Nathan

Year 2849 | Month 9 | Day 9

As soon as we get back to the base, the first thing I find is Captain Nichols glaring at me from the meeting room.

“So did you learn your lesson?” she states with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

I nod my head and answer, “Yes. I should’ve been more careful after initially failing to find a sniper or long range hitter amongst their numbers. Instead, I gave them an opening to shoot at any one of us.”

She continues to glare at me for several silent seconds before the glare softens and she nods. “Correct. You not only put yourself at danger, but you put your entire team in danger. If it weren’t for the sniper already knowing your position from your previous shots, then he very well could have targeted one of your teammates instead. Which would’ve gone much worse than them targeting you.”

Captain Nichols doesn’t give me a chance to say anything after that and simply begins to address us as a group instead, “Other than that, you all did quite well out there. And that’s saying something, considering how this should only have been your third mission here with us.”

Surprisingly, she turns to look at me and adds, “Even with this blunder, you’ve shown some pretty impressive leadership skills despite your average talent in magic.”

My eyebrow twitches at that.

Was that a compliment or an insult?

I know she is a little bit hung up on talent levels, but seriously…

Out of nowhere, a screen appears in front of the captain’s face from her terminal before her eyes narrow slightly.

“Looks like another mission has popped up,” she mutters, only to uncross her arms and swipe away at the screen, causing it to spin around as she adds, “and this one is a priority mission.”

Alert

Major opposition expected at the Forgotten Pass.

All available magicians not currently assigned to a mission are required to participate.

Rewards will be granted based off of performance, with a small bonus for participating interns.

My eyes widen in astonishment at the mission location.

The Forgotten Pass…

I clench my fists slightly, drawing a little blood as my nails dig into my palms. However, after just a few seconds of this, I take a deep breath and relax again before anyone can really notice my actions.

Anyone except Cyria, that is.

But despite this, she doesn’t say anything and simply stares at me with a questioning look on her face for a few seconds before returning to looking at the captain.

Shit… I messed up.

That place still has some crappy memories, and I would really rather not go there. But it also doesn’t look like I’m going to have a choice.

Another notification appears on her terminal beneath the alert stating for all available magicians to report to the portal hub before nightfall.

Great. So it’s a nighttime mission as well?

I’m still not the greatest when it comes to shooting at night… sure the night vision scope helps, but it’s just not the same as shooting in the day for some reason.

“As a result of this change in schedule, you’re all free for the rest of the day until the mission,” Captain Nichols says with a frown before nodding towards us and declaring, “just make sure to report to the portal hub by 1800. If any of you are late, I’ll see you having extra early morning training the day after tomorrow.”

She then looks each of us in the eyes before declaring, “Dismissed,” performing an about-face, and leaving the room.

I glance at the others, each of whom is already talking about the mission, just to find Cyria still looking at me.

Yeah, she’s not going to be forgetting that. Not any time soon at least.

I wonder if it might be possible to get excused from this mission?

With that thought in mind, I quickly begin to make my way towards our suite with the others following behind me.

Or not.

I glare at the screen floating above the glowing terminal implanted in my hand.

You will participate in this mission.

“Not even bothering with niceties…” I mutter without taking my eyes off of it. However, it vanishes the instant Aidan opens the door to the room, along with the glow of the terminal in my hand.

I turn to look at him, just to find him giving me a worried stare.

Wait, could he have noticed it as we-

“I know you’re probably worried about returning to the Forgotten Pass again, what with that accident and all, but you have magic now. So don’t worry,” he quickly says almost as if in a rush, stunning me for a moment.

Oh. That’s right.

I almost forgot that mom fed him and his family an excuse that I got injured and frightened during the battle at the Forgotten Pass before running back home while bleeding. So he probably just thinks the place is traumatic for me or something.

Which in hindsight, it kind of is. And that’s not entirely wrong, I guess.

Although dad got a little mad at her for telling them in the first place before he had to convince Aidan’s family to keep quiet about it. After all, if the Council ever found out that someone was in the middle of a covered up reality warp then they would clearly track me down to find out if anything happened to my body.

Not really sure how he managed to convince them though. Not without giving away anything.

Regardless of the misunderstanding, I can’t help but smile at him as I say, “Thank you.”

At that moment, a slight shaking in my hands that I hadn’t even realized was there stops. And Aidan smiles at the sight of it.

“On that note,” Aidan begins, a slightly mischievous look growing on his face that makes me begin to feel suspicious, “let’s have some mint ice cream!”

My eyes widen and my jaw drops open as he pulls out a small tub of mint ice cream.

I quickly get up from the bed and grab it before opening it and asking, “How did you-”

He interrupts with a laugh and says, “Maria, of course!”

Right. It makes sense that she’d be able to get it.

My smile grows ever so slightly wider as I grab a spoon that he hands me and begin to dig into the ice cream.

As I’m doing that, I glance up at Aidan, just to notice the others hiding behind the partially opened door behind him, making me raise an eyebrow.

Guess they were all worried about me. Even if they all didn’t know exactly what was bothering me.

A slight feeling of warmth spreads through my chest at the thought.

I guess I really do have friends.

But also, why is the doctor so hell bent on sending me on this mission that he would give me a direct order to participate…?