So much had been done. There was too much yet to be started. She stood alone in her father's office... Her office. Iris was out on some mission for now so Ade would simply have to pick up the slack.

She took up an ornately decorated black leather journal; within - on the first page - the words "Apotheosis, general notes and pontifications - Journal six. Author: Vasily Tempish." Only the title was delicately written in English, each letter had been carefully scrolled with an overly gentle hand. It brought a smile to Ade. It was obvious her father had intended to publish the journal and wanted to make a good first impression. She tentatively turned the page and exposed the rough scribbling and chaotic cyrillic writings. The page lacked any formatting at all, seemingly just his direct thoughts written down as quickly as possible before they could be forgotten. Iris had tried to decipher the book earlier in the week but - either due to her lack of fluency in Russian or the horrific handwriting - she was completely unable to parse even the opening sentence.

"In the event that a catalytic agent is found..." Ade mumbled through the page. "Application of treatment through direct nerve contact. Patient must be sedated... Pain incomprehensible... Genetic will required for basic function... Possibility of death upon exhaustion." A coffee stain blocked out half a page of half formed formulae and their descriptions beneath.

Truth be told, it wasn't terribly interesting. She scrolled through the pages, skimming over what she could but ultimately not finding anything new to aid in their efforts. As she flicked through the pages and mumbled aloud what little she could read, a small note slipped from between the pages. She managed to catch it before it could fall to the ground and become lost amongst the lessened but still large mound of papers that sprawled across the floor.

It was a small sticky note written by a much more pleasant hand than her fathers.

"Remember to congratulate Serah & Reese."

Reese? Could it be the Lieutenant? Ade searched for some hint of what the note meant. The pages it had been slipped between was marked as having been written in May of twenty-one sixty-four. Ade would have been four years old at the time. Maybe it was her mother's hand? But did her mother know Reese? Who was Serah?

She laughed to herself after a thought entered her mind. Serah, a very specific spelling. She had only ever heard of one 'Serah'... The daughter of Matias Malthines, heir to the Ministry of Galicia... The Rebel Queen; Serah Malthines.

Why would her mother have written a note about this Serah four months before the Queen's Rebellion began? As strange as it seemed, it must have been a coincidence.

Reese was a very common name in the Hypatian undercity. Ade had heard it was their word for a bastard, it meant something like "Unwanted" in their language. It was a name taken by the many orphans who had no surname to inherit.

It seemed strange that Reese wouldn't have mentioned that he and her parents were friends and he didn't mention knowing any Serah's?

Ade decided to ask Lara or Iris about it, curiosity always seemed to have an inescapable power over her; useful for a scientist - less so for someone working in a top secret lab.

"Oye, Temp." A familiar Kiwi tone sang out through her office door. Archi Mason had his face pressed firmly against the glass pane.

"Archi?"

"Aye, aye! Can I come in?" He asked. She nodded and he slunk through the door.

"Pack some shit, Temp. You're coming with me." He said, not looking at her but letting his eyes wander around the room. He bobbed slightly as he walked, as though he were singing some silent song in his head.

"I- What? There is too much to do." Ade protested. "Look!" She signalled him over to a small see-through safe. Within was a strange ball of what looked to be a thick blue fluid which lazily floated between two black pods. The fluid wasn't contained within anything, instead it had been suspended using the same gravity tech used to fly Daphi. She opened the safe and pulled out the two black pods. The fluid orb stayed perfectly between them.

"Is that...?" Archi questioned, his eyes fixed on the orb in awe.

"Apotheosis." Ade confirmed. "The first treatment." She nearly whispered as she held the orb tightly within her grasp, her hands trembling slightly.

"So... It's ready? Now?" Archi doubted, suddenly aware of his surroundings. He scanned the room around him as he ushered Ade to store it back into the safe.

"Iris synthesised it a few hours ago... But no, it's not ready. This is a prototype. It would be unstable if injected into a human, there could be terrible side effects." Ade whispered as she considered.

She knew this version wasn't perfect, if applied it would burn will power at a sporadic rate. A minor effort could kill the user in an instant, or a great feat of strength could accidentally be triggered while doing something mundane. A few more months of dedicated study and testing would hopefully lead to a stabilised version.

"That may be, Temp." Archi persisted as he subtly searched the room. "But you're still coming with me."

"Why, where?" Ade asked. An awkward sigh slipped Archi, a sign of discontent?

"To the Oblivion site." He said in a strange way, not coldly... But maybe lacking the warmth of his usual tone.

"What's going on? You're taking me to the frontline?" She questioned. Her belly dropped and her hand shook somewhat but she quickly stowed it into her pocket. Was it fear? Perhaps not. She hadn't really been afraid since her father died. Angry, regretful even, but never truly scared.

She looked at the large, tan man before her. At his constrictive uniform and ever growing stubble. Tattooed waves crashed from beneath his sleeves and a small rifle slung lazily from his back. He stood with a slight slouch and held a somewhat vacant gaze.

"Garrison thinks it's safer." He said.

"On the frontlines?" She doubted.

"At this point... Maybe."

"Oh..." Ade thought back to Iris' words. They are soldiers, they know how to keep her safe. She nodded and dragged a rucksack out of her father's desk. She stowed her tablet and some papers within it.

"How long will we be?" She questioned.

"Maybe two days?"

"I will need clothes." She pointed out.

"We have a spare uniform in Daphi that should fit you." He said. It must have been Lara's or some previous Raptor's uniform, nobody else would have been close to her size. She nodded and beckoned for him to lead the way.

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They sat in awkward silence as Archi flew the short distance with her. She decided to sit in the co-pilot seat. She felt it may have been worse to sit alone in the main cabin. He made slight small talk with her and she put some effort into her responses but conversation did not flow easily between the two. Eventually, Archi placed on his headphones and apologised to her, explaining he had to keep an ear out for communications from command. She knew it to be an excuse for silence and she was somewhat grateful. She had spent the past few weeks in close proximity with Iris and chats between the two were still brief at best. She had no chance with Aricci.

They silently rounded some pillars as they crossed over Lethe ring and neared on Styx. She looked out to the previously pristine white walls, now scorched black in the best of places; reduced to rubble in the rest of them. She saw thousands and thousands of bullets hail in every direction. A wall of lights rapidly pushing at each other's lines.

She saw a much larger light trace across the evening sky. It rounded in a beautiful arch from behind a group of hills. She watched it glide it's way towards the wall, deftly weaving between smaller sparkles sent between men. She looked on as it landed, and waited as it lay dormant. Nothing came of it, the shell simply came to rest between two squads of men fighting atop of the wall. She couldn't imagine what the soldiers would have been thinking in that moment. Was it luck that they had been saved, or something more? Where they destined for more?

She was so engrossed in the squad of survivors and the dormant shell that she didn't notice the three extra shells that ripped through the clouds. They did not land easily, nor did they nestle calmly behind the men. They, each three, landed atop of the saved squad and wiped all trace of man from the area. Once the smoke and bloody mist had settled and moved on, she saw the remnants... A pair of boots and a rifle, each having belonged to a different soldier.

They ducked low, skirting over the ashy fields of scorched wheat and dead bodies hastily dumped as to avoid the spread of disease. They came near to the lost dockyard built into an extrusion of the ring. They swang around and found a small crack in the wall which Archi threaded through before gently touching down.

"And that's our journey today, thanks for flying air Daphi." Archi half-mindedly said as he swivelled his head around the cockpit, making sure his landing spot was well clear.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"Thank you, Archi." Ade whispered. She crawled her way out to the door and slid it open nearly before Daphi had even finished landing.

"Ms. Tempish, a pleasure." Garrison greeted with an outstretched hand to help her down from Daphi. She took it and hopped down with a polite smile.

"Commander." She greeted. She pulled her bag from Daphi's floor and was ushered over to a small campfire.

Around the calm flame Raptor had gathered. Iris Commons lay with her head resting against Lara's lap. She flicked through setting and statistics on her tablet; her gentle face illuminated both by the harsh blue glow of her device, and by the orange flame. She lay almost unaware of the world, even unaware of who she lay on. Her tongue escaped the side of her lips as her nose scrunched up in focus. The blonde of her hair, which Ade hadn't realised till now was dyed so, had lacked it's usual maintenance and as such a burst of what almost seemed red crept from her scalp. She mindlessly blew against her hair in an attempt to move it from her face but quickly gave up.

Above her sat Lara Black; the Sergeant, the sniper... The Mack. It still played on Ade's mind that she had grown so close to somebody she had been taught all her life to avoid. It could have been guilt, regret or simply confusion at the prospect. It didn't matter in the end, the woman who sat there was nothing but kind and sweet.

Ade pulled from her bag a pair of black and pink headphones, a gift from Lara, and rested them around her neck. The sound of her red canvas shoes dragging along the debris covered floor made her approach all the more noticeable - had the landing of the massive gravity defying shuttle not already been sufficient to alert them of her arrival. Lara turned to her as she approached and patted a hand to the floor beside her. Her eyes caught on Lara, on her surprising muscle and self assured posture. She always seemed to sit the tallest in a room, even despite her meagre stature. Her pure white hair always caught the light of flame or sky giving her such an ethereal vibrance.

She wasn't beautiful in the same way Iris was - her nose was crooked and her left ear had a large chunk completely missing - but it never detracted from her. She held herself as the perfect mixture of the family Ade knew her to have. Iris had taught her to care for her appearance . She shaped her eyebrows carefully and what little of her face was visible beyond her mask had clearly been well cared for, but she was still a soldier first and foremost. Her hair was practical, tightly held back and cut short. Her clothes weren't ornate or interesting, instead practical and subtle. What part of her came from Iris had clearly been tempered with what part came from her adoptive brother, Reese.

Speaking of... Reese dropped from his watch post. His actual landing made less noise than the dust he disturbed settling around him. She watched him stand straight and stow his rifle on his back. He had rolled his black cotton sleeves up to just below his elbow. The sheer quantity of scars and tattoos still inspired some measure of awe within Ade. She did find it strange that he would roll his right sleeve up, as he still wore a black and green glove that reached far beyond his elbow. Come to think of it, Ade doubted she had ever seen him without it. Even when she had visited his bunk with Lara and he had not seconds before climbed out of bed, he wore it.

He slunk across the camp, sitting opposite Lara and Iris as he pulled out a beer. Lara raised her hand somewhat and he immediately threw her one.

He was a tall man, taller than her father had been but nothing on Garrison. It seemed he had joined the rest of the squad in neglecting his hair. What had been a black skin fade and slicked back hair when they had met was now a thick jungle of black hair. He had still slicked it back but due to the length of it, he struggled to tame plenty of stray hairs.

He unfastened a buckle on his chest carrier. The black camouflaged plate fell heavily to the ground exposing a skintight tan synthetic compression shirt and a pair of golden dog tags. His beard had grown in much thicker since she had met him. There was a thick line along his cheek where an old scar precluded the growth of facial hair. The firelight cast unflattering shadows across his face, his crooked and several times broken nose was made much larger and more deformed in the darkness than in daylight. He still seemed a somewhat handsome man, lending more to his size and musculature than his broken and scarred face.

"Sizing us up?" Lara joked. Ade realised in that instant that she had been stood there much too long, staring at the three before her.

"Sit." Reese invited, though his typical tone made it sound more like an order. She did, scooting in beside Lara.

"Ha!" Lara exclaimed, looking at Reese as Ade chose to sit aside her. "I get both." She mocked, signalling to both Iris and Ade.

"Well, I get the beer." Reese replied, opening a cooler filled with clouded grey bottles. They both let off a small laugh. Reese stretched out and sat backwards, leaning against a mound of rubble as he took a deep swig from his bottle.

"Ugh." Iris grunted. "Gimme one." She raised a hand to catch the bottle but missed it, luckily Lara was there to catch it instead. She didn't hand it over, choosing to rest it against Iris' forehead.

She grunted and groaned before sitting up and shifting away from Lara.

"Oh, finally. You've got a heavy head." Lara groaned as she finally stretched out her legs.

"It's only cos' there's so much in it." She hissed as she swiped the beer away from Lara.

The four sat a while in silence. Iris seemed completely consumed in her tablet the whole time.

"What are you doing?" Ade quietly asked. It made Iris jump somewhat and she dropped the device, looking at Ade for the first time.

"Ade, darling! When did you get here?" She asked, somewhat flushed.

"A... small while ago?" Ade timidly answered.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay? Was the flight okay? Do you need anything? Are you warm enough?" Iris rambled. She shuffled over to Ade but didn't stand up as she drew her in for a hug.

"I'm okay, Iris. Just a little in the dark." Ade awkwardly laughed as Iris squoze the breath from her lungs.

"Oh." Iris realised. She pulled out her device again and swiped away a small side tab which seemed to contain a series of half dressed men. "I'm running scans on Oblivion. Making sure it's linking to the ring properly. We're currently connected to one-third of the required systems."

Ade chose to ignore what she thought she had seen. "So how long will we be here for?" She asked, her eyes drifting from Iris' slight blush over to the dancing flame.

"A couple of days, at most." Iris shuffled back into a small nest of duffle bags and took a swig of beer.

"Is all well, Ms. Tempish?" Garrison asked as he slunk with surprising grace to sit aside Reese.

"Yes, sir. Thank you." She answered. "...But please, call me Ade."

"Of course, Ade." Garrison bowed. He collapsed to the floor beside Reese, the grace of his movements completely offset by his sheer mass.

"Plus, Bernie... She's a doctor; not a miss." Iris corrected.

"Ah, forgive me. I am afraid the terminology confuses me." Garrison sincerely apologised before drawing a beer for himself.

"Can't all be drinking without the young doctor!" A jovial voice sang from behind Daphi. Aricci Mason crawled atop of the shuttle, oil smeared across his face and spanner gripped firmly in hand.

"That is true." Lara laughed, she and Archi both shot mockingly pleading looks towards Garrison.

"We will not encourage underage drinking." He declared, a very slight grin cracking his commanding façade.

"She's on the frontlines right now, If she's old enough to be here; she's old enough for a single beer." Lara insisted.

"You are a terrible influence." Garrison scolded. "But I see your logics."

"Logic." Lara teasingly corrected.

"Fine..." He finally acquiesced. "One beer."

Without pause or hesitation, Reese pulled a bottle from the cooler and passed it along the chain towards Ade. She took it and twisted off the cap before taking a hesitant sip.

"That is..." She considered before taking a second, much larger gulp. "Horrific." She nearly spat the mouthful out, but managed to swallow it before placing the bottle on the floor.

"It is." Reese laughingly agreed before finishing the rest of his bottle.

"You learn to love it." Lara joked as she threw a canteen of water to Ade. The young girl swilled the water around her mouth in an attempt to purge the rotten taste from her tongue. The group joined in a laugh as Archi made his way over. He swiped the open beer Ade had left behind and took a drink.

"Ah well, your lo-"

He cut off his words with a strange gargle. Ade turned to look at him, at the bottle slipping from his hand. At the blood seeping down his chest.

At the arrow, sticking out of his throat.

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She had no time to realise what was happening. First, an explosion - Daphi. She was gone? No, She was ash and flame. Her carcass flying out into every direction; the sky, the dirt... Her eye.

Her flesh seared as a single molten fragment tore its way up her face and dug itself deep into her eye. She didn't feel the pain or fear, but she did feel Garrison diving atop of her. A one man bunker. A fortress of her own. He consumed her whole as the second explosion rang out. It was much closer and much smaller. She could tell exactly where it came from, three meters away and six foot up. Archi. The arrow that pierced him exploded into a vast ball of flame, but she was protected from it. She heard orders ring from Reese and Garrison. She heard reports go back and forth between Lara and Iris. She heard gunfire blair and even a grenade detonate in the distance. All shots were going in the same direction but she didn't hear any rounds return. Everything was a blur, mumbled and afar. It was as if she was listening from beneath an ocean, the water distorting the sounds and weighing her down. The pressure of it all crushing her spine.

A moment passed, or maybe it was an hour... or a week? The bullets died down and Garrison knelt over Ade, keeping her hidden beneath him but not consuming her whole any longer. She could hear talking again, or maybe they were shouting?

A hand ran across Ade's face. Soft and gentle though controlling all of her movements, it could only be Iris. She looked down at Ade with a look of emotionless appraisal. She scanned Ade's body, looking for wounds beyond the obvious; and it was obvious. She could feel it now, as Iris lay Ade's head on her lap. She could feel the burning and bleeding. She knew that she couldn't see through her right eye. It wasn't, however, within Ade's comprehension that the eye was completely missing. Simply a black and red hole. A small needle pricked into her skin but she couldn't feel it. Dreams fought to take her quickly, and she didn't resist. Her head fell to the side, to Archi... To the mound that had been Archi. She rolled her head away from the sight and realised that Lara and Reese were missing. They must have gone to fight... The soft hand stroked her away into her sleep. Maybe she would sleep for a long time, maybe she would see her parents again... Maybe sleep wasn't such a bad thing.

Calm consumed her and for the first time since her father had passed, she slipped off to a peaceful slumber.