July 20, 1944. One hot summer day, inside the wolf's lair, different assistants and soldiers moved from one side to the other preparing and carrying out their daily activities. In his room, Hitler looked in the mirror after having washed his face, droplets of water ran down his face and his expressive deep blue eyes examined his reflection in front of him, to his right there were three perfectly folded white shirts (the ones he wore during the day), because in hot weather he always changed his shirts regularly, to maintain a neat appearance at all times.

While he put on the second one that day he continued to stare in the mirror at himself, he saw his hairstyle and his little mustache well-groomed and cared for, but he felt a growing anger at the marks on his face, the bags that formed under his eyes, his growing double chin. He sometimes had nightmares or recurring thoughts of his face melting. Eva Braun, who was the only one with whom he has talked about these ideas, told him:

"Don't worry, it's just the stress and the little rest you have, few men have had to command a war and a country at the same time."

That idea revitalized the Fuhrer "Few Men", only great men could do what he was doing, men at the level of Alexander the Great, men like him, he would rest when he died, in the meantime he had to use all the time he had available to command, to lead, to succeed.

Neither the Soviets nor the Americans, Hitler's biggest enemy was time and space, time to execute all his plans and projects and space to be in all places and everywhere. He finished putting on his military jacket decorated with his iron cross, wound badge, and his military hat without a speck of dust, when he left the bathroom, he found himself in his room, on the floor he could see a couple of maps and drawings, "Linz" he recalled fondly, as he did many times.

His childhood city and his largest project area, the map had red circles made by him where he selected which areas could be remodeled, theaters, museums, cinemas, stadiums, the papers scattered on the ground did not compare in quantity to those who were in their main offices, where they also had scale models. Many afternoons he spent talking with his architect Albert Speer about how spectacular these projects would be and how they would improve Linz.

Without seeing his pocket watch he assumed that he was not late for his meeting since no one was even knocking on his door, so he sat in front of those drawings. He remembered for a moment his childhood, his father, his mother, his sister, from the map he could find the places that he visited the most, the ones that brought him the most memories, many of these with a red circle above. The changes he wanted to make in Linz not only came from nostalgia or affection for his homeland, Hitler wanted people to see a wealthy and developed metropolis when talking about the place where "The Great Fuhrer" was born.

It didn't matter that the place where he most formed and built his ideals was in Vienna, because people would focus much more on the place where he was born, a sigh escaped Hitler's mouth, his mind jumped from memory to memory, Now he went from Linz to Vienna, the cafes, the streets, the paintings, the shelters, all that life without politics, without speeches, without meetings or cabinets seemed eternally old to him, if at this moment he returned to a life like that he would feel lost, unarmed, almost naked, his normality now was crowds, speeches, telegraphed meetings and war.

At that moment there was a knock on his door, Hitler returned to his last thought, war.

He got up and approached the door to open it, a low-ranking soldier giving the characteristic salute informed him that the meeting room was now ready for his entrance, for a moment Hitler thought about the time when he was like that soldier, young and rookie, really inexperienced, in the previous great war he was fighting on the battlefield, being wounded several times and even almost going blind by an attack, very unpleasant experiences, but which forger him an iron will and instincts for war so that now in the second great war he would be the one pulling the strings, so that now Germany could get what it deserved, he understood the pain that the soldiers and their families felt, he was there, he also fought and suffer, but this time he was sure that the big difference would be that the pain would be worth it, this time they surely would win, this time they would do justice, without retreats, without armistices, they would achieve victory or death.

As he advanced through the corridors of the wolf's lair, the soldiers and assistants stopped when they saw him, greeting him with one arm in the air and saying "hail Hitler."

The number of times the Fuhrer heard this during a day was exaggerated, but he knew perfectly well that this meant discipline, status, order, and control. Although control was something that he felt was slipping out of his hands many times more than he would like, precisely that meeting he was going to had been brought forward and also shortened in time since his friend Duce Benito Mussolini would arrive that afternoon for a visit and they would need the time to attend him.

Due to this change of plans, Hitler had ordered the day before that the meeting would be quick, with few participants and the most essential issues would be discussed very quickly. Hitler ordered this because after all, the Duce was not only the leader of one of the allies in the war, he had been an inspiration and a model for Hitler, almost as a confirmation Hitler remembered how Mussolini's march on Rome had inspired him and encouraged him to carry out his putsch in Munich.

"It's rained a lot since then" he said to himself.

The Wolf's lair was not one of the largest operations centers, a short walk through a couple of corridors separated the Fuhrer's room with the room where the daily meetings were normally held, Hitler knew who would be present and prepared in advance for the events, possible complaints and reports of the situation:

"The front is in danger" "The Americans advance" "Normandy" "The conquest of Rome" "The Soviets are advancing on the eastern front"

The generals exclaim their worries as if they were the only ones who feel them, like if they wanted to claim the title of martyrs.

'But I am the true martyr!" Hitler thought.

He frowned in such a menacing manner that the soldiers who passed by at that moment trembled with fear and quickly walked away after the ceremonial salute.

"Retreats" "Lack of reinforcements" "Broken or weak bridges" "Gasoline, tanks"

The generals asked and asked, but they did not deliver results, more than one time the people close to him had told him how the idea of surrender spread among voices of the army.

'They are traitors! Traitors and cowards!'

During the first great war the leaders surrendered, they withdrew, they accepted the conditions imposed by the foreigners, bleeding Germany dry, taking away from its workers, leaving a decorated soldier like him left in the middle of nowhere, with bureaucratic consolation jobs, while the Jews and the foreigners sucked the blood from this defeated country.

'Now it's the other way around'

While Hitler continued demanding that there be no retreats, his generals walked away and gave ground on the front to their enemies and then in the exhausting meetings they only filled themselves with excuses:

"We had no other option" "It was a retreat strategic" "We are preparing for a counterattack"

Regardless of the fact that the only real order he gave was "Eliminate Germany's enemies once and for all" his forces went around everywhere and only returned wounded and defeated.

'What could have changed?' He wondered.

The first attacks, the first campaigns were won with devastating force, but as time progressed the strength of the German army was diminishing and it seemed that its generals did not care.

'Did they not care about morale? How did they look to the world?'

Hitler could imagine with great anger what the newspapers in Moscow or New York would say:

"The German Army is fleeing from our forces." "The Nazi forces are crushed on their own fronts."

The anger that Hitler felt just imagining that was so great that his face had turned completely red and a couple of drops of sweat were sliding down his forehead. Lost in his thoughts he had not noticed it but the soldier accompanying him could not avoided noticing the change in Hitler's face and with a voice trembling with fear and respect he asked him:

"Fuhrer, are you feeling alright?"

Hitler, coming to himself, fixed his heavy gaze on the young man who, totally intimidated by the depth of the Great leader's eyes, looked at the floor and wanted to change the subject quickly.

"We are in front of the meeting room, sir."

Hitler saw the dark wooden door. and before opening it he asked: "What was the final decision of Himmler and Goring?"

The soldier, trying to maintain his composure, informed him. "They will not attend this meeting, but they will accompany to the reception of the Duce."

Without saying another word, Hitler then opened the door to the room and entered. There were just over 20 people. The moment they saw him, they all stood up and exclaimed in unison with one arm raised to the sky "Hail Hitler".

With his hand the Fuhrer told them to take a seat and, as usual, he went to the center of the enormous table, in the place there were heads of state, heads of operations, some representatives, generals and officers, on the table there were papers and maps of the fronts and the places where the troops were currently.

"Unacceptable, shameful!"

Hitler muttered to himself, at a volume high enough for his disapproval to be noticed, the members of the meeting were already accustomed to those signs, whispers and disappointed looks, the red tone of the angry face and the constant banging on the table, to be part of such a high and close circle you had to take into account the "particularities" of the Fuhrer, almost like a new list of commandments.

Don't interrupt him, don't say he's wrong, don't contradict him, let him shout until he's tired, have some sweets nearby, laugh at his heavy jokes, affirm his ideas. The generals had already developed ways of acting without following orders exactly as told and then excusing themselves.

"They forced us to retreat" "The terrain was extremely dangerous" "The weather played against us"

They had noticed how it was more acceptable for Hitler to feel that he was fighting against nature itself, that had a reason to throw out one general for another, although after so much time with this, it seemed that this false patience was reaching its limit.

"Let's get started, are we all in?" Hitler said.

Noticing that his murmurs of disapproval were ignored, deciding to move on to a direct reprimand.

"No, my Fuhrer." A commander responded. "Stauffenberg and Werner have not returned yet, after the previous meeting they asked for a moment to freshen up and change their shirts"

"Look for them, we must start soon"

/-/

Stauffemberg and Werner had arrived that morning at the wolf's Lair around 10 in the morning, nervous and anxious because they had the mission of killing the Fuhrer, first they had gone to a previous meeting that lasted about three quarters of an hour led by Wilhelm Keitel, being at this meeting, both men learned that the meeting that would take place with the Fuhrer would be brought forward and also cut short, which forced both men to quickly rethink their plans with the excuse of going to the bathroom for a moment.

The plan to assassinate Hitler or the "Valkyrie plan" had gone through many changes and adaptations over time and as the war became more complicated and costly for the Germans, the more urgent the duty to end Hitler's leadership became. The plan had three important parts, the assassination of Hitler as the beginning, the mobilization of the forces in favor of the attack, taking the communication centers and disarming the SS and finally the consolidation of an emergency government, all this to ensure the ceasefire of the war and that the main organizers of the attack were left with great positions of power.

Stauffemberg had already managed to approach Hitler three times by having a bomb in his possession, but on all those occasions the plan had been paused or postponed mainly due to the absence of some other important figures close to Hitler such as Himmler.

"I hope that this time everyone is in the room"

Although with everything that was happening on the battlefield, even if only Hitler was there, they would have to carry out the attack, the Normandy landing and the brutal advance of the Red Army, in addition to the fact that the allies had already openly said that they would not negotiate any surrender with the party pushed those involved with the Valkyrie plan to act immediately, perhaps the allies are not willing to accept a cessation with the current government, but demonstrating radical disagreement by killing Hitler and establishing a new government could reopen the negotiation window.

Werner accompanied Stauffemberg because in his military service fighting in North Africa he had lost an eye and part of a hand, in addition to having some partial deafness, in this way he could help him with one of the two bombs and assist him in whatever was necessary, since that was the final day, they needed all the possibilities in their favor. They both prepared the bombs. At that moment, another soldier allied with the plot approached them. Erns Von Freyend was there to give him two indications, that the great leader had already requested their presence in the meeting room and that he had also received an urgent call from Fellgiebe, there was no more time they need to kill Hitler today.

With the bombs in the briefcase, both men swallowed their nerves and let out a sigh to fill themselves with courage. The three men nodded and headed to their positions. At the moment Werner and Stauffemberg entered the room, Hitler exclaimed.

"Finally, let's begin."

Stauffermberg approached Hitler's right and although a general tried to stop him, he claimed that he needed to be close due to his partial deafness, the general tried to relegate him to one of the corners of the table, but Hitler himself was the one who gave him the opportunity:

"Leave it, I must be heard clearly by everyone"

Now in close proximity and with his forehead and hands sweating from nerves, he positioned the briefcase inside the wooden base of the table and well positioned, he felt that the work was already completed, again Himmler was not there, but there was no more time to wait. Heinz Brant, who was next to Stauffermberg, was trying to get some maps from the place where the briefcase was. Out of discomfort, he asked if he could move it more to the right. Stauffermberg, out of anxiety, did not know what to respond, since it would be strange and suspicious if he refused to accept it, moving the briefcase could result in Hitler surviving the attack causing the entire plan to fall apart, but again an order from Hitler left the plan in place.

"We won't need the maps for now, first I must say a few words."

Which made Brant give up and just lean back in his chair prepared to listen to the Fuhrer.

--

Seeing that everyone was already inside the room, Hitler prepared to give a speech and, in keeping with his restless personality, he preferred to get up from his chair to have more mobility. First, he raised one arm, drawing the attention of everyone present and keeping it in the air, he began:

"My hand, raised, triumphant, powerful, is the hand of Germany, it is the hand of the party, it is the hand of our ancestors, destined for heaven, at the top of Europe, of the world!"

He closed his fist tightly, still held in the air.

"It is powerful, lethal, resistant, as our forces together should be, like the temper of the German citizen, like our ambitions and our resentment, an iron symbol that throughout history has been bathed with our blood, our pure and healthy blood, aren't you tired of continuing to bleed on our land? Shouldn't we use our guns, our tanks, our planes, our nails and our teeth to defend our land?"

Now he brings his left hand forward, with his palm open at the ceiling.

"Look, this is land, this is a field, this is a battle front, these are the places that you abandon, that you lose, this is land given to our enemies, this is the excuse for the frozen Soviet climate, this is the coast of Normandy, this is the Jew plague that still has not been eradicated, all our enemies stirring like cockroaches in the darkness, if this is ours? Why do you let them walk around here without doing anything about it?"

The generals looked at the ground or at the table, they knew that the Fuhrer was once again questioning their decisions, he just wanted to fight and advance without stopping without taking into account all the external factors, they had already argued many times about that, now they just kept silent and listened to how with each word the leader's spirit became more enervated and how his face became redder and redder, almost as if he were going to explode with anger.

"What will the men and women in our cities say? That the party, that the Fuhrer is weak! What will the headlines of our enemies say? That the party, that the Fuhrer is weak! And you don't care? Am I the only one who cares? The only one who really want to do something?"

The fist that was held in the air began to tremble in preparation.

"Isn't it obvious what we should do?"

Then with all his strength Hitler brought his fist from above until it hit his open hand, the sound of skin colliding was sharp.

"Crush them, eradicate them, erase them, annihilate them, all the enemies of Germany! To all our enemies! Let's extirpate them from our land, is it so difficult? Is it will that you lack? Doesn't defending your homeland encourage you to give your all?"

The Fuhrer lowered his arms and sat down.

"I hope you understand my words and that what we report now in this meeting is in accordance with our objectives"

There was a moment of silence but this was interrupted by Stauffermberg who requested a call, when he was allowed, he left accompanied by Werner, leaving his hat and the briefcase with the bombs, he knew that it was almost time to activate so they left the room and told to Brant that he could warn that phase two should begin.

Inside the room Heusinger had begun to read his reports on the latest movements, the atmosphere had been tense after the leader's speech, no one was surprised by the withdrawal from Stauffermberg, the situation on the battlefields had not been good and a speech, no matter how motivating it might be, it wasn't going to change what happened. Now it was worse for those present because they would have to make their discouraging reports trying to calm the expectations of Hitler, who observed them with his characteristic depth while putting 6 sugar cubes in a cup of tea that he had asked to be brought to him.

What no one in that room suspected was that the briefcase left behind by Staufermberg was reaching the end of its count to detonate the two bombs it had inside. Hitler listened with disgust to the reports, reinforcing the ideas he had had during that day, the weakness and the helplessness he felt at not being able to take Germany alone and with his own hands to the splendor and to the summit where it deserves to be, the generals, the traitors, the opponents, so many obstacles in his path, he looked for where he would have lost their way, the path of the party, of the generals, of their allies, of the Germans themselves.

He, of course, being the great leader and regent, was still on the right path, the problem was those under his command who did not obey his orders and fulfill the objectives for Germany, so between the sounds of the general speaking and Hitler's thoughts a sound could be heard.

click

That small sound was immediate and the experienced and trained ears of those present quickly grasped what it preceded, but only a second step when the explosion was released in an aggressive wave of fire that in a matter of seconds destroyed the entire meeting room. The splinters and torn pieces of wood had flown everywhere, some burying in the bodies of several of those present, those who were closest to the explosion had died instantly, others still maintained consciousness, although the internal injuries or the detached limbs due to the force of the explosion, would not let them live for long.

Hitler had been completely deaf because his eardrums had exploded, although if he were healthy, he would only have been able to hear the cries and moans of those who were losing consciousness. Disoriented, he could only see the smoke and dust stirring in the air in a blurry manner. His mind was scattered and stunned but made an effort and understood that he had been attacked.

'Traitors! Cowards! I can't die! Not like that! I refuse!'

The Fuhrer, being face up, forced himself to turn around but that only caused him to cough up blood, in addition to the fact that this movement would be impossible for him because although he had not yet noticed it, the proximity to the bomb had torn off his right arm and his legs were completely destroyed, plus he had also lost his right eye, face up on the ground he could only wave his left arm.

"My life can't end like this! I am the one who makes the decision of how it ends!" He yelled out hoarsely.

With his left hand he looked around his belt for the holster of his revolver, but it was no longer there, it was blown away at the moment of the explosion, resigned and already losing his strength due to the heavy bleeding, Hitler tried to think about everything that had happened in his life, if it was really worth it, it was. What his mother would think of his life's work, even if he would meet his mother on the other side, how sure he was that Eva would follow him to the other side, but he had no idea what that "other side" was like. He hadn't been much or a religious man, he was more attuned to the concept of fate and provide. Had his fate always been to die like this?

At that moment he thought about what would happen if providence gave him another chance, another try, would he do the same? What would he change? His vision was darkening, some soldiers entered the room in the midst of the commotion, everything looked like shadows that were increasingly stronger and deeper until finally everything became dark and cold, losing his consciousness and life.

/-/

Remnant, specifically Vale, the sky in the middle of the sunset is painted with orange and pink tones, while the night rises little by little, on the way to her house was Ruby, advancing on a path that opens through a meadow, each step she takes is a small excited jump. She had bought a small supply of dust and was thinking about how she could combine this with her weapon "Crescent Rose" shots that freeze, others that electrocute, fireballs, the excitement she felt when thinking about all the possibilities caused a tingle in her body and a sparkle in her eyes.

'Ohh the jitters and nerves before adventures are the best part!' Ruby thought excitedly.

She remembered how just a couple of days ago, most likely because she had defended a dust store from some thugs and a weird man with a hat and cane, her heroic actions had likely allowed her to go directly to study at Beacon earlier, she knew she was good and a great fighter, but receiving those compliments from the school principal was a complete honor!

That emotion had begun to concentrate on her wrist, generating a small burning sensation.

"I hope I'm not getting a rash... "

Ruby lifted the left sleeve of her suit. To her surprise, a faint orange light on her wrist was leaving marks in what she saw look like a language she didn't know. What looked like letters formed incomprehensible phrases around her skin and although the sensation was strange, it was not completely painful, the impression on Ruby's face was enormous because she understood what that meant.

"A soulmate mark!"

A mark that connects the soul and aura of two people, an event so rare that you can often live a life without seeing it, but documented enough that it is not entirely a legend, the mark meant that your life and your destiny was tied to another person and that they would share their lives.

However, a heaviness rested on Ruby's shoulders, an accumulation of fierce sensations, fear, regret, hated, anger, shame, the sensation was so strong that she fell kneeling on the floor while she felt her stomach turn, chills traveling for all her body, it was as if she were falling into a dark, bottomless hole, dragged to the depths of a crater. Was it some Grimm nearby? Is this what it would feel like when you die? She trembled and slowly took her weapon and deployed it almost as a reflex to face the danger.

But to her surprise nothing was getting closer, there were no strange noises or presence of Grimm, with trembling legs she stood up with the help of her weapon and taking deep breaths she managed to remain calm as those emotions dissipated, she saw her mark again and remembered about the connection. Was the person with the other mark in danger? But if so, where was he?

Ruby, in an attempt to concentrate more on everything, even if was new to her, squeezed her wrist with her other hand and closed her eyes. All the fear had turned into confusion and a feeling of uncertainty, although much fainter at the same time more locatable. Ruby didn't quite understand why, but she knew that she should head south, quickly running and propelling herself with her weapon. As she advanced, she could feel the connection that moved her more strongly.

Finally, in a clearing in the middle of the forest, she could see how a Grimm that resembled a huge wolf threatened a person with its claws. With a quick maneuver, Ruby fired a bullet to attract the beast's attention. The shot achieved its objective and the wolf turned to go for Ruby who with a couple of jumps backed away, with force Ruby swung her weapon against the Grimm, but it defended itself with its claws, sparks were produced along with a screeching sound.

The Grimm took the initiative and rushed towards Ruby who, when defending herself with the edge of her weapon, was thrown, crashing into a tree behind her. The girl understood that a frontal offensive would not be effective and quickly thought of another plan, she fired a couple of bullets towards the Grimm, enraging it and she ran to her right trying to surround it, the Grimm threw his claws and followed Ruby, who, having him at a more measured distance, threw a vial of Ice Dust against the ground, generating a thick fog.

Without being able to see well, the Grimm remained on the defensive waiting for an attack while little by little the cold fog dissipated, Ruby's silhouette began to be seen and the Grimm took two steps towards her, who was standing with a winning smile and without her weapon in her hand, the Grimm went to jump towards her, but Crescent Rose fell from the sky with a lot of strength and before the Grimm knew it, it had been decapitated, turning little by little into dust.

Ruby took her gun and folded it again, placing it in its holster and approached the place where that person was at the beginning. To her surprise, she found a man of about 24 years old, totally scared and surprised by what had happened, his hair Combed to one side and a small mustache under his nose, he looked at her with his deep blue eyes almost studying her and Ruby noticed how that man had the same mark on his wrist as hers.

'Is he- is he my soulmate!?' Ruby wondered.

"Are you OK? What's your name?" she asked him.

To which the man responded, still recovering, "My name is Adolf Hitler."