The figure wore a red long sleeveless coat, revealing a black sleeveless top and black trousers with fingerless gloves and boots He had pure black hair and crimson eyes and a scar run across his left eye. The white x on his back indicated his position as Prime.
"Martha." He said, as the figure approached him. Martha was about to kneel but he shook his head, indicating his disapproval.
"Give me a full report."
Martha nodded. "On the 3rd of June, there was a wave of daemon believed to have been headed by a daemon nearing its white stage. All daemon were exterminated, with the exception of three daemons, one of which was the daemon nearing its white stage. Civilian casualties were in the low with 16 deaths and 23 injured." Martha swallowed hard before continuing, "Also, we lost two inquisitors; Aaron Cage and Barry O'Neil, all killed in action by daemon with special properties."
The prime nodded and sighed. "That's all I need to hear."
"Sir, will you remain here."
"No." He said. "You might be in charge for a while. I need to head to Washington right now."
"May I ask why sir."
"Sightings of a White."
"I can go sir."
"The only reason you want to fight a white, other than your fueled rage of losing a friend, is to avoid having to face your 'debt' to the Shield because of your family history. But that's exactly why you need to stay."
The Prime patted her on her shoulder and walked away. Martha sighed, wiping the tear from her face before leaving shortly after.
"You shouldn't enter right now!" Ross said to Victor, "He's not in a good mood."
"And clearly I don't care." He said, "I have a job to do, and if I don't do it, then I might as well be on my way." Victor brushed past Ross and opened the door.
"I said I don't want any visitors!" Reynolds shouted.
"I can see why." Victor said, looking around him. The overturned table, the scattered files and documents were enough to tell that he was in a bad mood. Reynolds looked at him and took a deep breath, rubbing his eyes.
"Sorry, I had a bad day."
"So I heard. But you didn't lose any of your guys. From what I heard, the inquisitors lost one of their guys."
"It was two." Reynolds said, slumping back in his chair. "Barry O'Neil."
Victor looked at him in shock. "Oh my."
"Yeah, I know. Heck I almost shot someone because of that." Reynolds clenched his fist. He picked up a file and after taking a long look at it, let it drop to the floor. "That guy saved my life some years ago. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. Heck he wasn't even in active duty then." He looked back up at Victor. "Sorry, my emotions got the best of me. Dr. Vott, what did you want to talk about?"
The doctor sighed. "I've got bad news for you, am afraid."
Kyler stood in front of the gravestone, in front of the grave of his friend, Barry. Beside it was Aaron's as well. Thinking back, the two of them had never settled that score of who'd be the first to become aide. Of course it was Martha who became aide in the end but then they still pressed on.
"Guess it's just me then, huh?"
Kyler put down the white flower on the grave, bending down and touching the stone.
Gone. Just like that.
It wasn't the first time he had seen someone die in front of him. Or was it the first time he had seen someone close to him die. But then, it was completely different life he had been living then. He had changed a lot since then, so this loss seemed so…painful.
"Took you long enough." Kyler said to the figure behind him. The figure wore a long white robe and a hood which covered his head. In his right hand, which was scarred with burns, were a bunch of white flowers.
"And Barry prefers Camellia. Not tulips."
"Hey," The figure said, "I tried."
He came to stand beside Kyler, removing his hood. He had the same dark blue hair as Martha with black eyes. He had a mask that covered the lower part of his face.
"Still remember the time I saw him. He wanted to quit."
"Yeah. He mentioned."
"Guess, all things do have their time."
"Yeah."
The stranger touched the graves of both Barry and Aaron. After a moment of silence, he turned to go.
"Not waiting to say hi to Martha?" Kyler asked.
"No." the man said, putting his hood back on. "Those guys are waiting for me. And this won't be the last time we will meet."
"Yeah. Looking forward to it."
"Oh, and Kyler?" The man said, "Take care of my sister."
Brandon fell to the ground, exhausted. He looked up at the cloudy sky, not concentrating on anything in particular. The birds flew high in the sky, going to their homes with the food they had gathered. To their families.
Aaron and Barry were… gone. Which left Kyler and Jake in charge of the training, both physical and theoretical. But neither of them were in the mood at the moment, so he had to take it upon himself to train. It was the only thing he could do to get stronger.
Aaron's death was still his fault, no matter how he looked at it. But it even broke him more when he heard of Barry's passing. Barry was his mentor, someone he respected more than anyone else in the Inquisition. His cool headed and appealing character, his bravado and courage, his spearmanship. He was supposed to inherit his rei when he was ready.
Heck, he didn't know whether or not he could inherit his rei. He didn't think he could, after what had transpired. Nevertheless, he wouldn't give up now. He'd do his very best to become strong. For Aaron. For Barry.
He got up from the ground, wiping the dirt of him and resumed his jogging around the field.
Rachel sat alone at the balcony of the top floor of the base, watching Brandon. She had lost the will to do anything. To train, to exercise, even to eat. The vivid scene replayed in her mind over and over, trying to run through all the scenarios, seeing if there could have been a way to have saved Aaron. But then it was no use, and she knew damn well. Aaron Cage was dead.
She replayed the events that followed after unwillingly, right after Aaron had died. She could remember herself crying, wailing to be more precise. She still remembered the expression on Brandon's face, the horror, fright and confusion, not even registering the inquisitor that had come for him. She remembered Lukas' and Felicity's expressions as well. Jake then arrived to the scene, anger and sorrow intertwined in one expression. The call that he received and how Jake had fallen to his knees. That Barry O'Neil was dead.
Rachel shook her head. Wiping the tears off her eyes. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry for the rest of her life. Aaron and Barry didn't deserve any of this. Not one bit. Yet they were now six feet below the earth, left to the maggots and worms to feast on, like that was what they had been their entire life.
Rachel turned to leave, going down the stairs and into her dorm. She just wanted to block out everything for the mean time. She lay on her bed, letting out the tears as she covered herself with a blanket.
"So what now?" Ricardo asked the other six inquisitors gathered in the room. "What is our next move?"
"Next move?" Queens asked, staring at him, "Hell, who put you in charge?"
"Um…no one, duh?" Ricardo said, "But clearly the moods already depressing enough. Martha and Kyler aren't here, and Prime Diego is on an assignment, so I really don't see why I shouldn't be in charge."
"Yeah, I agree. Anyone but you." Queens retorted, "If it's anyone amongst us, it should be Latifa."
"Me?" Latifa asked, surprised.
"Yeah." Pop said, "I agree."
Latifa sighed. "Well, I guess we should concentrate on finding the other daemon that escaped."
"That's obvious." Zhao Fan, one of the inquisitors, said, "I mean, we always do that, right?"
"Yeah, but these ones are different. They are advanced, smarter and stronger."
"Not to mention not noticeable." Pop said, "I asked all Brandon and Rachel. Heck I asked the Shield recruits too. The daemon that killed Aaron wasn't given of any aura. Like it wasn't even daemon."
"That's impossible." Ricardo said.
"Yeah." Queens said, "But then, there's more."