Cosmos Space Center
September 6 5:00 p.m.
The Space Center wasn't cumbersome with visitors as she thought it would be. Then again, after the bombing, the hostage situation and the homicides, she wouldn't be surprised the place was still capable of being open to the public.
A security guard raised his hand towards Athena as she approached the gates.
"Halt! What's your business here?"
"I'm here to see Simon Blackquill."
"No can do, little lady. You need authorization." The security guard confronted.
"Aw c'mon! Let me go through." Athena placed her hands on her hips. "I'm one of the attorneys who helped this place out almost a year ago!"
"Sorry, little lady. No can do. Exactly for that reason, you need authorization or a pass."
Athena groaned. Her fists clenched in front of her chest angrily. 'I feel like flipping another security guard.'
"Let the stargirl go, chap." A voice interrupted the quarrel.
Athena and the guard turned to see Yuri Cosmos. The director of the Space Center drove up on his segway, almost running over the guards foot before halting in front of Athena. His uniform and brightly shining stars would cause the city skies to be jealous.
"Ah, Athena, the stargirl!" Yuri exclaimed cheerfully.
"Hi, Mr. Cosmos!" Athena smiled. "Why stargirl?"
"Why not?! If it wasn't for you and your chaps, Mr. Wright and Apollo, we'd still be in turmoil. But you three helped us reach for the stars in peace, especially for Solomon!" Yuri played with his mustache happily as he chuckled heartily.
"You're welcome, Mr. Cosmos." Athena ran her fingers through her hair bashfully.
"No. No. I should be thanking you! You bring brighter shine to the Milky Way. As well as my chances to leave a mark in history!" Yuri raised his fist to the skies.
"Good luck with that one, Cosmos." Athena sarcastically claimed before changing the subject. "Have you seen Simon?"
"Simon Blackquill? Hmmm…" Yuri groped his mustache. "Yes. I have seen him earlier. I believe he is to be in the robotic lab. Ponco and Clonco have been lonely since Aura left."
"Yeah… Poor guys. She may have been abusive to Ponco and Clonco, but she still took care of them."
"I have heard from Blackquill that her sentence will be ending soon. It would be amazing to have the Gyaxa family together again. Ever since the bombing, the group only became smaller and smaller as the galaxy with lesser stars. Guilt still rides on these old shoulders."
"You shouldn't feel that way." Athena flexed her signature peace sign. "You did what you had to do. It's the thought and what's in the heart that counts!"
"Thank you, Athena. You truly are the twilight star." Yuri gripped the handles, emotionally triggered.
"Anytime!"
Yuri cleared his throat, the old man rotated his segway, yet again, almost crushing the guard's foot. "This way, where the strays lead."
Athena followed the bumbling old man through the corridors of the Space Center. "Yet again, you can't even smuggle a leaf in here. I don't want any international spies threatening my people again."
"I can see that." Athena quirked.
The venture down the corridor came to a halt, showing the large area where the exhibit of employees' articles behind the thick glass shield. There was a small plaque in front of the exhibit, displaying Metis and Clay's jacket as well as photos.
'In memory of those we lost. Forever to be part of what makes the universe beautiful.'
"We had it custom made just for those two souls." Yuri bowed his head. "They are surely missed."
'I know…' Athena swallowed the sorrow in heart throat. The black and gold plaque along with the words etched into its frame brought melancholy over the yellow attorney. Further reinforcing her reason to visit Blackquill.
"Come now. No need for the dreary to creep onto us. I'll escort you to Blackquill surely."
During the whole charade there, Yuri would no shut his old keister about how he would leave a mark in history and that his name will forever be remembered as someone who changed the world. Athena's shoulders slacked the whole time, giving a sweaty nervous expression on how the old man continued on and on about his commanding stars that she couldn't hear herself think. Forced to listen to the daydreamer speak boastfully about his own goals, which were questionable on their own. She'd rather jump twenty two feet onto a ladder. The elevator doors finally opened, revealing the entrance of the robotics lab.
"Go on, stargirl! Simon should be still there." Yuri gestured.
'Thanks, Mr. Cosmos." She crooked a smile, eagerly running towards the robotics labs to get away from anymore of his lunatic conversation.
The yellow defense attorney gave a complete 180 to the room. To her surprise, Blackquill wasn't to be seen.
She sighed heavily and drearily. 'Maybe it's best to let bygones be bygones…'
"Hi there, Athena." A mechanical voice called.
The attorney lifted her head, to meet the happy visage of a robot. "Why so sad, Athena?"
"Hey, Ponco. I'm not sad."
"Hmmm…" The robot shuffled its mechanical arms together along with rotating its head. "My sensors show strong sadness in your voice. Are you sure you don't need help? A quick therapy can sober up that happiness!"
The robot danced, rotating on its wheels in glee, flailing the mechanical arms in the air like she just didn't care. Athena forgot about Ponco's ability to read emotions. 'Should've seen this coming.'
"Is that a yes, Athena?" The robot stopped and addressed the distressed attorney.
"No. No. That's okay, Ponco." She readjusted herself. "Have you seen Simon?"
The robot again rotated its head as the arms connected once more. "Hmmm… last time I remember, I was at my charging station. Before, I saw Simon taking Clonco for a reboot. It hasn't been the same without Mama."
"When was this?" Athena cupped her hips.
"Not too long ago, I believe." The robot displayed the happy blue visage on the football head screen. "Oh. There they are right now."
Athena turned to see the samurai walking, as his sword clasped inside the exterior of its holster. Taka proudly chest forward on his shoulder. Along with him, a robot, rolling happily next to him.
"Simon!" Athena gleamed as the samurai stopped ahead of her.
"Athena." The emotionless samurai veered.
"How are the robots treating you?" She whisked.
"Hmph. I grow tired of babysitting my sister's metal toys. They were to be taken apart by order of police, which I would have done the honors myself."
"Simon! They have feelings to, you know?" Athena was slightly hurt by his comment.
"...Aura believes otherwise. Her actions patronize how she feels. Chief Prosecutor relieved them of their sentence under the knife. They now serve sentimental value by the old man."
"Yuri?"
"What other old man do you see here, Athena?" He reinforced.
'Yeah, it was kind of a dumb question.'
The prosecutor whipped his head upward. "Despite the ridiculous situation here, what is your blight, Athena?"
She took in a deep breath and played with her earring, figuring out how to word herself without officially letting out all the details. The swordsman eyed Athena darkly, he could already tell she was struggling on the inside.
"It's more of a hypothetical thing, Simon." She rubbed her shoulders.
"Then let the words be heard."
"If you had the chance to see my mom… Metis again, for a short time… would you take it?"
She winced as she saw the prosecutor glare at her. His stare remained cold and unchanged. Athena coveted to hear his opinion, but another didn't want to, scared that he may do something irrational. The wait was killing her.
The samurai blinked once before answering. "No."
Athena was surprised. Her mouth gaped, almost offended by the word that reflected off Simon just like her boss's lips.
"Why?" Athena lunged forward.
The samurai's face darted the other direction, completely avoiding her view. "Once one has passed the Styx, they should remain there, Athena."
"But it's a one time thing! It's not like they're coming back." Athena argued.
"..." Blackquill remained silent. His eyes closed in unamusement.
"Why Simon? Please tell me!" Athena's face demonstrated the pain in her heart.
"Athena. Tell me. What good will it do you?" The prosecutor still remained away from her gaze.
"I can tell her everything! Everything that has happened. Everything that we accomplished and did together, to take down the Phantom. I can tell her that I love her and that I'm sorry!" Athena's tears were dangerously close to letting loose.
"Athena, are you okay?" Ponco interrupted, sensing the trouble in the girl's tone.
The yellow attorney had a deranged expression of pique and desolation. Widget had a hue of purple and red, completely reflected by Athena.
The samurai cupped his chin and jerked his head, along with a smug smile on his face. Athena was dumbfounded on how Simon was intaking the situation. It actually aggravated her more.
"What's so funny?!" Athena yelled.
"Is that it? To tell her what has transpired?" He laughed cruelly.
The tears finally let out of her eyelids. Scorching as the trails ran down her face. The way how condescending he made her feel was harsh. "Yes! How is that funny?!"
The inside of her gloved hand almost pierced through the fabric with her nails.
The samurai turned away. "Tell me, Athena, you see this in the light of whose perspective?"
Athena stopped shaking. The way his question hit her actually manipulated her thinking. Her breathing paced lighter and lighter as she contemplated on his question.
"...Everyone's." She mumbled.
"Hmph! At least have some more force in your argument." His head bobbed along with his threaded black and white hair before turning his head over his shoulder, playing with the feather in his mouth. "Is that so?"
His body twisted finally towards her that smug grin still fixed on his face. "I would say you're being quite selfish."
'The nerve on you, Simon!' The yellow attorney was back to 373 Kelvin. "How am I being selfish?!"
His expression became serious once more. "Are you sure it's not to please yourself? To gain some sort of retribution?"
Athena couldn't believe what she was hearing. She expected some sort of solace from a person who was mentored by Metis and a person who is supposedly to protect her. She felt as if her stalwart was making a mockery of her.
"It's weakness, Athena. I expected much more from you.." His gaze was away from her again. "Such a shame."
Clonco and Ponco backed away from Athena, in fearing she would explode at any minute by the way her heart beat senseless in her heart. The words whipping at her until she was a mere mushed gum under the heel of a shoe.
"HOW DARE YOU?!" Athena broke.
Simon spit out the feather from his mouth before slashing his finger forward. The yellow attorney flinched, the tears flying off her face as she reflexed backward from the slice. The feather splitting in two in front of her very eyes.
"Silence!" Simon glared back at her. "Such a greeting would result in nothing, Athena. I am to protect you, it is my earthly duty to do so. Even if an opportunity would rise, I shall not allow it."
Athena stood quiet, frozen from the aftermath of the tension. "But... Simon?"
"We are human beings. We grow old, and we die. Once the Styx greet us, we should never return. Understand that when death hithers, brings forth life. You are that life, Athena."
Athena lifted her flushed complexion to the pale one in front of her.
"My mentor, she was dear to me, Athena. We are well aware of that. This greeting would only bind you in purgatory, though your soul is not taken."
Athena was finally gaining a sense of the samurai's words.
"A shell of a human being will remain with nothing inside, just like the ones six feet under our feet. Their husks remain so that we shall stand without them, though they do support us."
Tears filled her eyes again. 'So, Mr. Wright was right…But sadly, I needed another perspective to see that… I'm so sorry, boss. I'm sorry I doubted you. I'm sorry I questioned you...''
"Do you understand now, Athena?" The samurai remained unphased by the her despairing moment.
'Yes, Simon… I do…'
Athena threw herself forward onto Simon. Grappling his long vest. The sudden sensation of Athena against him was extremely foreign to the emotionally ridden swordsman. His reaction was priceless. His eyes were wide and his body stiffened as the attorney buried herself in his chest.
Ponco and Clonco were hugging each other in hooray "Yay!"
Simon remained flabbergasted as the attorney shook her head before releasing him. "Thank you, Simon Blackquill!"
The samurai was defeated by a mere gesture of compassion. He didn't know how to react.
"Thank you so much! You're methods could be less mean, but whatever! Thanks! I finally get it now!"
She darted for the door, aiming on apologizing to her boss on how wrong she was. As Simon was pecked repeatedly by Taka to wake up.
