The Atlantean staggered back clutching his shoulder. Unfortunately, the wound he took was more than just a hand could cover. His wound stretched diagonally across his chest cutting to the bone and through the shoulder. No injuries made it to his organs, but the blood loss from the wound was troubling enough for him.
He still didn’t understand what happened. Everything went as he planned. Nothing failed. Yet something changed to destroy his plan. The pieces he carefully placed fell apart before her. All of the arranged traps triggered correctly, but she stood again.
Each calculation he made didn’t explain it. The pain challenged his focus. His vision started to blur a little and his legs no longer felt like they had the strength to support. ‘A one-shot defeat? What’s happening? It doesn’t make any sense!’
Chapter 157 – Hidden Blade
“You look a little confused,” remarked Yumi. She stepped forward with a menacing presence. Since she stood up once more, the air about her was completely different.
The boy took a step back again, snapped to his senses by her voice. His effort to keep his distance tripped his feet. It dropped him to his knee trying to recover. “…you broke free…how?”
She tilted her head up a little looking down at him through the bottom of her eyes. “Yes, I’m free, but not in the meaning of your question. Your little plan to take her out by overloading her mentally worked. That’s the reason I’m here.”
He still couldn’t follow her. The words confirmed for him it worked as he thought. However, the rest of her answer only confused him. Little time remained for him. He wondered if he made a mistake in questioning something he couldn’t change. No escape remained for him. ‘Just have to stall…’ A back up was set in place for all of them. He needed to drag things out until they came to relieve him. It would not be long, only a few minutes. “How is that…possible? If I succeeded you…shouldn’t be…standing.”
Yumi stepped forward to the soldier until only half a meter stood between them. She sent an uninterested stare down at him. The look in her eye made it clear that she saw no value in him, even as an enemy. “You aren’t anywhere close to being my equal. I’ve no interest in furthering this pointless conversation. All you can do is die.” Her hand rose to the teenager with a red glow building in it.
Sweat built up on his neck staring down the girl. ‘No chance! I thought the reports said they weren’t like this…’ His imminent demise tensed his body. For the moment, he forgot about all the pain that paralyzed him to kneel. He forgot about the blood pouring from his body making it difficult to see straight. Only one option remained for him. The safety of waiting transformed into desperation to live.
Rippling at his feet declared his intention to act. Yumi didn’t have enough time to finish the attack before he came for her. Black spikes jumped up from the ground in all directions. Their speed made it seem as if they were just a blur. However, they all came to a sudden stop. Strange sounds of scrapping came from them as something blocked their progress.
More sweat came from the Atlantean. His eye twitched a bit not expecting the first attempt to fail. ‘I don’t see anything…’ It took him another moment of examination to finally understand. A faint red wall stopped it all. It was so transparent it was almost invisible. He remembered noting sections of a barrier around her before, but nothing so difficult to see. ‘She really doesn’t feel the same as before…just who is she?!’
The spikes shattered under unusual pressure. It pinned down the teenager as well. Gravity seemed to increase everywhere. Nothing moved, except for Yumi. She moved her arm again to complete the strike interrupted before. Red light glowed from her fingers with no hesitation.
He lowered his eyes to the ground. Nothing stopped her. A surprise attack amounted to nothing. ‘This is it, huh? Killed by a rebel…’ He closed his eyes. His mind turned back on memories. The only hope kept him going the entire time. The only reason he fought so willingly for the military. He just wanted things to stay the same. ‘…sorry…I wish I could have seen you once more…’
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“What did you say?” he questioned, unable to believe his ears.
Standing before him, Commander Abeiron held a paper in his hand with the official seal of the Captain of the South Gate. “Second Lieutenant Galen has been given a week leave to use as you wish. Do you understand?” Abeiron fixed him with a stern glare that made him difficult to read, as anything but annoyed, though was still uncertain if it was just him being strict.
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Galen snapped back straight, picking up the intention from his superior officer. “Yes, sir! I understand!”
“Good.” He handed the paper over to Galen to complete the process. “Give this to your Squad Captain.”
Gladly accepting, Galen took the paper into his hands. He had to stare at it for a few moments to truly believe it was real. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Commander no longer within sight. He dropped his hands down searching him out. Abeiron nearly made it out of the hall before Galen spotted him. “Thank you, sir!”
Abeiron stopped for a moment and tilted his eyes back towards the very young officer. “Hmm…” He left the area without any more words. Abeiron marched through the halls still confused by the sudden order. Like with most of the MP users, he knew little about them. Most of his responsibility fell to the regular humans in the division. In front of him, the Captain’s office waited. He knocked and waited until he received permission to enter.
Simonides looked up from his desk. Piles of paperwork covered the surface and the floors. The secret side of their Captain revealed only to Abeiron. His careful planning and command disguised the fact he forgot about his more mundane tasks as Captain until it was too late. He wanted to know everything and understand everything before acting. An odd trait considering he spoke highly of his gut feelings. “There something wrong, Abeiron?” His eyes only lifted for a split-second from the desk.
He knew his Captain for years and thought he understood the way he acted. Abeiron had the room to question him freely without concern for position. “Why did you give out a leave request to someone so new?”
The question paused Simonides’ hand from the writing he had been doing since before Abeiron entered. “Oh, are you referring to the one I ordered to be given to Second Lieutenant Galen?”
“Yes.”
“Because he is new.” He continued back at his writing, as though the answer explained everything.
It wasn’t enough for Abeiron. He tightened his hands. “Sorry, but that makes less sense. There are other soldiers that have been here far longer that have made requests for leave.”
The writing stopped again. “Yes, I’m aware of each of the requests. As you know we can only grant so many at a time and I’m going through them based on the needs of the individual.”
“Then explain to me how a fresh officer off of graduation, who hasn’t even requested leave, made the top of the list?” By the end of his words, Abeiron felt his emotions starting to get the better of him. He forced himself to be composed, however the unreasonable answers from his Captain made it difficult.
Abeiron’s demand brought Simonides to a full stop. He pulled back from his desk to fix him with a stare. Their eyes locked for a couple of moments. Simonides never cracked from a flat expression. He stood up suddenly and walked over to a cabinet. Retrieving a folder from the cabinet, he dropped it on top of his desk. “There’s one thing that I can be thankful for from the Omega Division. Their unsettlingly detailed personal reports.”
“Sir?” The mood hadn’t changed from before, but Abeiron felt Simonides no longer playing defensive with him. He felt the truth surfacing.
Simonides flipped open the folder. A photo of Galen was attached at the top. The thickness of the file went past a fresh officer. “This is our young officer’s report as you see. Despite their methods, Omega has its uses. It is why I request these every time we are given a new MP.”
It still took time for Abeiron to understand the direction. He knew the Captain took time to know each of his soldiers. “What was it?” Abeiron could only guess that he learned something important.
“Family.”
“Huh?”
The folder closed with Simonides’ hand pressed against it. “Do you know why I go so far for them, Abeiron?”
He shook his head. It was something he largely just accepted being his Commanding Officer and not questioning odd traits. Abeiron felt as long as he was a good leader the rest didn’t need explanation. “I know you remember all of the soldiers here by name. While you don’t always have time, you make frequent visits to the barracks.”
“But that isn’t an answer.” Simonides raised Galen’s file up. “Many of the members of the military within the ranks of the MPs are here against their will. Military service for them is a requirement, not a choice.”
“Sir…” It was no secret to Abeiron, but he felt like the words were bordering on treason.
A hand rose to stop Abeiron. “I’m not making a judgment of how the King carries out his rule. All I’m saying is that because many are not here by choice it means they are not motivated and willing. While I may be doing all this so that I get soldiers that work and obey, these are people I want to feel comfortable here. So I learn what makes them tick.”
He felt like he was learning an unsettling side of his Captain. The concern he felt for them he knew to be genuine. Such interest extended to everyone. However, the focus seemed a little too thorough. It almost felt manipulative. “And your answer for him is his family?” he concluded.
“Correct,” agreed Simonides. “The pressure and prejudice these people face on a daily basis is not something I can change. All I can do is make their lives a little more bearable while they’re under my command.”
“There’s reasons why people feel that way, Cap-“
“Yes, I know. And you can say my motives are selfish in wanting to appease dangerous people and keep them under thumb by knowing all of their secrets.” Simonides turned away. He walked back to the cabinet and returned the file. As the door closed, he looked back at Abeiron over his shoulder. “Did you know that he managed to evade detection by the Military Scouts for fourteen years? When they found him he resisted capture. In the end, they had to bring in MPs to subdue him. You know that he requested the South Gate assignment.”
“I didn’t.”
Simonides sat down behind his desk. “It took me a while to put the pieces together. He always made sure to stay away. I noticed that one thing was always missing from the reports.”
“Family?”
“Yes, he was protecting them. There’s nothing that he cares about more.”
Galen arrived back in his hometown after more than a year away. He noticed nothing much changed about the village. It made him glad to see things were still peaceful. After his capture, he worried what might have happened to it. They told him nothing.
He stood in front of his home never expecting to see it again. The manner he saw the others treated and the attitude of those in command, he had reconciled himself to never returning home. The talents he had made him favorable for assignment to the border guard. He counted himself fortunate, but he was still far away.
The waiting seemed like forever after he knocked. He got so excited thinking about their faces. They weren’t just memories anymore. He could see them once more. When the door opened and his mother stood in the threshold, shocked to see him back, all he could do was cry. Galen thought he bled them away already through the sleepless nights thinking about them. “I’m home!” he cried, hugging on to her.
‘Goodbye…’ Galen’s face looked melancholic the moment before his life ended. He lied on his back. Blood poured out from the new wound in his chest. Tears built up in his eyes once more. Through the watery lenses, he could see them once more smiling back at him.