Devotio

Chapter 2

There was a sound of footsteps around him. That was the first thing Echizen noticed as he slowly woke up. He stared at his surroundings: he was in a room- no, not a room but a tent. He was on a cot on one side and a second on the other side with a dully lit light on a beaten up crate between them. He sat up on the makeshift bed and his mind flashed back to before he collapsed; running from Chargarde, Ryoga getting shot in the side, his powers going berserk, and finally getting in contact with people of Cardinal. That's probably where he was; a Cardinal base somewhere.

He swung his legs over the bed and stood up but instantly regretted it and sat back on the cot. His head was spinning and he felt sick, though that's to be expected after exerting as much energy has he did. As he composed himself, he noticed the tent flap move. He expected a person to come in but was surprised when a cat walked in. He watched as it hopped on his cot and watched him. Confused as to why the cat was there, he started to get up but before he could, the cat crawled onto his lap and went to sleep. He sweat dropped, not understanding why there was a cat there in the first place.

The flap to his tent moved once more. A boy about his age was standing on the other side. "Ah. You're awake." His hair was weirdly parted and mostly sticking up at the right. "I'll be tending to you while you're here. Don't worry about anything. I've been here for two years so I pretty much know the ropes." There was something in his tone that Echizen found annoying. "My name's Horio. Captain wanted to see you once you woke up."

"Where am I?" The standard question anyone would ask. "Where's my brother?"

"You're in a Cardinal Camp on the outskirts of Tokyo. As for your brother, he's in the infirmary." Horio gestured for him to follow as he opened the tent. It was brighter out than he expected. "I'll take you to him after we see the captain."

Echizen sighed. That was probably as good as it was going to get. He picked the cat up from his lap and started to follow Horio when he noticed surprised look on his face. "What?"

"How are you- never mind..." He lead Echizen from the tent and when they went out, Echizen was surprised, to say, that it was an actual camp. He expected it to be in a building of some sort but it was just a bunch of heavy duty tents everywhere. They passed what looked like a training ground for both magic and non-magic users. He saw magic users forming weapons with their element and fighting others.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" Echizen had noticed, while they were walking through the camp, everyone's eyes seemed to fall to him. It wasn't the kind of look that said 'so that's who that is' but one laced with confusing.

"Well you are the most important person here right now." Horio stated, not hiding the blatant obviousness in his tone. "Here we are." The two of them stopped outside of a rather large tent. "Captain, I have brought him as you've requested." He spoke into the tent. There was a voice from inside and Horio gestured for him to enter.

As he entered the tent, he was met by five pairs of eyes. "Echizen Ryoma." Echizen looked at the man who addressed him; tall, dirty blond hair, muscular build, had glasses. "My name is Tezuka Kunimitsu. I'm the leader of the Cardinal Special Forces Unit. Yesterday we found you and your brother near the central Tokyo district after you had a run in with Chargarde soldiers. Do you remember?"

Echizen slowly nodded.

"You may have already guessed but you're wanted because you're the only case where a second child of a family has been born with the M-Gene. I can assure you that as long as you're here, you'll be safe from Chargarde. Do you have any questions?"

"Where's my brother?" Though he pretty much already knew the answer.

"He's being treated for his wound in the infirmary." His question was answered by, the brunet that had first approached him when they met on the street. "Don't worry. We have the finest doctors and healers you can find nowadays. You'll be able to see him soon." Echizen nodded, satisfied with the answer.