Light had shone through Zu's waking eyes, welcoming her return to consciousness.



What met Zu's immediate sight was the ceiling of a lit room, a striking difference from the wild jungle that she had been residing in before. Her antenna could detect a constant reverbrating noise surrounding the space. Wherever she was, it must have been moving. As she further slipped back into wakefulness, what was most prominent was the pain that she felt throughout her body. She grit her teeth as her muscles naturally tensed up, wincing as she clutched her arm.

That damned beast...

This was probably it. She should've known that eventually, they would send something more than people with guns, the coils that she kept breaking out of, and those flash explosives that made her sight fuzzy. They used a lot of strange tech that she wasn't familiar with. Not to mention all of those drones... She probably shouldn't have let those guys come back to collect the leftover scraps. It was clear that they would eventually try something more... she just didn't know what form it would take. Until now, of course.

Memories of what happened before slowly seeped back into her thoughts. She fought that seemingly invincible beast, faced profound defeat... and then what happened? It's so close, yet it escapes her...

Oh, right.

The big explosion that hit her point blank in the head.

It was worth it to prevent what was going to happen. In that moment, it was the only way she could think of, and was currently physically able to without potentially causing even more damage. There was no way Blitz Dash would've taken her far with her struggling to even stand, let alone jump. She probably could have handled the strain in her lower body enough to at least dodge that fireball, just as she was able to use the last of her remaining stamina to run into it. There was an obvious reason why she couldn't do that, though.

She hoped the friends she made were okay. It was lonely without them.

She didn't remember if anything happened specifically after that... everything completely blacked out at that point. It should've ended at her getting knocked unconscious, by all means...



But within her memory... there was something else.

A strong, dauntless willpower welling up inside of her...

Something that, even just for a moment...

Made her reject hitting the ground, and drove her to move forward.



Zu would glance down to see the extent of her injuries... only to find that her tender wounds around her arms and legs had been wrapped in white bandages. Come to think of it... there had been a feeling of something soft wrapped around her forehead, causing an itch underneath. Of course they would try to mend her wounds... These people would have needed to bring her back in a functional state, after all...

Bring her back...

A single, fearful thought would cross her mind.



She needed to get out of here.

Now.



Zu had looked at her surroundings. She had never been in one before, but it wasn't a difficult conclusion to make that this was a ship. Her attention would've been caught by the window on the wall next to this bed. The stars... they all were so clear. The distant nebulae seemed to mix with each other like watercolors spread onto the very heavens themselves, various colors mixing seasoned with bright suns that signalled worlds beyond. She couldn't help but be absorbed by the sheer, incomprehensible vastness of it. There seemed to be no end to it all. It was a beautiful sight that made her situation all the more bittersweet.

They were in space now. What could she possibly do? She was told that she could survive out here... but could she get anywhere? It didn't seem like a feasible option.

There had to be something. Anything. Zu winced, sitting up from the soft cell bed and withstanding the pain, eventually managing to stand up. She needed to figure something out... she needed to--



"Hey, now. I wouldn't move that much if I were you." A deep voice would bellow.



She'd quickly turn her head in surprise. There sat Val, his arms crossed as he had been on top of what seemed to be some kind of storage unit being used as a chair. This guy again... More unpleasant memories washed into her mind. The fact that this ship was likely far into outer space was already a problem... but with this beast here, she definitely wasn't going anywhere.

"It's been four hours. The extent of your wounds are some pretty bad burns, and a number of bruises along your body." he'd elaborate.

"Those bandages are made of Tiflax material... so they should be mending by now. They're meant to deal with burn wounds in particular... and lessen the pain by a lot."

"I'd say we should keep those on you for at least a week, but..."

"Species like yours are usually tough enough to navigate around stars without any protection..."

"So I think you'll recover even quicker."

Zu had no response for him. Just a piercing glare. All Val could respond to that with was a downcast look on his face.

"There is a three days length distance between Space Center CX and this solar system." he'd state after a long period of silence.

"My current mission is to get you there... and from then on... all of this will be out of my hands."

She'd glance away, a distant tone to her voice. "We both know why you have me here. Just do your stupid mission and take me back... I don't care anymore."

"Well..." Val would trail off, lowering his head and looking to the floor. "There's something else to this that's bothering me. So much so... that I have to figure out what it is, you know?"

"So that's why... I've gotta ask you a few questions."

With that, he'd adjust his position to sit more upright, looking directly at Zu, who had been facing away from him this entire time. She clearly didn't even want to speak to him. Val... didn't seem to want to blame her for feeling such a way. But there were strong reasons why he had to figure this out.

Val would start to try learning the truth from the girl... The first question of his being...

The natural conclusion of what occured back there.

"You didn't actually kill anyone, did you?" he'd ask.

Unaffected by the bluntness of the question, she'd coldly respond. "What does that matter?"

"Whether I killed anyone or not..."

"I still ended up here, didn't I?"

"You know... I could help you. I could make things easier for you." Val insisted.

"Nothing about this is easier." the girl said dejectedly, those green eyes still looking away. "No matter what I do or say... I'll still be subject to the same fate. Why should I even humor you?"

"You're likely just inquiring these things to fill out some report, are you? Just leave me alone, already, you brute." she'd retort.

"Things can change." he pleaded. "But I can't do anything if you won't help me learn the truth."

"And what will you do if I don't? Throw another giant fireball at me?" she said with bite in her voice.

Seeing her withdrawn behavior, Val took a moment to think this through. Clearly, she had every right to be angry... but it was also obvious that there was something wrong about this. He never thought that he would be the one to have to take this position before... To be honest, he wasn't good at this kind of thing. But there were many aspects to this that made him want to see this through unlike anything else.

".. Listen." he'd say, his head hanging low.

"I'm not going to tattle about any of this to CALCOR, or anyone else. My only task here is to get things under control. I'm in a separate group entirely from the ones that they are in."

"Your actions back there... they really threw me off. I told you that I've seen a lot during my time in space..."

"But I've never seen anything like what you did." he'd add.

She didn't have words for him, this time. Just a spiteful grimace. Turning, it just about seemed like she was going to go back to the cell bed to ruminate.

Seeing that he's made little progress in getting her to open up...
He would push further with a phrase that was all too familiar to him.



"You don't have to do this alone."



This caught her attention, the girl finally looking back at him.

"I'm sure you think your back is against the wall, and there's no way out... And I might not be the guy who you'd want saying this right now..."

"But there's something in me that thinks... that maybe, I really can help you out."

"If you'd just trust me... and give me a chance to do so..."

"Then maybe... things will turn out different."

Zu remained hesitant. Silence hung in the air. She kept thinking that this person wanted something out of her... something for his own benefit, and not hers...

But... Why was he trying so hard? Wasn't he just attacking her not so long ago? What changed? Come to think of it... there seemed to be a layer of deceit to what caused it. And there seemed to be... regret in those strange, seemingly robotic eyes. But even without that... would he really be acting like this?

He could be just like everyone else she has ever known, but... So far, this guy in particular has been a complete oddity. Everything about him has been unlike anything she has encountered.

What if...

It went even further?

Is it really worth taking the chance?

"What is your game here, exactly?" she confronted.

Val held both of his hands up. "No games, no tricks, no japes, no anything like that." he reasoned. "I just wanna know what's going on."

"You're... really not trying to trick me?" she'd ask.

"Honestly, if I were trying to pull a fast one on you somehow... I think it'd be obvious by now. I'm not really good at that kind of stuff." he admitted.

Zu ... was timid. But, finally... she'd give in.

".. Fine. It's not like... I have any other choice." she said.

With a nervous look on her face, she'd start to tell her side of things.

"I... never killed anyone." she'd confirm. "When you came to me asking why your data said those soldiers died... I tried to use that to intimidate you into leaving. I did the same thing with those soldiers, except for them... it worked. That's what really happened to them."

"When the first of them arrived... I used my "Blitz Dash" ability to run from them. But no matter where I hid... I don't know how... but they always managed to track me down on their ships."

"I didn't want to run like that forever. I needed a way to deal with them so they wouldn't want come back. So that is what I resorted to."

"I smashed their weapons and the gadgets that they used to capture me with. Then, I struck fear into them by shocking the area around them and threatening them."

"Usually when everything they bought that they could defend themselves with was broken apart..."

"As they stood powerless before something that they feared, and could not win against..."

"Naturally, they all retreated."

"It's exactly what I tried doing with you, but... as you can very well see..."

"That completely backfired."

"Hold on, Blitz Dash?" he asked.

"The move I used where I jumped at you like a lightning bolt. Though, when it hits someone, it turns into a "Blitz Strike"." Zu explained with full seriousness.

"A-Ah, uh... I see." he replied, still confused.

"Well, that makes a lot more sense..." Val would continue, thinking back to the microchip that they tracked to find her in the first place. "Though, you're telling me you were able to scare off trained soldiers by bluffing like that?"

"Before I even did anything... I could tell that they were already terrified of me." she'd elaborate. "They probably heard all kinds of wretched things about my species. I'm sure that they already thought that I would kill them without a second thought, or worse."

"Really... the only thing I did was play into that. You're from space, and you seem to know about a lot... so it didn't work as well with you. But with everyone else I encountered..."

She'd glance to the side, a clear melancholy in her voice. "It was really that simple."

"I see, I see..." Val had repeated. "That's pretty crazy... but I can see how that would go down. Everyone I talked to about this thought you were going to cause something downright apocalyptic for Requdon... Though, I would expect for at least someone on this planet's local military to put up more of a fight."

"There was only one person like that, in the second group I encountered." she elaborated. "He was big, with orange skin, red eyes... and a long tail that had a sharp end to it. He tried to defeat me like you did, but I was able to dodge every punch and kick he threw at me. I believe they kept calling him "Pinestar" as he attacked me."

"Eventually, he got worn out. It ended when I let out a great bolt of lightning into the sky, as I said it was "my turn.""

"They all retreated after that." she recalled.

Val chuckled. "You were really playing it up, huh?"

"He was the strongest soldier that appeared up until today. It was neccessary." she said bluntly.

"I guess so, and it seemed like it was working pretty good, considering how many people you ended up chasing off. But, man... trying that tactic on me sure didn't end well for you." Val commented.

"I mean... at that point, it had already worked so well." she had explained. "But... I never imagined anyone could trounce me so effortlessly."

"Even with how bold you seemed, especially with your lack of weapons, all I expected was that you were hiding some drones, or there would be an ambush... It seemed only marginally different than my previous encounters. Your ship had even looked similar to the ones that the others used to track me down. At least, from a distance..."

"But all of those things you did... Someone who could raise the ground with their feet and pull flaming swords out of their mouth..."

"I've never seen anything like that."

"Yeah..." Val would scratch the side of his snout. "That would be pretty crazy to even for someone like you, huh?"

"Like I said earlier... You were on a completely different level than anything I could've grasped." she elaborated. "Being able to completely stop my attacks like that... it was absurd."

"In any case... I had to do what I could. I was never going to just sit there and let you take me away."

"I'm surprised that you didn't just attack them. Especially with how intense your clashes with those guys seemed to be..." Val remarked.

"I..." Zu stammered.

"I didn't really... want to do that."

"They weren't as strong as you, so..."

Val was surprised by how articulate and reasonable she was, even if there was some expected naivete in there. He had heard that, in terms of age, members of the Zanziko developed much faster than most sentient lifeforms. This was because, on average, they had a lower lifespan than most species. Seeing it in action was interesting for sure.

"It's a bit weird to send people who can only fight with guns, bombs and traps after someone like you..." he said, thinking to himself.

"I guess they were desperate to not piss anyone higher up off with this whole incident. A lot of good that did. They ended up needing Star Patrol anyway..."

".. Star Patrol?" she asked.

"I'll tell you about that later." he remarked. "All I know is that after everything that happened today, your account makes much more sense than what CALCOR's report ended up saying. For whatever reason that may be..."

"If it weren't for that report, then I would've figured this out a lot sooner. But... the odds of me believing what I was led to think what was apparently a crazy world-ending threat... over established members of the Fleet, a military that I've been working with for a long time. Especially past the point where you pulled that stunt, they were probably pretty low."

"I figured..." she'd comment.

"That stupid report..." he'd grumble.

"Man... What was the deal with that, anyway? Was it a bug, or something? If it was, then that's some seriously bad luck." he'd think for a moment. "Maybe it was tampered with, like you said... It wouldn't really make that much sense otherwise. I don't know why someone would put their neck on the line to do something like that, though..."

"It was confusing to me as well. I thought it was a mistake of yours, at first..." Zu said.

"But... now..." she'd murmur.

"Now?" Val asked.



Even if he said it came from CALCOR... she still decided to take her chances, as if it really came to a battle, she didn't expect for a single being to one-sidedly dominate her. Especially after being told how dangerous and feared she was compared to everyone else all her life, and that having been proven true up until this point.

It was only a thought that started to cross her mind when they first started trading blows, and she realized how out of her league she was.

That report...



Combined with her reputation... it was such a convenient tool to make a person run for their life and never come back...

On anyone else she encountered, it would have worked...

But it only popped up... when this guy showed up.

Why is it that when the only person that could overpower her appears... that all of a sudden, those people died?

Everything was lined up so well... and how everything ended...

She wished she could've seen it sooner...







"Father..." Zu muttered.

"Huh? What'd you say?" Val inquired.

"The... The head of CALCOR." she said, correcting herself. "I think the head of CALCOR did this on purpose."

"The head of CALCOR..." Val repeated, trying to remember something. "And what led you to think that?"

"It's just something that he would do." Zu said. "It's in his nature..."

"He must have known what I was doing to avoid getting captured..."

"And so, when you came along... someone who I'm sure he knew could overpower me, and I didn't..."

"He changed the data that you had to say that they died... instead of what really happened."

"Giving you something to accuse me of... and giving me something to use to try and terrify you, as I did with everyone before."

Zu thought about it further. It made her shudder.

"I'm sure he wanted to punish me... for what I did..."

"I'm sure... that he never wants me to escape again..."

"So... he used you... to teach me a lesson."



"It was a trap..." Zu looked down. ".. And I fell for it."



Val was once again surprised at the level of deduction she was using. Something like this couldn't have come out of nowhere. There must have been a very keen sense of the character of this person she was talking about. A sense that could only be built by a long amount of time spent with them.

There was a moment of consideration from Val. "So that's why it was so hard to contact them..."

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"Just something I need to look into later. The head of CALCOR..." he trailed off, piecing everything together in his head. "Wait a minute. You mean Alchemist? Dr. Deiga Curuvek? " he'd surmised. "Red green and blue? Wears a shell with the crazy swirly eyes? Him?

Zu was taken aback by this. "Y.. You've MET him?!"

Val would jog his memory. "That guy... Yeah. Back where I'm from, he helped us set up the cloak forcefields on our base. A pretty neat tech that covers it in a big, protective coat. Helps us repel attackers and stuff. It was kind of expensive, but we'd already made a killing off bounties at that point." he'd recall from the days back then. "He seemed like a chill enough dude... was definitely a nerd on the topic of forcefields in particular. Seemed to also have a thing for biology. You're saying he's responsible?"

So he worked this one up close... That gives her theory much more credence. "Yes. That is what I think." Zu would answer.

"Man... I never got the impression that he was like that at all." he'd comment. "He got along pretty well with me and everyone else. But you definitely would know him more than I ever could. If that's true... then he's not going to be getting away with it. That's a pretty clear cut case for tampering with evidence. Something he'll definitely get in trouble for."

The sound of a door sliding open would be heard, prompting the two to turn their heads to the source.



There stood Serry, having his hand on the side of the door. He looked over to the now standing Zu, adjusting his goggles after changing the ships trajectory from their initially planned destination.

"Oh, she's finally up... You're making sure her wounds are getting healed, right?" he reminded.

"I don't even think it's a good idea for her to not be resting in bed."

"Relax, Serry... she's tough as nails! The way I see things, she'll fully recover before we can even blink!" Val exclaimed.

"You're being a bit too optimistic." Serry had bluntly refuted. "But under ideal conditions, my probabilities say she should be better by possibly even less than a week. One thing you're right on is her being freakishly durable."

"On that note..." The robot added. "Our route is set to Aorora right now. So I hope you're patient enough for another two day wait."

".. Aorora?" Zu asked.

Val leaned over to her and put his hand up as if he were whispering. "I'll explain later." before turning back to Serry. "Right. And Serry, I have one request for the way ov-"

"No, we're not getting Patties N' Bits on the way." he said, unamused.

"But--" Val uttered.

"Dude, we're literally committing an intergalactic crime right now, and you want to stop by a station for some bits and a soft drink?" he laid out.

"Well... yeah." he said.

"No." he repeated, before going back to the control room. "Sheesh, have some common sense when we're trying to save someone's life..." he had grumbled, his words becoming distant and faint.

Zu was perplexed by the entire interaction. Though, out of all things, one part of that stood out to her. Food. She could really use some food right now. She would pout to herself.



"Now, uh... what was I saying? Well, there is one thing that I've been meaning to say for all the time that you've been out." he'd state, the girl looking back at him curiously.

"Sky Eater..." Val would start. "Is that, like... your actual name, by the way? Or..."

"Zu." she'd correct. "My real name is Zu."

"Zu, huh? Sweet. Easy to remember." he'd quip with a grin. "Anyways, Zu..."

"I want to apologize for what happened back there."

".. What? Apologize?" she'd repeat, confused.

"That's right." he'd assure. "Instead of doing my job like I should've... I let my emotions overtake me back there and went way too far. And even as you were trying to stop me... I ignored your words... ended up hurting you really badly."

"Hold on..." she'd mutter.

"It was a stupid, reckless thing to do." he said, codemning himself.

"Hold on..." she'd mutter again.

"As someone of my position... it was completely and utterly unprofessional of me."

"Hold on!" she'd shout, enduring the pain of her wounds and stamping her foot down. Val would look up, having been interrupted.

"What are you talking about?" she'd yell. "I was the one who lied to you! Why are you the one apologizing?" she'd protest. "All of this... This was all my fault!"

Val stared at her for a moment, seeming to be baffled...

.. Before he'd just start laughing. A loud cackle would escape his snout, and it would continue for quite awhile as Zu's face distorted into irritation.

"What? Why are you laughing?" she'd demand.

Val's laughing fit would finally start to calm down. "It's just..." he'd utter between chuckles. "Even after all of that... you're STILL willing to take responsibility! You truly are something else, you know that?"

"So what? Is that really so funny to you?" she'd ask, flustered.

"Kinda..." he'd continue, his last chuckles finally having been spent. "It was just so surprising to me... how humble you really are. Honestly, I just didn't know how else to react but laugh!"

"Well... I hope you got the most out of it." she grumbled.

"Still, you are right..." Val said, the serious tone in his voice returning. "You poured a cargo load of fuel into the fire, so to speak."

"But it was our job to look into what was going on. We should've done stuff like searching for bodies, finding dried blood on the ground, or looking for any signs of a struggle..."

"Instead, we let what everyone said about the Zanziko get into our heads so much, that we didn't even question anything that you said."

"If you were anyone else, we wouldn't have taken you so seriously. But because of what you were, we didn't look beyond that."

"Don't you have every right to, though?" she asked. "I'm a member of a really dangerous species... A species that has killed a lot of people and caused a lot of suffering. Why wouldn't you treat things like that?"

"Things go further than that, though..." Val said, lowering his head....

He then looked at Zu with burning conviction in his eyes.


"You're a Zanziko..."


"But you're also a scared, cornered little girl."


"One that's in a tough situation."


"Our true mistake was getting so lost in the fog of the horrible things other people told us about you..."


".. That we couldn't see anything past it."


"And so... that led to us taking your little act at face value..."


"Instead of investigating the situation for any real, solid evidence."


"You don't have to forgive me..."


"But I promise, no matter what happens..."


"Even if my job or my freedom is at stake..."


"Even if I end up losing everything..."


"I will make it up to you."





Zu couldn't believe what she was hearing.

How could she?

This compassion and kindness...

This sympathy..

From another person, she had never seen anything like it.

Why...

Why was he being so nice to her?



"And while you might say from our side, with the info that we had and what we knew... we may have been reasonable to react the way we did..." he continued. "But in hindsight, it was pretty obvious that you were lying."

"I mean... if you really WERE serious about being a cold blooded killer... then wouldn't you have tried to take the both of us out before we even said anything?"

"Instead, I was the one who ended up starting our fight by getting mad and going out of my way to challenge you."

"Well..." Zu averted her eyes, not really having a response.

"And that's not mentioning you hesitating so much to start fighting me..." he started listing.

"That really extra way you said and did everything..."

"And the weak attack you started off with... almost as if you were testing me."

"There were a lot of signs... but I got so hung up on the stigma and infamy of the Zanziko, and my own sense of justice... that I didn't pick up on it."

"If we put that aside for even a minute, then maybe we could've prevented this entire thing."

"I... suppose." she said, still not being able to gather what to say to that.

"Wait."

"What do you mean by "extra"?"

"Oh, uh..."

"I don't know. I guess you just seemed... dramatic?"

"Dramatic?" Zu asked.

"It was kind of like... a character in a story, you know?" Val explained.

"How do I put this... It was really familiar..."

"Oh, yeah!"

"The way you acted..."

"It reminded me of this REALLY popular movie series called "Particle Man". It's HUGE where I'm from."

"One of the villains in that... I think his name was "Dark Falkor", or something. He said a lot famous lines similar to what you said while we were fighting."

""I'll blow you away, invader of the skies!" Yeah! It was almost word for word!"

"Y'know, now that I think about it..."

"That's a pretty weird coincidence."

"..."

"Shut up."



"Huh?! W-Why are you so mad, all of a sudden?!"



"Even so..." she started, the orange blush on her face clearing up. "I was still the one who threatened you. That's what this all really stems from. I should be the one apologizing to you..." she said, looking down.

"You really won't let that part go, will you?" he said with a perplexed look. "Even after I nearly roasted your little pets back there."

"My friends." she corrected. "The animals of that dwelling in particular are my friends."

"Y-Your friends... right!" he exclaimed, playing along and amending his error. She seemed pretty wild at first. But at this point, it was easy to tell how sheltered she was up until recently.

"Well, there's still another angle to this that I didn't mention yet."

"Because all things considered, in the position you were in..." he'd add. "You had a pretty good reason to do everything you could."

"Me and my buddy Serry were doing research into this... a deeper dive into how the law around banished species works..."

"And it had me thinking... I wasn't totally sure what was going to happen at first, this being my first rodeo with this kind of thing and all..."

"But if things went exactly how they were supposed to... I arrest you, I fly you to the detention facility, and you get put under detainment over there..."

"You would have been in quite the situation..."

"After all..."



"Isn't there a chance that the High Courts would consider you more trouble than you're worth after an incident like this..."

"And, as a banished species, have you exterminated?"



"I thought they'd just detain you for awhile before sending you back to CALCOR... but I guess that's not exactly ideal for you either. Especially with what I'm learning now. You must have done so much to get out of there for a good reason."

"In any case, you're pretty much between a rock and a hard place."

"However, Zu..." Val would trail off, the girl looking back up at him, curious on what this strange person would say next.

"I've got a proposition for you. Something that I think will help you out a ton."

"How would you like ... to join our team?"





Zu stared in a flabberghasted daze. ".. What? Why would you..."

"If you join us, then you won't have to worry about CALCOR anymore!" Val would explain. "You'll be under my wing, and I'll watch over you instead. Of course, I'll probably get in trouble... but I think we'll be able to work something out. At least, that's what I'm hoping for."

"Not to mention, we might be able to put those crazy powers of yours to good use." he would hesitate in consideration. "Well... only if you want to, though. It's your choice, after all. We can find some other arrangement for you if that isn't what you wish for. But either way, I guarantee that you will be under our protection."

Zu was once again surprised that anyone could offer such generosity to her.

"A .. Are you serious? Don't you realize what you're asking?" she questioned. "I'm a banished species... as soon as they find out, everyone will come after you!"

"Yeah. I'm fully aware of that." he said.

"Why are you just brushing that aside, then? Any kind of reputation that you have will be stained! You'll be thrown in jail! You might even be executed along with me!" she argued.

"I don't care." he stated.

Her stare twisted into an agitated look as she clenched her fists. "Why won't you listen, you idiot? If I do this... both you and your red friend will be put at risk! You'd be better off if you'd just let me accept my fate!"

Val had a stern look on his face. "You know I can't do that. And I know that's not what you want."

"So--"

"Who CARES what I want?!" she'd shout, interrupting him.

"I'm nothing but a MONSTER!"

"People are terrified... at the very SIGHT of me!"

"Everyone says that I'll kill them... eat them... tear them to shreds!"

"And you think I should join people like you?"

"You think you should put yourself in danger.... for MY sake?"

"You're wasting your effort! Save yourself, and forget about me!"

"Something like that would NEVER work!"

"Why... why..."

"WHY WOULD SOMEONE LIKE ME... EVER BELONG WITH HEROES LIKE YOU?!"

There was a moment of silence as Zu's scream had resounded through the walls of the ship. Before, an outburst like this from her would have at least put him on guard.

But now...

Val did not feel a thing.

"Is that really who you are?"

At that moment...

Everything finally broke free.



She couldn't control herself.

The brave face that she put up this entire time collapsed, just like that.

All that she held back washed away down her cheeks.

Her eyes were itchy, her clothes were getting wet, and she kept making these stupid noises.

It was so humiliating, pathetic, and immature, she thought...



But for once...

In a very long time...

She really did feel like herself.





"Heh heh heh..." Val would chuckle.

"Well..."

"I'll give you some time to think about it, alright?"

"But I think..."

"That this will be the start of something new for you..."





Through her hics and whimpers...

She could only nod.