Time Twister

He answered it while remaining faced-down in the bed.

A hologram of a well-dressed man appeared, but his face seemed in contrast to what he was wearing. He looked haggard, with his eyes containing the traces of red vessels. Before the man could speak, Xander m.u.f.fled,

"You better have a good explanation for waking me up from my sleep, Mr. Valores. I am, after all, a growing kid. If my sleep is impaired by you, you would have to bear the consequences~" his childish voice resounded the president"s office, causing those who were listening to be surprised and at the same time, wary. They could hear the underlying threat present in Xander"s words.

The president, Mr. Valores, didn"t react at all, but still retained his smiling face with bloodshot eyes.

"Good evening Mr. Cloverfield. I want reconciliation between you and the Nema government and military. Are you ok with that?"

"Hmm? Reconciliation, eh? Why, haven"t you tried to use the media to your advantage, hehe." When they heard it, the PR teams wanted to cry, and even the tech experts wanted to rush at Xander and beat him.

"Anyhoo, I"m not against such an idea, but do get another leader as a witness to it. I don"t really trust you and your officers would be able to keep your hands to yourselves. At least with an impartial leader, I would be a.s.sured. You can choose between the elves or the gnomes." Xander said in a m.u.f.fled tone. He hadn"t even turned his head to look at the president.

"…Fine. Are you fine with meeting tomorrow?" The president asked Xander, in tacit agreement to his requirement.

"…Fine. I have to leave to head back to Eta on Monday since I have a cla.s.s. Just send the deets, don"t call. Kay, bye!" Xander ended the call, returning to sleep. He then blocked all calls for the next 6 hours, enjoying his rest.

He woke up with the sun just rising in the sky. Xander stood up from his bed, rubbing his puffy eyes. I should really make my number unreachable when I sleep, Xander muttered to himself, yawning.

He headed to the bathroom and took a relaxing warm bubble bath, immersing himself. He then headed downstairs after an hour of bathing and then dressing up, eating the breakfast his three seniors prepared. Although they didn"t need to eat, they had to cook for Xander"s sake.

Xander ate his meal silently while checking his smart.w.a.tch for any messages that came through last night when he was sleeping.

A couple of the messages came from his mom and dad, just saying they support him and whatnot, as well as for him to stay safe. Another message came from Faykes, saying that he already completed 50% of the mission he requested. He was asking if he should wait until he got all the information or submit what he had right now. Xander thought about it for a moment, before responding to him to send it once it"s done.

He also contacted his security retinue: Bryan, Ryan, Joseph, Esta, and Rosa. He sent them a message to return to the villa by this Tuesday. He also messaged his mom and dad that he was safe and was eating healthy. After that, he saw a message pop up, which seems to have come from President Valores. He opened the message and read it:

Mr. Cloverfield,

I"ve requested for Ms. Syn, the current reigning Elven Queen, to join us, witnessing the reconciliation between you and the government as well as the military. We were lucky as she was visiting one of the nearby countries adjacent to Nema, thus she can be here before lunchtime. We plan to hold the ceremony at noon, so please proceed to Barrow City, Silver Office, where lunch and the interview and photo ops will be done.

Hoping for you to grace our presence,

President Valores

Xander nearly choked on his beef when he read it. It was just too funny and formal. Xander thought for a bit before smiling evilly.

President Valores,

Kk. Just saw this now, will be there before the lunch begins. Ciao.

Regards,

Xander Cloverfield

After sending it, he hurriedly finished his food before calling his seniors to the living room.

Xander then looked at the trio respectfully before saying,

"Seniors, can you help me go to Barrow City? The president just contacted me that this is the city where the reconciliation show for the people of Nema and those all over the world. He said it was going to be at lunch, so can you fly me there now?" His voice was childish, at the same time, he was acting cute at his seniors. However, little did he know that these seniors of his were building resistance due to the recent situation.

"Ok, we"ll do that, if you promise to tell us the truth about one thing," Gammon said to Xander in response.

"Hmm, what is it?" Xander asked as if he was unaware of what they wanted to learn.

"Did you really have no involvement concerning the tsunami?" Amon asked gently, his eyes staring straight at Xander"s face, observing.

At this, Xander acted like he was in "conflict" of telling the truth or not, before hesitatingly saying,

"Um, I"ll tell you, but you have to promise to keep it to yourselves."

Gammon nodded, striking his chest as if it was a solemn vow. Xander was still undecided, so he even bent down, and raised his pinky finger to Xander, saying, "Pinky Swear, we won"t tell anyone."

Xander upon seeing the pinky was glad, but the other two were horrified. Before they could warn him, Xander touched the pinky outstretched to him with his own, locking his finger.

Immediately, a strong sense of crisis surrounded the trio, with such a repressive force that caused them to be unable to move. Xander"s eyes changed color once again, becoming pure black and pure silvery-white. He opened his mouth, yet his voice was ethereal and ancient, yet soft to the ears.

The trio couldn"t hear what he was saying, but they could understand the words being said, echoing in their hearts and minds.

"As it has been decreed, it has been recorded. The truth shall be revealed, but it shall be in secret. A broken word shall let them be gone. It is witnessed by the light, it will be done by the dark. Hold steadfast as it will be all for one."

When Xander let go of his pinky, the whole thing disappeared, and Xander"s eyes were already back to normal, his mouth closed, his face filled with puzzlement.

Gammon, however, didn"t act surprised, although deep inside he was surprised. He then asked Xander gently,

"So, Xander, are you the one who caused the tsunami?"

Xander slowly nodded his head in response, before saying,

"They orchestrated the initial tsunami wave to hit the beach, causing those who were in the vicinity to be heavily injured. There was a group of mythic magicians deep underwater when the tsunami happened and I heard their conversation by chance. I connected the points; they did it because they were observing my movements and saw that I was heading to the beach. Although, it wasn"t me, I was still able to hear and sense what it sensed."

"So, to make the situation out of their control, I stole their control of the spell, before adding my own modification in the spell array they used. I also killed those who were initially controlling it so it won"t be traced back to me. I made it very big and very wide so that they"ll be forced to summon their demiG.o.ds to handle the situation, although they won"t be able to steal the spell"s control from me, hehe."

"Xander, as your senior, I have to say it was very irresponsible. What if they didn"t do that? Would you have killed these people?" Amon said, almost shouting at Xander. Inside, he was disappointed because of the lack of regard Xander had for life.

"Huh? Of course not! I designed the spell that it would automatically collapse into harmless mist once it reaches the beach. Of course, I knew that the people who planned this would panic since their plan was screwed up, causing them not to realize a fundamental modification with the spell because they would try to keep at bay, thus never touching the beach, to allow the people to escape." Xander said proudly, looking at the trio like he deserves the praise.

Gammon was nodding his head, rubbing Xander"s hair as if praising him, but inside, he was shouting in surprise and joy for their family. They had a heavenly genius in their clan!

"It was ok in the end since no one was killed, and the whole ploy was orchestrated by me as a revenge to those who planned it, which would be the Head general as well as several family leaders. Seniors, can you request the great elders to slowly cut ties with these families? I was so scared that they tried to kidnap and brainwash me, boohoo," Xander asked them, with tears forming in his eyes, looking pitifully at the three.

Bamon responded,

"Xander, don"t worry, the clan can do that at least. We"re also sorry that we weren"t able to protect you at that time."

"Oh, no worries, seniors. They only planned it when they discovered I was in Nema, I posted some photos in my SeeMe account, you see. Even I was surprised that the program I placed on the main public and private server pinged me several times since I was mentioned in at least 7 different conferences talking about plans to capture me, kill me, kidnap me, or even use me against Eta. Just make sure the family deals with them justly."

Xander said calmly as if it didn"t matter much to him, before opening his smart.w.a.tch and transferring a list to the trio. The latter was surprised because the list didn"t only include the names of the people plotting, but also their a.s.sets, hidden accounts, as well as private doc.u.ments. The doc.u.ment sent to them was about 80 pages long.

Xander then smiled at the three, showing his white teeth, saying,

"Ok, seniors? Make sure everything I told you is kept secret~ We made a pinky swear." Amon and Bamon were exasperated, while Gammon, the eldest of the three, was calm. He nodded in response to Xander"s words.

"Oh, by the way, seniors, the subst.i.tution dolls that you used during the pinky swear would not work. The vow targets your current life essences~ Once you break the vow, you die immediately and completely, your life essence merging to the universe once more, turning into the purest of energy for it. This was a trick my friend told me, whenever I make vows with others."

Xander said, before skipping to the outside, not caring about the faces the trio showed. Gammon"s face changed in surprise, but later turned to helplessness, before shaking his head and laughing for a bit, then he followed Xander outside. The other two were more drastic in their reaction; they were the ones who were constricted with two vows! It was like something very heavy affecting their body, mind, heart, and life essence dolls.

The whole trip going to Barrow City was oddly quiet, with Xander being carried by Gammon, and the other two flanking on the side, guarding. Before they left, they already requested flight authorization, so they wouldn"t be gunned down by the city defenses.

After a few minutes, they arrived at the city, and they slowly went descended to one of the entrances of the city. Upon entering, Xander jumped from Gammon"s embrace and skipped to the restaurants and food stalls that were recommended by the travel guide for Barrow City. Around 11 am, he was finishing his popsicle stick when he finally reached the Silver Office, which was in the middle part of the city. It was quite huge, spanning an area of 1.5 square kilometers, with only one entrance present. It was probably designed as the last fortress for the city in case invaders manage to reach this point.

He entered after scanning his smart.w.a.tch to the terminal, showing to the guards that he was a VIP guest. He entered with the trio, guided by a suave-looking gentleman with 2 females following behind him who appeared after he had just scanned his smart.w.a.tch and verified that he was a VIP guest.

"Good day, gentlemen. My name is Farol, I"ll guide you inside the building for today"s festivities. Please watch your step." Farol greeted Xander and the trio, before gesturing them to follow him. He turned around and headed to the large building past the walls. Xander and the others walked behind Farol, looking around the area and marveling at the sight it contained.

Farol, on the other hand, was briefly introducing the areas they were pa.s.sing by, such as the large labyrinth garden, as well as the parlor garden. There was even an area to play Bolf, a kind of sport that requires you to hit the ball and land it on a designated hole in different terrains and situations.

After a few minutes of walking, Xander"s party had already reached the luncheon room, and Farol mentioned to them that the dining room is on the door to the right, pointing a specifically-designed door. He then left the group, causing the room to fall in silence.

Xander, on the other hand, was bored, so he left the luncheon room and began to explore the building. From his initial scan earlier, there were a total of 9 floors in the building, and they were currently on the 2nd floor. The dining room is placed on the third floor, and the door Farol pointed at basically headed to the dining room as a staircase.

He also saw the President on the 7th floor, writing something, and then throwing the scribbled words. Probably his speech later, Xander thought to himself. The guests were all on the first floor and he basically had the second floor to himself, so he began to explore the area.

He detected hidden corridors and hidden pathways, allowing the members of the government to escape from the building if there was a crisis, maybe. There were some weird-a.s.s paintings, but other than that, the second floor was boring.

He headed downstairs and surprisingly, he saw the Elven queen being surrounded by people and her attendants, yet no one dared to touch her hand or arm, as if it was of reverence. The other people were quite touchy to one another, some of them slapping the back of the other when the latter makes a joke, shaking hands with one another, even hugging one another as if they saw each other for the first time since whenever.

_________________________

Elven Queen Syn saw Xander"s figure appear. Given the fact that no other child could attend this ceremony beside Xander, she instantly recognized him.

She saw him move down the stairs, looking at the people gathered here calmly, with no other trace of emotion in his face. There wasn"t any worry, or even apprehension when his eyes looked at her.

Syn was intrigued to see such a reaction from a child. Then again, this child had been the topic of many talks and controversies in the past few years.

Syn, with the corner of her eye, saw Xander heading downstairs, skipping down without a care in the world. The other pestering guests in this lunch remained silent and didn"t attempt to interact with him. This got Syn more and more curious as to why this is so. She only saw the exploding news being broadcasted even to the country she was in yesterday, surprising her.

Xander continued to move about, staring at the people talking to one another, his eyes puzzled yet seemingly digesting something from what they could see.

Syn wondered to herself, is this child trying to understand how people socialize? This thought pa.s.sed her mind before rejecting it, shaking her head imperceptibly. That was just not normal for a kid his age. Usually, they are very social at this age and curious towards others. Xander subverts all these expectations.

She was still mired in her thoughts when she saw Xander approaching her. The elves serving Syn were low-key tense and prepared to fight. They had been briefed by the head of the Royal Guards as well as her Majesty about the person they were facing right now.

Xander continued moving towards Syn as if he didn"t notice the other elves. Syn on the other hand, commanded the entourage of hers to stand down since she could not detect any form of malice radiating from Xander. The elves had no choice but open a path for Xander. The latter, however, then paused roughly 10 steps away from Syn, looking at her curiously.

"Sister elf, what"s your name?" Xander asked Syn, with his childish voice filled with the Emotion element, stirring the hearts of others who listened to him. Even some of the elves were momentarily dazed, lowering their guard against him subconsciously.

Syn chucked, before clapping once, causing her entourage to awaken from their daze.

"Now, now, Mr. Cloverfield, that wasn"t nice to do. You can, however, refer to me as Sister Syn." Syn responded gently, causing the alarmed elves to calm down once again as they saw that the queen had handled the situation.

"Oh, ok sister Syn. You can call me Xander." Xander said cheerfully, with the same power emanating from his voice. However, this time, the elves managed to resist it, with the help of the buff their queen placed to them.

"So, Xander, why have you come to Nema? Aren"t you supposed to be in college?"

"Oh, that. I took up a school mission, transporting Adamantium and Vallarium ores. It was a worthwhile trade, I needed SCPs so I can eat the food in the school cafeteria. They really do have good food." Xander responded happily, sitting at one of the sofa chairs in front of Syn. His legs were raised up, dangling, since he was small and he couldn"t reach the floor.

Syn just giggled, before asking, her face filled with curiosity.

"Eh, but where did you get the metals though? Aren"t they quite hard to get, and very expensive to purchase as well?" Xander shook his head, giggling, before zipping his mouth.

It was Syn"s time to "act" out.

She stood up, approaching Xander, before tickling her.

"Come on Xander, tell sister Syn where you got them! I want to buy some as well, you see." Although she looked casual, she was actually actively controlling her magic energy to influence Xander using one of her primary elements.

"Pfft, sister Syn, you need more practice with the Will element. I could notice the elemental fluctuation you know?" Xander whispered to Syn, causing her to pause for a bit, but was not that surprised.

"You really do have so many surprises, Xander."

"Hehe, you"re nice, unlike that old douche. Do you want me to predict your future? I"m quite bored right now." Xander offered, surprising Syn even more. What surprised her as well was that her attendants and the surrounding people seem like they weren"t able to hear his words.

Syn "pondered" for a bit, before replying to Xander.

"Hmm, ok, tell me, well, tell me when I"ll die, Xander," Syn asked him, genuinely curious what Xander would see.