STINGRAY had played the part of devil's advocate, crossing her arms against her chest as she listened to the opinions of both her wounded comrades and of course, Cassia. Despite the bleak reality of their situation, the usually stoic girl found her lips creasing into a smile upon hearing everyone's conviction - that they would continue to fight as long as they were alive. Tia and Maria's words, followed suit by an affirmative nod from GODFATHER showed that there was still a burning resolve to fight, even if the fight was beginning to look bleak.
"I was overruled." Gillian replied to Tia's qualms about why he did not stop the attack from happening.
"I couldn't stop the attacks based on my bad gut feelings. We had an opportunity to end this... and failed." He explained, knowing that the explanation was beginning to sound more and more like an excuse. His words weren't even enough to convince himself. He wanted to say more, but it was becoming more and more difficult for Gillian to see himself as their leader anymore. Not after what he had put his own team through.
As they came to some sort of consensus on the situation, a vibration from GODFATHER's phone interrupted their conversation. It seemed like they would need to discuss this in more detail later, though it became clear that FEARLESS would continue their fight.
-----
Excusing himself, Jill watched as Gillian and Valkyrie left the room before turning to the two wounded NOAHs still laying on the bed.
"Then I suppose your next mission is to heal up." She remarked.
"Chins up, girls. From what I gather none of your team would be alive if it weren't for you two. That's something to be proud of." Jill knew that her words weren't going to be enough to convince them, but she hoped it would at least let them reconsider their outlook on the situation. With the end of their short meeting, Jill beckoned for Cassia to follow her out of the room.
"Cassia, you and I need to have a chat about the photos I found of me in your bathroom." Jill waited for Cassia to step out of the bedroom for a moment before stepping in front of her, lowering her voice to a hushed whisper in the small space between both rooms.
"I'm going to make myself very clear." Jill began, cold blue eyes glaring down at her old friend as they stood in the door frame,
"If you even think about suicide again... I'll kill you myself." The SERAPH patted her hand against Cassia's cheek, knowing damn well that the thought had already crossed the young girl's mind several times and ignoring the very irony of her threat. In fact, Cassia's thought was another reason why she had told the girl not to show up to the AFTERLIFE, because she knew that the very thought of being alone again would mean she would put a bullet into her own brain.
"If you want to stop fighting, fine. But if something happens to me and you kill yourself..." Jill paused momentarily, gently slapping Cassia across the face in such a way that the impact was nearly completely quiet. "It would be a slap in the face to those who died so that you could
live." As she stood there, wondering what Cassia would say in response, the stoic SERAPH suddenly changed the subject.
"Where did you get these, anyways?" Jill brought out a photograph she had found in Cassia's restroom, sapphire dots glancing down at the square photograph between her fingers. It was obvious that the moment had been captured when the SERAPH had not been paying attention.
"Damn. I looked like shit. You couldn't have gotten a better picture of me?" She mumbled before handing the photo back to Cassia, not considering the possibility that there were
more.
"This is Gaia, a NOAH from Nightmare... requesting rendezvous point...if one still exists?"
Gillian was silent on the other end of the phone, before responding to the unknown voice with nothing more than two words:
"Sending coordinates." GODFATHER immediately hung up the phone before texting what appeared to be a random set of numbers to the supposed NOAH. If she was who she said she was, then she would have no trouble deciphering the numbers to find their rendezvous point,
if not - then the numbers would mean nothing to her anyways. Of course, there was always the possibility that FEARLESS' code had already been broken, but Gillian was willing to take that risk for another team member. In the time that followed, Gillian borrowed a notebook and a pen off of Cassia's coffee table so that he could begin documenting supplies and planning for the team's next move.
Among the first of their worries was splitting the team up, after all, they wouldn't be able to operate out of Cassia's apartment forever. It wouldn't be long until people began to raise suspicions over a dozen people living in the same apartment. While Gillian would describe them as a dysfunctional family, that excuse would still draw too much attention for the local CLERIC station. No, a new base of operations would need to be established, or else morale and organization would never improve.
Second, would be to start over again and rebuild the team from scratch. They would need to find new targets and a way to assassinate them. They would need supplies... money...
bodies... Gillian was lost in thought when a knock could be heard on the doorway. Everybody in the room shuffled, FOX reaching for his rifle, Naomi glancing over towards Juniper as she peered in through the doorway.
"Is it a girl and Alexander?" Gillian asked, waiting for Juniper to reply.
"Let them in." Of all the people who knew about Juniper's true identity as a PALADIN, Gillian and Jill were the only ones. They had kept her identity a secret out of fear that she would be frowned upon by the rest of the team. Luckily, recent events seemed to have quelled any possible dissatisfaction over having a former PALADIN on the team.
Upon opening the door, Gillian noticed Alexander and who he presumed to be a NOAH standing in the doorway.
"Well, you look like you've been through hell." GODFATHER began, extending out a hand for the young woman. His statement meant that the young NOAH would fit right in with the band of wounded rebels.
"Welcome to the club, the name's Gillian." He waited for the NOAH to enter the room before directing GAIA to the kitchen.
"It's not a hotel, but at least you're not surrounded by people who want to kill you." Looking for something to give the girl, Gillian opened up a cabinet and found a box of cocoa mix, placing the box on the table between Chevalier, Arata and the new girl, unaware that Arata had asked for it just a moment prior.
"What're you two talking about, anyways?"
Chevalier paid no attention to the entrance of two new figures as he sipped from his cup of tea, his eyes still studying Arata's every movement. The boy was interesting, yet Chevalier had several times considered the possibility of cutting him down where he sat. He was after all, the wielder of
that sword, the sword summoned from the Age of Heroes with the power to damn them all. Yet, despite the boy's still conflicted nature, he still had time to learn the truth... to see the responsibility that his birthright carried with him.
"We were just having a small chat about Regana-Hier." Chevalier explained, remaining as vague as ever.
"I find such a weapon fascinating."
As he placed his now empty cup of tea down onto the table, Chevalier looked upwards at Gillian.
"I think the two of us need to have a discussion." The blonde haired man began,
"The Queen of Valhalla is preparing to use a weapon that will wipe all of us out." He remarked bluntly, hoping to stir the man's attention.
"As soon as your team is ready, you should consider making your next move."
"Why should we trust you?"
"I don't have an answer to that." Chevalier began, shrugging his arms as he leaned back into his seat.
"All you have is the word of a dashingly handsome asshole. What you do with that is up to you."
After spending some time in the living room, Valkyrie moved past Juniper after she had let both Alexander and Gaia into the room.
"I'm going out. Need to breathe a little." Ashlynn remarked to Juniper, not wanting to leave people wondering where she had gone off to. As Juniper held the door for her, Ashlynn paused for a moment, scarlet eyes turning towards the former PALADIN.
"Hey..." She began, searching for what to say about the whole situation,
"I'm sorry for attacking you." While it was obvious Valkyrie couldn't control herself, she still felt it proper to apologize for the situation. If Juniper hadn't been a PALADIN, it could have been very possible that Valkyrie would have torn her to shreds.
"I don't care if you were once one of them or not." She explained, unsure of what she was trying to reflect through her own words.
"You're a good person, Juni. I hope you know that." Without giving Juniper much of an opportunity to respond, Valkyrie disappeared through the doorway and made her way down the elevator.
Valkyrie, having lived on her own for so long knew the streets of Valhalla well. She knew that Cassia's apartment was in the more impoverished Southern District of the city, a place less patrolled by CLERICs due to the type of residents that resided there. Deplorables, they were often called, the type of people that the Ecclesian government enjoyed exploiting for their own profits. Luckily, it was these types of people that were able to get away with the most. Walking over to a nearby store, Valkyrie stepped inside the small grocery store to look around for some time. While her eyes scanned the small number of goods that were available for purchase, her mind actually sought time to think about everything that had happened. While it seemed like FEARLESS would continue to fight, Valkyrie didn't care. Even if FEARLESS were to disappear, she would continue fighting, alone, if necessary.
As she passed a newspaper section of the grocery store, she noticed an image of PRINCESS stamped across the page. Picking up the newspaper, Valkyrie quickly glossed over the ink on the page. While the newspaper was riddled in obvious propaganda, her eyes glanced over quotes from the newly crowned Queen's coronation speech. "With your new Queen comes a new age. An age of reckoning and power, we will strike at those who dare stand in our way! It is time for Valhalla to forge new history. Only the strong shall survive in our great and glorious city!" The words disgusted Valkyrie, but it became apparent that something big was about to happen. Why would Queen talk about purging resistance, when she knew that FEARLESS had been practically destroyed? With nobody to stand in her way, was her fight not over? The idea confused Valkyrie, but perhaps she was thinking far too much into the propaganda.
For the first time ever, Valkyrie bought a newspaper, paying the small sum to the cashier before waltzing out of the building. Not wanting to raise suspicion, Valkyrie navigated back to Cassia's apartment through a long route, hoping to avoid being followed back to the rest of the team. As she began to move down the streets, she felt the presence of somebody watching her, almost as if on cue. Luckily for Ashlynn, she had lived on the streets her entire life. She knew when somebody was following her... and she had gotten the drop on far more inconspicuous stalkers. As she walked down the nearby street, she noticed the figure following behind her. One of the best ways to catch an inexperienced tail out was to change pace. From fast walking, to jogging, back to slow walking, an inexperienced tail would always match their speed so that they wouldn't lose their target, but also not accidentally stray too close. Sometimes, the best way to follow someone without rousing suspicion
was to be too close.
Raising her scarf to cover her face, Ashlynn prepared to meet her tail - to see if that there were others. Leading the figure into a nearby alleyway, Valkyrie decided to make her move. Striking the figure in the face with her folded newspaper, Valkyrie was surprised to find that the hard newspaper suddenly exploded into small paper fragments upon contact.
Could it be a Praetorian?! Masked by the darkness of the alleyway, Ashlynn kicked the figure against the wall, several dark blades revealing themselves as they moved to eliminate the threat. She wasn't about to take any chances, Valkyrie's intent had quickly shifted to
kill. Before the blades could strike flesh, however, the small trace of light that bled into the alleyway revealed a familiar face.
"E-Eresh?" Ashlynn froze, the blades of Ragnarok stopping just short of the woman's neck. Valkyrie's scarlet eyes could not believe what she was seeing in front of her.
"Eresh, is that you?!"
