Once we called Doc and he treated Jane with the cure, Ashley asked them to leave the room. She explained that it wasn't that she didn't want them to know, because Azumi knew. She simply wanted to discuss it without too many people around. Because of this, it was just her, Jane, and me in the room.
—First, a question, Jane... —Ashley looked at Jane, who had sat down with her back against the wall.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
At this moment, my mind was racing to figure out what this was about. I didn't see Ashley as a jealous woman, and it feels insulting to even think so. What was it about?
"Who's Kain?" Ashley asked.
Jane's eyes widened.
"You could say he's practically my uncle… Or at least I used to call him uncle. He was Adam's adoptive father. I assumed he was dead, since he wouldn't be able to abandon me. That's all I came to," Jane replied hesitantly.
—He… He's not dead… And he's the one who brought Sean and me here. Sean brought the hand to the portal, it was him… —Ashley added.
Before I could say anything, an angry Jane spat.
"He's got guts. He didn't save me then, he left me to rot, and now he wants me to do his dirty work. The fire god isn't that strong for a change. Why doesn't he kill him himself?" Jane insulted Kain.
—Wait, wait, Jane, he did explain it. Supposedly he fought Adam, which prevents him from using his magic properly. He said he was even hiding from something, that he didn't find you quickly, but when he did, he was the one who arranged everything so you could flee, the one-by-one killer of your pursuers. He simply couldn't face you. It was better that you thought he was dead, because after all, it was his fault.
Jane, who seemed more confused than me, followed.
—He fought Adam? He... knew the dragons went to war, my mother told me, my father left... I...
I knew where this was going so I quickly intervened.
"Jane, let go of the past. It's too late. We're up to our necks in this, manipulation or not. Do you regret helping these people?" I said.
She nodded.
—Then I'll get to the final detail, the reason we even had a chance in the first place. The one who asked Kain for the favor was none other than the fire god's dragon.
Jane made a face of horror.
—So that means… The puppets, that magic, they've already merged, it means he knows about the betrayal, this is serious… —Jane commented.
"What do you mean?" Ashley asked.
—It's the reason why I'm still going to refuse to merge with Sean, all of our memories, all of our thoughts would be intertwined, my traumas, his traumas, would be our traumas, once fused, we are one, we can't even be too far away from each other, however without a complete fusion, it is possible to unfuse and not have that link, the god of fire had never done it and thanks to that his dragon was able to hide things from him, but not anymore.
—But then we can merge that way, I added.
Jane shook her head.
—It's almost useless, because we still share the same traumas; that's just so we can have a separate life; it's something you do when you hate the other person, an alliance based solely on power.
—I understand... So we continue with the stipulated plan, nothing has changed, that I can feel all its strength, it is simply an addition.
—It feels disgusting… It feels like I'm being used again, I'm tired of it… —Jane added bitterly.
"Oh, really? Not me. That's what desperate people tend to do: cry out for help. Even though Kain called you, it's his dragon who's calling for your help. So, from that point of view, you should know exactly what it feels like."
The atmosphere was tense after those words. Ashley knew exactly what I meant. Jane turned slightly red with anger.
—No... What... How disgusting! Why should I go save him? —she complained.
"It's not necessary, but that's why I continue," I replied.
Ashley joined my wave.
—I guess you're right… —Jane slowly relaxed and understood.
—So that's all settled, it doesn't really matter much, why we're here, or why Kain and Adam fought a war, are answers we'll look for once we're in another position.
When I got up from the chair, my legs gave way. I don't remember how long I'd been without sleep, but tiredness hit me, and suddenly the floor seemed like the most comfortable thing in the world.
Ashley lay down next to me laughing too.
"I'll take the bed, haha," Jane mocked as she lay back down, also tired.
But those words were enough to ignite the last spark inside Ashley, causing her to jump up and onto the bed. We laughed for a while, but too tired to continue, we fell asleep.
The alarms didn't sound but the artillery shots could be heard, the battle had woken us up, the three of us dressed quickly, Jane used magic, and we stood for a while looking at her, with idiotic faces.
Anyway, we quickly left the office. There was no panic, no one running around, everything was under control, my defensive strategy would be working. If this was the case, we would have the train, and everything would go smoothly.
We quickly climbed the wall with Ashley on Jane's shoulders. We scaled it in seconds. When I climbed up, I was horrified. Not by the endless number of puppets, or by the foul magic of the fire god. The artillery was aimed at our own soldiers, Mason at the center of this macabre scene. The frightened soldiers desperately made holes and tried to protect themselves using magic, using their energy to try together what I do with my energy sphere. Others dodged them, others gave up and went back to base to find another home.
"You gave that crazy guy the green light," Ashley muttered.
—Yes... he's crazy.
As if surviving the heavy artillery barrages weren't enough, they had to fight the puppets that surrounded them and riddled them with bullets. For Mason, who was smiling and laughing his head off, it seemed like he was in an amusement park.
—I told you so! Those who stay in my house will know what war is! Forged in iron! Come, my Angels of Death, enjoy your natural habitat!
Anyone would say he would be bragging if it weren't for the fact that he had shot several puppets right through the glass one after the other with a pistol. He even went so far as to hit one so hard that he smashed the puppet, and I want to remind you that these puppets are made of iron...
Azumi came out behind us, I guess she had seen us climbing the wall and had followed us.
—We all called him crazy when he proposed it, but you told him he had the green light. He also said he'd kill himself if any of his interns died, even though there's a real risk. He put in place safety measures. He had Rango and the duelists practice their shots relatively close, in case he needed help. The artillery is firing light charges at them, and they're really aiming close. —Grayson commented.
Little by little we saw them all training, everyone doing what they should, and everything flowing as it should, the trains, the work, the materials, everything went as it should, my surprise was when I saw the sky... A plane... A plane that I knew very well, the son of a bitch had done it.
Landing on the wall, with stupid skill, the old man got off the abomination, his flying beast, and with a look of pride looked at me, I had no choice but to tell him to produce more, that he would help make the train, and create more tanks and planes.
In other words, we began connecting everything via trains and truly connecting the territory we'd won. Ashley left to send the future pilots to the top of the volcano and plan further details. Jane, Azumi, and I trained hard again on the wall. I tried to repeat the office beam, and little by little I was failing. It was difficult and consumed a lot of my energy, but it was extremely fast and effective. If I used it directly, even for training, I could hurt her quite a bit.
I had learned a terrifying new ability, Jane when looking me in the eyes was too lethal, and that helped me a lot, it was curious to differentiate their battle styles, Azumi was fast but lethal, Jane was more of the forceful style, winning based on strength and technique, it was this duality that let me rest before the incessant attacks, although Jane would take plenty of breaks, she was still ferocious.
I looked at Mason's soldiers again, and there were only about eighty soldiers left. I recognized them all; most were from the forest base, others from the volcano base, but they were all veterans and had undergone training. Everyone else thought Mason was crazy.
They fought fiercely against the puppets, moving as one through a trench system they had developed during artillery attacks. Mason marched them forward through the sea of trenches, and they had to fashion bullets from the puppets' waste. They were riddled with wounds and painful to watch; one had even lost one eye, but he continued fighting under Mason's command. Unnecessarily, it wasn't only fatigue that made it more difficult, but also the fact that there were more and more puppets and that the artillery no longer had the luxury of light fire, which was extremely tiresome. Even so, Mason made them sing the anthem.
"How are they still alive?" Azumi asked, also peeking in.
"It's because of Mason. He's covering up their mistakes, but he lets them know." I replied.
"One mistake and it could be death," Jane added.
— The problem is, it's hard to argue against this madness, even if it is. Mason keeps fighting at his best, outperforming that unit of eighty soldiers. What's more, he teaches them to be like him, to enjoy it, to eat, to sleep, to live in this scene. Argue for the psychopath.
I guess that makes me a psychopath too…
Ashley arrived from behind, tired of climbing the endless stairs of the wall.
— Yeah, he left a letter… he said that if I was still fighting outside the wall, I'd take charge of the morning training; that obviously he and his soldiers wouldn't be able to attend. Aside from that, I had to calm several thousand soldiers who were crying for forgiveness and a move. On top of that, Doc insulted you, Sean. Apparently, you added more work than he already had. He not-so-nicely asked you to rot." Ashley's face was drawn from the work, but she continued talking. "Sean, one of the planes crashed, the pilot didn't die, but the rest are showing good improvements. The mad scientist… or out of respect, Tech's Dad, said he'd have at least 30 tanks in two weeks, but he asked for more time after that. He said you gave him an idea about the trains and asked for time to develop it. What do I tell him?"
"Thirty tanks are more than enough for me. Besides, Lombardi doesn't have enough men to supply more tanks, especially considering the tanks use "human" fuel since they're powered by magic. So tell him he has permission. Sometimes you have to let your creativity flow. How many pilots will we have?" I asked.
"About twenty-five," Ashley replied.
"It's incredible... Could they really do all that without magic in the world they came from?" Azumi asked.
—Our world, lacking magic, didn't waste time on it, but instead invested time in exploiting natural resources to create increasingly effective weapons to kill each other. So yes, but as soon as the other empires see this, they'll copy them. Our only advantage is that I still have years of military experience using them. The boys are learning with some guides I gave them; using their own energy as a motor has the advantage of better feeling what they're doing with the plane. So I hope they exceed my expectations.
Once we're done training, we have to launch three attacks at the same time, three attacks we can't complete without taking down these filthy puppet factory first. I already knew where it was, and the plan was viable, but I needed to train my soldiers more; I needed to build a real army.
"By the way, I forgot to tell you: some farmers asked for permission to build their own trains. I allowed them to start collecting a tax, and that way, we could start producing currency, creating goods, and establishing a structure. I didn't think there was a need to ask you," Ashley added.
"Mmm, yes, I understand. I mentioned it to you myself. Please take care of that. I need to focus on getting the army in shape. I assume you've already figured out the divisions?" I asked.
"What are you talking about?" Ashley asked, puzzled.
"He's referring to the houses. The idiot even said that each division was like a house. Each general took it extremely literally, and now there's chaos... That reminds me: What about your strategic unit?" Azumi said.
"They're learning history so they can develop creative war strategies. With a divided army like this, it's as easy as playing rock, paper, scissors. And my God, I only said it once, just once. It stuck like a broken record. They're like frat houses with that name." "I only received ridicule for my tantrum."
Little by little they went up, with food, Doc, Tech, Rango, and of course Grayson.
"This is all your fault. You gave the degenerate the green light," Grayson said as he sat down next to us on the wall.
"No one died." I defended him.
"Ah, but it left them traumatized. I had soldiers asking if the artillery shells were real," Tech laughed.
"The number of casualties wasn't normal either, bastard. What the hell is going on in Mason's head?" Doc added to the conversation.
"You don't remember that, do you?" Rango asked with a smile, as if recalling a fond memory.
"What do you mean?" Azumi asked.
"We met in a similar situation. When we revived, we quickly went to the front; enemy shells and the Fire Lord's puppets surrounded us. He protected us while we protected him. It was strange, but at that moment, we needed each other just enough to survive. From then on, we fought together," Rango replied.
—That's true... He may seem like an idiot, but he's not one at all... It would be much easier even for him to be like that, but he's not.
I remained silent for a while while the girls and I devoured the beef stew Grayson had cooked.
—Ashley... Azumi didn't tell you... Thank you... Thank you for going so far for me. —Jane said, with a genuine smile.
"You're welcome, that was a good workout," Ashley said as she stretched and set her bowl aside.
"Say it yourself, bastard. You weren't hurt, I almost died halfway there," Azumi complained a little, giggling, but seriously.
"So, Miss Cat with Magic is complaining now?" Ashley mocked.
—Stop that cat thing, you're driving me crazy! What the hell is a cat anyway?
After Azumi said those words, we all looked at her with idiotic faces, even Jane.
"Azumi... Don't you know what a cat is?" I asked, almost bursting with laughter.
Once it got dark enough to stop waiting for Mason to come through the doors, we headed back to rest.
He had taken the path of torment, and that was what he was teaching those who had joined his house, yet he had not allowed any of his little apprentices to die during training, that was the reason why I could not tell him to stop doing such training, but even so he had received a lot of damage by using himself to cover for an entire group that was slowly learning, although it would be better to say that they were getting used to Mason's instincts, they learned from him as a child with its mother. That was possible thanks to the deep respect they had for Mason.
I entered my room with Ashley and took off my trench coat, which was already feeling heavy from wearing it. Just as I was taking off my shirt, I received a hard shove and fell backward onto the bed.
She sat on top of me and held my hands tightly, leaving me immobile.
—Today you are not escaping from me, you are mine.
Ashley whispered in my ear and kissed me, I kissed her back by giving myself to her.
When he pulled away from our kiss, I couldn't help but smile.
—Oh, did I make you jealous?
She smiled back at me as she looked at me with lustful eyes, she took off her white shirt giving me a close-up of her athletic body.
"Do you think I'm that simple?" Ashley said.
I gently released my grip and changed position, on top of her I kissed her again.
"That's why I fell in love with you," I replied as I looked into her eyes.
His hands ran all over my body, letting himself be carried away by the feeling and the occasion.
The dim yellowish light from the only lamp in the room illuminated her greenish eyes full of life, my hands did the same, touching her body with my fingers, savoring her curves.
Abandoning every shred of self-control or doubt I still had in my mind, I gave myself to her as she in turn gave herself to me.