Loud strides, heavy stomps, and deep insufficient breaths echoed as blood dripped down Toast's back. With shaky vision and a fragile sense of balance, the beast tightened its grip on Jared's clothes. Although weak, it fought through the terrain, drawing on the last of its strength as it leaped down the hill.
Branches flew, and trees snapped, but the beast refused to close its eyes, protecting Jared from it all.
Time seemingly stopped as the beast paused at the foot of the hill, breathing heavily. After a moment, his eyes relaxed, turning to the river inches away. Before he knew it, the beast collapsed, being too weak to maintain its balance.
Sniff Sniff
Smelling meat and seasoning covered by the scent of ash, Toast turned, seeing Kaelin calmly taste-testing her meal. With an unbothered look, she raised her hand to the monster protecting a child with its body. Kaelin casually turned her attraction back to her meal with a smile.
"You can rest now… Everything is going to be better than where you left it. I promise."
Something about her words were comforting as if she understood the suffering, the pain, and embraced its scars. Gradually, the beast's eyes closed. After a moment, it vanished, forming an orange ball in the palm of Jared's hand.
Looking at the ball in the kids' hands, Kaelin slowly looked to the sky.
"UGHHH, There must be a god looking out for me."
With an enormous sigh of relief, Kaelin wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Ugh…. Today was not the day to be fighting a Millennial Beast. That being said, -"
Kaelin looked down from the sky as the kid passed out on the grass, disturbing her relaxing meal.
"- another problem just dropped at my front doorstep."
…
It was a quiet start to the next day's morning. Laid out on a twin-sized bed, Kōtō's eyes and forehead were covered by a black towel soaked in mineral water. She slowly adjusted her face to see Aizen seated beside the bed.
"Oh, Aizen."
Nervously, Aizen started scratching the back of his neck. "Are you sure you can start talking again?"
Melinda chuckled as she sat up. "You worry too much for a nineteen-year-old, you know that."
"What? I can't worry about my Professor?" He said defensively.
"How about you worry about getting a girlfriend."
Aizen swiftly grabbed his heart as Melinda continued.
"At least your friend Mark has someone in mind. But you, on the other hand…" Melinda sighed in disappointment before committing to her rant. "You couldn't even find a date for your graduation ball."
Melinda- "Ugh, do you at least have a lady you're interested in?"
Taking a second to heal from Melinda's sharp words, Aizen thought back to that fight in the Cathedral. For a second, he was lost in that figure's eyes, only getting a glimpse of Yidhra's hair. Reliving the moment, he mickly replied to Melinda's words.
"Interested in, yes. But in that way though…ugh," Aizen words dragged, as if allow himself time to snap back to his senses. " I doubt it."
Melinda looked at him, then smiled slightly. The moment Aizen seemed to start smiling back-
"Hopeless, aren't ya." Another swift stab from Melinda's words pierced his stomach, leaving a permanent wound.
Melinda slowly got up from her bed, moving around in silence.
Aizen- "I'm sorry about the other day… It's my fault… You ended up getting injured… I couldn't even make them pay-"
"AIZEN!!"
In an instant, Aizen went silent, too ashamed to look behind him.
With a murderous and disgusted tone, Melinda spoke, "I thought you learned your lesson, but clearly, you haven't grown out of your obsession. "
Continuing her movement around the room, Aizen relived the other night's events, his fight with that criminal holding his brother captive.
After a brief window of time, Melinda sighed, flicking the back of Aizen's neck. "Get your head back in the game. I have some tasks I need you to run."
Aizen looked up as she grabbed her towel. "Tasks?"
"Yeah, grab your friends and handle it. The location is on that map. Make sure you prepare before you go."
Melinda began to walk out the door.
"Wait! Aren't you going to tell me what this is about?"
"Do you need me to tell you everything? You're smart; you'll understand what to do when you get there. Just get going." Her voice slowly faded away as she walked the hall.
…
The sun stretched, reaching the tallest high it could achieve in the early noon. Information gradually leaked out of the family's control as news about the Insight attack began to be shared. Its white and yellow morning glow illuminated the windows, filling the room with light. White-colored walls and wood-patterned floors combined with swishing papers and clicking pens only served to elevate the already peaceful setting.
Not looking a day over thirty-five, Elder Nichole looked over her military papers marked with Insight members' names, parents, starter abilities, and most importantly, their progress reports. "So this is the amount of people that are still missing."
Her dark caramel hair was light and flowing while maintaining its volume and health. Some of it calmly rested on the sides of her face, not obscuring her vision but long enough to cover parts of her ears and face. The rest was gently tied up into a single strand that ran down her back, ending around her shoulder.
Nichole causally brushed away the hair, placing it behind her ear and revealing her soft amber eyes with a smooth blue glow around them. "Taking our people then targeting our reputation. What more do they plan to take? Isn't that not enough for them?... Well, if the B.T. wants to play it slow, then we can probably get back into the game. "
Nichole leaned back in her office chair as she started to swirl the pen in her hand, with her mind distant for a moment. "What to do, what to do."
Suddenly, a gentle knocking came on her door.
"General Nichole, are you busy?"
"Not at the moment, come in."
Hiroko slowly walked into the room, turning around to close the door. With the set of books she held, it was a slightly more challenging task, but she managed to finish it before bowing her head toward General Nichole as a greeting.
Getting up from her chair, Nichole's demeanor switched, changing from worried and pondering to focused and attentive.
"Madam Hiroko." Nichole joyfully remarked. She clicked her pen in a series of orders but still continued their conversation. "How's everything? Is the family doing well?"
"Family has been better than ever. Steinunn loves the academy and is thinking about joining the geology club."
"That's great."
In an instant, the message was understood, and the code told through Nichole's pen was understood. Although the mundane conversation continued, the real purpose of the conversation had just started.
Hiroko calmly walked over to the couch at the side of the room, opening one of the books while continuing their pleasant, everyday conversation. As that was going on, a whole other conversation was about to begin by sharing thoughts.
Nichole [ Hello? Hellooo?... God, I swear she takes this acting thing way too seriously.]
Hiroko sat down on the couch and replied. [ Come on, Nichole, can I at least rest my legs for a little? You know that Melinda had me standing up all day yesterday; the least I deserve is thanks from you.]
[ Ughh, Feather… I sometimes wonder how you got a husband and child before me. You're such an emotional rollercoaster.]
[ What can I say? I got lucky and found the right one. I mean, he's not perfect, too, but we complement each other. Besides that, my kids are all grown, so home is always peaceful. You just waited too long. Now you're in your 60s with two relationships to your name.]
[ Nope, we're not doing this. How's Joshua? I haven't heard from him.]
[ Oh, Hubby? He's doing fine. The news about the attack hasn't been spread too far yet. All of our partner companies are pleased with our services.]
[ Ughhh, alright. I'm going to have to call a meeting with all the other Elders about this. We've been slacking on our weekly update reports. And with the event of this week and the following three months, we're ALL going to have a packed schedule. ]
Mentally complaining, Hiroko, who is actually Feather, replied- [ Whaaaaat! But doing weekly updates are so annoying.]
[ What do you have to complain about? You're the Elder with the most free time.]
Hiroko made a noise with her mouth, snapping her eyes up from her book.