Chapter 15: The team
"That's as far as I go, dear Yome. I really hope we get to see you again at some point." Ophilia said with an earnest smile as she stood just beyond the doors of the Hold. Behind her were the two blue Mornan guards on duty, Urn and Ace. Their heads were lowered deeply in respect to Ophilia.
When they had moved to straighten up earlier, she stopped them with her hands against the back of their heads, pressing them back down. She then told them to remain that way for the next ten hours. That was nothing to the stamina of a commander, but it was obvious they were being punished. Yome could only guess that Ophilia was doing this because she had somehow found out what the two commanders did to her when she arrived.
She couldn't help but feel a bit of gratitude when she realised that.
She finally stopped sneaking glances at the two of them as her eyes shifted to the smiling Ophilia. "Yes, I really hope so too, commander Ophilia."
"It was truly an honour to meet you, and the Sentinel."
Ophilia waved dismissively. "Think nothing of it. Just like Bastian, I believe you have the talent to come back to the Hold without even a summon very soon." She said as she strode towards the Hold's doors—casually pushing them apart like they weighed as much as air. "I look forward to that day." She mused over her shoulder as she headed inside.
Bridge managed to pull his attention away from the bowing guards as he shouted words of gratitude and respect to Ophilia as the doors closed behind her retreating form.
Yome didn't dawdle to enjoy the two commanders humiliation as she quickly headed towards her ship, Bridge following closely behind her. She knew it wasn't a bright idea to make an enemy of the strong, no matter the situation.
In a universe like this, it would only come back to haunt them.
She spared a glance at Hold city as they walked back—unable to stop herself from wondering how her life would have turned out if she had been born in somewhere as secure is this. Where death wouldn't be seen as just another casualty of war, instead of something major.
Yome glanced back, noticing Bridge was doing the same, but with less bewilderment than he had before. There was a melancholic emotion in his eyes that she couldn't quite understand. 'Well, he's always like that I suppose.' She thought, remembering how quiet her second newest member of the team always got at the most random times.
Her mind flashed back to when she'd been hesitant to pick him for her team after finding out about his royal Mornan lineage. She was happy she reconsidered. Despite his annoyingly upbeat attitude, she considered him the very Heart of her team that stopped them from getting overwhelmed by all the things they had to do or witness. It was why she brought him along, since he seemed to have a similar effect with Arbus.
They finally reached the ship as the large door descended, allowing them to climb up.
"How did it go?" Caster asked the moment Yome and Bridge reached the airlock Lounge.
"It was fine. we dropped off the half-human and had a meeting with the Sentinel." Yome replied curtly as she looked around at the rest of her team that had been waiting for them to return. "How were things here."
"Boring! Obviously!" Arya scoffed through a scowl. "We missed out on everything we could have seen while we were here cause of you."
She ignored Yome's annoyed look as she turned to Bridge excitedly. "So! How was it inside? Was it like the rumours? Dark walls? Red lights? Sketchy secret experiments and all that? C'mon, spill!" She said, running over to him.
Yome let out a breath as she left her be, striding out of the room and heading towards the girls dorm. "Caster, get us out of here." She ordered over her shoulder.
Caster nodded, moving towards the cockpit of the ship slowly— slight winces escaping his lips as he felt his injuries rile up for a moment.
Bridge scratched his chin nervously. "Well, uh, not exactly. It did have dark walls, but that's not surprising considering the exterior. Everything else seemed pretty normal. There was even a diner serving all kinds of foods inside. Unfortunately, we didn't really get to eat anything." He said, resisting the urge to glance toward their Vanguard's retreating form.
"Oh, but there were secret floors. Although I doubt they're doing anything sketchy."
"They definitely are!" She argued. "who knows, it could have to do with the prisoners held there."
"Anything else?"
Bridge thought for a moment, remembering the contents of the meeting itself. "Well, the Sentinel praised Yome a lot, even going as far as to say she reminded him of himself."
"Oh! That's amazing! Even the Sentinel thinks our captain is awesome. Although, her grumpy attitude could use some work." Arya sighed regrettably.
"Actually, that's another thing, after he praised all her effort so far, she actually... Smiled." Bridge added excitedly.
Arya gasped in shock as she clasped her hands over her mouth. "She did! No way! And I missed tha—"
"Don't you two think that's enough playing around!"
The room went quiet as everyone present turned to the source of the sudden interruption—The dark blue haired Mornan, Kai.
The anger in his breathing was palpable as he rose to his feet.
His eyes narrowed as they landed on Bridge and Arya. "We just came from seeing a planet wide genocide. Do you think you can act a bit more like it. Or do you insist on acting like clueless children?"
Arya's scowl returned as she glared at her ever gloomy teammate. "Listen here you—"
"That's enough you two. Butting heads won't help solve anything." Grunted the large Mornan—Damian, with a loud sigh.
Arya scoffed loudly as she decided to ignore Kai—not wanting to upset Damian. She stomped out of the room, heading to the girls dorm to disturb Yome some more.
Kai did the same as he turned his attention back to Bridge. "So, what happened with the half-human? Was he arrested?"
Bridge's brow raised in confusion. "Arrested? What would he be arrested for?"
"For what happened, obviously." Kai answered resolutely. "That's no doubt why the council asked him to be brought to them. They probably know something that we don't. We'll see what they find when they announce the news to the entire star system."
Bridge's brows creased together in a frown. "Stop that, Kai. Arbus had nothing to do with what happened. He's a hero that managed to stop Ronin—the actual monster behind this tragedy."
Kai's gaze darkened as he walked towards Bridge, grabbing him by the collar. "Don't play dumb. I know all of you are smart enough to realise how strange the situation is. Don't let petty emotions like sympathy and guilt stop you from seeing the truth."
Damian let out another grunt as he got up, heading towards the two of them.
Something flashed in Kai's gaze as stared blankly at Bridge for a moment. "Humans, don't deserve our sympathy. Half-human or otherwise."
"So don't go buddying around with them again, 'Mr prince'." He snickered as he let go of Bridge before Damian could break them up himself. He turned away, walking toward the doors of the room.
"Would you cut it out already, Kai?"
He stopped, turning towards the table, where Trix, the youngest member of their team rested his head tiredly.
Trix glanced up at him through his long dark hair cascading over his face—their eyes meeting. "Whether the half-human is guilty or not, is for the council and the Sentinel to decide. Not you."
"So can you spare us from your standoffish attitude for one day? Cause like you said, there's a genocide for all of us to mourn."
Kai stared at him silently for a few moments, then snickered again as he walked off.
***
Yome grumbled audibly as she changed into her casual wear, feeling worn out from everything so far. She could see her team bickering among themselves through her essence sense spread across the ship. She could even sense Arya on her way to disturb her peace in a few short moments.
Yome decided to ignore all that for now as she rested her head against her pillow—gazing up at the wall as she thought back to the events of today. She truly wondered how the star system would change as a result of the massacre.
And what role the half-human would have to play in that change. After all, she knew there had to be a reason for the Sentinel's interest in him. She was just curious what that was.