeable" he smirked. "Anyways....."
"Griffin had a really close friend named Flora, perhaps they were lovers but who knows" he shrugged.
"One morning, while Griffin was working in his lab, Flora came over. She asked what he was up to but he only gave a vague answer by simply saying one of his usual projects. Flora believed Griffin was hiding something from her although he had already been doing that for a couple of years..."
Jules kept his gaze on Marcus and listened intently to him. From the little information he had already gotten at that point, he could tell that Marcus knew a great deal and was definitely the leader for a reason.
"Well, not to prolong the story...she was determined to find out about his recent project at that time. Apparently, she had somehow realized that it wasn't government approved given that Griffin usually carried out his experiments under the influence of the government or simply on his own demand just you know, to benefit the government at the end of it all"
Marcus looked up, leaning back further with a serious expression.
"She called on Griffin's closest and most trusted colleague who went by the name Lycan. Lycan had no clue what Griffin was up to and just like Flora, he was also suspicious so they had both planned to sneak into Griffin's laboratory one particular night"
Jules listened intently, his curiosity growing even further.
"Well, from what I know, both Flora and Lycan carried out their intended plan and that's when they found it, an open pathway leading underground in Griffin's laboratory, they had never seen it before. They decided to go in and discovered something even more shocking.."
Jules was dying with curiosity at that moment in time.
"Griffin had a secret underground lab, where he had been carrying out illicit experiments. He would trap humans or rather human like creatures in tubes and experimented on them. From what I know, he had just reached the final part of his experiment, wanna guess what it was...." Marcus turned to Jules this time expecting an answer from him.
"Huh, what was it?" Jules asked a question instead. It seems they were approaching the climax of Marcus' story.
Marcus looked away and let out a faint smile. "Energy stones"
"Huh?!" Jules' eyes flew open
"Yep, energy stones. Griffin was going to use those stones on the creatures and give them inhuman abilities with the intention to make them stronger"
Jules spoke still in shock. "Wait, I don't get it. Griffin created the energy stones? T...the thing I fused with...."
"We all fused with one" Marcus spoke "Oh, except my little sister of course" he added abruptly.
"Elise?" Jules raised both brows. Elise didn't fuse with an energy stone?! Then where did she gain such abilities?
Marcus' bright expression dimmed instantly. "Yeah, Elise was....naturally born that way. It's hard to explain honestly, makes me question if our abilities are scientific or some sort of magic" he said. He then turned to Jules this time.
"I'll tell you more about that as time passes but for now let's stick to knowing more about the origin of our abilities, the same creator of the saviours and dark associates. I believe you must have figured that out by now"
Jules looked down with a nod. "Yes" he said. He couldn't deny that it was true, from how the story was going, it was obvious that Marcus was trying to hint at Griffin Darwin being the sole creator of both opposing associations.
Marcus smiled. "You're really smart Jules"
"I get that a lot" Jules fiddled his short brown hair awkwardly.
Marcus went back to his previous pose with intention to continue his 'storytelling'.
"Both Flora and Lycan managed to get the truth out of Griffin. His goals were noble at first, he wanted a clean limitless energy source, people who could stabilize the world and somehow he succeeded, he created those creatures we now know as the dark associates. We assume his drive for more power had led him to create the energy stones which he had intended to use on those creatures but Flora and Lycan had caught him at the perfect time"
Jules was pretty astonished by Marcus' narration "Wow, that is...."
"Pretty sick right?" Marcus let out a scoff.
"Yeah..."
"It doesn't end there though. Despite their close relationship, to prevent Griffin from turning further towards the dark side, Flora called the police to arrest Griffin. They obviously had no idea back then that the creatures in the tubes weren't humans so they assumed he had been carrying out experiments on humans, that was as much a crime to get him executed"
"So, what happened next? Was he arrested?" Jules asked nervously.
"Nope, the dude crashed out, destroyed the tubes and wrecked havoc in the entire lab with those creatures. They had several different abilities and even harmed the police and the others who were present at the time, including Flora and Lycan. When they all woke up, Griffin was gone, as well as the creatures"
Jules gasped. "Huh?"
"Yep and that's what we all know for now" Marcus folded his arms across his chest and turned to look at Jules to see his reaction. The kid had seemed surprised, astonished and confused, like he had a truck load of questions.
"I accept questions now, what would you like to know?" Marcus grinned.
"Oh well..." Jules spoke. He then stared at Marcus with curiosity. "What happened to the energy stones?"
Marcus giggled. "I was right, that was going to be your first question. If Griffin disappeared and tested the stones on the creatures he created, why is it that the saviours exist? That's probably what's on your mind, right?" He smirked.
'That's exactly what I was thinking' Jules flinched. "You're right" he simply spoke.
"Well, here's the twist..." Marcus continued once again.
"Flora had woken up before every other resident at the lab, Griffin and the creatures had disappeared but he seemed to have left behind a small basket with shiny stones of different colours in it. Flora walked closer to the basket and found a note present in it, the note said 'Do not touch these energy stones, I leave the rest to you' isn't that funny?" Marcus chuckled at the last line.
"Huh? What did he mean by that?" Jules was filled with curiosity.
"Well, Flora had no clue as well so she did what her guts told her to. She hid the energy stones before anyone woke up, she felt they must've been really dangerous for Griffin to have warned her not to touch them. After the incident, she moved out of Giylberd and traveled far into the desert one day and buried the energy stones along with a diary" Marcus narrated.
"A diary?" Jules raised both brows in curiosity.
"Yep, how else do you think I know all about this?" Marcus asked.
"So, Flora had narrated this story?" Jules looked down in wonder. 'Wait, if Flora wrote a diary, why didn't he just give that to me instead!' He turned to glare at Marcus.
"Hey, I know what you're thinking" Marcus spoke nervously. "But it's up to me to narrate this story, the diary stays with the master" he then shrugged.
"Is that so?" Jules wondered, his gaze distant. "I have another question.."
"Ask away" Marcus said.
"If Flora buried both her diary and the energy stones, then who dug them up?"
Marcus nodded, he had expected that question. "That was the first member and master of the saviours, Gerald. He was drawn to a strange light one day and found the diary and the other energy stones, he touched one and accidently fused with it earning him the title of the first member and the one to give us that name the saviours"
'It all makes sense now'. "So Gerald read the diary and found out about the strange creatures Griffin created" Jules said in certainty.
"Yep, he gained the ability to sense energy and energy cores, same as master Benjamin. That has been the only consistent ability over the years. He was lonely at first and had to train on his own, people never believed him when he told them he was able to see the energy flowing through their bodies. It was then other individuals were drawn of the energy stones light and gained their own abilities" Marcus further narrated.
"And that's how the first group of saviours came about.." Jules said.
"Yep" Marcus smiled.
Jules let out a breath "That's an intense story..."
"Indeed, but it remains a story we can't completely rely on"
Jules had a curious look on his face once again, he had thought the same thing as well. The story had explained a lot but it had several loopholes. It certainly wasn't smart to conclude that the energy stones and the dark associates were completely the work of science but if that was so, there had to be some mystical aspect to it. Especially with the fact that random people got drawn to the energy stones out of the blue, just like he had did.
"Jules" Marcus jolted Jules out of his reverie.
"Huh?" Jules answered.
"Do you think Griffin Darwin could still be alive?" Marcus suddenly asked.
Jules was surprised by his question but paused to think for a while. "I...I don't know" he answered.
"Ha" Marcus sighed. "There has to be someone who keeps creating these dark associates"
Jules went into deep thought, that made sense. If more than an entire century had past already, then someone must have kept creating the dark associates.
"Nah, I doubt that's it" Marcus let out a scoff. "We can't completely draw out the possibility though"
"Yes, you're right" Jules nodded.
Footsteps suddenly approached and the two turned to look towards the entrance.
"You're done right? Master has some other things to discuss at the meeting room" Anne leaned against the wall and spoke with a bright smile on her face.
"Oh, is that so?" Marcus asked and turned to look at Jules. "Jules, make up an excuse to tell your sister about your absence at home, just incase" He said.
"O-oh, yeah I'll do that" Jules replied immediately.
"They seem to have bonded quite well" Anne chuckled inwardly.