Center of the Deadlands, Ruined Castle: 936, October 26th, Friday, 8:00 PM.
In the desolated and broken dark room, filled with dust and rubble. Sovereign rested in a large black throne with inactive energy veins, keeping a lowered gaze while breathing through his mouth. He contemplated a broken sword lying on his thigh, slowly leading the spectral fingers of his left hand towards its shiny steel—which glowed faintly with an almost invisible azure light.
“…!” the man recoiled after coming in contact with the blade, feeling a sharp electrical wave crawl into his body.
“Hey bud…” a masculine voice suddenly caught Sovereign’s attention, who raised his head to spot Sebastian—casually strolling towards him. “What are you doing?”
“Why are you still coming here?” annoyed by the man’s presence, a corner of his lip curved upwards as his brows scrunched down.
“Just wanted to ask,” the major stopped in his advance, scratching the back of his head. “I haven’t seen many specters roaming around lately. I thought you’d want more protecting the place…”
The man leaned forward while keeping his head low, prompting the broken sword to disappear as he rested both arms on his thighs. “A few days of peace never hurt anyone…” the man said as a small device blinked into his hand with a crimson light.
“That your phone? Something important came up?” smiled the major while raising his eyebrows.
“No…” Sovereign replied with a soft tone as he spun the device in order to look at its screen—gluing his eyes to a contact he named ‘<3 <3 <3.’
Cerberus HQ, Female Barracks: 936, October 27th, Saturday, 12:00 PM.
It’s a bright day at headquarters, and the only thing preventing its grounds and buildings to be buried under mountains of snow, was the heath emanating from inside the Deadlands—maintain a tropical temperature across HQ. Recruits carried out their drills alongside students from the academy in the furthest area from the hellish zone, utilizing the facility’s track field for their training. Cerberus’ main building remained as busy as ever, exhibiting many staff walking in and out, while the barracks—a single long and tall building crafted from sturdy concrete, remained mostly desolated during active hours.
In one of the dormitories—from the half of the building occupied by female staff, Claire sat in a single bed at the end of the room while leaning her back on the wall. Lucy slept near her feet as she hugged her leg, having her face illuminated by a glass window on the right side of the bed.
The place was divided in half, with its far side keeping the lieutenant’s belongings, and the nearest to the door safeguarding Tori’s. Unlike Claire’s neatly and bring side, the young medic kept her part decorated with posters of cats and dogs, displaying happy messages about health and positive thinking.
“Huh… is he actually gonna marry her?” Claire said under her breath—wearing a black tank top and shorts of the same color.
The lieutenant was absorbed in her book as she read its contents with a smile in her face, flipping through pages and forgetting about the world outside. Its cover showcased an attractive muscular man wearing only a pair of jeans, running one hand through his black ear-length hair. He kept his gaze on the camera with furrowed brows, an apparent guilt in his blue irises that begged for forgiveness to whoever looked into them—its title reading the name ‘The Evil King & The Village Girl’. “I wonder what she will do about it… hm?”
A creaking noise from the dormitory’s door immediately grabbed Claire’s attention, flinching in surprise as she was abruptly taken back into reality. Her eyes widened, and she rapidly scanned the room for an answer to a question she didn’t even know about yet. With little time to figure things out however, the lieutenant decided to hurl the book away into the wall in front of her—a decision she quickly regretted as she slammed one hand in her forehead, rubbing it all the way down her face. The book crashed against the concrete and landed on the floor, perfectly closing itself with the cover looking up at the ceiling.
“Lieutenant?” A woman of dark hair—flowing just below her shoulders, emerged from the hallway outside of the room. Her smiling dark brown eyes settled on the unsuspicious lieutenant sitting in her bed, offering a polite bow to the girl before speaking. “Hello, lieutenant. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
“It’s fine…” replied Claire as she turned her head to look at the woman—a drop of sweat rolling down her cheek. “What do you need, miss Ivanna?”
“The boss wants to see you. He said it wasn’t urgent, but wishes to know if you are available.”
She almost jumped out of her bed at the woman’s words, forgetting about the sleeping girl for a moment while leaning forward. “I’ll be there in a moment,” she replied with a quick nod.
“Great! I’ll be waiting outside for—” Ivanna suddenly stopped, her eyes moving towards a blocky object resting in front of the lieutenant’s bed. She caught a glimpse of the half-naked man in the cover before avoiding her gaze with flushed cheeks. “I-I’ll be outside… you know, w-waiting for you to change…”
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“Yeah… thanks.”
“Haha… I mean you are young so—”
“What are you saying!”
Once Ivanna closed the door behind her to wait in the hall, Claire quickly grabbed her clothes from the one wardrobe in the room—also shared between her and Tori, and dressed herself in the usual black and gold uniform of Bloodhound. Lucy stretched her arms and legs far with tired moans, lying flat in the bed while watching the lieutenant tidy up her uniform. The girl’s eyes glowed fiercely with a crimson light, which she quickly closed back to continue her slumber—slamming her face on the bed.
“You’ve been sleeping quiet a lot lately, Lucy.” Commented Claire with a concerned tone as she looked herself in the mirror. “Are you sure you are not sick?” the girl only shook her head, offering no verbal response. “Right… I’ll bring you something from the cafeteria when I’m back. Make sure to stay inside.”
Cerberus HQ, CEO’s Office: 936, October 27th, Saturday, 12:00 PM.
“Sir!” Claire saluted with a firm posture as she stepped in front of Arwen’s desk.
The man pushed up his glasses while blowing air through his lips, sliding aside one of his many documents resting on top of the wooden desk. “Thank you for coming, lieutenant.” He calmly received her with a smile.
“Has our new operation been prepared, sir?”
“No! No… none of that yet…” Arwen cleared his throat, glancing around every corner of the office with his eyes. “Is… is Lucy somewhere around here?” he asked. “I haven’t heard of her since… well, since you rescued her from that strange room underground.”
“She is not present at the moment, sir.” Replied Claire while omitting the girl’s actual location, maintain a firm stare forward as she continued saluting.
“I see… well, if you see her… could you bring her to my office? Yeon and I used to look after her every time Sovereign became sick.” Although the man smiled brightly, a quick twitch from his brow did not escape the lieutenant’s glance. “I bought her some sweets, but she hasn’t taken any of them. I don’t know if she comes here or not, but it’d be a shame if they end up spoiling.”
“That it would… sir.”
“Well… I think that’s all I wanted to talk about.” Arwen leaned his back on the chair, his lips curving into a gentle smile as he fixed his glasses with a shaking hand. “Your new mission is still being worked on, so please be patient. We have more time to prepare now that Hydra and Chimera are supporting us… isn’t that great?”
“…It is, sir.”
“Hm! Sovereign really outdid himself this time hah… he knows what is best for the company after all.”
“…”
Claire did not offer a response to Arwen’s claim, which caused the man to raise an eyebrow while slightly tilting his head to the side—his smile fading slowly from his expression. “Do you want to say something, lieutenant? Please, I want to hear it.”
“Right, it’s… it’s Sovereign… sir” she said—prompting Arwen to tense his shoulders while clenching his jaw. “I haven’t seen him lately, and I have some questions to ask regarding my spectral gear.”
“Ah…” his brows furrowing and mouth curving into a sad frown, Arwen moved his eyes across the desk in front of him before gathering multiple random pages together. “He is still quite busy I’m afraid…” his hands kept trembling, extending one of them to pick up a pen from a plastic vase nearby. “You should be focusing on your team at the moment… that’s… that’s what he told me.”
“I see…”
“Yeah… a lot has happened these past few months haha. Well, if that’s all you wanted then you are dismissed, lieutenant.” Arwen urged Claire to leave, but not before handing her a small transparent bag full of colorful sweets. “Thank you for coming, and make sure to give those to Lucy from my part… I’m sure she will like them.”
“Yes, sir!”
Stepping into the hallway as she closed the door behind her, the lieutenant sighed with a snarl of frustration—pressing her teeth together as she looked back at the door from over her shoulder. “Busy…” she muttered, bringing one hand inside the pocket in her pants before pulling out a small phone from inside.
Inputting the password on screen, Claire quickly tapped the icon of a mail card in her applications—bringing up a long list of names. She rapidly scrolled through her contacts, moving past some already read messages from her team, Ivanna, and even lady Eutychia—stopping at one in specific, which she named ‘Harumi.’
Her amber eyes were glued to the bright screen, reading through old and unanswered messages with a contemplative stare—all of them sent during the past couple of months.
‘What the hell did you do to Lucy! You and I need to talk!’
‘Don’t think I’d let you walk away from this, give me a place to meet!’
‘Hey, are you there? Sorry about my last two messages. It’s been tough lately, and I know what you must be going through after what happened to Yeon. I was just mad after seeing Lucy in such a state, but that was no way for me to treat you. Let’s meet somewhere quiet, alright? I’m not mad at you.’
‘Harumi? Listen… I lost my home and my mother when I was only a child. I know what is like to lose someone so close to you in an instant. If you want to talk about it then don’t hesitate and come to me, just don’t let it all build up inside you. Trust me, it will only hurt you more.’
‘Listen, I’m going to say it. I am worried about you, why aren’t you answering?’
‘I haven’t seen you since my last operation in the empire, say something.’
‘It’s been two months, and I asked about you at the office. Tell me what’s going on.’
‘Fine, if you answer to this message, then I might consider going on that date with you. Is that what you wanted to hear?’
‘Harumi, I’m starting to think you are dead.’
‘Just say something.’
Her most recent message was sent only a week ago, and the icon indicting it has been read remained grayed out. Claire safeguarded the phone back into her pocket, looking at the bag of sweets she received from Arwen while squinting her eyes at the strange wrapping of the candy.
“What the hell is going on…” she sighed.
END OF CHAPTER