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Itztenoch

Itztenoch gazed down at Eso, grateful beyond speech, for how easily he offered up his reassurances to Nessa. Spoke his feelings while seeking closeness, and it was true. Felt the same insomuch as his friend, without quiet knowing how to say it —

Traitor didn’t sound right to him, didn’t even feel right to think. Nessa was none of those things, she had just — she’d been wiser than him maybe? To find enough bravery to follow her core so quickly. Even if it wasn’t following orders. Her and Eso had enough presence of self to question where he wished he had, and he found he was simply twisting the words he heard to fit what he wanted. Had hand picked pieces of orders and made up his own mind about them - so maybe he was a bit of a betrayer too?

Didn’t even know who he was without a clear mission to follow…

She was one of them and he never would have left her behind, even if she’d turned her blade on him instead of those machines, he knew, he could never strike down one of his own kind, never abandon them to such a horrible fate if he could help it.

And maybe he’d find the answer to why that was somewhere in the process of waking? Find her a better answer than ‘because’.

Let loose a derisive snort and pressed that into the blankets — felt the loss of her warmth as she went for — and Lyndin was talking about rations — was keeping his promises. A bright spot on a dim morning.

“Thank you Eso—“ didn’t say again, or for everything, but hoped to convey it all the same. “If you’re hungry, too?” a nod in Nessas direction over words spoken softly, muffled between the folds of the blanket he resettled under - for all that it wasn’t cold? He felt like he wanted layers.

The second the door was knocked on, in that little four note pattern that was recognizable as being their special little tune back on their ship, back at home, Fangnyl's head snapped up so fast that he hurt his neck a little, and he winced, rubbing at the back of it. Then the door slowly opened and he waited with baited breath—oh good, it was Lyndin. There was always some chance that something was about to go seriously wrong, no matter if their sort of secret code thing was used or not. But he was able to sigh in relief when Lyndin stepped in, and he relaxed just a bit as he waited for Lyndin to speak. He shivered at the implications that negotiating with this crazy queen had, with the way their Commodore wasn't exactly pleased with the results. Things may have gone "fine" and "less dramatic", but that didn't mean there weren't any problems at all, and his anxiety kicked up, heart straining against his ribcage, because of course he couldn't just chill out for a minute.

Breathe, he told himself, you're all safe, for right now. It's okay. He didn't need to stress. Not when he didn't know for sure anything was completely wrong. Still, he didn't like that they were all still in Negaspace. He wanted everyone to be out and to be safe. Being in here didn't feel safe, even if they wouldn't be attacked by the people or creatures who lived here. Nothing was ever certain. Someone could go rogue. It wasn't like he didn't have experience with that sort of thing, even with someone he did admire and (mostly) trust leading them. Because the (mostly) affected things so deeply.

At the reminder that he hadn't eaten, not really, when he'd passed things out for everyone else with Aliez, his stomach growled wildly. He cleared his throat to cover it up and gave Aliez and Fae-Fae a sheepish sort of smile.

"Thanks for helping," he said to Fae-Fae, then turned to Aliez with a soft, yet worried smile, "You're worrying me, you know. Please, eat something. I will be too, so I won't be worrying you in return." He chuckled a bit.

Cadet Caelyna

The toned, patterned knock was a moment of welcomed, grounding familiarity. It wasn't exactly like home, of course, but it was home enough to be sure that it had to be Lyndin at the door. No one else here would have imitated that particular pattern, and so she found herself remarkably calmed by his entrance.

His words weren't...entirely reeassuring, but they weren't as worrying as she'd feared. And he didn't look so upsettingly heavy that she would fear he had traded something especially precious for their safety. So..."fine" and "less dramatic" it was, for the moment.

"Rations would be appreciated, thank you," she said, approaching Lyndin. "Two, if you can spare." She suspected it would be easy to guess that she intended to give the second to Fae-Fae, especially since she glanced worriedly over at her friend. No need to let anyone languish and go hungry.

Vyn's question echoed her own largest one. She needed, desperately, to know what the bargain had been, although her first thoguht was for ensuring everyone was functional.

It was what Velyria would have done, she liked to hope.

As Lyndin looked at the Cadets around him, he exhaled again--not disappointed, but perhaps realizing the gravity of how much they’d been hurt. More than physically, at least. From his subspace he began to withdraw meal packs--sustainable food that required no preparations. They were from home, and preserved to last for long trips. He had many, and he didn’t plan to be stingy with them.

There was plenty for everyone, and he gave Nessaela enough for her--and her group, and the same for Caelyna. Then, he forced himself up, passed them out to anyone that accepted them, and then left a stack on the table for anyone else to help themselves with.

“She wanted to discuss our options. The Negaverse has no intention of getting involved in our affairs as long as we ‘stay out of theirs’. Their Queen and I have negotiated something of a truce.” He didn’t seem keen to call it an alliance, nor did he seem particularly invested in any arrangement. “Which means, when you leave here, they shouldn’t give you a hard time. But avoid antagonizing them, or being anywhere--or with anyone--they might use to try and target you. They’ve got a very volatile system with the White Moon. I’ve got mixed feelings on it,” he admitted.

“I can’t understand why the White Moon is here. On this world, and not their own. The obvious answer is that their own worlds haven’t been strong enough to support life, but for a Senshi to be born on another world is practically unheard of. I don’t know what strings Cosmos is pulling to do this, or why. But, the Negaverse seems to think of them as something of an invasive species. Which,” he shrugged, “I don’t know. There’s a lot here that doesn’t make sense. This arrangement secures us time to investigate. But our priority should be to Velencya, don’t forget that.”

He leaned back in the chair, just a bit, but it let him sit a little straighter. “I don’t know why Cosmos would send starseeds to a world infected with Chaos. I don’t know why she chose a world with such a parasite, unless there’s something about it that works in her favor. Maybe she does want to destroy it. Or, maybe she’s using it as a shield. The humans don’t seem to respect or appreciate this world. They don’t need Chaos to destroy it. Their way of life isn’t sustainable.”

But, he supposed they knew that; they were smart.

“I accepted no further help from her. I have the gauntlet, that’s all. I don’t want to be in her debt. Just her favor, I suppose. It’ll make things easier for us. I told her I was going to secure housing for us so we could locate Caedus easier. We’re not going to find him down here. She wants me to check in with her every other week, give updates. That’s easy enough. None of you will have to come down here again. I’d like to head up with you all after you eat, we’ll figure out housing arrangements for anyone that wants to stay. Anyone that wants to leave, we’ll get you everything you need for the trip back home.”

He gave them time to process this, but he knew they still wanted to know what he’d given her. “In exchange for giving us the space we need to complete our tasks, she’s asked for compensation and assurance. I think she’s after our weapons, but. I’m not sharing those. I’ve told her that we didn’t have the resources to rebuild what we came with, and I don’t know what Earth has that we can make use of. I don’t trust them with weaponry. But, I’ve offered some technology they might be able to use to improve their planet. Water purification, air purification. Systems we use on Velencya already. Technology that’s easy to replicate and can benefit their whole world. They’re wasteful with their energy. They think they need to use starseeds, but,” he shook his head. “I’m going to try and get them away from that, I don’t think they understand how dangerous and disruptive that is.”

How permanent.

He didn’t look at Caelyna or Fae-Fae.

“But, Velencya is our priority. Finding Caedus is mine. I won’t ask any of you to help if you’re not comfortable with it. I need to do some readings on Archideus when we go up, that’ll help us plan a little better. Anyone staying on Earth will be taken care of. I’m going to get some funds set aside. We’ll be comfortable while we’re here. I’ll make it work.”

Cadet Vyn

Vyn shifted his weight from one foot to the other, shuffled in place, then shifted back again. He avoided the meal packs for now, certain the others needed them more. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to stomach anything more than water until they left the Dark Kingdom.

And then… where would they go? What arrangements would be made? What funds was the Commodore using? Vyn knew the Commodore was resourceful and undoubtedly more knowledgeable than Vyn or any of the other Cadets were, but after last night, it was difficult to face these matters without a constant stream of questions and the tiniest shred of doubt, a few nagging misgivings that Vyn did his best to banish.

He didn’t doubt the Commodore’s commitment to them, or to their home. He didn’t even doubt the mission, nor did he have any qualms about finding their King and finishing what the Commodore began on the field, if that’s what it took.

But he was riddled with fear and anxiety, a combination that made him doubt himself even more.

Vyn didn’t like to ask a lot of the Commodore. He saw to his tasks and did his duty without question or complaint (though, perhaps a bit of pouting here and there). It was an honor to be a part of the Vanguard. It was an honor to be trusted with this mission. It was an honor to have the Commodore bring them into his confidences, even if only a little.

In the end, Vyn said nothing else, simply plucked up another stray blanket and began to put the house to rights again.

Fae-Fae

When the ration pack was handed to her, Fae-Fae became sharply aware of how hungry she was. None of them had eaten in hours, since before... everything. She nodded to Caelyna in thanks and tore into it immediately. It was a comforting and familiar taste that made her feel homesick again.

It was far, far, too tempting to return home. All the same, she knew she couldn't do it. Velencya's situation was impossible to escape, and she had to do something.

She noisily swallowed another bite, wiped her hands down and asked, "Do we have data on Earth's Core?"

The Commodore was telling them not to worry, that he would make sure they were taken care of. And Aliez believed that. Aliez trusted that. How could he not, after everything? Things were more difficult now that they knew more about Caedus, and how they would need to figure out a different way to save Velencya and the Commodore, or somehow get Caedus’s starseed, but they would have everything they needed.

“We will,” Aliez promised when the Commodore said he hoped they’d share what they found. They had to if they wanted to help their home. Help the Commodore. Even help Caedus.

So for now, Aliez forced himself to eat what he had of his rations so he could help set up whatever the Commodore had prepared for them. The sooner they were in the safe house in Destiny City, the quicker they could get things figured out.