A/ N: Sorry again for the delay in getting the previous chapter up but I'll try to keep to a constant schedule from now on and who knows, I might even get to churn out more than one chapter on a weekly basis, but we'll see how it goes.
Anyways, I loved writing about the gang's escapades on Zorya so much seeing as how it provided a nice setting to further develop the characters and flesh out their relationships with one another. So while Ralak and Uncle Leo are occupied with the Blue Suns, let's shift our focus to Nate and the gang to see what they were up to in the interim.
Thanks for those stopping by to read and review the last chapter, and as usual, I hope you'll all enjoy this latest installment.
MASS EFFECT: REMNANTS
Chapter 25 – Clearing the Air
I catch one last sight of Uncle Leo blending into the crowd boarding the tram as he takes off after Ralak. I turn back to the rest of the gang who're already waiting on me. Ranae, Nazreil, Dad and Aunt Lynn are already huddled together, exchanging small talk with one another. The humidity and the mid-day heat of the planet already has me sweating under my bulletproof vest.
"Let's go get those supplies," I say as I approach the group. I note that every one of them is clad in lightweight, tropical attire sans Nazreil of course. Even the shorts and the short-sleeved shirt I have on aren't doing much to cool me off.
"Took you long enough, princess," Aunt Lynn smirks. That comment of hers gets a small smile out of me. I've only known my new aunt for a couple of days and her personality's already starting to rub off on me.
She leads the way towards the tramline that would take us to the bazaar district of the city where we can get some provisions for our journey ahead. With seven people now aboard the Vanguard, which is a far cry from when Uncle Leo and I first left Earth, we didn't stock enough supplies to accommodate that many people. Although the ship was meant to comfortably fit up to 10 people in its living quarters, I can tell that our rag-tag group is already starting to crowd the ship.
The five of us board the tram and we're sent hurtling away from the flat tarmacs of the spaceport to the bustling and boisterous avenues of Thun's bazaar district. The marketplace must be in close vicinity to the spaceport if the relatively short tram ride is anything to go by.
"Nate," Dad calls out to me once the tram arrives at our stop, Aramarr District. "Your aunt and I have some errands of our own to run. You won't mind if we left the three of you to get supplies now, would you?" His tone of voice suggests reluctance at having to leave my side.
"It'll be okay, Nick. He's got Nazreil and Ranae with him. From what I've seen of them back on Noveria, they can take care of themselves just fine. And besides, we won't be gone too long anyways," Aunt Lynn joins in.
Dad exchange looks with Aunt Lynn, hesitation still scrawled all across his features. "You three just stay close together…and try staying out of trouble," Dad finally gives in.
"You two go on ahead. We'll be fine. We're just going to go get supplies and that's it, what's the worst that could happen?" I say, rolling my eyes at Dad's overprotectiveness. "We've got enough credits for the supplies and I promise that I'll keep a low profile," I add, seeing that Dad's still not entirely convinced.
"Fine, but you call us at the first sign of trouble, you understand?" Dad says.
It takes Aunt Lynn to shove him back into the tram. "He'll be fine, Nick. There are plenty of civilians here so I doubt if the Broker's men are going to try anything funny while we're gone. The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll get back, okay?" She turns to me and adds in a playful tone, "Just meet us back at the ship once you kids are done with your errands."
I wave the two of them goodbye as the tram takes off. Ranae steps alongside me and watches as the tram leaves the station. "Where are they going?" she asks.
"Oh, they said they had something else to do. So they're leaving the three of us in charge of getting the supplies."
Ranae looks on in slight disapproval as the tram rounds a corner and disappears from sight. "That's awfully nice of them," she remarks sarcastically. "It doesn't look like they're too concerned about our safety."
"Come on, Ranae. We can handle ourselves just fine. And besides, I don't think the Broker's men are going to come after me here, what with all the people around," I gesture around at the crowds. "And that's if they manage to track us here, which I highly doubt. We'll stick together if it makes you feel any better."
Ranae stays silent a moment. "I guess you do have a point there. But we stay in each other's sights at all time, got it?" she says a bit too sternly.
"Okay, geez. No need to get so uptight about it," I retort, somewhat put-off by her harsh demeanor. Even after all that we've been through, Ranae's still pretty much a mystery to me. I can tell that she's concerned with my well-being, but I somehow get the feeling that it's stemming more from her job to protect me than actual empathy coming from one person to another. Outside of that, she seems to be constantly disgruntled whenever I'm in her presence.
Ranae motions for me to follow her as she marches for the marketplace. I sigh and just as I'm about to follow after her, I notice that Nazreil's nowhere to be seen. "Hey, Ranae!" I call out. She swivels around and crosses her arms impatiently as she looks at me. "Where's Nazreil? I thought he was with us?" I ask.
She notices too as her expression changes from one of annoyance to concern. "He was just right behind us, wasn't he?"
"That's what I thought, but I don't see him anywhere," I say as I catch up to her.
"You don't think that he's…" Ranae trails off, fearing the worse for our quarian friend.
Just as I'm about to say what's on both of our minds, my omni-tool beeps to indicate that I've received a message.
"It's from Nazreil," I say to her. She comes over to my side to read the message.
Hey guys, I'm sorry that I left without telling anyone. I didn't want to have anyone worry about me but I met a couple of my quarian friends who're also on their Pilgrimage here! What are the odds, right? Anyways, I decided to tag along with them for a bit because we have a lot of catching up to do. Also, just leave the dextro-amino provisions to me, I'll get them myself. I'll come find you as soon as I'm done, I promise!
Ranae and I breathe a collective sigh of relief. At least that solves the mystery of where he's run off to. Which just leaves me with another dilemma: I now have to spend the day in Ranae's company. Things are going to get awkward. She must have come to the same conclusion as I have, if her exasperated expression is any indication.
"So…it's just the two of us then," I try breaking the awkwardness of the moment we've both found ourselves in.
"So it would seem," she replies, not even making a point to hide the annoyance in her voice. "Let's just go get the supplies so that we can head back to the ship. I, for one, would like to get out of this heat as soon as possible."
"Lead the way then," I gesture in a chivalrous bow. Ranae just brushes past me without even acknowledging my attempt to lighten the mood. "A simple thank you wouldn't hurt," I mutter under my breath.
My earlier suspicion of the Aramarr Market is confirmed. The bazaar district rings the outside of one of the spaceport's tarmacs which means that the skyline is home to the view of a constant flurry of starships coming in and taking off. Below the skies lie the bazaar which on the other hand, is a series of bustling avenues lined with stores and street vendors selling all sorts of goods and merchandise. Unlike the upscale, metropolitan shopping districts on the Citadel Wards, there's an exotic and tropical feel to the locale. Street vendors have large overhead canopies to shield them from the sun's glare; the people here, irrespective of their races, are clothed in really casual attire; and everybody seems to be hawking out their goods at the top of their voices at every corner I look.
"Wow…where do we start?" I absent-mindedly remark after having seen first-hand the size of the place.
Ranae looks around and spots something in the middle of the entrance to the bazaar. I tag along after her to see what's caught her attention. Turns out it's a VI system designed to act as the directory for the Aramarr Market.
"Food rations and provisions," Ranae speaks to the virtual holographic display of what looks to be a human woman.
"One moment, please," the VI answers. "Search query has located 127 entries," the VI responds moments later.
"Oh Goddess…" Ranae face-palms. "Narrow down search by proximity."
"One moment please."
I sigh. This isn't going to be as easy as it looks.
It must have taken us several hours to get all the supplies that we need for the Vanguard. Ranae didn't help things either by being such a stickler for bargains. We'd go from store to store and inquire them on the prices of their goods. If Ranae felt as though we weren't getting the best deal for our purchases, she'd either haggle with the storeowners or we'd leave to try another store. It's infuriating really; she wouldn't have any of it when I started complaining either. I think I finally know what it's like to be the helpless child who's being dragged along by their mothers on a shopping spree which the child has absolutely no interest in.
I run through our list again. Levo-amino food supplies? Check. Cooking spices and ingredients? Check. Cleaning and personal hygiene supplies? Check. Service and maintenance tools? Check. We've basically procured everything on our shopping list save for the dextro-amino supplies which Nazreil promised us he'd get. It's a good thing we didn't have to lug all the supplies along with us; the stores will have them delivered right to the ship itself.
"I guess that's about it," I double check our list with Ranae.
"It looks like we've gotten everything on here. Now let's hurry on back to the ship," she huffs, eager to get out of the tropical heat.
"Hey, wait a minute!" I catch her by the shoulder. "Come on, Ranae. We're done with our errands, so why don't we do a little exploring and some sight-seeing?" I persuade, secretly hoping that she'd agree. She just sighs tiredly but I can tell that she's not buying into it.
"It's still light out and I don't want to spend it cooped up in the ship," I reason with her, motioning to the late afternoon sun. The sky's still pretty bright out even after all the hours we've spent milling around in the bazaar. I tend to forget that certain planets don't rotate at slower speeds as compared to Earth, leading to longer days.
"Nate, it's really hot out here and I'd like nothing more than to just cool off back in the ship," Ranae says, wiping beads of sweat off her forehead.
I furrow my brow in frustration at her insistence that we return to the Vanguard. "Fine, if you don't want to come along, then I'll just go off on my own," I reply resolutely, giving her my ultimatum.
She crosses her arms, clearly not happy at the choice I've given her. "Fine, but we're heading back as soon as the sun sets, understood?" she sighs.
"Great!" I beam. A little part of me is jumping for joy on the inside right about now. "Let's go grab something cold to eat. I've been seeing this local Zoryan delicacy all over the bazaar and I've been dying to try it out!" I make a beeline back into the bazaar to where I last saw the store serving said delicacy. "Come on!"
Ranae just rubs her temple irritably and follows after me into the crowd. "This better be worth it."
After browsing through several stores, we finally stop at what looks like a desserts parlor in the bazaar which served the dish. Apparently, it's called callastas by the locals here but I'm not too sure what the thing exactly is. I guess the only thing that it comes close to is shaved ice topped off with some syrup and a heaping of sliced, exotic-looking fruits.
"Two of the daily specials, levo-aminos, please," I say to the salarian cashier once we make our way to the front of the line. "And we'll make that order to go," I add after seeing that there's no seats left in the crowded store. We pay for our order, and the cashier brings our callastas to us moments later. We exit the store and I waste no time in digging into my meal.
"Holy crap, this stuff's good!" I mutter through a mouthful of the stuff. Ranae, on the other hand, eyes it a little bit suspiciously.
"What is this…?" she asks, apprehension coloring her voice.
I pause long enough to swallow my current bite before replying. "All I know is that it's sweet, it's fruity and it makes for one hell of a refreshing dessert for a hot day like this," I reply, wiping my mouth.
Ranae narrows her eyes in suspicion at me but finally musters up enough courage to put a spoonful of the stuff into her mouth. I watch her chew; her initial expression changing from one of disgust to intrigue and then finally, pure bliss.
"Goddess, this thing tastes heavenly!"
I can't help but smile a little at her response. This is the happiest I've seen her all day. "Let's get out of here. It's getting a little too crowded and stuffy for my tastes and I also wanna go see the rest of the city," I beckon to her.
She only manages to nod as she goes to town with her callastas. I open up my omni-tool to view a map of the city and start making my way to the exit of the bazaar that would take us closest to the city.
I underestimated the distance that we have to travel to get out of the huge bazaar. By the time we've managed to get out and onto the tram station, I can already start to feel my legs aching and Ranae's on her third helping of the callastas.
"Holy crap, we should just have taken one of the rapid transits in the bazaar instead," I pant, massaging one of my legs to quell the ache. It's a good thing that the late afternoon sun's no longer as hot as it was when we first got here. Walking in the killer afternoon heat would have been torture.
"Stop complaining so much, you're the one who's wanted to go sight-seeing in the first place," Ranae shoots back at me, although the retort is less snarky this time.
"I know…" I straighten myself up just as the tram approaches.
We get on the tram, and I find instant relief in the relative coolness of the interior. I take a seat, and Ranae takes one opposite me. I glance up at the map and note that we're three stops away from Vessler Crossing – the entrance to the city's downtown district. The ride doesn't take as long as I expected it to before we pull into our destination. Ranae's already done with what I hope to be her last helping of callastas. The way she puts all that food away…that doesn't seem natural for someone of her size.
"Stop daydreaming, are we getting off here or what?" Ranae's chiding voice brings me back into the present.
"Oh…sorry. Just got carried away with the view," I apologize and step out from the tram.
Woah.
I just stand there awestruck, letting myself drown in the architectural marvel of the city. Since it's close to dusk now, every building has a clay-red tint to it and it seems to me that the spires of the buildings seem to get taller as they progress further into the city. I return my gaze to street level and note that the ground is constantly ascending as we walk further into the city. But that's not the most interesting feature about Thun. Peeking its way out from between buildings and sometimes intertwined with the buildings themselves, are small pockets of Zorya's tropical jungles. Shrubbery of the trees can be seen poking out among the lofty spires, and…are those waterfalls I see cascading down the sides of some buildings? I follow the path of the rushing waters into the river of aqueducts that snake their way all across street level.
"You done oogling at the city yet? We have to be back at the ship when the sun sets, remember?" she reminds me, her demeanor back to her usual disgruntled self.
"I'm coming!" I snap a shot off of the city's skyline on my omni-tool and promptly follow after her.
"Let me…just let me sit down for a bit," I pant, easing myself into a bench on one of the city's public parks. All that walking is finally starting to takes its toll on me. But for what it's worth, the stroll around the city was an interesting experience, even if Ranae's mood did put a damper on things while I was drinking in the sights and sounds.
Ranae just shakes her head disapprovingly. She leans against the railing that overlooks a small lake in the park and stares out into the distance. "We'll take five before heading back to the spaceport. We've really stayed out longer than we should have," she says without even a glance over her shoulder.
"Relax, Ranae. I told Uncle Leo and the rest about where we are. There's absolutely nothing to worry about," I reply, getting a little bit annoyed now at Ranae's grating attitude.
"Still, I would prefer it if we return to the ship before nightfall. It might not be safe out here at night," she continues.
Just what is she talking about? The city looks like safe enough; hell, it's a whole lot safer than what I've seen of Omega. At least there's a figure of authority here to enforce law and order, even if it's in the form of the Blue Suns.
"Geez, Ranae, just calm down already, we're fine! For once since I left Earth, nobody's been shooting at us so I'll take that as a good sign," I grit my teeth, fast losing my patience with Ranae ever since this whole day started.
"Well, you can never be too careful," she just calmly responds to me.
That's the last straw for me. "Tell me something, Ranae. Ever since we first met on Eden Prime, I get the feeling that you're not too happy with having to stick around me," I snap at her, letting all my bottled emotions free. "And yet, you don't think twice about having to risk your life to protect me when the bullets start flying. I just….for the life of me, I just can't figure you out! Just what is up with you?"
"I'm merely doing what mother has asked of me," she responds coolly without even the decency to turn around and face me.
That just gets me even more riled up. "If so, then how hard it would be for the two of to just get along? Wouldn't it make your job a whole lot easier that way?" I get up to my feet, raising my voice now. "I'm really trying here, Ranae. I really am but every single time I try to be friends, you just go ahead and shoot it down."
She remains silent, her back still turned to me.
"Great, now you're doing it again. What is it this time? Are you too afraid to tell me the truth?" I demand. "Well, answer me!" I reach a hand for her shoulder to turn her around.
The moment my hand makes contact; she swats it off and swivels around to face me. "So you want to know the truth? Is that it?" she hisses, her eyes starting to tear up. "Well then, here it is! I never wanted a life like this but mother insisted that I go through with it! So here I am, stuck carrying out mother's last wishes even if I absolutely despised every minute of it just because I know how much you mean to her!"
Her outburst catches me off guard and I just stand there, still reeling slightly from her confession. "That's right! You wanted the truth didn't you? Well, there it is! Are you happy now?" she continues, tears starting to streak down her face. The outburst must have been a long time coming as the dam of bottled-up emotions in her just comes crumbling down. "Mother had endured so much before you even came along but at least we had each other! We were happy together…until your father and you came along into our lives!"
"What? What have I ever done to screw your lives over? I've never even met you two before Eden Prime!" I counter, deeply offended by the allegation.
"Oh, don't you dare act like you don't know anything. The moment you show up on our doorsteps on Eden Prime, look what happened to mother! And if it wasn't because of the discovery that your father made, mother wouldn't have had to send me off to military camp to keep me safe! Do you know how much I've hated every single minute of my time there with the commandos?! I never even wanted to be there!" she hisses, voice full of bitterness and contempt. "You took everything that I've known away from mother and I! And the worst part of it was that mother was okay with it all!"
"So I'm the one to blame for everything that's wrong with your life?" I ask incredulously, my anger boiling at the sheer irrationality of the accusations. "Look Ranae, I don't know if you've noticed but I'm just in the same boat as you are! I never asked for this! Did you ever stop for a second to think if an unassuming 17 year-old boy from Earth would ever want to carry the burden of being the last hope for galactic civilization as we know it? Hell, who in their right minds would even want to be entrusted with such a responsibility?!" I yell, hoping to drill some rational sense into her flawed logic.
"I…I…" her eyes widen as she starts to acknowledge the truth behind my words. Now the tables have turned.
I just seize the opportunity to go on the offensive now. "And look, I'm sorry about what happened to your mother back on Eden Prime; I really am. But what happened there wasn't my fault or yours. How the hell could we have known that on top of the Broker's men trying to capture me, the geth would choose that of all time to attack the dig site?" I lower my voice now that I see Ranae faltering. "You might think I don't know what you're going through, but I do! Before all of this, I was dumb enough to think that I actually had a shot at living out a life as a normal kid. Graduating high school, going to college, finding a nice paying job and who knows, settling down one day with family. Learning that I'm this…this Prothean-human hybrid thing took all that away from me," I pause to let the words sink in. "So believe me, I know what you're going through right now, Ranae."
"But what your father did, I..." she incoherently trails off, her rage and anger losing its momentum as well.
"I can never apologize for what my father did to you two. Hell, even I'm still having trouble forgiving him for what he's done to Uncle Leo and I. But I'm sure he's just as sorry as I am for having dragged everyone into this mess."
She just looks on at me, utter despair filling the depths of her eyes while tears fall freely from her face. Finally, she collapses to her knees and just starts sobbing.
"Ranae, I didn't mean to…" I can't even bring myself to finish.
Seeing her so…vulnerable like that, all the anger and hatred that I had against her before just ebbs away. How could I possibly harbor such feelings against her when I went through the exact same thing? When you're angry at the world for putting you in this position, you just lash out against anything that you could just pin the blame on. But I had and still have Uncle Leo to fall back on when things got tough. As for Ranae, well, I realize that she doesn't have anyone, not with Aurania gone.
"Hey, everything's all going to be alright," I say solemnly, putting a reassuring hand on her arm. She doesn't budge. I hesitate and consider what would be my next course of action now. She's clearly upset and she could possibly be in a volatile mood, but it just breaks my heart to just stand around and not do anything. I wrap my arms around her, and noting that she doesn't do anything to resist, I decide to give her a small squeeze of comfort.
"Goddess…I just…I'm so sorry.." she sobs, leaning into me as I help support her.
"It's okay. You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. Come on, let's get going."
I lead the two of us back towards the spaceport; a journey the two of us are content to spend in silence. Throughout the journey, I never once let go of her and neither did she of me. We've both gotten a lot of baggage off of our chests and we've given each other a lot of things to think about. And for once, for both our sakes, I'm at least glad to hear the truth.
A/N: And whew, was that emotionally-charged chapter a doozy to write on such a tight and packed schedule that I currently have right now. Still, I didn't want to disappoint you fans so I'm trying my best here to stick to the weekly update schedule.
Just like the previous chapter, we're getting some exposition here as to each character because awesome, well-developed characters are what make great stories work, right? But rest assured we'll be jumping right back into the thick of things with the next installment.
Well, I'll see you faithful readers next week!