Enjō walked towards Omega's door and waited in front of it before knocking, "Yo, wanna talk now?"
Omega opened the door immediately, his baggy eyes looked sunken into his head, "Yeah, come in."
"Didn't sleep last night?" Enjō sat down on Omega's bed, "Same here."
Omega sat in his desk chair and opened his book back up without hesitation, generating a small loaf of bread with his hand.
"Man you gotta eat something at least," Enjō said.
"I'll—I'll be fine," He responded in between dry bites. He put the bread down and generated water in his hand to drink.
"So, do you remember anything?"
"There's one thing. Lans was a superhero from a comic book I used to read. I don't understand why, though." Omega furrowed his brow, "If I'm right, then before just recently, I had the same symptoms as a regular Omega, so I would never have a reason to name myself."
"Maybe that Ael guy named you, or some other guy?" Enjō leaned forward and peered at what he was reading, "Altsaama...Or Atlzaama?"
"It's Alsaam—or Alzaam. He was right about Altsaama being a real place...but how did he know?" Omega covered his mouth with his hands.
"Didn't he say he had visions or something? Does it say anything about that in here?" He moved closer to Omega to look at the book, "Whew, you are really cold, bro." Enjō moved behind him and rubbed his shoulders slowly, "Feel that?"
Omega felt his numbed body being thawed by Enjō's warm hands, he couldn't help but let out a light sigh. "Thank you, but we need to focus. It does say things about angels—or at least angel-like beings being emissaries...which would explain his visions. But who is he really? Who is he to me?" Omega let his head fall into his palm.
"Hey, hey, hey, it's alright if you don't get it right now. But what you need to do right now is eat and sleep, you're pale."
Omega's head shot up from his palm and his bloodshot eyes focused on the book again, "But I need to fo-" Enjō grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar and yanked him out of the chair.
"Nuh-uh, you're coming with me." Enjō dragged Omega out of his room and into the kitchen.
"Good morning..." Omega groaned, Enjō dropped him on a chair.
"You've had a rough night, haven't you?" Omari pointed his fork at him and smiled.
"Huh?!" Omega shot up and straightened himself in his chair, "Oh—oh yeah."
"Did you sleep last night?" Uyama's voice was husky as he looked up from his eggs. His eyes were dry, and his eyebrows were low. Omega hesitated to respond. "Same here," He drank his coffee, his eye twitched.
"Oh, it's more than that. The guy just won't tell me what." Enjō came back to the table with another plate of eggs and placed it in front of Omega, "Now eat."
Omega slowly ate his eggs, and Omari laughed, "It looks like Enjō is the househusband too."
"'Yama helps out sometimes, but he pays the rent,"
Uyama's eyes were stuck to the empty chair at the table, "Enjō, do you mind if I take this to my room?"
"Bring it back quick, cuz we don't need a second sink!" He shouted from the back. Uyama left the table and glanced back at the table before closing the door behind him.
"Everyone is on edge today, rightfully." Omari sighed.
"Sir, do you know anything about the Hatchery—" Omega raised his head with wide eyes. Enjō groaned in the kitchen.
"You're sure you're up to hear that?" Omari suddenly got serious.
Omega felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek, "I think so." Enjō peered at them past the corner and listened.
"That Ael fellow told you about Altsaama, right? That must be why you're asking. Well, I'm not too sure of the origins of the Hatchery, but I do know that it was reserved for a situation like this."
Enjō entered the room and sat down at the table with them with a frown on his face.
"I had a colleague during the war, when I was a leading scientist for Shacia. He was an eyewitness to that event. Unfortunately, he is far from home now. Anyway, he told me that Steele had been at every department around the time of the bombing, and that he saw him going into the storage that held the missile with multiple different peoples. He came out unscathed, and on that same day, the missile struck."
Enjō hung his head and balled his fist. "So..." Enjō spoke up, "...We were created just for Steele?"
Omari simply shrugged, "I have an idea as to what the reason, but it's dangerous for me to assume."
Omega thought to himself, If what Ael said is true as well, their goal is to go to Altsaama, but how would they even do that? And what do we have to do with it?
"I know you're asking yourself why you were planned to be made, but I wouldn't worry about that right now."
Omega looked up to see Omari looking down at him, resting his head on his knuckle.
"You'll find out eventually," He quickly spouted, "What's important right now is just as Enjō said—You need to prepare yourself. I'm too old to fight."
Enjō hesitantly nodded his head, "I'll take your plate if you're done."
"Thanks Jojo," Omari said as he got up from the table. Omega watched him as he left to the bathroom.
Something about that doesn't add up. How would Steele have done that without any resistance? Plus, that's just one eyewitness—he could've just made it up....but it is his dad so...
Omega turned his attention away from Omari and looked at Uyama's door. "I hope he's doing alright,"
Uyama sighed and let the plate rest on his bed. A sketch of three chairs surrounding a table was laid in the middle, surrounded by nothing.
The chair in the middle...It's clear that it's the chair I sit in most of the time. The background from the angle matches it. But why do I see it—why now? It's been years since it's popped into my head, He thought, feeling his heart sink, Whatever it means, I know I have to do something, but...
Uyama dropped his head into his hands, and massaged his forehead. "What am I supposed to do, Chika?"
———
Valerona sat at a round table, umbrella in hand, and popped the cap of her lip balm under the table.
"What is that in your hand, Valerona?" Ael sat across from her on a round table.
"Lip balm. It smells...nice." Valerona said as she put some on her lips, "Do you know where I can find more?"
Ael crossed his arms, "This is the most positive I've seen you. Did someone gift you that?"
Valerona's eyes dragged down to the floor, "A human. His name was Uyama."
Ael furrowed his brows, "A human?"
His mind went back to what Steele said, "Two sides..." he mumbled under his breath.
The door opened and Falan came marching in.
"Falan, where are the others?" Ael stood up from his chair.
"How the hell would I know?" Falan put his hands on his head and marched past him, "Probably havin' fun, like I should be, right now." He finally sat down in a chair and slumped down. He suddenly ramped up and pointed at Valerona, "Oh yeah! Don't think I forgot what you said!"
"I don't know what you're talking about..." Valerona covered her face with her umbrella.
The door to the room opened and a man dressed in a artsy robe walked into the room with a heavily used painting palette in his hand.
"Please, don't get the paint on the table." Ael blankly asked.
"I wouldn't dare. It is beautiful as it is." The man said as he sat down.
"Where is Fleur?" Ael asked him.
"How the hell would I kn—" Falan settled down and sighed.
The door opened again and a younger girl walked in silently, taking a seat without a word.
Everyone turned their attention to her, making her squirm in her chair, "It's—it's Fleur."
Ael went through a list of papers on the table and grabbed his pen, "Alright then, the reason we're here today is one that I'm not favorable of," He slid the paper and pen to Falan, "It's from Steele."
Falan read it for a while, returning to the front page to read it again, "Uh—hold up, I don't really get it. Someone else read it for me or something." Falan threw the paper at the man in the robe.
The man picked it up and read it, giving some nods and the occasional grimace, "I see. I don't like this much."
"Don't feel obligated to sign it, Corian. I'm not signing it either." Ael sighed.
"I want a word with him regarding this. Until then, I will not participate," Corian declared as he passed the paper to Valerona. Falan groaned. After reading the first page, Valerona looked at the lip balm on the table. She passed the paper to Fleur. She read the whole thing and signed it hesitantly.
"So!? Is nobody gonna tell me what it is? Ya know, that's really why I passed it out!" Falan slammed his fist on the table.
"We already know your ans-" Corian's voice was cut off by Falan's excited yell.
"I accept!" His voice boomed in laughter, Ael plugged his ear with his thumb.
"You have to sign it." Valerona mumbled.
"Then hand me it then!" Falan reached across the table for the paper and snatched it out of Fleur's hand. He flipped the page and scribbled a signature, "There!" He handed it to Ael.
He received the paper and straightened it on the table, "As such, the meeting is over. Those of you who are interested know what they have to do. Those of you who aren't, don't go near Downtown Shacia."
Valerona clenched her teeth and hurriedly left the room first, kicking the chair over. With a sigh, Ael stood from his chair and walked towards Fleur.
"I'm surprised you signed, Fleur. That's not in your nature," Ael's frowned. She was looking straight ahead, her eyes wide open. He put his hand on her shoulder, "Fleur, are you alright?"
Her eyes snapped to meet his, "Huh? Signed what? What're you talking about? Could I have signed something bad?" She shifted in her seat and shook her head.
i knew there was something wrong with the way she entered—this is bad, she's losing control of Irie. Ael knelt down to her height and whispered, "Fleur, concentrate. Irie took control when you got here."
"Wha? Really? I—I'm sorry! Did Irie do something? Did she—"
"Calm down. You don't need to apologize for anything. Just try to contain her." Ael said softly.
Falan yawned from across the room, "What's all that crying about?"
Ael turned and faced Falan, scrunching his eyebrows, "Fleur is new here, she hasn't been able to control her powers as of yet. Respect that."
"Huh? How's that happenin'?" Falan raised an eyebrow. Ael shook his head and offered his hand to Fleur.
"Ooh, princess."
Ael glared back at Falan as he took her out of the room, leaving Corian and Falan in the room alone.
Corian was making strokes with a paintbrush in the air, as if he was painting nothing.
"And what're you doin'?" Falan scoffed.
"Your attitude has inspired me, truly." Corian continued painting on thin air.
"What's that supposed to mean? And—actually—" Falan sat up and pointed his finger at him, "—what's up with your name? 'Corian Alamonte', where'd the last name come from?"
"It is not a last name, it is a pen name."
"Oh, I get it. You're a big shot aren't ya?" Falan snickered and got up from his chair, "Well, lemme know if you wanna do this thing, cuz I wanna see you fight myself. Don't be boring!" He slammed the door behind him.
Corian's face grew to smile as he gazed upon his invisible canvas, "He may be right...this city could be quite the muse."