The mission had failed. Pie's chimera was destroyed. The Mews had gotten away. Nothing had been accomplished.

… And yet Pie did nothing to stop the Mews this time.

All because of the green Mew's sympathetic words.

Pie was never one to let anything emotional get in the way of a mission. Never. Never in his entire life had such a thing happened.

"You also have something important—something you want to protect."

Those cursed words echoed in his head like a never-ending siren song. It shouldn't have been such a big deal. She was his enemy. If anything, she was only using his feelings to distract him while she saved the object of her affections.

But there was so much more meaning in her words.

But how could he have been so affected? He held his mind in high respect, but left his heart out of his life most of the time. His feelings shouldn't have felt so … so touched. He shouldn't have been feeling so much in the first place!

Yet here he was: pondering what she had said over and over. He hadn't moved since he watched the siren temptress swim to the surface. She left him in a state of awe, wonder, and utter confusion, as well. Awe for her ability to transform into such a fascinating creature, wonder for her soft, gentle voice and kind whispers, and confusion for her seemingly caring nature.

Could such a thing exist in humans?

Pie felt a terrible pang of guilt in his chest at that thought. Humans could not care. Humans were not gentle. Humans were evil. Thinking the opposite would be an insult to Deep Blue. As a loyal follower, it would be certainly unwise for Pie to doubt Deep Blue's claims.

Still, the green Mew's words were echoing throughout his mind.

He remembered her determination to save her leader. The absolute fear in her eyes as time passed, for she couldn't bare the thought of him drowning right in front of her. Her brave strength as she threw punches, never letting her fear distract her.

How could such a terrible, manipulative creature have such love for another?

"'Something you want to protect' … huh?" Pie let the words escape his lips subconsciously. She was right. He did have people to fight for. They were on another planet, fighting off extreme weather, sickness, and lack of food.

And that was why he wouldn't let her tempt him. He had a mission.

With that last thought, he teleported. He heard a snicker behind him.

"You look soaked," Quiche commented.

"Really? I did not notice." The response was clearly sarcastic, but it was slightly true. He had almost completely forgotten he was floating in the ocean for quite a while.

"How did the mission go?"

"It failed," Pie stated bluntly. "That is all I have to say."

"It must have been pretty bad if you have no comments on what you could've done better." Quiche crossed his arms. "Y'know, you've been performing a lot of missions without me lately. I'm starting to think you don't want me participating in your oh-so-genius plans. Do you really think you could defeat the Mews without me?"

"Shut it." Pie turned away from his brother. "I need rest. Do not disturb me for the rest of the night." And he teleported to his room.