Chapter 6. The Planning.

  Suddenly both Kael and Katrine heard the main door open, Kael subconsciously reached for a nearby knife getting ready to strike. The constant torment he receives from the warrior within his dreams drives him insane, he's becoming paranoid of every sound ready to strike at a smallest threat. He experienced death in his dream once, and it was enough for him, he didn't want it again. When the door finally opened, both Kael's and Katrine's father's. Xavier and Mark who were gone for the past 3 days for supposed "work related issues", but their clothes were far from suggesting they were at work. Long black coats, military issued boots, black hoodies, long pants. It was clear they weren't at work for the past three days, and their tired expressions said so too. Kael quickly put the knife away, it was no threat. When Xavier and Mark saw that Katrine was wearing Kael's clothes and Kael was making breakfast for both of them. They put on knowing smirks on their faces, Kael knew immediately what was happening and what was going through their father's mind's. Suddenly Xavier rushed to Kael and wrapped his arm around his son's shoulder laughing like a maniac.

  -"Tell me boy, how was it? Did anything happen, you know...?"

  The teasing tone at the end frustrated Kael even more, Katrine quickly catching up to what Karl's father meant had her face go scarlet. Xavier and Mark seeing Kael's indifferent face and Katrine's face going scarlet started laughing and high fived each other. They thought that their kids finally got along and even went further than that, Kael didn't even try to protest, although when he slept with Katrine was technically an accident since she stumbled to sleep with him while she was drunk, but they wouldn't care about this excuse. Kael looked at his father and then Mark, he wanted to get straight to the topic.

  -"So old man, where were you with Mark? That doesn't look like your work clothes since you work in an office and Mark works in a company huh?"

  His voice left no space for arguing from both fathers, they knew they had to answer his question. Even if they avoided it or changed topic, Kael was persistent enough to find out either by himself or by cracking them. Xavier looked at Mark who nodded to him, beckoning him to explain what they were doing for the past 3 days.

  Xavier took a deep breath and put on a serious face, he knew what he was going to say could possibly strain his relationship with Kael.

  -"We've been scouting the Mag-Tech structure where Mark's insider found the painting. We plan on breaking in to search for it ourselves, of co-"

  Before he could finish Kael put a hand on his shoulder, he knew that his son was probably mad at him for lying about work related issues. He was ready for everything, but Kael didn't care that his father lied to him at first. He was honest in the end, and that's what mattered to Kael. Kael took a deep breath and said to his father.

  -"Old man, Mark... I'll forgive you everything... If you'll take me along."

  That was unexpected to everyone else besides Kael, everyone knew he was interested in mag tech stuff. But is he going to such a dangerous place? It was dumb, there was gossip about people getting imprisoned or killed on the spot for breaking into ancient mag-tech structures, but Kael didn't care. He needed answers, and he was willing to take any risk. If he paid for this action with his life, he was willing to pay it if it meant that he got at least some answers. Mark quickly shoved Kael away from Xavier and put a finger to his chest, Katrine seeing this tried to pull her father away from him. Mark said to Kael his voice full of warning and clear disgust.

  -"You're not going anywhere and you're not doing jack shit little shit, you can be killed you know? One slip up and bang... You're dead."

  Xavier didn't try to stop Mark from confronting his son, even though Katrine tried to pull Mark away it was pointless. Kael seeing this grit his teeth and pushed Mark away from him, he was furious. His only option was to do Tenebrae's old request about breaking into that mag-tech structure and him potentially gaining answers, he was willing to pay for this with his life. Kael straightened up and when was about to say something to Mark, Katrine suddenly spoke up, her voice not hiding her own anger.

  -"If Kael can't go, "dad", then consider yourself without a daughter. And besides if he goes I'm going too..."

  Mark seeing his daughter act this way, the same Katrine that despised Kael not so long ago, was threatening him with disowning herself if she and Kael couldn't go along. Mark looked onto Xavier to search for support. Xavier, seeing his pleading look in his eyes, shrugged his shoulders. Mark made this situation happen, and now he had to defuse it somehow. With all his heart he wanted to disagree and not let them go because of potential death risks, but risking his own daughter disappearing and cutting contact with him was even more painful. He grit his teeth, he knew allowing them to come along could potentially kill both of them, but he'd rather live with the grief of his daughter dying, than her forever hating him and cutting contact with him. He took a deep breath to calm down and looked at Xavier for confirmation. Xavier nodded his head approvingly, even though he himself was extremely scared for his only son and remaining family. He already lost his daughter and wife, and losing his son would be a nail in the coffin for him. Mark, seeing Xavier beckoning him to agree to both Kael's and Katrine's demands, decided to follow his advice and finally agree.

  -"Fine, you two can come along... But if either of you two fucking die, I'll find a way to ressurect you and kick your asses so hard you'd die again..."

  Kael and Katrine hearing this chuckled, they knew both of their fathers would do everything to protect them even if it meant sacrificing their lives. But they finally achieved their own goal of convincing their dads to agree to break into the mag-tech location with them. The tension slowly boiled down and became nearly inexistent, Xavier seeing nothing was happening went over to the fridge, opening it and pulling out two beers offering one to Mark. Mark took it without a question, then Xavier took out two more beers and offered them to both Kael and Katrine. Either Katrine or Kael didn't understand why, they were both 16. Xavier, seeing their facial expressions, chuckled and explained to them.

  -"You've convinced two old pricks to take you along on potentially suicidal mission, you two deserve a reward as well."

  Kael took the beer without questioning, but Katrine hesitated. Mark seeing his daughter hesitate bumped her with his shoulder beckoning her to take the beer as well. Kael seeing this quickly put a hand in front of Mark stopping him, he looked at Kael with clear confusion. Kael seeing this quickly put a hand in front of Mark stopping him, he looked at Kael with clear confusion. Kael quickly took a deep breath and began explaining.

  -"Katrine and I went to a restaurant yesterday to have some sushi for dinner. But my friend and his girlfriend walked, so me and Kat decided to pretend to be on a date. She got drunk in the middle of the night, sneaked onto the couch I was sleeping on, and cuddled up with me."

  Mark hearing this had his jaw drop and eyes widen. Xavier too spit his beer out of pure shock of what he just heard. When both of them looked at Katrine she had her face red full of embarrassment and looked down onto the ground. They could quickly tell that Kael wasn't lying and that everything he described was true. Kael expected to be scolded or at least get some warning. But instead what he saw was Mark offering not only the beer previously offered to Katrine, but his own as well. It was clear he wanted his daughter to get slightly tipsy so she'd act "cute" again towards Kael. Kael seeing this facepalmed knowing that even though the time was running out and the stakes were high, those two old pricks still found a way to tease him and Katrine. He quickly jugged down his beer and turned to his father.

  -"So old man... When are we breaking in?"

  Xavier hearing his question reached into his pocket inside his coat. What he pulled out was a rolled paper note that turned out to be an outside blueprint of the mag-tech structure and the guard patrol's changes.

  -"Tomorrow, at noon we'll be moving out. By the time the sun will be setting the guard rotation will change and that's when we'll strike. Right in the blind spot. We have extraction prepared so nothing can go wrong unless we fuck up."

  When Kael looked over onto the blueprints and listened to his father's plan, he thought to himself that the plan was solid. Nothing can go wrong unless something unforeseen happens, or one of them slips up. Nearly ideal plan, no loopholes, no possible mistakes, no way of the plan failing. Kael smiled at the plan. It was ideal, no chance of it failing. But then suddenly Tenebrae spoke to him.

  -'I have a bad feeling about this kiddo, even when I charged into the battle I never had this much of a bad feeling... Something can go wrong, so don't get yourself killed and in turn, me… Besides remember, your death will have greater consequences than you can imagine...'

  Her voice was full of worry and concern, something she rarely showed. She was right, Kael also had a feeling like something might go wrong, especially if he got a sudden panic attack for a reason and he had to take his medication. It'd render him useless for a longer period of time, and in turn, they'll be missing a possibly vital member. The day was still young so everyone decided to rest before tomorrow. Kael returned to his room while Katrine and her father along with Xavier stayed in the living room. As Kael was preparing for tomorrow he decided to not pack any injectors with calming medication so as to not possibly slow anyone down, even if he got a panic attack. He had nothing more to prepare, Mark mentioned about getting them some clothes before going inside just as he was going to his room. All he has to do now is to prepare mentally. He looked at his right hand, the scar from the knife was still there. He couldn't forget that day when Tenebrae decided to do a "harmless prank" on him. Which was possessing his arm and choking him until he nearly passed out. He still hasn't forgiven her for that thing. He held a grudge against her for mocking his dead family as well, although it's been well over two weeks the grudge was still there. He just couldn't forget it that easily. He decided to talk it out with Tenebrae.

  -"You can possess my body if I die right? And you dying with me is an excuse for me to do your bidding correctly?"

  When she heard what Kael had stated, she suddenly went quiet. He was right, if anything happened she just can possess his body and use it as her own. She's done it in the past already, but for some reason, this particular boy made her feel like possessing his dead body would be a waste. After a stretched silence she finally answered him.

  -'You're quite observant Kael... Yes I can possess your body when you die, how did you know about it? I don't remember you reading ancient scrolls or asking me about it before...'

  When Kael heard her answer he smiled, he knew that he'd probably be the first one to go down during the break in. He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. As he did so he finally asked Tenebrae for a potential favour.

  -"If I die please possess my body, you already know how I act and you know my memories as well... Try not to act too suspicious, because nobody should find out I'm not Kael anymore... Can you do that for me...?"

  His voice was low, as for his father, Katrine or Mark to not hear him. He didn't want them to be sad if he died so he wanted Tenebrae to take his place in case of anything. Tenebrae hearing his request suddenly went quiet, it was the first time the host accepted her possession after their death willingly. Better yet, Kael asked for it as a safety measure for everyone. He knew his death wouldn't be something big to most people, but the people he held close to the heart. His death would be potentially the end of the world, and he didn't want that. He wanted to know that if anything happened they'd still smile, laugh and live life with joy. Hearing that something in Tenebrae snapped. This 16 year old boy was ready to give up his body and life so others can be happy, even if he died. She started suddenly yelling at him.

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  -’THE FUCK YOU MEAN POSSES YOU!? DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL YOUR DEATH WILL CAUSE!? IT’S NOT THAT I WOULDN’T IF I COULD, BUT IF YOUR SOUL DIES IT’LL BE THE END! THE FUCKING END, KAEL!'

  Hearing this Kael was startled a bit at first, but then started laughing, even when she was scolding him. She'd make room to tease him about Katrine supposedly being his "bride", but he was laughing about it now rather than being frustrated. He truly matured every day, or rather was forced to do so. Suddenly Tenebrae saw something in Kael that startled her, the man she saw in him... No he couldn't be him, Kael was still too young and care free and too selfless to be him... But he... He was also like that... Suddenly both of them heard a knock on the door and Tenebrae suddenly went quiet letting things play out without her intervention. When Kael walked over to the door and opened it, Katrine stood on the other side.

  -"Uhhhh can I come in...?"

  Her voice was unusually quiet, but Kael didn't pay attention to it. When he moved aside to let her in she came over to his bed and sat down on it. She seemed awfully quiet and out of spirit, maybe it was the stress. After all they were going to break into one of the most secure locations on the whole planet, only other ancient mag-tech structures matched the security levels. And instead of them being professionals, it was just two lone fathers and their children. The stakes were too high for such a team, one slip up and all of them lose everything. Katrine looked up at Kael with guilt in her eyes.

  -"I should apologize to you for threatening my dad with disappearing if you wouldn't come along... I should've just stayed quiet... I'm sorry..."

  As she finished speaking she shed a single tear, Kael seeing this approached her and started patting her. A small gentle gesture that spoke more than words ever could. Kael wasn't mad at her, and she had no need to apologize to him. Kael knelt down in front of her to have his face on level with hers.

  -"You should apologize to your dad, okay? You stood up for me which I am grateful for... Thanks, I owe you again hahah..."

  Katrine, seeing this, broke down and buried her face in her hands. She expected Kael to take her father's side, but instead he was definitely taking her side and even comforting her. Suddenly she lunged forward wrapping her hands around him and crying into his shirt. Kael was startled at first but he remembered what happened two days ago, it was just like that all over again. He gently put his hand on her back to comfort her. Suddenly the door flung open and in walked both Xavier and Mark laughing and chatting. When they saw Katrine embracing Kael and him comforting her. They slowly backed away, Kael seeing this immediately rushed to the door to stop it from fully closing.

  -"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK, IT REALLY ISN'T! YOU HAVE TO TRUST ME!"

  Both fathers hearing this looked at each other with mischievous grins and started laughing. They didn't believe a single word Kael said to them, they knew their little truth and it was enough for them. Kael seeing this had his face go red with embarrassment and shame because of what those two old pricks thought had happened. Seeing this they quickly closed the door and locked it from outside, as to let things play out "naturally". Kael was so ashamed of those two old men doing such stuff that he banged his head against the door. Katrine, seeing this, got flustered even more and started stuttering, the only way to unlock the door was from the outside. Kael had an idea, since they lived on the ground floor, he could just jump out the window and go inside the house once again. As he opened the window and was about to jump out he heard Tenebrae.

  -'Running from your bride when you two are finally alone huh? So that's the kind of husband you are... I see, I see...'

  He decided to ignore her and jump out the window regardless, he quickly made his way to the front door. When he pulled on the knob it turned out to be locked too, so his only option was to go back the way he went out, which was his window. When he finally jumped inside he noticed the door to his room was unlocked and Katrine was gone, she probably went to their father's to discuss tomorrow's plans. Kael made his way to his desk and sat down on it. Their father's constant acts were making him tired, but the day was still far from over yet. So he decided to boot up his laptop to research that particular ancient mag-tech structure, he needed to know how truly dangerous it could be. He found nothing much, basic information anyone could get in today's world. But that information was either heavily censored, changed or outright cut out to suit the public as to not stir any problems. But Kael knew a way to get true information, he could get arrested for that, but it was worth it. He decided to search through some websites hidden behind the dark net, but what he found wasn't something he was searching for. Pieces of structure, weapons found in Mag-Tech, some paintings, artifacts and other useless junk. He needed information so he decided to search deeper. He found videos of accidents where people have died while experimenting with mag-tech, even some drugs that were created using Mag-Tech's technology. But he finally found what he was searching for, it was seemingly nothing much, just exact guard rotation changes in the structure they tried to break in. Those were different from what his dad noted and when he saw the date, they were seemingly newer information than the one his dad had. He thought that his father and Mark probably were spotted acting suspicious around the mag-tech structure which probably forced guard rotation changes to ensure higher security. When he was checking the blueprints and security routes out, he saw something else. In the sidebar there was a video. " 'The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness' experiment, incident 01".

  It peaked his interest enough to check it out, what he saw was something strange. The swords were held in a glass case with something hooked up to the case. There was no sound available so he didn't know what was going on, suddenly something shook the case and the swords set on fire. Pitch black fire that burned like it was alive. Then the video suddenly started lagging and finally stopped playing at all, when Kael refreshed the site the video was gone. It got taken down by something or someone, Kael was slightly frustrated by that since he was extremely curious what had happened, after all part of the title was "incident 01". Which meant that there were probably more incidents regarding the swords, but he went back with his mind to when they were shown at his school. They were broken, chipped, rusty and one of the blades was even snapped in half. It didn't make sense to him, maybe they were damaged in one of the experiments? For now this wasn't something he should bother himself with, he quickly went back to the blueprints and guard rotations and started writing everything down. After all it was more actual information than the one his father had provided, he quickly wrote everything down and got up to go to the living room where his father, Mark and Katrine resided. When he got in there they were engaged in light talk, Mark and his father were drinking beer while Katrine was drinking some juice. He quickly sat beside his father and put the note down on the table and started explaining.

  -"Change of plans, the guard rotation's changed and the routes are also different from what you two provided, this information is still fresh, a couple of hours young."

  Mark quickly picked up the note and compared it to the one they made themselves. Kael was right, everything was different from what they've seen and written down. It seems they've been spotted acting suspiciously around the mag-tech structure, which meant the immediate security changes were inevitable. Mark sighed deeply, everything they planned from getting in, scouting and going around on the inside to finally having extraction, everything had to be changed and adjusted. He was frustrated at himself for seemingly stupid mistakes, such as getting spotted acting suspiciously. He quickly pulled out his phone and went to the side, seemingly talking to an insider in the mag-tech structure. Xavier seeing what his son has done quickly parted him on the back showing his gratitude towards him.

  -"Nice job kid, if it weren't for you, we'd be in deep shit if we went with the original plan. But now, we can adjust everything so it'd be possible to pull off again. Thanks again Kael."

  His words were sincere and full of gratitude, his son potentially saved their life. Katrine seeing this also nodded her head showing her gratitude, while staying silent. She probably was still flustered about what had happened not so long ago, their fathers locking them in a room together when they saw her embracing Kael as a means of thanks. Kael laughed heartily, he was happy he was getting praised for just doing something like that. Something seemingly meaningless that could save 4 life's if it weren't for him. Mark after sometime returned and sat down on the couch, with a mischievous smirk on his face.

  -"The insider decided to agree to our change of plans, he'd be more than happy to cooperate especially when we have updated security plans."

  Everyone hearing this was happy on the inside, everything was going well so far. The plans for getting inside and outside were finished, guard rotation and routes have been assimilated by everyone, everything was ready. They just had to wait for tomorrow noon, since it was getting late, Katrine and Mark decided to stay the night over. Mark would sleep on the couch, while Katrine would sleep in Kael's room on an air mattress. This was a spontaneous decision, but everyone agreed nevertheless. As everyone was getting ready for bed and said their good-byes, Kael and Katrine went to Kael's room. Once inside they got into their sleeping positions, Katrine on the air mattress, and Kael on the bed. Suddenly Kael turned his head to Katrine.

  -"Hey... Kat, if you wanna sleep on the bed we can switch you know? I have nothing against sleeping on the air mattress, just let me know okay?”

  In his mind it was quite rude he slept on the bed, while Katrine being a "guest" had to sleep on the air mattress. He wanted her to be well rested and calm before tomorrow, since it'd be a hard day for everyone. He himself was extremely stressed, he felt like something was going to go wrong, and he felt even stronger that it involved him. He quickly shook those thoughts off as Katrine asked his question.

  -"No need... I'll be fine on the air mattress... Besides, I deserve it for... Well... You know... Besides, you remember what I said when you carried me back home when I was drunk?"

  Kael quickly started thinking, then he remembered. Indeed Katrine was mumbling in Ukrainian, slurred with English, and said something in Ukrainian he didn't understand.

  -"Yea... It was something along the lines of "я люблю тебе"? I don't remember correctly, sorry if it was something important..."

  Katrine hearing this had her face go scarlet, she remembered she said something like that to Kael and the knowledge he remembered it as well made her extremely embarrassed. Lucky for her since it was dark already Kael couldn't see her flustered state. She took a deep breath before laying back down on the air mattress.

  -"Goodnight... моя любов hah..."

  Kael didn't understand what she said to him but said goodnight to her as well and laid back as well. As sleep was calming him in its warm embrace, Kael's eyelids felt heavy and soon he fell asleep. Suddenly Kael woke up, it was the same plain where the warrior last "killed" him in his dream, the pleasant smell was back again, the corpses and spilled blood had such pleasant smell for some reason for Kael. He quickly ran over the hill and onto that same field where he was so easily killed before, but the warrior was nowhere in sight. When Kael made his way over the hundreds if not thousands of bodies laying there he noticed something strange about one particular body... It was dressed differently than the others and was emitting a foul stench instead of the pleasant smell others did... When he approached the body he saw... It was himself, it was him laying dead here, his arm chopped off and a stab wound in his back. The same way the mysterious warrior killed him last time in his dream. He stumbled back and fell onto his back, he didn't understand what was happening, why was he there? Why his own body there... Suddenly he felt the familiar chill... The warrior, he was back in his dream again… Kael quickly tried to collect himself and grabbed two swords laying around as to counter the dual wielding style of the mysterious warrior. As he readied himself, he quickly started hyperventilating, the warrior was close, but he couldn't see him... Suddenly his intuition told him to block his left side, it was a good call. The warrior struck with both swords from the left and Kael managed to block it subconsciously by pure intuition. The warrior seeing this quickly backed away and said to Kael in a voice full of venom and disgust.

  -"You became a stronger little Heir... But still you're no match for me... I'm still the rightful owner and wielder... Fight me… And show me that you’re worthy of these swords…"

  As he said so, he took a step and disappeared. Kael knew that trick from the last time he was "killed". He decided to block this time from the back, another good call. But the sheer strength put behind the attack from the warrior launched Kael across the battlefield, when he hit the ground he started rolling around. He lost his swords, his limbs were mangled, he could feel his ribs penetrating his lungs. The blood was pooling in his mouth faster than he could either puke it our cough it up, he knew it was over. The warrior slowly walked towards Kael and stood in front of him. The mask covering his lower face and eye patch made his face unreadable. He suddenly said to Kael, his voice less hostile.

  -"You blocked two attacks today, Riggs... I'll come every now and then to fight you to see who's the rightful owner and wielder..."

  As he finished speaking he raised his swords high and struck down at Kael. As he did so, Kael suddenly woke up back in reality. He could still feel the vivid pain caused by the injuries, he didn't understand how a mere dream could carry over his pain onto the real world. But now he knew, every now and then the warrior would visit him in his dream to fight him. But over what? Ownership and being a rightful wielder? Of what? Of who? Kael didn't understand a single word from the warrior or his motivation. He saw that it was still extremely early in the morning and Katrine was still sleeping. He decided to lay back in his bed, today they'd break into an mag-tech ancient structure, today at noon. He still had a bad feeling about it, then suddenly Tenebrae appeared and spoke to him.

  -'Another fight with the warrior huh? Poor thing, you got killed again... Gotta say you're the weakest host i saw so far, if i had my own body and power that guy would be no match for me... But you? You're powerless against him...'

  She was right, Kael didn't stand a chance against the warrior. His inhumane speed and strength, paired with his mastery over the swords were far out of Kael's reach. Even if he trained everyday it wouldn't be enough to even scale closely to the warrior, he was just too powerful, too strong, too fast. And Kael understood he wasn't using his full abilities against him, which meant that the warrior had multiple aces up his sleeve ready to show when Kael was ready. Which frustrated him even more, his own strength and speed was limiting him. Even though it was just a dream, he felt he had no control over it. It was clear that it wasn't exactly his dream, but something like an artificial space rather than a dream. The pain he felt after every "death" was too real to be just a dream. Kael knew that he had to do something, then suddenly Tenebrae spoke again.

  -'Although kiddo, the warrior seems to have some weak points. He purely relies on his speed and strength now, and his missing left eye creates a perfect point of attack… I think he tries to make you win for a reason.. Hah that bastard truly is something else...'

  She was right, the missing left eye and current reliance on strength and speed from the warrior created a lot of weak points and open sides to attack from. As he was thinking about it Katrine stirred in her sleep, she was slowly waking up. Kael saw this sit up on the bed and acted like nothing happened, although the pain was still shooting throughout his body. He still couldn't comprehend why he felt the pain from the dream in reality, it was something strange. As Katrine fully woke up and stretched she saw Kael was up already, it was unusual since he wasn't an early bird. She thought it was probably due to the stress, she was extremely stressed and scared too about the break in herself. She then asked him.

  -"What are you doing so early Kael...?"

  Her voice was soft and still somewhat sleepy, after all she just woke up. Kael, hearing her question, smiled somewhat sadly and answered her.

  -"I just... I just had a nightmare... Nothing big, don't concern yourself with it..."

  His voice tried to sound polite and gentle, but it was clear to hear the sheer fear and stress in his voice. For Katrine he had no ordinary nightmare, which she was correct about. She knew he was lying but decided to not press further, she saw he was in a rather fragile state even if he pretended to be fine. She quickly got up without a word and left the room to take a shower leaving Kael alone.