Center of the Deadlands, Ruined Castle: 936, December 31st, Monday, 3:30 AM.
“…!” awoken with a loud gasp, Sovereign threw his body forward while holding himself with a tight grip on the throne’s armrests.
Streams of cold sweat flowed down his face, and his unstable breaths bounced off every wall of the ruined black castle. His disoriented eyes glanced at every corner of the dark room, finding nothing in his surroundings but dust and wreckage. A few seconds passed before Sovereign eased back into his senses, leaning his back on the throne with a deep breath as the pounding beats of his heart returned to normal.
“Sovereign!” a man’s voice suddenly echoed in his ears, putting an end to his short-lived peace.
“Sebastian?”
“Where have you been?” the major asked with haste. “Miss Atalanta was distracted by Hydra themselves, bu—”
“Wait, Sebastian…” Sovereign rubbed his forehead with a groan, afflicted by a throbbing sensation in his head. “Where is everyone?”
“Miss Atalanta is on her way towards the center,” the major reported quickly. “I have no idea where the order’s champion is, but Ninigi should be somewhere nearby too.”
“What? All of them?”
“Ah… This can’t be happening now… listen, they are all after you, but that’s not all...” A quick pause followed the major’s words, who’s nerves caused him to blow air through his lips before proceeding. “He is here too… you know who I’m talking about? He’s leaving mountains of broken specters in his path to you, Sovereign. You have to get out there now.”
“Him?” the young man pressed his lips together with a pensive look, almost jumping out of his sit as soon as he finished processing the information. “How! I was keeping an eye on…” Sovereign fell silent in his sit, trembling hands and lips half parted.
“Sovereign?”
“It was her…” the young man whispered.
“Who? What happened?”
“She…” lowering his gaze to look at the palm of his left hand, Sovereign quickly took his black glove off to take a quick look at his spectral hand. Around his index finger, incrusted deeply into his obsidian armor, was an immaculate amber ring that glowed brightly with pride, an impossible light that its material could not emit by any means. “What time is it, Sebastian?”
“I’m not exactly sure, but about three in the morning perhaps?”
“It’s still early, ough…”
“You alright?”
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A sudden piercing sensation forced Sovereign to clutch his chest in pain, gritting his teeth at the twisting feeling in his heart. “There’s too much pressure in my body… Sebastian, how many specters are out there?”
“Sorry, but I couldn’t tell you at this point… they seem to be mostly dead by now. What do you need me to do?”
“Dead?”
“I told you about him, remember? this sounds like it’s… well… his doing.”
“Dammit…” the young man muttered his words with shaking fists. “How did she…”
“You can’t stay there,” Sebastian warned him a second time. “I’ll try to catch up with miss Atalanta… look for a safe place to recover. The day is not over yet.”
“Don’t do anything stupid…”
“Me? Never.”
Following the major’s instructions without protest, Sovereign quickly lifted himself from the throne before rushing off towards the exit of the castle with limping steps. He concealed his spectral left hand inside its glove in a hurry, and quickly led the other inside his vest—taking out a broken phone from inside.
“How is everyone doing at headquarters?” he said to himself while scrolling through his contacts, almost unable to read their names through the fissures of the screen. “I can’t even remember why I came here today…”
His finger suddenly stopped on top of the name he’d been looking for as he rushed through the dark hallways of the castle, carefully reading the unique tag ‘Favorite Employee <3’ before tapping the call button. A ringing sound that lasted for what seemed to be forever was the only response he received, as no one picked up the phone on the other side. Sovereign stubbornly continued to call despite the lack of response, shaking his device in hand while cursing at it and its broken state.
“Sovereign?” a voice finally answered, prompting the young man to tilt his head in confusion.
“Jacob?”
“S-sovereign… why are you calling? What did I do?”
“What? Relax, Jacob.” He said calmly. “I only called because I need help.”
“H-help?”
“Where is Ki-Joon? Why do you have her number, Jacob?”
“K… Ki-joon?”
“...” Sovereign’s lips parted slightly with an odd feeling in his chest, mixing with the sharp pain that crawled through it. “I’m at the castle, but I don’t remember how I got here. Tell Ki-joon to pick me up somewhere near the north, same place as always.”
“I… Y-yeah! I-I’ll tell her that… where she always picks you up right? Where was that again?”
“…” the odd response from Jacob brought a pause to Sovereign’s stride, reflecting on the large gap left in his memories. He looked at the floor with a contemplative gaze while ignoring the voice of Jacob calling to him in the phone, eventually struck by the cold reality that fell on him like a bolt of lightning. “Jacob… what did I forget this time?”
“N-not much, I’m sure! If you come back then…”
“Jacob, what… did I forget?”
“In a hurry?” the daring voice of a man interrupted the call, bringing the young man’s attention to it in an instant.
At the very exit of the ruined castle, smirking confidently as he leaned his back on the black walls of the castle near, was the gladean knight known as the order’s champion already waiting for him. Forced to end the call, Sovereign put away his phone back into the pocket of his vest, baring his teeth with an angry frown at the intruder that dared break into his home.
“How did you get here? Have you not learned your lesson yet?”
“Learn?” a quick chuckle escaped Loki as he cracked the joint in his neck, continuing to casually stretch his limbs. “Oh, I learned a lot… now it’s time for you to learn who the real champion is.”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
“You won’t be laughing, Specter.” The knight moved away from the wall, feeling every beat of his eager heart pound with excitement. “This time for sure…”
END OF CHAPTER