Chapter Three

It didn't take long for Joshua's spiders to take effect. One after another, the guards slowly dropped to the floor, unconscious and the Southern soldiers set about to survey them, quickly ushering towards Luca and Mark to follow.

Luca popped the pill into his mouth, felt his heartbeat pounding through his ears against the sound of his own breathing, but he kept moving along nevertheless and tried not to think of failure as an option. It was his first mission, surely he could be granted beginner's luck, right? And plus, he still had his personal mission to execute. There was no way he was going to go back to the South without having completed that. The possibility of disappointment on the Phoenix's face was enough to keep him moving.

His skin prickled before fizzling into transparent glass and he followed Mark and Eli as they slithered their way through one of the side doors of the Northern headquarters. It was made of metal, adorned with rust and worn down by time, solid and strong nonetheless. Eli's fingers reached out towards the keypad and he started fiddling around with it, while Luca took this chance to take note of his surroundings.

Up close, the North towers loomed before him, almost toppling over due to their impressive height. From what he could see, they were made of the same type of metal as the door. While the South was medieval in style and decked in red bricks that mimicked Vicotiran eras, the North was the complete opposite. Dark and brooding, the buildings were cold, hard stone and steel support. It was everything that one would find in their darkest nightmare.

"Talcott, five minutes are almost up," came Mark's murmur. Luca could tell the Elder was trying not to put pressure on the said Cub, but the urgency was clear in his voice.

Beep.

The panel slid upwards, a green light indicating the unlocked door. Eli turned and flashed them a smug grin.

"Junior. We're going in," Mark spoke through his mic as they went through the door that Eli was holding open.

"Roger."

The door slid back closed, trapping them in darkness.

"Wow," Luca breathed out loud, unable to help himself. He hadn't imagined that the adrenaline pumping through his veins would be so real, and yet here he was, on the battlefield, stepping into enemy territory. He didn't know whether he should be afraid or excited.

Mark's voice was a soft whisper, "You okay, Wang?" Luca nodded before realizing he wasn't visible, "Yeah."

"All right," he heard Mark shuffling before he felt another pill drop into his palm,"once we get to a lighted area, we'll have to take those in order to avoid the heat sensors. Be aware of where you step."

The area was deserted, void of activity as the two soldiers scuttled through and tried blending with the walls as best as they could. Luca swore Mark could hear the pounding of his heart ricocheting off his chest, and it didn't help matters that the surrounding area was dead quiet. Sweat dotted his forehead but he tried to breathe as he was told to, following Mark's footsteps and keeping a keen eye on his peripheral.

He almost yelped when the lights flickered on automatically. Mark slammed a hand against his mouth and the impact had him hissing in pain.

"It's okay," Mark said in a hushed tone, "they're just sensors."

He felt stupid for thinking otherwise, but his brain couldn't help but jump to stupid conclusions even then. Sure, he'd been trained for so many alternatives of the same situation, his muscles were prepared to spring into action at any given moment, and yet he still felt as inexperienced as if it was his first day of training.

Luca guessed it couldn't be helped. It was his very first mission outside the Southern walls.

As they moved through within the shadows, Mark efficiently flipped through his markers and tagged the nearby walls systematically, sending signals to Junior who would use these points to mark out coordinates from his data screen. Luca followed silently, hands at the ready on his weapon in any case of danger. It took more than five minutes to gather data from all the corners of the main sector, and that was just based on the main headquarters. God knew how big the rest of the Northern towers. As Mark placed the last marker on the far wall that resided in a huge circular hall that resembled a main meeting room, Luca glanced around uneasily, hating the way his skin crawled at the prospect of being out in the open although he knew that the pills would conceal his identity.

Suddenly, his ears perked up as he heard distant voices echoing through the corridor. Slapping Mark's shoulder and already fixated on the edge of a steel column, he quickly slipped by without a sound and pressed against the pillar in an attempt to calm his breaths.

A group of men in black coats walked into the open area. Luca's breath hitched. His grip on his dagger tightened.

"It wouldn't make any sense to send her back, not when she exudes so much potential." "But sir, there might be traces of Life Source—"

"She's strong. She'll manage."

Life Source? Who? Luca's thoughts ran wild. What they were discussing was definitely in relation to whatever plan they were concocting for the upcoming war, and this might be useful information for the South's advantage.

But an insistent tugging on his sleeve caused his head to swivel around to look into his Elder's grey eyes. They were serious and without a doubt, telling him that it wasn't part of his orders, putting him back in his place.

"That's not our job Cub," Mark murmured, "you don't want to meddle with what you can't change."

Luca nodded and said nothing else as they waited for the group to disperse. But as he followed Mark back through the dark, he couldn't help dwelling on what these individuals had been discussing. It was definitely a girl that they were talking about, though her identity was unclear.

His heart raced. Whether it was of excitement or fear, he'd rather not know.

The thoughts of his personal mission ran through Luca's mind and kept him distracted as they stood guard outside the entrance. The Elders had stripped the three guards from their uniforms and managed to slither into the opening while they were knocked out and unconscious. The rest of the Cubs were ordered to survey and stand guard outside the Northern building in case someone happened to walk by and their cover was blown.

As expected, his small adventure into the building had resulted in a series of questions sparking from the group of Cubs, who gazed at him with a mixture of curiosity and excitement at the thought of having been part of such an important execution.

"It was dark. Lots of shadows," Luca shook his head, "I didn't like it."

"Of course you wouldn't," Joshua said, "what'd you expect to find in there? Rainbows and dancing unicorns?"

The said individual received a nudge from their leader, "Don't be so hard on the kid," Adam chided. He gazed at Luca, warm eyes glowing in all seriousness, "all right, Wang?"

Luca nodded. It wasn't like he had much of a choice.

When the Elders came back, it was with sombre faces and worn out expressions. There was an uncomfortable buzz through the air as they greeted the Cubs silently and led them away from the buildings into a nearby forest.

"They're fucking crazy," Junior spat, a vein practically throbbing on his forehead when Jin was brave enough to ask about what they'd seen inside, "just thinking about it makes me sick."

Mark shuddered beside him, "They're not human," He murmured softly, "they're barely hanging on."

"What did they look like?" Eli asked, causing him to receive another nudge from Adam who shook his head in negation, motioning to him that this was not the right time to ask such things.

"It's okay," Janu answered as he raked a hand through his black raven strands and let out a sigh, "trust me when I tell you that it's not something you'd like to see. Not now, not ever."

They sedated the guards so that the effect would last a little longer before Luca stripped from his clothes to wear the Northern uniform. When it was time to head back, Junior turned towards Luca as the rest of the group was busy packing up their things and preparing for the trip back. The look in his senior's eyes, though still as fierce and as intense as the day the Cub had first met him, had flecks of concern and worry swimming through the border of his maroon pupils. It would be a lie to say that Luca wasn't surprised at the sudden showcase of emotions he managed to detect.

"Don't stray from the mission," Junior's voice was hard, just like a leader was supposed to give out orders, "don't get curious and go exploring. Finish your mission and come back as soon as you can."

Luca nodded.

"Good," then, the Elder tossed him a walkie talkie earbud from his pocket. The younger soldier caught it clumsily between his fingers, "Clip this on. Call us if you need help, or when you're done. We'll track you and send you a helicopter."

"Roger."

When he was done bidding them goodbye, Luca felt the tightening in his chest as he replayed his leader's words over and over again in his head.

"Stay safe and don't die."

Luca wanted nothing more than to turn back and run away once he turned to face the Northern buildings. But this was his chance, his chance to prove that he was a true soldier that could carry out his job as he was told to.

It was a chance to prove his worth to the Phoenix and he didn't want to let her down.

He hooked his mare to a tree bark in the forest, out of sight from the Northern soldiers and comforting her that he'd be back in no time, before skirting around and using the same entrance to slip inside without a sound.

He popped another transparent pill inside his mouth, knowing that he could only take up to five if he didn't want any side effects. Weaving in and out of the corridor, he based himself on Junior's map and tried to remember where the group of scientists had come from. He glanced right and left, squinting and taking a chance although he wasn't completely sure it was the right way to go. If anything, he'd be going straight into the lion's den and he was grateful that nobody could see him at this particular moment.

He pinned his body against the wall upon hearing voices, quickly flattening his backside against the cold concrete as two individuals walked by without a second glance. He followed them with his eyes and when they disappeared behind a glass panelled door that he'd glossed over before, he decided to follow right through, as silent as a ghost.

The doors gave access to the prison cells that resembled more like animal cages than anything else. Bits of metal were woven and welded together and the stench emanating from them made Luca want to throw up. It smelt of piss and moisture mixed together, and as he slowly followed the two guards with muted steps, he couldn't help but flinch at how horrible the prisoners looked inside.

They were nothing but burnt flesh, scarred skin, blood coating every inch of their bodies as though they had been born this way. The smell of blood hit him like a tidal wave as he walked deeper and deeper inside the prison. His stomach churned. He could practically taste the metallic coppery taste of blood.

He made sure that he wasn't to be noticed, which wasn't a big issue considering he was still transparent and had two minutes until the effect wore off. The two guards suddenly stopped in front of a particular cell, causing Luca to halt in mid-step. He watched them unlock the door before going inside, and frowned. He waited a few beats or so, but they didn't come back out with the prisoner in their hold.

Curious, Luca crept to the cell, only to catch sight of one of the guards trying to force a needle down onto a prisoner's skin.

He sprung into action without much thought, flinging open the door and slamming a foot right into the guard's stomach so that he sprawled over the ground.

Before his partner had the time to react, Luca had grabbed onto his arm and twisted his body over so that he flipped, back colliding against the floor as he grunted in pain.

Luca swivelled only to be faced with a pair of wide eyes and a mouth hanging open, a face weathered by torture and pain and malnourishment. He didn't hesitate, slamming a palm onto the back of her neck to knock her out. He picked her up then, swinging her over his back as he ran out of the cell, down the hallway, jumping over the door without further delay and not looking back to see if the guards were going after him.

He needed to move fast as he was pretty sure that somewhere in the system, the breach had already been identified with the amount of noise that he'd made. He promised himself not to look back at the various prison cells as he zoomed past them, hoping that he'd be able to come back one day and save them all, set them free and maybe, just maybe find the particular individual he'd been looking for all these years.

As he escaped the narrow corridor and came to the main entrance, he noticed a hoard of guards standing at the end of the hallway. A series of shouts and protests were made as they charged towards him.

Luca took off in a sprint towards the opposite end.

Shit, he cursed inwardly as he forced his legs to go faster. He needed to lose them if he wanted to get out of here alive. A rain of bullets pelted down at his feet, practically causing his heart to skitter in fear as he forced himself to concentrate on the exit.

He tried to remember from which way he came from and thanked the gods for his good memory when he recognized the door from which he'd entered. Quickly diving through and praying that there wouldn't be anyone waiting outside, he fished into one of his jacket pockets and took out a smoke bomb, unlatched it, before rolling it out behind him. He didn't turn around to see what was happening, instead taking this chance to jump over the chain link fence that separated the forest and the Northern courtyard. The smoke bomb exploded as he got over the wall, rolling over with a steady hand on his captive to make sure that she was fine. Quickly scanning her body for wounds, he noticed the bullet that had penetrated her left arm and cursed.

Not fatal, but lethal nevertheless. He needed to remove the bullet as quickly as possible. It would be disastrous if the bullet was poisonous.

He needed to get out of here.

He quickly unclogged another smoke bomb and rolled it behind him as he dashed as fast as his feet would take him, knowing that once he entered the forest it would get harder for them to trace his scent.

His mare greeted him ceremoniously as Luca skidded over and tugged its rope out from the branch. He dropped a hand atop the mare's neck and allowed its warmth to soothe his nerves for a second. Then, he hoisted the prisoner up onto his horse and followed, before breaking into a gallop.

It was improbable that the guards would find him considering that the smoke bombs would erase his scent with their own. Even so, he made sure to keep up a fast pace until he was far enough.

He soon found refuge in a small patch of trees enough to act as a camouflage for a short while. Luca gently slid down from his mare and placed the individual onto the forest floor.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to look at the individual's face. He knew he had to change the wound on her arm as soon as possible, but just looking at the abundant amount of scratches on her body was enough to make him swallow the saliva that dried on the tip of his tongue.

With tentative fingers, Luca reached out to brush her hair away from her face.