Leon and Jasper took out every zealot and creature that stood in their way as they ascended the winding stairwell of the battlement roof. As they reached the top, a gust of wind greeted them, tousling their hair and carrying the howling sounds of battle. All of the sudden, another towering figure appeared from another roof. This creature was larger and more formidable that the one they had faced in the quarry. This one was covered armor with a thick layer of moss and lichen.
"Another one? You guys are really starting to become a giant pain in my ass," Leon grumbled, his frustration evident in his tone.
Just after Leon said that statement, the giant lifted large clump of rubble and raised it above its head. "Take cover!" Jasper yelled. He pulled Leon behind a wooden barrier just as the giant threw it at them. The debris from the blast scattered around them, but they remained protected behind the sturdy wooden barrier. "I don't think bullets are gonna do anything to take down that guy!" Jasper stated.
Leon glanced at the massive creature, its metallic armor gleaming in the moonlight. "You think we could use the same tactic as before?" He asked.
"We could, if we could see where the parasite is," Jasper replied, his eyes scanning the creature's body for any sign of vulnerabilities. He swiftly ducked behind the barrier just as the creature threw another large clump of rubble at them.
"This way!" Leon yelled before he hopped off the raised platform they were on, Jasper followed behind him shortly. They ran across the rampant while they took cover behind the stone walls to protect themselves from the giant's attacks. They made it across, only to be ambushed by zealots. One of them grabbed Jasper by the neck, but Jasper swiftly grabbed his knife and plunged the blade into its neck, severing its airway. The zealot's grip on Jasper loosened around his neck, allowing him to free himself.
Another zealot wielding a shield and axe approached Leon. He grabbed his shotgun and fixated his aim on the zealot before he pulled the trigger and fired. The impact from the bullet broke the shield, leaving the zealot vulnerable. Leon shot the zealot once again, striking the zealot in the chest and sending him crashing to the ground.
"Leon!" Jasper yelled, grabbing Leon's attention. He saw a large ball of rubble came hurtling in his direction. Jasper quickly pulled him out of the way and they ducked behind the barrier before the rubble could crush them both. "Go! Now!"
Leon and Jasper dashed across the rampant and encountered a horde zealots firing their crossbows at them. They swiftly dodge the flaming arrows before they hopped off the platform and landed safely to the ground. Leon swiftly turned around when a zealot advanced towards them and fired at the zealot's head with precision. Jasper shot the flambeau-wielding zealot in front of him before he delivered a roundhouse kick to his head, ending with a satisfying sound of the zealot's neck breaking.
The cross-bow wielding zealots continued to fire their flaming arrows from above. Jasper quickly equipped his sniper and peered through his scope and fixated his aim on the zealots' heads. With a swift move, he landed precise blows to the zealots with each shot. The giant's roar echoed through the air as it continued to unleash its wrath while it launched the large ball of rubble at them, but they managed to dodge the pile of debris as they swiftly entered a room.
Inside the room, there was a lever with a moon crescent on the fulcrum. Jasper grabbed the handle and pulled the lever to the left, changing the moon crescent into a sun. This caused the door with the moon crescent to close and the door with the sun to open, giving them access to the tower on the other side. They waited for the right moment to go across, the giant threw a pile of rubble, turning the rubble into ash and debris. They quickly ran across and made it to the tower.
As they made it across, Leon noticed a cannon inside the tower, positioned in the middle of the room. "Yes! A cannon! Hope it works." He shoots the bag filled with rocks with his gun, causing the platform the cannon was on to rise to the upper floor. Leon and Jasper climbed the ladder at the end of the room.
But just as they made it to the top, they encountered a zealot wielding an axe. Jasper shot the zealot a couple of times before he sent a roundhouse kick, launching the zealot to the wall and killing her instantly. Leon shoots another bag of rocks and the cannon rises to the surface. The agents made their way up the stairwell to the roof, where they arrived at the cannon. Leon positioned himself behind the cannon, adjusting it's aim towards the giant while Jasper loaded the barrel with the cannonballs.
"Alright, this is it," Jasper remarked and turned to Leon. "Make it count."
Leon nodded before he ignited the fuse. Jasper stood behind him, bracing himself for the impending explosion. It didn't take long before a deafening boom erupted from the cannon, sending a cannonball soaring through the air. The cannon hit the giant square in the face, causing it let out a ferocious roar of pain and stumble backwards. It then stumbled off the edge of the building and fell to the ground below.
"Adios, you son of a bitch," Leon remarked as he watched the giant fall.
"Don't start celebrating just yet! We still got more of them coming!" Jasper informed as he saw a horde of zealots coming their way. Jasper began to equipped his sniper before he was stopped by Leon.
"No need for that. I got a better idea," Leon said with a mischievous smirk before he turned the cannon to the left and Jasper recognized what he was doing. Leon shot the cannonball towards the horde of zealots, clearing the path for them. He then turned the cannon upwards and shot the giant gate down. Now they had somewhere to go.
"Alright, open for traffic," Leon declared proudly with a satisfied smile before turning to Jasper. "I guess the cannon wasn't such a bad idea after all."
Jasper returned the smile and chuckled, astonished by the scene in front of him. "Hell yeah, that was awesome!"
"Yeah, we..." Leon trailed as the two of them stopped, both gazing into each other's eyes. His expression faltered when he felt an overwhelming sense of deja vu wash over him. He looked away and cleared his throat before speaking, "We, um... we should probably go."
"Oh. R-Right," Jasper said, a disappointed expression flashed upon his face before he and Leon head towards the entrance.
Suddenly, as they reached the wooden bridge, something bursts through the wooden bridge. Jasper and Leon climbed off the giant, avoiding its grasp as they jumped across. But while Jasper landed safely, Leon got caught in the giant's grip. "Jasper!" He shouted his name.
"Leon!" He shouted back, grabbing onto his hand and shot the giant's face a couple times, causing it to loosen its grip around Leon, allowing him to drag Leon away from the giant's reach. The giant gave up after a moment and sunk down below them once more.
Leon and Jasper took a breath, recovering from the scare. The asian man turned to the blonde and asked, "You alright?"
"Yeah," Leon nodded slightly. "Thanks."
Jasper stood up and pulled Leon up to his feet before they pulled their hands away. Leon's eyes shifted, looking everywhere except Jasper. "Uh, let's go."
Leon tried to walk ahead before Jasper stopped him, "Is everything OK?"
"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine," Leon responded in a rushed voice, trying to remain a firm and strong composure.
Jasper furrowed his eyebrows, not entirely convinced by Leon's response. He spoke again, "If it's something that I did, then—"
"It's not you, okay?" Leon assured. That was a lie. It was about him, but he was too stubborn to admit it. He didn't want to be seen as weak in front of Jasper.
"Leon—"
"Look, Jasper. I appreciate your concern, but... right now is not the time," Leon shut down, his voice wavering slightly at the end. "Let's just go get Ashley."
Leon walked ahead of him, leaving Jasper whose hand subconsciously reached for him, but missed. Jasper lets out a heavy sighed before he followed behind Leon.
"Ashley? Where are you?" Leon muttered under his breath and as the two of them roamed the area for the girl. They found a door at the end of the hall and Jasper pressed his ear against the door. On the other side, he heard crying. Proceeding to unlock the door, Leon and Jasper quietly and stealthily enter the room.
With further inspection, the agents found Ashley sitting on a teal couch, sobbing quietly. Seeing this makes Jasper's heart ache for the girl. The two slowly walked up to her, walking around the couch so that they could face her front.
Ashley noticed them and immediately backed away from them, ordering, "Stay back!" She turned away, her voice shaking from tears. "I might hurt you again."
Leon's eyes softened at the girl's distress. The two agents glanced at each other for a moment, before diverting their attention back to Ashley, who worriedly clasps her hands together. "I'm so scared. When that happened... I wasn't myself anymore. I was something else," Ashley said.
"Ashley, that must have been terrifying, I-I know." Leon took a step forward to Ashley, only to stop when she backed away again.
Suddenly, Ashley gasped when she saw something in both of the agents' arms. Black veins were faint upon the skin. "They got you too?" She asked.
Jasper and Leon glanced at each other before they both decided to be honest with the girl and nodded silently. Everyone in the room went silent as they allowed the information to sink in. "It's OK to be afraid, you know," Leon spoke comfortingly as he walked around and sat beside her. "But you can't run. You got to keep moving forward. We will beat this. Together."
Ashley sighed and rests back on the couch. "I don't know if I can," she says, expressing her doubts.
"Of course you can," Jasper butts in, sitting beside her as he gave her a reassuring expression.
Ashley scoffed. "That's easy for you to say. You guys dealt with... dozens of missions like this."
"It's true, but that doesn't mean that we weren't scared of what will happen. Trust me; we've been plenty of scared before," Jasper told her wisely. Ashley turned to Leon and he nodded in agreement. "But what really matters is how you face your fears. You may not have the same skills as us, but that doesn't make you useless," the asian man continued. "Remember that time when I got attacked by that wolf?"
Ashley's lips curled into a small smile and she nodded as she recalled the event. That one moment was where Ashley gained her sense of bravery to save Jasper. "Yeah, I remember. I saved you."
"That shows that you are a lot braver than you think. You just have to believe in yourself," Jasper told her with an encouraging and comforting smile.
"He's right," Leon added. "And, uh... just give us a heads-up before you stab one of us next time, OK?"
Ashley lets out a small laugh. "Leon... Jasper... Thanks."
"No problem," Leon said before he stood up and made his way back to the side of the room, Jasper and Ashley following quickly after. Leon then sent a call to Luis, his boot tapping impatiently on the floor as he waited for the Spaniard to answer the urgent call. "Luis, where are you?" Leon asked, his voice laced with urgency and frustration as he spoke to his earpiece.
"Sorry, I, uh, I screwed up. Come to my rescue, Prince Charming," Luis teased, with a hint of desperation.
"I'll show you charming, pal!" Leon sneered, his patience wearing thin.
"C'mon. I'm in the ballroom past the courtyard. Don't be late to the dance!" Luis informed him before the call disconnects.
"Can't believe that guy," Leon muttered under his breath, shaking his head in disbelief.
"He's in trouble. We can't just leave him, right?" Ashley asked.
Leon glanced at Jasper with an annoyed expression before he sighed. "I guess so. He's pretty much the only one who can help us out with our... current problem."
"So where is he now?" Jasper asked.
"He said he's in the ballroom past the courtyard," Leon told him before he subtly rolled his eyes. "Let's not wast time. We should get going."
***
The trio found themselves in a hedge maze and in the maze stood a barred staircase, its gate to their next destination adorned on the other side. Turns out they needed to solve a puzzle to unfurl the three flags with three levers hidden in the vast hedge maze. So the two agents decided to split up to cover more ground.
But solving this puzzle wasn't as easy as they thought it was. As they explored through the hedge maze, they were bombarded by a pack of ferocious wolves that emerged through the bushes. The deafening sound of gunshots echoed through the night as the two agents fend off the rabid wolves.
Once the puzzle was finished, it allowed them into their next destination, which was the magnificent grand hall. The grand hall had a breathtaking space with high ceilings decorated with a glass chandelier and large windows that let in plenty of natural light. There were several statues and decorations scattered throughout the hallway and the floor was made of marble tiles. "Finally. A nice place for once," Jasper commented with relief.
Leon couldn't help but chuckle at the asian man's comment. "Let's not get too comfortable now. We still got work to do." Taking the lead, Leon strode ahead. At the end of the grand hall were stairs, one that led to a statue that had three heads, all three missing.
"Oh, great. Another puzzle. Fucking fantastic," Jasper said sarcastically, narrowing his eyes in irritation at the statue.
"Look." Jasper turned his head to where Leon was and walked over to where he was. He found him looking at a picture of a three-headed animal, more specifically a chimera. "There's a symbol on the wall. Do you think this could be some sort of clue?"
"Looks like it," Jasper replied as he looked back to examine the statue. "Seems like we'll have to find all three heads."
"Do you want to split up?" Leon offered.
Jasper pondered at the idea for a moment before he nodded. "Yeah, I think that would be better for time."
"Okay. Ashley, you stay with Jasper," Leon ordered and Ashley nodded. He turned to Jasper and told him, "Look out for each other, alright?"
Jasper nodded firmly in response before the two agents split up into different rooms. Leon travellled upstairs to one room a little further down the hallway while Jasper headed into a room to the right with Ashley. Upon entering the room, he was met with fancy red carpet and red furniture. Jasper scanned the room, finding no one. To his left, the room extended further. There was a large table covered with a red tablecloth with several tables surrounding it. "Huh, a dining hall," Jasper muttered to himself.
"Eat? Here? No thanks," Ashley whispered, her voice dripping with disgust.
In the corner of the room, there was a statue of some serpents secured behind a set of sturdy bars, protected by a set of metal grilles. Jasper walked around the table that was neatly decorated with ceramic plates and cutlery and crockery. The air was heavy with a musty smell, as if it hadn't been disturbed for centuries.
Jasper's eyes raked up to two paintings at the end of the hall, his eyes scanning the intricate details. One portrait portrayed a queen seated at a table, surrounded by two sets of silverware and an empty plate and glass. The second portrait depicted a king seated with three sets of silverware, a glass and a jug of wine, and a plate of bread. "Hmm..." The asian man turned around to examine the table for a moment and then he had a sudden idea, realizing that the sets might be a clue to some sort of puzzle.
"Hey, Ashley. Can you do something for me?" Jasper asked.
"Sure. What's up?" Ashley nodded, eager to help.
"You see this painting over here?" Jasper pointed at the queen's painting. "Try to see if you can find a set that matches in this painting. I think this might be a puzzle."
"Yeah, of course!" Ashley quickly memorized what the queen had in front of her before she moved on to looking for the same set on the painting while Jasper did the same for the king's painting.
Then Jasper finds a matching set in the north table while Ashley found hers in the south table. Jasper settled into his seat and Ashley followed suit into hers. "Okay. What's the plan?" She asked.
"Hmm..." Jasper rubbed his chin in deep thought, contemplating their next move. "Well, now that that's done, I think we can just ring the bell." Without hesitation, Jasper struck the bell on the table and Ashley complied as he did so.
Their actions triggered the metal grilles, permitting cage of the serpent statue to lower with a loud clank. "We did it!" Ashley exclaimed with a wide grin.
"Hell yeah we did," Jasper replied with a satisfied smile before he got out of his seat and went over to claim the serpent's head. He grabbed it and slid the golden head off the statue. As he picked it up, he felt the weight of the statue in his hands. "Wow. This is a little heavier than I thought."
"You're okay with carrying that, right?" Ashley asked.
"Yeah, totally," Jasper reassured her. "Besides, I've lifted heavier."
With the serpent's head in Jasper's hands, the two of them returned to the grand hall and Jasper slid the serpent's head onto the statue. "Alright. One down, two more to go," he remarked.
"Should we check on Leon?" Ashley inquired, glancing at the door that Leon went into.
"Yeah, we should," Jasper agreed.
Jasper turned to their stairs and followed the pathway that Leon had taken earlier. As soon as he reached the door, someone else bursts through it. Jasper jumped back and immediately went to raise his pistol until he saw it was Leon. "Leon," he released a sigh of relief and lowers his gun. "You alright?"
"Just fucking peachy," Leon responded while panting heavily, trying to regain his composure. He raised a golden head of a goat in his hand and stated, "I got one."
"Cool. Me and Ashley just found a serpent," Jasper told him while pointing back at the statue.
"Yeah, I'll go put it on right away." Leon straightened himself and walked past Jasper to place the goat's head onto the statue before the trio continued on with their mission.
***
After finishing off suits of armor, the trio finally retrieve all three golden heads to complete the statue. They returned to the grand hall with a lion's head and Leon deftly positioned the head onto the statue. As they completed their task, a low rumbling sound filled the room, causing the walls to shake slightly. The door to their right began to lower, revealing a room behind it.
"Guys, the stairs!" Ashley shouted, pointing behind the agents. Leon and Jasper hastily turned around to see a horde of zealots charging towards them.
"Stay back!" Leon ordered as he and Jasper brought out their pistols, ready to fend off the zealots. Suddenly, before either of the agents could fully grasp the unfolding events, a set of peculiar bars slid up around Jasper and Leon, trapping both of them with the statue.
"Run! Now!" Jasper shouted to Ashley and the girl quickly turned around and sprinted towards the open room, disappearing from sight as some of the zealots chased after her.
A zealot stumbles towards Leon, but he quickly takes it out. Out of nowhere, a flaming arrow narrowly hits the two agents. Jasper quickly shots the zealots square in the head a couple times. Another zealot tries to sneak behind Leon, but he swiftly unsheathes his knife and stabs the zealot in the head. He used the zealot's body to shield Jasper and himself from the incoming flaming arrows. Jasper quickly takes out the crossbow-wielding zealot before he and Leon crouch behind the statue, catching their breaths.
The room suddenly went quiet. Ashley was gone, being chased by the zealots. Realizing the situation they were in, Jasper and Leon could only hope that Ashley is safe. For now.
***
It had been a while since Ashley had left. The two agents were still trapped in the cage, unsure of what to do. Jasper was sitting against the statue fiddling with his gun while Leon paced around the room, feeling worried about the girl.
"Leon! Jasper!" They perked up when they suddenly heard Ashley's voice echoing the room.
"Ashley? Are you OK?!" Leon shouted.
"Hang on, I'll figure something out!" Ashley yelled back.
"Wait! Ashley!" Leon exclaimed, but he received no response, indicating that Ashley had already left. He asked Jasper, "You think she'll be OK?"
"I'm sure she will," Jasper answered confidently. "Ashley's smart. She'll find a way to get us out. I know so."
Leon pondered over Jasper's words and nodded before continuing to pace back and forth, hoping to pass the time so Ashley could get them out quickly.
Meanwhile, the awkward tension returned right after Ashley had left. Neither of the agents had anything to say. Jasper kept fiddling with his pistol as he was too awkward to even bring up another topic to speak about, and the silence was deafening.
"You know," Leon's voice caught Jasper's ear. "I always thought that I'd regret accepting a partner for the mission. That it would come to bite me in the ass later on."
Jasper slightly frowned and turned away to avoid eye contact. Leon stared at him for a moment before a faint smile curled on his lips. "But... I don't regret it, and... I'm actually glad that it's you."
Jasper looked up at the blonde with a look of surprise before responding, "That... means a lot, coming from you."
Leon stopped pacing and leaned back against the cage, facing the asian man. "Still, I don't know why you bailed on me for so long," he mentioned, his expression turning into a stern look as he crossed his arms. "And I just wanna know. Why did you leave?"
Jasper felt a wave of guilt hearing those painful, but truthful words from the blonde. Despite doing it for his safety, he felt like he had betrayed Leon for leaving him. He took a deep breath and adjusted his position. "I was threatened, with Sherry's life," he admitted truthfully. "They said that they wouldn't help her if I didn't accept to their offer to work with them. So I did, and I knew that I wasn't allowed reach out to my old life, that including you."
"I know I was an asshole for leaving, but I never stopped caring about you, Leon," he continued, looking at the blonde with genuine eyes. Leon remained silently, but continued to listen to Jasper attentively. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like I abandoned or betrayed you."
Jasper lets out a heavy sigh and turned away from the blonde to avoid eye contact, too ashamed to even look at him, thinking that he would only get angered by him for leaving him.
Leon's eyes softened after learning the truth from the latter. He had spent six years in lonesome and anger, thinking that his only friend had abandoned him without explanation. He felt the walls between them coming down now that they were both aware of the government's pressuring to keep them separated.
The blonde pushed himself off the cage and walked over to Jasper before sitting down next to him. "To tell you the truth, I wanted to stay mad at you," Leon admitted, breaking the silence again. "I thought I was supposed to, because I thought if I did, I... I wouldn't get hurt again."
"There was a part of me that wanted to erase you. But something else was telling me that... I can't get rid of you so easily," Leon continued, making Jasper turned to him with a slightly shocked expression after the revelation.
Leon made eye contact with the asian man for a moment before looking away as he rubbed the back of his nape awkwardly. "Jasper, I owe you an apology."
"You don't have to," Jasper reassured him. "You had every right to be mad at me."
"I know, but I should've heard you out instead of being angry at you," Leon said, his words laced with guilt and sincerity. "I should've been more honest with you instead of bottling all this up."
"Hey. We had no clue that we could've ended up here together, and it's not your fault," Jasper told him. Leon just stared at the floor, avoiding his eyes. "Hey. Listen." He placed a comforting hand and the blonde's shoulder, making him look up to meet his gaze. "We may not have had a great start, but we're both here for a reason. And I honestly can't think of a better partner other than you."
Leon looked at Jasper with his eyes slightly widen, deeply touched by his words. "You... really mean that? Even after how I treated you?" He inquired.
"Despite everything, I still do," Jasper admitted with a sincere smile.
Leon felt his heart skip a beat from how genuine and kind Jasper was to him. He had thought that things would go south for how he treated Jasper, but instead he forgave him. His kindness and generosity were one of the only things that were still intact after Raccoon City, and that was one of the things that Leon admired about him.
And not that he would admit it, but he still admired Jasper for that.
"Leon! Jasper!" Ashley exclaimed, interrupting the heartfelt moment between the two agents.
"Ashley?" Jasper stood up, facing the balcony where Ashley was on.
"Are you all right?" Leon followed up.
"Yeah!" Ashley nodded. "Give me a sec, I'll get you guys out." She began to look around the balcony and found a zealot slumped against a lever. She attempted to move the body off the lever when something fell out its pockets and hit the ground with a resonating cling. Ashley reached down and went back to the banister. "Hey! Try this!"
Ashley tossed something in and Jasper caught it, recognizing the object as a key. He looked up and asked, "Can you make it down? I can catch you."
Ashley took a second to scan the area and nodded. "Yeah, I think so."
Jasper looked at the key in his hand before he moved to unlock the cage. Leon kept an eye on Ashley when he spotted something emerging out of the shadows behind her. "Ashley, watch out!" He called as Ashley got grabbed by a large figure dressed in a crimson cloak.
Hearing the commotion, Jasper quickly turned around and saw Ashley in the figure's clutches. Ashley began to shriek for help. "Ashley!" He began to pull out his pistol and swiftly aimed at the figure, with Leon joining in and firing rounds at the zealot. However, the figure remained unfazed by the onslaught of bullets as it turned around and descended back into the darkness. "Shit!"