“Lionheart…”
“…”
“Lionheart…”
“…”
“Lionh—”
“I’m busy!”
“Hungry…”
“Hu—again!?”
“Hm!”
“haah… Fine, let’s head down, just remember that we don’t have many supplies at the moment.”
“Hm!”
-----------------------------------
“Lionheart…”
“…”
“Li—”
“I get it… I get it… You are hungry.”
“No.”
“Let’s—uh? Are you sure?”
“Hm!”
“Then what do you want?”
“Thirsty.”
“Of course…”
------------------------------------
“Can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Hm?”
“Here… I want you to have this.”
“…”
“It’s a ring…”
“…”
“It glows in the same way your eyes do so… I thought you’d want to have it.”
“Yours.”
“I know... I told you how I got it didn’t I? Maybe it belonged to a gladean knight before they all left, or died… still, it’s probably best for you to have it.”
“…”
“Think of it as a gift, for everything you’ve done for us.”
---------------------------------
“Lionheart…”
“…”
“Lionheart…”
“…”
“Lionheart…”
“I want to change my name…”
“Li—”
“What is it?”
“Hm.”
“Wh… is this… a ring?”
“Hm!”
“It… looks kind of strange. Not that I know much about them of course. Did you find it?”
“Mm!”
“No? Then…”
“Made it.”
“You made it? I mean… I like it but… you didn’t have to.”
“Eyes.”
“Eyes? Ah… well, its color does resemble mine.”
“Hm!”
“Hahah… out of all the knights… Thank you, champion. I’ll treasure it forever.”
-----------------------------
“Wait! You can’t go!”
“Specter.”
“I know but…”
“…”
“Listen… We can always hide somewhere else. I’ll gather the others, and you distract the specters while we make our escape.”
“Mm!”
“Listen to me! This is what happened last time, and you…”
“Surrounded.”
“…!”
“Lionheart.”
“…”
“Lionheart.”
“…”
“Lio—”
“Y-yeah, what is it?”
“I can do it.”
“… I… I know but…”
“Hm.”
“Uh? No, I can’t. I gave it to you…”
“Take it.”
“But… uh?”
“Mm.”
“The one you gave me?”
“I’ll come back, and return it to you. Promise”
“Champion…”
“Lionheart.”
“Yes?”
“Save the others.”
“Ah… Of course, we’ll be all waiting for you!”
“Hm!”
“Wait, champion!”
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
“…”
“Don’t take too long, or I’ll have to go after you again, got it?”
“Lieutenant!”
Cerberus HQ, Female Barracks: 936, December 31st, Monday, 12:00 AM.
“Lieutenant, wake up!”
“Ah!” Abruptly awakened by the desperate calls of a young girl, Claire gasped loudly as her eyes were forced to open, squinting them to protect her vision from the bright light of the ceiling.
She was back in her dormitory after a couple hours of sleep, and was met by the concerned expression of the young redhead standing next to her bed. The lieutenant’s state of mind had yet to recover from the abrupt awakening, and her distorted senses failed to perceive the commotion taking place outside of the room. She could only think of the dream she experienced during her slumber, but in between its foggy details and her groggy state, whatever meaning it may have had was quickly erased from her memory once the clock’s hands met at twelve.
“Tori?” she managed to articulate as the blur in her eyes cleared, and her deafened ears began to perceive muffled sounds in the dark outdoors. “What…”
“Lieutenant, it’s emergency!”
“Ah,” Claire’s senses recovered in a single kick, fired up by her years of training at the academy. The sound of roaring engines, and the commanding voices of platoon leaders yelling like drill sergeants finally became apparent to her—bringing her attention to the window. “What is that?” she asked.
“I just woke up, but everyone outside seems to be in a hurry.”
Tori replied, which caused Claire jump off her bed to pull the curtains of her window aside—leaning her forehead on the glass pain. Her eyes settled on the hundreds of units being mobilized down below, armed and suited for combat regardless of rank or experience. Such events had only been seen during emergency drills at headquarters, but the sounds of a siren singing like a whale on every corner of HQ removed that possibility in an instant.
Vehicles, tanks, mounted turrets, advanced training dummies, and any possible tool of military hardware that could be implemented by Cerberus already waited in line at the gates—many of which had not been operating since Arwen’s acquisition of the company. It all looked like a scene from an action movie, though no piece of fiction could explain the apprehensive feeling Claire felt as her breaths grew heavier.
“What is this?”
“Lieutenant!” A woman called out from the entrance of the room.
Both girls turned to face it as her voice reached their ears, and settled their eyes on Arwen’s right-hand Ivanna. The woman was drenched in sweat, and she panted heavily while leaning her tired body on the door frame. Her twitching eyes revealed an unsurprising amount of dread, and she inhaled deeply before releasing the air from her lungs—trying her best to remain calm.
“Lieutenant…” she breathed. “I came here as soon as I could. You and your team are needed desperately.”
“What’s going on, Ivanna?” Claire asked.
“Specters… they are mobilizing in the Deadlands towards the south.” The woman reported. “Their… their numbers are…”
“The south…” the lieutenant’s brows furrowed, reminded of Sebastian and his unit—which operated almost exclusively in the region. “Ivanna, tell me everything. Tori, go get Scott and Eric.”
“We are already here,” the voice of the young noble spoke, and both him and the young sniper open their way into the room.
“Sorry if we took a while,” Scott apologized. “There’s uh… there’s a lot of traffic in the hallways.”
“You are just in time,” Claire nodded—proceeding to turn her attention back to Ivanna.
With all members gathered, and the heavy ticks of the clock hitting them like a hammer in the chest, the office lady began to explain the exaggerated number of reports being sent to headquarters by the minute. From the east to the south, all units from Cerberus, Hydra, and Chimera messaged HQ about the incoming hordes of specters approaching Heildin.
Despite the dire news, only a couple of reports had arrived from the northern units of Cerberus, informing HQ about the mobilizing demons of the Deadlands. All data collected has led higher ups to believe the specters movements to be organized, and not some random occurrence, as some of their units claimed to have been ignored by the hungry demons.
Unable to predict the situation accordingly, Arwen requested the aid of its nearest country Kaldstein, which offered a positive response to the company’s call for assistance. Sara Endel, who’s Chimera guarded the southern region, demanded Heildin and Pelkesk to support her efforts at the walls—a demanded that was met with silence by the king of the south. Boris and his Hydra remained as support units, but their heavy weaponry and advanced firepower still provided the officers with some sort of relief.
“We are mobilizing as many people as we can,” Ivanna told the group. “I’m… I’m not sure what to think of any of this.”
“I-I’m sure it will be fine,” Tori expressed with a nervous smile, both hands shivering as she kept them clasped together. “We always find a way, right?”
“What about the empire’s units,” Scott suggested. “They are pretty strong for what I know. If there was a better time to use them, it would be now.”
Eric’s eyes widened, and he clenched his jaw before avoiding his eyes from the group—attempting to hide his face. This action would not go unnoticed by the lieutenant however, who caught the noble’s sharp motion, and the tensed look of his shoulders. Her curious eyes scanned him for a quick second, but nothing they could see offered the answer she was looking for.
“Eric,” she called to him—prompting the noble to flinch slightly. “Is something worrying you?”
“…” the noble pressed his lips together, feeling his heart pounding out of his chest.
“H-hey man…” Scott chimed in with a worried smile. “You don’t look too good…”
Eric’s soft fair skin had suddenly transformed into a sick bluish, and sweat began to roll down his forehead while he gritted his teeth. The noble turned his head look at Claire in the eye, pressing his lips together before speaking.
“There are no imperial units left in Hemel,” he said—raising many eyebrows at the sudden statement. “The empire has pulled out from the continent… under my request to Gaspard and the emperor.”
Several seconds passed as the group struggled to process his words, with only Claire jumping at the noble’s claims with a furious gaze.
“What! When did this happen!”
“This month… I thought moving them away from headquarters would force your boss to be… more transparent about our situation.” Eric began to explain. “I waited… I wanted to give him a chance, but after his deal with Chimera, and that incident we had in the Deadlands… I can’t trust someone like that.”
“Incident?” Ivanna wondered, tilting her head sideways.
“Eric, this is more important than that!”
“That’s why I had to make that choice,” the blonde noble explained. “We’ve seen them before, remember? Specters attacking my home out of nowhere, and then that gigantic serpent lurking under our seas?” his tone grew angrier, releasing a hidden frustration that had built up inside over the past few months. “I wanted to help you, and I thought I could trust your company, but I won’t allow the empire to focus its efforts somewhere else anymore, not when your boss can’t even explain his own actions.” He crossed his harms, and firmly made his point clear to the group. “My people’s safety will always come first… they are my responsibility as heir, not this place.”
“Ivanna,” Claire turned to the office woman. “Is this true?”
“I… I don’t know.” She replied. “Eric tried to arrange a meeting with the boss, but he was always busy and—"
“I mean the imperial soldiers,” the lieutenant interrupted. “Did they actually withdraw from the continent?”
“Ah… I don’t… know… actually. They pulled out somewhere at the start of December but…”
“What!”
“The boss… he… never reported anything of the sort. It might’ve been confidential information...”
“I told you…” Eric frowned, gulping down as his eyes met the furious ambers of Claire. “You are kept in the dark for everything, and are expected to follow regardless.”
“You could’ve said something yourself…” the lieutenant growled at him, forcing the noble to avoid his eyes once again. Regardless of the tense situation in the small room however, there were more pressing matters to deal with as more units began to mobilize outside. “Let’s forget about this for now...” she told the group. “Ivanna, what are our orders?”
“Y-you are to report at the gates! You and your team will receive further instructions there, lieutenant.”
“I see… Bloodhound!”
“Ma’am!”
“Report to the gates, and wait for me there. Eric…” she fixed her eyes on the noble, but the furious glare in her eyes suddenly softened with a deep breath. “Will you help us? You are not really an employee of this company.”
“I may not trust your boss,” Eric said with a nod. “But I’d put my life in your hands if I must… My sword is yours, lieutenant.”
“Let’s stop wasting time then,” Claire smiled and returned the nod, proceeding to instruct her team further. “Take a vehicle to the gates, and wait for me at the first checkpoint.” She told them before lowering her head slightly, and whispering to herself through gritted teeth. “There’s no way he…”
Despite a few protests from her team and Ivanna, there was no force capable of putting a halt to the lieutenant once her mind was set. She issued her orders, and stormed out of the room, leaving Bloodhound behind at the main entrance of the barracks before calling for her spectral bike. Although worried about their group leader, they all agreed to follow her command as instructed, and head towards the gates in one of the company’s armored vehicles.
Meanwhile, Claire rode her bike through the commotion of headquarters, skillfully evading passing soldiers and vehicles racing for the gates with haste. Her sole attention was centered in the large building in front of her, simply known by the staff as ‘the main building.’ She dropped off her bike as soon as she reached the entrance, striding angrily into its vast lobby, where only none combatant staff remained in operation.
Many years of loyal devotion to the company that trained and educated her for years were all thrown out of the window in that moment, stopping at nothing as she continued to march up the stairs. Her boots furiously echoed through the empty halls of the building, ignoring every sign warning unauthorized staff to turn back.
There was not enough staff remaining that could stop her, and she quickly took her first step into the dark hallway of the highest floor. Not a single light illuminated the narrow hall, but all she had to do was reach the other end—where the room she had been taken to a few times waited for her once again.
“I’m will get my answer,” Claire told herself. “You will tell me… What… what are you doing?”
She planted her feet near the office entrance, met by the light-colored wood of the door, and its golden plate now lying on the ceramic floor. Claire lowered her gaze to look at the small item near her feet, its words scratched out and covered in dust.
Taking a deep breath as she moved her eyes back to the door, the lieutenant grabbed the doorknob into her hand, but hesitated to break the rules even further. She’s been avoiding the room for many months, and while her reasons had always been clear in her own mind, standing only a few steps from its entrance drowned her thoughts with doubt.
Claire was known for many reasons at the company, and her dedication to Cerberus had always been one of them. Ever since her arrival at the academy, she diligently followed every command without question, a record that remained unbroken until the thirty first of December—the last day of the year. Claire twisted the doorknob and cautiously pushed the door open, finally obtaining an answer to the question that’s been bugging her for months.
“I guess I already knew…” she sighed.
END OF CHAPTER