All the Stars Between Us

Faye

The access port wrenched open with a grinding noise not too different to nails on a chalk board. Nyx and Thalia winced, by they didn't break their handhold.

The gate opened to reveal a group of about thirty soldiers standing in the shape of a triangle, facing the pair. Their uniforms were skintight, though still allowing space to move, so it was clear who was male or female. The overall colour of the outfits were dark grey. On their back, there was an emblem. Three crossed arrows, the navy blue, black, and silver a sharp contrast to the dark grey beneath.

Thalia sucked in a breath beside Nyx. Her fears had been confirmed. Goddamn it, she cursed herself for not being certain. I should have started setting the ship's defenses when I heard them.

Nyx could see Thalia was worried, and squeezed her hand, trying to comfort her. Thalia felt it and smiled sadly down at Nyx. Unfortunately, there wasn't much either of them could do at the moment.

The ship's captain stepped forward, and pulled off her helmet. She touched three fingers to her bicep and bowed, keeping her position for the count of three. Thalia did the same. Nyx stood awkwardly, not really knowing what to do.

Thalia nodded slightly, glancing at Nyx from under her arm to tell her she was doing the right thing. She rose again, wrapping an arm around Nyx's waist as she did. The ship's captain glared through her helmet's visor at Thalia's arm, as if willing it to unwrap from Nyx's waist. Thalia took no notice, instead pulling Nyx closer into her side and nuzzling her hair. She looked at the ship's captain defiantly.

The ship's captain pulled her helmet off, and Nyx took in her appearance. The captain had fiery red hair, cold, charcoal grey eyes, and a slit in her eyebrow. Her wild hair was tied back into a ponytail, little wisps slipping out to frame her face. She looked furious.

She tossed her helmet to the side, striding forward as if to confront Thalia. Nyx stepped smoothly into her path. She spoke calmly, but there was a fire just under the surface of her voice, waiting to be tempted.

"I think that's quite enough, don't you?" She played with the tip of her bow casually, not breaking eye contact with the foreign captain. "I wouldn't want to go starting any fights just yet. We haven't even introduced ourselves."

The lady didn't move, and looked over Nyx's shoulder, straight at Thalia. "You shattered her heart, and you've found another conquest?" She didn't look furious anymore, just sad.

A quick flash of anger crossed Thalia's face, gone in the blink of an eye. She strode up to the captain. "Akaeria, you know better than most what she did to me. You know why I had to leave." She seemed angry, but Nyx knew her better than that. She knew Thalia was hurt. Deeply. She was covering it up with anger, but she wasn't fooling Nyx.

Akaeria crossed her arms. "Her wings have gone white, do you know that?"

All the colour seemed to drain from Thalia's face. She grabbed Akaeria's shoulders. "You're lying. That hasn't happened in aeons, and they wouldn't now, not for me." She hugged herself, staring into distant space. She looked haunted.

Nyx was worried. She didn't know what was going on, who this lady was, or why Thalia had reacted like that. She hadn't seen Thalia like this since Nyx had bonded with her weapon. She wrapped an arm around Thalia's waist, and Thalia smiled gratefully at Nyx.

Akaeria was rubbing her temples. She looked up. "And there's no chance of you returning the weapons?"

Thalia shook her head. "No." She looked Akaeria square in the eye. "You lost all chance of that a while back."