“Aww. You do care.” Alma craned her neck and smiled. “You’re not looking too hot actually.”

“That’s impossible,” the witch snorted. “And—” But before she could veer into one of her annoying tangents, her eyes widened in horror as she grabbed Alma’s face and brought it close for inspection. “—Oh my Dark God, Alma! Your beautiful, brown eyes! What happened?! They’re so common! They’re so pedestrian?! They’re so... yellow! Ew!”

“Yellow…?” The sniper snapped her eyes toward Hwalín, who had been standing just a few feet away and was now talking to Qu’l-Nia. “Yellow?! Why didn’t you guys tell me my eyes freaking changed colors?!”

The two exchanged a look before turning back to Alma.

“Well, Alm. Ya see…” Hwalín scratched her neck awkwardly. “I… didn’t actually notice. Far as I remember, your eyes were always like this.”

Alma stared at her, mouth agape, before turning to Qu’l-Nia. “And you?”

“You did not ask.”

"How long?" Alma growled. "HOW LONG?!"

"I believe it is a product of your ability's natural progression. A latent stage unlocked after you came into contact with my… singing."

Heloise laughed loudly from behind Alma.

“So this is who you’re relying on these days, babe? That’s incredible.” Heloise scoffed. “How’d you even find me?”

"Your brother."

"Shit. I did leave him all alone, didn't I?” She clicked her teeth and put her hands on her hips. “How’s he doing? Was he the one that called you? Wait, you’ll come for hm but not for me?”

“I did come for you! Clearly you wanted to see me bad enough so why didn’t you just call me?”

“Why would I call a bitch? Besides, you were supposed to call me!” The witch traced an invisible path between them with her fingers.

“I did!” Alma scowled “You seriously think I haven’t tried getting back in touch with you? I’ve called like crazy and you never answered!”

“Thanks. You did the bare minimum.”

Alma scoffed. “Do you know how worried sick I’ve been about you?!”

“Not worried enough apparently…” Heloise mumbled, remembering the sleepless nights she spent crying her eyes out.

“What was that?! Are you really still being this petty? It was just a fucking staff. Get over it.”

“Who’s talking about a staff? Would it have hurt you to just stop by to check in on me? You don’t know how I’ve… You don’t know!” Heloise instinctively rubbed her shoulder.

“What don’t I know? How to puzzle out your every whim? Oh, I get it. This was just another of your manipulative ploys to get my attention. Macha’s sake, you’re such a fucking child!”

“Why the fuck are you here, Alma?”

Alma closed her eyes and breathed in deeply through her nose. After a few seconds, she said to the witch, “We need your help. It’s extremely important. Qu’l-Nia here—”

“Oho! The great Alma needs my help, does she? Made some useless new friends, has she?”

“There she is! The jealous queen of cuntdom makes her appearance! Come on, girls. Everyone bow to her majesty!”

Heloise gasped dramatically.

Hwalín, who had been observing quietly along with Qu’l-Nia, placed her hand on Alma’s shoulder. “Alma, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all…”

"Better listen to your brawny friend here." The witch grimaced before turning to Qu'l-Nia. "And who's this freak?"

"Oi." Hwalín raised a fist balled in rage. "You watch your bloody mouth, you bitch."

Contrary to the smile she was always wearing, Qu'l-Nia now had a serious look on her face as if to reinforce the gravity of the situation. It seemed to be more like her default state than an expression worn out of anger. "Heloise, we have sensitive matters to discuss with you that pertain to the end of the world. Alma has informed me that you can be of help in times of crises like these and I believe you to be very much against the idea of a threat to your very existence. I would like to enlist your assistance as I previously have with both Hwalín and Alma. It is imperative to this star's fate that you cooperate or it could very well spell doom for us all."

"End of the world…?” Heloise gawked at Alma before laughing obnoxiously. “Alma, don’t tell me you fell for this spiel? Do you know how many idiots have prophesied an apocalypse over the centuries only for them to be proven wrong again and again? And now you’re blindly following another one of these hacks? What kind of wives’ tales has she been peddling to you? And hello? Aren’t you, like, in the Crusaders now? Since when can you afford to go along with any of this shit now?”

“With all your stalking, I’d figured you’d heard.” Alma sighed before biting her lip nervously. “I’m… They kicked me out, Heli. I was dishonorably discharged. It's a long story. Some… incidents led me to go AWOL on my first day. They didn't even bother listening to my excuses. It was an immediate court-martial. You know how it is back home. They take this stuff extremely seriously."

A look of confusion spread across the witch's face. "What? How could you let that happen? I thought the Crusaders were your dream." She looked away and mumbled, "Even despite how against it I was…"

"Heli, I didn't come here to fight. I know how it may seem to you, but I really missed you. And I'm sorry I didn't try coming to see you sooner."

Heloise stared at the ground while Alma spoke. After a few seconds of silence, she looked up, first at Alma, then at Qu'l-Nia and Hwalín, then back to the ex-soldier.

"I guess I might've… gotten a bit… carried away." The witch struggled to get her feelings out. “I’ve been dealing with a lot lately.”

“Yeah, Bert mentioned as much.” Alma crossed her arms and curled her lips into a sympathetic half-smile. “You wanna talk about it?”

“No.”