The Guardians' Legacy

— Ah. So there are residents. — The taller policeman said without getting excited in a sly tone while the shorter one, with a displeased grimace, scratched his thick beard in observation of the couple in front of him. Both carried Sathsai muskets in their arms that they made a point of showing off.

—What took you so long? — said the bearded man in a threatening tone.

— Delay? What delay? — Aldren changed the subject in a pathetic tone next to his “wife”. — What brings you here, gentlemen?

The boy smiled at the men and hid any suspicious looks while Celina, at his side, did not hide her observant gaze.

— Didn't you hear it on the radio? — The taller one asked in surprise. — The police have been ordered to check if a criminal fugitive is hiding in the area. Can we go in and check?

— I heard that right. What was I thinking? — Aldren lied, smiling nervously. — Criminals are very dangerous. It's a good thing we have you to protect us.

- And then?

— So what?

— Like what? Can we go in or not? — asked the police officer, impatient with the boy's clumsiness. — It's for your protection.

The man lightly raised the musket in his hands with a frown on his face.

— Of course, of course. Please come in. — Aldren replied, making room in the doorway. Celina, beside him, remained silent, showing nothing more than the outline of a completely false, kind smile.

Both men in uniform entered through the door of the house. The one with the beard began to walk around the rustic room while observing the portraits hanging on the walls. The taller one, in turn, after entering and acclimatizing himself, continued the conversation at the entrance:

— What are your names, again?

— Yeah... Dawson and... Rose... Dawson and Rose Barnan. — Aldren interpreted, sweating coldly.

— Barnan? Like the singer?

—That's... Exactly. — he replied, almost thanking the man for believing in something so ridiculously false.

Colth, inside the cabinet next to the situation, listened to everything with trembling hands while he held the kitchen knife tightly and hoped he wouldn't have to use it. The boy managed his breathing as much as possible to not make any noise.

Meanwhile, at the back of the room, Garta followed the other police officer with his eyes through the cracks in the closet door from where he was.

— Are you the owner of this house? — The tallest one continued with his brief interrogation about the supposed peaceful life of Aldren, or rather, Mr. Barnan.

— Oh, no. It's rented, we've only been here a short time. — he replied with the first words that came to his head.

— It's a big house for a young couple. — replied the officer, observing the surroundings.

— Do you think so? It's not that much, no. It's just an impression.

— You’re not much of a talker, are you? — asked the officer, looking at the girl.

Celina was distracted as she watched the other police officer approaching the closet where Garta was hiding. The bearded man seemed much more intrusive in his investigations; if he reached the closet, he would certainly try to open it. The girl suddenly turned her attention to the officer in front of her when she noticed him looking impatient.

— Oh, Me? No...

— My wife is very shy — Aldren intervened, completely out of place.

The man raised one of his eyebrows suspiciously, but did not do anything more than that. Instead, he wanted to satisfy his own curiosity by turning to the boy:

— Are you related to Barnan? The singer.

— What? No, no — Aldren replied with an uncomfortable smile.

—Haha. Of course not. If they did, they wouldn't be living so close to the border. In this sewer. Hahaha.

— Hehehe. — Aldren forced a laugh and paid attention to the other police officer who was about to open the closet at the back of the room where Garta was.

— It's a shame. — added the officer after his loud laugh. — My children would love an autograph with Barnan.

— Who wouldn't?

— His songs are really good and...

— Officer! — Aldren shouted toward the back of the room, interrupting the casual chatter of the nearest officer. His call was addressed to the bearded man who already had his hands on the handle of the wooden closet door. — Yes... Sir — he disguised himself — Please, don't open that closet.

The boy walked quickly to the other side of the room and joined the shorter officer. Celina remained in the same place, next to the other suspicious man, she met Colth's eyes hidden between the crack of the door and stopped herself.

— Why not? — The man with the thick beard asked with suspicion in his eyes.

— It's a mess in there. Clothes and more clothes. If you open it, it'll be an avalanche. — Aldren replied without creativity.

—Are you serious? — the man doubted. He still had his hand on the door handle.

— Like I said. We just changed. The clothes are still messy.

— You know, I took a look around your house. It's quite cozy. — The police officer looked around the room.

- Thanks.

— One bedroom, one bathroom, one kitchen, and one living room. That's it? It's just the two of you?

— It's just me and my dear wife, we don't need more than that to live. — Aldren kept his fake smile on his face.

The man took a deep breath, as if he had found the answer to something. He gave up on the door and turned completely to the boy.

With his back to the closet, the policeman once again held his musket with both hands while showing a sarcastic smile at Aldren. He continued:

— They have a dozen pictures on the wall, but none of them have you in them, and besides, they don't even know how many rooms there are in the house. — He took a threatening step towards the boy. — There are two rooms. You know what I think? I don't think you're from here.

As soon as he finished speaking, the policeman pointed the musket at Aldren's chest, who, after taking a step back, froze.

— What are you hiding? — asked the police officer, standing in front of the boy.

The sudden sound of kicking the wooden surface echoed through the house.

The closet door behind the threatening man suddenly opened. Garta, using the musket she was carrying, hit the man with the butt of the gun in one movement. The woman was so fast that the officer didn't even have time to put his finger on the trigger of the weapon he was carrying, and then he passed out without knowing what had hit him.

In fact, the guard was right, those two police officers were completely unprepared and their experience was limited to inspecting sales of products in the street market.

Amidst the sudden movement, Celina pushed the second police officer across the room, who, surprised, fell to the floor. The girl ran away panting while the man quickly got up.

When the man finally got up from the ground, he pointed his musket at the first target he saw, Aldren, on the other side of the room. He had time to notice his fellow officer already unconscious on the ground while the woman with black hair and shiny glasses fixed him in her sights.

Both held back on stagnant threats.

— Tsc.

One in each corner of the room, Garta and the policeman faced each other and caressed the trigger of their weapons. One false move and the house would become a battlefield.

The warden pointed her blackpowder musket at the police symbol embroidered on the man's uniform as he held Aldren in the sights of his Sathsai musket.

— Put the gun down! Or your friend's head will turn to ashes! — Exclaimed the inexperienced policeman, shaken.

— You can leave if you want! — Garta shouted towards the officer, but his true intention was for Colth to understand the message, and it worked.

— I'm not going anywhere. — replied the police officer, not noticing the closet door behind him slowly opening. — I serve the empire. I have light in my blood. I don't run from enemies, much less from rebels.

Stealthily, Colth approached the man who was trying to maintain his posture, raised the knife to the collar of his police uniform, and hesitated.

The boy with the knife contained his nervousness. His face was clearly terrified while his hands were shaking to show it.

“I can’t do it. I can’t do it.” He thought. In his mind, this was unacceptable. He was about to hurt a person, and if that wasn’t enough, his target was an officer of the empire.

— I can't. — he let his thought escape in an almost tearful whisper between his teeth.

— What? — the man was surprised.

The police officer was startled and turned around abruptly, aiming to point his gun at whoever was behind him. His movement was interrupted, but he pulled the trigger without thinking. Garta did the same in response to the sudden movement. It all lasted only a fraction of a second.

Bang! Swooish! The different sounds, first of the gunpowder exploding and then of the Sathsai crystal's energy burning the air, mixed together and echoed beyond the room. Complete silence came to elucidate what had happened.

Celina, in a reckless movement, stopped the movement of the police officer's gun, preventing it from aligning with Colth's trembling body. The trail of light left by the energy of the officer's shot passed so close to the girl's neck that some strands of her beautiful light hair had their ends charred.

The shot from the man's musket cut through the room in a trail of light, passing through the thin wooden wall, burning it and leaving behind a perfect circular opening the size of a coin. The energy only stopped its destruction when it collided with the brick wall outside the residence. As for the other shot, the policeman was not as lucky as the girl.

The silence was broken by the sound of the deceased body falling onto the dusty carpet in the living room.

— Shit... — Colth whispered in terror, he froze.

— What did you do!? What did you... — Celina went after the paralyzed boy, her face stained with drops of blood coming from the body that was cooling before her eyes.

- And me...

Colth was completely scared and static, he continued to watch the corpse being slowly embraced by a syrupy pool of blood on the floor.

— You could have killed us. — Celina grabbed the boy's collar in an unpredictable threat. Colth paid no attention, remaining motionless with his eyes fixed on the corpse. — Yours. Yours...

— Celina, no! — Aldren stood in front of the enraged girl. He held the hands of the girl who really looked like she was ready to punch Colth a few times.

— Aldren... Could you... — Celina tried to justify the emotion stuck in her throat. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes in a sentimental storm that she couldn't control.

— Control yourself, Celina. Not now... — Aldren begged as he caressed the girl's shoulders.

The girl's heart was burning and her breathing was short. She gasped for oxygen in the air, but her lungs seemed unable to fill.

— You... — Disturbed, she lost the strength in her legs and fell weakened.

— Celina... — Aldren's eyes widened and he held the girl to stop her from hurting her knees when she fell to the ground.

Two steps away, Colth continued to look distraught at the policeman's corpse:

— H-he had children... We are murderers.

The distressed boy was in a state as chaotic as the girl. His eyes were shaking, as were his hands, showing that the sight of that death was something that had violently impacted him.

— Celina... Calm down, Celina. — Aldren continued trying to calm the girl down.

— Ahhh! I can't breathe, Aldren. — Celina whispered with the little air she had left amidst the absolute pain in her chest. She felt like she was drowning, even though she had no reason to be. — I can't breathe... I don't...

— What the hell is this? — Garta threw his thoughts into the air. He never expected that disastrous scene.

Colth stood paralyzed in the corner of the room, Celina on the floor trying to catch her breath, and a corpse gushing blood onto the carpet. The guardian had no idea how to solve any of this.

— Celina panicked... — Aldren said, almost asking for help. He was the only one sane besides Garta.

— Shit... — Garta repeated hesitatingly.

— I'm here. I'm here, with you. Breathe... — the boy continued to help and calm the girl in his arms.

— This is not the time for this. The other police officers must have heard the shots. — Garta knew that this statement would be useless, but he still said it in the midst of stress.

— That's it, Celina... Calm down. Very calm.

— Fuuuu... — she finally took a deep breath. She was beginning to alleviate her inner chaos with Aldren's help.

The boy was so quick and accurate in his actions that it was obvious that he had already experienced that type of situation before.

Swooish! A shot rang out from outside the house. The beam of light shattered the thin glass of the window and entered the room, tearing through the air near Garta's head.

Immediately, the woman crouched down and went under the same window through which the energy from the shot had passed. Luckily, the rest of the group was out of sight of the shooter on the street.

— This is the capital police! Get out of the house, immediately! — shouted the man from across the street.

— First they shoot and then they warn? — Garta whispered to herself, having the protection of the house's outer wall.

At that moment, she felt grateful to see her colleagues in places not visible to those outside, but even so, she had to hurry them.

 — They're already here! Aldren! — Garta shouted, reloading his gunpowder musket.

— Okay! I already noticed — the boy replied without taking his eyes off Celina who was finally breathing with all the power in her lungs. — Colth, listen to me — Aldren took two quick steps towards his friend, still in shock. — I know it's difficult. But it was us or them.

Colth finally moved his pupils in a direction that made sense. He felt the warmth of Aldren's hands on his shoulders and seemed to have regained some consciousness.

— It wasn't your fault, okay? We all know that — Aldren asked, looking for some answer from the boy.

A wordless nod from Colth was all he managed to get out of the poor, recently traumatized man.

Bang! The explosion of gunpowder caught everyone's attention. Garta was the one who fired, hitting the surface of the street's stones. That shot was intended to delay the pair of police officers who were trying to approach the house. They were hiding behind the large trash can on the sidewalk across the street while aiming at the window of the chaotic living room.

— Aldren! — Garta said urgently.

— Listen to me, Colth. I need you to go with Celina to the basement. Can you do that? — Aldren was being gentle, even though he was tense and in a hurry.

— ... — Colth's response was just a nod. He looked visibly dejected.

— Great. Go over there and wait.

Colth nodded again. He crept along with Celina to the kitchen, away from the chaos.

Aldren could finally focus on the fight that was about to come. He quickly grabbed the bloody gun of the recently killed police officer and hid behind the wall of the room, following Garta's example. On opposite sides of the window, they looked at each other hurriedly.

— Aldren, have you ever used one of these? — Garta knew the answer, but she asked anyway.

— Never. — The boy replied, looking at Sathsai's strange musket in his hands.

— Here. Trade with me. — He handed over his musket and received his colleague's, taking care not to be visible to the men outside.

— I have to say that I don't have much experience with this one either.

— You don't need to have experience. I just need you to shoot at them and distract them. I'll do the rest. — Garta said, confident.

— If you say so...

The boy prepared himself for what was to come. His finger was already positioned on the trigger.

The pair of men on the other side of the street, still behind the same trash can, waited for a single hesitation from whoever was inside the house. They continued to aim their muskets and listened for any movement coming from the window.

— Wait for my signal — Garta ordered. — They don't know about you yet. If it's not the first time, we'll lose the surprise factor.

— Does that mean we only have one chance?

— Wait for my signal, Aldren.

The woman repeated the instruction, which was met with silence from the boy. Garta closed his eyes and took a deep breath. One, two seconds.

- Now!

Aldren stepped out the window and then pulled the trigger. The lead pellet fired from the musket flew across the street, passing far from the men, and hitting the brick wall behind them. That was enough to turn both of them back to their attention, and more importantly, their sights on the frightened young man on the other side of the window.

Swooish! Swooish! The shots were aimed at Aldren, but they passed through the window without hitting anyone. The boy had already hidden behind the wall, he was no longer visible. Then a third shot echoed through the narrow streets of the north and lit up the living room of the house.

Swooish! The beam of light drew a perfect horizontal line from the window, across the street, and all the way to the men on the sidewalk. It hit one of the police officers squarely in the forehead.

Even after his shot, Garta continued to stand with his body exposed in the window. He had put his gun aside, and now he pointed the palm of his right hand toward the only remaining man on the other side of the street.

— Girl, what are you doing? — Aldren asked scared.

The woman stared at the police officer. He had the sight of his powerful Sathsai gun pointed at the single target in the window.

— Garta, get out of there! You're going to... — Amidst Aldren's desperate screams, a weak light took over the guardian's palm.

Blast! After the strange sound coming from outside, silence reigned.

— There you go. — Garta took a deep breath before lowering his arm and turning his expressionless eyes to his colleague beside him.

— R-ready?

— Let's see how the others are doing.

—Wait. T-that was...

— The displacement? Yes. — Garta summarized the words not found by the surprised boy.

Aldren remained open-mouthed as Garta walked towards the kitchen.

The boy tried hard, but his search for enemies on the other side of the street yielded nothing. All he saw was the trash can on the sidewalk and a single corpse with its forehead on fire.

— Did you send the policeman to the other world? — He took his eyes off the window to follow the guardian.

— Yes, to Finn's world. My brother will take care of him.

— Incredible. But why did you expose yourself so much? I mean, the police officer could have shot you before...

— No. He couldn't. If he could, I wouldn't be here talking to you, would I? — he answered directly in a harsh tone.

— Why not? — In the middle of the kitchen, Aldren stopped in his tracks, stopping in front of the woman with a closed face.

— Four seconds. That's how long a Sathsai musket takes between shots. — Garta sidestepped the obstacle boy and headed for the door that led to the basement.

— Four seconds? That's crazy... — Aldren whispered, swallowing hard.