I walked back to where my companions were. Everyone looked at me with interest; It was clear that they were going to grind me into questions.
"Who was he?" Sergio asked, drawing the attention of those who were looking away. Now I did have the look of the entire module on top of me.
I left a silence in between while I thought about what I could answer. It was clear that if I revealed that I had been talking to Soukaku, everyone would start to hesitate about it for the rest of the night. Suddenly, an answer flashed through my mind like a shooting star.
"It was Miyabi," I said, realizing almost instantly that perhaps it hadn't been a good idea to mention that name either.
"Miyabi?" And what did I want? Mark asked, incredulous, putting down the letters and crossing his arms to give me his full attention.
"It was a message to me, nothing to worry about," I said, trying to sound indifferent.
Mark frowned, noticeably annoyed.
"I don't know what Division 6 will see in you, but take the opportunity," he said, encouraging me within his limited abilities to do so.
I approached Mark, confident. I stood right behind him and patted him on the back several times.
"Thank you, Mark. Someday you'll get to where I am, you just have to try a little harder," I said with a smile I couldn't help with.
He knew that he had entered Mark's territory at that moment.
"Don't be so self-righteous, Lucas, that will lead you astray," he said, giving me a stern look.
"Come on, tell me...
Mark snorted, cutting off the conversation immediately.
"Well, I'll let your evening of leisure run its course; I go to bed.
"So soon?" Sergio asked.
I approached Sergio to whisper in his ear, preventing the others from hearing what he was going to say.
"Tomorrow I have to get up early. I'll tell you the details when we have time," I said.
Sergio looked at me out of the corner of his eye with a mischievous smile. I had the feeling that he thought he was going to do something wrong with someone we had both talked about before. I'll let him get his hopes up.
I said goodbye to everyone and went to my bed. I lay down without realizing that I still had my uniform on, which forced me to get up and take it off. After that, I threw myself on the bed again, enjoying the only time of the day when I could rest. On his back, there was nothing to focus his eyes on. As we slept in bunk beds, I could see nothing but the metal that held the mattress above, which prevented Sergio, with his considerable weight, from falling on me in the middle of the night.
Suddenly, I noticed how my eyes began to weigh more and more, making it almost impossible for me to stay awake. It didn't take me even three minutes to fall into a deep sleep.
***
Slowly I began to open my eyes. I couldn't focus my eyes effectively, which caused me to have to blink several times. When I finally managed to open them, the first thing I saw was a completely red sky. I got up quickly and looked around.
My eyes widened when I saw where I was. I was no longer in the module, sleeping in my bed. He was lying on the ground in a desolate place. There were completely destroyed buildings and roads, debris everywhere.
I got up, stretching all the way to relieve the back pain I was feeling. My legs were heavy as if I were wearing chains on my feet, and my body felt shattered, as if I had every single bone in pieces.
I took a step forward, stepping on something metallic. I looked at the ground and saw an assault rifle completely stained with blood. I hesitated for a moment, but in the end I decided to bend down to pick it up. I inspected it for a moment and then looked ahead. On the floor was a trail of blood that I hadn't noticed at first. With fear and insecurity coursing through my body, I raised the rifle, keeping it pointed forward, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
I began to walk, following the blood stains that spread across the floor. The only sound there was in that place was the wind hitting the walls of the remains of the buildings. Everything else was an infinite silence that gave the feeling that he was the only inhabitant of the Earth at that moment. I wanted to scream, but I knew I was in enemy territory. I couldn't reveal my position.
Every step I took generated a noise that began to be annoying to my ears. The stones I found in my path, combined with my heavy suit full of metal parts, produced an unsettling sound that, being the only thing that broke the silence, was even strangely pleasant.
Following the trail of blood, I came to a ruined building. It was modern, with several floors that seemed to have been luxurious in the past. I approached the glass door, which seemed to be sliding by design. The trail of blood led straight inside. The door was intact, as if no one had entered. That seemed strange to me. With the butt of the gun I hit the glass hard several times until I managed to break it completely.
That's when I saw a scene I wished I hadn't witnessed. Everything was a disaster, more like hell. There were a number of corpses that I couldn't count on my fingers. Some were leaning against the walls, dead, while others lay on the ground, in pools of blood. Many of them had mutilated body parts.
I swallowed hard and went into the building. I noticed how my legs felt even heavier, as if something was trying to stop me from entering. As I went along, I began to step into the pools of blood, generating a wet, unpleasant noise that made me want to vomit. I continued to follow the blood stains, leaving behind new footprints due to the liquid that permeated my boots.
I came to a door that gave access to stairs that led up to the upper floors. It was ajar, and its handle was covered with the red liquid that was beginning to make me more and more uneasy. I opened the door carefully, watching as the stairs were illuminated by the peculiar reddish glow of the sky. In this part of the building, everything seemed to be in perfect condition, which made the silence even more invasive. I began to climb the stairs with complete care, if I was right about my stay in the cavities I could meet any ethereal being when I least expected it.
The steps seemed to get longer as I went up to the first floor. I noticed that halfway up there was a much larger amount of blood, giving the indication that the person from whom all this blood came had stopped longer than he should have. Suddenly I heard an almost inaudible voice shouting due to the distance. Was it my imagination or someone real? I didn't know it, but it came from what appears to be the top floor.
I quickly began to climb floors desperately, losing all the fear I had of meeting a being. That voice kept calling for help every few seconds, but there was something that disturbed me more than knowing that this building was a cemetery. Who was that voice? it was too familiar to me, a sweet voice, a voice... Female.
"PLEASE!" shouted that voice, finally audible to my ear but impossible to recognize.
"I'M COMING, HOLD ON!" I shouted. That voice stopped making sound, everything became even quieter than before, if that was possible. The scream I gave is as if it had been reason enough to make me not scream again.
When I was climbing the last steps to reach the top floor, a drop fell on my cheek. With the help of my hand I cleaned my face. The touch of this drop was thicker than the water should be, which made me carefully turn my hand away from my face, afraid to see what it was. It was blood. I quickly looked at the ceiling where I could witness how another corpse hung from the ceiling. I didn't know why but this time I didn't feel any discomfort. I kept looking at the body hanging from the ceiling, his jacket familiar to me. I went up to the top floor so I could see his jacket from the back. My eyes widened, it was a black jacket with the logo of the "Obsidian Division". Apparently this was a failed raid.
I approached the door where I could see the last trace of blood on the floor. Slowly I opened it. A blinding light prevented him from seeing anything.
"Avoid it," said a voice.
"Soukaku?" I asked.
"This can't end like this," he said.
My eyes adjusted to all the light, letting me see a room that was clearly unreal. It seemed like an endless space where the floor was nothing more than an invisible floor that gave you the feeling that you were walking above the clouds. It was as if I was in the sky, there were no walls, there was no floor, there was just me next to what seemed to be a white figure.
"Who are you?" I asked, trying to sound polite to avoid problems. It seemed to be something like a goddess and, even though I am a complete atheist, I was afraid to feel that because of my attitude my life was going to be a disaster.
The figure was slowly approaching with an angelic step. As he got closer he could see how behind his figure there was something that looked like... A girl?
"HELLO!" said a voice behind me.
I quickly jumped around, scared.
"W-WHAT!?" T-you weren't there?" I asked, pointing to the place.
"I can be wherever I please," he said with a charming smile.
"This... Who are you?" or rather, "What are you?" I felt that my questions were a bit edgy and that was something I had to be careful about.
"You don't seem to know me..." he murmured, "I AM..." he said, pirouetting and posing as if he had just saved the world. Goddess of war and death!
Morrigan? what an uglier name for a girl. Poor baby.
"Nice to meet you, Morrigan," I said with a forced smile.
"Mm?" What is the reason for such a forced smile? I'm not someone so bad as to despise me as soon as he sees me," he said in a cheerful and charismatic tone.
His appearance was not scary, he would, in fact, be beautiful. Her blond hair and slightly pale skin combined with her youth and good clothes made her something one could not get bored of seeing. The only thing that bothered me about his presence was the paranormal place I was in.
"Am I dead?" Or it's just...— Of course, I was asleep, it must have been a dream— A dream.
She clapped her hands with joy, excited at my discovery.
"Yes, yes, excellent, that's it," he said, approaching me and climbing on my back.
I staggered several times in search of balance.
"Without a doubt you are a smart boy," he said happily jumping on top of me.
"Can you tell me what this place is?" Why am I here?" he asked desperately looking for an answer.
Morrigan rolled her eyes, tired of the questions.
"Do you only know how to ask questions?" How boring you are. Well, I'll tell you what you want to know." He got off my back and started jumping up and down around me.
— I know this all sounds very cliché, but it's true. You are in your subconscious. Isn't it fantastic?" he asked happily as he continued his jumps.
"Yes, well, I think this was obvious to me but..." It had never happened to me before, I mean...
"Nerves," he said, interrupting me, "Stress, anxiety... There are many factors why you are here.
- Well, being here is not so bad but the before... What happened before has been something I would rather not have seen.
"Seen?" Isn't this the second time you've seen him?" she said strangely but without ceasing her jumps.
My heart stopped right then and there. A cold sweat began to come out of my forehead along with a dizziness that was very noticeable.
— What do you mean by "Segunda vez"?
"Mm?" Morrigan stopped jumping. "Haven't you..." Her eyes widened. "Or, right, it's not time yet."
"Isn't it time?" I asked.
She looked away with a smile.
"I can't tell you anything about it, it's the code of the gods of war, but what I can tell you is to watch every step you take, Lucas.
Suddenly, the world that seemed to be composed of clouds and an infinite blue sky began to turn into a place of blinding white. My vision was getting blurred.
"Watch my steps..." I murmured as I watched how that little girl stood by this dream world.
I opened my eyes, again, frightened, and slammed up, banging hard against the metal of the top bunk.
"Fuck..." I moved, bringing my hand to my head and caressing it carefully due to the pain.
I felt sticky and smelled unpleasant. I was sweating profusely. I looked out the window next to the door, saw a beam of light come through the glass and illuminate the dark hallway. WHAT TIME WAS IT? I quickly glanced at the clock hanging above the door. I got up suddenly, making a loud noise that luckily didn't alert anyone. He only had 10 minutes to get to the headquarters of the 6th division. Since I didn't have time for a shower, I opted to put deodorant and a cologne that I had lying around. I put on my uniform and in a hurry left for the barracks.
On the way I couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. What was that? Did he want to tell me something? Who was the voice that was crying out for help? They were questions that I wanted to answer but that I was not able to do.
After a long walk through the dark but dimly lit streets of the barracks, I finally arrived at the entrance of the barracks.