Leo sat by Maria's side as she slept.
It had been several hours since they got situated at the new hospital.
He looked around, studying the internal appearance of the room.
Rusted pipes running through the ceiling. Cracked tile flooring with grime between the cracks.
He remembered the budget cuts that Caspian was talking about.
` If it looks like this to begin with, then what would it look like with even less funding? `
Guilt flared sharply, then vanished as quickly as it came.
` It doesn't matter to me. `
He turned back to Maria. His eyes scanned over her soft features.
Her face had started to regain color lately. A sign that her recovery was gradually improving.
He hoped that the sudden transition of location wouldn't impede on this.
Suddenly, the door opened.
Caspian stood in the doorway, holding a folded set of clothes tightly in his hands.
"The Cryptid is gone. According to the burn trails it left, it took a right turn down a road and disappeared shortly after."
With an unrecognizable expression, he slowly walked up to Leo and handed him the fabrics.
Leo took it and had begun unfolding it. This was stopped by Caspian's hand.
He returned his gaze back up to Caspian with confusion.
"What is this, exactly? Why are you looking at me like that?"
After a few more moments of hesitant silence, Caspian spoke.
"Don't open it until I leave. Just… don't Blight."
He promptly left after that. Leo stared at the closed door as he contemplated the implications.
"What…?"
He turned back down to the fabric.
Slowly, he unfolded it.
The scorched cloth slightly crumbled under his hands, revealing a golden badge with a name inscribed on it.
Desmond Acker.
A low hum filled his ears, drowning out the surrounding ambience.
The uniform had begun to blur.
Memories of the boy flashed in his mind abruptly.
The first time he saw him in his class, sitting by himself next to the windowsill at the backmost row.
When he saw him in his uniform. Saluting Leo with a stupid grin.
Him crawling on the road to lure the Cryptid away.
His hands shook, causing him to drop the burnt uniform.
He wanted to scream and curse, but he held it in for Maria's sake.
Instead, he dropped his head and tried to catch his breath.
His chest hitched in half-cries as he gripped his knees.
Tears drizzled on the uniform below
"God… damn it…!" He whispered to himself.
He lifted his eyes and met Maria's, who had woken up despite his attempts to remain silent.
He quickly wiped his face and kicked the uniform under his chair.
"Is everything okay, papa?"
Usually, she'd feel too embarrassed to call him this. But after everything that night, she hadn't noticed.
Leo managed to force his breath into an even pace.
"Everything is fine, sweetheart. You go back to bed."
She let out a yawn and rested her head once more.
"Alright…"
He tucked her in and kneeled beside her bed, holding her hand tightly.
Not tight enough to cause her discomfort, but firm enough to make sure she was there.
` Everything is fine. `
As her breath grew to a constant rhythm of deep sleep, he took the uniform and left the room.
He had to weave and slip through the crowded halls before reaching the exit.
Upon getting outside, he took a deep breath of the chill air.
He could feel the coldness biting in his lungs. It felt strangely nice.
There was an orange hue at the edge of the night sky. Not from the falling sun, but from the fires that raged on.
His first instinct was to go back home, but before he could do that, Caspian grabbed his shoulder from behind.
He had been waiting for him outside.
"Are you… okay?"
Leo turned to him.
He gave a simple nod.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
Caspian swallowed awkwardly and returned the nod.
"King Henrik needs us at Headquarters. Let's go."
Leo lacked behind by a few steps but eventually followed.
The walk from middle Section Two to upper Section Three was quite arduous, given that the train wasn't going to be running after the incident, but they did it nonetheless.
After some time, Leo and Caspian reached the doors of the Headquarters.
Caspian opened the door for Leo as they both walked in.
King Henrik was sitting on one of the lobby chairs with several Generals around. Valentino was amongst this group.
Caspian joined them and sat down across from Henrik. Leo stood behind him.
"Glad to see you two could fit me into your schedules."
Leo offered a short explanation.
"We were at the hospital in Section Two. We came here as soon as you…"
Henrik cut him off with a raised palm.
"I don't care, Morwyn."
Leo managed to mask any signs of annoyance as he nodded and took a step back.
Henrik moved his gaze to Caspian.
"What do you know about San Lazouli?"
"Not much," Caspian replied.
Henrik leaned his hand backwards and snapped. A map was placed in his hand, which he then rolled out across the small table between the two.
He pointed to a gulf to the West of Augustine.
"It's a city built on the water. The water is shallow enough to filter out any of the larger sea-based Cryptids."
Caspian looked at the map, then up to Henrik.
"What are you getting at?"
Henrik gave a simple smile. A smile so fake and sinister that it highlighted the deep emptiness within his eyes.
"To recover from this setback, we have to go to war. We can defeat them fairly easily. That is, if we have all our men available..."
His eyes slowly dragged up towards Leo, all while his smile widened.
Leo understood what he was implying.
His brows furrowed as he slammed his hand against the head of the sofa.
"We had a deal, Wilhelm!"
The surrounding men gasped at this sudden outbreak.
One of the Generals shouted at Leo.
"Lower your tone in the presence of your King or–"
"Or what?!" Leo cut him off.
"I could kill everyone in this room before you could even blink."
Henrik remained unmoved even after the threat.
"Are you sure you can?" He said as he nudged to his side.
Leo turned his gaze from Henrik to the hallway behind him, where Nikolai stood.
"You… You can't do this to me! We had a deal!"
Henrik's brows furrowed to match Leo's frustration.
"I don't give a damn if we had a deal, Morwyn! Reveurs follow orders. If you don't follow orders, you're not a Reveur. And we don't want poor little Maria out on the streets, do we?"
His frustration subsided halfway through the sentence, replaced with a smug expression.
Leo's breath caught in his chest a few times as he looked around.
"This was your plan, wasn't it? You were never planning on upholding the agreement. You were just going to use Maria as a pawn, weren't you?"
Henrik gave a small laugh as he shook his head.
"Theorize all you want, Morwyn. You're participating in this war, whether you like it or not."
With that, Leo turned and left the Headquarters.
He felt rage pulse through his body as his fists clench and teeth nearly cracked against each other.
He exhaled hard through his nose.
Eventually, he calmed down and slowed his walking as he reached his apartment.
He locked the door behind himself and sat at the edge of his bed.
Occasionally, he'd look around at the items in his apartment.
Notes from Maria. A framed picture of Charlotte. And beside him on the bed, the remains of Desmond's uniform.
He put a hand over the badge, gripping it lightly.
A million thoughts swarmed around his head.
Thoughts of everyone that he knew and cherished.
Primarily, he thought of Charlotte.
The promise he made and broken. The way he lied to himself about not having broken it.
In truth, even now he didn't feel like he truly did.
But, with war imminent… There would be no way to deny it.
The moment his blade touched another man, he'd permanently lose Charlotte.
His promise to fight for Maria was the only thing keeping him going. If he lost that, then he knew the Doubt would get to him.
He'd turn into an abomination. Then, Maria would have no one.
He thought of Caspian and all the effort he had given to keep him out of trouble.
He thought of Valentino and his several attempts at staying positive despite the circumstances.
Suddenly, he raised his head. His eyes widened, now different. Emptier. More certain.
` Valentino… He's retired from combat. `
The depths of madness had slowly seeped to the surface of Leo's mind.
At that moment, he thought of a plan. A plan so selfish that he could hardly believe himself.
He took an old grade report and flipped it around to its blank side. With a pen, he wrote a message.
He tucked it just beneath the lamp and got himself dressed into something more casual. A simple coat and dress pants.
He kept the sword on his hip and left the apartment, purposefully leaving it unlocked.