Akio reached out, expecting to find Indra’s hand to take into her own. The remnants of her dream faded to ash in the death of reality. Indra was gone, likely dead. 

“No matter what happens, we’re in this together. It’s what Haim wanted, it’s what I want,” Indra had stated, her voice solid, despite the tears running down her face at the Gebul’s funeral. “Promise me, Akio.” She took her hands in hers. “That you’ll be patient, that unless it’s a mutual decision, neither of us will part.” 

“I promise.” 

The pillow in Akio’s new cybernetic exploded when she clenched her hand into a fist. Not in anger, in the despair of the Se’li she loved, the Se’li who had once adored her, gone. Forever. Was it her fault? Had she driven Indra away? All this time, Akio had tried her best to understand the opposite side of things but Indra had so much hatred inside that warped her perspective. 

Gently, Akio grabbed one of the feathers from the pillow, fiddling with it between her fingers as she sat up. After finding out that He’mi and Indra were the same, how could she blame her? Being a sex slave for years was a cruel fate with a guaranteed aftermath. No wonder Indra couldn’t often stand touch. Stars. Maybe it was better this way. Maybe in death—Akio choked on a sob—Maybe in death, Indra, He’mi, could find peace for the unhealed wounds she’d suffered. 

Akio cast aside the sheets and walked across the room, her leg stiff as it continued working to connect to the rest of her body. Stars sparkled outside the large window that took up the whole wall. The horrors of yesterdays temporarily silenced in the serenity of space. The stars she’d prayed to shone in a magnificence nothing could compare to. If only the universe cared about her and the insignificant beings within it. 

“Never once have you done more than shine on me in judgement. You’ve shown me faults, you brought me someone I loved dearly and stole her away, why?” Akio placed her hand on the glass, closing her eyes as another stream of tears fell down her cheeks. Her oi’ek hung limply at her neck, experiencing too much emotion to take on a hue. “Why not just have let me die when I had the chance?” 

“I loved her!” Her fist hit the glass too hard, causing a crack to form. “I fucken loved—“ Akio crumbled to the floor. “I loved, you Indra.” Curling into a ball, she laid her head on her knees, sobs shaking her shoulders. “Why did you leave me? Why—“

The door to the left whooshed open as Meli’s watery form appeared in the doorway. “Did you rest we—“ They stopped, their expression falling. 

Akio wiped away the tears with the back of her hand but they wouldn’t stop falling. “I—I lost someone I cared about.” 

“As have I,” Meli stated somberly, he sat down on the chair near the door. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Not really but—“ Akio sniffed. “Could I have a hug?” 

“That’s more of Iyar’s thing—“ Meli paused. “Sure. Yes. Hug. Arms around body embrace.” He opened his watery arms, allowing Akio to throw herself around him. 

Meli awkwardly patted her back. “There will be many more losses, you’re going to need to mourn later, Akio. Mourning now will not grant you the clarity we need to win.” 

“I know it’s just—it’s different now. I’ve never lost someone I cared this deeply about, I’ve never cared like this for anyone and now I can’t imagine a future without her,” Akio whispered, burying her face in Meli’s watery shoulder. “I loved her, I loved her—“ Akio sniffed. “So much.” 

“Was she your wife?” Meli asked, his tone taking on a gentlier trill. 

“No but, I wanted her to be, I had hoped that someday we would come to that decision together.” Akio pulled away, adjusting her shoulders. “It never would have happened. We’d drifted too far apart to mend things. It was my fault for not understanding her, for not knowing enough about her past to help.”

Meli stood up. “Did she tell you about it? Did she ask for help?” 

“Well no—“ 

“Then there’s nothing you could have done in that regard to mend your relationship. If she wasn’t being open with you, how are you to know how to help her? There needs to be a built trust that’s founded over the course of time.” Meli sighed. “You Se’li don’t live long enough to understand the true depth there can be to romance. Just know this, Akio.” They set a hand on her shoulder causing her to flinch. “Love is the greatest weakness that can bring up the worst evils. Nothing drives a being mad like love. You’ll be a better leader without distractions. Believe me, I know.” 

Taking a trey from the other room, Meli set it on the table. “We have worlds to save. Eat, renew your strength, push aside your feelings for later.” 

The food was bland and lifeless in the aftermath of heart break. Akio wanted nothing more than to lay in bed and forget her existence. That wasn’t allowed to happen, not yet. Setting down the empty tray, she turned to Meli. “I assume you have some kind of plan?” 

“I do.” Meli nodded, getting up to stand in front of the window. He traced the lines of the crack Akio had created. “You’re not the first one I summoned.  The others are already working toward the goals I have given them. Once you are fully functioning, I will be having you accompany me to Delire. There is a weapons dealer there that is willing to work with us.” 

Weapons dealer? What good would that do? 

“With all respect, Meli, we lack numbers, not weapons. We could have the greatest arsenal in the galaxy and still lose. They have more living weapons than we have members,” Akio protested. “There’s no point in arming them to die.” 

“They’ll die regardless of whether they are armed, don’t you see?” Meli mended the crack with solidified water. “I’ve sent news of the Commander’s true intentions. More will join the cause. The majority have wavering loyalty regardless of his genocide.” 

Akio coughed. “That will cause chaos and division. I doubt everyone is going to believe something so farfetched. I wouldn’t believe it if Iyar wasn’t the mole.” Standing up, Akio pulled on one of her oi’ek the color pulsing a dim orange in panic. “This is going to cause a civil war between the sectors. The whole planet will die without the Commander’s interference.” She walked up to Meli. “How are you sure you haven’t played right into his hands? What if this is what he intended? Without lifting a finger, you are responsible for causing a potential war.” 

Meli’s form shifted between liquid stages. “No. I won’t take responsibility for that. You don’t know, we’re not there. Everything could be fine. It might be fine. What would you have me do? Let them perish while they think your troop is in the wrong?” 

“It doesn’t matter!” Akio threw up her arms. “What’s done is done. We can’t just take that back. We’ll simply have to see how it plays out and help where we can. Is there no way you can fetch the weapons alone? I need to find out what happened to some of my members.” 

Going to the closet, Akio awkwardly pulled on a coat, not used to having two cybernetic arms. It ripped from the force. She sighed, grabbing another one and trying again. “I appreciate your hospitality, but I really need to go. I should be with the vigilantes, I’m their leader.” 

“No.” Meli grabbed her arm, his gaze on her face unyielding. “The dealer required your presence. They said they needed an audience with the vigilantes leader, or no deal.” 

“And you don’t find that suspicious at all? A lot of people want me dead or wish to collect the award granted for my capture. It’s a lot of Drexi, enough to make a homeless Se’li the next wealthy owner of a planet,” Akio growled. “I don’t trust anyone who stakes deals on my presence.” 

“You’re going, then after, I will take you home. Call it a down payment on your equipment. Deal?” Meli asked, extending his watery hand. 

An uneasy feeling twisted in Akio’s gut. She didn’t like this, not in the slightest. “Fine. Deal.” 

….. ….. ….. …..

Following a final healing session, Akio and Meli got in a smaller travel ship, heading across the galaxy at speeds Akio didn’t think were possible in a ship so small. 

The travel ship slowed to a halt after about a days passing, circling around a mostly green planet. “DG requesting permission to land.” 

“Permission granted, welcome to Delice, Six and Meli,” a familiar voice said.

Where had Akio heard that tone before? It was muffled enough she couldn’t place it. The ship started toward the lush planet, carefully navigating between thickets of trees toward a large mansion. 

A landing pad, hidden from the air, revealed itself at the foot of the green and brown mansion that nearly blended into the landscape. It wasn’t a surprise that an illegal arms dealer would do their best to keep themselves concealed—though a mansion wasn’t the brightest idea for stealth. Unless they had bought out the Commander and didn’t need to hide. 

Akio checked for her knives hidden away beneath her fake skin on her cybernetic leg. Just in case. She knew they would require her to disarm, but she wasn’t going to give them everything. 

As the ship landed, five armed beings came toward the door to escort them. The lock whooshed open, throwing ice cold wind in Akio’s face. She tugged her beanie further down to partially cover her eyes. They knew who she was and that she was coming. That fact was terrifying. There were no surprises in her favor. 

“Follow us, we have a bit of a climb. The boss is happy you could make it Six, very excited to be making this deal,” one of the guards stated, his eight eyes blinking in an oddly innocent manner. 

But what deal was he looking to form? One with her and the vigilantes? Or one where he traded her to become the richest arms dealer in existence? 

A foreboding settled deep in Akio’s gut as they made their way up the steep incline that lead to the mansions gates. Armed beings lined nearly every inch of the mansion. If she had to fight, she was severally outnumbered. She opened and closed the hands of her new cybernetic’s, willing her oi’ek to stop moving. Despite being an entity that had seen multiple worlds, Meli was disconnected. What would guarantee that somehow this time he’d made a good choice? 

The gates swung wide, their spikes resembling the gaping mouth of a beast awaiting them to plunge down it’s throat. Mist hung over the ground, causing the trees decorating the courtyard to appear ghostly, flickering between existing and not. 

Akio hugged her cool arms around herself, providing more cold than warmth with the metal touching her skin. The mansion rose before them, decorated in carvings of violence and grotesque things that made her stomach roll. Whoever they were seeing, way psychotic to choose that for decor. 

The first room upon entering contained six empty tables and stairs. A chandelier hung above, swinging lightly following the slamming of the doors. 

“Leave all weapons here,” one of the guards commanded. 

“I guess your boss will have to meet with only Meli then,” Akio said with finger guns.

They looked unamused. 

“Because I’m a living weapon?” 

Two whispered amongst themselves and snickered. 

“No, just external weapons. He wants to see you, Six,” the serious guard declared, narrowing his snake-like eyes into slits at the others until they stood upright. 

Each guard wore similar brown leather clothing with a fuzzy overcoat to keep out the cold. The only identification visual for their species were their heads and body shape. Most of the ones here, Akio hadn’t seen before. It was like they were a warped reflection of another species she was familiar with. 

Akio walked up to one of the tables and started taking out the multiple guns she had beneath her coat, laying them gently on the table. She then moved to the knives, swords, scythes. 

Meli’s eyes widened as he stared at her. 

Taking out a few ninja stars, darts, and another five knives, Akio smiled at the gawking faces around her. “Sorry, I’m trained to always be heavily armed.” 

A few objects fell off of the overfilled table with a gentle clang. 

The serious guard cleared his throat. “Follow me.” 

Akio and Meli went up the stairs, coming to stop at the large door on the top. 

The guards opened the doors, ushering them inside before slamming them shut behind them. The office was decorated in paintings similar to the carvings outside but worse, looking to be covered in blood stains or drawn entirely from it. Akio shifted uncomfortably, staying close to the door. 

“Well, well, I never thought I’d see you again, Six,” the familiar voice from the radio earlier declared. 

Akio’s blood froze in her veins, vaporizing into a mist as her hearts pounded loudly in her ears. It couldn’t be—

The chair turned.

Vomit rose up Akio’s throat. 

“Jacque.”