“Impossible…” Boris gasped as he struggled to absorb the beauty before him. “Even after all that?!”

  It seemed as though the heavens had challenged fate once more. Hope surged from the bottomless pit of his inner turmoil since turning back against the oath he swore as a doctor. As he stood under the golden halls that illuminated the surroundings of tinted glass showcasing distinct artworks from the past, he reached his hands out in a desperate attempt to grasp its beauty, to catch and bring them home with him.

  All the suffering he had endured and the depraved acts he carried out in the name of national defence. Everything paled to this wondrous landmark he found himself standing in.

  “If only Neptune–”

  “He wouldn’t care. I doubt there’s time for sentimentality.”

  A curt voice carrying the same ice-cold blizzard chill from earlier echoed in this empty, enclosed space. With footsteps as silent as a ghost skirting through the hallway, Boris turned toward where the voice originated.

  “How have you been…?”

  There was an awkward pause.

  “...Dr Boris Pavlov, it’s been a long time. Or should I call you by your call sign since we’re on the frontlines…” With his sapphire eyes piercing his subordinate’s soul, Kairos spoke without a hint of emotion on his blank face. “...Nightingale.”

  “There is no need for us to use them here.” Boris shook his head and gazed upon the layers of golden-brown walls of the church, wondering how long it took for architects from the ancient world to design them. “The mission is long over, and our squadron has finished its duties. It’s time we go back home.”

  “Home?” Kairos snickered.

  “Headquarters, I mean.” Boris corrected himself.

  “I need you to see this.”

  “Yes, I know where we are. I’m blatantly aware of its significance.”

  “That’s not why I called you here…”

  “Why then? What else? Nobody else is with me–I’m all alone. I’m sure nobody has tailed me from the mainland to here just to catch us in the act–”

  “What are you implying?” Kairos’s glare intensified as his eyes sparkled in the church’s magnificent shadow.

  A long silence ensued.

  “N-nothing. Do you know how long it has been since we last met? We’re all worried about you! You can’t leave me in the dirt and having to answer on your behalf. The command is requesting your presence–”

  A tiny beam of light from the heavens illuminated Kairos, revealing his pathetic state.

  “–Look at yourself! You look miserable! Tell us if you have something on your mind; don’t hide anymore! How much more are you going to dive headfirst into this mess?”

  “...Mess?” He saw Kairos twitch angrily before responding curtly.

  “We thought this was the only way to unite the Federation. Surely, there must be…”

  “Are you questioning our cause? I knew you were a snake ever since that day–”

  “No…I–”

  Kairos chuckled softly. “You are sorely mistaken, Dr Pavlov.”

  Was it bitterness in his tone, Boris wondered. “What?”

  “Not once have you done anything remotely important. Don’t get in over your head, Doctor.”

  The Ascended had heard enough; it was as though he had deemed this mortal unworthy of any further explanation. Kairos cast his sapphire eyes downward, and his body language gave off a distinct aura of authority.

  “...What are you implying?”

  “I have a simple question for an idiot like you.”

  “Manners–”

  “Need I remind you that you are under my command? Who calls the shot behind this operation in this campaign?”

  There was no point arguing over the facts.

  “So when I tell you to show up here, be a good little puppy and get your ass over here–”

  “You know, Kairos,” Boris smirked and defiantly challenged his commander, knowing he had one ace up his sleeve. “Don’t think I’m unaware of it.”

  Kairos’s eyes started to waver.

  “Why did you skip the latest medical review?”

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  “That’s none of–”

  “Let me remind you, Lieutenant Kairos Black, I am a Medical Officer, and I must ensure that every soldier fulfils the mandated physical and mental criteria via our assessments to ensure our missions’ success. We cannot allow soldiers disregarding basic health protocols to jeopardise our duties. And most certainly, we cannot allow selfish, suicidal idiots like you to sabotage the integrity of our combatants.”

  “Don’t bring it up here–”

  “You forgot something, Lieutenant Kairos Black. As a Medical Officer, my word carries more weight than any other officer–” Boris stood his ground and laid out the facts. “–Be it a General or whoever.”

  “...Fine.” Kairos loudly groaned as he slumped his shoulders.

  “Why have you summoned me here?” Boris felt they had established common ground again.

  Kairos lowered his gaze, wondering if he had the appetite to dream of a brighter tomorrow. To him, hope was a meaningless drug he could never administer to himself. Instinctively, a defeated smile found its way to his face.

  “Kairos, please–”

  “Boris,” Kairos finally broke rank and character to speak. Unbeknownst to him, he sounded like a broken soldier on the verge of losing his sanity, “Are we doing the right thing…?”

  Like a child grasping at straws, he knew he was losing balance on this thin line he threaded.

  “Is this…is this the only way?”

  Boris buried his face in his hands and sighed in despair. A kind of groan that embodied the jaded feeling he begrudgingly carried from the countless slaughters he had witnessed.

  “I remember a time not too long ago…”

  Boris looked up to see the strained expression on Kairos’s face.

  “Do you remember those days? The good old days when you touted yourself as the ‘greatest medical genius and scholar?”

  Boris took a trip down a bittersweet memory lane and smiled defeatedly. “That…I remember.”

  The setting sun cast an ambient glow, but with the angle where Boris stood, it seemed the rays of light had metamorphosed into a spectre cloaking him with a nightshade of haunting darkness.

  “That’s why I called you here. Those books you read about…do you remember them?”

  “I…” Boris looked away in shame.

  How could I forget?

  He could not bring himself to acknowledge it, but he had to.

  “...I do. There’s a reason why this church did not fall. Because a higher power, unseen to us all, protects it.”

  “Life is full of mysteries. There are many things we cannot comprehend.”

  “That’s the past. It does not matter moving forward.”

  “...You’re right.”

  Like a flipping switch, both men knew they had to keep moving forward. All personal beliefs and sentimental values would remain in the dusk until the Drazen Empire fell. Before that, they must retake and lay waste to the final opposition standing in their way.

  “We have to keep moving forward. This…is the only way…for us.”

  “Yes, we have to.”

  “One thing. Before we go.”

  Kairos tilted his head curiously at Boris.

  “The next campaign, after we reclaim Central Atlantea, do you know who awaits us at the opposite face of–” Boris felt Kairos’s aura shift drastically, as though he understood the implication of his statement before completion. “–that mountain?”

  “Yes.”

  Kairos had received word of the new hostile element classified by the S2B’s reconnaissance unit. Word had spread that a revolutionary army had emerged from South Atlantea. This person posed as their hero and had a flair for theatrics, including over-the-top rallies. However, when he received the report and gazed upon the hero’s name, he could not help but feel a tinge of nostalgia.

  That last name.

  And face.

  He knew who it was even after that many years apart.

  “That guy,” Boris placed his hands in his coat’s pocket, “Do you think he could be compromised?”

  Kairos breathed out lengthily. He knew if he entertained the thought of the S2’s disloyalty, it would cause unnecessary problems for everyone.

  “No.”

  “I think so, too.”

  “But…”

  “But?”

  Kairos held his silence as he tried to recall his childhood memories. There was a time he played around with that hero, but those recollections had turned foggy. The throbbing headache he felt would never fade, and he knew he had to take time off to recover. Even his Temporean blood could not make the stress of using the crown disappear.

  “I need help.”

  “Yes, in what way? Tell me, please.”

  “Can you attend the debrief?”

  “Is that a request…or an order?”

  “A request, Boris. Please.”

  “You don’t look fine. If you’re hurt, come look for me…”

  Kairos walked toward Boris and gave him a nod before excusing himself. However, Boris stood in his way, refusing to let him walk past.

  “Thanks for the offer, but I can manage it. I need you to carry out the end-of-operation procedures and report it to the S3 branch.”

  ‘That goes without saying. Wait.” Boris grabbed Kairos on his shoulder, preventing him from leaving until he said his piece.

  “What now…? There’s nothing else I have to say to you.” Kairos slouched over, breathing out unsteadily.

  “You’re not going anywhere. Don’t hide it from me.”

  “Boris, move.”

  “Do you think Anastasia would approve of you as you are right now?”

  “...I–”

  Upon hearing her forgotten name, Kairos doubled his speed to escape as the majestic door creaked to a close, leaving Boris casting a look of guilt in his direction.

  “Anastasia, I’m sorry.”

  Boris sobbed uncontrollably at the predicament and wondered what she would think of her homeland and the hell it had transformed into since that day.

  Also, what would she think of this mess her man had become?