The Start of Eternity

"Eugene!" Jun checked his pulse and examined his head.

"Is he alright?" Desun yelled, rushing over.

Jun said, "He's still got a pulse. He's just unconscious."

Desun sighed in relief. The way he had reacted there was uncharacteristic of such a freewheeling loose cannon. Even after spending half a year in the same team as him, Jun couldn't grasp what went through Desun's head, though that was the least of her concerns now.

"There should be a hospital nearby," Shimol said. "Let's take him there quickly."

Desun and Shimol carefully picked up Eugene and sat him down in the back seat. Desun took off his white button-down shirt and wrapped it around Eugene's head.

Jun climbed into the driver's seat and started the magitech engine. Shimol hopped in beside her, and Desun held onto Eugene to steady him in the back.

"Drive carefully," Shimol said.

"You don't have to tell me." She stepped on the accelerator with half her usual vigor. The automobile rolled out with only a minor rumble.

They later arrived at the Imperial Hospital, an imposingly wide three-story building. In the night, it appeared as a black monolith with a glowing red sign and white squares of light from the windows. This hospital was rumored to run on magitech due to electricity not being entirely reliable in the country, but of course the higher ups would never confirm such a thing to anyone who didn't need to know. A pair of nurses in pink uniforms wheeled Eugene on a gurney to an operating room.

The team stood in suspense outside the grey twin doors of the operating room. A few minutes later, the red sign above the doors reading "Surgery in Progress" turned dark. A bespectacled doctor in a white coat emerged.

"Is Eugene going to be alright?" Shimol asked.

"He needed a few stitches on his head, but it's nothing life threatening. He should wake up soon."

The tension left her body, and Shimol and Desun sighed. Shortly after, the nurses moved Eugene to his own room, and the team sat around him waiting for him to wake up.

Eugene opened his eyes not long after and groaned. He reached for his head. Desun grabbed his hand.

"You've got stitches up there. Don't pick at them or you'll be back in the operating room."

"How are you feeling?" Shimol asked.

"Lousy, that's for sure."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Jun asked.

"I was… That's right! Some spirit snuck up behind me and hit me. Knocked the rifle out of my hand too."

"What happened after that?"

"I must have hit my head on the automobile. I blacked out after that."

"Anything else?"

"I was in the middle of passing out, so I'm not totally sure if I imagined it, but I think I heard someone say they spotted it and chase after it."

"Others from the Interior Ministry?" Shimol suggested.

"No. We're the only exorcism unit in the whole city. Exorcisms are fairly rare, or at least they used to be," Jun said.

"Do you think Eugene was being targeted?" Desun asked.

"No. If a spirit that's violent enough to attack someone like this truly had a personal grudge against Eugene, he wouldn't have gotten away with a simple bump on his head. It was most likely the kind of spirit that has a grudge against society and will lash out against anyone. Those generally don't have the level of hatred needed to kill someone they never met in life." Jun crossed her arms. "What concerns me is the person Eugene heard. The number of people who know about spirits and how to deal with them is few. And why would they be chasing after a random lone spirit?" She was sure there was more to it, something they were missing, but she had no clarity on what.

Eugene insisted he was fine, and the doctor discharged him soon after, and they returned to the Exorcism Unit's compound.

Aria rushed over and skid to a halt at the gate's edge when the automobile approached. "Are you all alright?"

"Eugene's injured, but we're all alive," Jun answered, parking the automobile inside the walls.

They all climbed out.

"It's nothing serious," Eugene said.

Aria looked at the bandages on his head and seemed skeptical. "The spirits told me that there was a bad omen, and I got worried. I prayed for your safety."

Desun scoffed. "Thoughts and prayers are tantamount to doing nothing. If you were so worried, why didn't you come find us at the hospital?"

"That's…" Aria looked away.

Shimol put his hand on Desun's shoulder. "Come on, Desun, I know we're all tired, but let's not start a fight."

Desun batted away Shimol's hand. "You don't need to cover for the likes of her. She's the strongest shaman in the nation. I'd bet if it came to down to combat, she might even be stronger than me. Yet she never joins us on missions." He glared at Aria. "You're dead weight."

"That's enough!" Jun reprimanded. "Everyone, it's been a long day. Return to your quarters and get some rest. We've got another long day ahead tomorrow."

Desun clicked his tongue. Eugene sighed. They silently walked back to the quarters.

"Should I tell Desun about that?" Shimol asked.

"No. That's for Aria to decide. You can go too."

"Yes, Captain." Shimol left them.

"Thank you," Aria said.

"Don't thank me. It's my job as the captain to maintain order in the ranks."

"You're never very honest." She smiled weakly.

Jun contemplated how to respond to that. Not being honest meant concealing a true feeling, but she had lied to herself for years to become the person she needed to be to enact her vengeance. At this point, she wasn't sure of what her true feelings on anything were. To avoid confronting the issue as usual, she deflected to the practical dimension of things. "Desun went too far. But it is true that you can't keep going like this. There will come a time when we'll need you, and you need to be able to step outside the compound walls."

"I know I'm being selfish and cowardly. I even did try stepping outside to find you all, but it was no use. Just two steps out the gate, and I felt so afraid and dizzy. The guards had to carry me back in." Aria clenched her dress. "I hate that I'm like this. It makes it seem like my clan was right to banish me."

"It's their loss. I don't have any deadline for you to get over your phobia. But time is limited. Don't make me look like a fool for taking you in. If there's anything Shimol or I can do, ask. Good night."

"Good night."

Jun and Aria headed back to their quarters for some needed sleep, though Jun couldn't fall asleep peacefully. Nagging at her was Desun's curious behavior tonight. Even though he was usually aggressive, it wasn't to this degree. Had something happened during their investigation of the gambling dens that she wasn't aware of, or perhaps had she misunderstood him from the start?

The next day, the crew gathered in front of the quarters.

"What's the plan for today?" Eugene asked.

"How about we just search for all spirits in Shinra and exorcise them one by one? We're bound to run into something eventually," Desun said. He seemed to be back to his usual self.

"Violence against innocent spirits is a sin. Let's not do something so boorish," Aria admonished.

Desun shot a dirty look at her but held his tongue.

"We'll be paying Baron Yun a visit," Jun said.

"Now? I know we promised Ryugo, but what about our investigation?" Eugene asked.

"The spirit from yesterday attacked you while we were dealing with Ryugo and had agreed to investigate Baron Yun. It's a bit of a stretch, but there might be something to it. We don't have any other leads." While Jun wasn't exactly lying, she had a different set of goals in mind. Baron Yun… According to her personal research, he had connections to the military. It was possible he knew something about the spirit that had burned down her clan's domain.

"Our first daytime investigation in a while. That feels refreshing in its own way," Shimol said. The look in his eyes didn't match the words coming out of his mouth. Having known her the longest, he had likely caught on about her ulterior motives.

Aria waved them off as the others headed out the main gate in the automobile and into hostile territory.