"...It's your sister."
Rhys no longer knew how long Ayesha said those words to him, but he had been staring at the phone in her hand since then and hadn't looked away or even moved a single inch.
He was expecting either Katarina or Lina to be on the other side of the phone, as they told him they would be trying to call him after a few months of him being in the service.
But Emilia?
"Tell her I'm not here, Ma'am," Rhys blurted out as he finally strayed his eyes away from the phone.
"This woman has been calling almost every day a week after you went on a mission with the weirdos," Ayesha's eyes slightly closed as she gestured to Rhys to grab the phone, "She is just going to keep calling and calling until you answer. Do you know how much it costs to call us?"
"Then, can you please tell her I died, Ma'am?"
"We have a registry."
"..." Rhys once again looked at the phone, his lips slightly trembling; in anger, anxiousness, or perhaps even both.
"Talk to her."
"..." Rhys could really only close his eyes and take a long deep breath, forcing himself to grab the phone from Ayesha. Ayesha, however, did not let go of the phone and instead looked Rhys in the eyes, or whatever was visible from his hair.
"If you want me to stay and hold your hand, just say so," Ayesha smirked and whispered breathily into Rhys's ear, "If not, then stop being a little bitch and tough it out, Recruit."
Ayesha then quietly chuckled as she finally let go, "I'll give you two some priva—"
"Hold my hand then."
"Th—" Before Ayesha could step away, however, Rhys suddenly grabbed her by the hand. Not her wrist, but her hand; gripping it as hard as he could,
"L-let go, Recruit," Ayesha slightly stuttered as she pulled her hand away, but Rhys once again grabbed it."
"Please stay and hold my hand, Ma'am," Rhys turned to look up at Ayesha; this time, his silver eyes and parts of his face were in full view. Ayesha wasn't looking at him at all, however, as she was staring at his hand… her eyes slightly trembling.
"..." Rhys immediately noticed this as he very gently softened his grip, "Please, I…
…need someone right now."
And as Rhys's hand and voice became even more gentle, the trembling in Ayesha's hand stopped.
"Pft, what a pussy," the smirk on Ayesha's face quickly returned as she sat on the desk while finally gripping Rhys's hand back… softly, of course, "Fine. But you owe me for this, Recruit. I don't usually babysit toddlers."
"Thank you, Ayesha," Rhys softly said. If he wasn't already used to being in excruciating pain, then he would have probably instinctively pulled his hand away from how hard Ayesha was holding it.
And so, with a very long and deep breath, Rhys finally placed the phone on his ear.
And as soon as he did so, Ayesha pressed something on the dial.
[...Rhys?]
"..."
[Rhys?]
"..." Rhys did not really answer and wanted to pull his head away from the phone as soon as he heard his sister's voice. He could also hear her breathing heavily; slightly stuttering as she seemingly tried her best to stay calm.
[Brother…?]
"Emilia."
[!!!] A small, soft gasp whistled into Rhys's ear. Soon, however, it was replaced by a voice trembling in anger,
[Why?]
"..."
[Why, Rhys? Why would you even join the military? And the Underworld Corps?] Emilia tried her best to sound calm, but failing altogether as even the entire room could hear her breaths, [Why…
…just why did you leave again?]
"..."
[Did you want to die so badly? Is that it? You could have just stayed holed up in your room and died there if that's what you wanted. You had a free pass all the way to college, Rhys. Why would you waste that?]
"That is none of your concern."
[Are you mad at me, is that it?]
"No."
[Then what is it!?] Rhys could hear some sort of clutter being violently thrown by Emilia, [Is it money!? If you want money there are other ways to earn it! And if that's not enough then you could just ask me, Rhys! You don't need to risk your life playing soldier!]
"Emilia, stop. If that's the only reason you called me, then I'm hanging up the phone."
[No! Don't you dare! Rhys, think. Please, just once in your life, think! You want to become an Explorer? For what…? Revenge!? You were too weak to do anything then, and you're too weak to do anything now! You are weak, brother. You're weak.]
"I'm hanging up the phone."
[Brother! Wait, just fucking wait! You're not going to change anything! Just stay in the city and live like the Lowborn you are! Get out of that place so I can at least kill you myself! Brother, you… I fucking hate you! I hate you!]
"...I know. Don't call again. Goodbye… Chloe."
[Wh—]
And before the extremely livid Emilia could scream and screech again, Rhys calmly dropped the call.
"..."
"..."
"Well, damn," Ayesha's eyes were as wide as they could be as she looked as far away from Rhys as possible, "That went well."
"Hm," Rhys closed his eyes and breathed out.
"You let your little sister walk all over you like that? Sheesh," Ayesha grimaced, "Shit, Rhys. I've misjudged you, you really are a pussy. If that was one of my sibling talking to me like that, they would've been gutted… and then I feed them their guts."
"I… don't blame her for talking to me like that," Rhys, however, just shook his head and sighed, "She's… been through worse than—"
"She was raped."
"..." Rhys could really only blink a couple of times as he looked at Ayesha.
"I've read your file, Rhys. I know more about you than yourself other than the things I don't know," Ayesha let out a small groan, "Sure, it's tragic what happened to her. But guess what? That doesn't excuse how she's treating you like a load of retarded feces dipped in even more shit, like the bad kind."
"That's—"
"Well, whoop dee doo. Big deal. I was also raped when I was a child, Recruit," Ayesha stood up from the desk.
"What…?" Rhys could really only stare at Ayesha as she calmly said that.
"Oh yeah, several times. And they tortured me too," Ayesha let out a small chuckle, "My family lived in the Danger Zone, some mercenaries thought I was a Lowborn with how dark my hair was, and they did things you can't even imagine. I murked those sons of bitches when I awakened. The point I am making is, Recruit, is look at me…
…I don't treat people like shit."
"..." And with those words, Rhys could really only stare blankly at Ayesha. Fully knowing he shouldn't say what he wanted to say.
"...Right?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Good, nice talk," Ayesha nodded to herself, "Man, I should work as a shrink after I retire. I'm good at this pep talk shit. Anyway, get up."
"..." Rhys was about to stand up as Ayesha gestured to him to do so, but noticed that she was actually still holding his hand,
"Ma'am…? My… hand."
"Oh, this?" Ayesha raised Rhys's hand… before moving her fingers in between hers, "Wait, did you really think you could just hold your superior's hand without any repercussions?"
"...Ma'am?" Rhys took in a small gulp as he saw the smirk on Ayesha's face growing sinister.
"Oh no, Recruit…
…I am taking you with me to my mission."
A mission of the Commander of the Underworld Corps herself? The 14th strongest Explorer in the world?
He's… dead.