Sorry for the wait, I got lazy to write lol. That's all :P
Anyways, enjoy.
I waited, ignoring the voice that whispered and bitched in my head.
The voice was annoying, and plagued my existence for a long, ten years.
It was easy to suppress him at first, but the longer he stayed, the more he knew of me. What I liked and disliked, who I trusted.
Who I liked...
I was tempted with desires that anyone would take advantage of, and I was growing more unstable, a condition I didn't like.
And I did things I was not proud of.
I couldn't apologize to Sylvia, nor to Ethan. The gap is too far to bridge now. The least I can do is ignore the voice in my head, tempting me to leave Kuoh and free to the safety of Khaos Brigade's army.
It was only possible because I knew who I trusted. Unlike the people he infected before, I was aware of Freed. Myself.
And I didn't want to go back. I never really liked Khaos Brigade. I disliked Michael.
Man, he really couldn't take jokes questioning his position.
Wake up you fool!
I jerked and from there it was impossible to control my body.
As soon as Sylvia approached, I blocked her weapon and lashed out with a foot, an attack she absorbed with her thigh.
Swords appeared from under my feet and I leaped away, only to have fly towards me and kick me into a wall.
"Annoying bitch."
From all around them, flesh leaked out from the walls, the two of them recoiling from the sight, "Now, let us start."
Ethan laughed and shook his head, "I am not sure if I should be angry or happy."
"I know I am happy," Sylvia chirped and approached him, embracing his tightly.
"So she'll be joining the operation?" Andrew nodded at Ethan's question. "Alright, I'll be sure to brief her."
"Let her know everything. I got word she has clearance now, as soon as she appeared."
"Will do," Ethan replied. "Good night."
"Night, Ethan."
Sylvia held his hand, and Ethan looked at her, seeing her face scrunch up in thought, waiting until silence had fallen across the room, "Can we go outside?"
It was odd request, but not too far-fetched.
They stood and Sylvia led the way, opening the door for Ethan and shutting it behind him. "Ethan, I want you to know that your request for this mission means do much to me."
"I know."
"No, you don't get it. I don't mean giving me a second chance to get Free-"
"Sylvia." She stopped and he could see the color drain from her face, "I know."
Sylvia covered her mouth as tears began flowing, her voice was barely audible as she asked a question he didn't hear.
"This whole mission is for Ruler in the official records, but we were doing it for you."
She embraced him, clenching him tightly, her face buried in his chest, "Thank you. Thank you so much, Ethan."
He put an arm around her and ran his free hand down the back of her head. "If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here."
"I will, I will. One day, but not today."
"Okay."
She looked up at him, eyes bloodshot, "I didn't mean to be rude-"
He placed a hand on her head, "You're just not ready yet."
She smiled and blinked away tears, wiping her face when she couldn't. "I'm glad you're still here. You don't know how fortunate I feel right now."
He smiled, "I don't."
Sylvia began crying again, and he let her sob into him sweater He simply leaned against the wall, running his hand down her hair as she rested against him.
"Hey Sylvia."
"Yeah?"
"Why did you come to me for help? Why not Michael, the Angel?"
Sylvia shut her eyes and hugged herself, "I don't like Michael."
That piqued his interest. The leader of the Angels? Pure and beloved? Yet Sylvia dislikes him. Or maybe distrusts him. This was going to be valuable information for the Foundation. Extremely valuable.
"What's up? Why not?"
Sylvia seemed to fold in on herself, but before Ethan could reach her to comfort her, Sylvia stood up and began pacing the lawn, "I don't know why, but when I returned, he isolated me for leaving Irina and Calreth."
"Who?" Ethan asked. "Was it that one man that was the leader of your group?"
She nodded, "Yeah. Neither of them even bothered to defend me. They acted as if I deserted the Angels."
Sylvia grabbed Ethan's shirt and snarled, "Even Irina, Ethan. Irina."
That caused a lot of concern. She was open-minded. There was no way she would blindly blame Sylvia compared to Xenovia. Ethan pried her clenched fist from his shirt and she withdrew, "Sorry. I-"
"Keep going," he interrupted and she nodded.
"So...I was suspected a deserter, and can you really blame me? It's so stupid," she continued to vent, "It's as if I made a phone call to ask when and where a party is, you didn't answer, and you blame me for not being at the party."
She drew her fist back but couldn't find anything to punch, "Fucking-I need to punch something. It's so frustrating."
Sylvia whirled around and continued pacing, "So not only did he brand me a deserter, he knew I was raped by Freed and didn't bother to offer any help."
"He knew," Ethan stated flatly.
She inhaled and sighed, "I don't know. He implied he did, but he never said anything to me."
Sylvia ground her teeth and met Ethan's eyes, "He even refused to let me use the Seeker's Heart."
She was quiet for a while and Ethan knew she wouldn't be speaking until she gathered her thoughts, "I don't know what that is."
She jumped and nodded, "Right. Sorry. It's a device that lets you see all over the world, pretty much. Say I wanted to know where you are, I say your name and narrow the description so it knows to look for you, and it reveals your location, to the very atom."
She shifted from side to side, "In that moment, of course. If you're moving it'll be harder to know exactly where you'll be, but it'll give a general direction where you're going if you're moving."
"I see," he said as she explained. It was a powerful device, sounds like a powerful device. Especially if it didn't limit its search to humans only. What about objects, or events? And if it could predict the future...it's going to have an invaluable role in a war.
Which would be a big problem if the Angels became an enemy.
"So he refused to help me, and Irina is even taking his side," Sylvia said quietly. "He said specifically that he won't allow any other Angel nor an ally to help me find Freed. I'm on my own, and only the Church will be used to find him."
That piqued his curiosity. The Church?
"What if he was hinting that you could use the Church for help?" But as the question left his mouth, he knew how outrageous that suggestion was. Sylvia scoffed and shook her head, laughing bitterly.
"Good joke, Ethan." She closed her eyes and lowered her head, "I'm just glad you and the Foundation are on this operation."
Ethan gave a short laugh, "It's nothing."
"Thank you," Sylvia said quietly.
"It's nothing. I mean it." Ethan gave her a reassuring smile and patted her hand, "This is for you."
She didn't raise her head, "I love you."
It came suddenly, blurted out from Sylvia's mouth as if she wanted to say those words before something bad happened. Ethan chuckled and opened his eyes, "I love you too, Sylvia."
She gave him another hug, this one brief, and light seemed to return to her eyes. "Should we start the briefing?"
"Before we do," Sylvia said and Ethan waited. She seemed to be thinking, her eyes averted from his gaze.
"Sylvia?"
She looked at him and sighed, before kissing him on the lips. Not a peck, a hungry French kiss, surprising the hell out of him.
Sylvia pressed her body against his, pressing him back as their tongues fought. She eventually broke off the kiss.
"Sylvie. I told you friends can me Sylvie," she said before she pulled him inside, a skip in her step he never noticed before.
"Are you sure you want to use a rifle?" Sylvia sat beside him worriedly as he went through the functions check, glancing at the men and women around him that were leaving and heading to various choke-points in the sector, to ensure nobody would be able to escape.
In addition to a physical force, there were thaumaturgists present that set up a barrier as the Foundation coordinated with the local police force to set up barricades preventing anyone from entering the area.
"I'm sure." He folded the stock and put the weapon into a harness that wrapped around his chest and shoulders, seating the folded up weapon underneath his armpit, a magazine already clipped upside down on the opposite side, seated nicely on his right, if one ignored that it was pushed into his armpit.
"Of course," he smirked, "It doesn't need me to waste my energy. I'll conserve all of that to fight Freed."
She seemed unconvinced for a moment before she nodded, "So I'll stick behind you?"
He chuckled, "Of course." Hopping out of the vehicle, he fitted on a helmet and powered on the camera and synced the earpiece, Sylvia doing the same for herself. "Telemetry check."
[Audio check and video check, Inigo-Ten, Badger-Seven. Are you sure you want to go in alone?]
"Yes," Ethan replied as they jogged towards the building, a dilapidated church that was frequented as a meeting place for Freed and his allies. It seemed that Freed became aware of their presence, despite how far they were, because they encountered a team that was fleeing the area, geared up in exorcist clothing and weapons.
Ethan got ready to pull out his rifle, but Sylvia acted before him, moving faster than she has previously done before, sweeping out the legs from underneath a man and smashing his face into the pavement.
The second one managed to react and started to draw out his sword, but Sylvia slid under the arm, ripping the scabbard holding a sword from his belt loop, before smashing the leather into the man's temple, the exorcist collapsing shortly after.
Before he even hit the floor, Sylvia stabbed the end into the third man's solar plexus, causing him to let out the air in his lungs. Sylvia kicked up and sent him crashing into the floor, out cold as his jaws snapped together. She turned to the fourth one, but Ethan was subduing his man. She felt the air move and sidestepped the punch from the fifth man and grabbed his wrist, ducking under his arm and twisting it up behind him.
He tried to move, but his curse quickly turned into screams of pain as she shattered his arm. She began to knock him into the ground, but someone grabbed her wrist and she whirled on her new attacker, twisting her arm free by turning it against the way it should be turned.
Her arms were slapped against her sides and Ethan shook her, "Stop."
The darkness ebbed and she found herself panting, extremely short breaths as sweat slid down her neck. "Sylvia. I told you you need to stay focused."
She nodded rapidly, her eyes closed. Sylvia swallowed as she took in a shuddering breath and hugged Ethan, her arms around his torso as her chest was up against his, her head on his shoulder, the form of the weapon rough against her arms. "If you keep this up, you'll need to back out and return to a site for a psych eval."
"I don't want to," she replied and Ethan held her cheeks, making her eyes meet his.
"Then focus. I believe in you."
She took a breath, "Alright." He tilted her head down and kissed her forehead, surprising her.
He looked concerned at her expression, "Hopefully it wasn't uncalled for?" Sylvia smiled and shook her head, pleased at his cautious progress.
"No, it wasn't," she answered as a field agent arrived and began to restrain the unconscious targets. "Shall we go?"
He nodded and they headed out again, Sylvia trying to stamp down the abyss that billowed underneath, reminding herself not to lose sight of the big picture. As she opened her wings and inspected them, she wondered how she had not fallen, and why.
[Inigo-Ten. Head out of the gutter.]
She was startled out of her thoughts and looked up to see Ethan staring at her. "What? Never saw an Angel before?"
He seemed amused at her jab, and responded with as much vigor, "Not one demanding as much attention as you do."
She pouted as she caught up with him, "Is that an insult?"
Ethan chuckled, "If you let it be."
She landed a light punch, one he didn't bother evading. As they neared the church, Ethan pulled out the rifle and looked as Sylvia, who had her back against the wall beside the door. He squeezed her shoulder and she went to the center of the large doors.
They opened silently at her push and Ethan aimed down the sights of the rifle, smoothly breaking the trigger to the rear as his eyes and barrel found the exorcists standing and turning at the light.
As if in a video game, his weapon snapped instantly on target, his aim unwavering. The suppressed shot made as much noise as a pellet gun, letting out cracks, but nothing attention grabbing.
Four more were down and Ethan's magazine ran dry, and he ducked behind the wall as Sylvia took his place, spreading open her two pairs of wings, the four wings blazing in light and energy.
There was no worry to be cautious, and there was no need to be reckless. She brought up a line of magic circles and each one fired off five rays of magic, traveling faster than a bullet as it zipped and twisted in midair, making sharp turns and changing direction until they found their marks, spearing three other exorcists before exploding, showering the floor and walls with blood, bone, and organs.
Two more collapsed, each with a dime-sized hole in their head and a third one collapsed when his torso was perforated, his weapons dropping on the floor.
Ethan hung the rifle by his side, holding it loosely before dropping off the weapon and harness at the front door as several vehicles approached and surrounded the area.
Sylvia caught him looking at her with disapproval, "Did I do something wrong?"
He pointed, "That might be overkill."
She began to speak but he held up a hand, "Forget it. Hey command, let the cleanup team know to be careful. I don't know how many of Khaos Brigade has Kokabiel's subjects."
[Roger all.]
"They look plenty dead though," a woman spoke up from behind them, her helmet muffling her voice. Sylvia saw Ethan nod in response before she waved them away, "Get to work on the others. We'll take it from here."
Ethan looked into the wings of the building and approached the statue when he found nothing. "See if we can move this."
The cleanup team approached and held rifles at the floor, the same ones Ethan used: an AR platform functioning on a piston system that utilized .300 Blackout rounds.
He set his hands on the surface and Sylvia joined him, both of them straining to budge the sculpture weighing several tons, the weight easing up when they got it moving.
A depression was revealed and Sylvia pushed down on it, the stone crumbling away into a pit as the magical barrier holding it together fell apart. The only access was a ladder.
Ethan climbed down first, and Sylvia glanced at the team before joining him, and stood nearby as a couple of the team members joined them. Ahead was a large sloping path that descended far into darkness.
He tossed a hand-sized rock down and listened to it roll down the ground. Nothing moved and the tunnel stayed dead. "We'll go now."
The man standing nearby nodded and urged his partner up, and followed suit, and Ethan began moving when they heard the team setting up fortifications as they waited.
"Command?"
[Connection is just a little...tty. Video is clea...we didn't get...audio.]
"Roger all."
Ethan pulled off their earpieces and covered the mic. "Sylvia. Look forward."
She did. "Sylvia, I didn't think you needed to vent your anger. Not against them. We need them all alive. But when we meet Freed, feel free to unleash hell. I won't stop you," he said. She could hear the hesitation in his voice.
"We hadn't found Ruler yet," Ethan continued. "None of the teams intercepted. But if he lives and mocks you for what he did to you..."
He didn't need to finish the thought. "Hey-"
"I want to let you know. The Foundation probably noticed we don't have Ruler. I could escalate it so we're forced to kill him."
She was silent, and when he held up her earpiece, she thought for a long moment and took it when she didn't think of anything to say.
"Sorry, command. Inigo and I just needed some private words before we met Freed."
[Un...ood.]
They approached the bottom of the steps and into a large chamber, half the size of a football field.
At the center sat a man in a pair of black shorts and matching black t-shirt.
If not for the mysterious light all around, bathing the room from top to bottom, they would not have seen him.
In his hands held a simple sword, a blade two inches wide and two feet long, a sword that didn't hold any mysterious power.
"All elements, Ruler is not with target," Ethan made a call to the entire network, "Requesting escalation to level 3 search."
Sylvia kept her eyes on Freed the entire time but the man did not budge. Not even when Ethan's voice echoed throughout the chamber.
[Recei..ed. Relaying req...Continue at...escretion.]
Ethan looked at Sylvia. She nodded as her heart began to race.
The darkness swirled in her vision and she wanted to kill Freed here, now. Forget playing fair and square.
"We could, you know," Ethan said, reading her thoughts. He summoned a sword, Kiba's sword from his Sword Birth, and looked at her.
Play fair.
What was the meaning? Did it exist? The Foundation struck ruthlessly and efficiently, playing the scalpel and hammer whichever served the purpose better.
Terrorists originating from Chaos Insurgency? Airstrike.
SCP-076? Abel? Explosive collar when he entered bloodlust.
Not fair.
Freed? When he utilized Excalibur Ruler to force her onto her back and legs apart? Where was the fairness in that?
Chivalry should be killed, and made to stay dead.
Because the person playing the chivalrous knight will die.
And she played fair when she could.
Which was a reason she was so skeptical about the Foundation.
Where was the care? The empathy?
Until Freed.
She looked at Ethan, who was waiting patiently for her choice.
It was hers to make. Not his.
He made this mission happen for her, to solve her issue.
She approached the man, and as she did, a cold chill traveled down her spine. Sylvia blocked the attack as Freed seemed to turn around instantly.
He lashed out with a foot, an attack she absorbed with her thigh.
Swords appeared from under Sylvia's feet and she leaped away, only to have Freed fly towards her and kick her into a wall.
"Annoying bitch."
From all around them, flesh leaked out from the walls, the two of them recoiling from the sight, "Now, let us start."
Sylvia opened her wings and took off as Ethan took out a sword, pointing it at Freed.
"So happy you two are here." The Freed they had gotten used to, the one Sylvia knew was now here.
But then what happened with Freed earlier? She saw Ethan shed a tear before the expression hardened, "Freed. Last chance."
"Last chance? For what? I'd join you in a threesome if your little whore is included."
Despite the comment and lecherous looks, Sylvia felt nothing. Devoid of emotion. Because all he wanted was a reaction, for her to slip up.
All she had to do was shunt away the memories.
Forget the face as he leered over her.
And the feeling of his body slapping into hers.
All she was here to do was kill Freed.
No mistakes will be made.
Not this time.
When she said nothing, he stared at her before looking at Ethan, "You know she feels good? Have you been inside her?"
"Least you could have done was ask."
The leering faltered.
Ethan pointed and swords flew at Freed's feet and the exorcist leapt back, his worry replaced with annoyance and disgust when Sylvia spread open her four wings, the wingspan spreading to it's enormous six meter length, raining down tendrils of magic. He nimbly dodged the attacks, contorting his body into impossible positions as he snapped his back into ninety degree angles to avoid the attacks.
He leapt off the ground and landed safely away as the magic disappeared.
"Fine, be that way, you fuck buddies."
The room began smelling and it soon became apparent why, the flesh that leaked out of the walls were pink, mingled with various shades of red, black, and littered with shards of bone. Human remains blended and liquefied.
They were literally made of liquid flesh, all muscles, tendons, and blood.
"Holy shit, Command!"
[You...alone. Termina...we...ill get sampl...later.]
"Got it."
Sylvia conjured magic from her palms and instantly, one pillar ignited in molten flames, and Ethan shot his head up at her. She could see the amazement on his face and couldn't help but smile.
It felt liberating not being limited to a human's mana when using her magic. But that was soon taken away when the pillar writhed and twisted, as if having a mind of its own. It aimed at Ethan and she shouted in warning, but he was already moving.
She quickly focused on herself afterwards, dodging under the tentacles of human flesh, twisting midair and projecting a bubble when the molten flesh crashed into the floor, sending the heated up liquid all across the room.
Once that mass of flesh became still, it bubbled and jumped before joining together to create a humanoid form. "Shit, Command, you want to send some backup?"
[Occup...him. We'r...nding in forces so...]
"Alright," Sylvia looked at Ethan in concern as he twisted and dodged the strikes of Freed, dancing around the man as he eyed the moving flesh warily, sending the blades flying at Freed from underneath his feet.
But how could she get rid of the living flesh? Maybe she couldn't get rid of it, but what if she stopped it in its place?
She paused and watched the flesh continue to assault Ethan, the man darting around Freed and seeing her frozen midair. Freed glanced up and soon the flesh raced her way. Ethan cast a quick glance up before charging Freed.
Sylvia exhaled and her breath became visible in the dungeon's air. She quickly grabbed at it and mimed throwing it at one set of flesh, before slapping at the second one.
None of it touched her as the air solidified into a casing, engulfing the flesh completely, digging even underground.
When they stopped, Sylvia admired her work and quickly plummeted when a tentacle of flesh flew at her face, the humanoid figure targeting her. She was about to encase the creature in ice, but leaped back with all her might as the final mass of flesh flew her way. She crashed onto the floor and rolled multiple times as the mass collided with the encased flesh, spraying the liquified meat everywhere.
She was about to bring up a barrier but quickly began to worry about Ethan. Sylvia ran under the flesh and leapt over the puddles of flesh as the ice began to crack. She cursed when she figured out that she didn't make the magic strong enough. It was a test at best and she expected it to fail.
Finding Ethan, she quickly raised a barrier around them. She found him breathing heavily as he stabbed a sword into the ground. "Thanks."
He was bleeding from his face from minor cuts and on his arm, where a sword had split the flesh.
Sylvia looked at the flesh breaking free after wedging itself into the cracks made. "Ethan. I think it's better to kill Freed."
"Kind of figured that," Ethan replied.
"No, I think he's controlling the flesh," she answered. "Even when I was wide open, it never looked at me until Freed did."
"Hm," he thought and winced as the flesh slammed against her barrier.
"It's alright," she said, "I'm putting my entire strength into the barrier. Anything short of a god's attack won't fracture this."
He nodded, "Think you can bait Freed in?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Is there any way you can tweak the magic so that humans can exit and enter?" He waved towards the flesh that as attacking the barrier relentlessly, "It's not like we can get out anyway."
She hummed, "It's...risky. I don't like the idea of..." Her voice died off, "I'll try it. Just let me cast another barrier."
Sylvia slashed a finger through the air and pointed up before bringing it straight down.
"Does every magic you cast need a silly gesture?" She blushed and slapped his arm.
"Shut up, it's a habit," both of them were smiling despite their situation. She could cast the spells instantly, but she had to feign weakness so anyone watching her would think they could attack her during her "vulnerable state." Though this was more of an advantage when she was casting defensive rather than offensive spells.
Just as she cast the spell, the flesh shifted and Freed jumped in, a gleeful look in his eyes. Ethan rushed forward, but Sylvia canceled the barrier, gambling that Freed would do what she expected him to do.
The light from the barrier faded, and the flesh all around them collapsed on top of them, the shadow causing Freed to look up.
Just as she deduced, the flesh was under his control.
With death literally looming over him, Freed stopped the flesh from falling and shoved them all away, towards the far edges of the room. Ethan rushed forward and grabbed his shirt before he backed up towards a corner, gesturing towards Sylvia to do the same. Freed tried to summon the flesh, but Ethan slapped him so hard, Freed had to spend seconds to focus on Ethan's face as the flesh fell back. "Where's Ruler?"
"What?"
"Excalibur Ruler, you fuck," Ethan snarled. "Where is it?"
"Heh," the exorcist spit out a tooth, "You're not finding it. I will have possession of it by the end of today."
"Comm-" Ethan looked around for his radio, which was missing. "Fuck."
He tossed Freed onto the floor and the flesh moved, but Ethan swiftly stomped on Freed's left knee, causing the man to scream and the flesh lose its form. "I'll ask again. Where is Ruler?"
"Buy one from a department store," he heaved and Ethan nodded before slamming his face into the floor.
That was when Sylvia saw four humanoid creatures form and began running at them, and the sight shocked her. She was certain that the creatures weren't sentient, but here they were, acting on their own, and she was sure Freed couldn't think through the pain.
"Fucking hell," Sylvia snarled, and simply gestured, shifting the area around them and containing all the flesh into a compact box.
"Now, Ruler," Ethan said after turning around when Sylvia cursed. Freed stared at them with wide open eyes.
His eyes shifted back and forth, snapping to the side when Ethan struck, "I'll tell you if you don't kill me."
Ethan looked at Sylvia as darkness seeped in from the edges of her vision, "You fuck."
He grinned as Sylvia snatched him from Ethan's hand and hurled him across the room, sending him into a wall. She approached and held him up, "Tell me."
"Maybe if you give me head, I'll consider-" she slammed his face into the wall, and to her surprised his head didn't cave in.
"Stick your dick into that wall," At the same time the thought clicked, she felt the edge of a sword put to her neck.
"Put him down." She looked at Ethan in shock, "We need him alive."
"But you-"
"The mission's changed. You can harm him," he waved at the damage to the cave, "But this is killing him."
Her stomach dropped. "I..."
"Tell us and you will be apprehended."
"No!" Sylvia shouted as Ethan approached. She began to move, but Ethan whipped out a pistol and aimed at her torso.
A Glock, nothing too dangerous.
In fact, a pathetic attempt to stop her, but she paused, betrayed. It wasn't even the weapon that stopped her. It was Ethan's conviction.
Despite his promises, despite being Ethan, he put the mission first.
She understood that, and she abhorred it. Sylvia knew why Ethan was willing to shoot her to keep Freed alive. Losing track of the most powerful Excalibur is a fatal error.
Sylvia stared at Ethan as the darkness retreated, and her vision blurred.
"Let him go."
"I..." Sylvia let go and turned away as Ethan's boots crunched on the rocks.
"Make me, dog," she heard Freed say. "Doesn't the magician girl have some magic trick to force me to confess?"
Sylvia grit her teeth. Ethan' shoes shifted slightly as he squatted.
"Freed."
"Siegfried will get Excalibur Ruler." Sylvia whipped around, "You know that Peace Summit?"
"Yeah."
"Khaos Brigade is attacking. It's an ambush."
"Who set it up?" Sylvia looked back and forth between the two men.
"I dunno."
"..." Ethan nodded, "That's all you know?"
Freed winced and hissed, having a seizsure for a few seconds as he seemed to fight something inside him. "Yeah...yeah."
He looked up at Sylvia and she recognized what happened.
This was Freed Sellzen. Who became possessed by someone. This was who she used to know.
"I'm sorry," he said as he met her eyes, "I didn't want to."
"I..." Ethan nudged her and handed her the pistol, which she held, the grip comfortable in her hand.
"Don't you dare-" the Demon snarled. "I gave you the location. You promised, bitch."
The barriel found his forehead and she pulled the trigger, "Right, but I never agreed, dumbass."
Ethan nodded and said, "Farewell, Freed Simon. I'm sorry I didn't do anything."
Sylvia watched as he knelt down and closed the man's eyes, before he stood and pointed at the box, "Open it up."
Sylvia stumbled, "What?"
"Open it and kill them."
"How?"
He shook his head, "Somehow, stab them, blow them up, I don't fucking know."
Sylvia looked at the box and it instantly vanished, and they watched as the liquid fell to the floor. Sylvia noticed a detail at the same time as Ethan did. "Hearts?"
Despite the liquid properties, each part seemed to be attached to a central "heart." They began shifting and Sylvia flicked her fingers at the fresh, stabbing all four of the hearts. The liquid stopped trying to create a solid form and oozed to the ground.
"Nice, that was a lot easier than I expected," Ethan said. Sylvia turned to him, seeing him staring at Freed's unmoving body.
"Ethan?"
"Recently," he said simply. "I noticed he was acting weird, abnormally, I guess, as the years went by. Didn't think it was linked to this huge plot."
"Did you send me after him just so-" She stumbled at his disgusted visage, and immediately regretted her question.
His expression softened and he nudged Freed's body, "Sorry I made you think I would turn my back on you."
"Why?"
"I had faith Freed would pull through."
"If he didn't?"
Ethan looked at the hallway, "I'd still let you kill him. I dunno what I'd do after, though."
She wasn't sure how to answer. Thinking about it, if she did kill Freed, then his fears would be fulfilled.
Excalibur Ruler would be in the hands of Khaos Brigade.
Ethan would be terminated, at the very least administered heavy amnestics and sent far away from Sylvia.
Then where would she be?
Sylvia held him, and he pulled his arm free, "I'm glad the gamble paid off."
They looked up at the crunching of boots, "About time."
"He's dead?"
Th team looked at the flesh sprayed everywhere, and at Ethan's bloody side, before fanning out and bringing out syringes and containers.
"No Ruler?"
"No." Sylvia opened her mouth as the team leader stared at Ethan.
"Can we speak in private?"
"Yeah."
"Ethan?" Sylvia asked fearful, knowing he gave an answer which would kill him. Ethan only raised a hand. The team leader took him aside and began speaking furiously, from the gestures. Ethan, however, didn't seem to mind and kept calm, the leader eventually listening intently as they continued with the conversation.
"You hurt?" Sylvia looked at the corpsman who approached with a kit in hand.
"I'm fine."
He looked down at Freed and nodded, "Feels justified, doesn't it?"
Sylvia looked at the operator in shock.
"Getting back at the person who ruined part of your life just feels right." Sylvia listened to the woman's words as she jogged towards Ethan, who was escorted out of the cavern. Sylvia got the attention of the team leader.
"Is there anything I need to do?"
"Nah, we got it handled. Samples are collected and we managed to get some bodies out of this liquified mess."
"What about Ethan?"
The team leader leaned in, "He's going to be fine. He'll need to host a long conference with the site admins about the findings, and we'll need to prepare a whole plan around the fact we need to fake ignorance if the Peace Summit assault. Gonna be pretty fucking tricky to do."
"Can I go with him?"
He nodded, waving a hand, "Go on. We got this covered."
To: MTFs selected to review XK event SUNRISE
Subject: On suspicions of Inigo-Ten
Inigo-Ten has growing suspicions on the behavior of Badger-Seven. While she does not appear to be aware of Procedure-VERILOG, she is beginning to mistrust Badger-Seven. Badger-Seven was forced to reveal vague details on the outcome of the contingency plan as the source of his worries. Reminder to all MTF groups involved are to NOT reveal details of said operation from Predicted XK event-SUNRISE. Refer to [REDACTED] for the event you are assigned to react to.
[BEGIN LOG]
"Hey Ethan."
"Hm?"
"Just what else aren't you ever telling me?"
"...Whatever is classified. You know, level 3 or level 4 stuff."
"I don't mean that. I mean-"
"I know why you're asking. I'm never going to stab you in the back."
"For some reason, I can't believe that."
"Can't say I blame you, Sylvia."
"Can I trust you? I...I want to, but I'm scared."
"You can trust the Foundation to do the right thing."
"Can I trust you?"
"...I won't ever betray you."
"Why do I feel like...I have a bad feeling about it?"
"Because, there are decisions we have to make, whether we like them or not. And as much as I want to keep you happy, I know it might not happen."
"What's that mean?" He didn't answer. "Ethan."
He sighed.
"Not everyone will make it out of this campaign alive. Myself included."
"You don't know that."
"I know that we don't know that. But we're now fighting a god and an enormous terrorist group with Kokabiel's various experiments. Whatever Valper made, Kokabiel made stronger. We've seen zombies with corrosive blood, faux Angels, freaks that turn berserk at a glance. Then now...where we're going, Michael...Captain Weinberg Michael, got himself into a huge mess, and they're figuring out what the hell he's fighting.
"That's four sets of different experiments, Sylvia. I can keep up only so much before we begin fighting demigods. There's only so much the Foundation can do before they have to bring out the big guns, then when that no longer works, then what? What after the big guns? We begin using SCPs? We begin experimenting with SCPs to merge them with MTFs?"
Ethan clicked his tongue, "That'll be breaking the very core of why the Foundation exists. We're not supposed to be exposing all of these things to the public. But once the war breaks out, it'll be inevitable.
Sylvia kept quiet. "I..."
"You're one of the few people who can change the tide of the war. Azazel and Grigori are ready to fight, if not all the Fallen Angels, then it's you and them we need to rely on. We need all of you to even stand a chance to take out all the factors to revive SCP-2440. Even if it means we die.
"I already spoke to you a bit when you said you were Kasumi. We'd like to think outside the box to only get the bad guy killed, but it's not turning out well. We need all three factions to stand a fraction of a chance."
"..."
"Keep that in mind, Sylvia. I'll never betray you, but there is no way I can possibly live to see the end of the war."
"I don't like it."
"Neither do I."
[END LOG]
I think the next chapter can be released on time. I'll need to see to make sure if I can deliver on this promise. Discord server invite code is in the previous chapters. Anyone interested can go check it out.
Reviews:
Guest01: Technically, all Sacred Gears are SCPs. In terms of the SCP universe, all Sacred Gears should be SCPs. For example, Kiba's Balance Broken Sacred Gear can be JSCP-823, and the wielder will be considered JSCP-823-01. Kiba's Sword is not a mundane sword. Kiba himself is a version of Kokabiel's SCP-096 experiments, so that's why, if that is your question.
O Sancte Dues: Assuming you're talking about SCP-2440. They could definitely try to do that, but according to the official wikia logs, they hadn't. Because it's too risky(and stupid) to intentionally release a god and get rid of him, even if they have the help of the GOC and three other factions. Especially if said god is a reality bender and cognito-hazard. It's more logical to get rid of everyone that knows about SCP-2440, because they can actively prevent him from rising, ever.