Chapter 15


*MBLAQ's POV*

"Yang Leader! Why didn't you tell me you were going to be calling Alexa!" Mir exclaimed with a pout.

Seungho sighed and laid his hand on the maknae's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I wasn't really thinking at the time. I just needed to talk to her about certain things. Next time I'll make sure you and the others are there when I call, alright?"

Mir seemed to perk up at this. "KYAAAAA!!!! Thanks Leader!" As he jumped forward to hug his leader, Seungho quickly stepped to the side, causing Mir to land face first onto the floor.

"Aigooooooooooooooooooooooooo." He moaned into the floor.

Seungho stepped over his body and walked out of the room as if nothing had happened. 

***

Thunder was pacing around the nursing area, wondering what exactly he needed to pack for their trip to the training ground in the next few days. 

He was on edge because they had all finally gotten to the point where it was time to take out Lord Delacroix. It's been a long journey getting up to this point and it's not exactly an easy mission. They also still needed to convince the fighters at the training ground to join them. Seungho had explained everything to them after his conversation with Alexa. He was very thankful for her connections. 

Another thing that had him on edge was that they still had no idea where the old ruler was located. According to Seungho, Alexa had a list of informants but it was still a long shot. He was hoping once they travel over to her in a few days that she would have more information.

He took a deep breath and then breathed slowly out. No sense in getting worked up now. 

He was interrupted from his thoughts when G.O walked in. "Hey Thunder, have you seen Joon and Mir?"

Thunder looked over at his hyung and shook his head. "I'm afraid I haven't, sorry hyung. Why do you ask?"

As if the two had been listening in on their conversation, Joon and Mir walked in. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Or in this case, two demons. Thunder smiled at his own thought.

G.O looked over at the two. "Hey I've been looking for you guys. Have you two started packing up what you need?"

Joon nodded while Mir scratched the back of his head. G.O noticed and let out a sigh. "What is it now Mir?"

The maknae let out a nervous laugh. "I'm not quite sure where to get started. I have too many weapons to choose from."

Joon rolled his eyes while G.O scoffed at his explanation. Thunder went on about his business and ignored the 3 village idiots currently in the nursing area. 


*OC (Alexa's) POV*

As I listened intently to Xavier, I couldn't help but get anxious.

"It was about a year ago from today when Lord Delacroix officially became our new ruler. If you remember correctly, it had been a few days before that when Lord Azure had gone MIA." He explained carefully.

I nodded in understanding. Annabeth had been the one there with me when I had heard the news over the radio.

"I was, at the time, on a mission that was closely related to the one Lord Azure had taken charge of. He had several men, including myself, working under his orders to infiltrate a certain group of conspirators." He went on as he opened up the stack of files he had laid down on the table.

He pulled out several photos of men and passed them across the table to me. I took a good look at each picture and couldn't hide my look of surprise. They were all Lord Delacroix's right-hand men. I had seen them on the news from time to time due to the fact that they were always by their Lord's side.

Xavier noticed my reaction. "As you can see, these conspirators are now working for Lord Delacroix. They had been in the royal guard force during Lord Azure's rule. But due to anonymous tips from other guards men, they were singled out as traitors. No one knew their true motive."

I nodded as he explained the story. 

"Lord Delacroix, at the time, was the head of that particular squadron. He was known as Lieutenant Delacroix then. He was skilled so he made it up through the ranks in no time. Lord Azure really had no idea about his dark intentions."

Why do these things always come from a betrayal?

Xavier went through the files in front of him and pulled out a sheet of paper that had TOP SECRET printed in red at the top. He handed it over to me. 

"This is the report that was given the day Lord Azure went missing. He was traveling with Lord Delacroix and some of his men so I knew something was fishy when I heard about it. I infiltrated his files myself and stole this report."

I had to admit this man is pretty impressive. 

"As you can see, the report states that the armored car that Lord Azure was in had been blown up by some kind of planted mine. These facts are wrong. At the scene of the crime, there was NO evidence of a mine or an explosion for that matter. Lord Delacroix and his men somehow got rid of the armored car. No one is really sure what was done to Lord Azure because there was NO body."

I looked up at him and saw that he had a slight twinkle in his eyes. "No body. No evidence of his death. Lord Delacroix just used the media to make everyone THINK that Lord Azure had been assassinated. In reality, he managed to escape this betrayal."

I was feeling goosebumps form on my limbs. "But..." He continued with a satisfied smile. "Lord Delacroix thinks that Lord Azure is dead."

My jaw dropped open. "Really?" I asked a little breathlessly.

He nodded. "Only me and a handful of other people know that Lord Azure is still alive. He's in hiding right now, waiting for the day when he would be able to overthrow Lord Delacroix and claim back his rightful place as the ruler."

I couldn't help but get excited. "So you think now is the right time, don't you?"

He laughed at my expression and nodded his head. "Of course. Why else would I be giving you such useful information? Besides, that good for nothing Delacroix needs to be taken care of."

Khun and I both laughed at his comment. I looked over at Khun and he smiled at me reassuringly. I looked back over at Xavier and bowed my head in gratitude. 

Xavier waved his hand. "No need to be so formal." He then picked up the ancient looking book he had laying down in front of him on the table.

"In this book there is a hidden message. That hidden message will tell you the REAL name of Lord Azure. Once you have his real name, you will be able to get the information you need to track him down."

He handed the book over and I took it carefully in my hands. "How do I find the hidden message? Is there a code of some sort?"

Xavier got up out of his seat and walked over to a small desk by the wall. On the desk there were numerous stacks of papers and a radio device. "This is where a friend of mine comes in."

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. What friend?

I looked over at Khun and he had the same confused expression. Xavier pressed a button on the radio device and then punched in a few numbers afterwards. 

After a few seconds, a deep voice came through the speakers on the device. "Xavier, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

Khun's eyes widened and Xavier laughed. I'm so confused. 

I nudged Khun and was about to ask him why he looked so shocked when Xavier spoke up. "I finally have the news you've been waiting for. Someone has come to me asking about Lord Azure."

The man on the other end let out a small laugh. "It's been awhile. So it's that time now is it? Who's the person?"

He mouthed at me to introduce myself. I suddenly felt like I was on the spot even though the man was just a voice on a radio device. "Ah yes, hello. My name is Alexa. I've come from the small town of Grenaria."

Hopefully my voice sounded steady. The man's deep voice came on again. "Hello Alexa. I'm glad to hear you are looking for Lord Azure. It's about time something is done about the new ruler. I am eternally grateful to you and shall help you in whatever way possible."

I let out a small breath in relief. I don't know why I'm so nervous. I guess it was because his voice just overflowed with authority. Even though I couldn't see the man, I could tell he probably had a lot of charisma.

Wait a minute.....authority.....radio contact.....mysterious man....

My eyes widened a bit and I looked over at Khun to confirm my thoughts. Khun had straightened up in his seat and looked like he was a bit tense. 

I decided to ask what was on my mind. "Excuse me, uh, Sir? What should I call you?"

The man answered back, "I just go by T.O.P."

***

As Khun and I left Xavier's place, I was still in a slight state of shock. "I can't believe I just talked to this mysterious boss of yours."

Khun shook his head a bit and laughed. "Yeah, me either. I recognized his voice straight away but I wasn't sure how to let you know it was him."

I looked at him and slapped him across his arm. "Aish! You should have at least TRIED. My nerves were practically on edge the whole time."

He gave me a look and smiled. "Well at least now you have the information needed to find the hidden message in that book."

As he said this he took the book from my hands and began to flip through the pages. I silently thought about the information T.O.P had given me. 

It was a code of course and in order to crack it, I needed to use the set of numbers and letters he had given me. It seemed simple enough but I knew from experience that codes weren't always that easy to crack. 

"I'm gonna go ahead and get to work on it tonight." I stated as I took the book back from him.

Khun looked at me in dismay. "Is that such a good idea? I mean what if you get so into it that you end up staying up all night?"

Why is he always worrying about me? "I'll be fine. Let's go see Doojoon and Yoseob first though. I wanna see if maybe they have any good ideas on how to get started on this code."


*MBLAQ's POV*

"Mir! You have got to learn how to successfully evade and counter attack sooner or later! So come at me with your best shot!" Seungho yelled at the maknae who was currently standing several yards away from him.

"Yes Yang Leader!" He yelled back but it wasn't full of confidence and Seungho noticed. 

He sighed and waited for Mir to start running at him. Once he finally began to move forward, Seungho got into position. Mir came at him with a punch. Seungho tilted his head to the side to avoid the hit and then grabbed Mir's arm with both hands before flipping him over his back.

Mir landed with a loud "UMPH!" on his back and began coughing from being knocked down so suddenly. G.O and Joon, who had been watching by the sidelines, were now laughing hysterically at his misfortune.

As the maknae sat up, he looked over at his hyungs with a betrayed expression. "YAH!!! It's not that funny! Aish!"

Once he got up fully, Seungho came running at him and he squealed in surprise. Mir quickly did his best to avoid the first kick. He then ducked and rolled over to the side, putting distance between him and his leader.

Thunder, who had just now joined G.O and Joon, looked over at the two with an awed expression.

This was going to be one LONG training session.

***

G.O and Thunder were now in the middle of the arena getting ready for their sparring practice. G.O made the first move and ran forward towards Thunder. 

The speedy healer quickly side stepped to avoid his hyung's barrage of punches. He then used the heel of his foot to kick G.O in the back of his calf, which caused him to go down on his knees. But before Thunder could land another blow, G.O quickly rolled over to the side.

Once he had gotten up he came a Thunder with a spinning mid-air kick. Thunder quickly rolled forward and went underneath G.O while he was still in the air. 

Seungho, who was watching from the sidelines, couldn't hide his satisfied grin. Mir on the other hand, was sprawled out on the ground drenched in sweat. Joon had left to go get him some water like a good hyung.

Even with everything that was keeping them busy, Seungho couldn't help but feel uneasy. Khun and Alexa were currently alone together and he couldn't do anything about it. He let out a sigh of frustration. You should trust her more than that.

He shook his head. He knew deep down that he trusted her but it was Khun he was a little more worried about. He got this vibe from him that just made him feel like he should keep Alexa away from him. He seems to like her but Alexa hasn't noticed yet.

He then let out a slight scoff. She really was dense sometimes.


*OC (Alexa's) POV*

I suddenly sneezed out of nowhere.

Khun looked over at me and laughed. "Someone must be thinking about you."

I looked at him incredulously. "Oh come on! Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"

He held his hands up in defense. "I'm just saying."

"Well keep your thoughts to yourself. Is this where Doojoon and Yoseob are staying?" We had stopped in front of a door to a small apartment looking place.

"Yeah. Well have fun!" He abruptly waved cheerfully at me and then his heel to walk away.

"WAIT! Where are you going?!" I yelled at him.

"I have to take care of something first! I'll come back soon, I promise! Don't worry about a thing, if they give you any trouble I'll kick their asses okay?" And with that he ran off in the distance.

I looked up at the star filled sky. God, if you're planning on pinning another test on me....please go easy on me!

I inhaled and took a deep breath before knocking on the door in front of me.

Seungho.....Mir.....Thunder....G.O....Joon......you guys better get here in the next few days like you promised.


End of Chapter 15