Golden Child

The wind was howling, the sky was gloomy, and the blue cloaks were billowing. Six agents stood on the rooftop as a helicopter landed in front of them.

Until the helicopter propeller slowed down and stopped, then the door opened. Harris, Hansen, and four other agents made way for the six people who had just gotten off the helicopter. However, Harris's eyes were drawn like a magnet to a brown-haired girl walking alongside a blonde with dark ruby hair.

Glimpses of their conversation replayed in his head. Brissia's confession poured acid on his heart. He quickly looked away and made his way to the helicopter before the girl returned his glance.

"You two had a fight?"

Debora's question brought the man to a halt. He turned his head only to realize the question was aimed at the girl he had been staring at.

The longer he stared at her, despite distance that had kept them apart, the more he yearned for their time together on the Flower Bridge. He missed it all: a smile as gentle as the sun's timid light and steps as light as paper falling from an endless sky.

"Harris!"

Harris blinked as Hansen gripped his shoulder.

"We'll be late if you keep thinking about her," Hansen rebuked him as he walked to the helicopter, followed by the other agents.

"Who said I was thinking about her?" Harris grumbled.

Hansen snorted. "Your f—"

A nudge on the shoulder cut Hansen's words. When he turned his head, Fayrl held his arm.

"What's wrong?" Hansen asked quietly, recognizing her stern face.

"It's been a long time since they had cheese in festivals," she spoke softly as she leaned into him.

His gaze shifted around him. Some glanced at them suspiciously, prompting him to pulled Fayrl's waist, causing Harris's eyes to widen.

"What did they order us?" he whispered, furrowing his brows as Harris yelled so he wouldn't irritate him by making out with someone in front of his eyes.

Fayrl glanced the other way for a moment. "Rather than an order, this one's a real caution sign. They said Harris will be held accountable for your injuries and for having cheese in his mouth."

Her words stunned him for a while until Harris came and locked his neck.

"You said we'd be late, but why are you playing around?" Harris sneered, dragging Hansen toward the helicopter.

Hansen was about to release the lock on Harris's arm, but stopped when Fayrl called him softly. When he turned to her, a smile appeared on the girl's face who shook her head slowly. He was unable to take his eyes off Fayrl, even after he had entered the helicopter and the doors closed.

When the helicopter was no longer resting on the rooftop floor, Fayrl said something that Hansen couldn't hear, but could catch through the movement of her lips. 'Come back safe', was a sentence that Fayrl said with a restrained smile, a waving hand, and clear tears welling up in her eyelids.

Holding onto the helicopter window, he could only keep his eyes glued to the blonde girl, who appeared to be getting smaller and smaller as the helicopter flew further. Doubt filled his chest as he glanced at Harris's casual look and the serious looks of the other agents.

His doubts turned to worries once they had landed and were walking amidst the crowded and gloomy industrial town. Aside from the visible ignorance for the dark blue cloaked troops' arrival, his gut feeling told him that he had a dozen pairs of eyes piercing his back.

"…Clock tower? All right."

He turned quickly to Harris, who said so before giving a small nod to another agent. While he was instructing his partner to chase someone who was running in an alley, Hansen approached him.

"Harris, can we have a minute?"

"No."

Harris's response narrowed his eyes. "I'm serious, Harris. There's great danger awaiting us if you don't listen to me."

"What do you mean?" said Harris with one raised eyebrow. "We always live with danger and are trained to deal with it."

"Yeah, but in this case, we probably wouldn't—"

"Hey, what are you two discussing?"

Hansen turned to a male colleague from the Harris unit.

"You guys can't possibly be planning to carry out other plans secretly, can you?"

Harris shook his head, causing Hansen to clench his fists. When he led them back on their way, Hansen glanced at the agent who interrupted him. His eyes widened as the agent smirked slightly while giving him a glance.

"Carlos," Hansen hissed, not taking his eyes off the agent as he walked to catch up with his colleagues.

A tall, cylindrical building was obscured from view by clouds. The only things they encountered as they moved down the hallway were gold-plated furniture and spiral stairs covered in red carpet.

Thus, one of them chirped, "Is it really here?"

An agent behind Harris and Hansen was scanning cracks in furniture and corners of the room with a flashlight. But suddenly, her eyes widened and she collapsed on the floor, making all the agents turn around in surprise.

"Three o'clock!" Hansen exclaimed.

A loud thunk and bang on the wall caused Harris to turn his head, only to see an agent in a dark blue coat knock over one of his colleagues who had been caught off guard. He immediately positioned himself in a stance when a group of agents in blue cloaks came to surround them.

"Shouldn't there be just the six of us?!" asked an agent beside Harris while loading his rifle with stun bullets.

Carlos faced Harris and the other three agents with their backs to each other. Twelve masked dark blue-cloaked agents surrounded them in a circle formation.

"What's the meaning of this, Carl?" Harris asked, annoyed.

Carlos chuckled. "Headquarters must be sick of favoring you. So, I'd support them in finding a suitable substitute."

Bam!

A much more bulry agent than them punched Carlos in the cheek, causing him to stumble, leaving Harris, Hansen, and another agent in a daze.

"Silvye, Harris, Hansen, get out of here!" he cried while fighting the other agents who attacked him immediately.

Hansen rushed to pull Harris and Silvye up the spiral staircase. Meanwhile, Harris put the gun back in his pocket while glancing at his unit mate who was busy blocking the agents from chasing him.

Bang!

"Ack!"

"Sylvye!"

Harris quickly supported the girl's arm, glancing at her left leg which was shot. His gaze sharpened when he saw Carlos aiming his gun at them, grinning with a smug look.

"Harris! Don't!" Hansen shouted as Harris handed Sylvye over to him then jumped down the stairs to take down the two agents who were overwhelming his only colleague down there.

"I'd rather everyone perishes in amber…"

Harris shot an agent who was about to shoot Hansen, causing the other agents to take a step back.

"...Than seeing one of you pretending to take us to divine," Harris continued.

The burly agent stared in disbelief at an agent who was lying among the group of agents in front of them due to Harris's actions, whereas Harris, still pointing his handgun forward.

"T-traitor!" Carlos exclaimed with bulging eyes. "Harris's traitor!"

All of the agents next to Carlos had cynical looks mixed with fear of Harris, but he only had a flat gaze. Carlos's orders to finish them off resounded incessantly as Harris encouraged his three colleagues to run up while protecting themselves.

The eight agents that Carlos was leading and the four lone agents who were reaching the top floor were both cast in shadow by the large clock next to them. Golden light caressed them through the clockwork gaps as their cloaks danced in a tumultuous rhythm.

Sylvye took her gun from her trouser pocket, making Harris who caught her move widen his eyes.

"Sylvye! Don't—"

Bang!

Wide-eyed, she watched as Harris stumbled to his knees in front of her, looking down and grunting in pain from the gunshot wound to his left shoulder. However, as Sylvye's bullet struck the agent who was aiming his handgun at them, the man collapsed.

"Sylvye! Why did you do that?!"

"Pull yourself together, Rogier!" Hansen shouted, pulling back the burly agent who was about to approach Sylvye with an angry look. Less than three seconds later, the agents fired at the three of them, causing Hansen and Rogier to quickly step forward and knocked them down.

Carlos stepped forward, lowered his gun, and gave Harris a smirk. "Ah, it's kind of thrilling to see you kneel down before me like this."

Still on one knee, Harris looked up and snorted, which caused Carlos's face to turn cold.

"You're such a glutton, Harris. Attracting the attention of top officials, agents at the headquarters, even a sweet young girl who doesn't appear to want to be there or by your side."

Harris held his wound with his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, making Carlos's grin return to his face.

"Oh, you're offended because your love is unrequited, Little Hero SURVIVE? Let me tell you something: if she hadn't chosen you so blindly and foolishly, you wouldn't have been hurt."

"Don't… demean her!"

Everyone immediately dove to the ground as the tower's roof collapsed, the giant clock glass lining broke nearby, and the clock's chime noises echoed throughout the room. Carlos looked down, saw a rectangular device with a small flashing light indicator lying between the pieces of glass.

He dodged when an agent was thrown into him. When he saw who the culprit was, his gaze turned irritated.

"Hey, Tyler! You nearly threw our colleague in my direction! How could you do that?!" Carlos snapped at him.

A male agent walked leisurely among his colleagues, knocking every agent he passed until they were in pain and unable to get up at once. Hansen, Harris, Sylvye, and Rogier were stunned to see it.

Carlos pointed his gun at Tyler. Tyler, however, moved as quickly as lightning and dropped his gun far away from anyone. He also elbowed Carlos on the nape of his neck until the man fell, then rushed to Harris and held out his hand.

"You can't fool me twice," Harris said in a raging breath.

"You were tricked by the universe, not me."

Harris frowned as he caught his breath. Tyler, still holding out his hand to him, asked with a slight smile, "Do you wanna see Brissia?"

"Harris! Just say 'yes'!" Hansen exclaimed.

The hazel-eyed man gave a small snort before grabbing Tyler's hand, making Tyler step on the twinkling rectangular box. Smoke suddenly filled the room. Hansen and Rogier blinked their eyes until their irises glowed light blue. Then they approached Harris and Sylvye.

"What was that? You should go first if you want me to say that because you miss Fayrl," Harris teased as Hansen carried him under his arm, leading him down the stairs.

"None of us can get out of this situation on our own, you fool," Hansen replied seriously, glancing sideways at Rogier who was carrying Sylvye in his arms as he made his way down the stairs, assisted by Tyler.

"Do you see my eyes? Tyler, that dark horse, gave me and Rogier a pair of these fake lenses when he said the smog would blind anyone who didn't wear them for eight hours. Hence, we need to quickly get you and Sylvye out of here."