Nyx sat on the little armchair with Faye on her lap. Thalia and Nyx has decided to keep Faye and maybe raise her if her parents didn't show up. They had agreed that as a wielder, it would be safer if she stayed with them anyway. Faye was wearing a pink oversized sweater and some leggings Nyx had sewn for her. (Also pink)
Faye refused to wear anything except pink. Her old clothes had to be thrown away, because they were all ripped, torn, and sweaty. Not even Nyx could fix them. Faye cried a little when she had to throw them away.
After much protesting, thrashing, and squirming, (lots of squirming) Nyx had finally gotten Faye to take a bath and eat dinner. Currently, the three were huddled under a blanket on the loveseat in the living room. Faye had fallen asleep after watching a couple cartoons, and Nyx and Thalia had other plans to attend to when they had finally gotten Faye into bed.
Until they could remodel one of the many spare rooms in the ship to suit her fancy, she was staying in one of the relatively plain spare rooms. It had a midnight blue bedspread and duvet, two side tables adorned with brightly lit lamps with stands made of glass, a soft, white carpet, wide, ceiling length windows that turned opaque when you clapped your hands, and a ceiling that you could customize to suit your interests.
You could have a hot desert sun beating down on the room, a cold, snowy evening, or a pitch dark sky scattered with handfuls of stars. Faye had chosen the latter, yawning that "It reminds me of home." Thalia had argued that you could literally look out the ship's window and see much many stars than that, and Nyx had glared at her and told Faye that she could do whatever made her happy.
As soon as the pair had tucked Faye into bed, darkened the windows, and closed the door softly, Thalia pushed Nyx up against the hallway's wall. Thalia peppered little kisses along the plunging neckline of Nyx's shirt, and Nyx wrapped her legs around Thalia's waist.
All of a sudden, Nyx realized that there was literally a sleeping child in the next room, who might wake at any moment. She pushed Thalia firmly away, ignoring Thalia's whines of protest.
"Shut up!" She hissed in a low whisper. "You're going to wake her up!" she trailed off, biting her lip.
Thalia nodded shamefully, significantly sobered up. "You're right. I'm sorry."
Nyx rolled her eyes, smiling. "You do realize our very soundproof, very childproof, very lockable room is literally a stone's throw away?"
Thalia smirked, and took Nyx's hand, leading her down the hallway to their shared room.
➵➵➵➵ ✵☽✵ ➵➵➵➵
That morning, just as the ship's lights were starting to brighten, Nyx and Thalia were startled awake by a high-pitched, excited voice.
"GUYS, WAKE UP!" Shrieked Faye happily.
Startled into action, Thalia summoned her sword, and Nyx summoned her bow and quiver, and nocked an arrow in a split second.
They stood there, Nyx in a thin slip, and Thalia in her sleeping tunic, armed and ready to do battle. Faye stood, cowering and covering her face with her hands, sobbing.
They immediately felt horrible for scaring the little girl, and, stowing their weapons, they tried to comfort her. Nyx rubbed her back and whispered sweet words into her ears, while Thalia gathered the little bundle into her lap and smoothed her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ears softly.
Gradually, Faye seemed to calm down a little, and stopped crying and hyperventilating. Nyx looked at her kindly and told her a joke, which earned a watery giggle between hiccups.
Eventually, when Faye had calmed down completely, the pair walked her down the stairs, each holding a hand and swinging it as they walked.
They got to the breakfast table, and the first person to say something was, unsurprisingly, Faye. "What's for breakfast?" She asked chirpily, completely distracted by craning her neck to look over Nyx's shoulder.
"Oh, you'll see," Nyx chuckled. "By the way, we don't really have anything planned for today, so would you like to customize your room? I know you've been wanting to for a while."
Faye scrunched up her face and looked at Nyx questioningly. "What does 'customize' mean?"
Nyx looked over her shoulder at the little girl. "It means to choose what you want to decorate it with."
Faye squealed loudly, causing Nyx to jerk suddenly and accidentally knock the entire bottle of oregano into the omelet she was making. Nyx whirled. "What?"
Faye sat back, seemingly hurt. "I was just excited." She looked down at the ground reproachfully.
Nyx's gaze softened. "I'm sorry." She amended. "It's just that there are people who mean us harm. You, me, and Thalia, I mean. I have to be on my guard constantly." She gave Faye a hug. "I don't mean to be nasty."
Faye pretended to tap her finger to her temple for a couple seconds in deep thought and then giggled and hugged Nyx. "It's okay! I don't mind."
Nyx nodded gratefully and moved back to her ruined omelet, now thoroughly spiced and burned. She sighed. "Why is it that someone always manages to mess up breakfast?
She rolled her eyes good naturedly. "It's fine, we'll just eat cereal."
Faye's eyes widened. "Do I get the mini rainbow donuts?!" She asked hopefully.
Nyx laughed. "Yes, sure, dear, but they're called 'Fruit Loops'" she shot a disapproving look at Thalia, sitting across from them at the table who was trying really hard not to cry from holding in her laughter.
After the three had finished their breakfast, they made their way to the spare room Faye was sleeping in. Once they got there, Nyx pushed open the door with a flourish, and clapped her hands.
The windows were now transparent, and the result was rather disorienting. It seemed as if there were nothing dividing the room and the massive expanse of space. In reality though, the glass itself was stronger than reinforced titanium, and was practically unbreakable.
"So, what do you want to change?" Nyx looked at Faye expectantly.
Faye looked practically bursting with excitement. Her eyes seemed to shine as she squealed happily. "Everything!"
Nyx looked a bit taken aback. "Everything?"
Faye nodded happily, and went around her room, nodding and pointing at everything she wanted changed and how she wanted it changed. Nyx scrambled around after her, clapping her hands every two seconds and changing something, or, in some cases, adding something.
The result was actually rather pleasing. The walls were now a light pink, the bedspread was white, with little pink roses edging the bottom, and plump, pink embroidered cushions resting on the top. The carpet remained white, the bedtables were white, and the lampshade handles were light pink, while the lamp itself was white. The ceiling was a light blue sky, the same as Faye's eyes, with puffy white clouds gliding across every now and again.
Overall, the room screamed 'Faye'. They were all happy with it, and Thalia deemed it worthy by lying on the feather-soft carpet and refusing to get up on account of it being "too soft."
They all decided to get used to Faye's room, and so they spent the afternoon watching cartoons, reading, drawing, and singing karaoke in Faye's room.
When Faye was asleep, Thalia and Nyx decided to snuggle up downstairs on the armchair and have some tea. When they were comfortable, Thalia spoke softly. "Nyx, I've changed the ship's course. Before we dock at the next port, we need to visit someone." She looked away as she said it. "I don't-" her voice broke, "I don't know if she'll be there, but I just... need to check."
Nyx's brow furrowed. "There's something you're not telling me, Thalia, and you know it. I don't mind us changing course," she held up her hand to stop Thalia thanking her, "if you tell me why."
Nyx shifted her body around so that she was straddling Thalia. "Who was Akaeria? And what did she want?"
Thalia stiffened, and the smile slipped off her face. She turned her head away. "An old friend," she said softly.
Nyx cupped her face and brought it to her own. "Whatever it is, love, you can tell me." She touched Thalia's forehead with her own.
Thalia sighed. "Yeah, I owe you the truth." She turned away again. "Just... don't hate me. I had to do it. I didn't... I didn't want this to happen." She looked back at Nyx, imploring her to listen.
Nyx smiled at Thalia. "Hey, honey, whatever it is, we'll work through it. I love you, and what you've done in the past doesn't change that."
Thalia smiled sadly and started the story. "I wasn't always the warrior I am now."
➵➵➵➵ ✵☽✵ ➵➵➵➵
Thalia shut off her alarm with an annoyed grumble, moaning tiredly and burying her head back into her pillow. She stayed like that for a while, and finally swung her legs over the side of the bed and made her way to the bathroom. She showered and dressed in a tight black skirt that came to just above her knees, a deep forest green blouse, and a pair of classy, black heels.
She threw her hair into its usual pony and pushed her glasses up on her nose. She grabbed a muffin on the way out, and started walking towards the Garde's Line. On the platform, she finished up the last couple of chapters of her book, and boarded the enormous train.
When she arrived at work, she made her way quickly to her desk before Caspienne figured out she was late. She rounded the corner of her cubicle, and... too late. Caspienne was twirling a pencil lightly between her fingers, her chair faced towards Thalia. Her maroon eyes flashed mischievously, her raven brown hair falling lusciously, and framing her face. Her crimson lips curved up slightly, the colour complimenting her porcelain skin.
Thalia grinned easily. (Or tried to, anyway) "Hi, Caspienne! How was your weekend?" She turned her back to face the slender girl, who was clad in a dark, blood-red, skin hugging dress.
"You're late." Came her playful voice, trying to gauge Thalia's mood.
"Hmm... my watch must be slow then, because it looks to me like I just made it by a minute.
Caspienne looked down at her watch and scowled. "Fine. I'll see you in rolecall then. Be there in fifteen minutes, or else." She strode away.
Thalia shook her head in disgust. She really didn't like Caspienne. She was a horrible supervisor. Always snooping on people to see what she could report to the queen. For some reason, the queen actually cared what was going on. Apparently, she didn't like Caspienne that much. Caspienne was a huge flirt, and she had tried her luck with the queen. Long story short, it didn't end up well. In Thalia's opinion, Caspienne was lucky she hadn't been stripped of her rank.
Flirting with the queen of the First Empire. Thalia scoffed. As if that would have worked. In the Garde, there were three empires. The Third Empire, mainly working class, was ruled over by Queen Lilith, the most talented necromancer in the seven worlds.
Lilith ruled because she knew how to build the most impenetrable, resplendent fortress from nothing. She was an extremely gifted necromancer, and could bend even the sharpest, most insolent shadow to her will. She had improved the Third Empire so much that it was almost doing better than the Second Empire. Second Empire was ruled by Queen Kinaria of the Wolves. She was a shapeshifter, and could take the form of anything at all- and if rumours were to be believed, even something she had never seen.
She was ruler of the Second Empire because she knew how to make things seem different than what they are. The Second Empire wasn't really doing too well. Times were hard. But with Queen Kinaria, it seemed like they were doing better than ever. She was called 'of the Wolves' because she was brought up with them, and learnt how to shape-shift with them.
She formed a special bond with them, and was never seen apart from her wolf, Hyperion. Her wife was Queen Lilith of the Third Empire. They shared a palace, and usually attended to matters of state hand-in-hand. Thalia thought they were adorable. Lilith had ebony black hair, milk-chocolate brown skin, and pitch black eyes, dark as the night. Her outfit of choice was a black, flowing gown that stopped just below her knees, dainty slip-ons, and her staff, studded with black quartz.
Kinaria, on the other hand, had silver eyes that shone like the moon, moonbeam-silver hair, and pale skin. Her chosen outfit was a grey silk shirt over fitting pants and a formal jacket, with silver moonbeam boots. She always had on her silver crescent moon pendant, which allowed her clothes to change shape with her.
Lilith was currently pregnant with Kinaria's child, and she was practically glowing with health and happiness. Ruler of the First Empire, the ruler of the entire Gardè , was Queen Maeve. While the others were planet-born, Maeve was the offspring of a celestial being. She had the wings of an angel, a midnight blue, matching her hair.
Her eyes were a light, almost transparent, frosty blue, and her pale skin had a midnight-blue tint to it. Maeve was of the Dark Fae, and that meant that she wore her weakness on her sleeve. When she was at her weakest, emotionally or physically, or when she had been injured deeply, emotionally or physically, her wings, hair, and eyes would turn white. Her skin would lose its tint, and she would essentially be letting everyone know she was vulnerable. She had telepathic powers, allowing her to summon things at will, and incapacitate whomever she deemed deserved it.
She usually wore a regal, ankle-length ballgown made of some otherworldly, midnight blue material, and a silver circlet fitted with luminescent blue topaz, the gem she drew her power from. She didn't bother with shoes, because she was always hovering off the ground. Together, the three Queens, along with their second-in-command's, formed the council.
Thalia walked quickly down to Caspienne's office, hoping she hadn't missed rolecall due to all her reminiscing. She slid into the room and quickly sat down in the chair closest to the corner, just as Caspienne started to call names.
She tuned out the register call, and tried to focus her mind on other things. She wondered what Tess was doing at home. Tess was a mutt, but she was adorable nonetheless, in Thalia's opinion. If you didn't like Tess, you didn't like Thalia.
"Thalia," barked Caspienne.
"Here!" Blurted Thalia quickly. She didn't want to have to work in archives, which was the penalty for not staying awake during rolecall. They were all expected to know their fellow office workers, and be able to name them all. For 'cooperation', and 'better communication.'
Caspienne rolled her eyes and glared at Thalia. "Were you even paying attention?"
Thalia crossed her arms indignantly. "Yes, of course I was." She tried to sound convincing, but it didn't really work.
"Okay, who was before you, then?" Caspienne challenged.
Thalia frowned. She knew it wasn't Ambra... and it wasn't Ziary, or Arety... "Isidora?" She asked, trying to sound confident.
Caspienne smirked. "I don't think that's how you pronounce Ziary. Guess you're on Archives, then. Better get moving."
Thalia closed her eyes momentarily, cursing her stupid guessing. She stood up stiffly, and bowed slightly at Caspienne, as she was required to do. She strode briskly out the door, and made her way to the Archives, silently berating herself all the way.
She got to the Archives in about five minutes. The walk was supposed to take fifteen, so now she had about ten minutes to look around before she had to get to work.
The Archives were packed, with records reaching all the way up to the dank, dilapidated metal ceiling, at least ten meters above the ground. Thalia's job today was going to be cataloguing and organizing the contents of the Archive, which was pretty impossible. Nobody got all of it done, and that was why there were stacks of empty filing cabinets and huge piles of records.
What the entire place was for was to catalogue the entire day's energy readings from across the seven worlds, and report anything suspicious that they found. They never found anything, but they were required by decree of Queen Maeve to record everything they found.
Thalia had no idea why they did what they did, but she had been trying for a while to find out, and she now realized that the Archives were the perfect place to look for information on why they were looking, and what they were looking for.
Thalia had no family, and had been placed in orphanages until she was old enough to study and get a job in the Second Empire. It wasn't much, but rather this than working ration cards down in the Third Empire. She didn't want to believe that the Gardè could be bad.
It had given her a life, helped her become who she was today. She needed to know the truth. She couldn't carry on living her life in the darkness, denying every piece of evidence that said that the Gardè was bad. Why were they not allowed to know what they were searching for? What was so secret that they had to bury it deep under the many records of the Archives? She had to find out.
She began to sort through the nearest pile to her, cataloguing the energy readings according to power. She sorted, and she sorted, and then she sorted some more, but all she could find were average readings.
Thalia tried to have patience, but as the end of the day neared, she began to become more frustrated. Finally, she threw the pile she was currently sorting down in disgust. She buried her head in her hands and tried to think of where she might find important information. She racked her brains for a while, and suddenly, her head shot up.
"The mainframe!" She exclaimed. She jumped up. She knew where she would find answers, and she knew she had to do it before anyone noticed she wasn't in the Archives anymore.
Thalia sprung up quickly, and sprinted to the front of the room, to the locked room that housed the mainframe. She pressed her face up against the glass, trying to figure out how to get in.
She stood for about ten minutes, trying and failing to see where the keys were. Eventually, she just pulled two hairpins from her hair, bent them apart, and slid them into the lock quickly, picking it open quickly and sliding inside, closing the door behind her.
Her hair slowly fell out of her tight ponytail, framing her face, and she tossed it over her shoulder in annoyance. She typed in Caspienne's system username on the loading screen, but every password she entered drew up a blank.
She groaned in frustration, trying to remember something Caspienne loved. It's never going to work! She doesn't have a heart anyway. She thought hopelessly.
Unless...
She quickly typed in a passkey, and the loading screen disappeared. She held her breath, as the old, glitchy mainframe began to load... and suddenly, the page had loaded, and she fell off her chair.