"Well then," Annabeth stood and called her gun into her hand, leveling it at Alicia. "Since we're done with her, don't mind if I–"
"Hold on." Serval seized the weapon. "What are you doing?"
"Would you kindly get your filthy hands off me?"
"Did you not hear me? I have decided to make her my wife."
"Oh, I heard you. I just couldn't care less." She replied, forming another pistol in her free hand and pressing it to his forehead. "So while I'm still being kind, get your filthy paws off me."
For a few moments, they remained locked in place, each daring the other, as though itching to unleash long-standing grievances.
"I believe that's enough."
The man known as Grand stepped between them. Instantly, both leapt from their positions with a level of caution that bordered on exaggerated.
"It's alright. There's no reason for anyone to get violent."
He turned his gaze toward Annabeth.
"If it's to prevent infighting, why don't you let this one be, hmm? For me."
He posed it as a request, but she received it as something closer to an order.
She dismissed her weapons back into her hair and turned away.
"Fine. Only because it's you," she muttered.
A pair of hands began clapping gleefully the moment the tension dissolved.
"How wondrous! So splendid! Behold his grace, how blinding it is!"
The culprit, Sweet Root, seemed utterly indifferent to everything else unfolding around them, staring at Grand as if intent on boring holes straight through him.
However, after witnessing him suppress the two unruly Eminents before her, she could no longer restrain herself.
"Now, if you've finished this juvenile recess, we shall begin."
Throughout the entire ordeal, the man with the claw never released his hold on the chalice, not even when the building itself had collapsed around them.
At his direction, the others arranged themselves into an arc and sat, as though gathered around a campfire.
Then he lifted the chalice high and proclaimed to the firmament above.
"~For even after crooked existence has failed us, we must dwell within its misery. For even if we cry out for the knowledge of essence, we are met only with eternal silence from the infinity above. And when we seek escape from this flux, we suffer still, returning to its coils.~"
The sky overhead began to sink inward, spiraling into a minor singularity. From it poured a white cascade of water, descending toward the chalice in his grasp.
Then, every drop of blood spilled that day began to stir, flowing toward the chalice, streaming from every inch of the colony.
"~Yet in our disorder, we found the order that seeks to vindicate us. The one who rests within the spiritual realm. The one who reached down in answer to our call for salvation.~"
The blood climbed through the air to meet the descending white torrent, their streams merging until the crimson was wholly consumed.
"~That is the one who shall ascend beyond the infinity above to seek our retribution. And in return, the world must bleed to form the steps of ascension.~"
When the white flow finally reached the chalice, all preceding phenomena fell abruptly silent.
Then Alicia saw it.
A figure stood within the arch they had formed.
An astral being, composed of a material she did not recognize.
It accepted the chalice from the man with the claw and drank. In the next instant, it gained form.
If she were forced to describe it, she would have called it a statue, a figure more marble than flesh, its eyes a bold, unsettling crimson.
As soon as it finished drinking, it spoke.
"~So what shall be your answer?~"
"~For the glory of our Avatar, we shall scar the world!~"
They replied in unison, and for the first time since Alicia had encountered them, they appeared as a single will.
More important, however, was a clue she had overlooked the first time it had been presented.
Scar.
It should have been a clue, especially given that the commander she had eliminated earlier had declared the very same phrase.
They had been present during the annihilation of the Badgers of Bane. They had also been present when most of the former members of the Nebula branch vanished, two incidents occurring within a narrow span of time.
Their intentions had never been made explicit, but their actions alone were enough to classify them as cross-boundary threats. Even so, no identifying features had ever been recorded, nothing that would allow any of their members to be recognized.
Now, Alicia found herself wondering whether this manner of genocide was how they typically conducted their gatherings. And if so, just how many civilizations had they erased without VEIL's knowledge?
In the end, it was a jarring thought, one she promptly cast aside.
The being she assumed they referred to as their "Avatar" sat before the arch they had formed, its gaze passing over each of them in turn.
"They are pleased to look upon you once more. Yet they see that each of you has grown greatly during the time they were away."
I can hear multiple voices at once. It's like the words are overlapping and interfering with one another. Alicia noted as she listened.
"You honor us with your words, my Lord," the man with the claw replied. "We are overjoyed to receive your gaze once more."
"Because you have called yet another summit, are they to believe that the work of preparation is finished?"
"It pains me greatly to admit this, but we have fallen short of your expectations. Though we have secured a proper source of fuel, we still lack the Scorn of Avarice. And as for the Gabral Key–"
"That would be my responsibility," Annabeth continued where the man with the claw left off. "I failed to secure it. But I can assure you, I have discovered a suitable replacement."
"Annabeth," the Avatar muttered, turning its attention toward her, "is there not a truth you wish to make known to them?"
A faint smile crossed her lips before she bowed her head toward the ground. "I apologize. I did not intend to deceive you in any way. The truth is, I lent it to another, and for a selfish reason."
"If it was important enough for you to set aside your charge, are they to believe it has become an essence?"
"..."
"You are not bound by a bond that prevents regression, so you may–"
"Never!" she insisted. "My heart would never abandon our cause. I ensured I would always be able to retrieve it at any moment. You need not be troubled… my Lord."
"...Very well, then. You may keep this."
!!!
Resting in his hand was a heart, a warm heart, still beating as though it remained within a living vessel.
There had been no movement, no perceptible action to indicate how it had appeared, yet Annabeth had to fight the instinct to press a hand to her chest, to confront the sensation of a body without a heart.
Then the heart vanished from his grasp.
She released a silent breath at the implication, feeling its rhythm return within her once more.
"As for the Scorn of Avarice, my Lord," the man with the claw continued, "despite our efforts, VEIL has transferred it somewhere within the Central Cross-Boundary Coalition. We are unprepared to infiltrate and retrieve it in our current state. Furthermore, we possess no knowledge of its appearance or general location."
"It is as you have spoken. Yet before this matter, must they contend with you, child concealed from their sight?"
At the mention of their presence, someone's authority was immediately shut down.
When the others turned their heads, it was revealed to be an officer who had been creeping forward all along, attempting to rescue his lieutenant unnoticed.
…
If he could go back in time, Collins Caesar would have been wholly opposed to being named after his father.
It wasn't that their relationship was strained by any measure, but the expectations that followed whenever others addressed him carried the weight of leadership.
His name never arrived alone. It came with assumptions, obligations, and a future already written.
As the son of the Central Colony's leader, he had long dreaded the prospect of inheriting command of the joint project. More than anything, he wanted to escape it.
Which made it deeply ironic that he would awaken as one of Drávark's rare Eminents, gifted with an authority that allowed him to hide himself from certain senses entirely.
He took that talent to the 56th, serving as a representative for Drávark, all while fully aware that it was nothing more than a reprieve from his inevitable inheritance.
What he never expected was to be dragged back to the boundary so soon, summoned by reports of invaders and an urgent request for assistance.
Unfortunately, the 56th had recently grown accustomed to false distress signals, incidents that, more often than not, ended with responding officers vanishing without explanation. Because of this, the initial response this time was limited to a scouting unit that included him, led by the second lieutenant of the Nithya branch. And by the time the situation was confirmed to be legitimate, the outdated portal they had used had completely exhausted its energy reserves, leaving them stranded until one of the standard portals could be repaired.
Still, alongside the determination to prioritize civilians and liberate the colony came a powerful urge to head straight for the government building and save his father. This, even after the lieutenant had chosen to confront the primary attackers alone in an attempt to buy time.
That impulse was what led him to slip inside during the duel between Alicia and Serval.
And of course, he had been forced to see what remained of his father.
The grief struck him with such force that his authority faltered, only for an instant, but long enough for the attackers to notice his presence.
Strangely, they ignored him, allowing him to flee with two of the colony leaders who had been left alive.
By the time massive tremors began ripping through the ground behind him, he was already out of range. But when he turned back, the building that had once stood there was gone, reduced to ruin.
Then, blood began to stream past him, and he looked up just in time to see the sky sinking into a point.
Any reasonable person would have followed their instincts and fled in the opposite direction at all costs. But the fear gripping him produced the opposite effect.
It forced him to confront the guilt he had been trying to suppress, the guilt of pretending the lieutenant would be fine after watching her fight alone, and the guilt of knowing he had been one of the primary reasons she chose to engage the enemy in the first place, even if she never admitted it.
After securing the unconscious leaders in a safe location, he returned to the heart of the catastrophe. Concealing himself with his authority, and intending to escape alongside Alicia once the criminals were fully distracted.
Then again, plans rarely unfold without complications.
…
"I apologize. We will make up for this blunder immediately."
"Allow me."
After the man with the claw issued his apology, Stone was the first to volunteer. He retrieved several knives and strode toward Collins.
"You idiot… Why'd you come back?" Alicia muttered as she forced herself upright with the support of her blade.
"Lieutenant, I–"
"Are you sure you want to do this? I wouldn't mind killing you regardless of what Serval wants. But offing that one will be a cinch, given the state you're in." Stone cackled as Alicia stepped in front of Collins.
"Halt…"
At a single word from the Avatar, Stone immediately dropped to a knee, frozen mid-step.
"Junior… you have returned."
Then its voice shifted, collapsing into that of a single speaker, unevenly, as though testing a microphone.
"Why?" Collins muttered after a long silence. "Why do you have my father's voice?!"
"My Lord, what is happening?"
"It appears that among the blood you offered, a will endured, leaving behind a trace and refusing to merge. How curious indeed."
"I see… will that cause you trouble?"
"Certainly not. In due time, it shall fade. They are merely astonished to find such resolve in a mere human. Collins Caesar. How commendable."
"My Lord, I do not intend to question your judgment, but allowing him to leave would be troublesome. We should deal with him before–"
"Hold on…" Alicia suddenly interrupted. "Let him go."
"How dare you interrupt, you foolish mongrel?!"
She ignored the man with the claw entirely and turned her gaze to the Avatar.
"You want the Scorn of Avarice, right? I know how you can get it."
"Do you take us for fools? Only a Captain of VEIL is privy to such classified information." Annabeth responded.
"That's not true. During the raid to obtain the Scorn three years ago, my artifact's ability was required to unseal it."
"..."
"..."
"Go on."
"I don't know exactly where it was taken, but I do know a way for you to find it, without having to face much trouble."
The Avatar studied her for a long moment, as though weighing something unseen.
"What is to stop them from absorbing your memories?"
"My Lord!"
A heavy thud echoed as someone bowed, fast and deep enough to fracture the ground beneath them.
"I ask this to be my one appointed wish," Serval pleaded, his head still buried in the earth. "Allow this woman to live, as I have claimed her as mine."
"Serval, is this a choice you have made in haste?"
"I will not deny that… but I truly believe this is not one I will ever regret. I will still follow our cause until the very end."
"It seems they were correct after all. While they were absent, many among you have come to grasp a measure of essence."
!!!
"Do not be distressed. As was stated before, this is not a matter of loss," the Avatar said, quelling the stir of dissent. "Serval, do not squander your wish on so small a matter. They would neither claim what is yours nor diminish your joy. They shall accept the woman's offer. In truth, the will that lingers within them inclines their desire to let the child leave."
"I am grateful, my Lord!" Serval slammed his head into the ground once more.
"You heard them… go now," Ally exhaled as she muttered to Collins.
"But lieutenant, what about you? This is all my fault, so I should–"
"Oh, shut up and live, you idiot. I got caught by a few roaches, that's all. I'll be back in no time."
"Ngh!"
Collins erased his presence and fled, dragging his tears with him, as they would do nothing to solve what remained.
Before he vanished completely, their leader, Grand, who had remained strangely silent since the Avatar's arrival, called out after him.
"Oh, and if you happen to see a silver-haired brat with fried-looking arms when you return, tell him an old friend sends his regards!"
Alicia's eyes widened.
"Now, about that method you were talking about."
"About that…" she replied with a thin smile. "It involves that same silver-haired brat you just mentioned."
On September 17, 19 A.C.D., the boundary of Drávark was reported to have lost seventy-two percent of its human population to an unidentified terrorist organization.
Seven of Drávark's nine colony leaders were confirmed deceased.
Two VEIL officers, Lieutenant Alicia Damion and Sergeant Dale Turner, were reported missing.
In the aftermath, VEIL 0056, in its entirety, would be turned upside down.