Avalon:Volume 1 Chapter 1
Chapter 1 - New Beginnings
Footsteps down the hallway soon brought an end to their awkward conversation. Within moments, two new figures strode through the open door, both faces more than familiar to Arkadi.
The first was a youthful man clad in the black-trimmed-crimson uniform of a Colonel in the elite Assault Legions. Kayeten Hans-Rudel had short, neatly-trimmed golden hair, emerald-green eyes brimming with energy, and a boyishly handsome face. With an one-eighty-six (6'3") tall and firm build of an old Terra Scandinavian that was just the right compromise between strength and grace, his appearance put him at around twenty years of age, courtesy of the Longevity treatments. His actual age was just under thirty, only a few months older than Arkadi himself.
Kayeten had been his best friend in childhood, his sworn brother who grew to become an enemy.
The other was a lady of barely one-fifty-five (5'1"), with a thin frame and small body wrapped by white robes and a long red skirt, both of traditional Japanese design. She looked no older than seventeen, and although the immaculate features of her almond-shaped face hadn't quite matured into the realm of true beauty, they were certainly pretty enough. Small feminine nose, silky white skin, cute mouth with a hint of cherry lipstick, and two large vibrant heterochromic eyes, peridot-green left and blossom-pink right, all of which framed by her pristine red hair.
Appearances can be deceiving though. Her name was Shirayuki Kaguya, a renowned assassin and terrorist leader (or freedom fighter, depending on point-of-view) who had fought against him twice. Were it not for outside help, he would have died both times.
"Well well~ our Hitler-wannabe is awake." Shirayuki's voice was playful yet filled with bitter sarcasm.
"Junior Hitler is dead. You've already killed him. But while his spirit lingers..." Kayeten's tone felt like frozen flames, with cold imperturbability just barely covering his seething anger. The ice cracked merely seconds later as he took several steps forwards and hurled his right fist into Arkadi's left cheeks with nothing held back. The force of the blow easily knocked Arkadi's torso back into the bed before bouncing off again.
"Hmph, I've been wanting to do that all week."
The left side of Arkadi's otherwise perfect face swelled a brutal red. He coughed twice and spat out a mouthful of blood towards the floor besides his bed. His eyes stared back at Kayeten without a hint of anger, as though fully accepting something he completely deserved.
Shirayuki's brief moment of surprise quickly turned to amusement. Kannon however, was shocked with signs of worry as she slowly lifted herself from the chair by the wall...
"Don't worry, I've got better things to do than to beat the living darkness out of him," Kayeten declared before reaching into his pocket and tossing a crystal chip onto the bed. "Kadi Simarshall. Since your old records were wiped by Kernow, that's your new one. I figure a slight name change might help down the road, given the extreme retardation you've displayed in the past eighteen years. As far as records are concerned, Arkadi is dead, and you've been working with resistance groups all these years. Just be thankful I'm still willing to call you that."
As Arkadi... Kadi's right fingers took the chip into his palm and squeezed it tightly, Kayeten turned around and walked back out.
"Later girls. I can't stand to look at that piece-of-shit any longer."
Shirayuki looked at Kannon and shrugged: "At least he's honest."
"...But... he can do that!?" Kannon seemed more than a little bewildered at just how illegal this is.
"Well he is the adopted son of a military dictator." The redhead smirked.
An almost gargling noise came from Kadi as he opened his mouth, only to be forced into three more painful coughs. Then:
"Thanks for not killing me," Kadi's emotionless, low voice told Shirayuki without making eye contact.
"I certainly didn't do it for your sake, so don't feel like you owe me anything."
"It doesn't matter. A debt is a debt."
"Funny how your sense of chivalry extends to this kind of thing but not what everyone else recognizes through sheer common sense," Shirayuki replied with crossed arms.
"Ever heard the Chinese idiom 'intelligent people can be wronged by their own intelligence'?"
"Shameless to the last," Shirayuki replied as she glanced towards Kannon, whose focus just shifted back to her from Kadi. As usual, the young girl's slowness was barely keeping up with her conventional speed. Shirayuki's eyes then returned to Kadi, who finally looked up at her. "Are you finally renouncing your foolishness then?"
"Haven't thought it over yet," Kadi responded truthfully. "Hardly matters though, seeing as that road has been closed off."
"Then I suggest you think about it and give me a real answer first. I don't take circumstantial commitments." Shirayuki finished before turning around while gesturing towards Kannon to come.
Moments later, Kadi sighed and leaned back against the bed, the room empty except him.
----- * * * -----
With his tray of noodles and Swedish meatballs on the table, Kayeten pulled out the chair opposite Shirayuki and Kannon at the long dining table before gracefully sitting down onto it.
"How do you eat that stuff?" Shirayuki looked at his food with disgust.
"With one hand, one fork, and one mouth," Kayeten replied nonchalantly with his usual boyish smile --- usual when he wasn't in battle or being angry, at least.
"It looks like roasted fat and gelled grease."
Kannon nodded in consent, still a second late.
"And it tastes good." Kayeten winked back before digging in with his fork and twirling up the noodles. "So... the elephant in the room first, have you figured out what to do with him?"
Shirayuki was still pondering when Kannon managed to answer first:
"We're taking him with us."
"Kannon, I think I'm the leader of the Moonlit Eclipse."
Kayeten looked at the time-display panel and counted five seconds while Shirayuki awaited Kannon's reply.
"...You asked me to be your tactical officer. Well, after reviewing all your personnel files, I came to the conclusion that you're a spellsword fighter, your two lieutenants are both support-type casters, and I'm a tactical on maiden experience who can't fend for myself... yet. I think I'm correct in that we need someone to do the actual tactical commandeering on the front lines while you plunge headfirst into the enemy, no offense."
"I think she's right, with offense," Kayeten nodded quasi-seriously before he ate another forkful.
"Aren't you deciding for him too quickly?" Shirayuki asked Kannon while completely ignoring Kayeten.
"...I was a management major! Making decisions good for one's subordinates is part of the basics!"
Shirayuki almost forgot that Kannon was just a college student until days ago, before getting wrapped up in a mess of events that propelled her here. She looked down at her large plate, loaded with ravioli, sautéed shrimp, and sun-dried tomatoes, as she went into deep consideration.
Meanwhile, Kayeten was grinning at how Kannon was using 'subordinate' to describe Kadi already.
"...I've gone through some of your mission data and," Kannon frowned with worry at Shirayuki, "other than what Aurora manages, you've been tackling all the decisive objectives yourself. It seriously limits both operational scope and mission redundancy, not to mention putting you in excessive danger with little backup."
"Besides, Kadi's a warlord-type. He'd make a great mentor for Kannon --- as long as you keep a watchful eye," Kayeten added before another mouthful.
"...Warlord-type?" Kannon shifted her gaze to Kayeten, puzzled.
"The Centurions --- you know, the front-leading, high-ranking, combat-ace officers program --- rate its members by five types: Champions, Strikers, Warlords, Magelords, and Archmages. The warlord-type are tactician-strategists with an emphasis on mixed-unit coordination and more than capable of defending themselves," explained Kayeten Hans-Rudel, the Lancet Centurion. "By the way, I'm a Striker-type; piloting and armored-spearhead tactics is our specialty. Shirayuki here would be a Champion-type if she joined, best at personal combat and motivational leadership, but also experts in close-quarters tactics and small-unit command. Arkadi may not be a Centurion since he was black ops, but the skill is definitely there."
Kannon blinked. She thought the Centurion program was just a way to boost the prestige and ranking of officers who climbed up as aces and therefore had the confidence of the troops. It was proving to be a far more elaborate system than she expected.
"...What type should I aim for then?" Kannon half-joked.
"None," Kayeten responded in all honesty, his serious emerald eyes meeting her single lapis-blue orb while his head tilted in apology. "Sorry, but you're not suited for front-line command. The biggest reason Centurions are elevated from aces isn't because of the prestige, but because average high-ranking officers can't survive long on the battle line. They're priority targets."
Kannon's shoulders slumped and she bit her lip at the assessment. She would definitely make it a priority to get combat-trained now.
"You both make a lot of valid points," Shirayuki finally came out of her reverie. "But... even aside from the fact that I can't trust him, the Eclipse is an all-girls---"
"All-women," Kayeten cut-in casually, only to wince in pain as Shirayuki silently stomped on his foot under the table. He thought she was wearing Japanese-styled sandals under those robes though...
(Did Shirayuki invent some crazy spell just for stomping people?) He couldn't help but wonder.
Meanwhile the redhead continued without pausing, as though nothing happened:
"---Organization. I don't really want to set a trend of exceptions."
Kayeten kept his silence while his toes recovered their sense of feel, giving Kannon the time to respond:
"...Consider him a temporary adviser then. After all, I'm technically already one, not being officially a member. The Moonlit Eclipse is a semi-religious paramilitary organization and I'm neither a believer of Buddhism nor Shintoism."
"Funny though, seeing as you were named after bodhisattva Kannon," Shirayuki smiled lopsidedly. "There's still the allegiance issue."
"...I'll vouch my life for him until he decides one way or another," Kannon declared with complete seriousness. "Just like you did for me when we formed the alliance with Marshal Sidika." She nodded towards Kayeten, as the Marshal of the 3rd District was his adoptive mother.
Shirayuki bit her lower lip for a second, a demeanor completely unnatural to the usually carefree leader. Then:
"I still don't like it. But I'll allow it."
"Ah! Okay okay, now I'm jealous!" Kayeten expressed with envious eyes. "He gets to join up with an entire organization of pretty girls as like, the only man there? All my dreams, taken up by a loser who can't even appreciate the beauty of women."
Both Kannon and Shirayuki stared at Kayeten like he was some kind of worthless bacteria, then declared, not quite in unison as Kannon's voice seemed to echo after Shirayuki's:
"You're the worst."
Kayeten playfully stuck his tongue out at them.
Kannon couldn't help but giggle (a couple of seconds later). She tilted her head, supported it with one arm on the table, and stared at the Colonel's handsome face --- particularly those honest emerald eyes --- as he continued to eat.
"What? Have you fallen in love with me?" He joked.
"I just thought --- despite how you acted, you really do still care a lot for him, don't you?"
"Ah... well that's classified," Kayeten shrugged with mixed feelings, "especially to you girls who don't understand guy-guy relationships. Besides, he already owes me enough favors. I think it's about time someone else take credit, and I figure you'd be good for him."
Kannon's face reddened like a ripe apple within seconds. Fidgeting in her chair, her eyes immediately returned to stare at her own food.
Kayeten glanced over and simply smiled.
Distracted, neither of them noticed the look of intense disapproval on Shirayuki's face before she shrugged it off, returning to her usual amused smile.
"Oh, before I forget," Kayeten reached into his pocket and took out another crystal chip. "Here's all the data you requested that mother could access at the moment. She'd talk to you herself but she's still being overwhelmed with situational damage control, remotely and less efficiently, while we're still stuck on this planet."
Colonel Kayeten Hans-Rudel and Marshal Sidika were originally the center of a 3rd District diplomatic mission to Brocéliande, home planet of the Avalonian 2nd District. It was here that a chain of events caused them to secretly ally with Shirayuki's Moonlit Eclipse paramilitary organization and defeat two strikes by Arkadi Kernow's 1st District Black Hand special ops. Now, with the 2nd District collapsing after their recent disastrous defeat, they were resting at an Eclipse hideout before their teleportation specialist recovered from fatigue to take them back to Kunlun, capital planet of the 3rd District.
Kayeten pressed the chip into Kannon's offered hand before commenting: "Between that and the power of Eternal Chronicle, you should be able to figure out the information you need."
Kannon turned back around and brushed her long, blossom-pink hair back behind her ears. She then asked Shirayuki with earnest yet worried eyes:
"How do I use Eternal's ability anyhow? I don't exactly have actual spellcasting training."
Shirayuki smiled like a young mother realizing her child's growth. It was just a few days ago when Kannon completely denied her abilities out of fear...
"Just zone everything else out and focus. Preferably while you're lying down and in a nearly-asleep state since you're not used to it yet. The ability is inherent and natural to you, so once your consciousness focuses enough it will activate by instinct."
The small girl named Kannon Reginberaht nodded.
She might be naive and inexperienced, but she was also the most powerful diviner created and born to human civilization. As one of the eight genetically-engineered mages --- known as the Arcane Servitors, or Arvitors --- of the highest caliber, her ability Eternal Chronicle offered the gift of perfect universal hindsight. In essence, it allowed her to read the history of the universe like an encyclopedia, as long as she knew what she was looking for.
It was not a gift without the burdens of responsibility.
She, like Aura Dominion Shirayuki Kaguya across her, were originally meant to be the a set of eight that formed the 'perfect advisory team' that would be able to select and support an Utopian dream --- the ideal sovereign, the Philosopher King.
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