Rising Shards

“Zeta, shhh.” 09 said as I ran over to Aira.

I hadn’t fully processed what I was seeing, but after everything, seeing Aira looking normal, not devastated or disheveled, brought me a great amount of relief. She had her hair tied up like she normally did, but she was in casual clothes, which I hadn’t seen her in much. I wondered for a second if Wildfire Hearts didn’t have uniforms at all, but the happiness of seeing Aira again rightfully shoved that thought aside for now.

“I think a good Zeta Faleur shriek is what I needed today.” Aira said and hugged me.

“Why are you here? Are you back? Where’s Laenie?” I asked.

“She’s still there.” Aira said. “And the others are too. And I’m technically going there, yeah. But Caya reached out to me, and…”

I felt another hug on top of mine; Oka had joined in as well.

“We miss you a lot already,” Oka said.

“I miss you too,” Aira said. “But if this works out, hopefully it won’t be too long.”

“Are you on a top-secret mission?” Oka asked.

“Kinda!” Aira said. “I’m giving 09 this!” She reached into her pocket, forcing us to let go of the hug. She held up a white disk, and 09 took it from her.

“One of those void checkpoint things?” I asked. When we were on a void mission, Diast had given similar disks to us to mark our place in the void and return to a specific spot. They didn’t help much when the Wildfire Hearts raid happened, but maybe that was a special occasion that messed with them with the Fang Moon Web situation.

“Uh huh,” Aira said. “Configured to the void node where the big trip is gonna start. Now 09 can follow us and keep tabs so I don’t have to risk coming over here a bunch of times!”

“A good ol’ double agent.” Oka said. “And a dedicated ol’ cousin over here!” Oka patted her cousin on her shoulders. 09 didn’t look like she appreciated the gesture.

“Reminder that you can’t tell anyone about this.” 09 said. “I’m still going to go to class here, but when I’m doing void work, I’m going to go with them.”

“Why?” Oka asked.

09 looked distant as she worked out an answer. “They need me.”

“Uh huh,” Aira said. “I figure if I’m bringing Laenie out of a deep pit, I should have a lifeline back home, right? Plus, my teleporting powers make me an ideal go between from there to here. It takes a couple dozen jumps, but still.”

“How is Laenie doing so far?” I asked. There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but with Laenie running off after that boy, that seemed pressing. "Who...was that guy?"

“That’s…her brother. It’s a long story.” Aira said. “A long, sore story. She hasn’t even been able to talk to him since we got there, but she’s been doing…eh. Not great? Hence me being here before the big trip.”

“What’s your big trip?” I asked.

“I’m part of a team with our friends to look for something. That’s all I’ve been told so far, but Caya says that she’ll help out and keep us safe as long as 09 watches closely behind. Well, close, but not too close. We don’t want her to get caught. Very secret. That’s why I’m the one Caya asked. Again, the teleporting.”

“This is a very spy-like situation,” Oka said. She struck the SpyYasmey pose.

Aira did the pose as well. “I suppose I am an average teenage spy, after all!”

“Yes!” Oka said. The two recited the entire SpyYasmey catchphrase in unison, which as Lillia mentioned earlier was very long.

"...and that's how it is, how it will be, and what it takes to be a spy!"

“Are we done?” Caya asked. “I have a few things I’d like to discuss with Aira and 09 in private now that pleasantries have been exchanged.”

I almost made a snarky comment to Oka about having such a caring aunt, but I managed to bite my tongue at the last second before Caya would have likely obliterated me with her big bloodsaber gauntlet thing.

“So…dismissed?” Oka said. She had told me Caya liked concluding even family get-togethers by saying “dismissed.”

“Yes,” Caya said.

Just as I was about at the door, Aira called over to me.

“Keep in touch too, my phone’s not busted!” Aira said. “They don’t take our phones away. They just heavily limit our use of them. But even if I don’t write back, I’ll see it!”

“I will!” I said, waving to her. “We’ll keep working on finding a way to get you back on our end too.”

“Yes! Once our powers are recharged, we’re gonna go all out on the rescue!” Oka said. “Or so I’m told?” She looked to Caya, who gave a slight nod. “Oh, Faleur and Ohri?” She said.

“Y-yes?” Oka said.

“Stay outside the door, I need to speak with you two next.” Caya said.

I was too afraid to do anything other than meekly nod and leave the room, offering Aira one last wave as I hoped I’d see her again soon.