Isaac stood still, as Ena's figure towered over him, a look of disdain piercing through his skull.
He felt like a blade was shoved into his throat, blocking his airway and suffocating him inside-out, not that there was actually a blade, but… in all honesty? There was no difference whatsoever.
Now he couldn't tell which was worse, but what meaning did it have left? All he could do was fidget and put his blade forward, in front of his chest, hoping that Ena didn't do anything more rash.
Ena brought her blade upward, disconnecting it from the ground before it vanished into thin air; with that, she walked away from the scene and descended deeper into the forest, getting further away from the division. Isaac, in response, lay still on the cold ground, not moving an inch since Ena left, and just stared deeply into the gray sky.
Muffled footsteps marched forward toward Isaac, getting louder as they closed the distance. Leo bent down and stared at Isaac, placing his hands on his jacket's pocket.
"See, I told you... Trying to be optimistic in a situation like this feels more suffocating than facing it directly."
"I only wanted to help, at least move our progression a bit."
"Be more patient," Leo said, sitting down beside Isaac, grabbing the bowl of berries, and eating them slowly.
"Forcing things might regress us more. Right now, everyone has low morale, including you. Wait for everyone to have some energy first, then we'll move."
"What exactly... do we do after we get our energy?"
"Well, there are three things we currently have to do. First, we need to get the flower." Leo said, heating one of the berries to extract some flavor. "Might not be the true purpose, doesn't mean we shouldn't get it. The other two are to kill, you know who."
"Not sure about the first two though... Now that we've derailed from the mission entirely."
"Leo, not to be rude… But why are you talking to me instead of Tia or Theodor?"
"They're not in their right mind as of currently, we're the sanest out of everyone else in the division—Ena being the lowest and you being the top with me right beside you."
"How are you so calm, and if you're just pretending... doesn't that contradict what you said earlier?"
A laugh escaped Leo's lips, slapping his knee, nearly breaking his crossed leg formation.
"I'm very far from being calm right now, HAHA! And I'm not pretending."
"Believe it or not, you and I are practically one of the same. We tend to look at the positive side of things first before anything else, trying to help or find solutions.
I'm not like this because I'm calm, it's cope... I'm not trying to find a way out, I'm trying to calm myself so I can figure things out—like you. The only difference is that we have different ways of coping."
"What...?"
"I try to keep a part of my mind busy to focus on the reality of things, of course, I lean on the positive side too, but not to the point of delusions."
"... You seem to know a lot about yourself."
A single snowflake slowly fell on Isaac's cheek, embracing his warmth before his body temperature dissolved it. "Even you know more about me than I do."
"What's with the cheesy lines? Of course, I'd know you, you're the simplest of the simplest. I won't explain why, just know you're a generic archetype that's slightly different—but don't be so disheartened! The simplest is always the most relatable."
"Aside from that... There's another reason I came to you besides saying 'I told you so.' Do you want to go inside the illusion?"
As those words reached Isaac's ear, he immediately shot up and took a glance at Leo, studying his face. He was serious, not an ounce of doubt on his face.
"You're not dumb, I'm sure you know what I meant."
"W-why!?"
"We're going to explore it, as you said; we haven't made any progress."
"Do they know? Did you ask permission at least?"
"Do you honestly think asking permission is important right now? Both Theodor and Tia might kill us if we tell them."
"But isn't that a bit... reckless?"
Hearing him say that, Leo couldn't help but laugh to himself. Isaac, seeing him laughing so abruptly, felt uneasiness crawl its way down his spine.
"It's only reckless if it doesn't work."
"What…?"
Straightening his legs, he stood up from his seated position; he brushed dirt from his clothes, tidying himself before glancing at Isaac.
"Let's go." Leo said, walking away.
Picking himself up, Isaac nearly stumbled whilst following Leo, but he balanced himself before he could fall and walked right beside him. Gripping the sheath to his blade tightly, he fixed it correctly at his waist.
The cold wind hit harder than Isaac expected as he made his way to the entrance of the person they were supposedly needed to kill. Passing many trees with some snow falling on his shoulders, they had finally made it near the illusion.
"Don't you think it's a bit dangerous to walk right in?"
"Just trust me… Even if there are guards in there, they won't notice a single thing. But, just for safe measure."
Taking off one side of his leather jacket, he pulled his turtleneck sleeve up, revealing his bare forearm. Isaac tilted his head in confusion, trying to figure out what Leo was doing. He wanted to ask, but decided to watch for now.
Swinging his arm to his side, the atmosphere around them began to shift slightly. Cold sweat dropped down from Leo's face; to Isaac's shock, the tattoo on Leo's neck wriggled slowly to his arm.
The snake began to emerge from its skin, like a character exiting a television and making its way into reality.
With it now fully emerged, he lowered his arm to the ground. The snake evaluated the area before slithering its way to the edge of Leo's arm—his wrist. Lowering its body until it reached the ground, completely detaching from Leo.
Amidst its exit, Isaac saw his eyes change into an onyx color, like when he uses the tattoo as a sword.
"Just this once… Help me out here…" Leo mumbled to the snake, his body shivering as more sweat came out of his body.
The snake glared at Leo, but that glare didn't last for long as it wriggled its way into the illusion, disappearing completely.
Seeing the snake disappear from their view, Leo, feeling his legs weakening, fell toward the snow. However, before he could fall into the snow, Isaac managed to catch him by his arm, supporting him.
"Why did you get so weak all of a sudden?"
"… Common side-effects when using abilities like that."
"But I've seen you use it as a sword before. How is it any different?"
"Have you ever seen me drop it…?"
"Seriously, how can you still be smiling in situations like this?"
"That isn't important right now, since now… I can see what's inside."
After leaving Leo's body and entering the entrance, the snake saw two guards standing in front of a gate-like structure leading down somewhere underground.
The snake was large in size and would be extremely noticeable, with the ground being something that was quite literally the opposite of its color; however, the guards didn't seem to notice it.
Through the eyes of the snake, Leo was watching, taking in the sight in front of him.
'Go in the tunnel.' Leo commanded.
The snake slithered past the guards and into the tunnel, and for a quick moment, he heard footsteps climbing up the stairs.
"…!"
"Hide!"
"W-What? Why, did somethin—"
"JUST HIDE!"
Isaac, hearing his plea, urgently went to a nearby tree while resting Leo on his shoulder. While on his way, he heard a light tap behind him. Gritting his teeth, he placed Leo down and turned to see who it was.
Turning his head, he saw a man whose entire face was masked except for his eyes.
It was none other than the person they saw on television. The executioner of those six terrorists was in front of them. Isaac held his sheath, gripping it tightly as they both made eye contact.
"I didn't expect visitors… How did you two find this place?" The masked man said, his voice raspy and muffled.
Isaac didn't respond and stayed completely quiet, analyzing the man beforehand.
Other than the mask he wore, there was nothing else that caught his eye. White uniform clothes… A long sword… That was it, there was nothing more he could inspect from him, but there was one thing Isaac was certain of.
The man in front of him was hiding something behind that mask; other than that, there was no more intel he could gather unless he fought with him directly.
"We were running away from a group of terrorists, as you can see from our clothes, we had to fight them, but we weren't strong enough. Can you help us, sir…?"
Leo explained, forcing himself to stay calm; if not, the masked man wouldn't believe him. He hoped that his explanation would work, but with his face masked, he couldn't tell if the masked man had bought it or not.
"I see…"
Grabbing a projectile from his pocket, the masked man threw it at Leo.
Leo, in a weakened state, couldn't stand to dodge or at least block it. He prepared himself for the projectile. A large ring sounded throughout the whole area. Leo, in a panicked situation, forgot Isaac was there.
He let out a sigh of relief, slowly picking himself up from the ground before glaring at the masked man.
"This place is a private area that is made with high-level magic barriers so that no one can enter… Only people with authority can enter this place with permission, so… I'll ask again, how did you get in here?"
"Didn't you hear us! We just happened to stumble here, we didn't mean to—" Isaac, trying to back Leo's argument. But it was ultimately cut off.
"Let me stop you there, kid. 'Stumbling' or 'passing' through here is impossible; it seems I haven't explained it thoroughly. This whole area is made with space magic. Anyone who touches the barrier would instantly be transferred to another location without them knowing, yet you two still manage to enter here.
Sigh… Y'know, had it been anywhere else, I would've believed you, too. I would've thought there was an error in the barrier; however, you just happened to 'stumble' in the entrance to our base. This was why we placed another barrier in the entrance… For situations like these…"
Isaac swallowed his saliva as he listened to the masked man; meanwhile, Leo, knowing they were stuck in the predicament, felt his smile falter.
'He got us…'
"… But, even then, in my heart, I would've believed you two, still. Sadly, even if you two were telling the truth, we were ordered to kill anyone here… On sight."
After saying what he needed to say, the masked man charged forward toward Isaac. Almost instantly, Isaac unsheathed his blade and prepared for a clash.
Their blades clashed, causing the ground below them to tremble slightly. To the masked man's surprise, his blade bounced right back, while Isaac was still fine.
Sharpening his eyes, he took his short blade from his waist and sent it toward the masked man. The man turned his head to the side, just barely missing his face, causing a part of his mask to be torn off.
Twisting his hips, the man gave Isaac a kick to his abdomen, only for it to be blocked by the short blade he held. Luckily, the impact wasn't gone, and he was able to send him flying back to Leo's side.
Seeing his capabilities, the masked man jumped back to create distance. He scratched the back of his neck while he sighed in frustration.
"I didn't really want to fight today…"
Isaac's senses suddenly spiked after the man had said that. Instinctively, he slashed his side, and there, a loud metallic sound echoed. The man was now at his side, like he had never distanced himself from them.
This time, the man's blade wasn't the one that recoiled.
Isaac had shown an opening; there was no way he could dodge, for he was too close and already had his next attack flying toward him.
He waited for the blade to meet his skin… Yet, the blade hasn't come.
The masked man had disappeared, leaving no trace for them to find. Both Leo and Isaac stared at each other, confused in a tense way. In their minds, this was his ability—maybe even his skills.
Isaac stayed beside the weakened Leo, not knowing where to point his blade. With their senses, they turned their heads to the distance, both recognising its figure. A figure Leo could never forget.
Her brownish-blonde hair swung in the air as she leapt to their location, landing elegantly on the ground before glaring at the two.
"ARE YOU TWO CRAZY!?"
"Hey Tia…"
Tatiana stomped hard on the snow, making her way to Leo to grab his collar. Raising her hand, she slapped Leo, over and over again, until his face began to swell.
"Wait! Calm down for a second!"
Isaac, seeing Tatiana beating Leo up, felt sorry for him and only looked away with guilt in his eyes.
"How come I'm the only one getting beaten up!"
"I KNOW I WELL ENOUGH YOU GOT ISAAC INTO THIS!!"
"That's fair…"
Tapping her shoulder, Isaac felt her glare despite her not turning yet.
"What about the guy…?"
Tatiana let go of Leo's collar, letting him fall into the snow. Her expression turned serious while glancing in a seemingly random direction.
"Don't worry about that guy…"
Theodor gently opened his eyes, turning his head to the dense forest right beside him.
"… I've made sure he could vent his frustrations too."