"I see then." Chain processes the information told to him by Kretschmer. He explained to him that when they arrived at the scene, they saw him faint to the ground and he had to act early in case anything else happened if they waited too long. The rest of the squad agreed to rescue him early without severely harming any of the rest of the knights. They also decided to take the knight that went by the name of Emeryn Sacobrel with them too.
When they arrived back at the outpost, they immediately informed Command of their actions. They were surprised at first but trusted the squad's judgement and gave them a new task, to explore and interact with the natives. Gen later came into the picture when she arrived back at her place in the forest, which she later found out got destroyed and replaced with their outpost. She later walked up to their front door furious at them. At first, they couldn't understand her but when she used that magic spell of hers, they were able to speak to her. Clearing up the misunderstanding, Kretschmer offered her a job to be their guide, which she then agreed to.
Not soon after, the knight woke up and was still recovering from being knocked out. She became hostile after pulling out a hidden knife from her leg towards everyone claiming that they were demons using an illusion spell. To deescalate the situation, whilst not getting anyone hurt. Gen suggested using a sleeping spell on her but needed time to prepare it. Amelia had to distract Emeryn so Gen could prepare her spell. After an intense few minutes, the knight was finally put to sleep. And that summarises what happened when he was unconscious in a span of those few hours.
"When will Emeryn wake up?" Asks Chain.
"The spell should only last for about two hours, she should be awake by then." Replies Gen.
"Got it. When she wakes up, I would like to have a word with her."
She returns to Kretschmer's side as he shows her Earth's environment on his tablet. At first, she assumed it was magic and is still struggling with their concept of 'technology' and 'electricity'. Whereas Amelia was struggling with whether to use a marker to draw a moustache on the unconscious knight. This was a sight he never imagined ever seeing.
--------------------
It was now nighttime. The moon shined bright just like Earth's, Chain feels a sense of nostalgia every time he looks up as he reminds himself he was now on another planet that is similar to his in some aspects.
Chain was lying down on the ground just outside the outpost and beside him was Emeryn who was about to wake up from Gen's sleeping spell. He thought it would be best for her to be outside and free from her restraints so they could establish trust between one another and show he means her no harm.
Emeryn slowly awakes from her sleep and looks around noticing she was now outside. She had a feeling of déjà vu as this was the second time she was made unconscious.
"Hey there sleepyhead." Chain tries sounding friendly.
Immediately seeing Chain, Emeryn stands up immediately preparing for a fight.
"Calm down ok, let's talk it out."
"Spare me the words, I know your games," Emeryn replies.
"I've actually got a few games we could play on my phone." Chain says jokingly. "You up for Tetris?"
"..."
"Come on, don't be shy. I won't hurt you." Chain pulls out his phone and opens the Tetris app. He shows it to her and it was the same look Gen had when she saw Kretreschmer tablet.
"Your magic cannot fool me demon!" Emeryn goes in for the punch but Chain manages to trip her with his foot. She falls to the ground angrily realising she was humiliated.
"Alright! What's with this demon crap." Chain's tone suddenly gets more infuriated. "Everyone else in my squad said told me earlier that you were calling them demons when all they tried was talk to you. Since you keep calling me a demon you must know what they look like. And I'm pretty sure I'm 100% human. So please, lecture me."
Emeryn lay on the ground defeated. She didn't know what else to say other than thinking this was a new torture method demons have come up with. And if they did, she realises there was no use in keeping her alive this long.
Tears start rolling out of Emeryn's eyes. " Waah, I don't want to die. Please, please I beg of you."
"Ah jeez," Chain approaches Emeryn and pats her on the head. "Look, I told you already I'm not here to kill you. What happened to the knight that stood her ground defending her comrades when all seemed lost, hmm? I didn't see her cry back then and neither should she now."
With Chain's words of encouragement, Emeryn looks up to him remembering how she didn't falter at the sight of imminent death. She then wonders how does he know what happened, she didn't recall seeing Chain during the ambush.
"May I ask, how do you know what happened to me and my knights?" Emeryn regains her courage to ask the question.
"Well funny story actually, wait right here." Chain runs back into the outpost to grab his LS4 armour since Emeryn has only seen him in it when he came to rescue her and the other knights.
Emeryn thought it would be the perfect opportunity to run away and report this back at the capital but something inside of her told her not to. The man she just met was much different from the other three. Chain seemed to her as someone who does what he wants whenever they feel like it.
A few minutes passed as Emeryn stood there under the light of the moon. She then hears a familiar voice call out to her, "Hey Emeryn, look away for a moment. When I tell you to turn around, don't freak out alright." Chain reassures her.
Emeryn does as she was told, she looks away facing the other direction. She hears Chain slowly walk behind her but she thought to herself that the steps sounded a bit too heavy. The footsteps then come to a stop. She now knows he is directly behind her.
The cool air makes her uneasy and she breathes heavily with a sense of fear.
"Alright, now I want you to SLOWLY turn around ok? Just relax and remember that I promise you when you see it, you are still safe no matter what. Capeesh?"
"Pardon?" Emeryn asks as she wonders what he meant in the end.
"Its a slang from where I come from. If you promise not to freak out, I'll teach you what it means. Capeesh? Now you say it." Chain tries to lighten the mood not wanting to scare Emeryn half to death.
"Ca-pe-esh" Emeryn struggles to pronounce the word and hears Chain giggle at her attempt.
"It's a starter at least. On the count of three, turn around ok?"
Emeryn nods her head.
"One"
"Two"
"Three"
Emeryn turns around and looks at Chain. His pupils dilate. She recognises the strange figure she is currently seeing. It was the one she saw that came and slaughtered the other demons. The scars around it prove to be the same one. She stands there in shock as the memories from her earlier encounter with it flash in her head. She wanted to make a run for it but remembering Chain's words made her standstill. He was willing to put that trust on the line when he left her for a moment, knowing it would give her the chance to escape.
Chain notices Emeryn stiffen up unable to say anything, but notices she is staring directly into his face and not freaking out as she promised him. This made Chain feel proud of her.
"Looks like somebody kept their promise." Chain continues to take off his helmet revealing his face to her. "Ta-dah! It's me."
"B...but how!" Emeryn was shocked and confused by the sudden reveal. "So you were the one that killed those other demons?"
"Those things were demons?"
"Yes! How do you not know of demons?" Emeryn was shocked that Chain didn't know something that was common knowledge in the whole of Nenoria.
"Well, my squad and I are not from here."
"That still doesn't explain how you could have lifted one of their swords and cut through their armour with such ease." Denying Chain the chance to explain he and his squad are not from her planet.
"Well you see, this baby right here is the same as what you are currently wearing."
"You mean your currently wearing armour and that isn't your skin? Is your armour magically enchanted then?" Emeryn was stunned as she thought he was a demon in the first place since his armour doesn't look like their traditional knights wear.
"Yes, this isn't my skin but my armour is not 'magically enchanted'."
"So how is that possible then?"
"It's hard to explain how it works since I am not exactly too sure about its components and their individual functions. I just wear it." Chain recalls how he kept falling asleep back in his military academy days when his instructor was explaining how the LS4 worked.
"So you aren't a demon then?"
"You got that right."
"There's one thing that still bothers me. Since you claim to possess so much power, it was still too careless to risk your life no matter how much power you have when going against a pack of demons. So why did you do it?"
"Do I need a reason to save someone else's lives even at the cost of mine? I am a soldier and that's what we soldiers are supposed to do." Chain crosses his arms and looks towards Emeryn. This surprises her as she has never seen anyone willing to die for their ideals.
"I know it is a bit late for introductions and you already know my name as I assume your subordinates told you already. What's yous?"
"Sergeant Xander Chain and squad leader of Delta Squad. You can just call me Chain." Chain does a salute in the end.
"Oh, which nations army or knight order are you from then?"
"My squad is part of the IFU's military branch, IFUA (Interplenatary Federation Union Army)"
"I have never heard of that name from any nation's army before."
"Because you haven't."
Emeryn is confused at what Chain said. If he isn't from any other nation she knows of, where could the army he was speaking of have come from then. She repeats this word over and over in her head.
"Were from Earth." Chain points up into the sky.
"There's nothing up there," Emeryn replies.
"That's what you think. The universe is actually pretty big, full of life and wonders waiting to be discovered."
Emeryn was mesmerized by what Chain said. Even though she didn't understand the first half of what he said, she understood the other part. "Wonders waiting to be discovered."
Emeryn then gets on one knee and tears up a little "I'm sorry for misunderstanding on my part even though you risked your life to rescue my knights and giving you and your other comrades trouble."
"Hey, hey, hey. No need for formalities here. It was just a misunderstanding."
Chain pulls Emeryn up and is still crying. Without thinking, he hugs and this took her by surprise but accepts it.
"It's just *sniff* I lost my childhood friend in that ambush to the demons *sniff* and it was my duty to protect everyone. And if I can't even protect my allies and my childhood friend, how am I *sniff* supposed to fulfil my role as knight commander."
Chain lightly pats her back to comfort Emeryn. "Hey, it's ok. We all make mistakes. The duty of a leader carries a heavy burden. Sometimes things just don't go the way we want them to and when things turn for the worse, it can cost us either our lives or those we cherished. But at the end of the day, it all depends if we can move on and try our best to not repeat the same mistakes."
Emeryn realises Chain's words sound they came from experience but decides not to question it. At this moment, she was just thankful that there was someone she could talk to and feel at peace with. She then decides to take a step back from Chain's hug after crying out all her tears.
"By the way, Capeesh means to ask someone if they understand."
Emeryn smirks a bit as she completely forgot that promise. " Ah, I see. So that's what Capeesh means."
"See, you can say it properly now." Chain congratulates Emeryn for being able to pronounce it. "Now let both head in, its night now and we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Your going to be in Amelia's room for tonight. Good luck with that." Chain tries joking with Emeryn.
They both head in and depart for each other's room. Chain lies on his bed exhausted and tired.
"Phew, what a day."
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Wattpad:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/293828008-the-fate-of-nenoria