Kaior and Nyx sat close to each other for a while. From time to time, Kaior would hear the water rock onto the edges of the chamber from within before the ocean went quiet again. This continuous movement had caused most in the chamber to close their eyes for a few seconds, allowing themselves to be brought to sleep by it.
"Finally awake," Nyx said, looking well-rested and livelier than ever. Although she was not back to one hundred percent form, Kaior could see clear improvement in her complexion, slowly regaining its colors.
"Didn't want to wake you up. How long have I been sleeping?" Kaior yawned. He had just wanted her to rest and ended up sleeping even longer than her. He felt slightly embarrassed.
"I'm not certain, but for five hours or so. I thought you weren't waking up because you wanted me to lean on you a little longer," Nyx said with a teasing smile. Kaior's face reddened on the side. Tilting his head away, he said, "No… no way."
"You weren't getting up. I was getting worried you fainted or something. Even if I had to bring you back to life myself, I would have done it. You're not allowed to leave me, Kaior. Do you understand?" she said, her expression extremely serious, as if she would have really defied death for him.
Kaior felt touched. Sitting up, he said, "I wouldn't."
"This wound on your palm is strange, Kaior. What have you been through?" Nyx asked, holding Kaior's hands in her own. They were comparatively smaller than his and a lot warmer, Kaior thought.
Kaior was unsure how to react to that. He wanted to take his arm away but then hesitated.
He had that strange feeling—he didn't have to hide. He too could feel pain.
Those wounds had been caused during his fight with Corry, where he decapitated the other party. Should I really tell her that? Kaior hesitated. It wasn't exactly heroic nor very prestigious to shout out loud. It was true he had no choice at the moment, but still, they were supposed to escort the prisoners, not kill them.
"I had to kill him. I had no choice. The death mark was rising, you were bleeding, and I thought it would be over. I don't regret it. I did what I needed to do. That was it," Kaior said. Before Kaior could finish his words, he felt Nyx's hands on his face, causing him to slow down.
"I understand. We have chosen this path," she said with a smile. As Card Mage officers, they sometimes had to blur certain lines for their job to be done correctly, and Nyx's eyes seemed to say she was well aware of that.
"I too have something to say, Kaior," Nyx said, taking out a pair of cards from her belt pocket. Curious, Kaior took a closer look at the cards.
"The first one had always been with me, but I could not use it because of how this card functions. I needed to wait for the star exam to get a new holder to get the last one. They are called Twin Cards," Nyx said with a proud smile on her face.
Kaior's eyes flashed with surprise. He had never heard about this type of card. One was called Angel Ascend while the other was called Angel Descend. Apart from the angel theme in the cards, Kaior was quite shaken by how they worked. Twin Cards are cards that cannot be used without the other. This was quite troublesome, Kaior thought, because it was like having a half key—useless. Without the second card, Twin Cards were useless. This was why Nyx had never shown her last card.
"Card magic seems so complex and so fascinating. Donatello surely had a lot of fun creating this system," Kaior said. The more he learned about how things functioned, the more amazed he felt.
Whether it was Complementary Cards, Mirror Cards, Counter Cards, or even Twin Cards, each had its own unique mechanic that governed how the card functioned. The only anomaly was Pacts—that was breaking the system.
"Was Donatello aware something like this would ever exist or did he too include the backdoor of pacts?" Kairo was uncertain. Donatello created the whole system; it would be naive to think something like this would not have existed. It was more probable he was aware of the loophole and didn't bother fixing it.
"If we could meet him, we could ask him directly," Nyx said.
"He died more than a century ago. How can that be possible?" Kairo shook his head. It was simply impossible to live that long, and if he was alive, why would he hide? Clearly, she was making fun of him once more, Kairo thought, observing her smile.
"You just wait for my vengeance," Kairo said with a wicked smile.
However, before he could say anything, Danzan called out.
"You two, back here! There is an update from the headquarters," he said.
Kairo's face brightened. This was the ray of hope they had been waiting for. Quickly standing up, he got closer to Danzan and the others, with Nyx following after him.
Danzan brought them to a corner. On the last functional communication tablet, Kairo and the others could see Fabian.
"You're all in pretty bad shape, but alive—that's what matters," Fabian said after looking at them for some minutes.
Kairo could feel a hint of fatigue in his voice despite his neutral expression. The General's eyes were visibly taking a huge toll on him. He had to keep it active for the entire duration of the mission. It was a miracle he could still talk like this, Kairo thought.
"What's the good news, Fabian?" Danzan asked, unwilling to beat about the bush.
"Well, you'll all be safe and sound in a few hours. The submarine had done more than half of its journey before sinking. The mission is not a complete failure. Given how far you have lasted, the enemies have no way of getting the prisoners anymore. Magnus has sent a new submarine to get you all, while another group will drag the prisoner chamber on the ocean to the final location. There will be no incident on the way this time. All you have to do is wait for them to pick you up," Fabian said. "Smile—it's finally over. Until then, I need some rest," Fabian said, cutting off the communication before any of them could say anything.
Soon, only the disturbing sound of the jammed signal could be seen on the tablet, with grey lines flashing back and forth.
"You all heard it. We are going back. Just sit quietly and avoid causing any problem," Danzan said.
"That one is easy to do," Kairo said.
As if answering their call, they soon heard a loud metallic sound hammer onto the chamber pod's side, causing it to sway lightly. But no one panicked. Kairo was pretty sure it was the submarine anchoring them so they could return safely.
The ride home was tumultuous compared to the first one. From time to time, the chamber would hit onto the rocks and cause their ears to bleed in protest. Yet they had no choice and could only sit and wait.
Time flowed slowly, and after what felt like an eternity, they were all back on land.
"I'm never entering a submarine in my life again," an officer said loudly, falling onto the ground. The others laughed, releasing all the stress that had been accumulating in them.
They were back in the special room with the pod at the center. But this time, it was full of officers and doctors ready to tend to their wounds. At the head of the group were Magnus and the other captains waiting for them.
"Welcome back," Magnus said with a smile. And the officers all flashed a prideful smile—after all, this was the big boss complimenting them.
Then, one after another, the officers on the other side began clapping. First one clap, then another, and soon it was a round of applause.
"80% success for a mission of such a scale is worth praise for all of you who have worked hard. And all of those who have fallen—we will not forget them. I hope you will all continue to be the shield that keeps card magic useful and safe for the world."
Kairo too had an uncertain smile. Six officers and one prisoner had died. It wasn't completely bad. There was nothing like perfection for missions of this magnitude, thus they had to do with this number.
"Long live the Card Mage Police!" some shouted.
"Long live the Card Mage Police!" the officers chanted one after another, their voices rising into a powerful chorus of joy and happiness. Happiness for being back on land.
After that, each officer needed to go through a special test, where another officer would use a card on him before he was healed.
Kairo later learned it was to avoid any 'unwanted' metamorph onboard. After what happened with the girl in the submarine, they could not be careless and allow any strange person in the Card Mage Headquarters.
Kairo smiled amidst the joyful chatter. The mission was finally over.