Despite the days that have passed, the mysterious message had still managed to weave its way through Brynn's mind. Whenever she was given the opportunity, she would spend long hours staring at it in attempts to decipher what it could mean. Her frustration only grew and the symbols seemed to grow more jumbled with every moment that passed.
She groaned for what appeared to be the 8th time that morning, the crumbled piece of paper had been strewn beside a forgotten mug of coffee. Missions had returned to normal, seeing that the red rain has stopped a few days after it began. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes.
No one else had known about the message, not even the Captain. She knew that they would probably dismiss her, even she didn't know why she was so fixated with it. Perhaps, it was just a problem in the system that she was overthinking about.
The room was emptier than usual. The Captain had been sent out on another assignment in another branch, if she recalled correctly, it had been somewhere in Europe. She was certain that it had something to do with the development of the God Arc soldiers that Rachel had been working on.
"I wonder how Auricle is doing." She couldn't help it when her thoughts drifted to the God Arc that she had first been using. Despite her reluctance and hesitation, she knew that it would be for the better anyways. Maybe when she runs into the doctor again, she would have the chance to ask.
A knock on the door had shaken her from her thoughts as she attempted to stuff the paper into one of her notebooks. It opened slowly, to reveal Ciel. A sigh escaped Brynn's lips as she stood up.
"Is it time already?" The younger one nodded in regards to the question.
"The report has been set up, Vice Captain. The others are waiting in the meeting room." With that being said, Brynn gave a glance towards the notebook before walking towards the exit.
'That could wait.'
Ever since their arrival at the Far East, Ciel had insisted on having weekly reports in regards to Blood's performance. Of course, both the Captain and Vice Captain had agreed to this, seeing that it would help pinpoint the improvement and the fluctuating differences of each member's performance in the team.
"Moving on, our last operations have been successful..." Ciel's calm voice had echoed throughout the small meeting area. Where four of them stood in front of a monitor that had been provided for them.
Brynn's eyes stayed glued to the monitor, it's orange boxes included the names of the different members and the missions that they had participated in. The other box contained the percentage of the efficiency that each mission had depending on the members and comparisons.
"Moreover, we have not lost any training or operation time due to injury." In the back, Brynn could hear Nana and Romeo whispering to one another, but did not bother to scold them as she was focused on Ciel and the screen which had switched slide. Now showing the schedule that Blood had during the past few days.
The next slide had shown the different God Arcs and how much repair it would be needing, as well as the efficiency level. Brynn took note of the OP intake of each one that had been similar to the graph that Friar's doctor had previously shown her.
"All of the God Arcs remain at peak operating efficiency and our kill counts had grown dramatically." The slide now showed different names of Aragami and the number that had been exterminated by Blood. Brynn couldn't help but praise Ciel at how detailed her report had been.
"Ms. Licca has also approached me and suggested that we make better use of our advance genes. Reconnaissance and distant ranging machines are the team's bread and butter so to speak."
Before Brynn could listen to the rest that Ciel had been explaining, a soft groaning and whimpering from behind her had caught her attention.
"Nana?!" She spun upon hearing Romeo's panicked voice. "Come on, stay with me! Nana!" Before she could react, Nana had passed out. Fortunately, Romeo had managed to catch her before she landed on the floor.
"Nana?!" Brynn rushed to her side and was about to help Romeo with supporting the unconscious girl. The moment that her hand made contact with Nana, a bright light had consumed her.
She knew that she was no longer in the meeting room, instead, a small and quaint house that was smaller than her own room.
"So..." A voice had earned her attention, in the middle of the house, was a table where a black haired woman clad in violet sat. In front of that woman, was a black-haired child with bright pink eyes. She soon identified her as a younger Nana. "How does it taste, Nana?"
Brynn found herself walking near towards the duo, she was certain that they couldn't see her anyways. She then noticed the half eaten sandwich that the younger Nana had been holding. A smile managed to make its way to her face as she continued to watch the way the two interacted.
"Really good!" The young girl exclaimed, "It's the most delicious thing, Mommy!" She giggled before taking a huge bite from the sandwich.
Another flash of light had blinded her, when it faded away, the scene in front of her had changed. The woman, who she guessed was Nana's mother, stood by the door waving at Nana who still sat by the table.
"Mommy's gonna go out to slay the bad monsters. Do you remember your promises, Nana?"
The black-haired child nodded with a wide grin on her face, "Uhu! I won't cry, I won't get mad, and if I get lonely, I'll eat an oden sandwich!" The woman chuckled at the girl's liveliness.
"You're such a good girl, Nana." She praised, "Now then, I'll be back in no time flat. That's my promise." The woman walked out the door and closed it, another light consumed them, then a flash of what happened next appeared.
Nana's mother was on the floor, with wounds all over her body and beside her was Nana, a scream echoed in her head.
Brynn stared at her hand, eyebrows furrowed as she remembered everything that went through her head earlier. They had managed to successfully move Nana to her room. A medic went in to check on her and had informed her she just needed rest.
The blonde sighed, Nana had not roused from her sleep yet. Despite the reassurance the nurse gave them earlier, she couldn't help but feel worried.
'What if the letter had been something related to this?' It wasn't the first time that the idea crossed her mind. She wasn't going to dismiss it either.
"Vice Captain?" Ciel's voice came from behind her, she had not noticed the door opening and the entrance that the silvette made. From the chair that she pulled towards the bed, she glanced behind her.
Wearing her usual lolita themed attire, her boots were quiet against the wooden floor as she crossed the distance between them. Brynn had not failed to notice the can of coffee that the other had been holding. The moment that it was handed over to her, she gave a soft thanks.
Ciel grabbed her own seat and made herself comfortable beside the blonde. In her own hand was a can of coffee, something that Brynn had looked questioningly.
"Since when did you drink coffee?" Brynn couldn't help but ask, a small smirk finding its way to her lips. Ciel's lips curved into the smallest of smiles.
"I'm certain that you know how influential you are, Brynn." The blonde nearly flinched in surprise at her own name being mentioned. Instead, she grinned.
"What are you talking about?" She queried, pulling the tab of the can to open it before taking a swing of the coffee. The bitter liquid travelling down her throat. After swallowing, she turned back to her companion. "I don't think it would be smart of me to increase the people I have to fight for rations with."
Before Ciel could respond, they were startled by the movement that the unconscious girl had made. Their attention had become fixated on her, slowly enough, pink eyes began to flutter open.
Nana tried to sit up, Ciel had been the first to react, placing her can on the nightstand and helped support the struggling girl. Brynn stood up, chugging her own coffee before placing it on the nightstand.
"How are you feeling?" Brynn asked, allowing herself to come closer. Nana, who had been a bit disoriented, blinked a few times.
"Brynn? Ciel?" The two nodded as their names were mentioned. Nana sighed, rubbing her eyes as if trying to get rid of the way her head pounded. "I collapsed, didn't I?"
"You gave us quite the scare." Brynn honestly said, before continuing. "But we're glad that you're awake." She was relieved, she wasn't only worried about her as the de facto leader, but also as a friend.
"I had an awful dream." Nana admitted and began to tell them of the dream that she had. Brynn, already knew most of it, it had been the same visions that she saw previously.
After she had told them, Ciel put her hand on Nana's back. "It's okay. Perhaps you should lie down a bit longer?" She suggested. Brynn nodded in agreement, they certainly didn't want the other to become even more distressed.
"What about I make you an oden sandwich?" Brynn added with a gentle smile. Usually, it had been Nana who would give her the sandwiches. She would give them snacks and other kinds of food, but she never tried making the girl's favorite.
Instead of lying down, the other had perked up, eyes shimmering under the incandescent lights. "Really? You would?" Brynn nodded, the smile still fixed on her face.
"If it would make you feel better." Brynn winked. Nana nodded excitedly, Brynn held back her sigh to show how relieved she was. The promise that Nana and her mother had was fresh in her mind. She patted Ciel's back.
"Give me a few minutes. Ciel? Would you two be okay here?" The younger one nodded, turning back to Nana in attempts to calm her down.
Brynn made her way back to her room, she was certain that she had enough ingredients to prepare the sandwich. The blonde hoped that it would make the boost hammer wielder feel better.
The blonde had been relieved when Nana instantly cheered up after devouring the sandwich. The two had escorted her to the clinic for a checkup before going separate ways. Instantly, she had been catapulted into the battlefield after a certain Director had located her.
Of course, she had been happy to oblige.
"Damned Director. Can't he find someone else to do his dirty work." She would have felt bad for bad mouthing the man, but he seemed to favor her when it came to completing missions. The rewards were in excess, however, it didn't mean that she didn't feel drained.
"You're starting to sound a little bit like Aion, Eos." A voice filled with mischief and a menacing giggle that followed after it came. Brynn only gripped the handle of the God Arc that she was holding on to. Silently praying to the gods - if they still existed - that the voice was merely her imagination.
"Now, now, Eos. Don't act like you don't want to see me." It certainly wasn't her head messing with her. "That hurt me quite a bit." The blonde finally found the courage to spin around and face the brown haired woman. A wicked grin replaced the pout that she had been previously sporting.
"What do you want, Nessa?" She managed to ask through gritted teeth. This encounter was all too familiar. Nessa only pouted again before putting a hand over her heart. The armlet on her wrist har hindered the notion, only letting the tips of her fingers graze her chest.
"No need to act so violent! I just came to see if you managed to crack the code. It took quite some time for me to make, you know? It would be a shame if you just tossed it away."
Brynn stared at the other with a bewildered expression. It took her a couple of seconds before she realized what she meant.
"So you sent that mail?" Nessa's grin returned.
"And we have a winner! Kidding! Maybe I did, maybe I didn't? Who knows~?" Brynn knew that she was falling for the other's games once again. But this time, she felt like she had no other choice but to allow herself to be pulled in.
"Nessa." She glared, lowering her voice as she spoke. "What does it mean?" There was silence between the two, the brunette had put a hand under her chin as if she had been deep in thought.
"Hmmm..." She hummed, Brynn only felt her blood boil. Oh, and if looks could kill. "I think it meant... Whoops! I may have forgotten. That's your problem now, Eos."
The winds around them billowed. Brynn could only feel her fingernails dig into the skin of her palm as she stared the giggling brunette down.
"Well, now that's done, we best be going! The sun's starting to set and your ride is right... over... there." Brynn spun around and Nessa's statement had been proven to be correct. The chopper was just a few seconds from landing. The Fenrir Insignia glinting under the sunset's last few rays. Brynn turned back to see that Nessa had disappeared.
"You better work faster, Eos." The winds whispered in her ear as she felt a shiver run down her spine. Now she had no idea whether she was going insane or if Nessa really was a real person.