Edgard Strathman and the ancients

"Freckles," Kevin said, reforming his body and touching his right shoulder.

"You didn't have to... You didn't have to kill him!" Jean shouted, showing his face, which reflected anger and frustration. His pupils were torn, and the iris changed to a green color.

"What option do I have? You are no longer just any civilian; you already have a clue of what happened to you. They manipulated you at will for who knows what reasons; your eyes show that you are just like me," Kevin replied, standing up.

"I could...´´

"No, Jean, you weren't going to make it," the Australian added just as coldly. Honestly, he was not interested in Jean feeling bad; he had already fulfilled his goal of taking care of him, and that is what counts. He feels that air of superiority when looking at his opponent in a terrible mood.

"I'm going to get revenge and kick your ass so you won't be able to stand up" Jean said, gritting his teeth in helplessness, remembering all those "years" of normal life where he was recovering from a loss, a fake death of a person who never existed in a planned family, but who played so much with him that everything felt real.

"React now, asshole; you'd be dead if it weren't for me. They played with you, Jean, and if you have to kick someone's ass, it's her or her group of weird people," Kevin replied. ´´That's why I felt something strange about you in those two years.´´

"Why does someone like you help humans?" Jean asked.

"Like you, I seek the truth, nothing more. I am not interested in honor or justice; I kill anyone who interferes with the organization because they gave me a second chance. What do you know about that? Absolutely nothing; we'll just be partners; don't expect me to give you some advice or support you when you start crying like the bitch you are," Kevin replied, taking out his phone and dialing his superior's number. ´´You're an ancient, Jean; we both are.´´

The ancients, are a humanoid species that have an unknown location in the world, as well as it is not known from what era they come; Edgard Strathman gave them that nickname when he took Kevin as a subordinate, noticing everything about the young man. He also sensed that there could be more around the world.

"The police will not be long in coming. "Yes, he's dead; I had to incapacitate him," Kevin said to his boss as he looked at the freckled man.

Jean ran to his room looking for his green backpack, which he filled with clothes and useful things, such as a toothbrush or phone chargers. He decided to investigate in Mr. and Mrs. Thompson's room and opened one of the drawers of the bedside table, finding nothing more than a photo album. Inside it were images of steel helmets and round wooden shields. The dark-haired man felt another headache, which went from the middle of his face to his nose.

The one who destroys kingdoms, the one who conquered the lands of the East and crushed them, the youngest son of the general, drowned thousands right and left. He is our hero, the pride of the nation, and a relentless warrior.

The deserving of the best weapon of all, accompanied by an incomparable lady, a grown man, our commander.

When the song of thousands of voices stopped playing in his mind, the pain was finally gone. Kevin went to look for him, grabbing his arm, and pulling him to the first floor. He didn't say anything to him until he got there, pointing to the front window. A man was lifted into the air.

Meanwhile, Edward Strathman was writing a report on his blue laptop. Lisa gave him a black bowl containing a coffee she made for him. The young woman continued reading an old book while rubbing her temple, since she still could not understand what she was reading; Edgard sighed and closed his computer as he relaxed on the back of the black couch he was sitting on.

"Andersen will tell the Queen about Mr. and Mrs. Thompson as soon as she confirms that they are a danger to everyone. He's also doing the paperwork for Jean's inclusion," he told the girl.

"The two young men present a problem for us too," Lisa said. ´After all, we are hiding the inhuman species from the queen. ´´

"It's Kevin you're talking about; he does everything for us, and he's loyal to our queen. He did his job to protect the rookie. Even if his method turned out to be cruel," Edgard replied. ´´I thought you two were something.´´

"You said I had to know how to differentiate my personal life from my professional life, man," Lisa said with a slight blush.

The Strathmans, the mythical family that has been helping humanity for several centuries, were there before the queen formed the Crusader organization and used them to conquer several viceroyalties. Before, the Strathmans were persecuted by the Inquisition when they were accused of being witches.

The founders decided to expand to the rest of the globe to hide and avoid the extermination of their blood. Over the years, new generations of Strathman of different nationalities emerged as they mixed with civilians. Klein Strathman is Edgard's rightful ancestor, having wandered through Denmark and Germany in 1670 and teamed up with a hitherto unknown mage, spawning the Strathman faction with the most magic of all.

Currently, two out of ten wizards are Strathman or descendants of a large family clan, but to reach adulthood, they must go through such cruel training that only half survive. Each clan moves individually and has its own rules, but there are five that are strictly complied with in general:

"They must not mix with the entities of the night. If so, any member has the duty to eliminate it, since it stains the surname.

"If the eldest child behaves strangely and the parents look for someone to see his aura and it turns out to become dark, the eldest son must be eliminated by his parent.´´

"In case one member has an incestuous relationship with another, they will be eliminated together for their obscene sin.´´

"They can be trained by their superior and must also be left in the wild for seven nights. If they survive and return, then they are worthy of being a Strathman, but if the student commits crimes against humanity, he and his teacher will be executed.

"They can't have a romantic relationship with any royals. If there is a case of political ascension, the surname must be changed, and he will be expelled from the family to avoid bad intentions and stains.

Lisa Abena Strathman, a descendant of Marcus Strathman and Marisa Abena, in the country of Portugal, was taken away from her parents when the family learned that they were conducting experiments to create a Strathman with homunculi. It is believed that they mistreated her, even though she did not say anything about it to the authorities, and that confirmed that they did.

Edward Strathman received military honors years after joining the Crusaders; he lived training all his life, although there was a moment in his existence where he was able to settle down and have peace; he finally had something personal to fight for and defend besides his honor, but the twists and turns of life are pretty raw for men like him. He lost his daughter when he was 22 years old and separated from his wife due to the stress and pain that the loss generated for both. When the news of Marcus Strathman became known five years later, he was granted the title of guardian of the girl, even though he could not live in Portugal due to the socio-political differences that exist between Portugal and Great Britain.

When he lived with the girl, he saw her as extremely pale and weak, something rare for a Strathman. That's when he realized Marcus' accusations were true, seeing scars on the girl's abdomen and arms. She reacted reluctantly towards him, did not look at his face, and if it were up to her, she would have remained in her room all day.

"You're going to school tomorrow," Edgard said behind the door of the girl's room, waiting for an answer.

"I won't go," Lisa said. Besides, I don't know how you can understand what I'm saying.

"I know Portuguese," Edgard lied. ´Legally I am your guardian, and as such you have to obey me.´´

"Will you punish me if I don't go?" Lisa said in a panicked tone, pressing her arms with her hands. He was referring to the brutal punishment he received from Marcus.

"No," Edgard said very dryly. "I think it's the only method you know.´´

"The only thing I know, yes, I was never allowed to do anything that they couldn't see," she replied annoyed. ´´They never let me be normal.´´

"I understand. Like your clan, mine trained me harshly," Edgard said, but he was interrupted by a loud blow from inside the room.

"You don't know anything about me.´´

"Neither do you," said Edgard. ´´I know what you went through was traumatic, living for the sake of others...´´

"That's how you live, Edgard Strathman. Like me, you don't have a life to hold onto if it's not something that was instilled in you since you were a child," Lisa replied.

"I have someone to take care of now, child," the man said. ´´I usually travel all over the world so that ordinary people and you too have a life to hold on to.´´

"How come it doesn't terrify you?"

"Yes, I'm scared; I'm human too, but I remember my little girl; I couldn't take care of those things that took her from me, and then I get my courage back," Edgard said. ´´Tell me about yourself.´´

"My skill has to do with metals, especially iron, but it weakened me quickly, so they decided to increase my stamina by applying any medicine and magic substances," Lisa said. ´They... They tied me to a stretcher and did it without anesthesia; my whole body burned.´´

"Mine keeps and takes things out," said Edgard, summoning a small elf inside the girl's room, who, frightened, opened the door. The man flashed a faint smile and put the being back into his pocket dimension. ´´You've got a whole road ahead of you if you want; let's hold on to each other, little one.´´

Over the years, Lisa led the typical double life that those of her people have. On the one hand, he could enjoy friends at school, go to dances, and he could even enjoy the summer; on the other side, Edgard took it with him to eliminate the monsters that wanted to attack towns and cities in the rest of the world, having several adventures. Thanks to this, she was able to strengthen his character, healing his emotional wounds.

Edgard was not fully healed, but he was happy to see that he managed to change a broken person. It was on a mission in Australia that he met a boy who saved a village from a monster. As his tongue was extremely rare, Edgard gave him a translation gem in the shape of an earring and discovered, thanks to Kevin, that before everything, the boy's species existed. Through lies he managed to take him as his son, despite Lisa's displeasure.

He had the idea that the sand king would understand more about his world with Lisa's help. He achieved his goal, but what he didn't predict was that they were both more attached in a strange and affectionate way in a span of two years; obviously, Edgard opposed the idea because of the clan's rules, but ended up hiding that relationship from everyone by using a spell that covered the eyes and the scales of the face by giving him a red band, although before Kevin used black wristbands to hide his true appearance.

"Tomorrow I'll meet Andersen; I don't want any problems," Edgard said, but when he finished saying that sentence, they called again, and it was Kevin's number. He held the cell phone to his ear and heard a woman's voice with unpleasant news. ´Damn it!´

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