“Commander!”

A soldier shouted. His voice, though as loud as a banshee shriek, was not heard among the cacophony of Spellfire and the dying voice of men. The Soldier, his armor battered and broken, shattered at some parts part as it exposed his scarred body, did not care for the futility of his actions.

He continued shouting and screaming and calling for his beloved Commander. The soldier gazed across the battlefield riddled with bodies, oozing a river of blood as it now acted as the ground that the living took hold of. He gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, and lunged his tired body to a nearby enemy.

Raising his spear, he gripped it with both hands as he pierced the enemy soldier's body. Blood splattered onto the ground and his armor. Some covered his face. He coldly looked at the dying enemy, his eyes indifferent as he lost count of how many he had pierced with his spear. The enemy soldier took hold of his spear as if trying to make one last attempt to survive, but the soldier simply ripped the spear out from his chest, and the last bright light in the enemy's eyes was snuffed out.

The soldier deeply breathed, feeling the blood-soaked smoke entering his system. The soldier knew that despite the amount of enemies he had slain, it would make no difference to the already inevitable outcome. He shook his head and removed the defeatist thoughts from his mind. He looked elsewhere and saw the earth seemingly being caved in as enemy soldiers flew into the air, their bodies limp as if they already knew what was about to happen next.

A blast of light briefly shone across his face, feeling the familiar warmth of it even if it was for just a few seconds, rekindling the tired spirit within him. In the next moment, the soldiers that were in the air turned into a bloody mist. They were gone. Appearing as if they were a bloody mist right from the beginning. The soldier stopped shouting, as he already knew where his beloved commander was.

He made a straight dash towards the pulverized earth, and in several seconds he saw the situation. Soldiers numbering in the hundreds swarmed one man glistening in golden armor. The man himself had dark hair but it was like his hair was that of a lion. The Golden Lion, a moniker he earned amid battle, coldly looked at the soldiers pining for his head. His fists radiated immense golden light, and the soldier looking at it felt like he was staring straight at the sun itself.

His commander pulled back both his fists and with a deep breath, shot his fists forward with such immense strength as if he was being supported by a god. The soldiers in front of him were no more. As well as the earth for that matter. What appeared in front of him was just the earth being shattered into smithereens, as well as frightened soldiers that surrounded him in a circle.

It only took a moment for his allies to react, but they counterattacked and slayed the stunned soldiers.

For a second the soldier was in awe, but if there was anything the military had taught him, and it was that there was no room for dilly-dallying in the battlefield. The soldier shook off his stupor and strode towards his commander.

“Lord Commander!” The soldier saluted, his posture erect and alert. The Commander briefly glanced at the soldier, yet it was enough for the soldier to feel that he held no secrets in front of his superior. The Commander glanced back at the ongoing battle, and just as the soldier was about to report what had happened, the commander seemed to have already known the outcome.

“We have lost.” The commander said indifferently as if the outcome of their war had no meaning to him now. Yet the soldier saw his commander's hands dripping blood. The soldiers only knew half of what they had sacrificed for the effort. He could only imagine what the commander was feeling since he was at the forefront of those sacrifices.

“There is more Lord Commander.”

“More?”

“Indeed… I am sorry Lord Commander…” The soldier let the silence hang in the air. He wasn't afraid of being the next one being obliterated like the enemies he had once seen a moment before, he was more concerned about what the commander's expression might be. The soldier had no courage to look, only looking at the ground.

“Cecile?” The Lord Commander said.

“…”

“Dante?”

“…”

“Amy?”

“Yes uh yes! Lord Commander, she made it to the rendezvous point safely.”

The soldier noticed that his lord commander's hands relaxed. But the rage and bloodlust oozing out from him only strengthened. The Soldier wanted to give his condolences, but could not as his Lord Commander jumped. He rose to the skies, the soldier following his every movement.

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For a moment, the grey skies brightened as if a sun descended upon their war.

…

What is happening?

I thought as I sat in the corner of the room observing the three from afar. I wanted to ask Amy who was the man sitting by the bar, having a pint of Sorel, since he was the target of Mr Franks Gaze for more than three seconds. Mr Frank usually didn't care for well… anyone except Amy. But now his full attention was directed to a stranger I never met before.

But I held my tongue. I gazed toward Amy and saw that she was absentmindedly wiping the tables, seemingly full of thoughts swirling inside her head. Even weirder. Amy was always fully focused no matter what she did, and now she was the one who was out of focus. That was usually me.

‘Interesting Situation you have here child.’

‘I know right? It's like those three want to talk but they don't know what to say.’

‘It's not “like” it child, it is’

‘Oh..’

Maybe I need to start working on my social skills.

It has already been half an hour since I arrived, and there has been no change in the situation. Mr Frank kept tending to the counter, with blank eyes I might add, and Amy was doing the same except that she had already dropped a few glasses on the floor, forcing me to stand up, and clean it.

As I was about to grab the broom and start sweeping, the white-cloaked man stood up from his seat and beat me to it. He grabbed the roommate who was by the corner of the bar, and approached Amy. She must have realized it herself as she froze where she stood.

The man did not seem to mind her reaction and just swept the broken shattered pieces of glass in silence. Mr Frank seemed to have also reacted and grabbed a trash bin. Putting it beside the place where the man was gathering the shattered glass. It was a strange sight to see.

No words were spoken, and yet it seemed that there was no need to. The feeling that they wanted to convey at that moment was understood and digested. I saw that the man had a small smile on the side of his face, clear that he was happy with what was happening even if it was not the most normal way to interact with family. Maybe it was the normal way to interact with family, who knows?

‘It seems that my teachings have not gone to waste.’

‘Thanks, Mr. Lucius.’

I stood up and left in silence, not disturbing the strange family dynamic they had. Once out, I breathed in the fresh air, satisfied that I was no longer being choked by a few seconds ago. This was nice. Wayne quietly crept up beside me as I stared into his eyes. I guessed that he was questioning where we were going at that moment.

So I answered honestly since that was what a good boss should do.

“No idea.”

…

“Ah the fresh air, you gotta love it,” Samuel said as he breathed in deep. There was a smile at the side of his face, but everyone around him was anything but smiling.

“Please! Have mer-”

Before he could finish, one of the Assassins struck his blade at his throat, perishing the remaining life inside the man's eyes. Samuel looked around and saw that this job was finishing up. The air had a strong stench of blood, and cold corpses strewn around the forest, with one thing being in common with all of them. And it's that their once pure white cloaks were stained with blood.

As Samuel sheathed his blade, one of the Assassins came up to him and whispered some things in his ear. The smile on his face was cleanly wiped, replaced with sheer coldness that even frightened the Assassin who delivered it to him.

“We are not finished it seems. Alright then. Finish up here as I'll go ahead first. I'll catch him myself.”

The Assassin nodded in understanding, as he lunged at a nearby enemy that was rushing to Samuel. Shadows rose from the ground as if it was a living thing, and swallowed Samuel. He didn't resist, merely accepted it as he had somewhere to be.

…

Frank gathered the remaining shattered glass and threw it in a garbage bin. Dante, which was the name of the white-cloaked man, sat back on the counter and ordered another beer. Amy sat beside him without a word, her face pondering on what she wanted to say. There were several things she wanted to ask, or more accurately, verify.

Just because the man announced that he was her brother, didn't mean that she would believe it. No, she couldn't. She refused to believe it. Because if she did believe in his words, then it meant that his father lied to her about her entire life. And if there was one thing she believed in, and it was that her father would never lie to her. Especially when it came to something as big as having a brother.

Amy then realized. She was asking the wrong questions. She was asking the wrong person. The person that she should be questioning right now isn't the man who claimed to be his long-lost brother, but her father. She then stared at her father with a piercing gaze and asked.

“Is it true, Father?”

Frank did not answer immediately and chose to instead fill up another pint for Dante and place it before him. He leaned against the counter with his hands, looked at Dante for a few seconds, seemingly analyzing him, and then at Amy. They held their gaze for what seemed to be forever.

Frank wanted to explain. That was the situation back then, he had no choice. He was faced with an impossible decision in an impossible situation. There were a thousand ways he could explain himself and be deemed as ‘right,’ but he held his tongue. Preferring to just answer her question as a good father. One of the lies he has been holding ever since has finally come to light.

“Yes. Yes, he is.”

The room was silent for a moment. Frank closed his eyes, expecting for Amy to go berserk and destroy the room. Probably even fought him since she came to a realization that he had been lying to her. But what he expected did not come to pass, he opened his eyes and saw that she was no longer in her seat. She was walking away, from both of them, and Frank could feel the immense disappointment and sadness in her.

He wanted to soothe her but had no idea how. He lied. Even if he had good intentions for lying, it did not change the facts of the situation. He lied. Frank hung his head low, and instead of feeling like a heavy weight was removed from his shoulders, it felt like it had gotten heavier.

Just as Amy was about to leave through the front door, it sprang wide open. Amy looked and saw that it was Samuel. She was about to ask why she was here, when, out of nowhere. He pulled out his blade and lunged.

Amy, shocked, was stunned for a second but was able to react in time. But Samuel passed by her as she didn't even exist, and made a straight line towards the white-cloaked man, Dante.

“You Dare!”