A.N: This chapter's a bit more violent than usual, too. Nothing too graphic, but I'm warning you just in case.

Chapter 34

Nikolo turns around fully, but aside from that, he can't move. He can see it all; the Marleyan with the gun, the bleeding and by now definitely dead Eldian, and somehow, his brain even registers the two other Marleyan officers, including the violent one, staring at their comrade in shock. The same comrade who just calmly puts his gun back after the murder he had just committed, like he had no care in the world.

The soldier's mouth opens and closes as his eyes travel from Helmut, Helmut's body, to his killer and then back, over and over again. He doesn't snap out of it even when the three men start talking. He can hear them, he's not all that far, but he can barely register their words through his shock.

"Fuck Richter, didn't you just say no for unnecessary violence?" one starts "You just killed the damn devil!"

"Indeed, I did; quick and painless" the man calmly answers "In other words, I didn't use unnecessary violence."

"But… but killing one in the middle of the street like this is against the protocol; you could get in trouble. We could get in trouble!" the third man speaks for the first time. Richter just rolls his eyes.

"We already know that they tried to leave the country and escape to the island of devils; that's already a death sentence in itself" he says "And there won't be any trouble as long as we say that it was self-defense."

"But it wasn't" the lowest ranking of them hesitantly points out, yet Richter just shrugs.

"I'm not going to tell anyone that" he says "Are you?"

"Well, no, but- "

"And you?" Richter cuts him off, turning to the other one.

"…No" he says, and Nikolo barely registers the fact that their eyes meet "But he might."

It's only when Richter turns to look at him directly that Nikolo is finally freed from his paralysis.

"The hell…" he mutters, fists clenching "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

The lowest ranking officer actually took a step back from Nikolo's outburst. The violent one from earlier seemed to be on edge too, but the young soldier no longer paid him any mind. His attention was on one man and one man only. And yet, the said man had the nerve to simply raise his eyebrow as he looked at the younger man.

Gritting his teeth, Nikolo stomped over, taking a hold of the officer's collar rather violently. He was attempting to pull the slightly taller man to his eye level, but the said man didn't budge. That did nothing to dimmer Nikolo's motivation, though, as he yelled at the man's face: "You just killed a man in the middle of the fucking street! And for what?! He was not a threat to you or anyone around him!"

Needless to say, Nikolo knew that this was one of the most dangerous things he could do in this situation, second only to physically attacking the man, but right now he just did. Not. Give. A. Fuck.

"He was attempting to commit a crime that he would've gotten a death sentence for anyway. As a soldier, you must know that" the officer smirks, harshly pushing Nikolo's hand away from him "Do we perhaps have an Eldian sympathizer in our ranks?"

"What you have in your ranks is a man with basic human decency" Nikolo spat "Not that any of you would know anything about that!"

Nikolo saw the punch coming, but didn't react fast enough and so it connected directly with his stomach. It was a strong one, too, and he couldn't keep himself from holding his stomach. The pain distracted him so much that he didn't notice the kick, only registering it when his legs were swiped from under him and he fell on his back. He let out a small whimper of pain, but the adrenaline was starting to kick in and he was more alert. Thinking it would be faster than getting up, Nikolo rolled away from the man to put some distance between them. Then he got on his knees, hand still on his stomach, before slowly getting to his feet.

"I think my point was just proven" he commented with a glare "Or do you have an excuse prepared for assaulting a fellow soldier?"

"I am simply making sure that no Eldian sympathizer makes this situation even worse" he glances at the other two officers "Isn't that right?"

They actually have the decency to look uncomfortable, unsure of how to proceed from here.

"Isn't that right?" Richter repeats, but this time his tone is harsher.

"Of course, of course" the one of the same ranks agrees, holding his hands up "Right?"

"Ri-right" the lower ranked one agrees "But I think he got the message already."

"Perhaps you're right" Richter muses, turning to Nikolo again with a mocking smile "Is he?"

As angry as he was, Nikolo knew he should say yes. He was seriously considering saying so; him getting in a fight here wouldn't help his dead friend in any way, and even if he landed a good punch or two on the killer, he'd only feel better for a moment and get in trouble later. It wasn't worth it. He had to be smart about this. He should walk away now, and report these three, yes, all three, for the abuse of their authority first thing in the morning.

He takes a deep breath, about to go with the plan, but that's when he spots him.

Herbert.

He's standing in an alleyway, directly behind the three officers. Nikolo's mind raced, and he tried hard not to panic. What the hell was the man doing!? He should've been getting the hell out of the place; there was no way he didn't understand that!

"I can't let him die, not him, too" Nikolo thought, his eyes drifting to Helmut's body. Perhaps that was why the younger Eldian wasn't moving; perhaps he was in shock due to seeing his dead brother. But Nikolo couldn't snap him out of it, for if he did, the other three would notice. Then they'd kill Herbert, too.

He had to buy time for his friend.

"…Yeah, I got the message alright" Nikolo spat out, glaring at the three officers "That you three are in no shape or form worthy of calling yourselves soldiers, you low life thugs!"

Their reactions are what he expected, what he hoped for. He got all three of them mad. Good, now they'd focus their attention solely on him. He'd just have to push a little more in order to give Herbert a chance to slip away unnoticed.

"Just admit it; you're going after Eldians because you know they can't stand up for themselves and that bullying the weak is all you can do!" he added right before successfully avoiding Ricther's fist that was aimed at his face. The officer didn't leave it there, but Nikolo either dodged or blocked most of his attacks. The ones that landed didn't do so well. The man had a lot of physical strength no doubt, more than Nikolo did and probably more than he ever would, but he wasn't all that agile. That combined with the fact that he likely wasn't thinking much ahead, driven by his anger, made him a lot less dangerous than Nikolo had feared. However, the situation could still turn bad for him if the other two still watching decided to join the fight. Risking a quick glance, the soldier noticed that his friend was still rooted in the same spot that he'd last seen him in.

"C'mon Herbert, get going already!" he thought "I don't want to get in more trouble than I already am by actually attacking him myself!"

But of course, the Eldian couldn't hear his thoughts, and stayed where he was. Nikolo grits his teeth, wondering how long he'd be able to just keep on dodging.

Maybe he should just run? With how angry Richter was, he'd be sure to follow at least for a little while, giving Herbert a chance to sneak off. But what if the other two didn't come after him? …No, running was too risky.

"Fight back, you coward!" Richter yelled as Nikolo blocked yet another punch.

"Why? I'm managing well enough like this" the blond answers back, even though he's starting to tire out a little.

"You piece of shit!" the man throws a punch again, but Nikolo dodges, stumbling a little as he does, but he regains his footing fast enough to avoid the next punch, too.

"Hey, you two! Come give me a hand so that we can teach this fucker a lesson!" he finally barked at the other two, which was exactly what Nikolo had been dreading. A quick glance to the alleyway behind them told him that Herbert was still there, so he couldn't run.

Fortunately, the duo seemed to be hesitating. He supposed they were wondering about the consequences of attacking a fellow soldier. Throwing a punch, they could certainly get away with, especially since they were all higher ranked than Nikolo, but if they ganged up on him and gave him an actual beating, that'd be harder for them to explain and avoid trouble.

"Now, you idiots!"

Unfortunately, that got them moving. Three civilians from the street Nikolo could probably take on all at once, if he was lucky, at least, but three fellow soldiers? He didn't stand a chance at winning, and he wouldn't be able to defend himself for long, either. It would be best to run-

"But that damn idiot is still there!" Nikolo thought, growling in frustration. He had no choice but to take the beating and try to protect himself from any too bad hits while he was at it. Even if he ended up with some broken bones, which he probably would, that'd be okay as long as there wasn't any permanent damage.

…That might have sounded a little masochistic, but really, he was just being realistic. Besides, he'd dealt with plenty of bad injuries in the past thanks to the MPs in Paradis. He could handle this.

Still, that didn't make it hurt any less when he got a fist in his eye, which would definitely end up bruising, and another one to his stomach right after it. He should get a bit of a distance between them, Nikolo knew, but didn't manage it in time and got tripped, falling on the ground with a thud. He tried to get up as fast as he could, but a kick to his side stopped him. And then another. And another. He managed to roll away a little, but then got kicked again.

Gritting his teeth, he looked towards the alleyway again. For once, he didn't see Herbert. He really hoped that the guy had finally gotten himself together enough to run instead of him just failing to see him. Either way, Nikolo was going to assume it was the former. Distraction accomplished; it was time to go.

He managed to rise to his knees, but that's as far as he got before someone stomped on his back, hard, making him stumble down.

"Shit!" Nikolo thought, raising his arms to protect his head from a kick "It doesn't seem like I'll be getting anywhere until they're done."

He took a few deep breaths, or tried to at least; it was hard in this situation and he was putting in a real effort in order to not panic. He told himself that it was okay, that he'd been in situations like this before, that he'd been in worse situations, too, and remembered what to do. He curled in to a ball in order to protect his head and vitals, seeing that at this point it'd be for the best to wait it out, wait for them to be finished and meanwhile to endure the pain.

Just endure.

"It's fine, I'm fine" Nikolo thought as he took a kick after kick. He wasn't completely sure, but he thought that by now, there was only one man kicking him anymore "Just a little longer…"

It was then that he got a particularly hard kick to his head, and his vision got blurry.

"It's fine"

Another kick, and he blacked out.

XXXXX

Sasha could hear Jean and a group of others in the tent, laughing as they drank. They were pretty loud, but they were off duty and far enough from those who weren't, so she supposed it was fine.

…Especially since Jean wasn't off duty for real; he hadn't said it, but from the things she'd overheard him say in the tent, Sasha had gathered that he was now on his undercover mission, trying to see if someone would let something slip. He was acting more drunk than he actually was, or so the woman hoped, and was sharing some embarrassing stories about the Marleyan war prisoners and the volunteers. All true, Sasha was pretty sure, though he had definitely exaggerated some of them. She supposed it was a safe way to start; he wasn't spreading any lies or anything too negative, and stories like those would be a fun way to pass time even without ulterior motives. It wasn't suspicious, but it could push someone in to saying too much.

"It's a good thing Jean's the one doing it; while I get the idea, I probably wouldn't be subtle enough about it" Sasha thought, supposing that that was the reason she hadn't been told to join Jean in his mission.

"…Is it really okay for Jean to talk like that?" Samuel, who was also outside with Sasha, asked "It's not like the Marleyans can hear him or anything, but since there are already tensions in the air… well…"

"It's fine; he's just sharing some funny stories" Sasha waived off his worries, internally pleased that Samuel was considering that side of things. Well, she probably shouldn't expect any less from him "And if it starts sounding like he's being too unreasonable, I'll put a stop to it."

Samuel still looked uncomfortable.

"I'm sure Jean doesn't mean any harm, but what if he gives the others a wrong idea? What if they start spreading these stories and the Marleyans hear and take offence?" he asks "Jean's been drinking, but if he wasn't, I'm sure this would occur to him too and he wouldn't be doing that… or at least, he wouldn't be sharing that many stories."

Samuel had a point, Sasha knew. She'd be worried too if she didn't know what was actually happening. Wanting to look carefree in order to not mess up Jean's plan, she just shrugs.

"If you're worried, you can go tell him to shut up or join them and change the subject" she says "I'm sure he'll listen to you."

In Sasha's opinion, Samuel looks way more uncomfortable than he should. She frowns.

"I think I'll just let him continue for now" he says "I mean, since you say it's fine, then I suppose it is. You know him better and have more experience with these matters."

"…Okay" Sasha says, but can't keep away the feeling that something was wrong. She would've thought that Samuel wouldn't trust her judgement on something like this, considering her too airheaded. But maybe she was just wrong; maybe he did acknowledge that she'd matured from their training days.

"Glad that someone does"

XXXXX

When Nikolo regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was a ceiling. It took him a few moments, but eventually, he remembered what had happened. He could feel that he was in a soft bed though, so he didn't panic. Turning his head to the side a little, he was able to confirm that he was in a hospital. He wasn't sure who had brought him here, but that wasn't on the top of his list of importance anyway. What mattered was how long had he been out, and if the three officers had been caught for doing this. And for killing Helmut, but they probably wouldn't get in much trouble for that, if at all. The thought made Nikolo grit his teeth, but he did his best to hold his anger in, reminding himself that beating him up would bring them some consequences anyway.

As long as he could prove it was them, at least. If it became three on one, he likely wouldn't be believed.

"Shit" he thinks "Did I take that beating for nothing?"

He shakes his head. No, not nothing. Herbert had probably gotten away, and it was too early to say that the three wouldn't get in to any trouble. It was fine.

Still, Nikolo didn't want to waste any time. He tries to get up, but the pain he felt when he did makes him reconsider. He knew what having broken ribs felt like, and he definitely had a few now. His right arm really hurt, too, but it wasn't broken… probably. There was something wrong with his right leg, too; he could move it, he had checked, but it hurt a lot. Naturally, his head hurt as well, but that was probably just a mild concussion… or so he hoped. In any case, it didn't seem like he'd get out of bed on his own, or if he did, probably not safely. It was better to wait for someone to come check on him. He knew it was day due to the light coming from the window, so surely there'd be a nurse or someone doing tours at some point. Until then, he just had to wait.

He sighs, starting to think of how he should report everything that had happened last night. Including everything that happened was one option, it was what he was expected to do, but that would make him come across as an Eldian sympathizer. Then again, the three officers would rat him out anyway. Truth it was, then, minus the fact that the dead Eldian was his friend and that he had provoked the three on purpose in order to buy Herbert some time to escape.

…

He wondered how the guy was doing. He was quick on his feet, but Helmut had said he had gotten shot in the leg. Had he gotten away despite it? If he had, where was he now? He definitely couldn't return home; Helmut would be identified eventually, if he hadn't already, and their whole family would be in trouble, regardless if they realized that Herbert had been there too or not. And with the guy's bullet wound, they'd definitely realize that he'd been there. So, if he hadn't been caught, where had he gone? Since they had been attempting an escape, Nikolo didn't know with how big of a group, they probably had some allies outside of the interment zone. Were they Marleyans, or Eldians who'd managed to hide their heritage? Or perhaps foreigners temporarily residing in Marley?

"Too many possibilities… first and foremost, I need to find out if he even got away. If he didn't…" Nikolo didn't want to think about it, but with what had happened with Helmut, it was pretty obvious: if Herbert had been caught, he was most likely dead by now. Or at the very least, would soon be executed.

"I have to- "

Nikolo's thought process was interrupted as he heard the door open. He tried to sit up, but winced, ending up in too much pain, so he simply leaned on his elbows to see who had entered.

"Seems like you've woken up" the nurse says "Any pain?"

"Some, but I can manage" he answers "Do you know how long I was unconscious?"

The nurse goes over to the foot of his bed, picking up a folder. She frowns.

"A few days" she answers, making Nikolo's stomach sink. If Herbert had gotten caught, he was already- "You hit your head hard, and have other injuries as well. However, we were told to inform your superiors as soon as you are capable of discussing what happened. Are you now, or shall we wait until tomorrow?"

"I'm ready" Nikolo said after a moment's hesitation. It was better to get this over with in order to not stress himself with too much overthinking.

"Hang on. If I've been out for a few days then- "

"Has my family been informed of my whereabouts?"

"I'm sure that your colleagues have taken care of that. They forbade any visitors, though."

"I see. Thank you" as the nurse left, Nikolo wondered if that was a good thing or not. They might've forbidden visitors to keep the information about a fight between soldiers out of unnecessary ears, which he wouldn't mind, but there was also a chance that he was in big trouble.

Sighing, he lays back down, deciding to wait and see. He hates it, but it's all he can do.

He doesn't know exactly how long it took, but it couldn't have been more than an hour, before the door opens again. This time, he does manage to sit up, and upon seeing his direct superior and a man he vaguely remembers, perhaps from the interrogations when he returned, he salutes. It would've been more proper to do so while standing but, considering his condition, he was pretty sure they didn't mind.

"At ease, soldier" the higher ranked one, a colonel, Nikolo notices, told him "How are you feeling?"

"Could be better, sir" Nikolo answers, dropping his salute "But I'll manage."

"Good to hear; it was quite a beating they gave you" the man says with a sigh "I hope you don't mind me going directly to the subject?"

"No sir"

"Good. First of all, you should know that the three who beat you in to this condition are now suspended from their duties and under the orders to not leave the city until we've gotten some clearance to this matter" the man told. Nikolo breathed out a sigh of relief; not having to work to convince the higher ups that he'd indeed been attacked by some of their own was a small victory in itself "They've naturally told us what happened, but before we can move forward with this, we need your version of it as well."

"Of course, sir" Nikolo replied, watching as the colonel prepared to take notes. He told about the events of the night honestly, only leaving out the facts that he had already known the now dead Eldian beforehand and that he'd more or less helped the said Eldian's brother escape.

"So, you admit you laid a hand on a superior officer?"

"That's the first thing he picks up from this?" Nikolo wonders, but doesn't say it "Yes, sir, but I would put an emphasis to the fact that while I did overreact by handling him so roughly, I did not hit him or use any other form of direct violence."

There was a small lie there; he definitely didn't think he'd overreacted. In fact, he thought that he reeled himself in quite well. But they didn't need to know that.

"That's what the other three said, too" his direct superior assured, but when the other man shot him a look, Nikolo knew that he wasn't supposed to know of anything the others had said beforehand. But he was grateful for the slip; now he knew that they at least hadn't lied about him getting violent. Then again, even if they had, no one would've bought it with them lacking injuries and him being in this condition.

"They said other things too, such as your anger being the result of the Eldian's death" he'd just told them that too, hadn't he? "Was that the case?"

"Yes, sir" Nikolo answered without hesitation "Especially due to the circumstances. That man was surrendering; he was unarmed and was by no means a threat. There was no reason to kill him."

"And that is the point where what you say differs from what the others told" the man said, making Nikolo freeze. No, everything he just said was definitely accurate.

"So, this is the part where they lied" he realizes "I apologize, sir, but I am certain that the situation was as I said it to be. May I ask exactly what they said to be different?"

The two exchanged looks, which Nikolo thought probably wasn't a good thing.

"According to them, you were already walking away when the shot was fired" his direct superior tells him, and this time he doesn't get a warning look for it "That's also what you just told us, right?"

It was, Nikolo knew. He had been walking away, his back turned to them, but there was no way Helmut would've had the chance to do anything threatening in that short time and more importantly, he had no reason to. He had known that it'd only get him in to bigger trouble.

"Yes sir, I was" the soldier confirmed "But I had done so for only a very short moment; it's not possible he-, the Eldian, I mean, would've had a chance to threaten their safety in that short period of time. And he was unarmed."

"A lot can happen in a blink of an eye" the higher ranking one of the other two commented "And how are you so sure the Eldian was unarmed? Did you do a bodycheck before you brought him over to the others?"

Nikolo frowned.

"No, but if he had a weapon, he would've surely given it up when he surrendered" he said "If there was a weapon at the scene, it would've been easy for someone to set him up."

His direct superior looked scandalized at the implication, Nikolo noted, but the other man didn't seem fazed.

"Of course, in theory, it is as you say" he says "But this is your assumption against the words of three officers. I don't need to say which has more weight, now do I?"

He didn't. Nikolo knew that even if the victim hadn't been an Eldian, he likely wouldn't have been believed when it was three against one. But he had to try; they couldn't just get away with everything without a punishment.

"Even if he was armed, it was unlikely he had a gun. With that in mind, using lethal force was not necessary" he said "He could have aimed for a leg, or better, the hand that was supposed to be holding a weapon."

"It's not that unusual for soldiers to react too strongly when suddenly needing to defend themselves" was the reply Nikolo received "Of course, it's unfortunate when it happens, but fortunately, there was no serious damage this time."

Logically thinking, Nikolo knew he shouldn't be surprised of what he was hearing. However, his logical side was pushed down by the rage he was feeling.

"No serious damage?" he asks, his voice raising with every word "A man died, and you consider that to be no serious damage!?"

The colonel was unfazed, but his direct superior winced.

"Nikolo, maybe you should calm do- "

"An Eldian died, a devil" the man was cut off "That is no great loss, though the paperwork will be a pain to deal with. That, of course, will be taken in to account when deciding their punishments."

Paperwork? A man died and these people were worried about the paperwork it would cause!? Nikolo saw red.

"…You gotta be fucking kidding me" he muttered. When the colonel simply raises an eyebrow, the injured soldier just snaps "An innocent civilian gets murdered in the middle of the street and you're worried about fucking paperwork!? HOW FUCKED UP CAN YOU GET!?"

"Nikolo, calm- "

"Not innocent; his actions would've already led to a death sentence on their own" his superior gets cut off again "And as they already teach you in preschool, no devil is innocent."

That did it.

Nikolo jumped out of the bed, punching the officer in the jaw-

…Or that was the plan anyway. As he lunged out of the bed, yelling "shut up" while at it, fist drawn back, he quickly found out that his legs couldn't hold his weight, and he crashed down on the floor without even being able to touch his target. With a pained hiss, he cursed.

The colonel was looking down on him, both literally and figuratively, Nikolo could tell. The other man ignored it, moving to help Nikolo back to the bed.

"Was that just now an attempted attack on a superior officer?" the colonel asks, and thinks he sees a hint of smirk on the man's face. Strange.

"I'm sure that's not the case, sir" his superior beats him to it before Nikolo could answer, which is probably for the best "I'm sure he was just trying to get out of the bed, isn't that right, Nikolo?"

The man gives a quick warning squeeze to Nikolo's shoulder, giving his subordinate a warning look.

"…Yes, sir" the soldier decides to say "I apologize if my sudden movements seemed threatening."

Even though he said that, Nikolo was sure the colonel could tell he wasn't sorry in the slightest as they stared each other down. Even so, the man decided to leave it be for some reason that Nikolo couldn't comprehend.

"It might be best for you to get some rest, soldier" he said, turning to leave "We will speak about this later."

"Yes, sir" he answered, saluting. When the superior officer was out of the room, the remaining one cursed.

"Quite mess you've made, lad" he said "Next time, control that anger of yours, regardless of where it's coming from and why. You know that attitude won't you do any good."

"Yes, sir" was the only reply Nikolo gave him. With a sigh, the man turned to leave, but not before giving out a final warning: "Watch your attitude, boy. I too will be in trouble if a subordinate of mine gets labeled as an Eldian sympathizer."

Nikolo watched him leave before laying back down, putting a hand over his eyes. That didn't go all that well.