"Again with my room." Finn pouted as Jett walked in. Everyone stood around the map and the bomb layout. They were checking the final steps. Jett's part mattered most.
"You're finally here." Rey let out a tired breath. "Feeling okay now?"
"Oh, yeah. Sure." Jett answered, but his mind was sowhere else, 'if you can to call what I just went through okay though.'
"Where is Freya?" Evelina asked. She checked behind him. "She stayed to look after you, right?"
"She is... She will be here soon. Haha..." Jett's laugh ca out thin. His thoughts ran wild.
*****
Jett tried to keep a straight face, but his thoughts scrambled the mont he stood with the group.
His mind replayed everything at once.
Elora's voice close to his ear.
Her hand on his forehead.
Her face inches from his.
Freya waking up with sleepy eyes.
Her grabbing his cheeks without warning.
Her breath close as she checked him.
His chest tightened. His ears ward. His mind tripped over itself.
He avoided Elora's eyes the mont she smiled at him. He avoided looking at Freya's empty spot because even the mory of her leaning in made his stomach twist.
Jett's thoughts kept spinning.
'Too close.'
'Why did she say that?'
'Why did I freeze?'
'Why am I reacting like this?'
The more he tried to calm down, the worse it got. Every detail from that room felt louder in his head than the people talking around him. His face kept heating up. His palms felt sweaty. He looked everywhere except at anyone who might notice.
Everyone else was planning.
Jett was fighting a full-blown ltdown over two monts he did not understand at all.
'Why does feel more complicated than fighting a boss?.'
*****
"Earth to Jett." Evelina tapped his forehead and then she tilted her head at him. "You look off. More than usual."
He froze for a mont.
'How could I be fine?'
He stole a glance at Elora. She smiled at him like nothing strange had happened. His chest tightened.
'What ca over her? And then there's Freya... She barely said anything but the mont she leaned in I felt like one wrong move would end .'
He tried to steady himself.
'You are overthinking. Elora must have teased you. Freya was normal. You woke up hypersensitive. That is all.'
His face heated up again. His thoughts looped fast.
He kept replaying both monts. Elora leaning in. Freya's hands on his face and her breath close to his cheek. The slip. The panic. The way his heart had kicked in his chest. He did not know where to look. He did not know what to do with his own hands. His whole body felt tight, like soone had turned a dial too far.
He stood there lost in the mory. Shoulders stiff. Ears red. Eyes unfocused.
He looked flustered enough for anyone to see it without trying.
Rey checked the plan again. Each step had to be clean. Their first move would be to wipe out the demon worshipers inside the zone before the smoke hit.
If the smoke spread while those fanatics were still alive, they would slip into Laxen disguised as guards. They would blend into the security teams stationed around the nobles and officials. That risk was too high, so the group had to take them out first.
Freya walked in with her head down. So no one could see the expression she was making with her face, but everyone was noticed her silence. Her cheeks burned stood a little too close to Jett.
"Freya... Freya... Freya..."
"FREYA." Morrigan snapped her out of it. Freya blinked, startled.
"Yes. I'm listening." She forced her mind back to the room.
"You need to move now," Rey said. "We will handle the worshipers. You focus on the last phase."
Freya nodded. Under normal conditions, she would have been part of the vanguard. She fit the job as she was in a better position to take care of the demon worshipers.
But her mana had to stay intact. The final stage depended on her being at a hundred percent. She would need to pull everyone touched by the poison back to life. Even one mistake could collapse the whole plan.
"Alright, I'll leave now." She let out a quiet breath. It felt like surrender, but she understood the stakes.
A notification soon appeared.
[Player has requested to switch sides.]
[You can no longer switch sides after confirmation.]
[Proceed with the switch?]
[Y/N]
Freya tapped Y without hesitation.
Another notification followed.
[Switch successful.]
[You no longer belong in this location.]
[Penalties applied. All stats reduced by 30 percent.]
Freya steadied herself. Sothing about her body felt lighter in the wrong way. 'I feel weaker. Sothing is off.'
She looked at Jett. The answer hit her fast as she read the penalty part of the notification. "You walked around with this kind of penalty? Do you have a death w..."
Another notification cut her off.
[You will be moved to your preferred location to begin your decision.]
[Good luck]
Her vision flickered. The world around her folded and within an instant, She vanished before she could breathe.
Jett was wondering how he would get her off the ship imdiately she switched sides but after that developnt he just sighed and thanked his luck for that one.
The next mont, she stood on a wooden deck. Waves hit the sides of a small boat. The air slled clean. She saw villagers staring at her. Their eyes held surprise, not fear. She had appeared out of thin air, after all.
"Where am I?" she whispered.
A soft voice ca from behind her. "You must be Freya."
Freya turned. A woman with gentle eyes stood there, a baby resting on her hip. The woman smiled like she had known Freya for years.
"How do you know my na?" Freya asked. Her guard went up. She had no idea how this place worked. Soone inside a trial should not know her identity.
The woman kept her warm smile.
"A silky blond hair that shines when sunlight touches it. Eyes so golden you would want to protect them from all the evils of this world. A beauty that looks unreal. Even among Angels."
Freya froze. Heat climbed across her face. She tried to hide it, but her ears burned first. Her chest tightened and her hands felt clumsy. For a mont she forgot how to breathe. No one had ever described her like that. Not to her face. Not so plainly.
"Jett told us a lot about you."
'Huh? This has to be so kind of trick.' Her heart jumped. She looked away, flustered. Her voice ca out smaller than she expected. "He said all that?"
She wondered if she was trapped in so illusion. Jett was many things, but he never sat around praising her. He never even hinted at sothing like that. It made her wonder what he actually thought of her, or if she had been reading him wrong the whole ti.
"Yes."
"Jett?" Freya asked again. Her doubt lingered.
"He sure did." Anya laughed.
Freya stayed silent for a mont. Her thoughts spun in circles.
"Tell more." She stepped closer and held Anya's hands. Her eyes brightened. She looked eager, almost childlike, as if she wanted to sit and talk for hours. Whatever had upset her earlier vanished. Curiosity took over.
*****
Finn squinted. "Any idea what she wanted to say?" He eyed Jett like a detective catching a lie.
"Beats ." Jett brushed it off. He had a good idea, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. He grabbed the door handle. "We finish this fast and leave."
"Right." Everyone answered at once.
They split up across the ship.
Rey and Morrigan moved toward the upper decks.
Evelina and Finn swept the left halls.
Elora took the right corridors.
Jett and Asher handled the lower level.
Each kill had to be recorded so they wouldn't end up wasting their ti. Their rings flickered every ti soone sent a report so they knew the exact number of guards on board at all tis. There was no room for mistakes.
A problem still hung over them. They had no clue where the ritual room was and half the guards were far stronger than expected. They had to stay sharp or risk losing soone.
Jett t Asher at a narrow junction. Asher wiped his blade clean. A thin streak of blood ran down the side of his face, sharp and straight, making his blank expression look colder.
"Find any clues?" Jett asked.
Asher shook his head. His empty stare said enough. Nothing useful. Only another fight. Only another delay.
Fifty minutes passed. Jett had cut down twenty guards. The ntal counter dropped to eighty six.
'One more hour and we clear this place.'
He and Asher moved deeper. They had swept every corner of the current floor. Nothing. The lowest deck was quiet. Empty rooms lined both sides. Rusted pipes creaked overhead.
They passed another door they had checked earlier. Jett kept walking until a sharp voice snapped through his head.
"HEY KID, OVER THERE."
He stopped at once. He scanned the hall. No one stood there. No footsteps. No breathing. Asher walked ahead without reacting.
Jett's eyes shifted to the sword at his waist.
"AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT COMPLETELY HOPELESS."
"What do you an hopeless?" Jett whispered. Asher shot him a confused look, clearly hearing nothing.
"ENOUGH OF THAT. BAD ENOUGH I HAVE TO BABYSIT A CHILD LIKE YOU."
Jett frowned. "You talk like I forced you to co along."
"THE THING YOU SEEK IS IN THAT ROOM. I SENSE A FAMILIAR ENERGY. I WILL CALL A TRUCE FOR NOW, AND YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL."
"A truce? We already checked that room. And what's all this about a truce?"
"MORON. HOW DID I END UP WITH SOONE LIKE YOU." The sword sounded irritated. "STOP USING ONLY YOUR EYES. USE THE GIFT OF GOD YOU ALREADY CARRY."
'He's ignoring my question.' Jett rubbed his temples. A sword insulting him felt like the start of a headache.
'Gift of God? He says that like I should know it.' He thought for a mont. Only one thing made sense.
"Lumix? That's a gift from God?"
*
*
*
Oh
Now we're getting sowhere don't you think? You've been wondering what Lumix really is right?
I sure am bad with romance though
¯\\_༼ᴼل͜ᴼ༽_/¯
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