The three continued down the tunnel for several minutes until Adam and Celeste noticed that the tunnel had started to climb.
"Are we almost there?" Celeste asked as she pointed what she still thought was an oversized flashlight in front of her to illuminate the way.
"Almost, I think we should be there in a couple more minutes," Rowena replied.
"You think?" Celeste asked back.
"I've never taken this secret passageway before," Rowena replied with a shrug.
"How did you manage to sneak out when you were younger?" Adam asked.
"One of the other secret passages, there are several around the house I grew up in and I used to randomly pick one each time I snuck out so as not to get caught, needless to say it didn't always work," Rowena replied with a nostalgic smile as she remembered those times before adding, "then once I was old enough to use my wings to fly, I would sometimes fly out over the walls."
"You were a rebellious kid, huh?" Adam asked with a smirk.
"Aren't we all when we are young?"
"Perhaps," Adam replied simply, making the two women raise an eyebrow at his simple response before he changed the subject and asked, "Do you have any ideas on who Stacey's attacker was… or will be?"
"I have several, unfortunately. I've had eighteen years to think about this and the number of people who were jealous of the amount of attention I gave Stacey was not small.
I really failed to protect her better back then. I knew a bit about the treatment she was receiving from the other family members, but I thought it was just a bit of teasing, as children do.
Only after did I learn how badly she was being bullied and how much I failed her as her grandmother."
"While I won't deny that you are to blame for not protecting her better…" Adam replied, but was cut off by Celeste, who asked.
"A bit harsh, don't you think?"
Adam ignored her, however and continued, "You're not the only one to blame. Stacey's parents are the ones mostly at fault, as it was… it is their responsibility to protect their child, even one only conceived on a whim and it is something they failed to do," Adam replied angrily, causing his anti-gravity armour tail to appear on its own and start swaying dangerously.
"Errr, your tail's showing," Celeste commented as she quickly distanced herself from Adam.
She had seen how that tail had almost penetrated Vlad's head, and he was a progenitor, someone who was supposed to be one of the strongest beings in the universe.
"What? Oh, sorry," Adam replied before he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and retracted the tail.
[HackerSu (Trillion): Damn, Stace. Your parents better hope to never meet Adam, or they might not survive the encounter.]
[OrangeeyedStace (Felinia 7): What parents?]
[OfficialLorelie (Felinia 7): …]
[HackerSu (Trillion): …]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): Damn, that's cold.]
[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): For her to not even admit to having any parents. They must have done something really bad.]
[OfficialAphrodite (Felinia 7): His tail acts remarkably similar to my own.]
[Justiceistruth (Earth): Why? Can you hide yours?]
[OfficialAphrodite (Felinia 7): Not quite. I have full control over my tail, except when I have sudden spikes in emotion. My tail then starts acting almost independently.]
[Thewhitesoverign (Felinia 7): My tail is the same. I sometimes lose control of its actions momentarily when I get angry or happy.]
[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): Fascinating. I wonder why the streamer's tail acts like that. I mean it's part of his anti-gravity armour, not himself.]
"Cough," Rowena coughed slightly to ease the tension before she continued, "Well, anyway. The one who stabbed Stacey could theoretically be any of those who were jealous of her; however, there is a big difference between feeling jealous and acting on your jealousy, especially to try and commit murder. I just hope it's not who I suspect it is."
"You suspect someone in particular?" Adam asked curiously.
"I do, but I don't want to say more for the chances of raising a flag," Rowena replied.
"Flag?" Celeste asked in confusion.
[OracleRomy (Elysium): Flag?]
"I'm afraid it might be too late for that. The mere fact that you mentioned it means the flag has already been raised," Adam replied while shaking his head.
[Noobkiller9000 (Earth): Oh, she done screwed up.]
[AlamoMatador4thewin (Earth): Yup, it's definitely going to be the person she was thinking of when she made that comment.]
[Gunlovergirl (Earth): Whoever that person is will be dead in the near future.]
"It's that powerful?" Rowena asked in surprise.
"Yup, don't underestimate the power of the flag. But hang on, I thought you didn't believe in the power of the flag?"
"What flag?" Celeste asked again in annoyance.
"Well, while the whole Aphrodite thing could be called a coincidence."
[OfficialAphrodite (Felinia 7): Me thing?]
"Travelling back in time right after talking about it can't possibly be a coincidence."
[RealOtaku (Earth): We have a believer. 📣]
[Noobkiller9000 (Earth): We have our first alien who has become a believer in the power of the flag.]
[OracleRomy (Elysium): What is this flag power you keep talking about?]
[Whostolemyduck (Earth): What they're talking about is…]
"Would you PLEASE explain to me what this flag thing you're talking about is?" Celeste said as she lost her cool and raised her voice while saying Please.
"I was planning to," Rowena replied with a smirk before going on to explain.
While Rowena and the chat were explaining the power of raising a flag, the end of the tunnel finally came into sight, which turned out to be a dead-end.
As Adam looked around in confusion, he remembered what Rowena had said before about the exit being a trapdoor that led into a garage, causing him to look up at the tunnel's ceiling and see the base of a metal-looking hatch.
"What's the likelihood that we open the hatch and there is someone in the garage?" Celeste remarked, causing Adam and Rowena to look at her.
[RealOtaku (Earth): She just had to say it, didn't she?]
[OracleRomy (Elysium): Is this what you call raising a flag?]
[Superhearofangirl (Earth): You catch on quick, Oracle Andromeda.]
[OracleRomy (Elysium): 😇]
[Whitehorn (Darah 5): 🫣]
[OfficialAphrodite (Felinia 7): I thought you were leaving. 😏]
[Whitehorn (Darah 5): I couldn't bring myself to, I mean, I have been waiting 18 years for this moment.]
[OfficialAphrodite (Felinia 7): To watch yourself embarrass yourself? 😏]
[Whitehorn (Darah 5): No, shut up. 😡]
[Gunlovergirl (Earth): Looks like we are getting some action soon. 😃]
[Puntanghunter69Ver2 (International Space Station): Not the sort of action I was hoping for.]
[Celebrityhunter69 (Earth): Damn pervert.]
"What?" Celeste asked as the two stared at her.
"You literally just explained this to her," Adam remarked.
"I know," Rowena said while shaking her head in disbelief.
"Ohhhh, is this one of those flag things?" Celeste asked in realisation.
"Yes," Adam and Rowena replied together.
[Whitehorn (Darah 5): 🫣 Geez, I definitely should have left after all.]
[OfficialAphrodite (Felinia 7): Too late now. 😏]
[CEOHopkins (Earth): This is the strangest stream I have ever watched. Not only am I watching a fellow Earthling that's in another part of the universe and is breaking into the home of an alien model that drinks blood, but they are accompanied by another alien from a different race who is also in chat at the same time, commenting on how embarrassed she is about her own actions back then because even though the stream is live, everything is happening 18 years ago.]
[Emojisonly (Earth): 💯]
[OracleRomy (Elysium): I was enjoying the stream so much that I didn't even consider any of that, but now that you mention it, it is indeed very strange.]
[HackerSu (Trillion): I'd love to see Prime or any other streamer, for that matter, try to top this.]
[Lizziethetruepower (Palaxia): It's a shame the stream isn't available to everyone; otherwise, it would definitely go down as the top stream of the year at the streamer awards.]
[OfficialMuriel (Aqua Primus): Don't you mean top stream of all time? I mean, who can top time-travel?]
[Lizziethetruepower (Palaxia): Good point.]
[Celebrityhunter69 (Earth): You all have streamer awards?]
[OfficialMuriel (Aqua Primus): Oh sure, while they don't compare to other awards since streaming is not very popular, they still exist.]
[Gunlovergirl (Earth): Where did that idiot Prime come last year? Please don't say it was first.]
[Prestigious3horns (Vinox 2): He came third.]
[Gunlovergirl (Earth): Oh, thank god.]
"So now what?" Adam asked before turning to look at Celeste and adding, "Now that we KNOW someone is up there."
"We don't know that for sure," Celeste replied defensively.
"Want to make a bet?" Adam replied.
".... No," Celeste replied.
[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): Pft, chicken. 🐔]
[Whitehorn (Darah 5): …]
[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): What is that and what's a chicken?]
[Puntanghunter69Ver2 (International Space Station): A chicken is an animal here on Earth. The cowardly sense of the noun 'chicken' ultimately comes from the use of 'hen' for a fainthearted person. In contrast, males are called roosters or cocks, which is short for cockerels for a dominant person.]
[Whostolemyduck (Earth): …]
[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): He just stole your thing of explaining stuff, Whostolemyduck. Kekeke.]
[Superhearofangirl (Earth): Why am I not surprised this perv knows about that.]
[Gunlovergirl (Earth): Because it's talking about cocks.]
"Any suggestions on how we check?" Rowena asked with a smile as she looked at Adam.
"Why are you asking me? This is your family estate," Adam replied.
"You're the one with all the advanced tech."
"It's not like I carry it all in my back pocket or anything like that," Adam replied while rolling his eyes, which no one could see, before he thought for a moment and suggested, "We could use one of the micro-cams."
"Hold the hatch open just enough for it to pass through and scout around while hoping no one notices?" Rowena asked as she instantly understood his plan.
"Yup," Adam replied while nodding.
"I guess it's worth a shot," Rowena replied while nodding before looking at Celeste.
"What?" Celeste asked.
"You're in charge of opening the hatch slightly," Rowena replied with a smile.
"Why me?" Celeste asked.
"Well, normally I would ask Adam to do it, but since he has to control the micro-cam, that leaves just the two of us and because you're the one who raised the flag."
Celeste looked at her speechless before sighing and as she held out the oversized flashlight to Rowena, she said, "Fine, hold this."