Paramythi I: City of Glass

The adrenaline filling the room had died down almost as quickly as Elias’ heartbeat had started thumping against his ribcage.

During such a state of coming down from his high, Elias had been forced to sit down on the blanket box at the foot of Twyla’s bed, facing Kane whilst his back remained to Enzo and Theo. Beside him sat Psykhe, and together they mulled over their shared feelings of shame and guilt for their unexplained actions regarding their rather extreme entrance.

“Well, you weren’t wrong about this little ambush, huh, Twyla?” Enzo spoke up, arms folding over his chest as he set his gaze downward, towards the back of Psykhe’s head. “Be thankful it was us here and not Neoma and Tovi. Theo and I are actually respectful when it comes to kicking people around.”

Theo stepped up behind Elias and smirked. “Most of the time, my friend.” His voice was gruff and deep, laced with the velvety promise of devious meanings. “There was that one time we happened to push just a little further. I’m not sure our dear Neoma and Tovi would have even considered taking such a drastic step.”

“Right, right…” Enzo raised his gaze and sent Theo a small smile which was returned in full by his mischievous companion. “But anyways, Tovi and I got people to interview from Eirini this morning. Whatever extra entail there might be on this mission will soon be presented to you, Cap’n!”

Kane’s calm face turned into a small, humorous expression in attempts to hide the ounce of frustration he felt towards his best Unit. Naturally, he was used to the two constantly playing around even at the most serious of moments, such as these.

Alas, he had hoped their jesting would have died down around the new recruits enough to take them seriously and had managed to miss the look of utter fear written on Elias’ face, blatantly displaying just how much the young man had believed Enzo and Theo’s exchange of words.

“Yes, thank you.” Kane sighed. “Promise you won’t project your annoyance onto the suspects and victims just because you have to spend time with Tovi all afternoon.”

“What kind of guy do you take me for?” Enzo scoffed and pivoted to head on towards the door. “Glad you’re safe and sound, Twyla!” With a lazy salute, the man exited the room and closed the door up behind him.

“You have wonderful little recruits, Kane,” Twyla spoke. It was the first time they had said anything and they sounded so wonderful and terrifying all at once for Elias’ ears. It was like five different tones and octaves flowing in one, fluid motion. “So loyal and full of promise.”

Elias swallowed down the lump forming in his throat and shifted, without thought, away from the foot of the bed, thus causing his shoulder to bump against the man standing behind him. Blue eyes widened and Elias shuffled closer to Psykhe, finding comfort in the serious girl he would otherwise be afraid to get close to if Theo Dante was not looming behind him.

“You killed our friend,” Psykhe said without batting an eye. “You had the Shema in Eirini under a spell, attacked the village, and killed our friend.”

Twyla’s white eyes held no void for expression and their lips remained quirked at the edges, no hint or sign of remorse or sorrow for Psykhe’s comment. Instead, it was Kane who took emotion in check and averted his eyes from the pair sitting across from him.

“Well, if you and the young man here had succeeded in your little assassination plans, then you would have killed our friend,” Theo claimed with a low tone. He began pacing back and forth alongside the blanket box and stopped beside Psykhe. “It would have been such a terrible mess, too.” He tutted, raising the breakfast knives of which he had taken off the duo and waved their blunt edge in front of Psykhe’s face.

“It was not Twyla’s fault,” said Kane. He shifted where he sat and crossed his arms over his chest, taking a low breath. “It was Emvolo’s Governor. The Capitol.”

“How can you say that?” Psykhe cocked a brow and turned her cheek away from the knives in Theo’s hand. “How can you go ahead and blame Capitol after this wielder attacked us? I struck them down from the sky myself! They were holding a bomb and put Artemis and Midas in the infirmary!”

“Ah, yes.” Twyla nodded and sat back in their bed, long fingers intertwining against their stomach. “Your Faeman friend and the young Allowa-halfling. Kane has told me all about them. I hope they get better… and that the little one’s shoulder will heal, probably.”

“You’re an Avolaki, aren’t you?” Elias whispered. It had been the first thing he managed to say since invading the room. “The white eyes and accent…i s it common for your race to have Magick wielders among them?”

Twyla tilted their head and smiled. “It is not common, no. It is as rare as finding a Magick among the Sylvannix or Faeman.” They seemed to look towards Kane and untangled their fingers to reach out to him, hand falling upon his broad shoulder. “Kane has told me about you, too. Elias Kara… such an ordinary boy.”

If there were to be a silence following such an interesting comment, Psykhe made sure of no such thing and opened her mouth to speak. She would have likely gone on to point out Twyla’s actions and their unspeakable betrayal to the Rebellion if not for Kane’s stern eyes cutting across to look her up and down. A tension followed when their eyes locked. It was Theo who surprisingly spoke out to shatter the awkwardness in the room.

“In case you kids are still in the dark; Twyla here was under some kind of spell.” With a grunt, the man dropped himself onto a stool beside Twyla’s bed and idly swung the breakfast knives as he spoke. “See, Capitol civilians have a way of manipulating certain DNA strings in each and every one of our unique bodies among the different races here in the Rebellion. It turns out that the Avolaki and Allowa, being in the same gene-pool, have a certain weakness against Capitol’s latest discovery. It’s kinda like how an Anthill works. Whatever the queen ant tells its minions to do, they follow it without question.”

“Although we have not yet found substantial evidence regarding Capitol experiments against Avolaki and Allowa, it would hardly be surprising after the earlier years of Prowlers among Capitol’s defence and security,” Kane added. “…Ciiria had a call from Governor Phobos. The Governor made it clear not to leave the borders, specifically to enter places like Eirini. It was clear they were trying to hide something and the bomb they gave Twyla was probably supposed to cover it all up.”

“It would have been a suicide mission,” Elias said solemnly. “So when Riyo shot the bomb out of your hand, we were actually saving you? And Psykhe getting you out of the sky… did she undo the spell?”

Psykhe remained silent whilst the conversation continued and kept her eyes fixated upon Kane and Twyla.

“Indeed,” Twyla smiled and pulled their hand away from Kane’s shoulder. “I cannot recall the last nine months, but I am convinced this manipulation technique can only be injected regularly to keep the system flowing under the injector’s influence.” As they spoke, they rolled their sleeve back and revealed the rather ugly markings on their inner elbow; puncture wounds from a needle in various places. “I had not a mark on my body, from what I recall nine months ago. This whole thing seems to be in the earliest stages of investigation, yet I am in debt to you both and I only wish we had not met under such horrible circumstances.”

Elias sat back, finding himself growing slightly at ease. Twyla seemed the fiendish type and their small smiles and white eyes only made them appear more devious and haunting than Zyki. Yet, even with such an attitude, Elias could not ignore their majestic presence and their flowing white hair. During his studies and training, he had been particularly keen to learn more about the differences in races and what set them apart from each other. The Allowa and Avolaki were especially interesting with their shapeshifting abilities and impish features.

Society looked at them far differently, sadly. The Allowa had and always would be feared by the other races, for a full-bred Allowa was probably the most frightening thing to walk and talk. Compared to them, the Avolaki were gentle folk with a presence of everlasting serenity and calm; yet their devious nature would always be a heavier trait than that of Allowa. They were the ying to their counterpart’s yang and seemed prideful in being accepted so kindly by other races.

Furthermore, both races were well known for their ‘moon eyes’, in which their entire eyeball is white with no iris or pupil to make up its exterior. Over the course of years, however, Allowa have excluded themselves from having moon eyes and used their shapeshifting skills to make their eyes appear more humane. Which left almost every Avolaki to walk around with utterly white eyes to divert themselves from their counterparts.

In short, the young man supposed he should feel offended if he was being deceived by others’ appearances. It was almost like lying straight to his face. But then he figured that he would probably do the same in their shoes and make himself look stronger and normal just to fit in; since the true visage of an Allawo or Avolaki was made up of black veins, razor sharp teeth and grey skin.

“I hope your friends recover soon, young Kara.” Twyla spoke, breaking Elias’ analysis. “I would like to return to resting now.”

Kane glanced towards his new recruits and nodded, a silent way of dismissing them both and politely telling them to get up and leave. His blue eyes looked serious and were clearly trying to say something along the lines of ’do not speak of this with the others until I have explained it to them myself.’

Elias had no intentions of even going into depth with anyone on the topic in the first place, and as he slid off of the blanket box and started towards the bedroom door, he wondered if Psykhe had the same idea of secrecy.

Looking over to her now, he could not tell. He never could tell what was going on in her head and wondered if he would ever be able to make sense of the seriousness in her eyes or the hardened way her jaw set and how her muscles tensed. She was like an open book with its pages spread open for everyone to see, but the font was in gibberish and no-one could decipher it.

“They’re blessed,” Psykhe muttered once she and Elias had stepped into the hallway.

Elias merely blinked dubiously. “What do you mean?”

“The Avolaki, they have white hair. It means the Gods have blessed them with grace and power, just like the prophet of Emvolo.”

Peering back into the room where Kane seemed to be talking to Twyla and Theo, Elias’ eyes moved towards the latter and he frowned. “What about that man? The Sylvannix? He has white hair, too.”

Psykhe shook her head. “It’s dyed. You can smell the bleach on him.” Her eyes travelled over her shoulder and her lips set themselves into a grim line. “He’s a fake. The Gods would have never touched a man like that.”

Elias would have asked just what Psykhe had meant by that if Kane had not waltzed over to the door to speak with them. Even after showing his kinder side in the presence of Twyla, Elias thought of him as rather intimidating and serious. It was simply the way he carried himself; shoulders back, neck long and eyes steady. He was not a nervous wreck like Elias so often was. He was admirable.

“I spoke with Enzo on how all of you demonstrated your skills during your first mission,” Kane began, speaking as though this was a setting for a mission report instead of an empty hallway filled with loose ends and unanswered questions. “I am impressed, but also think it is wise for the both of you to take a break. I do have a mission in waiting, though… one in particular that might be of interest to Kara. If you wish to take it, then please, come to my study at sundown and I will tell you the details. Until then, I would like for the both of you to rest up and return to your regular routines.” He said nothing of Twyla and nodded stiffly before turning around and closing up the door behind him.

Psykhe dismissed Elias without a word and started down the hall from once she had come.

“Hey, where are you going?” Elias called out.

“Returning to my regular routine.” Replied Psykhe over her shoulder. She waved a hand lazily and swiped her palm through the air, a mild sort of action to rid the tension and say goodbye as she turned the corner and left Elias’ sight for good.

“I’m gonna need to know if you’ve seen anything out of the ordinary in the last few days.” Enzo said, addressing the short, chubby man sitting across from him. “Even a merchant like yourself could prove to have a reliable piece of information for our investigation on the attack in Eirini.”

The merchant being questioned seemed to only half-listen to Enzo. His attention was focused specifically on the large bag and crate sitting in the corner of the small room currently being used as an interrogation room. There was barely anything within the small space, save for the large table in the centre and the three chairs set up around it; Enzo and Tovi sitting on one side while the merchant sat across from them with the most uncooperative expression anyone could hold on their face.

Tovi shifted in his seat, causing the merchant’s nerves to stand on end. Scoffing, Tovi elbowed Enzo in the side and nodded towards the bag and crate in the corner of the room.

Enzo followed his temporary-partner’s eyes and cocked a brow. “Really? You’re scared because we took your stuff away?” He pushed back from the table, thus causing the legs of his chair to make a loud noise against the floorboards, and stood up. “Will you be willing to talk if I just hand it back to you?”

The chubby man’s eyes fluttered open, growing wider as Enzo stepped on over to the packed up goods and collective stock in the corner. “No, please don’t touch that!” The merchant called out, visibly tensing when Enzo bent down to lift the crate into his arms with ease and turn back to the table. “I promise to speak as soon as you put that down!”

Enzo dropped the crate down onto the table’s surface and held out his hand to Tovi, wordlessly. Tovi was swift in his cooperation and unhooked the small knife he kept on the inside of his jacket and handed it over, eyes keen with much more interest than what was displayed on his deadpanned face.

“You can’t do that! That’s damage to my goods!” The merchant stood up from his chair, determined to reach out and take the knife from Enzo’s hand as he began to pry open the top of the crate with the blade’s edge. What stopped the merchant from doing such a thing had been the look in Tovi’s eyes and, with reluctance, he sat back down. “This is considered harassment, you know.”

“Yeah, well, think of it this way…” Enzo sighed and popped the lid of the crate open. He handed the knife back to Tovi and smirked, eyeballing the merchant with genuine fondness. “If what we find in here happens to be something completely harmless and legal, then no hard feelings, right?” Dropping his hands upon the lid, Enzo began to lift it up. “But, if it’s something else? Well, you know what’ll happen.”

The merchant’s face went red and he looked down. “You should have just left it alone…” He muttered, hands clasping together against his lap. “Am I going to jail?”

Enzo swallowed down his cocky words and dipped his hands into the depth of the crate, being mindful of the assorted hay and pieces of Shema wool to keep the contents warm and comfortable. What he lifted out of the crate was nothing like an ordinary piece of ware, nor was it an object anyone could find at the local stores in the market. Emvolo’s grand shops did not even sell this specific kind of thing and Enzo was baffled to be able to hold one.

“…you’re selling these?” Enzo said after a long while of simply marvelling, trapped in a state of awe. “You’re selling phoenixes? You know that’s a crime.” Gritting his teeth, Enzo handed the small, red bird to Tovi and walked around the table to cuff the merchant and take him elsewhere. “Let’s see what our Captain has to say about that, huh?”

Tovi whistled lowly and cradled the phoenix close to his chest. He paid little attention to Enzo and the merchant as they struggled to reach the door and leave the room. He was more than content with the little creature and idly dragged his index finger over the top of its soft head and down its back where the hotter feathers met the outlines of its closed-in wings.

Clicking his tongue, Tovi shifted and gingerly placed the small bird back into its crate. The crimes against selling exotic animals here in Emvolo of all places were especially bad, even along the borders of Minoas. Phoenix were growing extinct by the growing day and Tovi had not seen one since he had joined the Rebellion. Alas, selling them for their rarity and hoping to make a good penny out of it was nothing short of animal abuse and a crime against nature.

Until such a matter could be resolved, Tovi would happily take the small bird into his care.

Elias had been stuck with himself and the loneliness of the hallways. He had thought of going to Kaira’s room once or twice, then told himself to leave the girl alone and grant her the space she most certainly desired. He hoped she would at least come around sooner or later. Until then, and for the remainder of his hours waiting for the sun to go down, Elias had sat in the infirmary beside Helios’ bed, reading a book about Blessed races and the differences in who had been granted gifts by gods and who had been forsaken.

In short, Psykhe had been right about Twyla being one of the gifted individuals. Somewhere along the lines, Elias had forgotten all about this section of his studies and was mentally kicking himself for not noticing first at the given time. White hair was a sign of purity and grace. Twyla was as powerful as the prophets of Galaxis.

Asides all of this, Elias was also interested in asking Riyo about their shapeshifting abilities and if what they looked like was their true self or not. The thought was naturally a short one. Elias was intimidated by the half-breed and Riyo never really spoke about themselves, unlike Helios.

In short, Elias might have a higher chance of talking with Zyki about it and wondered just how he would go about getting the right questions out without seeming any nosier than he would make himself out to be.

“You look… serious.”

Lifting his head, Elias met Helios’ colourful eyes and smiled. “How are you feeling?” Closing up his book, Elias hopped off of his small stool and stood, eyes looking up and down his friend. “Do you want me to get Neoma?”

“There’s no need this second,” Helios shook his head, voice leaving his lips in a weak whisper. “…is Ri okay? There was a Shema and we were attacked.”

“Riyo led the Shema away before it could cause any more damage. They saved you.” Elias explained and pretended his throat was not starting to close up with dread. “We were attacked by a Magick wielder. They were controlling the Shema in the village. Riyo was shot with some kind of purple magic, but they’re okay.” Motioning towards Riyo’s bed, Elias pursed his lips. His fingers played with the small thread hanging from the cover of his book, nervous.

Helios managed to miss Elias’ unease and turned his head to look at Riyo’s sleeping face. “First mission put us in the infirmary, how sad.” There was a lace of humour in the Faeman’s tone and Helios pulled back a weak smile. “I guess we’ll just have to try harder on our next mission together.”

Elias visibly winced and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Helios, I overheard Quincy and Zyki talking with Riyo earlier,” noticing the distant look forming in Helios’ eyes, Elias was tempted to stop speaking, knowing that Helios was no fool and could probably guess what he was about to say. “…they said the two of you can't be partners anymore and you'll end up with either me or Psykhe. I’m sorry.”

Helios frowned. “You or Psykhe?” His throat visibly bobbed and he turned, eyes looking up to Elias. “You mean you and Eris aren’t partners anymore, either?”

For the first time in a long time, Elias did not have the answer to the task he had been handed. He stood there beside Helios’ bed, eyes wide and lips apart. There were plenty of ways to address the situation and even more ways to present a far more appropriate expression than that of a dumbfounded fool, but Elias was genuinely speechless.

“Eris is gone,” Riyo said, voice as edgy and raspy as ever. Their eyes remained closed and they turned their head away from their companions. “She saved us all at the cost of her own life.”

“No, wait,” Helios blinked away the forming tears in his eyes and struggled to sit up, fighting the burning sensation radiating from his stomach. He hissed, elbows propping themselves against the mattress as his eyes jumped between Riyo and Elias. “Eris is dead? Just like that? Is the Magick wielder going to trial? Did we catch them? What about the Inn?”

“Please calm down, Helios.” Elias stepped closer to the bed, placed his book upon the bedside table, and laid his hands upon his friend’s shoulders. “You shouldn’t wear yourself out like this, please.”

“She was always there to help me during our study hours,” Helios mumbled, allowing Elias to push him back down against the soft pillows and comforting mattress. “She was too kind. Why did it have to be her?”

Riyo remained silent. Elias was rendered speechless, too. Yet there was no silence between them. Helios’ weeping was quickly making up for the tears everyone else should have shed for their friend until the infirmary door slid open.

Psykhe of all people walked in, a paper bag gripped within the palm of her hand. “She was a hero,” stepping over to the foot of Riyo’s bed, she paused. “Her death did not occur due to the actions of a coward.” She dropped the paper bag on Riyo’s covers and sorted through its contents with a blunt expression.

Riyo finally turned their head and opened their eyes. The blue of their irises were as bright as ever and they made a puzzled face as Psykhe continued to sort through her bag at the foot of their bed. “What are you doing, Trezla?”

Psykhe replied by tossing a bundle of notes tied by paper clips and rubber bands; money. “I went to collect our fee for the mission. This is your share.” She tossed two more over to Helios and Elias, then flattened her paper bag, folded it up and slipped it into her pocket. “Do what you want with it.”

Helios rubbed away the essence of his tears with the back of his hand and picked up his share with narrowed eyes. “Where’s yours, Psykhe?” He asked, sniffling between words.

Psykhe crossed her arms over her chest and leant against Riyo’s bed. “I gave it to the Crysanthe’s. Enzo had them transported up here for questioning and I gave them my share, along with what Eris had earned. I figured they need to pay off whatever they did to make their inn look so luxurious, and while money can never cure someone of loss, I just hope my share would be able to keep them going for a while.”

Elias inhaled deeply through his nose and lifted the bundle of notes. “Could you take my share to them, too?”

“And mine.” Said Riyo, tossing back the notes to Psykhe.

Helios nodded. “Mine, too.”

Psykhe took everyone’s expression and tone of voice into consideration as she slipped the paper bag out of her pocket and swiped it through the air to fill it out. She gave her companions slow nods and reclaimed their share with a gentle hand.

“Thank you.”

Elias had been the last one to collect from and when Psykhe had whispered those two words, it had been the very first time Elias had felt something other than intimidating means, anger or secrecy radiating from the girl.

“It’s the least we can do,” Helios mumbled, clearly not as in touch with Psykhe’s aura as Elias seemed to be. “Gods above, I still can’t believe she’s gone.”

Riyo was sat up now, their lean arms loose and hands resting between their legs. “I knew it was never gonna be easy, joining the Rebellion.” They said, red locks of hair hanging around their face to shield whatever emotion they might be exposing, “but, at the same time, I never expected it to be this hard.”

Helios ran his hand through his hair and inhaled deeply. “And our first attempt at being partners went down the drain.” He blinked a number of times to dismiss the watery glaze covering his vision. “Was the mission even considered successful? I mean… what the heck happened out there?”

“I don’t know,” Psykhe said, a means to end the conversation as she headed for the doorway. The paper bag was, once again, gripped within her palm and turning her knuckles white. “Elias, care to walk with me? We should fetch Neoma along the way to check on Artemis.”

“Sure.” Elias nodded and stepped away from Helios’ bedside.

“I saw Kane earlier, he wanted to speak with you.” Said Psykhe, keeping her long strides in check as she turned the corner and reached the end of the corridor. “He wants the both of us to head to his study when we’re free. Apparently he’s as eager as you are to get this mission going as soon as possible.”

The pair stopped and Psykhe tapped her knuckles against the open door at the end of the corridor. Inside the rather messy room sat Neoma, her legs propped up on the small desk, filled with numerous screens, leant against the window. When she turned in her seat, her eyes widened and she pushed away from the desk, causing the wheels on her swivel chair to roll her straight towards the door with ease — despite the mess of papers, cardboard boxes and empty snack packets littered across the floor.

“Hey, there!” Neoma beamed, tucking her long hair back behind her ear. The braid wrapped around the top of her head appeared messier than usual and up close she looked worn and tired. “What can I do for you?”

“Artemis is awake and I believe Midas may need their gauze changed.” Psykhe informed.

Neoma never looked up to Psykhe, but had instead looked down to Elias. “Sure, sure. I’ll be right up, thanks.” She hummed, stood from her chair, and swiftly moved out of the room and towards the infirmary.

“That was weird,” Elias grumbled. He turned on his heel and followed in Psykhe’s steps as they approached the door to the elevator and waited for her to press the button on the wall before adding, “how come she didn’t look you in the eye?”

“Some people can’t hold eye contact,” Psykhe replied stiffly, almost exactly after Elias took a pause after speaking; as if she had said this on more than one occasion. “Why do you suppose Kane wants you specifically for this mission?”

Elias pretended he had not noticed the abrupt change in topic and shifted his weight whilst thinking about a suitable answer. “I can’t really say… I mean, I don’t know much about the captain as a person. I only knew about him as an idol before joining the Rebellion.”

“But meeting him in the flesh makes that whole greatness feel like a lie, right?” Psykhe scoffed and slipped into the elevator after its smooth, glistening doors slid open with a soft ‘bing.’

“Something like that, I guess.”

When Psykhe and Elias reached their designated floor, they were confronted with quite the sight.

Reidonn was present alongside Enzo. The pair were sorting through the numerous crates and luggage brought along by a merchant, who was currently being cornered by Zyki whilst Quincy was taking notes.

Kane and Ciiria were discussing something between themselves at the far end of the corridor, in front of Kane’s study, and the floors were covered in Shema wool and strands of hay.

Needless to say, the hall itself was not large so the entire scenario looked almost comical.

“Over there.” Psykhe tugged on the end of Elias’ sleeve, coaxing his attention away from the absolute drama and towards the door to the right of the corridor that had just opened.

Tovi stepped out with Eris’ parents and was quickly escorting them through the havoc of the corridor. The couple were dressed in mourning and Misses Crysanthe looked utterly appalled by the scene taking place. It seemed to affect her so much that she began to cry and pressed her cheek against her husband’s shoulder as they walked along.

“Let’s go.” With a determined frown crossing her features, Psykhe reached for Elias’ wrist and pulled him along towards the end of the corridor and over to Tovi. “Mister and Misses Crysanthe! A moment of your time, please!”

Tovi looked over his shoulder first, his hand placed upon the handle of the next room’s door and he swung it open to lead the group inside, away from the noise. Once everyone had stepped over the threshold and into the wide space which led out towards the nearest hangar bay, Tovi started to close the door when Enzo called out for him. Without a second glance, the man dashed out of the room; leaving the group together.

Psykhe let out a long groan and closed the door behind their superior. “Good Gods…” She mumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“You wanted to speak with us?” Misses Crysanthe said, eyes watery and cheeks covered in her damp tears.

“Yes,” Elias stepped up and respectfully averted his gaze from Mister Crysanthe’s burning glare. It was far more pleasant to look at Misses Crysanthe and Elias cleared his throat, gesturing to Psykhe and the paper bag. “We, as in the rest of my companions, would like to give you the rest of our share for our most recent mission. We know it cannot ease the pain of loss, but we hope it can at least help you in these hard times.”

Psykhe offered Elias a small smile, which lasted for a handful of seconds, and stepped up to hand the couple the paper bag. “We are very sorry for your loss.” She said, placing her hand over Misses Crysanthe’s soft one as the woman reached out to claim the paper bag from the young recruit. “May the Gods be with you.”

“Thank you,” Misses Crysanthe sobbed, eyes squeezing shut to stop her tears. She sniffled and inhaled deeply to keep herself together, yet could not hold back her bawling when her husband squeezed her shoulder and stepped forward.

Mister Crysanthe said nothing when his eyes met Psykhe’s. Instead, he gave a stern nod and held out a hand to shake. Sceptical at first, Psykhe merely looked down at the man’s extended hand and then up to his face before reaching out to take it and offer a firm shake.

Mister Crysanthe moved swiftly, pulling Psykhe closer to whisper in her ear. Whatever he had said was unclear and inaudible to Elias. The boy was able to see Psykhe’s eyes go wide, though. Such a thing as that offered enough reason to be curious beyond reason, for if something could actually cause Psykhe’s expression to change in such a way as that, well, it must be extreme.

When the Sylvannix pulled back, his own eyes were watery and he released Psykhe’s hand. “It was our fault. All of us.” He whispered.

Psykhe’s lips were parted and her arm was locked, hand held out even after Mister Crysanthe had dropped it. If she wished to say anything, she was too late as the couple swiftly turned away and headed out towards the hangar bay where their aircraft would return them to their broken village with no daughter to care for.

“What is it?” Elias spoke up and laid a hand upon Psykhe’s arm. “What did he say?”

Psykhe did not allow the contact of Elias’ hand to reach her arm. She shrugged the gesture off before it even met her and she turned, gloved hand reaching her forehead. “I need to speak with Enzo. You should go to Kane; tell him I’ll be accompanying you later during your next mission.”

“But-”

“No ‘buts’, Kara! This is important!” Psykhe snapped and strode over to the door. She wasted not even a glance to the young man and entered the loud scene erupting in the corridor once more, only this time she faced it without Elias.

Needless to say, Elias felt rather small and pushed aside by Psykhe’s tone. He had only wished to not be excluded from any crucial situations and be treated just as equally as Kane treated the rest of the world. Was such a thing so difficult to ask? Was it normal to be left out and discriminated against during a place as this? No, it was not at all in order and felt ever so hypocritical!

Pushing this down in his mind, Elias strode towards the door. The havoc had died down when he had stepped out. Reidonn was still rummaging through the luggage and Quincy was questioning the merchant in a more civil manner now that Zyki had stepped off to the side. Enzo was out of sight, which meant he was probably speaking with Psykhe, and Kane had returned to his study after his conversation with Ciiria.

“Good day, Kara~” Zyki hummed when Elias walked by.

It was an improvement to how they had greeted each other earlier that day and Elias was forced to suspect that Zyki must have overheard the whole commotion with Twyla and how Elias and Psykhe had been so intent on killing them for Eris’ sake. It would explain the genuine – or what Elias thought was genuine – smile Zyki wore on their face and the way they waved.

After all, Allowa and Avolaki despised each other.

Elias did not wish to encourage such a devious attitude in Zyki and simply smiled, returned the small wave, and stepped into the end-half of the corridor towards Kane’s study. The door was open and visibly displayed Kane sitting at his desk, looking over a number of different documents. There was a screen projecting itself in a small rectangle to his right, displaying Emvolo’s city from air view and he tapped on it occasionally, adding circles to specific points on the city’s map. There were barely any circles in Tentrail.

“Excuse me, sir?” Elias hoped the reluctance he felt under his skin did not display itself in his tone of voice when he spoke. He bit down on his lip and stepped into the room when Kane acknowledged his presence. “Psykhe said you wanted to see me?”

“That’s right,” Kane nodded and swiped his finger over the projection screen, dismissing it back into the surface of his desk. “Just in regards to the mission I’m willing to send you on, if you want to accept it.”

“It’s difficult to accept a mission when I don’t know of its contents,” Elias admitted with a small smirk. He clasped his hands behind his back and walked closer to Kane’s desk, “can you not tell me about the mission now instead of waiting for sundown? I mean, I’m here now.”

Kane inspected Elias’ face thoroughly and leant back in his chair. “It won’t make the anticipation any easier for you. I figured it would weigh lighter on your shoulders if I told you at the last second, but since the situation seems to be getting out of hand down in the city anyway… I suppose I have no choice but to inform you as soon as possible so we can prevent any further harm to the citizens.”

Elias took another step closer to the desk and frowned. “In the city? The mission is actually in the city?”

“Indeed…” Kane pursed his lips together and sat up straight. He leant closer to his desk and sorted through the files stacked neatly upon its surface. “It’s down by Tentrail’s harbour, specifically.” He tossed an enclosed document towards Elias and sat back once more, waiting for the young man’s reaction.

Elias, with uncertainty, unclasped his hands and opened up the document. Much to his horror, the very first picture displayed among the papers was the front sign of the docks in Tentrail, specifically where Maxa worked.

“So, Kara,” Kane folded his hands upon his lap. “Are you willing to take the mission?”