"This isn't right," Charlotte whispered, and Haru leaned forward, narrowing her eyes. Just ahead, the dirt road was broken up by something long and black- spiked strips on the road. "This is obviously meant for us, but…"
"There's nobody here," Cecil agreed as the cars came to a full stop. "We can't drive over, and there's not enough room to go around… but why wouldn't there be anybody here waiting for us?"
"There is," The catty woman spoke quietly, eyes narrowed. "They don't want to take us in, remember." Flicking something at her hip, Haru heard the static of radio as she spoke further. "Command, how far out is the bird? We may need to change the rendezvous point; there's an ambush ahead. Charlotte, over."
"Heard, Charlotte. There's a helipad and an old army hospital due roughly eight miles to your east. If you can make it there, we can change your pickup. Over."
"Acknowledged, we can." Aurelia's voice came through from the other car, and Cecil was already opening his door, stepping outside.
"Come on."
"Mhm, coming," Haru affirmed and stepped out of the car with Fox gripping her wrist. "Lead the way, bosses."
"No, we're going to do this another way." Charlotte cut in, shaking her head. "There's clearly a trap waiting for us, either in the trees or further down the road, or both. I'm fast- really fast, so let me take you, one at a time, to the place she mentioned. Okay?"
"Piggyback style?" Alexander asked with a raised eyebrow, approaching from the other car. "Or…"
"Yeah. Get on my back. You can go first," Charlotte affirmed, turning away from him and sinking to one knee.
"Right… why shouldn't Aurelia or Haru go first?" Alex asked skeptically as he stepped forward.
"Now isn't the time for chivalry," Aurelia snapped, shaking her head. "Just take the ride, it's going to be better than standing around here, and we need to move quick."
"I'll go first," Haru shrugged and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Charlotte's neck. "So what are you like super speed?"
"What are you like night vision? That doesn't even make sense," Charlotte snorted, standing up. "Alright, I'm coming back for the rest of you in a-" She blinked, rapidly, as did Aurelia, who was looking down and slowly, gingerly pressing a few fingers to her right shoulder. They came away gloved in scarlet, dripping, and Aurelia threw herself down, kneeling against the car again. "Go, Charlotte!"
"Get down!!" Cecil's shout was the last thing that Haru heard before the trees around her blurred, and the breath was knocked out of her lungs. Before she could try to get her bearings, the world around her changed color and she was falling onto her ass somewhere dusty, struggling to breathe. Everything spun, and for Haru fell back, unconscious before the back of her head hit the floor.
-
"Get down!!" Cecil shouted, ducking down and sheltering himself with one of the cars, yanking Fox down with him, forcing her onto her knees.
"If Charlotte is that fast," Fox hissed as another bullet blasted through one of the car windows, raining glass in Cecil's hair. "Why doesn't she just kill the snipers?"
"Don't know how many, or where. She knows where the hospital is, though."
"I'm hit," Alexander groaned, clutching his shoulder with red fingers. "That bastard- those bastards? They're good, shot me through Aurelia…"
"We're dead if they're behind us, as well," Aurelia jerked her chin toward the wide-open expanse of trees on the other side of the road.
"I'm back, come on Fox," Charlotte urgently whispered, grabbing the dark-haired girl and vanishing.
"We have to stall, what do we do?" Aurelia snarled, rocking a bit. "We can't let this mission go down the drain, we can't lose them." She winced, metal rending itself outward inches from her cheek, a bullet flying through and burying itself in the asphalt near her feet. "Hey, sit your ass down," She added, for the ranger who'd been found out via the cameras had tried to stand up.
"No, listen," He insisted, and Cecil reeled as Charlotte returned, grabbing Alexander and vanishing again almost before he could react.
"No-"
"Listen, Aurie," The ranger insisted, grabbing her wrist. "I'm dead, anyway. I chose to help. I'm a human. No magic, no tricks." He winced, blinking and grabbing his arm as blood splattered the asphalt. Without waiting, he began to smear mud from the road along his arms below the T-shirt he wore. "I'm dead one way or the other, and there won't be a trial."
"Mn." Aurelia nodded, looking away and released his arms. "They're running out of spots to shoot."
"My name is Lif, by the way."
"Some great final words, you want to impart?" Aurelia asked with one gingery eyebrow raised, but she didn't seem sarcastic.
"Nah. Live for me- if you let me die for nothing, you're gonna feel really bad-" Lif choked, grabbing his chest- the right side of his chest was bleeding, opposite his heart. Cecil registered that his arms being black, he could be mistaken for Alexander from a distance… and then his world twisted and spun. For a moment, it was impossible to see, or focus… and then he was coughing, rolling over and retching, linoleum under him. To his right, Alexander. To his left, Fox shaking Haru, and the white-haired girl stirring, groaning.
"Nn, shit…"
"Aurelia…?" Alexander winced as he stood up. "Where are she and the ranger?"
"Not sure." Cecil stood and walked away, looking around as he went, taking out his radio. For now, they seemed to be in the main lobby of the small hospital, complete with rusted front doors, a dusted over front desk and a computer that looked about twenty years old.
"Cecil, reaching out to command. Our position is likely forfeit- how far away is the bird? Over."
"Likely an hour, Cecil. Over."
"Teleportation feasible? Over." He winced, covering his mouth, another wave of nausea hitting from Charlotte's transportation.
"Unlikely. Do you need us to pull the failsafe, to guarantee safety? We are not afraid of the PR coverup. Over."
"Y-Yeah, send him in, if he's willing. We lurk much longer; everything is going to go up in flames. Over."
"Heard. We'll send the bird regardless, and alert you of new rendezvous coordinates after we communicate with the angel. Over."
"Ugh… Alright guys!" Cecil grinned weakly, turning around as Aurelia staggered into the room, and Charlotte appeared about fifteen paces from her, panting. Aurelia swayed, steadying herself, but managed to stay on her feet as the gathering looked up at Cecil, waiting. "We've called in our plan B. The trick is going to be staying alive until he arrives, so let's find somewhere safe to hide."
"I'm going to go out and scout," Charlotte nodded and vanished again, the rusted doors creaking in the wind after she'd gone. Rolling his shoulders, Cecil walked forward and reached out a hand to Haru, who still seemed dizzy, staring up at him with unfocused, tired green eyes. "Come on, we need to hole up somewhere other than here, with an easy door to the outside.
"Y-Yeah, let's go." Haru grasped his hand, gently, and pulled herself to her feet.
=
Ring… ring… The young man's default ringtone blared as he paced back and forth, already clutching his phone. Trying to calm his shaking hands, he raised the phone to his ear, swallowing.
"Hey. They need your help."
"Heard."
"If I may, Director- you do realize it's a bit strange, don't you? You're aiding a country that isn't your own, a conflict you are not involved in, and for nothing in return. The council is… suspicious that you may have some sort of ulterior motive."
"Can't an angel just want to save lives? Starria falling would be a favor to the world, forget Mir, forget those heroes. If it didn't break every accord in the world, I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd have turned that castle into a bloodbath a long time ago."
"Still… they've asked me to question you on just one thing."
"What's that?"
"Why do you know of this conflict? You're halfway across the world."
"A little dog barked and I got the message," He smirked, licking his lips and trying to stop a laugh from escaping into his voice. "I'll be there in a couple hours, alright?"
"Director. You're going to have a mountain of questions coming your way… but, thank you for offering your service."
Click.
=
"Alright, we hole up here and wait this out." Cecil muttered, locking the doors to what must have, at one point, been a morgue. The room was chilly, dark, and wide open, but somehow, Haru didn't have a problem seeing from end to end of the room. There were weird doors along the walls, all of them in the shape of a simple square… somehow, the uniformity rubbed her the wrong way, and Haru swallowed, casting her eyes to the floor.
"This is a good hiding spot. Back door in case, too," Aurelia sighed, leaning back and rubbing her shoulder. "I'm healed up. Any updates?"
"Just that we need to hold out for an hour or two. We can do that, right?"
"Definitely," Aurelia muttered, flicking her wrist. Perhaps via magic, Haru heard the click of a switch, and a handful of emergency lights in the ceiling fluttered to life. "Miracle; this place still has power."
"It probably ran on emergency lines," Cecil grunted, looking around slowly. The room was, by and large, completely empty, just as it'd seemed before. "Old hospitals like this, they were used during wartime, so making sure they couldn't be sabotaged was high on the list of priorities."
"I think…" Alexander trailed off for a moment, clasping his blackened hands together. "I think I might have been a doctor. Or… something, like that. This place feels familiar; it has since we walked in. I'm not sure, though."
"I can't remember much, either." Fox swallowed, slowly wrapping her arms around Haru's left one, getting comfortable. "I think I was a student, though. Some huge campus keeps coming to mind- and a garden…? Who knows what I was studying though. Maybe pretty girls with white hair."
"When we get to Mir," Aurelia cut in, glowering; "I am going to PERSONALLY buy you a room. Because I do not want to hear it right now." Her statement was met by a snort from, shockingly, everybody present, and then a light laugh. For just a moment, there was an easy air, and then something occurred to Haru.
"What happened to the forest ranger?"
"Snuck away. The sniper backed off after a while, seemed to think that Charlotte had ferried all of us out. Hoping he's safe," Aurelia added, looking away, and something seemed off to Haru, but she bit her tongue and decided not to question it for now.
"Do you think that they're going to find us here?"
"I'd love to say no. Probably, though- it's really the only place that we could have gone, so I'm hoping our help arrives first."
"Something other than the bird- you mentioned that right? Who's coming to help us?"
"Somebody who likes to do charity work," Cecil laughed, shaking his head. "A crazy bastard with some issues. Either way, we can trust him to bail us out, if he's on time."
"Got you…" Haru sighed, leaning back again, and shuddered as she felt herself being pulled by Fox. In a moment, her head was on the shorter girl's shoulder, her weight being supported.
"Don't worry- I can hold my own against these humans when I can see them. A sniper can cower in the shadows," Cecil explained, flexing his fingers. "In a building with corners, it's a lot harder. Aurelia has some tricks, and I've got a lot of magic tied to weapons and the like. We'll be okay, at least in the short term… but if they figure us out, there are going to be some fireworks."
As if on cue, the lights in the ceiling went out, and over their heads, somewhere, there was a banging noise, shouting voices. Cecil rolled his eyes and slowly paced to one of the doors, lighting a flashlight he'd pulled from a pocket and aiming it low, toward the floor.
"This is fine, right?" It was Fox who asked, worriedly, lips curling downward some.
"This is… this is fine," Cecil agreed, nodding, but Haru saw the stiffness in his eyes, the worry.
"Get ready," Aurelia whispered, standing and approaching the other door, drawing a firearm from beneath her jacket. "Let's hope there's only a few of them.