Pressing against the steel doors, they entered the headquarters of Fort Echo. Crisp air filled their lungs, forcing a sigh of content from all of their lips—except for Kaine, who attempted to remain indifferent.
Ignoring the gorgeous man, Cammie said "Ahh~! Government buildings always have the best air. Isn't that right, new girl?"
'What is up with her consistently calling me "new girl", I have a name, you know!' Ira began to grow agitated at the nickname; but that did not matter.
A sudden warmth enveloped the young girl's soul, signaling that she was no longer being hindered by the damage given to her soul.
Contracting the muscles in her face into a smile, she happily replied to Cammie. "Yes! This air is quite lovely. Far superior to what lies outside this building."
Cammie chuckled, "Alright, Shakespeare."
Finally taking in her surroundings, the young girl's smile was replaced with indifference.
Two hallways that lead to somewhere unknown, bookshelves that were half full, a checkered floor and ceiling, a trash can in the corner of the room that remained empty, and a reception desk alongside a service bell, yet no receptionist.
Andrisson walked over towards the service bell and began to tap on the plunger, causing the bell to ring.
Quickly, a woman responded with an "I'll be right there!" from under the desk.
Kaine and Cammie glanced at each other with an exasperated look, before playfully swatting at each other.
Finally, the Receptionist stood up, gazing at them all before running to the backroom without a word being spoken.
Cammie and Kaine finally stopped their playful fighting, "Uh.. What was that?" Cammie questioned, her head tilting to the side in confusion.
'That was weird.. I wonder what will happen next.' Smirking slightly, Ira began to lean on one leg more so than the other.
Once again, the receptionist appeared before the cohort. "Follow me to the back. Leave the new recruit behind, though." The woman spoke, her tone full of indifference, contrasting her initial attitude.
Ira's smirk was snatched right off her face, swiftly being replaced with a frown. 'Why am I being left out?'
There was no immediate answer, 'Maybe.. Maybe it is because they do not trust me enough?' That was the most viable conclusion Ira could come up with.
Bariealla began to speak, "Just sit here in the lounge and wait for us. We will only be gone for at most 20 minutes."
Ira let out a sharp sigh, nodding her head to show her understanding.
The young girl sat down in the now completely empty room—of people at least.
'Maybe I can finally get some shut-eye..'
Closing her eyes, she began her attempt to sleep.
◇
"Ugh~.. This is so unbelievably boring..'
Glancing down one of the hallways, she checked her surroundings once again to make sure no one was coming. 'I know Bariealla said not to leave the lounge, but it will not hurt to explore... I think.'
Pushing herself to her feet, she contemplated which hallway she would wander down.
"Left or right..." she muttered to herself.
'My instincts are subtly demanding I go left…' chuckling softly, she spoke again:
"Looks like my path has been decided for me!.. Once again."
Shaking her head, she began to walk down the hallway.
It was barren, not a single decoration in sight. Only the occasional doors she would stumble upon which were the most unimportant and not worth any of the young girl's time.
Finally, she encountered a door with a sign that read "unauthorized personnel not allowed." Her curiosity piqued as she read.
'I wonder what secrets will be behind this door. Whatever it may be, hopefully it will suffice to cure my boredom.'
Pushing the door open, Ira is surprised that it was not locked. 'For a door that is meant to protect obvious secrets, it sure is left unsecured; for the Gods' sakes, it
was left unlocked!' Rolling her eyes back, she quietly chuckled about the stupidity of the situation, almost as if it was Fated for this to happen...
Nothing remarkable was in the room—excluding the large technologically advanced structure in the middle of the room. 'Amazing.. Could this be the main central network used to house all the information related to the Purge Realm? I heard in school it was only ten percent full due to how unknown and dangerous the Purge Realm is. What was its name again.. Oh, right, the "Central Archive Of Purge Realm Geographic Regions", "CAPRGR", for short. That was a mouthful... Government agencies do tend to have long and hard-to-pronounce names or abbreviations for their projects or machinery nowadays.'
Suddenly, a different door located on the opposite side of the room opened, and a group of individuals entered.
Quickly running towards the CAPRGR to hide behind it, Ira began to listen to the group's conversation.
"Ms. Daeria, what shall we do against object R-0?! Humanity does not have long until that object destroys all of us!"
The mysterious woman known as Daeria responded back with a tone of indifference, "Nothing. This world is already lost and there is nothing humanity can do about it. All we can do now is allocate our resources towards building settlements in the Purge Realm and move all valuable personnel there."
Ira had heard enough. If she were found now, she would most definitely be killed off to prevent this news from spreading. Quietly, she opened the door and left; Daeria glanced towards the machine as if she could see beyond it, her gaze centered on Ira.
The young girl did not care; she needed to leave the premises, or she could face certain death.
◇
Breathing heavily, Ira began to calm down from the adrenaline rush now that she had returned to the lounge—enough so to finally question what R-0 is, or what it could possibly be.
'A Purge Beast..? If so, it is most likely to be the Forsaken Terror humanity had encountered four years ago, the strongest creature ever recorded in all of history. That would not make sense, no one has seen or even heard of it since three years ago. Could it have reappeared? No—all of humanity would know by now if that monstrosity had done so. In its first appearance, it decimated an entire Fort in minutes, killing tens of millions of people!'
Questions continued to pour into her head—yet none of them seemed to be correct, at least with her current information they were not.
'Maybe.. Maybe it is something far more formidable than a Forsaken Terror. Something that will make history just as that abomination had originally done.'
The thought of a monstrosity rivaling that of a being that had killed dozens of millions sent a shiver down her spine, causing her to grimace.
Suddenly, an idea slammed into her.
'Could the monstrosity that is dooming humanity, be the creature that I am destined to die to..? It is no coincidence that my instincts demanded I go left. As Astheneia once said, "I do not believe in coincidences, everything has a purpose." But.. How could I ever even attempt to kill a creature of that power!? I do not see a future where I could ever even hope to dream of killing such an unimaginable abomination! Not a single Crowned human exists in this world, so how could I kill a being stronger than even that!?'
It was simple what she had to do. "I must.. become the first Sage of humanity."
Another voice resounded out, this time it was Cammie's. "What are you babbling on about? Becoming the first Sage!?" Cammie burst into laughter.
"Ignore her. We got what we need, so let's head out." Bariealla said with a tone of indifference.
The cohort left the government buildings, the sterile air filling their nostrils once more. Ira stumbled to the armored vehicle, dazed and feeling overwhelmed.
The engine of the vehicle roared as they began to drive away from the premises.
Glancing behind her and out of the window, Ira saw someone she presumed to be Daeria. Silver hair resembling Ira's reached down past her shoulders, paired with icy blue eyes that seemed to freeze the very world itself.
Peering beneath her flesh to see the mysterious woman's Will, it sent the young girl's world crumbling down. Before her very eyes, a being beyond what humanity knew of, 'A.. A Crowned human?'