"Mono/Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
Narration
[Message/communication apparatus]
Date: Early November 1091
Location: Wdirosa
POV: Lina Nyxelia
How long has it been? Mama was incarcerated unjustly after all she did. What she had lost and forced to bear alone, and yet this country just cast her aside so easily. It disgusts me how easily it was for them to do so. Even those who have little to do with her are piling on that ugly and vicious gossip. So many mouths couldn’t stop and sit back to think about themselves first and foremost.
It made me loathe those soft-skinned idiots from the city. Big Sis Nelka should have tried to push for an agenda where they would be thrown into the wild, see how those high-and-mighty, civilized, people be reduced into sniveling cowards.
The more I tried to calm the raging storm in me, the harder it was to ignore. I must do something, I need to do something. Mama had done so much for me, I want to help her. Call it na?ve pride or foolishness, but if it means that I could find a way to be useful, then I would be content. I so wanted to go and visit her, but the children at the orphanage still needed me.
What a conundrum.
While I hew and hawed inwardly, a knocking sound could be heard at the doorway. Turning off the stove for today’s te meal, I head to greet my guest. Walking through the pristine and orderly living room, my heart feels a pang of loneliness. Mama always made a mess of this very room, even dozing off without a care in the world, and I much preferred that compared to whatever inane tomfoolery she had entangled herself with.
She would return home te, but she always tried to return home. Even if it only meant she would be home for 30 minutes, she always made time to be home and spend time with me. She would spoil me and the orphans rotten, and no matter how ridiculous the children’s request had become, she would always expend her utmost effort to make it true.
It does feel… eerie. Mama always encouraged me to find myself, to nurture what I can do, and what I want to do. That all changed after that day, she started concerning herself with many of my private lives. She would be especially livid if she caught sight of anyone trying to woo me, that young merchant’s incident is fresh in my mind.
The knocking sounds were heard again, and I made haste to receive whoever was on the other side. Looking through the camera installed through the doorway, I see Mr. Liam without his helmet waiting for me. Opening the door, he greeted me with a smile.
“Good evening, Lina. I’m sorry for visiting you unannounced.”
“Good evening to you as well, Sir Liam.”
“Please, no need for honorifics. Liam should suffice and it does feel odd to have my mentor’s daughter referred me as such.”
“Very well then, Liam, please, come in. I shall prepare the refreshments since I doubt it would be a short visit.”
“I truly apologize for that, but I thank you for your generosity and understanding.” He made his way inside and stored his bde at the nearby rack. Mama was very peculiar with rules, and that is no one was allowed to bring their weapon past the doorway. That rule stuck, and everyone respected it, especially the Silvernces who would enforce the rule.
He settled himself on the sofa while I brewed some tea. Rummaging through the cupboard, I found some cookies mother had a habit of storing wherever the closest within her reach. I tried time and again to prevent her from doing something so childish and irresponsible, but it felt like she deliberately did it… no matter.
After a short brewing process and pting both the tea and cookies, I returned to the living room. Sir Liam had yet to move from his seat, and his expression was dead serious. Pcing the tray on the table, he finally came about through his silence and smiled.
“I’m sorry for the ckluster welcome, I wasn’t expecting a guest this te in the hour.”
“Perish the thought, and it is my fault to visit this te.” With that, we go on a simple tangent with the subsequent pleasantries. He asked me about the orphanage and whether or not I required help. The Silvernces have become a kind of brother and sister figure for the children. They always pester them for stories or simple training, which the knights happily oblige. Once we got that out of the way, he produced a letter.
“From whom?”
“The Nearl Family, from Sir M?ynar to be exact. He asked me to not open it, not like I dreamed of such intention, and it must reach your hand first.”
“I see… thank you for delivering this to me. I suppose you still have some topics to discuss?” I take the letter and set it on my p.
“Indeed, namely…” He frowned before crossing his arms over his chest.
“We found credible proof of what happened beyond the border.”
“… Beyond the border?” What does he mean by… oh no… I feel how my eyes hardened from the realization. Sir Liam nodded grimly and said the following with a sigh.
“Ursus is on the move.” The mention of Ursus made my heart beat a thousand times faster than before. I was there, and I had been through that same war. I do not particurly care about what happened, what I do care about would be the orphans. It has been a painstaking effort to rehabilitate those who had a crueler past and upbringing, war would beset all of that into zero.
“… I-If I may be so bold to ask… h-how many?” Sir Liam looks conflicted, and I understand. It must have left him with complicated feelings about telling civilians what amounted to secret military information. I was about to apologize and pretend I never asked such a thing. He, however, only grimly uttered his answer pinly.
“5 Divisions, as our lowest estimate.” … 5 divisions? 5 divisions? What do you mean by 5 divisions as your lowest estimate?!
‘Where did they get so many soldiers so quickly? Wasn’t Ursus a nd known to be a harsh and mostly uninhabitable tundra? Whispers and gossip about the horrible reality of their hamlets are too much too dire to be a mere fabrication. The sheer cruelty of those who stand above the rest is…’
Merchants, mercenaries, and even refugees that pass through our nd always painted the same picture… Just what is Ursus? The more I tried to comprehend them the more confused I was. This is a nd filled with death and yet they could field such a massive army on a whim… or do they prepare such a massive army for… for…
“Revenge…” A palm rests over my lips, this is beyond dire.
‘This could be a camitous occasion. Mama will be furious if anything happens to us… and to me… She might even pursue a total war, all alone.’
“Indeed, Ursus sought revenge on their tarnished pride.” He sighed.
“This pce had become an undeniable symbol of defiance shown by our people, and K.G.C.C.'s relentless propaganda exacerbated the problem. This humble vilge had withstood sieges by an army many magnitude superior and yet you all did the impossible. I’m fairly acquainted with the desire of wanting to stand above infamy, if it happened… they will come bearing down Wdirosa with their full might. First, and foremost.”
If my face was pale before, it is as white as a sheet now. Looking at my clenched palms, they never stop trembling, and the reflection on my tea cup shows just how distressed I am.
5 Divisions would amount to no less than 100.000 soldiers… we could not hope or dream to win against that! We might be able to inflict greater losses on them if Mama is here… But she got herself in trouble. Has this nation always been so oblivious to this threat? What are they doing? Has the war taught them nothing?!
My heart began beating loudly, and the vision of my surroundings seemed to be fading into nothing. Suddenly, I could feel a palm resting on my shoulder, Sir Liam watched me with concern.
“I had informed Chief Jan of this potential development, and he had discreetly greenlighted a backup measure on our evacuation protocol should the need arise. We will fight, but we will ensure those who shouldn’t be on the battlefield manage to leave unharmed.”
“Back-up?” It made me feel more uneasy.
“I do not doubt that the destruction of Wdirosa or to the point where it was damaged to such a critical level never entered her mind. This measure was concocted a few hours ago with Chief Jan, and he feels the same. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Mama had created a very long and complicated measure for evacuation. Currently, only a select few know about its details, and unfortunately, Big Sis Nelka wasn’t one of them. I really need to give Mama a stern talking to in sharing what she wants to whom she wants… but… ugh…
“Yes… Wdirosa would not get a second chance. We had blunted a portion of their counteroffensive on the Northeastern front and… it deeply humiliated a good portion of the Ursine Warhawk’s main army.”
“You seem to be quite intimately informed, does Lady Baroness tell you such?”
“Yes… Mama told me a lot of things, but… um… She would probably yell at me for telling you this but… this is important.” Gathering my bearings, I began sharing what I had learned from her.
“Ursus did not purge the Pro-War nobles, they are too deeply entrenched and their wealth too vast to count. She told me that it is a logical deduction, most Ursine are barely literate about everyday lives, let alone political matters. Further made worse with centuries, if not millennia, of Anti-Infected propaganda and previous Emperor’s Grand Vision had made them easy to manipute…”
“I see… we had thought so as well. Unlike us, Ursus nobles could requisition war materials by leaving their people barely getting by or surviving. Many of my predecessors had even talked about the fearsome Wendigo General who could take on an entire company of Silvernce by himself.”
“T-that’s… surely you jest…” I tried to brush off his words, but Sir Liam only looked at me with pity. Kazimierz, from what Mama told me, could barely replenish 60% of its peak manpower. She told me that the system in pce had hamstrung the effort, and K.G.C.C. has been adamant in curtailing the nobilities’ powerbase and absorbing needed manpower to sign as their gdiators.
I could not say anything, except for the most important fact should war or rge-scale conflict truly erupt, what must be done? Mama did account for it, but that would introduce a more significant problem.
“Liam… what should I do? The Orphans… they… they must not relieve what I had seen.”
“Rest assured, even if it costs me and my comrades’ lives, we will try our best and finest to destroy any nd battleships moving at high speed. Unlike those spineless cowards in Kawalerielki, we will protect Kazimierz as is our duty; our home, and Wdirosa is naturally under our oath. That is on top of our promise to her, we will not fg nor falter.”
“I see…” We talked about some minor pleasantries, but he appeared to have noticed how I was too perturbed. He bid his farewell, and I followed him until he left. After he leaves… I bolted straight to the washroom, vomiting haphazardly once I was inside, and my other hand ransacked the nearby first-aid kit for my medicine. I tried my best to keep it inside… but…
My tears are flowing, and no matter what I do, I will never forget about it. The day when Big Sis Nelka’s leg was pierced by 2 crossbow bolts… I lost my friends… I couldn’t understand what happened next. Only that… Mama had…
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“Aunty Grey! Aunty Grey!”
“Lina?! What are you doing here? Get out of here, now!” Aunty Grey angrily shouted at me, but I must let her know.
“B-but, Bad people! Big townhouse below!” I followed Aunty Grey back to the big townhouse. She carried me, and she held me close. I looked at Jaime’s house, it was burning. Looking to the right, I watch as Mr. Pablo keeps shaking Caroline while crying. I watch as Mrs. Esner is carrying Damian, she is crying and screaming.
I tried to look more around me, but Aunty Grey whispered.
“Shh… don’t look, just… stay with me and hum the song I taught you, be a good kid, ok? Don’t worry, I will always beat the bad guys.” She smiled at me, and I hummed a song she always sung to me when I wanted to sleep. We ran some more, and I tried my best to not see what happened. Even though I tried… I see that my friends are… they are…
“…*sobs* … *sobs*…” I could not run anymore, I was tired. But Aunty never left me, and she carried me in her arms.
“It is all right… Ma- Aunty will be here… just… let it out.” She gently told me, while I cried knowing that… I couldn’t py with them again… They might have been mean to me… but they pyed with me… I couldn’t py with them… I couldn’t py with them again.
“Shh… shh…”
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“What the fuck?!” Aunty ran faster seeing many people hurt and running away from the smoking big house below. I can see Big Sis Nelka helping people out too, they are hurt, bleeding, and… and… Aunty Grey held me closer to her embrace. I continue to sob quietly.
“Nelka, what the fuck happened here?!”
“I don’t know! It's just that, suddenly there were explosions around the vilge and-”
“Cut the crap, told me what happened to the underground shelter!?”
“We were treating the wounded vilgers and militias, then suddenly the wall next to us exploded! The next thing we know, several Ursus soldiers began coming through and killing the wounded!”
“Oh god… they brought fucking sappers and mortar?! What the fuck were Ursus thinking?! What’s the situation down there?!”
“M-Mr. Khariton and a few volunteers managed to drive the soldiers back, but he chased them through a tunnel! He brought no one else and told us to seal the breach instead! He also told me that don’t bother trying to save him… he’s…”
“… Shit, all right let’s evacuate them to the secondary shelter and then-” It happened so fast, that we don’t realize… that arrows hit her leg. I cried out while Big Sis crumpled with one of her hands on an arrow.
“AHHHH!”
“Nelka! Everyone take cover!” Aunty Grey carried both me and Big Sis away from there, and soon more arrows started raining down on the vilge. I watch as more of them are getting hurt, and each cry and shout makes me tremble even more. I tried to close my ears, but the sound never went away.
I don’t understand why Ursus did all this. I just want to py with my friends and learn new things with Big Sis… why did this happen? Does it mean that we have to go away too? But… I couldn’t visit Mother and Father anymore… I don’t want that… I don’t want to lose Mother and Father.
She dropped us beneath a roof, she paused before reluctantly going back out there. I watch her getting hit and stabbed by arrows, but she never stops. She used herself to protect everyone she could. Then I heard a whimper, Big Sis Nelka looked towards me.
“L-Lina… A-Are you all right?”
“B-Big Sis you’re bleeding…”
“H-Heh, don’t… ngh… worry about me…” She tried to smile, but she also kept crying.
‘Come on, Lina! Do something, anything! Big Sis got hurt!’ Frantically looked around for anything to use. Then I see a cloth that might help Big Sis. It is just across the street, I need to be quick. Once the arrow stopped, I ran towards it but then I heard a whistling sound. I could only look around, wondering why-
“LINA!” Aunty Grey pushed me away… and an explosion hit where I was. The loud explosion hurts my ears, and it feels like my entire body is trembling. It feels… cold… I… feel cold.
What is this sound? No, not sound… this is a hymn… hymn? What’s a hymn? Aunty Grey… Mama… What is a hymn? Is it… prayers? Didn’t Mr. Immanuel tell me that a hymn is also an elegy and song? … Wait, what is an elegy? How did I know about this?
What is happening?
“…”
What’s that?
“…!”
I… was someone crying? Why? I don’t understand… What’s the reason for their cry? Why are they crying? Who are they crying for? Huh… what is this feeling? I feel warm… I feel… new…
“…na!” No, not just new… Aunty Grey… Mama… did you call me? What was your name again? Was it Nyxia? Ney? Nisa?
“LINA!” … Nyx…
I feel a pair of hands cradling my weakened body. So warm, so kind, and so… worried about me. Turning my gaze towards her… I see Aunty crying, and soon her warm smile returned… sadly, it morphed into a furious expression.
“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU ALMOST DIED THERE!” Even when she mbasted me with words… I could feel her intense feeling. I could synchronize with what she was thinking.
‘Thank god! Lina, you’re safe! I’ll make them pay for this! *sobs*! Lina! Thank god! Lina, I was so worried! I will fucking kill them all!’ I was delving into it… before those same… uh… what was I thinking? What did it mean? I feel weird… I just want my mama.
“… got it!? You must not step out from this shelter, do you hear me!?”
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“… Yes… Huh???” I wake up from my stupor and memory… but…
‘What happened? Did I enter a state of psychosis so severe I began hallucinating? This is very discombobuting and concerning… I should call Grandpa, he should know.’ Pushing myself back up, I just realized that I had id on the floor for… Oh goodness. I walked out of the washroom and looked at the clock, it pointed at 7 in the evening.
“Oh, dear… Hah, I suppose I need to rest. I’m not Mama, I’m not made out of steel… I envied how much she could take when working.”
‘How pathetic. I insisted on her not coddling us too much… yet here I am… having a hard time taking care of myself that I colpsed. Appears my… what did Mama tell me about psychological condition again? PTSD, was it? Nevermind…”
My hand subconsciously pyed with this silvery hair of mine. I never knew the cause of how my wheat-blond hair turned into this. What I do know was that this hair is unbelievably tough at times, I need to use a military-grade dagger Mama gave me for self-defense to cut a few strands.
“… No matter, I need to make a light dinner and tuck in for the night. The Children should be under the watchful eyes of the Silvernces.” I sighed before remembering something very important.
“Oh no! The letter!” I scrambled, and stumbled, for the letter. I began searching through the living room, and the dining room. I tried to search through the couch, and windowsill, and even going as far as looking outside.
Thankfully, I managed to find it… right under the table… I need to be more mindful of my surroundings.
“Mr. M?ynar, huh… didn’t those gossipy people on TV talk about him? What was it again, Mama’s secret lover? Hmph… doesn’t matter, Margaret Nearl is much more impressive than him.” Taking the letter with me back to the bedroom, I start thinking about one st thing.
“Should I ask Big Sis to allow my visitation to Mama? Surely that’s possible. Grandpa probably had the same idea as I do, might as well ask him for a second opinion.” She took her winter coat and donned her winter hat. It is autumn right now, but she won’t be caught off-guard by an early winter.
Lina took one st look at the family photo she took with her Mama, herself, and Grandpa being framed on an oddly new-looking photo frame. She quizzically tilts her head but decides that it must have been her Mama doing it without her knowledge. She was about to shrug it off before noticing a strange portion of the frame being out of pce.
Remembering her Mama's usual tidiness after it was beaten into her, by her daughter no less, it irks the silver-haired Kuranta spotting the older woman’s habit fring up. She couldn’t help how her OCD began gnawing deep in the back of her, and thus she walked towards the photo. Lina grumbled under her breath while fixing the alignment, only to notice a hidden piece of paper behind it.
Her suspicion fres up, and just as her Mama told her, she returned to her bedroom to pick up an Originium Dosimeter. It was never hurt to be ready, and once it was cleared of any potential trap, the woman unraveled the paper to be greeted by her Mama’s handwriting.
For each word written inside, her eyes widened all the more.
“… Mama, what have you gotten yourself into?” With resolve, urgency, and slight anger coursing through her mind, she set her destination to the chapel.
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Date: October 1091
Location: ???
POV: Narrator
“This is a stupid idea…” A masked man mused beside his compatriot. Judging from his features and overall build, he seems to be a vouivre and a fairly tall one at that. They are watching through a drone feed on a woman who just left the retive safety of her house. Her striking silvery hair only enhanced the impression of dread they were forced to confront.
“Absolutely. No matter how someone tried to make it look like a just cause, it won’t matter much for the Grey Serpent. Sure, we could traumatize her, show the world of the monster she truly is… then came the hard part of subduing such a monster… fuck this organization, but… damn!” His colleague answered through clenched teeth and a bitter grin. His ears are peeking through his mask, and it could either be a vulpo or a lupo.
“Like they say… damn if I do it, damn if I don’t… we got ourselves one hell of a devil’s bargain.” He spat on the ground, fist clenched tight. His compatriot shared a morose smile of his own.
“I just hope Veron knows what the hell he is aiming at…”
“That’s Commander Veron to you, but… yeah… hope the brass won’t be mad seeing us failing spectacurly. Rex though, we are not going to be doing the heavy lifting on the fight.”
“Everyone said, stick to the pn and you will make it… then they got punched in the face. Beaten bck and blue, and their corpses dumped into the gutter.”
“What is with you guys? The damn worm is in jail because she doesn’t want to suck someone’s cock. It would be a cinch on the job, rex.” One of them replied coolly. Their x demeanor prompts the two not completely braindead people to stare dubiously.
“Whoa, I like your ‘positive’ thinking.”
“Yeah, kid. Keep doing that, you will go far, for sure.”
“Hmph, just watch as we snatch the prize from you fuckers. Spineless cowards like you shouldn’t be here anyway.” They angrily spat and strode away. The pair's pitying gaze only intensified.
“15 bucks that kid being dead in 10 minutes.”
“I am not betting on a losing horse.”
Besides them would be a dozen or more people silently goes about their duty. Portable anti-tank weapons were seen loaded up into a truck. Crates filled with weapons, be it swords, crossbows, and the precious few Originium guns are filling the cargo of another. These people are deployed under one, suicidal, costly, and outright insane mission.
Infantry Fighting Vehicle with one or two tanks are lining up in a column, with the same baseless confidence or those intelligent enough but distraught that can’t go back. Otherwise, these men and women are preparing to head out when given the go-ahead. Most preoccupied their temporary serenity with pying cards, writing to loved ones they might have, and even spending it to seek comfort from each other.
Then, one could see several unused Cordelian and Mercenaries equipment being stacked inside a disposal truck. Their owner was nowhere to be found, but spts of blood, dents, and traces of combat marred their entirety. One could also see one or two rummaging through the stack to find anything of value.
However, one would be remiss to miss a few rge buses or perhaps modified dump trucks in a neat column. The column is guarded by fully armed and armored masked personnel with their bodies fully facing whatever is hidden inside. Some posed a stone-faced expression and curtly told anyone wandering too close to pissing off, while others are tightly gripping the handle or safety of their weapon.
Amidst this hubbub, and what could ostensibly be perceived as preparation for war, would be a rge tent with netting camoufge and several drones buzzing overhead. Inside it is a command center comparable to that of a military unit, but these people had failed to showcase any form of insignia or symbols of allegiance. Reports were exchanged, and the test intelligence on outlying regions was compiled.
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While the unknown groups are busy with their business, a shadow amongst the trees is watching them with interest. This group bore the insignia of an old… acquaintance of Nyx.
[How is it looking over there, Roy?] Darksteel inquired through their communication channel. Roy hovered his hand over his earpiece while his eyes were still looking through a long-range range finder made by a certain company aided by a certain mercenary company.
“It is going as expected, boss. Appears these ‘grave robbers’ are an unknown bck operations group, they’re not that hard to deal with, but there are too many. What would be our next move? I mean, we could cause chaos but I doubt it will be anything significant.”
[Wait and see, teams dispatched to watch over the other 2 groups are heading to Wdirosa as well. It will turn into an ugly brawl. So stay put.] The communication was cut before the Lazurite could say anything. He just shrugged it off and switched channels.
Accompanying him would be his subordinates and personnel who can mimic a voice to not alert their target of interest. Periodic check-in was falsified, and their men had already infiltrated the compound, unfortunately, they’re still unable to identify what made those masked OpFors so jumpy.
‘Heh, this much is too easy… tried sneaking to Wdirosa, and I didn’t even make it past the boundary. Guess the rumor of her having a daughter staying there was true huh…?’ There was too much gossip and rumors churning out of Kawalerielki’s bowel it genuinely became very hard to parse truth from fiction.
Numerous alleged photos of her so-called daughter circuted the underworld net, but the surface was kept mum. She had very subtly threatened anyone trying to dig deeper to unearth the truth with a slow painful death on a good day.
‘Eh… not my problem… probably a bastard daughter of M?ynar. I’m never in a hurry to find out how I will die, so unless ordered to… I’ll stick with my usual sticks.’ He gnced back at the corpses were stacked neatly inside a recently buried mass grave.
The camoufge and guerril training Nyx had taught the Adeptus was copied by the Armorless Union, to an even greater success in the wilderness, and it shows just how easy it is to fool those overly reliant on technology. They could seamlessly avoid the nearby drones without raising arms and suspicion. He tried using this same tactic during his mission to try and infiltrate Wdirosa, the man was thankful that life still throws him a bone.
His ears perked up when a trademark beep of his communication went online. From the other side came a woman’s voice giving her greeting… which was promptly cut off by this suave wannabe bastard.
“Yo, Monique! How is it going with our guest from over the border?” He smiled when hearing a half-disgusted and half-exasperated sigh from the other side.
[Ugh, shut up, don’t act all familiar with me creep.] The man wasn’t annoyed by the fierce dislike whatsoever.
“You wound me my heart, but no worry! I’m a patient and considerate guy, and if you need me for anything else, do give me a call. I have been living long enough to find the best accommodation there is in the city.” There was silence, a deep foreboding and slightly worrying sheer emptiness, for at least a minute before Monique responded.
[…Our foreign guest is already on the move, and team 3 is looking after the Unknown Knights group. All of them are heading for Wdirosa, guess people wanted to have Nyx indebted to them.]
“Pssh, no way they’re that dumb. K.G.C.C., Adeptus, and Ur- ahem, guests, are probably throwing their useless pawns by trying to look through at how Nyx would react. Depending on how it works, we could pull the rug from under them.”
[So we watch it unfold? Just like that? Why are we tip-toeing so much?]
“Before you repeat a former colleague of mine’s mistake, please be patient and just do your work.” He dropped his charming voice, and more or less reprimanded his fellow Lazurite.
[…Understood, Lazurite Monique out.]
“Phew, that was close… it would be a shame to lose her. She is rougher around the edges, but much better than that girl’s and her extinct cn. Let’s hope you will not make a mistake now or in the future…” He motioned for his group to retreat, careful to not alert the drones up in the air.
[END OF CHAPTER]
Author’s Note:
Yo there, this is me, myself, and I, the author of this fic.
The situation began to boil over the surface, and what would these, yet another, brave souls plotting? Surely they will not merely go about on vacation especially when a certain someone is in trouble? We shall see.
Update numero dos of this month.
Ciao
