Preparations

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Lina hung up and walked silently toward the sofa of her office and let herself fall on it and released a long sigh, " thank God it will all soon be over, " she mumbled, her face buried in the sofa.

She suddenly heard the door being opened, she didn't have to turn her head to know who were the people who were entering in as she directly recognized them by the rhythm of their footsteps. " You're late, I already hung up, " she said after she turned slightly her head, so they could hear her voice clearly.

" What? You have told me you will wait for us to come, " Natasha complained while putting her hands on her waist to show her disappointment.

" Sorry but you were taking too much time, " Lina replied not sincere at all, " I have tried to hold him on as long as I could but he has his duty ".

" I'm sorry, it's my fault if we're late, I have the habit to not notice the time passing when I'm with my patients, " Donald apologized to Natasha while stroking the back of his head.

" Don't worry, " Natasha quickly reassured him while waving her hand, " if it was someone's fault, you would be the very last person, " she said with an accusatory look at Lina.

" Yes she's right, you don't have to worry Don you're doing a fabulous job in here since you have arrived and we are all grateful, " Lina added, ignoring the insinuation of Natasha. She waved her hand still without bothering herself to sit conveniently on the sofa or even at least turning her head to face them, " moreover, Volga wasn't with Jamal when he called so you didn't miss anything special... except, maybe, witnessing how adorable I am when I'm talking with him ".

Donald had been in the city for four days, and meanwhile, he had the time to get used to Lina's manners, thus, it wasn't bothering him at all. Despite that Natasha would, from time to time, apologize for her bad behavior, on the contrary, Don would always feel amused when discussing with her as she was a kind of positive person and would always joke to avoid the ambiance being too stiff and formal.

" That's enough! " Natasha spat while walking toward Lina with heavy steps, she grabbed her by her waist and while ignoring her groans she pulled her up and forced to sit up normally, " stop acting like a child and tell us what he said ".

The latter glanced at her for a short moment before she responded, with a smirk, " he told me that he misses me and he couldn't wait to see me again ".

Instead of responding to her provocation, Natasha pinched her thigh enough hard to make her moan painfully. " Are you ready for a serious discussion now? " she told Lina.

The latter rubbed her thigh and said, " what's your problem to always act so strictly, not a slight hint of humor that's why Jamal would always prefer me over you ".

Natasha pinched her again in the same spot.

" Alright, stop. I will tell you, " Lina finally admitted her defeat, " but first, promise me you won't pinch me again ".

" If I knew that hurting you could make you obey I would have done it very sooner, " she said with a smug while moving her fingers in front of Lina as if to threaten her.

" With your rustic and not ladylike manners Jamal must see you like a little brother, " Lina muttered while protecting her thigh with her two hands. She sighed and with an unenthusiastic voice she said " well, he has told me that they had already killed the last boss of the villain guys, the wars are all over and since he has completed all the missions, he plans to return back by tomorrow ".

Donald didn't have to check Natasha's expression to understand that he was the most stunned and impressed person in that room. After seeing him in action with his own eyes, he wouldn't dare to doubt Jamal's strength and capacity anymore, but he still couldn't believe that he had fought four furious battles and ended the war in those four cities in only five days. For Don, it was just surrealistic.

" Amazing! " he gasped excitedly, he glanced at the two women and asked them, " how do you do to stay so cool after hearing such exploits? "

Lina shrugged, " it's not like we are not amazed or something but it's just less surprising when we already know who is the one who did that and how he did that ".

Seeing how interested he was, she felt that she had to explain more, " as you probably know when we compared the four cities Short-river was the one which was most in need of help, the outlaws were dominating you as they had reduced you in a very small number and for some mysterious reasons, all your attempts to inflict a great blow to your enemies caused you to lose even more men. The army of the outlaws was not so well organized, we quickly figured out with Jamal that your attacks failed not because the leader of the outlaws was very smart but rather because there was a traitor in your army ".

" Yes, " Don said with quite a bitter tone while bowing his head with a sense of shame and regret as if he was the one who did that, before he raised his head to ask, " I already know that but how is it related... "

Lina rose her forefinger as to stop him " let me the time to explain. With a such delicate situation, we had estimated that mission, to take him at least two days, one day to catch the spy and a second day to defeat the outlaws' army by using the pieces of information he would obtain from the spy. By chance, Jamal managed to unmask the traitor way sooner than expected, and so, he had the time to set a plan to counter-attack and the other thing was that we didn't expect you, the rest of Short-river's army, to be so effective, he told me that you have been quite tough what helped him a lot to do his job more effectively ".

Don nodded concisely while trying to overlook and not smiling at the fact that she was praising them.

" And concerning the three remaining cities the cases were quite simple, " Lina continued while lazily resting her head on Natasha's shoulder, " in fact, they just needed us to lend them some more strength to defeat the enemy. So by using the effect of surprise, increasing the offensive force by joining the forces with the men coming from the previous cities and obviously with Jamal's skills and strength, we already knew that there shouldn't take long to deal with them. There was also the city of Palet that we expected that it would take at least two days since there was more than one group of outlaws, moreover, we had been given not very much information about them or the overall situation and not forgetting that Jamal later told me that the city's army didn't initially have the strength or the courage to fight back but in the end, it was still not a big deal ".

" I see... it's true that looking that way the actual outcome is logical, but I still can't get rid of the sentiment that Jamal is a very incredible man, " Don honestly confessed after hearing her clear explanations.

" You're right, we can't deny that, " Lina conceded. She suddenly jumped on her feet, glanced back at Natasha and the latter nodded at her as to tell her that she got her silent message, and then she said to Don, " now it's time for us to discuss the next part of our plans ".

The man looked confused and he naturally asked while staring at both of them, " I don't get you, what do you mean by that? "

" Don't worry. Call Brad and go wait for us in your house, we will soon come to explain everything to you, " Natasha responded after she stood up and stretched.

Although he was very tempted to ask more, Don decided to listen to them and do as they said, he nodded at them, " alright, I will go look for him, see you later ".

" We should get going too, " Natasha proposed to her friend a few moments after Donald moved out.

Lina nodded and said, " let's stop by home to take Matteo so that we will go there together ".

" What about the girl? " Natasha asked with a more serious tone.

" Which girl? " Lina responded carelessly while she was collecting her stuff on her desk.

" Don't start playing dumb with me, you know exactly what I'm talking about, " she replied while lifting a little bit her voice, " that girl, Dana, it has been more than four days since we decided to keep her with me but you didn't give me permission to let her go yet and whenever I'm trying to evoke about this situation, you would always dodge the subject. So now tell me, isn't it time to let her go? "

Lina stayed quiet for a moment, with her back facing Natasha before she told her, " do you remember the answer she gave to us that day we asked her why she wanted to meet Jamal? "

Natasha didn't know what was the relation with what they were discussing about, but she made an effort to remember as she knew that even though she didn't always understand her, she would every time expose some interesting points.

" She mentioned something about looking for a hero before starting to cry, " the young woman responded while tilting slightly her head on the side.

" She talked about a lifesaver, " Lina corrected her " what means that someone... or something is after her life. That menace is grave enough to make her feel desperate and make her cry in front of us but it's also threatening her so much that she is unable to tell us more, " she paused and turned around to face Natasha, " until we learn more about her case I think it's better if she stays with you. With Jamal absent you're the only one we can rely on to protect ourselves what means that you are the only one able to protect that girl ".

Natasha bowed slightly her head after starting to understand the reasons she didn't tell her sooner. [ She must have been reluctant to confess this to me before because she doesn't want to put too much pressure on my shoulders ] she first thought, [ and that's true that I have been underestimating Dana's case a bit too much. Lina has quite a sharp intuition when it comes to sensing potential dangers so I should listen to her ].

" Alright she stays with me a little longer until Jamal returns and we clear this story, " Natasha finally accepted while nodding, before she emitted a request, " but can I bring her with me? It has been a while since she didn't leave my house ".

Lina thought for a short moment before she said, " okay she can come along, everyone in the city will soon come to know about that anyway ". She reached Natasha and pushed her lightly to the door while telling her to get going.

They arrived at Brad's place an hour later. They knocked two times on his door before he came to open it for them.

Lina noticed that he still didn't quit his habit of bowing slightly his head with his eyes fixing the ground whenever they would see each other. For some mysterious reasons, since she had met him, Brad had avoided crossing Lina's sight and whenever he would look at her in the eyes by inattention, he would quickly turn his sight away, Lina had interrogated him many times about that behavior of him but he would always find a way to run away from her questions.

" You are still reluctant to look at me in the eyes, huh? " she frankly told him the moment they entered as she started to find it very irritating.

The latter didn't respond but he instead showed her an embarrassed smile.

" He may be afraid to turn into a stone statue whenever he would see your eyes, " Natasha commented when she passed next to him and both Matteo and Dana couldn't help but laugh.

" You will be the one I will change into a stone statue if you continue to provoke me, " Lina replied while following her behind.

In the living room, Donald was waiting for them on a side, sitting on a chair with a cup of tea in his hand.

They all took their seats and Brad handed to each of them some refreshments before they started their discussion.

" Alright, first of all, let's explain our current situation to those who still don't know, " Lina started while putting her cup on the table. Everyone around imitated her and turned their attention on her at the same time, " in two days this city will be attacked ".

Donald threw a quick glance at the group before he asked, " you mean... the outlaws you have isolated in a part of the city? I heard about them but they shouldn't be a problem since they are few and not armed, am I wrong?"

" That's not that simple, " Lina shook her head before she gave him more precision, " the enemies I'm referring to are more fearful and dangerous than mere unarmed delinquents, " she paused and after seeing the confusion in his face she said, " let me explain the whole story more clearly for you, I know it will be a bit difficult to believe but please stay calm until I finish and then you can ask whatever you want ".

Then Lina began to tell more in details about the army of outlaws who had enhanced their strength and their resistance and which was expected to attack in two days, of course, she omitted some details such as Natasha's power and her unique capacity to kill the undead definitively by using her katana. Donald and Brad stayed quiet the whole time she was talking and even after she finished they took their time to assimilate the information while still wearing their unperturbed expression on their faces.

" So an army of people who are already dead is about to unleash their rage on us, " Don resumed while trying to make it sound as credible as he could, he crossed his fingers on his chin, he inhaled some air before he added, " alright first, how do we even know about that attack and the exact date it will happen? "

" I had a dream about it... no, more like a vision, " Matteo rose his hand and responded.

" Ah... is that so, " he forced himself to nod, thinking that the situation couldn't become any stranger, " okay, and how are we supposed to kill them since you said that we can't rely on our normal weapons? " he asked.

Lina glanced at Natasha as if the answer was written on her forehead, the latter quickly elaborated an answer and responded with less confidence in her voice, " we have discovered a weapon which works on them, a single sword ".

Donald gazed at the two women looking not very much convinced before he turned to Brad to ask him, " what do you think about it, comrade? "

The man crossed his hands after taking his time, he frowned and said, " before we left Short-river Jamal asked me to come put myself in Lina's service and lend her a hand on the preparations to protect the city from a fearsome enemy, although he hadn't given me much detail about that enemy, back then, I could tell he wasn't joking about it, " he paused and took a very quick glimpse at Natasha and Lina, " and I doubt his friends here would make fun of us with that, to make it short, their story is completely far-fetched but I believe them ".

Donald sighed and leaned backward on the backrest of the chair, " don't get me wrong, I wasn't saying that they were lying or anything, I just wanted to know your opinion, " he rose his sight on Lina " well, what are you asking us to do in order to help, miss? "