Crystalline Universe: Team Fortress 2 Overwatch - Volume 3: Crystalline Universe: Bloodline's Curse Chapter 71 Sepoltura Prematura And Toro Sfacciato Part 1

The Talon imperial palace, situated in the city of Xi’an, China, represented the might of the Talon imperial regime. Military parades were often held at the place as well as serving as Sniper’s headquarter for commanding his operations. Decorated with the most exquisite pieces of art, architecture and historical souvenirs, the building, alongside these elements, was made up of several compartments of diverse purposes. Considered as a true modern creation and as an ingenious masterpiece, the place was named the main landmark of the conquered countries.

Today is Sniper’s birthday and the celebrations were held in the palace due to the special occasion. Officers of significant rank were all gathered across the association to the castle for the event, which made the place extremely crowded despite its size.

Through the long luxurious main hallway, Sniper, with his face still covered under a mask, marched alongside his chief executioner, Mazzatello. While Sniper exchanged salute and shook hands with all the officers that walked past him, Mazzatello remained in his usual cold stance.

After shaking Grand Admiral Valentine’s hand, Sniper entered a private room with Mazzatello before the door closed behind them. The emperor opened a bottle of drink on the table and swallowed a cup of the liquid before turning to The Judge standing beside him.

[Judge] – “My dear leader, I wish you a wonderful birthday. This marks a new year for all of us, we will make our best to satisfy your demands! ”

[Sniper] – “No need for such formality, dear Heinrich Heberto. You know me, call me by my name, consider me as a friend and as your leader. ”

[Judge] – “Here, my leader, the medal. ”

The Judge carefully handed to Sniper a small red box with a golden X marked on top of it. Sniper took and opened the box which contained the collar pin consisting of a double golden X with oak leaves, cereals and crystals that signified “Imperialmarshal of the XX”.

Sniper slowly turned to Mazzatello and approached the pin toward his uniform’s collar.

[Mazzatello] – “My leader, what are you doing? ”

[Sniper] – “Mazzatello, due to your great service, I promote you to the rank of commander of the XX. You have now the control of XX: ground troupes, air units, fleets, executioners and all secrets and projects of Talon’s inner circle. ”

[Mazzatello] – “No, my leader, I cannot take this, I’m not worthy of such a position. ”

[Sniper] – “Take it, Mazzatello. I gave it to you because I see you as someone of potential and leadership. You have what it takes to lead our elites so don’t hesitate, let out your full potential. ”

Convinced and out of option, Mazzatello accepted Sniper’s promotion by pinning the badge onto his collar. Sniper’s expression and words showed an unusual softness in his personality in contrast to his usual cruel and intimidating stance.

[Sniper] – “Now that you are the XX’s new leader, your first assignment is to eliminate the XX’s previous leader, Heiden. ”

Sniper’s soft voice gradually disappeared as his merciless words began to pass through his ears.

[Sniper] (in a merciless voice) – “This will be the first testament to your capabilities, don’t deceive me. Use what it takes you to complete the job, make sure he dies a gruesome death for his failure. ”

Mazzatello’s cold attitude secretly changed to worry and anxiety as though nothing could terrify him, Sniper’s voice was amongst the exceptions.

He knows how powerful is Sniper, he knows that Sniper is the only man that could end everything; secrets, love, lives, possessions or minds, nothing and no one is out of his reach, even his equal and rival, Mike.

A wise man is a man that knows his place in front of Sniper, emperor of one’s destiny and even one’s fate.

*On the train toward France

As the train rushed through the track like a speeding bullet, the bushes beside the railways were pushed aside by the wind. Inside the wagons, its calm as ever as the passengers were mostly asleep after their stressful day trying to flee from the warzones.

During this time, everyone inside the private room fell asleep except for Mergiann who kept on thinking about her next move. One thing was still lingering inside her mind: Should she flee and leave the “mission” behind as the past alongside her friends or choose to stay and finish what she started.

To most, the choice could be obvious but to her, it’s an impasse. To her, a cowardice act like this isn’t acceptable but she is fighting a conflict she never should have been involved in.

Mergiann got up and walked around the room still in the midst of her clouded thoughts. During this time, her footsteps woke Azur who was only lightly asleep with her eyes hidden under her cap.

In a swift move, Azur stood up from her seat and walked the small fridge where she grabbed a small bottle of coke.

[Mergiann] (surprised) – “Oh, Azur, what a surprise! I didn’t expect you to be awake so quickly. ”

Azur ignored her and proceeded to empty her drink in a single go before resuming toward her seat.

[Mergiann] (in an anxious voice) – “Was it my footsteps? Was I too loud? I didn’t mean to startle you. ”

Azur sat down and let out a big sigh before pulling her cap onto her eyes in annoyance.

[Azur] – “Get to the point, I’m not in the mood for awkward small talks. ”

Mergiann was shocked to see such an attitude from Azur, who she remembered to be otherwise the last time she met her.

[Mergiann] (in a troubled voice) – “Well… I… Nothing… ”

[Azur] – “Then case closed, you may now mind your own business. ”

Mergiann stood without a movement as she reflected on what injustice they imposed upon Azur. The person who she should really say sorry should be her, the girl that brought trouble but had a gentle heart, the girl who saved them on multiple occasions, the girl who was betrayed by the ones she trusted.

A year ago, sometime after the fight against Rectangular bullet, Karson and she herself did something unforgivable and outrageous against Azur; they had an argument with Azur and excluded her from the team. They said she was trouble and left her on her own.

After a few minutes of gathering the courage to speak off, Mergiann decisively made her move.

[Mergiann] – “Actually, Azur, I want to tell you something! ”

Suddenly, Azur stood up and in front of her and stared sharply into her eyes with her glowing cybernetic eyes. Due to her short height, Azur stood like a tall intimidating giant in front of her.

[Azur] (menacingly) – “I still need time to rest and recover the blood I lost from that battle we had so, give me peace or get silenced. ”

[Mergiann] – “I really need to speak to you in private. ”

After showing Mergiann a smirk, Azur blew on the young girl’s hair which caused some of her messy hair to fall and cover her face. Mergiann quickly pulled her hair away from her face in anger and stood on her toes trying to match Azur’s height.

[Azur] – “Wanna hear a joke, Mergiann? ”

[Mergiann] – “It’s not the time for this, I really need to speak to you. ”

[Azur] – “How do we call your current hairstyle? ”

[Mergiann] – “I don’t know… ”

[Azur] – “A discount Megumin haircut. ”

[Mergiann] (in frustration) – “Ok, enough, Azur, listen! ”

[Azur] – “Can’t hear you up here, can you grow a few centimetres? Oh, wait, you can’t. ”

Mergiann, due to her short temper, furiously tried to grab Azur by her clothes but before her hands could reach Azur, two of Azur’s sapphires grabbed her arms and slammed her against the wall.

As the train passed through a tunnel, the door was partially filled with obscurity. Mergiann watched as Azur coldly stared at her with her glowing blue eyes.

[Azur] (in a crude voice) – “I don’t wanna hear a word from your mouth! I only accepted to cooperated because I was bored. ”

[Mergiann] – “I… *sigh* Release me, please… It’s my fault, I will shut up. ”

Without a word, Azur released Mergiann and went back toward her seat where she pulled her hat down onto her eyes. Mergiann came to the realization that the damage has already been done and it’s impossible to make it up to Azur in one sentence.

Through the engine room door’s right side, where their secret room was hidden, Mergiann came out unnoticed by the train attendants. Silently, Mergiann made her way toward the space between two train wagons, where she sat on the stairs where she found an unparalleled calm and peace to think about what she should do next.

*Elsewhere on the train

Wagon after wagon, Toro marched through the seat and discreetly observed the face of each of the passengers sitting on the right lane. Meanwhile, Sepoltura followed him by analyzing the faces of the travellers on the left lane with his scanner.

One of the men, weird out by the two undercover executioners’ presence, stood up to ask the two what do they want looking at them.

[Toro] – “Nothing, we are Overwatch agents checking if any of the passengers are sick. ”

[Sepoltura] (in a whisper) – “Brother, should I silence him? ”

[Toro] (in a whisper) – “We don’t wanna cause panic. If you caused an all-out panic amongst the people here, our prey would notice our presence. ”

The two brothers went through another 10 wagons with little to no success in finding their targets.

In a space between two wagons, Sepoltura panicked as he believed that they are on the wrong track in finding the culprits.

[Sepoltura] – “Aaah! Why aren’t they anywhere to be found? they must be somewhere else, it’s for sure! ”

Toro calmed Sepoltura by putting both of his hands onto his shoulders and holding him still.

[Toro] – “Calm down! Do you think every executioner would freak out every time they encounter an impasse? You need to learn to control yourself in front of a situation! ”

[Sepoltura] (in a stressed-out manner) – “But brother, if we lost their track then it’s forever! We need to bring justice to IDD or he would have died for nothing! ”

[Toro] – “Don’t forget, dear brother, we are Divine Servants! We are the elite of best Talon could offer! We are chosen as Sniper’s enforcers because we have the capability to wield such responsibilities. When we chose to hunt someone, the prey is already between our palm. ”

[Sepoltura] – “But they are not on this train, aren’t they? ”

Toro remained silent for a moment as he concentrated his ears on hearing the sound of light footsteps not far from them.

[Sepoltura] – “What’s wrong brother? ”

[Toro] – “Someone heard our conversation. ”

Toro quickly moved toward the sound of the footsteps and stared through an alley of passenger seats where he found at the very end a running figure with a cape that disappeared into the next wagon.

[Sepoltura] – “What did you see brother? ”

[Toro] – “Damn it, we let our guard down, they are on this train! ”

[Sepoltura] – “How do you know? ”

[Toro] – “Come on! Follow me and prepare to fight. ”

[Sepoltura] (in an anxious manner) – “But brother, I never fought anyone, I’m not sure about it… I… ”

Toro abruptly wrapped his palm around his brother’s cheeks and stared directly into the eyes.

[Toro] – “Maybe you have much to learn but you’ll have to learn on the run. I trust you, you have a powerful ability, you only need to trust yourself! ”

[Sepoltura] – “But… ”

[Toro] – “Promise me that you will be courageous and trust yourself! ”

[Sepoltura] – “I… ”

[Toro] – “I will be there to guide you, the spirits will be there to guard you, promise me! ”

[Sepoltura] – “I promise, big bro! ”

[Toro] – “Good! Now, we hunt! ”

Toro and Sepoltura marched all the way to the end of the alley only to find the attendant’s quarter, the engine room door, and the passage to the driver’s cabin. After a small search, the pair still wasn’t able to find any trace of Mergiann and her team.

[Sepoltura] (in a nervous manner) – “Damn it! Where are they? ”

Toro silently analyzed the situation for a moment before coming to the ultimate conclusion.

[Toro] (in a lunatic tone) – “Then there is only one way! If they wanna play the game of finding the needle in the haystack, then we will burn the haystack down! ”

[Sepoltura] – “You don’t mean, brother that… ”

[Toro] – “We couldn’t let them get away from us. In life, we sometimes require sacrifices to obtain a result. ”

[Sepoltura] – “But the 825 passengers and crews… ”

[Toro] – “We are on active duty without Sniper’s order, we are already done for if the association finds out. We can’t let them escape. ”

[Sepoltura] – “Are you sure of it… ”

Toro armed his crystals and covered his face with a helmet inside his backpack.

[Toro] – “We will let them taste my ability: [Fahrenheit 451] ”

To be continued… Next Chapter: [Sepoltura Prematura and Toro Sfacciato (part 2)]