The Russian was dazed the entire flight home. Countless thoughts ran through her head as she stared outside, admiring the clouds. She couldn't help but chuckle at the previous lines that their former captain had told her.
"Look at the sky and look for a cloud shaped like an animal."
That was so long ago, even before… Before she died. Before she sacrificed herself to save them. The memory was as clear as day. Ever since she laid eyes on that girl earlier, she couldn't stop thinking about her.
The girl had the same caramel colored eyes. The same cheeky smile, audacious and impudent attitude. The same one that caused her to loathe her at first. The hair color was questionable. There was a great contrast between pitch black and platinum gold, height as well.
And the fact that they saw her body being burnt and life being drained away.
"Oi." A sharp voice had snapped her from her thoughts, she looked over to her left and a dark-skinned man with white hair had met her eyes. "Anything worth sharing?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow.
Alisa shook her head, would it be worth telling him? "I was just thinking of her." She noticed the slight flinch and pained expression that the other hid by looking away.
"Thinking of her won't bring her back." She nodded at the cold statement. Despite him saying that, she knew that behind that cold exterior was sorrow. He had been the closest to her before she passed on.
"You're right." But that would allow her to live forever. Perhaps it was time that she lit a candle for her later on.
Walking around aimlessly, Brynn pondered why that girl was so familiar. Maybe they've met before? She was dying to know who she was. She knew the name, she asked Julius before she left for the mission.
Alisa Illinichina Amiella. She struggled to remember the name due to its length and complicatedness. She already struggled with her name, she was too lazy to even write it down fully. Imagine if she had to complete some test or something, she remembered seeing those in the Norn. Where you had to shade boxes as your answers and names had a certain number of spaces.
'23 letters for a name? How many letters did the alphabet have again?' Her contemplation had been cut short when a sound from her comm distracted her. She groaned, forgetting to decrease the volume.
"Blood Alpha, are you ready for extraction?" She loomed over the waters of the destroyed roads. Its blue and white hues blending together well despite how demolished the place is. She couldn't help but think of how nice this place must have been before it had been wrecked by aragami. According to the Norn, the place was previously known as Sapporo.
"Blood Alpha? Are you active?" She was brought back to reality upon hearing the voice. She pressed on her comm to respond.
"Yes, ready for extraction." The line went blank, leaving her to her thoughts again.
A strong gust of wind had caused her to turn abruptly, her eyes widened at what she saw. A girl with dark brown locks that reached below her chin, violet eyes, and an ominous smile. She was dressed in flimsy red halter and pants that were ripped in some parts. She had a piece of cloth tied around her waist.
"Aren't you a curious one." She voiced out in a singsong manner. "Do you really wanna know who you really are?" Brynn cocked an eyebrow at this and firmly gripped her scythe. The mysterious girl noticed this and chuckled, "Calm down, tiger. I'm not going to bite." She grinned, showing her sharp incisors.
"Yeah, that really is convincing." She sarcastically replied with an eye roll. Her grip did loosen upon seeing the armlet that the other one had. But, why would a God Eater go out without her God Arc?
As if the girl had been reading her mind, she answered, "It's under repair. Listen, Eos." Eos? Brynn's eyebrows scrunched together in an annoyed function. Irritated at the fact that some random girl was getting on her nerves and suddenly calling her names and even tempting her. "I have a proposal."
A glare, one that lived out the saying if looks could kill, appeared on Brynn's face. "Why would I accept an offer from someone that I don't even know?" The stranger was really putting her off. She usually was calm and collected, rarely upset and aggravated by people. (Unless they steal her fried chicken, like a certain black haired girl did once, and never again.) The giggle only fueled her irritation.
"Nessa. Nessa Volere. Not that it's an important detail. No." The girl, Nessa, slyly replied. She cleared her throat before continuing, "As I was saying earlier, before you decided to interrupt me." Brynn huffed. "I have a proposal."
"Not interested." Brynn swung Auricle over her shoulder before walking away. She needed to make it back to the extraction point, it was getting kind of chilly anyways.
A giggle had nearly stopped her from her tracks as it brought goosebumps to her skin, "Even if it causes you to remember everything?" She didn't stop walking. "Wouldn't you want to know what branch you came from? Or who that Alisa girl was? Or maybe even your parents and how you became a God Eater."
It was her principle to not make deals with people that were anomalous, but the girl was tugging on her curiosity. It was true that she wanted to know those things, maybe listening to the girl's proposal wouldn't be so bad, right?
"What do you want?" She gave in, failing to see the victorious smirk that the other had on her face.
"Ah, so I finally caught you attention? Here I thought that you'd be more stubborn. Oh well, not that I'm complaining." She felt her grip around her Scythe tighten, feeling the cold steel against her bare skin. The girl continued to ramble on, putting her in a state of anticipation of what deal the other had in mind.
"Oi, stop wasting my time."
Nessa huffed in annoyance, "You're starting to act like… Oh! I almost slipped." She hummed for awhile, "Let's call him Aion. Yeah, that's perfect. Anyways! So here's the deal, sweet Eos." There was a glint of mischievousness in her eyes that Brynn knew did not mean anything good. She listened on anyways.
"Once you've done all that, I'll tell you everything."
Those words continued to pester her on the flight back. She just arrived back at Friar and was currently making her way to the garden, where Ciel had requested them to meet. She needed something to do take her mind off things anyways. Company would do her good as well.
"Vice Captain, you made it." Despite the seriousness that was present in Ciel's tone. She knew that there was a tinge of enthusiasm in what she said which put her a bit at ease. She found it nice that she managed to break through the silver-haired girl's shell. Brynn skipped towards her with a sheepish grin on her face.
She couldn't tell her the exact same reason why she was late, but she could somehow say a creative truth, "Chi-You was being difficult." She managed to convince the younger one. "So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?" She asked with a genuine smile recalling the email that the girl had sent her.
From: Ciel Alençon
Subject: Informal Meeting
Message: Hello, Vice Captain. Do you have time later? There's something that I would like to discuss with you.
Ciel Alençon
"Ah, of course." She paused for a while, "Blood is an amazing unit, capable of coordinating and operating well despite the different personalities and styles of each member." She gave a rare gentle smile, "I'm truly glad that I am part of Blood, although…" Brynn noticed the sadness flash in the younger one's eyes. "I believe that the others believe that I am too assertive regarding the tactics that I've been trying to reach out to them with." She paused and looked up at the Blonde who had been listening patiently, "I was wondering…"
"If we could be friends?" Her words earned her a wide-eyed look from her companion. She had been expecting this, thinking that the Vice Captain would take it in a negative manner and would even reject her. Nevertheless, what the other did in response had taken her by surprise.
"You don't even need to ask that, Ciel." She felt the other's vibrations as she spoke. Her forehead had been pressed against the taller one's sternum, she felt a pair of warm arms wrapping around her. Habitually, she would have put on a defensive mode and push someone away or moved away whenever someone had gotten too close, but for some reason, she was at ease. She didn't feel the need to do such.
"I am honored that you want me to be your friend." The blonde continued, placing her chin over the other's head. "I am also certain that the others aren't upset with you, they want to reach out. But honestly, you are kind of hard to see through." She slightly pulled away to get a good look at Ciel. A grin reached her face upon seeing the happy look that she had been met with.
"Really? Thank you so much, Vi-"
"Just Brynn, Ciel." She softly reminded. She knew that the other would press on with calling her by that title but she wouldn't tire of reminding them.
"Thank you, Brynn." She corrected herself, albeit uncomfortable calling her superior in such a casual manner, "I'm happy to have my first friend."
A pair of bright yellow eyes met her caramel colored ones, the scene was in a snowy and cold place. The dark blue skies and white ground had filled her vision. A white figure in front of her, which sported the yellow eyes, whispered in a soft yet audible voice.
"I'm hungry?"
She woke up. It was another of those weird dreams that she had been constantly having. Her eyes met the moon which was now green in color for some reason. She recalled it being white, but maybe her 3 years of being inactive had modified some of her prior knowledge.
It's bright hues light up the night sky, she sighed after running a hand through the grass that surrounded her. "I fell asleep, again." Her stomach growled in response. "I suppose that dreams do have meaning." She scoffed at the thought before pushing herself up. How long has she been here? It must have been a couple of hours since she and Ciel had talked. She insisted on staying as the other left to finish more tactics and edit some bullets.
"I wonder if they saved me my dinner." She grumbled while making her way to the elevator, mumbling something along the lines of, "There's fried chicken tonight."
He hadn't seen her all day and he was getting worried that the girl must have gotten herself into trouble again. It was a normal occurrence especially if the girl was out on her own. He had heard from the operator that his vice captain had gone out on a solo mission.
"The idiot hasn't eaten yet either." The 6 footer stared down on the two trays that he had set in front of him. The cafeteria was about to close, they were allowed to stay but they wouldn't have food if the services close.
He did promise her lunch after all. He chuckled to himself of how much of a freeloader the vice captain was. Still, despite her being playful, rowdy and sarcastic. No one could say no to her. She had a charm that not even their own captain could resist. She was capable of making everyone to give in to her wants.
She had them wrapped around her finger. Not in a bad way, she didn't seem like the type to take advantage of people. She was usually joking around about people treating her but they would anyways.
"Speak of the devil." He mused after seeing the girl he was thinking about enter the area. He saw the pout on her face as she glanced around the empty glass storages that once contained food. The cafeteria had closed and left her to either starve the entire night. Or to burst into someone's room and snack on whatever they had. She had Nana's room in mind.
He waited for her to notice him. Trying not to deter his gaze while the other wandered around, she eventually turned to where he was sitting and her face lit up like a Christmas tree. She skipped to where he was sitting and perched on the bench across him.
"Gilbert~" She chanted his name while eyeing the food. He knew what she wanted and with a sigh, pushed the tray towards her. She further beamed and stood up to hug the male, a blush spread across his face causing him to pull his cap farther down. "You love me~" He scoffed at this, but that had been ignored by the female.
The brunette couldn't help but speculate why the girl was extremely moody. She would appear serious then suddenly switch to someone who was cheerful and annoying, then she would be quiet again. It most likely depends on who she was with. He shrugged the thought upon realizing that it was normal behavior.
"Eat before it gets called." He coldly stated while pushing her away, this caused her to tuck her tongue into her cheek while traipsing over to her seat. She clasped her hands together and mumbled a small prayer. Earning a questioning look from the taller male. She dismissed it and gave a small smile then they ate.
Gil watched from under his cap how fast the girl ate. It wasn't that she was a messy eater, she just ate at a pace that was quicker than him. Of course, not as fast as Nana. No one could rival her.
"So I heard that you went on a solo mission?" He broke the silence, the two were done eating but continued to converse in the cafeteria. They had the place all to themselves.
The blonde nodded, "Yeah, Dr. Rachel's request." She pushed her tray to the side, the male doing the same.
She had been going on these missions a lot lately, the doctor claiming that she needed the cores for one of her projects, of course, she didn't ask. It was somehow none of her business anyways. She had gone on 3 already within the week and knew that she possibly would be subjected to more in the coming days. It didn't bother her too much, the missions were relatively easy and she wasn't being forced to do anything to dangerous. Although, she did want to know why she was the one chosen. Even before she had the title of Vice Captain, she was brought out on these missions.
"Ah, by the way." Gil brought her out of her thoughts, "Ciel approached me earlier. Apologizing…' His voice trailed off, Brynn gave a small smile and a nod of approval.
"That's good, I suppose that she's finally opening up." She was happy that the talk that the two previously had, managed to get through the girl's heart. She wasn't entirely sure if what she said was the right thing to say. She wasn't the best at this kinds of things. She just said whatever felt right.
The two continued to idly chat when a yawn from Brynn had caused them to realize what time it already was. The blonde was the first to stand up, "Hey, Gil. Thanks for the food, we should rest. Heard that we have a meeting with the director tomorrow morning." She stretched as her companion followed her in standing up.
"Yeah, I'll go get something to drink." Brynn cocked an eyebrow at this, she knew what he meant by this. He wasn't referring to water or soda. Knowing him, it would be scotch or even drambuie if it was available. Since she wasn't fond of drinking, only during special occasions or celebrations, she would give him her share. She shrugged her shoulders in response and began to walk towards the housing areas.
"Don't stay up too late." She reminded him before leaving the cafeteria.
"Yes, mom." She spun around to roll her eyes at him before walking away for good.
Brynn typed away on the terminal which she secretly loathed. As promised, she returned the Captain's laptop so she was stuck to using her best friend called the terminal.
"They could have provided us with individual laptops instead of these big ass terminals. Would have caused half the credits." She rolled her eyes to no one in particular and worked on the reports. She offered to do half of the Captain's and her own reports.
"That was a stupid idea." She mused out loud.
An email suddenly appeared on her screen. She clicked on the electronic letter and her eyes widened at the message and recipient.
From: Nessa Volere
Subject: It was!
Message: Don't forget about what I told you, dear Eos! It's worth considering.
Her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, she wasn't just annoyed, she was creeped out. How did that strange brunette even know or hear what she said. She closed the email. The thought of the strange girl further bothered her.
After multiple corrections and edits, she finished the reports. She sighed in relief and closed the terminal, plumping down on her bed. She had no idea who that mysterious 'Nessa' was but she didn't seem like someone who she should trust. Not even the slightest. The fact that she appeared out of nowhere and disappeared from her sight, and that whatever had been in the email was something of the present.
Her request had been easy however. It was something that she was willing to do, if asked from someone that she actually knew. It seemed strange coming from the violet-eyed girl.
'To say yes to everything that Rachel asks of you…'
What connections she had with the scientist, she had no idea. She shrugged the thought and figured that if she continued to think so deeply about it, she would get a headache or something. Maybe she was going insane, or hallucinating. Or eating too much fried chicken.