Epiphany Of The Weak 60 Kurt Holm - Extra Chapter - Part 1

15:00 P.M

Great Corporate United Military HQ, Stockholm, Sweden.

_ . _

_ . _

I pushed open the door and the sight of everyone involved in the meeting came into view. They all wore the dark blue uniforms of our Great Corporate United.

At the end of the sleek wooden table, a man in red military uniform nodded at me.

Which I could not help but sigh at his expression.

"Kurt . . ." He said.

"Father, I'm sorry. There's just too much traffic before I came here. That's why I'm late," I said.

A woman sitting next to father cleared her throat. She fiddled with her gla.s.ses before looking at me.

"I'm sure ALL of us knew what time this meeting should've started, isn't it, Corporal Kurt? You're late by half an hour," she said.

"That's inexcusable," commented a man.

"This is not the first time," said a veteran soldier in his forties.

"Hey! Look, at least I'm here!" I retorted.

"KURT!"

I jerked my head at father's call.

"They're your superiors. Respect them. And you're in the wrong here," said father. "You should call me His Supremacy. Each and every time you are in your superiors' presence."

"Superiors," I snorted.

"Get out," ordered father. "We're discussing for a method to persuade Neo Africa into joining us. Your late presence here is not welcomed, Kurt."

"But, Father, I'm--"

"Just... walk out of this meeting room," said father.

I sighed and narrowed my eyes at him. "No, father. I want to get involved in this meeting too."

He slammed his fist onto the desk and I flinched.

"Why won't you listen to me? You've done nothing in the military aside from causing us trouble. I'm actually surprised you even got to the rank of corporal. Your sister excels in everything she does, but why not you?" said father.

I gritted my teeth at what he said.

Again and again, he compared me with Maltyie. I did not mind it at first, but it started to rub me the wrong way.

Everyone mentioned her name wherever I went.

At that point, it had become an annoyance.

"Fine, Melker!" I said my father's name and slammed the door shut behind me.

"Stupid..."

I dragged myself along the corridor, ignoring the stares of anyone I pa.s.sed.

"Isn't that, Corporal Kurt?" whispered a girl. She was with her female 'friend' sort of, wearing those disgusting military uniforms.

Both of them were standing near the gla.s.s window as I fumbled for my phone stuck in my trouser's pocket.

"I heard only bad things about him," said her friend.

"Unlike General Maltyie who's a perfection."

They both giggled and I glared at them.

"Privates, am I right? Get out of my face," I said.

They both whimpered and ran to the opposite direction of where I was heading.

"Stupid..."

I tossed my phone and caught it with my right hand as I walked. I did not know why but doing that specific thing always calmed my mind.

"It's not like I want to come late..." I mumbled. "This is all stupid. Heck, this uniform is also stupid. p.i.s.sing me off."

I walked out of the HQ and got into my car quick. An icing to worsen my mood would be hearing my name mentioned by some soldiers I pa.s.sed by. And I hated that.

In just a few minutes, I was already on the road. It was excruciatingly hot that day so I let the air conditioner blew at my face.

Going home was the only thing on my mind at that time.

And so, I arrived at Maltyie's house and parked my car in front of hers like always. When I got out of the car, a boy pulled the front door open.

"Hey, you just left earlier," he said.

"Well, Eugene, It's part of the plan, see? I don't have to come to the meeting after all. Father said so. Stupid old man..."

Eugene stepped aside and I made my way into the house.

"Is Aya also here today?" I asked him as I relaxed on the sofa.

"Yeah, she's upstairs. In her room as usual," replied Eugene.

"Hmm, kids these days like to play by themselves I suppose. Has Maltyie came back from Greece?"

A girl popped out of the kitchen as soon as I mentioned her name.

"Nice to see you again, Maltyie!" I said.

Her silver hair was cut short. While her ap.r.o.n was messy, it did not seem to bother her that much. Her blue eyes were narrowed at me.

"Let me guess. Dad was angry at you," she said.

"It's not 'was', Maltyie. He's always angry at me. Have eyes searching for everything I've done wrong. Stupid..."

She sighed and patted my shoulder. "It's your fault for doing stuff that you aren't supposed to be doing."

"Is that so? Well, I don't want to be a soldier anyways. I want to be an artist."

Eugene tilted his head at me. "I thought you said you want to become an actor."

"A part-time artist with acting as my day job. That would be great, but I doubt Dad will just let me do whatever I want," I said.

Maltyie made a mess of my hair and headed back to the kitchen. Eugene followed her.

"Since I'm alone..."

I pressed at the remote controller and quickly turned to a news channel.

There was nothing particularly interesting there.

Most of it talked about Dad's recent invasion of Australia. And how the world was collapsing slowly under his rule.

"Suit him right..." I mumbled.

But then, a certain news. .h.i.t me and I found myself leaning towards the television.

The reporter mentioned a robber called Caesar that killed a soldier trying to put him down. Apparently, he was in some sort of a cosplay. Wearing a soldier's gas mask and talked eccentrically as the authorities apprehended him like he was filling in a fictional character's role all the time. Then there was the fact that a mere civilian was more than capable to kill a fully-armed soldier.

"What a joke..."

I turned off the television and went to the kitchen.

Maltyie was mixing some ingredients into a bowl and whisked the contents as hard as she could.

Looking at her like that, I remembered something.

"His birthday is tomorrow, right?" I asked.

She turned to me with her blue eyes widened. "W-Who are you talking about?"

I frowned. "Huh? I thought Derrick's birthday is tomorrow. Come on, Sis. You're not someone who would forget that. After all, you--"

She threw a cup at me and I caught it.

"Woah, Woah, Maltyie. Calm down. There's nothing wrong with baking a cake for someone you--"

"Don't say it!"

She threw a spoon and I caught it too.

"I mean, his daughter did give you the cupcakes she made for your birthday," I said.

"S-So? Don't disturb me, Kurt. I'm b-busy," said Maltyie.

I cleared my throat.

"Wait a minute. You still haven't told him? That you--"

"DON'T SAY IT!"

She threw a knife at me and I moved my head out of the way. It swooped down and clattered on the floor.

I shook my head. "I can tell him for you, Sis. It's been like, what, years now since you graduated from the military school. His daughter likes you. There's no need to hold back."

Maltyie's mouth curved into an awkward smile. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, Kurt. Derrick's daughter l-liking me doesn't mean anything. I'm not sure if he even likes my cake."

"AH-HA! You said it! I knew you're making a cake for Derrick!"

Maltyie blushed and picked another knife at her side.

"Oh, no, wait, Sis, hold on! Put that thing--"

I ran to the living room while she chased me with that knife of hers. I managed to escape by going into Aya's room and locked it.

She slammed at the door several times before giving up, her footsteps subtly echoed throughout the corridor.

"T-That was scary . . . She should just tell him how she feels though," I muttered.

When I turned around, a pet.i.te little girl had her Aegis crystals pointing at my face. Her turquoise eyes shone brightly.

"Er, Aya? It's me, Kurt. Can you, um, put down your Aegis?" I said.

"Get out," she said.

"Not you too!"

The crystals pulsed in red before I rushed to the safety of the corridor.

I took a deep breath. "d.a.m.n, everyone wants to kill me these days."

My uniform felt drenched after all that so I decided to take a shower.

_._

_._

That night, I put on my sleek, black jacket along with my newly bought blue jeans. If anything, I wanted to look clean at least.

I was at the front door when Eugene grabbed my jacket. He looked like he was fifteen, which he was, but his face at that time made me think he was worried.

Which I was certain that was the case. But it did not suit him at all. Not a bit.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Ah, you see. I'm visiting Lily tonight. Back in the HQ," I answered.

He squinted. "Have you told Sis?"

"Nope. She doesn't need to know."

I grabbed my shoes and hastily tied the laces.

"How about Dad?" he prompted.

"Nope. Not him. He wouldn't allow me anyway. He's kind of annoying."

I tapped my feet a few times and twisted the front door open.

"I'll come back soon enough. Don't worry," I a.s.sured Eugene.

I waved goodbye at him as I made my way to the military HQ. Lily should have been waiting for me.

Like she always did.

_._

_._

In the underground factory, I stumbled upon the scientists doing their work. Of course, they did not like my presence there.

I ignored them and pushed open a metal door at the back of the factory.

Inside, a lot of kids in white s.h.i.+rts were running around. They seemed happy, but little that they knew what was going to happen to them.

And I blamed Alicia for it. The other scientists rushed Project Aegis on the kids since she left with Bart long ago. No one knew where they went.

Aya was the result of that.

The kids glanced at me for a few moments but that was it. I walked across the strangely plain, white room and came to a halt in front of a girl crouching in the corner.

"Hey, Lily. It's me," I called.

She raised her head and brushed away her unruly, long hair from her face. Her yellow eyes brightened in an instant.

"Kurt!" She shouted.

Lily proceeded to hug me and I strained to maintain my balance.

"Woah, Lily. You've been waiting, huh?"

She nodded and her hug became tighter.

To the point where my breath was stuck in the throat.

"Lily, Lily, time out! I'm s-suffocating!"

She let go of me and I caught my breath.

"Kurt, how long will you stay today?" asked Lily.

"Just a few hours. I need to get back early. But hey! I brought you something. You must be bored."

I pulled out my phone and gave it to her.

"This is your phone," she said.

"Er, yes. But I downloaded a new game. I thought you might want to try it," I said.

'Oh . . . okay." Her violet Aegis crystals sprouted from her arms and I winced.

"You still haven't controlled your Aegis fully, huh?" I commented.

Lily retracted the crystals back and smiled at me. "I don't need to control it. Since you always come to visit me, Kurt. If I ever need to master my Aegis, it will be when you . . ."

I raised my eyebrow at her sudden sour expression. "Now, now, I'm not going anywhere. You've no friends here so, I can't just up and leave you like that. If you need me, I will come to you."

Her yellow eyes glittered. "Promise?"

"Er, promise."

She wrapped her arms around me and I tried in vain to push her away. Despite her stick-like body, her strength was somewhat out of this world.

It was an exaggeration of course.

In a few hours, we spent the time playing that game I introduced to her and talked non-stop.

Lily was quiet when she had her hands on my phone. Her yellow eyes flickered each time she won and drooped sadly each time she lost.

It was strange.

Having no friends due to her unstable Aegis, she secluded herself from the rest of the Aegis Users. And only with my involvement in her life that I could see how she really acted around people she was comfortable with.

The room's door opened and Agatha popped inside. "You're here again, Kurt."

"General Agatha Ife. Yes, I am here. As you can see."

She s.h.i.+fted her stare towards Lily who was playing with my phone and sighed. "You're spoiling her."

"Hey, she needs it," I retorted.

Agatha shrugged. "If you say so."

"Wait, come to think of it, why you're here?" I asked.

Agatha squinted at me, her right hand appeared to be holding something. "Well . . . how about we talk outside?"

"It's that important?"

She nodded slowly.

"If I must." I stood up and glanced at Lily, who was still playing with my phone. "I'll be back, Lily."

Her mouth gaped. "It's still early . . ."

"Well, you can blame General Ife. Anyway, this won't take too long."

"Promise?"

I nodded. "Promise."