Skydeck Vanguard

Chapter 10: New Arrivals

I ended up leaving Valerian and Veddrian's house shortly after that. Veddrian was returning home as I was leaving and she saw me on the way out and sent me a curious glance, but she didn't say anything as we passed by each other on the deck. I feel like Valerian and I are in a better place than we were, but I'm not sure. To be honest, it could actually be worse, but he seemed to open up more to me, even if he didn't realize he was doing it. And I could tell my words were affecting him, despite him resisting.

I spent the night staring at the ceiling and thinking of my own family and how everything used to be so different. I fell asleep sometime around four in the morning, which, considering I got up at nine, didn't amount to much sleep. The only reason I got up instead of sleeping until ten thirty was because Miles came to my door and told me that I need to go to the arena with him immediately. At first, I thought he wanted to train, but after I changed into a pair of checkered sweatpants, uggs, and a tank-top with a light jacket, he grabbed ahold of my wrist and ran to the arena without letting me release a peep.

"What is it?" I groan out as we finally reach the inside of the arena, having been waiting in line for a surprising forty minutes.

"The guild is making Dexter get a temporary new partner while Drusilla is still healing in case his team gets called out to the field," Miles explains as he cranes his neck up to see above the crowd in front of us, "they said they won't be calling his team often due to that fact, but they want to have someone as a stand in just in case."

"Okay," I shake my head tiredly, "but what's with this huge crowd?"

"Almost everyone here is on the ship to watch the recruitment," Miles says as we file into the stands, "apparently someone showed up this morning and demanded a spot on a team, which is what prompted this entire thing in the first place."

"Who would do that?" I raise my eyebrows in surprise as we find a pair of seats next to each other.

"I don't know," Miles shakes his head, "but I heard that they have to beat the red team in order to be accepted."

"Really?" my eyebrows raise in surprise and I look down to the arena, "who would take them on alone?"

"Someone crazy, apparently," Miles shrugs before he looks at me, his expression softening, "you know, some of the kids have left offerings at some of the shrines for Drusilla to get better."

"The shrines to the saints?" I ask, "both of them?"

"No," Miles shakes his head, "only Saint Elise."

"Oh," I sigh, not surprised, "you know...sometimes I feel bad for Ayanna. It's just...nobody prays to her. Everyone seems to favor Elise, the young beautiful maiden who's thought of to be always kind and gentle over Ayanna simply because Ayanna comes from a darker place, but she has all of the same qualities."

"Well, most of the colors that Vanguards use came from Elise as well," Miles adds, "that's why most pray to her. But, I do agree with you."

"Yeah..." I trail off as I look down to the arena, watching as the crowd continues to pour in.

"Hey guys," Dexter sighs as he comes up the stands and takes the other seat next to me.

"Oh hey," I smile softly, "I thought you'd be with Drusilla?"

"Drusilla's sleeping right now," Dexter smiles sadly, "I thought I'd come see the match in the meantime. Besides, Eva is there looking after her for now."

"Alright everyone!" Skye announces as she walks around the arena in dark blue suede heels, a black and white sailor dress with a deep red belt around her waist, and a dark blue beret, a black microphone in her right hand, "we're here to see about potentially recruiting a new Vanguard! In order to be recruited, they must prove their skills by single-handedly defeating team red. I now welcome team red: Valerian and Veddrian Redden!"