Chapter Text
The hum of the landship greets the sankta woman as she stirs in the morning light. Ambriel rubs the sleep out of her eyes, as she begins her morning routine. She gently uses her arts to sense every sankta on the landship. She feels the faded distant emotions of breakfast, and begins to head to the cafeteria.
She plays with the chocolate stick hanging out of her mouth, her mind wandering to her day ahead. She abruptly collides with another person, falling backwards she expects the cold metal of the landship hall floor.
That doesn’t come.
She opens her eyes, and sees a halo, but senses no emotions, “Oh, Linati, thanks.”
The fallen sankta gives a weak smile to Ambriel, as she lets her stand on her own, “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was in the middle of the hallway.”
“No no, it’s my fault, I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.” she looks at the taller sankta woman, shoulder length pink hair shimmers in the light, a blacksteel jacket wrapped over her frame with a shoddy sewn spot on the sleeve, “Oh, you got the blood out!”
“The Doctor did, yea.” Lin avoids Ambriel’s gaze.
Ambriel tries to feel what Linati is feeling, but she’s met with a wall – stoic and unyielding. The lack of emotions gives Ambriel a lingering uneasy sense, but she shakes it off, “Uhm, are you going to get breakfast?”
“Ah...Yea, I should…” Lin’s face remains in a frowning expression.
“If you want, we could eat together,” she offers.
The fallen sankta smiles, “Oh! Uh, yea, if that’s ok. I know...I’m…” her voice trails off and the smile quickly fades.
Ambriel frowns at seeing the smile fade, “Of course it’s ok! We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“We...are?”
“Duh!”
Linati’s smile returns, even if it’s a little smaller than the first time.
“There, that’s more like it,” Ambriel says triumphantly, she grabs Linati’s hand, “Now come on, I’m not missing pancakes cause you’re busy being cryptic and mysterious.”
She drags the fallen sankta into the cafeteria, feeling her body tense when she sees other sankta, “It’s fine, that’s just Adnachiel, wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Lin glances down at Ambriel, “I am not a fly, but sankta regularly try to hurt me.”
“It was an expression, Lin” Ambriel explains, “Wait, who’s tried to hurt you?”
Lin frowns.
Ambriel waves it off, “Ok, nevermind, happy thoughts! Come on, let’s grab pancakes.”
In the food line, Ambriel loads her own plate and Linati’s with breakfast foods; pancakes, eggs, fruits, as much syrup as she can muster on her own pancakes.
“Ambriel, I think that’s more syrup than pancakes.”
“Nonsense! I’d have used more if I wasn’t getting angry eyes at me.” she announces with a sense of pride. The pair sit at a table. Ambriel only now noticing how short Linati is, “Have I always been taller than you?”
“Hm? Oh, you mean like in the caves? I dunno, I’ve always been this height.”
Ambriel shoves food into her mouth, “Hmmm, if you say so.”
The pair eat in relative silence for a moment, before Ambriel speaks again, “How have you been? Since the mission. I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Lin thinks for a moment, “I’ve been...Ok.”
“It doesn’t take sankta empathy to know you’re lying.”
She shifts uncomfortably, “Alright, I’m not great. But I can handle it.”
“Mmh,” Ambriel takes another bite, “Just cause you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. What’s going on?”
Lin stares at Ambriel, her similarly pink hair, her cheerful demeanor, her vibrant glow of her halo and wings. She sighs, “Why are you nice to me?”
Ambriel tilts her head in confusion, “Hm? Whatcha mean?”
“I mean...You called me your friend...Aren’t you worried?”
“Worried? Why would I be?” she shakes her head, “No, it doesn’t matter. I’m not worried. This is Rhodes Island, the weird strictness of Laterano can’t judge you here.”
Linati pushes food around on her plate, “Right…”
A gentle hand finds Lin’s on the table, she looks up at Ambriel, who suddenly has a very serious expression, “If anyone messes with you. Tell me.”
“I can defe-”
“I mean it.” she’s glaring now, not at Linati, but at the imagined people messing with Linati.
“Ok. Sure.”
A firm pat on her shoulder is followed by a loud and boisterous, “YO! Hey Ambs, Lin.”
Lin looks up to see Exusiai and Fiammetta holding trays of food, “Oh, hey.”
The pair sit down at the table, Fiammetta offers a small wave, before taking a massive gulp of her coffee.
Ambriel smiles at them, “Hey you two, how are you doing?”
“Great!”
“Ughhh.”
Linati checks the time, “I should probably get go-”
Ambriel’s hand grips tighter, “Your schedule is wide open, you’re not going anywhere.”
“Whoa Ambs, you look a little scary there.”
Lin sits back down.
Ambriel’s grip releases, “Good.”
Fiammetta drinks more of her coffee, “So what are you thinking for the day?”
“I was thinking of taking Lin to the shooting range.”
The redheaded pair look at Linati. Lin rolls her eyes, and places a pistol on the table, “Yes, I have a gun.”
“I mean, I was more surprised you’d be hanging out with a sankta, let alone shooting with one,” Exusiai glances at it for but a moment, “Oh, isn’t that Jess’ old gun?”
“Mhm,” Lin puts it back into her jacket, “She gave it to me before she left.” Linati eyes Fiammetta, waiting for a reaction.
“What? I don’t care. I don’t work for Laterano anymore. You having a gun worked out for us in the ruins.” Fia shrugs.
“You know, Fifi, we haven’t been to the range in a while, maybe we should go too?”
Fiammetta blushes at the nickname in front of others, “I...Mean, I wouldn’t want to impose.”
Ambriel beams, “You can join! The more the merrier.”
Exusiai begins eating faster, as if to catch up. Lin grimaces at the sight, “You...You can slow down you know, we’re not leaving right this second.”
“Hmf?” her mouth full of food, “I’mf justh hungry.”
“A-ah…” Lin looks away from the massacre happening on Exusiai’s plate.
The four women begin prepping themselves for shooting, hearing protection, inspecting their guns. Exusiai taps Lin’s shoulder, whispering, “Hey, we’re not, like, interrupting anything right?”
“Huh? No?”
“Oh good,” she pauses, “There’s no way to be subtle about this, do you like her?”
Linati blushes, “H-Huh! A-Ah, I don’t know what you mean.”
“Ohhhh ok, ok, I get it,” Exusiai winks and makes a locking motion against her mouth, “I won’t say anything.”
Fiammetta walks over, “What are you whispering about?”
Ambriel follows, “Hmm? Something up?”
Exusiai shakes her head, “Nope, just checking on Lin,” she turns to Fia, “Ready to work on your pistol work?” she pulls the slide back on the gun she’s holding, doing a last second inspection on it.
Fiammetta frowns, “Ugh. Yea…”
Ambriel hands her sniper to Linati.
“Huh?”
“Let’s swap! I wanna see how well you can do.” she smiles, Lin looks away from her cheerful gaze.
“Uh, s-sure,” she takes Ambriel’s rifle, and reaches into her bag, removing her patron firearm, and hands it to Ambriel.
“Oh! I was thinking-No, it’s ok, are you sure I can use this?”
Linati nods, “She won’t let me use her, so...Go for it.”
Ambriel gingerly accepts it, inspecting the rifle, “Burst fire, very good condition,” for the first time she seems sorrowful, “It’s a shame…”
Linati waves it off, “I’m...over it.”
“You still obviously care...I’ll take care of her, ok?”
“...Thanks…” Linati steps up to a stall, she props Ambriel’s rifle up with her arm, aiming far down the range – the farthest allotted range. She takes a deep breath, and feels the sniper thrum under her touch. She exhales, and at the end of her breath, pulls the trigger. The stock digs into her shoulder as the force from the gun, amplified by her arts, erupts out of the rifle. She takes time with each shot, letting the rest of the environment blend into the background as she focuses.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The unfamiliar impact of Ambriel’s gun repeatedly digs into Linati’s shoulder. She shrugs the pain off, narrowing her vision further with each shot.
The target zooms forth, and Linati plucks the sheet from the clips, but Exusiai snatches it out of her hand, “Whoa! Nice aim!”
Ambriel peers over, “Mhm, guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but still.”
From the next stall over, Linati feels the familiar vibration of her old rifle, the shots ringing out in a steady rhythm with each pull of the trigger. Her hand twitches, as if responding to the kickback. She watches the target zoom towards Ambriel, and she glances over, “Very nice grouping.”
“Thanks!” she grins happily, holding the sheet, “I’m not used to these kind of rifles, so it’s relieving to see my aim holds true.” she holds the gun out to Linati.
Linati feels dread, rejection, hopelessness. She gently pushes the gun back, “You can keep her…”
A moment of hesitation hits Ambriel, “A-Are you sure?”
“She doesn’t want me anyway,” Linati hands Ambriel’s rifle back.
She takes it, making sure everything is ok with it, then re-attaches it to her strap, “I’m sorry…”
“It’s ok, I’ve grieved my falling many times over already…”
Light pops ring out from another stall, Linati’s gaze lazily glances over, seeing Exusiai in Fiammetta’s arms, helping her with shooting a pistol. Her vision returns to Ambriel, offering a weak smile, “Hey, it’s ok to be sad about it, I imagine that’s not...easy.”
“I...yea…” Linati turns to begin to leave the range, “See you.”
She leaves before Ambriel can say anything. Shortly after she’s flanked by Exusiai and Fiammetta.
“What happened?”
“She gave me her patron firearm…”
Exusiai frowns, “I...I’ll go with her,” she jogs off after Linati.
Fiammetta shuffles anxiously, “Are you ok?”
“Yea, I just, I feel bad for her. You know?”
“Mhm, my experience with Mostima has been…” she trails off, “We’ll say bad. I think all things considered, Linati is doing fairly well.”
“Hey, Lin-” Exusiai reaches to stop Linati, but she pulls away.
“What.”
“W-What’s wrong?” Exusiai’s momentarily thrown off by Lin’s attitude.
She groans, “I...How can you all just…” she closes her eyes, breathes, and tries to correct her thoughts, “I’m not like you, I'm not like her. How could...Forget it.”
Linati walks away, leaving a stunned Exusiai behind. She rounds the corner, she walks down the hall. Another hall. She lets her feet guide her.
Before long she finds herself on the top deck of the landship, a blue haired woman sits across the deck, she glances back, “Sup? You look like shit.”
The wind whips the words out of the air, but Lin hears them all the same. She walks over, and sits down next to Mostima, “I feel like shit.”
She hands Lin a can, who accepts it, and pops it open, then takes a sip, “Ugh, this tastes like piss.”
Mostima smirks at her, “You know what piss tastes like?”
“Shut up. You know I hate beer.” she takes another sip, grimacing and wincing as it travels down her throat.
“So what happened?” her face remains neutral.
“Went shooting with Ambriel, Exusiai, and Fiammetta.”
“Hm, sounds fun.”
Linati is unable to discern if the comment is sarcastic.
“So, what? Shot like shit? Make ya feel bad?” Mostima continues.
“No, I shot flawlessly,” she hands a rolled target sheet to Mostima.
She whistles, “Very nice, especially considering your dinky pistol.”
“It’s not-” she suppresses her gut reaction, “I used Ambriel’s rifle.”
“Ohhh, are you getting with a sankta?”
“I’m going to throw you off the landship. Literally.”
She raises her hands in a half-hearted defensive gesture, “Chill, dude. But really, borrowing another sankta’s firearm? Spicy.”
“It’s nothing. I ended up giving her my patron firearm too.”
“You still had that old thing? Didn’t it give up on you a decade ago?”
“It wasn’t that long ago...Of course I kept it…”
“Pfft, couldn’t be me.” Mostima opens another can, “Want another?”
“I haven’t finished my first.” she takes another sip, and shudders from the taste, “Ugh.”
“So what’s with the attitude? Seems like a fun time.”
Linati flops back onto the deck, staring at the sun, “I don’t know. I don’t know! That’s what pisses me off!”
“Hmm.” She ponders it, “I dunno dude. Sounds fucked.”
“What does that even mean?”
“You had a good time then just stormed off? That’s something I’d do.”
Linati rubs her face, “Fuck off.”
Mostima’s spiked tail tickles Lin’s nose, Lin’s heart shaped tail smacks it away, “You got a crush, obviously.”
“The fuck I do.” she sneers at Mostima.
She shrugs, “Alright, don’t listen to your fellow fallen, no skin off my wings.”
Linati grumbles a little, scowling at Mostima, “Suppose I did have a crush. What do I even do about it? Who could love someone like us?”
“Hey now, don’t loop me in with your ugly ass. Everyone loves me.”
“I can name five people off the top of my head that hate your guts.”
Mostima frowns for the first time, opening another can, “Fuck you, too.”
She offers a can to Lin, who accepts this time as she sits up, “Whatever.”
“Just tell her.”
“What?”
“Just tell her.” Mostima repeats.
“No???”
“Why not, worst that happens is she says no and you lose a friend. You’ve lost plenty of friends.”
“Maybe I’m tired of losing friends...Maybe I don’t want to risk losing someone like A...Her.”
“The pink haired one, huh? I should keep Lemuen away from you.” she leans her head back to finish the can, and opens a bottle of whiskey.
“It’s not about her hair color,” she shakes her head, “Why are you like this? Can you ever just not deflect?” she holds her hand out for the whiskey.
Mostima passes it to her, “Better than facing my emotions.”
Linati takes a big swig of the alcohol, hissing through her teeth as it burns her throat, “I’m so tired of losing friends…”
Mostima shrugs, “Then don’t say anything. I don’t. Look how well it’s gone for me?”
Linati looks at the fallen sankta, numerous empty beer cans surround her, “Yea, you look great. When’s the last time you spoke to Exusiai, again? Or hell, even Fiammetta.”
“Ouch, hitting there, huh?” she grabs the whiskey and takes a sip, “I dunno what to tell you.”
“You’re the worst at this, I think. Maybe I should ask the Doctor.”
“Hm, might not have to, pinky’s here.” she gets up, “See ya later, tell me how it goes.”
Linati watches Mostima leave, and wave to Ambriel.
Her eyes linger on Ambriel.
She hesitantly walks toward Linati. Lin, for her part, makes no effort to get up. Instead opting to collapse back onto the deck. She reaches for the whiskey, only to find Mostima took it with her.
“Ugh.”
Ambriel scratches the back of her neck, then begins to bend down and clean up the empty cans. Slowly the area around Linati clears up. She sits down with her legs crossed next to Lin. Silently, she looks out over the environment around the landship.
“Hey.” Linati says, sitting up, weakly.
“Hey, uh…” Ambriel pauses, thinking, “How..are you?”
“Bad…”
“Yea...I know.” she admits, “Did...talking to Mostima help?”
“Not even slightly.” She sighs.
“Well...If you want to talk to me, I’m open.” she hesitates, “Or...if you just want silent company…”
“Can I take a third option?”
“Hm?”
The sun begins to set behind the nearby mountain, the shimmering golden light swiftly fading from the top deck of Rhodes island.
“I’d like to just...talk. No stress, no bad memories. I...I want to feel like a regular person.”
Ambriel smiles, “Sure. I can do that.”