Chapter 7 - One's Family

Once Sehwa entered the room, she saw a makeshift lab with minimal equipment and quite the mess.

"Is this your lab Van?" She asked.

"Yes, but it hasn't found any use in the past few months."

Bitterness surfaced on Van's face as he looked across the dusty room. He hadn't visited this place for some time and it was clear from his expression that he would have avoided coming back here if he didn't have to get something.

"Who is she?"

While Van was ruminating, Sehwa already went ahead to look around while trying not to touch anything.

However, a picture by the work bench had instantly caught her attention. It was Van and someone else happily posing for a picture.

"That…"

Sehwa immediately noticed something off about Van's expression as he looked over.

"Y-you can just not tell me about it! I was just asking out of interest."

Flustered, Sehwa tried to change topics but Van answered anyway.

"It's fine. She's… one of my companions. A party member, but more than that too. She's an important person to me."

"Family?"

She could sense the slight trembles of his voice. It's like he's choking in a mouthful of words he wanted to say but couldn't.

"No… but almost." Van answered with a bitter smile.

Van then didn't explain any more of his relationship with the person. And Sehwa, she couldn't help but look more closely at the picture.

He was smiling gently but he radiated with such happiness that Sehwa couldn't help but want to see that in person too. She knew, however, that this smile was because of the beautiful person next to him.

She was a woman who stood heroically. Her obsidian eyes were brilliant and sharp. Black straight hair that is cut short and a tall stature. She was probably as tall as Van who clearly stood at six feet and a few inches.

In Sehwa's eyes, she really was a woman of heroic beauty.

"Where is she? Your hometown?" She couldn't help but ask.

"She is Sofya and she's here too."

Eyes widened, Sehwa was shocked at the revelation. She couldn't believe that this person was actually here but a thought immediately struck her.

If she's here, why wasn't Van with her? Why is Van wandering around the ship alone? Sehwa couldn't help but rack her mind as questions popped out one after another.

"I know what you're thinking."

As if to interrupt her thoughts, Van gently smiled at her as he continued.

"She isn't with me. Remember when I told you I was separated from my party members? There were five of us and one of them was Sofya. During the breach, the whole ship was attacked out of nowhere from the inside. Several people died already and with the ship so large, the hundreds of workers couldn't escape but I tried to help hide as many people as I could."

Sehwa felt as if she could see the scenes of chaos from that day. A ship silently trekking the dark void of space and out of nowhere, terrifying monsters appeared craving the flesh of every living being aboard.

"In the end, I couldn't protect anyone. And the worst of it all? I couldn't find the others anymore… that is why I am by myself right now."

"Are they…?" Sehwa feared for the question her lips were about to utter.

"No…"

Van's answer was brief but Sehwa couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

"Sofya is where we are going. And I promised myself I would save her… no matter what."

His voice was resolute and she didn't doubt his declaration. But his determination also scared a part of Sehwa's heart.

And as if sensing her thoughts, Van's expression relaxed and he chuckled at Sehwa as he comforted.

"We are going somewhere dangerous from here on out. And we cannot hesitate when out there. Death lies by the hairbreadth as we move.

However… I won't leave you behind. This I promise to you."

His expression was gentle and Sehwa felt warmth blossom once again in her heart. She liked this feeling very much and she thought that this must be what family feels like.

"Okay…"

She shyly answered Van's promise.

For her, this would be the very first promise she would bear. The very first promise that she would cherish. It was dear words from someone that had now taken root deep within her.

"Now the mood's weird." He joked as Van tried to lighten the mood.

"Let's get going. What I'm about to show you is something that Sofya had left in this room."

"Something she left? Then why give it to me?"

"That's because it's better to be in someone else's hand than tucked in some vault somewhere. Additionally, I trust you that much at least."

Van continued explaining as he reached the deepest part of the lab. In front of him was another workbench with a suitcase placed on top of it.

Looking at it, Sehwa could see that it was tightly locked. However, Van obviously knew that so he wasn't deterred and directly fiddled with the lock.

Hiss…

The case opened without any issues and the contents filled Sehwa's vision.

"Finn's Custom Model: 013, Sofya's personal weapon… She wasn't able to bring it with her during the chaos as they were on the other side of the ship and this quarters is found within the very rear of the ship so it's quite far from the recon deck."

It was a gun. Sehwa knew because she always sees one with Van tucked in its holster. She also asked about it during the past month and she recalled that it was called a pistol model.

He stated that it was different from normal guns found outside as typically, normal guns were used more by city enforcers to maintain order and safety. His, however, is a modified version that is greatly dependent on his own abilities.

"This is similar to my handgun. Sofya's gun is dependent on the user to increase its firepower but can still shoot normal bullets too. That's what I'm counting on for you to use."

"Is this a handgun too?" Sehwa inquired as the gun was small and similar in size to Van's.

"Yes. There are two here in fact, as Sofya liked battling as much as I hated it. She had them made with multiple functions, but you'll only need to know how to shoot properly."

As a beginner, Sehwa would have a hard time controlling shooting properly as the recoil could be shocking for those who hadn't used it before. That's why she needed to first understand the basics like proper posture and experience shooting one.

"You may keep both of them as one was made for the other and any one of them would be useless if its pair was absent. You just need to keep this one on you all the time, while practicing how to shoot with this one."

Van pointed to each of the guns that were in the suitcase as he explained. Both guns were black that shone with a metallic sheen. He then gave one to Sehwa while he placed the other in a holster that was also in the suitcase.

He then strapped that holster in Sehwa's waist and locked the gun in place so it wouldn't be lost along the way.

"These are the bullets. There is only a limited amount here so you will only have a few practice shots. That is why, we will head for the ship's armory first tomorrow before heading towards the perimeter of the recon deck and scouting the area."

"Okay. Where can I try shooting this? And wouldn't it be too loud?" Sehwa inquired.

She still remembered Van mentioning that shooting the gun produces a loud boom. So she was evidently cautious of attracting unwanted attention to their hideout.

"There is no need to worry about that. Sofya was quite stubborn about that since she found it annoying to walk the distance to the training hall from here just to shoot a few bullets. So since the lab was quite soundproof and there wasn't any dangerous material around, she made a shooting dummy there."

"Hm… Miss Sofya's quite a personality."

"Yeah, she is like that."

Van couldn't help but laugh to himself remembering the daily banters they had. Sehwa felt happy seeing Van like that so without further ado, she brought the gun that had been loaded by Van to the makeshift range.

"I'll start." Sehwa declared without hesitation.

"Wait a minute, let me fix your stance first."

Following Sehwa, Van guided her to the basics of shooting properly and they practiced until she had enough composure to hit the target at the very least.

After these preparations, they left for their own quarters to take a rest and get ready for tomorrow's scouting mission.

• • • ° ° °

Early in the morning, Sehwa was awoken by Van as he started arranging for breakfast before they left.

"Good Morning Van!" Cheerfully greeted Sehwa as she barged into the room outside their quarters.

"Morning." He replied.

In the table, there was a full meal consisting of the packed rice that Van rarely brought out and several canned ready made meals.

"Eat up first, we'll have a tiring day today."

"Sure!"

The exchange they had was short as they sat while Sehwa ate with scrumptious vigor and Van taking his time to eat.

It didn't take them long to finish their food and was soon back to their own quarters.

Sehwa sat in her bed holding one of the guns she had been given.

She felt its heaviness. Heavy, not just from its weight, but the burden it made Sehwa feel as she held it. She was naive most of the time and appeared childish to Van's eyes, however some things did seem to be remembered by her own body even if it's absent from her memories.

One of such moments was when she held this gun yesterday. She didn't want to say anything to Van because it was nothing to worry about and she wanted to ponder about it herself first.

Now holding this once more, Sehwa's body seemed to remember the coinciding responsibilities it had. It was a weapon through and through, and a life could disappear if she was to turn this against them.

Of course, she also understood that such a weapon was indispensable to protect both her and Van's life even if she could barely use it.

That's why she determinedly proceeded to practice with it with Van's guidance and now, she was ready to use it and point it towards the monsters outside.

In some ways, she felt quite mature thinking about these things though she didn't still had enough knowledge about the world to deeply comprehend this conflicting feelings.

"Sehwa! Are you ready?''

Hearing her name called, she immediately placed the gun back into the holster by her side, while she could still feel the other strapped tightly behind her.

She then reached for a brown leather jacket she found among the clothes pile they had and put it over her white shirt. She also wore a pair of sneakers and pants, both the only pair she found that could fit her size.

Finishing up, she left her room and met up with Van outside.

There he was wearing a dark blue formal suit. It seemed that he really couldn't wear that other one anymore as it was too dirty.

Sehwa couldn't help but snicker at such thoughts while Van held his hand out with a small string bag.

"This holds some ration and some tools like flashlights and the extra magazine for the bullets."

He explained and Sehwa immediately put it on.

"Okay. I'm ready!"

Van looked at her for a moment and nodded. He steadily took strides towards the exit and Sehwa following behind him felt nervous as they got closer.

For her, she would be entering a different world she was living in from this past month.