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"Colonel Wenzel. Take command for me if something happens."
In case something happens, something that could incapacitate Lena from her duties as commander of Eighty-Six Strike Package. Something that would knock the queen off the chessboard. Even with that, Vladilena Milizé decided to make use of herself and expose her position in front of the enemy. Shin's teeth gnashed. He knew Lena well enough to at least have expected such a risky maneuver on her part. That didn't mean he agreed. Yes, it was the most logical choice to lure the Phönix in order to strike against the unit, but that was at the cost of a person's life, his Major's life.
Lena could die.
The mere thought tormented him. Shin was aware that it was a completely illogical thought to expect the Alba to be out of any danger. They were in the middle of a war, with her as the commander and queen of the Eighty-Six; it was a fact of life that Lena, at some point, would be exposed to danger.
But not like this!
However, it was one thing for circumstances to bring the commander into harm's way. It was quite another for the commander herself to call out to the enemy, almost begging them to come after her and daring the Legion to catch up with her.
"Please. Raiden, Theo... I'm sorry."
And Shin decided to be selfish. He exposed his comrades-in-arms, his friends in Sector Eighty-Six to more danger because he wanted to, he needed to be selfish right now. He wouldn't let that thing get to Lena, not when he could do something to prevent it.
He focused on the cries and screams of the Legion. Deafening shrieks filled with anguish, the iteration of the last moments of hundreds of people, their last words distorted by the fusion of machine and corpse. Even with all that, and more with the Dinosauria just a few meters from him, Shinei Nouzen concentrated so that, there in the distance and the open plain, he heard the shriek of an angry unit. The Phönix advanced swiftly through the snowstorm, a phantom stalking a few miles from Vanadis' location, from Lena. He believed for the tiniest instant that the unit was about to attack, the Reaper had to confirm it. A simple mistake would cost his queen her life.
However, even though Shin was beginning to change his attitude towards the world and its cruelty, it all came crashing down in a second. The Dinosauria, so close to the boy that the Phönix's scream could barely be compared to a whisper, roared violently. Despair, pain, anger. The ghostly cry became living hell for Shin and everyone connected to him through the Para-RAID. . The roar of the Dinosauria deafened the entire surrounding Legion, so much so that Shin lost his bearings while the metallic noise and the rain of ammunition remained constant.
It was those short stunned moments that were enough for the Phönix to reach its target. Or rather the bait posing as it.
"Your Majesty!"
Shiden couldn't see it. The Legion's shouts had also left her slightly dazed. She lost her focus and her aim; she failed in her duty as the queen's guard. Though she tried to glimpse something, there was nothing. The storm in combination with the liquid armor did not allow her to know where the hell the furious unit was.
She had nothing left to do but wait if, by some miracle, that thing didn't reach the woman to whom ahe swore her allegiance.
The roar of the Phönix sounded like a mixture of satisfaction and bloodlust. Shin managed to hear it.
"Shiden—!"
It was too late. The high-frequency blades struck with all the pent-up resentment of their previous defeats at Vanadis, cutting through steel like butter. From the Para-RAID, everything could be heard: the continuous clinking of the swift chains and their swinging blades, resembling whips ready to wound their victims.
Even if Vanadis was a defensive and command center unit, it possessed a few weapons with which to defend itself. They were deployed as soon as the shrieks of the feathered unit came in contact with it.
"Fire!"
The 12.7 mm machine guns ferociously ejected all their ammunition. The Phönix jumped back with a great leap, its feathers ruffled as if it was trying to intimidate the Vanidis.
It did not know it was dealing with Vladilena Milizé, who did nothing but remain composed as she stretched out her arm in symbol of order. She was the commander, she would not fall to the first unit that came to her fort.
Not while her subordinates kept their concerns about her.
"The Phönix is ten meters southeast of Vanadis—! Shiden!"
A blast slammed viciously into the Phönix, wounding it in multiple locations and leaving it exposed, finally.
In all that exchange, which was barely twenty seconds in, Shin felt like he could breathe.
It... It didn't kill her...
His fists clenched, he bit his lip hard. He couldn't be of any use, he didn't achieve the one thing he wanted, and even with those, Lena was alive. Shin Nouzen, who had long ago accepted that the gods did not love humanity enough to be so generous, thought this was the divine work of a higher being. Lena was miraculously alive. Frozen in place, he listened as the Phönix screeched away from Vanadis in a hurry, who was probably wounded enough to prefer to retreat and go in search of his real target.
Somehow he noticed that he had gone hunting the wrong prey.
Relief did not come to his heart. He had one last thing to confirm before returning to the others and destroying that damned Dinosauria.
Licking his lips, the jet finally spoke. "Are you all right, Lena?"
He didn't have the mental fortitude after such a scare to keep up appearances and military rules. He just... wanted to make sure that, despite Alba's reckless gamble, she was okay.
Connected by the Para-RAID, Lena said nothing. That absence of words made him tense, more so when what the RAID device was conveying to him was exhaustion and... pain?
"Yes. I'm..." He heard her swallow. Her breathing was more audible. "I'm fine, Shin."
Something inside him told him he couldn't believe her. Between the signals coming through the Sensory Resonance and the distinct tremor in the commander's voice, Shin felt he had to insist.
"Will you promise me, Lena, will you swear to me that you are all right at this moment?"
Again, silence. A shaky sigh and a short hesitation.
"Yes... I promise, Shin."
It was a fairly well-known fact how the Eighty-Six Reaper was a soldier of unmatched presence. Crimson-eyed, death-like and with a countenance that reminded all his comrades that he was the fittest of all the downtrodden. Someone trustworthy on the battlefield, kind to his peers and caring for those he cherished most.
Among the most famous characteristics of the Undertaker user was his silent walk. A presence that, unless you were as skilled as he was, you wouldn't notice until the last second. Many who were not Eighty-Six chided him for that as a bad habit, that it was scary how he would appear out of nowhere in front of anyone.
His walk was not particularly silent today. It was hurried, steadily paced and fast, ignoring any form of the stealth that characterized him. Almost as if he was not interested in not being noticed. Only those who knew him well could tell: the headless Reaper was annoyed.
"This is Colonel Wenzel to all Strike Package units. I am assuming command."
Shin's expression tightened from just remembering that short transmission.
"Colonel."
The signal from the Para-RAID was just communicating the two of them. He didn't want anyone to interrupt, not even the rest of Spearhead Squad.
"Where is Colonel Milizé?"
"Captain Nouzen, we are in the middle of a mission of great importance. See to it that you keep your concerns off the battlefield." She spoke sharply. It was not the tone in which she normally addressed her subordinates, much less these children who were forced to be soldiers, but the situation was critical. Despite her displeasure, she continued with her orders. "Our top priority at this time is the search and capture of the unit identified as Merciless Queen."
"Colonel. Where is Lena?"
He repeated. Almost pleading. Grethe bit her lip, she could not afford to lose one of the most valuable units among the Eighty-Six. However, she was also aware of the hundreds, if not thousands of things that must be going through Shin's head by not listening to the precious Alba reaching out to them. Knowing that keeping quiet would not improve anything, she opted to reveal a bit of the situation.
"Colonel Milizé is alive."
She was still alive, she revealed nothing more.
"Colonel—"
"If you want to know what happened, finish your mission and come back, did you understand, Captain?"
With that short exchange of words, Shin once again plunged into the battlefield. He finished the mission and they managed to capture that strange Legion who, according to Vika, might be the Empire's researcher Giade, the creator of the Legion. Despite the positive outcome of the operation, Shin ignored any kind of talk about it. That included the Spearhead members. Raiden, who knew him better than anyone else, urged him to leave the job to his comrades. It took him only a short glance to know that Shin had only one thing on his mind. "Go." Go see the Major. A short nod and the jet was gone.
Lo and behold, Shin burst into Colonel Wenzel's office.
"You could have knocked on the door, you know."
There was no hint of grace in the blonde's voice. It was just a fleeting comment, all while two rubies looked at her with anything but respect.
"Where is she and what happened?"
"Captain—"
"Command relief is not common in large-scale operations, much less those involving the Eighty-Six." He walked over to the female veteran's desk, resting his hands on the oak and keeping his gaze fixed on his superior. "So I demand to know what happened."
"You demand it as Colonel Milizé's subordinate?"
It is to be expected that, after some time sharing in the fight, a subordinate would appreciate his superiors if they did a good job, guided by sound judgment and a steely mentality in effectively leading those under their command. But that appreciation didn't go beyond a working relationship. Was that what Shin felt for Lena? Was it a feeling so basic that it boiled down to a few words that fit a definition?
No. What Shin felt for Lena, the appreciation there was on his part for Alba went far beyond that. Even when he himself was unable to define it.
"I demand it as someone who cares for her."
Grethe's tense features softened. The young man in front of her was not a soldier, but a boy full of concern and anguish for someone else.
The former pilot sighed. "She's at the base medical center. Ask for her and tell them you came from me."
"Colonel—"
"If you want answers, ask Vladilena."
"Thank you."
He didn't wait for a reply and before Wenzel could say anything, Shin had already vanished.
The first thing that warned Lena that a visitor was approaching was the abnormal echoing of the person's footsteps outside the room. They were not loud, which she would compare to those of a high-ranking officer. Nor were they soft and short, like those of a young girl. It was what you might describe as the footsteps of a spy who could not maintain stealth or composure. She couldn't think much about it, since as soon as she heard that strange rhythm, a pair of jet hair and a pair of bright crimson eyes entered her field of vision.
In turn, Shinei Nouzen, the unexpected visitor, kept her expression above the silver-haired girl. Standing in the middle of a white room, and in turn covered by a thin sheet of the same color, Vladilena Milizé stared dumbfounded at the Reaper of the Eighty-Six. The one person who would have notified her of this did not, which added even more to the surprise factor. Lena hadn't even thought of a minimally acceptable explanation for the boy in front of her eyes. Or well, her eye. Covering part of her head and her left eye, the pale bandages covered her right arm as well, from which small brown spots stood out. Shin instantly recognized that peculiar color, his teeth gnashed and his dry lips parted slightly.
Lena swallowed and clenched her hidden hands tightly, crumpling the cloth covering her.
"Shin—"
"You promised me you were okay." He interrupted her violently. "You told me you were fine and shortly thereafter the Colonel assumes command of your position." Shin's fists clenched, small tremors coursing through him, barely perceptible to anyone but him.
"These are situations that can occur in the middle of an operation—"
"You, of all people, would never abandon your position unless you were physically unable to." He didn't care if he was facing Vladilena Milizé, his direct command superior. Right now, he was talking to Lena, the Handler One who logged on and chatted with them every night until almost three years ago. Shin was facing Lena, not as the queen of the Eighty-Sixers, but as a friend. "And all that was right after the Phönix hit Vanadis. What do you have to say about that, Lena?"
"The objective was to destroy the unit at the time and, despite the fact that it escaped, there were no casualties."
"But there could have been."
"Shin—"
"You yourself could have been a casualty."
"But I wasn't." Alba replied with slight annoyance.
"You could have died, Lena."
"So what? It was a risk I was willing to accept. I couldn't allow the Phönix to go in pursuit of you having it in my vicinity."
If I thought about it logically, the succession of events following the Phönix's appearance was but one of the possibilities. Lena could have been unharmed as much as she could have been killed in the face of reckless acting. And she would have been. Things happened and, no matter how much he complained, the past could not be rewritten. Shin should have accepted it. He should have accepted it, but in those short moments when he believed Lena was dead after making her promise that she was fine.
"It would have made no difference if it went on my quest, not so in your case."
"You know perfectly well that's not the case. It was illogical for them to come on my hunt, because I was just the base of operations."
The way she downgraded her value the mere strategic scope, the way she belittled her part in the operation and her very existence ended what little patience Shin had left.
"Still you had no reason to have acted so stupidly!"
"Excuse me! I'm telling you it was the most logical and rational way possible!"
"Not to me it isn't! Exposing yourself like that, calling so that damn machine was going to kill you, what the hell were you thinking?"
"I was thinking of the greater good." Alba stated firmly. With her silver gaze and firm posture, no one would think the young commander was injured in any way. It was the presence of the bandages and brown drops that gave her away. "If we could have finished off the Phönix then and there, it would have been one less worry for—"
"I don't care about that!" In the heat of the argument, Shinei had gotten close enough to Lena that averting her gazes was fruitless. "I don't care if it was for the greater good, you didn't have to... you didn't have to be willing to risk death like that."
For the first time in a long time, Lena heard raw emotion escape Shin's lips. Trembling and shaken, a cruel spectacle to those who believed the headless Reaper to be nothing more than a man whom death haunted and consumed. And though the female could have replied in dozens of other ways to the jet's tirade, she understood what the boy was trying to express.
You could have died.
I could have lost you.
Their last talk, the one in which she had tried to show Shin that she was worthy of trust, had ended abruptly. Whatever Reaper was feeling at the moment, Lena was almost certain that the emotion expressed at this very moment was of a similar nature. Emotions that boiled from his body and whose pressure did nothing but hurt his already wounded heart.
Despite being rejected and crying over it, Vladilena decided to keep trying to be a shoulder for Shin to lean on.
Even if rejection was still his answer.
"I'm here, Shin."
The silver orbs watched him gently. They didn't hold anything against him, not even the selfish desire that his previous speech hinted at. Just... they were there, reflecting in a sea of red. Lena noticed how Shin's hands trembled, so, with no more words to say about it, she grabbed his hand. Cold and much smaller, pale and with round pink nails, Lena's right hand did its best to cover most of Shin's hand, who gasped at the body contact. Shinei held still, neither turning away from their union nor averting the gaze he had on Lena, this woman who had changed his life from the very instant he met her.
"What happened? ...Lena."
It was not an accusatory tone, but one of genuine concern. Knowing she couldn't leave Shin's intentions up in the air, she decided to be honest for once.
"The high-frequency blades pierced Vanadis." She began. "Somehow, I managed to get far enough away that it wasn't a deadly attack. However..." With her arm bandaged, Lena gently touched the bandage covering her left eye. "...Part of the blades grazed against my eye and arm. I will say this could have gone a lot worse, so I have no complaints."
"You relinquished command." Shin recalled.
"Officer Marcel urged me to stand down...he said I was losing too much blood to stay on the front lines." And the reality was so, the doctors had warned him. Had she still stayed in the operation, she would most likely have bled to death in her unit alongside a single officer. Without outside or medical help. Lena thought it best to spare Shin these details, even if she wanted to be honest with him.
It was hypocritical of her, if she thought about it. She was asking Shin to trust her even when she was willing to lie to his face, like now. I don't want to hurt him anymore. She assured in her head.
Even with everything, Shin didn't look satisfied or relieved. He was biting his lips hard and even if he wanted to keep his composure, he could barely. With everything Lena was saying, with the clarification that it was practically certain that she was going to die if she didn't retreat. All because the Phönix, the one he swore he would not allow to reach her, hurt her. All because he was unable to warn Shiden in time.
Ultimately, the fact that Vladilena Milizé was here and now, with bandages on her body and face, was his fault.
His incompetence hurt her, once again.
His existence would bring misery to anyone involved with his existence. He was cursed, and if that was the case, then the best he could do to avoid further pain to others was—
"It wasn't your fault."
The silver bell voice broke the chain of thought, a soft tinkle that restored his sanity once more. Somehow, and without modulating word, Lena knew just what to say at just the right moment. Just as in that lycoris field, where she didn't even know at the time that she was speaking to him.
A gentle, firm, courageous presence. A grace alien to the Eighty-Six who exposed her heart and soul for the people oppressed by her nation. A ruthless and cruel queen in the eyes of strangers, but kind to those she promised to protect beneath her veil.
Shinei Nouzen did not believe in gods, but he knew of no other term into which the existence known as Vladilena Milizé could fit so perfectly: a fallen angel, who rejected the norms of her nation in pursuit of the welfare of the Eighty-Six, of those they called cattle.
Alba said nothing in the face of the jet's silence. In a movement emboldened by her eagerness to comfort the one she considered a treasured companion, Lena spread her hands apart and....
"¿...?"
She wrapped her arms around him. Her porcelain-skinned arms circled behind his neck, shortening the closeness between them and maximizing the contact. In any other situation, Lena would never have been so... intimate with Shin. But in her naivety and assurance that she wanted to be helpful, this was the only option her head, no, her heart revealed to her. Feeling the heat rise in her cheeks, the girl spoke.
"It's... It's not your fault." She reiterated nervously. Being in just barely the robes laid out by the clinic workers, she could perfectly feel the rubbing against Shin's military clothing. In her confusion, Lena leaned her forehead against Shin's shoulder, hiding. "You don't have to take responsibility for it."
"Lena..."
"Y-Yet...!" Hasty words, she had to finish expressing what was in her heart. "I don't regret it. I'd do it again if it meant keeping you guys safe." Her tone was firm yet gentle. The statement that her will was final.
At some point, Shin also stretched his arms around Lena's back, encircling her with ease. She was so... small in comparison to him. The physical difference was noticeable.
"I don't like that."
"I know."
"Does it hurt...?"
The grip behind her back closed a little tighter, just a few millimeters. Lena buried herself even deeper, her breath hitching against Shin's scarf.
"You want me to tell you the truth?"
He hesitated for a few moments, but in the end nodded. "...Yes."
"A little." A muffled chuckle escaped from the corner of the femme's lips. "But it's more like an itch than pain."
Being so close to each other, Lena heard Shin let out a shaky sigh. Whether it was a sign of relief or not, she couldn't say for sure.
"Don't do that again, please."
"I can't promise you that, Shin."
"At least promise me you'll wait for me."
Promise to wait for him. An oath that bound him to return from every occasion where danger was exposed and, in turn, a promise that she would have a place for him to wait for his return, including herself within that place.
Shin promised to return alive, provided Lena was willing to do the same.
A selfish proposal she would never have expected from Shinei Nouzen. He was changing, she thought.
There's no way to win you, is there?
"All right."
Sealing a pact, Vladilena hid in the Shinei's arms.
"I promise."