A/N: Things are looking good !
Somewhat. Maybe I got a job ? Somehow ? Maybe ? We'll see.
Anyway, I'm doing better, hopefully this translate well into my writting.
Never mind what I said last time, this is the biggest pain in my ass.
Being with the one armed chainsaw guy is bad enough, but honestly, the worst part isn't that.
It's not even the mission itself, because retrieving stolen firearms isn't as bad as it could possibly be. Honest.
No, the problem is the mission provider, Marcellus.
Calling that guy shady wouldn't give justice to the sheer amount of rumors that surround this guy. Like, the simple fact that he is well known for having worked at the churches in Iberia tells a lot.
The same churches that were known to be full of demon worshippers, that we want to get rid off but we can't, and that I know thanks to future events that they are just a cover for the church of the Deep ?
Well, I say that, but if he became a Cardinal, he must at least not be a puppet of the church of the Deep. At least I hope so. Please don't be one. I beg of you.
Regardless, here I am, with said spicy chicken and 'mister tentacle man'.
"I see you are here for the mission details. Good."
"... Why us ?"
"I see you do not verily understand, child of Apostalic. You were chosen because it must be you two."
"I think what she meant was why did you ask two people who are political bombshells to be used for the hardest mission first years could go on, do you get a kick out of seeing kids go on life threatening missions ? Do you have some kind of child screaming kink ?"
After I said that, both of them turned to look at me.
"... What ? It's a valid question. I'm a Fallen and she's related to the Apostalic Knights, it's basically light versus dark on the same team, is there like, a trap where I should die in so that it could became a story of good facing evil, 'to rid this world of impurity' ?"
"... You have a wild imagination, child."
I'm kinda speaking out of my ass here, but I want to see his reaction if he is the one who sent those officials to force me to come find a Cardinal. If he is…
"Wild ? Is that what you would call it ? It's not an unfounded fear, you know ? Discrimination isn't the only thing that comes with the horns, if you catch my drift. Like also the loose tongue that speaks of Cardinals needing me in dark alleyways."
"You what ..? Dante, what are you talking about-"
"Sorry Fiammetta, but I kinda have to get all of this out of my chest. Since I'm sure he gets what I'm saying. Right ?"
Come on, bite on that bait…
"..."
I can't really tell. It's some kind of expression, and from what I'm seeing he isn't innocent, but I doubt he is the mastermind behind all this. Is it some kind of relation between Cardinals ? I can't really tell.
"You must believe that all church officials want you gone because of your status as a Fallen, but most of us are people too, you realize, child ?"
"This is this and that is that. I want your opinion because you're the one sending us towards potential death. I try to cover my bases, you see ?"
"You think the church is sending us towards certain death ? Are you stupid, Dante ? They are the ones protecting your sorry ass ! You should be happy to be here instead of in jail for your crimes !"
"Jeez, racist much, miss chicken ?"
"No, it's an actual fact, stop over analyzing stuff and see things for what they are instead of what you think they could be !"
"..."
I..
"... You have the same habit as your father used to have."
Hold the fuck up.
"Wait, hold that thought Fiammetta, what did you just say ?"
"I did not pick you for no reason. I knew your father."
"That's… He was a soldier, yes, but I never heard of him being particularly high rank."
"Is that what they told you ?"
What the fuck is that guy smoking ? What they told me ?
Who is the 'they' in this equation ? Is he speaking about Andoain ? About Cassius ? Or another guy higher up in the chain ?
"You- Your family is in the military too ?"
She seems… Relieved ?
"Not the point, Fiammetta."
"If you desire, if you produce satisfactory results in this mission, I can tell you a little of what I experienced with him. It can be a little reward for a job well done."
… That's…
"... I don't know."
Is it a bait ? A way to make me accept something that's going to make me on his side ?
How can I even trust his words ?
"Dante."
"... Fiammetta ?"
"Didn't I just tell you not to over analyze things ?"
… She's…
"Right. Well, I'll do the mission first and we'll see about that."
"Very well. For the mission itself, pretty much all the work has been done. The stolen firearms are in an abandoned warehouse in the 'Diligentia' district, as stated in the description. There will not be any guards as we have already taken care of them. The Warehouse itself does not possess any explosives, but traps could still have been planted. I simply advise you with caution for those. You will be exploring any room for the weapons, and after locating them, recovering them and giving them to our men in front of the building, it will be enough."
"... Alright. And you, Fiammetta ?"
"All good. Let's do this thing already."
And with that, off we go…
A couple hours later, in the 'Diligentia' district.
Honestly the ride towards the place was pretty silent.
Neither she nor I wanted to speak about what we just talked about with the Cardinal.
I mean, she most definitely wanted to ask a couple of questions, mainly about my family, but she had enough tact and brain cells to understand that if I don't want to talk about them they are most definitely dead.
Talking about dead relative is like the worst thing to do when you want to ask them a question about your life, and even if you want to be friend with them, and that kind of things need to be addressed at some point in time, right after just being told that you've been fed a lie your whole life, and not even telling you what the truth is, just telling you that you've lied to, is a social ticking time bomb.
In my case it's been lessened by the dissociation I feel from this life and the one before(?) or something..?
I still feel… Something towards them. Just, not what I'm expecting ?
I know they are my parents and all, but I never had time to process what the hell happened.
So, let's roll things back.
Fact number 1, they are dead.
Everyone seems to be aware of that in the chain of commands, so, fact number 2, they were somewhat important in the military.
How ? Why ? What position did they have ?
I don't fucking know, and it piss me of.
Like, some kind of primal wants to just punch the first official I meet and force him to tell me what I wanna know.
Not the smartest thing to do, but honestly I just want this nightmare to be over !
… Well…
Whatever this is, I guess.
Fuck, I dunno.
Anyway, they are high ranked.
Cardinals seem to know them, but they know something else.
My father seemed to be more important..?
Apparently.
He might've been related to someone ?
Or he just might've been really powerful.
I just never knew that info before, but it would coincide with why they wanted me.
Since he was strong, they hoped I was just as strong as he was, and just wanted to use me to fill the void he left when he died.
Maybe some kind of arts they hope I possess or that was passed down to me.
Maybe…
Or…
"Over analyzing things again ?"
"... I'll have you know I do not over analyze. I just try to make sense out of most of the info I get from all of the bullshit I just found out today."
"By over analyzing. You have that kind of facial expression that tells you when you do that."
I do ?
"Yeah."
"..? Am I that easy to read or something ?"
"No, not really, you just… Remind me of someone."
"Do tell ?"
"Not important. What is is that we need to make sure to take care of this mission fast and clean."
"Yeah, I get that. So, have some kind of plan you want to run by me ?"
"Kinda, since this shouldn't be too hard considering most of the work was done by others before we even got the mission."
" I suppose it was just made to be that way for us first years, since we need to get some kind of foot in the kind of work we're going to be doing, while not majorly screwing us over by just giving us a mission people who finish their training are supposed to be doing."
"... You're rambling again."
"I am..? … So I am, huh. Well, you get the point."
"Yes. Anyway, we should be good to go, but let's make things clear for the both of us."
"Alright."
"We go separate ways, you take left, I take right, and each room we're sure is clean, we say 'Clear', to make sure we're done with this one."
"Shouldn't be too hard."
"Great. Let's just do this like that then."
"Got it."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"So… Your parents were-"
"We're here kids."
Saved by the bell I see.
"Damn it… Now I'll have to find some other time…"
What..?
"Let's go, KFC."
"What..? KFC ?"
Heh.
"You wouldn't get it."
"What does KFC mean ?"
"*chuckles*"
"What does it mean ?!"
"Ahahahaha !"
"Dante, stop doing that and just tell me already !"
It's been… 40 minutes in this building ?
We're at what… Like, half the 2nd floor ?
"Clear !"
Something like that.
"Clear !"
It's been mostly boring, as expected.
Those rooms are repeating endlessly, most of the stuff here is broken down and couldn't hope to see the light of day ever again.
Or it's just a pile of garbage from squatters.
Pick your poison.
"Clear. That floor is done."
"Good, just… 8 more to go."
At this, Fiammetta sighs.
"Look, it's going to take forever, do you want to do one floor each ?"
Please, I want this to end faster.
"That's unwise, we'd be too far to alert the other of any kind of danger."
"Shouldn't be too dangerous, it's been mostly cleared out already."
"Even then…"
"C'mon, it'll be fine. No problem at all… KFC."
"Do not start me on this. You still have not told me what it meant."
"And I will lord it over you until the day I die. Or you find out, whichever comes first."
"If that's a secret you're going to take to the grave, let me help you speed that process up."
She has that kind of passive/aggressive smile going.
The kind that tells you 'I'm going to rip your intestine out and play with them however I see fit.' kinda way.
"Ah, let's not, it'll take longer to take care of this building if I'm gone."
"I'll still find them today, time limit accomplished, just with one casualty."
"Sure, cool, cool, let's go."
"Damn it, I'll take the next floor, take the one after that"
"Sure, glad you're seeing my way."
"Just move already !"
And with that, let's speed up the process…
After a grueling 2 hours of searching, nothing.
I'm on the 7th floor, searching again. Fiammetta should be on the 6th, I should've heard her moving towards the 8th.
Anyway, nothing of note was present during the first 7 floors, so nothing else should happen.
… If Murphy didn't exist that is.
I've been on edge since the 5th floor, since everything was going on perfectly.
Too perfect in fact.
I am sure that something should go wrong, since it needs to go wrong at some point.
… Normally.
"Dante, I'm going to the 8th floor, you're done on the 7th ?"
"Pretty much, I need like, two more rooms."
"Anything of note ?"
"None whatsoever, the cache you found on the 4th should be the one anyway, so I don't know why we're still going."
"The Cardinal or the guy in the car didn't specify how many firearms were in the building, so we're looking fir anything and everything."
"I guess. Well, one more room and I'm coming."
"Alright."
This..?
"Hold on, didn't we see nobody on the front of the building ?"
"I mean, yeah ? Why ?"
"Didn't Marcellus tell us there would be a guy there to deposit the cargo ?"
"I think I remember him telling that so probably ?"
"Then, where was that guy then ?"
"... I don't know ?"