AN: And now for a brief change of scenery!
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The faintest stirrings of a breeze fluttered through the garden on this warm, summer day. A garden that contained a collection of several… alien looking plants. Flowers that seemed to be made of glass and glowed with a rich, dark green energy. Teal coloured vines that reached up to the sun-
No, suns. Two large orbs of light floated in the air, shining down upon the balcony that contained the garden. A balcony made from a strange, pure white substance that appeared to radiate the slightest glow of some sort of energy. It was shiny, but not enough to strain the eyes. This balcony was attached to an equally strange tower, a massive structure that pierced the heavens and stood above all other visible buildings, equally alien and diverse in their construction.
Although, this is not our focus at the moment. This new place, this alien place would be explored another time. No, our focus remains on this garden.
And the low, relaxed humming coming from one of the inhabitants of this place.
Walking along the various paths that ran through the garden was what appeared to be a tall, humanoid woman. Her warm, brown skin held an almost sepia-like hue due to the light from the suns, and most of her body was hidden under flowing, dark green robes. Her dark brown hair was neatly held up in a surprisingly compact afro and, as she turned her head to observe the flowers growing nearby, it was plain to see that her face was covered by a large mirror.
How strange.
She reached out her left arm to run it through some leaves, her robes lifting a revealing that up to her elbow had been replaced by a smooth prosthetic made out of some sort of white substance that resembled plastic. After checking out the foliage, and removing some leaves that had wilted just a bit too much due to the heat, she nodded to herself and resumed walking along the path. Slowly, the greenery receded and opened up, allowing the other inhabitant of the garden to be seen.
A rather pale older man was seated at a table not too far away with a steaming mug of tea placed in front of him. His bald head seemed to shine in the sunlight as his long, white beard seemed to flutter faintly in the wind. A rather bulky, fabric choker could be seen decorating his neck, certainly not the most comfortable of accessories. He wore his own set of robes, these ones also white in colouration, and his seemingly sightless eyes seemed to fixate on the approaching woman. A serene smile crossed his face as he cheerfully waved at her.
"Why hello there, Arc, fancy seeing you here."
The woman, apparently named Arc, scoffed, and rolled her eyes, not that the gesture could be seen due to the mirror covering her face. "Hex, I would say it's a pleasure to see you, but I doubt you're here for any sort of casual conversation."
Hex chuckled and casually sipped some of his tea. "I am a firm believer that a perfectly isolated garden is the best place to have a casual conversation between friends about recent events."
"The desolation of Garuna happened more than a month ago so I would hardly consider it recent." Arc retorted as she took a seat at the table, the fingers of her prosthetic immediately beginning to take the marble surface. "Unless you were notified of something…?"
"Unfortunately, not." The older man sighed and shook his head. "However, I do find the entire situation quite peculiar. I am assuming you know of the involved girl?"
"Of course. Even if I did not need to hear Rise complaining about the adoption, news involving the CEO spreads fast." She nodded. "I still find it concerning that he saw fit to grant her a forgotten name…"
"A better reaction than Sheena's annoyance." Hex chuckled before his momentary amusement faded. "Even with all my questions, he never truly answered the reason why he granted her such a name."
"He's always been an enigma, and a pain depending on who you ask." Arc complained as she leaned forward, chin resting on one of her hands. "For the protector of the Vault he sure is…"
"Challenging to work with? Obnoxious? Immature? Flighty when dealing with actual work?"
"… Yes."
"It certainly makes one wonder, though, why he decided to take in a child in the first place." Hex mused. "Did he have something in mind when he stepped forward to take her in? A plan of some sort? I can only imagine what his reasoning might have been…"
Though her face was covered, it was quite obvious that the woman was suspiciously squinting at him, trying to figure out what his point was. It annoyed her at times, but she recognized that he preferred to speak in such a manner, in a way where one needed to puzzle out what his intentions were.
It helped keep sensitive information away from the less… keen members of their organization.
It took Arc very little time to quickly put together what Hex wished to discuss with her, however as she was about to continue to conversation with a question of her own, he quickly held a hand out to silence her, a serious expression crossing his face.
They were no longer alone.
The ground not too far from the table they were currently sat at began to glow before a figure seemed to be projected out of the ground, like a hologram. They floated near the duo, eyes hidden behind a visor as their multicoloured hair floated behind them.
"What a pleasant surprise, HUB." Hex cordially greeted with a nod. "I assume you have business-"
"The Head of the Council, Sheena, has requested a mandatory meeting." The projection, HUB, bluntly interrupted. "New information has come to light. The missing ship has been located."
Arc and Hex exchanged a concerned look before Arc spoke. "… That would be for recovery, correct? Surely Sheena would not focus on-"
"All questions shall be addressed to the Head of the Council during the meeting." HUB interrupted once more. "The Guard is being mobilized. Move quickly."
With that final warning delivered, the projection vanished from sight and left the two alone. Arc and Hex stared at each other, both trying to process the concerning information that they had been told. After several seconds of complete silence, Hex spoke.
"I suppose it would be time to prepare for the worst then, no?"
"But she's a child!" Arc swiftly stood up and slammed her hands down on the table, cracks forming due to the strike. "Such cruelty is unwarranted!"
"Lower your voice before one of the others hear." Hex hissed as he looked around and, while he could not see, he could sense things beyond their surroundings. Such as one of their "allies" who had a habit of eavesdropping…
Once he was certain their conversation would remain between the two of them, he stood up and spoke in a hushed whisper. "You already know what the outcome of this meeting shall be, we have seen it once already-"
"And I hated every moment of it." Arc exhaled as she straightened up and wrapped her arms around herself. "I never, ever want another innocent child to experience such a thing."
"The moment Hat Kid accepted the mission of acting as a transport vessel for those recovered Time Pieces, her fate was sealed." Hex wearily stated as he reached out to take one of Arc's hands and reassuringly squeezed it. Suddenly, a small smile appeared on his face as he continued speaking.
"But perhaps things may be different this time. How quickly do you think you can get in contact with Rise?"
"Rise…?" Arc's eyes widened behind her mirror, immediately realizing what Hex's plan was. "Of course! That's a brilliant idea! She might actually have a chance!"
"Indeed. While we failed to save one, we might just get lucky and be able to protect the other." He let go of Arc's hand and chuckled. "I hope you have been nice to Trix of late."
"She's still banned from entering my garden." Arc huffed. "That will never change. I don't want her trying to smoke who knows what here-"
Hex was quick to cut her off before her ranting could truly begin. He did his best to smother the slightest bit of laughter that built up in him, and quickly gestured for her to leave. "I recommend getting changed into your other robes before you accidentally invoke more bad luck, or risk angering Sheena, as soon as possible. You know how upset she gets when dealing with tardiness, or chaos."
"True enough." Arc agreed as she took a second to swiftly brush off her current robes before striding towards the entrance that connected the tower to the garden. Just before she left, she turned around and quickly nodded at Hex, a gesture that he returned with one of his own.
As Arc vanished from sight, the older man looked down at his now cooled cup of tea and sighed.
"By Time, I hope that child survives this."
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AN: Sorry for how short this chapter is but I wanted to add a quick intermission and some foreshadowing before the next chapter :3