Dragon Chronicles:Gods of War, and Times of Peace OPEN

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Longshot glanced around. "... here's a tip. Delia didn't just kill a man. Just like Sergio didn't just kill two. Longshot killed those two upstairs." He looked away, rubbing his nose. "That's the best way to cope with taking a life. You have to do it sometimes, think like this. So it helps to start early." Longshot started walking "Let's move, we've got a lot of ground to cover."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Delia nodded quickly and turned her back on the body of the man. She resheathed the sword, not looking at the bloodied end. If Delia didn't just kill that man, then who did? She tried to find remorse for her action, but came up with none. He worked for the Remnants, therefore he deserved it. She tired to find joy in the action, but there was none of that in her either. Delia found that she was oddly indifferent to what she had just done, as the saying goes, don't cry over split milk. Even though there had been a little more than milk spilt.

She followed Longshot out of the building, not saying anything. She tried to keep her breathing even as she started walking. Her heart was beating faster than normal.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Longshot glanced back. He was slightly worried, he had expected her to freeze up, even slightly. But she had just killed a man, without even thinking.
And that scared him. He had froze up when he thought about killing Valentine, but then, he remember what had happened to his brother.
But afterwards, after he had shot Valentine and killed two of his soldiers... he had felt dirty, for a month. And he still did, that's why Longshot came along. He takes the stress, he takes the pain. That way, Sergio can live.

"Ok, let's move as quickly as possible, we need to get to the firing position ASAP."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Delia followed Longshot's quick pace. She only glanced back once, he left eye squeezed tightly shut, she saw the mana floating lazily around the atmosphere, only giving the slightest hint of a body. Like water in a slow moving stream the mana passed over the men, bodies still like rocks in the stream. It was only for a moment she looked, she kept her head straight forward for a long time afterward.

She tried to keep the indifference up, it was starting to fade. To what other emotion, Delia couldn't tell. Her heart beat wouldn't slow down no matter how deeply she breathed. She kept up a mantra of 'he deserved it,' in her head, only focusing on that and the path in front of her.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

They kept walking, for what seemed like hours. The two warriors didn't encounter any more soldiers on the way, as the skyscrapers of the city loomed closer and closer.
"Ok... Pirates should be here within the next ten minutes, I think we should keep to the streets, avoid buildings and such." He nodded, glancing back. "... Delia, are you ok? I noticed you've been a little off..." He stopped, turning around completely. "You can tell me anything, you know that right?"  

[Stelle Cadenti]

The headache that Delia had thought was going away had intensified during the trek to the inner part of the city. When Longshot stopped and turned to her she looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes. She massaged her temple with her hand, closing her eyes. Okay? She didn't know, she had killed a man. Was that okay? Was it okay to feel no remorse? She was still confused about that, she felt guilt, sure, but remorse, none. It hadn't been fair, that was it. He had lain on the ground, defenseless, while she had taken his life with not a moment of hesitation. Delia didn't have another persona to blame, she had done it.

"I'm fine. What's done is done, there's no use crying over it." Crying, how ironic. It had been a shock to Delia when she found out that she couldn't, not since the mutation.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Longshot frowned, placing a finger under Delia's chin and bringing her eyes up to his. "It's ok, you know. You think I managed after I killed someone? No, of course not. I felt dirty, there was blood I could never get off of my hands." He sighed, moving his hand back to his side. "And then Jack told me a story, about what had driven him to take his first life. He did it to protect Louise, nothing more, nothing less. He killed, for what he said was a selfish reason, to protect something important to him. And it made me think... why did I kill?" He stopped talking, looking away. "To get justice, for my brother... that's why I did it. What about you Delia?" He looked back. "Why did you kill that man? Was it because I told you to?"  

[Stelle Cadenti]

"Because you told me to? Sure, if I wanted to give an easy answer." Delia looked back at Longshot, oddly enough, a small smile spread on her face. "You haven't seen the Earth I've seen, have you?" The smile faded. "The rat-holes, the hideaways of every city that all of the Neo's are forced to live in. They don't want to see us, they don't want to think about us." Delia looked off to the horizon where the tall buildings of the city pierced the sky. "I lived in an abandoned subway station for 3 months, I had to steal everything I needed. It's not like I can hide this." She waved a hand in front of her face, then reached over to her shoulder and lifted up her shirt sleeve. A long, puckered scar was on the edge of her shoulder.

"From the first time I was caught." She moved her hand to the back of her neck to trace another scar hidden by her hairline, "The second time. There was a man who lived there as well, he had extraordinary magic ability. He had escaped from the Remnants, never said how, but he did say what it was like.

"I guess I killed that man because I'm completely selfish. I can barely call myself a ******** crusader, all I want is not to end up like that man. All I want is a life back, and the only way that will happen is if the Shadow Corp wins this war. I'm prepared to do what it takes for that to happen."  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Longshot stayed quiet, looking Delia in the eyes.
"So, you do understand then. What it means to be a demon..." He whispered and turned, starting to walk, not uttering another word, as they passed the buildings, the burnt out cars, and the bodies.
A loud boom from the distance signalled the pirate attack, a number of shouts rising up from the city. Longshot simply looked up, then continued on.

Eventually, they reached the building, and Longshot walked in, signaling to Delia it was safe, before heading to the roof.  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Delia followed Longshot into the building, and then up the stairs to the roof. She caught up with him as they climbed.

"Demons? Is that what we are, then?"

She felt a strange relief from the pressure that had been building. She had't even really thought it through, why she wanted to be a part of the Shadow Corp, until then. If humans are essesntially selfish creatures, did that make her more so? That's what it seemed to Delia, but still she felt relieved. She wasn't thinking of all the moral aspects, ignoring them perhaps, but to her it was justifiable, killing. She knew she had a purpose, and that she had to stick to it.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

"Everyone is a demon. You, my girl, had the guts to admit it. To admit that you killed for a selfish reason. You're more of a ******** man than most people I know." He glanced back, smiling. "Now then, how about we add another sin to your soul, huh?" He reached the top of the stairs, pulling out his rifle and handing it to Delia. "One shot, between the eyes. You won't need any more."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Delia smirked as she took the gun from Longshot. Another sin. She walked out onto the roof, the wind whipped her hair around, though it didn't get in the way. The roof wasn't too big,from one end to another it didn' look to be twenty paces across. She walked to the edge and crouched down by the low wall. It was a few storeys high, nothing too much. She looked back at Longshot.

"Where's he supposed to be coming from?"  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

"Right in front of you..." Longshot pulled out a visor from somewhere, replacing his glasses with it. "Bingo, we're gonna catch him today."
He pointed, and just in the distance you could see a few armoured vehicles. "He's going to be exposed, on foot or in a car. He think no-one is stupid enough to come here... Jackpot, he's on foot! Delia, now's our chance, take him down." Longshot smiled, crouching next to Delia, tapping buttons on the earpiece of the visor.


Valentine sighed, walking slowly. "Pirates... get repairs done to our ships as soon as possible, I want to attack those outposts as soon as possible." He groaned, looking around. Wait... something doesn't feel right...  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Delia crouched even lower behind the wall so the sniper was just over it. She spotted him in the distance with the armoured cars, he didn't look as she had expected. For all the fuss about him, she expected him to be, bigger somehow. She looked through the eyepiece of the rifle, and then jerked her head back quickly. She hadn't planned for this. She had been trained to use her dominant hand, but that meant she was left looking through the scope with her right eye.

Delia leaned forward and looked through the lens again. All she could see was the mana, the rest was black. She hadn't even thought of this. Valentine continued moving closer, she moved to get him in her view. She smiled a bit, it wouldn't be too hard. Mana swirled about him, showing his form as clearly as the moon in the sky. She lined up her sight meticulously and followed him for a moment before squeezing the trigger.

It hardly made a sound, but Delia knew she wasn't much of a judge for that. The whole scene seemed to go quite to her.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Valentine's eyes flashed wide. He growled, seeing the energy round of the rifle getting closer and closer, in slow motion. Longshot... only he would be so foolish. Valentine grinned, his eyes wide like a madman.
Closer and closer, the round was almost there... when it hit some kind of shield, exploding. "COME ON LONGSHOT! YOU THINK YOU CAN HARM ME WITH A GUN!? NOTHING CAN GET THROUGH MY MANA SHIELD NOW!" He laughed madly, forming a black fireball in his left hand, before throwing it towards the two would-be assassins.
It moved almost as fast the bullet from his rifle, he barely had time to react. "DOWN!" Longshot lunged at Delia, hitting her hard in the side, as the fireball decimated where the two had been seconds before. "s**t! This is Longshot! Mission failed, we need evac, NOW!"
Silence.
"Do you hear me? Evac now!"
"Look up."
"What...?" Longshot looked up, and then his mouth dropped open. "This wasn't an assassination... it was a prelude to an invasion." He pointed up, a single fireball in the sky.
Then another.
And another.
And then, from the clouds, hundreds, thousands, an uncountable number.
"Drop pods and dropships... it's an invasion force!" He smiled, scanning the skies.
"All units, this is Alpha Zero Zero! Hit the ground and move to defensive positions, engage at will, all targets are hostile!"

With that, the anti air cannons of the Remnants opened fire, as the dropships got closer and closer. There was massive explosions, and then a loud thud from behind the two.
"Evac is on route, you two are getting out of here!" Reaper shouted, moving to the edge. "You may have missed Valentine, but you've done well enough Delia."

Explosions and gun fire echoed around the city, as the Shadow Corp moved in, effortlessly and mercilessly striking down any who stood in their way.