“Anwen!” Stefan cried futilely as he kneeled with the girl’s unconscious form in his embrace. What had caused her to so suddenly fall like that? “What the hell is happening? Why did she…”

  The nervous boy looked up at Ivan, who was just as confused as him. But then the leader of the Black Shield convoy raised his arm, pointing behind his two younger companions. Stefan turned his head to see bodies already on the ground and even more in the process of losing consciousness. Only the last few had any idea what was happening to them, witnessing their companions fall and being unable to anything. The Shogun approached the two men calmly as Yeupisians fell to his left and right, as if he had parted a sea. Following him were a dozen armed samurai guards, wielding rifles that looked similar to the ones that the Anti-Imperialists of Mars had introduced to the Black Shield.

  “Those sweets!” Ivan cried as Stefan held Anwen closer to him. “You drugged us. Was this so that Stefan would have no choice but to abide to your rules? You’re a dirty man, Mr. Shogun. None of the people who you just sent crashing to the ground are fighters. You had no reason to pull them into this scheme of yours!”

  “Thee don't soundeth liketh Mr Laine to me,” Daisuke said, dismissing Ivan’s observations, before he looked to his guards and spoke in his native language. “Detain that man. He may wield Shinpitekenaishi, but he does not need to be my concern.”

  About a half-dozen guards moved in on Ivan’s position, each armed and wielding loaded guns. Seeing this volume of firepower, Ivan raised his hands, preparing to give himself up.

  “Did you hurt them?” Stefan cried, staring the Shogun right in the eye. “I get it now. This between you and me, right? But you better swear to not hurt them or I’ll…”

  Stefan didn’t know how to end his sentence. He did not wish to harm another person, another human, especially one that his people absolutely needed in order to push back the Titanian powerhouse that threatened them all. His extraordinary abilities were to be used only against the same fiends that gave him blood, that made up half of his being. But he did not want the Shogun to abuse his power against his companions either.

  Before any word manifested in his head, Stefan heard grunts behind him. He turned his head and saw two samurais being thrown over the edge of the wall. At the centre of the mass of guards was Ivan, using the last bit of Reserve in his body to go down with a fight.

  “Stefan, don’t!” Ivan cried with his final bit of consciousness before the tainted botamachi finally took a hold of his Initiated body. “Don’t attack them. We’ll talk—Jay wants that!”

  Stefan hadn’t heard that name in a while, but that man was the reason he was in the Shimajima in the first place. He had sent him, Ivan and Anwen as diplomats, not soldiers. He would be beyond disappointed if he learned Stefan had taken a life in the process of trying to save hundreds of thousands in his homeland.

  I won’t use you just yet, Stefan thought to the dagger hidden in his kimono.

  Stefan carefully placed Anwen on the ground and got to his feet. He put his hands up, inviting the Shogun’s men to detain him.

  “Thence we wend, Mr Laine. We shalt has't a splendid combat tom'rrow eve.” Daisuke of Iwasoto smirked as Ivan’s unconscious form was carried away, Stefan being led from the area.

  ---

  How long had it been since Stefan was put into the large, dark room? He could not tell, as there were no windows that would let him see the light outside. It reminded him of the room that he was held in after the Battle for Depot-011. Instead of a somewhat comfortable bed to lay on, the only furnishings in the room was a thick layer of straw all over the stone wall, not unlike the straw Esperance ate everyday. Stefan felt disgusted. He and his allies had been accepted as honoured guests of the Shogun, but that had all been a ruse. He was nothing but a toy for the most powerful person in that nation, and despite being the strongest Terran on his home world, there was nothing he could do unless he wanted to compromise the safety of the people he had left behind across the ocean.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Jeez,” Stefan heard a voice as straw was being ruffled close to him. “Guess that bastard let me live. Surprising since I threw two of his men to their deaths. Well, I guess you need to be alive for them to make entertainment out of you.”

  “Ivan?” Stefan jumped, startled by the man’s sudden speech.

  “Good to see—or hear you, I should say. You didn’t knock out, did you?”

  “No. Whatever dose of Reserve they put in those damn sweets wasn’t strong enough for me.” Stefan responded.

  “Wish I could say the same for me. Do you know who else is here with us?” Ivan asked.

  “Just you,” Stefan confirmed. “But I can hear breathing. We’re not the only ones in this shithole.”

  “Then we know what we need to do,” Ivan nodded into the darkness. “Let’s find our people.”

  Crawling on their hands and knees slowly, they scoured the fairly small room, being careful not to hit walls or trample over people who were potentially still unconscious. Using Detection was useless as no one besides the two of them had any full Initiation done to them.

  “Who’s there?” someone spoke softly, their tone showing that they were in a defensive position, following by shuffling that indicated someone pressing their back against a wall. “Soko ni iru no wa daredesuka?”

  Stefan’s heart thumped as the voice hit his ears.

  “A-Anwen? You’re awake. Don’t worry, I’m coming to you.”

  “Thank God you’re okay,” Anwen sighed a breath of relief. “Are you alone?”

  “I’m up too. It’s just the three of us so far, but there’s definitely a couple more in here still unconscious.” Ivan confirmed.

  Stefan crawled with haste and attention both at once as he made for Anwen’s position. His fingers grazed the side of her artificial leg, both confirming her location and that no harm had come to her while she was being moved into the room.

  “I-I heard the last bit of what the Shogun was saying before I started feeling really sleepy,” Anwen said softly. “He’s a madman. I thought he was a good person, but--but to put us in a room like this and fight you even though we’re supposed to bring them home as allies… it’s so sick!”

  “I won’t fight them,” Stefan said, trying his best to reassure the girl. “It’s not in our best interest to hurt someone we want on our side. And to hurt another human using Reserve… I can’t even imagine that. We’ll talk our way out of this. Isn’t that right, Ivan?”

  “Uh, yeah.” Ivan confirmed as his hands found living, breathing flesh.

  Anwen didn’t respond to either reassurances. Silence filled the room—now understood to be a sort of holding cell or dungeon. It was uncomfortable. But soon enough, the girl did make a noise. Accompanied by shivers, she began to weep. A chill ran down Stefan’s spine—Anwen was not a sensitive little girl, and only the worst of catastrophes could make her do so.

  “A-Are you scared?” Stefan asked with tenderness in his voice, even though he was certain she was not.

  “This is all so much. I don’t care about what happens to me. I’m worried about everyone else. We were supposed to come to make a deal and get help. Jay, he—he made it so clear that this was a last resort. And we came to it. Now instead of trying to think like a leader’s supposed to, the Shogun wants to fight you. We don’t even know how strong he is. If he got his way, I—I don’t know what would happen to us. Or even to the people back home. Jay, Leon, Vigdis, Janine, Liam, I… they won’t get the help they need. I-I don’t know. I just don’t know!”

  Almost like it was of its own accord, Stefan’s hand moved upward. It found one of Anwen’s arms, and it made its way down until it reached her hand. His fingers locked with her fingers and he squeezed.

  “I don’t want to fight him either. I’ve only used my Initiation to kill Angels and that’s the only reason I’ll ever use it,” Stefan spoke in a gentle voice, although signs of desperation were just below the surface. “I don’t know what’ll happen either. But whatever happens, I’ll go through it with you.”

  “I’m sorry, Stefan. I should’ve let you do what was right. I was stupid to have laughed at you when you told us about those birds and never should’ve pressured you into eating that sweet. Part of this is on me.”

  “You were wrong for that, but I appreciate you owning up to it. Just… please listen to me next time the first time. I never do anything until I’m absolutely sure about it.”

  Anwen’s small fingers wrapped themselves over Stefan’s knuckles, squeezing his hand back. He didn’t let go, and not for a while. In that moment of uncertainty and stress, with only the grasp of Anwen’s soft and warm hand around his and no one to see it inside that cold and dark dungeon, he didn’t want to let go. He gave her comfort, and it reciprocated. As the three remaining people in the cell woke up—Manisha, Rohan and Ilias—they still held onto one another. They let Ivan brief their southern companions on the situation, and together they tried to come up with plans. More negotiations, more promises, and should the need arise—threats. However, another idea showed up, quite literally.

  Several pairs of feet approached the cell from outside, causing everyone to be on their guard. As the heavy metal door shifted open, light shone in from the outside hallway. With it was the appearance of several figures, all Shimajimese.