No Second Chances: The Beginning Of The End

Lorenz felt dizzy, almost about to throw up. The trip on the back of a massive dragon made him nauseous and Ali was giving him a bag in case Lorenz needed it. Jeff was laughing at Lorenz’s first impression and patiently waited for the dragon to stop on top of the floating island, which took less than half-hour.

Once Lorenz stepped down from the dragon, he tried to control his shaking legs and sat on the ground for a moment. Ali and Jeff were joking around about it and laughed a bit until Jeff walked away to meet some important guests. “He will be back soon enough. Thankfully, I was entrusted to guide you around to let you familiarize with this place.” –Ali mentioned while helping Lorenz stand up from the ground.

To Lorenz, the whole place seemed oddly normal; with streets and several buildings surrounding the Dragon’s landing port, there were some security guards, giving the impression of mild security in the immediate area.

As Lorenz went absent in the town, Elvira decided to go for a stroll to look for him and help in anything she could to the soldiers transporting construction material. Chronos on the other hand, stayed in the same room as Gree, to wait for her recovery.

Back in the capital, Nat was worried about the group as she didn’t have any news from them for a long time now, all she could hear around the hallways was that the mission failed but with few casualties thanks to the efforts of the organizers of the mission. Nat was only hoping the group was safe.

On one of her regular strolls over the facility, while idling out of the workshop, Nat found herself in front of an office where Eloise was having a meeting with several heads of the nation. The subject to be discussed was how to take care of the situation that happened at Casamira. Nat didn’t dare enter but made sure there was no one around as she eavesdropped on the meeting. What she found out was the horrible news of several agents losing their lives including Phillips Moroc, followed by the critical condition in which Grace Myers was left in. Nat’s heart sunk, she just stood in silence as the meeting carried on to the counter-measures of a possible war since the irruption of the invading group was a clear attempt to sabotage Falladis and it all pointed towards the ruler of Delcyt. Nat slowly made her way towards the dorms to therefore fall into a deep sleep after hours of crying, feeling regret as she wasn’t able to stop Phil from going there as well.

After the meeting ended, Eloise contacted the same agent who talked with her in one of her safe houses and learned that the organization made a small stop on top of Casamira, this made her wonder about the intentions of the organization with Falladis. However, Eloise knew they had no ill intentions, as they would have destroyed the nation with everything they had by now. As she dismissed the suspicions away, she prepared herself to meet with other officers and to call a press conference about the current situation that was nearing. “The subject of the emergency, as the ruler stated, was the incoming war lead by the ruler Yan, from Delcyt.” –The official in charge of speaking for Eloise stated in front of the reporters. “As you could see in the following images, the metallurgic town of Casamira was struck by a group of soldiers coming from Delcyt; their vanguard was a Guardian that managed to take down both our guardian Charles Ford and the Dragon that lived for so many generations aiding the nation.” –The officer explained while showing several images taken by the soldiers stationed there.

Eloise watched the press conference from one of her safe houses and called Nat to accompany her. One of her worries was the way how Nat would take the news about the death of her friend Phil and the state in which Gree was left.

Nat was devastated, her face was a bit swollen after crying so much and Eloise couldn’t help but hug her gently, caressing the back of her head while pressing her against her chest. Eloise simply limited herself to pat Nat’s head as she was lamenting not being able to stop Phil. With gentle caresses, Eloise managed to make Nat fall asleep and placed her on a couch to then contact one of the doctors sent to treat Gree.

The doctor explained how Gree’s body slowly began to accept the invasion of the new prosthesis and how it slowly began to fit as the muscles stopped contracting in response to the operation. The assimilation of the nerves to the micro-wiring started without further problems and Gree is now in a stable condition.

After hearing the report from the doctor about Gree, Eloise immediately asked about Chronos. The natural healing factor of the virus in Chronos’ body became public to the doctors working in the facility at Casamira to which it would be harder for the government to hide the fact that there could be a cure without having to suppress the witnesses. The fact that no normal devices could properly work at Casamira aids the effort to contain this information but we can’t really keep everyone there forever. I would have to find someone to persuade them and avoid a massive leak of this information; otherwise, we would be bringing high hopes to the desperate and create havoc. –Eloise thought while reading through some information regarding protests towards the war preparations that have to be arranged.

Several groups of people in the nation disagreed to leave their houses due to a possible invasion and denied the fact that a war could start after some small terrorist acts that slightly affected a town on the border. Social media began to gaslight the importance of the preparation, splitting the population into the ones that were overly worried about the ones that didn’t want to believe the government.

The main concern Eloise had was how to avoid disclosing such information through the media. The methods would be too rudimentary for a large organization as the government but it would be inevitable to apply them for media suppression. After a sigh, Eloise allowed the usage of these methods by using the split between the two sides that believe and the ones that don’t as a cover to avoid an undesirable leak.

Back in the floating island of the organization, Lorenz walked behind Ali looking to the sides subtly and carefully, to be able to see anything that could be waiting in every corner. This place is just like a huge city. I don’t know where Ali is taking me but it seems like a… coffee shop? –Lorenz thought while entering the establishment with Ali.

After ordering a coffee and having a small talk about the facilities, Lorenz had a worried look on his face. “What is going on here? What is the organization? And how hasn’t it been taken down already?” –Lorenz asked while keeping his eyes on the drink while Ali turned to a serious expression.

“The organization is an international company that regulates the power management of the nations; it was created after the Falladis war and it has been creating relationships with a vast amount of companies throughout the world. Thanks to it cutting-edge technology, it generates a similar magnetic repulsion as Casamira, which was developed by none other than Ivan. I believe that will give you an idea of why it can go undetected through the sky.” –Ali answered while turning leaning forward to lower his voice a bit. “Since there hasn’t been a global threat the organization hasn’t shown itself before to the public as to how it did today. The reason is a certain group of people that has been aiding Casamira and you specifically since the set foot in Falladis.” –Ali continued explaining while Lorenz looked at him horrified. “Correct, but most importantly, Chronos Cinere, the key to stopping the TDW-01, and also the one chosen by Pandora.” –Ali stopped briefly to sip on his coffee.

“But how? And when did this information get leaked? I didn’t even know he was so important, he just seemed like another guardian but never found out if he had a dragon or not. That guy always seemed like a lot of problems so I allowed Charles to take him to the capital and interrogate him.” –Lorenz attempted to defend himself by explaining what happened but Ali didn’t judge him.

“It’s all good. Actually, you saved yourself a lot of paperwork by not interfering, so you did what was best. However, my point wasn’t to blame you or anything like that, on the contrary. I know the organization has a connection with the government and so it was easier to get this information. But now it is just a bit too soon to be glad. There is a war coming, Lorenz. A war that is far greater than the Falladis war and the organization recently got news from agents in Metan. Things are not looking bright, and the worst part is that Metan managed to awaken a Messiah and let me tell you, I don’t know what the fuck is going on anymore.” –Ali began to divagate as he took another sip of his cup.

“Ali… how do you know all this?” –Lorenz asked while wondering who Ali is.

“I’m the leader of the logistics department. You could say all the information that we receive is processed by my department. It is just quite funny sometimes how shady the information can be.” –Ali answered nonchalantly.

Lorenz, dumbfounded and speechless simply took a sip from his cup while Ali began to laugh at his reaction. After a while of discussing how Ali never mentioned these details with Lorenz before, Ali received a call from his department which made him stand up quickly, making Lorenz realize the importance of it.

“So bro, how about you come and check the office? You might even like one of the ladies working there.” –Ali joked while motioning Lorenz to follow him to another building.

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