(Octavian 29, 7:56AM)

  (Luke’s thoughts) He’s Jenny’s father?

  Everyone gawked their mouths open, except for the trio of siblings and David and Boris.

  Luke analyzed Jenny on the left side of her father’s shoulder, comparing both father and daughter in terms of looks. Seeing that Jenny took over his father’s monolid eyes, Luke also took note of the other woman who was on his right side.

  The woman's cold gre rivaled Luna’s, and her eyelids appeared to have an extra lid, simir to everyone else's. Her dark purple hair was straight and long, not braided into a ponytail like Jenny's.

  (Kenji) And the woman right next to me is Iris. Try not to disturb her; she’s usually drawn to herself.

  (Iris) I’ll be fine, father.

  Kenji looked over to David, his eyes pushed down as he perceived the cowboy-wearing man with a soced look. David, feeling Kenji’s stare right toward him, id his arms motionless to his sides as he looked down at the ground.

  (Kenji) David. I must speak to you. You and your friend Boris are needed in this meeting that I will conduct.

  (David) Got it, sir…

  Both David and Boris walked toward the old man who supported himself with his wooden cane. Turning in the opposite direction, Kenji walked toward the other end of the hall, having David, Boris, Jenny, and Iris in tow which left the youngsters alone.

  Luke and Christian turned toward their respective groups, with Luke rubbing his hands nervously as his palms were tainted with sweat.

  Christian on the other hand put his hands on his waist, looking toward the huge garden that was bristled with purple pedals.

  (Chrisitan) Home sweet home.

  The Dark Angels looked over to where Christian had his eyes on, seeing the rge garden that looked vastly simir to that of a building where they had to ditch.

  Like a warm marshmallow enveloping him, Luke let his hands and arms be carried downward to gravity, seeing the simple yet exquisite garden that took everyone’s irises. Being near Christian, Luke directed his voice toward him.

  (Luke) I’m surprised that you guys were willing to take us in. We’re not beled innocent.

  (Chrisitan) Don’t worry man. The boss already told us about that. Although…

  Christian pced his right hand underneath his chin, rubbing it along with the fingertips of his thumb. His fingernails scratching away an abundance of dead skin from his unbearded chin, Christian kept his eyes locked onto Luke’s left eye, seeing his reflection within those embers.

  (Christian) What turned you into wanted men?

  (Luke) It’s complicated, but we were the ones who saved Lagefor.

  (Chrisitan) Wait, so it was you guys that defended it?!

  At long st, the trio of siblings dropped their jaws upon hearing of the group’s accomplishment.

  Christian used both of his hands to push back his hair, looking down onto the ground with his back continuing to be straight.

  (Christian) Damn … never thought you guys would be able to do that. But what happened after that?

  (Luke) We were summoned to a military ceremony, but it turned into a military tribunal. I guess the President thought that we could’ve done more to save the city, and not only that but…

  (Agent Briggs in Luke’s thoughts) I think he’s the one … I know of it.

  Luke remained quiet.

  Pcing his right hand onto his shoulder, he rubbed it along his leather jacket, his fingernails scratching away some old dust and dirt from half an hour prior. Not looking directly at Christian, his eyes were focused on one of the little antique toys that was lying on the ground.

  Near the edge of the table, an old toy train had its wheels right on the gss, as if it was about to fall.

  Ignoring the train, Luke shyly looked toward Christian again.

  (Luke) I was falsely accused … of something that I didn’t do.

  (Christian) Hmm … I heard that before. I’ll leave it alone if you don’t want to speak about it.

  Christian noticed the flight of stairs that led them to the upstairs rooms, and the dark wooden floorboards that had many splinters sticking out like seashells on a beach.

  Turning his attention onto everyone that was behind him, he cleared his throat putting both of his feet together. Doing a 180 spin, he was right in front of everyone, even in front of Luke.

  (Christian) Alright. From now on, you guys are going to be abiding by the rules of the Pacithiests. Smoking, drinking, and premarital sex aren’t allowed in this adobe.

  (Hope) Wait, what about hand-holding?

  (Christian) Also no hand-holding too. The boss came up with those rules, not mine. And also…

  Christian folded his arms while unsticking his feet together in a pose. Furrowing his right eyebrow upward, he looked over toward the front door, his ears perking up from the sound of heavy breathing.

  Despite no one hearing it.

  Clicking his tongue, he gred right toward the door, as a strain growl crawled out of his vocals.

  (Christian) The shark-human could stay too… but I don’t want to share the same things as him.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Octavian 29, 59 / 8:04AM)

  (Kenji) Tell me, David. What did you foresee in that battle?

  No natural light swept inside of the dark and closed-off room.

  With only a lightbulb hanging in the center, the dark cobblestone-ridden walls kept the chiseled warm air like a low-temperature sauna. As no signs of humidity were ever present in the enclosed room, not even a trace of mold or fungus grew on the old walls, making the room seem more youthful and vibrant.

  (David) It wasn’t an all-out attack like six years ago. Instead of using a typical zombie horde, they used a special force of zompires, liches they called it.

  (Boris) I can confirm that it was true sir Kenji. I was held hostage for a good while before David rescued me.

  (Kenji) I see. Now about this enemy.

  (David) I believe that someone is pulling the strings on all of this… and it’s not a zompire.

  Kenji sat with his hands csped together, his hands tightened in a deathly grasp as if he were trying to break his own old bones away. Being in the center or back of the table, the light from above was angled so that his face and eyes were clouded with a thickened shadow.

  To the right of him was both David and Boris, who had their hands down below their waist with their eyes pinning onto the old man with long spiked hair.

  And to the left of Kenji was none other than his two daughters, both pinning their attentions onto the two men who were facing in front of them.

  (Kenji) You two, as well as my daughter, are on the run to save a city that is on the verge of death. I suppose that there’s more to this reason.

  (David) One of the agents who helped us out with the final battle soon showed his true colors. He pinned a random fault onto Luke, the boy with red-colored eyes.

  (Kenji) What kind of fault?

  David slowly let loose some unneeded air that was trapped in his pink lungs, his chest expanding outward like a balloon that reached its equilibrium. Still wearing his brown cowboy hat despite being indoors, the single lightbulb light didn’t allow a single artificial ray to graze his eyes.

  (David) It’s about Luke being the one. The government thinks that he’s the ringleader of the Los Cerdos de Ojos Negros.

  (Kenji) The what?

  (David) A cartel group that used to run the southern part of Ticia—

  (Kenji) Is this true…?

  Kenji gred straight toward the cowboy hat-wearing man, his eyes not letting the lightbulb light hit his face. Curling his old and brittle fingers into his knuckles, Kenji let both crevices of his lips curl downward onto the edge of his face.

  David pced his right hand on top of his hat, cusping it softly as lowered it onto his p. Letting out another exhale, his eyes couldn’t look toward the old man who seemingly stared right into his soul.

  (David) No. I was there with Luke ever since he was 12. There would be no way that he was the ringleader.

  (Kenji) Hmm …

  (Iris) Father, you’re losing track of the original topic at hand. David, continue with what happened that day.

  David turned his eyes onto the dark purple-haired woman who was the same age as him, her forehead starting to show a bit of wrinkles as her face was more droopy compared to other women. Continuing to make a cold frown, her chilly demeanor didn’t even cause David to falter compared to Kenji, who cleared his throat and straightened his back.

  As Kenji started to look downward, his eyes pushed down while slowly letting go of his cmped hands.

  (David) Most likely the person who orchestrated the attack on Lagefor was a human. I would bet money that he most likely orchestrated the attack on Ticia. But …

  (David’s thoughts) He could’ve easily swept this city if he just pulled out a rge horde of zompires, but he chose to do liches.

  David looked down onto the reflected wooden table, seeing his reflection as both of his eyes were blocked by the shadow of his hat. Not looking at either Iris or Kenji, he had his mouth closed off while clenching his jaw, bits of teeth starting to sparkle like a failed mini firecracker.

  But right next to him, Boris took off his bck fedora, pcing it onto his crotch or belly allowing support for the edges of the fabric.

  (Boris) But there’s one more thing before we conduct his meeting.

  Boris looked toward the monolid woman with gsses, her eyes closed shut despite her hands csped together softly. Not making eye contact with Boris whatsoever, Boris turned his head to Kenji, his eyes cold and frail like a piece of old rock found in the northern part of Kepputha.

  Wiping away an abundance of sweat, Boris took in a huge deep breath.

  As he slowly let it out, looking at all three of them with furrowed brows.

  (Boris) There was one man who looked to be middle-aged, and he helped the liches on the attack. And …

  Boris pushed down his eyes, letting the fedora drop onto the floor as his hands didn’t even let him bother to pick it up. Looking at Jenny directly, her irises that reflected the chubby man in front of him soon brought him to be kicked in the stomach internally.

  (Boris) His name is Kenichi, and he’s still alive … waiting.

  (Iris and Kenji) What…

  Not a muscle moved in the dungeon-like room.

  Iris’s mouth quivered, her knees feeling the loss of feeling as she sat on her wooden chair. Along with Kenji, his hands remained still with his fingers twitching erratically in a geometric pattern.

  David tilted his cowboy hat so as not to let the others look at his face. As for Jenny, a small sniffle came out from her nose, pcing her hands on her temples while widening her eyes.

  In the guise of memories that started to return to her.

  (Boris) I know Kenichi is close to all of you, but as of now, he’s one of our enemies. Who knows when he’ll attack again…

  (David) That’s when the puppeteer calls for another invasion. If he truly … truly is working for them …

  (Boris) He is David.

  Both of David’s hands shook softly, with his heels slowly losing their strength to pin themselves onto the wooden floor. Continuing to look down, strands of his hair blocked all sides of his face.

  Turning toward Kenji and his two daughters, Boris took off his stylish fedora, pcing it along his p as the three of them saw his gray bowl-cut hair.

  (Boris) And not only him and the zompires, but the government has now decred us an enemy. And because you choose to shelter us in, I am deeply indebted to you.

  (Kenji) Any friend of David is family to me.

  (Boris) But sir, if the government were to reach the pce—

  (Kenji) Then I’ll fight alongside you. I and the mafia that I created don’t have too much in common with the government.

  Boris started to lightly smile, his chubby cheekbones being pushed upward to form a sincere smile that began to sore his face. Ceasing his smile, he formed his usual deadpan frown yet again, rubbing his right cheek with his sweaty palm from which before held his hat on his p.

  Using his left hand to hold his fedora, Boris straightened his back.

  (Boris) I can ensure we won’t be a burden, sir. The commander of the Dark Angels is well in keeping them in line.

  (Kenji) The boy with red eyes? If I may give my personal opinion but…

  Kenji clenched both of his hands together, looking at Boris like how a dad would look at their son or daughter when doing something wrong.

  His eyebrows straightened, his back hunched, and he had both of his elbows rubbing against the old wood that started to scrape his old bone. Yet despite his elbow being splintered, Kenji didn’t let a groan nor a hmph from his throat or mouth, his attention fully on Boris.

  (Kenji) That boy doesn’t look like a strong leader. He may be smart, but a leader is someone who puts their soldiers first.

  (Boris) With all due respect sir, Luke isn’t a coward.

  (Kenji) Any leader can send soldiers to take the bullet for them, but can a leader do the same for their soldiers?

  Boris tilted his head down, slouching his body so that his upper body nestled itself onto the top half of the chair. His tailbone being perceived by the most pressure on his body, Boris let out a long exhale of air, but not so much as his bck lungs scrunched up from the long overhaul.

  His body soon jolted upward from the two to three harsh coughs that contributed to his long exhale, causing him to close his eyes. Putting his balled fist toward his mouth, bits of saliva ran off from his knuckles to his wrist, causing the saliva to gleam in the light.

  Breathing more normally again, a couple of short wheezes wrecked along his throat, while tilting his head upward toward Kenji.

  (Boris) Luke … cough … is a soldier. I saw him take down the impossible with my own eyes.

  (Kenji) That’s in your eyes, not mine. You may have seen a boy with far more potential out of anyone, but to me and everyone else; he’s just a boy.

  Kenji looked over toward the closed wooden door that led up to the first floor of the building. Seeing that Boris was tainted with an utmost of sweat, he pinned his sights back onto David, who remained silent and withdrawn like a bat.

  Feeling the old man’s gaze, David slowly looked up at the man who raised him, his eyes droopy since he hadn’t received a full good night’s sleep.

  (Kenji) We need one st bit of details for this meeting to begin. Anything that may be of use, David?

  David slowly stood up from his seat, letting the tip of the wooden chair hover an inch from the cobblestone wall behind him.

  Clutching his hands together, David made sure that his thumbs were aligned parallel to each other, ying the tips of it onto his left pointer finger. Straightening his neck, his eyes tilted down as his stability from his heels began to come back to him, leading him to let his calves bulge as they cmp him down.

  (David) If the government decres us as enemies, then there is someone also pulling the strings behind it.

  (Kenji) Then what?

  (David) During the war, there was a particur family; that caused a rift in this world.