"Everyone ready?" Karabell asked.
It was only seven in the morning. Base Yuna wasn't far, so they could get there by noon if they didn't run into any Aberrations. Karabell explained the whole operation one more time. Frederick had decided to split the squad into two smaller teams. In case combat ensued, only one group was to engage the enemy. Once they arrived at Base Yuna, Annie, Een and Dante would start working on the poison while the rest got the new weapons ready.
"Team A consists of Karabell, Alice, Shono and Kei. The rest of us are Team B," Frederick proclaimed with a grin.
Karabell gave Een an apologetic smile. He didn't like the idea either, but they had to balance the two teams out somehow. Him, Alice, Kei, Annie and Lyra used piercing weapons, and Een, Shono and Frederick were armed with supporting ones. However they didn't know how well Kei could handle herself in actual combat, so he'd decided to do things that way.
"What's that?" Lyra suddenly asked, pointing at a strange object in the distance.
Karabell squinted, trying to see what she was referring to. Indeed, there seemed to be something there... And that something seemed to be getting closer. After a few seconds, the Captain breathed a sigh of relief. It was just the food wagon. Lyra looked over at Een, and they exchanged mischievous looks. They were definitely up to something, but Karabell had no idea what they were plotting. Frankly, he didn't care.
"Hey, long time no see!" Een exclaimed once the wagon stopped. He narrowed his eyes. They'd guessed right. Those were the same two cowards that had abandoned them a few days before. "How's it going? Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't catch your names."
"I'm Ono and this is Ergo," the man said as his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"I'm glad to see that you're unharmed. Both you and your horses. Seriously, I'm relieved you managed to escape." A smile flickered across Een's lips. "But did you really think we'd let you off the hook after you basically left us to die?" he whispered, making sure that only Ono and Ergo would hear him.
"Um... W-well, you see..." Ergo mumbled.
"No, no. It's fine, really. Now's not the time for excuses. Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't we introduce them to our new friends? What do you say, Captain?"
Karabell chuckled. He finally understood what Lyra and Een wanted to do. The Captain silently gave them the go-ahead. Usually, he would've been against something like that... but those guys had asked for it. Besides, who'd invested him with the authority to ruin his teammates' fun?
Grabbing their arms, Een and Lyra dragged the two away. They weren't exactly mad at them, but they wanted to teach those two a lesson. Sure, a Gargling had attacked their wagon so they couldn't blame them for getting scared. However, Ergo and Ono hadn't been alone. Everyone else had risked their lives fighting the Aberration. And what had those cowards done? Not only had they left, but they'd had the audacity to take the horses as well.
"Here we are. Come on, you don't look happy at all!" Een faked a pout as they stopped in front of the abandoned factory.
Ono and Ergo stared at the other two. Een and Lyra were soldiers... Surely they wouldn't put them in danger. Maybe it was all a bluff. They were just trying to scare them, that had to be it.
Een opened the metal door slowly. The two feathered Garglings were sitting on the floor, right next to the entrance. It was perfect. One of them waved at Een, but he signaled it to remain silent. Een shouted that they could come in, barely containing his excitement. As soon as they set foot into the room, Ergo almost fainted. Ono looked at the two Aberrations, all color draining from his face. What where those things doing there? And more importantly, had he just heard Lyra close the door? He wanted to check but he couldn't peel his eyes away from the creatures.
"W-what are you doing? You're soldiers, aren't you? Kill them before they attack!" Ergo suddenly snapped. "Before they kill us..."
"What're you talking about?" Lyra snorted with laughter. "Sure, there are two monsters in this room that should be eliminated. But I'm not referring to the Garglings when I say that. Actually, those two have helped us a lot more than you, Ono, Ergo."
Ergo couldn't believe his ears. Aberrations helping humans? Those things were the hunters, and they were the prey. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet the creatures weren't attacking. They almost seemed bored.
"What in the world is going on here?" Ono whispered.
"It's just as I said earlier, these two are our friends." Een stuck his fist out to one of the Aberrations. It bumped its large fist against his, smirking. "See? Look, we're not angry or anything, but don't ever do something like that again. It took us a long time to get to Base Yuna on foot, you know? We could've gotten killed. All because you didn't believe we would be able to take the Gargling down."
"We're sorry." Ergo bowed his head. "We didn't mean to turn our backs on you... But we were scared out of our minds. That's why we didn't become fighters in the first place, we're afraid of dying. Still, you're an amazing bunch. You even managed to befriend Aberrations!"
Lyra's eye twitched. They'd accepted it a lot quicker than she'd expected. Well, at least they'd gotten their revenge. And a good laugh out of it. Ono got closer to the Garglings, as if trying to confirm that they weren't just a product of his imagination.
"I mean, they do say that ignorance is bliss, but still," Lyra sighed, reopening the door.