The Calm before the Storm

~~~A~~~

A few hours had passed since the girls had arrived at Alan's apartment. The setting sun shined gently through the window. Alan sat at Renne's side, gazing off into the blanketed streets of snow. He was lost in thought. The other two girls sat around the table chatting with one another. Alan felt lost as a strong sense of dread loomed over his thoughts without Alice to communicate with. He mulled about calling out to Chronos, but he feared he would lose his standing with Alice by doing so. While she was unavailable to come out for petty needs, he knew she was watching, waiting to come out in case something happened. But that alone was not enough to give him insurance. Alan unconsciously sighed, grabbing the attention of the girls. Just before he could tell them it was nothing, his phone rang. As he pulled it out, the girls looked at him and exchanged glances with one another. Alan assumed it was because a phone was not something people typically have in this city. Alan hung up the phone and looked at the girls. He told them the two officers from before had asked everyone to meet at a nearby cafe. The girls nodded and grabbed their things. Alan gently woke Renne up, and he carried her on his back.

As the four entered NaviCafe, Alan approached a large table in the far back of the lobby. Tony stopped Audrey and Lucianna at the entrance. He took them towards the back area. After Alan had sat Renne next to him, Marshal and Evangela entered as a pair and beeline towards the table. Confused as to why Marshal was here too, Alan glanced at Maverick, who was at the bar counter with the cafe owner. He gave him a simple shrug. Evangela sat across from Renne and beside Marshal, her expression of worry was painted as clear as day.

"Umm," Evangela spoke awkwardly as Renne shook her head.

"I'm fine, Eva. This stuff is normal. No need to worry." Renne smiled weakly at Evangela, trying to hide the pain she was currently feeling. Alan raised his arm and gently patted her head. Renne then turned to give Alan a noticeable look of irritation.

Alan slowly leaned in. "Don't act so tough. It's okay to give in to others sometimes." He stopped and looked up at Marshal, who gave him a very judgmental stare. His stare was fierce as if he was jealous. Though Alan could not figure out why, he stared back, expecting Marshal to crack and spill his guts.

While this was happening. Unknown to Evangela and Marshal, two girls walked up to the table. Their clothes were freshly changed. Evangela turned to Alan, expecting an answer. Alan gave her a passing glance but kept his attention on Marshal. She then turned to Renne, who was leaning on Alan with her eyes closed. After failing to seek help from those around her, she and Tony shared a sigh.

"You know, I was gonna have Renne introduce these two, but it seems she might be too tired to do so, and Alan seems to have forgotten that he is no longer a 5-year-old child. Anyway, these two are the two that will stay with Alan until we can get them a proper place to stay."

"Damn playboy," Marshal muttered as he finally gave up and looked at the two girls standing at the head of the table.

"How the hell am I the playboy?" Alan rebutted.

Tony sighed loudly as he walked up and slammed his fists into their heads. "Will you two wait until later to have this petty fight?" He then cleared his throat and returned to the girls. He placed his hands on each of their shoulders. Unsurprisingly, Audrey gave him a murderous glare. "Anyhoo," he ignored Audrey's glare, "this feisty demon is Audrey, and the other lovely princess is Lucianna." He removed his arms from the girls' shoulders and walked over to Evangela and Marshal. Marshal scowled at him as he held his head in pain. Tony gave him a vicious smile, causing Marshal to quickly straightened up. "Over here is Mr. Seamon's flesh and blood, Evangela. Beside her is a newcomer to the group tasked with protecting her, Marshal."After the group was introduced to one another, Lucianna and Audrey sat next to Alan and Marshal, respectively. Tony then glanced at Shin, who motioned to the two waitresses, Linda and Maddie, to usher the customers out of the cafe. After the customers left the building, Linda pulled up a chair and sat beside Audrey.

"Maverick, are you not joining us over here?" Linda asked, making herself comfortable.

"Nope, he is gonna stay over there and finish some late paperwork," Tony answered for Maverick in a harsh tone. Maverick gave a faint sigh as Shin handed him a small glass, which Alan assumed was whisky. "Ahem," he cleared his throat and told everyone a quick rundown of the information collected.

"So the major issues at the moment are the new weapons and protecting the girls," Linda said, trying to make sense of everything that was said between Tony, Renne, and Audrey. "But there is something that makes little sense to me. I had made sure to erase any record of Alan from the systems after the quake, so how did both you and Ouroboros manage to link Lucianna to him?"

"Let's just say that government has a more advanced method of intel collecting than you may think," Tony said while drinking a cup of coffee. "Not only that, but they have also rolled out their prototype cybernetic soldiers, which means that they can pull that information on the fly. Though, thanks to Ouroboros, they may push back the release of those soldiers after that embarrassing display of combat against one man." Tony briefly paused and looked at Audrey, who may hate him but was more willing to answer his question than Lucianna. "What happened? We found you in an alley near the school in the streets filled with corpses. What we saw was nothing more than a one-sided slaughter."

Alan turned his attention towards Audrey. Her face stiffened. It was evident that she did not want to answer that question.

"Tony," Alan spoke up. "Assume you were us. You saw the hellscape that occurred on that faithful day the quake leveled the city. She was young and was nearly killed. She already had to see that many corpses once, now she had to see it again." Tony backed down and apologized. Alan knew how Audrey must have felt. Seeing both Marshal and Evangela killed before him reminded him of those horrid hours. Though while getting Tony to understand their point of view, Alan lied. The truth was that he was slowly losing the pain and guilt he once felt when seeing the corpse of someone close to him. The ability to reset the deaths of those close to him tainted his heart.

"While she may not tell you," Renne spoke softly. She tugged at Alan's arm. Alan smiled and helped her sit up straight. He knew she was acting, but he wanted to spoil her since she had saved someone dear to him. "I will. There was a special barrier around the school that prevented anyone from entering or leaving unless they were a wielder." She then looked blankly at Audrey as if she had contradicted herself. "Rather, an awaken wielder."

"I've heard about such a barrier from Jason's report on the matter." Hearing that name caused Evangela to shrink in her chair. She reached for the wound he had inflicted on her a few days ago. Renne noticed her pain and glared at Tony. "Err... I'll save that for another day." Tony's voice peaked. He cleared his throat and continued. "But my main question how are these kids related to all of this?" Tony threw a stack of papers on the table. The documents were bound with three strings with the cover reading, 'Project Alpha.' "I know Alan, Renne, and Evangela are keys, but how and why?"

"Simple." Linda's voice rang out. Her tone was emotionless. She kept her eyes locked on the book with a disgusted expression. A moment of silence followed as the group waited for Linda to collect her thoughts. "The keys are connected to doors in the Chapel of the Ancients hidden within the city. I will not disclose the location as I do not want you guys to unlock those doors. The ancient texts extracted from that Chapel states that behind those doors is a secret connected to God himself. Professor Omega tried to break the doors forcedly using a test subject but failed, killing millions." She then turned to Renne. "To counter this, a group known as Ouroboros became a thorn in the government's side to prevent the opening of the doors. While their origins are unknown till this day, evidence has shown that the Sinner of Sloth founded the group as a last resort to thwart the plans of their former comrade, the Sinner of Greed." Linda turned to the four kids. "As to how you guys are sinners, I have not the slightest idea. All I know is that you four have a unique connection to the spirits, allowing you kids to become wielders."

"Whoa! Hold on for a minute." Audrey said, interrupting the flow of the conversation. With all eyes turned towards her, Audrey's face reddened a little. She took a breath and continued. "You refer to us as four, but that gorilla man only said three names. Who's the fourth?"Just as Tony tried to speak to defend himself from being called a gorilla man, Alan spoke up.

"Your neck." Alan pointed. "It's proof that you are a wielder." Alan then turned to Linda.

"Though while you are a wielder, we have no way of knowing that you are a sinner." Linda shrugged her shoulders. "The government usually euthanizes the 1% because 'they have an incurable illness that will kill them in six years' or so that's their story. In reality, they are experimenting on their power." Linda then looked at each of the keys. "Honestly, I find it strange that all the 1% I have met who evaded being taken are sinners. It's an odd coincidence that I find very unsettling."

"Maybe God is protecting them?" Tony said. Alan felt a bitter icy stare coming from across the room as Tony mentioned, 'God.' While he was not curious enough to look, he knew it had to be Chronos.

Audrey said nothing in response as her fear of being involved in this mess was confirmed. Audrey spoke as the group sunk into silence, this time in a low, dissatisfied tone that Alan barely heard. "How does one use this wielder crap?"

"Naturally." Alan deadpanned.

Audrey looked Alan straight in the eyes, giving him a glare that screamed, I will kill you if you joke around again.

"Look, I don't even know myself. The moment I realized I was a wielder was the moment I found this damn pendant." Alan then pulled a crimson-colored pendant out from under his shirt.

"Huh?" Tony glanced at the pendant, clearly inspecting it, "Wasn't this aqua colored?""Yes...but..." Alan struggled to find the words to ensure he didn't toggle the curse, "Things happened, and now it's crimson. Heh heh." He gave an awkward laugh as Tony moved back to his seat.

"Anyway, I'm sure you all are tired from all that information, so let's wrap it up and head out," Tony said while scratching his head at Alan's attempt at lying.

Tony walked the group to the train station before returning to the police station. After a brief ride, Marshal said his goodbyes to the small group as they got off the train and made their way toward the apartment building. Alan, who was currently carrying Renne, who was still asleep, on his back, entered Evangela and Renne's apartment to place her in her bed before walking back to his room. But before he could leave the room, Evangela stopped him at the door.

"Hmm, what's up?" Alan said.

"Please be nice to them." She whispered.

"Don't worry. I won't make the same mistakes twice." Alan walked up to Evangela and gently punched her arm, "I'm sorry I treated you like shit these past few years. I'll make it up to you, I swear." Alan then gave her a warm smile, causing her to blush as she stepped away from the door, allowing Alan to leave.

"It's too late for that dummy, you've already got a full plate, and there's not enough space for me." She said faintly as Alan walked out.