Beatrice and the other members of her rebel group did spend the night before in the Teria airship. However, that morning, they all came to the dining hall as well after Jessie invited them.
At first, I was skeptical. I initially thought the dining hall itself was small; though, I never actually stepped inside it before that day.
"Isn't this dining area too big?" I said.
"Probably."
There were chairs lining up the edge of a long, dining table. Sofeea pulled one of it quick. "Mer Ava. Here."
"Thanks."
I proceeded to pull the chair on my right for Sofeea. I took my own seat after that. "I wonder what we will have for breakfast? I'm hungry. Though, I could just go back to the airship and eat there."
Sofeea was frozen for a moment before she sat down too. "The leader of The People's Light invited us to join him for this feast. He said something about deepening the Lutalo's relationship with his organization."
"Hmm."
Caesar and the rest arrived later, with Hope being the last one. It didn't seem like him to wake up late. I could only guess he had a hard time going to sleep.
Not long after that, all kinds of food were served on the dining table. It was like a buffet early in the morning.
Caesar looked at Evgeny, who sat alone at one side of the table. "I appreciate what you are trying to do, but isn't this too much?"
"Wait, Caesar." I waved at him for my seat.
"Yes, Lady Ava?"
"I don't mind actually having these . . . foods."
Sofeea coughed. "Um, you are drooling right now."
Jessie and Hope looked at each other. Hope was sitting next to her. A moment later, Evgeny let us all ate, and I didn't waste any time. My hands grabbed what it could and stuffed everything at once into my mouth. When I felt like choking, Sofeea handed me a glass of water.
"Thanks!"
Of course, I continued to eat.
And eat.
And eat.
"Hmmm! You get my seal of approval," I said to Freya who was pouring an orange juice for me.
"You eat a lot, don't you?" she asked.
"Ogh coss. I'm angry."
"You mean, hungry, Mer Ava." Sofeea used a tissue to wipe a stain on my Uniform.
The rest looked worried about me, especially Hope. He didn't say a thing to me, and it remained that way until we had finished our breakfast. I was full, so I took a nap back in my room. Usually, such a feast would only be held by Gheele in his palace. Though, he must be in a good mood for it to happen.
His birthday celebration was one event that I couldn't miss. The foods that his servants served on that day were too delicious for me to pass on.
"Ugh. I can't move . . . Aegis," I said after I woke up at noon.
"Theoretically speaking, your movement should not be hindered whatsoever," replied Aegis in my head.
"Ugh . . . I'm going outside."
Walking down the streets, everything my eyes gazed upon still felt new to me. The metal pipes protruding out of the stone buildings blocked my view more often than I would've liked. The blue sky far up was actually a video displayed and would change accordingly. When night fell, it would display a full moon paired with little dots of stars.
"Achoo!"
I rubbed my nose.
"Hmm?"
There was a crowd of people on the right side of the street I was walking. From the looks of it, they were talking about something.
"Are you serious?" a woman asked.
"Do I look like I'm joking to you? Hm?" A man that was carrying the conversation crossed his arms.
"Still, to think that Lutalo is here . . . Won't the C.U found out about this underground city? I'm sure the news about Lutalo had spread like wildfire."
The man sighed. "I heard from Freya that the military forces outside of Saratov had moved on. It didn't seem like they noticed any members of The People's Light on the surface. They had captured a few of us in the other cities like Kamyshin."
"Kamyshin is close. You sure they have moved on and continued their search for us elsewhere?" asked the woman.
"Oh, come on. I already said that they are no longer on the outskirts of Saratov. You can ask Freya for confirmation."
"Look, that young girl. Poor her."
The crowd focused their attention on me, who was just ten feet away from them. Each one looked at me sympathetically.
"Damn. They even got a kid tangled up in this mess."
"Poor girl. She must have been forced by Gheele Folami. I heard that slavery is a thing in Neo Africa."
A woman that had a red scarf around her neck approached me. Her dark hair was tied into a braid. "Hello."
I smiled at her. "Hi, miss!"
Her eyes drooped and she patted me in the head. "You must have gone through a lot."
The rest behind her nodded.
"How old are you?" the woman asked.
"I'm fourteen."
"Oh . . ." The woman sniffed and tears started to pour out of her eyes.
"Poor girl. Being forced to be a User at such an early age," said an old man from the crowd.
More people started to appear out of nowhere, whispering to each other. Also, they were talking about me. Their eyes glanced at me from time to time.
"Uh . . . I should go, I guess," I muttered.
"Ava."
I turned to face the voice and found Freya standing behind me. She suggested that I should go back to the mansion, and I did just that. She accompanied me along the way.
To be honest, I didn't really know much about Freya aside from the fact that she was Hope's friend when he was still a member of The People's Light. Right then, Hope felt indifferent towards her, so both of them were still on good terms. At least, that was how I interpreted it.
"Ava," called Freya.
We arrived at the mansion's front gate when she talked to me.
"Yes?"
"Um, is there anything you want to ask me? I feel like you have something to say the whole time we were walking."
"Oh."
I didn't really have anything particular in my mind. Though, the fight back at Khovd when I first met her somehow popped up.
"How do you escaped when the Pillars attacked Khovd a year ago?" I asked her.
"Ah. There were still a few of us back in Khovd. So, they rescued me as they were about to get to safety," replied Freya.
Her eyes didn't portray much warmth when she answered. I could only say she hated me for some reason.
"Do you hate me, Freya?" I decided to just ask her on the spot.
"Eh?" Her eyes opened wide and she jerked her head back. That question hit her more than I had expected. "Uh . . . How do I say this?"
I adjusted the sleeves of my Uniform as she stood there, trying to figure out what was the best possible answer.
"I don't hate you, specifically," she finally said. "It's just that your group took the lives of my friends. That's all."
She was not wrong in the slightest. I killed her friends back at Khovd when they attacked Enkhtuya's hideout. Freya came in later along with Hope and I fought them for a short while.
"I'm sorry," I said to Freya. "Though, being apologetic doesn't really do much. All I can say is that I will try to gain your trust while we are allies."
"Temporary, maybe," she said. "I don't know if Jessie has plans when we manage to get Russia back. But, we are friends for now."
"Yeah."
,__.__,
,__.__,
That night, Evgeny invited us once more to join him for a feast. I wanted to have dinner back at the airship, but to decline such an invitation would be a huge waste. He also mentioned that we would have a discussion about the invasion plan.
But that didn't matter when there were foods in front of my eyes. I noticed that the amount of it was more than before.
"Um, Mom."
Jessie who sat next to Hope turned to him. "Yes? You have something on your mind?"
"Isn't this too much? Like, I know The People's Light is trying to maintain a good relationship with us, but this is an overkill."
"Hope! Whaa arr you sayiggg?!"
"Mer Ava. Your mouth is full."
Sofeea handed me a glass of water and I gulped it down instantly. "Ugh. Thank you."
Beatrice giggled, covering her mouth with a pair of tissue.
"Um." Hope glanced at me for a moment and looked back at Jessie. "I'm sure the food supplies in this underground city are quite limited, right? You can see where I'm going with this."
"You are worried about the civilians," said Jessie with a smile. "It's alright. The foods we served here are made in this city."
"Huh?" Hope blinked.
Beatrice, Jennifer, and Caesar had their eyes on Jessie as she explained.
"Most of our foods are grown in the few, farm chambers located at the far side of the city. The ones in charge of its production used artificial lights for the vegetables and fruits. The meat is not organic though. We have it made by machines, like how the industry is now in Sweden."
"Not . . . Organic?" Inghild shivered and put down his slice of roasted beef.
"It is safe. Don't worry," assured Evgeny. "I suppose most of you here have not touched inorganic meat for quite some time."
"It's a new thing for most of us," said Jessica.
"Though, Lady Ava doesn't mind it anyway. Food is still food. Eat it while we still can enjoy such luxury. I'll take free food any day," said Caesar.
"Free food is good. Yes." I chewed on a handful of veggies after that.
"Um. Haha . . ." Hope gulped and shifted his attention back to Jessie. "I have heard about it. They use special bulbs that emitted a specific type of spectrum at a certain wavelength for the plants."
Jessie nodded. "I never knew my son is this clever."
"Nah. Far from it." Hope waved at her dismissively.
"Your son is truly special," said Jennifer with a smile. She was sitting on a chair that was facing him.
"Oh? Jennifer, right? What is she to you, Hope?" asked Jessie.
"His future wife of course," replied Jennifer.
"Oh, wow! She's hitting on you. Haha." Jessie patted Hope's back a few times.
"Ugh. I don't care about her though. She's just forcing herself on me," said Hope.
"You don't like her?" asked Jessie.
"No."
Jennifer gasped, while Beatrice who sat next to her burst into laughter. "Rejected!"
Jessie frowned at Beatrice. "I remember you. I think your name is Beatrice. Yeah. The young girl who bullied my son back then."
"Um, er . . . Haha." Beatrice couldn't make a counter statement for that. It was true after all, and she knew it all too well.
"What do you think of Beatrice? I don't mind if you want to go out with her or anything," said Jessie. She chuckled when Hope quickly shook his head.
"I think I'm fine with just being friends," said Hope out loud.
Jennifer laughed as her hand patted Beatrice's head. "Rejected! You are in his friend zone!"
"Mom. Can we not talk about them?"
"Haha. Why? I just found out that my son is popular with ladies. Why talk about anything else?"
"Ugh." Hope glanced at Beatrice. He sighed and whispered something to Jessie.
"Oh . . . Since you have promised with her mother, just try to get along. She didn't specify if her definition of getting along is for you to take her daughter as your girlfriend. Just being good friends already makes up for it."
"Yeah. I thought so too."
Fortunately, Beatrice didn't hear what they both said as she bickered with Jennifer.
"Anyway, I'm thirsty." Hope reached for his glass of juice. He drank it until there was only a quarter of it left.
"That hits the spot . . . Hmm?"
"What's wrong?" said Jessie.
Hope put both hands at his neck and he stood up. He was choking.
He was literally choking.
Everyone shifted their attention to him when Jessie stood up as well. She called his name a few times, but he didn't answer.
"HOPE!"
I got up from my chair and went over to his side. He fell on both knees, his hands were still grasping his neck. I clasped his shoulders and he crashed to the floor.
"Hope!"
He was still breathing, but it didn't seem like he could move.
Freya panicked and rushed to the dining hall's door.
"DON'T MOVE!" I shouted.
White flames poured out from the back of my Uniform and blocked the entrance.
"Someone did this to Hope. Someone in this room," I said sharply.