Fayn Itagral

The cold wind hit my face hard because of the speed at which I was flying. This time, my uniform was complete, the only difference being that I had a black jacket with gold stitching and buttons. The symbol of the Capital's flag was on my back, a golden pentagon. 

I was already at the northern tip of the continent, a land of ice and snow. I flew low, between the frozen mountains and white plains, enhancing my vision with the flow of eternum running through me. The internal heat concentrated in my eyes, but it warmed my body enough so that I did not suffer from the cold. Intensifying the supply of eternum to my eyes a little more, I was able to see the particles of eternum in the environment. This was one of the abilities that only I had, at least as far as anyone in the Capital knew.

The bright white particles moved independently while at the same time making a single movement, seeing the whole group. However, they were inert, lifeless, and without free will, as if they were just shiny pebbles that only I could see. It always bothered me to imagine that living beings unconsciously absorbed these particles to supply themselves with eternum. It was... strange. I still didn't understand how eternum acquired the living characteristics of living beings.

I shook my head to dispel useless thoughts. With my enhanced vision, I was able to identify five groups of eternum with unique fluctuations amid the sea of shiny dots. From the way they behaved and circulated, I identified that they were what I was looking for. 

I slowed down until I stopped in front of an ice mountain. The wall in front of me began to shake, opening like an automatic door and letting the cold wind in. 

Captain Monroe appeared, his short, slicked-back hair reflecting the rest of his physical rigidity. He wore a standard captain's uniform with thick pants and a coat, his hands clasped behind his back after saluting me. The four soldiers behind him did the same, and I noticed the weapons they carried. I myself had participated in the manufacture of those models, weapons that absorb eternum from the user and use it to fire beams. 

“Sorry, High Commander, we weren't sure if it was you, so we prepared ourselves in case it was a threat.”

“No problem, I ended up coming much earlier than agreed. Well, I imagine Hogan has already informed you of my visit.”

Monroe motioned for me to follow him. Our footsteps echoed through the metal corridor as we descended a staircase. I noticed another of my inventions, motion detectors based on eternum fluctuations, at the foot of the steps and embedded in the metal wall.

“I must emphasize, High Commander, that Helena is extremely dangerous. I don't know what she will do after you release her, but I need to ensure the safety of my soldiers.”

“Don't worry, I'll be here if she tries to react violently.” 

“It is precisely your presence that worries me, sir. Helena reacts with a certain... euphoria when she hears your name.” 

“Does she know me?”

“Only from references made by the guards. She always says she wants to face you or at least see you in person. It seems she wants to confirm something with you.”

As we walked through the base under the ice, several soldiers and platoon leaders saluted me or stared open-mouthed as I passed. I stifled a laugh when a woman dropped her bottle upon seeing me and saluted to acknowledge my presence.

“Forgive their excitement, sir. Many here look up to you as a role model for their careers.”

I acknowledged the soldiers with a nod as I continued to follow Captain Monroe. We descended a few flights of stairs until we reached a heavy reinforced metal door. Monroe made room for me and gestured toward the door.

“Helena will be at the end of the metal bridge, as you requested, sir. My escort ends here.”

I pushed the door open easily and found the bridge Monroe had mentioned. It was a large ice chamber reinforced with metal. In the center of the chamber was a metal cubicle reinforced with blue lines throughout its structure. Below was only a drop of a few hundred meters, above only an ice dome

I walked patiently across the metal bridge until I reached the cubicle, feeling a warm presence there. I opened the metal door and found Helena. She was chained by her hands, feet, neck, and torso in a way that forced her to kneel, hugging her own body with her head down. There was a metal gag in her mouth that was connected to the chain around her neck and kept her head down. Her red hair covered part of her face as she strained her neck to look up. 

Her back expanded with rapid breaths, and each time she inhaled, the chains tightened around her torso, forcing her to exhale. The blue lines of the metal structure extended along the chains, another of my designs, eternum suckers so that prisoners could not get more eternum than was necessary to maintain their bodies.

The flow of eternum inside her was irregular, broken, and still warm. Her crimson eyes met mine when she reached the limit of what she could force her movement. She breathed harder as she stared at me, fire coming out of her nostrils, just enough to light a candle. It may have been just my impression, but she got a little excited when she saw me.

I bent down and removed the gag from her mouth, also freeing her neck in the process. She moved her head to stretch her neck with a clear groan of pain.

“My name is Fayn Itagral, High Commander of the Capital. Confirm your name.” 

Helena's face matched the photos left in the records I had been given, but she was obviously older. Expression lines appeared lightly on her face when she raised an eyebrow.

“Helena.”

“No last name?”

“I was abandoned as a baby, I have no family.”

“Then we have something in common, I was abandoned at the door of an orphanage in my first week of life.”

“You were adopted by Hogan.”

“The name Itagral is revealing.”

“Much more than you can imagine.”

One of my eyebrows rose, which I imagine was the reason for Helena's laughter. She let out a muffled scream when she moved too much and had her eternum sucked into the blue lines.

“I'm here on a mission to get you and your companions out of prison.”

She kept a smile on her face. 

“What are the conditions?”

“You will be under my care, follow my orders, and wear this.” From inside an inside pocket, I took out a black bracelet. “It's much more efficient and less painful than these chains. So, do you accept the offer?”

“You could very well be trying to kill me. I know your old man, kid. Hogan always has one or two more plans up his sleeve.”

“Well, as proof of good faith, I can grant you one request. Depending on the request, it may be fulfilled now or after you have served your purpose.”

Her red eyes locked onto mine like a predator seeing its prey. The flow of eternum within her became more unstable, and the resulting fluctuation also oscillated.

“Any request? I heard you can do anything.” 

A smile appeared on my face, more out of amusement at what she must have heard than anything else.

“Try it, say something you want, and I'll tell you if I can do it.”

Helena looked me up and down. Her gaze lingered on every inch of me as if she could see inside me. When she looked back directly into my eyes, her voice was firm.

“I want to make my request after completing the mission. But I need to confirm something before I agree to put on this bracelet and follow your orders.”

“Go ahead.”

“I want a fight, a duel between the two of us. I need to see if you're as strong as they say.” 

“Don't you follow those weaker than you?”

She kept the smile on her face and shook her head to the side. I stood up and put the bracelet in the inside pocket of my coat. Blades made of eternum formed around me and advanced toward Helena. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to turn her face away. It took her two seconds to realize that only the chains had been cut.

“Let's go.” I held out my hand.

Helena accepted my help to get up, and once she was standing, I began to analyze her. She didn't seem to have stopped training, judging by the way she moved; she didn't even stagger from having been kneeling for so long. She was wearing pants and a shirt, both made of thin fabric. 

At my command, the particles of eternum in the environment gathered around Helena and entered her body. The speed with which she managed to absorb the particles and transform them into her eternum was impressive, even though I had ordered the particles not to resist.

“Let's go up, we'll fight outside, there's too much stuff down here.” I started walking across the metal bridge.

“Are you so confident that I won't attack when you turn your back?”

I kept pace while formulating a response.

"In her time, Dália held the position of High Commander. She was the one who selected the Warlords at the height of the territorial dispute with Inferno, and she was also declared the strongest woman in the world. I can assure you that I am in no way inferior to her."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty."

"So you were born in the year Dália died. You didn't know her."

I stopped in front of the heavy reinforced metal door. I turned my face when Helena's hand was placed firmly and forcefully on my shoulder. The redhead looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.

“Don't compare yourself to her.” 

Helena herself removed her hand from my shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest. When I opened the metal door, Monroe and four soldiers, two men and two women, waited like statues. When the captain's eyes ran over Helena, he turned to me.

“She won't be wearing any kind of limiter?” 

“We'll fight upstairs.” His gaze followed my finger pointing to the ceiling. “Captain, get her some clothes and a proper shower.” 

“Sir, I must warn you about...”

“I'll be nearby. Helena won't do anything in my presence.” 

The red-haired woman snorted and turned her face away, her arms still crossed. She brushed a strand of hair from her face.

“Is there a hairdresser around here?”

This time I couldn't hold back my laughter, and Monroe made no effort to hide his anger. I felt a slight anxiety to see someone so energetic in combat, as well as to assess what she was still capable of.