Villain Retirement

"Riley, what… what happened? What happened?"

Aerith's voice echoed; not in a sense that it traveled and bounced again and again, no—her whispers repeated themselves, saying over and over again,

"...What happened?"

She asked, and yet no one could really give her an answer. All of them were just petrified by the sudden literal change of atmosphere inside the ship. Just earlier, they were laughing and smiling—with Aerith completely proud of what she had achieved.

They have no idea what was happening, the same as Aerith. Yet with Xra's sorrowful expression, as well as Diana's sudden visceral wails… they could really only assume the worst. It also didn't help that Hera was groveling on the floor; her face completely flushed and drowning with sweat.

"Miss Hera!? Miss Hera!"

Paige tried gently nudging her, but it was almost as if her entire body shut down—she wasn't responding to anything and her eyes were completely empty—and for someone who has the ability to adapt to everything… this wasn't a good sign.

Tomoe summoned a small block of ice in her hands, tearing a piece of her kimono as she tried cooling off Hera by patting her face with it… but she remained completely unresponsive.

[That ship, where did it come from? Why did we not sense it approaching?]

And finally, through all the breaths and whispers of confusion and worry, Tedi's hologram spoke—any emotions, completely gone.

[Aella, you are the ship's engineer, correct? Why did we not sense the ship coming?]

"..."

[Aella!]

"Y… yes!? I'm checking it!" Aella adjusted her glasses; her little legs, rushing toward her console and bringing up the ship's status, "The… Bloodcruiser's radar is down!"

[Why?] The eyes of Tedi's hologram started to flicker as she asked. And before Aella could answer, Tedi's hologram appeared right beside her,

[You turned it off at approximately 3 hours, 12 minutes, and 34 seconds ago, why?]

"We… we turned it off so that it wouldn't repeatedly warn us during the battle earlier," Aella squinted her eyes, "Can… you identify the ship? I'm checking its energy signatures and it's nothing like we've ever encountered before."

[It's already dead,] Tedi shook her head, [I can't detect any systems anymore.]

"What the fuck does that mean?" Hannah, who was also checking in on Hera's condition, stood up and approached the console, "We should just go and follow mom instead of trying to guess for answers!"

[Your father told you to stay here.]

"Fuck that," Hannah glanced at Aerith, who still seemed completely at a loss, "You said it already, that ship or whatever it is is already dead. There's no point in us staying here and guessing!"

"Aella," Vice Captain Alindor also stepped forward, "Take us to New Theran, slowly. Have you confirmed that we can't detect any more power coming from the giant ship?"

"Yes… But the Captain—"

"Is on New Theran," Alindor said as she raised her hand, "Follow our captain. Everyone else, to your stations."

"Aye," Girgo and the other crew members started running around. Even though they don't know if there was still an active threat; just the fact that Xra showed an expression they have never seen before warrants them being on full alert—it also didn't help that Caitlain'Ur's guttural scream still echoed in their ears.

"That ship…" And as New Theran became larger and larger from their view, Elder Olseyir, who has been staring at the planet-sized ship ever since she saw it, started whispering to herself, "...Does it not remind you of the architecture of Elder Worm's people?"

[Elder Skeem?] Tedi's hologram appeared beside Elder Tedi. She then paused for a few seconds as her eyes once again flickered,

[You… are correct,] Tedi nodded, [I have seen Elder Skeem's personal ship, the design schematics matches that giant ship at a 91% match.]

"..." Elder Olseyir blinked a couple of times as she looked at Aerith, "...Aren't Skeem's people specializing in weaponry?"

"..." Aerith lightly gasped as she heard Olseyir's words. Riley, who was standing beside her, just had his head tilted to the side as he stared at Aerith.

[Do not speculate, Elder Olseyir,] Tedi quickly responded as soon as she noticed Aerith's distress worsening by the second, [I will try examining the ship once you land on New Theran.]

"I'm just—"

"Entering New Theran's atmosphere," Aella's voice resounded throughout the entire bridge before Elder Olseyir and Tedi could continue their conversation. And then once again, as they pierce through the skies of New Theran, silence filled the entire bridge.

Except for Aerith, Riley, and Hera, everyone moved to the window to see if New Theran was indeed attacked—but it still looked the same as before, seemingly teeming with life.

And as soon as they got closer and closer to land, they once again saw the entire population of New Theran gathered in one place, more than a hundred million of them.

"..." Hannah and the rest completely kept their silence, however. Their breaths that were turning heavier as they got nearer and nearer were the only sound that resounded through the entire ship.

Their silence, however, almost caused Aerith to cover her ears as her head started shaking on its own. She then turned to look at Paige, only to see her look away from her as soon as their eyes met.

And finally, as the Bloodcruiser made contact with New Theran's ground, Aerith felt her legs lose their strength—almost stumbling to the floor if it weren't for Riley catching her.

"What… what happened?" Aerith then once again asked; her questions, not really directed to anyone but herself. She then lightly pushed Riley away as her feet very slowly made their way to the giant window.

"Megawoman… no," Hannah quickly blocked Aerith's path, grabbing her arm to stop her. But alas, it wasn't as if she wasn't even there as Aerith just continued walking without any resistance, "Tomoe!"

Tomoe summoned a dark wall of ice, even wrapping Aerith's entire lower body with it… but once again, it was almost as if they weren't there in the first place as Aerith just continued walking.

As for Xra's crew and Elder Olseyir, they just quickly made way for Aerith—their eyes, instinctively avoiding hers. And soon, Aerith neared that window…

…only to see her people still celebrating; flying around and having fun.

"Ha…" Aerith's mouth opened on its own as a stuttered breath escaped her throat. And as relief almost snuck into her breaths, her legs finally stopped walking as she noticed something.

With all their faces of joy and celebration… not even a single sound came from them—the only thing that she could really hear was the sound of a familiar scream.

"..." Aerith's eyes… reflected nothing.

"Paige…" Aerith then whispered as she turned to look at Paige, "...Let me see."

"Nh…" Paige bit her lip, shaking her head as her eyes could not stop the tears that wanted to burst forth from them.

"...Paige," Aerith's breath stuttered, "Please… let me see."

"..." Paige looked at Aerith's eyes for a few seconds, before releasing a deep and very long breath—and as the sound of her breath slowly whispered into Aerith's ears, the scenery through the window changed.

The themarians that were freely flying through the skies, gone. The smiles on their faces, almost as if they didn't exist in the first place.

The only thing that reflected Aerith's eyes was death. Her people piled up like a mountain of lifeless dolls.

"This…" Aertih's entire body trembled,

"This… is my fault."