Galaxy of Hyperion: Mystic Heir

Chapter Thirty-Six: Expedition

For what felt like the fiftieth time within the span of the past hour, Zelda heard Lila yawn. She didn't acknowledge the noise, instead simply placing one foot in front of the other in a monotonous, endless stretch of motion that she knew wasn't going to be drawing to a close anytime soon. That was the point of this mission. Gathering information was the most important thing at the moment, at least in Tuila's eyes, and Zelda, Tavi, and Lila were out on a journey to make sure that they could find something that would be helpful in the battle against Alba. 

As it stood, Alba was going to be frustrating at best to fight against, though it wasn't as if the members of the group had much of a choice in the matter. Defeating them was crucial in the steps that were going to be taken to save Skylia from chaos. Nobody even seemed to know for sure what Alba's plan was in full, and that was an awful thing in Tuila's opinion, and learning more had quickly been made into a peak goal for all of the Fearbringers. The Draconic Superiors were still working to aid the restoration on Daragon, so they weren't the best ones for this mission, and the Skylian Mages were focused on defending the castle. That left only the Fearbringers to take care of this task, not that Zelda minded too much. She was almost willing to take any excuse that she could get to escape the confines of the castle and concentrate on other work. 

Her relationship with Jay had, to put it simply, not gotten any better. In a way, Zelda almost wished that she had wound up on this mission with someone a bit more talkative, but as it stood, neither Tavi nor Lila was in much of a mood for casual conversation. Lila always seemed to be too sleepy to bother speaking unless she absolutely had to, and Tavi was fully aware of the value that silence could hold. Zelda wasn't about to start a conversation out of the blue unless she absolutely had to, so she simply walked without offering any hints that she actually minded the quiet in the first place. 

Unfortunately, that meant that Zelda had no choice but to think about everything that was going on with Jay. To put it simply, their dynamic was a disaster, and Zelda didn't think that she would be able to fix it anytime soon. Jay hadn't spoken to her, and Zelda wasn't about to start talking to her unless she was given no other choice. It was bound to end in little more than hurled frustration, and that was the last thing that Zelda wanted given that they were supposed to be working together regardless of their past reservations. 

Lex was another issue entirely, and Zelda couldn't escape her thoughts on that subject either. She was giving her sister all the time that she needed to adjust to this new thought process that came with the revelation of their connection. Zelda didn't mind it quite as much as her dynamic with Jay, but it was still somewhat frustrating to her in a way that she didn't want to confess. In fact, it probably wasn't a matter of Zelda being upset with Lex for not saying anything; instead, it was the unresolved tension, and when it was combined with Jay's indecision towards her, Zelda was left upset in ways that she didn't know how to articulate. 

She had never been all that emotionally inclined. Zelda hadn't ever been given the chance to explore her feelings in the first place simply because of the nature of her existence. Mersall had declared that she be treated as a weapon, and Zelda couldn't turn away from that. She couldn't escape what she had learned throughout her young life no matter how much she wanted to, and so, she was left thinking over and over about how much she wished that things were different. It was hardly effective in the slightest to think this way, but Zelda couldn't help it, and she wondered if life could have resolved itself otherwise in another timeline out there somewhere. 

"There has to be something around here somewhere," Tavi suddenly said, pulling Zelda away from her thoughts. She welcomed the distraction, and she nodded her agreement. Icy creatures that matched the description of Alba's monsters had been roaming through the area, and that was what brought them so far from the palace in the first place. If there was even the tiniest hint as to what Alba was up to, then they were going to embrace it with everything that they had. After all, what else could they have done with the future seeming so bleak as long as Alba remained at large?