"What do you mean by why? I saved him because I had to." Eloise replied calmly, staring at Gabu's angry form.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing to himself.
"Eloise...you don't get it, do you?" He asked, looking at her straight in the eye.
She raised her eyebrows before turning around, not wanting to lock eyes with him anymore. He was intimidating when he got angry. And right now, she could not afford to show him any signs of weakness.
"These people...they prey on the weak." He started speaking, walking around. "Everyone wants to be in power, even if they don't deserve it."
Eloise jumped somewhat when she felt his hand on her shoulder as he came to stand in front of her.
"I can't even explain the condition of this city before I stepped up."
Shaking his head lightly, he grabbed her shoulders lightly. Forcing her to look into his eyes, he said "Eloise...don't you trust me?"
Eloise stared at him, not really knowing what to say. Her words were stuck in her throat as she tried to think of what to say.
"I...I do. But-" Gabu interrupted her in between, "I knew you would understand."
Turning around, he left her room quickly before she could say anything else to him. Sighing to herself, she closed the door and laid down on her soft bed, finally giving into the darkness.
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The next morning, everything seemed calm. Everybody was acting as if nothing had happened yesterday. The four sea Gods were nowhere to be seen and Gabu refused to see her, claiming that he was busy. Eloise scoffed at that thought, knowing how he was avoiding her on purpose.
She went to train with Koi as per her routine. Surprisingly, the ground was the only place where she felt the safest. She wasn't constantly in the eyes of Team S.T. and could enjoy a little bit of her freedom. After yesterday's incident, she no more wanted to go out of the tower to see the city. It was ruined for her.
She didn't want to think of the looks she got from all the people yesterday. They all looked at her with such hatred and fear, it made her weak. But she couldn't show any signs of weakness to anybody. For some unknown reason, this place made her feel tense all the time. As if nothing was how it looked. Everybody was...fake. Everyone except Koi. Eloise could feel it in her heart.
Koi was a good man. He was silent but an amazing rider. He chose his words carefully and Eloise had hardly seen him smile ever. But he seemed to care about her. He once told her that she reminded him of his younger sister. Maybe that's why Eloise liked spending time with him. Because he was the only genuine person around who wasn't playing games with her.
The whole day passed by but Eloise didn't leave the ground. She kept on training and training. Her muscles ached from the amount of work she had done but she wasn't satisfied. She knew that if she stopped training, her mind would take her back to yesterday's events. She didn't want to think of that.
She recalled Gabu's words. He sounded sincere but...she couldn't believe him. There was a part of her that trusted Gabu a lot and a part that told her to be prepared. Nothing made sense. Even if Gabu's story was true it didn't...add up. Something was fishy. And she needed more time to figure it out.
Koi watched her train carefully. She was improving very quickly. She never made the same mistake twice. She truly was Gabu's sister. But as he looked at her, he could feel her mind was not clear. She was working way too hard. She was trying to distract herself from something.
"We should stop now." He called out to her.
She stopped, putting her hands on her knees and taking a few deep breaths. She was panting. Looking at Koi she said, "Can't we go on for a little more time?"
Koi raised his brows, knowing exactly where she was coming from. He pointed towards the sky and said, "The sun is going to set soon. It'd be useless to train in the darkness. Why don't you take a break?"
Eloise nodded mutely. Koi came and sat on the ground, patting the space next to him. She took the hint and sat beside him. None of them said anything for a few moments. The silence was sweet. Both of them watched the sunset. Eloise felt a strange stillness inside her.
"Are you okay?" Koi asked her, his voice held a soothing tone to it.
"I don't know." She answered honestly. She could feel his eyes on her but she didn't bother to look. She was captivated by the bright colors of the sunset.
"You have a light inside you." Koi said suddenly. Eloise was startled and she turned to look at him. "Don't let it burn out." He finished.
Eloise gazed at him perplexed. She didn't knew what he meant. She turned to look at the sun again, his words echoing in her head.
Koi stood up to leave but Eloise stopped him. He turned to look at her and then, in that moment, she knew that he knows everything. About what happened. Koi turned around after a moment and left. He didn't bother explaining anything else to her. His eyes had said enough.
Eloise sat there, stunned. Seconds turned into minutes and soon, minutes turned into an hour. She didn't move. She was frozen. She could feel the warmth of Koi's presence beside her. But he was gone.
'You have a light inside you, don't let it burn out.'
There wasn't a judgmental look in his eyes, as she had expected. But she couldn't decipher his look. It was...bothering her. She felt as if he was trying to say a hundred things to her in one single look.
Was she really losing her light? It wasn't impossible. Ever since she came to X-city she had been suffering mentally. Everything pulled her away from the person she truly was and pushed her to become someone she was not. It was as if...she was changing. And not for the better. She could feel a sense of darkness enveloping her mind and heart and she had no idea how to get out of that darkness. It was suffocating her slowly.
She had no one to ask for help and she had no one whom she could trust. Koi was the closest thing she had to a friend. Taiga had been acting weird since the day she came. He rarely met her and whenever they were together, she could feel his discomfort. And well...Gabu had no time for her. He was always busy. She used to be close to her brothers in her world. But now, something had changed.
She shook her head, trying to get rid of her thoughts. Getting up, she dusted herself and went inside.
Just as she was making her way towards her room, she saw someone coming at her. A man dressed in armor was charging at her. A scream made its way out of her mouth as she jumped aside, the man riding past her.
He wasn't from team S.T., she was sure of it. She ran towards the control room, trying to warn Gabu. But when she reached there, she saw Gabu and Taiga standing together in front of the big screen, both of them talking.
As soon as his eyes fell on her, he gestured Eloise to come inside. On the big screen, she could see the knight riding at his full speed, dodging the guards and trying to make a run for it.
"Taiga, go stop him." Gabu ordered.
Taiga left without a single word. Eloise frantically looked at Gabu and said, "What is happening? Who is that guy?"
Gabu looked at her and replied, "He is trying to get to the energy source."
Eloise looked at him confused.
"X-tower powers the whole X-city. If someone controls the energy source, they control everybody. He's trying to go there and release all the energy."
"But...won't it destroy everything?" She asked, dreading the answer. Koi had told her about how the energy source thing worked.
"Yes. Yes it would." He replied, not knowing what more to say.
Eloise watched the screen in shock, terrified of what might happen. Soon, Gabu left the room too, instructing her to stay there. Eloise was pacing around in worry when she heard a loud sound followed by another blast.
Smoke covered everything and nothing was visible on the screen. Eloise ran out of the control room and dashed for where Gabu and Taiga went. There weren't many people around and it was only increasing her fear.
Her heart was beating fast as she neared the room. She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw something moving in front of her, coming out of the smoke. Taking a few steps more, she came face to face with Mentaro. His face was covered in ashes and he had trouble walking.
"Where is Gabu?!" She asked him urgently, to which he just pointed towards the smoke. Without wasting any time, she made her way inside. She was hit with a sudden de ja vu as she recalled going into the dark light after Gabu, the light that transported them to X-zone.
She laid down and started crawling forward as the smoke was getting thicker and thicker. She was having trouble breathing. But she didn't have to go too far as soon she could see a figure standing ahead. Someone on his MTB.
She stopped crawling, her head spinning. It was impossible to see who that guy was. There was something red shining on the wall as well. She could barely make out the outline of an emergency button. Without thinking twice, she pulled out a stone that she had picked during training from the ground and threw it with full force at the button.
The rock shattered the glass and suddenly, water was sprinkling from the ceiling. The person standing in front of her didn't move. Slowly but surely, the smoke started clearing and Eloise could make out the emblem of Bloody Fang on the MTB.
She ran towards the guy and hugged him tightly. It was Gabu. He hugged her back in shock. Both of them were drenched from the water. It took Eloise a few moments to realize that there was another man laying down on floor. It was the knight.
"What...?" She murmured.
"He's unconscious." Gabu replied.
Pulling his helmet off, he shook his head, sprinkling water out of his hair.
Eloise looked at him, not knowing what to say. But Gabu knew exactly what to say.
"X-city is like a warzone Eloise. You either kill...or be killed."
Eloise opened her mouth to reply but she had no words. Gabu lead her out of that room as many more guards came in to capture the knight. While she was walking, her mind was more messed up then ever.
'Either kill or....be killed.'
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Author's Note
Hello my dear readers! Here is another update. It was a filler chapter so I hope you all liked it. Let me know in the comments below. And don't forget to vote on it!
With love,
-Val
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