CHAPTER 1 : - No Peace is Eternal

It was a wonderful night, The full moon in the sky steals the spotlight from the distant stars with its Brightness. The town was in a festive mood, people at the dinner were drinking and enjoying the day. Some couples were dancing in the street according to the tunes made by the buskers. Some people were enjoying their night by drinking beer to their heart's content. The walkway was filled with more people than usual. Usually, people would be sleeping at this hour during a normal night. But That night everyone was in a festive mood and enjoying the night to the fullest.

Because it was not an ordinary night, it was the second anniversary of the day that the entire world won the second world war against the 'Kingdom of Germayie'. After many months of a gruelling war, so many people lost their lives, their loved ones. Some were affected by the war mentally and physically. They were taken in by the Government to give them necessary treatment and rehabilitation to let them return to their normal, peaceful life.

'Thank God! I was able to stop them. If I hadn't, I cannot even imagine the horrors that would've befallen upon our people. But, Still. I can't forgive myself for getting emotional during the mission. If I had thought about my steps much more logically, I could've saved countless lives that were lost during the war because of my incompetence in decision making!!

I wonder, what would've happened If I had been born there?? Were my actions the just ones?? Surely all of them weren't evil, some of them even had no idea about the experiments. 'He' was also innocent but I had to do that, if I hadn't the entire world would've been massacred by them! Yes, Correct! Even if they had no direct connection with the plans of the Kingdom, they were indirectly connected. They were also soldiers, they too had to obey the orders. I was also a soldier, it's simple as that. I shouldn't think about it anymore.

But still, whenever, I think about the days we spent together laughing, training, playing, giving a hard time to Sergeant Ulfric. I remember their faces, The faces of my former comrades Luca, Klein, Anton, Adelinde and so many people I don't even remember the names anymore. I am sorry. I AM SO SORRY.
They were all good people, but... I had no choice. It was for my country, It was my duty as a soldier, It was the JUST thing to do. '

Dale began to feel down. But then he consoled himself again and again by justifying himself for his actions. This inner conflict went on nonstop for the next half hour. After that, he was abruptly cut off from his inner thoughts by the ring of the bell from the clock tower announcing midnight. At that time, he realised the purpose of his visit to the dinner.

'That's Right!' He said to himself. He became nervous about thinking about the event that was about to unfold. It was his first date with his new girlfriend Serena, whom he had a crush on since the day, he met her during the medical checkup when was in the military working as a soldier. After his last mission, gaining confidence and no longer being weak, he built up enough courage to ask Serena out for a date. Impressed with his forwardness, Serena who was known for cold behaviour towards anything other than her work agreed to go on a date with Dale. Dale was extremely delighted about this, not only she was his first crush, but she was also perfect in every way imaginable.

Diana was a Brilliant Genetic engineer and Military physician who was known for her brilliance in her field. She leads many types of research with success in almost all of them. She even found a cure to cancer by preventing the formation of cancer cells by altering the human gene. She also made our soldiers more resilient towards the virus by altering their genes to produce more antibodies. Every single soldier had a crush on her, even the female soldiers too. She was the perfect woman. Her blond straight hair and shiny white skin made her look like an actual angel to the soldiers who were being treated during the war. She values her job so much that she even volunteered to help to rehabilitate the people who were emotionally and physically destroyed by the war.

Compared to her, Dale was nothing, he was weak, lacked confidence and was just an average soldier just like many others in the force. He was even mocked by others for his strange black hair that was slightly curly. His entire appearance was different from that of an ordinary UNAF Citizen. He was raised in an orphanage, he never met his parents once therefore he wasn't aware of his real origins but the orphanage mother there was so loving of their children and her love and care turned him into a model citizen who always sides with justice no matter what others think just like she never treated him different from others and protected him from the bullying of others even from the main priestess. Serena was the polar opposite of him, That's why Dale was even more surprised when Serena accepted his request for a date. Even though he worked alongside Serena during the great war, he never expected this day would ever come.

Recently Serena had been on a slump in her research. After hearing about this news from Adrien, one of her fellow researchers. Dale was motivated to help her get up from her slump in any way he can. For that, he decided to make their date as much fun as possible.

Ten minutes had passed after the bell rang, Dale was getting nervous and he was eagerly observing his surroundings to meet Diana. At that time, he had noticed few military personnel among the civilians in the festival wearing their on-duty uniform and also some strange people wearing black tuxedo suits and sunglasses like some kind of personal bodyguard of some rich nobles in the Uphill regions.

'Hmm, Why are there soldiers wearing their on-duty uniform among the people?? Today is an off day for most soldiers apart from few guards who are guarding the Uphill district and the border regions.

Military also strictly prohibits wearing on duty uniform on an off day, If someone is caught breaking that rule. They would be punished and the consequences are tremendous.

So, are they on duty??? Yes, they have to be! Otherwise, this many soldiers won't be wearing their on-duty uniforms.
But why?? Why suddenly increase the number of active military personnel??

Isn't this day supposed to be a relaxing day for the soldiers?? And who are these mysterious men in black?? They are trying their best to blend in with the people, But I can easily spot them from this crowd. Why are they here??

It's already 12: 20, where is Serena??
Did something happened to her??'
Dale began feeling uneasiness.

Suddenly Dale was awoken from his inner thoughts by someone familiar calling him.

"Are you okay?? You seemed to be in deep thoughts, what happened??"
Dale was surprised, it was Serena!

"Serena, I'm so sorry. My mind wandered off somewhere. Have you been calling for a long time??"

"Oh no, I just sat here now. I was in a dilemma not knowing whether to wake you up from your thoughts or not. Since I too dose off like this during my work, I decided to not disturb you and just look at your deep thought face.
But your face became too serious, so I had to wake you from it to know what is it"

"Oh that, that's.." Dale suddenly stopped.

"Is it about some other woman?? Did you get tired waiting for me??" Serena pouted.

"No, No, No. You are the only woman for me!!!
I'll never get tired waiting for you" Dale subconsciously blurted out.

"Oh... Thanks.
But you seriously need to slow down, tiger!" Serena laughed.

Dale covers his face embarrassed. But quickly something came into my mind of dale.

"Serena, Could we postpone our date to someday else??" Dale asked with a serious look on his face.

Serena was surprised and asked " What happened? Why so suddenly??"

"Slowly look around the dinner carefully"

After looking around puzzled Serena asked " Um.....I looked and I don't understand what are you trying to show me?? Is it a surprise present for me??"

'She isn't able to see them?? Wow, My senses sure got better at this kind of stuff.
Still, it's a surprise knowing that she can't notice them at all '

"Again?! Hmph! What's with you today?? You are acting weirder than usual!" Serena irritatingly said.

"I'm so sorry, but I think something terrible is about to happen and I can't stop but feel uneasiness. Strange people wearing black suits are around us blending in the crowd and something is going around here" Dale warned Serena.
"We should postpone our date" Dale added.

Serena was shocked and looking around her surroundings once more and she got impressed by Dale's astute observation.
"Oh, that?? Um... I... I think are they are bodyguards" Serena stuttered.

"Bodyguards?? For whom??" Dale asked

"I heard some Nobles are going to visit the Northern Valley Church to participate in the festivals and Maybe these bodyguards are here to scout the location for their safety??"

"But that's strange, I was never notified of this and that reason doesn't justify the increased number of on-duty soldiers on guard here." Dale shares his doubts with Serena.

"Don't worry, more guards mean more safety, right?? You are such a worrywart! I never knew you had such a side. I'm grateful that you are worried about my safety but stop with that! We are here to enjoy our date on this special night that will only happen once a year. So let's try out best to enjoy!" Serena said cheerfully.

Seeing the enthusiasm of Serena and not wanting to ruin the moment, Dale decided to enjoy the date.

"Yes, you are correct!" Dale replied to Serena.

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As they were enjoying their date, Dale's worries became real and what happened next was way too shocking and gruesome than what Dale could ever imagine. A disastrous event of such magnitude that the night became the turning point in the life of Dale and his life was never the same again.

[END OF CHAPTER - 1]