Later that night outside of Kaito's room, Talon stood with her fist raised, hovering just inches from the door. Her tail flicked around like crazy behind her. Seeing him broken like that resonated with her in a way… a way she knew, yet couldn't say. She wanted to comfort him… to say something that would make the unbearable pain go away, but every time she tried to knock… something stopped her. She hesitated, battling against the walls in her own mind. Before she could make another attempt, she heard footsteps coming down the hall.
It was Elara, who was walking towards her. She caught sight of Talon's stance and tilted her head to the side.
"Are you going to check on him?" She asked, almost surprised.
Talon hesitated, her hand still hanging in the air before she quickly dropped it to her side.
"O-Of-Of course not! I was just walking by. That's all." Talon stuttered out.
There was a second of an awkward silence between the two.
"Alright, sorry to bother." Elara said dryly.
As she turned to walk away, Talon suddenly spoke up.
"Did you know this was going to happen to him once we entered the tournament?"
Elara paused mid-step and turned back to face her, her expression shifting to something more serious… more guarded.
The air between them grew heavy as Talon's question lingered around.
"There was always a possibility." She answered bluntly.
The answer hit Talon like a punch. Her voice shook as she walked over to her and jabbed a finger in her chest.
"You knew… and you still let him go through this!? This is ridiculous Elara, you haven't changed one bit since the academy! Your reckless decisions… it's why both of your brothers are—" She stopped herself immediately.
Her chest heaved with restrained anger and the words she had nearly spoken burned at the back of her throat. She quickly turned and walked away before anything else slipped out of her mouth.
Elara stood there, her face unreadable. As she disappeared down the corridor, her gaze lingered on Kaito's door. Talon's words gnawed at her. Even though they were harsh… they held some truth.
Meanwhile, in one of the ships near the destroyed arena, Myzen sat in a meeting with Aleron, his face illuminated by the pale blue glow of a hologram.
"If you fail to retrieve the codex fragment, the consequences will not be minor. Lady Seraphine's patience is running thin. Do you understand, Myzen?" Aleron said bluntly as his hologram flickering in out due the poor connection.
His intimidating presence was even felt from light years away. Myzen's jaw tightened as he took in the words, his eyes narrowing in frustration.
"I understand." As Aleron's hologram flickered out, Myzen turned to one of his short dark gray alien lackeys, who stood nervously by his side.
"What's the status of Liora?" He asked.
The lackey fumbled with a data pad before answering. "Sh… she'll be out for at least a few more cycles, sir. Her skull was fractured in over a hundred areas."
Myzen's eyes flicked down to the digital layout of the tournament bracket displayed in front of him. Only 16 competitors remained. His gaze hardened as he clenched his fist. From his pocket, he pulled out a small, tattered picture. It was of a woman and a young boy—his wife and child. Hestared at the photo, his expression softening momentarily.
"Anything… for them." He muttered to himself under his breath.
Back on the Starlight, Kaito laid in bed with his head shoved into his pillow. The weight of everything that had happened still bore down on him, but he couldn't stay crying in his room any longer.
He needed air.
He needed… something.
He pushed himself up from his bed and left the room. As he walked down the hallway, his mind swirled with memories… Farro's smile, the kids' laughter…. But before he could sink deeper into the memories, he accidentally bumped into someone. It was Viro.
"Hey Kaito! You look down, buddy. Need a pick-me-up?" He said half jokingly.
Kaito forced a chuckled before he replied.
"Thanks, Viro. I'm just… not in the mood." Viro tilted his head, but in his typical fashion, his response was as blunt as ever.
"Sorry to hear about your fam, fam. I never knew mine, so I guess we're pretty alike, huh? Can we… be fam?" Kaito blinked, a small laugh escaping him despite the weight he carried.
He knew Viro was looking out for him, but he couldn't help not to find his horrible way of picking someone up with words.
"Yeah, Viro. We can be fam…fam." He said with a small smile.
He held out his fist for a fist bump, but Viro looked confused, tilting his head in the way he always did when he didn't understand something. Kaito laughed, shaking his head as he explained.
"It's a fist bump. To show that we're fam." Viro's robotic face plate lit up with a huge smile and he eagerly thrust his fist forward, fist-bumping Kaito with far more force than intended.
"Ow! Too hard Viro!" Kaito yelped out.
"Sorry fam!" Viro responded happily.
A little while later, Kaito found himself back in the medical ward, where Elysia was gently healing his bruised hand.
"You really need to stop getting into these situations, Kaito. You're going to wear me out." She said softly.
Kaito chuckled as she finished up.
"Thanks, Elysia. I don't know what we'd do without you." He watched her work for a moment, then, some questions passed through his mind.
"Hey Elysia… I never really asked you much about yourself. Where are you from? What's your story?" He asked casually.
The questions caught Elysia completely off guard, her pink cheeks flushing red slightly as she looked up at him.
"Oh… um, Kaito, you see... my homeworld is-" Just as she was about to respond, the door to the medical ward hissed open, and Elara walked in, her face filled with urgency.
"Kaito, we've got a situation. You need to hear this."