Hey peep! This is the second chapter continuing from the previous post! Enjoy! Oh yes, read and review kay!
Guardian; one of the clans in Elpida. The Guardians are those who carry the responsibility to protect the land and to maintain the safety of its occupants. The clans of Elpida possess a type of power which they call ‘Gailion’. Each clan possesses Gailion of different nature. In this case, the Guardians possess the attack and defence type. There are some offsprings who possess no power in their Gailion (Zero Gailion). Depending on the clan of their fathers, they will be posted to a suitable post in the governing body of the clan.
-break-
The early autumn morning was greeted by the windy weather. Outside on the front porch of No.12, Whiney Road, there stood Lynn, Garner, two women, one man and one old lady. They came to bid their farewells to Lynn.
“Lynn, take care when you are at the city alright. Never trust people so easily,” advised the old lady, Mrs. Oliver.
“Especially men. They’re one of the hybrids of sly foxes,” added Mdm. Slant. Lynn gave a smile as a sign of ‘okay-I-get-it’.
“Don’t listen to her, Lynn. Not all men are like that. However, keep your eyes open for the bad lot. Better to be safe than sorry,” said Mr. Johnson protecting the men’s pride.
“Honey’s right, dear. People are more complicated in the city. Unlike us town folks, always straight to the point, never do we play the I-backstab-you-you-backstab-me game,” said Mrs. Johnson supporting her husband.
“I will remember these wise words. I won’t be far for long. I’ll come back once in a while for a visit. Then I shall prepare dinner for all of you. Mrs. Oliver, please take care of your health when I’m gone. Remember to go for your monthly check up at the clinic,” said Lynn holding Mrs. Oliver’s hand.
“I will dear. Now go off, before you miss the train,” replied Mrs. Oliver.
“Lynn, we have to go,” said Garner who was keeping quiet behind Lynn all this while.
There, Garner gave Lynn a ride to the train station. In the car, the silent atmosphere has gotten more awkward then never. It was Garner who broke the silence, “Lynn…”
“Yes… Severus,” said Lynn turning to look at Garner. Upon hearing his name being called, he looked back at Lynn for a second before turning his attention back on the road.
“It has been a long time since you called my first name but that’s not what I wanted to say.”
“Certainly, you wouldn’t go around asking people to call you by your name, would you? That would be too queer,” said Lynn with a slight tease. They both chuckled at the statement.
“What I’m trying to say is… err… how should I put it?”
“You can always go straight to the point.”
“Alright. Let me think for a minute.” The reason for this difficulty of Severus Garner is because he is the type of man who does not speak his mind. He might be smart and all that in his work but he can never manage to convey his emotions accurately. Garner’s one minute turned into 10. They are both at the station now. The train is about to leave in 5 minutes.
“Severus, if you still can’t think of proper words to spill, I’ll board the train now,” said Lynn as she glared at Garner.
Garner, feeling the threat, gave a sigh and spoke in high speed, “Okay, okay. Don’t worry about your house and the town’s people here. I’ll take good care of them (that’s what I’m here for anyway). As for the same, take good care of yourself and remember that I’ll always be there when you need me like I’ve always been.”
At that very moment, Lynn gave Garner an embrace and said “Thank you Sev.., brother for all these years. If it weren’t for you…”
Garner who has hugged her in return interrupted, “That’s what a brother’s for.”
-break-
In the Guardian HQ, a certain General is getting some lecture from his superior, “Frost, This is going to be the last secretary we’re giving you. If in any case she leaves, the blame is on you, you’re on your own sonny.”
“It isn’t my fault they’re not up to expectation, sir,” Frost retorted back.
“What expectation do you have? What is it that you can ask so much from a secretary?!”
“General, sir,” he paused, stared right into the other’s eyes and continued “It’s…,”
That is when the firing between the Chief of Staff and the General began.
-break-
At the corridors of the HQ, Lynn is being led by another young lady, perhaps a little older than her, to the Head of Generals room.
“Thank you again Ms. Dubreil or else I would have still been wondering around the HQ, clueless,” said Lynn
“Ms. Parker, I’m going to abandon you if you keep on thanking me. Oh! Here we are. Wait here for a moment,” said Ms. Dubreil as she knocked and entered the office.
-break-
“Knock, knock, knock.”
“Come in,” answered General Hartsburg, Chief of Staff who is flushed from the heated argument.
“General Hartsburg, Ms. Parker, the new secretary is here,” informed Ms. Dubreil.
“Thank you Ms. Dubreil. Give us five more minutes. Then bring her in,” instructed General Hartsburg. When his secretary left the room, General Hartsburg passed a file to General Frost.
“Lynn Parker. Citizen of the 8th Precinct lives in a small town in the northern region. Excellent skills in driving, sword-fighting, handling firearms and self-defence. A very good fighter indeed. Unfortunately, she possesses Zero Gailion or else she would have been a very useful asset. Her resume from Lt. Garner is also up to standards. Most probably the best secretary to date, compared to the previous ones you had,” explained General Hartsburg.
“Tch, ‘most probably’ aren’t convincing enough,” smirked the other general upon the statement.
Another three knocks on the door and the secretaries were given permission to come in.
-break-
“Tch, ‘most probably’ aren’t convincing enough,” I smirked upon my statement. Indeed, this Parker here has a good record but one can’t believe in everything one hears until you have confirmed it for yourself and this is exactly what I’m going to do.
The three knocks came ramming on the door again. The door creaked open. Seriously, they should do something about the creaking doors in this whole HQ. Such an irritating noise.
A young girl came in, behind that old man’s secretary. A short pitch dark black hair with a white hair band pushing her fringe back, round and clear black eyes, sensitively cut nose, thin pink lips and a determined chin. My estimation of her height would be about 1.7m. There are some areas that seemed too obvious to ignore; her lacking in certain areas and artificial colours (in other words, cosmetics) that are absent from her face (something which I greatly appreciate). There’s a type of alertness and shrewdness shown on her face. Anyway, I’m not very much good in judging someone by his or her first look. Somehow, I feel that I have met her somewhere before.
-break-
“Ms. Parker, I’m going to abandon you if you keep on thanking me. Oh! Here we are. Wait here for a moment,” said Ms. Dubreil as she knocked and went in the office. Oh how dreadful, that butterflies to fly in my stomach. Ms. Dubreil came out from the office and signaled me in. Well, let’s just be natural. I brace myself and went in.
In the office, there are two men. One has grey hair covering his head, sitting behind the desk which is three times bigger than Severus’ desk. He looked irritated indicated by that deep frown of his. I am guessing that he is General Hartsburg whom I am supposed to report to. Sitting opposite General Hartsburg, sat a younger man, from estimation about thirty years old. From his uniform, it is obvious that he is a general too. Although he is in a sitting position, I am pretty sure he is about half a head taller than me and has exceptionally broad shoulders. I mentally described him; platinum blonde hair, thick-fierce eyebrows, a deep-set emerald eyes, long nose, thin lips and a firm jaw line. With the combination of all these features, no doubt, he is a good-looking man. No wonder Severus said that secretaries all over Elpida want this job. However, he emits a certain vibe that gives me a chilly feeling. Maybe I’m being over-sensitive.
-break-
It has been a month since Lynn set foot on the Guardian HQ. She managed to get along well with her colleagues. It is most probably the way she always appeared in; warm, friendly, efficient and always smiling. In the context of her relationship with her superior, it has been kept only within their job scope. No more, no less.
Other than the extra paperwork, she has been patrolling around the city at night with General Frost and his platoon. Under him there are two lieutenants; Lt. Bones and Lt. Zenile. Every night, they each will lead a section of the platoon to patrol the city while General Frost and Lynn will go to each city gate to pick up daily reports from the security check points.
It is a windy night - as expected of an autumn night. Soon, winter will come. The Holy Day is two months away. This particular day marks the beginning of a new year. It is also a day to remind every occupant of Elpida to preserve and protect the peace that was claimed by their ancestors through years of hardship.
General Frost and Lynn took their usual route back to the HQ after stopping by at the five city gates. Usually, when the lieutenants finish reporting their progress, they are dismissed to head home. Unfortunately, things are not going that smoothly tonight. When both of them were heading back, they received a call from Lt. Zenile. Activating his communicator hanging on his ear, an urgent voice spoke “Attention to Guardian of Platoon 8, a group of five suspicious intruders have broken into a citizen’s house and kidnapped a ten-year-old girl. They were last seen heading towards District 6 and 7. All suspects are in a hooded black and white cloak.” Both of them who were in District 5 sped to the area mentioned.
“Ms. Parker, I’ll take D.6 and you’ll take D.7. Do not deactivate your communicator,” instructed General Frost. Upon receiving the instruction, they both split at the junction of District 5.
-TBC-
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