The Unyielding Façade

Part 17 - Camilla Azul

Meanwhile, a Hydreigon landed on the rooftop of the abandoned supermarket building. Its rider, a 23-years old young man, hopped off and landed on his two feet. His thick, white fake beard dangled from his jaw. A pair of round thin-framed sunglasses sat on his nose bridge, hiding his upturn clear viridian eyes. The young man pulled out his right hand from his parka's pocket to return Hydreigon to its Pokeball. He then glanced at the Pokegear he strapped to his right arm. His call to Valen was still connected, although his mic was muted.

What the actual f*ck, he thought too.

Yeah, I'm 100% sure now. So, Teala's back working for him. He definitely infiltrated the place - but since when? Has he been spying on us for a long time? 

Matias made his way towards a hatch on the rooftop and knelt down. He lifted the latch and pushed it open to the side, revealing a metallic small ladder which leads to the building's interior. With a sigh, the young man climbed the way down. As soon as he touched down, the hatch closed itself automatically and the young man turned around to scan his surrounding.

This is worse than I expected, he thought as he carefully went further into the building.

The hallways were covered in frost and dust. Some of the metal panes on the wall went missing, some bent backwards and some were chipped off. Chunks of concrete and metals strewn around on the floor. There was a loud howl, followed by a loud thud a few rooms down the hallway. Matias stopped and put his hand on one of the Pokeballs he wore around his waist. As he stood still, he could subtly feel a tremor travelling on the ground up to his feet. He could see dust falling from the ceilings. Then suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from a turn in front of him.

The young man was just about to hide when he spotted a small pointy nose coming out of the shadows. It belonged to a girl with fair skin. Her round, deep blue eyes were slightly covered by her long, curled lashes. Light blue bangs framed her small face, swaying with each of her step. A braid was pinned to her left ear, going across her head from right to left. The rest of her hair was tied to the side in a low ponytail, sitting on top of her shoulder.

Oh, shit, Matias thought.

Wait, what is SHE doing here?!

Right then, Azul noticed the figure of a young man looking at her. Matias was in his disguise, which was - let's admit it - only slightly better than Valen's. But at least, Matias' face was hidden by the fake santa claus beard and a pair of dark round specs. His hair was tucked neatly inside a big, ugly army green hat. A large, orange parka jacket went to his thighs and concealed even his body shape. Upon seeing this strange, somewhat creepy man, Azul just froze and stopped to stare. Similarly, Matias was not expecting to see Azul in the abandoned supermarket and just froze at the sight of her.

"H-hello," he said, with a lower pitch voice.

"H-hi," said Azul and lifted her hand stiffly, "...sir?"

"Good day. What are you doing here, miss? I thought this place has been put to closure," said Matias.

"O-ohh, I was..." Azul said and looked away.

Taken away without my say in it? But this man's... who's this weirdo? He has no business asking me what I'm doing here, she thought and furrowed her brows.

"...I was here with a friend," she said, "said she forgot something here and asked me to help look for it,"

...huh? Wait, didn't Valen say a similar lie earlier? Has she met up with Azul - and set an answer to keep everyone's story similar? Matias thought, maybe she just hasn't got the chance to tell me about this. But why is she here? Did the kidnapper take her here?