Project: AKRA

  ***

  “Ryluna! You’re alive?” A girl with bright pink hair that though was once wild and spiky was now held back in a regal set of bows. One would never know how crazy this now-respected Star Priestess once was.

  “Laiun!” The two women embraced on the Aelishan military ship’s dock before stepping back, both of them equally surprised. Ryluna’s torn Star Priestess clothes looked immaculate as they had self-cleaned all the blood and fluids off of themselves, hiding how intense of a trial she suffered. “The tale of what I endured, and the sacrifice by those to save me is one even for us.”

  “So the organization successfully recovered you,” Laiun confirmed as she shook her head in disbelief.

  “The Star Priestesses utilized some deep favors in effecting my rescue at an unfortunately high cost. The quality of these soldiers was amazing, one in particular. His name was Raist. When I had woken up I was already on a small ship back here, all my wounds were dressed and everything.” She opened up her jacket to show the wraps of bandages around her stomach and chest.

  She shook her head slowly, it was rare for Priestesses to not have bows in their hair, and Ryluna’s long hair shook softly mimicking her motion. “He had this deep pain in his soul though. His entire team was wiped out and his best friend was a traitor he had to eliminate. I could just imagine the torment he was in, bandaging my unconscious body completely professionally while the rest of his team lay dead on the planet below. It is too bad I did not get to help his pain. Worse, I did not even get to thank him.”

  “Raist…” Laiun smiled softly, knowing things Ryluna did not. “Wow, that name brings up memories. I knew him, once. I was his Scout and he was my Leader, both in training and our first missions. Haha,” she started laughing, recalling some past memories. She tilted her head towards the holographic sky, small tears in her eyes.

  So ironic Raist was much wiser in spiritual matters than her in their youth, it was completely accurate to say she became a Star Priestess largely due to things he had seeded in her mind that took root. Unlike Ryluna and many Star Priestesses she had not been scouted as a young girl, mainly because her spiritual depth and Psionics had not fully developed until later.

  As a result, she did not possess the large, elaborate Priestess Bangle as children they were forced to wear and never drop. Those that made it had the bracer permanently attached to their arm. Those like Laiun who came in later did not have to do this, while they still wore a similar permanent piece of jewelry, the only ones who noticed the differences were largely Star Priestesses themselves. There was not a looking down on others, so much as a pride for those that had the actual one. Even in Laiun’s case, it was an absolute highest honor to be part of the elite Aelisha organization.

  She looked at her somewhat smaller Priestess Bangle given her later start as she mused; if he could only see her now. She sighed contently.

  “I felt kind of bad for him at times,” Laiun continued with her casual tone; she was much less formal than many other Priestesses given her background. “I put him through so much and constantly gave him such a hard time. I kind of beat him down a lot because I hated Leaders, but he always endured and I eventually came around to liking him a lot. He was a really good kisser.” She smiled at Ryluna’s surprise. “Hey, it was before I was brought into the Priestess organization. Unfortunately, I am sure he still thinks I died on our last mission. I regret I could never tell him I lived. But that sounds like him, just sending you away; he wasn’t the type to stick around for a reward.”

  “The surprising thing was that he found the room I was in. It was like he knew, that he could see the Emotion Field,” Ryluna slowly said. Laiun did not tell her about the machinations necessary of which Raist’s sensitivity was explicitly counted on.

  They were both silent, thinking about the same man. Laiun did not tell Ryluna that she was the one who specifically requested Raist’s group; or how much it pained her to expose her old love to so much danger, knowing he alone was capable of success given the subtle power within him she knew he possessed. Understanding what AKRA meant would only have meaning to someone like him. Her actions and his success set into motion many Fate Lines with positive outcomes.

  She also did not tell Ryluna that she went personally to request the mission from her old friend. In a bitter irony known only to her, she could not tell Raist that she was still alive and well after all this time, even if they were only steps apart, hidden by a cloak. It was a pain he would bear his whole life for losing a girl who did not actually die. Manipulating the Chrono Threads in such a way he might actually understand but could not be made aware of.

  She had watched his progress carefully ever since she had become a Priestess. She had pulled a few strings that had definitely kept Raist out of a few completely suicidal missions; she felt it was the least she could do to repay him for everything he had done for a lowly Scout like herself when they were together.

  ‘You protected me, Raist,’ she thought. ‘I’ll try to be a better protector of you from now on. Now that you know about AKRA, things are going to get complicated. But we are going to be much more useful to each other now. Raist, your purpose in things has only just begun.’

  Laiun grinned as she turned back to Ryluna. Her grin stemmed for a feeling of love for Raist that she cherished but knew could never be reciprocated. But it also stemmed from a lot of pieces finally setting into place that the main act could finally start. “I bet he was still thinking too much, wasn’t he?”

  Ryluna shook her head, her eyes far away, thinking about that man that had saved her. Her body had been healed with the advanced nanites in them, her hair looked clean and other than tears in the pristine outfit she looked as ready as any other sans the bows.

  “I too shared that feeling about him not caring about rewards.” She was not responding to Laiun’s last statement, somewhat lost in her own thoughts. “He was a true hero, one whose heart was fired by conviction and adventure, not thanks. He acted with a duty to something beyond what most people are ever aware of, or ever capable of being aware of. I doubt we have seen the last of Raist.”

  “Oh, I completely agree with that,” Laiun smiled.