Epiphany Of The Weak 7 A Rising Rebellion - Dvah

In the meeting room, only both of us stayed back. Hope looked like he had something to say after the meeting ended.

Perhaps he was a bit shy when it came to speaking out whatever it was in his mind. That demeanor of his seemed to incline towards that.

"You don't like me, do you?" I asked.

Hope scrambled for words. "That wasn't it. I'm just nervous, I suppose. Seeing what you can do really scratched me weird. Wait, what I'm saying?" He played with the ends of his shirt and shied away.

I guessed he was a shy person.

All the boys that I have made friends with were all energetic and loved to talk nonstop. I never met someone like him before.

Hope sighed. "When I think about it since I joined this group, I never did anything useful. The children that we had under our wing were all under my care. That just makes me a babysitter. Then again, I'm not very athletic, unlike Beatrice. I can't run and move as fast as the others," Hope mumbled on his own. He faced the other way around and kept mumbling under his breath.

'Was he always like this?'I thought. I proceeded to ask him about his age.

He looked at me sadly. "Um, fifteen. You're ten, right? You're braver than I thought. If I was in your position, I would literally run for my life far away from the others."

"Why?"

"Because I can do nothing! I just can't."

I figured he must be one of those types that would spill the beans when his life was threatened a little.

"Why you joined? How did grandpa form this group? Does it has a name?" I questioned him.

He leaned his back at the wall. "My parents were gone long ago when I was about your age. Boss took me in after that. Originally, the group was meant to be some sort of an orphanage but a few years ago, boss ordered us to take part in various missions under the name of peace and freedom from the corrupt Corporate United." He took a deep breath.

"Then?" I pried.

"Er, you know how the C.U are openly killing us, right? They completely destroyed the other settlements in this island before invading here. We attempted to contribute to the rebellions going over the other places as well, but our presence was barely on the C.U's radar. In the end, we needed something, a spark to overturn the situation."

I was silent.

"Our group doesn't have a name yet. I remembered Beatrice kept calling the group, Freya, as in the war maiden from the myth. It was unofficial, so I brushed it off," said Hope.

"You're the only one with a bird brain in the group, Hopeless," said a girl at the door.

Beatrice opened it and entered the meeting room with fierce eyes gouging Hope, like a prey.

"D-Don't call me that," said Hope.

"I can call you anything I want. You're just too hopeless to make a comeback." Beatrice paused. I saw a grin under her cap. "Hopeless."

"Beatrice!" Hope yelled.

He clawed at her. Before his hand touched Beatrice, she yanked his hand and heaved him up in the air. Hope's body slammed to the floor with a thud.

"You sure love to run your mouth to an outsider like her," muttered Beatrice.

"Ouch." Hope caressed his back. It looked excruciatingly painful from where I saw him.

Beatrice cast a side glance at me. "I thought that you'd killed him in here. But when I entered, he's still there breathing. Make it quickly next time."

Her words were an insult toward Hope, too harsh for me.

"Oh, yeah. I figured you would want to meet the other members partic.i.p.ating in the raid. Boss's order. I gathered them for you. Just don't kill them." Beatrice waved her hand lazily, her back facing me before she exited. "Hopeless."

Upon hearing that exact word, Hope crawled back up as fast as he could but she was gone.

"You could at least say something to her," I told Hope.

He shook his head. "It's not easy. She's a demon!" Hope stomped the ground repeatedly, trying to extinguish his frustration.

"You guys seem close. You have known each other for a long time?" I asked.

"You considered that CLOSE? She always picking at me, played stupid pranks." His mood suddenly shifted. "But then again, it's my fault for being so weak. I'm a man, but I can't even carry a rifle for a few minutes. I'm a mistake."

He was back to being weird. I could not blame him for the beating he got from Beatrice. Even she could match the speed of my spikes without getting skewered.

She was something else.

. . .

Both Hope and I then proceeded to meet the other members of the raid inside a small, secluded room. It looked like an office. I had the chance to follow Mommy at her workplace long ago, but I was forced to leave because children were not allowed.

The large office accommodated the six of us. However, grandpa was not present.

"I called our next mission, Operation: Ava Doll. I thought that's a good name since you're the decoy." Hope realized something. "And I'm with you."

"Chop, chop. Cut the chit-chat." A woman in a white coat attracted our attention. Her short blond hair was messy. It looked to me like she had only woken up a few minutes beforehand. "Don't act like the big boy here, Hope. You're just a scapegoat like her."

I remembered her name was Jessica.

Beatrice glared at Hope. "Jessica, you can't blame HOPELESS. He's always like that, being the HOPELESS guy he always been."

A dark-skinned man in a red polo shirt held his hands out towards us. "Yo, girls. Not this again. Leave the poor guy alone."

He proceeded to pat Hope in the back. "He's a man among men. The children wouldn't behave if he's not here taking care of them. No girls or guys wanted that post. That shows how great he is."

Somehow, Hope felt more miserable than he had ever been. His face revealed it.

"By the way, I'm Inghild. Nice knowing you girl." He asked for a fist b.u.mp from me and I did it naturally. Inghild seemed okay compared to the other members of the group.

"Let me introduce you, this is Jessica, the sole medic, and doctor of our group." He pointed at her. She nodded slightly when Inghild called her name.

My brain suggested the words medic and doctor did not mesh well together in a sentence. I wondered why.

"The guy at the back there sleeping is Jeremy. His hair looks sick, amiright?"

He was correct. Jeremy had a rainbow Mohawk style going for him. I blinked at his hairstyle before my mind could comprehend what it was.

"You know her already, but I'll introduce her anyway. Beatrice here is the champion of our group! Her job is always on the front line fighting, and she's an eighteen-year-old girl. How bada.s.s is that?!"

Beatrice shrugged at his statement.

"Then here's my MAN, Hope. He's our group's shining light! He. . . takes care of babies."

"You mean children, right?! RIGHT?!" exclaimed Hope.

I never knew Hope was so pa.s.sionate about his job.

"You're full of energy today, Hopeless. Did something happen? I'm sure you had just cleaned them diapers just now that's why you're like this." Beatrice took a jab from afar.

"Oh no, you-"

"What did you say?" Beatrice punched the wall next to her, trying to scare Hope.

"N-Nothing. Haha. Why am I even here?" Hope sighed.

"What do you do, Mr. Inghild?" I asked the question lingering in my mind.

"Nah, nothing special. I fixed cars and stuff. I'm a good driver though," he said.

Beatrice adjusted her cap. "You're too humble, Inghild."

I expected the word, Hopeless, coming out of her mouth.

"Straight to the point, the operation starts tomorrow night. We'll go over what each of us should do before the operation starts tomorrow. You guys know your own roles?" Inghild frowned. Jeremy was the only one who didn't respond with a yes. He was asleep after all.

"I'll be there driving the truck towards the supply route carrying our a.s.sault team in the back, which would be Beatrice and Jeremy. But before that, Ava here will distract the soldiers stationed there along with Hope. Then I came in with both of them in tow, easily eliminating the soldiers as they are distracted," continued Inghild.

I touched my cheek. "Only two of them?"

"Oh, we have our own tricks up our sleeves. According to our info, only those regular soldiers with their a.s.sault rifles will be present, so should be a quick wrap. Jessica will play her part later if any of us need medical treatment," said Inghild.

We discussed it over until we went to sleep.

. . .

The next day, we were busy preparing and simulating our plan, Operation: Ava Doll. At least, they were preparing for it. I stood idly by the side most of the time.

I noticed that Hope spent the day by taking care of the kids. Looking at him doing that stuff made me happy somehow.

I ended up just watching him doing his work as night slowly descended upon us.

It was close to 10:00 P.M by the time the group was ready, including me. The partic.i.p.ating members were outside of the hideout, going through the details of the mission.

Grandpa walked away from the discussion and approached me.

"There's still no sign of your parents, Ava. The place you mentioned where you got separated from them, we searched the area thoroughly. They're nowhere to be found," said Grandpa as he placed his helmet on his head.

"It can't be helped," I muttered.

I wore a simple dress and a blue scarf. It would be easier to use Aegis if nothing was hindering me from using it. Exposing myself to the cold was something I often experienced, so thin clothes were enough for me.

My hair danced in the cold wind.

It was almost time.

Unfortunately, I remembered that night vividly, as my life started to shift even further into the darkness from that day onward, away from my parents.