Chapter 11: Desperation

Chapter 11: Desperation

The dark clouds that were floating above the city started to cry as it was trying to empathize with Glory's heart. She and the other girls are waiting for the boys to come. Her mind was full of questions, it had never been answered in the first place, it’s as if the questions are piling up. She looked at her friends who were all gloomy, the room darkened and rain poured continually.

‘What should I do? What should we do?’ She thought. She hold her hands together for it couldn’t stop from shaking, Not just a moment ago, they were shouting at each other, she was so desperate to do something about Andrew’s case, so desperate that it put all of them to this situation; they couldn’t open their mouth, it’s just silence with words that are holding back.

Her thought was disrupted by a knock on the door. Everyone got distracted and as soon as it opened, the boys hastily entered the living room where the girls stood in a circle. Edward approached Janine and called for her. “What happened here?”

“We’re alright. It’s not a thing we couldn’t handle,” Janine answered, assuring Edward and that made the guy somehow relieved.

“What did you guys find?” Noctis spoke. They all turned to the males’ direction before looking at each other. Pearl slowly walked towards Noctis and showed a black medallion with a symbol of a tortoise and snake entangling each other. It was beautifully carved on the metal that you’d notice how well the owner was taking care of it.

Noctis’ brows were slowly knitted together in response to the medallion.

‘Ah yes…’ He mumbled at the back of his head. ‘Of course. How can I forget about this…? It must be them all along.’ He knew that he wasn’t the only one who found this medallion very familiar. All of the boys have the same irritated expression painted on their faces.

“You know about it… Don’t you?” Glory finally spoke for the first time and it all caught everyone’s attention. Her soft, honey colored hair was messy, and her beautiful face showed how tired she was with all the dark circles under her blood shot eyes which also showed how much she cried.

The boys fell silent and couldn’t seem to give her a proper response. Asher, on the other hand, just gazed at her with curiosity since it was the first time he finally met the other member of the girl’s group… or maybe, it was the first time he noticed her. Glory noticed his gaze on her which made her gaze back at him. “What are you looking at?” she huffed with annoyance.

Asher shook his head and smirked at her. “It’s nothing. I’m only curious about how a woman could be so small. It’s adorable.”

Glory was taken aback to what Asher had said and despite her fury, she couldn’t hide her blush to the albino’s compliment. “What… What the hell are you saying? Stupid!” She stammered. The others gave Asher a deadpan stare, thinking how he has the time to flirt despite the situation.

“A-Anyway… seeing how shocked and speechless you guys are, I assume you do know something. Please, whatever you know, tell us.” Glory’s voice softened whilst staring at Asher and the other males with desperation in her eyes.

Asher’s eyes were fixated on the petite girl’s pair of earthly colored orbs. It brought a frown on the albino’s lips. He opened his mouth to speak, “And if we tell you, what are you going to do?” He questioned, eyes squinted.

Glory almost let out an obvious sigh of relief after she heard Asher’s question. She clenched her fist and answered slowly, “I’m going to look for him…”

“Then you must have a death wish.” He managed. Asher sighed hopelessly as he threw a hand as if he was trying to show a graph of their survival possibility. “Look, I don’t care if your boyfriend got kidnapped. But the fact that you are going to rescue him from that place is nothing but a dream. Your survival chance is one percent to none.”

Another wave of embarrassment came slamming on the honey-haired girl, face flushed to beet red. “He— He’s not my boyfriend, okay?! Shut up! And I wasn’t asking for your opinion, stupid!”

“If I’m stupid, then you’re nitwit.” Asher responded with a scoff. “I’m telling you this out of concern, if you value your life that is.”

“I never asked for your concern. I don’t even know you in the first place.” Glory barked angrily. She knew it was death she’ll be dealing with if she goes to wherever it is. She just couldn’t let Andrew get hurt, or worse, die.

“I never said I was concerned about you. I meant the people who care for you. Did you even think what your family would have thought if you suddenly went to a place you're not even familiar with? If not, then…” The tall albino male slowly took a step towards her and leaned down to level her face. “You’re quite selfish to decide on your own without thinking of what others would feel. And that’s only because of a man who’s neither related nor a lover to you.” He said firmly.

The tension between the two suffocated the others. Somehow the boys expected this would happen and the girls had the urge to run away. It was so heavy for the others to handle so Edward stepped up and tried to break their tension. “H-Hey… how about we calm down for a bi—”

“I’M COMPLETELY CALM!” The two answered in unison, making the poor pup yelp and step back. “Y-Yeah I can see that!”

“Say whatever you want about me, but if you’re in my position, you’d do the same! Especially if you also have someone you cared for…” Glory already made up her mind. She already knew what she’s about to face and nothing, even death was going to stop her.

Asher only stared at her for a few seconds and sighed once again. “I have no one to care for in the first place.” He closed his eyes and images of a young boy standing in the dark while staring from afar at a family composed of a mother and father with their child.

“Then that’s for you.” Glory finally had words to say back after she was shut by Asher’s words of reality. “The only reason for someone to cling to hope is because of the emotions we’re carrying. I thought of this over and over and this is my resolve!”

“Emotions alone couldn’t bring your friend back, I wouldn’t mind if you force your way to find that person or die but all I can see in you is being a fool.” Asher said.

“W-What did you say?!” Glory couldn’t believe she was continuously being insulted by a stranger.

“Would you like me to repeat what I said?” Asher lowered himself again, this time whispering to the girl’s ears.

“You’re a fool.”

Everyone reacted to what the albino said, while Glory on the other hand just stood there.

“Let’s assume that this medallion has something to do with the people who kidnapped Andrew, what would you do? How will you be able to come to our planet? Have you ever thought of those things?” Glory couldn’t utter a word, Asher was spitting every letter of truth. Truths that are making her lose grip of the slightest hope she is holding to.

“Now that you’ve come to our planet, what will be your next step? You’re in an unfamiliar place without having the slightest idea of how it looks, there are beasts and creatures that are out of your comprehension. I’m telling you, the probability of you surviving on our planet is one percent to none. All you say is that you’re going to save that Andrew, but you didn’t even have a plan. Aren’t you being quite naïve?”

The albino continued to tell the harsh reality to Glory. She’s rather surprised and taken aback by his response. Jade and the rest made a sour face, they’re quite aware that what Asher is saying are all the facts.

“You haven’t known anything about me or Noctis, Yujin and Edward. We may not look like it, but from the planet we came from, we’re soldiers and through that, I’ve seen countless people die because of foolishness, both from my men and the enemies. You have courage, I can see that, but you might put in a thought that courage is also fire. Make a wrong move and you’ll get burned. There’s no need for you to rush, you’ll just shorten your life. Just accept that you couldn’t do anything in your current state, it may be easier for you to forget all of this and stay out of it.”

Everyone heard what Asher said, no one could even speak a word. The boys knew that this would have happened. Noctis thought, Asher is the kind of person who would never put his emotions first. If there will be one thing the albino taught him; that is to cope up in various situations and pick the best thing to do. Putting one’s personal feelings will only be a hindrance but—

“Forget all of this and stay out of it, you say?” This time it was Glory who spoke. She’s sweating excessively from her forehead down to her chin, her hands were shaking so that it made her clench her fist, “Are you telling me that I should run away and leave things behind?”

Jade whispered her friend’s name, she was worrying enough for her friend but she knew this is something that Glory should handle alone.

Glory remembered the past, when her father died she couldn’t do anything, she was just crying and torturing herself to the extreme pain it brought. All she could do was to stare at her father’s dead body, even before the last moment during the funeral, Glory just stared at her father. What can a mere child do? She thought in the back of her mind.

“It’s true that I don’t have any plans on how I’m going to save Andrew. I don’t have anything after all I’m just a human but… But!” Glory once again clenched her fist and looked up to Asher only to meet his golden orbs. “But I will never run away again! I’m going to save Andrew no matter what it takes!” As straightforward as what the girl said, a lightning strike from the sky as it mirrored from the glass window.

There was something in Glory’s eyes that made Asher’s mouth agape with incredulity. He looked at the girl seriously thinking, ‘Where is it coming from? How can this girl be so persistent?’

“AHHH!!! I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!” Yujin said in a way matching his frantic pacing of the room tearing his own red hair out because of the tension previously stated. “THERE’S NO NEED TO WORRY BECAUSE WE’RE ALL GOING BACK TO OUR PLANET AND SAVE ANDREW!!!”

Everyone who was just having a serious moment is now looking at the red-head. That is when Yujin covered his mouth in a zap and realized what he just revealed.

“Idiot!” Noctis smacked him on the head.

“W-What did you just say?!” Jade finally broke her silence and walked closer to Noctis. “You were planning to leave, and you don’t have the intention of telling us?” Then her eyes looked at Yujin who couldn't even look back at her.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Glory questioned Asher.

Noctis took a deep sigh. “I guess there’s no point of keeping it a secret huh?” The ravenette cleared his throat. “Just like Yujin said, we’re planning to go back to our own planet, to settle down everything. We talked about how the disappearance of Andrew might be a lure for us to go back. We weren’t so sure about it, it’s just a theory we all made, but it seems things have changed.”

Noctis pulled out the black medallion from his jacket. “This thing that you saw is the official badge given to every soldier of our kingdom. Its presence made me have a strong feeling that our kingdom is behind this. I’m sure that’s what you are thinking too, am I right Asher?” The ravenette looked at the albino who was dead serious.

“I already knew that,” Asher simply replied.

“But that doesn’t answer our question! Why are you not telling me that you’re all going to leave?” Glory walked closer to Asher.

“And what will you do now that you know our plan?” The albino asked emotionlessly, making the other one pissed.

This time Janine stepped up and turned to Edward's direction with her emerald eyes conspicuous in gloom. “I don’t understand, why?”

“This is to protect all of you. We, everyone, decided that this is the right thing to do. We couldn’t afford to bring you with us knowing that there will be a colossal danger awaiting us. Janine, you must understand. You must all understand.” The brown head boy said like a bullet from a wound.

“This is the only thing we can do, our decision was already made.” Yujin couldn’t look at Jade, still his eyebrows were furrowed and fist was clenched. He didn’t want to leave but he realized that they are the one who brought the problem, it’s their responsibility to fix everything. Pearl and Jade are both standing, surely they have to say something but everyone’s right. What can they possibly do? Nothing, they thought. The tension earlier softened but sadness came out with everyone in grave impediment, it’s as if a knife has been stabbed from their back and prevented them from moving, it hurts like hell because it is.

Deep down in Glory’s heart knows how menacing and selfish she could be, that’s exactly why the boys made that decision but she couldn’t just let everything to be in that way.

“I understand where you are coming from,” Glory once again spoke. “But as I said, we couldn’t afford to let go and pretend nothing happened. You guys must acknowledge that ever since we knew the truth about all of you, we’re already a part of this.” She turned back to Asher. “Andrew is our friend, you may never understand how it feels to lose someone you cared for but if we let this slip off our hands. We will never forgive ourselves as long as we live.”

“She’s right.” It’s Pearl’s voice. To this point she already found her resolve. “We’re already a part of this and we can’t just let the four of you go. You yourself said that what awaits back on your planet is immense danger, then wouldn't it be so bad if at least we help? Of course, we’re completely aware of our capacities and we know it’s not enough but somehow we will do anything we can!” That is the first time they heard Pearl with so much conviction.

“A-At least give us a chance to prove to you that we are capable…” This time it’s Jade.

“We’re begging you…” Janine also joined. Noctis and the others looked at each other as if they were talking, Edward nodded and turned to Asher.

The tall albino let out a defeated sigh and fixed his glasses. “All of you are really requesting a death wish huh? Well, don’t forget that I already warned you.”

“Fine.” That word made the girl’s face brighten up. “But only if you will pass my test.” Then they turned down the corners of their mouth in unison.

“Five days.” Asher stretched out his hand. “In five days, you will be under my provision and all of you will undergo an intense training that only people from our planet can do. If you won’t meet the things you need to aim for, we will leave whether you like it or not and nothing’s gonna change my mind.”

A lightning bolt followed and its light brightened up half of the albino’s face. “Show me how desperate you are.”