Timeless Assassin

Leo ended up chatting with Luke for a couple more hours, as the two brothers laughed, reminisced, and caught up on all the light-hearted things they hadn't been able to share over the past few years.

Luke, for his part, felt nothing but pride as he listened to Leo recount his journey, especially when he saw the kind of home Leo had secured for their family, complete with high-end architecture, top-grade medical care, and security systems that rivaled military bases.

Leo for his part though, did not take any of that praise too seriously.

What truly occupied his mind were the fragments of Luke's story—specifically the parts about his life on the run from the Red Army.

Luke never explained it directly, yet whenever he casually referenced the horrors he'd endured, Leo quietly paid attention and did his best to read between the lines.

Something about Luke's story did not add up in his brain, as no matter how hard he tried to accept it all at face value, the details seemed to be too off to be true.

Luke seemed to be unsure of which planets he'd been chased through, often skipping over key details or speaking in generalities.

He also described his pursuers as mostly 'Master' or 'Grandmaster' level agents, but Leo couldn't help feeling skeptical about that.

After all, the Red Army was known for deploying specialized trackers and high tier assassins, so it did not seem possible that they chased him for a year, yet never introduced someone higher than a Grandmaster in the picture.

Still, he said nothing out loud.

He did not want to risk stressing Luke further while he was still recovering.

And more importantly, he knew Luke wasn't lying…. there was no black aura around him when he spoke, so at least what he said was what he best believed to be true.

But even so, the whole story still smelled off.

And Leo knew he needed to investigate more about what actually happened without raising alarms.

—---------------

Once Leo was done chatting with Luke, he made his way downstairs to the living room, where the rest of the family had gathered around the TV, watching the live broadcast of the ongoing Dragon Parade.

"So? How was it? Did you two catch up?" Elena asked, her eyes lit with excitement, as Leo gave a small nod in return.

"Yeah, we caught up," he replied with a warm smile, as he settled down between Ben and Jacob, around the man-side of the living room area.

"Father, we need to talk," He said in a serious voice while leaning forward on his knees as he spoke while glancing toward the television.

"Something about Luke's recollection of what happened doesn't sit right with me," he said in a hushed tone, careful not to disturb the women who were still focused on the parade.

"Oh?" Jacob responded, his brow rising ever so slightly.

"It's next to impossible for anyone without proper training to evade the Red Army for more than a year," Leo began, keeping his tone thoughtful and measured. "But what makes even less sense is him saying that he was being pursued by Master and Grandmaster level agents. That part in particular... I just don't buy it."

"If the Red Army truly flagged him because of his lineage, they would have sent a Transcendent level operative to eliminate the threat outright. And even if they didn't deploy one immediately, the fact that he apparently survived more than three months on the run should have triggered an escalation in response. By then, they definitely would have sent someone stronger."

He leaned back against the couch, folding his arms as his gaze drifted back to the screen.

"Something about the whole story feels off. So over the next few days, try to gather as many details as you can from Luke, casually, while talking. Piece it together slowly," Leo added, his voice now softer, as Jacob gave a slight nod, understanding the assignment without the need for further explanation.

And with that, Leo relaxed into his seat like the rest of them, eyes shifting back toward the broadcast, as if nothing serious had just been discussed at all.

—-----------

Mu Fan sat alone inside a dark room, lit only by the soft blue glow of half a dozen floating screens that flickered quietly around her.

Her chair creaked slightly as she leaned forward, one hand adjusting the frequency dial on the surveillance panel, the other resting on her temple, fingers tapping against her skull in faint agitation.

And then it came.

Leo's voice. Quiet, serious, but unmistakably sharp.

Her eyes narrowed.

She sat up straighter as the conversation between Leo and Jacob played out through the embedded microphone planted discreetly inside Ben's ear implant—one that the Elder had planted specifically to spy on the Skyshard family.

At first, she listened without emotion, but as Leo's words turned more detailed, more precise, her breath caught.

By the time he uttered, "So over the next few days, try to gather as many details as you can from Luke…" she was already on her feet.

Her fingers darted across the holographic keyboard, pulling up the internal alert system.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath, eyes flicking toward the timestamped transcript as her pulse began to race.

"I told those idiots that messing with Leo's family was a catastrophic idea... but no. The Elder never listens."

She stared at the screen, jaw tight, heart hammering inside her chest as she felt that creeping, suffocating sensation she always got right before things spiraled beyond recovery.

"He doesn't buy the Red Army story anymore. He's already on to us. If he keeps digging…" she whispered, trailing off.

The air around her grew cold. A sharp, biting premonition surged through her chest, crawling up her spine like an electric shiver.

Something bad was coming.

And if they didn't move now, if they didn't cover their tracks before Leo pieced it all together—

She didn't finish the thought.

Instead, she transmitted a high-priority alert to her secured channel.

[Code Black: Subject Leo Skyshard has begun post-reconstruction inference. Family narrative compromised. Immediate containment protocol to be prepared. Recommend scenario reevaluation and potential memory anchor distortion. Requesting tactical guidance from the Elder.]

The message sent.

Mu Fan stood in the darkness, silent now, as the soft hum of the surveillance equipment continued to buzz faintly in the background.

This wasn't going to end clean. And she could feel it.