“Base S is pretty far away from here if we use the catacombs alone, but if the Maestro says that the above ground is dangerous, then it must be…”

Julia watched as Wild Flower contemplated her position at the moment, before finally speaking herself.

“So… Where exactly are we?”

“The catacombs under Paris…” answered Wild Flower.

“I see… And how far is this ‘Base S’ from where we are?”

“Base S should just be around the corner here, but ever since the tunnels collapsed years ago, we had to take the long way around from where we came from earlier, then farther south, before finally making our way to behind the wall.”

“I see… So, shall we get going, then?”

“But your injuries might slow us down if we go now - it will be better for you to rest for a moment.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. I can still move well!”

After saying that, Julia began walking to the direction from where they came from. Seeing this, Wild Flower ran after her.

“Hey, wait!”

As they continued their journey, they came upon the room they earlier vacated at the start of the attack. The door is now broken down and there’s nobody inside. The assailants must’ve left when they realized they’ve disappeared, though it seems like they didn’t get the right directions.

“Above you!” Julia shouted, catching Wild Flower by surprise.

Just above them dropped two people, all dressed in black and have their faces covered.

“There she is,” said one of them in a distorted voice.

The other pointed their laser at the duo. “Just hand her over and we would leave you alone.”

“Like hell I would!”

Wild Flower moved swiftly. In a matter of seconds, she managed to use her rope dart to disarm the second assailant and pin them to the ground, strangling him with her rope.

“I’ve got my orders, and you’ve got yours.”

Wild Flower pulled tighter and tighter, eventually choking the assailant until they’re unconscious.

“You bitch!” the other assailant said, aiming her gun at her.

But as he was about to pull the trigger, he too dropped dead with a gaping hole on his chest.

Wild Flower is thankful for the save, but is surprised as she looked at who fired the gun.

It was Julia, breathing heavily and almost wide-eyed in shock. “Father said… only… to use it… in the most dangerous of situations…”

Wild Flower’s shock quickly faded away, however, and she grabbed the still awe-struck Julia, dragging her away from the corpse.

“You did what you needed to do…”

“I know…”

***

After a few more encounters along the way, Julia and Wild Flower finally arrived at Base S where everyone else is in.

They finally arrived where they needed to go. Beyond this door will be the truth that answers every question left burning in Wild Flower’s head, but there’s one above all that she’s more afraid of than anything else.

“It’s me,” she knocked on the door, which opened in response.

Inside were three people - Pike, hand of the Parisian Quintet, Strings, the puppet-master of the Parisian Quintet, and Gen. Julius August of the Brazilian Military.

As soon as they entered the door, Gen. Julius August quickly went up to his daughter, hugging her tight as she returned to favor.

“I’m so happy you’re safe!” he said.

“I’m okay, papa…”

Wild Flower, however, is in a much less festive mood than the two. “What’s going on here? Did the negotiations fail?”

Strings is the one who answered, beckoning towards a laptop that shows  dozens of dead bodies littered across Paris, all of them wearing similar attires to that of the earlier assailants. “No. The negotiations went as planned.”

“What… happened…?”

A large screen turned on in the room, showing the image of a shadowy figure.

“You see, General over here approached me with a deal as soon as he landed on the European Union a week ago. He said that there are assassins after him and his daughter and, in exchange of our protection, will gladly help in rebuilding Paris.

So I came up with the plan to ‘kidnap’ Ms. August - please forgive me for my transgressions - to keep both you and her away from the battlefield while simultaneously flushing out the assassins.”

“To keep us away…? Don’t you think I can do it…?”

“On the contrary, I know you can do it. That’s why you were given the most important task of all.”

Wild Flower took a step back, then laughed a bit. “I see… So… You really do value your daughter that much, huh?”

Julia went up to Wild Flower, tapping her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

“Are you okay?”

Wild Flower continued to laugh, a single tear dropping from her eye. “I think I understand now… I was… Envious…”

***

Julia and her father spent the next few days in Paris. The General had to attend a few meetings to finalize the funding, after all, and the Maestro helped secure that deal.

Julia, on the other hand, just arrived back at the inn they were staying in after taking a walk around the city. Inside the inn, in the bar where the innkeeper resides, sits a young girl about her age, though her face is obscured by her hair.

“Micah Elle,” she said as Julia passed her.

This, of course, confused Julia for a bit. “Excuse me?”

“You asked for my name, right?” The girl turned around, revealing her to be the person that helped Julia in the incident in the catacombs, Wild Flower of the Parisian Quintet. She extended her hand to hers, offering a shake. “My names Micah Elle. Nice to meet you.”

***

The moon is high in the sky and the island of Olympia is now in deep sleep. Only a few people are left awake after a long day. One of them is Louis, huddled in his room and covered in blanket, having spent the day locked within his room in complete darkness, never seeing a single ray of light nor eating a single gram of food.

It all changed as his HLD lit up as someone called for him. It played no tune, but Louis is quickly alerted by it anyways. He reached for it with his hand and answered the call.

“I need your help,” said the person on the other side.

“I can’t. I told you it’s all over. I left that life behind.”

“No… Please… Just this once, I need your help…” The person on the other side of the call began crying uncontrollably. However, she continued talking in between her sobs. “I… I want to kill someone… I… want to kill… Charles!”

“What did you say, Wild Flower…!?”