The air was thick with tension and looming uncertainty.
The demigods of the Daffodils Academy found themselves at the entrance to the temporal rift, the only gap that connected the mortal world to the mysterious stasis generated by Rakion in September 1922. Surrounded by the twilight that fell on the abandoned hospital of Colorno, they moved in silence, preparing to enter. Sharp weapons and shields were at hand, intense and tense glances passed between the younger recruits, but no one dared to speak. They massed around their captain like an inanimate wall of red armor, the hallmark of their regiment.
Samara Dearca, princess of the Scarlet Sparrowhawks, watched the scene with a note of sorrowful concern.
The three extra days she had granted to the Equinox Flowers, that extension she had hesitated so much about, had now passed. She had ignored the decided protocol, going against the wishes of the academy, to give them, three poor demigods sent to the slaughter, one more chance of being able to close the fault, hoping that the legendary figure of the Calm Sovereign, could complete the mission and save them all.
Once they passed beyond the agreed time, doubts assailed her. She had never been one to get too stuck on protocols and rules, she had just gotten used to it over time. In fact, ever since they had elected her, she had tried to set a good example and be dutiful, but she always ended up making decisions based exclusively on her instincts.
Maybe she had waited too long.
The pink-haired demigoddess turned towards the fault, a portal in the shape of a warm shapeless mass suspended in mid-air and with bluish hues, which seemed just waiting to swallow up anyone who dared to foolishly cross its threshold.
Sorry, I tried to give you as much time as possible.
Suddenly, a series of tremors ran through the floor beneath their feet, making it shake violently. Samara felt her heart quicken and the eyes of the soldiers around her widened. Flashes of blue light and lightning began to shoot from the portal, discharging energy that crackled in the air like a storm trapped within the building's limits. The walls cracked, threatening to give way under the pressure just exerted. The monsters must have passed through the portal.
“Demigods! Backwards!” the leader shouted, fearing the worst.
The portal vibrated to confirm her thesis. Something, or someone, was trying to get through it. The fault responded with clicks and flickers of electricity, while its edge pulsated rhythmically, almost as if it was a magical heart that, once wounded, began to contract spasmodically.
“Close ranks!” Samara shouted, a drop of cold sweat trickling down her side.
“They're going through the portal, we have to stop the monsters before they come out!”
The demigods responded in unison with a shout, raising their weapons and clenching their jaws, ready to defend the exit against whatever threatening creature came from the other side. The advantage of that adverse situation was that they had already been accustomed to it from the previous days. Before the demigods of the Lilies Park arrived at the hospital, a similar event had already occurred, but with less severity.
Of course, two or three creatures won't be a problem. But if it turns out to be as many as I expect… we'll make it right, even if we don't make it at all.
The shocks and lightning generated by the portal, in fact, were very heavy, a sign that a great force was passing through them. Samara grimaced and prepared to fight their opponents but, amidst the commotion and flashing lights, what appeared was not an enemy, but the Equinox Flowers.
Shirei, Ada, and Havel emerged from the fault, their faces marked by fatigue and their bodies bent with effort. With a final, deep rumble, the fault closed behind them, and the portal vanished in an instant, leaving them in silence and the dying light of sunset.
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The tension of the situation dissolved and all the soldiers could breathe a sigh of relief. They overlooked the fact that three demigods had closed an entire fault line.
Samara didn't waste a moment and ran towards the three boys who had just resurfaced. Ada, pale and in the grip of a mixture of anxiety and relief, looked up at her and grabbed her arm.
“Please… help him,” she said in a broken voice.
The pink-haired girl remained frozen for a moment, unable to digest what had actually happened. Rutia's daughter's hands trembled as she stared at Havel, whose body lay in her arms, unconscious and battered. His armor was shattered at the ribs, revealing a spreading bloodstain, dark and worrying. Sidal's son's arms were tense, his fingers slightly contracted, and the bluish color of his skin betrayed the extreme effort he had endured.
Samara put her hands on the boy's neck, held her breath, in disbelief. She had never seen demigods reach that state of ichorrhagia and survive, yet Havel was undoubtedly still in the world of the living. She couldn't understand how they had managed to survive the alleged horror that lay within the fault on their own. The thought that they had made it without any reinforcements seemed almost impossible.
Seriously, these three make no sense… luck? In any case, I don't understand why they aren't recruits at the academy rather than demigods in the park.
Then, she glanced to her right. The violet-eyed demigod was standing, although visibly tired: shoulders hunched, pupils that seemed unable to focus, and an almost ghostly pallor on his face.
Idiot, she said to herself bitterly.
She had underestimated the truth of that legend, thinking that no one would be able to survive in there without help. It was clear that Cragar's son had somehow borne the brunt of the battle, leading his companions to safety. The connections between the two were beginning to be too many for it to be a coincidence. Samara was in the presence of one of her superiors and was the first to recognize him since he had disappeared.
Ammir's daughter tried to sound reassuring as she lowered herself next to the Equinox Flowers. “You were lucky,” she said, trying to sound confident, “I'm one of the two captains of the fourth regiment. We specialize in medical relief.”
Ada exhaled with obvious happiness, “Can you cure him?”
Samara nodded and motioned to her men, “Take him… take him to the tent and treat him.”
Faced with the soldiers' perplexed looks, she hastened to add, “Don't look at me like that, he's still alive! Ergo, he can be cured, come on!”
The boys in armor followed the orders to the letter while the captain dedicated herself to leading the two survivors away from the room with the now vanished portal. Shirei, despite his tired face, carefully scrutinized the demigods of the academy and murmured, almost involuntarily: “The Scarlet Sparrowhawks...”
Samara raised her head, not very surprised.
“Yes, it's us.”
Ada, next to him, widened her eyes. “How do you know?”
There was a moment of silence as Shirei looked away, staring at an indefinite point in space, as if he was caught off guard.
“I do not know.”
Ada remained fixed on him, but preferred not to investigate further and let the conversation fade to a conclusion. She let out a sigh of relief seeing Havel finally entrusted to expert hands, while Samara, with a quick nod, ordered the others to prepare for their return.
“Now that we're done here, we might as well go back to base and give the rundown on everything that happened, which I suspect will be a bombshell.”
Wasting no time, she began directing his platoon, issuing orders in a firm voice. They had to organize themselves and leave the abandoned hospital as soon as possible. The demigods of the Daffodils Academy stepped aside and, in unison, began to tidy up the entire stakeout they had built, except the medical tent. Before they could take another step, however, Shirei sprinted towards Samara and stopped her, holding her arm.
The demigoddess gasped, “What… what's happening?”
“Do you know who I am?”
Samara looked left and right, as if looking for help, but Ada made no sign of coming to her rescue. The demigods of the academy watched the scene with bated breath.
“Do you know who I am,” Cragar's son repeated, his tone indicating that it was no longer a question.
“Y-yes,” she finally admitted.
Shirei let go, “Then tell me. Tell me who I am.”
The captain of the fourth regiment seemed to falter at those words and hesitated.
“I beg you.”
The always calm and distant tone of the purple-eyed boy took on a note bordering on desperation. His answer was there, a few centimeters away, which he could already taste. He wanted to know the truth, he longed to know his past. It was a right that others wanted to take away from him, but he would never let it slip away again.
Ada was too weak and tired to get in the way. It was not the divine Aena's will for Shirei to know his origins, but Rutia's daughter thought that, if Fate had chosen so, none of them would have been able to oppose it. No matter how hard they tried, Cragar's son would still learn the truth about his mysterious past.
And, to be honest, we're all curious about it now.
Samara swallowed, “Y-you're...”
“An idiot.”