General POV
The sound of tiny pattering feet against cold sandy dirt and stone rushed past the humans meandering about the city, while the young ottsel Akira ran on all fours toward Damas's palace, passing them with ease and keeping up her frantic rush. Her face was filled with fear and worry over the fact that she had just abandoned her comrade the way she did, and it felt like every minute that past was just a waste of time on her part.
She had arrived back in Spargus just a few minutes ago, yet it felt like an eternity had gone by when she left the city. With every passing minute that passed by, the young ottsel feared the worst would come to Ciara, motivating her to move faster toward the throne room of the King. Her mind constantly worried about what was happening to dear comrade, wondering if she would be alright without Akira at her side and ready to fight. She knew that Ciara was nowhere near weak, but after leaving her in a state that made her out to be as such, it was difficult not to think negatively about the situation. The ottsel prayed to the Precursors that those Krimzon Guards did not do anything that would cause Ciara any harm. It was bad enough she had that thing living inside of her, but to be surrounded by those guards, who were more than capable of angering her at any point, and be located in a place where she did not feel comfortable was something that could become a repeat of the past.
Akira shuttered at the thought, recalling the dreadful day her best friend re-entered the city; her were closed tattered and torn, her hair partially charred from fire and let out of its usual ponytail, and her arms caked in what the ottsel recognized as blood. It was a look she never wanted to see again, but at the rate she was going it was not too long before she did. Ciara may have been strong enough to hold her own, especially against the guards, but mentally there was no telling how long it would take for her to break. She would be able to overpower them for a good amount of time, able to withstand whatever they had to throw at her and remain strong-willed; how long it would be, however, until she weakens or breaks down mental wise was different story entirely. After what the ottsel had seen in the past, she hoped that mental breakdown would not occur again.
Akira soon found the front door that lead into the palace, immediately picking up her pace as she ran toward it maneuvering through the other. As she approached the large door, it slowly began to open up, revealing an elevator like platform leading up to the throne room, where she would find the King of Spargus sitting on his throne. With a small nod and a quickening pace, she entered the palace and jumped onto the platform just as the doors closed behind her. As she stood up straight on the wooden platform, it slowly roared to life and slowly began making its way up toward her leader's throne room.
While she stood there, waiting for the platform to come to a halt, her mind slowly wandered back to her comrade Ciara, but focused on the Commander of the Krimzon Guard and the Baron's right hand man, Erol, the most. What exactly happened, she wondered, that caused Ciara so much pain? Who was the "dead weight whore" she was speaking about to Erol? Many other questions ran through the young ottsel's mind when it came to what had happened in Haven. Despite only having met the Commander once and saw Ciara converse with him, Akira could tell the two had a past, one that was long and rather painful judging by how Ciara went silent after being asked what had happened. The stories that Ciara told about the Commander also backed up that assumption. Although she did not know much about Ciara and Erol's past as a whole, she had a feeling something between them had happened in order for them to despise one other. Well, to make Ciara despise Erol, since the Commander did not appear to have anything against the fugitive as far as she knew.
The ottsel's head lowered a bit and her lip pursed. If that was true, then what exactly happened six years ago that had caused the immense hatred Ciara felt toward the Commander? Were they a "couple" at one point in time, before Akira and Ciara met, but fell apart due to the "deadweight whore" getting in the way of the relationship?
Akira shook her head and placed a hand on her hip. That can't be true, she thought, placing her other hand on her cheek. Knowing Ciara, she was much too busy working for and with Damas more than worrying about such petty things like love and relationships. She said so herself. Ciara believed stuff like that would only get in the way of work and tasks at hand. Not only that, but it ruin people's lives, what with their lies and fake smiles. Every relationship, according to Ciara, was modified and fake, and she wanted to avoid it at all costs. However, despite being a firm believer in that statement, there was one point when Akira and Ciara had a talk about Erol. Although Ciara strongly disliked the Commander with every fiber of her being, as Akira had figured out, the Wastelander did not seem to mind speaking about Erol and her opinions about him.
"One thing's for sure," Ciara stated while leaning against the hood of her car and staring at the twilit sky one day, "Erol is pretty self-centered and arrogant."
"I'm not surprised," Akira responded, sitting next to her while holding onto her "Baby" and cleaning it. "A guy with that much power would be crazy if he didn't at least feel a bit drunk off power."
"Like the Baron?" Ciara smirked, laughing a little bit at her comment.
Akira shrugged her furry shoulders and said, "Almost, but not quite." She looked up at Ciara. "Commanders only have a limited amount of power."
"And besides..." The smirk on Ciara's face disappeared as she looked forward, staring into the sands of the Wasteland, her home, "Erol is nothing like the Baron, always seeking out power and the chance to rule Haven City with an iron fist." Azure eyes shifted. "I've known him too well and too long for him to act like that bastard of a leader…"
Akira looked up at her with a confused look on her face, wondering what she meant, and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Although Erol is self-centered, arrogant, sadistic, and an all-around jackass to everyone," Her head lowered a bit, "he's...he's nothing like the Baron." Her eyes soon closed as well, as if looking back on what the Commander of the Krimzon Guard was like. "Not an atom in his body is anything like Praxis. Not by a long shot."
"How do you know that?" Akira inqured.
Ciara smirked and opened her eyes again before saying, "I...used to be good friends with him…"
Akira gasped at her words, surprised to hear such a thing come out of her mouth.
"Seriously?! You? Friends with Erol?" Ciara nodded once as she fell back onto the hood of the car. "You've gotta be kidding me!"
Ciara laughed at the ottsel's surprise.
"That's right," she stated with a smile. Then, she looked up at the sky. "We knew everything about one another, even the little things like pet peeves. So I know from experience that he's nothing like Praxis nor will he ever be like him."
"I thought you were just kidding about that," Akira pointed out, sitting up and placing her paws on her furry knees. "What was he like back then?"
Ciara shrugged absently and replied, "Certainly not like today." She giggled a bit. "Let's just say age does a number on people."
Akira smiled, but it soon disappeared as she remembered something, something...important.
"Wait," she started, "you said you used to be friends with him, right?" The smile on Ciara's face disappeared instantly the second Akira asked that question, but she nodded nonetheless. "If that's the case," Akira went on, "what...exactly happened between the both of you?"
At that point, Ciara looked at the ground, remaining silent before looking back at her.
"Let's just say…it was as if I had disappeared from his life altogether…"
That was not the first time the two ever spoke about the Commander the way they did that day, but that specific day was when Akira found out anything involving Ciara's past for the first time, bringing them that much closer as friends. Surprisingly, it had involved Erol, of all people the ottsel could think of in the universe. However, how long the two went back was a mystery. It could have been since they were children or just a few months ago. Nevertheless, whether they had known each other for years or months, something had happened between them that had caused her to come here, to the Wasteland and to Spargus, in the first place. It was all a mystery to the ottsel, of course, but she chose against prying the answers she wanted out of her human comrade to avoid becoming nosy. Although the two were very close friends in the time Ciara had been in Spargus, Akira understood when she pushed it over the edge, when she crossed the line. Not only that, but after find ing out about Ciara and her days working with the Krimzon Guard, Akira did not want to know what would happen if she questioned her further about the past she had with Erol. She only chose moments when they were alone and the subject was eased into during any normal conversation that she would try and get something, anything, out of her without pushing it. As much as she wanted to figure out her friend's past, she did not want Ciara to torture herself just thinking about it all in one day. It would be too much for her, and Akira was not the type to do things like that.
The sudden stop of the elevator broke her chain of thought just as it reached the top. Akira blinked a few times, remembering what she was there for in the first place, before quickly turning around and, on all fours, sprinted toward her leader. Damas and Sig, who was also there, noticed her arrive and greeted her with welcoming smiles on their faces.
"Well hey there, little chili pepper," said Sig as she stopped in front of him and stood up. "Looks like you two came back faster than the last time. Must be a new record."
"We've...we've got a huge problem," Akira immediately blurted out, looking up at the two of them with worried expression. "Like...massive problem that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible..."
Immediately when she said that, the two became serious.
"What happened," Damas spoke, getting up from his seat before looking past the ottsel, as if he were searching for something, "and where's Ciara?"
Akira looked away, ears falling back, before responding, "That is the problem, sir. She was captured by the Krimzon Guard!"
He looked back down at her, shocked by the news.
"What?" He walked down from the throne toward her. "How can that be?"
She took in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.
"We...we were going to start our mission like you wanted, sir," she started to explain, "but there was this Krimzon Guard who was right in front of the cruiser. He tried to capture us, but Ciara shot him. Then, the rest of the guards found out about it and hunted her down. We began a-a high speed chase all around the city. After a while," She suddenly began rambling in a state of panic and worry, "the zoomer was destroyed and-and we got cornered by the guards, but we were able to escape. But then, Ciara was shot with some kind of drug. She told me to leave her behind despite my protests. I didn't want to, but she…she..." She trailed off, ears falling back in shame. "I-I'm sorry, Damas… I didn't wanna leave her there, but she told me to."
"Do not blame yourself," he assured her, dropping to one knee in order to drop to her level, patting her head lightly. "Did she say anything before you returned to Spargus?"
Akira thought for a moment, before nodding once.
"Yeah, but it wasn't much," she told him. "She said she knew you and that you would find a way to bring her back home safely, but you wouldn't be able to do that unless I came back here and told you."
At that moment, Damas smirked as he returned to his feet and said, "And she was right about that." He, then, stood up and turned his attention to Sig. "Sig, gather up a small army and prepare for a search and rescue. We're heading to the city to get her back."
Both Sig and Akira stared at him, surprised by the order.
"An invasion?" Sig questioned. "But Damas, that would be asking for a war against the city."
"We can't risk leaving Ciara there any longer, and invading the city is the only option we have at getting her back ourselves." Damas looked at Akira, who had climbed onto his shoulder. "Which is why we require a long enough diversion to keep Praxis away. We'll need to attack something that will grab his attention first before we invade the city, that way we can avoid any damages to them and ourselves." He looked at Sig and smirked. "And I want you to lead Phase One of the attack."
"We could attack the Dig!" Akira chimed in. "That's where the Baron is currently looking for Mar's Tomb last time Ciara and I checked last month! I'm sure he wouldn't want anything to disrupt his progress to find it, even a surprise attack from us Wastelanders."
Damas nodded in the ottsel's direction before going on, "Then that is where the diversion will take place!" He looked back at Sig. "I'll need you to gather a party and prepare for a surprise attack within the next few weeks. Head out to the Dig and destroy as much as you can so the Baron will be distracted long enough for us to invade the city." He started walking back to the throne. "I'll need to gather up an army of my own during that time period, and will send a signal three days before the invasion so you can get ready to head over."
Sig straightened in his place and nodded before uttering a "Yes, sir!" before making his way toward the elevator. Damas and Akira both watched him leave the throne room in silence. Clearly, the two were waiting for him to leave before saying anything to the other. Sig entered the elevator and began his descent to the lower level, not noticing Damas and Akira watching him from afar. Once he had disappeared from view, Damas turned his attention to Akira once again, whose expression was still a bit worried.
"Akira," he spoke, grabbing the attention of the female ottsel. "Back in Haven, before Ciara was taken, did the both of you encounter Erol at any point?"
Akira's ears rose at his question instantly, surprised he would ask a question about the Commander of the Krimzon Guard out of the blue. He had never asked about Erol before, especially not unexpectedly the way he did. However, it was not the type to be wondering about Damas's sudden change in subject.
"Y-yes," she responded with a small nod. "We did, in fact, run into him. She seemed really upset at him; upset enough to let...It come out again had I not said something." She shuddered at the memory, her ears falling back at the same time. "But...she was able to control herself very well. 'It' wasn't able to come out completely."
He closed his eyes at that, but it did not seem as though it was out of relief.
"That's good," he stated, "but if she's going to be around Erol for a while, how long do you suppose she'll last?"
Akira stared at her leader for a long moment, before looking at the ground. When another second past, she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm not sure. I guess it would depend on how much they really dislike one another." Her lips pursed. "Well, how much she hates him."
"She doesn't exactly hate him, Akira." Damas point, making the ottsel look at him once again.
"What...do you mean by that, sir?" She questioned. "I thought she hated him for something that he did."
He remained silent for a moment before looking at the ground.
"That may be, but that doesn't mean she hates him." When he looked at Akira, she had on a confused look. "I've seen Erol and Ciara back before I was thrown out of power by Praxis." He sat down on his throne. "At the time, they were...quite close, almost as close as Ciara and I are now. She and I are like family, but those two were much different." He looked up a bit as Akira jumped onto the armrest, as if a father was looking back on the memories of his daughter. "Back then, Ciara used to smile a lot more often when she was with him, and they were actually genuine. Unfortunately, that changed after I was banished. She was outraged over it, but that is a story for another day." His head lowered a bit. "I'm not sure what happened after I came to the Wasteland and helped create this city, but several years later, she came to Spargus. She was unconscious, dehydrated and look as if she was left to die like I was." He paused for thought. "She was surprised to see me when she woke up in the throne room, and I asked her what she was doing here…"
He seemed to trail off as he stared at the ground. Akira stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to continue, before slowly speaking, "Damas, what did she say?"
He remained quiet for another few seconds before looking at her and asking, "Did she ever tell you...how It came into the picture?"
Akira stared at him for another moment, unsure as to why he was suddenly changing the subject again, before shaking her head. Maybe he was trying to connect something.
"No, she didn't," she replied. "Why do you ask?"
He looked forward and said sullenly, "Then it seems she didn't tell you it was the Baron's fault that the creature living within her exists."
Akira gasped at his words, horrified by his words.
"The...the Baron gave it to her," she muttered, earning a small nod from Damas. "But…but why? How? H-how could do such a thing to her?"
"It was because he forced her into the Dark Warrior Program, as he spoke of it to me months before stealing the throne," he explained to her.
Akira sat down on the edge, needing a seat from her mind racing all of a sudden.
"The...the Dark Warrior Program," she mumbled, recalling the name. "I've...heard about that from somewhere, but I don't know exactly what it's all about."
"It was, and probably still is, a program the Baron created to try and make a weapon against the Metal Heads," Damas explained. "He took people off the streets, brought them to the palace, and experimented on ways to infect them and use Dark Eco."
Akira's eyes widened with horror as she looked back at him.
"T-that could kill them!" She exclaimed. "The Baron should know that Dark Eco kills people! What was he thinking?"
"He was thinking he could create something to destroy the Metal Heads," he said. He, then, leaned back in his seat. "But every one of them failed because they showed no change…until later, when they were killed from the inside out by how much Dark Eco was in their systems."
"They…they were killed…?" She asked, earning another nod from Damas. She looked away from him, stricken with terror that the Baron would do such a thing to innocent people, before realization struck her. She slowly looked back at Damas. "Wait, if what you said is true," She turned to face him in her spot, "then how is Ciara still alive? Shouldn't she have died in there?"
He nodded.
"She would have if the program hadn't been a success on her." Her eyes widened even further, but did not say anything as he went on. "The program was dubbed a success at first, but that changed in a matter of seconds. From what she remembers, she recalls breaking from her restraints, ready to end her life because of the pain, but she didn't. Instead, she decided to take it out on someone else, someone she believed deserved death far more…"
Akira blinked in confusion, before asking, "Who did she go after...instead of killing herself?"
Damas remained silent, as if he was remembering the day Ciara told him everything that had happened after his banishment. After another second, he looked at the ottsel again and said, "Rachel, the Krimzon Guard's Lieutenant." Akira blinked at the name, unfamiliar with the name, as he went on. "At the time that this took place, she wasn't a Lieutenant, but she was a KG officer who was there during Ciara's experimentation." He paused as his eyes narrowed. "When Ciara broke free of her restraints, she spotted Rachel moments before ending her life and went into a fit of rage, allowing…It to assume control of her actions. I assume it was the first time 'It' has ever come out, so controlling it at the time was out of the question.
"She went after Rachel, but according to her one of the doctors got in the way and took the fatal blow and was torn apart. Rachel was able to get out of there before she was harmed, but she left behind other officers and doctors there to die by Ciara's hands." He closed his eyes a moment. "She remembers watching those people be slaughtered single-handedly by the creature that had taken over, and found that Rachel was not among them at all. She spotted her out of the room, but someone stopped her from tearing open the doorway that lead to her."
She stared at him for a long moment, listening intently to what he had to say. When she realized he had stopped a moment, thinking on the past once again, she blinked and tilted her head to the side.
"Who could have stopped her?" She asked.
"Erol," was all he had to say.
Akira's eyes widened again.
"Erol...stopped her?" She earned a nod from the King of Spargus. "B-but how? She was slaughtering everyone and everything without a second thought? How could he have stopped her?"
"I'm not sure, to be honest," Damas replied, placing his arm on the armrest and leaning against it, "and she's not so sure herself. The memory is hazy to her, but she remembers bits and pieces. Apparently, Erol was also there during every one of her experimentations, watching over her. She knew he wanted to help, but couldn't, since the Baron would not allow him or anyone else to do so without being killed. When she broke out of her restraints, he escaped with Rachel, but chose to go back and help Ciara. After that, she told me everything went black."
Akira stared at the floor once more, relaying the information she was given. Poor Ciara, she thought. To hear that she was tortured by that bastard of a man Praxis all because he wanted a weapon, only to turn her into what she believed was a monster. In a way, she could not fully blame him (though she did put a lot of it on him). The fact that he used her and innocent people in order to create some weapon with the use of deadly Dark Eco was one thing, but creating something that could destroy the Metal Heads was another. She was, in no way, siding with what he was planning, but she could understand why he chose to do. Still, the fact that he used Ciara hurt the ottsel to no end, hence why she still saw him as a monster. Now she actually understood why Ciara hated the Baron as much as she did. It was not only because he threw Damas out of power, but the lives of all those people, along with her own, were destroyed. She was used like some toy and turned into a creature that could slaughter a whole village if it was given the chance.
Not only did Akira find out about her hatred for the Baron, but she also realized that, maybe, Ciara really did not hate Erol as much as she thought. She realized that it could have been Rachel who was the stem of Ciara's anger. Clearly, she somehow angered Ciara more than the pain the fugitive felt in her body, keeping her from becoming suicidal and taking out her anger and pain on someone else. Whatever pain or anger Rachel inflicted upon Ciara had to be enough to keep her from ending her life on the spot. Fortunately for Ciara, it was a good thing Erol was around to keep her from killing anyone else in the city. Still, that question remained clear: how was he able to do it? Ciara was most likely a homicidal maniac, ready to kill anything that moved in front of her eyes, yet Erol somehow stopped her. How could that be? Did he talk her out of it? No, she would not have heard him due to her anger and rage filling her mind. Did he shoot her? No, she would have reacted immediately and killed him.
Her head started to hurt; nothing was adding up. She was grateful to know Erol had somehow saved her best friend and comrade's life back then, yes, but it was difficult to know what he did in order to calm her down and bring her back to the old Ciara she and Damas knew too well. She had seen Ciara when It came out to play, and it was very difficult to coax her out it. So how was Erol able to do it, she wondered. After much thought, something else came to mind, a thought that she felt was just as important as everything else she heard.
The young ottsel glanced back at her leader.
"So," she spoke, breaking the silence between them, "she doesn't remember what he did to help her..." It was more of a statement than a question.
Damas shook his head and said, "No, she can't recall anything after killing everyone around her, but she knew he helped her in some way."
Akira leaned forward in her seat. "But...if he helped her back then and they were close friends," She blinked, "how come she claims to not like him?"
He looked at her intently. "It's very confusing to fully understand, even for me. She told me a lot about what happened back then, most of it about Erol. The way she spoke about him, despite her supposed hatred toward him, sounded as if she were a hypocrite of a sort."
"A hypocrite?" She inquired. "What makes you say that?"
"Her words sounded as if…" He paused, trying to find the right words, "something more were between them than what she put off."
Akira thought about it for a moment.
"So your saying," she started, "that there is…or was, something going on between them…something more than…friendship?" Damas nodded. "But if that was the case, why would she speak so ill of him now?"
He thought for a long moment, contemplating on whether or not he should go on. However, he sighed and looked back at the ottsel.
"It's because of what he did nine years ago, one year after her experimentation was complete," he explained, "that caused her to despise him as much as she claims."
Akira blinked and asked, "What did he do to cause her to be the way she was when she arrived nine years ago?"
He stared at her intently before looking forward. His next words struck her to the core, and they ran through her head multiple times: "From what I heard, he had abandoned her when she needed him the most…"
Her eyes widened a bit, but returned to normal as she thought on it.
"But...if he abandoned her, then she should hate him." She stated. "Then she would be right when she says she hates him, right?"
"That would be true," Damas told her, "had she not known of the reason why he did so." When she did not say anything, he looked at her again. "According to her, he abandoned her for the Lieutenant of the Krimzon Guard."
Her eyes widened even more, uttering the name only once in surprise: "Rachel..."
