Chapter 22: Never

“Papa,” A small girl said, “why do humans not like us?”

The small girl, no older than five, sat next to her father on top of a cliff, looking out at the setting sun. Her long, brownish-blond hair shone in the light of the orange sun. Her father, who was also facing the sun, turned to his daughter, revealing his right crimson eye. The left was covered by a large bang, but wouit ld be shorevealedery now and agathen the breeze. He held a sleeping child in his arms. A boy who had barely turned three.

The man smiled sincerely and said, “Humans are…odd. They’re afraid of things that are new to them, but don’t wish to take the time to understand them.”

“But why?” The girl continued to ask.

“They’re simply a little stubborn, that’s all.”

The girl lowered her head, swaying her legs over the ledge. “Are…are we not supposed to like them?” She asked, raising her head.

The man chuckled, placing his hand on the girl’s head. “Of course not,” He said with a smile. “You should never dislike a person simply for what they are. Otherwise, how can you ever hope to make lots of friends?”

“What do you think of humans, Papa?”

This question surprised the man, dropping his smile for a more melancholy look. He turned to stare back at the horizon, but his gaze lowered. “Humans. I don’t hate them, but…they’re frustrating. I wish things weren’t like this…but they are. And unfortunately, that will be quite a difficult thing to change.”

“Why?”

The man looked back at his daughter and smiled again. “We’ll discuss this another time, alright, Laura?” The man said, getting up. “It’s starting to get chilly, and I wouldn’t want you or your brother to get sick.”

He stuck out his right hand for Laura to grab, and she gladly did so. The three leisurely headed back to their home, Laura asking her father what they should have for dinner.

Laura’s eyes had a tough time opening, like someone had placed weights on her eyelids. She looked around the dark cargo hold to find that everyone was still asleep. Only a dream. She let out a sigh, hoping it was reality and this was the dream. Actually, their current situation was more of a nightmare. And Laura was powerless to fix it. She thought of what her father had said: “I wish things weren’t like this…” Did he mean it? What caused him to become such a villain? Laura had so many questions, but unfortunately, no one was left to ask. All the young woman could do was sigh once more and try to return to sleep.

It was already the afternoon when the group landed at the facility. Judging from everyone’s weary looks, Laura wasn’t the only one who had a tough time sleeping. They walked down the ramp and were met with Everett, who had been waiting for their arrival since the morning.

“You all sure look awful,” She commented. “Must’ve been quite the expedition.”

Armin let out an exasperated sigh and said, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“I would, actually. Yesterday, we got an unexpected visit from some of our drones.”

“So then, are you aware of the situation?” Armin asked.

Everett nodded and said, “Regrettably. At least you all made it back safe.”

Although the soldiers walked inside as if nothing happened, Laura and others’ moods were less than merry. The second Berus stepped off the ramp, he stormed off by himself to somewhere private for training. The other stood behind Armin with grief-stricken faces.

Everett glanced at the others, her brows furrowing in confusion. She looked back at Armin and asked, “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you once we get inside.”

And so, Armin recounted their journey and the discovery of the masked man’s true identity. How, after they had seemingly defeated him, he was still alive and destroyed Amber Village, and murdered Empress Nia. Everett gasped in horror. Though she had never met Nia, Ferral had talked so much about his wife. She was also well aware that Laura and Berus were her children, and knowing what it’s like to lose one’s parents, Everett understood how awful they must feel.

“I’m…so sorry, Laura,” Everett said with sincerity.

The princess gave her a slight smile and said, “Thank you, Mrs. Romanova.”

Everett turned her head to Armin and asked, “So, what’s the plan now?”

Arming bit his thumb as he thought. “I’m not sure yet,” He replied. “Right now, we need to contact the other settlements, and we’ll work something out.”

Cello looked at Laura and said, “What are we going to do about the other empires?”

Laura lowered her gaze for a moment to think. She raised her head and stood up, then said, “We’ll form a plan with them. I doubt Mortem destroyed the meeting room…I hope, at least.” Cello nodded and got up, ready to join Laura for the trip back to Amber Village.

Before the two headed out, Armin got up and stopped them. “Hold it, you two,” He said. “It’s going to be a long sprint back to the village, and time isn’t something we have. I’ll have someone take you.”

“Thank you, Uncle,” Laura replied.

The two waited outside the gates for someone to take them back to Amber Village. As they lingered, Laura went to grab her flute but felt nothing. She had forgotten in her anger, and Laura had snapped the flute in two. So, she whistled into the jungle, and shortly after, a large murder of crows came bursting through the trees. Laura laughed as they surrounded the young woman, nudging their little heads against her legs, arms, or cheeks. She was happy that they were all still okay.

A camouflage jeep came driving up behind the two women. Laura kindly shooed the crows away, and they perched themselves inside the trees. The jeep stopped in front of them; the driver was Gordon.

“Hop in, lassies,” He said, motioning with his hand.

They jumped in the back. Cello leaned over and asked, “Will this thing even get there quickly enough?”

Gordon chuckled and said, “This beauty will get you two there in no time, but you'd better hold on.”

He pressed hard on the gas pedal, and the jeep went zooming forward, throwing Cello back into her seat. Their eyes widened with shock and astonishment at the vehicle's speed. Laura looked at Cello with a huge grin, almost having fun on the ride. However, the same can not be said about Cello, who was digging her claws into the seats, her face a ghastly white. Laura’s crows had followed the jeep, but could barely keep up and were left behind.

“Oy!” Gordon called out. “Where’s this village of yours, anyway? I know it’s in Queensland, but where exactly?”

“We’ll let ya know!” Laura responded.

It took them around three hours to reach the Dead Zone. Laura told Gordon to stop the jeep, and he did. The two women hopped out, Gordon telling them he’d wait for them to come back. They nodded and headed up the ledge that led to the village. When they had reached the entrance, the two saw that the hologram that surrounded the village was gone. Revealing the charred area. They made it to the entrance, Laura becoming hesitant to walk inside, but Cello placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort.

“Just don’t look,” She said. “Let’s be quick.”

Laura took a deep breath, giving a nod to her friend. The two ran inside, trying their hardest to avoid gazing at the carnage. However, they did glance here and there, quick flashes of the burnt buildings and bodies that littered the floor. Cello took a left turn, curious, Laura looked as she left.

“I’m just going to check something!” Cello said. “I’ll be there in a few minutes!”

Laura turned her sights back on the mansion. She kicked the doors open and headed straight into the meeting room. It was nighttime, so everything was dark. But Laura had lived here for all her life; she knew this building like the back of her hand. She stopped at the room, the door already open. Laura crept inside, placing her hand and running it along the table. Her hand glided over the control panel; it didn’t feel damaged, but before she tried using it, something slithered down her back.

It sent a chill down Laura’s spine, and she whipped around to see what it was. There was nothing. When she turned back around to the table, Laura’s face shot a ghastly white. Her gaze met a pair of blood-red eyes with white pupils. The silhouette of a large figure squatting in front of her was on top of the table.

A man whispered in front of her. “Scream,” he said, “and you both die.”

Laura’s body shook with mixed feelings of anger and fear. She clenched her fists and choked back her words. Mortem grinned, resting his head in his hand. “Good girl,” he sarcastically praised.

Mortem continued, “You needn’t worry about contacting your fellow experiments. I did that for you. You see, I have a way of changing my voice to fit any circumstance.”

As he talked, Mortem’s voice changed several times. First, it was Ferral’s. Then Nia’s. Armin and finally Anthony’s. Laura didn’t bother responding.

He continued, “I want you to know that what I did to this pathetic little home of yours was completely personal. If I had not been clever enough to set precautions, I would’ve certainly been dead. Consider all of this my respect. Then again, I got cocky, my fault. Regardless, I expect you and your rat of a brother to come at me with your utmost ire. Show me what the children of the Hellhound can do when pushed to their most hateful. Your daddy dearest wiped out most of humanity at his.”

Mortem cackled as he slunk into the darkness, leaving Laura alone. She gritted her teeth so much that blood began leaking from her gums. In a quiet fit of rage, she slammed her fist through the table. That’s when Cello came, stopping at the entrance to the room. She could see Laura’s silhouette, her arm pierced through the table.

“What happened?” Cello asked with concern in her voice.

Laura ripped her arm out from the table, letting out a long sigh. She looked at Cello and said, “Fine. I just…have some pent-up anger.”

Cello smiled and commented, “Well, you can take it out on that bastard once we get to him.”

She tried to lighten the mood, but was unsure if it would work. Laura silently nodded, and the two headed out of the mansion. They ran out of the mansion and headed back to the jeep, where Grodon was waiting. After they got back, the two went to find Armin. Cello stopped, making Laura stop too and turn around.

“I have to go see how Berus is doing,” Cello said. “Just to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself.”

Laura nodded, and the two separated. She asked some of the scientists around, and they said he was in his workshop at the very end of the complex. Laura made her way out of the facility and walked throughout the complex until she saw a large silver shed-like building. She stopped in front of the wide double doors, knocking a few times, then waited. The doors opened, and Armin was standing on the other side.

“Laura!” He said enthusiastically. “Right on time, come on in.”

Laura followed Armin inside and gazed at the doctor’s workshop. There were many work tables with testtubes, vials, and flasks scattered around. Many papers littered the tables and floor. It was certainly a messy shop. In the very middle of the room was a large machine, which looked like a robotic coffin. The door was open, so Laura took a peek inside. It was mostly empty, except for rows of needles that lined the sides. Armin stopped in front of the tables. He stuck his arms out, trying to hide whatever was behind him.

“Ready, kiddo?” Armin asked with a smile.

Intrigued and a little excited, Laura grinned and nodded. Armin moved out of the way to reveal a massive sword that lay on the table. Laura walked over to examine it. The blade was long and unreasonably wide. The guard was also abnormally long and had sharp points on the end. She went to pick it up, feeling that it was a very heavy blade. Armin leaned over and nudged her shoulder with his elbow.

“Eh? Eh?” He said. “Pretty cool, huh? Really screams power. A blade befitting a warrior ruler, am I right?”

Laura placed the hefty blade back on the table and turned to Armin. “I’m sorry, Uncle,” she said, “but I can’t use that.”

“Nonsense. I had it made just for you.”

Laura chuckled and said, “No, no, I realistically can’t use that.”

Arming quirked a brow and asked, “Why not?”

“Uncle, if I tried to swing that, I’d have to use all my strength. Not to mention the crossguard is too long, and those sharpened edges are a risk to me. It’s horribly unbalanced to boot. Might as well hit them with a large metal beam at that point.”

“Huh,” Armin said, at a loss for words. “You sound just like the guy on the phone.” He shrugged and walked over to another table. Armin continued, “Luckily, I had two swords made. Although this one’s not as impressive looking.”

He picked it up and tossed the concealed sword to Laura. She grabbed the scabbard and examined it. She quickly identifies this sword as a Shuangshou Jian, an ancient Chinese longsword. The scabbard itself was identical in design to the one she already had. The sword’s hilt was black with a golden pommel and guard. Tied to the pommel was a red tassel. Laura slowly unseathed half the blade; the clean steel shone in the light, its dual edges were sharpened to perfection. Laura smiled at this work of art and slid it back into its sheath.

“This one will do perfectly,” Laura commented.

“I mean, if you wanna be boring,” Armin muttered.

Laura giggled and took off her old sword’s scabbard to place the new one around her waist. She walked over and hugged Armin.

“Thank you, Uncle,” She said, squeezing tighter.

Armin chuckled and hugged back. “No problem, kiddo,” He responded. “Just promise that you and your brother take that son of a bitch down.”

They pulled apart, and Laura nodded at his request.

“Oh! Before I forget,” Armin quickly said. “That sword of yours is pretty special. Both of them were designed similarly to your father’s gauntlet. Just pull that tassel off, and the blade will be engulfed in electricity. It’ll be just as if a bolt of lightning hit it, producing a fifty-thousand-degree Fahrenheit blade. Unfortunately, you’ll only have roughly five minutes or less before the steel completely melts, so use it wisely.”

Laura nodded and said, “Understood. Wait, what happened with your meeting?”

“Went about as well as I figured, but don’t worry, you’ll be heading out asap.”

Laura ran back to the facility to await further instructions, just as Armin had told her. While she waited, Laura figured she might as well practice with her new sword. It was incredibly well-balanced and was way better than her old one. Whoever made this must’ve been a genius. During her light training, Anthony came over.

“Laura,” he called out.

The young woman turned to see him approaching with his hands behind his back. She sheathed her sword and gave him a smile.

“I was hoping you would say goodbye,” Laura said.

Anthony chuckled and said, “Yeah.”

There was an awkward silence between the two, but then Anthony stuck out his arms and showed Laura a long wooden box. “For you,” Anthony said, keeping his gaze away.

Laura was surprised by this sudden gesture. She blinked several times, not certain how to approach this. As if it were some dangerous tool, Laura carefully grabbed it and brought the box closer to her. She opened the box, and inside was a glossy black wooden flute. Laura took the flute out to examine it. The instrument was quite beautiful.

Anthony continued, “I had it made while you were gone. You know, since I saw that you didn’t have your other one, I just assumed you lost it, or it broke or something.”

Laura, speechless, continued to examine the fine flute. On the bottom, there were two golden crows on each side. In the middle of the crows was the word ‘NEVER’ written in cursive.

“Never?” Laura asked. “Never what?”

Anthony finally moved his gaze to her and said, “Never anything. Never give up, never feel sad…never think you're weak.”

Laura’s eyes widened upon hearing that last example. She glanced back down at the flute, blushing and smiling as she did. Laura looked back up, clenching the flute tightly.

“Thank you so much,” She said, her voice cracking as though she wanted to cry.

“Please, don’t die, Laura.”

Laura slid the flute under her belt. Looking back at Anthony, she said, “I won’t.”