Tales of the Scarlet Kaida

Broken promises

Aria's footsteps resonated on the castle's ramp. Cosmo, Hazel and Lo were by her side, their pace as huried as hers. They had accomplished their mission and they were proud of it. They were alive and breathing and, even if her arm was probably broken and if her friends shared some injuries themselves, it wasn't really serious.

And yet, Aria couldn't help but worry.

It was her job, her duty – spymaster as she was – to overthink, to analyse everything. Every possibility. Every threat.

I have faith in your instinct, Aria Celeste. And you shall now become my eyes and my ears. Our shadow. Welcome on board of my ship!

And right now, her instinct was telling her something was wrong. The castle had landed on the planet a minute ago – it'd been chosen weeks ago for it was the perfect meeting point for the people about to overthrow the Empire.

But they had arrived earlier than expected.

Aria was delighted to see her crew mates again but, much like everyone else, she dreaded not to see anymore some familiar faces. Deandra's dead features still haunted her dreams. She didn't know how she was going to handle the new losses.

Going to war was one thing. But coming back from the battlefield was another hardship.

No longer having the adrenaline rushing down your veins, the rush of the mission, enemies surrounding you. Defeat. Protect. Shield your friends. Defend and hold your ground. Simple orders you needed to follow on the battlefield in order to survive.

But when you come back? Straight back to reality. This bitch leaves you alone in that mess. Trying to figure out how to move on and keep going when the pillars that kept you grounded until now had crumbled. Crushed to pieces.

How many friends did they lose today during their mission to attack the bases? The Central command?

Too many.

The answer was always the same cruel one.

Aria hurried her steps. She couldn't shake that feeling off her chest. It was rising up in her, driving her crazy. She needed to know.

She turned the last corner and stared at everyone. She had not expected them to still be in the hangar. There were lots of people but she knew in one glance that there was less than before. None of them were badly injured so she concluded that some were already in the infirmary or in the altean healing pods. She herself would need some time in one of those to heal her broken arm and the different gashes on her arms and legs – but that could wait.

Aria's feeling grew heavier when she saw them. They were not cheering. Not happy. Not smiling. They were not wearing the faces of people who had just won a war that had been lasting for the last ten thousand years.

They were in a deep state of shock and silence that was only broken by the muffled sound of grunts and whimpers as someone tried to move.

Probably broken ribs by the sound of their breath.

As she kept searching the crowd, Aria spotted more and more missing faces.

Maybe they are in the infirmary. There's still a chance...

But she knew the infirmary couldn't hold so many wounded.

War brings casualties Aria, we all know that.

Sadness filled her veins and she suddenly whipped her head around her. Another face was missing. One with bright chocolate eyes and a warm reassuring smile, with a braid looped around her neck like Kolivan had shown her.