Martha woke up to the sounds of heavy equipment. She rubbed her eyes, looking round to see that she was in a tent. At the far end was Kai, who sat on a stone dozing off. Standing up, she walked out of the tent, looking up at the dawn sky.
The shield had arrived, with workers who were busy clearing the rubble and salvaging the daemon parts, possibly to study more on the sin. Shield agents walked to and fro, their arms readied. Some cast glances at her, some in fear, others in awe and most of them in annoyance. Martha paid them no mind, her focus on Diego who was conversing with two Shield officers. Diego saw her and waved, a small smile on his face. Martha smiled back, but it faded as the Shield officer he was talking to turned to face her.
Godfrey Niflheim. Next heir to the Niflheim family and a thorn to her side. His family was the lead runners in pushing for the downfall of her family. As far as she could tell, he always hated her. Never was there a day that he came that he didn't make her realize that, from childhood to now. Compared to Elizabeth, Godfrey was worse. While Elizabeth used her only for the good of the Shield, Godfrey wanted her to be buried in the ground.
"Well, well," Godfrey said, disgust showing on his face. "If it isn't Martha Hill. Interesting how you're still alive."
"Good morning to you too." Martha
"Rather interesting joke I'm hearing today. Something about you defeating the sin. A pity, indeed, since it is just a bunch of lies told to gather everyone's pity."
"Oh please, at least a plea for pity is better than a coward's sigh of relief,"
"Why you..."
"That's enough." The second officer said. He was much older, having short brown hair with whites on the sides, with a monocle on his left eye. He had a stern look on his face and his beard was well trimmed.
"You did well, Miss Hill." He said, shaking her hand.
"Thank you General Hyde." Martha replied.
"We shall now take our leave. There are other agendas that require our presence. Captain Chloe can handle this place."
With that, he walked away. Godfrey gave her one last glare before following Hyde.
"Well that ended well." Diego said.
"And thank God for that. Where's everyone."
Diego scratched his head. "Well, Donna and Valerie left. You know them already, all that movies and stuff."
"At a time like this?"
"Yep."
"And Kyler?"
"Africa. So has Kanon."
"Something happened."
Diego sighed. "Let's end it at that. Besides, the situation is as bad as the one in Russia. Jhin's already on his way there."
"And no one told me? I should be there..."
"And do what exactly."
Martha grit her teeth. He was right. There was nothing she could when it had already happened. Kyler and Kanon were only going to help the surviving inquisitors. And count the dead.
"Besides, you have bigger fish to fry." Diego said.
"What?"
"You took down the sin of Wrath. It was a team effort, yes, but you delivered the final blow. Not only that but you've proved the UN wrong in the execution of the head of the Dark family. All eyes are on you now."
Martha looked round the destroyed city, her eyes focusing on the daemon corpses.
"You now have paid your debt, Martha."