Enoria is preparing for war with Irithara, and the team sans Kaleth are doing the best they can to put a stop to it before it progresses even further.
Their plan? Find Mereria, get her help with killing Relioth, and save Kaleth in the process. They...
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Mel fidgeted with the sleeves of his new, dark gray and gold uniform, which was all too similar to the Umbra uniform. It wasn't that it was heavy or uncomfortable, more the opposite. But he hated what it represented. The crescent moon on the armor plates on his shoulders was a constant reminder that he was once again on Relioth's side, and this time it wasn't by choice.
And the one thing that was even worse than that was seeing Kaleth wearing the same uniform and not being at all bothered by it.
Mel looked at the surrounding trees, breathing in the fresh air as he dutifully waited for Kaleth to appear. Relioth had wanted to talk to Kaleth about something and hadn't wanted Mel to be present, so instead, he was here. His task would probably be to fly Kaleth wherever the weapon Relioth had talked about earlier was located.
Mel wondered if right now he could fly away fast enough that he wouldn't get caught by Relioth again, but he was sure Relioth had taken care of that somehow. He'd most likely put some tracking device in Mel's uniform, so all Mel would manage to do was show Relioth the location of Aren, which wouldn't help anyone.
He closed his eyes, trying to get in contact with Rayni, but he gave up after just a few seconds. He'd known it wouldn't work even before he'd tried. Rayni was just too far away to reach. The only one Mel could reach at this distance was Kaleth.
Mel still wasn't sure how he felt about that, though. He wasn't mad about the bond, but he just didn't know what to make of it. He didn't understand why he had never heard about such a thing, as well. Even if it affected the moods of the people connected through it, wouldn't it be great to be able to communicate over long distances?
There had to be a reason he'd never been told about it, but he just couldn't think of one.
Mel's musing was interrupted as he heard the door to Carcer open. He turned around, expecting to see Kaleth, but instead, he was suddenly face-to-face with Relioth who was wearing that sadistic smile that always made Mel think he was about to die.
"Hi!" he said, putting a hand on Mel's right shoulder and squeezing it just enough to make Mel flinch. "I have a very important mission for you."
"Y-you do?" stammered Mel, wishing more than anything that he could somehow get out of this situation.
"Yeah, don't die." Mel blinked at the other Eternal.
"W-what?"
"Oh, don't worry. I couldn't care less if you live or die," Relioth said, gripping Mel's shoulder even more tightly. Mel bit his lip to stop himself from whimpering at that. "But Kaleth would be sad if you died. Why do you think I let you live back on that bell tower?"
Oh. To be honest, Mel had never really started questioning that after all the other things he'd learned that day, but thinking about it now, it had been strange. It was still strange. Relioth had altered Kaleth's way of thinking, he could have easily manipulated his memories so he wouldn't remember Mel. Why bother keeping him alive?
