Returning to the group in a comfortable silence, Ren and Luciel spotted someone unfamiliar with the others. Their eyes lingered on the small plump being with skin as white as paper and eyes as small as pennies. It seemed like whoever it was was pointing to the crystals whilst saying something important. Out of the corner of her eye, Aria spotted Luciel and Ren approaching with puzzled expressions plastered across their faces.
"Welcome back," she said before pointing to the smaller being, "an inhabitant. They're helping us with identifying the difference between the two crystals."
Nodding, Ren remained next to Aria, partially listening to the being whilst Luciel strolled up closer, curious about what they were talking about. It seemed that they had been talking to them for as long as Luciel and Ren had left and were somewhat close to knowing enough to identify the difference between the two crystals and which one was the one that they needed. It didn't seem like either Aria or Skylar were bothered about differentiating the crystals or it was just that neither really could figure it out themselves as they half-heartedly listened whilst whispering to each other.
It hadn't even been a second longer before Aria turned back to Ren, glancing up to him as she asked quietly, "so, what were you guys doing?"
I glanced over to her for a split second before returning my focus to the crystals and replying with, "Me and Luciel? Nothing really. He's just... a bit out of it."
"Tell me about it," Skylar said, clasping her hands behind her back, "after Chronos died, he was in literal shambles."
"Yeah..." He quietly replied, remembering that Marcus had caused most, if not all, of the issues that he saw in Luciel and that he spoke about.
The three went silent as they watched the inhabitant finish off his explanation. It seemed that the four eventually understood and figured out which crystal they needed, Marcus and Darius still taking down some notes on their tablets before putting them away and helping Kennie and Adrian lift one of the crystals out of the ground. Luciel was nearby, standing a little further away to not get in the way of the four of them as they cautious began moving towards the ship slowly.
Before leaving, they all said their thanks to the inhabitant, who held a large smile on its face before waving goodbye and heading in the opposite direction. Aria and Skylar led the way, shouting out for any spots where the ones who were carrying the crystal could stumble or drop the crystal. The eight of them carefully trekked across the fantasy-like land, cautious of the bumps and holes that scattered across the ivory-green ground. Ren and Luciel lingered towards the back of the group, ensuring that nothing was about to leap out behind them and attack them like with what happened on the last planet. It took a while before they even saw the ship in sight, they hadn't realised how far they had actually travelled across the land before they ventured back with a heavy as steel crystal in hand.
Once spotting the ship, Kennie let out a relieved breath, yelling out, "finally! This is so heavy!"
Arriving at the ship, Aria opened the airlock before realising a big problem, "I don't think it'll fit through."
The four guys dropped the crystal, their faces falling as they realise the difference in size between the crystal and the doorway. Fortunately for them, Ren recalled that they could bring the crystal in through the cargo bay's outside door. Whilst Aria and Skylar swiftly rushed over to the cargo bay, the four guys lifted the crystal up once again and slowly side-stepped over to the large metallic door at the back of the ship. It gradually opened, a small clanking sound echoed across the filtered land as the two women came into view on the other side of the door. Eventually, the door lifted high enough for them to haul in and stuff into the lift. Once Kennie and Adrian had comfortably gotten the crystal up onto the first floor, Darius and Marcus already waiting at the doors to help lift the crystal into the engine room for them to deal with afterwards. Aria and Skylar left the guys alone, seeing as they had nothing else to do with the crystal and just needed to wait for it to be locked in and help power up the worm-hole device, they just ventured off into another room within the ship. Luciel similarly left without making a noise and it was just Marcus, Darius, Adrian, Kennie and Ren in the engine room.
"Okay, we've got it from here," Adrian said, thanking the guys for their help as him and Kennie prepared to replace the crystal.
"Alright, let us know when you're done," Darius replied, heading out of the engine room with Marcus and Ren right behind him.
As the three guys left the room in silence, Ren abruptly grabbed hold of Marcus' arm.
"What?" He asked, stopping and turning to face Ren.
With a serious expression across his face, he sternly said, "come with me."
The two left Darius to wandered towards the bridge alone as they split off in the direction of a normally empty room - the records room. Flinging Marcus into the room, Ren forcefully shut the door behind them before getting up in his face.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He yelled, startling Marcus as he stumbled into the bench before sitting properly on the partially cushioned chair, "are you stupid or uncaring?!"
With his brows furrowed, he replied, "what do you mean?"
"Don't act all innocent, Marcus." Ren sternly stated, pushing himself back against the far wall opposite to where Marcus was seated, "what was all that stuff you told to Luciel?"
A little oh escaped from his lips as he realised what Ren was talking about. He didn't expect Luciel to go and blabber about their conversation to any let alone Ren.
"I only told him what I believe." Marcus replied, monotonely, "that's all."
"And what you believe is that Chronos is a heartless guy?" Ren stated, completely astonished about what Marcus actually said, "that he used all of use for whatever this plan was."
With sincerity in his eyes, Marcus replied simply with, "yeah. I do."
Ren couldn't believe what he was hearing from Marcus and completely wished that he was playing a sick joke on them all, but from what he's known of Marcus, he definitely was not joking around. Silence lingered around the two like a spiked blanket as neither wavered from their viewpoints. Marcus could tell that Ren didn't see Chronos as a bad person entirely, and Ren could see that Marcus saw Chronos as the devil aboard their ship. The silence shrouded them for a few more minutes as Ren couldn't even think about what to say in response to Marcus' blatant honest reply.
However, Marcus knew what to say, "the only reason why you don't see Chronos as the terrible person he is is because you never saw his honest self."
"Honest self?" He questioned.
Marcus nodded, saying, "you only saw the person he portrayed to everyone, not the person that Luciel or I saw."
Ren knew this. He knew that Chronos wasn't honest. That he wasn't being his true self and that the person he pretended to be was probably the exact opposite from who he really was, but that gave no rights to Marcus to blatantly state that he didn't care for any of the people on the ship.
"So?" Ren stated, "you don't have evidence that he actually didn't care for us. For all you know he could've cared but just didn't want to show it. Honesty and care aren't a hundred per cent linked."
The two continued the back and forth, arguing about whether Chronos did care for the group or not. This continued for a while, their voices echoed down the corridor and into the rooms nearby.
Before long, Adrian stormed into the room, shocking the both of them as he instantly yelled, "God! Shut up and help!"
From the sudden command erupting from Adrian, the two went silent and obediently nodded until he swiftly left the room, a small exhausted sigh escaping his lips. Before following him, the two glared at each other, mentally continuing the argument as they ventured down to the bridge, seeing everyone else already stationed and ready to jump into a worm-hole for Earth.