Chapter 3

Flowery Iris

The sun rises as the morning comes, the greenery and foliage sweep against the glass window wall, while footsteps echo through the white tile floor. A week has passed since the reconnaissance mission that the two had departed on. Standing in front of the black metal door, Felix impatiently taps his foot in wait.

For her to still be asleep at this hour... He thought to himself.

After repeatedly knocking on the door, yet the only response he received from her was a sleepy “Hngg…”

Stood in wait, he recalled a memory from long ago, one where Luna went to his room and pulled up the sheets from his body. He nodded to himself and came to the same conclusion.

“I’m opening the door.” He sighed before calling out to Maria.

“Come on, Marie…” He said as the metal door creaked open.

“Hehe… who?” She responded.

“It’s me.”

“Hi me… ehe… ehehe…” She giggled in her slumber.

“Marie…”

Maria buried herself in her sheets and blurted out, “What do you want? Just let me sleep forever…”

Felix entered the room with a disappointed scowl, yet his eyes squinted as the first thing that caught his attention was the light from the scattered shards of a broken mirror on top of her make-up filled desk.

“Why is your mirror broken?” He mumbled out.

He reached out his hand from where he stood in the hopes that one of the objects on her desk would come to him. His expression was one full of desperation, yet nothing happened. He sighed and walked towards it, and picked up one of the shards.

With a somber expression, he takes a long look at his own mismatched eyes.

“Mhhmm~!” She groaned happily as she got up from her bed.

“Good morning, it’s currently ten A.M.”

“Had some of that good sleep.” She responded as she stretched out her arms.

“It’s about time you woke up...” He said as he placed the glass shard back on the desk and looked over to her.

“Wait… what are you doing in my room?” She mumbled as her bedsheet fell off from her chest.

As she slowly looked down, her eyes widened and her face turned beet-red.

Felix’s eyebrows raised slightly. Covered only in her underwear, Maria pounced out of her bed and quickly wrapped herself in bedsheets.

“Wh-what’s wrong with you—?!”

Felix let out a smirk and replied, “Heh, a great, many—”

Yet before he could finish, a pillow launched at him like a cannon, tearing out the edges of his hair before promptly cracking the window walls outside her room. With a look of fright, he returned his gaze toward her as his eyes radiated a faint blue glow, only to see Maria’s face, flustered and flushed in red with eyes tightly closed.

“Get out!” she cried as she began to throw whatever she could get her hands on toward him.

He caught everything she threw at him and gently put them down in an attempt to calm her down.

“I can’t get out if you keep throwing— Eh, what’s this…?” He distractedly said as he inspected a black, oily substance that slithered out of the bottle he caught.

“N-No fair! You’re using Blue Mode!” She bumbled to speak, snapping Felix out of his threatened state.

“I just…what is this— Wait, Blue Mode?” He asked as the black fluid clung to his hand.

Maria whimpered, still clinging to one of her pillows, “Get out of my room!”

“Fine, fine.” Felix replied as he calmly walked away.

Maria, with an infuriated smile, clenched her fist in response.

Clueless, Felix left the room, but felt a chill down his spine. A sixth sense suddenly screamed for self-preservation. Another pillow was hurled with immense speed and power.

As he dodged it, however, a shrill echoed through the hall, “KYAH!”

A girl cried from before as she plopped down, ambushed by the pillow.

“M-Marie! Be careful!”

“Sorry!” Maria cried out as she shut the door.

The girl’s body was sprawled out. Her hair became a mess, and her face masked by the pillow while on the ground. Standing next to her was a blond young man who looked forward across the hall, his face was obscured by the shadow against the morning light, and his hands tucked his dark red coat’s pockets.

“I’m sorry about what happened…” Felix knelt down as he took the pillow off her face.

As he did, the young lady placed her palms against his cheek. Felix pulled back slightly, startled by her soft touch as she softly muttered, “Your eye… it’s like a flower.” she said as she stared at him with soft, bright red eyes. Her thumb caressing the mole under his left eye, as if to wipe away a blemish in a clean canvas.

”My eyes…?” Felix mumbled out curiously as he found himself lost in thought.

She said my eyes… so then… both of them. That means…

My face felt hot as her palms touched my cheeks. Her hands were soft and cold and smelled of citrus. Her face was small and cute, no, beautiful even. With bright crimson eyes she held a piercing gaze, yet I found that my focus was drawn mostly to her long silvery hair. It reminded me so much of—

“Like a flowery iris… It’s a lot like ours...” Her voice was soft as sweet.

“Ah… what do you—?”

“Come on, Isa. A hit like that shouldn’t have taken you out.” The blond man said as he knelt down next to them, extending his hand, but to Felix’s surprise, he reached for the pillow and stood back up.

The silver-haired girl pressed her arms behind her head, and swung herself back up, “Sorry, it just caught me off guard! Hehe.”

As the two of them got up, so did Felix. Felix got a clear look at the young man. The blond young man stood almost a foot taller than him, with golden hair and keen facial features. His eyes were sharp, painfully sharp, and that shined with the same shade of crimson as the girl who was with him.

He had an air of danger around him.

“That girl just now had a mean swing… I’d like to compare.” He pulled back his arm with his hand clenched on the pillow.

“What do you—?”

With a wry smile and a tinge of red glow, the pillow instantly escapes Felix’s line of sight. Followed by a loud bang that echoed through the corridors.

“What the fuck?!” Maria yelled out from her room as she was in the middle of changing.

Felix turned his head to Maria’s door. A cold sweat dripped down from his face as he tried to process what had happened. After a small pause, he then returned his sight back to the two strange guests, but the two were already far across the hall.

He looked back and said, “So you’re the Blue Phantom? Frankly, I’m not impressed.”

“Who… are you two?” Felix asked.

The blond young man looked over his shoulder and waved, “I have a feeling you’ll find out very soon.”

The white-haired girl turned around with a gentle smile, “Actually, the two of us are—”

He covered her mouth and groaned, “Don’t answer him!”

The two then turned the corridor and left.

“Gobshite.” Felix whispered under his breath as he watched them walk away. The blue in his left eye faded and returned into a pitch-black color.

When the two were gone, the door opened as Maria haggardly burst out, apparent in her appearance as how much she hurried, “Okay! I’m dressed! What was that noi—NANI THE FUCK?!” She shouted as she saw the consequences of her actions.

The entrance to her room had been marked with a crater, decorated with traces of cloth and cotton.

“That was probably payback.”

“This is an iron-door! They dented it! WITH A PILLOW! MY PILLOW!” Maria put her hands on the sides of her head. The shock of seeing the remains of her pillow embedded into her silvery door is apparent from her expression.

“Yeah. It’s... strange… those two…”

“They… might be fun.” Maria whispered under her breath with a grin on her face.

“Sigh, What’s wrong with—”

“No. No! You do not! Get to say that. Right now!” She expressed with a sulky, sour expression.

After the brief encounter with the two strange individuals, Felix and Maria went to get breakfast. Though Felix was normally reserved, he tried to pick up a conversation with her, to no avail. Afterwards, the two walked around the base, only for her to ignore him at every turn and avoided his gaze.

Every time she looked away, he pouted slightly and wondered where exactly he went wrong.

With nothing to talk about, the chief’s assistant, Murphy, came up to them with a clipboard in hand.

“Miss Readman, the chief has requested an audience.”

“Got it.” Maria nodded.

She left with the chief’s assistant, ignoring Felix’s presence completely. Felix sighed and left it at that.

*

Felix laid flat on the ground and gazed through the rifle’s scope, focusing on mark of the target at the edge of the training field.

What the hell was that? That guy dented an iron-door… could that guy be just like…?

He scrambled in thought while his finger pressed against the trigger, ready to fire. But before he did, he spoke, “I didn’t expect you to come to the field just to visit me, Professor.”

From behind him, a familiar scruffy voice answered, “But of course, unless it is a warzone, there is no reason not to see you when I have the time. I heard that you had an encounter with an Elite Agent.”

“Yeah.”

Professor Tetsuya scratched his beard, “So, how was your first real battle?”

“Did you not read my report?”

“Not yet, though I would like to hear it directly from you while I can.”

“Well, it was just the slightest bit harder than my spars with sis.” Felix scoffed.

“I see… seeing as you were working with young Maria, I would hope that it wasn’t so bad…”

“You have a lot of faith in her, she must be one of your better results.”

“Truth be told, although it was filed under my name and instruction, I was unable to see to her batch personally, so I do not know how well the process went.”

“Ah, so you don’t get your hands dirty with everything? If I had to tell you, that girl is definitely a real piece of work.”

“Is that so? I haven’t known her for very long. But Maria is not the only successful one as of late, there are a number of new recruits from the other organizations who have successfully gone through the process based on my research.”

“So I was right… that means that the two from earlier...”

“Two from earlier?”

Felix loaded another round and continued, “There were two people from this morning… a blond guy… and a white-haired girl. Both of them had red eyes. That wouldn’t happen to be them, would it?”

As he remembered the white-haired girl, his memory quickly flashed to Luna’s smiling face.

“I’m not certain, for I have yet to meet with them myself, though I believe there should be more than two. But if they had white hair, then that means the research was going smoothly.”

“More than two, huh?”

“Indeed, though lamentably, none of said projects have resulted in something of your caliber yet.”

“Aw… you’re making me blush, professor.” There was a loud bang as the rifle fired. It was a bullseye.

“For now, just be considerate to young Maria, the way Luna was to you.”

He recollected the events from earlier this morning, and remembered her expression clearly. A teary, angry expression.

“… I thought I was.” Felix answered with a confused, downtrodden tone.

“My, did something happen?”

“I was trying to imitate Luna, but she was clearly angry. She wouldn’t even look me in the eyes.”

“Then clearly you should apologize.”

“Sigh, I want to, but she keeps avoiding me.”

“I would like to help, but I must take my leave now. I still have—”

“Wait, eyes…” Felix stood up, “I actually had a question about my eyes.”

“Ah, yes. Your blue eye. As I’ve told you before, I will make the time to explain to you when the rest are—”

“You didn’t read the report yet, right? Both of my eyes turned blue for a little bit during the mission, and earlier today, actually. It doesn’t stay for too long, but…”

“So it’s made it to that point. It won’t take long for your abilities to fully develop. I will make it so that I can explain it to all of you at the same time.”

“Ah, right.”

The professor smiled warmly, “Be glad. You’re starting to be more like Luna now.”

Felix scratched his rosy red cheeks before quickly turning to the side to hide it, “R-right.”

“I will see you when I can Felix.”

“Right…”

After the professor had left, Felix pulled out the four-leaf clover necklace under his shirt and smiled, “Starting to be more like her?”

Felix fired one last round with a wide grin on his face — and missed.

“Bollocks.”

**

Rubber knives and wooden staves clanked on the floor while half a dozen people fell flat on their backs on the dark folding mats. A loud thump followed as another fell to the floor.

Out of breath, a man spoke, “Felix, Felix, come on. Everyone knows what you can do, so take it easy on us.”

“I was going easy on you guys. Any more and that would’ve been an insult to you as a fighter.” Felix replied.

“Heh, an insult is being repeatedly knocked down. You know if either David or Allison were here, they’d probably give you a taste of your own medicine.”

Felix clenched his fist and forced out an irritated smile, “Who?”

“The Black Hound and the Golden Lion?”

“Sounds familiar…”

“Don’t be an ass, Felix.” He grinned in annoyance as he wiped off his sweat and tried to calm his breathing.

“You’re the one who tried to hit a low-blow.” Felix shot back.

“Whatever it takes to win. Anyway, I’m gonna hit the showers.”

“Sounds good. You reek.”

As Felix’s sparring partner headed to the showers, he was left to clean up the training room alone. He strolled around, picking up the equipment. His eyes were drawn to the dents on the worn-out punching bag hanging in the center.

He picked up a wooden staff and struck the punching bag playfully. Yet without a hint or notice, a familiar voice called out.

“What’s this? So you do know how to socialize!”

Sat atop a crate, Maria spoke. Dressed in sparring clothes, her legs swung back and forth, with a strawberry popped between her confident, smirking lips.

“How long have you been there?”

“Long enough... I see the scratch on your face has healed up already.” She commented as she pointed to her own cheek.

“Is your head okay?”

“You calling me crazy?”

“That’s not what — Sigh. Never mind, you seem okay to me.”

“Nothing leaves a scar on us, remember?”

“Right. Why are you here then? Weren’t you mad at me?” Felix asked while putting back the weapons to the side of the room.

“Mhm…a little.”

“Sorry about earlier, it’s just… how my mentor used to wake me up, so I wasn’t really thinking.” He admitted.

“Apology not accepted, you really should start thinking.”

Felix scratched his cheek, “Right. So what did chief need you for?”

“Just tried to decrypt some files. It was a bit of a hassle. But enough about that, let’s talk about you… talking.”

“I guess your silliness rubbed off on me.”

“Hoh? The stoic and somewhat sassy Felix telling an aspiring agent inspiring yet gentle words. Pretty out of character if you ask me.” She replied gleefully with wide gestures.

“Nobody asked you. Also, you’re the only one who calls me those things.” He replied as he continued to wipe the sweat from the back of his head.

“That’s ‘cause I’m the only one here who has the balls to do so. I’m not particularly good at hand-to-hand combat, but how about it, wanna go for a round?” She confidently approached him with arms wide open.

“Why?”

“Thought you might wanna polish up a bit, I mean, after all… Didn’t you say you wanted to be the best?” She insisted as she picked up one of the fake knives from the table.

“Don’t twist my words to your favor. Besides, your wounds might reopen.”

“All right then, I was told that you were a natural but had little to no experience. Was your first time really that scary for you?” she smirked, waving the rubber knife back and forth.

“You’re still mad, aren’t you?”

“Take a wild guess!”

Keeping her head low, she lunged for the first blow, quickly closing the distance between them.

She struck with a right, a left, and followed with a straight kick, all of which Felix effortlessly blocked.

She smirked. She raised her arms once more and threw an ax kick, which he once again dodged before following up with his own counter attack. He had his arm set back, but before the blow could land, his hand was stopped in the space between her head and his fist.

A cold sweat dripped down Felix. His eyes widened. It was almost as if he couldn’t push forward or pull back his fist.

Maria smiled and hopped away, and he felt like he could move his arm again.

Felix gasped and he brought back his guard. More cautious than he was previously.

She once again sprung forward, this time her strike was swift, direct and predictable. Felix dodged and prepared another counter, but an overwhelming sensation overcame him.

His body stiffened to the point where even his fingers weighed a ton.

The second strike followed. The knife in her hand danced unpredictably. Something about it just moved the way she wanted it to. Felix raised his guard, but his arms felt locked in place. His eyes widened, and his left eye turned bright blue. With a burst of blue, he quickly bounced out of the way.

But he couldn’t even let out a sigh of relief as Maria had already caught up to him and quickly threw him down. Before he even realized it, he was already on the floor.

She put all her weight to keep him while holding the knife against his throat. His mind suddenly exploded with rapid thoughts.

My body was…

The first two strikes were a diversion to get me off balance. Her movements weren’t bad, but they were amateurish, and unrefined. It was easy to follow, yet she knocked me down.

She knocked me down, and I couldn’t move.

She knocked me down.

So this is how it feels to fight her? I knew she was strong… but this wasn’t the same. Strength isn’t the right word for what she did. She’s… I don’t know how to describe it. It’s almost like she cheated somehow.

An almost overwhelming feeling of something unstoppable up against you. On the ground, I was basically her prey. In that moment, I was the rat, and she was the snake. Without question, she is dangerous.

It’s the same sensation I felt when I faced Luna… and against David. Yet somehow, this was a million times worse. Like my body became a prison from within.

The intensity of her bloodlust was suffocating. But more than that… where was it?

The energy… the fire… where was it?

With a vibrant and satisfied smile on her face, Maria poked the tip of the knife on Felix’s nose, “Boop.”

Never mind, I was still facing Marie after all.

“What just… how did?” He said dumbfounded. The glow in his left eye faded.

“Twenty-eight seconds. Twenty-eight seconds was all it took to knock you down a peg.” She teased.

“I thought you were just a computer cracker.”

“… There’s a reason why I’m an Elite Agent, yknow?”

“Right, the Venom Vanguard... You didn’t lace my coffee with poison, did you?” he scoffed at her.

“We all have our experiences. The world is an ocean, and I’m the biggest fish there is.” She brazenly boasted.

“I’ve been trained by the best of them. I don’t think a lack of experience was all there is to it.”

She reached out her hand and lifted Felix up, “Tell that to Harbinger.”

“That was… different.”

“Of course, it was. You’ll figure it out soon enough with Blue Mode, Mister Child of Stars.”

As she uttered those words, I remembered the crisp, red eyes of the white-haired girl earlier.

“Speaking of, does my eye look like a flower to you?”

She turns her head toward him with a gaze full of disgust, “Are you trying to make yourself look better because that sounds really self-absorbed.”

She mocks me to no end.

“Ugh, I meant literally. It’s something that white-haired girl said.”

“Just take a good long look in the mirror.”

“I just wanted a second opinion.”

“Sheesh, you really don’t have a clue, do you?”

“Hm… about what?”

She stretched out her arms as she walked away, “…How to flirt with a girl, idiot.”

Felix, with a look of annoyance and defeat, watched as she walked away, only for her to stagger over and fall.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, just a little… dizzy.” She spoke, her voice clearly holding back pain.

“I told you we shouldn’t have sparred.”

The training room doors opened as an agent in a black suit entered with a clipboard in hand “Sir Felix, the chief wanted to—”

Before the man could finish, Felix pointed his finger towards the agent’s feet, “No shoes in the training ground, Murphy.”

“I apologize, sir. I simply came to hand you your next assignment.” The agent awkwardly responded as he took off his shoes at the side of the entrance.

“A capture mission?” Felix muttered as he went over the documents.

“Indeed, sir. You are to leave shortly.”

“Welp, my moods’ ruined. Looks like we’ll have to settle this another time.”

“Are you feeling better?”

“Of course, I am. It was just a slight headache, let’s go.” With a vibrant smile, Maria poked Felix’s cheek before leaving the room.

“I will have my rematch.” Felix declared before following after her.

With the spar cut short, the two agents were immediately sent off to their next mission.