"Talulah…" He quietly muttered, regret pouring through his voice. "It was my fault… I'm sorry…" Fenrir clenched his fists, drawing blood from his palms as he turned his gaze to the ground.
Talulah was confused. "What do you mean, your fault? What happened here?" She wanted so badly to ignore everything and focus on Alina, but there was creeping suspicion that she knew where Fenrir was going with his admittance. Her heart raced, hoping and praying that he wasn't serious, that the Lupo was just placing the blame on himself for not being able to protect everyone.
"There was nothing I could do, it was the Emperor's Blades. They showed up, and murdered everyone but me…" He looked back into Talulah's eyes, and there were tears, actual genuine tears flowing down Fenrir's face. Her eyes widened at the sudden display of emotion from the usually expressionless man. Her grip on his collar slackened, the two sliding onto their knees as she placed her head against his chest, ignoring the slight pain of the Originium that grew on it as she sobbed over the loss of her dearest friend.
Fenrir did nothing, contemplating what he could do to console Talulah. Gently, he placed his hands on her shoulders, only to be harshly shoved onto his back. Looking at her he could see a fire ignite within the Draco's eyes, a fire so hot and full of emotion that it turned a cerulean blue. At first he was ready to protect himself but quickly realized that she held no intention of harming him, at least for now.
"Get up." She ordered, turning to where Alina's corpse laid, gently picking it up into her arms before standing. "She – everyone, needs a proper burial. Then we'll come up with a plan." Walking away from the camp, Talulah's Arts began to melt the snow around them, turning it into water before completely evaporating it. Every step she took left a trail of heat that rose from the ground. Fenrir could only silently follow behind her, unsure as to how things would proceed.
The two silently walked, finding FrostNova standing above the corpse of Alex within the dead forest. They couldn't see it, but a scowl had adorned her scarred face. Ice shot out all around her in an instant, freezing everything around her while leaving Alex's body untouched. She slowly turned to face them, the scowl on her face only growing.
"Who did this?" FrostNova spoke through gritted teeth, rage and frustration exuding from her narrowed eyes as she glared at Fenrir. She stomped towards them, freezing more of the forest as she neared. She stopped in front of the Lupo, her Arts causing his skin and clothes to slowly get frozen over. He would have backed away to keep himself safe from frostbite, but continued to stand there as he gave his answer.
"It was the Emperor's Blades." His fist tightened, maintaining eye contact with the Yeti as he began to lose feeling in his left leg. "There were six of them, they ambushed us while Alex and I sparred. They were too fast, too strong. They only left me alive to send a message…"
There was so much emotion in his voice it was almost suspicious. But right now, there were more important things that needed to be done. FrostNova turned to Talulah, the two leaders having a silent conversation as their eyes met before they began walking deeper into the forest, but not before FrostNova could pick up her brother's corpse. Together, the three found an open space to lay their fallen. Gently, they laid the two down, allowing them to rest on unsullied snow. Seeing what he needed to do, Fenrir walked back to the ashes of their camp, gathering the dead with Snowstorm and leading them to where FrostNova and Talulah waited.
The remnants of Reunion held a small funeral for their fallen, the four leaders silently mourning as Talulah cremated their remains. Once the funeral finished, Talulah let the rest of Reunion return to their ruined tents. Now the four leaders stood alone, three of them boring a hole into the sole survivor's back.
"Assassin." Patriot's hoarse voice seemed to echo throughout the forest, causing both FrostNova and Talulah to raise an eyebrow. "You claim. To have. Survived. The Emperor's Blades. But I know. How they. Operate. You tell. The truth. Of your. Survival. But fail. To explain. Why. You live." The Wendigo points his spear at Fenrir's back. A menacing aura surrounded him, it was as if the shadows bent to his will, causing his red eyes to glow.
Fenrir slowly turned to face them, his expression once again nothing but an empty void. "I suppose now is a better time than any to tell you the truth." Now staring at the trio, he could see the betrayal in Talulah's eyes, the fury in FrostNova, and the irritation in Patriot. Fenrir gave them a fake smile, one just as lifeless as his eyes and bowed, "Allow me to introduce myself. Fenrir, code name Red Winter, assigned by Ursus to hunt and destroy the Deathless Black Snake. Or, as we know her, Talulah Artorias."
The reveal of his true intentions caused Talulah's eyes to widen, everything clicked into place for her. The air around him began to feel hot, and the snow surrounding them burnt away in an instant. Talulah's sword swung at him and he made no attempts to stop her. Luckily, her blade stopped just before his neck, gently stabbing into his Adam's apple. Fire erupted all around them, burning a bright cerulean blue and coating her blade. The pain was immeasurable, but to ensure he was able to convince them that he was on their side, he endured it. But the flames never reached him; only the intensity of the heat caused actual harm.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you now. You – you are the cause of every problem we've had ever since she found you!" Talulah's eyes narrowed, the flames around her only growing stronger. It was almost too much to take in. The death of her dearest friend, the losses Reunion endured, the sudden improvement of the Infected Patrol's arsenal. She needed to vent her frustrations out, and the cause for all of this was now in front of her. Something deep within her changed, she wanted Fenrir – she wanted him to hurt. To experience all the pain and suffering that she endured all those years they fought together. To make him feel the hopelessness and despair of her every failure. She wanted to relish every bit of–
"You have no reason to trust anything I say," he coldly responded, "if you wish to kill me then so be it. Perhaps my sins shall burn away with my death and satisfy your thirst for vengeance, or perhaps you would allow me to prove my worth and together we could overthrow this corrupt nation." Once again, Talulah's eyes widened. He was unfazed, readily accepting his own death. Did he truly wish to repent? Or was he pulling the wool over her eyes once again? One part of her wanted him dead, to lash out at him for all of her suffering, but another part of her begged for him to still be her ally. Even if she could no longer trust him, who else did she have to confide in? FrostNova and the Yeti Squadron were still cautiously optimistic about their partnership, and Patriot only followed his daughter in order to protect her. Everyone else in Reunion only saw her as their stalwart leader, someone who could never falter or else their hope would die.
She was alone. But that was fine, right?
Reluctantly she lowered her blade, the heat around her never faltering. Her eyes burnt a hole into Fenrir who readily accepted her anger. "The moment I even think of you betraying us, or the moment you are no longer useful to me, you will die by my hand." Fenrir could only nod his head.
"Then allow me to begin–"
"Alex trusted you…" The voice of FrostNova interrupted him, causing him to turn his attention to her. "My Brother – trusted you." Her teeth grated against each other. The intense heat Talulah once emitted was now snuffed out by a similarly intense cold, one so intense that a layer of black ice formed over the ground. Her glare was the opposite of Talulah's, it forced a chill down Fenrir's spine. "I do not trust you, but I trust Talulah. You shall live for as long as she finds you useful."
With his daughter's approval, Patriot lowered his spear and left, but not before leaving some parting words. "Do not. Come near. My children." His daughter followed shortly after, leaving the two alone.
Fenrir bowed his head and sighed, taking a seat on the iced over ground. He put a hand on his forehead, thinking about how to best prove himself to them. Talulah only stared at him. She still wanted him to pay for everything he did, but now that she made her decision she had to stick by it. But something didn't make sense to her, why would Fenrir willingly go out of his way to expose himself if there was a chance that he would die? In all her years of knowing him, this was one of the few times he was reckless, with him stabbing himself with Originium being the penultimate of his recklessness. There was still something he was hiding.
"Fenrir." She spoke, her mind wavering, unsure as to how she should go forward. "Why are you doing this?"
"I am doing this for Alina." His response caught her off guard. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. "It was her last will, for me to make the choice to willingly help you. To remind you of what Reunion fights for, to remind you of the path you set out to pave." His hands tightened into a fist, gripping his knees as he met Talulah's gaze with a resolute look.
"I will do everything in my power to see her last wish fulfilled, regardless of how you may scorn or despise me. I promised her that much for all the pain I've caused you both. That is how I can-"
"Stop." She interrupted. "Stop with that farce you're putting up. You're only doing this to get close to me, so that you may kill me when the time is right. Once again, you've swapped between your farces. Just earlier you spoke without any hint of emotion, but now you speak with resoluteness and wishful atonement." Her eyes narrowed dangerously at him. She was once again tempted to just kill him here and now, but that would also leave Snowstorm without a leader, and with all the losses Reunion just had, leadership was something they were in need of currently. Something for the infected to place their faith in. Once again, she decided not to kill the assassin.
Talulah laughed, covering her face with her hand. It was a silent, almost mad laugh that slowly turned into a sad and hollow one. When her hand was removed from her face, it was like she was an entirely different person. Her eyes held no life to them, coldly staring at the Lupo in front of her as if he was an insect. Fenrir quickly noticed the change, his own eyes narrowing as he analyzed her. However her change was brief, swiftly returning back to her look of frustration and confliction.
"...Fine. Do as you wish. If you truly wish to atone for your sins, then I suggest you truly heed Alina's words." Talulah coldly turned and walked away, leaving the Lupo all alone.
Left with her parting words, Fenrir sat still, thinking about the slaughter that just occurred. Once again, he was left contemplating his course of action. It would be so easy to lie and fool his way closer to the Black Snake's host. But it would be just as easy to fully commit to Alina's last will and try to atone for his sins. Both had their own set of complications, but both had the same end goal. To get close to Talulah. The choice was obvious, he would continue to lie his way closer to her, but in accordance to Alina's wishes he would also keep her in line. There was no reason he couldn't do both.
With a sigh he stood up. Staring at the ashen remains of the dead, he thought about how he would go about this new task of his. But before he could delve into the depths of his mind, two voices called out to him.
"Fenrir!" Turning his head, Fenrir found two members of the Yeti Squadron rushing towards him, Sergei and Petrova.
"Sergei, Petrova...I'm sorry for being unable to save Alex." He gave them a smile full of regret and self-loathing.
"Hey, none of that was your fault, okay?" Petrova tried to reassure him, placing a hand on his shoulder as she gave a small smile. "You were still recovering from your wounds, there was no way you were in any condition to fight properly."
Sergei stayed silent, slowly nodding his head with a pointedly fierce look. Fenrir mused that the young Ursus was upset at him over Alex's death, and it made some sense, the boy was young and hadn't reached the age of maturity. But after years of fighting and surviving in the Ursus tundra, he expected Sergei to at least understand that death was something no one could control. However he never took into account the 'familial bond,' something that many members of both Reunion and the Yeti Squadron have stated to have with one another on numerous occasions. Perhaps that bond was blinding the young boy.
"Regardless of how I feel about their deaths, they left me the sole survivor…and for what reason I don't even know." He lied with the shake of his head. Shrugging off Petrova's hand Fenrir began walking away from the two, thinking of how he would help combat Ursus. Unexpectedly however, the voice of Sergei caught his attention.
"Fenrir, I overheard some of your talk with Sister, Father, and Talulah…" Fenrir could only sigh, slightly turning his head to meet Sergei's eyes. He already knew what the boy was about to do, so in order to speed up the process he interrupted Sergei's words.
"Would you like to scorn me? Or perhaps you would like to threaten and curse my very existence as well?" These words seemed to involuntarily escape Fenrir's mouth, causing him to briefly blink at his sudden outburst before placing a hand over his face. Even Petrova and Sergei were taken aback by this, their mouths agape with shock.
Why was he expressing snark at a time like this? He should be patient and sorrowful, what was this feeling of hurt he had in his chest? He needed answers, and the only way to get them was if he did a self-diagnosis of himself. He needed to step away from everything and fix this problem.
"What? No, that's not what I-"
"I apologize for my sudden outburst Sergei… However I would like to be left alone for now, I shall come to you when I am more presentable." His words caused the young Ursus to frown as he turned around and walked away from the pair.
Standing atop a tall hill just over half a mile away from the remains of their camp, Fenrir stared into the cloudy sky, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He was perfectly operational the day before, so why did he feel so wrong? What was the cause of this disruption, and how could he fix it? It didn't make any sense to him as he's never had to deal with this before. Every emotion was stripped from him with no possible chance of ever resurfacing. So what changed?
Was it an oversight in how he planned each of his days? No it couldn't be that, Fenrir knew that no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy, and while every day had certain unchanging variables like Alina doing housework he always kept an open mind for anything that might catch him off guard.
What if he was actually compromised, and felt emotions? No that wasn't it either, he documented every possible emotion down and there was no way he was–
Then it clicked, he was in denial… Denial of being compromised, denial of his emotions. Something he never thought possible.
That's a wrap folks, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of 2024.
I would like to apologize for the wait, and once again ask you to leave a comment for any thoughts or criticisms you might have.