Timeless
Part Seven: Luce
Colonel-sama's scribblings: Luce is Italian for 'Light'
The door opened, a tall, muscular silhouette walked into the dim room with something in his hand. The more he stepped into the light, the more it revealed rough, greasy tuffs of teal hair and a war-worn face. His hand gripped the stirofoam cup with fatigue and sleep-deprivation aching each muscle very painfully. The figure spotted another staring out the window, mournfully pressing his forehead against the glass. Rain fell around the Ultrasaurer and when thunder boomed, it rocked the insides of the Ultrasaurer. "Hermann? Is that you?" The man lifted himself off the glass, it was indeed Hermann... and he looked like he was in horrible state of mental health. O'Connell walked up the platform stairs and tenderly placed his hand on Hermann's weary shoulder, the Republican colonel turned back toward the sea. "Those mages... they didn't even stand a chance. They had no warning, no way of knowing... Hiltz destroyed them just like that, without cause or provocation..." "...it is sad when you think about it." O'Connell turned to look at the sea with Hermann, with the shattered temple far behind them... all that remains was to linger and mourn. "...but weren't those Aethelwulf's people?" "...." Hermann slammed his forehead in the glass again, then his fist hit the glass harshly, with brute force and pent-up rage. "Rob!! Don't!" O'Connell held Hermann back, the colonel slammed his fist in the glass again, getting it to budge and crack a bit. "What's wrong with you!?" "Aethelwulf... I just realized...." Hermann blinked, the tears finally escaped his stone-cold eyes and fell down his cheeks. "Aethelwulf is the last Malfaesian alive..."
"A swim will do you good, Karl." Leon smiled, holding two beach towels and a bottle of sunscreen. He took off his shades and looked at the crystal clear water of the fjord, the water did look so inviting. He dropped the items and dove into the water, his long black and blue ponytail flopping in the breeze. Karl watched as he made a splash and swam under the water, then surface. "Jump, Karl! The water's fine!" Karl slowly set down the crutch and dove into the water, however there was a cramp in his leg. Karl thrashed for the surface but couldn't make it. Leon dove underwater and helped him surface, Karl huffed and puffed with breathlessness. "My leg cramped up." Karl explained breathlessly, his arm around Leon's shoulders. "We'll take this slowly, okay?" Leon nodded once, then helped Karl swim laps around the fjord. After a good swim, the cramp in Karl's leg slowly faded, he started to swim on his own. Although he was not as fast as he usually is, Karl was making good use of his legs. Leon turned to face his ash-blonde lover and smiled, he took his hair out of the ponytail. "Wanna swim underwater?" "Sure." Leon took Karl by the hand and they dove underwater, the crystal blue water mixed with the Summer sun illuminated the floor of the fjord. They swam deeper down toward the floor, Leon put a dagger to his lips and fished through the sand and soot. Figuring the fjord was testing grounds for the young males of Clan Schubaltz concerning Warsharks, Sinkers and Hammer Heads, this place would be littered with parts and garbage and the water would be murky and unswimmable. But this was not the case, the water was crystal clear and there was no such trash on the floor bottom. Leon poked around in the sand, a crab surface and crawled away, then some small fish swam away in a fury to get away. Karl reached into the sand and pulled something out, catching Leon's attention. He took the shell in his hand and tried to pry it open with the dagger. He opened his hand to Karl, revealing a pearl, the colonel smiled and they swam to the surface for air. "This is great. I'm finally able to do the things I am normally able to do." Karl swam around a bit on his back. "This is great indeed, you're very close to recovering. Soon you'll be at full strength." Leon watched with pride as his superior officer, his best friend, and his true love swam around with triumph. [A man will cry and whine to the gods about why the world hates them because they get a papercut. Yet when faced with incredible odds and disabilities, tears, self-pity, sorrow and loathing are non-existent. Replaced by determination and perserverance.... humans are inmistakably resilliant.] Before anything else happened, Leon suddenly turned his attention at the castle, his eyes widened in a look of shock. A vision braced his Mind's Eye, visions of blood and death filled his psychic mind. Leon closed his eyes, feeling a change of scenery... he was in the bedroom of the castle, where Karl and him were sleeping. There was someone else in the bedroom with them, a woman with long, straight dark brown hair and red lips. She wore a red cocktail dress and carried a dagger in her hand, on that dagger was the patterns of a demonic wolf. She walked closer to the bed, the dagger dripped with blood. Leon turned around to see another figure by the door, his eyes narrowed angrily. Hiltz... "LEON!" Leon snapped out of his vision and turned to face Karl, who was trying to shake him awake. "What's wrong? You zoned out for a second!" "I received a vision..." "Vision? A premonition?" "...a forbodding one." "...." "Come, let's go for a walk around the fields." "S-sure."
The bridge of the Ultrasaurer was empty and dark, the only one in the room was Colonel Hermann. He was half-asleep in the chair, something in his hand. He tipped forward, putting whatever he had in his hand to his lips and taking a big swig of the contents in the bottle. Lurching forward, the blonde Republican colonel moaned and staggered and swayed. He was drunk beyond words, it was a while since he tasted alcohol and he liked what he tasted. Hermann drowned his worries with the last bottle of vodka in the Ultrasaurer. The door behind him slowly opened and a figure stepped inside, he could smell the thick scent of alcohol in the room. "Rob?" "Coming!" Hermann's voice was slurred, he staggered up and did a very bad salute. The bottle dropped from his hand, spilling the contents on the floor. Hermann swore and went to clean up the spilled vodka. "Hermann! What on Zi are you doing?! Are you drunk!!?" "I'm not drunk, O'Connell." The 29-year-old Colonel staggered around a bit and then sat back down in his chair. O'Connell stepped up to the chair, placing his hands on Hermann's arm. "Come on, let's sober you up." "He killed... innocent.... people...." Hermann growled, pounding his fist in the chair. "I know..." O'Connell suddenly found himself pulling Hermann into his arms, holding him close. "It should have never been." "Mages! Of all people... MAGES! Malfaesian mages!" Hermann gripped O'Connell's shirt tightly, almost weeping in his shirt. "Malfaesian mages.... who decided to use Zi as a place of solitude and sanctuary.... the Republic and the Empire both agreed to grant them sanctuary....!! We failed them, Jake!! We failed the survivors of Leon's race!!" "Rob..." O'Connell pulled him closer, letting the drunk Hermann cry in his shirt.
--Continued--