CH4

Sometime later

The wooden door opens, letting the pale moonlight shine through. A familiar face walks through the door

"How are you doing?" Mark asks Rose

"I'm doing good, Julia said I can go in an hour" Rose responded

Mark turns his head toward Julia, looking for approval

Julia, with a smile response with an approving thumbs up

Mark breathes a sign of relief “Wanna go to Lator tavern?"

"Hell yes" Rose exclaimed, Paul nodded

"So what are you going to do with her?" Paul said pointing to Furi sleeping on the chair

"John said that we should take care of her" Mark said

"Can we refuse?" Paul responds "She is still very suspicious"

"General's orders" Mark uttered "That's what he said"

Silence, but this time the mood is light

"Can she sleep in your room, Rose?" "No problem!" Rose exclaimed

1 hour later

"Hey Furi! wake up!" Rose said while shaking Furi violently.

As her eyes open, she could see that the world is spinning, shaking like the world's end is in sight

"Stop shaking her, she's awake" Paul intervene on the shake of the century

"W... What?" Furi uttered still dizzy

"The higher up said we should take care of you" Mark explained "So......."

"Let's go eat something" "Yessir" Rose cheers joyfully

"Follow us so you won't get lost" Paul ordered

Soon enough, they were all outside the medical bay.

"Goodbye you all" Julia said, closing the door.

"Let's go" Mark said leading them through the crowd

Furi looks around

People are still as busy as ever, orders are still being thrown, Gears still turns, Metal still clang.

What if I don't know who I am? I still have my name. I still have Mark, Rose, and Paul. I don't care who I was or what I was.

This is me, this is Furi, and nothing will snatch it away from me.

Rose looks back, gazing at Furi now dawning a bright smile.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"What are you smiling at?" "Nothing" Furi chuckled

Somewhere in Caprico

A dark room, silent but the pressure is immense. A circular table is present. 4 seats made from steel. 1 from Wood which is hard to find these days. All occupied. A singular light bulb illuminates the area. Suddenly the silence is cut

“What’s the report? Marble” the man in the wooden chair said

“I salute the marshal” Marble stood and salute the man on the wooden chair. “Our scouts have found a marauder situated in the Tabor Mountain range, which means that, likely, a big scourge force is also in the range as well, sir”

“Anything else? Marble” the marshal uttered

“Well, they did also find a female survivor in the range, sir, from the report, she is also quite capable with scorch magic”

“Good” Marble sits down onto his metal chair.

“Helios, didn’t you interrogate her? What did you get”

“I salute the marshal” Helios stood up and salutes

“Her name is Furi, it is unknown where her origin is, or what purpose that she came to Caprico, sir”

The other sitting figures murmur, discussing between themselves

“Did you use the lie chamber?” “Yes, sir”

The marshal, surprises at the answer, taps his chair in confusion

“Anyway” the marshal said “We will need to come up with a plan for the scourge force” Helios hearing this, sat back down

A hand is raised in the group.

“Your suggestion? General Zinovia” The marshal pointed to the hand raiser

“I salute the marshal” The female general stood up from her chair and saluted “I suggest we surprise attack them, sir. The element of surprise will guarantee our victory. Also, we should take the NRS Dunkirk battleship that Aquaria lent us for fire support as well”

“With this fire power, we should be able to obliterate them in one fell swoop, correct?”

“Precisely, sir” Zinovia exclaims confidently

“Then you draft up the plan, we’ll rally the troops tomorrow”

“Order receive, sir” Zinovia then sat down back on her seat

“You’re all dismissed” Said the marshal, looking around the room “Almost forgot, Marble”

“Yes, sir” Marble replied, standing in his seat

“Recruit that woman into your scout battalion, would you?” “No problem, sir” “Also, get your battalion into the battle too”

Marble eyebrows rise in confusion. His battalion was made for scouting, and reconnaissance not for a full-frontal attack. This is like getting a ninja to ride horses in to battle.

“But sir, my battalio-”

“Did I ask?” The marshal said, seeming to be slightly agitated

“N…No sir, I understand”

“Good, now go”

All of them saluted and walked out of this dark room.

At the Lator Tavern

A bustling place, contrasting to the tense atmosphere outside, instead of orders for action, it’s an order of food and chatter. A sanctuary for the working.

Food platter across the table, from meat to vegetables to soup to liquor

Mark slams the steel mug to the table with a resounding thud “AH, a good booze after work is the best!”

“Hey, can you quiet down a bit” Paul said, annoyed eating his veggies

“Paul, c’mon man, we don’t come here often and today we also got someone new!” Rose said, holding her steel mug pointing it to Furi, who’s eating her plate of meat

Furi gazing at Paul who’s chowing down on his food

“Can you not eat meat?” Furi asked, food in her mouth

“I’m a Lensurian, we can’t digest meat” Paul answered, food also in his mouth

“I mean he can, but he will literally shit his guts out like that-” Ross said chuckling

“Hey, can you not” Paul intervenes, flustered on what Rose is about to declare

“Nah, He literally shits on his bed and General Marble saw it” Rose is laughing her heart out, Mark can be seen chuckling in the background

“Oh yeah? How about that one time, you dropped your ARG and slipped on it?” Paul strikes back with a smirk

“Hey, you promise you won’t bring that back!” Rose said angrily, pointing at Paul who is putting another piece of food in his mouth

Rose turns to see Furi chuckling “Hey! Stop!” “Did you really do that?” Furi asked between her breaths “Yes, she did” Mark answered

“Oh please, shut up” Rose declared, got up on her feet pointing at Mark

“Hey, can you sit down, you’re making a more embarrassing scene” Paul said, looking around to see people started to turn to look

“Ok…” Rose blushingly sat down on her chair

“But you know this isn’t over!” Rose challenge

“Anytime” Paul answered like this wasn’t the first time she said this.

Rose turns to Furi “Hey, you forget everything you heard today, alright?” Putting her hands on Furi’s shoulder

Startled by this command Furi jolts back. “S…Sure”

Assured by this answer Rose sat back down to chow down on her food.

Furi can be seen dawning a smile. Hoping this warmth will last forever.