I pulled out its Primal Bone without taking its words seriously. The dragon closed its eyes and stopped breathing. Its body slowly turns to dust.
I walked back to Dre and where the others were. I saw Eve and Hakku.
"Eve, what are you doing here?" I asked, a bit surprised.
"I came because I saw that light. What happened? Has everything been sorted out?" She pondered quickly with a tinge of concern.
"Yeah. That aside, we should return to HQ." I suggested.
Their expressions changed. I understood their concerns.
We failed to complete the mission, civilians lost their lives, property damage and death of more than three Honors. The squad is in a pinch.
More importantly, that device is in the hands of someone in Synth. The fact they went the trouble to hire a mercenary group to get it proves they were planning on something dangerous.
"It'll be okay. We'll get through this," said Hakku with a smile, being supportive. However, from their face, they have little to none confidence in his words.
Hakku lost his confidence and his smile vanished. He looked at the ground in defeat. I could feel a sense of despair in his eyes. It wasn't weird. Especially after everything.
The same for me. I want to fall in despair, I want to just stay silent and don't do anything, yet deep inside me, it urges me to keep moving.
As those thoughts flowed through my mind, I observed them silently, wanting to see if anyone would break the silence.
No one breaks it. I sighed.
I slap Dre and Eve's back. They were shocked by the sudden pain and looked at me with a frown.
"Don't be so stiff, you two. What Hakku said is right, we'll get through this. We won't get anywhere if we stay here. Yes, we messed up, we lost our friends, we failed the mission, but look at the good side, we lived. That's what's important."
"We lived, but so what? Synth won't be nice to us after this. We'll be disbanded and get fired. You know what happened to wild Honors!" Eve yelled in rage.
Wild Honors were those with superpowers but didn't work for Synth. They were targeted by human traffickers and in the worst case scenario, you'll be a test subject. This was indirectly allowed by Synth.
Of course, if you're careful and don't get caught by them, you can live normally. Prime example is Yin Hee.
That aside for now, I knew Eve's circumstances. She'd be in trouble if she lost her job and being a wild Honor would only make her situation worse. Most jobs didn't particularly accept Honors.
She's anxious about the future, she's panicking and not thinking calmly. I didn't blame her for yelling at me.
I wanted to say something to calm her, but I stayed silent, afraid saying more might make the situation worse.
"Go home, Eve. All of you, go home. I'll handle the rest."
This is the least thing I could do.
I'm not a leader, but if I can do something in a situation where anyone wouldn't do it, I will not hesitate to do it.
"Sunny." Eve looked at me blankly for a few seconds and quickly shook her head, "No, I can't let you do that. I'm in charge. All responsibility is on me, not you."
After hearing her words, I felt relieved as I know she returned to her usual self.
"Okay, do you need help?" I nodded slightly.
"No, all of you can go back home. Let's go back, everyone."
"What about Vie?" Dre asked.
"I talked someone from Scarecrow. He left the scene almost half an hour ago." Eve replied.
"He abandoned us?! That bastard!" Dre couldn't help but curse.
"It seems he knows what's going to happen," said Eve.
"But that doesn't justify his actions! Leaving his team like that! Unforgivable!" Dre shouted in fury when he clenched his fist.
We decide to think about Vie later and returned to our car. I drove us back to the HQ. Once arrived, we entered the building after completing the security procedure.
Women in white robes walked towards us and healed us. We said our thanks to them and left Miem in their hands.
As we walked in the hallway, people were looking at us. Some were intrigued, some mocking at us, some looking at us with pity. They've heard of what happened.
We ignored their gazes and continued walking. We changed our clothes in a locker room while Eve went to Wo to report.
After changing, Dre didn't linger any longer and left, which left me and Hakku.
I looked at him, wondering why it takes him so long to change his clothes. He was spacing out.
"Hakku, are you alright?"
"Sunny." He turned his gaze to me and called out my name slowly. He looked in pain and filled with regrets.
"Is this about Goo Han?"
"I'm sorry! Because of me he died! I know how important he is to you, and how you cherish your friends! I'm really sorry! You can take my life away if my apology doesn't satisfy you!" He shouted in grief.
My hand moved by itself as I slapped him.
The air became heavy and silence filled the area. Hakku was stunned. His eyes widened as he stared blankly.
I didn't know how he felt right now, but I hope the stinging pain on his cheek forces him to see reality rather than submerged in emotion.
"I'm not going to take away the life my friend protected. I never blame you for his death.
"Goo Han sacrifice his life for you, and you should cherish that. Don't let his death be the reason you changed for the worse. He'd be sad if he knew.
"Use his death as a reason to keep on living, to keep improving. He would be more happy that way." My words were solemn.
I paused for a moment, giving Hakku time to process my words.
"Do you understand that, Hakku?" I asked firmly.
"Yeah, I understand." Hakku nodded and added with determined eyes, "I will be stronger! For you, and for Goo Han!"
"That's the spirit. Change your clothes and go home. Today is an exhausting day."
"Yeah."
Hakku immediately changed his clothes and left the locker. When I realized I was alone, I sighed and opened my locker, putting my battle suit in and closing it.
.
.
.
* Third POV*
"Thank you for your hard work!" Eve bowed before Wo who was sitting on his desk. She closed the door and changed her clothes in the locker room.
She then proceeded to shift out and when she left the building, she saw Sunny, looking at the ceiling of the city.
"Sunny, you're still here."
.
.
~ Back to Sunny pov.~
"Eve, I've been waiting for you. How is it?"
"As bad as you imagined. Wo is going to discuss it with us tomorrow. It's going to be a long day." She let out an exhausted sigh.
Seeing I didn't say anything, she asked, "Do you need anything from me?"
"I know someone that can track who's hiring Scarecrow. Do you want to come?"
She pinched her chin, contemplating. I knew exactly what was in her mind.
What I propose is basically our job, but we will not get paid, and Eve, she hates working without getting paid.
However, when the city is at stake, perhaps this would be an exception?
"Fine, this will be an exception, but first, can we get something to eat?"