When Eliza thought about it, it made no sense to her... Kazuki was brought up by his parents, an inventor who 'saved the Republic' and the admiral who killed the Tyrant-Empress. Why would he act so brashly?!
She thought to herself, mumbling and grumbling as she wandered around. She was busy, rolling around the sofas, looking at the various shirts, dresses and clothes she brought along - and the ones that Master Chi made. Social networking's hard... she thought. Even with the Marquis, she's made so little progress.
She still has the next year’s dassant and such, she thought.
Eliza can pick up the slack later, she always can/That's just how she is, isn't... she? She paused, dropping the clothes onto a small pile on the opened luggage cases.
"Want me to pack your stuff into your room?" Cyrus asked, standing guard beside the wall. "I will be delicate."
"What?! No!" Eliza sprouted upwards, looking over at Cyrus, before falling back down onto the sofa. "Sorry, just a matter of personal preference, I prefer cleaning up myself, when I can..."
"A responsible choice," Cyrus commented. He maintained his vigilant guard, motionlessly responding to her.
But Eliza had something on her chest, something that she wanted to talk about... But who could she talk to? Eliza sat up, grabbing hold of her uplink and sliding it back onto her ear. She printed her demands to the cleaning drones, charging silently in the corner of the living room.
Their screens turned from an expression resembling a sleeping person to one filled with life, grinning through its scanning visor.
"Aha!" piqued Eliza. 'Can you please tidy up the luggage to Kaz's bedroom, then mine."
The drones flew around, nodding with frantic fervour. They latched onto the luggage, before lifting it up cleanly. They started to 'airlift' it up to their individual rooms. Maybe a room for Kazuki was a bit useless, she thought… Even though she understood he liked privacy, he barely slept - and he could have stayed in the living room… After all, he did tell her that he was fine with that…
Eliza, on the other hand, wasn’t all too keen on treating Kazuki like was side-on attachment.
"I thought you'd do it yourself." The drones caught the attention of Cyrus.
"Hmm?" Eliza turned over towards him. "Well, it's a bit much, even for me." She nervously scratched her head.
"I see."
Eliza continued, "The best thing to know is your limits, and when you need help." An unamusing nod was all he responded with.
Then, the doors opened. Stepping through was none other than Nihara! She was grumbling too. Eliza jumped up to meet her, trying to look past her to see if Kazuki was there... He was not, she tried to hide her disappointment on her face, it very much failed.
"Nihara, where's the boss?" Cyrus asked.
Nihara shrugged. "He told me to go back. He's currently doing something important, I guess?" Her dead-pan voice gave no emotion away. She slouched over towards the kitchen, before pulling out a can of beer. Without even asking, Nihara cracked it open and started drinking.
"Hey, you could at least ask me, okay?" Eliza turned to her.
Nihara merely gave a shrug. "You were gonna say yes to begin with.”
"That's not the point," Eliza said whilst pushing her glasses up her nose bridge.
She looked around, the suite she was in was barely any large than the condo she lived at, with Archius and Kazuki... Standing up, Eliza vacated herself up the stairs, towards her room.
"I... I think I'm hitting the hay, for today."
"Goodnight," Nihara said, looking up at her.
Smiling, Eliza grabbed onto the bannister, turning back down. "Oh, and can you please not punch Václavos in here? Again. I'd... prefer not to see last night's supper on the floor."
Cyrus gave a steady nod. "She will not. Right?"
NIhara let off a loud sigh and grumble at the same time. "I'll do my best, alright," said Nihara, with a hint of aggression on her tongue.
"Good. I'll get some rest," said Cyrus. He stood up straight but closed his eyes. His hands were together, holding onto the Vesarian-reinforced great sword, still in its scabbard.
Eliza paused, pointing to Cyrus with a mildly perplexed face. Is this how he sleeps?
"Ignore him, he does that," explained Nihara. "I’ll go easy on Václavos if he gets drunk again.”
Satisfied with that answer, she turned back towards her door. But... she still had so many aching questions from her heart. Just why was Kazuki such... Well… like himself? She saved herself from the self-inflicted guilt of insulting him in her own mind.
Leaning against the bannister, she peered down at Nihara. "Hey, Nihara, mind If I ask a question?"
"What?" she asked dismissively, sitting down at the sofas, drinking and smoking at the same time. Eliza started to walk down the stairs, brushing any dust off her pyjamas.
"Kazuki..." Eliza trailed off.
"Oh, what about him this time?" Nihara asked. "If you want to know something, ask him yourself."
"Well... I'd feel like it'd be rude to ask him this directly, especially this one specific thing," Eliza deliberated. Walking down the stairs, Eliza grabbed a beer for herself and sat opposite Nihara. She turned the TV on with her uplink, some background music and chatter for them to talk over.
Nihara looked over at the TV, then back at Eliza. "Hmh," she grumbled. "Fine, what is it?"
Eliza nodded. "During our negotiations, he... was just plain rude? I think that's how to best describe him."
Awaiting a response, Eliza watched Nihara merely kick her feet up onto the table, before snapping back, "You don't know him well, do you?"
"Hey!"
Nihara simply gave a nod. "Alright... you seem convincing enough to know him. But uh... he's always been like that?" Shrugging again, she took a deep drink of her beer. "I don't know what to tell you."
Eliza paused before continuing, "But why? You've known him for a lot longer than I have, surely there must have been something?"
Nihara rolled her eyes but stopped mid-way. She furrowed her brow, then sat back up straight, leaning in. "Well, Kazuki? Personally, I don’t know if it was just me tweaking, but he was a lot more 'alive' back during Eden, before... Freyja."
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"Hmm?" Eliza pondered. Eden... She's heard of that before. In whispers and murmurs from all over Anagora, even from Kaz and Archius. Still, she had little clue as to what it actually was. "Eden?"
"..." Nihara glanced away, towards Cyrus Still sleeping, Eliza thought. She then looked back. "Well... it was a bunch of orphans from across the galaxy, trained to be the cream of the... what do you call it, cream of the something?"
"Crème de la crème?" Eliza suggested, without realising she had said something that Nihara probably didn't even understand. She merely nodded. “It’s an old Kastí saying from Terra.”
"Yeah! Whatever the fuck that is," she said. "We were supposed to be that, trained directly under two members of the Seven Mercs and some random guy... Svenn, Freyja and Hartius." She counted it on the joints of her fingers.
"What... happened?" Eliza asked.
Nihara shuddered for a second. "I don't know why... but Freyja betrayed us. Skewed half of us, ripped out one of Kazuki's eyes and left him bleeding to death. Hartius scared her off... I think."
Eliza froze. Wait, what?! Was she not made privy to this before?! "Kazuki’s eye?!” That might explain his golden eyes… Eliza swore that Kazuki, before P-1, had blue eyes! Her memories unlocked themselves.
She took out her phone, skimming through an old database of photos... including ones including her sister. "Yeah?" Nihara replied, confused.
Eliza propped up a photo that Victoria had, of her, Kazuki and... Noah? Wait, was that Noah? Blue hair, red eyes... a bit tall and brooding, that seems exactly like Noah! But her eyes stabbed towards her target. Blue eyes. "Kazuki had blue eyes, right?"
"One blue eye, one gold eye," Nihara replied. Eliza was about to press further, as she heard the door unlock, and a figure enter. Cyrus' woke up, twisting to the side. A figure entered the living room.
"It's done," Kazuki said. Cyrus nodded and closed his eyes once again. He turned towards Nihara and Eliza. "What?"
Eliza was staring at Kazuki's golden eyes... Nihara was just about to say something.
"—we were talking about some of the stuff I got!" interjected Eliza. Kazuki rubbed his head, confused.
Kazuki then turned towards the TV. His face was dead, staring at it.
Eliza’s rose-red eyes glanced at it. It was a news anchor, in the brief moments between channels. It was Kazuki’s birthday… 12th Apri. For a moment, relief came into Eliza’s mind, knowing that she at least got him a present, just as cold and logical realisation set in.
'Good evening, everyone. As today rolls around and comes to a conclusion, we must also say our deepest prayers for the victims of the Ptolemy-1 Incident," the news anchor said. Eliza's eyes widened, before looking around for a TV remote. ‘As it is the tenth anniversary, the Republic has given a heightened minute of silence for mourning, for three minutes today, for the billions of souls lost on that day. May we never forget those that have perished… A countdown started, with the three minutes starting.’
Eliza stood up, turning the TV off. No one uttered a word, scared to break the silence of the break. Even Kazuki said nothing. Across the whole station, everything was silent - in memorial of the greatest attack on the Republic since the siege of Anagora.
Kazuki spoke before time was up, "I hashed out some details with the Marquis. Arrangements have been made.”
The three minutes wasn’t even up and Kazuki was talking. Eliza muttered, "Kazuki... you... what did you get?"
"A gateway.,” he said. Sitting down beside Nihara, his eyes glanced away from the television. "It should get us through the hard part."
Eliza slowly pondered as she watched Kazuki. He was still, as if not wanting to move a muscle, a soul constricted to the past. She smiled and slowly stood up. She walked up to some of the shopping bags by the side of the wall, rummaging through them until she found a specific item.
Standing up, she hid it behind herself. Kazuki avoided her gaze, as Nihara turned the TV back on, switching the channel to some cartoons she seemed interested in.
"What?" he asked.
Eliza stood in front of him, before dropping something, he caught it easily. Kazuki paused, looking down at it. It was a holographic disk. He glanced up at her.
"Happy birthday, Kazuki," she said, with her heart and soul pushing the words out of her mouth. She wanted Kazuki to forget the Ptolemy-1 Incident... for now at least. She smiled, sitting down beside him. "Come on... activate it."
Kazuki's face didn't change. He pressed down on the button, projecting up a holographic image. It was a diorama. It was a Phoenix flying through space, alongside several vessels.
It was leading them.
“The Flight of Trasia?” Kazuki inquired. Eliza nodded. It was beautiful, seeing the ancestor of his own Phoenix flying high through space.
That phoenix saved his people from the Cracking of Terra. It’s why his family’s seal is that of the phoenix. Even after so long… Everyone remembers.
“I had to think for a little while on what to get you,” Eliza admitted, her eyes scanned to the side. “Might be a bit morbid, with so many people dying back then, but I want this gift to represent something more… Hope.”
“Hmm.” Kazuki nodded.
"I hope you like it," Eliza said. Kazuki said nothing. He merely placed it down on the coffee table in front of him. His eyes were locked onto the diorama, before slowly turning towards Eliza.
He said, "Thanks."
Kazuki glanced back at the table, slowly. She... felt like she should press for a 'better' response, but Eliza understands somewhat... she can't press Kazuki. Sure, she might get angry and frustrated when he doesn't say certain things, but this is Kazuki: getting even that out of him made her smile.
“But what do you think… About my plan.” Kazuki sliced the moment between them in twine, focusing on what must matter most. Eliza cleared her throat.
“Well, who are the contacts?”
"Jin brothers." Kazuki flicked his fingers in the air, showing two holographic images. It was of two chestnut red-haired men, tall and with facial hair - with Trasian red eyes. They looked very much alike. "Twins. Don't worry, they frequently joke and mess around - fooling people on who actually is who."
Synthia projected onto Eliza’s shoulder. ‘Date and time?’ she asked.
“A few days, keep an eye on the message list to our suite.”
Synthia nodded. ‘Of course… thought I would have preferred some specifics,’ she said, before turning off and disappearing back into Eliza’s uplink.
"Wait... you can still recognise who's who, right?" Eliza leaned in against his arm, looking at the images
Kazuki nodded. "Of course."
"You didn't torture the answer from Fer-Charelota, right?"
"No," he said. "He organised the meetup. Said it was a birthday present.”
It must be hard, having his birthday not only be on the day of, but be a critical part of, the P-1 incident, thought Eliza.
Kazuki’s tone hinted towards some level of malice, but Eliza saw differently. It showed that the Marquis was willing to look after his allies.
"Well, it's nice, right?" she asked him. "See, Fer-Charelota's not that bad."
He sighed. "Fine. I still think he's slimy, but I'll accept this... gift of his."
Was going exactly as planned. Kazuki's going along with it as well, her plan, her investigation. Her sister's memory will be recovered and brought to justice.
"Am I... really allowed to see you as a tool?" she asked.
Kazuki nodded. "Of course.” Eliza slowed down in her head, thinking unclearly. "I promised to help you. Use me to help you."
“And… what about Archius?” Eliza asked, interested in what he was up to by now.
“Hmm?”
Eliza continued, “Shouldn’t we bring him in with us? He has a particularly clever way with words, and I think he’d be a massive boon… He’s helping us, why not have him assist us in this?”
“Archius is treating this like a break. Plus, I have him investigating another possible lead - a failsafe,” Kazuki said.
“Well, that’s good to hear,” Eliza said. “Everything’s coming along nicely.”
He stood up, looking back down at her. She maintained her smile, glancing to the side. Her tool... she thought. Kazuki's more than just that, he's the key to it all. Her key to it all. As the thought continued, Eliza heard a crash at the door. Both Cyrus and Nihara snapped to attention. Kazuki twisted around.
"Knock!" Cyrus shouted, before shaking his head. Eliza stood up, walking with Kazuki towards the hallway. She peered over at the doorway... There was Chloé, Yuki, Nathaniel and Archius... all in a pile along the floor! But no Noah... Oh well, he must be busy with his parents, business, she thought. Pi sprouted up, wings wide as the phoenix stood on top of the mass of people, acting as if it had caught them all from a long hunt.
"Happy birthday!" Yuki and Archius shouted out at the same time. Nathan was at the bottom, patting the people above him to get off. Chloé was the first to roll to the side, nodding at Kazuki. Both Yuki and Archius sprouted up presents, up to Kazuki, before Nathaniel pried the two off him.
"Ugh... Please!" Nathaniel croaked, lying on the ground.
"Eh, you'll be fine," Yuki said. Archius helped Nathan up.
Glancing at Kazuki, Eliza saw that his face had not changed one bit.
However, she knew that there was something within those dead golden husks of his. Even if it was imagined, or even if it didn't really exist: Eliza hoped that deep within him, Kazuki felt some joy from this. She chuckled. "Well then, guess this will be quite a frantic birthday for you."