“And so the girl and her organization underwent a thorough purge. During the purge, she and the brother worked out some things… But I’m pretty sure you already know that story.”

“I never understood though… Why you didn’t bother looking for the body. It wasn’t like you. You NEVER leave a job unfinished. If something seems iffy, you’ll chase it down until the doubt is grinded into dust. So why didn’t we look for Ingline’s body?”

“You said it. I’ll chase it down until it’s dust. So it just means I knew she didn’t die.”

“WHAT?!”

“Rylan, even with Fein there was a pull between me and you. We all knew it. Yet we made the choices we did. Why?”

“I… The same way you were with Fein, I never gotten anyone new. Not that I really had the time for it but…”

“Spite? Escaping reality?”

“Maybe?”

“Ha… When Ingline rolled herself off, I was just so tired. I didn’t care. I didn’t care if she’d come back, possibly even stronger. I didn’t care if she’d come back at all. I just wanted to be done. So I left it at that.”

“We’re useless followers aren’t we?”

“… It’s not like I expected you to notice.”

“But we should’ve!”

“Why? Why should’ve you noticed?”

“BECAUSE! We care about you just as much as you care about us, if not even more. Just because you were so efficient that things doesn’t mean we should rely on you for everything. You’re human. You’re made of flesh and bones. You bleed. You get injured. You – ”

“Humans are weird creatures aren’t they? A species whose only redemption is their large brains. And even that brain sometimes have problems.”

“Are your thoughts trailing to why “life” exists again? Just let it be. Whether there’s no greater power or we’re all just puppets with the delusion of free will, just let it be.”

“You know… humans don’t like the unknown. You never need a reason to stay in your comfort zone. You need a reason to leave.”

“But you never really left.”

“I know I’ve been called the “Bloody Fool”. I don’t mind. In fact, I think that’s a fairly accurate description… A fool that deceives… It seems like I’m outgoing doesn’t it. Always joking around. Always having fun. But I’m just empty. My life seems fun huh. It’s the cliché story. The brightest person in the room is the loneliest. My life seems fun but not fulfilled. I like listening to other’s stories just to feel vicariously through them. Even the plainest person has stories in which you can really see the spark of life in their eyes as they tell the tale… Sorry. I’m just rambling now.”

“I feel the same. I may not be as empty as you but I get it. I get that feeling of wanting to escape the darkness just for one moment. We all do. We just never really thought about it since you were our lighthouse. Cheesy I know. But you kept us afloat. I guess we just forgot… that a lighthouse still needs power from somewhere…”

“… Hey what was the point of this talk? I feel like we’ve just been going in a circle talking how broken we are.”

“Haha… We were talking about Fein… The Arc? NERAL? I don’t know anymore. This is way too much information to process.”

“… Why did you want Fein to join?”

“I don’t know. As your husband I wanted to flaunt “us” to his face. As a team leader I truly feel like he might actually be able to replace Ingline. However, as a member of Shadow, I guess I just want to keep a close eye on him. You know, “keep your friends close but your enemies closer”. And to be honest, after knowing all this, I still somehow feel the same. Though the “keep your enemies closer” feeling is winning though.”

“I won’t question your judgement. Hell, I can’t. I don’t have a clear mind on this. So I’ll trust you. I only want to ask one thing. Are you able to handle him?”

“Yes.”

“Then that’s all I need. We have a couple more days until your offer expires. So why don’t we just ignore this giant gaping problem and run from reality for these next few days. Take a vacation while we still can.”

“My pleasure~ Though I don’t think we’ll be able to see much of the scenery~”