You held Kate's letter in your hands as you reread her last words. 'Your mother is alive.' You sighed. What did she mean by that? So basically your mother is alive, but there isn't any information on her whereabouts. You looked at the time and saw that it was almost time for you to leave. You put the letter away and stood up from your chair. You then made sure that your uniform was on straight and walked out of the room.
You were walking through the halls when you heard someone call out your name.
"Y-Y/N!" Tobio called out. You turned towards him and smiled.
"Hey Tobio." Tobio ran up to you and blushed as he started to fidget.
"H-hey, what are you up to?" Tobio questioned. You chuckled.
"Actually, I was just on my way to the others so that we can head out to the outcast lands." You told. Tobio frowned.
"O-oh, I didn't hold you up, d-did I?" Tobio questioned. You shook your head.
"No, of course not! But I really should get going, I'll talk to you when I get back. See ya!" You waved as you ran off to meet the others. Tobio waved back as he blushed. He then sighed. He would have to work hard if he were to ever meet your expectations! Astro had watched the encounter and frowned. He then walked up to Tobio and smiled at him.
"Hey Tobio." Astro greeted. Tobio jumped and turned towards Astro.
"A-Astro! You scared me." Tobio told as he rested his hand on his chest. Astro chuckled.
"So, I see that you and Y/N have grown close." Astro told. Tobio nodded.
"Yeah! A-actually, I-I think that I may l-like..." Tobio then blushed and shook his head. Astro raised his eyebrow at Tobio, already getting a bad feeling.
"You what?" Tobio smiled at Astro and took a step back.
"N-nothing! Well I gotta get back to my studies! See ya!" Toby cried as he ran away from Astro. Astro frowned as he watched Tobio run away.
You were chatting to the others and getting ready to leave when Astro appeared in front of you. You cried out in surprise as you took a step back in shock. You then sighed.
"Astro! Don't scare me like that." You told. Astro laughed while scratching the back of his head.
"Sorry. I came here to see you off." Astro told. You smiled.
"Aww, thanks Astro. You're always seeing us off." You told. Astro blushed and smiled.
"Well, of course I'd see you all off!" Astro exclaimed. Everyone smiled at Astro.
"Well, we should get going. We'll see you when we get back." You told as you waved to Astro. Astro nodded and waved to you all as you teleported everyone to the outcast lands. Astro then sighed. Well, he'd better get to his duties before he gets called a slacker. Astro turned around and made his way towards the guard room.
You and your group appeared on a platform in the forest and stepped off the platform. Ajeero and Reno had decided to make a platform for when you, Sabrina, Kennedy and some other soldiers came to the outcast lands. You then turned towards your squad.
"Okay men, we'll split off into three teams! Sabrina, Kennedy and myself will be the team leaders. Sabrina, you will lead your squad to the village ruins that are up the road from the forest to drive out the bandits. Kennedy, you will lead your squad to the wall. I heard that there was a group of rowdy humans there that need sorting out. I'll lead my squad to search the forest." You ordered. Sabrina and Kennedy nodded. You nodded. "Good, now move out!" Everyone nodded and moved out to their respective positions. You then turned towards your squad. "Men, disperse. I want this forest searched for any kinds of dangers. Do not engage in combat unless it's absolutely necessary, am I understood?" You questioned. The soldiers nodded and spread out. You turned around and walked into another direction of the forest. As you were walking through the forest, you saw an entrance to one of the ruins that were around here and smiled as memories of the times Kate yelled at you for entering the ruins. You then decided to walk towards the ruins and explore them a little. You walked inside and looked around. Vines covered the walls as well as moss. A few pillars were knocked over as light shone through the hole in the roof. You walked forwards and towards the light. You had always felt in peace here. You then looked around. Everything hadn't really changed all that much. You then sighed and sat down on a broken pillar. Everything was so nice and calm here. You then looked down at your pendant. It was glowing very faintly. You raised your eyebrow at the pendant.Why was it glowing? You stood up and saw that it began to glow a little more. You frowned and looked around. Was there something here that was reacting to the pendant? You walked around and played a game of hot and cold with your pendant until you stopped in front of a wall. You then looked up at the wall in confusion. Why did the pendant react strongly to this wall? You rested your hand on the cold mossy stone of the wall and felt around. Your eyes then widened when your hand pushed down on something. You froze. You didn't dare push down on whatever this lever was. You stood back as a guard entered the ruins.
"Captain!" You turned towards the knight.
"Yes?" You questioned. The knight saluted to you.
"There's nothing dangerous to report, madam." You nodded.
"Good, we'll check the next sector now." You then left the ruins with the soldier.
Astro sat around, bored. He had already finished his tasks for today and was bored out of his mind. He had nothing else to do. He then heard some chatter in the hallways and smiled. He then ran into the hallways and saw that you had returned with your squad. Astro was about to greet you when he noticed your distressed look.
"Hey Y/N, is something the matter?" Astro questioned as he walked up to you. You were deep in thought when you heard Astro's voice and looked up.
"Oh, hey Astro." You then turned around and watched as your squad dispersed as well as Sabrina and Kennedy. Your thoughts then returned to that lever you had felt and frowned. You then contemplated on whether you should tell Astro about it or not. Astro cocked his head to the side in confusion.
"Y/N?" Astro questioned. You shook your head and smiled at Astro.
"It's nothing. I should really get started on my report. I'll see you later." You told as you waved to Astro and walked back to your room. Astro frowned as he watched you walk away. He then sighed and went back to his room.
You were heading towards your room when you heard someone call out your name.
"Y-Y/N!" Tobio called out. You turned around and smiled at him.
"Hey Tobio." Tobio ran up to you and smiled.
"H-hi! S-so how was the mission?" Tobio questioned. You shrugged.
"It was okay, I guess. We drove out the bandits in the village ruins so that the constructors can get started on rebuilding the village." You then sighed. "I should get going, I need to write this stupid report. I'll see you tomorrow." You told as you waved to Tobio. Tobio frowned.
"B-but you said that we could talk..." Tobio whispered. He then sighed and walked back to his room.
You stretched your arms as you finished the report. You then looked at the time and saw that it was only six. You grinned. You had some free time. You hurriedly sent the report and walked out of your room after taking off most of your armour. You were walking down the hallways when you heard two voices call out your name.
"Y/N!" Astro and Tobio called out. They then looked at each other with wide eyes and frowned. You turned towards them.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" You questioned. Astro and Tobio ran up to you.
"Oh, we're good." Astro and Tobio told. Astro then eyed Tobio.
"Hey, Tobio. Don't you have some studies to attend to?" Astro questioned. Tobio frowned.
"A-actually, father said that I could t-take a break. D-don't you have some reports to w-write?" Tobio questioned. Astro laughed as a tick mark appeared on his head.
"Oh no, I've finished my work load for the day. Say, isn't it getting late? Shouldn't you be in bed by now?" Tobio smiled as a tick mark appeared on his head.
"It's only six." Tobio and Astro glared at each other. You raised an eyebrow at the two of them. Had something happened between the two while you were gone?
"Astro, Tobio, is something the matter?" You questioned. Astro and Tobio smiled at you.
"Oh, nothing's wrong. I was just concerned about his wellbeing." The two of them told simultaneously as they pointed to each other. You eyed them suspiciously. Something was obviously up and you were going to find out what. Astro and Tobio eyed each other with annoyance. You saw their look and clapped your hands together.
"Hey, I have an idea! Why don't we all go for a walk?" You suggested, hoping to rid the tension that was in the air. Astro and Tobio smiled and nodded.
"Sure! I'd love to!" You smiled and turned around and started making your way to the palace gardens. Tobio was about to follow when Astro pushed him over. Astro then ran after you. Tobio growled and ran after the two of you. Tobio then stepped on Astro's scarf, causing him to get pulled back and fall to the ground. Tobio poked his tongue out at Astro and ran up beside you. Astro growled and ran up to you. He then walked on your right side while Tobio walked on your left. You glanced at the two of them and still felt the tension in the air. You then sighed and looked ahead of you to see the garden. The golden twilight glow gave the garden an almost holy look. You smiled at the pretty view and ran towards one of the flower beds and looked at the flowers.
"Aren't these flowers so pretty?" You questioned. Astro and Tobio smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, you are." The two of them then glared at each other while you glanced back at them. You then frowned when you saw the way they were glaring at each other. Something had obviously happened between the two while you were gone and you had to make sure that they became friends again! You nodded in determination and took out your phone. You then sent Reno a text, informing him of the situation. Reno texted back saying that he understood. You smiled and put your phone away. You then walked up to the two boys and grabbed them by the hands.
"Come on guys, let's go have a look at the roses!" You told as you dragged them behind you. Tobio and Astro blushed. Astro then saw Tobio's blush and frowned. Who the heck did this kid think he was? Astro then glanced at how you held his hand and an idea came to him. He shifted his grip so that your fingers were laced together with his as he walked beside you. You felt his grip change and looked at your hands. You then blushed slightly. Tobio saw this and his eyes widened. He then did the same thing and your eyes widened. You then blushed a little bit but not as much. Astro frowned and gave Tobio a look which read 'back off, she's mine.' Tobio gave Astro a smug look which said 'oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?' Astro and Tobio continued to give each other looks. You shivered and let go of their hands and wrapped your arms around your body. It had gotten colder all of a sudden. Astro and Tobio gasped and Astro took off his jacket and wrapped it around your body. Tobio tsked when he didn't have a jacket, instead only a sweater. Astro then wrapped his scarf around you. You sweat dropped. "Thank you Astro, but it's not that cold." Astro shook his head and smiled at you.
"Nonsense, you'll catch a cold if you don't wear anything warm." Astro told. You giggled at him and nodded. Tobio frowned and looked to the side. He then shivered a bit. You saw this and took off Astro's scarf and wrapped it around Tobio's neck. Tobio's eyes widened as you smiled at him.
"Wouldn't want you to catch a cold." Tobio blushed and smiled at you. Astro frowned. That was HIS scarf, he gave it to you to use! He then sighed. Even if Tobio had become his new rival, he wouldn't let him freeze. He was just that nice of a person. Tobio would have leant into the scarf if it wasn't Astros. Although he had to admit, the scarf was quite soft. You looked at the roses on the hedge and smiled. You then smelled the roses. "These roses smell wonderful. Come smell them guys." Tobio and Astro leaned towards the roses and took in their sent. They then smiled and nodded.
"Y-yeah, they smell n-nice." Tobio told. Astro nodded.
"Yeah, I'm sure that these roses are a new species, correct?" Astro questioned. Tobio turned towards him and nodded.
"Y-yeah, father said that t-these roses produce a much stronger f-fragrance." You smiled at the two of them. They seemed to be getting along better now. You then saw that the sun had set and glanced back at the two.
"Hey guys, we should head back inside now." You told. Tobio and Astro nodded and walked inside. As the three of you were walking through the halls, Tobio glanced at you and clenched his fists nervously as a huge blush crossed his face.
"H-hey, Y-Y/N?" Tobio questioned, bringing both yours and Astro's attention towards him.
"Yes Tobio?" Tobio fiddled with his thumbs as he glanced at the ground.
"U-um, I-I was wondering i-if you w-wanted to c-come to the library w-with me tomorrow." Tobio stuttered. He then cursed himself for stuttering more than usual. You smiled at him while Astro frowned.
"Sure! I don't mind." Secretly though, you didn't really want to go to the library. You didn't mind them, but you longed for adventure! Astro smiled and wrapped his arms around you and Tobio, deliberately separating the two of you.
"Mind if I tag along?" Astro questioned. Tobio frowned and was about to say no when you nodded.
"Sure! You can come along. It'll be more fun this way!" You exclaimed. You were thankful that Astro had decided to tag along, you thought it would be too quiet if it were just Tobio and you. Tobio sighed and looked to the side. Astro smirked triumphantly at Tobio, glad that he had managed to thwart his plans. You then smiled at Astro. "We can meet up at ten or something. Is that alright with you Tobio?" You questioned. Tobio glanced at you and nodded. He then shrugged Astro's arm off him.
"Well, I should head back to my room. It's getting late." Tobio told. He then gave Astro a look which said 'you haven't won yet.' Astro smiled at him, his smiling basically said 'I already have.' Tobio growled and stormed off to his room. You raised your eyebrow at his bad attitude and looked at Astro, who still had his arm wrapped around your shoulder.
"What's his problem?" You questioned. Astro looked at you and shrugged. You looked at the direction Tobio walked off in and sighed. Just as you thought things were finally getting better, Astro had to go and provoke him. You then glanced at Astro. "Did something happen between you two? And be honest." Astro looked to the side.
"No, not really. We've just gotten in a disagreement is all." You frowned.
"What did you two disagree on?" Astro shook his head.
"It's nothing. Hey, how about you show me how to play that game you were playing when I slept in your room?" Astro suggested. You blushed at the memory. You remember waking up to him smiling at you and freaked out and accidentally pushed him off the bed. You giggled at the memory with Astro rubbing his head in pain. You then grinned at him and nodded.
"Then follow me, my pupil. I shall show you the way of the Rucoy online battle sphere. Now come!" You exclaimed dramatically as you ran ahead of Astro. Astro grinned and ran after you.