Alitia: In Heavenly Light

XIII: Beautiful Words

The next morning brought with it the unavoidable truth of the party's departure. The sun was just barely starting to creep over the horizon, offering a gentle green glow across the surface of Enmity despite the planet's aversion to light. Jeremiah was standing outside of the ship with the mercenaries and their companions, a gentle smile on his face. Atlas and Amnesty had elected to stay back at the church itself alongside Mars since he was stressed from having to speak with so many people at once. Jeremiah had explained as much with a strained smile as he escorted the group from the church building just a short while prior. 

"I wish you luck in your travels from this point on," Jeremiah said simply as he bowed his head in the direction of the mercenaries. "I have no doubt that you will go far and do great things one day. May the gods treat you kindly until then."

"Thank you for everything, Archbishop Sionis," Lianna told him. She returned the bowing gesture. "We truly do appreciate it. If we ever happen to be in the area once again, we'll see if we can stop by and visit you once more. Until then, I hope that you have pleasant days as well. These are stressful times that we live in, but I'm sure that everything will be fine at the end of the day."

Jeremiah waved to Cryon next. "I do hope that your encounters with the archbishop of Starlight are favorable from this point onwards," he murmured. He hadn't spoken much on his relationship with Leora, but as far as the mercenaries were concerned, it was unnecessary. Leora's overbearing behavior combined with how kind Jeremiah seemed made it clear that there was a clash between them. Contrary to past findings, the archbishop of Moonlight was the kind one where the person associated with Starlight was the troublemaker. It was strange, but it wasn't entirely unwelcome either. 

"I somehow doubt it, but I appreciate the well wishes anyways," Cryon replied, still not one for offering respect to others on the mere basis of authority. "Until we meet again." He offered a curt wave before boarding the ship. The others trailed after him, understanding that he was the one in charge of the situation. Jeremiah continued to wave even as the ship prepared to take off, and soon enough, the Songbird was little more than a silhouette upon the dawn of Enmity. 

Sophia was sitting near the window, her eyes tired as she propped her elbow against the sill of the glass. She appeared to be almost on the verge of lapsing into sleep as she stared at the stars and planets that whirred by on all sides, and she let out a sigh a moment later. After her encounter with Cerise the night before, Sophia hadn't been able to sleep. Getting out all of her deepest and darkest emotional insecurities had taken a larger toll on her than she had been expecting, and while Sophia was happy to have gotten all of that off her chest, she wished that she had emotionally prepared herself for it more prior to their conversation. 

The rest of the group was quiet as well, unused to waking up so early under Cryon's terms. Even the mercenaries were somewhat drowsy with the exception of O'Rourke, who was beyond used to this thanks to his natural early morning training regimens. Rie and Reye were asleep on one another, uncaring as to what any onlookers thought of them as they snoozed away on a bench. Alistair was flicking through a small book, though it was clear as could be that he was on the verge of slipping into slumber as well. The entire ship held a general atmosphere that could only be described as slow and hazy. 

Sophia didn't like how calm the area was. It unsettled her, if she was being honest. The more that she reflected on all that had happened, the worse she felt. Her conversation with Cerise the night before had helped to ease at least a little bit of her guilt regarding the situation that she and the other girls had been placed in, but she still felt rotten about all of this. It was nauseating to think about. Sophia had never given herself the chance to open up and be cared for by others before. Her fear of getting hurt clashed with her wish to find a secure home emotionally, and the two constantly battled for dominance with the former always winning and leaving the latter covered in blood and bruises.