I sat down in the old leather sofa in our Operations Room, glad that the stressful mission with the Ripper Bees had finally come to an end. Chryssa also decided to relax by my side, with her newfound relief showing through her calm expression.

"Thank heavens this is over," I said as I smiled at her.

"Yes. Finally." She returned the smile.

A few minutes of silence passed, with only the sound of Theo clicking on his keyboard as he finished this mission's report surrounding us.

"So, Ordell..." She spoke once again. "Now, I was wondering if you could finally answer my questions."

I didn't have time to say anything as the front door opened and the COMET's van arrived at the headquarters. The squad had finally come back... Covered in the green blood of those nasty monsters.

"Sup, everyone!" Liam greeted us as he took off his helmet. I raised my hand and we gave each other a high-five. The rest of the squad followed after him.

I looked at Chryssa and found her expression... Odd. She looked dumbfounded, but I decided not to pry on it. I would hate to make things awkward between us just after she decided to put her trust in the team.

"You reek!" Theo's voice rose. "Leave your armor here and take a damn shower. I don't want to lose my appetite before dinner!"

I nodded, agreeing with him. Chryssa covered her nose and mouth with her hand in a joking gesture.

"Please don't humiliate us in front of a girl, comm!" Cassius proclaimed. "How am I gonna ask her on a date later with you saying stuff like that?"

I noticed Chryssa's cheeks turn a bright red tone after my friend's words. I hope she took that as a compliment...

"Whatever you wanna do, you fucking casanova wannabe. Just stop messing around. Let's go to the showers and get some food, I'm starving." Troy commented.

As the squad left, we were glad that the boys went to clean themselves through the side door that connected the Operations Room to the barracks. While slightly murky, the showers had water so nice I preferred going there in the mornings just for that sensation, instead of simply using the bathtub in my bedroom.

Chryssa, Theo, and I went upstairs to the dining room. Said room was dimly lit by antique yellow light bulbs hanging on top of us. Their weak luminosity created a beautiful pattern of lights and shadows in the corners between the red brick walls and the white plaster ceiling.

An oak table stood in the middle of the room, with nine chairs of the same material surrounding it in an irregular pattern. On its top, it had all sorts of scratches, stains, and marks that were left throughout the years.

We arrived at the dining room, following the delicate smell of spices and sauces coming from the nearby kitchen. On its interior, there was a man named Hachi, one of our usual enforcers, humming one of his favorite Japanese songs.

"It looks like someone's been busy." Theo teased the manly figure that moved in a perfect rhythm and concentration as he prepared the food.

"Yuppers!" The jovial cook answered in his usual deep voice. His back turned to us as he kept going on, stirring vegetables in a pan.

"I hope you won't let us down, right, Hachi?" I joined the friendly conversation.

"Have I ever done something like th-" He turned towards us as he replied, but then he noticed the blue-haired maiden to my side. "Ohhh~ Who's the beautiful lady?" He asked, placing his sight on Chryssa.

"It's the girl Ordell rescued from the desert I told you about," Theo said.

"I'm Chryssa. Nice to meet you." She introduced herself to our roommate.

"It's an honor to meet someone who could get Ordell to talk to a girl." Hachi's voice resounded in the tiny kitchen.

We looked at each other, flustered by his words. Her beautiful green eyes were wide open and her cheeks tinted red as a pair of cherries on her face. Cherries? Really? Am I that hungry thinking of Hachi's cuisine?

"Sh-shut up, Hachi. That was uncalled for..." I said as I tried to hide my embarrassment, but betrayed by my voice breaking every two words.

As you can guess, it was Hachi's turn in the kitchen as he was the only COMET member who didn't participate in any mission that day. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to be glad about this, considering how fast everyone took a seat at the table when he started serving the food on different sized plates... Or maybe they were just hungry after that last mission and my taste buds are simply not sophisticated enough?

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Wait. We should wait for Callum," Liam stated with his always calm voice, as he noticed Cassius and Troy were about to take a spoonful of soup. "He called me and said he just ended his turn and will arrive in ten minutes or less."

"Fine by me, as long as you don't let my masterpiece get too cold," said Hachi in a playful tone, sitting down in the closest place to the kitchen.

Chryssa and I took our seats next to each other, with Matthew, Cassius, and Xander in front of us, Theo to my side, and Liam next to her. Hachi and Troy sat down on the opposite sides of the table. We took our hands and prayed to Vronti, wishing for our food to be blessed by Him.

Dinner is one of my favorite moments of the day. It marks the time to unwind and relax after a long day of work. And what a load of work we were having at that time! All those extra quests on top of that contract we signed with the Council of Sages to rescue Arcadisians and Akaians from the desert... Well, let's just say that my back was starting to hurt a bit too much.

We heard the door opening. Callum had arrived. The pale, tall man came from the stairs and brought a chair from the living room. "Sup! How are you doing?" He said as he took a seat on a corner of the table, between Matthew and Hachi.

"Callum! My pal! How are you doing?" Hachi said with a broad smile on his face and hugging him from the side.

"Well, thankfully there weren't any more migrants today," Callum answered. "The S.O.S took over me"

"Nice to hear that." Our cook said.

"So, am I right to assume that you are the girl that Ordell rescued?" Callum said with his juvenile voice as he took a glance at Chryssa with his grey eyes, hunter-like eyes.

She jumped slightly, reacting to his call-out, or was it his voice? She answered "Oh, yeah. My name is Chryssa".

"Cool." Callum's aloof demeanor clashed with his fragile physique.

After that small exchange, everyone started eating their meal. The flavor of the soup filled our mouths with an explosion of seasoning, the perfect amount of salt, and small vegetables that gave it a little hint of spiciness. The main course was roasted chicken and rice. Its crunchy flesh mixed with the softness of the slowly cooked white grains complimented masterfully one another.

As everyone started digging their food, small talk started filling the room. Laughter and chattering lifted the mood as everyone started exchanging stories and anecdotes of what had happened to each of us during the day. However, as I directed my gaze to Chryssa. I found the way she was acting a little bit weird. She wasn't eating at all, barely touching her food. Those unfocused eyes, that smile that vanished from her, that somber look... Whatever was haunting her, it didn't leave her throughout the dinner. It made me worry like you can't imagine.

After we finished our food, she directed her gaze toward me.

"Ordell..." She mumbled, almost whispering, as he tapped my shoulder.

"Tell me."

"Can we talk now?" She continued.

"Sure. What do you want to talk about?" I asked, trying to be kind to her.

She looked hesitant, scanning the entire room with her green eyes. "In private, I mean." Her voice filled with determination, but her tone sounded slightly like scolding.

"Oh, yeah. Sure."

We got up from the table, excusing ourselves as we made our way through the dining room, past the living room, and stopping at the building's terrace.

The moonlight was barely visible as the sky was covered with clouds. The wind blowing and the cold feeling in my skin were signals for the incoming rain. But funnily, I felt some warmth inside me every time I had a moment like this with my friends. But this warm started to cool out as the girl besides me started talking.

"I need to know the truth, Ordell". Chryssa's tone wasn't soft or joyful anymore. Instead, her directness made me feel a shivering cold in my spine.

"About what?" My voice expressed my ignorance of the meaning of her words.

"About... Everything."

"I-I mean that's something you can only get by praying to Vronti, right?" I joked, trying to make the mood a little more unserious, but her frown made it look like her impatience was growing with every word I said.

"That's not funny!" She scolded me.

"I'm... I'm sorry."

She pouted. It was the first time that day I saw her in a bad mood.

"Fine, don't do that again."

For a few seconds, only the whistling sound of the wind could be heard, only raising the tension between the two of us. She lowered her head, speaking once again, this time with a soft and mellow voice.

"Y-you're just kids... Why are you putting yourselves in such danger?" Glistening drops slowly started coming from her eyes. The corners of her mouth twitched as she fought against her feelings. "You're the oldest of all of you and I'm not even sure if you're an adult!"

Her words came to me like bullets, leaving me speechless. No one had ever said anything about my age or my friends' age. Why was she worried about that fact?

"We're over fifteen. We already did our compulsory military service, you know?" I tried explaining calmly.

"You WHAT?" Her voice emphasized her surprise.

"Why is it surprising for you? Is it not the same in Arcadis?"

"Well of course NOT!" She cried. Her sorrow slowly turned into irritation. "It's not normal in any place in the world!"

"What are you talking about? This is the norm everywhere. Everyone knows that!" I replied, not understanding where her frustration came from.

"It's not! Kids shouldn't be soldiers!" She was clearly not backing out of this argument.

I sighed, starting to lose patience, but trying to remain calm as I didn't want to make her (even more) mad. I lowered the tone of my voice and recovered my poker face.

"W-well. Even if that's not what you Arcadisians do, this is the Elidian way of doing things. I'm afraid you'll have to get used to it."

"The Elidian way?" She echoed, clearly not amused by my explanation. "Stop bullshitting me, Ordell!"

"I swear I'm not doing it. Why would I lie to you? What would I gain from that?"

"Y-you..." She stuttered, lowering the volume of her voice.

"I'm telling you the truth. We're all trained professionals. Don't worry about us." I said as I put my hand on her shoulder. "I swear we'll be fine. Believe in me." My eyes were firmly planted on hers, trying to reach her heart with my voice.

She mumbled and stuttered multiple times, she wanted to say something, to oppose everything I said. But she couldn't, she knew I was right. We could take care of ourselves.

"Who says that?" She asked, dimming her voice after a few moments of stillness.

"Says what, exactly?"

"Who says you have to fight at such a young age?"

I wanted to say something along the lines of ‘No one, fighting is the only thing we know—' but I simply couldn't say that. I was sure that would have made her even angrier, so I decided to give her a more precise name...

His name is... King Nullius.