Tunnel Vision
To say that having an aragami on the team was incredible was a great understatement. In almost no time, news spread through both the corporation and media outlets like wildfire and within two days, the far east branch was the centre of media attention.
Many news crews came to the branch to try and get a glimpse of the team that an aragami was now part of but so far, none of them had any luck. That was primarily because the trio managed to reopen the underground tunnel connecting the base to Aegis island and would use that way to go to their training spot without attracting any unwarranted attention.
As for the team itself, in an effort to 'build a stronger relationship' as James said it, both he and Shio now slept together and spent nearly all day with Clifford so that all the three of them could get to know each other better as a team. There were many times that James had to apologize to Alisa for not being able to spend much time with her.
"It's alright", said Alisa through the phone while Shio and Cliff continued trading blows.
"I swear I'll make it up to you", said James and Alisa smiled a little.
"James I understand this is important for you so don't feel bad alright".
"Thanks", he said sounding relieved "You're the best Alisa".
"Never forget it", she said with a chuckle then put the phone down.
"Are things okay though?" asked Damien when she turned around.
"Hmm oh yeah it is don't worry", said Alisa trying to assuage his fears "Before Cliff joined, James has been having a tough time finding a third teammate so he's been lisless for a while now. James is the sort of person that loves doing things as such, relaxing for long periods of time is his weakness so I'm honestly happy seeing him run around. It reminds me of how things were."
"How are things with you?" asked Alisa and Damien gave her a weak smile.
"As far as things go on paper, we're fine. We're doing missions at regular pace, getting more and more experience but I'm worried about the long run."
"What do you mean?"
"Among those affected by Romeo's death, Julius really took it to heart. He's been working himself to the bone to try and push the god arc soldier programme so much that he's ignoring his own health".
Before Alisa could ask the next question, Damien intercepted "I keep in touch with Fran whos volunteered to keep an eye on him."
"I haven't told the others about it but seeing as we're going to meet him and Yuno tomorrow about a relief concert, I'm worried that things might not go well".
Alisa offered Damien some advice on how to be a supporting figure to both Julius and the team and Damien made sure to note things of importance. Come tomorrow, the team gathered at the helipad before heading to Friar. Once they arrived, the met Yuno and headed inside the base.
On his first arrival, Damien felt that Friar treated its inhabitants with a sense of detachment. Despite the many staff that were there, he felt alone and out of place (a polar opposite to the far east which made him feel welcome from the get go). The only consolation came from a few friendly faces like Fran and some soldiers that he grew to call his friends.
Now however, there was no sign of any familiar faces. Even Fran who was known for working all known hours of the day was not seen.
"Where is everyone?" asked GIl saying what was on all their minds.
"Ah good you're here", said Julius coming up the stairs "We've only got a half hour to talk about the concert so let's go quickly".
He gestured for the others to join him in the lounge and the group, slowly but hesitantly followed him. Damien remembered the uneasy presence he felt when he first got here, only now it felt even worse than back then. He glanced down and was confused to see his right hand shaking, as if something was gnawing heavily in the back of his mind.
"So have we decided on the location?" asked Julius, not noticing that Damien had yet to arrive.
"Um, yes", said Yuno in an effort to get rid of the awkwardly professional feeling that hung in the area "I have some songs selected and have started practicing on it".
"Hey Julius", said Damien slowly coming down the stairs "What happened to Fran and the others?"
"Well most of the staff has been reassigned as you already know", said Julius "And Fran was feeling under the weather so I decided to give her the day off".
A believable story except for the fact that Fran never took a day off in her life. Damien remembered talking to her about how she once worked a full shift with her having a running nose and a thermos of chicken soup beside her. But he did not want to bring that up so he quietly took his seat and listened to Yuno.
All through the meeting, Damien noticed how distant and stand offish Julius remained, answering precisely and to the point, lacking any of the familiarity and friendliness he had before. It seemed that the others also noticed this and tried to ask him a few personal question but the teen artfully dodged them as he wished to finalize the details of the concert before anything else.
"You know we still have some time left", said Gil looking at his watch once the details were all hammered out "How have things been going on here?"
"They've been going well", said Julius "The soldiers are learning but not at the pace we're hoping for".
"'We?'" repeated Nana in confusion
"Yes, Dr. Rachel has been helping me a great deal in fine tuning the god arc soldiers".
"That's a bit strange", stated Ciel.
"I don't see how, she wants what is best for the world and right now that's the soldiers", said Julius then looked at his watch "I'm sorry but I have to report back now and continue my work".
"Wait Julius," called out Ciel
"Is something the matter?" he asked sounding more like a professional businessman than a teammate.
"Yes something's the matter", said Gil "We haven't seen you for weeks and when we do, you don't even want to sit in the same room with us for five minutes".
"I am working my hardest to ensure that the program is completed. Once that's done, none of us will ever have to wonder if they're going to die today", barked Julius.
"That's completely understandable but you're losing yourself in the process", stated Damien "You're not at all like the person we once knew".
"And what's wrong with that? If it means that hundreds upon hundreds of children are safe", he said then marched towards Damien.
"There has to be a better way for you to achieve your goals without having to ignore your friends".
"Well if you find one let me know", he said then turned around and took a few steps before Gil placed a hand on his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" asked Julius, his back still facing everyone but his voice was on the verge of an outburst.
"I don't know what the hell Rachel must have said to you but I'm not letting this go on", replied the oldest one on the team "You're coming with us and we're moving the research to the far east. You can continue work there, miles away from her".
"You have to the count of five to get your hand off my shoulder Gil".
"Guys please let's not do this", said Nana sounding anxious
"No, let's", said Gil but before he knew it, he was sent crashing into the ground.
"What the hell Julius?" barked Damien
"I warned him", he replied with a cold tone in his voice and headed to the elevator.
"You go after Julius", he said to Ciel and Nana "Yuno and I'll help Gil".
They nodded and separated after that. Yuno and Damien helped Gil to a sofa then found out that luckily nothing was damaged or injured. Gil did feel pretty winded after that but that was expected seeing as it caught him so off guard.
"But I don't understand", said Yuno "Why is he pushing you all away when you're only trying to help?"
"It's because of how much he blames himself for what happened to Romeo", replied Damien "Right now he feels lower than low and his only way of finding closure is to complete the program because in his mind if the god arc soldiers were complete, then a tragedy like that wouldn't have occured".
"But the problem is that he's become so focused on this that he doesn't care what happens to him and he's pushing away everyone that's concerned about him".
"Damien", said Gil rubbing his head a little "You seem pretty familiar with that, care to explain why?"
"Sorry buddy but one problem at a time", he replied then heard the sound of an elevator door opening. He turned to see Nana holding her arm with her head lowered and Ciel also in a similarly dejected posture.
"We tried to speak to him", said Nana, her voice nearly on the verge of tears "We really did try but he wouldn't listen…"
"And then…"
"I tried to go speak to him as well but the elevator stopped working for some reason", said Damien recollecting the story to James, Shio and Cliff.
"And you're sure he slapped Ciel?" asked Shio
"Positive", he replied but felt guilty for saying it out loud "With the way things are going, Rachel's got him wrapped around her twisted little finger and we need to break him free of that before its too late".
"I think I have an idea on how to make that happen", said James rubbing his chin "But you're not going to like it".
"That bad?"
"Yes but it's definitely going to succeed", he replied "While that's going on though, I need you to help Shio out with some information she's been digging into".
"Sure, if I can help in any way possible then I'm all for it", said Damien
"I need you to tell me everything you know about the Magnolia academy", she said.