"So...sorry." Frey heard Aria mumble as he crossed the doorway of her room.
"It's fine. We're here." He assured her as he laid her down on her bed. He noticed Aria's gaze focused on the spot by her window. He followed her gaze and saw nothing.
"What is it?"
"Cass..." She points a finger towards where she was looking.
"Do you need me to call her?"
Aria shook her head weakly. "She was here. I..." She closed her eyes and brought a hand, wiping the beads of sweat, on her forehead.
"Selman, don't force yourself." He heard the sound of the sliding doors opening. "We'll talk about it later. For now, rest." He gently upturned as she closed her eyes.
Frey walked towards the door to meet the newly arrived medical team. "She went over her limit in absorbing spiritual energy." The members of the team which included Miss Nate and Dr. Hugh nodded.
"Mis Nate, you know what to do." Dr. Hugh informed Miss Nate then signaled for the team to leave the room. Frey was about to exit the room after Dr. Hugh when he heard Miss Nate call him.
"Here." She handed him a towel. He took it and wiped his shirt.
"Thanks, Miss Nate. I'll wash..." He trailed off when he saw Miss Nate's head shake. Frey then returned the towel to Miss Nate's outstretched hand.
"It's fine, dear. You did well. Now, you go clean up. Let me do my job." She shooed him away.
**********
Aria felt a warm glow envelop her body, soothing her aching body. She felt her nausea slowly receding. When she felt confident enough, she slowly opened her eyes.
The colors crowding her vision have faded a little and she can make out figures made up of different colors moving on the side of her bed. A figure of the familiar light blue color who she surmised as Miss Nate, stood by the side of her bed. Her body was awash with relief.
The relief caused Aria's mind to wander back to the congregation of gold light she saw by the window. She looked back to the spot and saw that the light has faded that she could barely see it anymore.
[It's Cass. I'm sure.] Her brows furrowed as she tried to make sense of the colors she was seeing.
The distant sound of doors opening and closing followed by the frantic voice of Cassandra jarred her out of her thoughts.
"Aria, are you okay?!" Cassandra called out again the same time Aria saw a golden figure approach her bed. She felt Aria's forehead, then she squeezed her clammy hand.
"What happened?" She turned to Miss Nate.
Cold beads of sweat formed on Aria's forehead. She held her breath as she waited for Miss Nate's answer. She turned her head away from Aria so that her stiff expression won't be seen.
"She absorbed too much spiritual energy." Miss Nate said.
"Oh." Cassandra turned to Aria. "Rest up, kiddo. You'll be fine. We have to go through these things sometimes." She gently patted Aria's hair.
Aria schooled her expression before she turned toward Cassandra with a slight smile on her lips. She lightly squeezed Cassandra's hand. Her sister's relieved expression did nothing for Aria, this time. Deep inside her, guilt once again reared its ugly head.
**********
As he closed his locker door, Frey found himself face-to-face with an olive-skinned tall, stocky man.
"So, I heard what happened from the med guys." Gene Myers smirked at Frey.
Frey paid him no attention. He shrugged on his suit jack and ran a hand through his cropped hair. Then he walked out of the locker room.
"No reaction, huh?" Gene Myers playfully elbowed his side as he caught up to Frey. "That means you're not mad? At all?"
"It was an accident, Gene. " Frey kept walking along the corridor towards the elevator landing.
Gene threw a suspicious look at Frey. "I know you, man. If it were other people, you wouldn't have tolerated them."
"Not really." Frey walked towards the panel of buttons and pressed the up button.
"Not really?" Irritation has crept into Gene's voice. He pulled Frey's arm and turned him to face him. "Listen to me. This is turning into like Kai all over again. You have to let go of the guilt, man. You did not cause any of this." Gene paced, furiously waving his arms around.
"If I caught the banshee earlier, this shouldn't have happened." Frey countered, his face maintained its usual relaxed expression save for the barely noticeable clenched jaws.
Gene exploded with rage. He grabbed Frey's collar and shook him hard. "Jules, what the fuck. Just what the fuck! Get over it, man. There was nothing you could have done. Stop being so self-centered. Not every bad thing that happens around you is caused by you." He takes a deep breath and slowly lets go of Frey's collar.
"Jules, stop this now. I can't stand it when you do this to yourself, man." He throws a clearly frustrated look towards Frey. "At least give me a reaction. Get mad, shout at me, throw a punch like you used to. Damn it!"
Gene threw his hands up in defeat at the lack of response. He walked toward the wall of the landing and threw consecutive punches toward it.
Frey cleared his throat, catching Gene's attention. "You'll have to pay for that," he reminded as he pointed up to the surveillance cameras above them.
Gene's eyes went as wide as saucers. "You did this on purpose. Fuck you, man." He walked toward Frey and gave his shoulder a solid pat. "When you're ready to talk about it, just give me a call."
Frey's lips curled a little as he nodded. In the blink of an eye, the tensed atmosphere between the two of them vanished.
The elevator door opened and the two of them stepped inside. Gene pressed the button marked 10, then he glanced at Frey, who gestured 50. Gene's eyebrows shot up.
"I have to report to the chief."
"About the girl?"
"Yeah."
"She's that important?"
"Yeah."
"You have your hands quite full. Just so you know, I wasted a lunch break for this. You have to treat me later." Gene reminded Frey when the elevator reached the tenth floor.
"Okay, then."
"I want beer and chicken." He stepped off the elevator and waved his hand without turning around.
The elevator opened to a spacious corridor when it reached the fiftieth floor. At the end stood dark wooden doors and reception desk manned by an elfin woman who was busy typing on the computer.
"The Chief is waiting for you." She told Frey without looking up from her work.
The door opened on its own, and automatically closed the moment Frey got inside.
The Chief's room was nothing compared to the solemn atmosphere of the hallway. The walls on both sides were painted white but on the left side hung a three-feet tall triptych of Van Gogh's Almond Blossoms painting and on the right side hung various photo collages. The rectangular conference table in the middle of the room was surrounded by chairs in different colors. The side of the room facing the door were panels of ceiling-to-floor glass windows accented bright red curtains on both sides. Before it was an elegant wooden table and a high-backed leather office chair facing away from the door.
"Chief Hoover." Frey addressed the man sitting on the chair.
"Agent Frey." A gravelly voice from replied.
"Miss Selman can gather both light and dark elements. We are not able to determine her parentage though. We've run it by the system, but there was no record of any underworlder who can use both those elements. And about her abilities, we still are not able to determine what it might be, but we found out that she can see auras."
"So...she is like you." The chair swiveled and a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair wearing a pinstripe suit.
"No, she isn't," Frey said.
"I guess that's good." Chief Hoover leaned forward and put both his hands on the table. "I need you to convince her to join this coming Field Division annual recruitment. Sign her up as your recruit."
"Chief, I would do what I can, but it would still be up to her if she wants to join."
"Okay then. Agent Frey, you are dismissed."
**********
The fading silhouette of Cassandra's gold aura remained by Aria's bedside even after she was gone. Aria's gaze kept tracing the remains of the gold aura from her bedside to the door.
[Could it be?] She asked herself again because it was not only Cassandra whose aura she can see. She can see a barely there deep red of Frey's and the glaring light blue of Miss Nate who is still in the room observing her condition.
"Miss Nate, I'm okay now." She used an elbow to push herself up but she was stopped by the kindly nurse. The nurse adjusted her bed and made her recline.
"I'll get going now, dear, but if you ever need my help, just press this button. Okay?"Miss Nate reminded her like she always did every time she would leave the room.
"Thanks, Miss Nate, for everything. I mean."
The nurse just smiled at her and left the room. Aria stared at the silhouette formed by Miss Nate's aura, then back to the one by Cassandra.
"This is amazing," She told herself. "I can see this clearly." She reached out a hand and waved it through the remnant of Cassandra's aura. Nothing happened to it.
"Oh, right. It's intangible."
Too absorbed in talking to herself and testing her new abilities, Aria did not notice the opening and closing of her doors.
"Hey, how are you?" the deep red silhouette of Frey greeted.
"Oh, hey. I have something to tell you." Aria said ecstatically.
"What is it?"
"I think I can see traces of people's aura."
Frey raised an eyebrow and waved a hand gesturing for her to go on.
"You see, there's a silhouette of my sister's aura here-" she waved a hand to the area beside her to the door-"to there. It's the same for yours and Miss Nate's."
"That's-"
"Amazing, right?! Can I join Cerberus now?"
"What do you mean?"
"I want to join Cerberus. You see, I lost my part-time job when the incident with the banshee happened and I don't want my sister to shoulder all the expenses. So I decided that I could use this ability to find work here somewhere and earn." Aria babbled excitedly.
"Are you sure about that?" Frey asked her.
"Well-" Frey clears his throat, "-there's this annual recruitment for those who want to join the Field Division of Cerberus," Frey told her. "It's the Division for those of us who are sent out on the field." He clarified to her.
"I'll join," Aria replied resolutely.
"The Field Division has a training for recruits that takes 60 days to complete. Every year, we only those who rank 30 and above are admitted. It's also the division with the highest mortality rate. I can put you in another division if you really want to work-"
"I already said, I'll join the Field Division." Her eyes reflected her steely resolve. " You can't change my mind.