An Unwelcome Hero - shadow slave

He gulped and bowed his head slightly "Greetings general watchwoman, I am ascended Chiron, a recruit of the Assai garrison, that stayed behind to guard the escape of the fortress when it fell." She looked at him with an expressionless face. She was calmer than anyone had any right to be.

There wasn't a hint of surprise or even something resembling curiosity in her eyes, as she said "Bring me Charlie! I care not where he is! Find commander Charlie and drag him in chains if need be! And you, stay where I can see you!"

Chiron nodded his head earnestly and went back to training. He was the hero of Assai and an "ascended" of "Analand", what did he have to be worried for? All he needed to do was wait it out and watch as he was welcomed with open arms! *Just cultivate and don't look at those shifty eyes. Damn shifty eyes woman! Shifting her eyes around constantly!*

Xerxes left eye twitched, as she suddenly looked at Chiron a bit more menacingly, which Chiron understood as a sign to not glare at her and closed his eyes instantly, changing in his mind *Shifty eyes begone! Try and keep trying! Gotta comprehend!*

And so he waited for another 5 hours, as the ascended watched him without blinking even once and waited for Charlie to arrive and arrive he did. He wasn't told anything about what was going on, but the moment he approached and saw a man, with the face of the most "valiant" soldier he had ever met, his face paled and his heart sank.

He stood there, in complete shock, trying to process the fact, that Chiron was alive. He, who single handedly held off the army of Aranai and allowed the entire population of Assai to safely evacuate and make it back to Analand proper was still alive. His mind drew a blank to see how this could even happen. "C-Chiron?! Is that really you? H-how are you alive?! Why are you so small? What happened?!"

The ascended nodded her head and lowered her body to bow, her eyes as insidious as ever. "So you really are Chiron Of Assai! It is an honour to meet you, but I request you put on these cuffs and come with me to be questioned. Before I have to go through the inspection, I would like to say to you one thing, welcome home, hero!"

Chiron smiled at Charlie and then looked back at the ascended and said "Thank you, I am truly back! *for blood!*"

The two past comrades shook hands and walked side by side, followed by the ascended watchwoman from behind. Said woman kept her bow aimed at Chiron's back. "How the hell did you survive?! I saw the army, there ia no way anyone could have survived that! Even if you did, where were you these past 6 months? What happened?!"

That was exactly what the ascended woman wanted to know and also the reason she allowed Charlie to come along. Charlie, being a rather younger awakened, was more chatty than the older generation of jaded veterans.

Chiron chuckled "*I killed and killed till I died and escaped.* That's a tale of pain, death, more pain, more death and ends with my final escape! The rest of the time was spent on recovery. I'm pretty sure most of the people in this place would want to hear what happened, so I'll tell the full story when we reach the temporary holding cell. *Or are we just going to a hearing? Shifty eyes ain't telling sh"t!*"

The watchwoman didn't seem to care much about their conversation, as they just chatted about fighting and random everything. Charlie seemed to have become much more friendly towards Chiron after his bravery. In such an upbeat way, the three of them reached the nearest prison barracks and Chiron was promptly left there, with a decent meal, a crystal jug of water and a simple, stuffed hay mattress to sleep on.

Xerxes sat in front of Chiron and stared into his very being, as she opened the cell door and said "This will be your temporary cell. I am sorry we are forced to treat you this way, but we must follow procedure. As, if y-"

"*Why can't this annoying sword swallower just shut up! God damn!* It's okay, I understand. There is no need to explain it, I'm back from dangerous places, might be a fake/liar or something, so we gotta sandbox me till I prove my identity. That is more than okay with me. I'd be the angriest in this situation if there were no such arrangements. We have a system for a reason! To protect us! if we didn't have such a system, the scum would have gotten in long ago!*Right? Like, I'm 99% sure we have a strict screening system, but I ain't a good reader. I barely know how!*"

Shifty eyes just nodded her head at Chiron and went away to begin the proceedings for the upcoming trial of Chiron, while said suspect sat in his cell, trained and ate several men's worth of food.