30 The Spicy Peppers Admonition (1/2)

It'd been three days since everyone had returned to the spire for a brief moment of respite from their training. The band of misfits sat together as they ate and chattered about nothing in particular. Reed stared at the dorm's holotank projector that relayed the morning news.

He wasn't paying attention at all.

Astor cracked a joke about something and snickered. Sebastian let out a snarky remark. Astrid kept silent as she ate her breakfast. Meanwhile, Ophelia and Lu'um spoke about something in hushed tones amongst themselves.

Horatio noticed the listless gaze Reed had as he stared at the holotank and said something, but it flew over his head.

”Hm? Yeah, that's true,” said Reed. He threw out an inoffensive, vague response as he fiddled around with his breakfast. It seemed that the remark worked like a charm. He left Reed alone after that and focused on Sebastian instead.

”Who can endure the grand and breathtaking radiance of the blessed sun, Ka'an? No one. It is unique and without equal in all creation. To look upon the face of the sky is a grievous sin, and thus, is a transgression against heaven itself.”

”It is only natural that all things under the stars tremble beneath it, my dearest. Who can look upon its terrible majesty and not feel the scorching heat of their father's beating heart?”

Her words buzzed in his head whenever he let his mind drift like a faint echo in the distance. She'd told Reed that she wouldn't help him this time around and left him with some final words on the subject.

Reed roughly understood what her words meant; they spoke of an irrefutable rule that he refused to accept as truth.

If he accepted her words, it'd be the same as Reed admitting that he was explicitly separate from the whole. That was unacceptable. He would rather deny himself than even consider breaking the illusion.

Lu'um imperceptibly glanced at Reed. Her lips pursed in slight pain but kept quiet. She understood that pain was essential in a person's growth; that did not mean she preferred this approach.

It was an inevitable part of living — only by becoming self-aware of it — by recognizing where it stemmed from, one could finally embark upon the voyage to the other shore of time...

She loathed the idea of playing the role but had no other choice.

”Why are you all afraid of Reed? Or rather, why have you all been treating him like a liability?” Lu'um asked. She let out a bombshell of a question without the slightest ounce of indecision.

Reed felt his heart sink when he heard the question and scowled at Lu'um in outright displeasure. He knew she was of the interfering type, but this was too much for him to handle. Did she have any goddamned boundaries?

”What are you talking about, Maya? That's not true at all. Where have these silly accusations come from? Are you alright?” Astor responded. He had a stiff look on his face as he frowned at Lu'um.

”I'm quite alright, Astor, but I don't think you are. Neither are any of you,” she replied as she glanced at everyone else. ”I can smell the fear on all of you. Mhm, yes. You all fear what you do not understand.”

Astrid said, ”What do you speak of, Maya? Make yourself clear or cease this slander at once. You aren't convincing anyone with your nonsense. Why would we, who've been friends with Reed since the beginning, suddenly fear him? Where's your proof?”

Lu'um sneered and said, ”Oh please, have you seen how you've been treating him over the last week? Why is it that he's only been allowed to act as the bait? Why is it that every time he brought it up, you and blondie over here avoided the subject? He wanted to fight, but you never let him. Weird, huh?”

Horatio spoke up and said, ”Look, you two have only been on the team for a week, so we wanted you both to get a feel how we operate before we let you out on the field in a combat role. The team's efficiency is paramount to our survival out there.”

Ophelia chimed in and added, ”It's nothing personal, of course. We have no qualms about you or Reed taking a more active role in team missions, it's just-”

”You already have a reliable unit and our introduction into your group has made you all uneasy, right?” Lu'um retorted. ”What a load of bullshit; you have the most talented contender in the last millennium at your disposal and you're concerned about the team's efficiency?” She let out a hearty chuckle and cleared her eyes of the tears that formed out of reflex. That was the best joke she'd heard in a long, long time.