"Why would you not let me do it?" Layla glared at the man in front of her, shadows scooting closer in curiosity. "These stupid Doves are finally leaving so why can't I-"

"Layla." He interrupted her, his cup of tea hitting its plate obnoxiously loudly. His blue eyes stared holes into her, so much that she eventually turned her gaze away and scrunched her shoulders.

"We have already talked about this." He crossed his legs before giving her a fake reassuring smile. "There's no point in wasting our energy to desperately kill some useless nobodies. You're starting to understand where I am going I hope?"

She looked back up briefly before letting out a small sigh. "Yes, my Lord. You have made it quite clear."

His grin only widened at the sentence. "Very well. Do stay patient my dear Layla, humanity will soon only have their tears left to cry."

***

"Lady Windsor." Avner greeted the young woman with a slight bow and a smile. Strangely enough, that grin didn't reach his eyes. Myra did have a favorable opinion of Avner but she couldn't help but be wary of him still. She never knew what went on in his head and she did not like it at all. "I hope it wasn't too tiring?"

Myra limped toward him, sighing. "It was a pain." She seemed perplexed before shaking her head. "Well, at the end. I looked really cool getting rid of the monsters at the beginning." The... bodyguard? No, that couldn't be right... perhaps driver? That was his main purpose but it felt like he was so much more than that... Whatever. Avner didn't laugh but his eyebrow arched as his mouth curved upward in an amused smile.

"Such confidence, that is heartwarming to see. Self-deception seems to be trending these days." As he finished his sentence, his hand swiftly extended to the car's handle before the passenger door swung open. "May I have the honor of driving back today's hero?"

"I suppose self-loathe has indeed seen an increase in the past years." She dragged herself to the door, slightly glaring at the injury on her ankle. She didn't recall exactly what happened for her to hurt this much but she knew that it wasn't going to leave her be for a good while. "It would be with utmost pleasure that I let you drive me back."

Despite saying that though, she made no move to actually take a seat inside the vehicle. Avner, who had been holding the door for a good thirty seconds now, arched an eyebrow as confusion glistened in his irises. "Is something the matter, Lady Windsor?"

Myra turned to watch the city, the stars still illuminating the sky. From there, the people looked to rejoice as the Doves were yet again able to drive away those who terrorized them. Multiple street lights lit up once again, their glow joining those of the stars above and letting the unknown see the way people start marching down the streets in colourful attire, laughter and drinks at present.

A few bangs echoed, momentarily worrying Myra that someone might have caused an explosion to occur in the city. Those worries were soon wash away as rays of light raced toward the moon playfully before blowing up in thousands of colours, cheers from below heard.

An upbeat tune soon started after the first fireworks were launched.

Despite having hated all those noises back when she was still a child, Myra suddenly found herself feeling... sorrowful. A part of herself then wished she could celebrate with them. Even as her sharp eyes swept the crowd of beaming faces, she could not spot a single familiar one. 

"... Is there no way you could drive me back home instead?" She finally managed to tore her gaze away from the civilisation, turning her hopeful eyes toward her driver instead. "My mother must be worried about me, I have to talk to her."

Avner averted his gaze, scratching his neck in discomfort. "I'm afraid that won't be possible. I was ordered to bring you back to the other Mystical Doves to attend a reunion and to not let you wander too far." As Myra's expression darkened with an upset frown, the man quickly lowered his head. "I really do apologize for the inconvenience." He then stepped away from the still open door and gave a bow, his right hand resting on his heart.

"There's no need to say sorry." She looked back at the city one last time, hoping that analyzing the crowd would make her finally able to spot the soothing face of her mother. As that effort was once again in vain, her shoulders slumped. "Let's just go already. If we don't depart now, there's no guarantee that I'll ever leave this place."

The driver nodded, closing the door as woman sat down on her seat. He soon took place in his own seat and the car huffed out a mysterious rainbow fume before advancing. Myra's chin rested on her palm as she stared off into the horizons, taking in the sights of the forests, the rivers and even the mountains as if it were the last time she'll ever get to witness the life of her country.

It was stupid, probably.

But something told her that she definitely had all the rights to be cautious.

The end was coming soon, and when it will come, she would never be able to look at those sceneries the same way ever again. Even if they were still present and the nature still ever flourishing , they would be dead to her eyes.

***

"Good work everyone!" A warm voice congratulated as Myra stepped into the shining room, her sensitive eyes having to momentarily close in order to protect her retina from getting burnt to oblivion. Perhaps, she was being overly dramatic but one thing for sure was that this room was excessively shiny.

She had been sat in that room no later than last night for their last meeting before the Eyes of The Gods shattered but she still couldn't get used to the light. Something in the back of her mind told her that she would never be accustomed to it.

"We are all absolutely delighted to see you all well and successful!" Tempus's voice continued in the same warm tone, his speech soon followed by claps of approval from his colleagues. Myra locked eyes with Tenebris, who seemed to stare back (hard to tell when they didn't have a face), before they started to clap even louder, probably to show their support.

Some Doves half-smiled at the action, chuckling nervously at the words of encouragement from the tiny being. The others, namely Nathan, rolled their eyes, not flattered the least by this action. Their respective ducibux darkened once they noticed the action, their claps slowing down as they lowered their heads. They genuinely looked heartbroken, which was kind of sad.

It's not like Myra would start pitying them now, they were just too prone to betray them one way or another, willingly or not, to start feeling compassion for them.

"Mostly thanks to me, I presume." Another voice spoke up, this time originating from the white being. The tone she used proud and bordering the smug territory. "From what I'm able to tell, most of you have consumed the last drop of my potions... the only exception of course being my dear apprentice."

Said apprentice flushed dark red as the entire room turned to look at him, his hood being messed with until he yanked it as far as it could go on his face. Thanks to that, his eyes were now hidden. The same thing couldn't be said about his very obviously heated cheeks. His embarrassment was evident and Myra didn't doubt that Oscar... that was his name right? wanted to be anywhere but here at this very moment.

While the Healer of the Mystic Doves was busy dying of embarrassment, the Leader thought that his turn to speak came, absolutely fuming as he spoke.

"No one told us they were supposed to come in waves! Why didn't you tell us that, huh?! I could have gotten killed!" Alex, the one whose role was supposed to be the Leader's, shouted in anger, sending a death glare at the ducibus in front of him.

The six others looked at each other while exchanging exasperate sighs, as if this situation wasn't new to them and had happened an uncanny amount of times before. That probably was the case, considering they were probably the ones who taught the Doves before them. Myra made a mental note to ask Tenebris how old each of them really were.

"This is utterly unacceptable!" He continued to scream, starting to even make the ears of the humans ring. Those who have raised their fist with him in the beginning were starting to lower them now, seemingly finding his tantrum to be childish and ridiculous too. 

Finally on the last thread of her crumbling patience, Bellum turned toward Tempus, her stare cold. "Tempus, make that apprentice of yours shut his mouth before I do it myself." Her aura was so murderous that even Alex's anger wavered slightly. The air soon became heavy, hearts thumping painfully in their chests in a cacophony of anxiety.

Was this the consequence of pissing off a servant of the God of War? 

Myra stared curiously at the red Ducibux, whose hair turned razor sharped at the end of her locks. If that were truly it, she couldn't even begin to imagine how powerful the real deal was. Thinking about it, the God of War had stopped showing face as of late, the Spy vaguely wondered the reason behind such absence at a time like this when humans needed the support of the celestial beings more than ever before.

She scoffed inwardly, that was only further proof that gods shouldn't be trusted.

"Now now Bellum..." The leader of the ducibus chuckled calmly, his eyes as bright as they usually were. It was like he was not the least bothered by the clear murder intentions behind the fiery stare of his subordinate. "Let's all calm down, shall we?" He conjured a cup of tea, bringing the recipient to his lips before swallowing the beverage under the bewildered gazes of the other Doves.

He took his sweet time savouring the aroma on his tongue before putting the cup back on a small plate and turning his attention back onto the furious ducibux. "You know what happens to us if we land a strike on a Dove that is not our apprentice."

"..." Bellum paused before scoffing, crossing her arms around her chest as she mumbled something about not being able to comprehend the Higher Beings' trains of thoughts.

"Although, I do agree that this masquerade has lasted long enough." The chair behind him made a shrill noise as it was pushed back, its owner having stood up. This spurred two reactions: First, a religious silence washed over the room. Second, the ducibus all straightened up on their seats, most of them lowering their head. 

Ah, there it was again.

Tempus had sealed off their mouths, again.

That crowd control power the Leader role carried would seriously become an issue once Alex learned and mastered it. But it's not like Myra was about to dwell in such trivial matters at the moment, she was more so annoyed at that decibux abusing its power again, they didn't all have to be punished for the other's antics.

She supposed those guides did learn something from hanging around humans, collective punishments, really, she did not miss it one bit.

"Now that the problem has been taken care of, I want you all to know one thing." He paused as his gaze washed over the room, almost judgementally, his narrowed eyes sending shivers down several spines.

"From now on, we won't know how when, where and how the Sevens are going to attack. For all we know, they're going to be attacking the people nonstop without letting you time to even breathe but even then, you will keep fighting."

As if to enhance his point, he glared daggers into the Leader's face.

"It doesn't matter how tired you are, it doesn't matter how sick of the violence you are, it doesn't matter how much you are hurting, you will keep fighting. The Spy's role was made to help you prepare to eventual attacks but you cannot always rely on little tricks like this. It seems like some of you have yet to realize but this is a battlefield, not a school trip. We won't be holding your hands on your travels, from now on you're on your own and you better keep that in mind lest you get killed. As much as the Divine beings love humanity, they are not opposed to getting rid of trash who aren't able to fulfil their missions, have I made myself clear?"

As Tempus watched some of the doves shift in their seats, he began to hiss to himself.

They were such pains, why did the Higher Beings favour them so much?