Love in a Burning Flame

Chapter 31

{Hana P.O.V}

We walked down the hallway to Captain Hague' s office.

"So tell me Lieutenant Asako, what business do you and the 8th have with Captain Hague?" (Pan).

"I wanted to ask my grandfather about the scar on his face and why he changed after getting it" (Asako)

"Captain's a great man and a great leader. He was the first ever regular firefighter to be promoted into the ranks of the fire force. He's earned the full respect of all of us at the 4th. That still holds true even now" (Pan).

Now I feel bad for thinking badly of him, but I still get an off feeling when he looks at me.

"Here's his office he wants to see you alone Kusakabe, Shinmon" (Pan).

"Do you know why?" (Shinra).

"I told him you wanted to talk to him about adola bursts and the reason for the White Clad's interest in Hana. Since that isn't a subject I know much about, I think it's best if I stay out of the way for now. I'll talk to him later" (Asako).

"Thank you Lieutenant Asako for arranging this meeting for us. You too Lieutenant Pan for leading us here" I bowed politely.

"In that case, here we go" Shinra knocked on the door. "Excuse me sir".

Shinra walked into the darkly lit room first while I followed behind. Wow, it's really dark in here. I wonder why.

"Captain Hague, thanks for meeting us sir. The name's Shinra Kusakabe, I'm a second class fire soldier, here from Company 8" Shinra saluted him.

"I'm Shinmon Hana, fire soldier from Company 7".

"I've been expecting you, let's get right to the point. I'd like to see your flames. Actually, I'd like to feel their heat" Hague came up right infront of our faces causing us to back away quickly. Is it just me or has he gotten a lot stranger than the last time we met. Which I can't exactly say much since that was two years ago when the 7th became a company.

"Oh, that didn't startle you did it. Of course, it did forgive me, I should have spoken more carefully. The last thing I want is to make you uncomfortable so why don't I try that again? I want to burn me without holding back".

This is starting to scare me. I can feel my heart beating quickly in my chest. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do that. I don't usually try to burn people on purpose" I said nervously.

"Go on, just do it, just do it do it do it!".

"You want me to burn you?" (Shinra). I was just as confused as he was. This situation just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

"Yes, burn me with all your strength!"

I looked over at Shinra to see that he had a shocked and scared expression frozen on his face. He was just staring a Captain Hague as he started speaking as if there was someone else in front of him.

"Shinra?" I placed a hand on his shoulder to try and shake him from his daze, but a blue spark came from my hand when I made contact causing me to let go quickly. I yelped and looked down to see that my hand was slightly burned and smoking. Suddenly, the image of a blond girl came into my mind that kind of looked like Sister Iris, but it went away as quickly as it came. It was still enough to shake me to my core. I feel so scared, but I don't know why. My hands are trembling.

Shinra suddenly came out from his daze with a gasp.

"That must have been an Ada link right?" (Shinra).

Shinra looked over to see me shaking and placed a comforting hand between my shoulder blades with a worried look on his face.

"Are you alright Hana? You're shaking a lot".

"Huh? Oh right, yeah I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about" I said with a strained smile and a small wave.

Captain Hague unexpectedly opened the blinds causing us to cover our eyes from the sudden light that flooded the room.

"I wonder if it might have been triggered by your proximity to me and you saw a mysterious woman who resembles someone you know? I just wish I could meet this woman for myself. I want you to burn me even more now".

"I think I might have seen that person as well, but it was only for a second. It just went away right after".

"You don't have an adola burst so I'm not sure how you were able to get that vision" (Hague).

We sat down before Shinra continued.

"I wanted to ask, have you ever had an adola link?"

"If that's what you want to call it then yes. It was a magnificent experience".

"Captain Burns had one too. He said he paid for it with his right eye. What price did you pay? Does it have to do with your scar?" I was shocked. I didn't know there was a price they have to pay for an adola link.

"Until that day, I had spent my life working hard and doing my damnest to protect all the people I could, but then, around two years ago, my way of thinking was changed. The great fire was ravinest, it swallowed up the whole city taking countless lives. It forced me to recognized that I'd failed many more people than I'd saved. At that moment, I felt a hope that was much like despair. A sense of liberation, it was like everything had been saved. An adola link. Is that what such a baptism is called? What I saw there was not the sunlight I was told to revir by the temple. It was the blessed light of god. I believe that the divine realm is the very salvation of mankind. This scar mark is my stigmata. It's the truth carved into my being. The scar that opened my eyes"

He suddenly got up into our faces again. "Forgive me, but I must ask again! Please, Kusakabe, send me alight with your holy flames! Let me see that divine realm again!"

"Hold on just a minute. Captain Hague, are you seriously saying that you think that unearthly hellscape is actually holy?" (Shinra). I had never seen it myself so I can't make any comments on that.

"Whether that realm is considered sacred or profane means nothing to me. The gods and devils mortals imagine onto themselves are mere imitations of adola. Be it heaven or hell, it was the truth. I only wish I could share that truth so that the world can be enlightened".

"I didn't feel anything like salvation when I had my adola links" (Shinra).

"You hold an adola burst so it may well feel mundane to you. However I am but a human being".

"Not as human as you are". I feel bad for Shinra. What Hague had just said was very insulting to Shinra making him believe that he wasn't as human as others.