Garuda arc

Republic Warship

Medical Bay

1:00 A.M.

Henro was inside the medical bay and wore his white lab coat. He injected a syringe into his arm and took a blood sample from himself. He dropped it onto a tiny glass and looked through a microscope.

Next to his blood was the draugr blood samples he collected from the azalea forest. After he saw that the creature could use his abilities, Henro's first thought that Silas somehow replicated his abilities and gave them to the draugr. But now he had two theories. Neither of which he hoped to be true.

"I don't know who or what you were, but I know whatever you did to me is the reason why I'm sick now. Just who were you before you became a draugr?" Henro asked himself.

Knock! Knock!

"Who is it?" Henro asked.

"It's me. Can I come in?" Tenjin asked.

Henro sighed. If you can guess, he still hasn't completely forgiven Tenjin for lying to the team about Ziera's condition and the bomb in her core. But at the end of the day he is his boss and one of the few authority figures in the republic he trusts.

"Come in." Henro said begrudgingly. Tenjin opened the sliding metal door and walked in.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Tenjin asked.

"Terrific. Is that all?" Henro asked sarcastically.

"Don't give me that. I saw how you were moving today. You were slow and exhausted. We've known each other for three years, kid. I can tell when you are sick." Tenjin said.

"Great. So now you know. What's the big deal? It's just a cold." Henro shrugged.

"Just a cold huh? I thought you could heal any illness in the world? Must be a pretty nasty sickness if you haven't cured it already." Tenjin pointed out.

"Look, is this going somewhere? I'm kinda in the middle of something so?"

"Sigh. Alright listen I didn't come to argue. I know why you're upset. You were right I shouldn't have kept what happened to Ziera from you all. But I want to help you now. In any way I can." Tenjin said.

Henro was conflicted. He could believe Tenjin meant what he said and he knew Tenjin wasn't completely at fault. But right now he didn't care. If Tenjin held information about Ziera, it made Henro wonder what else he could be hiding about the rest of them.

He may not have gotten along with Ziera at first but she helped rescue him from the citadel and she's been there for him all this time. Henro owed her his life. So when Tenjin revealed that he knew a bomb was implanted in her but didn't say, Henro lost it.

But he knew Emilia wouldn't want him to fight with Tenjin, especially now with the situation they were in. Making up his mind, Henro calmly said this.

"I'm good. Are we done here?" Henro asked.

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything." Tenjin said.

"Yeah." Henro turned his head back to his computer. It saddened Tenjin that he lost Henro's trust but he can understand why. Without saying anything else he left the room.

Henro sighed. He returned to looking at the blood cells from himself and the draugr.

"Gah! Shit!" Henro winced. He felt another splitting headache. More blood dripped from his nose and onto his floor. "Dammit. I gotta find a way to cure this. I can't let her down. Not again."

***

Republic Warship

Engine Room

Jayden while in his suit was with Ziera in the engine room finishing up the remaining repairs to the ship. Ziera wanted to instruct Jayden on how to use his technopathy in a more practical way.

"Okay Jayden. Are you ready?" Ziera asked.

"Yep. Let's do it." Jayden replied.

Jayden placed his metallic hand on the engine. Blue mana surged through the engines as it began reconfiguring and repairing itself. In a matter of seconds the engine was fully repaired. Ziera connected her mind to the coms to the bridge of the ship.

"We're good down here. Give it a go." Ziera said.

"Yes ma'am." Said one of the staff members at the bridge. The crew got to work and turned on the engines.

"Engines are online. We're good ma'am. We can depart anytime."

Ziera and Jayden had huge smiles of joy on their faces.

"YES!" Ziera shouted.

"Good!? We are golden!" Jayden shouted. Jayden and Ziera high fived.

"That's what I'm talking about! Whoo!" Jayden shouted. Then out of nowhere Jayden scooped Ziera into his arms, flew up and spun her around in the air. "Gotcha." Jayden said happily.

'WHOA! Jayden! Haha. Put me down you dummy!" Ziera laughed as Jayden kept spinning her around.

"Oh don't tell me you're scared of heights now princess?" Jayden asked mischievously.

"Oh shut up!"

The two shared joyful laughter together as Jayden spun Ziera around and around. He finally stopped spinning her and slowly flew back to the ground but kept her in his arms and she kept her arms around his neck.

Jayden transformed back and joyfully smiled at Ziera. Ziera smiled up at him. As they looked each other in the eyes, their faces became flushed as they got closer.

Damn. Her eyes are beautiful. Jayden thought.

"Jayden." Ziera said. Jayden snapped out of it.

"You can uh...let go of me now." Ziera said shyly.

"Oh right. Sorry." Jayden nervously said as he let her go.

"No! It's cool! We're cool!" Ziera shouted.

"Super cool!" Jayden shouted.

"Yep!" Ziera said awkwardly.

Jayden and Ziera looked away from each other awkwardly for a bit. Ziera coughed and looked back at Jayden.

"Hey. I'm proud of you. Really. You've progressed faster than I thought in these last two weeks." Ziera said.

"Thanks Ziera. That means a lot." Jayden said with a smile.

"You're hand to hand still sucks though." Ziera playfully nudged him. Jayden laughed.

"Yeah they make that stuff look way easier in the movies. Though it would be better if I had more help." Jayden looked at his gauntlet.

"Ragnarok. He still hasn't talked again?" Ziera asked. Jayden shook his head.

"Not since I saved you. I just don't get it. He talked to me once when I activated the gauntlet. Then he went silent. But when I ascended he came back and helped me save you. And now he's gone again." Jayden said.

"I see. In both situations you were trying to save my life. I don't know why that would cause him to react but I have a theory." Ziera said.

"Like what?" Jayden asked.

"Maybe he knew how dangerous my ascension really was and wanted to stop it? I told you before. My ascension isn't like most. Every time I begin to transform, it felt like I was becoming a different person. Someone that has both The Order and Mage Foundation spooked. Someone that Zenal can use to hurt more people. And.....that terrifies me." Ziera said as she looked at the floor with a saddened expression.

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"Hey. Don't even worry about that stuff alright? I got you." Jayden said.

"Thanks Jayden. But don't forget." Ziera crossed her arms and looked at him sternly.

"No more reckless heroics I know." Jayden raised his arms up.

"Hmph. Thatta boy." Ziera smiled smugly.

"Still. If that's true we could really use his help right now. Maybe he can even tell us all the secrets Perseus and the Guardians kept from the world." Jayden said.

"Yeah. I just can't figure out what they were hiding. And why? And who else knows?" Ziera asked.

"You don't think Tenjin knows do you?" Jayden asked.

"No. I've been working with him for three years. And even he and the other members of The Order don't know everything about the guardians. Well, all except Merlin." Ziera said.

"Oh that's right. Then maybe we can ask him? See what he knows?" Jayden asked.

"I doubt it'll be that simple. We'll have to talk to Tenjin about that. But right now we should focus on helping Emilia with training." Ziera said.

"Yeah you're right. How is she?" Jayden asked. Ziera sighed.

"Disappointed that her team can't work together without trying to kill each other." Ziera said.

"Shit. That bad?" Jayden asked.

"Have you met those two?" Ziera asked with a raised eyebrow.

"True. Still I know this is important for Em. She's done a lot for me. For all of us. I wanna help her anyway I can." Jayden said.

"Yeah, same. Henro is one thing, but Ryoka and her pride. Ugh. Still Em can handle herself. We'll just have to trust her. In the meantime, you need to get your butt to sleep. We start again tomorrow at first daylight." Ziera said.

"Actually I was hoping we can start a little later? Like say 11:00 A.M.?" Jayden asked with a hopeful smile.

Ziera gave him the look.

"Okay 10:00 A.M.?" Jayden asked.

Ziera still kept giving him the look.

"8:00 A.M.? 7? Pretty please?" Jayden asked.

"Oh brother. Fine but if you're late I'm stomping you out in your sleep." Ziera warned.

"Yes ma'am." Jayden saluted.

"Yeah yeah. Now come on. Let's get some sleep." Ziera said.

"Right." Jayden said.

Jayden and Ziera walked out of the engine room. They walked down the hallway and made it back to her room.

"Well this is my stop." Ziera said.

"Yeah. Guess it is." Jayden said. Ziera raised her eyebrow.

"You got something you wanna say to me Cortez?" Ziera asked.

"Nah. It's just...well. Uh..." Jayden couldn't find the words. He rubbed the back of his head while blushing.

Fuck! You are losing her man. Get it together! Like my pops always said. Confidence. Jayden thought.

Ziera snaps her fingers in front of Jayden's face, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Hey are you okay?" Ziera asked.

"Yeah. Just wanted to say I'm proud of you too. Of what you're doing. Wanting to help your people and all. I know you'll make an amazing ruler." Jayden said with a blushing smile.

Ziera blushed herself and began twisting her hair like she usually does when she feels embarrassed.

"Mind if I ask you something?" Ziera asked.

"Sure. What's up?" Jayden asked.

"Did you mean what you said? About how you can't imagine a world without me?" Ziera asked with a smile. Jayden blushed heavily now. But still looked at Ziera straight in her eyes.

"Yeah. I did. I...need you Ziera." Jayden said with a smile. Ziera quietly gasped.

They stood there in silence just staring at each other. Ziera smiled and began tearing up.

"Whoa! Ziera! Are you okay!?" Jayden asked. Ziera rubbed her eyes.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. Thank you Jayden." Ziera smiled with tears coming out of her eyes.

Jayden smiled back.

"You're a great friend." Ziera said.

And like that Jayden's spirit disintegrated.

Oh. Jayden thought.

"Seriously. You can be a major pain in my butt at times. Scratch that a lot of times. But when push comes to shove you're always there for me. Even when I didn't deserve it. Thank you." Ziera said.

"Uh yeah. Anytime." Jayden said nervously.

Fucking Guardians! "I need you." Why did I say that shit!? That couldn't have been more desperate if I tried. Jayden thought.

"One more thing." Ziera said.

"Huh?" Jayden asked.

Ziera went up to Jayden and gently kissed him on the cheek. Jayden's face was flushed red and her eyes widened so big they practically popped out of his head. Ziera stepped back and winked at Jayden.

"Don't be late for training tomorrow. Okay? Goodnight." Ziera said. Before Jayden can say a word she shut the door.

"Uh y-yeah." Jayden stuttered.

So....all hope is not lost? Jayden thought to himself.

***

Ryoka and Julia's bedroom

Ryoka and Julia were getting ready for bed.

"HAHAHA! Man, I'm telling you Jewel. You should have seen the look on Akumera's face when I set his hair on fire! Emilia freaked out and Akumera was so angry, that I think I saw steam coming from his ears! AHAHAHAHA! WHOO!" Ryoka laughed so hard she accidentally fell off the bed. Julia though wasn't really amused.

"Sigh. While I'm glad you had your fun. But I believe you promised me that you would take this seriously, Ryoka." Julia said sternly. Ryoka stopped laughing and climbed back into bed. Snuggling up to Julia.

"Oh come Jewel lighten up. It was fun and games for all three of us I swear." Ryoka said.

"Oh really?" Julia raised her eyebrow at her girlfriend.

"Well...more so for me but they laughed too. On the inside." Ryoka said jokingly.

"You're unbelievable." Julia said with her eyes closed. Ryoka pouted.

"Did I mention that you're the most beautiful woman in the world?" Ryoka asked with puppy dog eyes.

"About a hundred times." Julia answered and still was not looking at her. Ryoka kissed Julia on her shoulder and went to her ear.

"And it never fails to make you smile." Ryoka whispered seductively.

"You want to make me smile? Then how about being more cooperative with your teammates, yes?" Julia asked. Ryoka sighed.

"Okay okay. Anything for you Jewel." Ryoka kissed her cheek. Julia looked at Ryoka and gave her a stern look. Ryoka grinned mischievously and pecked Julia on her nose. "What? You gonna do something about it?" Ryoka asked in a challenging tone.

Julia tackled Ryoka on the bed but Ryoka fought back. They both grunted as they rolled on the bed trying to get on top of the other. Julia managed to overpower Ryoka and pin her girlfriend's arms over her head. Ryoka laughed but Julia wasn't so amused.

"I knew you couldn't resist me." Ryoka said with a toothy grin.

"You are such a fool." Julia said angrily.

"But I'm your fool. Right, beautiful?" Ryoka asked.

"Shut up." Julia ordered as she went down and passionately kissed Ryoka. Ryoka kissed her back. Julia moaned as Ryoka yanked on her beautiful blue hair and caressed her back with her other hand.

She was about to remove her robe but Julia grabs both her arms and pins them down. Ryoka is in disbelief as Julia removes herself from her.

"And that's all you're getting from me tonight." Julia said.

"AW COME ON JEWEL!" Ryoka whined.

"Consider this your punishment. Until you behave and work things out with your teammates, there will be no sex." Julia said with her eyes closed.

"Seriously!?" Ryoka asked.

"Dead serious. You promised me you would try." Julia said.

"Babe, I swear I'm trying. Really I am. But Akumera is not making it easy for me either. He's lazy, undisciplined, can't take a punch to save his life and can't back up his smack talk. You know I hate people like that." Ryoka said. Julia gently grabbed Ryoka's hands.

"Okay calm down. I know you aren't fully to blame. And I know this isn't easy for you but you must have?" Julian asked. Ryoka sighed.

"Patience." Ryoka answered. Julia nodded.

"Patience. Yes. You said you learned more about him today. And he learned more about you. Did any of that help you two connect in some way?" Julia asked. Ryoka felt guilty. She looked down and sighed.

"Yeah. I guess, I can respect how much he wants to save his mother. Given well.....you know." Ryoka said sadly. Julia sat right next to Ryoka and hugged her.

"Look, you know that I am always on your side. No matter what. This isn't for Henro or even for me. It's for you. You're going to be a queen someday Ryoka. There will be times where you will have to swallow your pride and work with other people. Without using your fists." Julia said gently.

"Yeah, I know. And I know he has conviction, but like I said he's lazy. And not just lazy, he's a coward. Disses me but can't fight back. Him and his people have been oppressed their entire lives and they still accept the system they live in. How can I respect someone like that?" Ryoka asked.

"Ryoka. You have to understand, demons, angels, giants, garuda, mermen, machines and humans, they're not like us. They can't go around flexing their power and dominance whenever they please. Despite the guardians best efforts, demons to this day still have less rights than people like us. Henro has been a victim of it his entire life. And he can't fight back as easily as you can." Julia said.

As Julia spoke, Ryoka started to calm her nerves and actually think about what she was saying. She recalled what Henro said about him and his mother being experiments to the empire and the racism he has to deal with from people like herself.

"Yeah." Ryoka replied.

"It's true that the strong feed on the weak, and Henro does need to work on himself as well. But that does not make Henro a coward. Don't forget, he put his life on the line to save Ziera. Yes, he's flawed. But who isn't? You can't hold everyone to the same high standard. That's how your uncle thinks. You said you wanted to overthrow him and change the system, remember? A world where fire dragons don't prey on the weak for sport. Well, start by doing that here and now. Work with Henro. Show him that you're worthy of his respect. And in turn he'll work on earning yours. Like I did." Julia smiled and rested her head on Ryoka's shoulder.

Ryoka put her arm around Julia and pondered back to her and Henro's conversation.

"Alright, well you guys know the rest. Aurora of the crimson knights killed my mother. So once I find and take back her head to ifrit, I'll prove that I am worthy of inheriting the throne from my uncle." Ryoka said proudly.

"Cute. But for what it's worth, I hope you succeed. You are strong so your people would be in good hands." Henro said in a fake dismissive way. Ryoka saw through it and smiled.

"You going soft on me, imp boy?" Ryoka asked.

"Fuck off!" Henro yelled out.

"Damn. That's some history you got there. Well....at least your mom is still alive. So you can still save her. And uh....".

Henro raised his eyebrow at Ryoka.

"And keep your chin up or something I don't know! Just stop crying! Shut up!" Ryoka yelled out but her face was blushing out of embarrassment.

"Whatever you say, your majesty." Henro and Emilia giggled. Ryoka scoffed.

Ryoka sighed.

"Okay. I guess he's not all that bad. So far. Still don't like him though. But fine I'll ease up. For me. I made you a promise after all." Ryoka smiled as she looked at Julia. Julia smiled back.

"That's my future queen." Julia said as she and Ryoka kissed.

"So were you serious about the no sex thing?" Ryoka asked.

"Dead serious." Julia said.

"UGH!" Ryoka flopped back on the bed. Julia giggled.

"By the way. What of Emilia? Are you two getting along?" Julia asked.

"Yeah. Don't know if I like her though." Ryoka said.

"Why is that?" Julia asked.

"I don't know. She's...weird. Or rather she makes me feel weird. Like...ugh...what's the word?" Ryoka asked herself.

"Intrigued?" Julia asked.

"Yeah that's it. She's really sweet and innocent. But when it comes down to it she can be a real badass. You remember how she talked me down before? She did it again. Two more times during training. If it were anyone else I would have ripped their head off but her? She reminds me of you in a way." Ryoka said.

"Is that so? Well that is intriguing." Julia said.

"Yeah. And I know she's working hard to be a ruler to her people someday but she needs to work on her leadership skills. Talking about her feelings is sweet and all, but if she wants me to follow her in battle she'll have to try harder to earn that no offense." Ryoka said.

"I understand. I can tell that her heart is in turmoil. She must be under serious pressure to end the civil war between her people. But I sense that there's more to it than that." Julia said.

"What do you mean?" Ryoka asked.

"I don't know. But perhaps...". Julia turned her head to Ryoka. Ryoka grinned.

"What do you have in mind?" Ryoka asked. Julia smiled back at her. She then stood up and went to her katana lying next to her drawer. She picked it up and grinned at Ryoka.

"Emilia is still awake. She's on the roof of the ship. Are you up for a midnight snack?" Julia asked.