"You'll be working with this newly formed team that we put together just for this mission." A person in a black suit and dark tinted glasses said as he handed a small stack of papers to Ethan.
"That's a lot of people. May I ask what is our objective this time?" Ethan politely questioned, it seemed like he had learned some etiquette over the years. Even the way he sat was refined. His hair was pieced together by a bandanna, making it look tidy.
"You'll get a briefing with the others later but since you asked first, I'll tell you about the mission." The man stated with a smile. "We're infiltrating the fifth largest headquarters of the government. Our spy there has stated that he has seen multiple mutates experimentation libraries and a lab. The lab...it contains a special chamber. We plan to retrieve it."
"What does the chamber contain?" Ethan questioned further, leaning in front a bit.
"You'll find that out later. Pass Castiel the stack of papers later when he's available. Tell him our meeting time too, we need everyone to be on time, we don't have any time to spare." The man quickly dismissed Ethan.
Ethan nodded and bowed, placing one foot behind the other before leaving. He looked around and attempted to guess where Castiel could possibly be. The forest.
Ethan's assumption was indeed proved correct when he saw a familiar figure swinging a weapon, it's whip clashing against the tree brutally. Each whip-crack made a loud ear-piercing sound.
"Castiel." Ethan said, approaching him cautiously in case he accidentally gets in the line of fire. He looked at the deep marks made on the tree bark. Wood could be seen being chipped off.
"Oh, what did the Manager say?" Castiel asked, turning around and relinquishing his weapon, wrapping it around the stick and placing it in his jacket pocket.
"We've got a mission this Sunday to infiltrate one of the government's base. They want us to retrieve the contents of a special chamber." Ethan informed, leaning on a tree while he looked around aimlessly.
"Chamber?" Castiel questioned, ruffling his hair while he walked towards Ethan.
Ethan shook his head and shrugged, he didn't know anything about the chamber so he couldn't reply to Castiel's curiosity.
"How's training? There's the seasonal competition coming up in the next month or so." Ethan mentioned, his eyes slightly sparkling.
"Tough work. I just can't seem to get with the flow, the weapon seems to have a mind of it's own." Castiel sound defeated, pulling out his long dark whip that terrifying resembled a serpent.
"Just ask Killan about it, doesn't he favour you?" Ethan said bluntly, giving Castiel the side eye.
"Don't be so petty about it. Anyway didn't you say it'd be good for me to build a good relationship with him so we can get more information about..Ze-" Castiel immediately realised the grave mistake he was about to commit, he slapped his hand over his mouth out of disbelief.
Ethan realised how nervous Castiel was and he looked down at the withered grass patch, avoiding eye contact "It's fine. I... don't think he's here anymore. We haven't heard from him in 3 years. The people here don't even know of his existence. Let's go, the meeting is about to start." He quickly dismissed the prickly topic and walked off silently, looking at the dark mossy ceiling.
As fast as he could manage, Castiel chased after Ethan and followed him. Trying to come up with topics to change the atmosphere.
"How's the creation of your gauntlet coming?" Castiel asked with a smile.
Ethan glanced at Castiel and sighed. "It's fine, I'm receiving it this afternoon. I can use it in time for the mission." He stated happily while crackling his knuckles.
They both reached the location where they were going to meet the others. Both of them looked around, in search for one peculiar tree. They brushed their hands on the brown wood before coming to a halt.
"I'll do it, you wait at the entrance." Ethan said, tip toeing a little while he attempted to reach for something. A soft click sound was heard and the floor made shuffling sounds beneath the fake floor. It eventually opened up, revealing shiny pieces of metal.
Castiel slowly hovered his foot inside the tunnel and hit something. He pushed himself off the ledge and ascended down the metal ladder. Ethan following soon after.
They both cautiously walked on the metal floors, with each step they took a soft metal clang echoed. With every direction looking the exact same as the others, it was difficult to navigate through. However, they had brought a small map with them. The turns they must take were clearly written at the side of the paper in bold capitalised letters.
The heels of their foot began to ache. It was only adding to the pain to have to take so many more turns while struggling with the fact that they do not yet know whether they had somehow messed up along the way.
After what seems like an eternity, the tunnels started to transform into a different colour. Becoming a more grey toned metal, there was hope for them. They had been here so many times and yet they couldn't seem to get used to the complicated architecture of the underground stronghold.
Soon, they could hear human voices echoing through the tunnel, reaching their ears. It sounded like an argument with the sounds of yelling and screaming. This urged the duo to speed up their pace and reached the meeting area before disasters happen.
Not to Ethan's surprise, he saw a familiar person with wavy blonde hair pushing someone down with brute force, pulling back his fist and launching it straight to the victim's face.
The others seemed to be spectating the free show in front of them, some chuckled with amusement while the others turned a blind eye and continued with their routines. The small petty fight simply wasn't worth their time.
Castiel made an annoyed sound and quickly reached into his jacket and pulled out his whip, he unleashed it and roughly hit it on the ground to gain some sort of momentum, the whip started roughly wrapping around Felix's violent arms and yanked it back.
Someone went in and grabbed the victim from underneath Felix, pulling him by the arms.
"What are you doing?" Castiel asked, concerned as he slowly approached the apprehended Felix.
Felix looked up and saw Castiel's face before letting out a huff of disbelief. "Nothing that you should worry about, kid. And if you ever dare to step in again, prepare for the consequences." He warned, bearing his fangs.
"Felix, you should probably be more aware of your rank." Castiel reminded, seemingly not fazed by the warning. "Watch where you stand. You're below me, senior." He mocked before retreating his weapon and making sure it left a mark.
He walked off with Ethan into the meeting room, finding their seats and settling down first. They both stayed silent once they entered as the room atmosphere was always tensed. Everyone in the room was quiet with their backs straight and eyes straight forward.
Everyone that was outside soon entered the room with a change of expressions on their faces. The once laughing and snickering looks now changed into those of a serious one. Their eyes wandered around the room sneakily, as if trying to calculate something. A sudden switch.
And the one who entered last was their leader, the heart and core of Thanatos. Draven Al Kingsworth. He rarely showed up at meetings in person and would send his right hand man, Killan in his place. Him showing up clearly means that the mission was important.
Everyone instinctively bowed their head down low, not daring to make eye contact. Once Draven settled on the seat in front and leaned his face in the cup of his hands, some began to cautiously look up. And others followed along, some still holding their breath.
Draven slightly nodding a bit to express his satisfaction. He reached out and grab a piece of empty paper from Killan's hands. Taking a pen and scribbling down words everyone was familiar with seeing. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo.
"Now shall we assign your roles?" Draven asked with a sinister look on his face, mouth twisted while his eyes circled around the room.
Starting from the left side of the room, everyone started stating their specialty and what they could do and could not. Many voices crack in the middle of their sentences while some were too quiet to be heard. However, Draven continued writing smoothly without stopping his hands until he reached Castiel.
Castiel gulped and breathed in, trying to take in a large amount of air that was enough for him to spurt out a sentence in one go. "Castiel is my name. My power is to manipulate the visuals that the eye sees. Also known as illusion. I'm good at close hand combat and support. And I use the whip as my main weapon. Being sneaky and agility is not my strong suit."
Draven slightly raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth, looking like he was about to say something before stopping and clicking his pen. "What rank are you?" he asked.
"A rank 8 my liege." Castiel replied immediately, wasting no time.
Draven looked away and focused on Ethan, indicating that he should start introducing himself soon.
However, Ethan felt something off about the leader or was it just because this was the first time he had seen his liege? He hesitated but felt the pressure to speak before he got beheaded. "Ethan. My power is to create explosion at will but they do have a standard limit depending on my condition. I use a gauntlet that'll allow me to maximise my close range potential. I believe that I'll do well in Alpha." He confidently introduced himself and suggested.
Ethan was the last person in the room to introduce himself. And he made quite an introduction. Everyone applauded him for his bravery in their minds.
"You may be strong. Draven suddenly said when he stood up. "But you can't compare to the monster I created." He mockingly whispered when he walked pass Ethan, making sure that the others couldn't catch what he had just said.
Ethan turned back as fast as he could but Draven was gone, he was left baffled. What did he mean by that?! He had to know. He dare not have too much hope but a sense of relief bloomed in the pit of his stomach. He pushed himself off the chair but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Castiel.
"Don't. Killan will cut your head off if you dare make such a bold move. And... you can't be too sure who he is talking about." Castiel said.
Ethan gritted his teeth and sat back down. Now was not a good time. He ought to have some patience. He forced a smile and locked one leg over the other. His eyes shining a brilliant grey. He was sure that Zephyr is still alive just not here in the same location.