Chapter Twelve: Protection (Leon)

Face-to-face with the enemy?

Leon watches as the landscape around him blurs into hues of yellow, green, brown, and blue. To his right is Felix, eyes focused on the long stretch of road that leads from near Zürich to Diessenhofen.

They were able to silently invade one of the nearby enemy encampments, and take, thankfully, a military-grade vehicle. Felix made the point that these vehicles were equipped with extra cans of gas and had better traction on the tires to handle going off-road, just in case something happened. Leon hoped they did not, in fact, go off-road.

Leon had no idea how long they were driving, nor how much longer they had to go. Surely, they were almost there, right? Maybe Leon was just anxious to see how Schweiz's knights changed since he left them all those years ago.

"Felix, how long have we been on this road?" Leon hoped the general would answer him, even if the reply he received was rude.

"Thirty minutes. Provided nothing happens, we should reach Diessenhofen in-"

A rumble of the ground makes Felix grip the steering wheel harder. Leon glances behind himself and sees smoke rising far behind the car.

"-about thirty-five minutes, give or take any other war-induced distractions," Felix finishes his sentence, and Leon can instantly tell he is shaken by what Leon assumes by now to be a bomb.

"Shouldn't the sound of and the destruction bombs cause not come as a shock to you?" Leon keeps glancing behind himself.

The words Engelard said to him enter his mind.

Your paranoia is going to cost you or me our lives at some point.

Leon forces himself to look forward. If anything was going to happen, Felix would see it. Felix. The person driving the car. Leon knows he lowered his gun at the campsite when the suicide bombers entered. What he would do inside a car... Leon preferred not to find out.

"Leon? Leon, are you feeling alright? You don't get motion sickness, do you?" Felix's voice makes Leon glance his way and bring himself back to the present.

"Huh? Uh... No, I don't. I was just paranoid, that's all."

"If you say so. I answered your question, but you didn't reply, so I was wondering if you were zoning out or if something else was happening. But, if it's your paranoia, that's completely reasonable right now."

Leon looks behind himself again. Behind him and Felix's car is another military-grade vehicle. The former knight can feel the speed of the car the two are in slowly pick up as Felix increases the pressure of his foot on the gas pedal.

I just hope that day isn't soon.

"God dammit, Engelard. Why do you have to invade my thoughts now? I do not plan on dying today," Leon mutters under his breath, realizing his eyes are focused on the car behind them.

The cars stay the same distance apart for a few minutes, but Leon can notice the other car slowly close the gap. He looks over at Felix, whose eyes are completely focused on the road, and the assassin then turns his attention to the road in front of the car.

And hey, is that a drawbridge?

Wait. Oh no, no, no, no, no. Felix was not going to drive over that thing. That would definitely cost the two their lives. Military-grade vehicles could, most likely, not make that jump. Leon watches in horror as the drawbridge is fully drawn up, and his head hits the cushion of the seat he is in as Felix slams on the gas.

"Felix, we're going to die if you try and jump that bridge!"

"If we were going to die, I think I would have seen it by now. Hold on to something, because this is going to get exciting," Felix's voice is stern and stable.

Right. Leon forgot, in his panic, that Felix could see the deaths of those he was close to. Aww, close to! Did that mean Felix saw Leon as a friend? How sweet.

The car begins the incline. Leon grips the handle diagonally above the left side of his head and squeezes his eyes shut. His heart races in his chest, and his breath matches its pace. He tries to think of Felix's reassuring words, but all he can think of is the very real possibility that Felix may be lying, and that they would, unfortunately, die.

Leon doesn't feel the incline anymore. For what seems like forever, he is weightless. He has time to think about what he wanted to do before his death. Once the war was over in Schweiz, he would leave Grayson and go back to being a knight. For some reason, it came back as Leon's calling. Why now, he didn't know. Did ridiculous thoughts like the ones Leon are having usually occur when one is near death?

Leon's eyes shoot open as he feels a large impact that nearly knocks the breath out of him. He can see the desolate road in front of him and can see a sign the car passes, which brings a relieved smile to his face.

Welcome to Deutschland.

He can hear Felix give out a whoop from beside him, and Leon takes this opportunity to look behind him again. Thankfully, no car is following them. What country's military was-

Leon is thrown forward as the car comes to a hard stop. His head hits the dashboard as he gives out a cry. He can hear Felix curse once Leon raises his head, holding his right hand against his throbbing forehead.

"Scheisse. Wir haben es verbockt."

Leon blinks a few times to regain his vision, and holds his left hand up under his nose, which he can tell is bleeding from the warm fluid that finds its way onto his lips and into his mouth.

In front of them is another military-grade vehicle, the flag of Finnland atop it swaying in the soft breeze. Felix silently gets out of the car, and Leon follows, walking over to stand beside him as the occupants of the vehicle emerge out onto the road.

Leon tries his utmost best to appear threatening, but there is only so much one can do when their head hurts like hell and their nose is bleeding. He steals a glance in Felix's direction and can see he has his left hand on his pistol, while his stare is calm but cold.

Maybe he learned how to look intimidating from Reko. Damn, that kid still chills Leon's bones.

The Finnish occupants of the vehicle- two men and a woman- appear hostile at first, their eyes trained on Felix's uniform. Leon gives out a quiet but agonized sigh, praying the two are not captured and tortured. Their whole plan would be in shambles, and what did they actually accomplish? A cool jump. That was all.

Their expressions change to one of surprise after a moment. They look at Felix, and the woman steps forward, offering her hand to the general.

"Hei. Oletko kenraali Adelric?"

Leon looks over at Felix, knowing the woman was speaking Finnish. Did Felix know any Finnish? What if he unintentionally said something insulting? Then the two were definitely going to face some sort of horrible punishment! Why did the universe have to be against the two young men?

"Kyllä minä olen. Miksi kysyt?"

Woah. He could speak Finnish? Did he learn that from Reko too?

Felix still does not shake the woman's hand, and Leon assumes he still classifies the trio as hostile.

"Someone completely different was at the peace conference yesterday, claiming you were dead. Our country didn't want to believe it, but Venäjä was quick to throw a tiny celebration afterward. What brings you to Saksa?" The woman speaks again and smiles when Felix finally shakes her hand.

"That man at the conference forced me to step down from my position, or else I lose my life. I thought I would be the only person leaving, but someone else followed me. I met some other people- this person beside me is Leon Kreshnik, a former knight of Schweiz- and we are focused on bringing this war in Schweiz to an end, hoping for assistance from Deutschland," Felix explains, and for a moment, Leon is afraid he gave too much away.

The man to the woman's left nods, and speaks next.

"Greetings, General Adelric and Knight Kreshnik. That was quite the impressive jump you pulled off earlier. If Venäjä was to follow you, we would have been there to stop them. But, seeing as we crossed paths without a threat tailing you, we would be overjoyed to escort you wherever you need to go. Name the place, and we will take you there."

"Knight Kreshnik, if you do not mind, we would also like to tend to your injuries. You took quite a hit when the car stopped. What do you say? Will you accept our assistance?" The woman trains her eyes on the two people in front of her.

Leon and Felix exchange glances. Leon shrugs, considering help from Finnland was better than nothing at all. They could very easily kill him right now, and Leon wouldn't care. His entire body aches, his head spins, and the blood from his nose drips from his chin onto his outfit, while some of it still finds its way into his slightly open mouth.

"If you're offering, it would be rude to decline. Thank you. But I do want to ask, aren't you assisting Russland in the war against us?" Felix asks the question Leon thought about the moment he saw the vehicle's flag.

This time, the man to the right of the woman speaks.

"Against our will. It was either join forces with them against you or lose our country again. Our own Army General, Miss Eelin died defying them, and the boy who was set to take over her position has not yet returned to Suomi. This is quite far-fetched, but do you happen to know of a boy by the name of Reko-"

"Reko Erkki? Yes, he was a soldier in my unit and the one who followed me when I stepped down. He was taken to the White Cathedral in Fribourg a couple of days ago, and the three other people we are working with are tasked with recusing him while we ask for assistance from Deutschland," Felix's eyes brighten at the mention of Reko, and Leon's eyes widen.

Reko- the literal devil child- was going to become Finnland's next General of the Army? Seriously? Out of everyone else in Finnland's military, it was going to be that violent kid? Okay, maybe it was rude to jump to fast conclusions, but Leon was uneasy about Reko's future as an Army General. Like, concerned for the future of Finnland type of uneasy.

"He joined your military after the orphanage burnt down? Oh, thank goodness. If Miss Eelin was still alive, this news would overjoy her. But, before we get any further, we should probably introduce ourselves. I'm Kaarina Liina, head of Suomi's intelligence," the woman bows after introducing herself.

"I am Miss Liina's assistant, Artturi Oiva," the man to the left of the woman speaks next, and glances over at the young man to her right.

"And I'm Kal Reimo! I'm head of intelligence of foreign affairs. It is certainly a pleasure to meet you, General Adelric. I've heard so many great things about you, and I never expected we would meet in person! If you don't mind, may I shake your hand?" The boy runs up to Felix, who smiles and shakes the boy's hand, who then turns to Leon.

"Can I shake your hand, sir Kreshnik?"

Leon nods, and carefully lowers his right hand from his head. He wipes the blood off of it on his outfit, before shaking the boy's hand, who does not seem disgusted at all to shake a slightly bloody hand.

"Kal, come back over here. Sorry about him; he can get quite excited when meeting new people. Anyway, we can take one of you to Saksa in our car, but one of us is going to have to stay behind. Leon, based on your state, we would like you to go with us. Of course, if that's okay with you, General Adelric," Kaarina glances in Felix's direction after calling Kal away, to which the general nods.

"Yes, that's fine."

Felix then lowers his voice so only Leon can hear him.

"If anything, drastic or suspicious, happens while you're with these people or as a knight, don't be afraid to use this. I'll come as fast as I can. I'm sorry to admit that if you happen to be near death, I probably can't come and save you in time. But I trust you to be careful, alright? I'm counting on you," Felix slips Leon a small communication device, and the knight slips it into his pocket, a subtle nod being the only signal that he receives the item.

"Alright. If you are all set to go, Leon, Artturi will treat your injuries in the back. Kal, how would you like to travel with General Adelric?" Kaarina gets a vigorous nod and a few jumps of excitement from Kal, to which everyone smiles.

Leon follows Kaarina and Artturi to the car and glances over his shoulder at Felix and Kal. Kal enthusiastically waves goodbye while Felix offers him a smile, and three words Leon can decipher from the silent movement of his lips.

"Viel Glück, Löwenritter."

Words and phrases used in this chapter:

Deutschland/Saksa- Germany

Scheisse. Wir haben es verbockt.- Shit. We're screwed.

Finnland/Suomi- Finland

Hei. Oletko kenraali Adelric?- Hello. Are you General Adelric?

Kyllä minä olen. Miksi kysyt?- Yes, I am. Why do you ask?

Venäjä/Russland- Russia

Schweiz- Switzerland

Viel Glück, Löwenritter.- Good luck, Lion Knight.