"That was a bit...", she was gasping for air, "...unexpected, huh?""Lady...", I answered as I lay dying on my back, short on oxygen and legs feeling like they had melted, "You are crazy."We were in the middle of nowhere, under a thick tree that was shedding its fall leaves, I could barely recognize the place. So how had we ended up in this situation, drenched in a liter of sweat despite the cold autumn winds and no apparent dog chasing us? Well, that's because we had left the dogs behind.This morning, as I sat calmly in my little bunker that peeked outside through its singular window (a shaft in its wall really), I sipped on my hot, seemingly tasteless coffee. I put down my mug and stared at the flower pot that now housed a tiny cactus. I realized I don't like cactuses. For such a calm, bland, utterly static morning, I was having an unsettling feeling, a premonition that this day was about to get quite stormy. And what do you know, I was right.It began with a knock on my door. "L
"Alright Seraph, do you notice something odd here?""Lady, please don't ignore what I said. We're not going through with this. I'm not doing this", she seemed to be on the roll, ignoring me."Take a closer look at the cops, that's who I'm talking about. Ah, but don't take too long. We are running out of time, 'kay?""Lady...you aren't listening to me, are you?""Nope", well now she was.I sighed, knowing it was useless. I looked at the cops, trying to find something out of the ordinary but before I could say anything, she dragged me by my arm and led me to a side.We were now trespassing into the backyard of the adjacent building. I figured she intended to cross over to the bank. There must have been some sort of a backdoor that she intended to break down. Well, I suppose, nothing wrong with saving a couple of civilians, even if we were committing an offence right now. In any case, it was astonishing how sneaky she was. I was rather surprised that we managed to make our way to the ban
"Lady", I asked as we were gasping like dying fishes in the middle of nowhere, "Do you believe in God?"It was probably not even humanly possible to run this fast and this far. But there we were, though on the brink of death, but for now very much alive too."Seraph", she didn't look my way, she was too busy catching her breath, "That's personal."I wanted to ask her if she didn't think this was a miracle. We should have been dead. We really should have been.We had been surrounded in the bank, our hands raised in the air and some dozen cops pointing their guns at our heads, not to mention the dead bodies in that small bank.That was before the roof of the bank caved in. I don't know how we actually managed to get out of there. It was all Lady's doing. I later learned that the place had been rigged. I suppose the thugs intended to blow the place up after they were done there. Lady knew of it. She had taken the trigger from Iori's corpse just before the cops made in. If not for the exp
"Major", she was still mulling over the map of the area when a soldier barged in. She didn't like the intrusion. For her, maps were hard enough to read on their own, a disturbance like this was absolutely unwelcomed."What do you want, soldier?", she suppressed her annoyance."You've got a call, sir", he answered before hurrying outside.She sighed. That map was definitely not helping her, she rolled it aside and headed outside. The chilly winds hit her face, she knew it was going to snow."Major!", she hadn't reached the telephone yet."What's the matter?", the whole camp was in a hassle, she looked around confused."Central says they can't send rations. The whole pass is blocked. There's been an avalanche and the signal's lost. We can't get through", she read the worry, the informant wore on his face.She silently went back to her bunker. She walked to and fro, trying to figure things out."Send the Captain", she instructed a soldier.Soon, a tall young man walked inside."Major.""
"Lady, is that the reason you killed Bardock? For revenge?", I asked as we were returning home."That's different, Seraph. All the people responsible for that incident are already dead. Bloody Fall happened because people were careless. They underestimated what the enemy was capable of. That's the general story, anyway.""The general story?"She nodded, "Naturally, even the stratocracy needs to answer to the people sometimes. This is the story they gave out, weather conditions, bad luck, whatnot. Some officers were removed from their offices and laid off. I suppose that seemed enough to some. All those that died, like I said before, aren't coming back.""It seems to me that you think Iori was right", I looked sternly at her as we walked on."I do think so, in fact. Bloody Fall was a conspiracy.""Then, Lady, ", I asked, "Why did you kill Iori? You could have let him escape empty handed, couldn't you?""He killed the caretaker of that so-called bank, didn't you see? That person wasn't
"Say Prophet, would you like to escort Seraph on a little mission?", Lady chippered."Ah...eh...I...", Prophet wasn't one to voice his resistance."Right you two! Get ready and set off. You've a devil to find. Now get going!"And thus, the two of us were sent on our way. When we were leaving, I saw Lady standing on the mound outside all alone. She didn't drop any advices like she always used to. She didn't even see us leave. I suppose that hectic morning had caught up to her.Now that I think about it, I got to see so little of these people unless we were traveling together. Prophet was the kind of guy who would disappear in the background, yet he was always there. He was a fidgety little guy, a tad taller than Lady but bent. He was skinny, had droopy eyes, was always looking down and smiled nervously. He spoke little, it was a struggle for him to get his opinions through to people. He had a really pale complexion, shadowed by his extremely black hair. He was always clad in black too.
"I felt alone all the time, there was nothing to turn to, no friends to listen...I thought I was drowning, stuck in an endless sea. On the very bottom...I found a friend. I met Lucifer." *****************"Ah, pardon me for my rudeness earlier", he went on as we we were led to our destination, "I assure you there isn't one aristocrat that speaks like that. I was told you'd be coming here but I needed to test things out to make sure you were who I thought you were."His explanation wasn't necessary. This familiarly named man, Benoit Valentine, led us out of that small inn and told us that he'd be leading us to where we were needed."I was told by your friend that you're a country kid, Seraph. Do you mind if I say that? I don't mean to be rude", his tone was entirely different now."This friend...how do you know him? And why are you helping us, anyway?", I asked, perplexed, although Prophet had confirmed earlier that
"Be careful not to overdue your stay, you can always try again. Remember to remember that, alright?", Benoit bid us farewell as we headed into a huge chamber that was previously locked. He then led us closer to a huge and dark iron door that was chained to keep it shut."Beyond this point I can't help you much. Try to make it back in one piece", he instructed us.I kept forgetting to ask what we were supposed to do down there. In any case, since Prophet was ready, I agreed to follow his lead if things went downhill.We were given a few minutes to prepare before the door was unlocked and the charms removed for safe passage.Benoit left the chamber as we stood in front of the dark door that was leading to the underworld."Are you ready, Prophet?", I turned his way, only to find a shivering Prophet, sweating head to toe."Y-yes...", he muttered.That wasn't encouraging but regardless we weren't going back. The dark door began to open slowly. Something began to ooze out of it and surroun