He recalled a memory from the past as he dragged the three soldiers into one of the storages of the mortuary.
“It’s madness, that’s what I say about it.”
“True, I could spend a life here, and well…it would make sense for anyone.”
“That’s right, you should.”
“But someone has to fight that thing, Aunger. All my preparations, the venom in my body, hell, it might just not end up badly for me. The venom’s there to help me get through this…somewhat.”
“And what of your missus? The Lord?”
“I do feel bad for doing this to them. Especially Natalya, she’s lost like me, but I doubt that she is sound of mind. If things go worst for her…then I give your permission to go ahead, and ensure that she harms no one when I’m gone. But, she’s her own master, not anyone, and certainly not me. Am I looking at her as a threat? I still do, and that wouldn’t change until this.”
“And if you somehow get through all of this unharmed?”
“Then I surrender to my desires.”
“I’ll ready your coffin just in case, the body is around, it should be similar to yours in stature, height, everything. It’s well made that I doubt they would bother.”
“The transport?”
“Done, the time capsule, the bank account will be yours, and it will be along with the valuables. I’ll have to make sure that the time deposit will be passed on will to will, the documents are prepared, and like you said. The name will be Alden Dinia.
“But Sir, why Dinia?”
“It makes sense to me that the Ghost of Dinia takes on the name of the place that made him notorious. It might be narcissism to you, but Dinia holds quite a place for me. And it's because when I saw Kohl cowering about, it was quite an unforgettable memory for me.”
“Your constant mention of this Kohl Otto, really makes me wonder who he is.”
“He might be nothing to you. But everyone holds some things that have far more weight than they should. I don’t enjoy this life, scheming, planning, and following whatever my ‘vision’ tells me. But problems are solved by actively chasing after them. There are times where I feel like giving up, where there are doubts in my mind. But seeing Kohl Otto, and delivering him back to Sudugar, and seeing that scene changed my life.”
“Yes, you said it many times now, Sir.”
“It was beautiful to me, Aunger. I was so happy that I felt like I was happier than both of them. Makes me envious, and wishing for a happy ending.”
“Then why aren’t you chasing after it?”
“Call it half-assed, Aunger. But I am not shameless enough to stop now. What I had done to Robert, and all the people we had gone through to achieve this far…is telling me to keep moving. I would have time if I manage to win this, but it’s not so easy to achieve it this time. Not when facing the Exiled One.”
“You’re confident that you can win and cannot win this.”
“I am. That’s why I need a coffin, and funds later on.”
“Sir, if things do end up going your way, then I might not be around. The turmoil that will come, the wealth that will be used, and the future…no one can tell. You shall start from the scratch, with almost nothing other than the roof on your head, and the few equipment that I can procure for you, and most of your wealth, I’m afraid, will be going to keep this secret. Nonetheless, this will ensure the absolute secrecy of your location, and whatever it is that we will develop in the future.”
“The telescopic sword?”
“I don’t know why you insisted on wanting that, but it somehow worked into what you wanted.”
“Good, keep it in the place where I might wake up. If I don’t, feel free to do what you want.”
“It contains concentrated black-iron, and the rest are part of a star, Sir. It will be the most valuable thing that you will have if you truly do live.”
“Thank you for putting up for this, Aunger.”
“Sir, you have saved my life, and I intend to fulfill the oath. Time is volatile sir, and there are many things that are outside of our control, thus I cannot promise the future that you might wake up to, the best future, but I can at least promise you that even then, I will promise to try my best.”
“Good, that’s all I asked for, Aunger. The Hounds will follow you, but if things really do go awry, then I don’t mind letting them loose.”
“I will if they have no reason to, Sir.”
“Who knew that this day would come?”
“I had thought that one day you would stop this madness, Sir.”
“There are many ways you could have stopped me, Aunger.”
“Yes, Sir, but I also know that you intend to be right. Whether your visions are from God or nothing more than the kismet given to you, then I can only hope that your path will be…successful. You intend to face a being far stronger than anyone, and even then you look on to the future, knowing the awful duty that you have.”
“Aunger, I don’t know if I will have memories if I wake up, but you know what to do. We will search for the boons that will appear in the future, and truly complete me. And it would be wise to command me while I am clueless.”
“It shall be done, Sir. It shall be done as you wished.”
“Time’s coming up, Aunger, my friend. How about a parting glass?”
“Then allow me to share a drink with my old friend, and Master for the last time as Mavin Tomas. I hope that if I have descendants, they will treat you right, Alden.”
“Cheers, my friend, and I am sorry for giving you this burden to carry.”
“No, no, I am honored that you choose me to carry this burden for you, Sir. You have saved my life, and thus I can only repay you with this. I wish that your burdens are lesser, Sir. I really do.”
***
Got to get out of this place, Mavin thought. He searched the mortuary for any uniforms. There were fatigues and a ballistic face mask so he wore it alongside the webbing with a belt kit. The uniform made him move unnoticed, and with the scarf, he was able to cover up half of his face while wearing the ballistic face mask. Limits my vision, but doesn’t matter when my senses are sharper than usual. A bullet to the head, activating my healing factor…good thing that my bones had become sturdy because of the last boon many years ago, he thought.
Mavin stopped walking, and eyed the base. Ballistic vests, helicopters, assault rifles, a well-lit area, and cars that slightly resemble those ‘memories’ now. I was ready for this, at least because I had knowledge of what may develop, but this will take time to get known. Huh, it looked like I spent some time not knowing anything.
Mavin resumed walking, not attracting attention, and shadowing those who were patrolling the base. He mimicked the soldiers, saluted who they saluted, and walked with them, asking, questioning, and wondering. He even asked if they had smokes, which somehow was one the tickets in making them sharing or annoying.
He didn’t get out of the base for an hour or two. It was only when he saw one of the side gates clear that he strode out of the base, walked along the sidewalk as if patrolling, then disappeared into the shadows. Other than the base, most of the city had gone dark, and although he recalled that the light went on a while ago.
I was rather close to Melia as a friend, but the body should be taken care of by now, Mavin looked behind him. The base that he was in had a great fire. He had used those smokes to rig the incendiaries and gas cans to be set on fire. That’s done, hmm, it will take a while to get used to this, my face feels itchy. It looked like after my regeneration trigger once more, I should get it all back. The boons are helping me well, and the new ones are collaborating with the old ones. That’s all the boons that can be found in this world, nothing more than that. Good job, Aunger. You really did well in ‘raising’ me again.
Mavin looked around, found a car, hotwired it, and drove the car out of the vicinity of the base. The fire should keep them busy, and that was enough for him to get out of their sight, and find the safehouse that he had discussed with Aunger. I hope the valuables there are enough to keep me afloat. It should be just outside of the city. I can probably get there, but if the chaos continues here, then it might lead to whatever the magiborne is doing. The magiborne, I guess even if I did place a venom in my veins, they’d still be around. Rene…Kristine…I wonder what happened to you two? No way that Aunger and the Hounds would hand over some blood after all.
Mavin was at least sure of that.
***
He found the safehouse. He knocked on the steel doors, and said the password. “Raven, it pecked three times during summer’s corpse.”
No one answered for a moment. “And the crow?”
“It stole the Raven’s jewels.”
The steel barred door opened, revealing a red haired, fiery-eyed woman. She inspected Mavin for a moment, before placing her hand on her chest. “I am Stefanie Strom, granddaughter of Aunger, and your servant.”
“Granddaughter?”
“I was adopted by my parents, Sir. Is there a problem, Sir?”
Mavin removed his ballistic mask, pulled down the scarf hiding his mouth. “Nothing, I would have thought that he would not employ his family to keep this secret. I’ve been gone for many years. Aunger, where is he?”
“Unfortunately, my grandfather had passed away alongside my parents,” there was anger that she could not betray from her voice. “It seemed like they were hunting for clues, and thus my parents, and my grandfather had chosen to die. I believe that the Lord should have known the fire…I was afraid that you would have been lost.”
“You are familiar with me, then.”
“As Alden, yes, but as Mavin Tomas, no, Sir.”
“I see,” Mavin recalled the memories that he had as Alden. Though the bullet did hit his head, it didn’t make him lose the memories of what he did for the past seven years. Three lives in one body, it bothered Mavin, but at the same time he couldn’t believe that someone who the ‘man from the memory’ admired to the point of buying illustrations and figures of her was standing in front of him.
It made him feel strange. Then again, she was supposed to be the heroine in the memories he recalled. Though unlike in those memories, she did not have the appearance of a poor maid, but instead healthy, fit, and was certainly well-trained.
“How about Ike? Martina?”
“They’ve been dead for twenty-years, Sir.”
“Logain?”
“Four years ago, Sir.”
“I see,” Mavin nodded calmly. “Did Aunger give you?”
“Yes, although I am stable, I doubt that I would have the same level of strength as you have, Sir.”
Mavin studied her for a moment. “Very well, as much as I like to get to know you better, I have recently woken up, and would like to know who is responsible for this chaos.”
“Are you going to stop them, Sir?’
“It depends,” Mavin said. “But I would need to gear-up for now. I suppose my gear is around, yes?”
“I shall lead you to it, Sir.”
Mavin followed Stefanie to the armory of the safehouse. In the middle of the armory, placed on display was the last black-iron sword to have ever existed. Mavin took the telescopic sword from the display case, and swung the sword hard, the blade coming out, solidifying itself.
It held almost no weight, and yet the durability and sharpness of the sword was unparalleled. “It truly is his masterpiece,” Mavin squeezed the hilt, retracting the blade back, pocketing it in his pocket.
“It has been treated as an heirloom, and has endured, Sir. But I regret to inform you that due to circumstances, we had lost some means because of doing so.”
“Understandable, but what about the weapons?”
“It is usable, Sir.”
“Good, I need to take some heads out.”
“You…intend to go after them, Sir?”
Mavin nodded. “There are twenty thousand of them, Stefanie. I might be strong, but I ain’t that strong to dodge all their bullets. Well, if I had my suit back when I fought the Exiled One, I might try.”
“It was melted to reinforce the sword, Sir.”
“I know. So let’s make this city a bit quiet, okay?”
“Understood, I’ll call Edward, Sir. He’ll take you to the place where you want to go. I will feed you radio chatter from this safehouse. I shall be your guide,” she declared with certainty.
“Roger that, let’s move," Mavin thought. Guided by the heroine herself, Aunger, you did well.
Mavin walked to the armory, picked his gear, and readied himself. Although he admired their seeking for freedom, and although they have every right to do what they think is right for them. Mavin knew that he still needed Holmia to have control over the Easternside of the world.
If only I had the time, Mavin thought, then again, when did I ever get that luxury?
Out of time, but never too late.
That was always how it goes for him.
He recalled a memory from the past as he dragged the three soldiers into one of the storages of the mortuary.
“It’s madness, that’s what I say about it.”
“True, I could spend a life here, and well…it would make sense for anyone.”
“That’s right, you should.”
“But someone has to fight that thing, Aunger. All my preparations, the venom in my body, hell, it might just not end up badly for me. The venom’s there to help me get through this…somewhat.”
“And what of your missus? The Lord?”
“I do feel bad for doing this to them. Especially Natalya, she’s lost like me, but I doubt that she is sound of mind. If things go worst for her…then I give your permission to go ahead, and ensure that she harms no one when I’m gone. But, she’s her own master, not anyone, and certainly not me. Am I looking at her as a threat? I still do, and that wouldn’t change until this.”
“And if you somehow get through all of this unharmed?”
“Then I surrender to my desires.”
“I’ll ready your coffin just in case, the body is around, it should be similar to yours in stature, height, everything. It’s well made that I doubt they would bother.”
“The transport?”
“Done, the time capsule, the bank account will be yours, and it will be along with the valuables. I’ll have to make sure that the time deposit will be passed on will to will, the documents are prepared, and like you said. The name will be Alden Dinia.
“But Sir, why Dinia?”
“It makes sense to me that the Ghost of Dinia takes on the name of the place that made him notorious. It might be narcissism to you, but Dinia holds quite a place for me. And it's because when I saw Kohl cowering about, it was quite an unforgettable memory for me.”
“Your constant mention of this Kohl Otto, really makes me wonder who he is.”
“He might be nothing to you. But everyone holds some things that have far more weight than they should. I don’t enjoy this life, scheming, planning, and following whatever my ‘vision’ tells me. But problems are solved by actively chasing after them. There are times where I feel like giving up, where there are doubts in my mind. But seeing Kohl Otto, and delivering him back to Sudugar, and seeing that scene changed my life.”
“Yes, you said it many times now, Sir.”
“It was beautiful to me, Aunger. I was so happy that I felt like I was happier than both of them. Makes me envious, and wishing for a happy ending.”
“Then why aren’t you chasing after it?”
“Call it half-assed, Aunger. But I am not shameless enough to stop now. What I had done to Robert, and all the people we had gone through to achieve this far…is telling me to keep moving. I would have time if I manage to win this, but it’s not so easy to achieve it this time. Not when facing the Exiled One.”
“You’re confident that you can win and cannot win this.”
“I am. That’s why I need a coffin, and funds later on.”
“Sir, if things do end up going your way, then I might not be around. The turmoil that will come, the wealth that will be used, and the future…no one can tell. You shall start from the scratch, with almost nothing other than the roof on your head, and the few equipment that I can procure for you, and most of your wealth, I’m afraid, will be going to keep this secret. Nonetheless, this will ensure the absolute secrecy of your location, and whatever it is that we will develop in the future.”
“The telescopic sword?”
“I don’t know why you insisted on wanting that, but it somehow worked into what you wanted.”
“Good, keep it in the place where I might wake up. If I don’t, feel free to do what you want.”
“It contains concentrated black-iron, and the rest are part of a star, Sir. It will be the most valuable thing that you will have if you truly do live.”
“Thank you for putting up for this, Aunger.”
“Sir, you have saved my life, and I intend to fulfill the oath. Time is volatile sir, and there are many things that are outside of our control, thus I cannot promise the future that you might wake up to, the best future, but I can at least promise you that even then, I will promise to try my best.”
“Good, that’s all I asked for, Aunger. The Hounds will follow you, but if things really do go awry, then I don’t mind letting them loose.”
“I will if they have no reason to, Sir.”
“Who knew that this day would come?”
“I had thought that one day you would stop this madness, Sir.”
“There are many ways you could have stopped me, Aunger.”
“Yes, Sir, but I also know that you intend to be right. Whether your visions are from God or nothing more than the kismet given to you, then I can only hope that your path will be…successful. You intend to face a being far stronger than anyone, and even then you look on to the future, knowing the awful duty that you have.”
“Aunger, I don’t know if I will have memories if I wake up, but you know what to do. We will search for the boons that will appear in the future, and truly complete me. And it would be wise to command me while I am clueless.”
“It shall be done, Sir. It shall be done as you wished.”
“Time’s coming up, Aunger, my friend. How about a parting glass?”
“Then allow me to share a drink with my old friend, and Master for the last time as Mavin Tomas. I hope that if I have descendants, they will treat you right, Alden.”
“Cheers, my friend, and I am sorry for giving you this burden to carry.”
“No, no, I am honored that you choose me to carry this burden for you, Sir. You have saved my life, and thus I can only repay you with this. I wish that your burdens are lesser, Sir. I really do.”
***
Got to get out of this place, Mavin thought. He searched the mortuary for any uniforms. There were fatigues and a ballistic face mask so he wore it alongside the webbing with a belt kit. The uniform made him move unnoticed, and with the scarf, he was able to cover up half of his face while wearing the ballistic face mask. Limits my vision, but doesn’t matter when my senses are sharper than usual. A bullet to the head, activating my healing factor…good thing that my bones had become sturdy because of the last boon many years ago, he thought.
Mavin stopped walking, and eyed the base. Ballistic vests, helicopters, assault rifles, a well-lit area, and cars that slightly resemble those ‘memories’ now. I was ready for this, at least because I had knowledge of what may develop, but this will take time to get known. Huh, it looked like I spent some time not knowing anything.
Mavin resumed walking, not attracting attention, and shadowing those who were patrolling the base. He mimicked the soldiers, saluted who they saluted, and walked with them, asking, questioning, and wondering. He even asked if they had smokes, which somehow was one the tickets in making them sharing or annoying.
He didn’t get out of the base for an hour or two. It was only when he saw one of the side gates clear that he strode out of the base, walked along the sidewalk as if patrolling, then disappeared into the shadows. Other than the base, most of the city had gone dark, and although he recalled that the light went on a while ago.
I was rather close to Melia as a friend, but the body should be taken care of by now, Mavin looked behind him. The base that he was in had a great fire. He had used those smokes to rig the incendiaries and gas cans to be set on fire. That’s done, hmm, it will take a while to get used to this, my face feels itchy. It looked like after my regeneration trigger once more, I should get it all back. The boons are helping me well, and the new ones are collaborating with the old ones. That’s all the boons that can be found in this world, nothing more than that. Good job, Aunger. You really did well in ‘raising’ me again.
Mavin looked around, found a car, hotwired it, and drove the car out of the vicinity of the base. The fire should keep them busy, and that was enough for him to get out of their sight, and find the safehouse that he had discussed with Aunger. I hope the valuables there are enough to keep me afloat. It should be just outside of the city. I can probably get there, but if the chaos continues here, then it might lead to whatever the magiborne is doing. The magiborne, I guess even if I did place a venom in my veins, they’d still be around. Rene…Kristine…I wonder what happened to you two? No way that Aunger and the Hounds would hand over some blood after all.
Mavin was at least sure of that.
***
He found the safehouse. He knocked on the steel doors, and said the password. “Raven, it pecked three times during summer’s corpse.”
No one answered for a moment. “And the crow?”
“It stole the Raven’s jewels.”
The steel barred door opened, revealing a red haired, fiery-eyed woman. She inspected Mavin for a moment, before placing her hand on her chest. “I am Stefanie Strom, granddaughter of Aunger, and your servant.”
“Granddaughter?”
“I was adopted by my parents, Sir. Is there a problem, Sir?”
Mavin removed his ballistic mask, pulled down the scarf hiding his mouth. “Nothing, I would have thought that he would not employ his family to keep this secret. I’ve been gone for many years. Aunger, where is he?”
“Unfortunately, my grandfather had passed away alongside my parents,” there was anger that she could not betray from her voice. “It seemed like they were hunting for clues, and thus my parents, and my grandfather had chosen to die. I believe that the Lord should have known the fire…I was afraid that you would have been lost.”
“You are familiar with me, then.”
“As Alden, yes, but as Mavin Tomas, no, Sir.”
“I see,” Mavin recalled the memories that he had as Alden. Though the bullet did hit his head, it didn’t make him lose the memories of what he did for the past seven years. Three lives in one body, it bothered Mavin, but at the same time he couldn’t believe that someone who the ‘man from the memory’ admired to the point of buying illustrations and figures of her was standing in front of him.
It made him feel strange. Then again, she was supposed to be the heroine in the memories he recalled. Though unlike in those memories, she did not have the appearance of a poor maid, but instead healthy, fit, and was certainly well-trained.
“How about Ike? Martina?”
“They’ve been dead for twenty-years, Sir.”
“Logain?”
“Four years ago, Sir.”
“I see,” Mavin nodded calmly. “Did Aunger give you?”
“Yes, although I am stable, I doubt that I would have the same level of strength as you have, Sir.”
Mavin studied her for a moment. “Very well, as much as I like to get to know you better, I have recently woken up, and would like to know who is responsible for this chaos.”
“Are you going to stop them, Sir?’
“It depends,” Mavin said. “But I would need to gear-up for now. I suppose my gear is around, yes?”
“I shall lead you to it, Sir.”
Mavin followed Stefanie to the armory of the safehouse. In the middle of the armory, placed on display was the last black-iron sword to have ever existed. Mavin took the telescopic sword from the display case, and swung the sword hard, the blade coming out, solidifying itself.
It held almost no weight, and yet the durability and sharpness of the sword was unparalleled. “It truly is his masterpiece,” Mavin squeezed the hilt, retracting the blade back, pocketing it in his pocket.
“It has been treated as an heirloom, and has endured, Sir. But I regret to inform you that due to circumstances, we had lost some means because of doing so.”
“Understandable, but what about the weapons?”
“It is usable, Sir.”
“Good, I need to take some heads out.”
“You…intend to go after them, Sir?”
Mavin nodded. “There are twenty thousand of them, Stefanie. I might be strong, but I ain’t that strong to dodge all their bullets. Well, if I had my suit back when I fought the Exiled One, I might try.”
“It was melted to reinforce the sword, Sir.”
“I know. So let’s make this city a bit quiet, okay?”
“Understood, I’ll call Edward, Sir. He’ll take you to the place where you want to go. I will feed you radio chatter from this safehouse. I shall be your guide,” she declared with certainty.
“Roger that, let’s move," Mavin thought. Guided by the heroine herself, Aunger, you did well.
Mavin walked to the armory, picked his gear, and readied himself. Although he admired their seeking for freedom, and although they have every right to do what they think is right for them. Mavin knew that he still needed Holmia to have control over the Easternside of the world.
If only I had the time, Mavin thought, then again, when did I ever get that luxury?
Out of time, but never too late.
That was always how it goes for him.
