Birds chirped, perched on the pillars surrounding the fountain. I had been staring at the sky for the past hour, and active attempts to stop spacing out clearly failed. Evening sunlight filled the sky and reflections.
"Tch." Tsiene clicked her tongue as soon as she saw me. "I already told you it's not gonna happen. Why're you here again?" Her hair was blonde now.
Zoning back in, I stared at her. "Why are YOU here?" I said, pointing at her. "I come here every day because I like to, what about you?"
Tsiene sat at the edge of the fountain, dipping her feet in the fountain water. "…Because I like to?"
"Oh. Makes sense. Why don't you wanna help me?"
Tsiene's eyes narrowed. "You hit your head? We failed the mission! The deal is off! Find someone else to guide you!"
"Ah…but, what about the woman?"
"She got away. Some kind of teleportation ability. Just so you know, she ran away because of you." Tsiene's voice held a rare tone of contempt. "Nothing goes according to plan when you're involved."
"Cut me some slack." I sighed. "I don't even know how they found out."
Tsiene turned away. "No knowledge. No integrity. No ambition."
"Sorry." I gulped.
She sighed, getting up and sitting on the bench beside me. "I'll guide you to the Sanctuary if you help me find them."
I glanced at her. "What if we had to go there to find them?"
"Huh?" Her posture straightened, eyes widening. "Are you serious? Lying won't do you good."
"I'm serious. We need to go there as soon as possible."
"And you didn't think of telling me this 2 whole days ago?" She stared into my soul.
"I-I was considering it."
She gave a deep sigh, covering her face with her hands. "Fine…But if I got to know you lied…" She pulled out a Gremlin doll from below her mantle and shoved it into my face. "I'll kill you."
"Ngh—" I choked on my words. "I understand!"
Tsiene retrieved the doll and relaxed. "…"
Following her, I put my guard down and sit in a more relaxed posture. "What should I call you? I can't just refer to you as 'You'." I questioned.
"Call me Tsiene or just stick with 'You'." She replied in a monotone voice.
"There's no way I'm calling you by your name. Are you that desperate to make me 'disappear'?"
"Then don't ask me!" She got up and went back to sitting on the fountain's edge.
"Shouldn't we get along if we're gonna complete that mission together?" I argued.
Tsiene ignored my question and plunged her head into the fountain water.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled in a panic.
"Cooling off…" Steam rose from where she submerged her head.
Confused, I replied. "That's not an explanation…"
After some careful consideration, I blurted out. "What about Doll? Can I call you that?"
Tsiene's head rose from the water but gave no reply.
"Sorry, was that a bad name? I-I thought it would suit you since you used explosive dolls…and are kind of expressionless…like a doll." My hands were up on guard.
Tsiene finally turned to me, her face red, perhaps from submerging her head so long. "…I don't mind."
More steam radiated off her face. "Shit." She submerged her head in the water again.
"What's wrong? You keep doing that." I got up and walked toward her.
Her hand raised, stopping me. "It's nothing for you to worry about. Meet me at the old gym tomorrow. Ten 'o' clock." She raised her head out of the water again. "Come in decent clothing. No uniforms."
I took a step back. "O-okay…" I took the opportunity to leave. "See you tomorrow, Doll."
Even more steam radiated from her, causing her to submerge her head in the fountain water again.
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Early the next day, I arrived in the old gym clad in a simple black turtleneck and pants, along with my favourite fur-collared jacket. Tsiene hadn't arrived yet.
I fidgeted with my hair in the broken mirror that sat amidst the pile of broken furniture and trash.
"Good job wearing something normal." Tsiene appeared behind me.
"GAH!" I recoiled away. "Don't scare me!"
Tsiene shrugged. "Scaredy-cat."
"For the record, this is my best outfit!" I glared at her, feeling the heat rise to my face. "Let's just go."
"You're not gonna bring any weapons with you?" She questioned.
"…? Why?" I replied.
Tsiene sighed. "Never mind."
Tsiene climbed the pile of furniture, gesturing for me to follow.
Following her, I almost slipped on the trash, but Tsiene grabbed my arm and pulled me up. "Don't break your back before we even get there."
"Thanks…"
Once at the top of the pile, she pulled her left arm back and swung it at the air; the sound of shattering glass resonated.
The space around the fist fell apart in the form of glass shards, revealing an elevator shaft.
"W-what? How?! It was this easy?!"
"Not really. You can't open the space if you didn't swing at it with a certain code embedded in your consciousness." Tsiene replied.
An elevator came down and opened its doors with a chime.
"Again, with words I don't understand…" I sighed as I followed her into the elephant-sized elevator.
There were only three buttons. [SN], [AC] and a red-colored button: [SW]
Tsiene clicked [SW] and leaned on the elevator wall. "It's gonna take a while. Make sure you're ready for the invasion."
"Alright." I cracked my knuckles. "Hm? Wait, what'd you say?"
"Make sure you're ready for the invasion." She stated.
"Invasion? What invasion?"
She didn't answer me. Rather, she meditated while standing upright for the rest of the ride.
'She certainly has some weird habits.'
Another chime indicated the destination's arrival.
"We're here, Doll." I poked her shoulder. She flinched awake. "You were sleeping?"
"Let's go!" She dashed out, and I followed her.
As soon as I stepped out, a pungent, sickly smell invaded my nose, and I covered it in disgust. "What the hell?!"
We were in the sewers. Dark, grimy, rusted sewers.
"We have to hurry to the Gremlin Outpost nearby, let's go!" She urged me.
I dashed behind her, unable to ask any questions.
A few minutes of running later, Tsiene climbed a metal ladder and opened the sewer lid, climbing out and dashing again.
As I jumped out, sunlight blinded me. It took me a few seconds to adjust and finally see the 'Sanctuary'
A grandiose Western nobility-inspired city. Numerous waterways and canals ran through and around the buildings, but pedestrians were also given clean footpaths, making it a walkable city.
It seemed to be partially deserted as there were barely any people in this part of the city.
"Is this paradise? How can a place so beautiful be so deserted?" I asked Tsiene as I followed behind her.
"This part of the city is on lockdown." Tsiene replied. "Besides, each Sanctuary only has a maximum of five hundred thousand permanent residents; it's supposed to be a tourist city."
"Tourist city?"
Tsiene grunted as she jumped over a canal. "The beauty is for the visitors, not the residents."
Just then, a loud alarm blared in the area. "TWO INTRUDERS DETECTED. UNIDENTIFIED. GREMLIN FACTION."
I looked up at the source of the noise while covering my ears. A blimp flew slowly over us, a large screen on it showing blurry pictures of our backs and a close-up picture of Tsiene's face.
"Is this what you meant by Invasion?!?" I yelled.
"Yes!" She declared. "Although I didn't expect us to be seen."
"Couldn't we have come in normally?!"
"Huh? You didn't wanna invade the Sanctuary to take them down from the inside?" Tsiene asserted.
I corrected her. "OBVIOUSLY NOT!" I shouted, trying to be louder than the alarm.
'My peaceful hike to self-discovery has become a fugitive epic!' I could only cry internally.
The sirens stopped abruptly.
"Hm? Aren't you Amari's little brother? Why're you in Falonia?" A sweet, feminine voice came from above me.
My head jerked upward, looking for the voice. Then, I saw her; a sundress and a biker coat over it, along with copious amounts of makeup. "You're…a Captain…".
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[End of Chapter 2: Ambition]