Antarctica’s Myth

[The Guild is absolutely a joke. Why did it take more than fifteen minutes for them to react to helping Eyon?]

"Those words stemming from a survivor. When you hear these questions, what do you say? What do you think? Is there even a hint of sympathy?" A female news reporter asked the man sitting across from her.

"I sympathize with the community. I regret not arriving at an earlier time that could've saved people," Grandmaster Redfield told her, "But I'll do better."

After an hour of being interviewed by the news reporter, Redfield leaves the room and out to the hallway where Lucia awaits.

"She asked stupid fucking questions." Redfield complained to Lucia.

"It will be fine, Father."

"Will it? Now the public is growing less confident in our abilities."

Lucia rolled her eyes at the thought of the public having an opinion about the Guild.

Redfield's boots stomped as they continued to walk through the hall and eventually through a portal.

"I can't believe I'm gonna say this… Lucia, go to North America. You will represent our family and discuss with their leader Luke Gravestone. Set an appointment for me with him within the next week." Redfield ordered before sighing heavily.

"What will this entail exactly?" Lucia asked, her head titled a bit.

"Trying to restore some faith in their people or-"

"Damage control..."

"Precisely."

Lucia scoffed, "Sure, Father. I'll do just that."

Lucia stepped out from the portal as it closed in front of her, leaving her alone in the hallway.

"Damage control… What a joke…" She scoffed with a laugh then began making her way down the stairs of the news station.

***

The next day, Lucia sets out to North America. It's not as quite as it looks in ancient art scattered throughout the continent in museums. The technological advancements made ancient North America look like a third world continent. Most of the problems that ancient North America couldn't solve, this one did.

These technological advancements led to a prosperous continent and its people living up to nearly 120 years old. Their health, physical capabilities, and mental capabilities were in peak condition. Some countries in the world are not even close to this stage yet so it goes to show just how much further the Humans can advance even more than right now.

In the far northern region of North America lies the capital city for the entire continent. It's a snowy region with a city inside of a bubble that keeps it warm and protected from all outside threats. Since Lucia doesn't have her own necklace that can teleport her places, she must stick to the Human way of getting to the city, which is by train.

"The Capital of North America lies ahead. Father wishes for me to set an appointment for him to discuss matters of their plan to expand their territory to Eyon. Whether Gravestone will approve of this is up for debate... But-"

"Which family do you belong to, huh?" A man sat down across from Lucia, his eyes fixated on hers.

"Armencuff." She replied, putting away her diary.

"Aren't you a little too old to be writing in a diary, Armencuff?"

"My name is Lucia, and no. Diaries are meant for all ages."

"I guess so."

Lucia then turned her head to look out the window, no longer acknowledging the man.

"Well then," He smacked his lips, "I'll be in the next few rows. Nice to meet you, Slayer." He promptly leaves the seat and returns to the front of the carriage.

[I hate Humans.]-Lucia.

The following hours that led to Lucia arriving at the building where North America's leader resides, the First Building, were all basic and cumbersome due to Lucia wanting this meeting to be over with already. She checked in at the front, waited an hour or two, got called to another room, checked in again, and waited another extra 30 minutes, and another room where she is currently waiting…The security measures are, more or less, extreme.

"Armencuff, he will see you now." The woman at the desk told her.

She got up from her quite comfy wooden chair and walked through two heavy, creaky doors that revealed an office with no windows, as they were artificial windows that displayed a regular city, a large desk littered with stacks of papers, wooden furniture, a chandelier, and a well endowed man sitting in his chair.

"Lucia Armencuff. You know, I found nothing about you and that's sort of… Weird." The man said.

"My Father is quite secretive of his family."

"Let me guess, he wants to apologize? He sent you because he couldn't face me, right?"

"No, he wishes to set a meeting to discuss matters that have to deal with restoring faith in the Guild. I don't know anything else than that."

The man raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "Take a seat, Lucia."

She sat down in a chair directly in front of the desk. She saw the nameplate of the man before her in pure diamond. Bold letters, Luke Gravestone.

"Respectfully, but disrespectfully, tell your father that he should come here himself and talk to me."

"No offense taken. I shall tell him that."

"I suppose we're done here then, right? Good day, Lucia."

Luke cleared his throat and returned to doing his paperwork. Lucia didn't move. Not one bit.

Seeing her bottom half still sitting in the seat, Luke called out, "Lucia?"

"Yes?"

"That was all, yes?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Then the door is-"

"What would you do if I made this entire building a blood bath?"

"W-What?" Luke said, slowly dropping his pen.

"I said, what would you do if I made this entire building a blood bath?"

"Wh-What are you…?" Luke stammered.

"Did you not think I would notice all the snipers having their scopes on me? Ready to shoot at anytime. Empty rooms so that when I walk inside them a trap sets off and kills me within it, right? Is this even the First Building?"

Luke couldn't speak as Lucia spoke the truth.

"There's a gun under your desk, right? Were you going to use it on me when I turned my back? Or were you going to grab it, take cover, and have the men you set on the floor above us to rain bullets and energy beams down on me? If I had to guess, you set this up for my father."

Luke exhaled heavily, "So?"

"So? So, I guess you don't mind sending out apology letters to their families, right?"

Luke forcefully swallowed. He even broke a sweat as he stared down Lucia. Eventually, he surrenders and waves his hand. The soldiers upstairs that have x-ray vision goggles saw the signal to surrender.

Lucia leaves the office and leaves Luke in a state of anxiety. He couldn't believe that he almost just… died.

Lucia walks to the train station to see the train she came from, but a man is standing at the station too. Was he on the train and she didn't remember? But she would remember. She was trained to be aware of her surroundings and those who are around her. She found it impossible that she would miss him.

She approached the caboose of the train and entered the train. But as she walked to the doors, she didn't see the man walk towards any of the doors. It was as if he just disappeared in thin air.

She sits down in her seat, staring out the window.

"Your threat to the Humans was quite amusing."

Lucia jumped in her seat and turned her head to the man sitting across the aisle from her.

"Who are you?" She asked the man, her voice concerned. She knew this man was anything but Human. Was he a Slayer too? A Junior? A Rogue? She couldn't sense any Essence coming from him. You could say that deep down she was a bit intrigued by him.

He turns his head toward her and their eyes meet. The first thing she notices about the man is that one pupil is an hourglasses with the Roman numeral "XII" (12) is within the hourglass.

"They're not afraid of you, you know? They're only afraid of the repercussions when the Guild finds out about their actions. You're nothing in their eyes except… An employee of the Guild," He got out from his seat and stood in the aisle, "But I guess that's all you are after all, right? I mean, isn't that why your father sent you?"

Caught off guard, Lucia's eyes widened, "How did you know that..?"

A male conductor approaches the man with a smile, "Ticket?"

"Ah, it seems I forgot it," He chuckled.

"Are you-?" The conductor's throat sprayed blood onto the man. His throat had been slit with some form of a blade but it was too fast for Lucia to see anything.

"Maybe we have a lot in common, Lucia. I also despise Humans. Quite a bit." He watched the conductor fall to the floor as a puddle of blood soon formed.

That's when she knew. The man before her isn't a Slayer, Rogue, or even a Human… He's a Warden.

"I know what you are now." Lucia informed the Warden, her gaze fixated on his movements.

He turns his body and reveals a face with a smile as he meets her gaze, "Then I know that you'll let me leave. I've seen it several times. You purposely allow some Colossus and Wardens to escape so they can kill Humans. Once I received news that you did all those things, I had to meet you in person."

Lucia couldn't speak due to being finding out that she had been ousted. What was he planning on doing? Was he going to tell the Guild? Tell her father? Would the Guild even believe a Warden? These type of thoughts raced in her mind as she saw the man begin to walk to the door.

"What do you want?" Lucia asked the man, feeling like he has an advantage on her.

"A partnership. I would like to think that you are a natural born Warden that just happened to be born in a Slayer's body. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to kill everyone in the First Building," He then lightly presses onto the train doors and it goes down as if it was cardboard, "You're welcome to join me, Lucia. Besides, wouldn't you like to be heard for once?"

Lucia stood up from her seat, took a deep breath, walked out of the train, and exhaled, "What is your name?"

"Khyros," He smirked.