SnowFall

Breathe

Eira swallowed down her emotions. When she noticed Luke's gaze on her, she gave him a smile and an encouraging nod.

"Okay."

That was all it took.

Both Eira and Jason let out a breath of relief, and the both of them seemed to age and look exhausted. But they knew the fighting wasn't over. It was far from over.

The invisible force on Luke's chest and shoulder seemed to weigh heavily on him, but he felt different. He let a small smile slip on his face, and was surprised to see that Jason was also smiling at him, nodding as if grateful at something.

Then, the door bashed open.

"What in Gataria-" The man who had rushed in first was clearly of authority. He had a sharp-looking military suit on, and with his overall look, he would seem to have been very neat with his overall appearance. Yes, he used some strong, expensive hair wax to hold his hair-do, but he needed a clean shave.

"Jason Abbot..." The man had recognised him, Jason was surprised that he would, "Your-"

"I'm guessing you have known my father for a long time," Jason said flatly (with a hint of boredom).

The man nodded, and his lieutenant — Jason assumed — had stepped up beside him. Again, with almost matching uniforms.

"Should we notify chief commander? Sir."

"No, Oakley. The situation is under control."

Luke almost burst out laughing. This man seemed to very certain that the situation would be under control, especially with him: a dark matter manipulator at hand. Might he also add that the dark matter manipulator was uncuffed and unsupervised.

"Yes, Sir." Lieutenant Oakley took a step back.

The two who guarded the death water previously had anxiety written all over their faces. They stared at Luke with wary, also occasionally shuffling forwards to try and cut into the conversation, hoping to grab their leader's attention from actually doing something to Luke.

"Mr. Abbot."

"Jason."

"Ah... Jason," The man said, "I am Captain Orren. And with this situation..."

"Sir, we should... you know," One guard finally managed to say, "He's Lukas Black."

Orren eyed Luke with malice in his eyes, before he boomed, "How reckless of you two to break into the sentence room and save a criminal!"

Eira flinched at the voice and Jason narrowed his eyes. A smile flicked at the corner of his lips.

"And how slow of you to get here."

"Although you are Sir Abbot's son, but as a Ryder you have a rank way below mine, at least you should know military discipline!"

Jason found him intriguing. His smile thinned as he stood straight, "My apologies, Sir, but I have reasons to my actions."

"What sort of excuse can you make out of this ridicule!" Orren waved his hand at Luke, who was unfazed by all the commotion.

"I ask for a retrial, Sir!" Jason threw the bomb.

"A retrial?" Orren's voice lowered, "Interesting. What makes you say that... Black needs a retrial. All the evidence is there."

"Not exactly," Eira took a step forward. "There is new evidence which I have handed in to the department. They have treated it like trash."

"Is that so?" Orren looked towards his lieutenant.

Oakley leaned forwards to speak in a calm tone, "I'm afraid I haven't heard. It probably wasn't in the books, and the files haven't been handed for further processes."

"It's been thrown into a box called Black 702," Eira continued, not giving them a chance, "I also believe that Skyler Rodney..." She balled her fists, it seemed to physically hurt her to say it, "Skyler Rodney, a former Ryder has betrayed Gataria. Luke was framed of murdering her. You should write down in the books that Luke was defending himself from getting killed."

Orren was clearly shocked. Then he took a step forwards and leaned forwards respectfully, "I am aghast. You must be a Ryder yourself?"

Eira looked at Jason for direction, and he nodded.

"Sir," Eira tried, "My name is Eira Riley. I've joined about a year ago."

"Ah. Still quite new," He remarked to himself, "You are in the field?"

"Yes, Sir."

"I see..." Orren was contemplating his next move. Everyone waited for him: a word, a facial expression, a gesture... 

"I-"

"Retrial! The note for retrial for Ryder 702!" Stanley stormed through the door, stumbling and panting. A document of some sort was held in his hand, the edge a bit crinkled from his grip. He was bent slightly, taking in quick breathes before he raised his hand. 

"Retrial...! For Ryder 702!" 

"Stanley..." Eira breathed in relief. 

Orren eyed him up and down, studying him like a sharp-eyed fashion designer. He rubbed his thumb and index finger together and made a sound: "Hm..."

"Oh, Sir." Stanley didn't need to be told to know that Orren is in the Ryders department, holding a rank higher than him. 

"Give that to me," Orren pointed. 

Stanley gazed at Jason and Eira briefly before handing Orren the document with two hands.

"The retrial for 702, Sir."

"Yes, I know that." Orren said, a bit impatiently. He quickly skinned over the words and flipped over the paper without much interest. 

"Alright. It is the retrial paper signed by the judge. Oakley...!" 

"Yes, Sir." Oakley took the paper out of his hands and read it himself. He then folded it and placed it somewhere Eira nor Jason got the chance to see. "I will have it processed immediately."

"I'm afraid that even though there is the papers for retrial, Ryder 702 is still under our watch. He can't go anywhere until the trials and judgements have been made," Orren looked at Jason, "I hope you understand."

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. Take Lukas back to the cell."

The crowd shuffled and began to move. Eira watched as Luke was cuffed up again, and she wondered why he wasn't cuffed while being thrown into the water. Her gaze never left Luke, just in case he looked back at her. She wanted to make sure that when he looked back, he would see her watching over him. 

Luke stepped out of the door. The air was cooler outside and he felt calmer. He looked over his shoulder. Jason was conversing with Stanley, but they both had made eye contact with him. Eira, again, with her blue eyes. Except, this time, without hate, just... trust. 

He gave all of them a nod before the door closed on them. And he was in the dark hallway, again... alone.