Zachary was furious. He could not believe that Alessia would show such brutality to this level. He had been in her interrogation room for about an hour now and was feeling appalled by the horrific and painful spells that the cruel woman cast at the poor offenders. She tormented them for sometime and then summoned dungeon enforcers to accompany the poor souls to the captive headquarters to be interrogated by Benjamin and sent to the dungeons.

As the enforcers took the last captive away who had been condemned to meet with Benjamin for breaking curfew, the room once again fell silent. Zachary held his breath. He was sure that Alessia was going to use the pause within her interrogations to turn her full attention to him and he was right. Alessia stood up from her chair behind her desk and turned to Zachary who was standing stiffly a few steps behind her chair leaning to the wall.

Alessia walked towards Zachary until she was one step away from him. This close proximity bothered Zachary. He could not stand this woman standing this close. Alessia's eyes were void of emotion. He just hated staring into them. He was beginning to think that this woman had no soul. He did the only thing that he could do that he knew would set Alessia off. Zachary looked away from her.

Alessia sighed " I thought I told you to look at me Zachary. Unless you would like me to add another hour to your stay here. I could easily make it three hours. So I suggest you don't add to your offences." Zachary was alarmed. He didn't want to be in Alessia's presence for longer than necessary so he forced himself to look up into her cold and cruel pair of eyes. The horrific woman was so obsessed with his father, she couldn't get enough of staring into Zachary's eyes to remind herself of him. It made Zachary cringe how much Alessia cared for his father. This was a total sign of disrespect to his mother. His parents were still married. How could Alessia insult the sacred bond of marriage to this level. This was beyond his comprehension.

Alessia smiled " I can't believe how much you resemble your father sometimes. I wish there was a way to fasten the process of capturing him and starting our joint family but that has to wait. The last time i received news from my assassins, it was reported that your mother was fatally injured and may already be dead but they have not brought her body to me. So I can't be sure. They said that your father escaped and took her badly injured body with him. I wonder where he might be hiding. My assassins told me that this happened near the sacred River in the central territory. I may go search for him personally in that area if I can get some days off from my duties. But we are at war. I may even be called up to the front line if master demands it so there is no time to go after the love of my life."

Zachary was trembling from anger. How could Alessia speak of his parents in such disrespectful manner. He was using all his power and focus to keep his temper in check. One wrong move and he could be charged with attacking a senior enforcer while on duty. Her rank was equivalent to a commander really. Only she had more civilian related roles rather than direct action. Her division was Law Enforcement. She worked alongside commanders but never had to report to master. Zachary decided to slowly sidestep Alessia and leave the room. He didn't care about the consequences of walking out. At least his punishment could be much lighter this way. Indiscipline was not an unforgivable crime but attacking a senior enforcer was.

As Zachary started to move, there was a knock on the door and Marcus, another senior enforcer walked in. Alessia turned quickly and protested " Marcus why didn't you wait for me to let you in. Please knock and wait for response next time."

Zachary was annoyed . There was no way he could get past Marcus if he tried to teleport to his room now. Marcus could easily intercept him even if he was miles away. So he kept his fists at his sides and stood stiffly with a clenched jaw in his position. He couldn't trust himself to speak and not insult Alessia or even attack her. This was a testing time for his self control.

Marcus seemed like he was in a hurry as he was breathing heavily. He entered and sat down in the chair opposite Alessia and spoke: " Alessia I need to speak to you. It's classified information. Please take a seat."

Alessia spoke " You see I am busy right now. The patrol may bring some martial law breakers here any minute. I am on duty. Can't this wait till tomorrow?"

Marcus shook his head and spoke " No. It can't. It's urgent. Just send this last charge that you have cornered against the wall to the dungeons or somewhere else to deal with him and sit down. This is about......." He then stopped as he just recognised Zachary leaning against the wall behind Alessia

Marcus sounded baffled " Wait. Isn't this Zachary? It's Sean's brother isn't it? I saw him leaving with your niece, Serena earlier at the recruitment dance. Is that why he is here? Has he disrespected her in any way? Because surely he is not a curfew breaker. Sean would slaughter him if he ever did such thing. Isn't this true boy?" Then he laughed and then spoke with an amused tone " I am pretty sure that if you ever get caught breaking any laws, you would be begging on your knees to be sent to the dungeons before Sean gets his hands on you. Every one knows his ways are barbaric when he deals with traitors. So tell me kid what have you done to be brought here?"

Zachary remained silent with a clenched jaw. He didn't want to reply. If he did, he was sure he was going to cast some painful spells at both Marcus and Alessia. He was sure if he lost his concentration even for a second he was going to say and do things he could regret later on.

Alessia sighed and sat down " His offence is exactly what you just witnessed. He did not respond to my questions and when he did speak to me it was not in a respectful manner. Therefore, as punishment I kept him here to watch my interrogations of others and assist me. Not that he tried to assist me in any way. What can I say. He is like his father. Stubborn and strong minded."

Marcus smirked and looked up at Zachary" Oh. Is he now. Kid I give you a piece of advice. Don't ever disrespect the senior enforcers if you want to last long. I heard you have been accepted into the leadership division now so you could become a junior commander pretty soon but commanders collaborate closely with us. You see. If you want your role to go smoothly as a commander, you must keep good relations with us senior enforcers. You can get away with insulting the head enforcers but we are dangerous beings. Don't cross us and we won't strike back at you kid."

Marcus then turned to Alessia " you are right he is stubborn. He reminds of how my son, Dylan defies me sometimes. What can I say. Commanders are all arrogant. So I say we let this kid go with a warning. He doesn't look like the idiotic empathic type."

Alessia sounded reluctant " Fine Marcus. If it makes you happy, I let his offences go this time."

Marcus nodded and conjured a small blue sphere and threw it towards Zachary. He grabbed the sphere from thin air and looked at Marcus baffled.

Marcus answered his unspoken questions " Thats a night pass kid to go to your room. This pass does not last very long. I suggest you leave if you don't want to be brought back here. It would last 30 minutes tops. Only Alexander can issue longer night passes lasting hours since he is the acting leader on behalf of the master. I could issue this short term pass since I am on curfew monitor duty tonight like Alessia. What are you waiting for kid. Beat it."

Zachary sighed and left without a word. As he left he could hear the faint hints of Alessia's voice "He is the spitting image of his father. I wish that woman hadn't ....."

Zachary was now standing in front of his hotel room. He was just too frustrated and angry that he didn't notice the presence of someone else behind him. He cast a spell and opened the lock and entered his room. As he walked in, he froze at the voice.

" Please help me. Let me stay here tonight. Please don't notify the authorities." The voice said.

As Zachary turned he gasped "What the hell. What are you doing here Tiberious?" To say that Zachary was beyond shocked was an understatement. Tiberius was Tanya's brother and Zachary knew him well. He had not seen Tiberious since he had been selected to complete his senior year through long distance study working at the magic science division. He had gone on a long mission to the sacred river and no one had heard from him in a while.

Tiberious spoke shakily " My sister , Tanya captured me while i was working on my research project at the sacred river and then sent me back with her enforcers. They were supposed to put me under house arrest in Xaviers and Tanya's residence but they did not seal the house properly so I escaped. I came here because this hotel is huge and they can't check all the rooms at once. So I thought I have a better chance of staying here and get the enforcers off my tail. I think in the morning the guards around the house may notice my absence but by then I would hopefully be back to the sacred river and hide someplace while i finish my work. I am so sorry Zachary for coming to your room but yours was the only one that was going to be opened. I was wondering in the corridors for a while until I noticed you. I only need to stay here waiting for a gap in the teleportation routes that would ensure I won't be intercepted. Hopefully I will be gone in a few hours."

Zachary was staring at Tiberious with disbelief as he was given all this information in one go.

Zachary spoke slowly " Tiberious ....... How? ...... Why? ....... If you were working for the magic science division then why would your sister capture you? I am sure Commander Edwin or Commander Edward won't accept your house arrest."

Tiberious laughed bitterly. " She has sent word to my division that I am very unwell and need to take leave of absence from my work. Obviously no one would question a commander. So I am on leave indefinitely. I don't know why she is so protective. She is worried that I may join the ancient society that is based in that region. But I have never had any intention of joining them. I just wanted to study the area and do some research over there. So pursuing the ancient society required me to communicate with some freedom fighters. Once she spotted their presence when she had come to visit me and freaked out. Luckily I stopped her from going after them and then ran away when she tried to capture me. I hid for a while but the freedom fighters and the ancient society's representatives were getting restless and worried since I was attracting the attention of a Ronas commander to their area. So I decided to give myself up. Well, Tanya kept coming back to the area to search for me. They felt under threat."

Zachary spoke: "I am confused. When did this happen? How come she came to get you? she is at the front line fighting for the master."

Tiberious nodded " Thats true. She is at the front line but she is a skilled tracker and assasin. She can easily bypass and fight any one who may try to intercept her. She has been teleporting in and out of her base quite regularly since the start of the war. Well, she came to the area only hours ago when I surrendered. I think she had left after a victory party in honour of the defeat of the northern territory. But she was in a hurry to get back. There were calls to her since the base was under attack from the healer coven or something like that. I think she finally was convinced to leave me at the care of her trusted enforcers when master sent a summon call, so she didnt get the chance to teleport to Arkansas to seal the house personally where I was to be kept. when I found out she had ordered the enforcers to put me under house arrest indefinately, I freaked out. They said that I would have to be kept in the house until the empathy was kicked out of me and I would be getting visits from some experts regularly soon to help sort out my empathic disorders. I dont know what they were planning to do to me if I stayed. I don't want to be locked up. My research is not finished. My division needs me. I was very close to finishing my work."

Zachary shook his head "I already knew that you were a genius academically especially in ancient studies but i didnt know you loved your line of study so badly to defy any Ronas commanders. Are you crazy? Your sister would not let you get away with this. You also forget who your dear sister is dating. If you defy, your sister and upset her, you will be messing with her boyfriend too. Commander Xavier, may join in with your sister for teaching you a lesson too for you refusal to follow the instructions of your superior sister. Man, you are playing with fire. I dont want to watch you get burnt. so I want to help you get back to your residence"

Zachary then handed Tiberious the night pass blue sphere that was still shining. He spoke with urgency " Take this Tiberious. At least it can get you home. Don't leave Arkansas. You could be charged with treason if you leave through the borders without permission. Just get back under the house arrest. Stay there. Surely they won't keep you there forever. You have duties at the magic science division. You are still a trainee. You wont graduate from the academy until you submit your final report. You must do as Tanya says. At least act obedient for a while so she lets you get back to work. she is just trying to protect you. If you want to get back to the sacred river you must not break any rules. You will get caught man if you leave tonight. Marcus is just around the corner. But he is busy talking to Alessia right now. He may not notice you if you leave now. Get back to the residence and accept your house arrest. Surely Tanya would come back soon once the war is over and would release you at some point. Then you can be free and even leave Arkansas for the sacred river legally."

Tiberious eyed the sphere and looked thoughtful. He groaned and nodded. As Tiberious reluctantly took the night pass blue sphere and disappeared Zachary sighed and thought to himself " ha. what an idiot. Interacting with the ancients around the sacred river." Then as he said the words, his eyes widened. He just recalled the words Alessia had spoken to him earlier on. His father was sighted around the sacred river the last time. Zachary's heart started beating faster and faster. Tiberious could as well have some information about his parents. The big problem was that he was under house arrest inside a heavily guarded house. He was sure there was no way he could meet up with Tiberious while he was under the watchful eyes of the enforcers guarding him. He had to find a way to convince commander Tanya or get someone to convince her to release Tiberious. But how? that was his challenge.