Bʀᴏᴋᴇɴ Hᴀʀᴍᴏɴʏ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ: Fᴀʟʟ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Bᴇᴀsᴛs Bᴏᴏᴋ Oɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғɪᴠᴇ || ᴘʀᴇᴘᴀʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴs

Zay

Following Tyler's declaration came an uneasy silence.

"You're meaning to say that Lizzie... was a fake?" Lucia asked finally. "That everything she did to us... was, was, what? Just an accident? None of it was meant to happen?"

A bitter taste rose on my tongue. Anger, like I hadn't felt since I'd last seen my Father, bloomed in my chest. My vision blurred red. "An accident?"

The others in the room, who'd all been voicing their disbelief, quieted suddenly.

"Zay–" Sasha started.

I shook him off. "She took everything from me. And you're saying that happened because of some... some mistake? As if the lives we've lost were just... pieces on a game board?"

"No," Tyler responded in an infuriatingly calm voice. "I'm saying that we made a mistake when accepting Lizzie into our team, and that the Conquerors played us, used that mistake to hurt us." He shook his head. "We've all lost people, Zay. I know, nothing can quite measure up to what you've suffered, but you're not alone in your grief."

"Or your anger." Tazi spoke up, his voice low with fury.

His support made my blood boil, but I made no move to show him how much it bothered me.

"What's the plan?" Sabien asked, pulling the conversation topic back to the mission. "We can't just go around Erdas asking everyone who's summoned a spider if they're part of a prophecy."

Tyler acknowledged that point with a nod. "We–" he paused. "I was hoping we could start our search in Amaya, where the spider was said to have been in the first, original prophecy. As for how to find it, that's where you all come in."

"None of us know Amaya very well, though," Niko protested.

"That's not true." Tyler directed his gaze very pointedly at Tazi.

The stingray summoner raised his chin and narrowed his eyes, as if to challenge the guardian. "It's true. I searched all over Amaya for Lizzie, because that's where I assumed she'd run back to."

I had to admit that there was logic to that, and I saw a few others nod grudgingly as well.

"Okay, so you know Amaya." Niko amended. "But we don't have a whole year to search it all. How can we narrow it down?"

"I have a few contacts already looking," Tyler answered, "but it's not nearly enough to cover the whole continent."

"You don't have any contacts there, I suppose?" Sasha asked Tazi, with surprisingly little venom in his tone.

"None that would be of any use." He answered shortly.

"So it's settled then," Tyler concluded, clapping his hands. "We leave for Amaya tomorrow. I will check to make sure none of my contacts have found the spider. In the meantime, though, feel free to use the gym or any other facilities you would like."

The meeting came to an end. I stood, Sasha hurrying to follow.

"I was planning to head over and check out our old rooms," Sasha said, keeping pace as we left the meeting room. "Wanna come?"

I shook my head. "You go ahead. I'm gonna find something else to do."

"Of course, see you in a bit." He blew me a kiss and headed off toward the stairwell, Delar jumping from passive to lope beside him.

I turned away, quickly losing myself in my thoughts as I walked.

They couldn't have known about Lizzie being the wrong one, the annoyingly logical voice that sounded suspiciously like my mother reminded me.

Well, I should've trusted my gut, I sighed. The what ifs made my head ache.

"Funny seeing you here." A voice shook me out of my thoughts.

I blinked and focused on Navia, who wore a teasing grin. I then realized that my feet had taken me to the training room, out of habit. "Oh, yeah, I didn't even see you," I said honestly, finding myself halfheartedly returning her grin.

"Obviously." The Arctican surveyed me with the same look she used to– the one that made me squirm in my skin. "Something wrong?"

"So, so many things." I responded, in the hope of getting out of talking about it.

She cocked a brow, at once reminding me of all the time we'd spent together, most of it below the decks of the Tellun's Pride II, when I searched for company and when she was so sick she could barely stand.

"I see," she said, dragging me from my stupor yet again. "I don't really feel like talking all that much," Navia added, surprising me. "Wanna spar?"

"By Tellun, I thought you'd never ask." I found myself grinning again, this time for real. It briefly crossed my mind that she'd probably said it because she could sense that I didn't want to talk, but I pushed it away, settling instead to be glad she could read me so well.

Navia smiled as well, narrowing her eyes mischievously. "Well then, what are you waiting for?"

I shrugged off my jacket and shook out my arms before settling into my comfortably familiar battle stance.

Cerco flashed from passive, his eyes bright with the eagerness I could see in Navia's body language as well.

Adrenaline pulsed through me, excitement fuelled by Olraz's hiss as he wound down my leg and toward the floor.

With both of our spirit animals out of the way, I let my body loosen up a bit, fluidly avoiding the first few blows Navia threw my way.

Fighting was a lot nicer than thinking, I decided, letting the rush of it still my thoughts. I hadn't sparred in a few months, but it was easy as running. Halfway through the match, my muscles started aching, but I relished the burn, knowing it made me stronger.

Navia's breath was quick, but her punches were even quicker. I could see the exhilaration on her face, and knew it was reflection on my own.

Despite everything I liked to believe, I'd missed the thrill of battle. There was nothing quite like it, the addictive rush of frenzied focus. I saw everything a bit clearer now, and understood that any problems we would encounter could be overcome as a team.

4/08/21
finally, a Zay chapter!! it was a bit filler, but that's fine. get ready for tomorrow's chapter, it'll be fun! (at least i think it will)
enjoy! xx