Chapter 4: the Lair of the Gentleman

The Hanomag stopped before the church, sandbags strewn about alongside ammo boxes, the very top of the church tower turned into a sniper’s nest. Eva had been driven into the devil’s lair and she was fine with that, complying with the grenadiers as they took her into the building. The place was turned into a somewhat makeshift HQ, logistics and accountant personnel walking around as they stared at Eva.

Borngen thought about her situation for a bit, muttering to herself as her hands shook.

“Kommandant! Come here!” Called out the captain, holding Eva firmly.

The officer came over, he had the face of an older gentleman and the uniform of a fine Brigadier general. Eva stared at the officer silently as she looked around the room, the officer in return smiled as he patted her on the shoulder.

“Easy now.. I’d like to know your name” He said reassuringly as his guards looked at Eva curiously, the girl looked at him and reluctantly said.

“E-Eva borngen, Karlsland witch of the 29th Noire”

“Ah, Wolfgang Schmitz of the 9th Panzergrenadier Battalion, Deutschland”

He took a closer look at her, much to Eva’s annoyance.

“Say, my men encountered some of your friends but I’ve never seen you up close.. What defines you as a Hexen?” Asked Wolfgang, Eva smiled as she revealed her cat familiar before everyone, her tail sprouting out as her cat ears cutely popped out of her head.

“It’s.. something that girls can get.. And honestly.. Being a witch is nice” Eva said smugly as she looked at everyone, the room was filled with shocked and amazed faces as Wolfgang gently touched the ears.

“Soft.. but that doesn’t explain why your.. Karlsland employs you..” He mentioned, as one of the guards took a picture.

“I could demonstrate..” replied Eva as she confidently looked at Wolfgang.

“Nein.. I just want a conversation”

Eva paused for a moment to think, looking around at everyone and then at Wolfgang.

“Alright, We’ll talk.. What do you want to know?”

Wolfgang smiled as he looked at an assistant.

“Go get some drinks, Eva’s probably thirsty” He gestured as he brought Eva to a neatly arranged desk, sitting her down on a velvet chair. Borngen got comfortable as she looked at Wolfgang, relaxing as she looked around the church.

“Your men turned this old thing into a nice place,” Eva remarked.

Wolfgang hesitantly replied “it.. Could be better” He walked over to Eva and untied her before sitting back down.

“Let’s start simple, what is the nature of a Hexen?, its role in this world?” He asked.

“A Hexen.. In this world, a Hexen is a young magical girl that makes a bond and a contract with a familiar, an animal like cats or dogs, even birds”

“I can see it.. What do you get out of that?”

Eva smiled as she grabbed a pencil on the table and handed it to Wolfgang.

“What are you?-“

Borngen looked at him and asked.

“Throw it at me”

“Are you sure?” Wolfgang Questioned as he got up and raised the pencil, Eva looked at him confidently assuring him as he threw the pencil at her.

A glowing blue shield appeared as the pencil impacted and broke upon contact, the general was surprised as his soldiers stood in silence.

“That was nothing.. these shields can handle some rather destructive things” Eva bragged, Wolfgang gestured his soldiers to stand down as he looked on in amazement.

“Hmm okay, there’s inherent value in it” The Commandant remarked as he looked at Borngen and noted something, “But it must be rather troubling that a child like yourself is in the army..”

Borngen paused for a moment as she thought about the question, the smile on her face disappearing.

“It’s.. fine honestly, I.. just had to join to.. save the world” Eva replied, putting her head on the table as she looked away from him. Wolfgang came over to her side in concern.

“Did they conscript you?” he asked, “You sound.. Rather..” Eva quickly cut him off “Please..I would rather ask you some questions..”

“I see.. Go ahead and ask”

“Where did you come from?” Eva asked as she looked at him, the general thought about the question for a bit.

“It’s a long story..”

[Meanwhile, Geena’s group]

“You're a moron,” Keera scowled at Bauer, trying to figure out a strategy. The Karlslander growled a little “Yeah, maybe teach me how to bomb schools!”

“You don’t even know what to look for!” Chris ranted as she looked at Geena who actually figured something out “Listen Liberion.. Do you atleast have something resembling a decent plan?”

Geena looked at her and nodded “We’ll find the place they came from.. Their reinforcements come from that mountainside” She said, pointing at the northern mountain.

“Alright.. See? Decent plan right there.. From a Liberion no less” Keera said, “Maybe learn from her, maybe we’ll find your friend at that place”

Bauer snapped back furiously “SHUT UP ALREADY! WHY DON’T YOU JUST BLOW UP AN ORPHANAGE FOR YOUR RIDICULOUS CAUSE?!”

“Excuse me? What the HELL DID YOU SA-”, The assassin felt herself being held back by Geena as she watched Bauer being held by Carla.

“None of you should kill each other! We’ve got bigger problems!” cried Lynette as she looked at the two.

“This faithless bosch is asking for it!”

“I’LL STRANGLE HER” screamed Viktoria as Carla held onto her tighter, “Calm down.. We hate her too..” Carla said as Bauer and Keera calmed down.

“Fine.. but if she feels like being snarky, she can die in a swamp” Remarked Keera as she picked up her gun.

“Alright then I’ll drag you with me!” Viktoria hissed as she started loading her bag up.

Geena looked at Carla and sighed “This day will be very long..” Carla nodded as she replied “And there’s no Cola.. We’re in hell”

The group started to head out, their plan was to trek north through the forests, avoiding the enemy posts and crossing the least amount of roads to see the very place the foe is coming from, they left the kubel behind in a shed and took a few basic supplies with them.

“So.. What are they really?” Asked Lynette, Bauer looked back at her and thought for a moment “Probably.. Krauts?”

“No no, They’re non Karlslanders.. Probably old.. Tribes” Carla replied, “I figure it’s one of those old.. Germanic tribes..”

“Germanic? That’s basically Karlslanders” Keera remarked “Bosch rings nicer”

“I suppose.. Bosch does relate to Germanic” Carla added, Viktoria stared at Carla and asked something “How long did you even stay in Britannia anyways?”

“Heh.. a good long while!” Bragged Carla, “This continent has so many secrets.. It’s awesome”

“Secrets.. Heh.. honestly there’s a good chunk made up by peasants” Keera snickered, Bauer nodded “Even the damn 501st made up stories.. There’s no such thing as a boob expanding Idol.. that’s an artifact made by perverts”

“But it really was real!” Lynette responded “I know it sounds crazy but it did happen!”.

“I have to agree.. What nonsense is that anyways..” Chris scoffed as Bauer looked at her “Heh.. you do stunts like this all for pride right?”

“Pride.. Pride? I never wanted to fight.. Pride in war is the last thing I honestly wanted..” Lynette sighed, looking at her with disbelief.

“Really? That’s just.. What I assumed.. So did.. Eva” Sighed Bauer.

Lynette earnestly expressed her own thoughts, “I joined the 501st to save people.. To see the smiles of families saved from destruction.. To one day see.. A peaceful world, that’s why everyone in the 501st joined, for that hope for that day that no one has to hold a gun.. Isn’t that a nice world? It's what I wanted.. It was never about pride”

Keera stopped for a bit and looked away “If only..” Everyone went quiet instantly as they stared at her, the Gallian quickly spoke up once more “Let’s just keep going alright?”

“Chris? Are you oka-”

“Shut up.. just.. Shut up” Keera quietly scowled, as she continued on with everyone else.

[Back with Eva and Wolfgang]

Eva had been lying down on one of the church’s benches as Wolfgang sat next to her, the witch had gotten tired and was merely resting when the doors slammed open.

A young but harsh man came over to see her, his uniform was as dark as the night with little decoration but the look on his face was that of disappointment.

“Who is this Madchen, why is she in uniform?” Barked the officer, Wolfgang looked back at him and started to explain.

“Defector apparently, she’ll be kept here as a prisoner”

He nodded as he looked at Eva with a stare, the witch looked at him quietly as she sat up. The officer sighed a little as he then began to introduce himself.

“Hansel, Hansel Schineider of Deutschland” , Eva then introduced herself calmly “Eva borngen of Karlsland”.

He reluctantly shook her hand as she looked at him. Hansel was a rather imposing man yet his once harsh stare gave away to a comforting smile. Eva’s familiar slowly retracted as the young girl smiled.

“So.. why’d you surrender yourself?” asked Hansel as he curiously sat down. “Disloyalty?”

“I.. I surrendered to save my life from a part-” Eva replied, Hansel however interrupted her “That’s not the real reason.. Is it?”

“.. Nein” solemnly the Karlsland witch replied, then she continued with conviction.

“There was a reason for someone close to me being involved here.. there was a reason you came.. for all I knew fate was laughing at me.. but now there has to be something! There is an answer, a calling.. the partisan.. the encounter, it all has to make sense!”

The room went quiet as Hansel smiled, “So that’s it.. a truth.. a reason.. something here”

Eva then looked at him and Wolfgang with that very conviction “Yes”

"I'll say this outright, my child.. I am no believer in predetermined fates or a set destiny.. But I do truly believe in the reason for everything, a reason for everyone and everything.." Hansel told Eva with a calm and gentle tone akin to a preacher, he smiled as he continued "There's a reason you've.. More than likely came here, there's a reason I assume.. you suffered, Suffered for a long while"

"Suffered? Yeah pretty much.. I never got a damn break in my life! besides.. every single thing has a reason?! Some are just.. there for no reason for some things at all.." doubted Eva, she had become skeptical of the man's words but there was something about his very demeanor that would clear things up.

And so he smiled as he spoke.

"What do you think the purpose of a delay or an annoying pest is? Is it just there? How about for something that seems out of the blue like someone getting angry at you for no seemingly good reason or maybe.. that one person or maybe you've been wronged, deeply wronged by the those you trusted"

Eva was still a little skeptical but yet she kept listening, it was almost hypnotizing to hear his words come out with a genuine conviction and a fire in his eyes as he began to preach.

"Do you think that all happened for no reason, seems like it.. but did you feel something? anger? disgust? Annoyance? maybe sadness or worse.. trauma.. those are what I call fuel to a fire, a fire inside you.. That's the purpose of these events and these things that happen to you.. everytime you feel wronged, it fuels you and it gives you a choice"

"A choice to either let yourself be laughed at, walk over and become nothing but dirt under a boot or to never, NEVER let this happen again, to fight back!.. You came here because your so-called friends hurt not only your mind but your soul!"

Eva then nodded as she looked at him and spoke "Not only me, but others too.. There are people's bodies they didn't even recover! Orders they gave that led people to their deaths! Don't even get me started on politics!.. I remember speaking out against one of them.. that's how I ended up.."

"See? Do you feel it? that fire?"

"I.. yes"

"That fire is burning hot, storing up and waiting for you to unleash it on those who hurt you, the ones that left you and many others stranded, broken and hopeless but that fire must be tempered and your mind must not be warped into only revenge! A mindless rampage is destructive but it changes little, a well placed bullet or a precise cut can change the very fabric of a world!, So with patience and enough planning, that fire will burn your enemies to ashes!"

Hansel then gave Eva a stern look waiting for her to answer his question "So tell me, Do you feel that fire?!"

“I feel it!"

[Geena’s group, an hour later]

By the time they had arrived, night was starting to fall.

Poor Lynette was laid down on the floor completely knackered, the hike to a mountain took its toll on the Britannian. Geena and Bauer meanwhile had already set to observing the enemy, they had finally set their eyes upon the gate where they were coming from.

“That’s.. Uh, What even is that” Bauer wondered as she looked around “They’re.. Neuroi?”

“Doesn’t seem so, but the gateway seems like an older structure” Rebutted Geena, she then turned towards Carla and Keera “Come over here”

The two came over, grabbing the binoculars and looking upon the gate. The duo were equally confused.

“Now.. I’m not sure if the Gallians were that adventurous” Carla noted.

“This wasn’t the work of a mere witch.. But I’m not sure if there’s any records of this.. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure..” Keera admitted.

“Really now?” Bauer jested as she looked at her with a grin, the assassin responded simply “The records have probably either rotted away or were destroyed by the Neuroi..”

“You’d think the royals would’ve made copies and archives..” Muttered the Karlslander.

“Well.. I wouldn’t blame them.. The archives were probably lost in the revolution..” Carla mentioned as she then walked over to Lynette.

Keera sighed to herself “If only the damned revolution never happened..”, the others sighed as they stared at her. Bauer then looked to her to ask her something.

“Is there anything you’d do after restoring the royalty?”

Keera paused for a moment to look at Bauer, “I assume I'd have to figure that out” She smiled smugly as she looked at the Karlslander.

“And have you done that? At all?”

That smile disappeared immediately, “.. N-no.. I’m sure I will at some point.. what about you-“

“Already done that.. I’m going to work with my dad in the wine business”

“Wine eh? Rather small ambitions there.. Is there nothing else you’d want to do?”

“Well… I kind of want to become a wing commander..” Bauer told the assassin, and she laughed a bit in response.

“Wing commander?! Maybe you’d be a captain god forbid but a wing commander?!”

“Yeah vicks.. You don’t really seem like wing commander material” Carla noted as she stared at her, Bauer hissed as she then walked over to prepare her food.

“Shut it! All of you!” She groaned as she struggled to set up her spot. Geena sighed as she looked at Keera to say something “She’s at least got something to look forward to”

Immediately the Gallian just walked over to a tree to rest, refusing to talk to anyone as she laid down. Carla and Geena then looked towards each other and started chatting.

“So what’s next boss?” Luksic asked as she put the binoculars around her neck.

“We’ll either leave after we rest for a bit or find Eva quickly.. Keera and Lynette shouldn’t be here” Geena stated as she stared towards the gate, “We have to figure out exactly why that gate exists, it’s best to take more qualified people”

The two made one last look at the town, it was the same sight but Geena then saw something that made her blood run cold.

“Is that Eva.?” Geena asked Bauer. The Karlslander immediately rushed over, snatching the binoculars out of Geena’s hands to see her friend, Bauer could only stare in horror as Eva shook hands with an enemy officer.

“Eva!? W-what are you doing?!”

[Over at Eva]

Eva smiled a little as she followed Wolfgang with an escort, the two talked as they strolled down the street towards a cafe occupied by the soldiers.

“I might as well get something for you to eat before keeping you under watch” Wolfgang noted as he brought her inside. As they entered, a battered and bruised soldier stood up in fright.

“H-Hexen!! They killed half our squad!” Cried out the soldier as he grabbed his gun, Wolfgang ordered him to stand down as he came over to his side.

“She’s not here to hurt anyone..”

“Maybe, but her friends are now inside our territory!”

To Be Continued