14 - Three Little Ducklings, p3

“Gonna be sad leaving this place behind, I’m not gonna lie.” Nightseer said, looking back at the compound from afar. Aizawa hadn’t arrived yet, they were waiting at the pickup point. They had all their luggage with them and awaited their leader.

“It was really nice, you’re right.” Reiner said. “I loved it there. Man, I feel bad...what if we don’t like the new place?”

“You think Lady Aizawa would pick out a bad spot for us?” Katya asked. “She knows exactly what we like and what we don’t at this point. Worst case scenario, we can just protest!”

“Doesn’t it sound a little concerning though?” Nightseer asked. “I mean, she knows everything about us, but we don’t know anything about her.”

“Bosses are usually like that. They like to, you know, be mysterious. They like to stay hidden.” Reiner said. “I’m sure Lady Aizawa has a reason to, I mean, from what I can tell, she’s a big-shot soulful who is head deep into some kind of political games or power quests...yeah, I don’t even know honestly.”

“She said her ability was memory manipulation, right?” Nightseer said. “I’m just...I don’t know.”

“She said it herself that she isn’t going to use it on us.” Katya quickly replied. “I know what you’re scared of, but...I don’t think that’s the case.”

“Well, think about it.” Reiner said. “If she wanted to, she could just instantly use it on us and turn us into perfect slaves or servants, right? If she hasn’t done it already, it means she doesn’t want to do it.”

“Makes sense.” Nightseer said. “I did some digging online. Amnesia related to awakening as a soulful is a real deal. Quite a few people suffer from it...including us.”

“It was probably easy for her to contact hospitals and ask for anomalies like us to be transferred here.” Katya said. “Especially since she has some type of research institution. Reiner...are you chewing gum?”

“Yeah.” Reiner replied. “Why?”

“Give me some.” Katya extended her hand, receiving the reward. “Where are you gonna throw it away though?”

“What’s the point of throwing it away?” Reiner asked, putting the pack back into his pocket. “I just swallow them.”

In complete silence, Katya slowly turned her head towards Reiner. A few seconds later, Nightseer did the same.

“What? You guys don’t do that?!” Reiner freaked out.

“Absolutely unbelievable.” Nightseer sighed. “Well, you guys remember everything that happened after we woke up, right?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Mhm, nothing feels wrong.”

“Then I think we should be good.” Nightseer said, relieved. He glanced one last time at the facility, and it's a pretty garden with predominantly purple flowers on a flourishing green grass.

“I hope you have not been waiting for me for too long." Aizawa said. “There were some mild errands I needed to take care of.”

“We’re ready to go. I’ll carry us with LV1.” Katya said. “Uhm, Lady Aizawa, I always meant to ask, but...what’s in that book? You’re always writing something there, I wonder what it is.”

“This?” Aizawa asked, raising her hand with the black book a little. “Just me taking notes. Anyhow, let’s move. Our destination is a castle close to Prague.”

“How long is it going to take?” Katya asked, moving away a little to summon LV1. “Like, approximately.”

“Depends on how fast you can carry us. The faster, the better.” Aizawa said. “We will spend a week acclimatizing, then, for a while we will be undergoing advanced training to prepare for a future operation.”

“Future operation?” Nightseer asked.

“I have told you about the stronghold system, correct? Our mission will be tied to it.” Aizawa said, an ambitious spark residing in her eyes. “We will be overthrowing the Eura stronghold.”

...

“So this is the place?”

“Yeah...pretty fucking grim, I can’t lie.”

The trio sighed in disappointment seeing the cold dungeon-like environment. They were to bring everything with them, but they didn’t expect the areas to look as dull and empty. All they had was a few basic appliances and some outlets for water and electricity.

“This is gonna take a while to set up...” Nightseer sighed.

“Nightseer, you do the tech stuff.” Katya immediately took command. “Reiner, you do NOT do the tech stuff under any circumstance, you do the furniture and stuff. And I’ll take care of decorating everything.”

“You think we can turn this dungeon into a living place?” Reiner wondered. “I mean just look at it. It’s never gonna feel right.”

“Eh, we’ll manage.” Nightseer sighed. “Come on then, chop chop. Let’s get this done with so we can actually enjoy our life.”

They got to work. After dozens of changed decisions, bad placements, good catches and arguably unnecessary purchases, their home was forged. They took a good look at it, and were truly proud of their little cave deep inside the castle. They had no idea why Aizawa wanted a castle in the first place, they theorized that she might secretly be a fan of medieval fantasy or just wanted to look cool. Who is going to intimidate a castle owner with their office?

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They spent their days in peace. They got out and laid on the grass whenever it rained. They stayed inside and played cards or other board games. They got a gaming console and played until their heads exploded.

Everything just felt right.

...

[1 DAY BEFORE THE FALL OF THE EURA STRONGHOLD]

“Kyaaaaah! I won again!” Katya cheered, the entire deck in her possession. “And still! The undisputed card champion of the trio, myself!”

“Yup, that’s it. I don’t know how you got your hands on all four aces.” Nightseer sighed in disappointment.

“She’s a trickster, never forget that.” Reiner threw in.

“No foul play reported means no foul play punished.” Katya smirked. “Ahh, time to go to bed as a winner and wake up to...well...” her smirk slowly faded away. She didn’t really know what she was doing with the deck, she awkwardly fondled the cards and mixed them around.

“You’re still scared? Come on, you’re doing some crazy stuff with LV1 now!” Reiner said. “If anyone should be confident in your abilities, it’s you. I’m the one that’s been slacking in practice.”

“You guys are gonna be fine, alright?” Nightseer said. “I don’t know why you’re all so scared. We’re strong, and most importantly, Lady Aizawa herself is leading that operation. She’s not gonna let us die, in fact, she’ll probably go in there and deal with the stronghold herself.”

“Well, our plan isn’t to enter it.” Katya said. “She told us that we need to clear the path and deal with soulless troops or soulful opposition. She will be doing all the heavy lifting.”

“The heavy lifting in the form of the leader of the fucking Eura stronghold.” Reiner said.

“Hey, for all it’s worth, my money is on Lady Aizawa.” Nightseer said. “She’s far, far stronger than she lets on.”

“Works well for her.” Reiner said. “But...hey, it was fun while it lasted. It’s time for us to get involved.”

“The hell do you mean ‘it was fun while it lasted’?” Katya said, smacking Reiner in his arm. It actually hurt quite a bit. “What’s next, you’re gonna write your will?”

“He’s just stressed, that’s all.” Nightseer said. “We’re finally heading to a serious battle, huh? Gotta be honest, kidnapping or assassinating soulfuls so far has barely been challenging, except a few times. But this...this is different. This is on a global scale.”

“In that case, I have a small suggestion.” Reiner said. He walked over to the other side of the room and grabbed an old camera. “Let’s take a picture together.”

“A picture?”

“Yeah. We can all get a copy and carry it around with us, or keep it somewhere safe.” Reiner said. “We make sure we won’t forget each other.”

“I don’t think I’m gonna forget two of the only important people in my life.” Katya pouted.

“I think he meant if something goes south.” Nightseer said. “But, all the negative stuff aside, I think it’s a good idea. Reiner, put that thing somewhere and set it on a timer. Set it at twenty seconds because I know you’re gonna spend the first ten seconds laughing.”

“You got it, commander.” Reiner said, slightly annoyed. He put the camera on the table, and the three posed in front of it. Three, two, one, and it flashed. They quickly rushed to see the result, and they got it perfectly on the first try.

“It looks so good...” Katya said, almost tearing up. “I can’t believe we used to be a bunch of weirdos on hospital beds, and now, we became this...”

“Everyone gets a copy.” Reiner said, handing the picture. “This one, the fourth one, will be special. We’re gonna bury it somewhere.”

“Bury? Why?”

“Because the other option is putting it in a bottle and chucking it into the sea, and there’s not really any sea nearby.” Reiner said. “Come on, we’ll put it in an iron frame so that in the future, when someone hunts for treasure with metal detectors, they can find it!”

“But why?” Nightseer asked.

“It’s proof that we existed.” Reiner said. “Here, I’ll sign it first.” he said, grabbing a marker and the sacred photograph.

“Signed by the soulful that will live life to the fullest, Reiner.”

He passed the marker to Katya.

“Signed by the soulful that will never forget these people, Katya.”

She passed the marker to Nightseer.

“Does it have to be something special or just anything?” Nightseer asked.

“Just match the tone, I guess.” Katya said. “Don’t write anything silly.”

“Right.” Nightseer nodded. “In that case...”

“Signed by the soulful that will one day see the moon...”

“Nightseer.”

Reiner smiled, seeing all the signatures at the back of the photograph. He carefully got a hardened iron frame out of one of the drawers and slid the picture in. He grabbed a hammer and nail and struck it in between the cracks in the cobblestone walls, and he hung the picture from there.

And they looked at the picture and smiled. At that moment, they were happy, and their lives were set in motion.

[PRESENT DAY]

“It’s still hanging.”

“I’ll take it with me.” Nightseer said, taking the frame off of the nail and putting it inside his clothes. “I’m not gonna leave this here.”

“The frame is a little worn off.”

“And in the picture, now that I look at it, it’s not really as perfect. The lighting is off, the quality isn’t too good, and the print wasn’t too good either. The quality of the paper is probably of the lowest tier.”

“But back then, when we took it, it seemed perfect. It was perfect.”

“And now, Reiner is dead, and we have to flee from the soulful we thought we could trust.”

“Reiner, you’re watching us, right? What would you say to this decision that we’re making? Would you call it smart or stupid? Would you say that our chances are high or low? Tell me, what should we do? Where should we go? Should we even do this in the first place?”

“If Lady Aizawa truly wants to eradicate our memories again, we will not just be amnesiacs. We will become Nachtvessels, emotionless killing machines. We will never feel what we have felt together with the three of us. I’ll look at Katya as a variable, not as someone I cherish with my whole heart.”

“That was our purpose, wasn’t it? Help Lady Aizawa write that book of hers.”

He got the photo out for a bit and glanced at it.

“Nah, you’d want us to stay ourselves. You’d want us to get the hell outta here and live our best lives.”

“Because if we stay here, we will forget everything.”

“Katya.” Nightseer said, putting the photo back into his clothes and looking at her as she entered the living room. “We’re gonna say goodbye to this place.”

“I know.” Katya said, holding back tears.

“We’re gonna go deep into the city with our soul presences at the minimum, and gradually make our way out of here. We will surrender to the Heisei and give them information to get off the hook.” Nightseer explained. He paused for a moment before asking.

“I’m sure.” Katya replied. “Because I trust you.”