Lapse

Chapter four- Ersatz

Today to my (And everybody else's surprise) we had a ersatz. Now an ersatz is a substitute to most people, but to me it was an opportunity. The legionnaire usually never missed training; and I respect him for that, but at the moment I was more intrigued at the fact that I might be able to finally get rid of Naple.

The legionnaire is probably still burned from the fire and had to take time to recover.

Naple has been following me ever since he woke up, which I guess is normal considering i'm supposed to be 'befriending' him, but I tended to avoid thinking about that.

So that's why I made the decision.

I've never gone against what the legionare has told me to do. I consider myself to be a very loyal and obedient dragoon while in battle. (A dragoon is a good soldier who travels on horse but fights on foot.)

But this wasn't a battle.

This was a matter of life or death.

And if I didn't get either me or Naple away soon, he was most likely going to get killed.

Well; sorta.

He can't actually die. (A fact which I have abhorred.)

But I think I would find a way if this kept up.

Now that's why I made the daring, (and might I add audacious) decision to lie to the ersatz about the fact that I needed a job. I figured that if I was working I wouldn't have to think about Naple. (And he would be miles away; but there was a chance that I wouldn't be able to pull that part off.) The conversation went something like this...

"Um.. hello commander?" I called, opening the door to his office so it was ajar enough that I could see inside. I had heard rumors, of course, but I was very surprised when I saw the chubby man with a prime-cut beard sitting in place of the commander.

"Shalom." The substitute answered, motioning for me to step inside.

My eyes widened in surprise at his greeting, but because I studied so hard I knew what it meant.

I stepped inside and pushed Naple (Who had been waiting outside) farther back so the ersatz wouldn't see him. I shut the door quickly and saluted.

"I have finished all of my objections, so I came here looking for a new..." My throat clogged up and I felt like choking. I hadn't ever lied to my commander and I realized that I might not be able to take the culpability if I went through with this.

Culpability means 'blame.' I've never done good with guilt, but usually I didn't have a reason to deal with it.

"Um... yes?" The man asked politely.

"I came here looking for a new job!" I blurted, my voice cracking halfway through. I'm not sure if he noticed, though. "My name is Blight Perennial. I would like a job far from The Dome where I can help out."

He squinted, as if trying to scrutinize every inch of me. After a moment he nodded dimly and shifted through some of the top papers on his desk. He read a small paper and motioned me closer. "Is doesn't say anything about granting job requests on the paper your legionnaire gave me."

In response I glanced over the paper and said, "it doesn't happen very often. Check for a yellow clipart in there." I numbly lifted my arm and pointed at the pile of old papers. He cocked his head and then shrugged, bringing his arms up to sift through the papers. After two minutes and fifty one seconds (I count when I get nervous) he smiled and pulled out the 'Job Board.'

The Job Board consisted of a clip board with small sticky notes connected to every visible part. No one in the platoon remembers what the original color of the clipboard even is. The legionnaire adds the new job requests that come in, but he doesn't ever take off the old ones. He just puts a giant red check on the ones that have already been claimed.

A member that wants a job far away is technically supposed to get three signatures from the other platoon members, stating that it's a good idea for them to get out, and that the platoon will be fine without them.

But the legionare wasn't here, so as I suspected, the ersatz just handed me the paper stating I could go with a curt nod. He didn't put a check on the sticky note, but I didn't tell him because I figured it would give me more time.

Now I was in my tight room in The Dome, trying to pack the necessities.

"Are we really going to go, Miss Perennial?" Naple asked with a wicked grin. Ever since he heard my last name he hasn't stopped calling me 'Miss Perennial.'

At first he was confused, and I had to explain to him a cover story we were instructed to tell him. Apparently, Naple had been 'climbing in the mountains when he suddenly slipped and hit his head on a jagged rock.'

But to my surprise, he didn't seem to care where he came from. Instead he just followed me around like a lap dog and observed what I did.

"Not YOU; I am going to go on a job. YOU will stay HERE." I commanded with an edge to my voice.

I suspect that Naple didn't hear the edge in my voice, either that or he's more dense than I gave him credit for because after my threat he said, "but you're going to miss me OH SO MUCH because of the UNDYING friendship we have!"

Now i'm not usually the kind of person that exaggerate. I love to say exactly what I mean and nothing more.

But I guess at this time what I was thinking WAS exactly what I meant.

I don't care if he's a threat to the world. I don't care if he's the biggest murderer in decades. He is the most ANNOYING MAN in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE and all I want to do is DESTROY HIM.

Suddenly, breaking through my inside threats there was a loud cracking noise. Similar to the noise made by Naple when he broke into The Dome. I glanced at him quickly, my eyes narrowing but he just blinked back; his eyes uncertain.

Suddenly I felt a stab of pity for him that I didn't think was possible.

He really doesn't know very much about the world. I had briefly explained the kingdoms to him, and mentioned once that he was from Vempra, but I didn't tell him anything more about who he used to be.

Suddenly I heard Jury screaming, "Assassins in The Dome! Everyone prepare for battle!!! We don't know what they are capable-" And then his voice cut off. I gasped and told Naple to be quiet as I grabbed my supplies. I gently sheathed my Javelin and slid a knife in my boot.

My back was turned to the room and I didn't see the man in black quietly tip toe inside.

I didn't see him creep up directly behind me.

And I most assuredly didn't see him lift his nasty machete above my head and start bringing it down.