Michael still received some wary and disapproving stares, but most of the pneumarians quickly disregarded his presence.
"Let's not waste time here. We know it's the Klevonian Army who're responsible for the kidnappings," said the pneumarian made of magma, receiving several murmurs of agreement.
"I agree," a deeper voice boomed from a pneumarian of yellow non-elemental energy. "Discussion only stalls the inevitable. Let us kick down their door and allow natural selection to take its course.
"Were we not the ones to break the treaty? Perhaps they are retaliating," commented a softer male voice that came from a present pneumarian made of vines and flowers.
"Are you defending them?" a feminine voice from a pneumarian of darkness asked the other provokingly, but there was a slyness to her words.
"You appear a supporter of war. What do you benefit from it?" the pneumarian of vines asked the other directly, but the pneumarian of darkness simply remained silent instead of answering, giving a mischievous grin.
"You're a tough guy to be around, Birch," a non-elemental pneumarian of greyness laughed as he propped his feet on the back of the throne in front of his. The owner of which then promptly removed them. "That pesky power of yours."
"That's enough," Raina raised a hand for silence. "I'm hesitant to believe this is the Klevonian Army – at least hesitant that it's being done at the Ryfa Pakt's orders. Though I'm not particularly close to Fulvia, it does seem out of character for her. I don't want to accuse them and start another war impetuously."
"Who else could it have been?" a slick, male pneumarian of purple gas asked. "You think it's pillagers? The RA? Not even they'd be dumb enough to involve themselves with a class 5 planet."
"Maybe it's them," a feminine voice from a non-elemental pneumarian of pink energy said pointedly while looking at Michael with an interest that made him somewhat uncomfortable.
This made everyone turn their attention to him again.
Michael straightened himself. He didn't belong there. He knew that, and they didn't hide it. But he had a responsibility to uphold.
"Everyone should remain calm," Michael urged as he held his hands up peacefully.
"Learn your place," the pneumarian of grey energy demanded with hostility. "For all we know, your group is responsible. You could be working with someone to orchestrate all of this."
"Their arrival here just before the attack is somewhat suspicious," the pneumarian of cold mist stated in consideration.
Michael didn't care for where this was headed. He went there to help prevent a war, but now they seemed to suspect him and his friends instead.
"I'll make him tell us where they are," a female pneumarian of blue lightning said in a deadly tone as she raised a finger at Michael. A finger that could have been fired at a moment's notice.
"Kaci, I understand that your child was among those taken, but I expect you to compose yourself," Raina commanded.
Though reluctant, the being of lightning glared at Michael but lowered her finger.
"I don't see why we don't just round up these new chimeras and see what they know," the pneumarian of darkness suggested in a sadistic tone.
"You do mean to conduct your questioning without torturing them, don't you?" asked the pneumarian of vines.
Again, the pneumarian of darkness chose not to answer.
Michael opened his mouth, ready to object to such an idea. Torture or not, their answers would be the same. They were innocent. But he refrained. Insisting they not get questioned would only serve to make them seem guilty of something. If necessary, he'd ask for the pneumarian of vines to conduct the questioning. Something told Michael that would be their best chance of clearing themselves.
"Rabae, you've spent time with them," Raina spoke. "What do you know of their intentions? What kind of individual is their leader?"
Rabae sighed as his watery form shifted on his mini throne.
"What point is there in my answering that?" He then addressed everyone. "Many of you will twist what I say into you killing them since they're klevonians and you don't approve of a Crest being run by an unprecedented figure."
There were murmurs of consideration. Killing the newcomers seemed to be the easiest, most obvious answer to rule out any potential threat in the situation.
Michael sat calmly as he devised a way to prevent the team from being wiped out. Then an idea struck him.
"Why not judge us for yourselves then?" Michael spoke; his voice rang across the sudden silence.
"Or we can just kill you all after getting what we need out of you," the pneumarian of blue lightning hissed back.
"Hmm...no, I like that idea more than senseless murder," Raina interjected. "We each can vet them out for ourselves. She'll be touring the nation to familiarize herself with Pneuma City. If the opportunity presents itself, I leave getting the full truth from them to you, Birch. But the rest of us can also judge their leader from our interactions with her. You're each permitted to test whether she can be trusted or not on your own, so long as no laws are broken."
Michael sighed internally. He was relieved
"What happens once she is proven to have nothing to do with your current predicaments?" Michael asked.
"If you're not involved, then we still won't know anything about who's taken the children or how they even got them without anyone noticing," the pneumarian of magma answered, crossing his arms in thought.
"When she's vetted, excuse me, if she's vetted," Raina cleared her throat and gave a small laugh, likely due to already knowing she would be, and only allowing the others the opportunity to come around to a sudden change, "Alissia will likely travel to Forgeton next."
"When she does, if she were to learn something, she wouldn't be able to prevent herself from helping save those kids," Michael calmly assured them.
"Fine. So we aren't torturing them, but what's to stop this one from letting his friends know before they reach us," the pneumarian of darkness pointed out.
There was a thick silence in the air as Michael got a foreboding sense in his gut. Then, abruptly, he activated Streak and sprinted toward the exit in an attempt to flee. Immortal or not, he had no interest in being captured by them.
Michael knew he could only maintain that state for a mere second, but he was indestructible in that form and could move at the speed of light.
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