Chapter 35: Connections

  The wedding was held near a small town in south England. They had rented a nice manor and only a small amount of people were invited. Marcus met Janette’s parents for the first time, her mother was a round small woman and shared her humor. Her father was a quiet man with glasses who was nearly as nervous as Janette about the wedding.

  Cherry, well, Amelia Long no longer had family and instead two men accompanied her. A smaller man with Chinese features Chen Ming and a truly massive man Javier Flores. Flores was from Mexico with typical traits, half of his hair was sheared off and he had a small braided ponytail. The two were the other heads of Cerberus and like Cherry top level class holder. With the three in one place they did not need to worry about security. Besides them only a few other members of Cerberus where there, the only one Marcus knew was Rin, who gave him a short smile of recognition.

  Marcus found himself in a trendy suit in the winter garden of the manor, watching Janette and Amelia Long getting married. It was not a churchly marriage but the two women did look divine. Janette had a blood red, tight fit, dress that covered her neck and Cherry had a shoulder free white dress that made her red hair look even more fiery. A man, a poet maybe, held some introductory words and soft music played then the two women exchanged their vows under tears. They kissed and Cherry bend Janette backwards and made every film scene look pale in comparison.

  What followed was a lot of food, punk rock music (Janette!!!) and some awkward dancing for Marcus. The party went on until late night and Marcus tried to understand how it happened that he was here in this moment. It seemed all so unreal.

  The next day, the newly wed wives parted ways. Cherry had some large clan related expedition and would be gone for over two months. Only now Marcus realized that their holiday had acted as their honeymoon. Janette, the new Ms. Long, was full of energy and ready to take on the world. They had decided to go with the monster hunter plan and searched the web for companies who were hiring class holders for the job. “Do you actually need to do anything? Are you not ridiculously wealthy now?” Marcus asked her and she laughed. “What, and stay at home like a good little wife? I will earn my own money and get strong as fuck.”

  They compiled a list (Marcus made tables and graphs. The joy!) and discussed options. On the second day of planing he got a call from an unexpected source. “Marcus?” It was Kou. It was a welcomed surprise and after some pleasantries and explaining he had quit the LCPS, Kou explained why he called. “Just two months ago, an unknown underground structure was found in a mountain area on the planet we have been on together. Seismological tests show a large, mostly intact structure and a preliminary scientific expedition was funded. Carmen got the job and asked me if I wanted to build a group for it.”

  Marcus listened and realized what he was talking about “Ruin diving?” he asked and Kou laughed “Correct, and it has to be soon or they will award the job to somebody else. I have been trying to get people together but it is difficult because the base pay is bad. But there are looting rights!” Marcus listened and looked over to Janette, who watched him with suspicion. “And then I thought Marcus might be interested…” Kou said, waiting for an answer. “The thing is, I’m now part of a two people team. So if you want me, you have to take my partner too.” Marcus said. “Great that is even better, for now I have only Achara and myself. Who is your partner?” Marcus gave the phone to Janette who introduced herself and the two spoke for nearly 15 minutes.

  Janette ended the call and looked to Marcus. “Pack your stuff PARTNER, we are going to a different planet!” She hugged Marcus and told him the cliff notes. They would start as early as possible and it would only be a first small expedition. The pay was garbage 50k for the mission but they got to keep any loot if it has no historic, scientific or cultural meaning. “Kou said he would try to find more members but worst case it would just be us four and three scientists. Btw. Is Achara that other hot girl you told me about and has Kou the hots for her?” The demon’s power is terrifying and mysterious, Marcus thought. How could she possibly know all that after talking to Kou for a few minutes?

  They pushed back their plans for monster hunting and prepared their trip to the Philippines. Two days later they stepped on the small island Marcus already knew. The weather was still hot but somehow it felt familiar to Marcus. He had never thought, he would come back here ever or at least for a long time. Kou actually welcomed them at the military base checkpoint and gave Marcus a big hug. They got new IDs and were going to stay in the same large building he had visited a few months ago. “Mason was already busy, now that he has some decent gear, he does more high level missions.” Kou was chatting away and Janette was like a little kid on a sugar high, looking at everything and be amazed by all of it.

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  After taking possession of their rooms they visited Achara in the training room. She was doing some very interesting training, going invisible in short bursts, while making quick turns and steps. As soon as she saw Marcus and Janette she stopped and introduced herself. “I’m Achara Nam, Catsith level 14.” and Janette bowed too. “Janette Long, Hawkeye level 17 and you are indeed hot.” Marcus gave Janette a slap on the back of the head and Achara turned red around the ears.

  “Achara that was some very interesting training right now.” Marcus said and she smiled “Thanks to you I have been exploring new ways to use my ability and have been successful.” she said. “Achara told me about the little note you gave her.” Kou said and tried to be vague. “You mean one of those, where he tells you exactly what your scaling attributes are and possible ways how to improve your abilities?” Janette said with a dry voice. “Right. You would know as his partner. I’m just wondering why I never got one.” Kou looked sad and Marcus quickly said “Because you are a great analyst yourself and I’m certain you are already scaling the right attributes….but I can take a look into it.”

  “Now, who wants to see my amazing skills in action?” Janette drew the attention to herself. A demonstration of her skills very quickly made Achara and Kou drop their jaws. “Wait I have never heard about this, since when can a Hawkeye do this?” Kou asked. “She is most likely the first person in the world who figured this out.” Marcus said and Janette was basking in the attention. “One thing would be interesting, can you track Achara if she is invisible?” Kou asked suddenly after discussing Janette’s new ability.

  “That is an easy test.” Janette concentrated on Achara and she went invisible. Janette moved her finger around the room and Achara appeared exactly where she pointed. “THAT is unfair.” the Thai woman stomped her foot.

  Marcus wanted to have a sparring match against Achara to see her new combat style but Kou stopped it. “Not now. We have to meet Carmen and her people too, besides Achara has already trained a lot.” Kou said and Achara added “Tomorrow would be good. I need a proper melee fighter for training.” Kou looked a bit sad but didn’t say anything more.

  They met Carmen and Marcus good a big hug to his surprise and Janette introduced herself very ladylike which made him suspicious. Carmen was super happy that they were able to join the team at such short notice. “I feared we would not be able to make the deadline. Two weeks later and the funding would be gone. But Kou was as reliable as always and brought you back.” She gave them documents (paper!) about the mission and they meet the other two scientists for the mission, it was Malcolm and another woman called Bianca Verde.

  After a long day the team sat down in the small kitchen and Achara made some original Thai food. The food was delicious but the heat nearly killed Janette. They talked about all the things, the Undead sightings, the wedding, the holiday and leaving the LCPS. Kou and Achara shared what they did over the last months and how Achara had knocked out a low level Blood Knight. “That guy was looking for trouble, trying to show off by beating up a low rank class holder. I beat his sorry ass into the ground. First time I used my new strategy and he didn’t know what hit him, literally.” Achara laughed.

  Marcus listened to the chatting of his friends in the small kitchen. He felt warm in the inside and outside, and eventually he started to talk. At first it was difficult but the longer he spoke the easier it got. “When I was 12 years old, I was in Rome with my parents, they worked on deciphering texts and artifacts from distant worlds, like they always did. I spent most of my time playing video games or wandering the research base near the portal. I liked the scientists and the many strange things they researched. I wanted to be scientist like my father.

  When the alarm came I was on one of my expeditions and I ran back to find my mother. I heard screaming and weapons fire all around me, people lying on the ground covered in blood, large orks killing everybody in sight.

  My mother found me in a hallway and dragged me into a storage room, covering my ears and tried to make me stop crying. I remember the sounds of the orks closing in and my mother pushing me into a small ventilation shaft, of all things. I heard the door breaking and my mother screaming and then she fell to the ground. I wanted to call out to her but I was frozen in terror, there was blood on her face and her eyes no longer saw me.

  I do not know how long I was lying there but eventually my father came and took me away from that room.

  After this my father became more and more distant to me and eventually he left me behind working far away while other people looked after me. I think he blamed me for her death. If I had been with my mother from the beginning we might have been able to run away. She would still be alive.”

  Marcus stopped and suddenly felt very weak and drained. Janette stood up and put her arms around him stroking his hair. “It was not your fault. It was never your fault.”

  Janette escorted Marcus to his room and he listened to music until he fell into a deep, long sleep. She returned to the kitchen shortly after and the other two were already cleaning up. “That was horrible. I can not imagine to suffer through something like this.” Achara said and Kou gave her a clean plate. “He was at the heart of the Rome Massacre, I never thought I would meet somebody who survived that.” Kou said with a strained voice.”But his father abandoning him is just the icing on the cake.” Achara said angrily and dried a cup with lots of fervor.

  “I don’t know.”, Kou’s voice was thoughtful, “This is what happened from the viewpoint of the young child Marcus. I doubt that this is the whole story.”. Janette said nothing more to the topic but in her mind a lot of puzzle pieces with the name Marcus on, started to fit together.