Fantasy ▐⋆⊱BRITANNICA LOST: The Archive

[Luxura]

Here you will find IC Posts relative to canon events outside of the timeline:
Mini Event
Flashback
Side Quest​

 

[AntarcticRomantic]

René Troxler

Ephemera

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When: Before New Orleans arrival
WHERE: Paradise
WITH: Olivia
DOING: Training
CREDIT: nikoboiko
PLAYLIST: ☀
Context: Mini Event, 2020

In the open air of the training hall, groans, shouts, and the sound of metal meeting metal or skin reverberated around the scores of Templars in the room. Mixed martial arts danced around him as he walked through the hall, hands lazily stuck in the pockets of his black issued tactical pants.

He’d agreed to training steadily through the week with the sisters when he had first been accepted as their private technician. The blond followed quietly beside Olivia, having fallen into step long ago with the brilliant swordswoman in their journey to the hall. A few people turned as they moved through the room, seeking a corner to be left as their own.

It was rare they ever used live steel for training, but occasionally the mood would strike them. The risk associated with such dangerous practice broke up the monotony of training with the wooden sparring pieces.

Strapped on his back was the sword he had meticulously designed and forged with the assistance of one of his former classmates who had trained as a blacksmith. The hilt was designed after classic rapiers, metal twisting in delicate organic curves, like vines to protect his hand. It hid the fact it was a bastard sword to someone who wasn’t paying attention and the protective hilt was to save the one flesh hand the engineer had left. The length of the blade was beautifully crafted and sharpened, and along the central length, about halfway, had been engraved with elegant, flowing flourishes and edelweiss carvings. The classmate had thought the sword for a woman the engineer fancied and was delighted to discover it was not. The lot of his classmates had laughed rather thoroughly until they were forced to go up against him later with a sparring bastard sword. In such a design, he had considered himself rather vainly. Deceptively beautiful, but not without sharp edges.

When he had told Olivia this story, she had laughed, amused by him and his antics. Since then, he’d been eager to learn from her, wanting to develop his skills to make his claim all the more true.

They settled in a small strip, lowering their equipment along the wall to be out of the way, and took up sparring swords from the wall.

Her voice cut through the noise. “Shall we pick up where we left off before?”

René had his back to her, walking easily away to get a feel for the replica in his hand. He swung it in his hand, spinning it forward absently in a flourish while he made room for the inevitable. “If we pick up there, I should’ve kept the live steel in my hand, Sister.”

“Perhaps,” Raphael answered. “You’d be more alert, more conscious of your surroundings.”

The swordswoman wasn’t wrong by any means. Already he had been distracted by leering glances, but none so much as that as his bunkmate. He’d glare daggers back if he could, but he could hear her approach and he blocked with his metal arm as she side-swiped him with the false blade. It ran off smoothly, but she was terribly quick.

Every second was a block or dodge, a parry or a counter. Ephemera had broken into a sweat, the grey shirt clinging to his back as they moved in circles around one another. Olivia was a goddess with a blade, technical and precise, and relentless. He just needed to break away. The blond was so determined to defend himself he couldn’t find an opportunity to turn it into an offensive.

She feinted an attack to his legs, and when he went to parry, she thrust at his abdomen. “You’re distracted, Troxler. Again.”

He groaned at the hit but didn’t mind the bruise he’d suffer. The blond had been dealt worse. “Try having everyone in the room looking for your weaknesses sometime, Raph,” he muttered.

“Try having everyone on a battlefield doing the same. Now, stop trying to hide, and show your strengths instead.”

They had collected quite the crowd of those looking to take a break and enjoy the excitement of watching the second in command of the Blood Sisters whip one of their own into shape. Gold discs followed the line, not really looking into eyes or paying attention to the blur of faces, but he knew enough about who was there. The hair on the back of his neck rose, and he turned around away from Olivia again. His training was how to combat surprise attacks, he’d be damned if he let one pest ruin his chance to learn.

Meeting the smug look on Cain’s face, he stared back, seething. Hearing the steps behind him, he gave the Russian a final hateful smirk, spun on his heel, and grabbed the blade that had been intended to come crashing at him from the air with his steel hand. Olivia was right, he’d have to show his strengths to win the mental war he’d been fighting against himself.

Counter, parry, feint. Parry, feint, attack, counter. Disengage, counter, parry, attack. Attack. Attack.

He was lost in a blur of the master, smiling with sweat obscuring his vision. He’d forgotten the crowd, most of which had returned to their own fights. He didn’t care about the repairs that were still piling up in the Lab. The blonde didn’t even care about the repairs he’d have to make to his own mod for blocking the blunt move. His focus was purely on the Sister in front of him, and he was enjoying the thrill of sparring against her.

She caught him off guard, halting the blow that would’ve been sure to give him a concussion. Jarred from the near-collision to the side of his head with the blunt weapon, he was unprepared to have his legs swiped from underneath him with her next moment and landed square on his back. The air was knocked from his chest, and he struggled for a moment to reclaim it. Gasping, Ephemera stared up at his instructor, smiled, and laughed. God, he really needed to get better at this if he would survive in the Sisterhood.

The grin was returned, albeit with some reluctance. He could see the restrained amusement in her golden gaze. “You still lack focus, but that was better. Again.”

 

[legalrehab]

S E I K O 島崎清子

alias: Kirin

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WHERE: Kenner Base
WITH: Kenna
DOING: Escaping Kenner Base
CREDIT: Peritwinkle
PLAYLIST: Winter's Nocturne

Seiko glared; his thoughts pierced into a shattered state by the sound of his companion's distress. He could only allow her to spread her own wings so far before he came to break the fall. For him, losing another to letting others learn their own lessons was not an option. Though it would seem he would be taking the brunt of the injury for ensuring Kenna left this place unscathed. The ruse was over, and causing alarm and suspicion was better than allowing the girl to meet a cruel fate. It would be so easy - to hide behind the shell of the Stag and escort her to safety behind his horns. Yet it was of the utmost importance that even if they were found, the Templars must not know he was a beast. The burden of proceeding with an escape in mortal flesh was quite the handicap, but he had fought against harder odds in his centuries upon this soil.

As quick as he turned his heel, gone was the guise of the lowly officer, he clutched his artillery with an iron grip and his boots clambered in Kenna's direction. Running with all his might faster than he knew his feet to carry him. His heart prepared to blast from his chest as he turned several corners. The sound of suspicion chased after him. It was muffled yet, deafening as the orders to stop and apprehend him bounced off the pristine camp walls. He trampled upon proper pathways and broke through their resistance, using the honed steel of the bow as a club to flay open the temples of those brave enough to give chase.

She hadn't gone far, in fact he could still track her scent, her footsteps and the glow of...

Kenna.

...he had hoped he was wrong. He wanted so much to believe as he turned the final corner, he would be so pitifully wrong about what he saw, what he smelled, and the crackling of what he heard. Please, no - he thought to himself as if trying to plead with the God of this world. He had known this would be a possibility, dismissed as likely to never happen on such a covert mission as the one they were sent on. He could only blame himself, though - couldn't he? Seiko could not dismiss his fault of waiting too long to take action when others were depending on him. As much as he hated his own father for this behavior, the cruel strings of fate had made it taint his blood as well. If only he had stepped in earlier, he wouldn't have seen what was before him now. Fire.

"Of all things... what have you done?!" Seiko cried out, unable to withhold the venom of disappointment in his tone. Kenna was before him surrounded by embers and ash, small sparks of flame giving roar to a great fire as the wind blew the tempest across the base. There would hardly be anything left with this unkempt flame and yet there was nothing to do but run. It would continue to grow, higher and higher until the sanitized structures fell to soiled rubble. Seiko roared an almost manic yell and marched toward Kenna.

"WE- are leaving!"

He hoisted her up by the collar and threw her body over his shoulder like a sack of flour. Fits of rage and punches hard enough to bust open her knuckles were hammered into his backside and skull leaving marks he was sure to bruise and be remembered another day - but it would be a day they would have to live to see first. The raging fire was complemented by the sound of an alarm being released. Its constant blaring made any attempt at hearing Kenna impossible now. With his arms full, and his ears at spatial capacity he had only his sight to guide him and his legs to get him there.

Human flesh may have caged him at this point, yet his actions were anything less than savage at best. Bullets whirred past his shoulders, arrows were loose at his chest, several missing but still tearing open gashes of scarlet. He pondered at that moment if it was still worth it to put up this ruse as he questioned his morality. Shifting would be so easily done, and with an encampment this small it would be an easy task to make sure no one was left to let them know a beast was here. These were common foot soldiers at best, a few deaths here and there would be enough to make them question their loyalty as he was easily questioning his own.

Seiko made his way to a narrow encampment, a straight shot to where they had entered, yet going down this path with Kenna in his arms would only be giving his assailants a large target to take aim at. He grumbled, having little choice as he shrugged the girl off of him and grabbed her by the shoulders to ensure she landed on her feet even if it was gruff in nature.

"Go. At the end is the caravan we rode in on. I plan for us to leave in it too. Get it ready to escape and escort any child you can into the back for shelter...." Seiko commanded. This would give Kenna a path to safety as he bottle-necked their advance. If one of these saintly officers wanted to chase after the Firestarter they would need to get through the Stag first. Any protest was dismissed, allowing her to take independent action was no longer an option.

"Kenna, if I am not there in four minutes, leave without me." Seiko placed all the trust he could in her, despite the mistakes there was still a determined soul behind those eyes. It was plain to see she would live to see how to learn from all of this - and with any luck he would be the teacher.

"This is an order," Seiko gave a knowing smile, before turning to the opposition before him. "Go- now!"

With Kenna fleeing to safety, he turned to size up the remaining troops willing to face him. There were nine of them, with a full minute to sprint to Kenna that gave him about twenty seconds each. He had hoped it wouldn't come to that; despite their terrible actions these were lowly officers far down the reporting ladder. Should he have to kill even one of them he hoped it to be enough to scare off the rest.

"YOU ARE SURROUNDED, KNEEL IF YOU WISH TO LIVE."

Their decree shattered his eardrums, while unpleasant it was not a request he could even entertain to take seriously.

"No." Seiko decreed and loosed his first bolt through the loudspeaker that gave him such a ridiculous order and into the lungs of the Templar who declared it. Before he could fall to the ground, he had sprung upon the officer adjacent to him, crushing his windpipe like a piece of paper in his grip. He tore away their medals before he went on the defensive from here, shrouding himself in the smoke while steadying his aim of the bow. The order's artillery lived up to its name as he used the bow of their own make to loose a bolt between the eyes of a young guard. He died a silent death, unlike the guard behind him who cried out in agony as arrow passed through his comrade's skull and into his eye. Seiko kicked out his knees and drove the blunt end of the bow through his chest cavity to pierce his heart like a stake.

The onslaught continued until there was, but one soldier left, pointing his gun at Seiko's head with arms trembling.

Casually he walked up to the barrel and grabbed it with his hands to calmly point it to the ground, knowing full well the young soldier did not have the drive to shoot. He couldn't have even been a full adult yet, his awkward limbs clambered together as he tried to abstain his fear in the face of the Samurai.

"Live through this," Seiko declared, "Such is not your virtue." Despite his cruel nature upon the battlefield, he could still not bring it upon himself to harm children. The hands of war had bound this man to his duty, and there was still time for him to be free from those shackles should he choose to do so. Seiko could not force his hand, only give him the tools to do so. Children like them weren't here because they were told to, they were here because of the circumstances that made them stay here. He couldn't know this, and it was not his place to take responsibility. With time to meet at the caravan running out, he made his decision.

"Remember what you've seen. Should you seek me out, in shelter or in vengeance, I welcome it all the same," Seiko decreed, as he dropped at his feet the medals of all eight of the soldiers he had slain.

 

[Leola_Asarai]

Kenna Mac Amery

Incendiu

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WHERE: Kenner Base
WITH: Seiko
DOING: Escaping
CREDIT: Peritwinkle
PLAYLIST:

The noises resonating from around the base didn’t dampen the sound of the jingling bell as it skittered across the ground. It was enough to make the teen stop in her steps. It couldn’t be a bell though right? The templars didn’t seem like the type to attach bells to their uniforms, that seemed stupid. Thinking she misheard it and it wasn’t actually a bell, maybe a scrap of metal, that would make more sense, she intended to just keep walking. The nagging curiosity didn’t let her walk more than two steps before she turned on her heels and stomped back over to where she had kicked it, intending to prove herself right, that it was nothing more than scrap metal in a pile of trash.

But picking it up only proved that her ears had been working correctly. It was a bell. A tiny, jingly bell that chimed as she shook it next to her ear. Kenna didn’t know why it threw her so much. It seemed like such a small thing that was just a little too out of place among the cruelty that she knew the Templar’s to be.

Her eyes scanned along the ground, her brows furrowed as she looked more closely at the trash the templars had dumped so far out of sight. None of this seemed right. Crouching down, Kenna pushed a few of the items around. She was not above sifting through trash, for the past year and a half of living on the streets, she had dug through worse than this. Or, that’s what she had thought. It was dark and everything was dirty but the more she pushed around, the clearer it became. Toys. Teddy bears torn with stuffing pulled out, dolls with cracked heads and missing limbs, blankets caked in grime. This dump site looked forgotten about, like no one had cleared it out in a long time. It smelled mouldy and everything was damp but still crusty.

Children, marching in the mud, turned to soldiers before they could even really live. This pile was their childhood ripped from their arms and dumped in the trash.

Placing the teddy bear gently back down in the pile, her eyes did a trouble take. A small tail peaked out from the bottom and the blood drained from her face. Giving it a gentle tug, the toy came loose. It was missing a wing and an eye, a tear at the neck had left the plush with very little stuffing, but even so, it was unmistakable. Beau had never gone anywhere without it. His little owl, the one he had affectionately named papa. His father had given it to him before going off to join the battle, not long after Beau had been born. Kenna had never met the man, he died before she had ever met Kathrine and Beau. Kathrine had made sure to tell Beau about him, that this owl had been his gift to him before Beau had even learned to talk. Kenna had always guessed that it had been the reason for the name.

Beau had always insisted on bringing it with them, he never liked to leave it wherever they were hiding, and she never pressed him to. It was always in his hand, or tucked in his shirt. It had been the day they took him, and Kenna had never really given a thought to where it ended up. This was not okay. Papa was loved, Beau needed him, and they had thrown it in the trash, ripped apart like it meant nothing.

Kenna’s fist tightened around the stuffed animal, getting to her feet. This was not okay! Her lip turned to a scowl as she righted the duffle over her shoulder. Someone was going to pay for this.

“Hey, what are you doing back here?”

“I . . .”

Not good.

Kenna took a few wary steps back which only made the guard more suspicious, his hand resting firmly on his weapon. She could talk her way out of this, but by the look on his face, she had already lost that conversation.

In the split second that she side stepped towards the pile of toys, she managed to pull the lighter from her pocket. He drew his weapon as she ignited hers. Sparks flicked around the debris of broken toys, spreading through them at a pace that was not natural. The guard was slow to realise what was happening, his eyes transfixed on the flames rising. Her steps alerted him to her attempt to flee and he was on her, his weapon drawn back in her direction, his shot barely missing her as she ducked around the corner.

Shit.

Unsure of where to go, she kept moving, the flames spreading around her. She hadn’t meant to, it hadn’t meant to get this far. Her instinct took over and the need to keep herself safe outweighed her rational thinking.

It didn’t seem like the guard was following her, but she couldn’t be too sure, so she kept running. In an instant she heard an oh so disapproving voice.

"Of all things... what have you done?!"

“What do you think?!” She yelled as she flinched at the crashing sounds of rubble behind her. She had disappointed him, and that hurt her more than she realised it would, but she couldn’t admit that out loud.

She opened her mouth to try and explain further, but he didn’t give her the chance.

“Hey, wait . . .” Before she could object any further, he hoisted her over his shoulder. “Let go!” She screamed, trying to push against him, smacking him as he seemed to effortlessly carry her away from the mess she had made. Kenna knew she had fucked up, but that did not mean Seiko had to treat her like a child. This was even worse that his disapproving glare, this was just plain embarrassing.

The alarm sounded and with it came the cavalry in full force. Kenna covered her head as shots wizzed past them. She had no idea where they were going or how they were going to get out of this. Though she supposed it wasn’t up to her anymore.

“What do we do?” She asked, her voice falling on deaf ears, unable to pierce through the cacophony. They made it through, barely and only temporarily. Seiko shrugged her off, and if he hadn’t grabbed her shoulders to steady her, she would have fallen to the ground.

Keeping her in her place, he commanded her in what was going to happen next. She turned to look in the direction he told her to go. Four minutes?! “Wait, but . . .” He didn’t let her finish, cutting her off with an order. Commanding her to go, she did, not wanting to stick around as guards approached.

The caravan was standing on its own, the guards having been called elsewhere. Throwing the bag in the back, Kenna quickly tucked the small owl into her shirt for safe keeping, and trying not to screw up again, she did what she was told to do.

Somehow she managed to convince a few kids to get in the back, she guessed by the looks of them, they hadn’t been there as long as some of the others. They were stragglers, not sure where they were supposed to be going in the chaos. Getting in the truck with her must have seemed like a safer option.

Once they were secure she quickly got into the drivers seat. Looking around cemented her original worry with his plan. She had no idea what she was doing.

Keys turned was a good start, hands on the wheel. She knew that much maybe? There wasn’t much time to think about it as guards approached the car. Kenna nudged something and stepped on the gas, but she didn’t go forward like she thought, they lurched backwards, hitting some guards as she went.

Breaking was as much a jolt as the start, but somehow she had lurched enough backwards to move closer to Seiko. “Hurry up!” She yelled out the window.

He can take over now, right?

But he didn’t. Eyes wide with shock and annoyance he just jumped in the passenger side screaming at her to drive.

“If it isn’t obvious - I DON’T KNOW HOW!”

He put it into gear telling her to slam on the gas before leaning out the side of the truck to take note of the urgency in which they had to leave he yelled at her again to drive.

Scrambling, the teen pressed her foot down and the truck took off forward, the speed building as they slammed out of the gate away from the base.