Aftermath [1]

After exiting the portal, Camilla and Satoshi instantly slumped down on the ground.

With tear filled eyes, Camilla smacked the cold ground beneath her.

"Damn it! Why are we so weak?"

Camilla gritted her teeth in frustration as tear beads continued to flow down her cheek.

"If we didn't go with him, then Shin wouldn't have died. He wouldn't have been held back by us."

"Sis…"

The siblings could do nothing but despair, they had abandoned Shin, leaving him to die alone.

Step, step.

Footsteps became audible. Camilla lifted her head to find Felicia approaching them with Ascenders behind her.

"Someone, call the medical team! The Nocturns have returned!"

Camilla gritted her teeth once again, but this time it was out of anger.

Standing up, she approached Felicia and grabbed her collar.

"Why?! Bring him back! Why did you take us to a Fourth Star Gate? Why did you kill Shin?!"

There was no one else to blame but Felicia. The Nocturns had already told her they would raid a First Star Gate just like always.

But for some reason, they were taken to a Fourth Star Gate.

Millions of questions flooded Camilla's mind, unable to comprehend why the Monolith would do such a thing.

Clenching her fist, Camilla continued,

"How dare you mess with the Nocturns! Don't think your organization will get out of this lightly."

Felicia was taken aback by the sudden revelation, unable to respond.

It was bad enough that a spy had misled the Nocturns, causing a misconduct in the Monolith, but a Nocturn was killed in the process.

"Say something, damn it! You killed our Brother. So fucking say something!"

The fact that Felicia was staying silent with wide eyes, frustrated Camilla even more.

"I–I'm so sorry…"

"Sorry?! What the fuck am I gonna do with your apology? It's not gonna bring Shin back! What I need is answers, why did you bring us there to die?!"

The Ascenders behind Felicia, quickly grabbed the enraged Camilla by the shoulders, trying to calm her down.

"Let go of me!"

"Don't touch her."

Felicia instructed them.

Suddenly, a man wearing a suit entered the room.

"Camilla Nocturn, correct?"

Camilla narrowed her eyes at the man who was walking forward with a confident demeanor.

"Who are you?"

"I'm one of the Heads assigned to this branch of the Monolith, Darius Melvin."

Camilla was enraged even more. 

If there was a person to blame for the whole thing, then it had to be one of the heads of the Monolith.

"Tell me, Darius, explain this misconduct, why did you bring us to a Fourth Star Gate?!"

Camilla dropped all honorifics with Darius. There was no need to respect the man.

Darius seemed to not mind as he continued,

"There seems to be a misunderstanding, please allow me to expl–"

"Misunderstanding? What's there to misunderstand? Due to your negligence, our Brother is dead. The blood is in your hands."

Camilla cut him off instantly. She didn't want to give the man any leeway out of this.

"Sis, calm down, I think you should let him explain. It seems to be important."

Camilla shifted her gaze to Satoshi, wide eyed.

"Satoshi? I can't believe you're taking their side. These people killed Shin, our Brother. Don't tell me to calm down. In fact, you should be angry too!"

"I know… but something seems fishy. We've known Miss Felicia for years. She wouldn't just do that to us."

Somehow, Satoshi had a point. They've known Felicia for a long time, ever since they started their raids.

But growing up in the Nocturn household, Camilla couldn't just openly trust people easily.

The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies, but from the people close to you.

Satoshi was a Nocturn as well. But the fact that he was too trusting didn't sit right with Camilla.

Noticing Satoshi's complexions, Camilla instructed the Ascenders.

"What are you doing? Can't you see his state? Get him treated fast!"

"You heard her, what are you just standing still for?! Get Miss Nocturn here treated as well!"

Darius instructed them as well, his voice furious.

The Ascenders quickly got up and moved, placing Satoshi on a stretcher, and took him somewhere to treat him.

Darius then turned towards Camilla, fixing his previously angered expression.

"Miss Camilla, if you just let me explain, then we'll somehow come to an understanding. We're sort of in trouble as well."

"Hah, of course you'd be in trouble. You've messed with the Nocturns, and the Nocturns always pay back their debts tenfold. But fine, go ahead, I'll hear you out."

"Thank you, now where was I? Ah, you see, we've recently found out that a spy has infiltrated our ranks. It's believed that the Ascender that escorted you was the same spy."

Camilla was surprised at the sudden revelation.

If the Head of the Monolith wasn't lying, then everything made sense.

But…

It could've been an excuse, Camilla couldn't just accept it so easily knowing Shin died because of this.

"I can't just accept that at face value, I demand you to allow the Nocturns to investigate this issue."

"I can accept your terms, you can send as many personnels as you want. We need to investigate as well."

"Sure, but if we find out the Monolith was lying, then don't expect to get out of this unscathed. The Nocturns will openly declare war against the Monolith, we will not hesitate to burn this entire organization down to the ground until there's nothing left."

The Monolith was an organization, entrusted by the Government and the people to protect them from the Gates incase of an outbreak.

Camilla knew this but she wasn't in the right state of mind to consider.

Whoever opens hostility with a Nocturn shall face retribution, and the Monolith wasn't an exception.

After calming down, Camilla retrieved her phone from her Nexus Ring.

Looking for a specific contact, Camilla dialed the number.

Ring… Ring… Click!

"Father, it's an emergency, please come to the location I'm about to send you."

Click!

***

At Souzen's urgent arrival, he found his Daughter wounded and covered in bandages.

Looking around, he noticed Shin and Satoshi weren't with her.

He'd asked her what happened, and Camilla debriefed him with tear strained eyes about what occurred in the gate.

From the first wave until the fourth. About how Shin cleared a path for them, the blue-blazing ember, and his eventual sacrifice.

When Camilla finished explaining, Souzen burst out into tears, furious about the Monolith's negligence, and sorrowful about what happened to his children.

And Shin's apparent death…

The Father and Daughter locked in a tearful embrace.

"Camilla, listen to me. Even if it's true, I will not let the Monolith get out of this unscathed, and I will do everything in my power to hunt down the perpetrators responsible for this."

Camilla nodded and tightened her embrace once more.

Suddenly, Souzen took out a device from his Nexus Ring, and opened up a sound barrier.

Rubbing his Daughter's head, Souzen continued,

"Camilla, what I'm about to tell you is confidential, okay? Promise me you wont tell anyone, not even Satoshi."

Camilla seemed surprised at her Father's sudden secrecy, but she nodded eventually.

"Okay, Father."

"Good… There's no guarantee, and I'm not promising anything. But there's a slight possibility that Shin might still be alive."

Camilla's eyes went wide and continued to listen. There had to be more to what her Father was about to tell her.

"You see… Shin is a Contractor. That blue-blazing ember you saw was due to his Contractee, Noctis, the God of Night, a Deity."

Camilla seemed taken aback by the sudden revelation, unable to comprehend what her Father just told her.

'Shin? A Contractor? Was this his big secret?'

Camilla couldn't believe it, how was Shin able to hide this for so long?

She'd read books about Contractors and Deities when she were younger, but she'd only think of them as myths and legends.

She had never met a single Contractor in her life.

She only knew the stories told when they were children, about how the First Patriarch was a Contractor.

But somehow, it all made sense.

'Shin's mysterious power.'

A First Star shouldn't have been able to match a Demon.

'And the blue embers.'

Shin's final moments before a towering blue flame encased him.

'That last painful smile.'

Camilla had no choice but to accept it, there was no other explanation.

"Father… I believe in Shin. Knowing him, I know he'll return. Before he comes back, I need to become stronger."

Strong enough to stand by his side.

'So that another incident like that would never happen again.'