Ellianor swallowed dry as Urien walked out of the room, prompting Kissenn and him to chase after the blond.
His walk was steady and rhythmic as Urien bopped his head up and down to the pace of the music.
The problem was there was no music for them to keep rhythm with him.
"I am glad and all for the saving, but what "team" are you speaking about?" While Urien had given some snippets about who he was, there was far too little about him.
He lost a friend who wrote a book about how to pass your time as a long-lived person, but what more? There was nothing. 'Tsc, he pried information out of me while talking nothing about himself.'
Nothing important. The blond was good at playing his cards close to his chest. "We are the Heresy Wardens. We keep dangerous objects, people, phenomena, and some things, safe from ill-intentioned hands."
There was a heavy atmosphere in the air, an almost crushing oppressiveness in every step they took. "You, my friend, are one of those. You fall into the category of people, and so does Kissenn."
The black-haired woman nodded assertively, smiling despite her stuffed cheeks. Ellianor failed to see what was good about all of this.
"So you are going to detain us? Place us in a jail?" The blond turned around, his pupils spread like a star.
A golden star. "Of course not, but if we are forced to, which I hope we aren't, I will have no choice. I would rather employ you under the Heresy Wardens."
Employ was a strong word. It meant that the Heresy Wardens did not see them as liabilities or future problems, but rather as prospective employees.
"Are you serious?" Ellianor questioned with surprise.
"Deadly so." Ellianor received an immediate answer. The black-haired man turned around to stare at Kissenn, who raised her thumbs. With a click of a tongue, Ellianor ruffled his hair.
"Do you go contracting everyone who is an anomaly or problem?" It was a genuine question, as he had seen how hospitable their host was. The answer was a shake of his head.
Urien smirked. "Of course not. Only those who have the profile we want for the Wardens." It was a dreading prospect to think what the average profile was.
A glance at Kissenn, while lovable, seemed a little more deranged than the first time he met her.
'Maybe it is because we are not in danger anymore?' While cute, Ellianor doubted he could endure that behavior for long, even less if she continued to steal cookies.
As if listening to his thoughts, she kicked his ankle.
Urien clapped his hands with a wide smile.
"See? That's the type of people we contract! You are almost ready for the work environment!" Ellianor's hopes and dreams sunk by the second.
That was the average interaction between employees, we dreaded a little to think what an argument would be like.
'Oh, who I want to fool? I'm blowing it out of proportion.' In the end, he laughed, joined by the blond.
The sudden employment was unexpected, but it was a welcome surprise.
'It is already better than the hell hole II used to work at.' While being better than his previous workplace was not a big mileage, it was something at the very least.
They made their way through the base. It was different from the aesthetics of the previous one, and it was not destroyed.
Instead of grey corridors and metal, the interior almost had an eastern feeling to it.
The floor was overlayed with nailed wood to simulate how it would be on a standard house, and the walls had a paper-like texture, even if the metal beneath it was clear.
Urien moved his eyes to steal a glance at Ellianor, seeing how he stared and admired the corridors.
With a smile, the walls of the right wall changed from paper to a clean window, it showed the depths of space, and a burning star.
Kissen and Ellianor stared at it with wide eyes, a child-like smile on their faces as they walked. A sense of wonder the former human from Earth thought he would never have again.
The wonder of seeing something so pretty, so far out of his reach yet so close, that it was a sight that burned itself in his eyes, and rooted in his brain.
The type of vision one can have only once in their life.
Despite the pain, the near-death experience, the pummelling, and an almost successful attempt at suicide in search of power, it was made worthwhile by that vision.
The star shone so brightly, contrasting against the depths of space.
'I don't doubt my path will be easy, more so because of that eclipse thing, and the voice but… if I get to see things like that, it will be worth the struggle.' It was the prettiest, most beautiful thing he got to see with his eyes.
It almost brought him to tears. Kissen stared with childish wonder, her red eyes reflecting the burning plasma of the star, mesmerized by it.
Her face and demeanor did not match her mature body at that moment, and neither did Ellianor's.
They were like children stuck in an adult's body, their minds blown over the star and space. Urien softened his gaze, a thin smile on his lips.
He had grown used to stars and the void long, long ago, yet it never failed to amuse him the wonder younglings had.
Because of that wonder, he chose to keep silent.
They did not need to know the technical babble and what went behind the curtains to make that sight work on the walls. They just needed to enjoy that experience.
How it was to see a star after being a simple normal human being. 'If he was not an astronaut, he would have never seen that.' It was a good sign.
Despite the hurt, and the beating they took, they had hope in their hearts. Hope to stand and continue walking even after being hurt.
'I wonder what you did to him, Architect.' Urien could only hope for the best.