Chapter Text
You could just see the coast of the island of Paradis as the ship tread through the grey waters of the ocean. You had seen it before, the ocean, you didn’t understand the beauty, infact, it frightened you, such a vast expanse of water with unknown depths. You looked into the water from the railing on the ship as the island moved towards you. It was grey like the cloudy sky, it really was an island full of devils, such a place where the sun didn't even shine. Yet you couldn’t help but sympathize with the slaughter, you didn’t even know why you signed up for this mission in the first place, perhaps you wanted to see for yourself if the Eldians deserved to die for nothing. Yet that never bothered you before, carrying out missions for Marley meant merciless slaughter anyways.
You sighed, resting your head on the railing and squeezing your eyelids shut, trying to rid yourself of these thoughts. You perked your head as you heard the creaking of the wooden floorboards, followed by light footsteps. Deciding that it didn’t matter who it was, you shut your eyes and rested your head, tuning out the footsteps that were increasing in proximity. The footsteps halted beside you, the empty silence filled by the sloshing of the water. You turned your head to the side to be met with a pair of cold grey eyes.
“Fancy seeing you here Y/N” she said with a smile on her face, it didn't quite reach her eyes. You couldn’t lie, her smile frightened you a great deal, you’d seen her around this division but never had she very hinted a smile to anyone. She rested her arms on the railing, and turned her head away, to stare at the water ahead of her. Her short blonde hair blowing away under her helmet, she looked majestic, but in the most frightening way possible. Her smile stayed plastered on her face, she fascinated you. “What do you want” you questioned.To be frank, the woman scared you, she was known as Yelena. She always had a cold demeanour around her and you’d heard about her heartless antics before. “What, did my intrusion interrupt your philosophical epiphanies or something?” She asked, losing the smile on her face which sent a shiver down your spine.
You scoffed at her question, not knowing how to answer, there was just something about her grey eyes that paralyzed you, was it fear, was it respect? “I’m talking to you, you know, not the damn fish in the sea” She continued. Your body froze at the sound of her voice, so soft yet menacing.
“What do you want me to say, we’re about to go kill the supposed demons that have been a threat to all of Marley for our entire lives, at least that’s what we’ve been told, it's for peace.” You replied nonchalantly.
Yelena’s calm veil flickered for just a moment,“ Is that so? So you think the devils on the island are innocent?” She pushed on.
“Who knows, I mean that’s never stopped Marley from getting what they want and expanding the empire.”
“So I walked in on a classic case of moral conflict” She muttered to herself, as she turned her body over, resting her back and the backs of her elbows on the railing. She tilted her head up and sighed, “ Now tell me, why did you join the military if you couldn't handle such ambiguity in morals, I mean tell me who’s right and wrong in a war?” She asked, closing her eyes. You couldn’t help but admire her cold beauty, the way she glowed even if the grey clouded the sky, she opened her eyes and turned her head towards you, waiting for an answer. The truth was, you joined the military to get away from your parents in Marley, there wasn’t anything remotely wrong with them, it's just that they were exceptional and you weren’t. They brought honour to your family name, whereas you weren’t an idiot, but not a prodigy either, you joined at a feeble attempt in giving one last thing to your parents, but also to leave and hopefully die, or at least that's what you told yourself.
“I joined because I want to know what the world truly is, is Marley justified to kill all these people in the name of peace, or is it just a show?” You said you didn’t know where all that had come from. Yelena tilted her head in curiosity, “I see” she whispered quietly as she returned to staring at the sky. “I feel like there might be a storm today,” she said with a glassy look in her eyes, “What do you think?” She asked with the same dazed expression. You were surprised by the sudden change in the flow of the conversation, you had never expected a conversation with the fabled Yelena would go like this. “Maybe” you whispered, still taken back as you stared into the greywater among you, maybe there really would be a storm today. You turned your gaze to the ever-approaching island and then looked back at the tall woman beside you.
“Is that all? I expected more as I intruded on the little soliloquy you seemed to be having in your mind” She asked, you could hear the yearning in her voice, she genuinely wanted to know your thoughts. But why you out of all people, you had no friends, you hadn’t bothered to make any, you weren’t special in any way either, you were kind of just there, the perfect mindless soldier. Ignoring her question, “Why bother to understand me anyway, why are you even talking to me?” You asked defensively. Without hesitating, she opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by the yell of a man.
“Yelena! We are approaching the Island, the commander calls for you” He called. You lifted your head from the railing to see who it was. Swiftly, she lifted her elbows off of the railing, you finally realized how tall she really was, it added to her unforgiving appearance. She took two steps but stopped at you, bending down to your ear and grazing your chin ever so slightly with her fingertips. “You intrigue me” She purred and continued towards the man. You turned around to see her walk away, there was something about this woman, something that might just change your entire perception of this twisted world.