An unfamiliar sight appeared before him.
Luciel first saw a low ceiling of dark, cold steel. There were conduits running along the frame, pulsing with a dim blue light.
The second thing that reached him was the smell.
Clean antiseptic, sharp enough to sting the back of his throat; sterile air that carried the faint metallic tang. Under it all, a medicinal sweetness clung like a film on his tongue.
It was unmistakably a medic room smell, and he hated it with all his heart. Luciel could never get used to the smell of "clean," especially when it was artificially manufactured. He had long lived with the smell of dirt and poverty, and along the way with Bambi, the scents of the wilderness and ordinary people. He had grown quite fond of them, even though he was supposed to escape from them.
It was a contradiction he allowed himself from time to time.
Then, he heard a soft sound breaking through the silence. It was a low breath, hitched and uneven, coming from somewhere beside him.
He turned his head.
'This girl…'
Bambi sat in a chair beside his bed, her arms folded on the edge of the mattress. Her face was buried in them. She looked like she hadn't left the room since they arrived here — wherever this place was.
He decided to call her out.
"Bam—"
Her head immediately snapped up. Her red-rimmed, puffy eyes locked onto his. For a moment, she stared at him, dazed. She touched his face to see if it was real.
"Did you cr—"
Luciel barely had time to form a question before she lunged onto him in a hug.
"Ah! That hurt—wait, it doesn't…"
The bed frame groaned under the sudden weight. Her arms locked around him like a metal chain, her face buried in his shoulder.
"You idiot! Stupid! Dumbass! Dimwit! Moron! Idiot…"
'There you go.'
Just like he'd expected, she cursed him out from start to finish for pulling something like this. It felt endearing to hear her spew profanity.
"Said 'idiot' twice."
"Jackass!"
Luciel inwardly chuckled.
"You think I'd ever die from this?"
Bambi raised her head and glared at him. It gave him a better look.
Safe to say, her face was a mess. Her eyes were red and swollen, her nose flushed, tears glistened on her cheeks. Her lower lip trembled between a snarl and a pout, and her breathing hitched uncontrollably.
She looked like she wanted to kill him and cry again at the same time.
'Well, I did die like two times in a span of three days.'
A tight knot formed in his chest, equal parts guilt and relief. It was his second brush with death, and the second time he had seen Bambi cry this intensely.
"Come here."
Bambi nodded and buried her face in again. Luciel was pretty sure her snot was all over his clothes now that she'd started crying again.
It would take a few minutes for her to calm down, so he refrained from asking any questions.
In the meantime, he tried to recollect the events that happened. It wouldn't be surprising if he had severe injuries, but he came out unscathed.
'Heck, how did my clothes even survive?'
It was an existential question Luciel didn't have an answer to.
With his mind all jumbled, he figured he needed some rest before having a working brain again. He looked at Bambi with soft eyes as she held him tightly, as if he would flee if she didn't chain him down.
Maybe he should take a moment to appreciate this.
After about thirty minutes, Bambi settled down and fell asleep.
Just then, Luciel heard the metallic door hissed open. He slowly turned toward the sound and immediately froze.
A woman casually leaned against the door frame with her arms crossed, yet the pressure she exuded was so palpable and crushing that he felt he was being choked. It reminded him of the first time he came face-to-face with Bambi. The calm aura of an Elf and the dominant pressure of a Guardian made his hair stand on end and froze him in place.
However, this woman's pressure was far more domineering than Bambi's.
'She's definitely not a Guardian, I can tell you that much.'
She had short, dark hair that fell just past her jaw, and her eyes were dark and half-lidded. Being a Resonator, her beautiful appearance was expected, but even then, it was striking enough to make Luciel redefine the beauty standard.
He glided his eyes down and saw a thin choker settling around her neck. She wore a crimson dress shirt beneath a long black trench coat that hung open and loose off her shoulders. A wide leather corset hugged her waist, with silver chains looping beneath it like waist chains; low-rise black trousers and heels finished off her look.
There was a small, girlish detail that clashed with everything else about her — a red ribbon pinned behind her ear.
"Your stare is quite intense, kid."
Luciel immediately went on high alert. For all he knew, that woman could be an intruder.
"Who are you?"
The woman cleared her throat and strode toward the bed.
'Shit.'
He tried to wake Bambi, but as he reached for her, the woman was already in front of him.
'Fast!'
Luciel was about to summon Dawn when the woman opened her mouth in a whisper.
"Relax. I'm a friend of Bambi. You're on my ship right now."
He gave her a doubtful look, his stare intense.
The woman pulled up a chair and sat down, her legs crossed.
"Sorry for the late introduction. Belynda Enclazante, captain of Golden Flower Corporation's Gleipnir Squad and master of Gleipnir."
Golden Flower Corporation… when he heard of the name, he was rather stunned. There was no one who did not know of the Golden Flower Corporation, a first-rate PNA company that every Resonator wanted to work for.
PNA, which stood for Protect-Neutralize-Assault, was the global operational framework established by Heerser to regulate, license, and invest in elite combat or logistics companies. Contracted and accredited by Heerser, these companies' responsibility was to confront threats originating from the Shattered Realm.
In other words, PNA companies were semi-autonomous military-corporate entities, and Golden Flower stood at the top.
'So when Bambi said she knew someone very high up, all this time she meant the freaking GFC?'
Luciel was speechless for a moment before regaining his composure.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
Belynda leaned back on the chair.
"You can ask Bambi later. Either way, I have a proposal for you, Luciel."
Judging by how she knew his name, Bambi must've mentioned it.
"I'm listening."
After a pause, Belynda said:
"Working at Golden Flower, how does that sound? I'm formally recruit—"
"Nooooo! Don't you dare steal him, you old hag!"
Bambi sprang into action like a sleeper agent who'd just heard the code word.
Belynda raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Old hag? I'm 58, currently in the prime of my life right now."
"Ugh. Whatever. Just don't touch him. Have you even apologized to him yet? You almost killed him! No… apologizing isn't enough!"
Right. Only now did he realize that the huge metal mass he'd last seen floating in the sky was probably Belynda's ship. But what were they doing here? He guessed they had come to meet Bambi, and that was it.
Luciel glanced at Belynda, who then replied with a gaze of her own:
"I'm truly sorry for this incident. The coordinates we entered fell within the error margin and brought us near your location instead of the planned zone. We will compensate you fairly."
Bambi growled at Belynda, then looked to him for approval, checking whether he was okay with it.
Luciel nodded and turned his attention to Belynda.
"I'll hold you to that."
She chuckled and smiled.
"Bold. I like you. You should really come work here."
He gave her a corporate smile, then purposefully ignored her remarks and changed the topic:
"How long was I out?"
Belynda glanced at her wrist where her Resonance Watch was.
"About six hours."
She lifted her chin toward Bambi.
"She refused to let us leave — not until you woke up."
Six hours wasn't so bad, considering he'd thought he would be hospitalized with severe burns and squashed organs.
Sitting on the bed beside him, Bambi crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised as if daring anyone to disagree.
"Is it unreasonable?"
Belynda sighed.
"No."
She stood up and fixed her coat.
"I understand that you're still angry, but Joanne needs a word with you. She can't put it on hold any longer."
Bambi fell silent, head bowed, before lifting her gaze.
"Alright. But he's coming."
She pointed at Luciel.
This time, Belynda was the one silent, deep in thought while keeping eye contact with both of them. Then she turned around and walked out the door.
"Follow me."