Re:War (Discontinued)

Chapter 24: Steam and Oil

Kuro's words stuck in my head. It wasn't like her to go against my decisions that much. She was fine with Iona, but for some reason not Citra....

"Hey, dead eye? Can you hear me?!"

"R-Right.. where were we?"

"Sheesh. Are you actually trying to get information? Or are you just lazing around? Pay attention already," he pointed towards a barricaded area.

"More machines..."

"5 of them. There are 14 guards around. What else do you need to know?"

"I need to confirm the shifts. I'll need as much information as we can get."

This went on for days. Soon, a week had passed, and my notes were detailed. I had a good estimate of all the units, and it was larger than I thought.

There were about 40 HEART units, and 240 guards. Shifts occurred every 8 hours, so 3 shifts a day. My stretch of the border was heavily guarded. And it was likely the same for the rest of it.

Defences were tight, there was no getting by without destroying or hijacking those machines.

I had to get the information back fast. We had to rework strategies. I knew death on both sides were likely to be unavoidable, but at the scale we were facing, it was going to be our loss. A very big loss.

"Fiore, we're going back. I must go back to Anima as fast as I can."

"You're leaving? What about us?"

"You can stay here if you want, if not, come along. We could use the extra help."

"Alright, let's go. I'll tell Citra."
---
At the inn, Alice welcomed us back with a wave. She'd usually happily call out, what was going on this time?

"Oh? Master, you're back. Citra is taking a nap, so I'd recommend keeping it down for now."

"Explains how Alice is keeping quiet," I joked.

I walked into my room, noticing that Citra was sleeping on my bed. Odd. Putting down my stuff, I placed my notes on my desk. I wanted to read through them, but I decided against it. Being as tired as I was, I was a little lazy to go through those.

Days of spying around and moving along the border has really sapped the energy out of me.

There was the sound of shuffling from my bed as moved about. She had a scared expression on her face.

And all of a sudden, she sat up in a fright, screaming.

"Citra?! Citra? Calm down, it's okay, it's okay... It's just a nightmare."

"Raito..? Are you there? Raito?"

"I'm right beside you. Don't worry."

"Raito! What happened?!" Fiore barged in. Alice and Iona coming in behind him.

"She had a nightmare, I think," I said, trying to calm Citra down. "Does this happen often?"

He only nodded. Citra was shaking, holding my hands in cold sweat. I was startled by her sudden screaming...

"Raito... can you stay with me for a while? I... I wish to talk with you."

"Sure."

"Can you all leave us alone for now...?" she said shakily.