‘What the hell is she saying?! Marriage??’

I stare at her with wide eyes and a baffled expression, unable to find the words to reply. All that I can do is to remain silent and wait for her to burst with laughter while telling me that this was simply a bad joke. However, the longer I wait, the more I believe that this development is unlikely to occur. Eventually, feeling tense from the silence, and the lack of playfulness in her face, I reply.

“Uh, sorry, I uh, I don’t think I’m ready for marriage yet.” I say with an awkward smile.

She sighs, and shifts her eyes towards the ceiling. With a disappointed, or perhaps even melancholic expression, she says:

“Oh well, it was worth a try, I guess.”

No other word escapes her lips. She sits in complete silence and studies the tiles which make up the upper boundary of the room. Her expression becomes hard to read. Perplexed by her sudden change of mood, I frown and fail to avert my eyes from her figure. Feeling my gaze, she meets my eyes.

“What?” She says, confused.

“I… just didn’t expect you to give up so easily.”

She snorts. “What did you expect then?”

I stroke my chin. “I don’t know. Probably more of an extreme reaction?”

“Pfft, don’t flatter yourself. There are plenty of other men who are strong and handsome here, I have options.”

I notice a spark of realization in her eyes. She squints her eyes and her lips curl upwards.

“Oh, I see… Is it that you wished I would have tried harder? You could have just said so.” She replies with a grin.

My cheeks burn up despite me not having a fever, but I do not let it show. I shift uncomfortably and hastily refute Sophia’s claim.

“What? No- First of all, are you really serious about the marriage thing?”

Her expression turns serious. “I don’t joke around.”

‘So she meant everything she said huh… Hold on, she totally called me strong AND handsome didn’t she?!?!’

I struggle to not let my composure crumble in front of her. Her demeanor somewhat reminds me of the ways in which Ivana teases me, except Sophia is not teasing me at all, she’s completely serious, which is definitely worse.

She throws one last wink at me and her attention returns towards the ceiling. As I told her, I’m not exactly sure what I expected, but it definitely was not this. What I’ve just witnessed is much different from the Sophia who turned others into ice statues in the arena with a smile on her lips. She has her quirks for sure, as does everyone here, but right now, she seems a lot more like a normal girl. With her sitting so close to me, I can’t help but appreciate the Thunderblade [enlightened] wistfully staring into the void. Something deep within me tells me that there is much more to her than she lets people see.

Pulling me from my fascination with the woman whose skin is as pale as winter, the older man’s voice travels from the entrance of the room. He repeats the same message he did a dozen minutes ago. I immediately begin scanning the room, hoping to see someone I recognize. It does not take long before I spot Alex, Adam and Zora exiting their pods.

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I excitedly stand up and rush to meet them. However, what greets me is far different from what I would have imagined. Upon arriving within earshot of them, what I hear is Zora in a heated argument with Adam.

“A-Alrigth, can you calm down!? I already told you it was an accident, Zora! I’m really really sorry!!” Adam exclaims with cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

“I almost didn’t pass ‘cause o’ ya and I know ya did it on purpose, Adam! Ya might think I’m stupid, but I’m smart enough ta know that yer too good to miss shots like that! If it wasn’t for Big Al and his healin’ power, I would have been eliminated! Why would you do that?!” Zora shouts.

‘Woah, she’s not calling him meat pie? Something really bad must have happened…’

I walk towards Alex who is not engaging in the argument. I am already aware that he is not the talkative type, but I imagine he can provide me with information. I approach the mountain of a man, and poke his side. He looks down to meet my gaze and I ask him a question.

“Can you tell me what’s going on there?”

He turns to look at the arguing duo. Without letting any emotion show on his face, he answers me. “Hm, Adam fired his arrow near Zora. The arrow pulled her towards an enemy’s attack, giving her no choice but to face its full force. He says it was unintentional, she doesn’t believe him.”

“...What do you think?”

An almost imperceptible frown forms on his face. “Not sure.”

The argument becomes more heated. Zora pokes Adam’s chest with her finger as she questions him about supposedly attacking her. In response, Adam takes a few steps back, trying to persuade Zora that it was an accident, which only makes her angrier. When I notice that she is on the verge of reaching a breaking point, I decide that it is time to step in. I insert myself between the both of them and attempt to mediate the situation.

“Why don’t we all take a deep breath guys.” I say as I push them both away from each other with my arms.

“Don’t ya get in between us ya turtle! This is between me and him!”

‘I know that’s just her nickname for me, but it kind of feels like an insult…’

I inhale and try to calm Zora down. “Zora, do you really think that Adam would try to intentionally eliminate you?”.

She directs her outburst towards me now. “It ain't ‘bout what I do or don’t think! I saw it with my own two eyes damnit! Now, get outta my way!”

She tries to go around me in order to get in Adam’s face once more. The burning intensity in her eyes almost makes me back off, but I do not give up that easily. I put myself in her path once again.

“J-just hold on for a second! Let’s think about this logically. If Adam really wanted to eliminate you, he could have simply shot straight at you. It would have been easy with how good of a shot he is, right? Why would he have done it in such a roundabout way? Does that make any sense to you?”

Some clarity finally appears in her eyes and her temper mellows down ever so slightly.

“W-well, no, not really, I guess. But Still! I’m sure of what I saw, t-that arrow was meant ta take me down!” She shouts, no longer so sure of herself.

I press harder. “But you agree that, if his intention was getting rid of you, the way he did it doesn’t make any sense! It was a big battlefield, something could have startled him, he could very well have missed! Also, he already apologized, and in the end, you passed didn’t you? Why don’t you just let this one go.”

I can still see the fire in her eyes, but it is much dimmer than it was a moment ago. Her shoulders drop and her body relaxes. She looks down, attempting to find something to say to me.

“I-I’m not good with my words like ya, turtle.” She says while still looking at the floor.

Then, she looks up and stares straight into my eyes, an aura of unwavering conviction radiating from her.

“Turtle, I’m the type of person ta trust her instincts. That’s what got me all the way here. Guess what they’re tellin’ me right now. They’re sayin’ that whatever happened in there, wasn’t an accident! Still, that ain’t the biggest problem…!! They’ve always said that Adam was a good guy, and they still do! So I need ta know why he did that!”

Peeking past me and towards Adam, her eyes glisten with unshed tears, reflecting the light and displaying an emotion she is desperately trying to hold back.

“Just tell me… Why did ya do that? I need ta know why meat pie…”

Adam averts his eyes from hers, failing to reciprocate her sincerity. Softly, he replies.

“I told you, i-it was an accident…! You have to believe me!”

Zora bites her lip, turns around and trembles with frustration. Without facing either of us, she says:

“I.. really don’t get it. I still get the feelin’ yer a really sweet guy, but I just don’t believe ya...”

With those words, she walks away and heads for a corner of the room. Alex follows after her, but before completely leaving, he throws a glance in Adam’s direction with an unreadable expression inscribed on his face. I feel it would not be a good idea to reach for Zora at this very moment. I decide to instead step toward Adam who seems equally shaken.

“You alright man?” I say while patting his shoulder.

“...Yeah, thanks.” He replies dejectedly.

I opt to not question him about the situation since it is not my place to do so. When I suggest we find a place to sit, he apologizes and asks to be left alone for now. It bothers me to leave him in this state, but I respect his wishes and return to my previous seating spot, next to Sophia who is now laying down, still looking at the ceiling.

“Trouble in paradise huh.” She says as I sit down.

“...Yeah.”

‘Hopefully it goes better when Ivana and Sylvia come out…’