Okay, now this is quite a long one. Will it be good? No idea. Just testing something new. And got some people to look through it
Well, no use in thinking about it, gotta post it.
Enjoy.
I hope so.
]
Adrik hummed at the hostile reaction that he was gaining from the group.
Not like he expected he would be welcome in the highly secret chamber.
The Ursus noticed their leader, looking around the room while the other glued their eyes on him.
Mostly the archer, as the medic-looking girl was more frightened to see him.
Maybe he should lessen the stress on them.
"No one is here. Other than us, 'course. At least you have a good head on your shoulders. Seeing if there are more lurking here. Well done."
"..."
"... Glaring won't make me disappear, sadly for you."
Adrik sighed at how hostile they were acting towards him.
It wasn't like he was doing any to them.
Minus the sleeping person beside him as a hostage, but that's beside the point.
He was trying to be civilised here!
"You're Reunion!"
The archer gripped on his crossbow, as he shouted this to him. Adrik was not impressed by this. With what he was wearing—his clothing being a combination of white and orange—a moron could make that deduction.
"... And the sky is fucking blue. Why are we talking about facts here? Might as well entertain you guys. There isn't much to do here anyway. My turn?"
Sighing, Adrik nudged his head towards the cactus girl.
"You're Amiya, right? Rhodes Island current leader. And this here…"
Adrik patted on the box behind him, making even Amiya instinctively raise her hand. Some black energy started to gather in front of her but she did not shoot him.
Nonetheless, Adrik looked bored, not bothered by this display in the slightest and continuing with his talk.
"Is your… Doctor, was it?"
A small smile appeared on his face at seeing the black Arts slowly disappearing from her palm. Shrugging at the now gone death ball, Adrik raised a brow at his hostile companions.
"Your turn?"
"... You're Adrik. The newly appointed field commander, after Mephisto died in combat."
"Ouch. Blunt ain't you? Did you really need to remind me that my little friend is no more? You're lucky Sasha isn't here, you know?"
He laughed goodheartedly at the reminder of how he got here.
"You're also the single person that pushed away Ursus' Army out of Chernobog."
"Wasn't that hard, really. Most here were meat shields, not really having much training. So it did not take much to make them run. An angry dragon woman does wonders in intimidation."
"..."
"Tough crowd. You guys might be worse than Talulah!"
Adrik sighed at the lacklustre response that he got from the rest. He glanced back at them
"About your sleeping beauty here. His body temperature was low, so I heated him up—Not in a harmful way, dammit! Don't start charging your Arts here, girl! You might damage his box! Careful!"
Although Amiya did not want to listen to the Reunion member, what he said was true; Amiya might accidentally damage the Sarcophagus.
Breathing out his relief at the sight of her finally calming down, Adrik started to change up his plan in dealing with this.
So, he slowly raised his hand away from the coffin and pointed at a wall to the side.
"How about I sit there while you guys wake him up, okay?"
"..."
"I take that as a yes! Off you go then. Don't worry, no one is near us. I made sure of it."
Without hearing any protest, he walked leisurely toward the wall and rested his back on it.
Closing his eyes, he heard footsteps walking past him.
"Medic… Please do the procedure as assigned…"
"... Yes."
The sound of the button being pressed came into his ears but he did not open his eyes.
They must have opened the box as Adrik heard a loud gushing of air filled the room and he could feel the temperature drop around him.
"... Conditions are stable. Body temperature, normal."
"Injecting… Complete."
"Doctor…. I am sorry… for making you suffer again."
Adrik stayed quietly to the side, letting them finish. As he slowly opened his eyes, it seemed they were already finished.
"Doctor! Doctor! Thank goodness, you're awake. Long time no see, Doctor."
Seemed like the man of the moment finally awakened with how Amiya was gasping in pure joy, rubbing her face on the Doctor's hand in pure relief.
Although Adrik knew Amiya just woke up someone important to her, but at least be a little wary.
Not like he would do anything to her, Uncle would scold him otherwise.
As he was starting to get a bit tired of all the waiting, a Hyperfly hovered in front of him.
As it blinked its light rapidly, Adrik's eyes narrowed at each passing second.
Back with the Rhodes Island's group, Operator Guard turned off his comms when he received information.
He aimed his crossbow towards the Reunion leader as he slowly made his way to his leader, not letting his eyes leave the man.
"We're finally here to bring you back. Doctor? Can you… hear me?"
Although he did not want to ruin her moment, Amiya needed to hear this.
"Amiya, there is an urgent call from Capt. Dobermann! She encountered a militant group, probably Reunion."
Hearing that concerning information, Amiya looked away from his gray eyes towards her team.
"We need to exfiltrate from here to not run into them… Although it's a bit too late for the latter."
Both Medic and Guard stared at the sole Reunion member in the room with them, the latter had his crossbow aim at him.
A light was flickering in front of Adrik, as he stared at it harshly.
Then he let out a tired sigh, massaging his forehead in frustration.
"That moron! I told her to not interfere! Where does Talulah even find these people? The deaf gathering?!... Damage control then. Sasha, secure the parameters and Red, continue in finding civilians. With her group, some might harm them."
He shooed the light with a wave from his hand and got off from the wall.
"Stay where you are!"
Amiya shouted when she saw him making his way towards them, hand raised towards him.
He raised a brow at her shout but still stopped, one hand raised.
"Before everything, I must apologise."
That caught them by surprise.
"This group is not mine. So although I wanted to talk with you, especially the Doctor more, you need to leave. Now."
"... I understand."
Adrik nodded, slowly making his way to the only door.
"I will be guiding you guys. I know you guys think you can run off on your own, but if you guys run into Reunion here it might get messy."
"..."
"Damn you cold. FrostNova would be impressed."
Adrik closed the door behind him as he stood outside.
Just to not give them a reason to kill him more, Adrik waits a good few feets away from the door.
As he waited for them, Adrik heard footsteps getting closer to them. Adrik turned around and saw a group of Reunion behind him.
"Leader Adrik, sir!"
The group of grunts all saluted at him.
Dammit.
"Clownslayer?"
"... Crownslayer, sir."
"..."
"... Crownslayer, sir."
"Could have tricked me with how she's been acting now. Are you the leader? Did she issue your troupe to be here?"
Adrik rolled his eyes and asked the grunts questions.
The one that he was speaking to broke off from the group, standing in front of him.
"Yes, sir! I am leading them. There are about four groups in total in the facility!"
"... That much? Why? Shouldn't one or at max two be enough?"
"Crownslayer insisted on taking this much, sir."
"Huh? How… wasteful. Your objective?"
"To capture those traitors."
'Damn, you must really hate those people.'
Although they were wearing masks, Adrik could feel how excited they were. Sadly, they couldn't do anything with it for today.
"You do realize you're in my territory. I was as clear as I could when I took over Chernobog."
They looked troubled at being called out.
"..."
"Well? Why are you here without letting me or my subordinates know? Have you guys forgotten? I don't mind reminding you if needed."
"N-No sir! Pardon us for not informing you."
The grunt hastily tried to control the situation when he saw a shift under Adrik's right side, head lowered.
Most of the members of Reunion saw how strong the man in front of him was.
With just him alone, he destroyed the soldiers Ursus sent. Mist of black filled the city before a burst of light eradicated the army.
Even he did not know whether he or Talulah was the strongest.
That was the person that stood in front of them.
So if they make him dissatisfied… They did not want to even think about the outcome.
"Crownslayer informed us that she got permission from Talulah."
Head still lowered the grunt told him, making Adrik hummed.
"Talulah?... She went to her, huh?"
Adrik rubbed his chin, taking this new information in consideration.
After a while of thinking, Adrik focused back on the group in front of him, pointing to the door behind him with a thumb.
"Those… "traitors" are just behind the door."
"Amazing… you already killed them, sir."
The grunt raised his head and looked at Adrik in awe.
"Kill? Are you dumb? I am going to guide them outside."
Adrik stared at him in disappointment. This left the Reunion members speechless.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
Adrik raised a brow at the question.
"Why are you helping them!? They are the enemy!"
Normally grunts would not dare to take back to a field general, especially one as important as Adrik however the grunts was too caught up with his emotions.
"Rhodes Island, had helped the government slaughter our brethrens all across the world! We need to kill them!"
"... Uh, no?"
Adrik did not look impressed by the display of emotions, making the grunt's body shake.
"Make a scene somewhere that is not in my territory. Tell the clown to get the fuck away from here and stay where she is assigned to."
"..."
"Off you go then… I really need to tell Talulah how to manage her generals."
After waving away the grunt dismissively to get him moving, he turned his back and looked at the steel door.
Thud!
Something fell down behind him.
"... We apologize for our insubordination for today, hero of Reunion."
"... Did you really need to kill him though?"
"He was about to harm you, sir."
"Uhhgg, just get out. Redblade will be outside waiting for you. He will escort you out of my territory."
"Thank you, sir. Just wanted to say, I speak for everyone here when I say that we are honoured in meeting you, Hero of Reunion."
"... Safe trip."
A stampede of footsteps slowly disappeared from his ear. When he was alone, a Hyperfly slowly hovered in front of him, blinking its light at him.
He held his finger out to let the thing rest on it.
"You meet with some of them? Did you engage with them, Red? No? Good. I will be out in a few more minutes."
The sound of the knob being rotated made him look in front of him.
Four people emerged from it, Adrik smiled at them to not make them scared.
However it didn't help when his legs were in a puddle of blood with a dead body behind him that had an arrow through its skull.
]
Step. Step.
Adrik led the group through the white hallways with them a few feets away from him.
'Damn, this is awkward.'
To be fair, it was not his fault there was a corpse behind him. They must have heard his whole conversation he has with the grunt seeing they were more cooperative now.
Although, standing in a puddle of blood in a barely illuminated hall did raise some alarm bells, Adrik had to admit.
They haven't said a word to him since then they started to walk.
Thud!
"*Cough*! *Cough*!"
"Doctor! Are you okay, Doctor!"
As he pondered on how to fix this whole situation, Adrik heard a loud thud and followed by intense coughing.
Stopping, Adrik turned around to see the Doctor coughing up on the ground.
"Yesh."
"There. There. Everything will be fine."
Amiya rubbed on the Doctor's back. Somehow it made him cough less.
As he watched this from afar, Adrik started musing on who might be the child in this situation.
Then an idea popped into his head. Adrik went to his belt and untied something from it.
"Here."
Adrik held out a leather water bottle shaped like a kidney towards the group. As expected they did not seem to want to take his offer.
"W-Water…"
They heard the weak plea coming from the coughing person. Seeing this was going nowhere, he threw his container towards them, not moving from where he stood.
"Take it. I have more in my base. No, it's not poisonous. Just plain water."
Not wanting to hear any debate he turned around and waited for them to be done with.
Although she was against taking something from the enemy, the Doctor needed water and they didn't bring any to be more lightweight.
With a heavy heart, she ordered Guard to take it from the floor. The man followed her order and gave it to her.
"Here Doctor. Water."
Glup. Glup. Glup.
As the almost dehydrated person greedily drank the water from the bottle, Adrik hummed to himself to pass the time.
Then he saw a Hyperfly hovering in front of him. As the little thing was flickering in front of him, Adrik's face slowly adopted a more serious one.
While he was doing this, the Doctor finished his last chug and gave out a gasp of relief.
Although with how fast he was drinking, the Doctor coughed a few more times, making Amiya patted him.
"There. There. Guard give the container back, toss it near him."
"Roger… here."
With a nod, Guard took it and threw it toward the Reunion leader.
"..."
However, his back kept facing them.
Amiya started to get a bad feeling with how quiet he became, since they met he would try to start a conversation. Seeing him be so silent, it did sit while for Amiya.
"Ad—"
"Wow… You guys really tried to ambush me."
The moment he cut her sentence short, Adrik turned towards a hallway above him.
Then, a whip rushed towards him.
"Wait! Capt. Dobermann!"
Not looking any worry, Adrik raised his left arm, letting the whip wrap around it.
Just before, a few arrows flew to his head.
However, like a barrier around him, they all burn into ashes before they could touch him.
Adrik retaliated by raising his right arm towards his guests.
Amiya finally saw his right arm… rather it was a prosthetic arm.
Made from metal that was so black, it felt light was being eaten around it. The arm had gears and pipes shown out in the open.
The gears turned with every movement that it made and the pipes had something flowing in it.
'... Something is not right with that arm.'
"Ackk!"
Before Amiya could make sense of what it was, she heard a choking sound beside her.
"Doctor!"
"Call them off."
Her panicked shout was cut short when she heard a cold voice towards her. Adrik was holding out his hand and looked like it was choking something. His eyes stared at her with unamused light in them.
"Call your people off, or I will choke him even harder. Or? This whole mission of yours will be failing."
"Acckk!"
"Doctor!"
The Doctor tried to pull something off of his neck, but there was nothing there for him to interact with.
The fabric around his neck looked like it was suffocating him.
The group of people jumped down and surrounded Adrik, weapons aimed at him.
The person that held the end of the whip he had on him—a Perro—glared at him and tried to get back her weapon.
It was useless though, as Adrik did not react at all to her efforts.
"Rhodes Island. Hello."
"..."
None said a thing, all on guard.
Adrik sighed at this situation and let go of his grip he had of the air.
Immediately, the Doctor gasped for air.
Amiya and Guard stood in front of him while the medic rushed to his side to look at his condition.
"There must be more of you outside. Readying an ambush."
"..."
"Can you not though?"
Letting go of the whip in his left palm, Dobbermann pulled back it.
Adrik looked at an opening to his side and pointed it to them.
"Here is the exit. Call the rest if you do not throw flash grenades. I liked my ears not being deaf, thank you."
"Ace. Fall back but don't go too far."
"Amiya! What are you doing?!"
Although Dobermann was not going to follow the man's suggestion, Amiya's voice intervened, agreeing with him.
Everyone in the area turned to look at the young cautus pulling a radio close to her mouth as she gave those orders.
"Roger."
"Capt. Dobermann. I know he may be a Reunion member—"
"Amiya! He isn't just a member. He's the one that people claimed to single handedly push back Ursus from this city!"
"Yesh. You're making me blush here."
Most of them ignored the comment the sole Reunion was making as the rest were in a heated discussion.
"He didn't do anything to us."
"Yet! Who knows what he wanted to do! Lure you into a trap. Maybe even ambush you!"
"Hello pot! Name's kettle, by the way. Nice meeting you. How was your day?"
"…."
"Glares don't kill. So just stop it."
Adrik rolled his eyes at the murderous death glares that he got from them. Then his eyes landed on their leader.
Seeing that most of them were not so trusting towards him, Adrik thought he needed to do something to gain it.
An idea popped into his head and he reached towards his right shoulder.
"Don't move or we will—"
"Sarcophagus. Initiate protocol: rude guest. Password: Romeo. Uniform. Delta. Echo."
As they were about to give Adrik a warning when he made sudden movement, Adrik gave out commands.
[Access granted.]
"Thanks. Just a little bit around here… Ow! Was that always tight!"
And the whole chamber reacted to his words.
After a robotic voice echoed around them and immediately the whole area changed.
Turrets emerged from any surface that the area had, ceiling, floor and wall.
Their weapons all target the Rhodes Island's Operator.
"How—"
"This is a secret facility that even most government officials don't know existed. So I will not judge you if you were surprised with the self defence system implementation here."
While everyone was anxious with their predicament, Adrik gave the answer that all of them wanted to know.
All while he was fiddling something on his right shoulder, under his fur coat.
"Ah. There we go! Here. Catch!"
A black arm fell in front of the Doctor. Behind his helmet, the Doctor stared at the prosthetic in mild confusion.
Then he raised his gaze towards the owner of the said arm. He smiled patiently at the Doctor.
"Bring it along as I take you out. A gesture of good faith. However, he's the only one that can carry it. Now, seeing that I am armless, heh get it, is everyone okay?"
"..."
"... Ah, I almost forgot. Sarcophagus. Flash alarm. Disengaged."
[Disengaging.]
Seeing how tense they were made Adrik a bit confused but when he remembered how they were being aimed at with weapons in every direction, he understood why. With that he gave his commands and the weapon all disappeared from their view, like they were never there.
When everything was clear, Adrik hummed in stratification, nodding to himself. He managed to deescalate the situation somehow.
"How did you do that?"
As he was patting himself on the back for a good job on his part, someone suddenly asked him a question. Looking back at the group, Adrik focused his attention towards the person that asked him.
Amiya stared at him like he was a chaos incarnate.
Hurtful but not wrong.
"You mean the turrets? Well, I went around the chamber here and found them. Then with some coding and changing authority on some parts, I got this."
"Impossible…"
"But… I just did it."
Adrik raised his brow at her denial of his answer. He told the truth.
"This location is only known by a selection of people. Most are no longer alive while the only possible person is with us and she never told anyone!"
"And Chernobog fell just a few weeks prior. It's impossible to find this place and change everything in it."
Amiya started to rant at the impossibility of all of this.
Today did not make any sense.
Here, they were being toured inside one of their most secret locations by their opposing side.
The person being the man that toppled Ursus' on the city, making Reunion occupy it with ease.
The said person even killed one of his own when they thearented Rhodes Island safety.
Now the same person had full control of the Sarcophagus and the area around it.
Although they managed to retrieve Doctor, something that she was overjoyed with, Amiya was still having a hard time understanding all of this.
She wanted an answer.
She needed them.
What else does Reunion know?
The man nodded his head at her claims, accepting all of them.
With the only hand that he had, Adrik rubbed his chin and thought on how to deal with this.
After a long and agonizing moment later, Adrik smiled at cautus girl.
"I'll answer all your questions just now but nothing else. However, we need to walk and talk. My men are about to arrive and we don't want there to be any misunderstanding between them and your other team."
"... I understand."
Nodding to each other, Adrik then glanced towards the Doctor, still confused about what to do.
Adrik then noticed how unsure he was. From what he knew of him, the Doctor might be the smartest being on Terra but right now, the person in front of Adrik felt like he was a newborn.
Then Adrik slowly put the pieces together and realised why the man was acting so strange.
"Doctor."
"... Are… you talking to me?"
"Yes. Can you walk with me while you carry my arm? Don't worry, Amiya can walk between us."
Without giving time for them to digest what he had said, Adrik turned around and walked into the hall.
Although the Doctor was histent, he picked up the arm and walked to his side, Amiya hastily chasing him.
"So, how did I find this place? Not really hard, I already knew this place existed even before Chernobog fell."
"How?"
"Someone told me and before Reunion was even a thing, I often came to this city and I would use my leisure time to come here for myself. That also tied in how I change the authority here."
"... No one other than our trusted people should have known about this place."
Amiya was still confused even when he answered all of her questions, even more so now.
"And don't bother asking who it was. I won't tell you. Remember our deal, Amiya. Only those two."
"... I understand."
Adrik hummed as she finally gave up. As they walked through the empty hall, Adrik could feel glares aiming at the backside of his head. Just when Adrik saw the end of the road in front of him, sunlight pouring at the exit, he heard a quiet voice.
"Adrik…"
"Doctor?"
He stopped and glanced to where his name was called.
Eyes, still confused, stared at him through a helm.
"Yes, Doctor?"
"Did we know each other before?"
Adrik did not show any reaction from what he said, rather he looked amused.
The Ursus chuckled at the confused look he garnered. He took his arm back from the Doctor and easily reattached it on his shoulder. The black fingers curled as he tested it.
"Maybe we did. Maybe we didn't. It doesn't matter."
Adrik walked again and toward the exit in front of them, smiling still on his face as he continued looking at the confused Rhodes Islander.
"We won't be on the same side. "
A chuckle left his mouth and his body faded into the light.
"I don't really have any need or want to have you anyways."
]
Sasha, codenamed Faust, still remembered when Talulah told all of the commanders that were still present in Reunion to go on a long trip into the cold waste land of Ursus.
Although they were not informed on what they were doing there, Talulah only gave important pieces to them,
The objective was to recruit a new member to be the new commander.
After… Eno died Faust took care of his squad however, he was now responsible for two squads and he was running thin. Although he wanted to, Faust could not lead two groups at once.
So that was their objective.
And the person in question was infamous.
A rogue Infected of Ursus. Although they weren't much Reunion could get about the person, one thing was for sure.
Their activities always happened a few miles away from Chernobog.
The city that Reunion wanted to take over.
Although FrostNova managed to get a hold of one city, it wasn't as important as Chernobog, one of the big ones.
Talulah needed more power and people for that scale of invasion.
Hence, why they were walking through the harsh wind of the cold.
Oddly enough, Sasha did not mind it though. With each gush of wind, Sasha felt a sense of nostalgia hitting him.
Although it was a long time ago, this environment was where Reunion originated.
A few nomads gather around individuals that were alike and wanted changes for their people, the infected.
Even if their actions were getting more… aggressive, Sasha believed in Talulah leadings.
She had to make many hard choices for them to get this far and Faust did not want to make all of it worthless.
"Talulah. I do not want to sound impatient but are we almost there?"
Frostnova walking beside Patriot asked. Sasha's eyes lingered longer on the latter.
Although it was subtle, the gigantic man was getting better, health wise.
The sound of his voice became less strain in these passing days and he was able to do more activities.
'His infection… Did it lessen?'
It was ludicrous but this thought was not the first time Faust had them every time he looked at him.
It all started when Frostnova came back after a long expedition on her own and outright demanded Patriot to be taken care of by her.
As more time passed since, Patriot's conditions became better and better.
As he was pondering on these thoughts, Talulah who was in front of the group of six, being: her, Faust, FrostNova, Patriot, Crownslayer and Skullshatterer, spoke.
"The last sighting of that person was at an abandoned village not far from us. We are almost there."
"I know that we are in need of a new commander, but are you sure that this person is the one? If we need more people, Sarkaz mercenaries would suffice."
Skullshatterer gave his opinion of this trip. It was not that he was questioning Talulah's decision, he was curious on why this person was even worth all the effort.
"... With the little information I had gathered about this man, he is strong. Strong enough to defeat a number of Emperor's Blades on his own."
"... Emperor's Blade, you say?"
Patriot's slow but overwhelming voice echoed through the winds. He was the strongest amongst them and with the most experience.
Defeating the strongest of the Ursus' army was not a feat that many would claim to have done. Although Patriot was able to defeat two, it was more that they did not want to make it more difficult… for them dying would be worse for everyone.
"Tal—"
"Stop. There is something."
Patriot was about to question more on who this person Talulah wanted but was stopped when FrostNova abruptly, holding her hand up, made all of them stop.
On a hill, a row of seven silhouettes could be seen in front of them but with how the mist around them were covering their figure they could make out what they were.
"D-Dad?!"
However from the looks of it, Patriot had a good guess what they were, shield raised in front of him as he walked to the front, spear held talk beside him.
"Emperor's Blades…"
"!"
Hearing his mutters, everyone became alert, holding their weapons and aimed at the assumed Emperor's Blades.
"..."
However the seven did not move no matter how much time passed.
"Faust, shoot an arrow towards them."
Nodding, Faust peeked behind the shield and fired at them.
It was a headshot.
However the figures did not react.
"Forward but be cautious."
Hearing the command, the rest slowly made their way towards them.
As they got closer, they finally saw what the silhouettes were.
"What…?"
It was Emperor's Blades.
Corpses of them.
All being held up by a pole sticking out from the ground.
FrostNova broke off from the group and went towards one of them.
"All of them… dead."
Burnt marks were the similarities that all of them shared. Some had their limbs torn while another had a giant hole in their torso.
As they inspected the corpse more, there were bite and claw marks on them too.
Patriot's eyes widened and he found something or rather something that they did not have.
"Their shards… They are gone."
"Talulah… Look. A village."
Crownslayer called her leader, finger pointing at a small remote village just over the hill.
… What was left of it.
Ashes were littered all over the snow ground making the very environment look darker than its surroundings.
The only sign of how they could identify the place was a village was in the far back, a small house still stood.
Too far for them to see, there was something standing in front of the said house door.
Everyone noticed how quiet Talulah was now.
"Talulah?"
Thud.
Talulah's grip failed her as her sword fell onto the snow, kicking up snow
"... It cannot be."
"Talulah! This is not the—"
From the side FrostNova stared at her distant friend. Just when she wanted to shout at her, she saw something in her leader's eyes.
Her hesitation was enough for her not to be able to stop Talulah from running into the deserted village.
Leaving the group as Talulah rushed with all of her might.
]
Heavy breaths were the only thing that could be heard in the quiet village.
A figure rushed through it, fast enough that the person ignored a view of blue lights that covered around the rubbles.
"So here's a Hyperfly. It lasts longer than a normal firefly and it glows blue! Lina said it's cute and I wanted to hear your opinion on the little rascal here. Oi! Stop it, you insect! Don't fly into me! Not the eye! Ash! Eat this little bastard! Yes! I am giving permission!"
'This does not make sense!'
Talulah pushed her legs even when they were tired from the walking that she did to arrive here, running as fast as she could.
The draco ran past a burnt down house where there was a small garden not far from the front. A few berries still grew out but she did not mind them.
"Mrs. Iziaslav taught you how to take care of berries, right? Great! Help me and Lina to teach the other how to. We can't just eat meat… Tal, you might be smart but sometimes you can be an idiot quite often. Ow! Unnecessary violence! Don't go and swing that big ass sword around! Ow! Stop it!"
'He should—!… He should be dead! So how!'
She ignored the corpses that still wore military clothings, most of them were burned and some were frozen from the cold.
"There should be a safe place just across this forest. Run! Let me and Ash handle this—"
"Are you being stupid, Ad! We can still run—"
"Lina no! We don't have time for this! There's a damn Emperor's Blade out for us! I need to slow him down! For even a second or two."
"I won't leave you to die!"
"Listen to me, Lina! Let go! Ash!"
"Grrr!"
"Ahhh! Ash! Why did you—"
"Talulah! Get her and the rest far away from here! Now!"
'He could not have survived that encounter!'
As she got closer to the house— a house that looks eerily familiar— she saw it.
The sight made her stop in her tracks.
It had a huge body that could easily towered over most of its race. His fur was ashen gray as she remembered. The small chip that he had on his left ear was there.
His blue eyes stared intently at her, leaving her breath to be cut short.
"Ash is kinda not honest with his emotions. Oftentimes you would think he's smarter than most dogs but he acts more like a cat than anything acting all high and mighty but the moment you ignore him, he'll be all over you. Damn mutt. Don't tell him that though. He'll chew my head off… Don't worry about your royalness, that dumb dog likes you a lot. Just call him Ash."
"Ash… Why are you…?"
Her mouth failed her as no words came out. She stared at the dog, whose eyes never moved away from her.
Ash seemed kik he was looking for something on her. And it seemed like he found it, he turned and ran to the back side of the house.
"Wait! Ash!"
She needed to chase him. If Ash was here… he should not be far.
So with the ounce of strength left she ran after the dog.
"How am i lived in this wood for year now?... It's easy! Just need some spears and a certain girl that would not leave my side… Ow! Unnecessary violence!? Ow! Stop that Lina!... Why don't I show you the woods that Lina found me!? It had an amazing view of the village at night."
The sight of a dead forest was caught in the corner of her eyes, as she slowly put the pieces together, Talulah knew where she was.
It was the village where she first met them.
Although she slowed down when she came to the conclusion, Talulah shook her head and picked up the speed again.
Then she saw graves, about a few of them just the outreach of the forest on a hill in front of her.
On top of it was also where Ash stopped, beside a figure.
The white cloak the person wore lightly moved along with the breezes, his hood covering his head.
"My cloak? Cool, right? Made myself, with some help… Not telling. Let a man have some secrets. And this thing is really warm. Here, get in… Are you shy? Pfttt. No way. Get in. It's getting cold… See? Warm, right. No Arts come even close to this comfort! Oh my! How red you are— Ow! Unnecessary violence!? Ow!"
Talulah stared up at the figure on the small hill, standing in front of an old grave. When he noticed Ash standing beside him, Talulah could hear the man chuckling as he ran his finger through his fur.
Then she could hear it, although he was so far away, Talulah could easily hear his voice.
"Ash? How are you? Just killing up Boris' grave. Looks like you've been running? What is it, pal—"
"... Ad?"
The man's body froze when she said that name. Slowly the man turned around and she could see
"So that will be your nickname… Why not? Cause, Lina calls me Ad and vice versa… Why? Because we're friends… You will take that name or I will dubbed thee, Miss burn-a-lot! Wow! Don't throw around fireballs, you're proving the name right! Come on, T—"
"... Tal? Is that you?"
The way Adrik's eyes widened when they locked with hers. However, immediately his expression changed from confusion and delight as he smiled at her.
The smile that he had every time he would see her in the past.
It was like nothing changed for him.
The sight made her blood choke her heart.
He took a step towards her..
"Tal! I—"
"Stay back!"
However she screamed at him, holding up her hands at him to not let him get any closer. As she lowered her head and closed her eyes, not wanting to see him.
However, she could still hear him slowly make his way to her, the sound of snow crunching under his feet getting closer to her.
"... H-Hey, Tal? Is something wrong?… Lina. Where's Lina?"
"..."
"Tal… Where is she? Where is Lina? Tal—"
"She's dead!"
Flames ignited with every step she took. The girl that Talulah was carrying was no longer bleeding out.
She ran out of blood as it poured out from the wound where her arm should be.
"It's getting hot... Talulah...I don't want to die... I still haven't... your sister… Ad… Oh, my Ad… He will… Ad… Ad… Ad…"
Talulah could still remember how she kept calling for him, saying his name over and over. It was the only thing that madeTalulah sure she was still alive but..
After a while, she stopped calling him.
"She died! Killed by Infected Patrol!"
"..."
"Where were you!? If you were alive this whole time, where were you!?"
"She needed you! Calling your name until her last breath!"
She shouted. Screamed at him, demanding answers from the man that left them. Her eyes opened and she glared at him. With how far he was from her, Talulah could not see his eyes as his hair was blocking them from her view.
However, it did not matter.
She did not care when the rest of her commander arrived behind her.
Talulah did not care.
All of her emotions rushed out and were aimed towards him.
The man that could easily solve all of hurdle, all of her obstacles.
But he wasn't there!
"We needed you! So many died! No matter how much we tried, people kept dying!"
It was fair. Why couldn't he come back to them if he was alive?
Why could not he come back to Alina so that he could comfort her?
"I needed you!"
Why could he not come back to her?
Her head lowered, out of breath from the shouting she had done to him. She raised her hand towards her face.
How empty they were.
How — in her eyes — red were they?
"I killed so many… I burn so much… I hurt so many people, Adrik…"
She held herself tightly with those filthy hands of hers, the only ones that could come near her now.
"Innocent people, Adrik… I killed innocent people!"
Their screams, Talulah could still remember how they sounded as she burned that village down.
She knew they did not have the choice, Talulah knew that!
But..
But she still killed them.
"... Oh god… Why did I…?"
Too caught up with her realisation, Talulah did not hear Adrik slowly walking to her.
Her sense became duller.
The cold, she couldn't feel it.
Talulah could not even feel her own touch now.
Although she was opening her eyes, her sight was blurry and she could not see anything…
However, faces flashed into her mind.
Their hands reached out as their body slowly became charred by her flames., cursing her with the last strength they had.
"Why were you not there to stop me?... To not make me turn out how Alina warned me of.."
Her body started to spasm as she felt phantom hands grabbing on her, trying to pull her into where she sent them to.
Talulah felt her chest being crushed, her breaths became more labour.
"Where were you when I needed you…"
Her body now lowered, Adrik stood in front of her.
"I needed you."
She expected him to yell, screamed at her how she betrayed the trust he put on her to protect Alina.
How she couldn't even manage to save one person that meant so much to her?
She wouldn't be mad if he did.
Ever since she had remembered, Talulah would always make things worse…
Hurting people.
That was the only thing that she was good at.
"You must be cold, Tal."
Adrik called her by that name. His voice held no malice rather it sounded how he would have addressed her before.
With so much care that she never knew a person could have.
Before she could even make sense of what she heard from him, Talulah felt something wrap around her body.
She looked up and saw Adrik smiling at her still as he adjusted his cloak around her, his orange scarf neatly around his neck.
His eyes, those golden brown orbs.
They did not have a single piece of hate in them.
They only looked at her with so much anguish not for what she had done but for Talulah's sake.
Then she felt him slowly pull her closer to his body, taking it slowly so Talulah could stop him if she wanted to.
Talulah didn't though.
Adrik firmly held her close as her head gently rested on his chest. The scent of embers from a campfire enter her nose, a calming sensation washed onto her.
The corpses, screams and flames… they all disappeared.
Talulah felt his head resting on her head, his warm breath made her feel her body warming up from it.
Just when she thought she could hold strong, Adrik spoke to her.
"It's okay if you want to fall apart, just for today."
His arm tightly held on her, his cloak covering her.
"I promise to hold you together, Tal."
Like a damn bursting, her emotions rushed out. Her arms wrapped her around his frame, pulling herself to him.
She buried herself in him.
Her legs gave out and Adrik made sure they fell onto the group safely.
"I… I am… I am sorry, Ad… I couldn't… her…"
"Lina wouldn't be mad. I'm not mad either. I know her. You know her."
"I… I just wanted…"
"I know. I know."
Adrik ignored how he could feel moisture on his body, rather he gently rubbed Talulah's back, comforting her the best that he could.
"It's going to be okay. We going be okay."Adrik rested his head onto hers, muttering words that she needed to hear.
"You're going to be okay."
Adrik could feel her body tensed after he said this, her gripped on his clothes became tighter as she pulled on him. Holding on to him like he was a lifeline to her.
"Don't… Don't leave, please."
Her voice was so fragile now. So weak. A gentle gush of wind could easily break her currently.
However, he wouldn't let it.
He pulled her closer and she let him.
"Never."
All the tiredness that she felt from…. Everything that she had to go through…
All of them crashing down on her.
Although Talulah tried to overcome it, afraid that if she would wake up, he would be gone again.
Adrik reassured with his next words.
"Rest. Close your eyes. I'll still be by you when you open them. Trust me, Tal."
She let herself be consumed by it. Letting herself rest in the arm of the person that she trusted the most.
]
She slowly opened her eyes. Someone was holding her.
"Hey Tal."
His voice.
A voice that she could never mistake ever in her life.
"... Ad?"
True to her word, when she raised her head, Talulah saw the said person holding her tight as he wrapped his cherished cloak around.
She didn't know why, every time Adrik would do that, Talulah's mind, which would often be filled with many questions, became silent.
The calming smile he wore currently was the same that made her torrent of emotions cease.
Although Talulah was grateful for him being here, she was still confused on why he was here in the first place.
Adrik, being the view that could easily understand her, by just looking at her answered her unsaid question.
"Thought you needed a hug. With all the fireballs you threw you must be stressed."
His nonchalant comment shocked her head. Then he hummed and gave his serious reason.
"I was just about to guide our guest back here to their home. Got separated from them and saw fireballs. Put two in two together, here I am."
Adrik chuckled and looked to his side, Talulah followed her gaze and remembered why she was here in the first place.
Rhodes Island. She was about to annihilate them but Talulah was stopped by Adrik.
The rest of her troops all stood behind her taking a step back and she realised that Adrik's squad was shielding the Rhodes Islanders from them.
"What is the meaning of this—"
"Hold that thought. Guys! Catastrophe is coming! Red! Rhodes Island, get in range!"
"Yes, sir!"
Adrik might be the only person that could ignore her sp blatantly.
Leaving his cloak around her, Adrik stepped towards the frontline, facing Rhodes Island.
His right hand man, Redblade dashed away from the group, five more men followed.
Then they spread out, until they were all out of the range.
Fireballs rained down to the ground.
Talulah was about to cast a shield around her and Adrik but stopped when he started barking out commands to his men.
"Catastrophe protocol. Level 2. Commences!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Instantly, all of the swordsmen stabbed their sword into their own shadows.
The blackness of their shadow started to reach outwards at a fast rate, reaching far above their heads.
When they were high enough all six of the shadows interlocked with each other, creating a barrier above the whole field.
The sight of it made the whole battleground go silent.
"What are you waiting for!? An Invitation!? Get below the damn shield!"
Booom!
The quiet was broken when Adrik shouted and a fireball from the sky crashed into the shield.
Breaking out from their shock, all of them, Reunion and Rhodes Island, rushed to go under it for protection.
As fireballs rained from the sky, some crashed into the shield. However they did not leave a dent on it.
Talulah looked at the display with wide eyes, amazed at how easily they managed to weathered through the Catastrophe.
"Cool, right. Made this when I saw how you can make a mini shield for yourself. Thought it was useful for us to make a larger version of it. So I upscaled it. Just needed some help from a shard or two. Depends on the severity of the Catastrophe. Never had it field tested before. Luckily for us, this one ain't that big."
Adrik stared at one of his men, the only swordsman that wore a red scarf rather than an orange one.
"How is it handling it, Red!?"
"It's seventy percent, sir!"
"Good to hear! Keep it up!"
""Yes, sir!""
"... Yesh. I know you won't listen to me when I say this but don't be so uptight. Drop the sir."
Folding his arms, Adrik shocked his head in exaggeration.
The commander then glanced at the Rhodes Islanders and he had to say, they must have seen better days.
Some of their equipment, mostly shields, were melted. Some of them had burn marks on their clothes.
'No one's dead yet. Good. One for Adrik, fuck none for fate… Ace is okay, Dad and Uncle should be happy… Radiant Knight… Need to look up about her later…'
From the corner of his eyes, he saw how Amiya was still glued to the Doctor's side but she seemed a bit more tired than normal.
He also noticed how some of her rings had cracks on them.
Were they some sort of suppressions for her power?
'The Lord of Fiend… maybe later… Is it that little crown giving her that power or… The poor girl looked like she was about to collapse at any second… Something that I need to ask Uncle after his… project is finished."
Adrik had a good guess why they were like this now.
He turned to face Talulah, still covered by his cloak, sighing at how much trouble this will be.
"You really were about to kill them?"
Some of their operators must have heard him as they tensed and raised their weapons again.
Adrik ignored them and only focused on Talulah, holding on to his cloak with one hand to not make fall while the other was holding on to her sword.
Her eyes stared intensely at him while his were more calm, waiting patiently for her answer.
"... Yes."
"... Can you not though?"
The intensity of her stare increased while Adrik did not seem to be affected by it. After a long standstill, Talulah gave a suggestion.
"Persuade me to let them be."
"Time limit?"
"Until… This Catastrophe is over…"
"So not much, huh?"
The two looked up and saw the weather slowly becoming less… Terra in how Adrik would describe it to be.
Over his shoulder, he saw the looks that he garnered from the Rhodes Islander. Some of them were even praying for him to succeed.
'Trying here… A promise is a promise so here's go nothing.'
He sighed exhaustedly at the fate that he gave upon himself. Adrik did not think much because he was just going to speak his kind to her.
"I could say that we don't have to deal with it . Lungmen are increasingly becoming more active around the borders, even found sneaking in Chernobog. Dealted with them so don't worry."
Talulah let her words die in her mouth when she heard this from Adrik.
As the fireballs slowly dwindled in numbers, Adrik showed her an embarrassed smile at her, not looking at her, often glancing.
"But you know that I don't really care about that, do you, Tal?"
"... I do, Ad."
Her face betrayed her when a smile, albeit small, appeared on her face. It worsened when his next words came after.
"I just wanted to get something to eat with you. Seeing that it's getting a bit late."
"... W-What?"
In frustration, Adrik rubbed his head, annoyed by just the memories of what he needed to deal with.
"You have no idea how tired I am! Why the hell did Clownslayer — yes, I know will keep calling her that — have to blow up a whole building on top of me! Wasn't that bit much!? And her lackeys!? What is up with them!? Oh look at me! I am going to traumatise a child for funnies!... Why didn't I let Ash lose and let him eat their faces? Starting to regret it now… And one more thing—"
"Pfft."
Talulah covered her mouth, barely able to hide the sound it was making.
However, Adrik was close enough to hear her.
She just laughed.
Adrik stopped his rant and let out a chuckle of his own.
"So? Want to eat? Miss Mila is making some muffins. Can't say no to that, can you, Tal?"
Although he was the only person that was laughing in this whole situation, Adrik knew that behind her hand, Talulah was smiling at him.
It was easy to know when you noticed how there was life in her eyes now.
"It seems so… Ad."
'Sometimes Talulah, you're too easy to read.'
