Operation Hades

Lost Reason

Shortly after their encounter with the swordsman, the members of Shield team were quick to find somewhere to plan and wait for their air-support. Another apartment complex several blocks away fit the bill for them. The party settled in a room four stories up, with rather unremarkable features. The walls were beige, the furniture looked cheap, and there were only two rooms: a bathroom and a common room. The latter posessed a single window, which they were careful to position themselves away from.

After a half of a minute, Kerrigan decided that three of them should scout around the vicinity, to keep watch and to familiarize themselves with some of the locale. It would make sense that not all of them should go; it would cut down the chance of being discovered. Lyle volunteered to go along, and, strangely enough, Zephyr offered as well. After his two-story fall into the roof of a vehicle, they would think he’d want to sit the next thing out. That left Acheron and Anika to hold down the fort. Upon the others’ departure, Lyle left his Enterprise on the coffee table. Before she knew it, the door clicked shut behind the enterauge.

Anika plopped down onto the shabby couch, throwing her arms across the back and letting her head fall back. She took a deep breath, waiting for the padded footsteps to subside before opening her eyes once more. Feeling the sheath of her blade jamming into her back, and unwilling to bear it anymore, she leaned forward. She intently observed Acheron, who was carefully setting his weapons onto the floor from his seat adjacent to the couch. His stark white hair was so attention grabbing, as white as the snowflakes falling right outside of the window. It reminded her how chilly it was in there. She couldn’t help but guiltily stare at his eyepatch, as if she was doing something wrong.

“What’s up?” She jumped at the question. Acheron pulled the TMP from his back, setting it down next to his FAMAS. He didn’t even look at her.

She was shocked that he could catch her gawking through his peripherals while he was so delicately doing another task. He relaxed, and brought his gaze to meet hers. Anika could see his crimson red eye glisten, contrasting so well with his pale features. She could feel the gaze burning into her icy blue eyes, picking up every little detail like a hawk. She strangely wasn’t discomforted by the feeling of being leered at; it intrigued her.

Even so, Anika didn’t have anything to really say, but she was dying to talk. She was in luck, though.

After an awkwardly long silence, Acheron asked, “So, how did you get involved with The Agency?”

Anika blinked, not expecting that sort of question. “I, um...” She coughed, “Personal requisition.”

“Is that right?” Acheron responded quickly, “Considering there are only three nations in the world with co-ed combat integration, I’ll assume you’re either French, a Brit, or American.”

Over the last hour or so, his quick thinking and swift deduction hadn’t ceased to impress anyone. Now, it only made her laugh since it was a more casual environment than earlier. As she inhaled, a short snort slipped out, which only made her chuckle a little more. She glanced over to see Acheron with barely a grin on his face.

“U.K., Royal Marines,” As she spoke, Acheron’s expression failed to change, “Right after my tour in Egypt back in ‘26, I got requested for some ‘Special Service’ over in the ‘States. Let’s just say I wasn’t allowed to refuse.” Anika added the last part with a shrug. To this day, she found it as a pretty odd story; not the circumstances, but how she felt about it.

“You were blackmailed,” Acheron curtly nodded, “Nobody joins The Agency willingly. The only kind of people that could are sadists and psychopaths.”

“Well,” His quick response caught her off guard once more, “Yes and no.” Anika hesitated, and found she was staring down at the floor. She felt slightly shameful for this kind of nervous reaction. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to share that kind of thing with him. Another look back to his open stare slowly changed her mind.