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His call was perhaps better heard once the cavalry charge and the rest of the squad had already been more distracted from the massacre that just happened. After Reyna, another sapper made it to him, keeping Michael's hand busy for the time being. The sketch was so fast it became second talent. The charcoal pencil was slowly grinding its life away, but was still standing strong as Michael finished one more map for the waiting sapper. On to the next one. That next one turned out to be Gwyn. His half-voiced voice told the other sapper that he wasn't taking this well. It was a reminder in fact. Michael wasn't just looking into a scared man, a man just been near paralyzed by a sight that could haunt anyone in their dreams. He was looking at himself. He was there. He had stared as a person, a stranger whom he had shed a bit of care for, died in front of him and on top of him. He had stared as hundreds got mangled under ruthless artillery fire, twice. He had stared as the stench of blood, decay, flesh mixed with mud and rain painted the masterpiece of hell on Earth. And yet it was merely weeks from then, in a war that had lasted two years. And now he was watching himself through this again. 

[color=bf00ff]"Here."[/color] He neatly ripped the paper from his notebook, showing the detailed picture of the tunnel map that Gwyn would've resembled the one Middleton had shown him. [color=bf00ff]"I'm not a sir by the way. We're on the same boat just as the rest of the squad."[/color] He politely corrected the younger Edinburghian soldier as he lightly held onto the guy's left shoulder before letting him join the rest of the squad.

Now that Gwyn had had his share of emotions, even if he didn't want to, it was indeed an infectious aura. Maybe because Michael was deficient to such anyway. He knew war wasn't any glorious as the recruitment officer or the media had been spouting out to keep the heads rolling into the grinder. But the gag was already too old. There was nothing he could do about it. Despite being of slightly higher prestige than a normal person, he was still nothing more than a pawn. And there was no way in hell he could get pass that in the near distant future. But he wasn't alone. He was with thousands of people, among them some of the squad members that he had gotten the rare opportunity to get to know personally whereas his normal self would not under normal circumstances. People like Jean, Isaac, Diana, Britta or Lucia. Lucia...Yeah, they did make this journey a little less hellish. 

Speaking of her, ahh god damn it. Now that he had turned this on, he couldn't turn this off again. Why was it that she was the image that he thought most when his comrades popped up? Especially now. When she was in that uniform. It was a rather strange yet pleasant beauty that probably had transcended the inhumanity of the warzone mangled in filth and body parts. He remembered the figure, the smile. Something he wished to see more. He didn't want her to be always in tears like she had usually been. He didn't want her on this battlefield to see it. 

And he wanted to protect it.

[color=bf00ff]"..."[/color]

He found his hand stopping right in its track as he was still copying the map. The sapper in front of him looked confused and quite concerned to the distant look hollowed in his eyes. The void in the eyes that began to be filled.

[color=bf00ff]"Oh, sorry."[/color] He realized himself as he recomposed. He quickly finished the map and ripped the page again - hopefully the last one. [color=bf00ff]"Here you g-"[/color]

Ow!

The first thing he felt was a threat. Someone was wrapping something around him! But as the initial bolt shot through, as fast as it could be expected, he realized it wasn't. That something was in fact someone's arms. Over his shoulders and around his neck they pulled into the warmth. The slight press onto his back again triggered his alertness, but again, he knew the tension placed on him. It wasn't malice. It felt good in fact. It felt like...

[color=bf00ff]"Lucia?"[/color]

He was right. The confirmation came when her cheeks came dangerously close to his. 

[color=bf00ff]"Ok ok. I'll come to you in a second."[/color] 

A second was too long though. It was enough to hand that map over to the other sapper, but during that short period of time, Lucia found the taste out of her cup of her tea, and began to spout ideas that could really spark ideas in his mind. Ideas that one could fish all day. 

[color=bf00ff]"What? No! I did not do such a disrespectful thing!"[/color]

And Isaac caught one.

[color=bf00ff]"I did NOT!"[/color] He turned over to him, swinging around the Lucia still holding onto his shoulders. [color=bf00ff]"You were there with me!"[/color]

So too did Diana. 

[color=bf00ff][I]'I don't wanna hear that from someone who hugs Jean every chances she gets.'[/I][/color]

[color=bf00ff]"Ok maybe I did..."[/color] His volume took a huge plummet. [color=bf00ff]"But that was when you're already done. Now that you have my attention..."[/color]

It seemed like he wasn't going anywhere without her anytime soon.[hr]
It took them a short while to reach the city, but to him, as the whole commotion died down, it felt stretched. Was it because of the silence that had quickly befallen onto the group, even though he should have been engaging with Lucia after she demanded it. Or maybe perhaps of the unwelcomed sadness that began to sorrow up within him again, as he witnessed the once beautiful capital of his fellow believers, the place that should be giving divine protection to its followers in the ruin that could ironically destroy a person's life forever, in one way or another. How many had died for this? How many of the followers?

[color=bf00ff][I]'Pay attention...'[/I][/color] 

He was about to enter this city - the one he always wanted to visit as a child. This could be the death of him if he kept thinking about it. 

As he slowly approached the strong and tall wall of Amone, he noticed that Lucia was still walking next to him the whole journey. Knowing how he hadn't been fulfilling her request, he simply asked lightly.

[color=bf00ff]"So what is it that you want to talk about?"[/color]
[@LetMeDoStuff][@FalloutJack][@Landaus Five-One]