Leo helped me sneak inside the uncle's house, where I stayed the night; since the uncle wasn't at home, we even ate in the bedroom.
When the next day came, we were woken up by the maids and prepared for breakfast. We were the last to get to the living room, and everyone seemed surprised by my sudden appearance.
The uncle didn't seem as flustered compared to his sons.
"Uncle! I got my mom's permission; now I can sell the weapons I make." I announced out loud for all to hear.
Ilay immediately spat out the cereals he was eating and was choking on his food, and Michael suddenly dropped his spoon.
"Your mother allowed it? Are you sure you're telling the truth?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, I talked to her yesterday night; you can call her; she'll confirm it right away." I excitedly replied as I was regaining my breath.
"Wow, I didn't think she would… I mean, congratulations!" He said as he clapped his hands for me.
I think you mixed your thoughts with what you wanted to say.
"That's… Fantastic." The uncle repeated as he wiped his mouth.
Unlike my father, he didn't really seem to care about table manners; he would congratulate me while he was still eating.
"So when can we start?" I asked him.
"Don't worry; everything in due time. Join us for breakfast in the meantime; you must be starving!" he said as he sat me down at the table.
"Dad, didn't you say that you were free today?" Leo pointed out as he also sat down.
Thank you.
I know that it was mostly his obsession talking, but I was also eager to work with him; I didn't know much about how he worked or what the inside of his massive building looked like.
I ate as fast as I could so that I could follow them wherever they had to go. Seeing me eating as fast as I could, Leo took it as a challenge and raced me to see whoever could clean their plate the fastest; ultimately, he won.
"Don't you have school to attend? Why are you here so early in the morning?" Ilay asked me.
"I don't need to go to school; I can learn anything I want using my own powers. The maids already know of this; that's why they didn't bother to stop me." I explained as I summoned my trusted handgun.
"Ah. Right, I forgot…" Ilay was left speechless.
"You shouldn't rely too much on the powers of a demon, Lucy; they're wicked beings who kill, eat, and deceive, and they are the best at exploiting your weaknesses." The uncle warmed me.
Wow, it's the first time I hear the uncle talk about demons in such a way; usually he speaks of them as merch to be sold.
"Well, I can learn the rest from you," I replied.
It seemed as if my answer pleased the uncle, as he had a grin from one ear to another.
"That's for sure." He commented as he finished his meal.
After breakfast we headed straight to his facility. It was my first time getting in, and it was unreal. On the outside there were many guards; by their scent alone I could tell they were incredibly powerful.
Apart from the incredibly powerful soldiers standing guard around the building, the whole area was brightly illuminated, and strange devices kept the fort away from the flying island.
The energy radiating from the guard was off the charts, and the feeling they held was of pure respect and devotion.
Inside, it was something else; gray metallic walls were all I could see, as well as a bunch of never-ending corridors, some upside down. This spectacle extended as far as the eye could see.
"Wow, is that the work of some strange demon?" I asked while pointing at one of the corridors that was headed towards the roof of the buildings.
"Not at all; it's a clever trick used with a special piece of technology we got from the Fracture. It's just an illusion; it probably got triggered because there's some important experiment going on." My uncle explained as he guided me through that maze.
"Really?"
"Nope, it's always on, at least on the first couple of floors." He jokingly said as he squeezed my nose.
"Got you." He said after patting my head.
Aha… Wow, I don't think it's really useful then… it's definitely not going to stop a group armed to the teeth ready to storm the place.
"I bet you think it's not very useful; it definitely wouldn't stop an intruder." Leo interjected.
"It's not meant to stop them." Ilay suddenly commented.
"Then why—"
"It's a tool to divert the enemy's attention away." He then properly explained as we were guided through a wall.
The illusion was so well crafted I believed we were walking headfirst into a wall, but in reality we simply changed from one illusion to another.
Gone were the metallic, ceilingless corridors illuminated by dim lights; what we were looking at right now was a narrow path surrounded by pure void on both sides with no handrail. On our left, a massive demon was hanging from the ceiling bound by chains.
On our right was a strange-looking portal; it seemed connected to space, where one could see vast galaxies in the distance.
"What's the point of this?" I asked.
"It just looks cool, and I like it," Leo answered.
Surely that's not the only answer.
"It can be useful… probably." Ilay said in a defeated tone.
Probably? So you put it here just for style.
"I requested this; in this area we project what people request, and this was mine. Cool, don't you think?" Leo explained as he was looking forward to my reaction.
"Well… it's definitely impressive, but… I think if I had to see this every day, I would eventually get sick of it," I replied.
I heard the sound of the uncle suppressing his laughter after looking at Leo's expression.
"You don't get it." He said through tears.
Oh, come on, don't do this to me; I just… I didn't say it was bad, just that… I expressed my concern for the people working here.
"At least Ilay finds it cool." He said as he hugged his older brother's leg.
Out of all the brothers, he was the one who spoiled him the most; he always had a warm smile whenever he looked at Leo.
As we walked towards the large grunting demon, I saw the others disappear right in front of my eyes.
What?
I rushed towards the location I last saw them at, and as soon as I reached it, I found myself inside an elevator.
Why is the elevator the only normal thing? What the hell even was that? Why did they? Don't tell me it's because of that stupid curtain.