I, Appolon, grant thee chapter 15.
But seriously this is the longest chapter I've ever done, the amount of frustration that went in writing this chapter was unhealthy. You know that meme where a guy is sweating in front of his screen while smashing his keyboard trying to beat the game level? Well that literally was me.
There were many things and scenes planned to be put into this chapter that In the end I just said screw it and wrote most of the things.
Well at least you guys have a longer chapter than usual, everyone likes longer chapter right guys?...Guys?
The moon was brightly shining through the sky along with some shiny little dots. Erebus was contemplating the stars as his hands rested on the edge of the balcony. He didn't know why he adored the sight of the night, maybe it was because as humans they were conditioned to live through the day while the night was meant for people to rest. And yet, despite the night being devoid of any light it still held a its charm. Everything around him was quiet and peaceful, something he never had the opportunity to experience as a child. His silver eyes looked down from the sky and rested of the vast empire that could be seen from the top of his castle. The sound of festivities could be heard from miles away as the soldiers were celebrating their recent victory against a nearby kingdom invasion, this war wasn't the hardest they fought however it was the most unexpected they faced in years. It was due to the wyverns that invaded their frontlines, even his strongest knights couldn't manage to take them down which forced him to go on the battlefield. However the wyverns efforts to overpower him were futile with the black flower in his possession.
Nobody could stop him, not even the wrathful gods that wished to end humanity. Erebus was already a powerful warrior before discovering the black flower but now with it, he had transcended beyond any powerful being and soon he will surpass even the gods. The flower had revealed to him other realms that existed, places that surpassed his wildest expectations. But he couldn't travel to them for the time being, maybe in the future when he would be capable of using the flower's power at its full potential. After all why would he be content in only ruling Midgard when he could be conquering the whole world. Erebus smirked as he could feel the flower powers growing within him with each passing night.
''he's waiting for us.''
Erebus was brought out of his thoughts upon hearing the voice of someone, he turned around and saw a black haired elf leaning against a wall. One that Erebus could confidently call a true friend despite their childish antics.
''Thank you Silas, let's get this over with.'' Erebus said while walking inside the massive white room along with his friend following behind him.
''Why are you in such a hurry? Are the stars more interesting than accepting a drink at the tavern with your friend?'' Silas asked while crossing his arms, he always liked to spend some time at the tavern and possibly get drunk however having his friend to spend the night with was always more interesting.
''I'm in charge of this empire now, so you will excuse me if I don't have time to get drunk.'' Erebus then grinned at him. ''And at least I'm able to remember the difference between a horse and a human after I drink.
''I don't know what your talking about, I can tell the difference between them when I'm drunk.'' Silas said while scowling at him. This earned him a deadpan look from Erebus.
''You literally gave a whole glass of alcohol to a horse while singing. Do you know the carnage this horse did?'' Erebus said while remembering the memories.
''It was only one time!'' Silas embarrassingly admitted while throwing his hands in the air. ''And I bet you did worst than me, you're just too stubborn to admit it.''
''Sure, whatever you say.'' Erebus playfully rolled his eyes, the two of them arrived at the end of a hall, Erebus opened the massive golden door and stepped inside a red room while Silas closed the door behind them, two knights approached them and bowed respectful before their sovereign.
''The guest is awaiting for your presence, my lord.''
Erebus gave them a nod of approval before making his way towards the massive table that was occupied by a middle aged king sitting on a chair before also taking a seat while Silas sat next to him. The king stopped fidgeting with his beard as he saw two young man sitting down at the table, however the one that caught his attention was the white haired sovereign.
''What matter did you wish to discuss with me Erebus?'' The middle aged man bitterly asked, he knew the young man sitting before him was dangerous and powerful. Which made him furthermore question what the subject of this meeting could possibly be about.
''I'll get straight to the point since I don't have much time.'' Erebus leaned against the back of his chair while leering down at the king. ''I want your kingdom to become part of my empire, everyone across these lands knows who I am and they also know how much power and influence I hold over them. Some kingdoms are still waging war against each other's as we speak, it is only a matter of time before they collapse. A few of them have even tried overpowering my empire, however those who were foolish enough to attempt knows very well the inevitable outcome.'' Erebus calmly explained while never breaking eye contact with the king before him. However he noticed the uneasy glances Silas had given him but dismissed them.
''Is this some kind of joke?! Do you honestly believe that I'll accept this proposition?!'' The middle aged king laughed as he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. ''You clearly are young, I've heard the stories about you. You're nothing more than a tyrannical monster who oppress and kill whoever refuse to serve you, but let me tell you something boy. Your pitiful tactics won't work against me. For you see, unlike others who bends to your whims I'm not afraid to declare war against you.''
Silas was about to intervene but Erebus put a reassuring hand on his shoulder while sinisterly smiling towards the king, making him understand that he was in charge of the situation.
''A tyrannical monster you say? This is coming from the mouth of a pitiful man who threatens to decapitate his own people if they don't live up to your expectations. Let's also not forget you're the one forcing most families to give up their children's for you to use them as a trading merchandise.'' Erebus sternly said while furiously glaring at the man before him. He couldn't believe the hypocrisy that he was witnessing.
After hearing this the king fumed in rage and slammed his fist on the table. Never has he been disrespected this much through his entire life.
''Lies! You cannot provide any evidence for these absurd accusations!'' The middle aged king shouted while glaring at Erebus, before he could say another word his body suddenly freezes at seeing the grey eyes that promised him a swift death if he didn't control his anger.
''I'm sure the feudal lord would gladly be delighted to offer some evidence.'' Erebus deviously smirked while being unfazed by the king's outburst, instead the man flinched at hearing the feudal lord being brought up. ''This is your last chance of accepting my offer, if you do then not only will I spare your kingdom and you will also benefit of all the advantages that comes from serving under my empire. but you would also be protected from other kingdom's invasions.''
''I've heard enough of you Erebus, be prepared because you've just signed your own demise.'' The king spat with venom before getting up and making his way towards the golden door. As he was about to open them Erebus voice stopped him.
''Mark my words old man, in a year you'll come crawling at my feet. Begging for me to spare you. Pleading me to accept you under my empire, and do you know what I'll say?'' Erebus turned his head and give the man the most twisted smile he could offer. ''That you've signed your own demise.''
After the king left the room in rage Silas looked at his white haired friend besides him with uncertainty. Was Erebus really going to declare war against another kingdom? Hadn't he already conquered enough of them already? As much as he didn't want to admit it, Erebus wasn't the same person he once knew. When they first met he deduced that Erebus was a man of few words. He always seemed cold and distant while also carrying a hint of sadness in his eyes, he guessed that something must've happened to him. As the time went on, their rivalry slowly turned into friendship which was a good thing as they saw each other's as brothers rather then friends, for the first time he saw Erebus genuinely smiling and laughing with him as they went on adventure. That is until the flower became his obsession, after that Erebus reverted to being colder and cruel however it was even worst than before. And that bothered Silas however he didn't have any idea on how to discuss this subject with his friend.
''Well that concludes this meeting then...'' Erebus then looked at his trusted friend before smiling at him. ''You know what Silas? Let's go to the tavern and spend the rest of the night there, whatever I had planned can wait for tomorrow.''
''A-are you sure it's a good idea?'' Silas worryingly asked, while he was happy that Erebus finally accepted his offer he still was thinking about what the king had said.''Tell me, are you really gonna kill everyone? You know there are children and innocent people that didn't ask any off this...right?''
Erebus stared at him with a unreadable face before breaking into a small laughter. ''Of course not! I'm not a monster!'' His laughter died down before looking at Silas with a serious expression. ''You're the kindest elf I've ever known, sometimes I wonder if you're even one.''
''What's that supposed to mean?'' Silas frowned at him, ''Are you saying that I'm fragile? Don't forget I'm an assassin Erebus, I've killed my share of people however the ones I killed were cruel and evil. Not innocent-''
''I was just joking! No need to bark at me, c'mon let's get a drink and forget about this. Besides I bet the horse cannot wait to be offered another drink from you.'' Erebus teased him while getting up.
Silas intensely watched him before sighing and also getting up, ''I've already told you it was a mistake.''
''Sure, then what about that time-''
''Erebus, I swear if you-''
''Alright! Alright!''
Erebus body jolted before he opened his eyes and frantically looked around him, but the only thing that could be seen was the room where he currently was. It didn't take long for him to figure out that it was nothing more than just a dream, and yet it felt so real, the sudden memories of a certain elf came crashing through his mind. Erebus grunted as he gripped his head in agony, his teeth clenched as the pain was becoming unbearable to endure. It lasted for some moments before the pain slowly began disappearing from his head, Erebus breathed deeply as he didn't understand why were these memories were suddenly appearing.
''Silas...'' Erebus muttered while vividly remembering his elf friend, but what exactly happened to him? Was he still alive? Or had he died? These questions run through Erebus mind as he tried remembering what happened between them, but the more he tried remembering the more his head throbbed in pain. There was no point in trying to solve this mystery now, the only thing that mattered was surviving and learning more about the war, Erebus got up to his feet while taking his sword and placed it on his back before stretching his body. After that he walked out of the room and continued until reached the metal fences and pushed them open before arriving at the center of the camp, the sound of people talking with each other's filled his ears as he saw everyone doing their own thing while some did nothing. His grey eyes narrowed as he saw a group of Yorha soldiers that were occasionally glancing at him while also pointing towards his direction, the last thing he needed was unwanted attention and especially from a group of woman wearing a blindfold. Erebus didn't pay them any attention and walked through the camp while avoiding eye contact with them until he reached a secluded corner of the camp, there were some seats that were present which he didn't hesitate and sat down while rubbing his eyes.
''There you are, mind hearing me out for a minute?''
Erebus was beginning to regret coming in this camp, but for couldn't do anything about it for now. He instead decided to bite down any possible insult that threatened to escape his lips and turned around, he was more than surprised to see Anemone standing in front of him with her arm crossed. Judging by the resistance leader expression, it wasn't hard to deduce that she wasn't acting like herself which made him wonder if he was responsible for her odd conduct, deciding to get this conversation over with. Erebus gave her a questioning look which seemed to work as she uncrossed her arms and rubbed her eyes temple's.
''Some of my resistance members just came back injured from a mission, they were supposed to gather some tools not far from the resistance camp. but on their way back a group of machines ambushed them and-''
''And your point being?'' Erebus harshly interrupted her as he already knew where this conversation was going, he didn't care about the resistance members conditions in the slightest. What interested him was knowing what did she want from him, after all why would she come to him for help when there were more than a hundred of capable soldiers inside this camp that were equipped with weapons. Were these people so weak that they couldn't even deal with some mere machines? Furthermore he felt as if these Yorha soldiers didn't care at all about the people here, if they valued the people lives in this camp then there would be more of them guarding this place. However Erebus didn't care if they all died or not, if anything it would only benefit him if they were to get killed. But for now the only possible thing he could do was manipulate her so that she wouldn't suspect anything strange about him, if that failed then he could always kill her or force the information out of her which made him smirk under his hood.
Anemone didn't say anything but instead scowled at him for rudely cutting her off, but his disinterested look made her understand that he didn't want to waste any more time in hearing her excuses. She sighed in frustration before looking deeply into his silvery eyes that made her feel oddly small. ''Look, I need you to destroy these giant machines for us. I would've asked the Yorha units instead but all of them suddenly left saying that the commander required them for an important mission. You're my last option I have left...Please?''
Erebus thought about what she said and couldn't help but to be intrigued by the venom in her voice while mentioning about the commander, this was clearly his chance to learn more about the enemy. ''Who's this commander that you've mentioned just now?''
''Of course you wouldn't know about her...'' Anemone said while rubbing her face. ''She's the leader of the Yorha army, the reason why there's even Yorha soldiers here is because she stationed them on earth. To help every resistance camp in this continent including ours in dealing with the machines that are taking over this region, we're the only camp around the city ruins also.''
''I've never heard about the Yorha army.'' Erebus lied while frowning. ''Doesn't everyone here serve under Yorha? If that's correct then where is their quarters located at?''
Anemone didn't answer immediately but narrowed her green eyes as she noticed his sudden curiosity in learning about Yorha, which surprised her since he never seemed to shown any type of interest in engaging a conversation, nonetheless she still offered him an answer. ''No the resistance doesn't serve under Yorha or else I wouldn't be standing in front of you asking for help, the resistance and Yorha are both part of the army of humanity. Also their quarters aren't located on earth...''
''Then where are they?'' Erebus curiously asked with some hint of desperation that luckily went unnoticed by her.
''In space.'' Anemone answered him while pointing her finger towards the sky, she closely watched him lifting his head towards the sky for some time before slowly looking back at her with a blank expression.
''...They descended from the stars?'' Erebus asked in disbelief, this must be some kind of joke. ''Do you realise just how ridiculous this sounds?''
''I don't see what's ridiculous about an orbital space station being located in space...'' Anemone raised an eyebrow at his odd response.
''Orbital space...station? Is this some kind of realm?'' Erebus narrowed his eyes as he intensely observed her, studying her face to see if she was pretending to not understand what he was saying. But the only thing he could see through her green eyes were confusion and suspicion.
''Realm? What are you even talking about?'' Anemone suspicion only grew as his response were beginning to make less sense than before, it was almost like he wasn't from this world. Anemone eyes narrowed as she realised there wasn't much she knew about this mysterious guy origins, she didn't even know why he was hiding his face. This man was unusually strange and also spoke in a strange manner, she has seen some strange androids through the years however none of them came close as the one before her. This only made her curiosity grow as she needed to learn more about him and where exactly did he came from, however she wouldn't pester him with her questions for the time being. However she would watch him closely from now on.
''Anyways, that's not what I wanted to discuss. Times running out which means I need to know if you are capable of dealing with these machines.'' Anemone crossed her arms while hoping he would accept her request which he did but not without shooting her a glare, she didn't understand the reason for it. But it wasn't important, what mattered was that he accepted her request by getting up from his seat. She watched him stepping in front of her while awaiting for further explanations, a faint grin appeared on her lips as she began informing him on everything he needed to know about his upcoming mission.
After finishing his given mission by Anemone, Erebus aimlessly wondered around the city ruins in hopes of finding something interesting before returning to the resistance camp. He honestly was expecting more of a challenge from these machines due on how the resistance leader described them as a potential danger for everyone within the camp however these machines weren't a challenge at all, not even worth calling it a warm up but he knew it was nobody else fault but his for placing his expectations high. Erebus wanted to laugh at everything these resistance members founded to be worth worrying about, they clearly haven't experienced a real war. He genuinely didn't know how this camp was still standing intact, but he knew it was only a matter of time before the resistance camp along with its people would perish.
There wasn't much to do in these deserted streets however the breathtaking view of his surroundings was enough to compensate for his boredom, despite everything around him being old and rusted it still held a certain amount of charm. Erebus kept walking through the streets until something caught his attention, before him stood a small river surrounded by trees and bushes. There wasn't a single machine nearby, which was quite strange since a place like this would usually be infested with machines, but he wasn't going to complain about it.
As Erebus quietly walked closer towards the river's edges he began noticing there was a narrow path that continued behind the bushes. It intrigued him to know what lies beyond this secret path, after some reflection he decided to walk past the bushes while awaiting for the worst to happen. His eyes widened as a small shop stood before him, the decayed state of the room could be seen through the doors while some windows were missing glass pieces. But what stood out the most were the strange written symbols that were engraved on the walls above him, it certainly wasn't Angelic but rather an unknown language he wasn't familiar with. Erebus frowned as he opened the door while slowly reaching for his Beastlord, wasting no time he immediately began inspecting the corners before entering the shop. His grip tightened on his sword as he prepared himself for anything that would suddenly come out of the shadows, to his relief nobody could be heard inside the shop except for himself. However just because there wasn't any potential danger didn't mean he would drop his guard.
Erebus winced as each step he took made a creaking noise, everything around him was either broken or damaged which didn't surprise him anymore. The shelves were laying on the floor while plants were growing out from everywhere inside the shop, Erebus glanced around himself until his grey eyes landed on the shop counter. Carefully he walked behind it and searched for any valuable but to his frustration there wasn't anything worth keeping, that is until he found a metallic box resting beneath his feet. 'How didn't I noticed it sooner?' Erebus took the box in his hands and put it down on the counter before opening it, he carefully took the strange object out of the box and inspected it. His eyes rested on a small pale statue that had a feminine shape, strangely something about this figure was captivating him.
Erebus's body went rigid as the statue slowly began turning its head towards him before wildly smiling, he immediately dropped the statue on the ground while backing away against a wall. This resulted him to knock down a shelf before also falling down on the ground, his body was slightly shaking while his breathing were slowly becoming uncontrollable. Erebus regained his breath before picking himself from the ground and slowly crawled towards the statue, his hand trembled as he hesitantly reached towards the statue before grabbing it. After some moments he quickly pulled the statue close to his eyes, but to his shock the statue was no longer smiling. Erebus eyes were filled with fright as he wondered what exactly just happened, was he hallucinating? Had he lost his mind?
''Wait, I think there's someone inside this shop.''
Erebus eyes widened as he heard someone coming closer towards his hideout, he needed to hide quickly or else whoever that person was would discover him and possibly alert those who accompanied them. He frantically glanced around him trying to find a hiding spot until he noticed there was a gap between the floor and the counter, he managed to crawl underneath the counter despite having both swords on him and patiently waited while hearing the sound of the shop door being open. Soon the sound of footsteps could be heard resonating all over the shop as Erebus intensely watched through the narrowed view of his hiding spot, a pair of heels suddenly appeared from beside a shelf. He quietly watched the person from his hiding spot walking back and forth while inspecting the shop, the only thing he could see were the person's heels tapping against the floor making a creaking sound. Erebus was slowly becoming anxious as he saw the person had stopped right in front of his hiding spot, he could feel this person was specifically looking for something or rather someone. He held his breath for some moments hoping this person would leave this place, after what felt like hours the person began walking away from his hideout making him to deeply exhale the breath he was holding in his lungs.
''C'mon, there's nobody in this rotted place.''
''I'm pretty sure that I heard something.''
''It must've been a bird or a wild animal, we're wasting our time here.''
''...Maybe you're right, alright let's leave.''
Erebus breathed in relief as he heard the duo leaving the shop, he couldn't believe that he almost got discovered by someone inside this shop. Erebus grunted as he crawled out from his hiding spot and picked himself off the ground while dusting his cape, Erebus looked through the window and decided it was time for him to return at the resistance camp. As he was about to leave he spared one last glance towards the statue on the floor before making his way towards the shop entrance and opened the doors before leaving.
After arriving at the resistance camp Erebus went straight towards Anemone's room while avoiding the people's comment as they passed by him, they weren't saying anything interesting that would be worth listening so it didn't matter what they said to him as long as nobody bothered grabbing him. After arriving in front of the resistance leader's room Erebus walked through it and saw Anemone looking at some papers before turning around and stared at him with an astonished expression, she putted the papers down on the desk and quickly walked towards him until she was standing before him.
''Where were you? You've been gone for hours, I was about to send someone out there looking for you.'' Anemone asked with a displeased tone before crossing her arms. ''Why didn't you contact me? Do you realise what you've done is completely reckless and dangerous?''
Erebus blankly stared at her as he couldn't tell if she was mocking him or was simply stupid enough to think that he needed help and especially from the likes of her, he didn't need anyone's help and much less for killing machines. Maybe she needed a reminder to who she was talking to, ''Let me make this very clear woman, I don't need your help nor do I own you an explanation on where I was.''
''Yes you do! I'm the leader of this camp and it's my duty to watch over everyone and make sure that nobody gets injured because of their reckless decision like you just did! What if I had send someone out looking for you and they get injured or even worst because of your selfish act!'' Anemone retorted while raising her voice.
''I don't care about what happens to anyone here, what matters to me is that I accomplish my duties. Anything besides that isn't my concern, and you should be grateful that I've even accepted your mission as you call it.'' Erebus harshly said while glaring at her, who did this woman think she was?
Anemone furiously scowled at him while getting close to his face, the height difference made it hard to look at him straight into his eyes however she didn't care. Her lips twitched as she wanted to yell at him for his attitude, she didn't understand why he was behaving like this. They had lost many androids through the years and what helped them overcome their losses was that everyone inside this camp helped and supported each other's through the hardest time, trust and companionship were rare virtues among androids these days. And yet here he was spitting on everything they valued.
''Besides you've never given me any communication tool.'' Erebus said with irritation, he didn't understand why he was being scowled for not reporting his mission when she hadn't gave him anything after explaining the mission details. Not that he would've communicated with her anyway.
Anemone blinked for some time before her cheeks flustered, she was berating him for something that wasn't even his fault. She wanted to slap herself for forgetting to give him a communication device, something terrible could've happened to him because of her mistake.
''...You're right I didn't give you anything, i'm deeply sorry for lashing out at you. With everything that happened-'' Anemone couldn't finish apologising as for her mistake as he began walking towards the exit, she went after him and grabbed his shoulder but immediately regretted it as he furiously glared at her.
''Look, I-'' Anemone was interrupted by him suddenly closing the gap between them.
''Listen closely, I don't belong to you or anyone else. Don't forget you're the one who came to me because of your people's incompetence, even if you would've given me a communication device I wouldn't have used it.'' Erebus said in a quiet but stern tone as he walked towards her personal making her slowly backing away until she nearly stumbled over the table. ''Let this be the last time you insult my survival capabilities.''
''I...I was worried about you, just like I am with everyone else in this camp.'' Anemone admitted while her body was still pressed against the table, why was she trembling?
''You don't seem to understand that your worries matters very little to me woman, you should be more worried about your people because they clearly are the ones incapable of surviving outside this camp.'' Erebus harshly said while bringing his face close to hers, he was a proud warrior and wouldn't accept to be looked down upon as a stray child that needed assisting.
Anemone opened her mouth to say anything but couldn't bring herself to, as much as she hated to admit it he was right. They weren't strong or capable of surviving individually on their own which is why they always stayed in groups in order to stay alive, the machines were rapidly evolving while their weapons were barely effective against them. Maybe that's why she was shocked when he first came out of nowhere with nothing more than a giant sword on him, the amount of swordsmanship it takes to being able to survive in this war with nothing more than a sword was anything but to take lightly. This was one of the reasons that she offered to stay, not to forget that he wasn't even a Yorha unit which impressed her even more as they were the only ones capable of such feat.
''...It was a test to see if you were truly capable of dealing with machines while also being trustworthy,'' Anemone bit her lip as her green eyes avoided his glare. ''I shouldn't have doubted your skills, you probably must've been out there surviving longer than anyone else.''
''You're pathetic.''
''...W-what?''
''You were trying to spy on me...'' Erebus coldly stated. ''I knew you had another motive the moment you asked for my help, why else would you come pleading to a stranger you barely know? But unfortunately you were so caught up in scheming your plan that you've forgotten to give me the most essential tool in order for your plan to succeed.''
Erebus concluded there wasn't anything left to say and decided to leave the room without bothering sparing another glance towards her desolated state.
2B was slouching on her bed while staring at the white walls of her room, her fingers were unconsciously tracing along her palm while not paying attention to anything. Her brow furrowed as the memories of Erebus clouded her mind, she didn't know what to do anymore, no matter how many hours she trained it would never compare to Erebus's strength. She had experienced everything from humiliation to agony while fighting him and it tormented her everyday, her hands trembled as it slowly became unbearable to even imagine what would've happened if nobody had saved her each time she was at his mercy.
''Are you in there 2B? It's 60!''
2B slightly jumped before sighting in relief as she wasn't expecting for 60 looking for her, nonetheless she invited her inside. ''Come in, it's open anyways.''
She watched the blonde operator enthusiastically stepping inside her room before the door closed behind her, as their eyes met 2B could see the joyful smile that spread across 60 lips before she walked towards her bed and expectantly stared at her. 2B nodded as she understood what the blonde operator was requesting and pushed herself at the other side of her bed letting some space for 60 to sit which she gently did before kicking her feet in the air. 2B frowned as she couldn't comprehend how the blonde operator could always be cheerful despite their cursed existence.
''So...How are you doing 2B?'' 60 calmly asked while facing the room's ceiling. She knew that 2B wasn't behaving like her usual self for the past month but with the amount of work she dealt there wasn't much time for them to talk.
''I'm doing just fine, what about you?'' 2B firmly replied. That's how she's always been, just fine.
''The commander doesn't show us operators any mercy with her tasks! I've had mountains of duties to do while 210 barely had any to do! Can you believe it?'' 60 complained while crossing her arms ''...Do you know what I think?''
''What?'' 2B flatly asked with a hint of curiosity.
''I think the commander is doing favouritism!'' 60 childishly exclaimed, ''I always knew 210 was commander's favourite operator despite how I work hard!''
''You cannot be serious...'' 2B blankly stared at the blonde operator in disbelief, she forgot how childish 60 could act sometimes.
''I know, right?! I was just as surprised as you when I thought about it! I can't wait to reveal to 210 what we've discovered.'' 60 eyes were filled with determination as she imagined the scene, however her mischievous smile soon fell into a frown as she saw 2B's somber expression. She had an idea on what bothered her friend but she still needed to be sure.
''...You both still haven't talked to each other's yet, right?'' 60 asked while watching the white haired battle unit, the glimpses of sadness in 2B's eyes told her everything she needed to know. ''You can't keep ignoring each other's for eternity.''
''I've tried talking to her, but the moment I open my mouth nothing comes out. It's best if we leave it at that,'' 2B sighed before closing her eyes. ''There's nothing left to say between us anyways.''
''That's not true, i know 210 is still affected by what happened to 9S even if she tries to hide it.'' 60 protested before resting her hand on 2B's shoulder making her startled by the sudden contact. ''I've tried comforting her but she always dismiss any attempts on talking about this subject, you're the only person that was personally close to 9S aside from her. Which is why you're the most suited person she could have as support, she needs you...Please don't let her down 2B, alright?''
2B's eyes were filled with disbelief as she stared at the blonde operator at the opposite side of her bed, she never would've have thought that underneath 60's childish personality laid a calm and mature character. This only made 2B's chest tightened as she realised that never once has she thought about 210 feelings. However there wasn't much that could be done now.
''It's far too late for that 60...'' 2B muttered loud enough for 60 to hear, she could feel the disheartened look her operator gave her.
''Plea-''
''However, I guess talking to 210 wouldn't hurt me after all...'' 2B continued before seeing her operator gasp in delight, with a frightening speed 60 closed the distance between them and embraced her into a hug.
''Thank you, you're the best.'' 60 happily said before slowly releasing 2B from her embrace, she was relieved to know things were about to change her friends.
''Don't thank me, I haven't done anything yet.'' 2B replied in a dull tone, ''I'll talk to her after since the commander will soon require my presence on earth.''
After some moments of silence 2B lifted her head and saw the blonde operator blankly staring at her.
''60, are you-''
''Damn it! I forgot to send my reports to the commander, she's going to kick my ass for it!'' 60 screamed as she rushed through the door but not before peaking her head back. ''We'll talk next time! Alright bye!''
2B sighted after 60's departure, she dreaded at the thought of 210 refusing to talk with her. But staying inside her room wasn't going to heal things between them. 'Hopefully 210 will be willing listening to me.'
