"Is something the matter, Ashtarth? You've been looking a little under the weather...if I'm allowed to make such a comment considering how much you're usually over it both literally and figuratively."
Ashtarth's eyes flew open from their contemplative rest upon hearing Zhael's voice. He shook his head. "I'm fine," he said, with a little less certainty than he would have liked.
The two Astral Knights loitered in the hallway just outside of the boisterous mess hall on the Warship Noah's sixth floor. Despite how much they stood out amongst the black-suited masses of BHB cannon fodder partaking in their scheduled meals, they remained unmolested by naive newbies, suspicious veterans, or anyone/anything in-between. If any a soul should notice them talking, he (and the male gender it was, for nothing with ovaries that walked these floors who wasn't either Zhael or Zoniha would have survived the libido of these man-creatures) wouldn't have been able to hear a single syllable over the raucous talk of restless soldiers and the sizzlings of deep-fried sustenance coming from the kitchen.
Zhael smirked and leaned back against the metal wall of the hallway. "You wouldn't happen to still be upset over the dreadful quality of food they serve here knowing that you could do so much better, would you?" she asked playfully.
Ashtarth returned a glance that was somewhere between exasperation and amusement. "I told you, I was only joking when I went on that tirade. I still don't consider it one of my better moments."
"Then what's gotten you looking so gloomy? You couldn't possibly be that insulted by Zoniha's remark about your complexion. That's not like you at all. Although for good measure, I should add that I think your complexion looks just fine to me and that I think Zo's simply been eating too many bonbons again."
There was a decisive pause.
The th-thud of an overturned table exploded the mess hall into a mushroom cloud of laughter, shouts, and bursts of obscenities that peppered the air like firecrackers.
Ashtarth turned, his long green braid swinging behind him as it slid off his shoulder. "Let's talk somewhere that's more...intimate."
Zhael blinked and blushed as she followed Ashtarth down the hall.
B-O-M-B
Ashtarth swiped his key card in the reader next to the brushed metal doors. With a trio of beeps from the reader, the doors slid open, revealing a room completely shrouded in darkness save for a control panel floating in the middle that was illuminated by a single white spotlight.
"You want to talk in the holodeck?" Zhael asked, perplexed.
"I figured the both of us could use a change of scenery," Ashtarth said, smiling as he made his way over to the control panels. "Besides, I've got it set so that people on the outside know that we Astral Knights are using this thing, so none of the BHB idiots in their right minds would bother us." He typed in a couple of commands on the keypad. "Any preference of yours?"
Zhael thought for a moment. "How about a sunny cafe by the sea?" she suggested. "With an outdoor terrace and white bricks and flowerboxes? And mountain scenery in the distance! And...um...black wire patio furniture, or something like that."
Ashtarth laughed as he made the necessary adjustments. "You certainly know how to think these things up, Zhae."
Zhael giggled.
Beep-beep!
FWEEEEMMM!
Within seconds, the inky darkness of the holodeck transformed into a scene both befitting Zhael's romantic request and completely putting it to shame. Line by glowing line, building by surreal building, the landscape melted into existence like a liquid puzzle. There was the requisite white brick cafe, squat and square and overlooking a rather cubic townscape of seaside homes from atop a high hill. To its east lay the vast azure deep of the sea; to its west, a breath-taking mountainscape stretched for miles, half-faded in mysterious fog.
Zhael and Ashtarth sat at one of a number of black wrought-iron tables on the cafe's outdoor terrace, an elegant umbrella stationed overhead to shade them from the warm but harsh rays of the sun. Instead of their Astral Knight armor, both of them were attired in casual wear: Zhael in a feminine yellow sundress and cork sandals and Ashtarth in an untucked white button-up shirt with a brown sweater vest, khakis, and sneakers. Around them, virtually faceless patrons and cafe workers flitted in and out, ghosts of a false but believable reality. It was a scene too perfect to be real...and yet it was more real than reality itself.
Zhael stretched and giggled again before leaning forward and resting her chin girlishly in her hands as she looked at Ashtarth. "So, Ashy," she began, "what is it that you'd like to tell me, hmm?"
Ashtarth cracked a smile that left his face as quickly as it came. "I'd been planning on talking to Baelfael about this before his...unfortunate departure," he said, resting an arm on the wicker armrest of his chair. "As it stands now, you're the only one I feel comfortable mentioning this to."
A pleased expression. "I'm flattered."
"All right, here goes." A gentle breeze ruffled his bangs as he began. "Does...anything seem off to you right now?"
This took Zhael by surprise. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"The BHB Army. Us. Master Rukifellth. This entire situation. Does anything about it strike you as odd?"
Zhael raised her delicate pink eyebrows. "Not at all," she answered, sounding confused. "This is how it's always been."
"Always?"
"Well...why not?"
Ashtarth tapped his fingers on the table, sounding out a muted percussive rhythm that seemed vaguely tribal in tone. "I know who we are," he began. "You and me...we're part of the Astral Knights, the elite battle force of Master Rukifellth's BHB Army. We fight for Rukifellth and his greater glory, and we protect the Elemental Stones he's given over to our care. I know this purpose in the deepest parts of myself, and it feels as natural to me as the wind.
"And yet...the 'naturalness' of it strikes me as being completely unnatural in the entire scheme of things." Ashtarth gazed off into the distance. "It's like this scene we're in: so perfect, so real, so comforting and logical...but all of that only contributes to its unbelievability. In the end, we really don't belong here."
"What are you trying to say?"Zhael demanded, her voice cracking ever so slightly.
"The thing that bothered me about my last exchange with Zoniha had nothing to do with her remarks about my appearance. Instead, it was something I said: 'Watch your words. I know you know better.'" He turned out a questioning palm. "How did I know such a thing? In the past three or so years that I can remember being a part of the army, I never corresponded all that much with her and had no need to outside of official business. What did I know about her tendencies that I could make that assessment?"
Zhael made a face. "You're reading too much into it," she said. "You were just calling her on her crap, that's all. Things like that get said because...well...you want to guilt the other party into shaping up, or something. It's got nothing to do with whether you actually know that person or not."
"If that were the case, I wouldn't be so bothered by it. Heaven knows I've said such things a million times to a million people for precisely the reason you state." Ashtarth sighed. "But that time with Zoniha was different. Because I felt that I really did know—somewhere in my mind—that she was better than the childish brat she was acting like at the last meeting. I know from working with her in the BHB Army that Zoniha is playful to a fault, but that last display was too far even for her...and for you, for that matter."
"But you yourself said that you don't talk with her much," Zhael pointed out, swiftly dodging Ashtarth's blurb about her role in Zoniha's antics. "So how would you know what her limits are?"
"That's precisely my point!" Ashtarth exclaimed, with such conviction that it caused Zhael to flinch back. "How would I know...unless there's something about my knowledge of Zoniha that I'm somehow forgetting? And if there is something I'm forgetting, what is it—and is there anything else I'm not remembering?" He waved off a uniformed waitress before continuing. "Zhael, there's something going on here that we don't know about, something bigger than all of us. We're being kept in the dark about something. I'm almost positive on that."
Zhael gaped at Ashtarth. "Y-you're not suggesting that Master Rukifellth is lying to us?"
"I don't know whether it has anything to do with Rukifellth," Ashtarth admitted, tapping his fingers on the table again. "But if it does, I would have no qualms in suggesting that if Rukifellth could gain something from lying to any—or all—of us, he would. The man is powerful and clever, but he holds no sense of honor."
Zhael's lower lip trembled as she pouted. "You...you shouldn't say things like that about Master Rukifellth," she scolded, folding her arms childishly.
"Make no mistake; I respect him for his abilities and his accomplishments. But I don't pretend that he's anthing other than the tyrant that he is." Ashtarth leaned forward slightly. "And I'd advise you to do the same."
Quick as her element, Zhael's dainty hand flew across Ashtarth's face.
KA-SMACK!
Ashtarth nearly fell off his seat from the force. Half in shock, with his arms dangling comically over the sides of his chair and his legs askew as they tried to keep him upright, he dared to meet the furious gaze of Zhael.
"What was your point in dragging me down here, seriously?" she scowled, sharp sparks of electricity exploding in little pops all around her hair. "Did you just want to get all self-righteous with me to make yourself feel better or something?"
"Settle down." Ashtarth pulled together his sprawled limbs and re-adjusted himself to a more dignified sitting position, smoothing out the wrinkles in his pants as he did so. "I only wanted to check my suspicions, that's all, and you were the best person I could talk to about it." He rubbed his cheek as he tried to offer up a calming smile. "If someone as close to the master as you are insists that nothing's wrong, perhaps I'm merely having hallucinations."
Zhael's shoulders heaved with the breaths she was trying to take. "I think you spend way too much time meditating or whatever," she said tightly. "It's causing you to imagine things that aren't happening and could never happen."
"Maybe."
"And you yourself said that being an Astral Knight and serving Master Rukifellth is natural to us. Why should we question what feels natural? It means we're meant to do, doesn't it?"
Silence.
Muted conversation fell all around the two of them like light rain.
Zhael swallowed. She finally sat back down and placed her hands demurely in her lap. "I'm sorry for snapping at you like that," she apologized softly, staring down at her well-kept nails. "You came to me because you wanted to talk about something that was bothering you, and I yelled at you—and I even hit you, for crying out loud. And I should've just listened and tried to help you." She looked genuinely contrite. "I'm sorry. I just get a little...irrational...when it comes to Master Rukifellth, that's all."
"I couldn't tell."
A double-take. "Hey! Are you making fun of me now?"
"Not at all." Pause. "Okay, yes, I am. Sorry."
Finally placated, Zhael leaned back in her chair and grinned. "You can get downright infuriating at times," she uttered, playing with a few loose strands of pink hair. "You know that, right?"
"The sentiment is, as always, returned with the honesty that only good friends can afford to inflict on each other." Ashtarth smirked. "Well, now, if that's all settled...would you care to order something so I know whether I should annoy our waitress now?"
"Hmm?" Zhael blinked. "Well, I guess I can stomach a thing or two." She laughed. "But you're paying!"
"What? Oh, fine...I suppose I owe it to you..."
In a lost, dark, and cramped space suspended between the ceiling of the holodeck and the floor directly above, a hunched-over Lilith took off her headset and let out a controlled, thoughtful sigh, blowing away a cobweb or two. "The brainwashing..." she murmured, placing a gentle hand on the device she'd been using to bug the holodeck. "It's not as strong as I thought...or if it was, it's weakening now for some reason. There might be a chance now to save the remaining knights from Rukifellth's mind control. But how?" She slid into a reclining position as quietly as she could, twisting herself so that she could lie on her back. Zhael's voice issued from the headset, rattling off an impressive list of sugar-laden desserts. I suppose there's no point in staying any longer, Lilith thought. I've found something I can use...now I just need to figure out how I can use it to fix this royal mess. Her mind suddenly took a rather tangential turn. I wonder how that Bomberman kid is doing?