"I… told them how to do this to us."
"..."
No one really bothered to say anything, they just watched as Aerith continued to brush her son's cheek—fixing his hair as he just lay there quietly. Gary, and all of the themarians there truly seemed like they were just sleeping.
Their faces were too peaceful, and at any moment, they would all just stand up and laugh, telling everyone that it was just some lame prank. Hannah was actually expecting that, as that was something that Gary would actually do just to garner a laugh.
While it is true that she and Gary may have started to fall out before all of this happened, none of it was his fault. He… was just a young man trying to live up to the name of his mother, even knowing that it was completely impossible.
He was… desperate. And yet even then, he never really gave up. Facing everything head-on, and never really losing sight of what he needed to do. Some people hate him for it, but Hannah always thought that out of all of them, he was the best.
When each and every one of them in the Baby Crew just wanted to end things, he was the one that held them together. He was just always there for everyone—making them laugh with his stupid jokes.
And yet when the time came that they needed him, none of them even noticed he was hurting. He was… alone.
Hannah saw it. And yet she completely ignored him.
No one saw him.
"..." Hannah could really only close her eyes; the tears she wanted to come out, not even being allowed to exist as her entire body started to heat up.
"Who… did this?" Hannah then quietly asked, "What…
…do you mean you told them how to do this, Megawoman?"
***
"Do you expect us to just go along with this, Princess Aerith? Theran has been quiet for a million years, and yet you're telling us not to be surprised that not only did you create a pilotable planet, but you also plan to migrate more than a hundred million of your people to it?"
"Elder Skeem, if I may interject—Elders, I know I am new here. But I fail to see why Her Highness needs to ask permission from us in the first place. As you said, Theran has been quiet for a million years. That also translates that for a million years, they have let all of us play kings and queens. I apologize if my words will offend anyone in the Council, but we are really only allowed to have a Common Council because the themarians let us. Even right now, Princess Aerith could snap our necks—except for Elder Bato, who doesn't have a neck, and Elder Skeem, who is all neck but no bones."
"And is that supposed to make us feel better about the themarians, Elder Olseyir?"
"No one is snapping anyone's neck! Our people are not violent in nature!"
"...But you are a race of warriors. Violence is your nature."
"If I may interject again. Elder Skeem, you are judging a species you know nothing about—for most of us, isn't this our first time actually seeing a themarian in person? Princess Aerith has been nothing but courteous and diplomatic to us. And with respect, your species are the ones specializing in weapons of war."
"We specialize in weapons of war because, without them, we are one of the weakest species in the entire Known Universe. The themarians are the weapons."
"If I may interje—"
"No, you may not!"
Some time ago, while Riley was busy talking with the Ahor Zai, Aerith was busy convincing the Common Council of her plans to migrate the younger part of her population to a pilotable planet.
And as one might expect, the discussion wasn't going anywhere—with Elder Skeem completely adamant about telling his peers that it was a bad idea.
They have been on it for hours, and yet no one could really agree with each other. Elders Apo, S'adar, and the newest Elder, Olseyir, did not really have a problem with what she proposed because as Olseyir said, she shouldn't even be asking for permission.
As for the Grand Elder and Elder Skeem, they both expressed their disagreement—with Skeem being very vocal about it. As for Elder Bato, well… Aerith didn't really know what he was thinking.
"Princess Aerith."
And finally, Elder Skeem and Elder Olseyir stopped debating with each other as the tiny Grand Elder stood up on his throne and spoke,
"As you may already be aware, all of the Elders of the Common Council need to agree for a decision to be considered completely approved. And as only three have agreed to your plans, I am afraid that unless you convince all of us—your people's migration will not be happening."
"May I interj—"
"Elder Olseyir is correct," the Grand Elder did not let Elder Olseyir interject as he raised his hand, gesturing to everyone to shut their mouths, "You had no need to come to us for this and could have just done your plan without advising us, so I do appreciate this meeting. But now that you did come to us—we are, unfortunately, not allowing the migration of your people."
"...And if I still continue what I am doing?" Aerith's tone slightly changed. She was, however, still trying her best to remain calm.
"Then it will be seen as an act of aggression to the entire Common Council, and therefore the entire Known Universe."
"Wait, wait…" Elder Olseyir stood from her seat, "...Why are we trying to intimidate a race of gods!?"
"They are not gods, Elder Olseyir," Elder Skeem also stood up; his robotic limbs, creating a subtle noise to whisper in the air, "There is no reason for us to bow to them!"
"She is not asking us to bow for them! She is just asking for us to not overreact while her people travel across the Universe—which her people should really have the right to do!"
"How are the people not to overreact?" Elder Skeem turned his worm-like head at Aerith, "Even right now, the woman in front of us could clap her hands and everyone here would just vanish along with Ahor Zai."
"So, just because they're unusually strong, we won't—"
"What if we're not?"
And before Elder Olseyir could finish her words, Aerith stepped forward; her sigh loud as she raised her voice.
"What if we're not strong?" Aerith then let out a long and deep breath as she looked at the Grand Elder and Elder Skeem, "In Theran, we have a device we use to exercise and train our bodies, which doubles as a suppressor or a limiter to the… delinquents of our people."
"I… don't think there's a need for—"
"Do not interrupt the Princess, Elder Olseyir," the Grand Elder raised his hand, gesturing to Elder Skeem and Olseyir to sit back down,
"You may continue, Princess Aerith."
"..." Aerith looked at each of the Elders one by one, before once again letting out a sigh and nodding, "It's a device that exhausts our energy, tricking our bodies to exert force uselessly—immobilizing and weakening us. I…
…can share it with the Common Council, in good faith that you won't need to use it against us—because we are not a threat."
"Princess Aerith!" Elder Olseyir once again stood up, "I do not think that is such a good idea—do not trust us with that kind of power. Your people will be in danger."
"I am asking you to trust me, and therefore I will trust all of you," Aerith breathed out, "But now, I will warn all of you—the device won't kill us, it won't even harm us. So, if you're going to use it, please be sure you have a good reason for it… because I won't take it kindly."
"..."
"..."
"This device…" Elder Skeem whispered,
"…what do you call it?"
***
"..."
"..."
"I… don't understand."
And as Aerith finished her story, the only one that broke the silence that came after was Paige.
"I've seen what this… EDP can do, and… and it can't kill any of you. Doesn't this mean that… it's possible that everyone is just sleeping?"
"No."
And before anyone could even ponder or gain even the slightest of hope from Paige's words, Diana's voice whispered to everyone's ears.
"What… have we done, Aerith?" Diana said as she approached Aerith, sitting on the ground so she could look at her eyes at the same level,
"I… should have gone with you," Diana then gently held Aerith's hand, which was caressing Gary's cheek, "I should have gone with you."
"..." Aerith did not really say anything anymore, she just calmly removed Diana's hand and continued to gently caress Gary's face. The only thing that Diana could really do was shake her head… before approaching Elder Olseyir with her eyes filled with red.
"Did you know about this?" Diana calmly said.
"N…no," Elder Olseyir quickly raised her hands, "This… this is genocide, my… my people would die before we ever approve of such an evil action. I—Let me try contacting the Common Council!"
Elder Olseyir then quickly flew away—but Diana did not give chase and instead just once again stared at the death of her people.
"I'll follow her, mother."
The one that did follow, however, was Riley, who had been surprisingly keeping quiet from the start and just looking at Aerith.
"...Make sure she doesn't go anywhere."
"Of course, mother."
Riley took one final glance at Aerith, before flying away and chasing Elder Olseyir into the expanse of space. And there, Riley saw Elder Olseyir talking to herself—well, not really, as she seemed to be truly having a conversation with someone.
"Riley Ross!" Elder Olseyir then quickly removed her hand from her face as she noticed Riley behind her, "I've made contact with the Grand Elder, they said they are investigating Elder Skeem's actions right now! They plan to interrogate him!"
"Was he alone?" Riley asked.
"They… don't know yet," Elder Olseyir's tone seemed like she was on the verge of tears, "Why… why would they even do something like this!? The themarians, they were… we were already teaching them how to acclimate to their new environment and—"
"Elder Olseyir."
"...Yes?" Elder Olseyir could really only blink a couple of times as she saw Riley very slowly floating near her.
"You…" Riley then whispered as he looked Elder Olseyir in the eyes, "You need to stop pretending."
"W—wait," Elder Olseyir raised both of her arms in surrender, "What… what do you mean!? I'm not involved in this, I swear!"
"Elder Olseyir," Riley then placed his hand on Elder Olseyir's shoulder, causing her to flinch, "You…
…have done well."
"..." Elder Olseyir's eyes squinted as she heard Riley's words. But after a few seconds, she let out a sigh and shook her head, "I only did what was asked of me…
…Boss."
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