38: Special Day

  “It’s incredible how, despite everything, they keep moving forward, don’t you think?”

  At the question, Cassandra, who had been watg the surike the city of Warsaw, emerged from her reverie and looked at her brother, who had approached her side, standio her at the edge of the tall building where they were—one of the few high-rise buildings still remaining iy.

  She sidered his words and looked down at the people below. Despite the approag dusk, they tio work with enthusiasm and joy, just as they had sihe day began, and just as they had been doing ever since Warsaw was liberated.

  Some children oreet seemed to notice their figures and waved excitedly. She and Charles waved back, watg the kids smile before returning to help however they could.

  Not for the first time, a strange sense of pride welled up inside her. After all, it was thanks to their efforts that these people had been saved. Seeing their admiration, even adoratio surprisingly good for some reason, bringing a small smile to her lips.

  But soon, that smile faded, repced by a slightly bored expression—a look that had grown more pronounced as the days passed without anything iing happening, without Johurning.

  “Although watg them rebuild this pce was iing at first, it’s getting old quickly. This calm is really strange, don’t you think?” After experieng the battlefield and living almost every day in a fight, returning to something so "mundane" felt odd. The thrill of battle and the adrenali brought weren’t things easily replicated elsewhere. While she wouldn’t say she was obsessed with such things, she certainly preferred having somethiing to deal with rather than simply doing nothing.

  Of course, it wasn’t as bad as being bae. She’d much rather wat ey being rebuilt than take aupid lesson on femiiquette.

  Hearing his sister, Charles sighed a little, letting his shoulders drop slightly. In moments like this, he truly wished he had his sister’s resiliend her ability to handle high-stress situations without appearing fazed.

  “Moments like this, we o appreciate them, Cassie. We might not find another like it iure.”

  Hearing the niame that hadn’t been used since she was a child, Cassandra frowned slightly, casting an irritated look at Charles. However, upon seeing his face, that displeasure faded.

  Charles... he didn’t look so good. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his posture betrayed obvious exhaustion. She knew he hadn’t been sleeping well, but it had been improving somewhat over the past few days—at least his eyes were no longer bloodshot.

  Maybe the calm wasn’t particurly appealing to her, but it was something her brother clearly needed. So, for now, she decided to stop pining about it.

  “Don’t be so pessimistic, little brother,” she said, patting his shoulder lightly—almost causing him to stumble forward. He shot her a hard look, but she ig a speaking with a smile.

  “Remember whose side you’re on. These Hydra guys might be irritating, but with John and us w together, this war only has oe, and you be sure of that.” Her words carried immense fidence, and Charles couldn’t argue with them. After all, so far, they had been wiping out every ehey faced, and while there had been some dangerous moments, they had always emerged victorious.

  When you keep winning, it’s hard to eaihought that you might lose. And for someoh his sister’s ego, that became even more apparent to anyone listening to her talk.

  “Ugh!”

  A groan interrupted their versation, and turning their gaze behind them, they saw a slightly battered Erik rolling on the ground.

  “Get up! No time for resting!” James’s sh out. Erik, clutg his stomach, cursed under his breath before slowly pushing himself to his feet.

  “What the hell is the point of this?” Erik asked irritably, his body ag from the repeated beatings, nearby metals vibrating faintly in respoo his emotions.

  When John had told him that James would train him, Erik assumed it would be to refine his powers. But so far, the man had only been teag him how to fight without them—something Erik couldn’t uand at all.

  Wasn’t it his powers that were the reason he was here?

  Hearing his question, James scoffed, taking a drag from the cigarette between his lips before replying, exhaling smoke through his nostrils.

  “Otlefield, relying solely on your powers will get you killed faster than you think, kid. Remember, your body isn’t invincible, and you o be able to move quickly and stantly,” James began to expin. Erik listened, frowning deeply.

  Watg how the two were having a fluent versation in the same nguage, Cassandra couldn’t help but click her tongue.

  “Your power is really useful,” she said, gng at Charles, who responded with a slight smile.

  inally, no one besides him could unicate with Erik. But after Joh, and tired of being uo properly talk with Erik for training, James had approached Charles and asked him to do something to fix it.

  At first, Charles had been a bit relut. Messing with people’s minds was plicated and delicate—let alone adding knowledge they hadn’t previously had. But with James’s stant insistence, Charles finally agreed, albeit hesitantly.

  It had taken him almost two days, but he mao transfer everything he had learned about the German nguage by reading others’ minds into James’s. There were a few mishaps, but James’s healing faao cushion the errors enough to make the process viable.

  Even so, Charles doubted he’d repeat the process with someone else anytime soon. The only reason it worked out was because of James’s regeion ability. Without it, Charles knew he could have caused severe brain damage to the mao his inexperience.

  It was surprising how he could shatter and break a man’s mind with a sihought, but when it came to holding everything together, he barely managed.

  This faot for the first time, made him feel slightly dejected for some reason.

  “Of course, it’s not as good as mine,” Cassandra added, crushing the slight envy she felt inside. While reading and pying with people’s minds wasn’t bad, she still preferred her own power because, with it, she could do what she truly enjoyed.

  Namely, fighting and being ihick of the a.

  Hearing her, Charles chuckled a little and decided to let go of his depressing thoughts for the day.

  After all, today ecial.

  With that thought, Charles reached into the inside of his coat and pulled out a small box, about the size of his palm, which he had been hiding until now, and held it out to her.

  Seeing his gesture, Cassandra raised an eyebrow and took the box. It had been ed in broer and tied with a slightly battered red ribbon, with a barely det bow on top.

  “I tried to fier ing,” Charles said, somewhat embarrassed, then looked at her seriously.

  “Happy birthday, Cassie.”

  Hearing his words, Cassandra froze, almost like a statue. It wasn’t until that moment that she remembered today was her birthday. No, not just her birthday—her brother’s as well.

  Today, they both turned 18.

  And she had pletely fotten.

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  At the same time, elsewhere in Warsaw, not far away…

  In one of the rooms of an apartment building that had been repurposed as temporary shelter for civilian families, a haggard-looking man stared with near-maniacal eyes at the wall in front of him.

  More specifically, at the drawing he had just made with his own blood.

  His name was Hans, and he had been one of Hydra’s soldiers stationed in Warsaw before John and the Ak attacked the city.

  Hans had only retly arrived iy to carry out his duties as a loyal Hydra soldier, but that never happened. Instead, barely half a day after his arrival, he found himself caught in the armed flict, fighting for his life.

  He hadn’t even mao meet with his superior before everything unfolded.

  But perhaps that was for the best. Although Hans had fought fiercely alongside his patriots, he quickly realized this was a losing battle. Without a sed thought, he discarded his uniform, left his ons behind, and blended in with the refugees, effectively disappearing among them.

  His ing, above-average ag skills, and unremarkable appearance allowed him to ie seamlessly without arousing suspi. For several days, he kept his head down, his surroundings and gathering information.

  Finally, after some time, he found the opportunity to tact the high and a his survival, as well as everything he had discovered during his time in Warsaw.

  He thought that all of this would serve to se his mistakes, so that he wouldn't be seen as a coward who abahe fight but rather as an intelligent agent who knew what Hydra would need and worked hard for it.

  There were no gratutions, nor were there pints or punishments. Instead, only one order—a simple and strange order.

  He didn't uand it. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't see the sense in it. But as a soldier, Hans only o follow orders, no matter what they were, and hope that this would be enough to atone for his crimes.

  To allow him to return home.

  Looking at the drawing on the wall and then at the drawing on the paper in his hand, Hans nodded with satisfa and prepared to leave. But before he could do so, something caught his attention.

  On the wall, his blood, inally red, suddenly began to glow with an increasingly intehereal blue light. Hans stared i the inexplicable phenomenon, pletely fetting that he o leave.

  The light intensified until it became almost blinding, and before he could react, a sound like fabric being torn was heard. From a dark void, a burning ball of fire shot out at bullet speed.

  Hans didn’t even have time to scream before the fire pletely engulfed him and ied his body into ashes ihan a sed.

  Then it exploded.

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  Cassandra looked at the gift Charles had given her, feeling a slight pang of guilt inside. He had brought her something, yet she had nothing for him. The disfort, along with other unfamiliar emotions, filled her pletely. She didn’t know what to do.

  Fortunately for her, she didn’t have time to think too much about it.

  BOOM!!!

  With an almost deafening roar, an explosion engulfed the middle ses of one of the buildings in the distance. Fmes rose, along with thick bck smoke, and soon cries of astonishment and terror flooded the streets.

  Whether it was Charles, Cassandra, James, or Erik, they all stared wide-eyed in total surprise in the same dire.

  For a sed, they were frozen.

  "GRRRAAAHH!"

  But when more than a dozen roars—ohey were intimately familiar with—began to echo, their state of shock broke.

  “Hydra!” James growled, his cws shooting out from his knuckles. In the instant, his figure vanished in a blur of motion that shattered part of the roof where he had been standing.

  “Let’s go!” Cassandra said as she waved her hand, causing one of the pieces of debris still present iy to fly toward her. She leapt onto it along with Charles, and soon, she lifted them both into the sky, heading straight for the burning building.

  Seeing them take off without hesitation, Erik blinked before g his teeth. With a flex of his powers, a rge enough pieetal floated in front of him. Imitating Cassandra, he jumped onto it and, guiding it, began to fly somewhat unsteadily.

  He really should have practiced more with his powers.

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  Of course, James was the first to arrive. Ign the fmes, he charged through the massive hole that had beeed. But before he could do anything, three monsters lu him in a powerful tackle, sending them crashing down toward the street.

  Seeing his figure nd on the ground below, Cassandra frowned but didn’t worry. Instead, she focused on the burning building and, using her powers, began trying to smother the fmes—or at least tain them so those inside could attempt to escape.

  “How did they mao get here?!” Charles asked himself, watg in horror as some bodies leapt from the windows, engulfed in fmes—fmes that shouldn’t have been able to spread so quickly.

  “Who the hell cares? We just o kill them,” Cassandra growled, frowning in fusion at the fmes that were unnaturally resisting her trol.

  She saw more monsters emerging from the hole in the building and dropping into the streets, where James had already begun a massacre. Its meical parts fired energy projectiles, causing increasing levels of destru.

  Clig her tongue in irritation, Cassandra redoubled her efforts. Slowly, the fmes began to recede.

  “In-te-res-ting” a deep and guttural voice echoed. Cassandra blinked and barely mao rea time, sending Charles flying to safety before a massive fireball struck her head-on with enough force to turn a war tank into molten scrap.

  “Cassandra!” Charles screamed, watg what had just happened. But he had no time to worry as his body crashed through a nearby window, shattering the gss and nding heavily on the floor of the room.

  With a grimace, he tried to ighe pain from the blow and, with effort, stood up, stumbling toward the window through which he had entered, gazing at the sky now cloaked in an e almost crimson.

  More explosions followed, oer another, shaking the walls around him. Charles tried to make sense of what was happening, but his eyes quickly stung from the smoke and the blinding fshes of light.

  “Damn it!”

  Perhaps his only soce was that he could still feel his sister’s mind, though it didn’t tell him whether she was hurt or not.

  Deg he couldn’t remain useless, he turned away from the window and rushed to the door. Throwing it open, he began desding the building, determio reach the streets.

  Whatever Cassandra against, he wasn’t going to let her face it alone. He o help James deal with the monsters—and fast.

  When he reached the streets, he saw people running, the wounded, and corpses engulfed in fmes on the ground, cries for help as well as despair and fear assaulting his mind from all dires.

  But he couldn’t afford to focus on them—not now. Ign the horrors around him, Charles limped toward the area where James was fighting, feeling the ground tremble from the iy of the battle.

  When he finally saw the monsters, he didn’t hesitate. With all his strength, he struck at their minds without mercy.

  Three of them screamed in agony, colpsing to the ground and writhing, but there were still many more fighting James. Ign the strain on his mind, Charles gritted his teeth a pushing his powers, attag more and more of them, battling against the trol devices impnted in their brains.

  “Illusionista!” the shout barely registered, but he didn’t have time to pay attention. He o keep moving, to give James enough space to finish his fight quickly.

  The man, of course, took advantage of the opportunities he was given and swiftly dispatched several of the fallen monsters, but those still standing didn’t remain idle and began attag with reckless abandon.

  A streak of blue energy grazed Charles, but he paid it no mind a walking, a trickle of blood beginning to drip from his nose.

  Soon, gunshots could be heard as well as the sound of approag vehicles. The members of the AK joihe fight, though with little effectiveness.

  The metal in the surroundings began to vibrate, and rge pieces of it rose into the sky where the explosions started to increase.

  “Illusionist!” This time the shout was closer, and before he could react, Charles was grabbed by the shoulder and abruptly pulled off his path, taking him to cover behind a half-colpsed wall.

  “e o!”

  Charles growled with bloodshot eyes, but upoing Angelo’s worried gaze, his mind finally found some on sense.

  “Th-thanks,” he said with a somewhat broken voice, and the slightly older boy sighed and patted his shoulder.

  “It’s okay, man, breathe a little,” then the boy took one of the two rifles he had been carrying and ha to him.

  “I thought you’d want it,” he said with a smile, and Charles nodded, holding the on.

  It might do little against the monsters, but having it was better than having nothing.

  “Oh God, this looks bad, really bad,” Angelo said, poking his head out to look at the battlefield. Hearing him, Charles nodded and stepped closer to his side, also surveying the situation.

  Calling it hell was an uatement. Somehow, more monsters kept appearing. Their numbers were unnatural—they shouldn’t have been able to reach the city in such quantities without aig.

  Swallowing hard, Charles looked at the building where it had all started. The fire tio spread, but much of the structure was still standing. He debated with himself as he watched more monsters hurl themselves out of the massive hole.

  There was something in there, something responsible for all of this. And if they didn’t stop it, no matter how many mohey killed, James wouldn’t be able to help Cassandra.

  “Angelo, I have to go in there,” he said, pointing at the burning building.

  The boy beside him blinked, g the building, then back at Charles, and couldn’t help but excim:

  “Are you crazy?!”

  “Maybe, but whatever’s happening is ing from there, and if there’s a way to stop it, I have to do it—and fast,” Charles then sighed and looked at Angelo with seriousness.

  “If you don’t want to e, that’s fine. I know it’s dangerous. You stay ahe civilians evacuate.”

  Hearing this, Angelo frowned and looked at him, almost offended.

  “Dangerous, you say? Since when has that ever stopped me?” he excimed, then grinned.

  “Even if you’re a super, you still need someoo watch your back. Don’t even think about leaving me behind now.”

  Hearing this, Charles felt a lump in his throat for a moment.

  From the day they met until now, Angelo had always beeo support him—in every battle, in every moment—never bag down and always lifting his spirits.

  Truly, one couldn’t ask for a better friend.

  “Alright… alright, the’s go!” He said, casting aside any fear or doubt, and soon both boys began running toward their objective.

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  Note:

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