Emil

Emil poked his head over the corner and scanned the area. They were back at the edge of the Second and Third Sectors, hiding in a narrow alleyway between two buildings.

No one seems to be following us. I don’t see any Sentinels on patrol either.

“We should be fine here,” he finally said, slumping against the dilapidated wall as he pried off the sweat-soaked mask glued to his face. The frigid night air immediately chilled his skin. Soothing. A much-needed relief after the insanity that just unfolded.

“Emil, you’re bleeding,” Anna said. Her eyes were narrowed with concern as she gestured at the glaring red fang marks on the side of his forearms.

Surprised, Emil tilted his arm to examine the wound. The mark appeared shallow—the blood that had seeped out had mostly dried. It must have come from the first monster that ambushed them.

Damn, it bit through the stone armament? He frowned, in awe of the monster’s strength. There was a chance that the creature was infected. Steiger training made his body immune to most poisons and infectious agents, but there was no reason not to be cautious. He made the mental note to get it checked out later.

“It’s fine,” he eventually said, ignoring the dull pain.

“Are you sure?” Anna asked.

Emil nodded, fighting the urge to break out into a smile. I think this might be the first time she’s been worried about me. I’ve only seen her angry, annoyed, or acting smug. His natural inclination was to tease her for being soft on him, but he quickly killed that thought. Rare moments like this had to be savored.

“Well, if you say so,” she frowned, leaning back against the wall. Her tender gaze vanished as her face suddenly hardened. “Any ideas about what we just fought in those woods?”

So much for savoring a rare moment, Emil lamented silently. Next time I’m not playing it cool.

“They were monsters. Wolves enhanced by mana. There was a fragment of Azurite embedded in each of their skulls.”

Anna raised an eye. “But I didn’t sense any Exalted nearby. And monsters don’t just spawn in those numbers in nature,” she said, arriving at the natural conclusion, “Then, could those be the specimens that the researchers were looking for?”

“I think so. It lines up with what we saw inside the temple. That place is being used to create artificial monsters,” Emil affirmed her suspicions. He took in a deep breath, dreading the next words he was about to say. “Those monsters are probably what also killed Ellen.”

He began sharing his recollection of what happened to Ellen and his hypothesis that she might have been involved with those researchers in some capacity. He made sure to omit any incriminating details that might expose his cover in Azure City.

Anna listened to his account in silence. When Emil was finally finished, she stared at the ground, still as a picture, solemnly absorbing every detail that he divulged.

“…You’re not lying this time, right?” she asked. Her voice trembled with uncertainty.

“No.”

“You’re not just saying this so that I won’t do something stupid like seek revenge for Ellen’s death, right?”

“Everything I said just now was true.”

“Swear it to me. Look at me in the eyes when you say it,” she demanded.

Emil obliged, gazing into the pair of ebon eyes that gleamed with burning resolve, yet trembled at the corners. “I swear to you that I’m telling the truth.”

“…Can I trust you?” she asked once more in a tiny whisper.

“Yes,” he said from the bottom of his heart—not as Emil Milligan, but simply as Emil. No masks. No façade. No ulterior motives. Just a genuine desire to tell his friend the cold, callous truth.

“I see,” Anna whimpered. She winced, squinching her face, trying to fight back the waterworks. It was a futile effort. The tears poured from her eyes. Quietly, she sobbed.

Emil watched her in silence. His eyes grazed over, dull—nearly on the verge of collapse. He had been awake for nearly two days straight. Fatigue finally caught up to him. Even then, he refused to let himself drift off. Not yet. Not when his friend was mourning.

Together in silence, the two them sat in the shadows of the moonlight, grieving for a dear departed friend.

***

Time passed with cruel indifference.

Dawn arrived. As usual, Emil dragged himself onto the campus for the merciless morning lectures. As much as he wanted to sleep in, skipping class wasn’t an option. Exalted Academy was rigorously strict about attendance, and missing a lecture would only earn him only more scrutiny from the staff on campus. The last thing he needed was more eyes monitoring his every step after the fiasco between him and Anna.

He entered the lecture room. His ears were immediately assaulted by the cheerful conversations. Emil winced—each blare of obnoxious laughter only intensified his headaches caused by the lack of sleep. Unsurprisingly, Anna wasn’t here yet.

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As he took his seat, his eyes naturally drifted towards the spot near the front of the lecture room. It belonged to Ellen. Now it was unoccupied.

He closed his eyes, pushing down on the cauldron of emotions that was threatening to swell. There was no point dwelling on an unchangeable past.

What’s my next step?

He uncovered the truth of Ellen’s death. He confirmed that there were wicked experiments happening in secrecy in the Third Sector of Azure City. He had a lead that the Council of Mana might be the perpetrator sanctioning and funding all these projects.

The Academy wasn’t innocent either. The admin office was directly involved in covering up Ellen’s death. Furthermore, the institution itself also boasted the highest number of academic researchers in the kingdom. It wasn’t unreasonable to think that some of the researchers here might also be complicit.

I need physical evidence. The witch would want irrefutable proof that these experiments are happening. And something tangible that implicates the Academy or the Council of Mana.

Emil shook his head, flabbergasted at the mountain of work ahead of him. The seat beside him suddenly creaked. Anna arrived. Her scarlet hair was in disarray, dangling in a disheveled mess around her face. Dark bags clouded beneath her swollen eyes, exaggerated due to her naturally fair complexion.

“Good morning,” Emil said, “You look terr—"

“Don’t you fucking say it,” Anna hissed.

He went quiet, which apparently only made things worse. His silence was met with a nasty glare—the intimidation factor only amplified by her sleep-deprived eyes.

“I didn’t say shut up. At least lie or something, you jackass,” she snapped as she unloaded her bag.

Perhaps this wasn’t a good time to act flippant.

Their short exchange came to an end as Professor Callum entered the room. Unlike his usual energetic self, he was noticeably more downtrodden today. His haggard appearance earned him a few questions from the rowdy students by the front of the class.

Guess we weren’t the only ones who had a rough night, Emil mused as the lecture began.

***

“We need to talk later,” a menacing voice boomed in his head the moment Professor Callum finished.

Emil nearly jumped out his seat—stopped only by a heavy hand clasping his shoulder. Chills slithered down his neck as the steel grip slowly tightened. He turned his head slowly, dreading the horrific sight that awaited him.

It was…Anna? Yes. Yes, it was Anna. A thick ghastly aura shrouded her vicinity. Her sleep-deprived eyes turned feral and bloodshot, fixated on him with dangerous sharpness. Her taut face, thinned by stress, and her grisly complexion only amplified the appearance of a haunted banshee.

“Y-Yes? I’m here,” Emil whimpered, slightly terrified. His body instinctively tensed up, reminded of when he took a blast of electricity from her Gift last night. Sometimes he couldn’t reconcile how a girl with a pretty face like hers could exude such a frightening aura.

Anna’s nails were beginning to dig into his skin. “You better not disappear again,” she muttered.

Again? Emil narrowed his eyes. Then he was struck with a moment of clarity. Ah. She was looking for me all of yesterday afternoon. He had snuck out of campus early to get a lead on Ellen’s location. Anna apparently discovered Ellen’s removal from the Academy around the same time.

“Or else,” she said ominously before departing for her next class.

Or else? Or else what? What the hell is she planning to do? Emil swallowed nervously as his imagination ran wild. He was no stranger to Anna’s ferocity at this point. Never mind, let’s just not find out.

***

Later arrived.

Emil took his seat across from Anna at a small table in the corner of the cafeteria. Sometime in between their lectures, she had somehow found the time to fix her disheveled hair. Unfortunately, contrary to what she might have hoped, it did little to alleviate the terrifying aura that she carried.

Feeling threatened, Emil pushed his mango pudding towards her. An offering. He felt a slight prang of regret as he did so, but he quickly reminded himself that this was a necessary sacrifice. Anna accepted it without a word.

Damn you, honors student. He cursed silently. Whatever, at least I brought two. He was about to open his spare pudding when Anna suddenly stopped him.

“Um, yes?”

Silently, she beckoned at the backup pudding in his heads. The side of her mouth was smeared with remains of the sacrifice that he had just offered. She had devoured it in an instant.

Emil was about to refuse, until Anna suddenly clenched her fist in his face. He could have sworn he saw a flicker of electricity dance around her wrist.

Forget delinquent, she should just join the syndicates dammit! She’ll fit right in! Reluctantly, he gave up his only source of joy.

Anna’s complexion noticeably improved after extorting accepting two of Emil’s puddings.

“I forgive you,” she said in a haughty voice.

Huh?! “For what?” Emil asked, flabbergasted at her audacity.

She held up three fingers. “One, for lying to me about Ellen. Two, for pressing a knife against my throat. Three, for rudely acknowledging my flawed appearance this morning. You committed three offenses, while I only took two of your puddings. You should be thanking for my magnanimity.”

Uh-huh, I’m soooo thankful. He poked at the rest of his meal in silent protest, refusing to engage with Anna’s tyranny. As he ate, he caught a faint grin emerge on her face.

“Alright, that’s enough messing around,” she said, dropping the haughty façade and falling into a somber gaze, “Emil, what do you planning on doing now?”

She’s talking about the laboratory and the experiments. Emil chewed, pondering his response. He had plans to return to the sacred grove to retrieve evidence for Steiger, but it seemed like Anna also had ideas of her own.

“…I haven’t decided. But if you’re thinking about revenge somehow—” he cut his whisper short as he glanced around. The cafeteria was loud with conversation. No one was paying attention to them in their little corner.

“—then I suggest you give up. Based on what we learned last night, those researchers have connections to the Council and the Academy. They have enough backing to suppress the Sentinel’s activities. No matter how cruel, their actions are implicitly sanctioned by the Council. Here, in Azure City, they’re untouchable.”

“That’s all the more reason why we should do something,” Anna countered.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am! We killed those specimens, but we already know they’re trying to create more of them. What they’re doing is pure hubris. They’ll create more monsters. More of them will be unleashed into the Third Sector. More deaths like Ellen will occur. I want to put a stop to it before more innocents die. I want to burn down that research facility and destroy all the fruits of their research.”

Emil shook his head. “You realize how dangerous this is, right? Our opponents are Exalted, and they have no qualms sacrificing human lives to advance their research. And if the Council or the Academy learns of our involvement—"

“Even so!” she whispered harshly, her eyes radiating a vicious glint, “How can I live with myself, knowing that someone died because I was too scared to act? I can’t! I can’t, Emil. I’m not powerless. I’m not ignorant. Nor do I have dependents and duties that keep me bound. I have no excuses.”

Emil fell back into his chair in disbelief. Just where is this righteous sense of justice coming from? Something about Anna was broken. Her recklessness, her desperation, her compulsion felt unnatural. It was as if she was being driven by some sort of primal obsession. This wasn’t normal. He knew this because he understood exactly how she felt. But while he was twisted and duty-bound to Steiger, she was supposed to be just a normal student.

“So, Emil,” Anna said, staring at him with a pair of righteous eyes steeled with conviction, “Will you help me?”