Matthew opened his eyes to complete darkness. A disorientated mind failed to cover his situation and current predicament.
"Uggh. My head hurts." Matthew pushed off the ground trying to get up.
The entire world spin like crazy as he tried to concentrate on himself.
"Where am I?"
Matthew looked around in the complete darkness. His eyes yet to adjust to the darkness around him.
As he stood there waiting for the eyes to adjust memories finally returned to him.
Matthew grabbed his head as he grunted,
"Great. Another batch of lunatics. This day just keeps getting better."
Matthew patted around him pockets to search for his phone. Thank the One it was still on him.
Matthew noticed the distant lack of backpack on his shoulder.
'Must have lost it during the explosion.' Matthew flashed the light and looked around.
The room was covered with debris. Matthew walked around the debris to see the tunnel collapsed behind him.
'Well that's one way to solve a problem.'
Matthew then looked for any injuries on him.
The more he looked the more he was surprised. There was nothing.
He was spotless. There was no injury. He could distinctly remember the burning sensationa behind his head and a sharp pain to his side.
There was a hole in his cloth but no injuries. His cloth on the back was shredded to pieces but once again no injuries.
Matthew moved on from that to look for an exit. The other tunnel was half caved in but it had enough space to crawl inside.
Matthew sighed and bit the phone and started crawling.
It was a short crawl as he entered the tunnel. Matthew wanted to question what decision lead him to this situation.
'I think I have enough. Maybe next time I should bring more charms.'
Matthew kept walking when the wall nearby suddenly shifted and three door appeared randomly.
Matthew recognized those doors immediately and from the first door a man exited.
The flash of the phone caught the mans attention like a deer before a headlight.
The man was wearing simple uniform. Blue and white. He had a communicator on his hand.
"Uhh- are you um them?"
The man asked in a shaky voice. Matthew noticed his hand slowly reaching for the firearm attached to his hips.
"Nnoo?" Matthew dropped the knife during the blast.
"Prove it." The mans hand rested on the guns handle.
Matthew took a deep breath and took out the medallion. It was hung around his neck all this time.
The man eyed the medallion and sighed in relief.
"Wewh. I thought I messed up."
The man visibly relaxed. But then soon became suspicious.
"Where are the rest?"
"We split up to cover more ground."
It made sense. But the man didn't lower his guard.
"What about your uniform? All Agents came in their uniform."
'Shit.' Matthew racked his brain quickly for an answer.
"Do you know why we are here?"
Matthew decided to wing it.
"I have some idea. But that doesn't explain your attire."
"Sure it does. Try again. What's our objective?"
Matthew could see the man trying to figure out whether or not he was bluffing.
"I can't believe this. Are you this dumb to figure something so simple?"
Matthew pressured him to figure out something. The man's jaw hardened a bit before he said,
"I know RCUVA Agents are here to flush out Cultist. This entire mission is a hoax to lure cultist in and eliminate them. But..."
"That's precisely why I'm in such clothing. I'm blending in. They are the front. While my team is the one that will be eliminating the cultist."
Matthew quickly added. He watched the man closely. Due to the limited light Matthew's face was hidden behind the shadows.
"Wait does that explosion ..." the man suddenly widen his eyes.
"Bingo. I took care of bunch of cultist. Bastards got me cornered so I had to use my last resort to take them out."
Matthew watched as the man gasped in awe.
"I uh. I'm sorry I doubted you." the man finally lowered his guard.
Matthew had an intense urge to sigh in relief but he held it in.
"Quite the contrary. You did the right thing." Matthew walked up to him and patted him on the shoulders.
At this moment the man finally saw Matthew clearly. He widen his eyes in astonishment.
"Wow you're young."
"Or so I have been told." Matthew scratched his cheeks.
"What's your name?" Matthew asked the man.
"Uh it's Jayl, Sir. J-7 of the RMG Security." Jayl straighten himself. He put one hand on his chest.
Matthew mimicked his gesture and asked,
"Please call me Klein. What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to investigate the explosion but looks like that's..."
Suddenly a loud roar echoed through the entire crypt.
"Was that Morre-3?" Matthew shot in the dark.
Jayl looked surprised as he replied,
"Yes actually. How did you know?"
Matthew simply gave a cryptic smile. And continued,
"How much were you briefed on this operation?"
"Not much. Just told to cooperate with RCUVA Agents." he shrugged.
The roar rang out once more.
"I should probably head inside. Do you want to rest for a bit?"
Matthew thought for a moment before agreeing.
Meanwhile,
Yan closed his notebook. He looked
at unconscious Clyde and sighed in annoyance.
Yan looked towards the corridor as several footsteps were heard.
"I told you to be careful around him."
Yan commented as he walked over to meet them halfway.
Veneria and Maylene was supporting Yuni.
"He had a charm." Mia said from behind.
"I know. How's Yuni?" Yan asked.
"Bit concussed. Her gift managed to mitigate all the damage." Veneria answered as she placed Yuni near the wall.
"That was a powerful charm. Not many alive can make those." Veneria commented.
"What did it looked like?" Yan replied.
Yuni replied without looking,
"A doll."
"Ah- A protection charm. Looks like his connection to the Blind Witch goes way earlier than I anticipated."
Veneria widen her eyes. Maylene who was uninterested suddenly perked up at the name.
"He is a bit different from his future self but looks the information is legit." Yan smiled.
"This is the place where his gift manifested."
He looked at all four of them,
"Change of plans. I'll deal with Matthew by myself. You four go take care of the unwanted visitor."
Veneria frowned,
"What unwanted visitor?" Maylene asked in confusion when all four of them raised their head spontaneously.
"Delay her as much as possible." Yan stared walking towards the deeper in the corridor.
"What about him?" Yuni asked pointing at Clyde.
"He won't die. I still have use for him."
Yan left them behind.
His mind wandered to a time that has yet to come. After regressing back in time, Yan had only one goal. To become as strong as possible.
He painstakingly collected rest of the puzzle pieces. Now all that was left was Matthew's gift.
The last piece of the puzzle.
And so it began.
The incident that will become the catalyst for the unprecedented disaster in the future.