“It’s been two years, six months and twenty days. You have no idea what it’s like to lose your mate. You’ve never had one. When you lose that which you love the most, your life changes forever. Even the loss of my arm pales in comparison to her loss.”
“I’m sorry, Reine. I didn’t mean any disrespect.” Max’s gaze was on the floor as he scratched his neck again. “You’re right, I don’t know what it’s like, but—”
“Reine.”
Fuck, what was it with everyone calling his name? Couldn’t they leave him alone? Reine turned around to face whomever was calling him now.
“Yes?”
The man, whose name he could not remember, gazed blatantly at his arm before looking at his face. Much to Reine’s relief, he didn’t see any pity in his eyes, only respect. He held out an envelope for him to take.
“Your instructions are in here. Good luck, Guardian.”
Thrown off guard, Reine hurried to return the salute. The man gave him a quick smile before barking orders at some of the students.
“Who’s that?”
“Seamus. You haven’t met him before?” Max sounded surprised. “I think he’s only a year or two older than you.”
“No, I hadn’t had the pleasure.” Reine glanced at the envelope in his hand. “Excuse me,” he told Max.
Finding a seat as far away from everyone as possible, Reine settled his backpack between his feet and ripped open the large manila envelope. Inside, there were some devices he hadn’t seen before and a letter. He pulled that out first and scanned the message. Fucking Hell. He stuffed the paper back inside and fished out the smallest device. According to his mission statement, it was a state of the art telephone. He poked at the device, hoping it’d do something, but the screen remained dark. Useless shit. Reine brought out the other object. It was similar to the telephone but on a larger scale. Thrusting it back inside, he reached for the last item, a set of keys for his new home. Fuck. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to punch something or cry. Reine leaned against the bench and stared at the ceiling. The wooden beams had been painted with warlike depictions of Guardians, Sins, and the Inferums.
Reine sighed. This is what it’d come to: him, staring at pictures of epic fights, unable to participate, and forced to use human technology. According to the letter, he’d have to use them to communicate and interact with humans, as the gadgets had become second nature to them. Reine didn’t see himself intermingling with anyone. He wanted to be alone, unperturbed by everyone, but most of all by humans.
It would be impossible. If they had appointed him to a big city, he would have been able to disguise himself among the crowds, another soul among many. But he was staying here, in this small town in the middle of nowhere where everyone knew everyone because, according to his boss,we have seen an unusual amount of Sin activity near our hideout. Watch and report.
If there were more Sins around this area, then, shouldn’t they post more Guardians? More Human-Guardians? They had also been through military training and understood human psychology better than any Guardian, definitely better than him. Instead, they sent him to watch and report. What the fuck?
“Reine.” He heard Max shouting his name from across the room. Reine looked up. Jesus. Couldn’t the kid get a hint?
“What?” he growled.
“You okay, man? You look a bit distressed.”
Reine stuffed his new things onto his backpack. “You spying on me? I’m fine.”
Max stood in front of him and crossed his arms over his chest like a disapproving father. It would have been humorous if it wasn’t for the gleam of his weapon on his hip and the tattoo which indicated he was part of the Guardians and thus a deadly warrior. After graduation, every Guardian was marked as a way of officially welcoming them into the ranks. The tattoo was not only a symbol of their identity, but also considered a powerful protection prayer against all harm.
“Sure, you’re fine, except I saw you crumple that paper and jab your fingers at the telephone. What did the envelope say?”
“That’s none of your business, Max.”
“No need to bite my head off, man. I just want to help. What’s your destination?”
Reine sighed. Max’s lips thinned.
“I’m staying here,” Reine said. There was no use fighting. Had his arm been in good condition, he might have aimed a playful blow at the kid, but as it was, he had no energy or desire to do so.
“Here?” Max asked.
“The nearest town to this place, Lance.”
Max’s dark eyes widened. “Gee,” he said, rubbing his neck. “You must have really fucked up at the Academy.”
Reine lifted his arm. He grinned sardonically. “What do you think?”
Max rolled his eyes.
