Hi! I'm back again after disappearing off for so long. I really do apologise. I had such a major case of writer's block for this story. It doesn't mean I've given up on it, (far from that!) I was just at a loss on how I wanted it to continue.
Well, enough of me making excuses, enjoy this chapter and hopefully it's filled with enough action to quench that spy-thirst ;)
Habere!
- Third Person's P.O.V -
"Where are Addy and Remy?" Elijah's childish voice breaks through the silence, worried orange eyes gazing at the door. "They've been gone for almost two hours now..."
"Who knows?" Clara questions rather boredly as she sifts through the papers on August's desk. While the Ember sits in his original position, she brought a chair and sat opposite him. She honestly just wanted something to rest her elbows on.
Odd movement from the aforementioned Ember has the Shade raising her eyes to him, arching a brow at the way he anxiously glances between the door and the files in front of him. His eyes move back to the door and settle there for a while before he glances at her from the corner of his eye.
August coughs into his fist casually, closing his eyes. "Is there a problem, Clara?" He asks casually, focusing on a file in his hand. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure Elijah is preoccupied, Clara turns back to August, dropping the file in her hand and crossing her arms on the desk.
"You know where your Ember and Remy are, don't you?" It's more of a factual statement than a curious question and the male Ember recognises this for he snaps his eyes back to the Shade, gaze widening.
"N-No, I don't," He quickly denies, shaking his head. "Why would you think that?"
"You're restless," Clara answers nonchalantly, going back to reviewing the files. She picks one up and reads from it as she continues. "You won't stop glancing at the door and you looked concerned when Remy left the room so abruptly."
The Shade gazes at August from over the top of the sheet of paper. "And that would imply you know something."
August gazes at the redhead wide-eyed, his mouth dropping open. "I-I...uhh...that's..." he stutters and Clara averts her eyes back to the paper in her hand.
"It doesn't matter to me, anyhow," she dismisses with a shrug before nodding her head to Elijah. "It's the kid Ember that's worried. Explain what happened to him."
August's eyes drift to Elijah working on the mechanisms of a modern bow, gaze becoming worried again when they instinctively avert to the door. The Ember should console the young kid but he wants to make sure that Remy is OK first.
From everyone's confusion, August could only deduce that he's the only one who caught onto what's wrong with Remy. He knew it the moment Elijah hugged him after being told the older Ember would train him. The look on his face...the panic...he knew it all too well. It was the same look his older sister would have often before she tragically committed suicide.
And now that Addy went after him, she probably knows as well. August just wants to make sure Remy is doing alright. Addy may be with him but it doesn't stop him from worrying any less.
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"Remember that prank we did in Year Nine?"
Remy barks out a short laugh. "You mean the one where we dumped oil right outside Mr Stinson's office?"
"I've never seen a man drop like that!" the two Embers dissolve into rib-aching laughter, Addy's head falling onto Remy's shoulder as she holds her stomach. Remy holds his hand against his face, his head leaning back on the exerceo building and tears dripping down his face.
"He was a right bastard so he deserved it." Remy remarks, wiping away his tears.
"But he broke his wrist." Addy reminds him before falling back into her laughter.
"Oh, shít." Remy snickers, wiping away the tears that came again. Addy sighs, her back leaning against Remy's arm, and wars her arms around her stomach.
"Secondary school was great, man," She comments after a while, earning a nod of agreement from her best friend. Lifting her head, she shuffles until she's facing the Ember. "Come. Let's check your wounds."
Remy stares at Addy as she removes the bandages to check his arms, nodding in approval when she sees that they've completely healed.
"Thank you, Addy." Remy says gratefully, smiling softly. Addy snaps her head up, blinking her slightly wide eyes in surprise before returning Remy's smile, running her knuckles along his jaw.
"You're most welcome, numbskull." She replies gently before placing a hand on her knee and standing up. The male Ember tilts his head back to gaze at her she dusts off her hands.
"I need to get you some clean clothes," Addy mutters to herself, frowning thoughtfully. "You want to come with or wait here? I'd prefer if you wait until I come back."
"I'd rather wait for you," Remy coheres, smiling gratefully though there's an element of sadness as he gestures to his blood stained clothes. "I'm honestly not comfortable walking anywhere while in this state."
Addy gazes forlornly down at her best friend. However, she forces out a smile for his sake, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder. "I'll go get the clothes. You and August are roughly the same build so his shít should fit you."
Remy chuckles at the last sentence while Addy leaves him to retrieve fresh clothes for him, leaning his head back on the exerceo building and bringing his knee to his chest. He slings an arm over it, gazing at nothing in particular.
It's never a quick recovery for the Ember whenever he had a panic attack and started self-harming. He'd sink deeper in his self-loathing and it took a massive mental strain to get himself out of it. He never had anyone to help him so he had to lean on his own devices.
But with Addy here this time around, Remy found himself recovering way quicker. He wasn't wallowing in self-loathing because Addy was here to distract his mind from that. Even with her gone for a moment, the aftershocks aren't happening and he's relieved. He doesn't want her to experience the disappointment of having all her efforts gone to waste.
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August watches his workshop floor from his office, eyes hooded though his brows are knitted. Arms crossed and ankle resting on his opposite knee, August contemplates the whereabouts of his Arma and fellow Ember.
He's growing increasingly worried about the brunette despite knowing that Addy is with him. He felt like an idiot. He should've spotted this before but Remy was good at keeping it unknown from any of them.
He's got to hand it to him. Remy is an expert at retaining that deceptive mask.
August's brows involuntarily relax when the door to his office is opened, making him swivel his chair to face the person that came in.
The Ember almost breathes a sigh of relief when Clara walks in, emerald eyes focused on the file in her hand. They flick up at August standing from his desk and leaning on it.
"Clara, we need to talk-" a series of mighty explosions cut of August who immediately runs to his floor-to-ceiling windows. His eyes widen at the blacked out force crashing through the obliterated entranceway, shouting orders for everyone to get on the ground.
"The Authorities!" he exclaims, whirling around to the rest of the people's shocked expression who fill with dread. "They're here!"
Elijah jumps to his feet and starts hurriedly packing everything in his vicinity as Clara runs to Remy's bag and shoves the file in it.
Grabbing all the necessities, August bolts to the door, wrenching it open before spinning around. "Come on!" he shouts over the sound of another explosion, somewhere near the exerceo building, swinging his arm towards Clara and Elijah. "We have to get to the-watch out!"
Clara instantly grabs Elijah by the neck and forces him down to the ground as she dives as well, numerous bullets piercing the windows and shattering them to millions of pieces.
August ducks out of the room to avoid the spray of bullets, before retaliating with his own. He snaps back behind the wall, reloading his gun.
"Move!" he shouts, appearing once again and firing. Clara yanks Elijah up with her, the teen stumbling over his feet, and dashes for the door, spinning her upper body around to rain bullets of her own.
Elijah sprints down the stairs, his breathing coming out in sharp puffs, and is met with Addy and Remy barging through the door and into his view.
"Remy!" he exhales sharply, slamming right into Remy's new adorned chest. Pulling the teen behind him, Remy snaps his attention back up the flight of stairs to Clara and August shooting at soldiers that are climbing up into the office.
"Clara, August, let's move! Come on!" he shouts, turning on his heel and sprinting for sanctuary along with Elijah. Addy lags behind, her heart pounding in her ears. She gasps when she spots a black clad soldier briefly before he drops out of view.
"Guys, let's fucking go!" she screams, to which the Shade and Ember immediately abide by, dashing down the stairs with ridiculous speed.
The group run down a hallway, just turning a corner when fire is released upon them. Clara turns the corner but immediately spins around, her gun pointed at the assailants. In seven pulls of the trigger, the soldiers drop to the ground lifeless.
August barges a door open with his shoulder, immediately heading to a cupboard and yanking it open. Addy heads to walk-in-closet of sorts, only instead of clothes, there are an immeasurable amount of firearms and ammo, along with survival necessities.
Chucking a bag to Elijah, she starts packing as much things as she can, Remy heading to another cupboard and filling a separate bag with non-perishable foods.
They hurry to pack the much needed things as they can, packing light munitions which can be also decimating. Some heavy artillery were exceptions.
Suddenly, Clara bursts into the room, slamming the door shut upon her entry. Not a second later, bullets riddle the metal surface and the group cover from them, ducking behind countertops and using protruding walls for cover.
"Clara." The brunette chucks a semi-automatic to the Shade who catches it easily before running towards her with his own firearm, his back pressed against the wall on the other side of door.
The partners nod to each other before simultaneously glancing at the others. The others nod their accession, and find a copacetic barrier between them and certain death.
With one more glance at each other and a steadying breath, Clara pushes the door open and the two whirl into full frontal view of the bullets; the sound of their guns annex to the cacophony of gunfire resounding in the hallway.
They roll back into cover, Remy kicking the door shut to suppress the retaliatory bullets. "Gotta say, I've missed this." The Ember tells Clara, smirking as he reloads his gun.
"What haven't you missed?" Clara replies, also reloading her semi-automatic.
"Submitting the outcome afterwards."
The door is reopened and Clara and Remy release fire, taking down the barrage of Authorities soldiers in no time at all.
The sound of bullet shells hitting the floor echoes through the hallway, the sound of gunfire coming to a halt, apart from that which faintly reverberates from the workshop.
"We've got to leave the city." August states, walking around a counter with two bags in his grip.
"How, though?" Elijah questions as he zips up his own bag and hurries to his side. "They've probably locked down the borders."
"We'll think of strategy. In the meantime, let's get the hell out of here." Addy says, walking over to the door. Her blue eyes widen after spotting two Authorities soldiers storm into her view, and she quickly ducks, allowing August to plant two shotgun bullets in their chest.
Without another word spoken, the group quickly exit the room, running hurriedly down an adjacent hallway, Clara and August in the front and Addy, Remy and Elijah taking up the rear.
Elijah feels the hair on the back of his neck stand to attention, so he glances over his shoulder, spotting soldiers giving chase.
"Guys, behind us!"
Not a second later are the words shouted out that Remy twists around in mid-run, arm outstretched, and fires. The soldiers jerk from the hits before dropping heavily on the floor.
Further down the hallway, a soldier pops into view from another corner; Clara's heel propels forward and the gun goes flying out of the soldier's hand. She keeps her foot against his forearm, forcing him back against the wall. Due to his forearm going past the edge of wall, the Shade's pressure breaks his arm at the elbow, eliciting a scream of pain from his throat.
She grabs the front of his vest and knees him in the gut, before spinning around with him keeled over, grabbing his spare handgun and planting bullets in the other soldier's chest before shooting the injured one in the head.
August turns onto another hallway before skidding to an abrupt halt when he spots more incoming soldiers on the opposite end. "The other way!" He hollers, sprinting past the others who quickly follow after him.
Remy pulls out a hand grenade, Clara passing him as he yanks out the pin with his teeth and chucks it down the hallway.
The explosion rocks the entire place and causes Elijah to trip over. "Get up, kid! Come on!" Addy yells, yanking the boy to his feet by his backpack, the heat of the flames licking at their backs.
One of the twins that helped Clara and Remy on their mission in the Archive centre appears before them, shooting at the soldiers that chase her. "Natalie!" August shouts and the girl instantly snaps her head to him.
"Boss!" she exhales in relief just as they come to a stop in front of her. "They've flooded the main floor with reinforcements. The main exit has been taken over, including the emergency exit. Alicia is up there with the others trying to keep them from the Tectum exit so you guys can escape."
"Thanks. When I get these guys out of here, I'll come back-"
"Don't even think about coming back for us, Boss." Natalie vehemently declines, making August's eyes widen.
"I'm not going to just run while my employees risk their lives for my decision!" He refutes hotly, making Natalie glare at him dangerously.
"Listen to me, August and listen well," she orders, grabbing his upper arm tightly. "We work for you which means we'll die for you. Our loyalty is to you, not the Authorities. If they capture you, they'll show no mercy for someone who harboured fugitives. Even though we work for you, there's a likely chance they'll spare us, and if that doesn't work out, we'll just tell them that you forced us into helping you."
"And besides," she continues, before August could argue, smiling at his dumbfounded look. "Most of us have longed to have a shot at the Authorities for the way they've been so this is well worth it."
August gapes at Natalie as if she's grown two heads and he goes to reply when Addy tugs on his arm, forcing his attention to the haphazard group falling into the hallways behind Natalie.
Natalie snaps her head to her fellow employees firing before glancing back at August as he's being pulled by Addy. "We'll hold them off for you. Go now, hurry!"
She runs to assist but August yanks her back to face him. "You and Alicia better stay alive. Do you understand?" He commands, making Natalie smile, nodding.
"You better stay alive too." She says before running off. With a final glance at his retreating employee and urgent beseeching from Addy and Elijah, August sprints after the group, directing them to the Tectum exit.
They burst into the open air of another alleyway, immediately sprinting for a getaway vehicle with August leading the way. As they turn to the right, they all skid to a synchronous stop, freezing in place at the horde of Authorities soldiers waiting for them, their rifles ready and waiting.
"Oh, fúck." Addy curses, her hand rising protectively in front of Elijah. The young Ember gazes fearfully at their stoically standing enemies, his heart racing with trepidation.
Remy grits his teeth as Clara glares murderously. August stands before them all, grinding his teeth together, trying to come up with an escape plan.
"Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air," One soldier orders monotonously, and the group glare at them without budging. "Now."
The adults begrudgingly drop their firearms, making Elijah flinch and slowly raise their hands into the air.
"Hand over the Shade and her partner," another soldier commands, raising his gun higher. "And the rest of you will be spared."
"Over my dead body." Remy growls, causing Elijah to shakily glance over at him, his body trembling.
"Give yourselves up and the Dux might go easy on you." A soldier states, hardly perturbed by the insult.
"That bastard can go fúck himself with his desk chair," Addy spits. "We're not stupid enough to believe that bullshít."
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's up to you."
Remy smirks darkly, cracking his knuckles. "I've always favoured the hard way. It's always fun for me."
"Fine." The soldiers raise their guns and the group brace themselves for the incoming shots. Elijah whimpers but Remy disobeys orders and grabs his hand in comforting grip.
The soldiers' fingers curl around the trigger and begin to pull; yet, one soldier drops unexpectedly. The group of soldiers turn to their fallen comrade to see he's dead, and then another one falls soon after.
In a confused frenzy, the soldiers start searching for the invisible assailant. One soldier spins around but his throat is slashed before he could comprehend what was happening.
The group gasp when another soldier falls, beyond confused on what is happening. When the last soldier spins around to face the assailant, Remy inhales sharply as his blue eyes widen. The others glance at him quizzically from his reaction.
The remaining soldier glances at the assailant, lifting his gun to fire. "You son of a bit-ack!" he goes down abruptly, a blade wedged in the middle of his forehead.
"You all must follow me if you want to live." A mysterious assailant says in a heavily accented voice, appearing out of nowhere. The bottom half of his face is covered by a bandanna but the eyes staring at the group are those of muddy brown, quite obviously filled with experience.
The group stare at the man as he begins retrieving the blade from the soldier's skull along with the rest of his weapons before walking away, zoning back into the present when Remy suddenly follows after him.
"R-Remy?" Elijah hesitantly calls, coming out from behind Addy. Remy glances over his shoulder, his face stoic.
"Just come. Trust me."
The sentence leaves the group speechless and immobile but upon hearing rapid gunfire quickly approaching them, they snap back into action, jogging to catch up the Remy and the mysterious man.
"Who the hell is this guy?" Addy asks nobody in particular, watching the newcomer's back warily.
"I don't know," Clara answers, also watching the man vigilantly, her eyes narrowed a tad. They move to a taciturn Remy, his face devoid of any expression, and narrow even more. "But Remy seems to know the identity of him."
The man leads them around a corner before pausing abruptly. Without a word, he points to something stuck on the wall opposite and turns knowingly to Remy. Remy nods in response, and strides over to the object indicated.
"Wha-wha...Remy?!" August addresses in alarm, holding his hand out towards the brunette. The Ember pauses temporarily to send August a look from over his shoulder.
"I told you to trust me, August." he drawls monotonously, continuing towards the indicated object without waiting for a reply. August stiffens, gazing apprehensively after the Ember before hesitantly lowering his arm.
He clenches his fist, as the rest of the group dreadfully watch Remy reach his hand out for the small object attached to the wall.
The man gazes at them from the corner of his eye before glancing ahead.
As Remy goes to press the small blue button in the middle of the object, he withdraws his hand, glancing over his shoulder expectantly.
"No Loose Ends." The man states in response.
"Positive?" Remy questions and the man cross his arms.
"100%."
Remy stares at the man for the longest time before turning back to the blinking object. "Loose Ends?" Elijah repeats confusedly, orange eyes fixated worriedly as Remy raises his arm once again.
"Code for no IP address," August clarifies, his purple eyes fixated on his fellow Ember. "Loose Ends refer to IP addresses of computers and other electrical decides that is used to locate and identify nodes in communication with other nodes on any network."
"Think of it as a sort of virtual post code," Addy carries on, giving Elijah a side-look. "Governments and telephone communication companies use it to track any device. It is how Find My Samsung and other tracking systems are able to locate any given device. Though it's mainly used for Internet tracking."
"So essentially, whatever happens when Remy presses that button, no one can track its use or otherwise." Clara finalises, just as Remy presses the button. A laser like sound arises lowly before a swirling void appears just like a hologram.
A gasp leaves the groups' lips, with Elijah being the exception as he glances at everyone in confusion at their reaction.
"No freaking way..." Addy breathes incredulously, eyes wide on the shifting void before them.
"A...Fabric...Gate..." Clara identifies, making Elijah gasp in recognition.
A Fabric Gate. A piece of highly sophisticated technology that manipulates the very fabric of space itself. It works by sending out fine and precise undulations that distort the pre-existing gravitational waves allowing a rift to be caused. The user of the Fabric Gate is thusly transported through this rift to a place of their choosing in the blink of an eye.
"Indeed," the man affirms, uncrossing his arms and walking over to Remy. "A Fabric Gate. The only successful prototype to exist." The man glances over at Remy who stares hard at the shifting void, snapping back into attention when the faint sound of gunfire ceases suddenly.
"Come on." He orders before turning back to the man and nodding. The man nods back before walking through the void, sending ripples through it like a pebble dropped in still water.
Remy indicates to the group to follow after him with two fingers before walking through it himself.
The rest all glance at each other hesitantly before slowing striding towards the Fabric Gate. August, after taking a deep breath, walks through, followed by Elijah who is given a gentle nudge in the back by Addy.
Addy quickly glances at Clara but the Shade silently tells her to go first. The Ember easily obliges, closing her eyes and stepping through the void, arm first.
A countdown clock suddenly appears above the void, the time steadily counting down from ten. With a glance behind her, Clara faces the void before inhaling deeply and stepping through just as the clock reaches one and the object disintegrates to ash.
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It's a dark and quiet existence for the country, the stars glittering in all the majesty above it. Crickets chirp from the forest that surrounds the large expanse of farmland, fireflies flitting and alighting large grass mounds spotting the landscape.
The city of Gurges is nothing but a memory in the far off distance; if it wasn't for the city night lights, it wouldn't it even been noticed at all.
A sound reminiscent of a laser beam surfaces and an a mysterious undulation appears in the middle of the air, rippling several times before a chest spears through the middle of it. Arms, legs, shoulders and then a person has emerged from it.
The man gazes around the dark countryside before moving his eyes to the side when the air undulates again and Remy later emerges from the phenomena.
Remy stops beside the man, hooded eyes gazing at the black scenery. "I had heard you had died in a mission gone bad six years ago," He speaks up randomly, slowly glancing at the man as he lowers his bandanna from his face. "...Nakamura-sensei."
The man lowers his mask and gives Remy a pleasant closed eye smile. "I agree it has been a long time...Kokoro-kun."
Remy stares at the man's smiling face before facing his frontage. Suddenly, he releases a sigh of exasperation, shutting his eyes as his shoulders slump.
"I told you to stop calling me that," He says, as if he's said that over a hundred times before. "I'm not a girl."
The man who seems to be Remy's past teacher chuckles softly, accentuating the crow's feet around his eyes. "I do not see the problem with the nickname I have given you, Kokoro-kun," He responds, making the Ember huff. "You have a lot of soul, and a big heart. Qualities that are hard to come by in people these days."
Remy glances off the side, pursing his lips. "Yeah, yeah, whatever..."
The man chuckles again, before glancing up at the far distant city lights, the smile falling from his face.
"I knew the Authorities would come after you." He suddenly speaks up. Even though Remy is surprised by the information, he doesn't let it show on his face; he instead slowly gazes at his sensei, face impassive.
"What gave you that impression?"
"Well, other than the most obvious reason, I was used to be an Authorities actrix," the man answers simply with a shrug. "And being an actrix, I was privy to many things, the personal records of the tiros being one of them."
Remy shifts his gaze away to the city lights then to the sky. "You saw that my blood type was focalised on, I'm guessing."
The man nods. "Indeed. Tiros' blood types have been concentrated on before to understand the potency of their power but the sheer focus that was put on yours stuck me as idiosyncratic."
"Clara and I thought so too," Remy sighs in agreement, rubbing the back of his neck. "We still don't know the reason why it was so. Even our investigations have come up short."
"The little investigation I could do without being caught came up null, as well," The man informs Remy, facing the Ember with a serious expression. "That is why I have been keeping a watchful eye over you, Kokoro-kun. I apologise sincerely for leaving bereft of any explanation but I have not slacked in being your sensei in the regard of watching over you."
Remy exhales heavily and crosses his arms, glancing to the side. "I'm not angry, Nakamura-sensei," He begins lowly, taking the man by surprise. "I'm still in shock, don't get me wrong but I could understand why you had decided to up and leave."
"And besides," He continues, blue eyes shining from a firefly drifting past his face. "You couldn't say anything given the circumstances. We barely managed to keep our training sessions a secret...and you were more of a help to me than you could ever realise, sensei."
The man smiles happily, tilting his head a little. "I am glad you have recovered, Kokoro-kun. It gives me great joy."
Remy's expression saddens at that, his eyes automatically downcasting to the greenery spread beneath his boots. His sensei senses the change and opens his eyes, blinking at the faraway look in his pupil's eyes.
"Kokoro-kun-"
"I'll tell you later," Remy swiftly interrupts, facing away from his sensei just as the air ripples like it did before.
The man stares at his pupil's silently, worry clearly etched into his features. He looks away when he hears the gasp of Elijah as the boy had held his breath whilst travelling through the Fabric Gate, only releasing it when he comes out into open air again.
Travelling through nothing but that vacuous division of space was the most unpleasant and spine-chilling experience he has ever had. There was nothing. Devoid of life, devoid of substance. It was just...empty. And to walk through that was nauseating...
Elijah keels over and places his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. His hands shake as he tries to calm down from that horrible experience of not feeling anything, his entire being feeling like it's going to collapse in a minute.
"The first time is always unsettling. I apologise for not warning you sooner, Westwood-kun." The man apologises sincerely, taking Elijah by the shoulders and helping him stand.
Elijah leans his whole body on the man, panting heavily and still trembling. "The feeling will wear off soon, so please, try not to over-exert yourself."
"I think...I can...move..." The teen palpitates, opening his eyes and glancing at the man, a shy smile on his face. "Thanks, sir."
The man smiles. "Please, call me Kenshin." He inveighs, letting go of Elijah's shoulders and stepping back when the teen indicates he can stand on his own. No sooner is Addy appearing through the void, stumbling over her own feet after a misjudgement in footing.
Remy quickly catches her before she can fall, and the Ember grips onto his arm for dear life, the extremity trembling with her fear.
"What the hell was that?" she asks fearfully, wide eyes full of terror riveted on the ground. She shakily glances up at Remy, her hand tightening in the fabric of his sleeve. "How are you not pissing yourself, right now?"
Remy offers her a sheepish smile, taking the brunt of Addy's weight. "Well, you see, I've kinda already used a Fabric Gate before, so I was aware of the feeling." He explains with a nervous laugh and Addy stares at him dumbfounded. She laughs slightly as well even though it sounds strained, closing her eyes and trying to get a grip on herself.
"I'll be damned..." She murmurs, sweat dripping down the side of her head. August promptly appears, gasping loudly and collapsing on the ground. He rests a hand on his bent knee while staring at nothing in fright.
"That was..." He trails off, his breathing shaky from his fear. His shoulders move with his uneven breathing and his body trembles. "I have never experienced anything as horrifying as that..."
"August!" Elijah hurriedly moves to his former mentor, kneeling beside him and placing a gentle hand on his back.
The air ripples again and Clara appears through it, her eyes snapping open. Legs trembling, Clara manages to hold herself up, though she wraps an arm around her stomach, the other coming up to cover her mouth.
That feeling...
Clara quickly rushes to a nearby tree and vomits. "Clara!" Remy cries worriedly, immediately releasing Addy and rushing over to his partner. The Shade continues vomiting and Remy rubs her back comfortingly.
She leans a hand on the tree bark and lifts her head, panting heavily with sweat dripping down the side of her face.
What in the world...was that? She thinks, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
"I must give you all my sincerest of apologies," Kenshin announces contritely, bowing deeply at the waist. "I failed to inform you all of the side effects one might experience when travelling through a Fabric Gate for the first time. Please forgive my negligence."
Kenshin stands up straighter and faces Clara before bowing once again. "And I must apologise once more to you, Clara-san," He adds. "The effects are more powerful on those with Shade status. I humbly ask for your forgiveness."
Clara examines Kenshin's behaviour before silently turning away and standing up straight, taking a deep breath. Remy sighs at his sensei and gazes worriedly at his partner as she steadily breathes in and out.
"It had to be done if we wanted to escape with our lives," she expresses, opening her eyes and facing Kenshin. "There is nothing to forgive."
"On the contrary, I knew the risks travelling through the Fabric Gate opposed to you, yet I did not alert you to them," Kenshin objects, tilting his head lower to the ground. "I will not look upon you until you have accepted my apology."
Remy sighs, the action seemingly telling of how much he has had to deal with the behaviour of his sensei. He was pretty used to the high regard in which people of Purus held good manners. He's just worried others won't get to that point.
Addy, August and Elijah gazes at the older man weirdly, slightly creeped out looks on their faces. Clara, on the other hand, arches an eyebrow before relenting with a low 'alright'.
Kenshin straightens and throws Clara a grateful closed eye smile. "So where the hell are we?" Addy queries, finally taking a gander of her dark surroundings.
"The greenbelt on the far outskirts of eastern Gurges." Kenshin answers, turning his body slightly to point at the dim city lights.
Elijah murmurs in awe at the beautiful sight, fireflies buzzing silently around the place and gracing it with an ethereal glow.
"A little over a hundred years ago, mankind started to taking the condition of the earth more seriously," Kenshin begins to explain, capturing everyone's attention. "Trees and forest life was dwindling quicker than we could keep track. So state governments started to enforce laws that will preserve the little nature we had and increase it again. This greenbelt is one of the many innovations taking to help our planet. It is barred from pedestrians so that it cannot be tarnished."
"Then this makes it perfect to escape detection." August states knowingly, which makes Kenshin nod.
"Now that we know what the hell this place is..." Addy glances at Kenshin guardedly, catching the older man's attention. "Who the hell are you?"
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Kenshin Nakamura," Remy gives the introduction with an exasperated sigh as Kenshin laughs lightly. "A former actrix and my old teacher."
"Teacher?" Clara repeats in surprise, green eyes slightly widening. "Personal teacher-student relationships were strictly prohibited in the Father and Mother Facilities."
"Well, yeah," Remy agrees with a languid shrug. "We kept a lid on our relationship and had covert training sessions whenever we could."
August eyes widen even further, his lower jaw slackening. "How in the world were you able to do such a thing in a place that was put under heavy surveillance?"
Kenshin tilts his head at the Ember, giving him a secretive closed eye smile. "My people are notorious for being sly." He replies mysteriously, causing August and Remy to sweatdrop. Clara too sweatdrops but for a different reason.
"No wonder where Remy got his craftiness from..." The Shade mutters dryly, her face deadpan. The brunette smirks widely in response and Clara shakes her head, letting the barest hint of a smirk through.
The sound of a plane overhead draws the attention of Kenshin, influencing the man to address the group seriously. "Despite where we are, it is better if we go below ground to my sanctuary. Please follow me."
Kenshin begins leading the group across the farmland, approaching the numerous large mounds of grass. They follow the older man silently, the silent crunch of their shoes blending in with the song of cicadas.
Kenshin swipes his hand downward and a holographic panel appears in mid-air, fascinating the group behind him apart from Remy and Clara.
He taps in a sequence of numbers and symbols before the panel disappears, allowing him to focus back on leading.
"What did you do just now?" Elijah asks, and Kenshin comes to a halt on the left side of a rather medium sized mound – though it is still much bigger than the group – and smiles at the young Ember from over his shoulder.
"You'll see." He says, promptly turning away. He slides his foot almost discreetly to the side and the canvas of green before them ripples as if the air was a liquid substance that had been disturbed.
"Follow me." Kenshin walks to the wall and through it, the air rippling around his body as it disappears into the mound. Remy follows without hesitation and the group share uneasy looks with each other before striding through the mound one right after the other.
They appear in a normal sized grey room, a single light coming to life above them. Everyone, apart from Kenshin and Remy, breathe a collective sigh of relief, humouring the first two males. They had dreaded walking through the mound because they assumed it'd be another experience the same as the Fabric Gate. They couldn't endure that feeling again, as if their stomach left them and their bodies started dissolving.
"You will have the opportunity to relax soon." Kenshin informs them, heading to the other side of the room. Another holographic panel appears but this time, he places his hand against it. A beep later, and the wall in front of him rises up.
He walks in, allowing the group to behold the gigantic room before them. It is cosy, for a lack of a better word, and modern. The room is a mixture of rustic and neoteric. The floor is a burnished grey wood with light grey walls, soft blue accents found in the corners and edges. The place had several concrete columns and was just magnificent.
Elijah glances up and gasps. There are several dome skylight windows spread out evenly to give equal amounts of light everywhere. The bright night sky shines upon them, basking the room in soft moonlight and starlight glow.
"This place...is awesome." Addy breathes, her eyes shining with awe.
Kenshin turns back to the stupefied group to give them a smile. "Thank you," He says gratefully. "I have been working on this build for years," Remy's eyes snap to Kenshin and narrow. "It'd normally take six months to a year to complete a build on this scale but it took more time since I had to do it without arising suspicion from the Authorities."
Kenshin turns to Clara, moving his body in way that his back subtly faces Remy so the Ember's suspicious gaze is not on his face.
"Allow me to show you to your-"
"Kenshin! My god, you are finally back. I was starting to get worried."
Someone appears from around a corner as the group all turn to gaze at whoever barged in. In their haste to reach Kenshin, the person trips over the rug, crashing face first on the floor.
Everyone winches at the impact. That had got to hurt.
"Um...didn't that guy see where he was going or something?" Addy questions rhetorically, eyebrow twitching.
"Maybe he's uncoordinated?" Elijah suggests in a flat tone, shoulders hunched and arms hanging limply.
Kenshin sighs, shoulders slumping and eyes automatically closing. "Why are you always so clumsy, Marquez-san?"
Clara freezes when she registers the name the new man was addressed by. No way... she ponders, eyes slowing widening in disbelief. Marquez is the name of-
She releases a gasp as the man detaches his face from the floor with a sucking sound, lifting his head and rubbing his nose, scowling in pain.
The man opens his eyes and raises them to the group, his own blue eyes widening with incredulity.
"...Ace Daniels." The Shade finishes her thought aloud, causing Remy to wrench his head to her, shock permeating his features. Ace grins sheepishly, waving at the shocked redhead.
"H-Hello again...filia."
Kokoro - Soul; heart
Marquez - Son of Marcus
Actrix - Agent
Trio - Recruit
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