Promise Me

03

Previously on Promise Me:

"Sylph, remember that thing you said, about joining the cadets?" Tiamat asked, still expertly playing their current hand game. "Yeah?" Sylph asked, tilting her head to one side. "I want to join to!" Tiamat exclaimed, surprising Sylph. "WHAT???!!!" Sylph screamed, missing Phoenix's hand and hitting her face.

"Me too!" Aruru chimed in, surprising Sylph even more. Sylph placed a hand on her forehead, trying to process everything she had just heard. She then turned to Phoenix. "What about you? Are you joining me too?" She asked, wanting to get the surprises over with.

Phoenix tapped her chin, contemplating whether or not she would join the cadets. "I don't know." She said said, still unsure of her final answer. She noticed their downcast expressions and sighed, caving in.

"Fine, I'll do it."

The following month, those that had made their decision stood among the ranks of the 104th trainee squad. Before them was a man glaring down at them with sunken eyes and a hardened expression and a frown visible on his features as he scanned the rows of cadets. The place was silent, giving mostly everyone a nervous feeling

"ATTENTION!!"

The man yelled, startling nearly everyone. "I am Commander Keith Shardis, instructor of the 104th Trainee Squad! You will be training under me for the next three years! And in those three years, you will grow to hate me! I will now go upon ranks, interrogating those of my choosing!" He barked, walking towards the cadets.

A pair of red eyes belonging to a certain purple haired beauty watched her instructor's every step, something about him was familiar, she knew him from somewhere, she had seen before. She was sure of that.

Like he had said before, Keith interrogated most of the cadets. He skipped over those who glared back at him with the same intensity he had looked down at them with or those who had blank, emotionless expressions, like Phoenix.

"Who are you?" Keith asked, stopping in front of Phoenix, despite the fact she had that same emotionless expression as the people he skipped over. She didn't reply, instead she narrowed her eyes at him, still trying to figure out who this man was.

A slight gasp escaped her lips as she realized who she was staring at. Her sisters seemed to realize at the exact same time as Phoenix did because they came out of their rows and ran over to Keith and just stood there, looking at him with bright smiles on their faces.

"KEITH!!" Tiamat shrieked, pointing excitedly at their instructor. Keith was about to descend on her before he realized there were only four girls who would ever call him by his first name.

"Tiamat?" He asked, wanting to know if it was really her. "Yes! It is Tiamat! It's so good to see you again!" Tiamat exclaimed, hugging Keith, followed by Aruru then Sylph.

Phoenix just stood there, looking at Keith. She didn't smile or express happiness in any way, she just stared at him with a blank, emotionless expression. All her sisters gave her questioning looks, wondering why she hadn't been as happy as they were.

Phoenix cleared her throat, grabbing Keith's attention. Once she was sure all eyes were on her, she began to speak. "That's quite enough, don't you think? Girls, get back to your rows and release Keith from that hug at once. Right now, he is our instructor and nothing more than that. We can't let ourselves get distracted by long lost family members, remember why we're here and stop acting like little kids. I've taught you to never get distracted by anything."

Phoenix spoke with such authority, that everyone staring at her straightened up before she could turn to them. Her sisters rushed back to their rows, afraid Phoenix might get angry. They did not want to make her angry.