Chapter Eighteen 

Part One: Change Of Pace 

 Dart was submerged in a complete void. She wasn’t able to see anything, not even her own hand in front of her face. The darkness felt heavy on her chest, oppressive even, almost supernatural. She could hear her own heartbeat as it echoed about the emptiness, where was she? All of the sudden, she heard a voice call out to her. It was a woman's voice that started from a whisper until it grew loud enough for Dart to understand. The disembodied voice was repeating the name “Elene,” over and over again.

“Elene Saito.” 

Dart didn't recognize the name, nor the voice that was saying it, but somehow both seemed familiar to her. A high pitch ringing noise then dwarfed the sound of her own heartbeat. Dart’s eyes widened in uncertainty as she turned to look over her shoulder at something illuminating in the darkness. The sight she saw, she couldn’t explain herself.

 It was the silhouette of something tall and lanky, with a column of seven white eyes staring at her from a distance. The body of the creature matched the surrounding shadows, however one thing stood out. It had a large golden halo, too bright to look at directly. It was the entity that was speaking to her, calling her a name she didn’t go by. Dart couldn’t break her gaze from what was standing before her, she was petrified, left staring into its several eyes as it repeated the words:

 “Elene Saito.” It was beckoning her. 

With a sharp gasp, Dart opened her eyes. She was still lying in her bed. Dart sat up and looked around the living Quarters. Vanity and Quill were still calmly asleep in their respective bunks. They were exhausted from the rigorous training they’ve been doing lately. Dart placed her hand to the side of her head and sighed heavily, as though she was in pain.

“These dreams again…” Dart looked at her hand with discomfort. “Why?”

 Crest was laying in his bed, staring vacantly up at the ceiling of his room. Each member of the Revival squad got their own personal living quarters to themselves, which was a good thing in Crest eyes. He was in tremendous pain, and he would hate for his new team to see him in this state. His entire body ached, he surely put a strain on himself while taking down that Abyssiti. Then all the sudden he heard the door to his room open with a hiss, followed by two small knocks. The Captain heavily exhaled and forced himself to sit upright in his bed to see who had entered. Patch was peaking her head through the doorframe timidly, she looked upon Crest with concern in her eyes. 

“You would probably be much more comfortable laying down without your Abyssus armor on.”

“I don’t sleep to begin with. I wear it so I’m always prepared… at all times.” He responded dismally.

“You shouldn’t be doing anything combat related for now Captain. Definitely not until you recover from the mission…” 

Crest looked up at her like she said something wrong. “Recover? From what?”

She gripped her other arm and looked off to the side of the room, where Crest had two hook claws laying up against the wall. On the shelf above them was a plasma rifle that was fully charged and loaded.

“Well… I can tell that you hurt yourself. From crashing your Motorcycle… to climbing up and down the wall.” Said Patch, her voice as soft as ever. She was worried for his safety. 

Crest didn’t respond. He understood that she was fearful of his behavior, but physical pain was the least of his concern. When his emotional strife brought him far more anguish than any wound ever could. He just wanted it to end.

“It seems like you’re acting with reckless abandon, there’s a difference between being the best Abyssus Unit and having no regard for your life.” 

“Please try to take better care of yourself, Captain Crest.” She ended. 

With a small wave, she left her Captain’s room; the doors automatically slid shut behind her. Crest listened as the unit's footsteps descended down the hall. When he was certain Patch was gone, he collapsed back onto his bed, covering his face with his arms. Her mannerisms reminded him a lot of Scout. Naturally, Scout would’ve angrily scolded him for being so reckless unlike Patch, but the concern was all the same.

Reminesising brought him a feeling of immense grief, like someone had a knife lodged in his very soul, twisting it. 

With a displeased groan Crest sat up in his bed, but quickly grabbed his rib cage, where an agonizing pain throbbed. He winced as he sat. 

“Tch. I need to go for a walk.” He grunted. 

Getting up, he still held his side. He stumbled as he headed towards the door but suddenly glanced over at the plasma rifle on his shelf. After a moment, his hand began to shake, he tore his sights from the weapon and continued his slow walk away, leaving his quarters.

“Being left here in this room with my own thoughts is doing me more harm than good.” 

He began his trek about the Beacon’s many floors as he usually does to clear his mind. The halls were quiet and empty with the only sound being his steps and the ringing of the fluorescent lights that lined the hallway walls. 

 Crest eventually made his way to the topmost floor of the tower, he walked through the hall and toward a flight of stairs. However, from the elevator, the Revival squad arrived at the top floor just as Crest walked up, they were all conversing with each other and didn’t notice the Captain. Crest stood still as he eavesdropped on their banter.

“I swear if I have to sit through another mission debriefing like that…” Yawned Idol as she walked.

Razor scratched the back of his head. “Well, the Intrinsic Illow just wanted to know how things are going.”

They turned toward a small flight of stairs on their way to the arboretum; the squad were accompanied by Captain Trauma and Glitch. The latter noticed Crest from the corner of her eye and stopped with a dumbfounded gasp. Crest didn’t say a word, he blankly stared at her hoping she wouldn’t say anything. 

“Crest? Is that you?” Mumbled Glitch as she turned around, adjusting her glasses. “Yup! That’s THE Captain Crest in the flesh!”

Her celebratory greeting caught everyone’s attention, causing them to stop and look behind them. Crest was praying they’d just walk past him, paying him no mind, but now the entire group was looking his way. He heavily exhaled out of his nose. 

“Yup.” He said dully, “It’s me.”

Patch stepped out from behind Idol and looked at him wearily. “Would you like to join us Captain? We’re just visiting the arboretum.” She asked kindly.

“I heard it’s like a giant greenhouse, seems peaceful enough. Might be a nice place to relax.” Added Trauma to which Glitch put her fingers up to her face quizzically.

“How many of the plants in there do you think are edible?” She muttered. 

Razor was initially shocked by her question but then devolved into a face palm. “Glitch ma’am! Please don’t eat the plants.” He said exhaustedly.

Idol scoffed. “Better yet, don’t eat anything that doesn’t come out of the kitchen.” 

Glitch, ignoring Razor’s plea, enthusiastically approached Crest, and extended her hand out to him. Crest looked at her hand and then gazed up at her freckled face; she had a large, sincere grin on it.

“Let’s go taste test plants together Captain Crest!”

He lifted an eyebrow upon hearing those words, that was quite the outlandish thing to say. Nonetheless, all five members of the Delta squad waited for him to agree to join them. 

 Crest understood more than anyone that the bonds between Abyssus Squads were tight, especially when tragedy leaves them a fraction of the size, they become like family. Yet here they were, looking at him as if he’d been a part of their squad all along. Crest glanced down at his own hand, and sighed.

“Sure, I have nothing better to do.”

Perhaps he could find solace in his new team. He was the Captain of the Revival squad now, a team that wouldn’t meet the same fate as the last.

 Meanwhile, within the 5th Core, Soleria Illow had locked herself away in her abode. She had a goal in mind and refused to leave her home until it was done.

 It was a large, open space. Arched bookcases were built into the walls and a picture of a light blue hydrangea flower hung between them. A gilded mirror hung above the mantle of a fireplace on the far left, next to a cushioned couch. There, Soleria stood at a desk in the middle of the luxurious room.

“The Engineer Corps would throw a fit if they knew I was requesting these things for humans.” Pouted Soleria. 

She circled around the workstation in her apartment suite while intently reading a letter. On her desk weaponry was displayed on one hologram screen, while a recorded video feed of the Candidates training played on the other. Afternoon light poured into her room filling it with a warm glow.

 She sighed. “If 773-A is good at aiming she should have a sniper rifle, if 723-B is defensive she should have a shield. It just makes sense.” 

 After reviewing Captain Trauma’s evaluations she knew that this would be the only logical next step, but it wouldn’t be easy, she would have to convince the Evangelist Engineer Corp, the section responsible for designing new weaponry and technology in facing Abyssiti, to work with her. Which is where the issue comes in. 

 Even then she’d still have to go through all the proper legal channels; there would be so much paperwork to read and sign before even getting a chance to request something like that, it would take time. Yet, she was willing to do it, she knew she wanted custom weapons for the units she felt they deserved them.

“Intrinsic Lyre Francis is incharge of the Corps of Engineers? He’s a scientist, much like Arsyle Cosme.” Read Soleria, looking at a paper.

 She thought about Arsyle, if he was here, he could’ve easily handled this situation for her, he was persuasive and charismatic; he was a natural at things like this. 

 Just then out of the blue, almost snapping her back to reality, she heard four loud knocks at her apartment door. Soleria paused and put the letter onto the desk below. She wasn’t expecting anyone, who could it be? She hesitantly walked towards her door, her hand reached out to the handle. She lingered at the entrance for a bit. For some reason she was nervous to find who was on the other side of the door. She gathered her resolve and cautiously opened it, a look of surprise washing across her face soon after. She looked down at who came to visit her, with wide eyes. 

“Oh? Millue Constance...” Soleria stiffened, the last time she’d spoken to her was that morning of her first arrival at the Beacon. That fateful meeting.

“What brings you here?” She asked reluctantly. Knowing who she was dealing with, it was more than likely bad news.

“I just wanted to stop by to see how you are doing dear Illow.” Her words seemed genuine, but her face did not display the same amount of compassion.

“I heard through some chatter that Cephyr Orion plans to check up on your progress as an Observer by the end of this week.”

“I thought it would be best to give you a little…” Millue paused and placed her hand on her heart while looking up at Soleria.

“A little heads up. Just in case you weren’t prepared.”

Briefly exchanging looks, Soleria turned her head away from Millue who smirked in response. That was all the reaction she needed to see; it was clear Soleria wasn’t anywhere near the goal that she was so adamant about. Now she had a solid deadline, and it was soon. “Great.” Thought Soleria to herself. “That’s the last thing that I needed.” 

Soleria dejectedly looked at the ground. “Thank you Millue… I’ll be eagerly awaiting his visit. Thanks again for the heads up.” 

“Not the slightest issue! Anything for you Illow!” Millue smiled. She then put her hands to her cheeks and beamed. 

“I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!”

With that Millue bid her farewell, as Soleria watched her skip down the hall without a care in the world. However, she on the other hand, felt worse than before she opened the door to her. 

 Soleria lowered her head with a sigh and turned to resume what she was doing, the room door slammed shut behind her. She had until the end of the week to impress Cephyr, if she failed to do that…

“All my efforts up to this point would’ve been for nothing.” She cried as she buried her head into her hands over her desk. Her poofy golden hair drooped down her face.

 She then peaked through her hands at the letter below. In the midst of her distress she had a sudden moment of clarity. Looking at the letter from the Engineer Corps, she realized she didn’t need to convince anyone, she could undermine their authority and get what she needed to succeed. As a member of the 5th Core Council, She outranked them. 

“I’ll visit the depot first thing tomorrow.” Muttered, Soleria to herself while clenching her fists. “I'm running out of time to do anything else.”