All the teenagers arrived at the scene after hearing the commotion. But they weren't alone: Dustin, Ezekiel, Adrian, and Rafael were also present, along with Lidia and Rino, asking what had happened.
"And what about those two?" Dustin asked, pointing at the injured twins. Without waiting for a response, he turned to Maria. "Heal them, please."
Maria used her healing abilities, and soon after, the twins woke up, surprised to see Aiden and his friends surrounding them. However, their reaction was anything but friendly.
"We're not telling you anything. Besides, you deserved what happened to you," the twins said, glaring at Aiden with disdain.
Lidia frowned, confused.
"What do you mean by that? What happened to you, Aiden?"
Aiden, trying to stay calm, responded:
"We'll explain later. For now, we're not here about that. We're here to ask why they took Leonard."
The twins exchanged confused glances before responding, looking at Lidia as they spoke:
"We don't know. They just came saying, 'We've found you, portal boy,' and took him away."
Billy immediately interjected, visibly irritated:
"So they weren't here for Leonard—they were here for Aiden."
The twins shot an accusatory glance at Aiden.
"You must be happy, right? Everything bad that's happening is because of you," they said coldly. "Let's hope nothing happens to our friend Leonard, because you ruin everything. We hate you."
Dustin, who had been listening silently the whole time, finally intervened:
"Alright, I'll handle them." He grabbed the twins by the arm and led them away, leaving Aiden and his friends alone.
Aiden stood stunned by the accusations, but this time he wasn't alone. His friends surrounded him, offering their support.
"It's okay, it's not your fault," Megumi said firmly. "Now we need to focus on finding them."
Ezekiel, ever analytical, asked:
"Can you recreate what happened?"
Ezekiel activated his visual recreation power, projecting the recent scene in front of everyone. They watched as the group bravely fought against the silver-armored figures. The twins' powers, which resembled invisible ropes, couldn't even graze the armor, and not even Leonard's dark portals were a match for them. They were defeated quickly.
"They're the same ones we've been looking for," Ezekiel concluded.
Adrian, thoughtful, added:
"Then there's no doubt: they're from the planet Lux. But I don't understand why they'd want someone who can use portals. It doesn't make sense."
Ezekiel nodded, resolute:
"I don't know, but we'd better go rescue that boy."
At that moment, Aiden and his friends were heading back to the dormitory area, as they had been instructed. Along the way, Aiden noticed something unexpected: the boy who had helped find his teddy bear was among their group. The child approached timidly and, with a soft but sincere voice, said:
"I'm really sorry for what happened…"
Aiden looked at him, confused.
"Why are you apologizing? What did you do?"
The boy lowered his head, avoiding Aiden's gaze. It was clear he knew something more, but he wasn't ready to talk.
"The little one has the ability to create videos with any kind of camera, whether it's old, new, or broken. But they're not ordinary videos… When you watch them, anyone becomes hypnotized. What's projected manipulates your mind, making you believe that what you see is true in some cases, no matter how absurd or illogical it may be. In other cases, it can make you think something is wrong and provoke irritation, even hatred toward it. It's like live gossip, but with the power to record ideas directly into your head. It can make you think something is right or wrong, and that idea stays with you for a long time."
Everyone understood immediately. That was why everyone had glared at Aiden that day—and not just him, but also his friends. Leonard had ordered Col—the boy's name—to do it.
Akira frowned thoughtfully and looked at Col curiously as he crossed his arms.
"If that's true, then why didn't we see anyone else? Only Aiden when he went in and came out. And between his entrance and exit, only a strange light appeared, as if the video had been intentionally erased. The only thing we found was that camera…"
His voice trailed off at the end, leaving the question hanging in the air. All eyes turned to Col, whose nervous expression grew more pronounced with each second of silence. The boy clutched his teddy bear tightly, as if it were his only lifeline against the group's inquisitive stares.
The tension in the air was palpable, and the faint buzzing of the abandoned camera on the ground seemed to echo uncomfortably. No one spoke, but their gazes demanded answers.
Overwhelmed by guilt, the boy began to cry, holding his teddy bear close to his chest.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry," he said between sobs, looking at Aiden with tear-filled eyes full of regret.
Aiden, always compassionate, responded calmly:
"There's nothing to forgive, little one."
Then, with curiosity, he asked:
"Did Leonard give you that order?"
Col nodded quickly.
"Yes… But he wasn't alone," he added, lowering his voice even further.
Riota interjected confidently:
"He was probably with the twins."
But Col shook his head.
"No… There was a hooded man. He gave me something and placed it inside my teddy bear. Then I felt like some strange energy was controlling me, forcing me to do what I did."
The boy apologized again, this time with even more intensity.
"I'm so sorry, Aiden… And to your friends too."
The situation raised more questions than answers: What was that thing embedded in the teddy bear? What was the motive behind Leonard's behavior? And why did he seem to hate Aiden so much? However, there was no time to reflect on it. Aiden knew he had to rescue Leonard, despite everything Leonard had put him through during those three days.
Maria observed Aiden with a mix of admiration and surprise; her eyes reflected both curiosity and relief.
"Wow, what a sudden change you've had, Aiden," Maria commented with a light smile. "It seems like you've gone back to being the same person you used to be, not that serious, sad guy you'd become recently—and let's not even mention what Leonard and his friends did to you."
Billy, always reckless but with a touch of humor, added with a chuckle:
"Don't be silly, Maria. You know how Aiden is. He forgets everything when someone's in danger. Now he probably thinks all of this is his fault."
Hearing this, some members of the group exchanged knowing glances, while others tried to hide a smile. However, Billy's words also left an uncomfortable truth hanging in the air: Aiden had a tendency to blame himself for everything, even when circumstances were beyond his control.
Aiden, for his part, simply looked away, pretending not to have heard the comment. But it was clear that Billy's words had struck a sensitive chord. After a brief silence, Aiden sighed softly and spoke in a calm but sincere voice:
"I've been through worse… but now I have all of you by my side."
His words resonated within the group, filling the atmosphere with unexpected warmth. Everyone looked at him tenderly, feeling how Aiden's determination blended with his gratitude toward his friends. It was a reminder that, no matter how difficult the situations they faced, they weren't alone.
Maria smiled sweetly, while Billy muttered a quiet "Oops," realizing he might have said too much. The rest of the group exchanged complicit glances, knowing that despite the challenges ahead, their unity was their greatest strength.
Aiden, resolute, stated:
"There's no other option. We need to rescue him."
Some of his friends became excited by his determination. There was no doubt that Aiden had the qualities needed to be a great agent, just like his father or grandparents. However, Floud raised a practical question:
"But… where do we start?"
Meanwhile, I, the Author, was absorbed in the scene with Aiden's friends, about to type out their frustrations and emotions, when a voice interrupted with irritating energy and artificially high confidence:
"If you need help, I can support you!" the voice declared, brimming with excessive self-assurance.
I clicked my tongue, annoyed by the interruption.
"You again!" I wrote, casting an exasperated glance into the void. "There's no time for your antics! Readers expect the story's logic to flow…"
The voice cut me off before I could finish.
"No time for talk," it said sharply, and I felt a small electric jolt on the keyboard, as if someone had short-circuited a wire. "Leave this to me, writer…"
The voice boomed loudly, not only in the minds of the characters but also in the printed dialogue, abruptly interrupting the paragraph I, the Author, was about to write:
"Listen up, everyone!" The voice rang out with firmness, cutting off any discussion that might have been underway. "There's no time to argue! You need to go to the library—I'll meet you there. Run!"
The tone was urgent, charged with a pressing intensity that left no room for doubt. The group exchanged quick glances before nodding with determination. Without another word, they sprang into action, following the instructions to the letter as adrenaline began coursing through their veins.
I, the author, could only watch in disbelief as my own characters moved, driven by a force outside my narrative control. It was as if they had taken on a life of their own, leaving me out of the storytelling process.
Though bewildered, the kids decided to heed the mysterious voice. However, their path wouldn't be easy. Someone had placed extreme surveillance in the area, likely to prevent old enemies—or perhaps new ones—from coming back to take Aiden.
"Are we really going to listen to someone we don't even know and have only heard through a voice?" Billy and Akira asked in unison, exchanging incredulous glances.
"If they're going to help us, it doesn't matter who they are," Aiden replied with determination, leading the group out of the dormitories and moving stealthily toward the indicated location.
Meanwhile, the voice rang out again, this time with a more personal and direct tone. It was specifically addressing Dustin:
"Dustin, I need you."
The words hung in the air, heavy with urgency and implications that left no room for doubt. Dustin came to an abrupt halt, his thoughts colliding between the ongoing mission and what this unexpected call might mean. His expression turned serious, almost grim, as he processed the weight of that simple phrase.
Dustin was in the middle of speaking with the twins at that moment, trying to get some explanation about what had happened. However, both refused to cooperate. Upon hearing the voice, Dustin decided to leave Lidia and Rino in charge of interrogating them. With a brief nod, he exited the room.
"Is that you?" Dustin said, referring to the obnoxious person who had been constantly interrupting my story as of late.
Without further explanation, he understood what needed to be done and quickly set off.
Thanks to Cain's dark magic, the group managed to sneak around undetected. Additionally, with Todd's ability to phase through objects, everyone was able to pass through walls without issue. Finally, they arrived at the library. The lights were off, plunging the place into an unsettling gloom.
Suddenly, a small flame illuminated the space. Elena, holding a flickering flame in her hands, asked in surprise:
"What are all of you doing here?"
Beside her stood Abigail, who also seemed bewildered by the sudden gathering.
"No time for explanations," Gat interjected, ever direct. "We need to find a history book… well, more like a geography book, or something along those lines."
Aiden, already holding the book in his hands, announced:
"We've got the book."
Before they could even think to celebrate, the voice rang out again, interrupting any hint of relief or triumph:
"Well done. Now it's my turn."
The tone was calm but firm, filled with a determination that brooked no argument. The words fell over the group like a heavy mantle, dispelling any fleeting sense of victory and replacing it with palpable tension.
At that very moment, the door burst open. Dustin appeared in the doorway, looking at everyone with a mix of confusion and urgency:
"What are all of you doing here?"
But before he could step forward, the room was flooded with intense light. When the glow faded, everyone present had vanished without a trace.