Beloved
A -man story
ch.1 Mission
The sun was down; the halls were silent as a raging storm screamed in the dead of night with all its furry, mammoth waves crashing in the rocks down below. One gentle candle illuminated the faces of the three people sitting around a small table in the middle of what could have been a jewel compared to any other library in the world. In the darkness, three more silhouettes could be seen, sitting on the couches, either unreadable or grim expressions covering their faces.
The air around was thick, filled with a dark and dreadful feeling. The news they had just heard was not for the fainthearted. Somewhere in Asia, a massacre had destroyed the lives of over fifty people. The reason for this disaster was announced by the gray-haired man at the table to be highly classified information.
Maybe this was why the people in the room were all Exorcist Generals. In the far corner, the ever annoyed Winters Socalo, full of new bandages and old scars, in the other side of the room, the oldest amongst them, Kevin Yeegar, next to whom sat the slightly mad Axel Deli. Around the small table, with a freshly lighten cigar and an unreadable expression; a man called a genius scientist and inventor, unfortunately also a drunken maniac, red hair falling elegantly at his back, Cross Marian. Next to his left, calm and sharp, eyes filled with sorrow, Froi Tiedoll was eying the gray-haired man, the Chief Officer, Nero Fox, waiting for a better explanation to an unspoken question; why were all the Generals called?
"As I have mentioned..." the gray-haired man spoke, slowly stroking his beard, "the Asian Branch's massacre is being kept a more-or-less secret, in the sense that only you, the Generals and the people involved in the incident know of it. The ones responsible for this tragedy were two; one of which was found dead on the site. However, we need one of you to go and find the other, who has escaped."
An annoyed sound made three heads turn in one of the corners of the rooms, where Winters was frowning in annoyance "Why the hell should a General have to go and search for the maniac?! Just send some Finders or Exorcists! I ain't gonna waste my time hunting for a rat!" "I am afraid we can't assume the risk of having one of our apostles' die just yet" The man calmly answered, thus receiving a few curious glances.
"What do you mean die?" The question came from none other than Cross Marian, the only one in the entire room who looked as if he was from a different story. Unlike his companions, he wasn't wearing the traditional black robes with golden ornaments. Instead, he wore some simple black pants and a baggy white shirt with black boots resting on top of the table, cigar lazily hanging from his mouth. He shot the Chief an intimidating glare and continued "Who or what the hell could be so dangerous as to need a General to go kick its ass?"
"That information" he began "is only available for the one who takes on the mission of going after him" A multitude of unsatisfied sounds came from all around the room along with some unfriendly faces. "Then screw it; I'm out. I got no interest in little shits" And with that, Winters was out the door, closely followed by Axel who shared his opinion. "Thanks but..." Cross got up and put out the remains of his cigar "I have something to attend to"
Nero waited for the Exorcists to exit the room before looking back at the only remaining one; Tiedoll. "I must say I'm a bit surprised at you, Froi. I wasn't expecting you of all people to go on such a mission." The man only smiled in response "Were you perhaps hoping Marian would go?" At that, the Chief looked up, a bit surprised, before also cracking a smile "Maybe"
A few minutes later, Tiedoll and Nero both exited the library, each going his separate way. As Froi took a corner, however, he was not the least surprised to wake up with a hand behind his neck and a very, very curious read head next to him, a mischievous grin plastered on his face. "So? What's this about? That old goat didn't even notice he said "him" did he? Way to go and spoil all the mystery!" Froi couldn't muster a giggle, thinking how Cross always got so excited over this kind of missions, be it his or others.
"Actually" Tiedoll began in a more serious voice, instantly gaining Marian's attention. "It appears what killed all those people is a "failed experiment" that somehow managed to lose control. Apparently, he should be somewhere in China. I'm leaving tomorrow morning" The red hair let go of his comrade and started processing the information. "By the way..." Froi started "what could you possibly have to attend to? You just got back yesterday, didn't you? You still have a broken arm, you know?" He asked with a smirk, pointing at his colleague's bandaged left hand.
Cross shot him an embarrassed and annoyed glare before picking his phase up and heading to his room "That's none of your business!"
Froi stood in the hall a few more minutes before taking some papers out of his pocket. He started shuffling them while walking to his own room to prepare for the long journey. Even though it sounded so simple when he gave Cross the details, the actual brief was way more complex. This "person" he was supposed to catch was an experiment that the Asian science division had reported "shut down" which roughly translates to dead. So how come he was alive?
Another thing was, he had received no information on how this person looks fights, acts or anything of the sorts. The Chief mentioned someone will be waiting for him in China and give him the details. So, either one; he himself didn't know, or two; he didn't trust he would keep his mouth shut. This was true, considering he just told Marian everything.
He threw one last glance at the papers before shoving them back in his pocket, sighted, and entered his room. "A seek and kill, huh"
A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a while! :D Here's a new story! Yay~ Some of you who may know (by some miracle) my other stories, YES, I do love writing about generals and their pupils XD The stories are always cute like that! :3 Well, i hope you've enjoyed this chapter and hope you'll be waiting for the next! Have a good day! And maybe comment? Just a suggestion, of course...
