♢♦♢
The metal hatch opened, allowing a violent rush of wind to brush against my face. Hope and I stood at the edge of the platform protruding ten meters out of the Teria airship— the hole on the flying fortress, our entry point, was just thirty meters away.
"Ready to jump?!" said Klaus over our earpiece.
"Hey! You sure that thing not gonna shoot at us?!"
"We have gone through this, Hope. It won't! There's no other cannons or turrets beside the main one at the front. It seems like the protective white layer makes it difficult for anything else to be mounted."
"A loophole, huh?" I said.
"Anyway, after I count to three, you two jump. I'm sure those inside Leah is well aware of our presence now, but that only narrows our objective to one, right?"
"Two!" Hope said. "We will come in with a bang. And then, rescue Ava and Ernestine's aunt."
"...It's three, you two," I sighed.
"If Amathelia is inside that fortress, we were to take custody of her or kill her. Either one."
"Yeah, right."
"Okay, so... Ready? One, two..."
Hope and I jumped and entered the fortress rolling— after we landed on the white tiles. We quickly stood up, wary against any threat that would descend.
"...All clear," said Hope.
"Look..."
Flames.
Vicious, multi-colored flames swathed along the walls, ceiling, and even dotted along the hallway. I was well aware of what caused such an incongruous thing to appear there.
"Damn... I can feel her hatred even when she's not here," muttered Hope.
My skin tingled for a moment and I wrapped my arms around my body. It felt really uncomfortable. The air inside this fortress, specifically this part of it was filled with malice, loathing, suffocating hatred to the brim. Evil was the only word that fitted the person where all these negativity originated from.
It was too sad. My eyes were in tears long before I had even realized it.
"Sofeaa... Let's get going," Hope said with clenched fists. "Ava is suffering. We need to go over to her."
"...Yeah."
This is not the time to back down, especially when a friend in need was in serious danger. What am I doing? Ava needs help more than anything, and I just stood there wasting precious time.
♢♦♢
Hope and I searched the hallways and corridors we stepped in. Along the way, aside from flames and chunks of walls, there were corpses of Yvonne's clones.
Mutilated corpses. Burnt corpses.
The sight was horrid.
I looked over at Hope as we ran. His face darkened, with a tinge of anger and worry mixed in. "I better apologize to her until she accepts it," he said.
"Why?"
"I have not been there for her. You know how Ava is, right? She... She's a bit broken after what happened at Mansel Island. And I blame myself for that. She said she didn't mind, but... I always think about, what if— what if I was there for her during those times?"
"Ser Hope... You can't change the past. I pity Mer Ava. A lot of people do. But we can only move forward and do what is best for her."
Hope nodded. "Tell me, Sofeea. Am I a good person? Or a bad person?"
"...In what context?"
"Like, morals, ethics, all that stuff. What the law judges as good or bad for society."
"I would say a bit of both. You're a good person because you care about others more than yourself. You work hard so that you can protect them, and ensure a better life for those around you. Ser Hope doesn't steal, not involved in social problems, and all that stuff.
"But you're also a bad person because you killed people. All the times you were in The People's Light, until now, you have killed a lot of C.U's soldiers, right? Killing, as long as its not self-defense, is judged to be a bad thing under law. I'm sure the correct term for it is terrorist."
"...Like that, huh..."
He smiled and looked at me. Why is he smiling? I was sure he would be a bit dejected from the second half of my answer.
"What's with the question, Ser Hope?"
"Hmm? Nah, I just felt like asking you 'bout it. Anyway, thanks."
"...And what did you get from my answer?"
"Well, now I know I'm not a good person wholeheartedly, it felt like my shoulders are lighter now. Before, I always convinced myself that I'm right, in every way. Breaking my ties from Ava to get stronger, I was convinced that it was the right thing to do. That I am a good person for thinking about Ava more than myself. But now I know... I was just delusional."
Hope continued, "Self-satisfaction... Yeah. I know Ava sees me as a good person, one way or another. So I tried to make myself look good in front of her, like saying, "I'm always a good person without flaw," and I found out later that it's just... wrong."
"You care about her. She looked up to you, Ser Hope," I said after we turned a corner, following a path where the floor had cracks all over. "It's natural for you to act like that. I never had any sibling, but if I have to describe the relationship between you two, it falls somewhere along that line. Basically, you two are a family, supporting each other. You two need each other."
Though Ava seemed to have developed feelings for you, Ser Hope. Ava was already fourteen-years-old, so for her to start seeing the one who had stayed by her side the most like that, wasn't strange.
In fact, I was sure if there was anyone that could be with her at all times and gave her the much-needed love, it had to be Hope. No one else would fit.
"...Mer Ava loves you, you know," I blurted out.
"I know. She always told me that."
I had no way to actually confirm if he felt the same, so I put that thought at the back of my mind.
"Woah... What happened here?" Hope said.
There was a gaping, rectangular hole where most of the floor should've been. We looked down and saw something that seemed to have come out of my own nightmare.
"...Is that?"
"That's Ava," Hope said with confidence. "Damn it. Now it has come to this, it would take the two of us... and Aya— Is that Aya?! And a kid, and a guy who seems to be about my age. ...And Alicia?"
"You forgot Derrick there."
"Oh, right... What are they doing here...? No. Never mind. I just have to ask them later."
The massive lump of crimson Aegis crystals roared, and the next thing I noticed was my arms, wrapped around Hope's neck.
"Whoops. Sorry," I said.
"Man, Ava is... scary. But look at that! Isn't that Amathelia?" Hope pointed at a giant rainbow "jewel" embedded into the ceiling, numerous tubes were connected to it. Inside the spacious white area stood a transparent cylindrical chamber, and a tall dark-haired woman within. The tubes from the jewel protruded out of Amathelia's back.
"Is she the power source of that cannon?" I mumbled.
"Could be."
Ava, or, the Aegis lump roared in anger and allowed multi-colored flames to envelop its whole body. The next instant, it sent those flames raging towards Aya's group.
"Everyone, dodge!" shouted Derrick.
But there wasn't time. The flames closed in a split second, and...
Wham!
A large golden spear crashed in front of their group and absorbed the flames. The spear connected to Hope's hand through a cord— made up of his Aegis crystals.
"H-Hope...?" said Aya.
I tossed a few of my Aegis crystals and it embedded into the floor down there, and then placed another set on the floor I was at. With a flick of my wrist, the little girl along with they hoodie guy teleported to my side.
"I will take them to our Teria airship!" I shouted at them.
"A-All right! That's my daughter, by the way!" replied Derrick.
"Got it." I turned to Hope. "Please, save Mer Ava. I'll take these two civilians back and then come back."
"Gotcha."
Hope jumped down towards the underground area, and with another golden spear, he threw it in mid-air.
"Urkkh!"
As expected, Amathelia couldn't move because of all those cords, or tubes, and when the spear hit her squarely in the torso, she was torn away from it. The spear nailed her body firmly at the wall behind after it broke through the transparent chamber to get to her.
"Avaaa!"
The lump of crimson Aegis crystals shifted a bit, as if looking at Hope that was still in mid-air. He was trying to land on top of it with a golden shield in hand.
It felt like an hour passed in those few moments, and it came.
"H H H h H o o O O a A A A a P p p p P e E E e e E e E e!"
Bam!
Hope's golden shield connected with a crimson tendril, absorbing it into his shield.