As the sun started to peak over the horizon painting the sky with a soft blue, a vehicle that left the land ship a few hours ago could be seen on the road. The smooth surface allowed some of the occupants to enjoy a nap without their head rocking side to side relentlessly. Inside was Team Reserve 4 along with two interesting guests.
"So Marth is the deal acceptable? I mean it can't get better than this."
A pale as white doctor with eyes as red as blood stared at the fellow sarkaz. Her stare, her tense hands, and her eager voice did a poor job in hiding her anticipation.
"Uh-uh. I'm not sure Mr. Apollo would be ok with me agreeing to something about him without him being here."
"From what I heard I doubt he would care. Apparently people are comparing him to Closure and that girl is the laziest person I know on the landship." Warfarin said as she pointed at said person.
Marth could do nothing but try to move further back into the truck as she tried to avoid the hunger vampire's touch. It was as if a person was approaching a scared cat.
"This is why Kal'tsit is considering a restraining order on you. Also I am not lazy, I just do things that are fun."
The other sarkaz vampire present is the one and only Closure, head of the engineering department and known for being in the center of many of Rhodes Island's crazy stories. Most of the stories end with Closure getting a pay cut and scolding by Kal'tsit.
"Never have I ever wanted to throw someone out of the car like you. Closure, I believe doing that will solve oripathy here and now." Warfarin said as she made eye contact with her fellow vampire.
"Then who is gonna do maintenance on the medical ward, you?" Closure said teasingly as she ate some snacks she snuck on.
The two continued to go back and forth as the other passengers could do nothing else but watch as two key members of Rhodes Island go at each other. Melantha, Marth and Cardigan were sitting together while Ansel and Adnachiel were further back with Steward driving.
"Uh, Ansel, could you perhaps explain why we are going to Columba for our mission. I-" Marth paused as she looked at her hands. "I was half asleep during the briefing so I don't remember anything but the country."
Ansel slowly turned his head towards Marth as if she just said the most horrendous, racist thing known to man. The boy pulled out a small notebook he carries around and read from it.
"Our mission is to escort Closure and Warfarin to Columba so they can do their various business with companies there." Ansel explained in a blank voice.
"Then why did they choose us, we are still inexperienced?" Marth asked.
"It's exactly because we are inexperienced compared to the other squads that we were picked for." Steward explained.
"I'm glad at least one of you has a working brain on your shoulders." Warfarin settled down. "While we have many skilled squads and individuals in Rhodes Island, it's always good and smart to constantly develop and improve younger operators."
"Perhaps this is the start of your guys journey to being the next generation of elite operators." Closure said enthusiastically.
"Elite operators…" Marth could say this as she could imagine the life she would live if she became one.
She imagined herself older around her middle to late 20's as she holds her own against enemies far stronger than she is. The royal guards of many countries or even entire squads of people by herself as she seamlessly combines tradition combat and the magecraft she will learn from Apollo,
Perfectly dodge and counter attacking as she does whatever mission she is assigned to. No breaking a sweat or having a second thought as all her actions have now become second nature. Then the light at the end of the tunnel being the proud expression of Apollo along with him says. 'I'm proud of you Marth, you are truly my best student.'
"Mr. Apollo would be so proud of me." Marth said completely unaware of how her normally shy demeanor around other people started to crack.
"Besides whatever daydream Marth is happening, having you guys as elite operators would be satisfactory. It would give me good stories to tell to newer operators we will have in the future." Warfarin said.
Melantha looked at her sword as Warfarin talked, similar to Marth she was also daydreaming although not as obvious as Marth.
Melantha didn't imagine herself on a battlefield or anything grand like that. Rather she imagined herself back on the landship teaching newer operators her style of swordsmanship, saying how they wished to learn from her. She would interact with them in a warming caring manner without a hint of the reserved personality she has now, being completely confident the whole time.
"Being an elite operator would be nice." Melantha said softly.
The truck was filled with idle conversation between the members as the team made their way towards their destination. The nation of technology and progress, the place where people come to achieve the 'Columbian Dream'.
Marth, wanting to pass the time, reached into the bag she had on her and pulled out a cube that was divided into a 3x3 grid on all six sides.
"Oh, what's that?" Closure said as she was clearly intrigued by the object in question. "Is it another one of Apollo's things from his home?"
Marth nodded in response. "He called it a rubixs cube, and you want to make all the sides to be one flat color." As she explained it she pushed a small amount of mana into the cube, as she did the cube floated slightly above her hand and shuffled itself.
"So it's a puzzle basically, do you need to do whatever Apollo is teaching you guys to use it?" Closure asked as her stare got more intense.
"No, you don't have to. You can shuffle the cube by hand if you want, he just wanted me to get extra practice." Marth explained as the rubix cube stopped shuffling and rested in the palm of her hand.
"I need to convince Apollo to join the engineering department. Many of the workshops and I really want to see how his stuff works. Especially the ones in workshops 3 and 6 who are constantly trying to understand Nian's metal." Closure said.
"You reminded me Ms. Closure, Mr. Apollo wanted me to give you this." Marth said as she dug into her bag and pulled out a slightly larger cube. "He said that this will be really helpful."
Before Marth could give the cube to her, Closure nabbed the cube before she could react, shocking Marth visibly.
"Today is a good day Warfarin, I can finally study Apollo's technology freely. I won't have to worry about him being the end of me, nor will I need to think of a plan on stealing his stuff." Closure said.
While Marth could see that she was happy by the seeming sign of trust of Mr. Apollo by sharing knowledge from his home which he does keep close to his chest.
Closure, the relief on her face was clear for everyone to see. It was as if a god gave her salvation, an ironic statement since Closure is a vampire that even Marth could only laugh at a little.
As she opened the box they could see a small device inside , a moment later a low sound was being played from them before a voice came out.
"Ah, so I see Closure got my gift. Good job Marth. Now Closure ,the crazy vampire, not the craziest I've talked to. I just want to let you know that this machine I'm using to send the message has nothing of value. Along with a simple fact, if you want to learn more about my stuff just come talk to me. Closure, I already know you are thinking of stealing my stuff, and when you get back we are going to have a very long talk."
She wasn't going to say it but Warfarin had a smirk forming as the already pale face of Closure somehow got paler at the man's words. Melantha and Cardigan learned close to Marth.
"Is Apollo always that scary? I feel like I would crack under the pressure if I meant him." Cardigan asked.
"I wouldn't say Mr. Apollo is scary, but he can be surprisingly strict at times. However, Mr. Apollo is very carefree most of the time." Marth answered as she started to work on the rubix cube.
The Ark
As Reserve Team A-6, and the two Vampires reached their destination after a few days, Marth had her eyes glued to the outside world. Perro, Liberi, Aegir, Lung, Ursus and so many other races of people were walking to and from their destinations. The lights of multiple colors danced in Marth's eyes as the shops disappeared from her vision as quickly as they came.
"Is this your first time in Columbia?"
Marth turned to Closure.
"Yep, it's so bright out there." Marth said.
"Well we are in the capital and since winter is starting up stores are trying to get their newest products out. Winter means more clothing and thus the already big fashion business gets bigger every year." Closure explained.
"I would never expect you to be into fashion Closure, always believing you were all technology and engineering." Ansel said.
"She's only into fashion because of Amiya, I remember when I first joined Rhodes Island. This closet dweller didn't care what she wore, simply wearing the same rotation of clothes. You would have believed she was a homeless stowaway, which isn't too far from the truth now." Warfarin said slyly.
"No one was talking to you. Anyway Amiya did get me into fashion over the years and now I try to keep in check with it so I can teach Kal'tsit the same blessing as Amiya taught me." Closure said.
"Good luck with that, you know that old woman doesn't change that much clothing wise." Warfarin said.
The team reached the hotel they were planning to stay at. The two vampires got their own room while the boys and girls of the reserve team got two rooms separated by gender.
"Finally, a soft bed. Riding in that truck was so draining, it was hard to get in a position to sleep." Cardigan said as her face planted into the bed.
In each room there were two beds, along with a tv. A desk was resting next to the window that gave a good view of what the hotel had to provide which included a pool.
"We'll figure out the arrangements later. I'm going to take a shower." Melantha said as she walked towards the bathroom with a bathrobe in hand.
"I'll join you, I heard someone say that the tubs here are massive." Cardigan said as she followed behind Melantha but stopped momentarily.
"Hey Marth, do you want to take a shower with us again? There is enough space for all three of us." Cardigan asked.
'I want to go but I feel as if I would only annoy Melantha like last time back on the ship, but maybe Cardigan could help with that. No it wouldn't work long term, Melantha will only get more annoyed if that was the case.' Marth thought in fractions of a second.
"I'll have to pass." Marth said as she took a seat at the desk.
"Oh, ok. The offer is always open." Cardigan said as she entered the bathroom and closed the door behind them.
Inside the bathroom Cardigan and Melantha were getting the tub ready which included bubble soap.
"Cardigan, do you think Marth hates me?" She asked.
"No. Why do you think so?" Cardigan responded.
"Every time it is just her and I together I feel very tense. It's kinda like how I feel about Adnachiel. Feels like I struggle at getting to know them." Melantha explained.
"Don't worry about it, it will be over soon anyone because I knw you can make friends with them. Now let's take a bath." Cardigan said as she took off her clothes and hopped in.
Melantha could only sigh and wonder how her friend can act the way she is, although she isn't complaining. "You're the boss today." Melantha said as she followed in Cardigan's actions and got in the tub too.
Now with Marth on her own, she digs into her bag and pulls out a few things: notebook, pencils, headphones, a laptop and a small hard drive.
"So this is everything Mr. Apollo prepared for me. I will never understand so much for me, it's so puzzling to me." Marth said as she started to study the material. "But I'll make him proud."
As she moved stuff around, an envelope fell onto her desk.
From Apollo
To Marth
"Oh it's a letter." Marth opened the letter and unfolded the paper inside it. The paper is your standard sized paper with a single sentence written dead center of the page.
Marth, my student. Today I assign you a task that will truly test and push your abilities to the limit.
The task is becoming friends with your teammates.