"Someone's moody," Washu pointed out, causing my brow to twitch. "What's up?" she asked.
Scrunching my nose, I grumbled a few incoherent words before taking a sip of my drink, which surprisingly wasn't there anymore.
"You finished it so quickly, I swear," she added grumpily and waved someone in. "Refill please," she told the waitress who without uttering a word proceeded with the order.
Her bright grey meeting my dark blue, we challenged one another to a quiet death stare which for the first time I lost; scoffing I averted my gaze. Looking around the bar for intergalactic beings I thought about the galaxy and Pentagon.
"It's just... I don't know anymore," I confessed against my better judgment. Washu's facial expression went from annoyed to fully attentive to my every word.
Seeing as I haven't continued, she has done so for me, "You don't know?"
Sighing heavily, never in my life have I felt this conflicted and uncertain, always knowing what to do and how to proceed, yet this place made me doubt and rethink every decision I've ever made.
Looking around searching for the sight of Keith, as if he crept at every corner watching me, I leaned towards my brunette friend and whispered.
"I don't know if I want to go back..."
Her pupils dilated expecting anything, but this. Elina a soldier who has never failed a mission considering such a treasonous thing, if not a tool of the Pentagon, then who was she?
"My friend..." Washu began carefully uncertain of how much I meant by my words. "Hey," she called awaiting the eye contact for which I needed a second. "Is it because of that woman...?" she trailed with caution.
The mention was enough to cause my heart to ache.
"As long as you are here, it's okay..." I repeated her words; Washu picked it up yet didn't comment knowing it wasn't meant for her. "But I won't be here, right?" I snapped at the brunette with the anger boiling inside. "We will have to leave, go back... I won't be able to be by her side and for the first time in my life, I'm not certain if I can survive. Hit me, torture me, make me do the worse things, things only monster would do, I'm still here, alive. But the idea of never seeing her again hurts so much Washu," my voice cracked at the end, almost a whine, a complaint as if she could do something to magically fix my worries. "Why..."
She was shocked, but composed herself within seconds, "Elina, what do you feel?"
What do I feel? Biting against my bottom lip I responded with honesty.
"When I'm with her I feel so many things at once it's almost overwhelming, never in my life have I felt like this. There's care, worry, some sort of need for her attention and touch, there's a craving to discover more, but most of all there's peace. She makes me calm, she makes all the worries pause, as if we were the only living creatures enjoying each other's company. She occupies my every thought and dream, and like a prohibited thing I wish for more, I want more of her. I want her to myself."
"Holy shit."
Frowning at such a useless reaction, Washu's enlarged pupils have said it all, she was lost for words.
"You found your soulâ" paused by someone hopping onto her lap made her voice hitch.
"Your drink ladies," June pointed at the drinks she just brought with a smirk on her face as she allowed herself to rest against Washu's shoulder and whisper something into her ear causing a burning red to sparkle in her eyes.
Their relationship was something that I noticed in the past weeks, unsure how they went from hating each other to this, yet happy for my friend to enjoy someone's company.
"What happened to your hand," June suddenly asked with a touch of wonder as she pointed at my bandaged hand.
"An accident," I shrugged. "Nahla took care of it."
My friend cleared her throat, "Did you bleed?"
"Yeah," I responded casually, but she wasn't too happy about that.
Comfortably getting her arms around June's waist who must have enjoyed that gesture because she smiled warmly, my friend added a bit quieter, "Elina... Your blood."
Oh.
"Oh..." right.
June seemed interested in the topic, looking between the two of us, being her casual curious self she finally asked, "What about her blood?"
Without a second thought not making anything of it I answered indifferently, "It's silver."
And just like that before I knew it, June was by my side poking me with an umbrella toothpick from one of our drinks.
"Ouch?" I grumbled unhappily.
"It's silver," she repeated purely taken aback.
We both looked at her as if she was crazy. "So?" I muttered, putting a tissue against it.
"You guys don't know what it means...?" her voice was a bit lower; a serious tone has overtaken her usually cheeky attitude.
Exchanging a quick look with Washu we both had no idea what she was on about. "I mean to think about it... Silver blood isn't normal for humans, why didn't Nahla comment on it?" I wondered.
"Silver blood isn't normal for any species except a certain kind," June added keeping her serious expression, which began to creep me out.
"What kind?" the brunette asked.
June sighed and shook her head, almost not believing the entire conversation. "Where are you from? Pluton 543 was it? That doesn't add up," her slightly accusatory tone began to anger me.
"We were both adopted, we don't know where we are from," I pointed at Washu and myself.
"Mhm," June hummed and approached the brunette, performing the same procedure on her shoulder. "Red, you aren't related."
"Never said we were," I spat through gritted teeth. "What's the problem here?"
Her eyes like ice under pressure crashed against my dark deep ocean.
"Silver blood belongs to the females who were born with royal blood, it's not commonly known, usually kept within families and higher ranks. You are a princess, I don't know which one, but your blood doesn't lie," June finally explained and my heart paused.
Me a princess?
"Sorry what?" I laughed not knowing how to react.
"Human eyes are unable to see this color, it's not just silver, to them it doesn't exist, that's why Nahla's brain saw what she usually sees, red."
Grabbing a drink, I finished it in one go before harshly placing the glass back on the table and looking at June with a demanding glare. "Rewin to the princess part, how do you know it, why should I believe you?"
Poking her own hand, exposing a droplet of silver blood, she answered. "Because I'm one too."
Time began to move slower, every thought and possibility has run through my head.
"And what kind of princess are you...?" Washu's voice was thin and afraid of the answer.
June's dark thick brows frowned as she pulled her curly hair into a bun and answered indifferently not aware of what it meant to us, "Azgardian."
Less than a second that's how quickly it took for us to act. Before I could grab June, I was pushed against the wall by my own friend, her eyes behind a red cloth accepting no fight.
"She's off-limits," she almost growled, her eyes sharp and jaw clenched.
"Move," it wasn't a request, it was an order. "Princess is here, the mission can be completed tonight."
"You said you wanted to stay, remember? June is off limits I won't let you take her from me."
"What?" now baffled noticing how serious she was. "Seriously?!" I groaned, looking into her eyes for confirmation.
"Seriously," she added verbally.
Freeing myself from her hold I glanced at poor June who was watching the entire thing with shock and confusion. I couldn't believe she was next to us this entire time... Or did I know and unconsciously remained oblivious to such a possibility?
"We can stay here Elina... we can figure it out, we don't have to sell her out or go back to that prison. Please, give it some thought," Washu began with hope, I could tell she was focused on my movement, afraid I would snap.
"From anyone on this bloody planet why did you have to choose her," I accused angrily, allowing my body to relax in order to reassure her.
"Why Nahla?" she retorted with a tiny apologetic smile. "I didn't choose her silly, my heart did."
"Fuck," I swore and scratched the back of my neck.
Frustration was pulling me apart; the mission could be completed and my mind at ease. No more feelings, no more Earth, just emptiness and routine, yet deep inside I knewâI was well awareâIt was already too late, moving back wasn't an option, we could only move forward.
"What about Keith?" I stressed out, uncertain of how to deal with his person.
"Keith..? Ugh, Elina about that..." Washu began but got interrupted by a scream.
The music paused and everyone's attention went towards a panicked man.
"Alifa is here!" he screamed fearfully.
Within seconds chaos took over as everyone got up from their chairs and rushed towards the exit, however, before even a single person managed to do so, we all froze in place as if magic held our feet to the ground unable to pull away.
Silence, no one dared to speak as five individuals entered the bar. Each of them was of different height yet their pitch-black uniforms and neatly done hair were what made them match. I took them in slowly, feeling the pressure of their presence, if Alifa was here that meant someone was going to die, their presence was rare, especially to such a large gathering.
The smallest of them all held a smirk as an odd-looking circular item played in her hand, this must have been what kept us in place, some sort of high-tech gravity device.
The man with perfect posture, and thin body, carefully took off his glasses before wiping them with a hand chief. Once those sat back on his nose, he cleared his throat and spoke with perfect diction, "We are here at the request of the highest authorities of our Galaxy."
Glancing at Washu she seemed nervous but ready for a fightâthat's my girl.
Unfortunately, June did not, her expression displayed pure fear, the kind of fear one would encounter in a life-or-death situation. Pointing with my eyes towards June's shaky hand, Washu frowned at that, having a difficult time keeping her eyes grey.
As the man spoke about rules and what not I noticed someone's glare, following in the direction of my intuition I was met with a pair of eyes that were much darker than my own, yet the shade was the same.
The woman, one of Alifa's members, looked mortified as something must have clicked in her head before she approached me with an odd spark in her eyes.
I gulped, in a rather shitty situation, unable to move, as she stood right in front, her dark blonde brows knitted together before relaxing and letting a tiny gasp escape her lips.
"Princess?" her voice was so thin I almost missed it.
Taking a second before managing to speak back I spat confused, "What?"
"You are alive," she commented in pure disbelief.
"What do you mean?" I questioned, now much more intrigued. "Who are you?"
Her pupils dilated and lips twisted into an unpleasant smile, allowing an awful scoff to follow. "They warned me about you, she wouldn't know who she was, they said," she began her rant and I listened carefully, wanting to pick up on every word. With a deep sigh, she gave me another look. "I suppose our kind is long gone, even with a princess living"âlooking back at the other member she continuedâ"don't worry, we aren't here for you. It's interesting that you are here on Earth, but if you remain low you won't be found. A different princess is on the radar these days, and if you know anything about her speak now."
Raising a brow I smiled mockingly, "Fuck off."
My response surprised, but amused the woman who only laughed and shook her head. "Bless the stars, our kind has truly a rare type of humor. Stay safe, will you? I can't help you in my position, don't make me watch you die, I saw enough of that."
Taken aback by her last words I watched her walk away before my attention returned to the speaking man.
"...Azgardian princess is to be located and brought back, any information held from our knowledge will be followed by the death penalty. Alifa is to remain without a side, however in this case the marriage is to hold a powerful meaning to the future of our Galaxy. Anyone wishes to speak?"
Silence.
"Very well, we will now scan the room," with that said the other members including a blonde woman began to scan each person located at the bar.
Exchanging worrisome looks with Washu we both knew this was about to end badly. June's hand was shaking with anxiety, somehow an odd feeling evoked in my heart, I wished to protect her.
Suddenly Washu moved, how? I didn't know. But she grabbed the glass from the table and threw it to the other side, causing everyone to look that way, before mouthing a quick 'sorry' and taking June's hand, pulling her towards the bathroom as they both pushed through the crowd.
Doing my best to follow, I was still unable to do anything.
"Who's done that?!" the man yelled in frustration, his sharp glare snapping between different people. Once we all have been scanned, I relaxed knowing my friends managed to get out. "We will be back," he threatened and composed himself before leaving the club and turning off the gravity device.
No one dared to speak for another couple of minutes before the music has been played and quiet chatter filled the room. Sighing I quickly messaged my friend; we clearly needed to have a talk.
Our situation has gotten so much more complicated, and as if it couldn't get any worse, the second I left the bar, Cassandra stood right in front of me, with a devilish smirk plastered on her face.
"Well, shit," was all I said.
â