Chapter 4 – The Order

Yue found herself in the briefing room of the Treyah Mercenary headquarters. She walked in as she looked for a place to sit. Her metal staff was in the holster on the right side of her hip and her hair was tied into a pony tail.

“Yue!” someone shouted and she looked around to see where it came from. She saw Fran coming near her. The two females were both dressed in formal Soldier uniforms that were black in color. The upper part of the uniform had the look of a suit coat while the lower part was slack pants and their foot wear were boots.

“Nice to see you too.” She said as she waved her hand at the blonde; unlike her though Fran wore her beret as a part of her uniform.

“Glad to see you could make it Miss Yue.” Lucian said as he seemed to be following the blonde. He wore the same uniform but he did not follow protocol as his coat was not neatly buttoned up and it was tucked out as well.

“Well well,” the azure haired girl said. “It’s none other than the SF Alpha 1 Leader.” She added with a smile on her face.

“No need to be so modest.” He replied.

“Yeah I mean, the Soldier Unit is where all the action is at!” a voice said and they all turned to see where it came from.

“Nice of you to join us Melfice.” Lucian said as he saw another person with him. The fire wielder wore the same uniform as the calm student but he wore it more proper than the Alpha Division 1 Leader.

The person next to Melfice however was a new face to some people present. He had short jet black hair and his eyes were grey in color. His face always carried a smiling demeanor as he also wore a Soldier Uniform the same as Lucian’s and Melfice’s. Some didn’t know him but apparently the azure haired girl did.

“Hey Yue.” The black haired Tuteur went near her and took her hand as he kissed it. Yue blushed a little bit as he put his arms around her petite shoulders.

“Uhh so Yue who is this?” Fran asked as she had a skeptical look on her face.

“Ohh sorry.” The azure haired girl said as she forgot to introduce them all. “Guys, I’d like you to meet Dilan Shadesborough.” She said to them.

“I’m her fiancé” Dilan said with a smile on his face and this had brought a look of shock to all of their faces.

“What?!” the blonde shouted as she was surprised herself. “Wait but what about-“ she tried to speak.

“Yeah I mean, you were kind of waiting on his return and all.” Melfice said as he scratched the back of his head in surprise.

“I’d never thought Seiryu was expendable.” Lucian joked as he earned a glare from the azure haired girl.

“It’s not like that.” She tried to reason with them as she removed Dilan’s arm’s from her shoulders. This brought an uneasy look to her fiancé’s face. “My father and his father had agreed to an arranged marriage. Naturally I didn’t have a say in it for the sake of our family’s reputation.” She reasoned out with them as she sighed.

“And besides if she had waited for the delinquent to return he’ll just bring trouble.” Dilan said proudly and this earned him glares from the group of people around him.

“It would be wise if you don’t talk about him like that.” A familiar black haired red eyed soldier said as he walked passed him and stopped in front of them.

“Zaix! Nice to see you!” Fran shouted at him and he smiled at her in return. “What unit are you in?” she asked him.

“Hey guys.” He said to them but he glared at Dilan. “I’m at SOLDIER UNIT, Delta 1st Lieutenant.” He said to her. “Technically I’m a notch up above you Fran, but that’s due to seniority.” Zaix concluded.

“Dilan here’s with me.” Melfice said. “He’s the 1st Lieutenant of the SOLDIER UNIT Bravo.” He added.

“Still a showoff as always.” Julia said as she walked right past all of them and went to look for her seat in the briefing room.

“Always the frank and cold one.” Lucian said as he sighed. This cued them all to look for their seats in the briefing room.

Once all the Tuteurs had sat down in their respective seats, OVR Captain Isley had now stridden his way towards the podium in front of the seated students. He had shiny silver hair and his eyes were ebony in color. Like all of the new Tuteurs he wore the standard Soldier uniform but unlike them, he had a lot of medals on his left chest pocket, thus signifying that he is a notch above these soldiers.

“All rise.” He said as all the Tuteurs did as they told. “Salute.” He commanded and the Soldiers saluted him and he responded with one of his own. “All right, as you were.” He said as this cued them to be seated once more.

He cleared his throat as he had shown a picture of the map of the world in the digital screen behind him. There were sections of the map that were highlighted in darkness indicating the influx of the Darkness infection that had engulfed the specific regions.

“For the past couple of weeks, we have monitored the situation near the crater that had been produced since the incident two years ago. All you Soldiers know what I am talking about right?” he asked them.

“The Collapse of the Sanctum Dei Cronos’s ruins I presume?” Dilan said while he raised his hand slightly to speak.

“Yes Lieutenant.” OVR Captain Isley said as he walked around. “Two years ago, a major threat had encompassed the world and it was a major threat for it almost brought about the world’s destruction.” He added.

He flashed another slide and this time it had shown the picture of nine people in grey hoods.

“The Novemque Sentis.” Julia said as she recalled her memories of fighting them alongside her companions.

“Yes Major.” Isley said to her. “They brought about the threat of the world in two ways as you, Major Gerstein, said in your post report of the incident. The activation of an omega like weapon and an influx of their so called Oblivion’s realm.” He added.

He took a sip of water from the glass near him.

“Luckily however, we were able to thwart the threat thanks to the contributions of these following Tuteurs.” He said to them as he flashed a slide containing the names of the people who helped stopped the incident.

Lucian Denioux (Major/SPECIAL FORCES UNIT 1st  ALPHA DIVISION LEADER)

Julia Gerstein (Major/SPECIAL FORCES UNIT 1st DELTA DIVISION LEADER)

Melfice Freyberg (Captain/SOLDIER UNIT 1st BRAVO DIVISION)

Yue Aine (Major/INTEL AND LOGISTICS UNIT 1st ECHO DIVISION)

Fran Breaux (2nd Lt./SOLDIER UNIT DELTA DIVISION)

Zaix Reindhart (1st Lt./SOLDIER UNIT DELTA DIVISION)

Terrah Ducarde (Treyah State Medic)

Seiryu Noelle (Missing in Action/Unranked)

When Yue and the rest saw Seiryu’s name on the list they all felt said, especially her, because they knew that if he had reappeared and made it with them, he would have a rank too. But truth be told, the azure haired girl just missed him so much right now.

“One of them didn’t make it and its still unconfirmed if he is alive or not.” Captain Isley said as he moved on to the next slide. “So now the problem starts from here.” He said.

The slide showed the crater from the damages that Verrath had caused in between the worlds. Instead of leftover grey energy flowing from it, an abnormal darkness energy surrounded the winds surrounding its area.

“Abnormal darkness.” Lucian said to him. “Infectious and lethal.” He continued as Isley nodded at him.

“Exactly Major Denioux.” He said to him. “We have received reports from our Intel team that an abnormal darkness had come from the crater in the Cronos ruins and this particular darkness had started infecting people in the vicinity.” He said as he showed the next slide.

It was a picture of Helms Rock town which was near the Zoroa desert.

“The reports we had gotten from the State Mercs there was that there was an abnormal darkness activity present just days ago.” Isley said as footage played right in front of them in a hologram screen.

It seemed nothing out of ordinary but then something stood out as Lucian and Yue began to watch closely. They saw a hooded teen that was wearing a white shirt beneath the black hooded vest and black jeans and sneakers with matching color and he had bandage around his left arm and an abnormal darkness energy surrounding his left hand. They saw him fight across a horde of State Mercs as he evaded each blade attack with ease and in return he countered with blasts of darkness energy from his bandaged hand. His face wasn’t shown as he went near a motorcycle with a cart attached to it and began to start it.

“Those moves!” Melfice thought as he felt a cold sweat fell from his neck.

“There is a huge possibility that it’s him.” Julia thought as she watched the screen.

“He didn’t even use his blade.” Lucian thought as he watched the screen. “If indeed that is him then he has gotten stronger.”  He thought.

“No…is that you?” Yue said as she tried to comprehend the situation.

“Have you Id’d the individual?” Dilan asked the OVR Captain.

“Not yet, but whoever he or she is, this Rogue could be our lead to this infectious darkness.” He said to him.

“So what’s our directive?” Fran asked the captain.

“Simple really.” OVR Captain Isley replied to her. “The ones involved in the Verrath incident will be the ones to investigate this situation first by heading to Helm’s Rock town in Zoroa. The vehicle and supplies will be provided as Standard Operating Procedure.” He said to them.

“Do we have any other leads?” Yue asked the OVR captain once more.

“I’m afraid not. This incident is our only strong lead about the infectious darkness that has been infecting the world since the incident. I’d suggest you move quickly for the darkness that’s infectious moves fast and has already taken a lot of casualties.” Isley said to them. “In addition to your original Investigative directive, you need to apprehend this mysterious Rogue and bring this person back here for questioning.” He said as he referred to the hooded fighter.

“Roger.” Julia said with strength.

“Are there anymore questions?” Captain Isley asked them all and no one dared to ask. “Okay meeting adjourned. Those who are not assigned to the Special Mission, you all report to the barracks in 30 minutes after this meeting.” He said as he walked off from the podium and went on his way.

The group of Lucian, Yue, Fran, Melfice, Julia, Zaix and Dilan went out of the briefing room and walked together in the hallway that led to the main quadrangle hall of the Treyah Headquarters. They all reached to a sudden stop as the footage that they saw still had an impact towards them.

“It’s him.” Yue said as the footage of the hooded fighter killing State Mercs still played in her mind. “It’s definitely him.” She said as she held on the familiar platinum chain that Seiryu had given her on her wrist.

“We can’t jump to conclusions here.” Zaix said. “What if he’s just another apparition or an illusion?” he said to her.

“No.” Julia said as she had a serious look on her face. “It was definitely him.” She added.

“The swift quick reflexes, the fast movements and that style of attack.” Melfice said. “It was no doubt that the hooded fighter we saw was Seiryu all right.” He said to them.

“But why would he be killing those Soldiers?” Yue asked with a look of sadness on her face.

“Maybe he has been corrupted with his darkness.” Dilan said with a grin on his face.

“Shut up!” Zaix said as he held him by the collar. “Seiryu may be a jackass but he ain’t the type to be corrupted easily!” he shouted at him as he pushed Dilan backwards.

“Geez no need to be so rough.” He said to Zaix as he ruffled his uniform. “I might be just telling the truth. Besides, all darkness wielders could be a threat too you know.” He said as he looked towards Lucian.

“Look at me like that again and I will personally end you myself.” The calm student said as he looked at him with a bit of anger evident on his face.

“I’m kidding geez.” Dilan said to them as he began to walk off. “I guess I’ll be seeing you around Yue. The air’s getting a bit thick around here.” He said as he looked towards Zaix and Lucian and left.

“He sure has a personality I give him that.” Fran said as she had an angry look on her face.

Yue wasn’t focused on the scuffle that was happening in her group friends, instead the image of the hooded fighter killing those Soldiers continued to play in her mind. Lucian immediately went near her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“He had his reasons.” He said to her. “Remember that you have faith in him.” He added as he smiled at her.

“And besides, the sooner we find this hooded fighter, the sooner we find out the truth so cheer up Yue!” Melfice said as he patted her head and she smiled because her friends were actually comforting her.

“I guess you guys are right.” She said to them all. “Well then, let’s get this mission going!” she shouted as all of them now were prepared to go on another quest once more.

“I’ll find you and I’ll get the truth…”