Location: MID UCTF
Time: 12:41 PM; February 14th, 2108
Henry and I had a few options. The first was to continue participating in the game of capture the flag like nothing was wrong. That was a tempting option, and the one we’d have both liked to pick.
At that point though it just wasn’t viable. Considering we already found one student trying to kill us, it's safe to say whatever was going on was too important for us to just ignore.
Our second option was to go back to our base and pick up Emelia and Kazuko. We decided against that as well. We were already a good distance from where we started, and it’s not like either of them had been eliminated yet anyway. So neither of them were in enough danger to even disqualify them from the game.
Then what about going to check up on Jacob and Devesh? That plan of action was probably the most proactive, but we just didn’t know enough to commit to something like that.
Instead, we decided to go check up with Hana. I was certain she’d know what was going on. After talking with her we could decide how to proceed.
For all we knew the situation was already being taken care of. Trying to get further involved without knowing the whole situation would just be abnormal.
Henry once again showcased his ability to find lunch by pinpointing Hana’s location without any trouble.
“Her blood is unique, and she bleeds a lot. I don’t think I’ll ever have any trouble locating that little juice box.”
Or so he said.
The actual trip to Hana’s location took significantly longer than Henry pinpointing where she was. Fortunately, she wasn’t trying to keep hidden.
Oakley was sitting on a park bench while Hana was pacing around behind it, clearly agitated about something.
Neither seemed suspicious of us approaching them.
“Serious. Where’s Emi Emi?”
We were the ones who came to ask them questions, but Hana stole the initiative.
“She’s with Kazuko, guarding our flag.”
“Upset. No, she isn’t. Zuko left.”
“He left? Why would he leave?”
“Annoyed. I don’t know, but he went through this area, heading toward the dorm building we stayed at last night. Serious. Emi Emi is alone. We should go get her.”
Hana’s vision was laser focused on the back of Oakley’s head as she spoke, but the girl in question didn’t react in the slightest. She had her glasses on, so it’s not like she couldn’t understand what Hana was saying.
“Why are you so concerned with where Emelia is?”
“Impatient. Because she isn’t safe. They will want to make her a scapegoat. Emi Emi isn’t so weak as to be taken out by people like them, but I don’t know if she’ll be able to do what needs to be done.”
As expected, Hana already knew something was up. I should have just gotten the full scoop from her from the beginning.
I just wanted a normal school trip. A normal game of capture the flag.
“If you’re worried about what Grant is going to do I can calm your nerves. He already tried attacking Henry, so we momentarily disabled him. Karen is probably on her way to pick him up as we speak.”
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I might have been imagining things, but I’m pretty sure Oakley looked even more annoyed when I mentioned Henry’s name.
“Relieved. Henry doesn’t count, so I’ll keep it at three. Did you kill him?”
“What? Of course not. Killing someone is completely abnormal.”
“Content. I figured. I’ll trace back your steps and finish him off.”
“No, he doesn’t need to get killed. He can’t run away, Karen will handle things.”
“Guilty. By this point Karen is almost certainly dead. It’s like they say, bite first the hand that feeds you.”
Talking to Hana while she was in her power saving mode was difficult. Everything she said came out as completely monotone, making it nearly impossible to determine what was meant to be taken seriously.
“What do you mean, ‘Karen is almost certainly dead’? And why would you be feeling guilty about it?”
“Surprise. How inquisitive. Even with how well I hide my emotions you managed to sense the guilt inside.”
“Completely abnormal. Hana, just be normal for once and explain to me what’s going on.”
“Helpful. It’s like this. The-”
Oakley raised her hand, cutting off Hana’s explanation. Her face remained as calm as always, but Oakley’s hands were aggressively signing something to Hana.
Hana signed something back, earning herself a flurry of new messages from Oakley.
“Apologetic. I’m sorry. Mistress Oakley has reminded me that I’m not at liberty to discuss any details that pertain to private matters of Velstand security.”
A few black sparks shot off of Hana’s body.
“But ya know, if it doesn’t involve any Velstand citizens there’s technically no reason why I can’t say whatever I want.”
Oakley started to sign again, but Hana moved in front of her, clearly showing her desire to ignore her master's commands.
Oakley and I wore similar expressions of surprise. Hana wasn’t supposed to do that. Whether her connection to the information dimension was strong or weak, no matter which personality she was using, she wasn’t supposed to be able to ignore Oakley like that.
“So it’s perfectly legal for me to let you know that Elodie Esterhaert, the seventh princess of the Pacific Empire, sent one of her aids, a werewolf woman, on an important job. Although I can’t let you know whether or not that job is part of a much larger operation.”
By that point Oakley was pulling on Hana’s sleeves, but she continued to be ignored.
“A werewolf? Lucy? Did she have grey hair?”
Overcoming the surreal sight of the refined young woman, Oakley, practically hanging off of the shorter Hana, Henry made his first entrance into our conversation. Up until that point he was letting me handle things with Hana.
“I couldn’t say. But a dog is man’s most suspicious friend. I, on the other hand, am a great friend. Although I bet that suspicious wolf would probably talk to Henry. And I bet Henry could even be able to change her mind on some small details. Like, hypothetically, who constitutes a legitimate target.”
“So it wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to find her?”
Picking up what Hana was getting at, I asked a follow up question.
“Probably not.” Hana ripped a piece from one of the boards that made up the bench and used her electricity to burn an address into the wood. She held it out, so I grabbed it before Oakley could take it away.
“Then maybe we’ll go do that. Henry, come on, let’s go. Hana, I guess I’ll leave our remaining teammate up to you.”
I didn’t bother saying anything else. I was worried that if things went on any longer Oakley would have done something drastic, or maybe she would have gotten control over Hana back.
Seriously, what was wrong with that girl?
Well, I had a pretty good idea.
Obviously the Prime Minister, and apparently the Princess from the Pacific Empire, had some kind of plot in motion.
Grant, plus whoever he was working with, had some other kind of objective.
And Hana wasn’t allowed to talk to me about what was happening. Why?
Because somehow I was involved.
But Grant already told me that I wasn’t one of the people his group was after.
That would mean the ones plotting against me were working on the Prime Minister’s side.
A great friend. She made sure to point that out.
That werewolf, the one that Henry seemed to know, sending us to her was just an excuse to send me away.
She knows the Prime Minister’s side wants me, but she can’t outright protect me.
Why come after me? My sister isn’t the end all be all of power in Velstand, but she’s got enough influence that I don’t see why anyone would antagonize her.
Although, if what Hana mentioned about Karen is true, it’s safe to say that they’re not concerned with making enemies. Even if the Kaldsen family did nothing, Vier could wipe them all off the map.
When it comes to Emelia though, it seems like she’s being targeted by the other side, meaning that Hana should be allowed to keep her safe.
Although Oakley’s stance on that issue doesn’t seem overly positive.
I was tempted to just go get Emelia and bring her with Henry and me, but I decided to trust Hana.
“Sorry.”
As we walked away Henry gave me an unsolicited apology.
“For what?”
“Everything. There’s no way things could go normally with me around. No matter how hard we tried.”
“It’s fine. Responding normally to abnormal situations is what I do best.”