the era of calamities

Sarah Harley stared at the young man.

("That made sense," she thought.)

She had already anticipated that he would ask for something in return, so she took the initiative:

"An exchange? Why would I negotiate with you? What do I gain from it?"

Sirius frowned.

("This woman..." he thought.)

He had already provided enough to strike a deal.

("Cops... stubborn to the end.") 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"I’m offering you priceless information on a silver platter, information you never would’ve gotten without me."

Sarah laughed.

"Without you? You’re not the only witness. Your sister, or your friend, could’ve helped us too."

"Are you so sure? You clearly don’t know them well. My sister Iris is someone even you couldn’t handle. She’d make you question why you do this job. You’d walk away knowing less than you do now.

As for Lucy, she won’t talk. She’ll stay silent until she knows what I have planned. She’s stubborn as hell... and honestly, she scares me sometimes, the way she digs her heels in.

And let me remind you : torture, your usual interrogation methods, won’t work on us. You should know that we’re cut from the same cloth."

Sarah remained silent.

("Interesting... but I’m not that easy to satisfy.")

"Even if what you say is true, I already got what I needed for my investigation. I could leave right now, hop on the next train, and there’s nothing you could do to stop me."

"Are you sure? What makes you think I haven’t told you everything I know?"

"You’re bluffing," Sarah cut him off coldly.

"Maybe I am. Maybe not. How could you be certain? And besides... if you walk away without giving me something in return, I’ll pay you a visit someday. It may take time, but I always keep my word. Ask that Calamity, when you see it again. Be smart, and don’t make the same mistake."

Sirius spoke with a smile, despite the veiled threat.

"I could kill you right here, right now. No one would care. They’d throw me a parade."

Sarah gave him her best smile in return.

As tension sparked between them like lightning, the two enforcers behind Sarah had no idea why their superior was treating this childish argument with such seriousness.

After a long silence, a mental war between Sarah and Sirius, they both finally gave in.

"Fine... I was bluffing. So I’m calling on your sense of virtue."

"Same here. I can’t kill you after what you did back there. Let me think over your offer after questioning the others."

"Deal. Feel free to try, but I already warned you."

"I accept the wager."

---

Outside Santa Margherita Hospital, the delegation was escorted back to their vehicle.

Next destination: Santa Theresa Clinic, where Officer Carla the sole surviving member of the fortress and this mysterious Iris, whom Sarah had just heard about, were being treated.

On the way, the two enforcers asked Sarah:

"Ma’am, why did we leave like that? It would’ve been easy to grant his request. All they want is to avoid execution and serve a fixed prison term. Neither the Empire nor we would’ve lost anything in that deal."

Sarah thought for a moment, then asked:

"So, what was your impression of him?"

"Convincing... Did we miss something?"

"You did," Sarah replied, then began her explanation.

"First: when someone prefers prison over freedom, it means they’ve already figured out a way to escape. He must have a plan and an outside accomplice. He anticipated the Order’s bluff against Major Kraft. What he didn’t expect was to stay that long or for the Calamity to be that dangerous.

Second," she raised another finger,

"he reeks of blood. He’s too dangerous to be left free. He doesn’t kill for fun or power. No... he’s the most dangerous kind he kills because he has to, to survive.

All he wants is peace with his family. That’s why he’ll never stop killing.

That threat he made , I’m telling you he can carry it out. If we give him time, he’ll find the peace he’s after... but it’ll come at the cost of a mountain of corpses—human and Calamity alike piling up, even if he never wanted it."

"Third," she raised a third finger,

"he’s dangerously interesting. While we talked, he was preparing a response for every possible scenario. He was ready to fight you even in his condition.

He’s someone I want on my side. Not against me."

Then she slumped back into her seat, relaxing into the leather.

"Let’s see what his companions have to say before we judge him."

"Yes, ma’am."

Once at the clinic, the trio was led to a room where they were supposed to meet Iris.

---

Iris sat leaning against her bed, a sorrowful look on her face.

She had recently undergone a surgery this time by a specialist to remove the corpse of a parasite lodged in her head.

The operation had been a success. She woke up without any post-surgery complications... or rather, she would’ve preferred it that way.

Iris was in mourning.

She had lost one of her most treasured possessions, something all women cherish and she, more than anyone, adored.

The moment she woke up, she thought it was a nightmare turned real. Iris was bald.

Her magnificent, smooth, luxurious purple locks had been shaved off for the operation, leaving her head smooth as a coin.

All that remained was a small pouch she kept them in... and wept over every night.

So when the delegation arrived, all they found was a broken woman.

---

"You must be Iris. Your brother spoke highly of you. But before anything else, allow me to introduce myself Sarah Harley, Secretary of the Internal Affairs Bureau. These are my colleagues. We’re here to .."

"Does life have any meaning?"

"Huh?" Sarah was taken aback by the question.

Iris spoke from her bed, her voice weak and broken, barely audible. She was unrecognizable.

"Yes... your life has meaning. You saved thousands of lives. Without you and.."

Iris interrupted.

"If life has meaning, then why are you here? Asking questions to people you probably didn’t even want to talk to? Wouldn’t you rather be at the beach, in a pretty swimsuit, with a man who desires you but doesn’t dare come close? He’d play the shy guy, and you... the diva from those cheesy TV dramas."

("Did she just describe the dream I had last night?") Sarah thought.

Without showing a trace of her inner confusion, she continued:

"I heard you helped save a soldier. What’s your resonance? What can it do?"

Iris had no interest in answering and kept rambling.

"That man of yours... he works you to death, never even noticing how hard you try to stay beautiful and graceful every day.

If men knew the sacrifice we women make to stay divas, I swear they’d say more ’I love yous’ and fewer ’Good job’s with a pat on the shoulder."

Sarah was speechless. She didn’t know what to say.

("Is she some kind of oracle? Is she here to solve my dilemma? Should I let that man go? I’m too beautiful to suffer like this.")

Her thoughts and emotions spiraled. Sarah Harley felt the urge to kneel and ask this woman for guidance.

Her legs began to buckle, as if fate itself demanded it.

Only when one knee touched the ground under the stunned gaze of her two enforcers did she recall Sirius’s words.

Mustering all her willpower, she whispered:

"Run."

She bolted from the clinic room without another word.

Back in the vehicle, she finally breathed. Her colleagues joined her, still confused.

Harley only said:

"That woman is a monster beyond handling. We’re no match for her.

She manipulates without even trying. I know very few who could survive her... and none of them are available right now.

Let’s go to the prison. We still have one last witness to question."

Sarah was so shaken by the encounter that she forgot there was still one more person to see at the clinic until her colleagues reminded her.

"There’s still someone else to question the fortress officer."

Sarah shook her head.

"We’ll get to her last. She needs to be transferred elsewhere. I don’t want to go near that Iris again."

("As long as she sees me as an enemy, I’d better keep my distance. I don’t know what her power is... but it’s terrifying. She can shake a person’s very soul.")

And so, the delegation made their way to a subterranean prison in the capital, leaving Iris and her foul mood far behind.

---

Lucy was alone in a dark room.

She had been in this cell for two months perhaps not entirely alone. On several occasions, she had been interrogated by members of the Imperial Army.

But she had never said a word. Eventually, they gave up.

As the only conscious survivor when the fortress was found destroyed, the enforcer of the Order, after verifying the truth of the report, had temporarily handed the survivors over to the Empire.

Lucy was overwhelmed with questions.

Yet once she made sure her companions were receiving proper care, she only spoke to explain Iris and Carla’s condition how both required emergency surgery and mentioned the two old ladies Iris had allegedly saved.

Lucy’s eyes were hollow.

She still carried the weight of the Invictus tragedy.

Not because of the battle itself—she was strong enough to face the world but because she realized she might not be as strong as she once believed.

That night, she had to make a choice:

Let Sirius die, or cut off his arm, possibly crippling him for life.

And that choice... haunted her like a ghost of guilt.