DOOM: Puer Infernalis

05: Martis visiones/Visions of Mars

[Chapter 5: Martis visiones/Visions of Mars]

-The Dreamscape-

She was here again; she'd recognize this dark, rocky hell anywhere. Despite the last few visions, they still filled Celestine Lucullus with that certain type of dread.

The dull brownish red rocks weren't all that jagged, yet the atmosphere around her seemed to drain the very life away from her. The winds dispersing the brownish dust around like a light sandstorm didn't help with her vision either. The yellowish sky was also another thing that wasn't helping.

"So you are here too, eh Celestine Dear?" She whipped her head to see none other than Olga Discordia walking up to her with the grace only a monarch who takes pride in their duties could muster. Celestine blinked as she took in Olga's entrance.

"O-Olga? H-how did you get in here?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. One moment, I was sleeping soundly in my room that you have given me, and the next I found myself here," Olga said as she gave a shrug before the Dark Elf Queen looked around, taking in the seas of brown and red. Olga narrowed her eyes, as the entire environment reminded her of Garan after she had destroyed it to prevent the demonic hordes from defiling it.

"This reminds me of what I had done," Celestine looks at her as she continued, "What I had done to Garan was unforgivable." Olga said as she faced her old friend.

"You did what you had to do, Olga. No one can fault you for it," Celestine spoke kindly, as if the war between them had never resulted in horrific tragedies. It made Olga uncomfortable but she steeled herself. It was one of the things about Celestine that made her envious of her. Her uncanny ability to bring about joy was something Olga had lacked but more than made up for it with her exotic body and skin color.

"But I've caused so much death and strife!"

"You've held the monsters back as much as you could. I'd be foolish to blame you; for I would be a hypocrite should I do so."

Before any of them can speak further, they heard footsteps heading their way. Quickly acting, the two Elven monarchs hid behind a large rock, ignoring the dust and sand being blown over them to the best of their abilities.

Looking over, Olga saw a group of armored individuals as did Celestine. But these did not look like the armored knights under Claudia's own Dawn Templars, as their armors were rather advance in terms of appearance.

If anything, these men reminded the two elves of Sir Flynn Taggert as his own set of armor was just as advanced as theirs, although theirs were more armored and protective than Sir Taggert's own set of armor. Perhaps these men were part of the nation that he, Sir Corzo White, and Lady Jung Hae-Lin had hailed from.

The men had passed by them, and the two can hear them speaking.

"Once again, doing guard work for the eggheads," one of them, wearing blue armor, spoke with his voice was distorted, the two elves noted. "I fucking swear, if one of them screws with my armor, I'm gunning them down right on the spot! I don't care what the Board of Directors says!"

"Easy, Willis," another one in blue chastised the now-identified Willis, "Command says that there's some increased demonic activity in the sector, so they want us to put these horny SOB's down." He finished as he held up an interesting firearm, Celestine and Olga noticed.

Its body was light brownish green, with a long silver barrel protruding outwards.

Willis replied in an annoyed tone, "Says you, Johnson. I ain't paid enough for this bull."

"Not with that attitude, you ain't getting paid shit," another one, this time clad in blood red colored armor, shot back, making Willis shoot that man a glare from behind his helmet.

"Fuck off, Joseph!" Willis angrily snapped at the red armored soldier, Joseph.

The group of soldiers walked off, continuing to converse with one another. Olga looked at their retreating backs and told Celestine.

"Let's follow them," Celestine looked at her as if she were mad.

"But if they see us-"

"Then I can deal with them with my magic," as if to emphasize her point, she brought up her staff. The gemstone on the tip shone weakly before dulling out, as Olga had collapsed to her knees.

"Olga!" Celestine began to help Olga to her feet, noting how the Dark Elf would shudder with every inch she straightened.

"I-I'm fine, Celestine Dear. Nothing like a little mending would fix," Olga assured weakly, giving a smile at her. Celestine wanted to argue, but simply chose to keep her mouth shut.

"We shall follow them, Olga, but from a safe distance. Who knows what will happen should those men see us?" Olga nodded as she stood up once more.

The two elves followed the men from a respectable distance, though are unable to hear their conversation due to the howling winds straining their hearing. Minutes later, the men approached a large metal structure, with more soldiers of varying colors stationed there as non-armored personnel moved about from their positions.

The dominant material was metal, titanium if Olga could guess, as various towers (If they can even be called that as they were rather short in comparison to more normal towers seen on Eostia and those of her ally countries) housed their marksmen. Various smaller, square buildings were arranged in neat order, perhaps housing supplies and other soldiers. The gate was automatic as the large gray doors separated at a fairly quick pace as soon as the group of soldiers had stopped in front of it. A massive dome seemed to be the means of defense apart from the towers as it had covered everything but the towers as a form of protection.

The group of soldiers went in, followed by Olga and Celestine.

To the surprise of the two elves, none of the soldiers took notice of the two as they followed the group into what appears to be their base. The gate behind them closed quickly as it had opened, and suddenly the atmosphere was more breathable now to the two elves.

Suddenly, a loud roaring sound came from above them, making the soldiers quickly disperse and head to safer areas which Olga and Celestine followed.

Looking up, the two elven monarchs were further surprised to see a metal dragon slowly descending from an opening in the dome towards the open area. The loud noises created from its non-moving wings were deafening to the elves. As it landed, the two couldn't help but take in its features.

It was large, primarily colored black, with a thick main body and a large head although the neck was rather short, they noted. Its wings were ever straight, the only moving part would be the odd structures attaching them to the main body moving to an upright position, spouting blue flames that lessened as the large dragon descended lower towards the smooth metal platform erected from the ground. Its tail was somewhat long, stiff much like its wings with two smaller wings attached to the sides of the tip of the tail. Its sides suddenly opened as the flames ceased, revealing more soldiers although these men were clad in black armor and were likely to be escorting someone important. Elite forces, maybe?

"Who are these people?" Olga muttered out loud as the new arrivals stepped off of the dragon's opened sides as the person under their care emerges. The two elves couldn't help but gasp at her appearance.

She was sickly, shorter than them and even the tall soldiers in comparison. An odd, milky gray body suit with thin paddings consisted of her clothing, with the center between her breasts having a blood red light coming from it. She was deathly pale and thin, as if she weren't human but an undead creature. Her hair was very short, revealing that the sides of her head sported metal additions, perhaps to stabilize her fragile body.

But it was her eyes that drew their attention. They were a steel blue color but it wasn't that that grabbed their attention.

Despite the dullness in them, those eyes hid a dark secret and showcased a cold fury at whatever catches her gaze. Despite that, the soldiers stationed, including the ones Olga and Celestine had followed, saluted although theirs was different from Eostia's, where Eostians would salute by firmly placing their fist on their breast followed by a bow, these men saluted by bringing up a stiff hand to their forehead.

"Welcome, back, Miss Pierce," one of them greeted but the woman, Pierce, did not reply. Looking around the base, she simply nods to her escorts, who nod back at the unspoken message. The air around them was tense; Olga and Celestine could feel it.

Pierce and her bodyguards passed through a set of moving doors, followed by the two (Somehow) unseen elves. Passing through a second set, Olga and Celestine were met with the darkness of a large cave.

Various metal constructs were here, they noted, providing illumination for people to see better in these dark environments. It also appears that there were a few workers down here as well, wearing similar bodysuits to Miss Pierce's but in differing colorations. The group proceeded farther down this tunnel until they came across a large set of stone doors that outright dwarfed everyone present. A group of bodysuit-clad men and women were there, studying the intricate writings carved into the faces of the doors.

One of them, perhaps the leader of the group clad in the bodysuits, took notice and waved them over. Pierce, as did her elite guards, went over to the man.

"Good to see you again, Olivia," the man held out a hand for a shake but Pierce simply gazed at the door, her eyes slightly shifting.

"Were there any complications on your end, Klein?" Pierce finally spoke, her voice coarse but whether that was from her age or condition, the two elven monarchs could not tell, as she finished inspecting the large doors. The man, Klein, lowered his hand with a frown as he gestured to the doors.

"We haven't fully deciphered the writings as of yet, Pierce, but rest assured we'll get to the bottom of this," he spoke in a confident tone. Brining up an odd metal tablet, he shows to Olivia Pierce the results of his findings. Various images were shown in brisk paces, each depicting the different parts of the large stone doors and their writings. Celestine and Olga couldn't help but be amazed at the level of technology.

Pierce looked it all over and asked, "Have you finished cataloguing them, Klein?" The man simply nodded as an answer.

"Good," she turns to the elite guards. "Get a few detonation charges and get that door open," her words made Klein and the group look at her like she were mad, shocked at her words.

"Miss Pierce, please reconsider!"

"I have already made my decision, Doctor Klein. You and your group have stared at the door long enough," Pierce gazes at the doors, but her eyes seem to see right through it.

"It's time we saw what exactly is Mars hiding from us."

For the past few minutes, the group (Along with Celestine and Olga) were watching the elite guards plant odd black blocks with red wires lining certain parts of each block and attaching them to other blocks in the process.

Once the men were finished, the apparent leader of the elite guards handed a strange rectangular device to Pierce who, without a second thought, pressed down on the trigger on the side of the device.

The next sound the two elven monarchs heard was a loud, thundering roar that shook the ground that they were on and rang their eardrums greatly. Such absolute power! The explosions had caused a massive cloud of dust to fan out in several directions as the large set of stone doors had been forced open. The explosions had an effect on the others as well, as the bodysuit-clad group covered their ears and closed their eyes as the blocks exploded.

Once the dust had cleared, they could see clearly what lied behind those doors. And its very presence alone sent strong shivers down the spines of Celestine and Olga.

A stone sarcophagus laid ahead of them, smack dab at the center of the room. Upright, it sported various markings that gave off a dull red glow. They weren't certain of it, but their ears picked up on the distortions of the wind. The distortions sounded like whisperings, the whisperings of the dead.

"I-Incredible," Klein could only muster as the sight of it all left him and many others speechless.

However, the woman, Pierce, seemed to not mind or ignore the voices as she walked into the large chamber and headed straight for the sarcophagus. She was ignorant of the whisperings that were getting stronger in her ears. She wanted the sarcophagus, and what lied inside of it, no matter the cost.

As Celestine was about to move in and intercept, Olga had held out a hand to obstruct her path.

"Olga?" The Dark Elf Queen of the Jagged Crown did not reply for a brief moment, as if she was contemplating on what to say next.

As Pierce stopped in front of the stone container, she reached out with one hand and ran it across the smooth surface.

She immediately felt it. The red markings sparked against her touch, making her defensively pull back her hand to inspect the damage done. Despite the brief contact, it was enough to nearly reduce her fingers to char. Pierce gave a solemn nod and turned to the rest.

"Get this... find into my lab as soon as possible. I wish to inspect it in more... suitable conditions," reluctantly, the bodysuit-clad group nodded while Pierce's elite guards saluted at the executive member's orders.

What happened next was a literal blur for Olga and Celestine as the workers and the soldiers carefully loaded the sarcophagus into a gray horseless carriage that soon drove off, as the two elves found themselves in the same place as the sarcophagus, the damning thing standing upright no matter the bumpy road. Any other time, the two would've marveled at the level of technology seen at the moment.

However, the current moment prevented such thoughts or actions to happen from the two elven monarchs.

As the horseless carriage drove through the desolate wastes, Celestine took the time to look outside. What she saw made her eyes widen as she dashed over to Olga and rapidly tapped her. The Dark Elf queen blinked at her counterpart's actions.

"What in Serenus are you doing, Celestine?" Celestine continued but this time she spoke up.

"Olga! Olga! Look outside!" Confused, Olga did what she was requested/told and only then did her eyes widen.

The cluster of metal structures was massive, dwarfing the entire country of Eostia easily. A quick glance at the strange moving sign read Mars City – R&D Section. Olga and Celestine couldn't help but marvel the sheer size of each structure, with various people walking about to do various tasks too odd for the elves to understand.

It all blurred once more and soon, the two elves found themselves in a fully metal room. The elves blinked at the sudden transition and took in their new surroundings. If they could describe it, it would be as an alchemist's heavenly dream come to life. Various gadgets were standing atop of metal cupboards or tables and various pieces of machinery helped them stay firm. The two elves saw the sarcophagus again, this time it was lying flat as multiple bodysuit-clad individuals began to carefully remove the apparent lid of the sarcophagus from the rest of it. The woman Pierce was once again seen, her eyes never leaving the container. As soon as the lid was lifted about an inch from the sarcophagus, something happened.

Red waves of energy shot out, knocking down the workers and striking various objects. Pierce herself was flung backwards and landed against the wall, the woman making no sound at all but the elves could tell that she felt the impact hard.

The red waves ceased and the lid was thrown away into the far corner of the room, crushing whatever tools and materials lied on that very spot. In painful manners, the workers got up and steadied themselves, the red waves knocking their senses... well, senseless.

Pierce was unbothered by this, even as two workers helped her stand. She shooed them off a second after she had steadied her foothold. She, along with everyone else (Including Olga and Celestine), took a look at what lied inside of the sarcophagus.

Giving a glance at her counterpart, Olga would've laughed at how red Celestine's face was glowing. If she herself wasn't doing the same thing, that is.

Lying within the confines of the sarcophagus was a large, well-built man. Hard, taunt muscles were everywhere they looked, not a sight of fat of sag anywhere at all no matter how hard they tried. The man was large, they noted. If standing, he'd dwarf them all, the elves reckoned. The skin wasn't without flaws, however, as various scars decorated it no matter where they'd look. From slash marks to burn marks, this man had accumulated quite the impressive collection of scars to the point it was disgusting to look at.

Their eyes wandered downwards of the man's body.

"OH!"

"My, oh my..."

Their blushes went skyrocketing. Celestine, being one with a sense of decency, opted to look away and cover her face, the sight no doubt burned into her memory for all eternity. Olga herself had to slap herself in order to get her to look away from the man's groin and elsewhere, anywhere.

"Well," Olga coughed as she glanced at the still troubled Celestine, "I don't think we'll be forgetting that sight any time soon." The High Elf chose not to speak her agreement to the Dark Elf and simply nodded from behind her hands. Olga looked back at the man, this time focusing on his face. She gasped, catching Celestine's attention.

"Olga, what is the matter?" Olga didn't reply and simply pointed at the man's face, the Dark Elf's eyes wide. The High Elf looked to where she had pointed, mindful of not looking at the groin, and her eyes widened as well.

It was none other than the Gore Knight, Flynn Taggert. He peacefully lied within the sarcophagus; naked as the day he was born and unaware of the audience watching him as he hibernated within his container.

"Interesting," Pierce spoke up and turned away, the sight bothering her not. She was about to make her way towards the glass door (The sight alone impressing Celestine and Olga at how it was made) when she and the others heard footsteps.

Metallic footsteps.

Pierce knew whose feet they belonged to. The workers did as well, tensing as they did. The only ones confused are Olga and Celestine, who eyed the door curiously. The glass door slid to the right in a quick manner as something went past it. The very sight of the creature made the two elves step back in surprise and fear.

It was tall, at 3 meters/9 feet 9 inches, with a slim body primarily colored in white. Three fingers and a thumb were the digits of each hand, which would clench and unclench in an experimenting manner. A single slit in its head functioned as the apparent 'eye' of the creature, as a blue light would go up and down as if inspecting the room it was in.

Once it laid eyes on Pierce and then the sarcophagus, the creature gave a distorted sigh.

"I was wondering where I'd find the sarcophagus," it spoke in an equally distorted voice as it turned to face Pierce. The creature seemed to glare at the woman as she had done the same. Pierce spoke with disdain.

"Is there something you need, Hayden? Perhaps you'd want me to grab some more neuro-preserving agents once more for that diseased brain of yours?" The creature, Hayden, simply chose to ignore her obvious jab. His eye settled once more on the sarcophagus, noting the amount of energy still flowing from it. Turning his attention back to Pierce, Hayden simply replied.

"I'm afraid that won't be necessary, Olivia," the creature's distorted but clearly male voice seemed to irk the fragile woman. Olga and Celestine could only watch this tense exchange between apparent coworkers. Pierce clicked her tongue as she slowly walked up to the creature.

"This find stays here, Hayden. My team had found it first, as such we are keeping it here," the woman spoke fiercely towards the metal creature, which simply shook its head in what appears to be of annoyance.

But constructs such as it couldn't have emotions, could they?

"On the contrary, Olivia," the creature spoke distortedly again, "my team was the one who had found this find first."

"And yet you never so bothered to open the doors? Quite narrow-sighted of you, Hayden," to Pierce's surprise, the metal construct Hayden simply gave a distorted chuckle.

"What makes you so certain we never opened it in the first place? From the most recent reports, the team under my supervision was just finishing up with examining the scriptures on the doors when you and your team came in. Doctor Klein and his entourage were the last ones to inspect it before your arrival," if it had a mouth, Hayden would have been smirking at Pierce's expression. The frail woman in the bodysuit managed to give Hayden a feral snarl that Celestine and Olga were sure she couldn't do so.

"This find is mine, Hayden! It's in my lab and is under my supervision now!"

"Given your current... mannerisms, having this find under your complete control would result in disaster. Not to mention the amount of funding the Board would take from us," Hayden chastised, his (the two elves decided it was a he judging from the voice, distorted may it be) apparent stance unwavering. Pierce strutted up to Hayden and pointed a frail finger at the metal construct.

"If you so think that you can just take this, then you are sorely mistaken, Hayden," she spoke with animosity, although the person addressed barely reacted to her if at all he did.

"On that front, you are speaking sense, Olivia," Hayden replied as he crossed his metal arms over his chest. "But I will be making some... changes to your laboratory."

"And what exactly is that, Hayden?" The metal construct did not reply. Instead it simply pulled out a weird, stick-like rod from nowhere as it appeared in his hands in a flash of blue squares, much like how Sir Taggert would pull out his weaponry. Gripping it in both hands, Hayden then reveals that the rod can split into two vertically, with a blue glass-like substance filling the gap between them as multiple symbols flashed through it. Pressing the 'glass' with his metal fingers, Hayden's peculiar device made beeping noises too low for most beings to hear as various portraits of people flashed through the glass.

"Your team will working with another team that answers directly to me and the Board of Directors. I do hope that you will behave, Olivia," Hayden spoke in a straight tone, but the two elves could tell that there was a condescending tone in his words.

"We wouldn't want a repeat of the incident in the Delta Labs now, would we?" Looking over to Pierce's group, Hayden could see that none of them spoke out in any manner. If anything, they were more afraid of their boss rather than the metal construct talking their boss down. Hayden made a sound akin to a hum as he spoke once more. "As I'd thought," he swiveled to face the glass doors and began making his way out. Once he had left and the glass doors have closed completely, silence fell over the room. Pierce glowered at the glass doors before it settled down, the frail woman in the advance bodysuit turned to face the sarcophagus. Heading towards it, Pierce ran both her hands across the surface, feeling the red waves of energy pulsating beneath.

"No, Hayden," she snarled, her gaze turning into a harsh glare at the slumbering body of Sir Flynn Taggert. "We do not," she spoke as the others around her grow uncomfortable at her behavior.

Soon, the entire scene began to fade as the two elven monarchs were transported to a place Celestine had grown accustomed to in her dreams.

The canyons of this odd dream-world, however there are a few things different compared to the last time Celestine was here. Olga looked around, taking in the various details of their newfound location.

"Interesting," she mused as she faced the new additions in the area. "It's as if we are in some sort of... centre in this world." Celestine looked at Olga and tilted her head in response.

"A centre, Olga?" Stopping a moment to think, Celestine could see the accuracy in her counterpart's observations. The Dark Elf Queen nodded at that before taking notice of some certain objects that had stood out from the otherwise brown landscape.

"I am under the notion that those were not there, Celestine?" The Goddess Reborn nodded as they saw the many objects now arranged across the canyon.

On one display were bits and pieces of armor were set, each of them in varying states of damage. The pieces were most likely scraps from previous fights. However, it looks like the main portion of the armor meant for the torso was intact, relatively speaking.

Dented it was, as if something had smashed against it with a great amount of force. Various holes decorated the armor as well, reminding the two elven monarchs of the holes left in the wake of the weaponry of Sirs Taggert and White and of Miss Hae-Lin. Had the three been enemies prior to arriving here? The two didn't know.

The armor's color was green like the lush grasslands the two fondly remember. Emblazoned on the upper left breast area was a small plaque of sorts. On the plaque were letters of human make, reading out "CPL, Taggert, F." for all to see.

"See-Pee-El, Taggert, Eff," Olga read aloud, tracing each letter with one finger. Celestine saw that the helmet of the armor was in the worst condition in comparison.

It was gray, much like Sir Taggert's own, but darkened and battered from whatever did this. The blue glass-like visor in them weren't shining blue like Sir Taggert's; rather they were dulled out and shattered, giving the elf a peek of the empty space inside. There were letters and numbers plastered on the left side of the helmet. "D666-Y1993" it read.

'What is this doing here?' Celestine thought as she inspected the helmet further. Her fingers traced the groves along the helmet, wincing at how heated and sharp they were.

That's when a searing pain started attacking her head, causing her to scream out in pain and drop the battered helmet in the process.

"Celestine!" Olga rushed towards her and grabbed the elven goddess by the shoulders. Before she could ask what exactly caused her to scream, the entire environment started to shift again, the canyons transforming into another metal room. This room looked like it was a general's own office, Olga noted, given the various medals on display. The dark elf took notice of two newcomers in their vicinity.

One man was seated behind his desk, dressed in a clean dark-green suit. The man's suit sported quite the array of medals on his right breast area, signifying that he was someone important within his nation's army. The man's face was old, with a strong jaw and a few wrinkles signifying his age. The man sported graying hair, neatly cut in an orderly manner, and sharp blue eyes despite his physical age. It was apparent that this man was a general of an army, perhaps the same one employing the armored soldiers in the vision prior.

The man was busy arranging a small pile of documents before addressing the other person in the room.

"You seem stressed," his voice was fitting of him, strong and with a commanding aura. The man shuffled the documents before putting them aside. "Could it be perhaps of the mission before, Corporal Taggert?" The two elves whipped their heads to see the person that this general was addressing and saw that it was indeed Sir Flynn Taggert, or Corporal Taggert as the man seated implied, standing in front of the sole wooden door of this room.

Celestine and Olga then noticed the differences between the Sir Taggert they know of and the Sir Taggert they are seeing now.

This version of Sir Taggert wore a simpler version of the armor that they have seen. His upper clothing consisted of a dark green chest-plate, worn over a black tight-fitting shirt, along with gray elbow pads and gauntlets. His lower clothing consisted of dark green pants of some sort with gray paddings and boots. The helmet of this Sir Taggert was different as well with a more squared design compared to the sleeker version of the current helmet and a gray visor rather than the chilling ice-blue color of his current one.

Corporal Taggert slammed his fist into the wall to his side, causing Celestine to let out a quick "Eep!" in response as she jumped at the action. None of the two males noticed however, as Corporal Taggert slowly approached the general, anger flowing from each step taken.

"It was supposed to be a simple escort!" He roared out, yet the man before him showed no fear. Either that or he hid it well, Olga mused.

"And it was, Corporal. I fail to see the point of your current mannerisms," the general spoke calmly. Corporal Taggert scoffed in response.

"Oh really, then I suppose simple for you involved escorting a member of the British Royal Family who, mind you, is still under flak from just about everyone back home?!" He gave his side of the argument, his apparent anger not subsiding in the slightest.

"Given your skillset," the general spoke, "it would be a walk in the park for you. And from the glowing reports, it was." The general finished in a tone that Celestine couldn't put a finger on but Olga did with recognition and not the good kind.

It was the same tone she would use on some of her more stubborn subjects that if they continue whatever unwelcome behavior, drastic actions were to be taken.

"Tell that to Ackermann! Summers! Briggs! Everyone else on that goddamned mission!"

"I am well aware of that, Corporal," the general began. "Why else would you think I personally went to the medical wards myself?" One of his hands went up, objects of sorts gingerly held in the palm. Both Celestine and Olga take a look at the objects in the general's hand.

Each one was a small, red, square figure, rather thin with short golden strips running across its sides. A smaller square was on top of it, the color of it being black and it was slightly thicker than the red square it was atop of. Various lines decorated both squares, red glowing lights running through them slowly. There were a few of these in his palm, stacked atop one another.

It appeared that Sir Taggert had recognized them, as his fist slammed into the general's desk.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, YOU BASTARD?!" Despite the large, angry soldier in front of him, the general simply kept a straight face.

"What I had to do, Corporal, and if you keep that up, I will have a security detail escort you out." The general slowly closed his hand as he placed the strange object away from all eyes present. "Trust me, you'll thank me later," he finished as the soldier glared daggers at him.

"Thanking you? THANKING YOU?!" Corporal Taggert raised his fist to strike at the general, but the seated man was quicker. In the blink of an eye, the general's other hand pressed on a button of sorts on a wand-like object that caused Corporal Taggert to freeze up, much to the shock of the two elves present.

Taggert began to growl at the sudden change of pace, struggling to even move an inch as if he was frozen in place.

"W-what the h-he-hell?!" Taggert managed to speak as the general stood up and walked around his desk to get a closer look.

"Corporal Taggert," the general started in a calm voice as he placed a hand on Corporal Taggert's own raised fist and, after ensuring a firm grip, forced it back to his side. "Normally I'd have you detained, but given that your emotions are running rather high today, I'd rather have you simmer down somewhere I know you'd like." As if it was on cue, the wooden door was opened to reveal two soldiers looking similar to Sir Taggert but with varying skin tones and builds coming in and beginning to restrain the already-frozen soldier.

"As such, I'll have you detained in the same medical wards that your team is currently recuperating at," the general's calm face broke into a slight smile as he patted the soldier on his shoulder. "Oh don't be so surprised," he continued, "I may be a hard bastard, but I'm not some no-good politician that'll throw away their mooks." He nods to the two soldiers that had entered the room.

"Escort Corporal Taggert to the medical ward, he is to be detained there for the time being." The two soldiers saluted the general and began to move the still-frozen Taggert out of the room and out of the two elves' sight.

The general walked back to his desk and took his seat once more. It was only now that the two elves saw a nameplate on the general's desk.

"Gen. Hayden, S., Four-Star, O-10" was what it read on the plaque. Olga made a slight noise in her throat, making Celestine look at her.

"Olga, what is the matter?" The dark elf queen turned her head to face her counterpart. She simply pointed at the now unmoving general.

"That man over there, he shares the same name as that Hayden creature in the last vision." Focusing her eyesight at the nameplate, Celestine too made a noise in her throat.

"But... that does not make any sense, Olga. Unless they are differing entities, then..." the high elf and Goddess Reborn trailed off as she analyzed the appearance of the general and tried to find some parallel of sorts to the metal creature from before.

Olga, on the other hand, analyzed the room and compared it to the previous locations they had been. This metallic room felt... older if the Queen of the Jagged Crown could describe it as such compared to the other metallic rooms they had previously been inside of.

"Perhaps what we are seeing are glimpses of Sir Taggert's past," Olga spoke in a firm tone. Her counterpart turned to her, her head tilted to the side.

"His... past?" Olga nodded as she gazed upon the room. The dark elf hummed before making her response.

"Yes, his past. What we are seeing right now could just be the beginning of how Sir Taggert came to be." Olga said in a confident tone, a tone that Celestine hadn't heard in a long time.

Suddenly, everything began to blur once more before the two elven monarchs found themselves back in the dusty brown canyons once again.

The two of them could see that the suit of armor that once belonged to Sir Taggert was back in its place, on a stony pedestal to be displayed for all to see. The two elven monarchs also took notice of a glowing object in the center of the canyons. It was globe-like in shape, glowing blood red by the edges and a familiar symbol firmly plastered across its center.

Where Celestine thought of it an anchor of sorts, Olga thought of it a sword plunging downwards. All things considered, both monarchs knew to whom this symbol, or mark as it would be more appropriate to call, belonged to.

Sir Flynn Taggert.

The two monarchs slowly approached the glowing orb. For reasons beyond their own comprehension, the two of them were drawn to the mark emblazoned on the orb. With each step closer, everything else became hazy including their sense of hearing. As one, the two elven monarchs placed their hands on the symbol.

As soon as they placed their hands on it, their visions went completely white.