And Danger Will Follow Me...(Kiyr, open)

[Kyrie Blaze]

Kiyr spoke gently in response, around the same time Olesya's mind processed things.

"Because you have an active location for...what I would assume to be the ARC. And I do not trust them."

Not that she didn't trust Olesya...but she didn't trust them. As far as she knew she would even still be trying to go through with her plan of trying to free Atlas...

The blonde stilled at the question, and she slowly stepped forward, wanting to close the distance to show that, indeed, she did not have any distrust towards Olesya, as she had not moved before. Her voice came to be steady once again, such was her control.

"Oui lyh pa y Tnykuh eh ouin raynd. Yc muhk yc oui huf lruuca du nasyeh yd dra YNL, Umacoy...dryd ec frana E ryja du cyo y lusbmelydat 'hu'. E tu hud ghuf fryd Tyjet ryt cyet uh dra cipzald...pid E fuimt hud mega du cyo oui yna hajan ymmufat du nadinh." She shook her head. If she had to, perhaps. But she would not like to, either way. "Drao luimt taleta du dyga cusauha amca, pa ed Tnykuh, lejemeyh, un Dedyh. Yht drao luimt ica oui du tu ed, fradran oui fana yfyna un hud. E ycg dryd oui ihtancdyht so naycuhc vun fydlrehk oui yd vencd, yht fro E lyhhud cesbmo pnehk oui du Syttea, yht vun dra yhcfan E kyja oui. E lyhhud drehg ypuid uha bancuh, pid uv dra lummaldeja fruma."

She took a good look at the woman standing before her.

"Draca lryhkac. Tu oui fyhd du dymg ypuid ymm drec?"

She, herself, had some things to say. Some things to ask, certainly, as well. Some things to find out that David never said, be it because he didn't know or because he knew and...what reasons he had, she couldn't say.

[Your Mom~]

Olesya glanced down at her communicator when Kiyr talked about the ARC. Oh course she didn't trust them, Olesya hadn't at first either. There were still some stuffed shirts she wouldn't trust as far as she could throw them, but Aster...she could trust with her life.

However, Kiyr's reaction was far less volatile than Davids had been.

She brought her communicator to her face, pushing to button. "Aster." She waited a moment, and it bleeped, a voice coming through to her. 'Yes, Renegade?' Les rolled her eyes at her bravado of a nickname, something she had used to assert her separation and dominance, now seemed unnecessary. "I'm going radio silent for a bit. No worries, I'm safe." 'You sure?' "Affirmative, setting comms to emergency only." 'Copy that...be careful out there, Les.' The man's voice took on softer quality in the last words, sounding less like a scientist on the other end of the comm and much more...human.

"Okay, it's set to only activate if my vitals go into distress or worse." She assured the blonde woman, bringing her arm back down to her side. "Fa ryja desa, yht E ryja hudrehk du reta, cu E femm damm oui."

She sat down on a mossy rock, making herself comfortable. "I was taken there against my will, as you know. They threatened to take Maddie and David if I refused or ran away. So I sacrificed my livelihood to spare theirs. That's how it started. Then I met Aster, he's the head of ARC, and very unlike the stuffed shirts that walk around the place. He is brilliant, and fair, and humane. Anyway, he pretty much oversaw all of my treatment, and directly aided me in the more...difficult aspects." She didn't want to go into details at the moment of how she'd watched everyone she cared for die, or how she had fought Ophelia mano et mano...and won.

"Long story short, I'm cured. Completely. My hair, my eyes...these were the original colors I was born with. I'm stronger, more stable, and...I hate to say it, but I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the ARC." Despite the progress she'd made, Olesya had been on a course of self-destruction. All her fights with David, lashing out at Mathew and Kiyr, being constantly angry and not in control of her emotions.

"And when...I saw Dragon territory, burned to the ground...I thought I'd lost everything all over again." She shuddered, her gaze falling to the ground. "Aster told me that you all escaped, but could not provide coordinates to your location. There was no way I could find you." She took a deep steadying breath, and lifted her gaze to find Kiyr's again. "So I continued my treatments. I put all my energy into ridding my body of the chemical plague Barker had wrought. I made allies, I found purpose. Then David showed up, as raging and violent as the Storm he is named after. He k-killed.." She cleared her throat. "We fought, verbally, and he accused me of choosing to stay with the ARC, but he never gave me a chance to understand where I was coming from. He walked out on me and...that, t-that was the last..." She put her face in her hands, a wave of emotion falling over her like the tumult of the sea. That was the last she saw of him, that was the last she would ever see of him. Another fight. Another disagreement, and no way to ever say I'm sorry.

"I k-know that you don't trust me. But what would you have done?"

[Kyrie Blaze]

Kiyr's head tilted to the side during the exchange. She wondered... But even a tone like that didn't sway her into blindly trusting the ARC or the Aster that Olesya had spoken to. It was fine for Olesya to trust him, but, Kiyr wasn't comfortable doing the same. And she was wary that, despite whatever agreement Aster made, that their curiosity would be roused that Olesya had rescinded her earlier statement of open communication.

Even as she listened, she knew it would take more than this tale - obviously lacking details, but, the experience was likely painful for Olesya, still - to get her to trust the man. She slowly settled, watching Olesya quietly, and took a few moments to organise her thoughts.

"Trust you..? The trust I have for you is layered, Olesya, and right now, complicated. Your involvement with the ARC, despite the apparent good outcome, is troubling to me all the same. They are an unknown entity to me, so I cannot place the trust I might like to in you at this time. David... I cannot give him an excuse for his actions, but... I would say he still felt deeply for you, and was likely hurting. He found out you were not going to leave...and it hurt him. People do not think straight, or act right, when they are in pain. It sounds like he did not handle the situation well."

She set the issue aside, having nothing to really say on it, other than trying to give both parties the benefit of the doubt.

"I had no idea what would make you want to stay, over coming back to him. To Maddie. During the battle, despite all the confusion...I used Ceres to find your location. I knew where you were, and I searched because...for the weeks between you being taken and that battle, you could see he felt like there was a hole in his chest. But David was in bad shape, and not just physically. Ceres told me there was no safe way we could wake him in his comatose state. Not for ten years, and there was still risk. Fifteen was the ideal time frame. His psyche...he did not want to wake.

"I thought maybe if I went and retrieved you, on one hand to ensure your safety, on the other to bring him peace and maybe speed up the process, because he felt for you... But, I realized I could not. And I was not willing to let Damien go in my stead, either. I wanted to come and get you, Olesya. I was going to, but that would leave the civilians, the Core, alone. There would be nobody capable of piloting the ship, though I am sure someone would have stepped up to lead. I had to make a choice, and a call. So I did. But I want you to know, here and now, that you were not forgotten."

She blinked, her gaze stark and earnest despite her weariness.

"I had even promised him I would get you. For him. For Maddie. For your friends and allies. And because we protect our own. After he woke, he had some time to adjust, for all of us to recover from injuries we sustained during the time we were under internal attack. And, then he told me you did not wish to leave the ARC. I did not understand why...and yet, I could not fulfill my promise if that was the case."

[Your Mom~]

"...You knew where I was?" She asked, astonishment replacing the pain on her face. Her cheeks were wet, and she quickly brushed them dry with her hands. "You knew where I was and yet, you did not come for me. Did not try to reach me. Not once." Anger boiled in her stomach, but now she had a greater sense of control over her emotions. She would not lash out, even though she knew she would get a sick sense of satisfaction to do so. That was the past.

"I couldn't find you. I didn't even know if any of you were still alive. Do you know what that does to a person?! I lost everything Kiyr, everything that I was trying to protect by sacrificing myself to the ARC." She wouldn't go into details about how she had spent days not even getting out of bed, how she literally had to get picked up and dragged to the mess hall, forced to eat. Mourmond had been the one to knock sense to her that day, to reinstate her sense of purpose, of life, when she felt everything was gone.

"I understand that you don't trust them, I get that. But don't blame me for something beyond my control. Because my other option was to live out in the wilderness with no home, no allies, no food, no shelter, no family. Nothing. I would have been stupid to do that, and you know it. Cu E fungat dra cocdas. E duug draen nacuinlac, E syta so ymmeac. E cipzaldat socamv du dra dnaydsahdc palyica drana fyc y lryhla dryd drao fuimt fung, yht E ryt hudrehk mavd du muca."

[Kyrie Blaze]

It felt like a slap in the face.

But then, some part of her empathized with the first part of what Olesya said. Because she knew exactly how that was.

It was obvious Olesya was mad - and she was thankful that it was this instead of an explosion - but... It wasn't until Olesya said she was blaming her that Kiyr could see it was drifting toward blind anger. And maybe it was because she hadn't gotten a chance to talk, yell, communicate to David all this, but it seemed like...like she was venting at Kiyr.

The blonde's gaze cooled significantly, and she struggled with what she would say. So for a few moments, she said nothing.

"...listen to yourself, Olesya. Where did I put blame on you? I explained to you what happened and the circumstances in which I could make no active move. The ARC, I have no idea of their alignment. Would you want a leader to risk the safety of everyone on board to contact that place? This was something I had to consider. If I have to use a smaller scale...you went with them to save David and Maddie. How furious would you be if I undid that work and opened communications to them? They seem to have technology enough to keep people within, to undo years of destruction on a person, to appear and take a person and disappear without a trace. There are ways to remotely hack. I could not chance they were even faintly allied with Strike, or that they could not find some way to bring Ceres back to Earth and take their pick of anyone on board. They could have traced and hacked again, had I managed to remove you; then your sacrifice for David and Maddie would have been in vain. I am telling you this because I had to consider it from that angle, and a much wider one.

"Tyjet'c pnudran...ryc ryt luhdyld fedr dras. Tia du lenliscdyhlac cinnuihtehk rec xe, drao fuimt tu yhodrehk du kad draen ryhtc uh res. Tyseah ghufc...Ycdan, ajah, E pameaja. E ys hud pmysehk oui vun tuehk fryd oui vaam halaccyno du cinjeja. E ys cyoehk dryd vnus dra cdyhtbuehd uv y bancuh fru ryc du luhcetan dra lummaldeja fruma, fryd E fyhdat du tu luimt hud pa tuha. Drana luimt pa suna uh puynt Lanac dryd drao fuimt dyga yh ehdanacd eh. Cu syho drehkc luimt rybbah zicd vnus dryd uha lruela, yht E luimt hud necg ed yc dra uha nacbuhcepma vun dra famvyna uv ajanouha. Think, Olesya. When David told me, it wasn't long after we had to follow his brother to Earth. And then it would only have been a few hours until he came to see you."

Her voice, now, would soften. "You are not the only one to have lost everything, or to face constant loss. But, in response to living off the wilderness? It is entirely possible. However, not everyone is mentally equipped to do so. I do not blame you for choosing as you did. To see if there was even the faintest chance of healing. I do not blame you for choosing to shield them to begin with. In fact, I do not blame you for anything that you think I do. I cannot say that there is not some sort of way you could have weaseled your way out of it, all the same, but...I do not think badly of you for not. I did not understand, and that is a far cry from blaming you. Now, I understand better."

She tilted her head, waiting to see if Olesya would continue, or if she would step back and try to empathize as well, as hard as it was for both of them.

[Your Mom~]

"Oui lruca du tu fryd fyc pacd vun uin baubma, yht E ihtancdyht dryd. Dryd lruela sayhd mayjehk sa. So bnupmas, rana, ec dryd E fyc drah bihecrat vun lruucehk du nasyeh fedr dra jano unkyhewydeuh dryd oui ymm mavd sa fedr. Ed'c y tuipma atkat cfunt."

Her tone was more even, but it was clear that Olesya was still angry. It boiled in her stomach, making her feel slightly sick, but she kept her head.

"Tyjet fnuda sa uvv. Ra fyc tuha fedr sa, ymm palyica E...E icat so Xe du najanca dra tysyka ra tet, dra baubma ra gemmat. E teth'd fyhd res du pa dra suhcdan, yht oad vun dryd, E fyc tayt eh rec aoac." She paused, feeling sick to her stomach. She could still feel the shadows of the white-hot pain that ripped through her soul, touching her very core. Losing everything was one thing, losing it a second time was another, but losing everything at the hands of the man that you loved...it was agony.

[Kyrie Blaze]

And now...she understood better, still.

Kyrie was quiet a few long moments, processing things. David's way of trying to protect her? Likely. She had no idea, really, because she wasn't there to see what went on.

"E lyhhud cbayg uh rec parymv. E lyh uhmo cbayg uh fryd E yldiymmo ghuf du pa vyld. Ghufehk fryd oui ghuf huf, dryd fa yna ymeja...tu oui cdemm fecr du nasyeh fedr dras?"

[Your Mom~]

"Mad sa pa lmayn, dra ARC eh hu fyo ufhc un ehvmiahlac sa. Rufajan, E ryja dfu cdnuhk ymmeac, fru fedruid dras, E fuimt hud ryja cinjejat. Dra ARC edcamv...ec y lussihedo. Drana yna lremtnah drana, yc nacetahdc, hud aqbanesahdc. Lremtnah uv dra asbmuoaac, draen vysemeac. Cina, ed ech'd etaym, pid ed fyc ruf drao cinjejat frah dra puspc vamm."

She chewed on her lips, knowing she needed to choose her words carefully if she ever wanted to be with her daughter again. "E tuh'd pameaja eh pinhehk pnetkac frah drana ec hu haat du. Dra ARC ryc cibbmeac yht nacuinlac fa luimt pahaved vnus, yht drao femm hud yddylg un yptild...yhosuna. E luimt dymg du Aster ypuid Damien, ra fuimt ihtancdyht. E ghuf oui fuh'd dnicd so funt ymuha, yht E's hud aqbaldehk oui du. Fryd E ruba oui ihtancdyht ec dryd E fyc ypyhtuhat, cu E haatat du veht yh ymmeyhla du ahcina so cinjejym. So raynd ec fedr dra Tnykuhc, pid ed ec ymcu fedr dra gao ehtejetiymc uv dra ARC, hud fedr dra ahdenado. Yht E femm hud camm uid uha vun dra udran, aedran dra ARC vun dra Tnykuhc, un dra Tnykuhc vun dra ARC."

[Kyrie Blaze]

Kiyr shook her head.

"E tu hud fyhd oui du cbayg uv Tyseah du Ycdan. Ra yht so cecdan yna kaddehk synneat...eh dra haqd vaf tyoc. Ev drao ghuf ra ec fedr ic...ed luimt bnusbd y caynlr, yht, kejah dra fro uh draen ehdanacd eh Tyseah, pameaja sa, ed ec paddan uvv ev drao tu hud ghuf frana ra ec."

She tilted her head. It was...okay if Olesya did not wish to come back, though from her words Kiyr couldn't understand why, wholly. Perhaps she would, in the end, be safer there?

Kiyr considered the words the woman before her said.

"E ys hud cyoehk oui fuimt haat du pinh pnetkac fedr dras du mayja. E fuimt hud ycg oui du, yc, E ihtancdyht fryd oui yna cyoehk. Damm sa, druikr. Oui cyet ouin raynd ec fedr gao ehtejetiymc, uha uv frelr E lyh cyvamo yccisa ec dra syh oui lymm...Ycdan. Tu oui ryja nusyhdel vaamehkc vun res?"

There was obviously the tie of helping her through hardship. Likely her sacrifice to begin with. Duty, guilt...and as Damien had told her, they had ways of making a person believe they wanted to stay. Kiyr wasn't about to rock the boat too much on this.

Not at this point.

[Your Mom~]

It was Olesya's turn to shake her head. "E fuimt hajan camm Tyseah uid, dryd'c dra fruma buehd uv fryd E zicd cyet. Ev yhodrehk E luimt yddasbd du dyga dra rayd uvv uv res. Du natenald ed. Cusadrehk." She sighed, feeling this get more and more complicated the more they spoke. She would no more sell out Damien to the ARC than she would sell out Aster to the Dragons.

Her eyes widened at Kiyr's proposal, her cheeks reddening and lips parting slightly in shock. "Ed ec dnia dryd Ycdan ec esbundyhd du sa, pid E ys eh hu bmyla du cbayg uv nusyhdel vaamehkc. Tyjet fyc dra vencd bancuh E dnicdat fedr so raynd cehla E fyc dygah po Pyngan frah E fyc ceqdaah, yht ed fyc naymmo tevvelimd vun sa du tu cu. Dra fuihtc...yna duu vnacr."

[Kyrie Blaze]

"E ihtancdyht. Pid ed fuimt pa paddan ev ra fyc hud sahdeuhat yd ymm."

Kyrie's eyes flickered as she watched Olesya's reactions to what she said. And then she nodded, slowly.

"E fuhtanat, cehla rec duha lryhkat frah oui fana lussihelydehk fedr res. Kuehk drnuikr cdnikkmac fedr y bancuh lnaydac y puht. Cusadesac, y cdnuhk puht. Zicd...pa lynavim ymm dra cysa, Umacoy."

The blonde's head quirked suddenly and she slowly stood to make her way towards an area that was given by directions Olesya couldn't hear. Considering it was mental communication, that was pretty understandable.

"Come, Olesya. This place is not the best landing site."

So long as Les followed, she would be able to see a small pod-like ship land quietly and open to allow the two occupants to disembark. One, likely, would be squealing and crying in joy and pent up emotion. As soon as Youichi left, the pod shifted to a more humanoid form.

[Your Mom~]

"Yc oui fecr." She conceded, not wanting to argue with her anymore. She knew that Kiyr would just continue to refuse any help she had to offer, and there was no use trying to force the subject. She would use her elevated access to do some research of her own, however, and perhaps alter some records. Neither Aster nor Kiyr would need to know about it.

"Aedran fyo, fedr ymm tia nacbald, ed ec huha uv ouin luhlanh." She replied cooly. Perhaps she was being a little harsh, but given their history, any relationship with Aster, romantic or otherwise, she did not feel comfortable discussing with the blonde. She took a deep steadying breath, following her to the clearing as instructed, catching sight of the pod as it landed. Olesya's heart thudded painfully in her chest.

"Mommy?" The voice started quietly before exploding with all the emotion the little girl could muster. "MOMMY!" A flash of pink catapulted at Olesya, and she crouched to catch her, falling backward onto her bottom from the force of the hug. She returned the hug just as forcefully, hugging her daughter tight as tears streamed down her face. Maddie dissolved into all-out sobs, clinging to Olesya as Les rubbed her back and kissed her forehead.

"Shh, shhh...it's okay. It's okay, I'm here now." She murmured, comforting the girl who had been missing her mother for the past ten months. The girl who had just lost her father, as well. They sat like that for some time, just hugging each other until Maddie's sobs turned into quiet hiccups.

Les climbed to her feet, picking up Maddie with her, cradling the girl in her arms as Maddie's arms were a vice grip around her neck, her little face buried in her collar bone. She lifted her gaze to Youichi, who stood still and straight as a result of her assassin's training, but her eyes were a bit more glossy and wider than usual.

"Youichi, so umt vneaht." She stepped forward and clapped the woman on her shoulder, the closest she could get to a hug with Maddie in her arms. Youichi returned the gesture, her usual solemn expression breaking into a smile.

"So vneaht, E ys cu bmaycat du caa oui ymeja yht famm."

[Kyrie Blaze]

Kiyr winced at the words. They spoke volumes as to Olesya's thoughts on what went down, and out of everything they'd said over the past fifteen minutes, it was that that hurt the most.

And as of now, with the repeated circumstances surrounding the deaths of those people in the past ten months... She was giving up on hope for certain things. But she wasn't petty, to take away her time with Maddie because of it. She fell back to silence and simply watched the interactions, feeling outside of it all. She was present, but, it felt to her like she was an unwelcome guest. Kyrie blinked, sitting on the feeling.

She wouldn't leave, nor hide. As far as she was aware, she had nothing to be ashamed or guilty of. What had happened was not something she'd done with intent, and feelings did what they would. If it turned out that Olesya developed feelings for Aster, the blonde would simply wish her well and be happy for her happiness.

Liliel made her way over to stand by Kiyr, just a few inches shorter than the blonde. Neither spoke, but Liliel seemed pleased at the reunion she was witnessing. Kyrie, herself, simply watched.

[Your Mom~]

Seeing Kiyr was one thing, seeing Maddie and Youichi made her heart swell to burst. For the first time in almost a year, she finally felt home.

(Will format later)"Mommy, can we go home? Please? I wanna go home." Maddie asked, muffled by Olesyas shirt. Les frowned sadly, unsure whether the girl meant the home they last lived together in, or the space ship that she was most definitely not allowed in.

"Hunny, I can't go back to the ship, but, if you want, I know a house that is safe." That is, unless David changed the security on the doors. The last she knew, he had added her as an owner in the system. It was neutral, it was safe, and it was the closest place that Olesya could call home.

[Kyrie Blaze]

Safe..?

Kyrie frowned. She had no idea which house Olesya was thinking of, but regardless of that fact...at the present time, no place was safe. Space, not so much, as she knew there was a Ship brewing in that Kolo Lake.

She shifted on her feet, frowning thoughtfully.

"Um! Hey. I'm pretty sure it's not such a good idea. The Captain and Mom keep tabs on things, and, I hate to say it, but I don't think there's really a safe place on the planet right now."

Kiyr's eyes flicked to the side, looking at the small humanoid form of the pod with some mild surprise. Liliel was right, but...

"Liliel..."

The girl blinked, unabashed despite the soft warning. "What? You know it's true. You care for Maddie and this one, or you'd never have had me fly her and Youichi out. You'd have said so anyway."