Burning Rose (A Cinder Fall Story)

Chapter 4

I went back to the medical facility where Watts was waiting. He met me outside his office, holding his scroll.

"Good. You came alone," he told me.

He started to walk back inside his office and I followed close behind. After he was seated at his desk, he sat his scroll on top of it, and a hologram appeared before me. It looked to be the main military base.

"Could you please explain why we're seeing a view of the main military base?" I asked.

Watts smiled, and zoomed in a a small building nearby. I couldn't see very well inside, but I saw enough detail to know it was... Felice.

"Wait. Felice is there?! Why?" I asked. "I thought she had run off somewhere."

Watts nodded. "I thought that as well, but it appears that she has been rehabilitated by the Atlesian army. More particularly, by General Ironwood himself. As you may know, the four relics have been hidden away in the vaults once more. And it seems like the general plans on keeping the relic out of harms way."

I growled and balled my hands into fists. I knew the relics had disappeared, but I didn't know that they were locked in the vaults. If I wanted to get to the relic of knowledge, I would need to get to Felice first...

"Shall I kill her?" I asked.

Watts shrugged. "Feel free to do what you'd like. But I'd rather have her join us. If that's even possible."

I sighed. "If she's been rehabilitated, then the chances of her turning her back on the general is low. I'll have to break into the facility myself and take her power by force. Either that, or threaten her. Do you have the coordinates for this location?"

Watts smiled and nodded, grabbing his scroll of the table. The hologram faded instantly and he started to type in something.

"I'm sending them to your scroll now. As well as that man Roman. I have a feeling he might be useful to you. Especially with his skill at breaking in high security places. You can bring that new girl as well, but I'm not sure how capable she is at fighting."

"I'll have some time to teach her. As long as you can affirm that Felice won't be leaving her location."

Watts nodded and replied, "Yes. She'll be staying there for a while. I'm not sure how long, so I'd make the training quick. Around two weeks or so."

I growled in frustration. Two weeks wouldn't be enough. Unless I had Roman to help too.

"Fine. I'll train her myself. Roman needs to get a weapon anyway. I suppose I could design him one. I'll update you on our progress. This has been an interesting talk, Watts. I'll contact you soon."

Watts nodded and sat back at his desk as I walked out the door.

I got back to the house late. I found Neo sleeping on one of the couches and Roman was at the kitchen table, sorting through his Lien.

"Someone's back late," I heard Roman say. "Neo fell asleep a while ago."

"Yes. I see that," I said, walking into the kitchen. "I'd like to talk to you, if you wouldn't mind."

Roman looked up at me curiously.
"Oh yeah? About what?" he asked.

"I wanted to ask if you found anyone who can forge weapons. Neo's sword needs upgrading. And you'll need a weapon too."

Roman squinted his eyes suspiciously. "Me? I'm not much of a fighter, Cinder."

"I understand, but I'll need your skills if I ever want to get close to the winter maiden. And I've heard you've got a real knack for breaking into buildings," I said, smiling mischievously.

Roman nodded. "That's true enough. But why would I need a weapon? I don't plan on fighting anyone."

"You'll need to if we're going to break into that facility. Watts has sent you the coordinates. Have you looked at it?"

Roman took out his scroll and opened the coordinates of the facility. He looked it over for a few minutes.

"It's going to take me a while to figure this out," he told me. "Until then, I think I'll take your offer on getting a weapon. But I want it to be specific."

Roman got up from his seat and walked over to a closet. He opened it and brought out a walking cane. It looked quite fancy, but otherwise normal.

"You want me to create a weapon from... a cane?" I asked. "Where did you get that anyway? You didn't have it when we first arrived here."

Roman chuckled. "I stole it, obviously. Thought it looked nice. But it would be even better if it was a weapon. Think you can come up with something?"

"I'll see what I can come up with," I told him.

He grinned and tossed the cane to me.

"Great. Be creative. I'll stay here and see if there are any weak spots in that facility. I can't wait to see what we both come up with."

With that, Roman went back to sit down and opened his scroll to look closer at the hologram of the facility. I walked over to where Neo's weapon and parasol were and took them quietly.

As I walked towards the door, I turned to look at Roman.
"You still haven't given me any information about a forger."

Roman sighed and grabbed some paper and quickly wrote something down. He walked over to me.

"Here's the address. He charged a pretty hefty price. But it was the safest option. I can't have anyone knowing I'm here," he said, handing the note to me.

I looked down at it and smiled. It wasn't too far from where we were, and it seemed to be open in the later hours, too.

"Thank you, Roman. I'll be sure to build you a suitable weapon."

As I turned and walked out the door, I heard Roman behind me.

"You better. Or else my money and time would be spent on nothing!"

I sighed to myself and walked out into the cool and quiet night.