The woman with snow-white hair who went by the befitting name of Snow used a knife to skilfully cut a piece of meat away from a large chunk and took a bite before swallowing. Everything she did was just so refined.
Unlike her colleague. "Yes, I suppo..." Before she could reply, she heard the sound of two footsteps approaching them from the entrance and all heads turned to them.
"Um, can we help you with anything, boys?" Snow queried as surprised by their appearance as the other Captains and Vice-Captains.
"Is- is he still alive!?" The spiky haired boy asked out of nowhere and Sky facepalmed. Did he really have no manners or was it only because of this? The latter wondered.
A figure got up and in an instant, he was standing in front of the two boys. Soon after, Raten and Annie arrived there as well.
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about but this area is reserved for the Captains and their Vices only. So why don't you just run along and return to the lower floor," Tyde ordered, regarding Ace in mild annoyance at their entrance before shifting his eyes over to his younger brother. "And Sky. Since when did you start associating yourself with ex-nobles and commoners." Tyde glanced at Raten and Ace after saying so.
"N-No, I-I... That's not what's..." Sky stuttered, fumbling with his words at the intense aura coming off from his brother's condescending gaze made it hard for him to speak.
"As for her," Tyde regarded Annie for a second, "you shouldn't be keeping company with her unless you've done what our parents asked of you." He stopped, surveying his brother and instantly scoffing in disappointment as he was clearly shaking. "Guess not."
"What are you talking about?" Annie directed the question at Sky. Part of their discussion clearly involved her and she didn't understand why.
The Heart Captain interjected, "None of your business. Now, you and your degenerate gang better g-"
"Don't talk about them like that," Raten interrupted the Captain and everyone let out a gasp. Nobody dared to disrespect a Vice- Captain, much less a Captain. As for Sky, Annie and Ace, they were astonished that he had stood up for them. They thought, for the most part, that he was the short-tempered, threatening, unfriendly type but maybe, just maybe they had changed him a bit.
Tyde was unmistakably peeved at his statement by the look of his face and Sky let out a laugh on the inside.
Without warning however, the whole place became choking and hard to breathe for the four of them. They were wheezing and struggling for air as if having a panic attack.
"What is that?"
"Is it just me or is it getting hard to breathe?" Most of the soldiers below also began to feel the same sensation as if their lungs were being attacked and they all traced the source to the upper booth.
"You impudent brat!" Tyde bawled as he let out even more pressure than what he had been seeping out. Pressure powerful enough to shake down mountains right from his Spirit Shard which was undoubtedly several levels above theirs. Although the Captains looked completely unaffected as the crude one who went by the name of Oscar continued with his meal like nothing was happening. The Vice Captains on the otherhand grew a bit discomforted.
"I'll make sure you're all ousted from the Heart Base and you eat dirt and sand for the rest of your..!"
"Ehem." He was interrupted yet again by someone clearing their throat. This time, it was Captain Snow who appeared behind him, the bulge on his head reducing but his teeth was still gritted. "Everyone is staring and you seem to be making them less than comfortable. You're letting out too much of your pressure. Get yourself under control, Tyde."
"They are just kids," Snow advised, her refined british accent evident in her voice. With her words, Tyde calmed down completely, taking back in all the pressure much to the relief of everyone.
"Thank god," Annie said between greedy gasps of air as she and the others could now breathe again. The same went with the soldiers below.
"You will all regret this. One way or the other," Tyde promised between gritted teeth, making his way back to his table with a cold expression. Replacing the egocentric Captain was now a well-mannered, pleasant one.
"About what you were saying again. Is who still alive?" She asked Ace in particular with the nicest smile whilst referring back to the whole reason the group of four had come in the first place.
"Oh, right. Is Captain Avery still... We didn't see him today and no announcement was made."
"Ha-ha! Get a load of this, Allison." Oscar burst into laughter at Ace's words while talking to his Vice Captain. "So you all came all the way up here, pissed off Aqua tail and nearly choked all the soldiers half-way to death just to ask a question like that!" He laughed even louder this time and Allison laughed as well, although hers was fake and she just wanted to please her superior. Raldin chuckled a bit as well and the trio grew mildly exasperated.
"Ha-ha, comedy gold." Oscar was at it again as he thought it was incredibly hilarious. "Ha-ha!"
"So is he alive or not?" Annie asked with her arms folded, her patience growing thin. It was becoming more and more evident that she and Ace had worried for nothing.
"Captain Avery is very much alive and well. He decided to stay back and help the troopers." Snow answered, clearing everything up for them.
"Welp, that's all I needed to hear. I'm gonna enjoy my dinner," Annie said, following behind Sky who was already making his way downstairs. "Hey! Wait up!" He descended faster and disappeared into the crowd but she eventually caught up to him.
"What was Captain ponytail talking about up there and what does it have to do with me?" She asked him as he selected food from a table.
He placed a prawn covered in something into his mouth before replying, "I don't know. I don't care about him."
"Okay, I've been told lots of lies but that one takes the cake."
"Whatever, believe what you want to believe. I'm retiring for the night."
"After eating a single prawn?!"
Meanwhile, Raten and Ace were getting ready to leave as well when Raldin had signalled them over. They passed by the passive-aggressive Tyde before getting to where he was seated. "Raten."
"Yes, Vice Captain?" Raten answered sarcastically, giving him a half-hearted salute.
"I saw what you did back there. You try to hide it but it's nice to know you're changing. And thank you, Ace, for contributing to his change. That's all I wanted to say. Now you might wanna get down there before the food runs out. There's a lot of hungry soldiers down there with big appetites." Raldin dismissed them and they went down the stairs.
"Oh, hi, Raten!" Nalia waved at him while holding a hefty amount of food in her hands. "Thanks for putting in the time to help us at the Facility. Penny really appreciates it and it was nice seeing you."
"You, too," he replied, walking away and leaving her smiling to herself.