District 42-Chapter 234: Invisible danger
Vick was back at her home after some time strolling around the Castle all alone. She thought for a while if it wasn’t better for her to get back to the General Court, so she could do all the job she left there.
The Princess knew how the Jarls were stubborn and how these guys would probably sleep on the line and wait for the next day because they didn’t want to lose their places there no matter what.
She felt that her father would surely scold her for hours after he finds out what she did, but nothing was helping it.
’In the end, I just wasted my time going out with Casper. I should have had remained in my work and be more responsible. I am not supposed to be a teenager like the others out there. I must accomplish my duties.’
She took advantage of that time to pick her laptop and head to the dining hall to eat something while working off her stress.
It was Vick’s responsibility as well to keep an eye on some statistics and the economical situation of the Castle. That was an activity she liked to do.
She did as she wanted and soon was sitting on a chair of the dining hall while snacking something and looking intently at her laptop.
’That’s even ironic. I am someone who knows better than anyone else how to deal with people, but even so, I find it a bothering to talk with them and try to prevent myself to do so.’
She could even read an entire troop of Ridires or all the Jarls hanging out in a party, know what they probably were thinking, then take measures against it. However, she preferred to not interact with Ridires and don’t look at the Jarls’ faces.
While she was typing on the laptop with her free hand, she decided to take a look at her schedule. Since she skipped her shift at the General Court that day, she would need to make the agenda more flexible the next day to be able to do everything.
’Hmmm? What’s that?’ She squinted her eyes, looking intently at a part of her schedule that she forgot completely.
’Man... Why is dad messing with my calendar again? I said to him to not do this a lot of times!’
She gave a better look at the event that was scheduled to happen at that time and she went pale.
’There is another meeting with the Aesirs? What’s going on now!?’
Because of what was happening inside the Castle and the fuss that the civil war against the Frelsi was causing, the Ridires and Aesirs were constantly doing meetings to discuss the destiny of the army.
They were deciding what measures they needed to take to end that issue once and for all, and as quickly as possible.
Also, most funds of the Castle were being directed to other fields and projects instead of the military ones. It got worse once the Third Lab and Halden got reformed.
Because of it, they weren’t content with what was happening and were striving to increase their funds again.
’I must get out of the mansion now! The meeting will happen in a few minutes!’
The Princess ate everything she put on the plate as fast as she could, nearly choking on the process.
She left everything she was using on top of the table and ran to the nearest Teleporting pad.
’When I got home again, I am going to kill that old man for sure! He needs to learn to not touch a finger on something that’s mine!’
Once she got up on the Teleporting pad, she said hastily a coordinate, waiting for it to work.
After some moments, she was feeling her entire body again and seeing everything around clearly... but that was not the place she was meant to be teleported to.
Vick got confused for a long while, looking to the sides and tilting her head.
She appeared in the city that she was hanging out with Casper a couple of hours ago, the one where the Ax Corporation was.
’Did I say the wrong coordinates? What’s happening with my head? I can’t be stuck on that disappointment forever!’
She shook her head and tried to calm herself down.
Then, Vick once again said the coordinates and waited for the teleporting to happen.
Once that confusing experience ended again, she got herself standing in the same place as before.
Her heart throbbed and she faltered.
"What the heck is happening?" She needed to say out loud her thoughts to be sure that it was reality. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
A world in which the Teleporting pads didn’t work was nonexistent for her. She didn’t even dream with that once in her life, such was the impossibility of that event.
She tried to say the coordinates a third, fourth, fifth time... however, the result was the same.
She checked with trembling hands her phone, looking at the coordinates of the city she was supposed to be teleported to.
’Just as I thought, I am completely right. Not even a single number is wrong!’
She felt the blood draining from her face. Panic started to dominate her. It seemed like a nightmare.
She tried to call Reynar, who was working in Canute’s place, but her phone had no signal.
The Princess tried to call Ari, the other Aesir that always scouted her. However, it was the same.
She called to her father, her mother, Raul... Even Casper.
’It’s not working! Dear Odin... it is not working at all.’
For some reason, she felt that an invisible danger was rounding her, stalking her, waiting for the right moment to attack.
Vick walked hastily towards the city, getting among the crowd to hide and not be seen by any potential threat.
Although she looked to all sides and paid attention to her surroundings, she could never notice the black figure standing on top of a building and staring intently at her.
...
Canute finally opened his eyes after several days unconscious.
His instincts made him woke up on alert, looking to all sides. The last image he saw before falling from that building was still fresh in his mind.
After a while, he could sort out his thoughts and remember everything that happened in detail. His heart stopped to beat so fast and he sighed in relief.
He looked around, analyzing the hospital bed and the room he was in. He identified that the portal he made brought him to the Healing Center of the floor he wanted before; the same one that Rurik worked at.
’Darn... I am so lucky! I think I could have died in that situation if I didn’t act as smartly as I always do!’
He raised his upper body and relaxed his shoulders and neck, stretching slightly his arms and back as well.
He didn’t know how much time he would need to spend there until he got discharged from the hospital and it was bothering him.
’I hope that I don’t need to spend too much time in this place. It wouldn’t be good. I shall go back to work, find that Rat, and kill him as fast as possible. I also need to know for how long I am unconscious.’
Canute was very concerned with the period he needed to spend recovering. Depending on how long he stayed there he could very well have lost a lot of events.
He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if something bad happened because he couldn’t do things properly before.
’I was too incompetent. I should have had taken a look at the perimeter and react faster when facing the Rat. My luck is that he underestimated me and thought that I couldn’t move the hand he shot, so I could make a portal before throwing myself out of the building.’
If not for the cleverness of Canute, he could have been executed. One less Aesir acting inside the Castle was a huge loss and problems could start to happen, particularly on the frontline of the war.
Someone entered the room Canute was, opening the door slowly and peeking inside before.
It was Ari. Canute’s comrade smiled before rushing into the room and get next to the bed.
"I knew you wouldn’t last too long to come back, man!"
They greeted each other with a firm handshake.
"You are an idiot, you know that?" Ari scolded him. "You shouldn’t have had acted all alone to find that man! He isn’t someone to be underestimated!"
Canute giggled.
"Yeah, I did a mess. Next time I will see what I can do."
"Well, it’s better you be careful, then. The Sgails are already on the tail of the Rat! In no time they will get him, maybe today!"
Canute was flabbergasted, looking to Ari as if he heard something he couldn’t believe.
"So, what are we doing here!? We better be going then!"
He jumped off the bed and searched all over the place for his clothes.
Ari didn’t know if his comrade could be doing it or not, but he already had given up on trying to stop him and just waited for him to dress up.
