Sudden Task

"How are you doing, Kaia?" Kiaan's voice cut through the air as he waltzed into the room, a lazy grin plastered across his face. "Also, Thalia's already at home, so don't worry about her."

Kaia, sprawled across the bed like she was auditioning for a "worst day ever" role, groaned. "I can still feel my brain doing somersaults. It's… it's like my head's in a blender."

Kiaan chuckled as he set the tea down next to her. "Yeah, yeah, you're a mess. Happens to the best of us."

She glanced around the room, then raised an eyebrow. "Where's that guy?"

"Who knows?" Kiaan muttered, swiping the tea cup and giving it a skeptical sniff. "Last I saw, he was muttering something about 'catching up on overdue paperwork.' I'm betting he's out there somewhere organizing the universe or something."

Kiaan snorted. "Anyway, Yona was supposed to tag along with him, but…"

"But?" Kaia sat up, eyeing him. "Spill it."

Kiaan flopped down on the chair, pouring himself some tea with the air of someone who had all the time in the world. "She pulled the 'I need rest' card. First time I've seen her do that. Kyros tried to drag her along like five times, and she just kept saying 'no'"

Kaia couldn't help but grin. Good job Yona, She leaned back, taking a deliberate sip of his tea, savoring the hot bitterness. "That guy deserves to work alone after wasting all his time trying to approach my sis."

"You're cold," Kiaan shot back, narrowing his eyes.

Kaia shrugged. "Somebody has to be the voice of reason."

"Speaking of voices, you never told me what's up with those powers you've been showing off." Kiaan leaned forward, his curiosity piqued. "What's the deal with that stuff?"

Kaia groaned. "Don't ask me. I barely get it myself. I think it only works when I'm, like, really close to death. Which, you know, is reassuring." She rolled her eyes.

Kiaan blinked, processing that. "So, your powers only show up when you're on the verge of kicking the bucket?" He scratched his head, still trying to wrap his brain around it. "And the regeneration thing… is that all tied to your whole 'origin of existence' mess?"

Kaia sighed, rubbing her temples. "I guess so. Ananya had a chat with my dad, and apparently I'm a human. For real. 100% human. Not some half-baked experiment or whatever."

Kiki, who had been silently listening in the corner, suddenly piped up. "Wait—so you believe her?"

Silence. A long, awkward silence. Kaia froze mid-sip, her eyes flickering toward Kiki. Oh, that was a question, wasn't it? Kiki immediately started regretting opening her mouth.

Kaia shot a look at Kiaan. "What do you think, Kiaan? Should I believe her?"

Kiaan stared at her for a moment, deep in thought. "I mean, neither of you knows much about each other, right? You've got your doubts, she's got hers. But…" He leaned in, eyes sharp. "I think she's hiding something. You've got to get her to trust you, Kaia. It's the only way."

Kaia paused, her thoughts grinding to a halt. "So, basically, I'm stuck in the 'make her trust me' game if I want answers. Great."

Kiaan raised an eyebrow. "Well, what else is new?"

And just like that, the room went dead silent. Everyone was lost in their thoughts, the kind of heavy silence that made the air feel thick enough to cut with a knife.

Kiki was starting to feel the heat of the awkwardness. Her brain was practically screaming at her to say anything to fill the silence. Think, think, think!

"Shouldn't we...?" Kiki started, but her voice trailed off awkwardly, the words choking her.

"I heard you," Kaia snapped, irritated.

Oh no. I shouldn't have said anything... Kiki whimpered in her mind, imagining herself dramatically banging her head against an invisible wall.

Kaia was about to turn back to her tea when Kiki, desperate to escape the tension, blurted, "Uh... I was thinking we should do a mission together, you know, all three of us. We haven't done one of those in ages." She mentally patted herself on the back for her bravery. There. You said it, Kiki. They heard me, right?

Kiaan gave a short, approving nod. "Kiki's right. Might help take your mind off things." Then, as if he had just come up with the best idea ever, he flung a massive stack of files and folders at Kaia, making her jump. "Pick one. Which mission are you feeling?"

Kaia blinked, glaring at the pile as it landed on her lap. "How many pending missions do you have?" She raised an eyebrow at Kiaan's beaming grin. "And seriously, why are you so happy about this?"

"I'm not happy. Just efficient." Kiaan's smile only grew wider. "So many cases, so little time."

Kaia didn't have the energy to read through all those papers, so she just skimmed the highlights and attachments. One file caught her eye. "This one." She handed it over to Kiaan.

He gave it a quick glance, then sighed. "Smuggling. Boring. And this place also has a magic teleportation system that links Syzygy to Flummox. You sure you wanna go for this one? It's kind of... meh."

Kaia rolled her eyes. "Why are you so obsessed with whether it's boring or not? No wonder your cases are piling up." She gave him a deadpan stare. "Who even made you the leader around here?"

"Look, it's not like that." Kiaan shrugged nonchalantly. "We get cases from all over the world about magic-related issues. This stack? This is barely 0.5% of the cases we get every day." He leaned back in his chair, smirking. "I thought you could use something to lighten your mood, so I picked out some 'fun' missions."

Kaia's eyebrow twitched. "So you're that busy, huh? What about the other missions? Are they just going to pile up forever if you don't—"

"I already handled all of them." Kiaan cut her off, not thinking of it as a big deal.

Kaia blinked. "What? You finished all that... in half a day?" She stared at him like he had sprouted a second head. "What are you, a robot?"

Kiaan smirked. "You are just exagerrating."

"Why this place, though?" he asked, suddenly serious.

Kaia just shrugged, turning her back to him. "Random." Except it's not, really, she thought to herself. This is exactly where that President told me to investigate.