No Second Chances: The Beginning Of The End

After spending the day with Nat, Eloise requested a report concerning the preparations to leave the nation and meet Aster, the ruler of Metan, in order to discuss the situation at hand and the possible intervention of Metan in an upcoming war. One of Eloise’s subordinates advised her to keep a patrol team in Casamira, since they got a message from there requesting support. Keeping this in mind, Eloise requested Charles to mount a guard on the border with Delcyt and to keep Casamira in check in case something happens. Upon receiving the order, Charles postponed the training fight with Chronos and mobilized his team along with the dragon to Casamira in order to obtain more information about the matter.

Once Charles and his team left to carry out their task, Eloise ordered Francois to give back to Gree and her team their belongings, in order to assist the research team to develop defensive tactics in case a war starts.

Gree felt like a kid in a candy shop after Francois showed her the workshop of the research team and gave her back her tablet along with the devices she had enhanced in Casamira. Sinns, on the other hand, felt rather overwhelmed by the technology quality the research team of the capital owned, giving her the chills after remembering the tests she went through in Delcyt. “Are you alright? Did you imagine the babies I could make with all this equipment and get afraid?” –Gree joked in a sassy tone to try to calm Sinns after noticing the expression she had upon entering the place.

“I believe you will get me something better than the axe I used in Delcyt, right?” –Sinns countered while taking a deep breath and walked towards a counter showing the devices Gree already worked with in Casamira.

“Eh… I know you are used to that axe already, so I’m not sure if making you something different will do, so I would have to make prototypes and let you test them, it might take a month. I also need to work on new nanobots for Elvira. That is going to the kinda hard, but as you already know, my fabulous self will get it done in no time.” –Gree pointed out while flattering herself before turning to a glass that showed the manufacturing area of the facility. A mischievous smile slowly appeared on her face as she stared at the assembly arms and machinery imagining the things she would be able to create with them.

Sinns simply sighed while Francois showed her around and help her meet the workers in the facility. “This is also a place connected to the underground facility where the rest of your group is carrying out their training. You can pay them a visit anytime in order to continue honing yourself. I’ve heard you are quite sturdy despite your fragile looks.” –Francois mentioned, and Sinns instantly pictured Nat in her mind saying something about the time they first met, to which Sinns covered her face for a brief moment and continued following Francois in silence.

Nat was dropped in the underground facility by one of Eloise’s subordinates and she started to wander around, looking for the training ground and watch Elvira and Chronos fight since it would be a funny sight to see, but instead, she found Phil training alone using several types of weapons in the testing phase, developed by the research team. Phil displayed high expertise at handling the targets who happened to be infected individuals. 10 of them were howlers and 3 were abominations. The weaponry provided for him was scattered around the area and to start, he was given a regular gun with limited bullets and a military knife to fend off from the infected. Swiftly, Phil proceeded to kill the infected that were closest to him and ran away from the crowded zone of the place. The infected immediately started to move and the howlers were the first ones that ran across the training grounds to hunt Phil.

Upon reaching a certain place, Phil quickly took a weapon that looked similar to the railgun Gree developed back in Argos. Without hesitating Phil aimed the weapon to the head of the closest howler and blew it up with one shot of the weapon. After flinching for a second due to the unsuspected firepower, Phil took down another of the howlers while the rest began to scream, alerting the abominations which started to move quickly towards Phil. In a matter of seconds, Phil shot down 5 more of the howlers and several infected before running out of ammunition, by then the Abominations began to trash the infected in their path to then grab and throw them to Phil. One of the thrown infected almost hits Phil before splattering against a wall while Phil quickly ducked and ran towards the next weapon he was hoping to find. Sadly, his expectations were betrayed by the lack of a weapon, so he had to keep running away as a howler quickly reached to him to trash him against a wall, nearly rendering Phil unconscious.

The test was then stopped to which several soldiers entered the area to clear out the rest of the infected and sedate the howlers along with abominations. Phil was escorted out to the medical bay and was quickly inspected. The doctor praised him as a very sturdy person for receiving such a hit without having more than just a couple of broken bones. Apparently, that training was designed mostly for mages who focused on offensive tactics, and Elite soldiers who were badly injured in the process.

After getting a cast on his left arm and bandages on his head, Phil headed to the living quarters to rest and was met by Nat who blocked his way with crossed arms, looking quite mad about what she saw. “I saw what happened, now answer, why are you doing stupid and reckless stuff like this? Understand you are not like Sinns or Elvira. I don’t want you to go around and exposing yourself to dangers like this, what would Gree say? I bet she would be annoyed as well.” –Nat questioned Phil while he just looked at Nat in silence until she finished talking.

“I’m well aware I’m not special, however, I need to understand better what we will be dealing with and get used to the danger. The life of a soldier is expendable, but I understand your worries. However, this is exactly why I am training in this sort of situation, so I will already know what to do in case I see myself in the same problem.” –Phil explained, leaving Nat speechless as she pouted before being pat on the head by him. Nat then left to look for Chronos as Phil walked towards the living quarters.

Phil sighed while feeling rather down, rubbing the cast on his arm and walking to the room designated for him to then rest. It hurts how right Nat is…but if I want to keep up and be able to protect them, I need to continue this kind of training. Maybe like that, I will be able to be up to the task. –He kept wondering while lying on his bed.

Chronos was training with his coach and Nat walked in to talk with him. The coach allowed Chronos to stop and left the place for the time being. “I am sorry for treating you the way I did in Casamira. I recently confirmed you are indeed Doc’s grandchild, and therefore you are also my family. The ruler told me you accepted to work for this nation with the condition of keeping us protected… Thank you.” –Nat didn’t hesitate while apologizing and lowered her head before thanking Chronos.

“I lived my life as a savage for the most part; I got help from a stranger after another, and so I managed to find what I was looking for by mere chance. But it was all taken away. At least, you are safe, and you can continue living for those who are not with us anymore.” –Chronos replied to her, remembering all the people he has met so far and the ones that are not around anymore. This reminds me that I have someone else in my mind too…Pandora. –Chronos thought while the silhouette of Pandora began to draw itself in his mind. Chronos' vision got suddenly blurry and he spaced out briefly, while a mirage of Pandora with obscured facial features, circled around him like a ghost, looking at him in silence but with a sinister smile drilling on his thoughts.

Upon noticing Chronos mind absence, Nat pushed him to check if there was something wrong, bringing him out of the sudden trance while she sighed relieved. “What’s up with you? You suddenly stared into nothingness for a whole minute. That was creepy as fuck, so don’t do it again.” –she complained while mocking him before leaving the gym to let him continue his training.

Chronos asked to get the rest of his day free in order to go and look for Francois, so he could take him to either Eloise or Charles. However, none of them were available at the time given Eloise was on her way to Metan, and Charles went to Casamira for another distress message. This led Chronos to search for Gree who was in the laboratory of the workshop, adjusting some of the manufacturing machinery. After a few minutes tinkering with the machine, Gree decided to address Chronos who seemed rather worried. “What’s with you? If you want a date it will cost you a lot and I will just be in for the food.” –Gree joked while keeping her mind on the machine, circling around it and checking the looks of it.

“I was told you went to a special library to study about some things concerning the prophets.” –Chronos mentioned while stepping closer.

“Yeah, so what do you want to know from that?” –Gree asked while trying to guess Chronos intentions while going under the machine to graduate a sensor.

“When I was in the Pandora forest, someone called Pandora entered in my head and helped me to understand magic and how to use it. So it became natural to me.” –Chronos briefly explained. “I was told she was one of the reasons why the prophets began to be hunted. Lately, I have seen her in front of me, telling me something I can’t really understand, and so I thought I need help to stop it.” –Chronos continued while Gree came out from under the Machine to look at him and narrowed her eyes.

“Are you schizophrenic?” –Gree asked while standing up and closing the hatch of the machine in which she went into before.

“What?...” –Chronos asked confused while Gree sighed and walked out of the laboratory.

“Follow me. We need to get Francois to carry you somewhere to scan what is going on in your head.” –Gree answered as Chronos followed her out and through the workshop.

Once they found Francois, Gree immediately asked to go to the nearest psychologist in order to confirm something about Chronos’ mind besides getting herself diagnosed as well. “Do you think you have any mental issues that a simple psychologist would be able to diagnose?” –Francois asked, being a bit skeptical about Gree being serious about it.

“Well Sherlock, I surely would love to find out first, duh.” –Gree countered while Chronos was simply waiting behind Gree while Sinns walked up to them after noticing Gree and Francois talking. She silently stood next to Chronos and waited for Francois to agree to whatever Gree said.

With a sigh, Francois ended agreeing and went to his office to quickly write a letter to recommend them to a psychologist. Later on the day, he drove towards a special hospital in the area while Chronos peeked outside; being the first time he was out of the underground facility. Gree was slowly falling asleep as she was working on the machines without rest and Sinns was also there without saying much as she also decided to follow them despite not knowing where they were going.

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