A/N: Sorry it took a while. I had other things to attend to irl ^^;

"What do you want?" Her voice spat venom as if daring someone to continue; a tone meant to intimidate the other. However, years of working with this person taught the liberi operator that such things barely fazes her. "I do not have time for your nonsense, Saria. Can't you see I'm busy?" Leaving? What a joke. When did Saria ever need their permission to leave?

Silence waved the ex-director away. She didn't have time for petty arguments. Oripathy has disrupted her sleeping patterns. When they returned from the mission, she fell asleep in the waiting room before she could start her written report. Despite Kal'tsit and Doctor's assurance that her tardiness was acceptable, she couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.

"I just—" Saria's voice trailed off when the liberi slammed her papers on the table. She glared and the taller woman. Their—or rather her—interactions since the incident was almost always filled with hostility, but it wasn't Silence who resorted to violence first. Ifrit was injured because of her. The experiment may have failed, but the project wasn't done. Still, Saria cast them aside for that failure. They had to seek refuge in Rhodes Islands, now she dared act like she cared

"Just leave already! It wasn't a problem before, right?" She jabbed the woman's chest with her finger, pushing her away from the space she once let her in. One gaze, before she turned away. The hurt on Saria's features was clear as day.

øøøø

Silence gasped awake. Her chest heaved in shallow breaths as her heart pounded against her chest. "Ugh..." she groaned, burying her face in her hands. It was the same dream: watching Saria leave after screaming at her to go away, the pained gaze she had etched itself in her mind. It's been a week since she left but her mind refused to let her sleep peacefully at night. Clicking her tongue, she left her bed to grab herself a glass of water.

Has the stress finally caught up? She thought she's been taking it easy but the nightmares proved otherwise. They've avoided each other until that week. When she thought she was finally free of the turmoil in her heart, she invited herself back in and thus, the nightmares returned. That conversation left her distraught, and her dreams have made things worse. In her sleep, she dreamt of Saria's gut-wrenching expression, looking at her like she was a monster for telling her to leave. In reality, she gazed at her with a nonchalant expression. She hated it. She couldn't see past those amber eyes.

"Silence?" A voice interrupted her thoughts. Setting down the glass she's been unconsciously gripping tight, she turned to the young blonde she was ever so fond of. "Can't sleep again?"

"Ifrit," she said in greeting. "I just woke for a glass of water, that's all." She patted the girl's unruly hair, a gesture they both enjoyed dearly. The girl's unusual attire didn't go unnoticed. She ran her fingers across the fabric, recognizing it. "Is that Saria's coat?"

"Yeah! I found it in your closet. I've grown a lot but it still doesn't fit me." Ifrit swayed, emphasizing how the coat ran down to her ankles.

"Ah, can I have it back?"

"Eh? You're just gonna throw it anyway." The younger one huffed, crossing her arms and refusing to return it. Silence couldn't fathom how Ifrit was still extremely attached to the woman. She tried to keep them apart to protect her, but not a single week has passed that she didn't request to see Saria.

"Please?" she pleaded, but the other was too stubborn. She sighed in defeat. "Only for the week, Ifrit." While it's true she planned to scrap it, she never found the heart to take action. She simply woke up one afternoon from a nap with the coat already draped over her. Saria must've dropped by then, but she couldn't find it in her to throw it away. Days turned to weeks. Weeks turned to months. The coat ended up collecting dust, neatly folded underneath her belongings.

"Silence, can we go back to Rhine Lab?" She froze at the suggestion. The liberi's expression grew dim at the thought. She was about to ask the reason for the sudden proposal but the other continued. "I overheard Ptilopsis talking with the Doctor about how Saria returned to Rhine Lab or something. I think it's the perfect chance to show everyone how strong I've become!" Everything was clear to her now. This was the reason the ex-director suddenly wanted to talk.

"No, we're not going back there. Go get some rest. It's three in the morning." Saria's presence never mattered since she joined Rhodes Islands. She'll find a way to reverse their wrongs herself. Who cared if she returned to Rhine Lab? Her brows furrowed in frustration.

Just once, she wanted to see the hurt in her eyes too, to know that she wasn't the only one who found this separation hard. As Ifrit returned to her room, Silence brooded. A storm of thoughts in her mind that haunted her 'til sunrise.

øøøø

Sunlight peeked through the metal shutters, accompanied by the soft chirping of birds from a distance. Silence lay awake on the bed, coming from a restless and sleepless night. The remaining hours were filled with tussles against the sheets. A long, heavy sigh escaped her lips. Ifrit's words doused her mind with toxicity, ringing ceaselessly in her ears like a broken record. The night was long; the arrival of morning was a blessing to her exhausted subconscious.

Groggily, she forced herself up, the bustle of activity already present outside. A number of these operators took their training seriously, busying themselves in the shooting range or training room before the break of dawn. Her mind drifted to a certain vouivre. Always up before sunrise to ready the troops for their daily routine while she watched from a distance, still awake due to her unusual sleeping pattern. They may not have always agreed on things but they were nearly inseparable, especially with Ifrit in the picture... or at least she thought they were.

"Lost daydreaming again?" Ptilopsis said, greeting her as she approached the coffee counter. "It's unlike you to drink coffee this early." Silence smiled.

"I haven't had enough sleep this week. I figured coffee would help me get through today." A yawn shook her being, only proving her point further. These nightmares have been a hassle for her work. There were still specimens left untested from their last mission and experiments have been delayed from her unintentional negligence.

"I understand. You haven't had continuous nightmares like that since—" The white-haired woman paused, remembering it was a topic the other refused to entertain. However, it did remind her of a more important happening. "Ah, have you heard about Saria? She went to Rhine Labs." The brunette froze once again, much like when Ifrit mentioned it to her. She scoffed.

"Yeah. Ifrit overheard you talking about it. She actually asked me last night if we could go back there too." A beep from the coffee maker told her that the coffee was ready.

"She didn't go back there to work. She's... going to HQ's underground network." Her words stopped the other. Confusion filled her. How was that supposed to help her conclusion? Not just everyone could enter that underground area. It was a top-secret sector that ran confidential tests and experiments and only those of the highest rankings are allowed in. Not even Saria, who was the director of the defense division, had easy access into it without heavy scrutiny. If she wasn't going to work, what was she going to do there then?

"Well, good for her then." With a nod and her coffee at hand, she started to walk away.

"I don't think you understand the situation, Silence." Her words stopped the other, sliding an envelope towards her. Silence flipped it, finding that it was signed by Saria... for her. "I assumed she explained everything in there. If not, then I'll fill you in on whatever I am permitted to share." A curt bow before she left her alone.

Anxiety rose in her chest. While it wasn't unusual to find a letter addressed to her from Saria, it was something they've only done when their relationship wasn't a mess. Somehow, it made her nervous to read the letter as she felt an ominous aura from it. She returned to her quarters to read its contents.

øøøø

Troubled and distressed, it was like a cauldron of emotions churned inside her, seeking dominance over her actions only to be washed over by the next. Where does she even start? Saria was gone, Ptilopsis refused to share more. The only person she could approach was the one who made it all possible for the ex-director to set her scheme in motion.

So she stormed his office, hand in wing-form as her actions unintentionally make his paperwork fly away. "Doctor! Why would you give her confidential documents like that?!" Her emotions have chosen its victor. She was upset, mad even, at the person in front of her. "You've endangered her life!"

Somehow, the hooded person already knew who she was talking about. He sighed and gave her a folder. "I didn't know what it was for, nor did I know what she would do with it. Reading it, nothing seemed dangerous. You can scan through it yourself. Forgive me for not informing you. Your relationship with her isn't the best. Besides, you know she would've gone regardless of my orders." She wanted to continue her rant, to blame him for being careless but knowing Rhodes Islands, they were careful of how their operators performed. Their actions reflected on the organization and he wouldn't make the mistake of possibly discrediting themselves.

Though hesitant, she took the folder and skimmed through its content. However, it left her dumbfounded. Inside were nothing but information about the Flame Demon Incident, but a separate paper contained people and details she had no knowledge of. As she was reading, Kal'tsit entered the room.

"Silence, your timing is perfect. I heard about the situation. It seems Doctor here made a crucial mistake." The feline crossed her arms, glaring at the man. "We're sending you and several operators to extract Saria from their HQ as quietly as possible. I'll brief you on the details in the control center. If your conversation here is done, then follow me."

The situation grew more complicated as new information came to her. She was directly involved with the incident—partnered with Saria to lead the project—but now she felt as if she only knew half of the truth.