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It was past five o'clock. Damian went to his couch to rest his tired body. He never intended to, but he was sucked into the vortex of sleep all at once.
~~~~~
When he opened his eyes, Damian found himself standing before his father Donovan in the Desmond mansion— his brother, Demetrius, beside him. He was shocked to see their reflection in the mirror— he was as tall as his brother, had lush brown hair, strong jaws, and broad shoulders. He wore the signature Desmond attire.
"The war has finally come," Donovan said to his sons.
'War? What war? What's happening?' Damian thought.
"Aye, Father. We have done our utmost to prepare for this very day. I know we will triumph and Westalis will fall once and for all," Demetrius replied.
"Yes. They may have stalled us for a while with their little ploy, but what a small situation to not easily overturn," Donovan said.
He grasped the stem of his glass wine between his thumb and forefingers and turned to Damian.
"Damian, you have proven yourself worthy of the Desmond name. You have truly grown into a fine man. Eden did well in nurturing you. Now, you are ready to act according to our plans for Ostania," he said to his second son.
Damian swelled with pride as he received such praise. "Yes, Father. Tell me what to do and you shall not be disappointed," he said determinedly.
"Hm," Demetrius smiled.
"Very well," Donovan swirled his wine gently. "As you may know, in a few days, the truce with Westalis will be over and we will be at war."
"War? Will they break the truce?" Damian asked.
Donovan laughed. Demetrius responded in his stead.
"We, Ostania, will take over Westalis. We will be breaking the truce," Demetrius clarified. Damian's eyes widened.
Donovan took a sip of his wine.
"We will put Westalis to their knees. Ostania will dominate the world, Damian," Donovan said. He turned his back and walked to the window. "That is the purpose of this war."
'They prepared for war? They will break the peace between our country and Westalis? Haven't they thought about the consequences?' Damian clearly knew he fully disagrees internally.
Yet, Damian kept his opposition to himself. He refrained from saying anything that would throw his father off. He just can't and won't, now that he's earned his praise.
However, this was the first time he saw his father in this light, and the first time he ever knew he had such radical plans. He knew he was a renowned Ostanian politician and he's always believed that Donovan acted in Ostania's best interests.
But why wage war when staying in peace is an option? Why go on the path of death and destruction? Is this the kind of man who he wishes would acknowledge him? Why should he care for the favor of someone whose values do not align with his? His head filled with many thoughts as he contemplated his conflict.
"I shall require your assistance for the first time in this very room, second son," Donovan addressed Damian.
"What is the assistance that you wish from me, Father?" Damian asked.
~~~~~
The scene changed. Damian suddenly found himself barricaded in a park amidst the buildings in an unfamiliar town.
"Where am I?" he said.
"We are at Heathen, a town along the northern border of Ostania and Westalis, sir. We have started the operation," the soldier said.
'What operation?' Damian thought.
"District 1 completely raided. Westalis soldiers' casualties are yet to be confirmed," said a soldier.
"How about the civilians?" Damian asked.
"We were given orders by Mr. Donovan to raid and destroy everything in sight," the soldier answered.
"What? That is foolish!" Damian said. "I am ordering you to make sure not to involve even a single civilia—"
Suddenly, a loud blast was heard east of their position.
"Squad 8, evacuate Mr. Damian right now. Enemies heading your way! Ah!" A thump was heard as if the radio on the other end fell to the ground.
"Fall back!" the soldier beside Damian said. "Mr. Damian, please hurry—"
Suddenly, one of the barricades near them was blasted off, putting Damian and the rest of the soldiers down.
"What happened?" Damian was lying on the ground unable to move.
A man and woman appeared past the blast. Dressed in tight black jumpsuits and knee-high black boots, they knocked out every lying soldier within their sight. Each wore black head gear that fully protected their faces.
"Ostanian soldiers, please leave Heathen at once," the male Westalis agent said.
One of the soldiers tried to stand to oppose them. "For Ostania!" The soldier tried to stab the female Westalis agent. Dizzied by his fall from the blast, however, the soldier was easily subdued.
"This is just a pointless war that will bring nothing but death and destruction!" The female Westalis agent said to the soldier. She knocked the soldier out. Damian couldn't help but agree to those words. He doesn't want this war too.
"Let's tie them up," she told her colleague.
The two tied up all the soldiers as quickly as they can until finally, only Damian was left.
The man seated Damian. He bravely questioned the two agents as he was being tied.
"Why didn't you just kill us?" Damian asked.
The male Westalis agent looked at him.
"Mister, we disagree with this war in the first place so want to avoid casualties as much as possible," he said. He turned to his fellow agent. "Alright, bring him over there. I'll check the perimeter." He left them and patrolled to look for soldiers-in-hiding.
Damian continued to talk to the female agent. "But we already did something to this town, didn't we?" he asked.
The woman replied sounding puzzled. "Well, aren't you out-of-touch with your soldiers, Mr. Commander? Yes, you have raided and bombarded one of the districts. Your armaments blasted schools and buildings in that area. But there were no casualties, so we are not taking your heads," she said.
"How come there were no casualties?" Damian asked.
"Our intelligence has informed us in advance of your forces' movements, so we were able to take precautions."
"I see," Damian said. "This may sound odd coming from me, but I do wish the truce persisted and that we are not under this situation right now."
"Yes," the woman replied.
Suddenly, the two heard a creaking noise. A shot was then fired towards them which the woman agent amazingly dodged, pushing him away too, as if she knew where it was coming from.
"Stay down," she said. Damian did as she told.
The female Westalis agent and the soldier exchanged gunfire. She almost subdued the soldier but he intercepted with heavy steel which hit her and cracked her headgear.
"Ouch," the woman said. She removed the damaged equipment from her face. Damian saw a lady, maybe in her twenties. Her luscious pink hair fell onto her shoulders. But what caught his attention the most were two horn-like accessories in her head.
The woman continued to fight the soldier until she gained the upper hand and smacked him hard in the face.
'Ouch,' Damian thought as if he could empathize with the man. He watched the female agent as she dragged the soldier toward the large beam.
"Huh! That's what you get," she said. She took her clutched fists to the sides of her tiny waist, like a superhero saving the day. Damian couldn't help but be mesmerized by her silhouette.
"Please rid your head of funny thoughts," the woman said, as though she read his mind!
Damian gulped and immediately looked sideways.
The woman hurriedly tied the unconscious soldier. She then turned to Damian.
"That took me a while, didn't I?" she said as she approached him. "Are you alright?" she asked.
Damian couldn't help but inspect the lady's face— especially the pair of emerald eyes. He felt his chest tighten. Damian's face started to reflect a state of shock as he realized who she was.
"Anya?" Damian said as he blinked his eyes repeatedly as if trying to make sure he was really seeing the very person he's been trying hard to find all these years.
The lady froze and stared him in the face. Her eyes slowly widened.
"S-Sy-on boy?" Anya replied.
"Anya!" How he missed being called that name! It was really her! Damian couldn't believe his eyes.
Their reunion was slightly interrupted when they heard the other agent's voice. "Agent, have you knocked everyone out? We need to send them home ASAP."
"Roger that, I'm almost done here," she answered in a stern voice.
Anya then redirected her attention to Damian. Her shock was also visible. Damian subconsciously moved his hands to reach her, only to realize he's already been tied up.
Anya knelt in front of him. "I-It's been 5 years since I left to become a Westalis agent. I-I can't believe it... I-I thought I'd never see you again but... It's really you," she said.
"Anya... I don't want this war," Damian said to the pink-haired maiden.
"I know," Anya said, "Your thoughts and feelings are loud and clear."
She took a handkerchief and sprayed something in it. "But I have to do this, Damian. We are not on the same side of the fence."
"I tried to make the soldiers stop earlier," Damian said. "I could do it again..."
Anya knew he was telling the truth, but she knew how difficult it would be for Damian if she'd taken him with her.
Her heart breaking for what she is about to do, Anya gently caressed Damian's cheek. She pushed aside the hair that covered his face. She decided to take her time to talk to him.
"I'm sorry to break this to you, but this has always been your father's plan, way back to the days when we walked Eden Academy."
"I... I didn't know," Damian looked down.
"I am a Westalis agent now, Sy-on boy. I will do my best to defend lives and bring back peace, not just for the people of Westalis, but for those of you in Ostania as well."
Anya held the back of Damian's head and gently pushed it forward until the gentleman's face rested on her right shoulder, her sweet scent he gladly savored. Her hand gently caressed him until he found himself in her steady embrace. The embrace was so warm that it felt so real.
"When you wake up, you will find yourself back in Ostania," Anya said, as she embraced him tighter. "It was short but it's so nice to see you again after such a long time..."
"I want to stay with you!" Damian told her.
Anya removed herself from the embrace and held his tied hands instead. She looked down and shook her head.
"You can't, Sy-on boy. Your place is with the Desmonds— with your father and brother."
"But I don't agree with them," he insisted. "I don't want you to go..."
Anya squeezed Damian's palm. "Sy-on boy, this is not goodbye. If I survive this war, I promise to see you again in Ostania," she assured him.
"No! I-I want to fight for peace here, with you." Damian said as he begged her to keep him.
Anya smiled at him sweetly. "I want you here with me too, Sy-on boy, but we can't do that..." her voice slightly quivered. She took a deep breath to stop her tears.
"Listen, I'm sure there's something only you can do on the other side, for world peace. Figure it out for me, will you?" Anya started to move her hand which held the sprayed handkerchief that will force Damian to lose consciousness.
"Anya please no..." Damian panicked as he struggled to keep himself from sniffing the handkerchief, but to no avail.
"Sorry, Sy-on boy," Damian saw the pair of tearful emerald eyes watch him as his consciousness slowly faded. His heartbeat pounded slower, his voice shook, and his tears fell, as he struggled to say a few words...
"Anya... I love y—"
He faintly saw Anya kiss him on the forehead before everything in his sight faded into nothing.
~~~~~
Damian woke up panting from his sleep. He gently tapped his face twice to wake himself. He glanced at the clock to check the time. It's almost seven o'clock in the evening.
'I'd better get ready. Ewen and Emile will be waiting,' he thought. He was referring to their dinner out tonight at seven o'clock.
Feeling thirsty, Damian stood up and took a glass of water. The memories of the dream slowly went back to him.
'What kind of dream was that?' Damian thought. 'Father and Demetrius plotting something against the world? They're just being the typical elite politicians and businessmen for as long as I can remember."
He then tried to recall the other details in his dream. 'Father praised me, huh? It sure felt great. Oh, and I looked quite dashing as a bachelor.' He stood up and went in front of the mirror to straighten his clothes. He imagined that older version of him way taller than the little boy in the reflection. He smiled proudly at what he looked like in his head.
He then remembered the latter part of his dream.
'Anya is a Westalis agent? Seriously?' He chuckled to himself. 'Oooohhh, and she likes me, doesn't she? I knew it since the entrance ceremony! Still, trying to hide it because she's shy? Haha! Cute.' He grinned.
'But hey, as a grown-up lady, she's very beautiful and strong in that dream. Wait, it looked great on her but... why that outfit anyway? A-And I hope her partner agent is not trying to swoon her!' His emotions changed from blushing to feeling slightly pissed and jealous.
Damian sat on his bed as he tried to mentally piece together the remaining events of the dream in his head. He knew he had some last words for Anya. 'It was cut, right? Wasn't it I... lov...'
He froze.
'I LOV—?!' His palms flew to cover his mouth as he halted the thought from fully unraveling. He then felt a rush of blood to his head. His jaw felt like it was going to fall off. His chest felt like it was about to burst.
"Wh— wha— WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT?!" Damian exclaimed. He felt embarrassed yet strangely exhilarated at the same time. He dropped his body onto his bed and repeatedly rolled and kicked the air in an attempt to clear his head.
Still, he couldn't stop recalling things vividly: the grown-up Anya's touch on Damian's face, her warm embrace, her kiss on his forehead, how her luscious pink hair flowed, how she's grown beautifully, him being eerily caught looking at her silhouette, and the thought of how they would look really good together... The scenes kept flashing in his mind. It heightened the surging emotions that the poor boy had to stay down on his bed for a few minutes.
He took a pillow to his face.
"Not right, Damian Desmond! You couldn't be thinking such things!" He sounded muffled as the pillow covered his mouth. He still had difficulty accepting that his mind came up with something like this.
Damian sat at his bedside and found himself red-faced in the mirror. He reached for another glass of water, then took several deep breaths to ease his thumping heart.
"It's just a simple crush... it's not much. That dream is exaggerated." Damian told himself. "It's only a dream, no big deal." He placed his right palm over his chest. His heart still fluttered.
He stared at himself in the mirror for a while as he tried to understand his subconscious thoughts. He sighed.
"But I think I do want to keep her close," he blushed as he spoke. "She was the only person who consistently made an effort to reach out to me. Even more than my blood relatives, in fact. And she looks... sincere and true."
He felt a little calmer. Was it really just his resistance to acknowledge the feelings that sent him into an emotional overdrive after all?
Damian thought he finally understood himself and that it will be easier to forget those vivid memories.
Or at least he thought so—
'I can still feel her touch as she held my hand.'
'I hope she didn't tie me up early so I could have embraced her back.'
'Damn, she's so close.'
'Why the forehead?'
'Anya and I look really good together.'
'Anya, I lov—'
— but his mind won't let it go.
His face reddened a notch every time he wandered back.
'Ugh stop recalling it!' He said with a scrunched face. Damian stormed out of his room. He walked to the other building to meet his friends for dinner.
As he approached, Ewen and Emile noticed how Damian looked red and agitated. "Are you alright, bossman? Did something happen?" they asked him.
"I- I had... I am hungry. Let's go." The two boys followed.
Damian could not bring himself to tell even his closest friends about that dream.
~~~~~
Next Story Arc: Tiny Seeds of Young Love (Ch 17-19)
~~~~~