Sebastian

Sebastian melted into the bathtub for his first shower in weeks. Minister Kitagawa, the man they’d rescued from the fortress, had brought them to his safe house. One could hardly call it fancy. The good Minister had the place modeled after a suburban Lucidean apartment. He called it: “A prime way of experiencing foreign culture.”

And Sebastian agreed. Or rather, he lacked the energy to disagree. Besides, this was the last place anyone would expect to find them.

Especially after what had happened.

He sighed and twisted the faucet. There will be time for grieving later. The warm water brushed roughly against his bruised skin but this was a pain he could get behind. Like coming home after a hard day’s work and getting a massage from a loving spouse as you vent about the frustrations of dealing with sniveling managers or abrasive co-workers or condescending senior executives.

Before he could fully commit to the daydream, a sharp tapping on the bathroom door pulled him back to reality. “Who is it?” He groaned.

“It is me,” Ren called from the other side.

Sebastian twisted the faucet until his water was boiling. “Okay, why?”

“I read the data you obtained from Sir Trent’s phone.”

Crap. Sebastian had finished the analysis while the rest of them were busy fighting for their lives. The entire history between Trent, Roland, and Norton was now on his laptop. That’s why he’d thought to return. He wished he could’ve done more.

God, he wished he had done more.

“I’m sorry you had to find out like that,” he said.

Ren remained silent as his shadow slouched over behind the bathroom door.

“Hey, buddy, you wanna talk about it?”

“There is nothing to talk about,” said Ren softly. “I only wished I’d known sooner. Maybe, we could have prevented all of this.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Sebastian.

Ren shook his head. “All these years, I looked up to that man as my idol. My head was bowed so low in worship, I failed to see the mountain of corpses behind him.”

Sebastian dipped his face in the bathtub. “You’re not alone, buddy. I always figured he was up to no good.”

“Then, why did you not say anything?”

“I guess, I just wanted to do this for Hope. She was in so much pain when she had to give up being Vega. I thought… I thought I was helping her.”

“I suppose, we were all blind in our own different ways. He was able to get this far because we let him use us. But now, we must make things right.”

“What’re you gonna do?” asked Sebastian.

“Not me. Us. This is our mess to fix. I will not stand by and let that man ruin any more lives. I will be waiting for you.”

Sebastian dried himself, got a change of clothes, and ran straight for the living room. Ren was sitting beside the good Minister on a sofa next to the fireplace. Hope was nowhere to be seen.

He attempted to offer them a weak smile but their heads were bowed in shame. Minister Kitagawa offered him a cup of tea as he plopped down on a nearby couch.

“Thank you, for saving my life,” said Minister Kitagawa.

“Sir, please,” Ren insisted. “It was the least we could do. After everything we have done…”

The Minister brushed him aside with a dismissive shrug. “Relax, I’ve seen my fair share of good men doing bad things at the behest of some delusional bastard. Always have the charisma of the Gods, those men. It’s a darn shame they never put it to good use.”

“Where’s Hope?” asked Sebastian.

“Still in the shower,” answered the Minister. “My physicians treated her as best as they could. Her leg will heal with time, but I’m afraid they could not save her eye.”

Sebastian offered him a weak chuckle. “Well, she’s always told me she’d look cool in an eyepatch.”

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“How is she taking it?” asked Ren.

“Not well,” said Sebastian, cupping his face with his palms. He wasn’t close with Aliyah but he’d known how much she’d meant to Hope. It must have been the worst feeling in the world, like losing a part of you that you know can never be replaced. The worst part was, she’d probably blame herself. She’d make something up like “if only I was more careful”, “if only I was two feet to the right”, or “if I hadn’t wasted all my ammo”. It wouldn’t help. She had to bear that pain. There was no getting around it. It hurt more than any wound.

Sebastian wished there was some way he could comfort her. Something he could do to make things better, but he knew that the best thing to do was give her space.

“Trent’s headed for Lucidea.” Sebastian sighed and rubbed his eyelids. “He’s planning to take out Roland once and for all. We can’t let that happen but without Hope, well, I don’t rate our chances too high.”

“Who says you’re going without me, dum dum?” Hope’s cheerful voice caught him off-guard and nearly sent him tumbling off the couch.

“H-hopie?”

“Yarr! Pirate captain Hope Hastings, at yer service, matey!”

She curled up her finger like a pirate hook and smiled at him. The black eyepatch looked natural on her, more than it had any right to. Her face was sickly pale save for the gash of red over her nose. Her cheeks had gotten boney thin, courtesy of not eating for a week. Her eye was red and swollen with a few stray tears that she’d failed to wipe away. And yet, she was smiling. It was a weak grin and one she was struggling to maintain. It took all her strength to not break down into tears but she was smiling. “Why so glum, chums?” she said in a shaky voice.

Sebastian noticed her shivering legs but didn’t dare to speak up. Moreover, his attention had been drawn to something even more peculiar. Something he’d never expected to see in his entire life. If he hadn’t been resting his head on the couch, his jaw would have hit the floor.

Hope had black hair. Her shoulder-length blond locks with the cutest touch of pink were nowhere to be seen. Every inch of her scalp had been covered in jet-black dye.

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” she said, attempting a pirate accent. “Oh, this? Well, if we’re waltzing back to Lucidea, I can’t exactly go without a disguise. I’m still a wanted criminal, ya know? Besides, I think it complements the eyepatch.”

“You want to go back?” asked Sebastian.

“Of course, dummy! Aren’t we gonna finish what we started? Don’t tell me you’re gonna be chicken when we’re this close to the finish line?”

“Miss Hope, are you certain you can do this?” Ren asked with concern in his eyes. “You are hurting, badly. There is no telling what will happen to us. You have done enough. No one will think less of you if you back down here.”

“I will,” said Hope. Her face looked ready to explode with emotion but she took a deep breath and calmed herself. Her body became as still as a concrete statue. “I need this. For her.”

“Which is why you should stay,” Ren insisted. “Sir Trent spent the better part of his life chasing a man for vengeance. Look what that did to him.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t make him wait fifteen years.”

“That is not the point. What you are thinking of doing is not healthy. It won’t make you feel better. I know how you feel.”

“No, you don’t!” Hope exploded. “What do you know about loss? What do you know about me? Acting all high and mighty cause you’ve got nothing at stake. Well, I do! And I know that if I don’t do this, I’ll blame myself for the rest of my life. So, please, just let me make this right.”

The room was engulfed in an oppressive silence. Sebastian looked around, hoping to ease the tension by cracking a joke. Everyone was fixated on Hope who looked ready to either storm out or lunge at Ren in a barrage of angry punches.

Ren placed an arm over Sebastian’s shoulder to ease him, then walked up to Hope, and smiled. “I lost my family to the Green Invasion when I was five. I saw them gunned down with my own eyes. They were good people. Before he was executed, my father told me to run and never seek revenge. He said it was the brave thing to do. To let the pain die with me and not pass on the hatred to others.”

Hope fell back in her seat. Her head was bowed in remorse.

“I know your anger, Miss Hope. I have felt it for many years. But if I let the flames of vengeance consume me, I would just end up burning those closest to me.”

“So, what do I do?” she asked.

Ren crouched down on one knee, placed her hands inside his own, and spoke in the softest voice. “We will stop him. But we will not do it for hatred. We will do it because it is the right thing to do.”

Hope pondered his words. Her gaze shifted from person to person as she looked for someone to tell Ren he was wrong. Unfortunately, she knew better. It made her furious to no end but she knew he was right.

She sighed. “Seb, what’s our deadline?”

“Roland’s holding a conference at the Haven City Convention Center. It’s on the sixth of August.” He smiled.

“That is two days from now,” Ren added. “How are we going to get there in time? I doubt the Mitsurugi government will let us leave.”

“Oh, fret not, young ones!” Minister Kitagawa chimed in with his melodious voice. “I can pull a few strings to arrange a private flight for you. You’ll be there in no time.”

“But sir, that would put you in danger,” said Ren. “If the media discover this, they might accuse you of working with terrorists. We cannot let you do that.”

“Bah! You leave that grown-up stuff to me. You kids go save your friend,” he smiled at us. “Besides, if something happens to Roland, we’re as good as dead.”

The four of them gathered around the table. This was it. The end of their long journey. As Hope stood alongside her companions new and old, she couldn’t help but get a bit teary-eyed. In a move born out of sheer love for action films, she outstretched an arm toward the center.

They’ll probably think I’m weird but what the hell?

To her surprise, they did the same. One by hand, they put their hand over hers. Even the good Minister joined in on the fun. Once they’d finished exchanging nods of trust and acceptance, they all looked to Hope for a few words of encouragement.

I don’t know. I never thought I’d get this far. Quick, think of something! Anything.

She racked her brains for all the action movies she’d watched over the years for an appropriate line. She wanted something that felt cool and optimistic with a touch of sentimentality that felt personal and aloof at the same time… And nothing came to mind. Her head went blank.

Then, she looked to her friends for support. They were gazing at her with genuine thoughtful smiles. Using a movie line felt like an insult to their trust.

I got it.

She looked around the room for one last time, then took a deep breath, and spoke with gravitas, “Here’s to doing the right thing.”