Leon stared at Grey from the stiff chair. How he was sleeping peacefully after that incident was beyond Leon's understanding. He uncomfortably shifted in his seat, waiting for Grey to wake up. But to him, it seemed as if he wouldn't ever get back up. He glanced at his sister. Isabelle's face was sunken, her eyes empty.
Leon could do nothing to console his own sister, nor could he imagine himself being of any use to Grey. He resented that part of him. He could never take action when it was truly needed, he was a man of shallow words.
'Exactly like him, huh…'
Letting his thoughts wander, he focused his vision on Isabelle only to see a river of tears flowing down her cheek.
"Why?"
She muttered to herself sullenly. Isabelle had just watched her fiancee die only half an hour ago, and yet she couldn't bring herself to actually speak. Rather she couldn't bring herself to do much but flail around aimlessly. Partly because she knew it was wrong, the strong feeling she harbored towards Grey. And yet she couldn't stop herself from hating him, even if he was going through the same thing she was.
'He knew after all… he could've done something!'
Watching Isabelle's face contort into an expression of anger, Leon attempted to reach his hand out to his sister but he stopped himself, knowing he could do nothing to help. Yet amidst all the grief and confusion, more chaos awaited. Abruptly without any warning the hospital's emergency alarm blared. This made both Isabelle and Leon both look up at the announcement screen at the corner where Grey was sleeping. As he read the warning on the screen his face paled. Evacuate the premises the city's walls have been breached. Below the text it showed an image of the intruder. Leon's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. The image of the intruder was none other than the general of the opposing nation's military. Lyndwrm's great war general Suzaku.
The sound of the alarm only got louder, as if urging everyone to leave immediately. And yet Grey would not wake from his slumber, no matter how deafening the noise got.
***
As Suzaku reached for the odachi on his hip, a hammer flew towards his head. Noticing the sound of a weapon cutting through the air, Suzaku dashed backwards. The hammer missed Suzaku's face by an inch and yet he did not lose his composure. A large man stepped into Suzaku's view. Wearing heavy plated orichalcalcum armor, the large man could be confused for a tower.
"You've gotten slow, Bastion."
Suzaku remarked with a hint of a sneer. Mono's eyes widened at the scene. The other man who had abruptly appeared in order to stop Suzaku was none other than one of The Empire's finest, a member of the obsidian guard. Mono was daunted by the sheer size of the man.
Suzaku swung his sword in retaliation, aiming for the bastion's head with the hilt of the odachi. It cut through the air silently, at a speed Mono could not follow. It was however intercepted by the handle of the greathammer being wielded by the bastion. The bastion made a faint grunt at the force of the impact.
"It seems you've lost your edge."
The bastion grumbled. As the bastion spoke those words Suzaku relaxed his body. During this short period of grace, Suzaku's aura had been dispelled, freeing the bodies of the crowd, and in turn they ran with all of their might. Screams rang out, the sound of puking and bystanders collapsing could be heard clearly, and even after the pressure released by the aura had been dispelled, Mono could not move a muscle in his body. His heart beat only kept increasing, it was working overtime in order to keep pumping adrenaline through his body, and yet he was frozen in place.
"Fire!"
The bastion yelled at the top of his lungs. The guards who were once frozen in fear now fumbled to turn off the safety of their pulse rifles. Suzaku back-peddled out of the bastion's striking range and turned his head to the guards, his expression shifted to a serious one. As the guards began to aim their sights on him he inhaled. The group of guards were ready to release their pulse rounds directly into Suzaku's head and chest, but before the first round could leave the barrel of the rifle, an exhale rang out. Accompanying the exhale, was the sound of a strong wind.
Only then did the guards realize that they were no longer standing their ground. Their hands slid off of their arms, the group's arms and legs had been severed in a singular strike. There was no screaming, no yelling, not even a single grunt or groan. Only the sound of men gurgling, as they choked on their own blood. All of their vocals cords had been cut without warning.
Mono watched silently, as the guards attempted to writhe in pain and call out. But they couldn't.
All he could do was watch them squirm as they tried to open their mouths, which many still failed to do. A gruesome scene that reminded him of when he had been a soldier, for him this was true terror. The screams of the crowd did not help one bit, gastric acid welled up in his throat and he could no longer hold himself back. Mono puked out the contents of his stomach until there was nothing left. He fell to the floor, soaking in his own vomit.
"Pathetic."
Mono looked up expecting the taunting voice to come from Suzaku. But to his surprise, it was none other than the elite soldier who was supposed to be on The Empire's side, the bastion. The man looked down at Mono with disgust. The man's eyes, which were obscured by the visor on his helmet, were filled with contempt for Mono.
'Why? What did I even do to deserve this?'
Mono could not understand why the bastion willingly turned away from his foe, just to bring him down and mock him.
'Are you that confident in your abilities?'
The large man tilted his head in Suzaku's direction and was met with a smile. Suzaku was scrutinizing Mono, as he scrambled around, attempting to stand up from the puddle of vomit. Letting his eyes drift back up to the opponent ahead of him, Suzaku prepared his body for another round.
"Let's get this over with."
The bastion tensed his body at Suzaku's comment. Without indication, Suzaku lunged towards the bastion in a flash. He brought down his hammer in retaliation, but Suzaku side-stepped it and jumped into the air. Flipping elegantly, Suzaku landed atop the roof of a building effortlessly.
"Now, I really hate leaving on a whim but I've really got to go!"
With those words, Suzaku disappeared from both the bastion and Mono's sight. However the problem was far from resolved, Suzaku wasn't the only intruder, he was just their precursor. Lyndwrm's soldiers had invaded the imperial capital.
***
Grey stared up at her; Isabelle was mounted atop him, gripping his throat with great strength. Grey did not make any great attempt to get up or fight her off, rather he wanted to provoke her.
'It's easier than trying to fight her in this state.'
Grey was undoubtedly stronger than Isabelle in her current state, but there were a couple of reasons why he decided not to lay his hands on her, his main reasoning being Leon.
'How would I explain that?'
Grey turned his attention from his thoughts back onto the woman who was wringing the life out of him through his neck. Her nails dug into his skin like claws, piercing right through his delicate flesh. Her face contorted in rage, it seemed as if she planned on actually killing him.
"What are you waiting for? Finish it quickly."
Grey managed to choke out those words in an attempt to rile Isabelle and make her falter, it seemed more counterintuitive however, as her grip on his throat only got tighter. Grey's vision began to blur. Observing this spectacle from someone else point of view would make it seem like Grey had wanted to die, but as far as he was concerned provoking her and making her let her guard down was the only peaceful way he could resolve this.
'Sorry to use you like this.'
"Is this all? No wonder you couldn't save him."
Upon hearing those words Isabelle loosened her grip and gasped, as if she wasn't expecting to hear those words. Grey grimaced but as soon as he felt her hands come off of his neck he pushed her off of him. Startled by the sudden action Isabelle tried to stand up and regain her balance but Grey wouldn't allow that to happen. He pulled back his leg and launched it full force towards her gut. Isabelle had no time to react as she was struck with a devastating blow straight to the solar plexus; collapsing to the floor she attempted to get back up, a futile action. The kick had knocked the wind out of her and made it impossible for her to get up.
'I guess I really couldn't have escaped that without hurting her… and I missed her gut too.'
Grey sighed at his mistake as Isabelle violently coughed. She glared at him with intense hatred. Grey scrutinized her, searching for any additional wounds.
"Alright, I'm going to impose some rules on you, is that fine?"
"Like hell it is!"
"You'll die."
"Huh?"
"..."
Upon the silence given by Grey, Isabelle searched his face for any indication of a bluff, yet she found nothing, she was only met by his piercing blue gaze. Though unlike before when his eyes seemed like a beautiful trait, they now exposed a different side of Grey; one which would not hesitate to achieve his goal. Isabelle who ascertained this all by the look in his eyes, had finally given up on resisting him.
"Don't leave The Empire without my permission, and don't change cities without contacting me. Those are my rules."
Isabelle raised her eyebrows at the questionable set of rules.
"What's in it for me?"
"Your life, probably."
With a concise answer, Grey turned around. He saw no more benefit in talking to Isabelle and turned towards the door behind him. Just as Grey was about to turn the door knob blurted out a question.
"What about Leon? I don't think he would follow these rules."
"You're right, which is why he's going with me."
"Going? Where?"
Isabelle's curiosity was piqued by his statement. Grey looked at her solemnly.
"The Spire."