Félix was walking through the great city of Munich alongside his mother, cars filled the streets that night. Pedestrians crowded the avenues, some searching for bars and parties, others more romantic came in search of restaurants and parks.
Bella held little Félix's right hand, so young and small that he looked like a rabbit discovering the world outside its burrow. He admired the lights of Munich, always so vibrant that the buildings seemed to bow in reverence.
Jack Hoffman, his father, walked a little ahead beside Bella, for some reason the two always seemed to be smiling.
While they strolled through the streets of Munich, Félix had his attention drawn to an ice cream stand. Other children accompanied by their parents gathered around that stand. He had never tasted something like that, he did not know if it was good. But the joy of those children stirred his curiosity.
— Do you want some ice cream? — his mother said.
The little one quickly nodded.
That night they all enjoyed the comfortable weather, each one picked a different type of ice cream. And Félix was lucky enough to get the most extravagant of them. A truffle ice cream so large he had to hold it with both hands.
Both sat on a bench near the river.
— He starts school next week, there is no problem letting him show off a little to his classmates.
— I know, but do not spoil him too much. — his father said.
Félix was too small to understand what they were talking about. It seemed to be something related to work or everyday matters, but at least one thing he was certain of.
No one commented about the Sun, after all, he would remember that.
[Félix woke up]
The vision of the bluish ceiling returned, restoring his consciousness, and it made him let out a soft sigh.
— Just a dream...
After six hours of an arduous walk he decided to rest in the ruins of a village before resuming his journey. Nothing better than recalling the past before moving forward, but that date seemed so distant that only fragments came to his mind.
He was almost there, just a few hours more and everything would be resolved, or at least that was what he preferred to believe.
While Félix ventured on, the farm continued preparations to invade the camp. A strong movement of soldiers took over the base, carrying boxes of ammunition and throwable explosives.
Kobayashi was already walking through the base, his hand was in the final stages of fully regenerating. He was determined to find a commander, he wanted explanations for why the mission had been brought forward.
The mission was supposed to take place tomorrow morning with the sun rising. But they were already filling the trucks' tanks.
— Where is Natália? — Kobayashi asked.
— She must be in his office, I am not sure...
Kobayashi turned around.
— Wait! — The soldier grabbed his shoulder. — I do not know what you did, but she seems pretty irritated with you.
Kobayashi removed the hand from his shoulder ignoring the soldier's warning, then continued toward the second floor of the base.
As soon as he spotted the office he quickly knocked on the door.
— Lieutenant Kobayashi—
She opened the door aggressively.
— I admire your courage, or should I say stupidity?
Natália had changed clothes. Her black overcoat had been replaced by a white cape with golden epaulettes on the shoulders. The inner uniform was black filled with golden chains, a strategic change since the chains take the place of medals.
The dark satin gloves were still on her hands, resting at her waist, on the sheath of a carved blade.
— What do you want?
Kobayashi chose his words carefully. — I came to know the reason for the sudden change in the mission schedule.
Natália looked him from head to toe. — We only changed a few hours, nothing too drastic.
— A few hours? Do you intend to attack at dawn?
— You ask too many questions for a Lieutenant.
— But if it is at dawn the soldiers may not endure it.
— That is a pity then, we will have to prepare some coffins for our own.
Natália bumped her shoulder against Kobayashi's and moved forward without saying another word.
During the dawn period it is much easier to create a perimeter around the surroundings, because even if there are guards they will not go far from the quarters. The cold would cause severe hypothermia, but that also applies to the allies.
The trick would be to rely on everyone's body heat together until reaching the camp. After that they would have to roll the dice to see who could endure the cold longer.
Minutes felt like hours and hours felt like years, time passed slowly suffocating more and more an inevitable fate.
The only loose link among them all was Félix, who continued heading south, but due to his geographical position when he woke up, the location could diverge a little. He would have to stay alert to any abnormal sign.
Buildings, things that do not seem to arise naturally, footprints or whatever it may be, everything could be a clue.
In the afternoon he found a forest, finally he could leave that white desert. But there were still no signs of civilization, which was strange after all this should be the place, he thought.
It had been eight hours of constant white vastness, if there was a place to set up a camp or anything else it should be there.
Reflecting, he went deeper into the forest.
Tock! Tock!
Alice kept spending every drop of energy in her body to continue wielding the axe. Dmitri looked at her with concern, her exhaustion was evident, her undershirt already glued to her skin from so much sweat.
— It is better for us to go, it is getting late...
Urgh, sigh. — Just one more tree and we go back.
Félix heard from afar a constant striking sound, as if someone was cutting trees. As he approached, cut trunks appeared more and more.
Crack!!!
Alice finished knocking the tree down.
— Alright, do you want me to finish cutting the pieces now?
— No... — Her voice came out weak.
Alice sat on the ground for a while to recover her energy, her cheeks were reddened from the effort. But curiously she had a slight shy smile on her face, the result of having finished the work.
Dmitri sat down as well. — I hope they had coffee in the warehouse.
— We. — Urgh. — Ate bone with beetroot, if there is coffee it will be a miracle.
Félix slipped between the trees until he heard some nearby murmurs. Carefully he approached watching each step, avoiding any noise as much as possible.
There they were, two people sitting with their backs against a fallen tree. A tall man with black hair and a thin body, and beside him a young woman with blonde hair, her face dripping with sweat.
— How can someone sweat in this cold? — he wondered in his mind.
Both stood up and Félix noticed an axe in the girl's hands, it seemed too heavy for her small body.
When she started cutting pieces of the tree something caught his attention. The posture with which the girl raised the axe above her head with both hands and brought it down violently like a guillotine. Right hand dominant, left as support, right leg forward to facilitate applying force with the supporting arm.
She was young but seemed to understand a lot about axe technique. She compensated for her weakness with technique. If she were alone, anyone watching from afar would see someone meditating in constant movement.
That face... That expression she made... Félix felt he had known her somewhere, but it was so hard to remember.
— У нас уже обед сдвинулся, и теперь, скорее всего, ужин тоже задержится. (Lunch was already delayed, and now probably our dinner will be too.)
Félix frowned. — Russian, great one more problem...
He did not understand anything they were saying.
Dmitri, bored, whistled to the wind while looking around. But his whistle quickly stopped.
— Alice stop.
She stopped chopping the wood. — Why? Did something happen?
Dmitri locked his eyes on Félix who watched them a few meters ahead.
— Who is that guy?
Alice looked at Félix, she tightened her hands on the axe handle.
— Кто вы!? (Who are you?)
Félix did not answer.
— Is he armed? — Alice asked.
— If he were he would have already pointed the gun.
Félix raised his hands and calmly walked toward them. Alice said something he did not understand, but the gesture with her hand made him realize it was to stop.
— Как вас зовут? (What is your name?)
Nothing, he did not understand a single word.
— I am looking for someone, I was told to come south.
Now it was Alice and Dmitri who did not understand. The language barrier between them would make any dialogue impossible, no one had the slightest knowledge of what the other was saying.
Alice looked closely at Félix's face, she also felt she knew him from somewhere. She looked him up and down, that was when her magenta eyes widened and she tightened the axe handle even more.
— Сукин сын, так это ты!! (Son of a bitch, so it is you!!)
Alice recognized him as the man who invaded the Barn, Dmitri held her so she would not attack without thinking.
— Это был он! Это он напал на амбар, он один ворвался на ферму!! (It was him! He attacked the Barn, he stormed the farm alone!!)
Dmitri swallowed hard, he looked at Félix and saw a serious expression on his face, like someone unafraid to attack.
— Is this a joke? — Dmitri asked himself with a frightened smile, cold sweat running down his face. — We cannot have been this unlucky, right?
Félix took a step, Dmitri pushed the girl back along with him.
— Что ты делаешь? (What are you doing?)
— Ты слышал, Михаил? Если это тот самый парень, который в одиночку напал на ферму... (Did you hear, Mikhail? If this is the guy who attacked the farm alone...)
Dmitri swallowed hard.
— Значит, он — Пепел. (Then he is an Ash.)
Félix did not understand their nervousness, he only wanted information, but fear was stamped in that man's eyes.
— I am looking for a girl.
An approach in English was his last card to communicate.
Dmitri recognized some words, but did not master the language fluently.
— What does that mean?
— Someone sent me here to look for a certain person, but I have no idea who she is.
— Girl?
Dmitri looked at Alice whom he held back from attacking.
— Why are you looking for her—
Poft!!
Alice landed a powerful elbow in Dmitri's ribs, freeing herself from his grip.
In the blink of an eye she spun on the ground grabbing some snow in her hand and threw it into Félix's eyes. With the brief opening she created she struck with the axe toward his neck.
Tick!
Félix blocked with his left forearm, the axe blade lodged in his muscles. If it were a normal person the blade would have stuck in the bone with that force.
He seized the axe and drove a knee into Alice's stomach, the force made her small body lift off the ground. She fell to her knees with both hands on her stomach, groaning in pain.
Dmitri stepped back not knowing what to do in that situation, but Félix raised his hand for him to stop.
— Stay calm, I do not want to fight I just came here to tal—
Alice sprang up landing a hook on Félix's chin. But the damage was so low that he only slightly moved his head, not even she imagined his face would be that hard.
— You better tell your friend to stop this.
Dmitri promptly complied.
— Алиса!!! А ну прекрати сейчас же! Если ты так продолжишь, он тебя убьёт!! (Alice!!! Stop right now! If you continue like this he will kill you!!)
Alice ignored his warning. She started running around Félix, at every gap she found between one tree and another she threw a snowball at his face, getting closer each time.
When she got close enough she threw the last snowball, as Félix dodged she threw a piece of chopped firewood she had hidden in her left hand. The wood hit Félix directly in the eye, finally having some effect.
Taking advantage of the distraction she jumped at his waist, slid her arms down to his legs and pulled back knocking Félix down. Without wasting time she moved forward kicking the axe away, grabbed Félix's right arm and applied an arm lock.
Her goal was to break the bones, but even if her technique was good the difference in strength between them was like heaven and earth. She even tried uselessly to hurt him a little more by landing a kick on his face, but that only irritated him.
Félix lifted his arm together with the girl and slammed her to the ground forcing her to release him. Then he advanced his body against hers and held her arms.
Crack!
The sound of her bones cracking echoed through the forest, Alice groaned in pain.
— I am sorry, but if you will not stop then I...
Only now, with their faces so close, Félix noticed that the girl's eyes were magenta.
— I...
He tried to touch her eyes to make sure they were not lenses, she obviously did not allow it but was completely overpowered.
There were no lenses, that was her natural color.
"I am sure you will understand as soon as you see her."
Félix stopped squeezing her instantly.
— Agnis... What is in your head? This girl is Russian.
Paft!!!
Dmitri struck Félix's head with the axe, the blade lodged in the hard bones of his face. With no time to pull it out, he prioritized Alice and grabbed her to flee.
Her arms were left with red marks from Félix's hands, it would probably turn into bruises that would only disappear after days. But that was irrefutable proof to present to the camp that there was an Ash roaming the area.
No human would be able to crack another's bones just by squeezing.
Félix calmly removed the axe from his face, he could easily catch up to the two, but chose to let them flee. He felt deceived, as if he had been stabbed in the back, after all.
At no point did Agnis say that the girl was Russian.