The sun broke apart the dark skies, turning the dim skies into a bright, warm yellow that gained most attention whether they were looking at it or not. It told everything and everyone that morning had come, the light reminding them as much of it.
So was the morning bustle in the office.
Amelia walked through the general crowd as everyone started to work, like usual running around with a mountain of papers in their hands. She yawned, standing upright with a bored expression on her face. Generally in the mornings, no one would bother acknowledging her existence, even if they bumped into her.
She opened the doors to her office, finding a familiar face waiting for her.
"Good morning." Diane greeted politely.
Amelia yawned while speaking, "Goo… d morning…"
Diane stared at her, confused at the sight of it, "Did you sleep yesterday?"
"Not at all. Just feeling bored." Amelia answered immediately while stretching.
Diane nodded and stepped aside. Amelia closed the door behind her then walked to her desk. She extended her hand as a pile of paper appeared on it, she handed it over to Diane who stumbled due to the weight. Though she heard the sound of Diane's uneven footsteps, she did not say anything about it.
"That is yesterday's batch." She said as she turned around and walked to the door.
Diane looked over, "Are you going out again?"
"Not really, just take a visit on The Supervision Division and see if Marcus is around." She waved before walking out.
Diane blinked at the door as she did not close it completely. She stared at it for a moment longer before walking to another area, pushing the door open and close with her arm. She was used to balancing documents while walking around, although it seemed like more of a challenge today than usual.
As the morning went on, people grumpily greeted her or simply walked by, she gave them her usual response. She was walking down the stairs when she saw a man with short tidy black hair talking to a woman with a scorpion tail. She did some stretching before deciding to say hello to them.
Sonora noticed her first, "Look who it is~ It's Amelia~"
Her words brought Marcus to her presence, looking over and bowing to her, "Good morning, Amelia."
"Yo." Amelia raised one of her hands up with the other in the pockets.
Sonora's tail laid low as she smiled, "What do you need from us today~?"
"Not you actually. Just some things to discuss with Marcus." She said with a stern expression.
Sonora's black eyes stared at her for a second and tilted her body, "Alright then~. We will talk about it later, kay, Marcus~?"
"Sure, I'll see you later." He nodded as she left them be.
Amelia stared at her figure as she walked away, "What were you guys talking about?"
"About some help with capture tasks. Since the army has gotten busy, she can't ask them. So her division needs our help." He shrugged.
"Let's discuss this elsewhere." He suggested as he began walking.
Amelia placed her hands behind her head, "Sure."
"You know why The Council took the information?" She asked.
"Not sure. They didn't tell us, but some representative came by and took it away. I was even surprised at it. I thought you knew about it all though Diane looked as confused as I am. Apparently only they know why." He shook his head.
She looked up, "Hmm... I see."
They stopped in front of a metal door which contrasted heavily with its surroundings, making it easy to recognise. A beep was heard as the built-in scanner scanned their physical bodies for information, it slid open once it was done. It did not take long, at most only a minute as it was looking through its database, making sure what it identified matched with what it knew.
The thing that stood out immediately was the holographic map in the center with a large round steel table beneath it. There were desks around it, placed diagonally from the center of the room. All of them had some control panels on it, some even having a monitor that was constantly running some statistics. Like everywhere else, it was fast-paced as people were walking around, having conversations with their coworkers and keeping their eyes on the panel.
"Does feel like your division is always the busiest." Amelia noted while staring at the people.
Marcus stared at it, "Maybe. Though I'd argue the Documentation Division is the busiest since everyone is too busy jolting down everything that they barely talk to each other."
He led her to another room, separated by a white steel door from the main area. The room itself was a meeting room, with a long oval table in the middle and a blank wall where a projection was projected onto. There was a smaller white board to the side of the room, used pretty frequently if it was about something much simpler.
"You're not wrong on that." Amelia pulled a chair and sat down.
"What business do you have with us today?" Marcus stood with his back straight and hands behind his hips.
She placed her cheek on her palm, "It's about the raid. You can tell me about it, correct?"
"Yes, I am allowed. However, we do need some help on paperwork."
"What about it?" She placed her arm on the table.
"We encountered… some problems. Both parties had already agreed on the complete plans, with some backups. But the information has leaked outside, nothing too major that would change plans but still something we are paying attention to. Also, Sei himself cannot join the joint operation due to conflict with his other operations."
She lowered her head while sighing, "This is annoying. What operation did Sei have?"
He pulled out his phone from his pant's pocket and scrolled through it, "Apologies for not having an official document because I had to ask verbally."
He answered after looking it through, placing it back in his pocket, "Sei and his team will be sent on a classified operation that was ordered by The Council. You'll get an official document three days before it happens."
"Huh... Very interesting…" She mumbled.
Her head raised, "It was expanded to more than just the Lost Sheep's right? Who decided to expand it?"
"Yes, we have decided to expand the raid to cover one major base of each cult. The Lost Sheep's will be led by part of Marine's team and Sei's, at least originally. Since Sei has work obligations he won't be joining us. We are trying to think of a replacement. As of now, we might let Watcher be the stand in. The Perfection cult will be led by part of Marine's team with Kaguya being on the offense and whoever Sei's stand-in would be. The Worship cult will be led by Alice Christabel Montagu and Olympoleia (Leia). The Peace cult will be led by part of Thorn's and Riki's team. The Demolition cult will be led by Okame and Kira Osamu."
She raised her eyebrow, "Why are the Guardians involved in this?"
He sighed, "I was against the idea. However, we have to rethink our manpower as Sei's operation requires some of their men as well. Thus, we don't have a choice."
"You sure only two is enough? Even my search assignments have at least four people." She questioned.
"I know that fact. That's why we are asking the Gods for assistance," Marcus continued, "We counted on the fact that other worlds have a possibility of being attacked as retaliation. Taking as little manpower away from them as we can, so we are counting on them."
Amelia shrugged, "I'll use some of my authority as leverage if you couldn't meet the quota."
He bowed in gratitude towards her. His expression unchanged as he left the room to grab something, his hands still were behind his waist. She stared at the door for a minute longer before sitting upright and stretched her arms. She began to talk to herself, recounting everything she knew and that they just discussed.
"So they knew huh? They want to play it that way hmm~? Will yield quite an interesting result and observation from these raids." She muttered with a smile.
It went away fast as something popped into her mind, 'I don't believe that they are already planning a retaliation. Especially the Perfection cult since their leader believes in extreme pain and trauma makes you a better, stronger person. They aren't too far off, just the effects of it they love to brush off. Also inhumane experimentation to achieve 'perfection.'
Her train of thought continued, 'As far as that goes, if they knew about the raid they would definitely do something earlier to incite it. The problem is… what is it? All the leaders often cooperate with each other and so will help out as long as they benefit themselves and others as well. So, who wants something that she specifically will go get?'
Marcus returned to the room with some files. He placed the rest of them on the table and picked one out of the pile. He opened the black folder and flipped through some pages before landing on a specific one. Although his expression did not change, she could feel a strange sense from the man with little change in facial expression.
"I believe this is noteworthy so I broke some rules and wanted to show it to you."
Her smile returned, "Oh? What is it?"
"The one they wanted to confiscate. Luckily we always kept another more simplified version of the reports in a separate file."
He handed the file over to her which she looked over really quickly. She crossed her legs as she scanned through it, noticing things that they would find odd but she understood immediately. There were things here more beneficial to The Council than it first met the eye, which unluckily for her, did not go under their watchful gaze.
"I want some of your insight. After all, you used to be involved in it." He stood beside her and leaned down slightly to get a better view.
Her eyes glanced over, "Sounds really freaky, Marcus. I wasn't involved in the making of it, you know? Just the process."
He nodded, "Apologies. But let's get to business."
He pointed at the first picture that was taken in low light with the same spot taken in a bright light beside it. The picture showed a drawn out magic circle, however it did not look like the ones they are familiar with. As the structure was the same yet the written 'text' around the other circle is unintelligible.
Like a standard magic circle, it had three layers to it. The outermost ring usually would not have any symbols in it, simply the outlin; The second ring would contain symbols which varied from what elemental or non-elemental magic the user was casting; The most inner ring would have a drawing that showed exactly what kind and aptitude of magic its user was casting.
"Please explain what this is. As hard as we could, we still couldn't figure out what it was. Even with the combined effort of the Physical Book Collection Division (P.B.C.D) veterans." He pointed at them.
She explained, "Of course. They are magic circles from what our history will call the Previous Era. It uses the same base as our current ones, however the text and symbols could be freely moved around. It is only their magic that could use text instead of symbols."
He listened intently but she could tell that he was confused still, "The reason why you can't find it is probably because none of you really knew what to look for. Which is fairly normal to be completely honest."
"Why would they need the magic system from the previous era?" He continued to stare.
"Because the current one can't be used to do what they want, opening the portal to The Other Side Of the World, as we would call it at least."
"What." He was taken aback by what she said.
She shook her head, "It's fine if you don't actually know, even book clubs have very few books from that era. Just a simplified history lesson, The Other Side Of the World only existed after The Great Celestial War. Lilith, the Mother of Death and Nephilim existed as a result of the war. Which meant that before the war, it didn't exist."
"So, they could safely use the Previous Era magic circles to achieve their goal." She continued.
He nodded while listening to her. He had gained a significant understanding of how their current magic system evolved from the previous one. There was a glint of curiosity in his nearly grey eyes when he heard the word 'nephilim' but he decided against asking. He pointed at the picture below the text reporting the circle.
The picture was taken in the same manner as the last one, however something stood out more in low light than the exposed one. The glimpse of some coloured smoke near the bags. In exposed light, they show what made Marcus shuttered when he saw it for the first time. It was not an uncommon sight, simply that he had not thought they were there.
They looked like potato sacks with some having dried up blood and some still fresh. One was opened up, it revealed a limb and a heart from it; They were dried up as well, smell of rotten flesh emitting from it. There was something about it that felt so alive that it looked weird to call it dead.
His eyes closed as he stared for too long, "Apologies again. I can't stand the sight of it."
He could not see that there was a lump in Amelia's throat as it was bothering her as well. But her tone suggested otherwise, "It's fine. They are incredibly gruesome to most."
She cleared her throat, "They need sacrifices to invite them to come over. Although I'm unsure whose idea it is to use chopped up limbs and innards, it worked so they kept doing it."
"Are those…" He did not complete his sentence as he let out a disappointed sigh.
"On to the next one then, it made you uncomfortable so we shouldn't linger on it for long."
The picture on the next page showed a person squatting on the ground. It was not taken in exposed light as that would alert whoever the person was of their presence. However, the shadows that did not appear when a little light shone down on it grabbed everyone's attention.
"They are completely corrupted souls, that's why they don't have a shadow as their body is consumed fully by the corruption. You won't be able to reverse it when they reach this state. They also don't react to anything and would stay there until someone kills them."
He nodded and pointed to the last picture, the one with the longest note below it. There were two pictures, one in low light that was so blurred that nothing could be made of it. The next one however looked clearer. It showed claws that dug through the wall, some with blood dragged across it. The one with blood was human/humanoid-like, although the claws looked weird in that it left a black gap in the wall.
He added, "The gaps do not connect to the next room, instead it's just a pitch black nothing."
"That is a ripped space. You won't be able to see it in low light or even exposed light. Cameras don't let in much of those details, you can only see it if you get real close and personal with it." She closed the file.
"That's it?"
He took the file from her, "That's it."
"What conclusions did you all make at the time?" She leaned a bit on the table.
"That they did summon… something. We weren't sure what it is however and only knew that such species are incredibly strong and horrid in appearance. At least in accordance to what we could find with the S.R & M.R.D," He placed it beside the pile.
"Close enough. I can say I'm pretty impressed with what you all came up with, with what little you knew. They are indeed incredibly strong so that's why I asked you to bring Sei's team to the Lost Sheep's cult." She shook her head.
She took the next file and opened it up, flipping and looking through the pages. She did not look up and asked Marcus, "What's this?"
"That is some record of all leader's past that the system provides. They are going to be used for you to announce their sentencing." He explained.
She noticed all of their photos and let out a sigh when she saw Cyliam's. The notes below were of more common things like age, species and birth place. There was something that caught her attention. A section was left out for the supposed 'death' that was recorded by his birth district.
"Interesting…" She muttered.
A woman suddenly bursted into the room, slamming the door open. She has bronze-coloured short hair and warm yellow eyes, her breathing ragged was like something horrible had happened. She leaned down and continued to struggle for breath, her arm on the door.
Marcus walked to her, "What's wrong?"
Amelia continued to sit but still looked at her. The woman continued to struggle to breath as she talked, only Marcus was able to hear her since she could not talk loudly, as much as she had tried to.
"Aeon… Aeon needs some help right now!" What she ended up screaming caught Amelia's attention.
'Tch' Her tongue clicked as she stood up and walked out. Marcus stared at her confused but focused on making Sheila talk properly, making sure the information she wanted to convey was done so correctly.
"What are you panicking so badly about?" He did get a feeling that something was wrong.
Sheila calmed herself, "Because the cults are attacking him and the city and we aren't sure why at all."
His expression changed for once, "This is bad…"
7:30 a.m. during Amelia's entrance to The Office
Aeon stretched as he came back home from a jog, he opened the door to it being quiet still as Andrata had not woken up. Her silver greatsword was beside it, with it being able to detach itself. There were few circles on the middle of it as the middle was separated from the blades, which explained how it was able to be detached.
The apartment itself was big enough for the three of them as there were two rooms and one bathroom. There were enough spaces for a living room and a small dining room. All furniture were in a neutral and warm tone, with most being brown or beige with some black.
He placed his shoe on the rack at the other side of the door as he stepped in. He let go of his tied up ponytail, letting out a breath to relax his muscles. He breathed in slowly as he opened her door, at first peeking through it to see if she was awake or still asleep.
"Morning~" He whispered as he slowly pushed the door open.
Andrata was lying flat on her bed, face on the pillow as she snored lightly. A smile creeped on his features as he gently shook her awake. She would not budge and he was unwilling to shake her too harshly, so he opted to let light come into her room instead, hoping she would wake up when the sun hit her face.
The living room, kitchen and dining room were interconnected with her room being the closest to the living room. He started to make breakfast which consisted of some toast, homemade jam, sausages and egg cooked to her preference. He made sure to make a smoothie with some vegetables in it although he hid the taste with some other ingredients as well.
She crawled out of bed when her nose was struck with the smell. She rubbed her eyes as she stretched, her messy brown hair made her look like a madwoman. He did not turn around to meet her yet he let out a small giggle which she heard clearly, even with her groggy senses.
"I'll fix up my hair okay…?" Her voice dragged as she talked.
He continued to cook, "Right right. Good morning."
"Good morning, Aeon," She said as she disappeared back into her room.
He plate the food and placed it on the table with the smoothie on the side. He placed his hands together and said a quick prayer before digging into the food, his stomach rumbling as he had not eaten anything when he went out for his usual morning jog.
Andrata came out after five minutes, her hair was no longer messy and was their usual streak of curly hair with the rest being wavy. She sat down and helped herself to the food, letting out a hum when she took a bite of the egg.
"You have nothing to do today?" She asked as she took another bite of her food.
He sipped his drink, "Maybe."
"Maybe? That's an unusually vague answer from you..."
He sighed, "I'm not sure. It does feel like something might happen."
Her expression changed, "That's a worrying statement."
"It's just a feeling. Nothing much will happen, don't worry." He gave her a reassuring smile.
She did not question it further and continued to eat. Aeon washed both plates once they both had finished their breakfast. He went into the bathroom to take a shower before going out, which was routine for both.
She sat on the sofa and stared at the TV, watching the morning news to check anything interesting that might have caught her attention. She started to scroll her phone's feed to buy some time. She noticed that there was an unread message but she considered it as unimportant.
"Let's go." He wore his usual outfit and walked out the door.
Andrata took her sword as it disappeared, she did not button her polo jacket once she noticed the weather.
They had a silent stroll, simply content with each other's presence as they walked through the hustle and bustle. Some of the locals knew Aeon since he stood out too much, mainly his hair, so they would greet him every time he walked past their stalls.
"Here's some vegetables for you!" Some aunty said.
She smiled at her and she smiled back, Aeon trying to reject her offer but failing pretty badly. He ended up taking some carrots, cabbage and onions with him. She giggled at the sight of it, he sighed and pinched her cheek.
"You cheeky…" He sighed again.
She laughed cheerfully, "I mean… it's very cute seeing it."
"You're not wrong on that." He let go of her cheek after hearing her statement.
After a little more strolling, Aeon decided to go home first as Andrata wanted to buy some snacks. She did bring her sword with her so he was not that worried, but he still could not deny the feeling of something being off, his senses were more alarmed than usual. He wanted to trust them, though there was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Hello." A voice meekly suddenly called out to her.
Her attention changed from deciding what candy to buy to trying to figure out what she wanted as the woman behind her looked scared. The woman was shorter than her, which made her look pretty small in comparison. She looked down and fiddled with the hem of her shirt.
"Uh… do… Do you know where… Taylor's clothing boutique is at…?" She spoke shyly.
Andrata nodded and asked the owner to help her pack up some sweets beforehand. She guided the woman through the streets to get her to where she asked to be. The women stayed close to her so as not to get lost.
"Have… you lived here all your life…?" Her eyes would not look at hers.
She shook her head, "No. I only started to live here pretty recently. But I like it here."
"I… just came here…"
The woman did not need to say that, simply due to her asking Andrata where a clothing store was. She raised an eyebrow yet not pointing it out, choosing to let it go over for this once. They continued to walk, the woman still sticking pretty close to her. She grabbed some of her shirt as they passed through a crowd.
"Are you here on holiday?" Andrata asked with a gentler tone.
The woman nodded and did not talk after that. Andrata felt odd but she was ignoring that feeling for a bit. They were about to reach soon and she could run for it if necessary. However, she was going to regret not letting her go earlier than she intended.
"You… sound like a good person…" The woman suddenly spoke.
She let out a confused sound, "Huh? What do you mean by that?"
The woman continued to say, "But… this is my mission… what she entrusted… to me."
She felt something, something in her abdomen. She looked down and noticed blood oozing out of it that a knife had stabbed through her. She did not look back as she already knew who it was and forcefully pulled herself away from the woman. The woman pulled out the knife before she could walk away with it.
The bystanders were alarmed as they began to step away from them. Andrata clutched her abdomen as it continued to bleed. The woman took out a capsule and placed the knife's blood into it. She did not look worried that she might take the chance to strike her, as Andrata never had the chance to.
A person sneaked up behind her and attempted to slice her, she dodged away in time as the bystanders began to run away. The person did not have a standard weapon on them, instead having their clawed fingers as the weapon of their choice. Her expression turned into panic as she realised that there was no way she would be able to fend them off.
They were here to kill her and they would try their hardest to.
She understood that she had to fight back as she summoned her greatsword, despite suffering a major wound, she insisted on fighting them. The attacker stared at her, so was the woman. She gripped tightly on the hilt, trying to steady her breathing as she wanted to ignore the pain in her stomach.
'Aeon… please…'
Aeon had a bad feeling as he stared at the clock, wondering why she had not come back. He walked out to look for Andrata, hoping for the best. His heart was racing as a realisation set in his mind. His hopes however, were quickly shattered by his instincts, feeling an intent to kill from some blocks away.
He pulled out his weapon and blocked the bullets coming his way.
"Hmm~ Pretty good for someone who dislikes killing~." The person laughed.
"Salem." He recognised her voice immediately.
He could not see where she was as she fired more shots at him. He made a proximate guess as he jumped on the railing and turned his brick of a weapon into a scythe, the one he always used. He jumped up to the rooftop and looked around for her. He was about to focus and feel for the presence of her soul, although he was abruptly cut off.
She laughed, "You might need to try a little harder to find me~"
A shadow wolf appeared right in front of him, its size was slightly shorter than he was when it stood up. It drooled as it leaped forward, preparing to scratch him in the face. His right hand swung the curved end of his blade downwards as its leg hit the ground. The blade carried a burst of flames with it, blasting the wolf in intense heat. The curved end of the blade struck through its throat, transferring the blazes in it too.
His eyes widened and swung his scythe over his head. He let go of it while taking a step to turn around, taking it back with the dull side of the blade blocking the projectile coming his way. It sliced through the black mass like butter causing it to split in half, making a small explosion. Aeon dodged it before it was able to hit him.
His grip on it tightened as he saw another two of the same wolves ready to attack him.
Her voice echoed in his head as if she was right beside him, "You will entertain my wolfies for me, right~?"
The wolves ran at him at the same time with both taking opposite directions. He took a step back and spun it around his body, he swung it harder and created massive icicles that hit the wolf on his right straight on. The wolf on his left opened its mouth and fired another black mass which he sliced through with ease. It ran through the explosion and readied its claws. Aeon's upper body leaned back as he swung his scythe upwards, launching it into the air.
"You know I always wonder, someone like you who has very little mana." She paused.
He leaped as the wolf prepared another projectile, stabbing through its throat and swung its body around. A burst of flames appeared again as the body was let go by the scythe and impacted the ground, making a small dent on the rooftop as the blazes went off.
She continued, "How do you have such an ability? To create elemental magic from the tip of your scythe. I'm getting jealous~"
He started running towards the direction of where Andrata was at. His heartbeat began to race more as he leaped off rooftop after rooftop, his mind began to excessively worry over her wellbeing as he began to realise something. The frustration of realising it too late began to take a toll on him.
'Salem is only buying time for them!' He cursed mentally.
"You will entertain us some more, won't you?" She was toying with him, like an owner playing with their pet.
His eyes caught a blade swinging towards his neck as it intended to decapitate him. He blocked it with the handle of his scythe, catching a glance at who his attacker was. His expression turned from worried to frustration as he stared at the person standing beside him. He knew that he could not waste more time.
"Why do you have to get in the way?" He growled.
Vander sighed, "We meet again, Aeon."
Aeon pushed the blade away and Vander took some steps back to keep some distance between them. He shrugged with the sword in his left hand, his eyes staring at Aeon's burning gaze. He was not afraid, although he could not deny the boiling rage in his eyes was something new to experience.
"You are a bit slow aren't you? Especially compared to Amelia." He mocked Aeon.
Aeon's eyes were focused on him, "I'll kill you this time."
"Maybe next time." He said as he pointed behind him.
A large burst of flames engulfed some streets in blazes. Bystanders and citizens alike fled for their lives; People started to scream in fear and panic as they saw the flames. Aeon stood still, his grip lessened on his weapon as shock overtook the feeling of frustration.
Vander shook his head, "Leave your hatred for me next time. Go save the one you cherish."
He walked away with his bright blue eyes staring at the flames, admiring it in its full glory. Something about it had captured him, as in awakening a desire in him that he never knew he had. He chuckled lightly as he stood there, not that far away from where he encountered Aeon. He was not troubled since he knew Aeon would not put any attention on himself.
"Salem… you really love these things." He murmured to himself.
Aeon picked himself up and ran towards the flames, his breathing staggered as his thoughts went into a full panic mode.
Amelia's arrival at 10:21 a.m.
Amelia stared at the flames as she had teleported near the vicinity, able to feel it even before she came. There was nobody around her yet she could hear the deafening screams of fear in her head. Her expression turned serious as she clapped her hands as a signal, placing a command spell on the flames.
The blazing flames disappeared as if it was never there.
She walked into the site and looked around, a feeling of worry hitting her chest. It was an odd sensation, still that was not what she should focus all of her attention on. She felt a faint breathing in the area and walked in a general direction. She picked up her pace once she realised who was in the area.
Just outside of the vicinity of the flames, there Andrata was. She leaned on the walls as she breathed heavily, gaining some other wounds aside from her abdomen. Speaking of which, it still bled as she leaned there, the wound looking much worse than before she fought off both attackers by herself.
Amelia did not say a word as she got to work, placing her hand over the wound and putting a healing spell on it. Andrata's breathing was staggered but her lips curled up to a smile, once knowing that someone was here to help her. A sense of relief waved over both of them. She stared at Amelia as the wound began to close up.
"Of course Amelia is the best…" She muttered.
"Save your strength." Amelia's tone was stern yet soft.
Andrata's eyes slowly closed as her wounds patched up. Although there were still some stitches needed to be done to the wound, she was safe as they were not fatal. She ended up fainting while leaning on the wall. Amelia sighed with a grateful look in her eyes, she picked her up and was about to place Andrata and her shoulders.
"Thank… Tha--" Aeon spoke while hunched over.
Amelia placed her back down, "Save your breath first."
He took in big breaths as he was breathing heavily. He stood up straight a minute later with his weapon gone from his hands. His expression softened once he saw the condition that Andrata was in than the one he felt before.
However, it could not dissipate that feeling of anger deep in his heart.
He stared at the woman standing near them, her near emotionless eyes only fueled the flames burning inside of him. He tried to hold it down, clearly to no avail. He curled up his fingers into a tight fist, looking down on the ground. He let out a long sigh, noting that she had been simply standing there the whole time.
He walked to Amelia and grabbed her by the collar, "You…"
"What? Speak clearly." Amelia stared blankly at him.
His grip tightened and dragged her closer, "Don't you know how fucking much trouble you caused everyone here?"
"Then?"
"THEN? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEN?" His eyes burning into her own.
She groaned, "What do you want me to do? I only do this because I obey the natural laws and my own obligations. There's nothing I, or even you, can do."
"YOU CAN AND YOU FUCKING KNOW IT." His screaming began to layer with agony.
Her eyes continued to be bland, "I can't. How did you think I got here? Did you forget?"
Aeon's grip softened as he discerned something, something he always dreaded seeing from her.
That look of complete dullness like nothing in this world mattered to her, not Zarnia, Andrata, April, Jeremy and even him. That feeling that showed she spiraled into such insanity that everything had no meaning. There was nothing they could do; There was nothing else they could aside from simply staying by her side.
That broken little girl they could never save, simply because it was fate.
He began to regret his outburst as he let go of her, her eyes never losing the bored look in them. He took in a deep breath to calm himself as his eyes looked at Andrata instead of her, too afraid of looking at them. He did not want to face them again, lest his messy emotions turned into something more dangerous to them.
"I don't blame you for being so angry. You do care heavily about the people here." She said as she walked past him.
He picked Andrata up in bridal style. His body relaxed as he inspected further on her current condition as she snored soundly. His eyes closed and placed his forehead on hers, his lips curling up to a warm smile, choosing to bathe in the relief he was feeling from just knowing her life was no longer in danger.
"I'll deal with them. You can bring her home." She said as her sword appeared on her hip.
He nodded, "Alright…"
She noticed his hestitance, "We are on a battlefield right now. Emotions can't be at play here. We'll talk about it later."
He opened his eyes and lifted his head. Aeon's eyes had a feeling of regret and something that felt more intimate. Amelia knew what it was but chose not to voice it. She was going to keep her own words, what she had said earlier. They had the time, now was not it. She unsheathed her sword and swung it around before sheathing it again.
She was immediately greeted by two people, the same that attacked Andrata earlier. The woman tightly held her knife to her chest as Amelia smiled. The other readied themselves as Amelia had a relaxed posture. They were worried by the mere presence of her, nevertheless now was not the time.
"Well then, it's time for a bit of retribution don't you think?" She chuckled.
Aeon left before they both had appeared, yet he could not help himself but to glance at her one last time.
They each took a deep breath as they prepared for their deaths. Like a lion hunting down its prey, they knew that they were not going to live this encounter.