BM - Chapter 10 - Reconvening

"I'm so glad you're ok!"

"We were worried sick!"

The three girls laid in a pile on the sidewalk outside Hololive English HQ. Amelia was being crushed under her friends' weights, as they both tried to get as close to her as possible. She understood Gura's reaction, but Ina being this touchy was certainly a change. Amelia liked this change, though.

"I-I'm fine guys," she tried to say without her lungs collapsing from the weight her friends were putting on her. Slowly, she was allowed to stand up by them. Neither let go of her entirely, though.

"What happened?!" Gura immediately started to ask questions. Ina nodded that she wanted to hear, too. Amelia blinked a few times, trying to process everything that had just happened. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, she felt her legs give out from under her. Thankfully, both Gura and Ina caught her before she could fall.

"Woah, Ame…"

"Are you sure you're ok?!"

They said one after another. Amelia grabbed her head, feeling a pull from within her head. She really, reeeeally needed sleep. It seems like the atmosphere in the Underworld was just preventing her from feeling tired, not stopping here from becoming tired. Now that she was back, it was all hitting her at once.

"It's… a lot… Can I sleep…?" she asked quietly. Ina and Gura looked at her. They wanted answers now, but they knew that it was best if Amelia got to sleep first.

"Here," Ina said, picking Amelia up with two small tentacles. It was only so she could carry Amelia on her own. "Gura, you see what you can figure out from them." She then pointed at the cheery Phoenix and grumpy Reaper that were standing off to the side.

"Ok. Get some rest, Amelia," she said with a soft smile to her almost unconscious friend. Amelia smiled back, indicating that she did hear the kind words directed at her. Gura walked over to Calliope and Kiara for some questioning.

Ina walked Amelia into the building, ready with tentacles in case she fell again. It was a slow walk, but they eventually made it to the elevator in the building. The girls usually preferred the stairs since they were closer to their rooms. The elevator was old and slow, really only meant for people that couldn't get up the stairs. Amelia was one of those people.

"H-how did it… go for you guys…?" Amelia asked just as the elevator doors closed. A sudden shift as the elevator began its accent threw her off balance for a second, but she was able to right herself.

"I'll tell you the details once you rest, but we did it." Ina grinned wide. Amelia looked at her friend, cracking a slight smile of her own before turning back to the elevator doors. The elevator slowed to a stop and they opened with a shudder. No one liked using this elevator because it also didn't feel very safe.

"One step closer… to seeing my timeline… again…" Amelia voice trailed off and she fell forward, completely passing out this time. Ina was ready and caught her, shaking her head. If Amelia needed to pass out like that, she should have done it the first time. It was just more sleep for her. To be fair, Amelia probably wanted to make sure they were successful since half of the reason they went down was because of her time watch.

Ina carried Amelia into her room and placed her gently on the bed. She covered her friend with some blankets and dimmed the lights. She then headed over to her room and walked up to her desk.

The time watch sat, glowing a slight blue through the cracks in its frame. She had tinkered with it slightly, successfully repairing what she assumed was the trigger mechanism. Even if it still looked incredibly beat up, it should theoretically work now.

"Amelia wants this back…" she said to herself. She picked up the watch and felt her grip tighten slightly.

'Priestess, are you thinking-' the Ancient Ones began to speak, but Ina cut them off.

"I think I should still hang onto it for now, though."

Ina returned back down the stairs to find Gura engaged in a slight argument with Calliope. Kiara followed from behind, clearly getting a kick out of the situation.

"Come onnn… You gotta tell me something!" Gura bounced up and down next to the much taller Reaper. She sighed, hands on her hips, trying desperately to tolerate the shorter girl's pleas.

"I said I don't like to repeat myself and yet you are making me do that right now," she said coldly. Gura pouted and shook her fist in the air in protest.

"But if you can repeat yourself now, you can do it later, too." Calliope's eye twitched slightly and she took a deep breath. Ina knew that the Reaper didn't need to breathe, so Gura must really be pestering her.

"Gura, let's just leave her alone for now. They went through a lot, just like us." Gura flipped around, horrified that her friend wasn't taking her side. "Just give them some time to rest. We needed it when we got back." Gura looked down at her shoes and sighed.

"Fine, but I want to know what happened in extreme detail," she looked back up at Calliope and pointed a finger at her. Calliope rolled her eyes.

"I told you I would when the manager, Emersyn, wakes up."

"You should just call her Enma like everyone else does." Gura said. Calliope shrugged.

"Maybe, however, if she doesn't like it I won't." Gura smirked.

"She definitely does!" she said slightly too loudly, giving the impression that she might not be telling the truth. Kiara giggled.

"Anyways, we have some things to do right now. Right Kiara?" Calliope began to walk over to the staircase, passing by Ina.

"Uh, actually I'm very tired, too. Oh Ina, could you carry me up to my bed like what you did with Ame?" She feigned a fainting motion. Calliope frowned, it still wasn't the right time. Ina and Gura didn't notice her reaction and played along with Kiara's game.

To be fair, Kiara was tired. Rebirthing in the Underworld might mean that her memories would be mostly intact, but her stamina wasn't fully restored yet. She still required some sleep.

Ina and Gura carried Kiara into the old elevator and waved goodbye to Calliope. They were going to go to sleep soon, too. If they could make tomorrow and the answers it held come sooner, they were going to try. Calliope returned the gesture, but it was weaker than she wanted. If these were just temporary, light feelings, emotions must really pack a punch.

She slowly walked over to a dark corner of the room and slipped into the shadow. The cold touch of the shadows caused her discomfort for the first time in a long while. Loneliness started to weigh on her. She reappeared in her room and simply stood in place.

Obviously she didn't need sleep like any of the others, but maybe she would just lay down and close her eyes. There was no need for her to be up and about right now. Then again, a lot needed to be thought about.

First off, what was the Hatchery? It hadn't been a single thing like she expected. WIthout even considering the massacre, it didn't seem like it was a Hatchery at all. It was more like a home and workplace. It could be that Phoenixes were using the Time Crystal to experiment with their ability to move between timelines every time they rebirthed. Kiara could have been one of the successful test subjects to not have that "side effect".

The only way they would know for certain would be for Kiara to regain her memories.

But would she even want to anymore?

Calliope knew that she couldn't force Kiara to remember, but she wanted her to. It was the only way she could reciprocate that feeling of love. Finally, it wouldn't be coming from a place of unknown that makes her sick.

If she didn't remember, then Calliope would never be able to accept her.

The Reaper summoned her scythe and swung it through the air. It whistled with speed, but didn't hit anything. It was late at night and she was new here. She had the social understanding that causing a scene would probably not be the best idea. The scythe returned back to the shadows.

Her anger at that moment hadn't been directed at Kiara. It was at herself.

Why did she only seem to care about being able to reciprocate her friend's feelings?

Was that all she cared about?

She'd had this argument with herself before, usually ending with her breaking something and leaving it for later. She would be able to figure out where her reasons laid once she had emotions.

But her conversation with Amelia had changed something in her.

If emotions were going to be as overwhelming as she made them out to be, maybe she should start to work through some of her problems now. Kiara deserved it at the very least.

If there was any time to talk about what had happened, it was now. Calliope walked out of her room and into the hall. She saw Kiara's light was still on and approached the door.

Normally, she would just Shadow Walk into her friend's room, but that just felt wrong now. Even in the toughest of times between them she had never felt this anxious. She knew the feeling would go away as soon as the stimulus did, but it was a weird feeling.

She knocked lightly on the door and saw a shadow move through the crack underneath. Kiara seemingly paused for a second just in front of the door. Calliope began to have second thoughts, but the door was pulled open before she could back track.

"I guess we do have to talk," Kiara said, a fake smile painting her normally cheery face. Calliope gave a sad, forced smile and walked inside.

"Apologies first," Calliope began, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "I am sorry that I hid that from you. I thought it was the best idea at the time because I was so focused on just getting to the Crystal. But now, I feel like shit about it." Calliope put her hands together in her lap and twiddled her thumbs anxiously. Kiara stood in front of her, just staring a hole into her skull. "You probably hate me now…" Calliope stared intently at the ground, avoiding any contact at all.

This prevented her from seeing the nuclear sized slap coming her way.

Kiara hit her so hard that her lower jaw and left cheek turned to a goopy shadow to regenerate. It was easily the hardest Kiara had ever hit her outside of sparring. Calliope, of course, didn't feel physical pain from it. However, she did feel the emotional pain.

"How could I ever hate you, Calli?! Don't say stupid things like that!" Kiara knelt down, putting their eyelines on the same horizon. Calliope looked up at her just before she was yanked into a hug. Calliope hesitantly hugged back.

"I'm still sorry, Kiara…" she said quietly. Kiara pulled back and stared at her again.

"You didn't know about any of that, right?" Kiara asked, rhetorically. Calliope nodded. "Then you have nothing to apologize for. I know how hard it is for you to see the bigger picture sometimes and that's ok. Everything's going to be better soon." Tears began to sting at the edges of the Phoenix's eyes. If Calliope could cry, she would be right now.

"Why do you act like this? Why are you so forgiving to me…?" Calliope barely made eye contact, as she knew what answer was coming next.

"Because I love you, Calli." Calliope had to stop her face from twitching. She hated those words, especially right now. She knew she shouldn't push that issue further, but she could stop herself.

"But you don't even remember why. There's no reason-" Calliope earned another massive slap to the face from Kiara. Calliope was actually surprised by this one.

"Don't act like you know how or why I feel the way I do about you. Sure I can't remember when I first started feeling this way, but I do know why." Kiara stared her dead in the eyes. They were practically burning a hole through her head. "I love you because you have saved me, time and time again. I know that I need you and you need me. We need each other to live our lives to the fullest. You would work yourself to dust and I would mindlessly wander. We help each other become the best we can be. That's why I love you."

Calliope had to bite her tongue to stop herself from talking about her absence from Kiara's life. It was now fresh in her mind thanks to Amelia. She couldn't fault the Phoenix for anything she said. If that was truly why she felt the way she did, then maybe she could start feeling slightly different about those words.

"Jeez, why haven't we had this conversation before…" Calliope mumbled, placing a hand to her forehead. She couldn't get headaches, but this was starting to feel like one.

"Oh my god… Has that been bothering you until now? How long?! I'm so sorry that I haven't told you that before, I-I thought you were playing hard to get-" Kiara started to run her mouth. Calliope interrupted her.

"That's not the only reason why. I still need those damn emotions and you still need to…" Calliope trailed off. Kiara's face softened.

"Remember?" she finished her friend's sentence, "Don't be worried about that. I am certainly still planning on remembering everything, even after what I saw. I might even be able to help you catch the Reapers that did that." Kiara somehow put a positive spin on that terrible massacre. Calliope shook her head, a smile creeping onto her face. She pushed herself out of Kiara's arms and pulled her legs onto the bed. Kiara sat down next to her.

"I don't want to force that on you. If you don't-"

"I'm going to remember, Calli. This is what I want," Kiara said sternly. Calliope leaned back, using her arms to keep her upright.

"I'm glad." Kiara leaned her head on the Reaper's shoulder. Calliope would have normally pushed her off, but she was feeling nice right now. After a couple minutes, though, Calliope stood up and began to walk towards the door.

"You're just going to leave?!" Kiara said, surprised. Calliope turned around, head tilted.

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I?" The edge of Kiara's lip flicked up into a smile for a moment. Now was her chance.

"I-I don't really want to sleep alone tonight…" Kiara said with the largest puppy dog eye's Calliope had ever seen. There was emotional manipulation, and then there was this. Even the emotionless Reaper felt a pull on her non-existent heart.

"Well, if you want me to stay here, I guess there's no reason for me not to," Calliope replied with a sigh. Kiara leapt into the air with an excited cheer. Calliope rolled her eyes. Just this once…

A knock on the door cut the moment short, though.

Kiara practically threw herself from the bed and almost slammed into the door from the speed that she was carrying. She yanked it open, ready to give the person on the other side an earful about respecting privacy.

But it wasn't Amelia, Ina, or Gura whom she had expected to be there.

It was Emersyn.

She had a saline bag hung from a hook that she wheeled around next to her. She was still dressed in a medical robe and was slumped over from the effort of just getting to their room.

"Oh, uh, are you sure you should be walking around?" She hid her temper the best she could, putting her hands behind her back and looking around behind the shorter woman. Emersyn looked at her with tired, steely eyes.

"Most likely not, but I don't care. I heard that you guys had returned and I needed to speak with you," Emersyn explained. Calliope crossed her arms.

"Did the medical staff here really just let you go?" she asked. Emersyn gave a dry laugh in response.

"Who says they know I'm even gone?" Kiara cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Wait, then how did you-"

"When I said I heard you guys, I mean I heard you. Honestly, I could hear that shit from downstairs." The medical room was on the floor right below them and almost directly underneath, too. Kiara rocked back and forth on her heels, whistling an ignorant tone.

"I'm not surprised. So, I expect that you want a report on what happened at the Hatchery," Calliope walked over to the other two. Emersyn nodded.

"You can spare the details for now, I am really tired…" Emersyn grabbed her head and rubbed her temple. She most definitely shouldn't be walking around like this.

"I'm sure you can already tell, but we were unsuccessful. This was due to a few factors…" Calliope told Emersyn about the massacre and how she had tried to "protect" her comrades, but only succeeded in making it worse. "I take full responsibility for what occurred." She bowed apologetically once she finished. Emersyn increased the pressure and tempo of her temple rubbing.

"Alright, I am not in the mood to chew you out, so think of this as you getting off easy. However, I can not say that we were more successful." Emersyn told Calliope and Kiara a short summary of her business trip to Atlantis. One part stuck out to the Reaper.

"Are you sure that the Priestess, Ina, didn't mean to set off the defenses?" Emersyn's glare hardened to a sharp edge.

"Even though I haven't gotten confirmation for myself, I fully believe that what occurred was an accident. She most likely saved my life after the building fell on me." Emersyn was steadfast with her defense of Ina. She hoped that she would be proven right once the Priestess woke up.

Ina wasn't asleep, though. She listened to the noise of conversation occurring outside. She gave no indication that she was awake because she did not want to be bothered while deep in thought.

She wore a large, oversized hoodie and a pair of sweatpants over top of her normal outfit.

In her hand, she turned Amelia's time watch over. She had been flipping it around for what seemed like hours by now, just contemplating with herself.

Should she see her past?

Author's Note: This arc has been a wild ride. The ball is finally rolling and it is not going to stop. Well...

Looks like we have one detour to take. It might not seem like it initially, but this upcoming arc with Ina will actually be one of the most important. I think you all will love what I have in store.

I will be taking a couple weeks break to write the arc out, so no chapters for a bit. I will also be using this time to edit a few things that have been recommend. I always enjoy it when someone shows me a way my story can be improved.

Next Chapter: Ina

Any feedback/criticism is appreciated!