ACT 1.3: The White Room

When the lights of the White Room shined in her face making her pale skin more dazzling, Sephina saw crowds of people around her.

She was confused at first, she wondered what was happening at the moment. There was supposed to be a war to fight, right? She drowsy looked around, observing the place she was in it wasn't a dream this was her life now.

As she looked around she saw her fellow commanders and the king and queen. She saw the knights together in a row, first Lautaro, then Hana and finally Genesis the one who praised her.

Jae's voice was now able to be clearly heard she was being promoted to a knight for her deeds. She double handily saved the blue team. She gave a weak smile as she was brought to her feet and thrown up and down by crowds of people.

***

That morning the blue team ate dinner with a little more happiness. Genesis took a seat near his fellow knights, the new one was on his right and the only person he could consider a companion in the whole room was on his left.

The girl with the blessed blue eyes sat next to him fiddling with her fingers. She finally spoke what was on her mind and said.

"Thank for the catch... and your congratulations, that was the first time I have never been appreciated for my skill with the bow, so I was happy when someone first did it."

Genesis have a warming smile and spoke with kindness in his voice.

"It's no problem, you deserve it after all you did save us with your own two hands."

She gave a slight smirk that she hid behind her deceptively ocean hair. Genesis turned to eat his meal and stopped smiling when he realised that they would have to restart the sparring session and he would face Allus again.

He ate his meal solemnly and gave a side eye to Lautaro who was looking at the interaction between Genesis and Sephina and Genesis intercepted his voice.

"Don't even."

Lautaro gave a chuckle while saying.

"Don't even what?"

Lautaro sat in silence before quietly whispering.

"So how many children are you going to have?"

Genesis almost spat out his food before questioning.

"What?"

Lautaro have him a monotone face before saying.

"You heard me."

Genesis stared in silence thinking of words to say but his mind thinking of nothing but...

"None. I am going to have no children with her."

Lautaro chuckled before asking.

"Would you think that she would accept that? You can't just make the decision yourself you have to talk it through together."

"It sounds like you're getting more serious when you keep on asking. So I'm ending this conversation here."

Genesis spoke with a light smile.

***

It was about 2 hours after breakfast when the sparring sessions began it was Genesis against Allus, again. Genesis thought he might be ready after all he did a lot of swings of the swords and he learned about how Allus fights.

Allus's fighting style was sort of like a monkey, extremely deceiving and unpredictable, his main con was that he could use his body, fists and feet, aswell as his spear in combat so you never knew what would happen next. His style also included speed, an immense amount of speed the amount of times he could stab the spear in 10 seconds was insane Genesis wondered how someone got used to a weapon that fast.

The battle began Genesis immediately took his blade of its sheath, tightening his grip like a dog that held its prey in it's mouth and he swung it foward intercepting Allus's charging attack.

They looked into each other's eyes as sword and spear sung a song of violence, one pair filled with determination and the other with pure, unadulterated fury. They backed from each other, waiting then Allus struck with a feint left, he struck Genesis's right side as Genesis tried to swing his sword, but Allus was ready, he swung the spear into Genesis's feet trapping his movement in the ground. He kicked Genesis in the side a few times before flipping over his opponent and stabbing him in the back. The stab sent waves of pain in his back, although not deadly it still hurt like a banshee.

The stab sent Genesis away his feet finally free, he looked at his most disliked person in the room and thought.

'I absolutely hate this guy.'

That one thought gave him motivation, he rose from the ashes like a phoenix. He attacked with a zombie like movement deceiving the unpredictable, striking Allus in face slashing at his neck, Genesis gave him a smile, before getting kicked in the head from the side and losing the spar.

After recovering from the devastating kick Genesis watched the next battles from before the next was again Lautaro and Hana. Unlike the last time Hana charged being the aggressor and she was obviously better than the last time, it was like magic she became better at swordplay in a few hours.

Lautaro was constantly on defense but with brute strength he made the battle equal. The display between skill and strength was stunning. Genesis was left with an open mouth at the sight. Hana kept slicing the sword of Lautaro loosening his grip, she evaded his sword and struck it sending it flying out of his hands. Hana walked up to Lautaro, who was now unarmed but Lautaro was still fighting, as Hana decisively swung her sword, Lautaro flipped over in the air and spinning multiple times before delivering a devastating kick to side. They were both defeated by each other, it was a tie.

Genesis was star struck by the display of strength and swordsmanship. But he learnt that brute strength and skill cancel each other out, so one would need to be a master at the former and the latter to be expensive at battle.

The next battle would be between the Knight and the queen. Sephina and Noel.

They both walked to their positions and took their stance for battle. Sephina was using a bow that took lesser strength to draw and Noel was using a rapier.

The battle started and quickly Sephina drew her bow and shot three shots in succession she hit 2 the other one flying past her into a nearby bed. Noel rapidly dashed, her rapier piercing the wind.

She decided to swing foward her rapier, but was countered by Sephina's steel bow breaking her stance. With her hands in the air Sephina took the golden opportunity to draw her bow and shoot.

Noel saw this and angled her rapier in the direction of the arrow and she stabbed it out of midair. It was like everyone was improving except for Genesis.

Now in close proximity of Sephian, Noel let a barrage of attacks on the panicked Sephina. Sephina was narrowly evading a barrage of attacks thanks to her slim figure and nimble body. Sephina got the chance to gather herself together and she starting using melee attacks with her bow. She targeted Noel's thin rapier instead of Noel herself, in an attempt to dismantle Noel, Noel executed a beautiful counter attack taking the sliver of opportunity to stab Sephina between the plates of her armor.

That one strike decisively ended the battle between them.

When knocked to her feet Noel lent a hand to Sephina under the light of the White Room. After she did that she gave a heartwarming speech as the queen.

"As you can see this is an example of how we rise together from the ashes we emerge!"

Genesis could see the look on her face, she didn't want to that speech, but nobody forced her to do it she did it because she had to, because hope was the rope sent into the darkness of the catacombs the rope they would climb out of. They would keep surviving on hope.

Suddenly the room started to shake as the television screen said.

"The hope of the White Room's subjects, displeases it. The Agents are coming. May mercy be upon you."

The screen filled everything with fear, no fear was what you would use when faced with the unknown of Earth, however, dread, dread is the word you would use to describe the unknown of the World of Evolution.

The whole room turned pitch dark as people scrambled, only the screams of the terrified were heard through out the room, it was defeating. Whatever the Agents were, that even the television screened said.

"May mercy be upon you."

The people were definitely dreadful of it. The television screen announced that the dreadful agents were coming in five minutes and the lights were turned back on and Sephina and Jae were right next to him.

The soldiers picked their bows, spear, axes and swords in a hurry. They rushed to their formations, as people from the other side the blue team drew their bows, until they saw the other team with a bedsheets using it as some sort of white flag.

They made their way towards the fortress but they were fast enough as the Agents descended from the lights in the ceiling. They were pale in color and they had tentacles that were almost, if not paler than them in color, the tentacles were thin and fast, their bodies looked like an octopuses as they had head that stretched backwards. They had numerous tentacles too many infant. They approached with devastating speed as they climbed with their tentacles.

The blue team accepted their, most probable temporary surrender. The archers of both side worked in harmony shooting the Agents as they approached, but the Agents tentacles caught the arrows out of thin and absorbed them, which seemed to make them bigger, but for some reason Sephina's arrows flew and struck true, killing one of the many Agents.

Jae ordered the archers to stop firing except for Sephina. Instead they ordered the spearmen to move forwards in 3 rows, their shields being the only thing that saved them from the unknown. The spearmens hands were shaky and ridden with sweat, but they kept still.

The Agents took their distance striking at their shields until one of the Agents took of the spearmens shields and the instant that happened the Agents took the spearman and absorbed him making the Agent bigger it disintegrated the spearmens body.

Sephina shot the Agents who absorbed the spearman but it was too late all that was left was corroded bones. When that happened the king ordered everyone to advance forwards even the swordsmen, he ordered them to stand in groups of three all of their backs facing their allies backs.

One spearman, one swordsman and one bowman.The axemen would stand back to protect the baby if the other team tried something funny. The closest people next to Genesis were Allus and an unknown bowman.

They stood back to back to back, even though Genesis disliked Allus he was still a capable fighter as he kept an Agent at bay. However it took Genesis and the unknown bowman both of themselves to keep another Agent at bay.

It was sudden, the Agent absorbed the unknown archers arrows and it absorbed him, it distracted Genesis for a second and he let go of his weapon for only a moment but a moment was all it took.

The Agent sent its tentacle towards Genesis with blistering agility. In that second Genesis grabbed his sword while the tentacle grabbed him and when it attempted to absorb him he stabbed it. This was the way, the way of survival against these Agents of the White Room, the Agents that came for one purpose to spread dread and death among the White Room.

Genesis stepped infront of Allus lightly throwing his weapon in the air, when the tentacle grabbed he grabbed and gripped as he stabbed the Agent it what he assumed was it's head and it died.

Allus smiled at Genesis's discovery and copied it both destroying Agents right next to each to other. They grabbed each other's weapons as they spread death to the Agents and even used it to kill 2 Agents before realising they had each others weapon, they threw each other's weapon in the air at each other. As the Agent sealed it fate as both Allus and Genesis took their rightful weapon.

As they killed more Agents the others saw what they did and started to copy it decimating through the Agents numbers until there were only 10.

The malice started to release again the taste of victory blinded Genesis's eyes away from the secondary danger. The malice seemed to strengthen the Agents as they were all were blinded and when their eyes cleared they were no bodies on the ground, not even traces of one.

The television screen said.

"The Agents have blended in within your allies, you will try to exude the Agents from among your ranks. If you fail the consequences will be immense, immediate, dire and lethal."

Genesis looked at the screen and thought.

'Dammit.'