You could almost drown in the near-silence. Not a word was said. The air rested, and even the ever-present drone of the engines seemed to quiet. Tosh tapped his hand on the floor incessantly, gazing into the marble of the pillars, lost in it. The Ember's claws scraped faintly across the floor as she paced this way and that. Ilene rested her delicate head on her sister's shoulder, staring blankly forth. Umbra's pale face was hidden behind a Nyx helmet, but under it her eyes were moist with nothing less than what felt like betrayal.
No one dared bother the Saryn, who was stood, leaning against the wall and biting at her scarlet nails. Her expression was hollow, emotionless, a husk of the vibrant, young woman that they had known not long before. Her cheeks were bleached ivory white, but her eyes were surrounded by swollen, angry red. Her pupils seemed to swallow the empty air. The amaranth colour that shone in her irises before was now a smouldering crimson, burning into whoever held their gaze with hers. She herself, much to her surprise, felt next to nothing.
The scene replayed itself in her head, again, and again. Her thoughts led her nowhere but to the gut-wrenching sight of Ash, sword in hand, staggering out of the room. What shocked her still was that she did not follow him. He... he tried to kill her. She remembered the lost look in his eyes as he came to. There was nothing left of the Ash she knew. Something had changed him.
It's not him. She repeated to herself. It's not him.
She heard the scraping come to a stop. The Ember looked to her, somewhat uneasy. Antheia didn't look back.
"Well?" was the demanding question, spoken from behind the fiery helmet. The others looked up, ears pricked.
"What now?"
"We leave this place." She stated, simply.
The Ember stared back in disbelief.
"What about Ash? Isn't that what we came for?"
"He's gone." Her voice cut like the Fang she spun in between her deft fingers.
"No, he's not!" Ilene jumped up, exclaiming loudly and even grabbing the curious attention of Antheia. Her sister looked up with worry in her eyes.
"What do you think we've come all the way here for? Haven't you forgotten what he's done for you, or for me, for that matter? Don't you appreciate anything?!" Anger and hurt fuelled the wave of psychic energy that flew from her hand, reaching Antheia and scattering a few golden strands of hair across her face. She stared at the ground, ears burning with shame.
"We've come to finish this. He comes home with us, alive or... or dead." Her face crumpled when she finished and she broke down, rejoining her sister, who embraced her with gentle arms.
"She should never have come." Regret lined the Ember's voice, but Antheia felt it was an accusation.
She stayed her tongue; they needed to set aside their quarrels for now. Ilene was right. How could she leave him? He was not the best to deal with, at times, but he was still her brother in battle, and she his sister. The Tenno never left another alone. Loneliness was a familiar enemy, and she knew all too well the pain and anguish it brought in its stride.
"I'm sorry, Ilene. I was wrong. I know he was your teacher, and a bond between sensei and student is not a weak one. We'll find him."
Antheia spoke the words with the utmost tenderness. The past few hours had left her a wreck. She'd only just been cleared.
Antheia almost felt like the visitor from all those years ago, giving noting but kind words of consolation and hugs filled with rose-scented hair. It gave her a kind of pride, to see herself how far she had come from the nervous wreck in an entirely different world, much like the one in front of her.
But none of it without him.
Doubt left her, and the previous determination rushed to replace it.
"I'm going back for him."
The light returned to Ilene's face as she looked up. The Ember turned too, but she was not happy in the slightest.
"In case you haven't forgotten, Saryn, I'm the one who makes the decisions. This trip of yours has nearly killed us, and I don't think staying here will help. We're going home." She ordered, trying her best to keep her authority.
"Fine." Antheia said flatly.
"I'm going after him, whether you like it or not. You two can come with me if you wish. But, seeing as there's no Beacon, it seems that we'll be here a while."
"Come back here, Antheia! I'm not letting you leave!" The Ember snapped.
But she did.