Chapter 4: Tango

An hour before the rising of the sun, Isuzu walked back to her room, unable to find Eleya. She sat down on her bed with so many thoughts lingering around her head.

She then heard someone climbing quickly. She rushed to the window, but before she could even get close a person suddenly busted out of the window, it was Iowa.

"Shhh", Iowa said as she placed her finger on her lips. Isuzu nods and carefully opened the window. Iowa vaulted in, brushing the dust off her uniform.

"What is it?" whispered Isuzu.

Iowa did not answer. Instead, she looked around the room, searching the drawers and corners.

"OK, we can talk now", Iowa whispered as she finished her inspection.

"What were you looking for?" Isuzu asked.

"Things that could hear or see us, insects or anything else", said Iowa. Sighing as she finished checking everything.

"So," said Iowa, "Have you made up your mind yet?"

"No, why?"

"I'm sorry, but it has to wait. I need you to come with me to the capital, and there we'll sort things out, OK?"

"I have to tell you something first", Isuzu told Iowa.

"What is it?" asked Iowa, "It's about my friend Eleya."

Iowa's heart stopped, "Where is she?"

"She isn't in her room right now..."

Iowa paused as her heart sank. She placed her hand on her revolver as her eyes started to shake.

"I saw her yesterday, Eleya. She wasn't in her room just like how you claimed her to be right now", said Iowa.

Isuzu could only watch as the realisation struck the two girls.

"There isn't any time left, Isuzu..." Iowa held Isuzu's hands and looked her in the eye.

"I just need you to trust-" Iowa's heart once again stopped as she noticed something flickering at the corner of her eye.

"Trust me..." she mumbled unconsciously as she slowly turned her head to see the eyes of a small creature.

"Iowa?"

"Isuzu... we need to go." quickly said Iowa, clenching her fists, and then,

A loud shriek was heard.

"She's here! Let's go!" Exclaimed Iowa rushing to the window, pulling Isuzu with her.

"I'm sorry", said Iowa as she suddenly threw Isuzu out of the window.

"HEY WAIT!"

Iowa followed Isuzu as she fell. She pulled out a pocket watch and immediately pressed the crown.

The hands of the watch rapidly rotated, and as it stopped, time felt slower for everything except for Iowa.

She dropped down safely and aligned herself before pressing it back again, resuming the normal speed of time. Isuzu fell quickly, not even having enough time to scream. But before she could hit the ground, she was caught by Iowa.

She immediately helped her stand up, and they both ran away.

A girl watched them run away from Isuzu's room. Iowa looked back and saw the girl staring right down at them.

"Eleya..."

Eleya watched the two run away. She closed the windows and locked the door as she left the room.

She went outside the orphanage where Balisong waited for her.

"Call the others", she whispered to the bird.

She stroked the bird's head before launching it away. She looked to her right to see the sun slowly rising to the sky.

"Wait, so you're saying Eleya is a spy?!" asked Isuzu as they ran away to the colonial's rendezvous point as Iowa explained the situation.

"Not only that but if you were to stay here longer, they might just resort to other tactics", Iowa said.

"Other tactics like what?"

"Tactics you and Eleya would not want to be a part of."

Isuzu fell silent, letting her mind sink in what is happening.

Iowa notices someone waving to her in a distant corner; it was one of her soldiers.

As they got close enough, he said, "Captain Campbell, We have a shortcut. The two of them ran to the corner, the soldier letting them enter inside first.

At the end of the alley waited for them a horse with a carriage guarded by soldiers.

"Here, get in", Iowa told Isuzu.

She stepped up, sitting down as she left some room for Iowa.

Iowa patted the shoulder of the soldier beside her and asked. "Have you informed the general?"

"Yes ma'am, reinforcements will cross paths with us on the way there."

Iowa sighed, "That won't be enough. We are going to need a bigger escort."

"The general said it would attract too much attention though." the soldier said.

"Dammit, Mel!" she mumbled, "We should get going now! Is everyone up?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Alright, scouts take point!" shouted Iowa.

The scouts got in their own horses and rushed ahead, followed by the carriage.

Eleya walked to the centre of the town where a fountain stood.

She stood in front of it with Balisong on her right arm.

The sun was still rising yet most of the town was still engulfed with darkness. Then three hooded figures appeared and stood in different directions, with the serviteur she spoke to the model who stood in front of her.

"Brothers and sisters." said Eleya, facing the figures, "Serviteur." She added, meeting the serviteur in front of her.

"Makamisa, they got away, is that part of your plan?" The serviteur asked, in a calm but sharp voice.

"I can still see them, with the creatures." said Eleya, "I'm a spy, not a marksman."

The serviteur stayed calm, and with his gentle voice, he spoke to Eleya, "Well, you are now."

The serviteur then raised both his arms as he spoke, "I am confident they'll deliver her straight to the borders of South Britain as soon as possible. I have already sent our finest head hunters to ambush them. You are all coming with me, and Makamisa will be our eyes in the sky."

"Wait, that's not part of our agreement!" exclaimed Eleya.

"It was thanks to your actions that made yourself do this, hurt your friend, by being selfish and keeping her to yourself." The serviteur said, now in a stern and agitated voice.

"Now, you shall watch your dear trigger angel receive the wrath of the forces of the Divine."

"The Divine forgives, but never forgets", he added as he slowly walked away from the fountain and masked themselves in the shadows.

The two other figures also did the same, leaving a worried Eleya alone in front of the fountain.

Eleya launched Balisong without hesitation as she shouted,

"FIND THEM!"

And with that, the bird shrieked and flew away.

A few years ago...

"Hey, come back here!" A toddler Isuzu shouted as she chased Eleya.

"You can't catch me!" Eleya shouted back, laughing as she outran the tiring Isuzu.

They ran in circles for a while until the two of them slowly started to wear out. They slowed down dramatically, as they tried to catch their breath.

Isuzu dropped to the ground, gasping for air. Eleya approached Isuzu and rested her hands on her knees.

The two of them laughed as they looked at each other in the eye as the wind blew past.

"Isuzu!" a person inside the house shouted.

"Coming!" Isuzu shouted back as she stood up and ran to the house.

Eleya stood there with nothing to do until she noticed a large bird in the distance.

She followed the bird to the nearby woodlands, undetected by nuns or other kids. The bird circled her as it descended. It landed on a branch in front of Eleya.

"B-Balisong!" the toddler exclaimed as she reaches for something in her pocket. She took out a small piece of bread wrapped around in a checkered handkerchief and broke it down to little bits and gave it to the large bird.

The bird squawked and ate the bits. The bird finished the whole piece of bread without cutting Eleya or hurting her in any way.

The bird squawked as it tried to say something to Eleya. It flapped its wings and pointed her beak to the orphanage.

"Isuzu?" Eleya asked.

The bird pointed at the girl.

"Yes! That's my friend Isuzu!"

The bird squawked at Eleya.

"Watch over?"

The bird nodded.

"OK!" said Eleya, petting the bird.

It fixed its feathers and flew away.

Eleya looked back at the orphanage ran back, calling Isuzu.

"There you are! Where have you been?" Isuzu asked as she saw Eleya running towards her.

"I've been looking for you", said Eleya.

Isuzu chuckled and said, "If you want to go look for me, look inside the house, not inside the forest!" Isuzu said as she tickles Eleya.

Eleya could not stop laughing as Isuzu's barrage of tickles just kept going.

They went on the rest of the day with each other.

A few years later, as Eleya grew older...

Eleya followed the bird along the woodlands in the middle of the night. Wounded by sharp objects and obstacles, she wasn't able to see in the forest. She made her way to the small chapel to discuss the situation.

"We'll be able to extract her this week, serviteur." A hooded figure said as they faced Eleya.

Eleya sat down in front of the serviteur.

"I agree," said Eleya, "But recently, the animals had been reporting me, recent disturbances."

"What do you mean by this Makamisa?" asked the figure.

"It's fine." interrupted the serviteur.

"Also, could you excuse us for a moment with Eleya?" he added.

"Of course." said the figure, leaving the chapel to wait outside." as he left and closed the gates, Eleya faced the serviteur.

“Makamisa..." said the serviteur.

"Not yet!" demanded Eleya, "I wasn't told about an 'extraction' or anything no! I am not allowing it."

"Unfortunately, I am not calling the shots here." the serviteur answered, "You have yet to understand the grasp on who this Isuzu you speak of really is, the trigger angel."

"You told me that the Divine would take care of her future, but nothing about taking her against her will!" Eleya exclaimed.

The serviteur stood up and walked to the altar where a totem stood.

"You clearly had developed an intimate bond with her. A friend, if you may. Yet you must put those feelings aside to do your duty as a servant of the Divine."

The serviteur then faced Eleya, "And besides, you would not be so close to her if it wasn't for your divine intervention."

"What do you mean?" asked Eleya stuttering.

"The Divine gave life to you, just like with anyone else, but decided that you were the one they saw fit to be blessed. But it comes at a cost." the Serviteur smirked at the girl's enraged faced. Eleya clenched her fist and felt that she punch the man.

"Your mother, died giving birth and your father was killed in an expedition to find the old continents, which left you at the hands of the Divine."

Eleya's face was overwhelmed with tears and rage as the serviteur carried on.

"You were delivered to an orphanage, the one where the trigger angel settled. Then, you were blessed, blessed with a mission to help spread the word of the Divine through the trigger angel. It'll take many efforts, but if it is what the Divine wishes, we follow."

Eleya shook her head, "I refuse to believe anything you had just said!"

The serviteur paused, still calm and passive.

"You'll understand soon enough, sister, very soon."

Eleya stood up and exited the chapel.

"An angel, the Divine's knights. Gifted with a part of the Divine's powers to protect this continent. The blessing no man could handle."

As the colonials stormed away, the two scouts ahead surveyed the paths of their routes, making sure that nothing could stand in its way.

As the two rode beside each other, they noticed something wrong with their horses.

"My horse is acting weird." one scout said, trying to make it turn, but it refuses and keeps moving forward, then it started to speed uncontrollably.

"Hey, hey! Stop it!" for some reason; he had lost control of his horse galloping forward.

The rider cuts himself loose from the horse, falling down the ground as the horse pushed on.

Then the other horse soon started to follow the same pattern again.

"Quit it!" the rider said as he pulled the leash trying to prevent it from running away. But then it started to speed up as well.

He had no choice but to dismount as well. "Something isn't right; we should run back to the captain!"

The horses arrived somewhere up north from the colonials' position and were signalled to disperse soon after.

"There's your confirmation", Eleya told the serviteur, showing the horses as she walked away.

The serviteur chuckled and faced a group of hooded figures, "Brothers and sisters," they said, "Today we embark on a vital mission. What we will fight for today to let every man know the word of our Divine,

Let us prevent the heretics from stopping it…"