After fixing the ship, Capricorn was lying down Matilda's bed, her arms and legs crossed as she moved her foot.
''Finally, I can relax…'' She yawns.
Artemis laughed softly and turned to an angered Matilda.
''Aw, don't be like that Mati~! She's just a kid! Let her relax~!!!''
Matilda rolls her eyes and turns to Capricorn.
''Kid who killed my husband and pretends to be a Goddess.''
Capricorn cracks an eye open at that to glare at her.
''Hey, I made the right choice. It was either him or me.'' She sits up and stretches her arms.
Matilda raises an eyebrow.
''Why do you act as if my husband would've been able to kill you…?''
She stands up on the bed, the clean sheets clinging to her dirty boots…
Matilda's eye twitched.
''That's not the point…
-Don't expect me to forgive you after this, you brat…''
Capricorn just scoffs and turns over her side, her back now facing Matilda.
''As if it was what I wanted…''
Matilda's eye twitches.
Artemis thankfully held her back from committing murder.
She chuckled softly and sat at Capricorn's feet.
''Where are your parents…?''
She choked on nothing and gripped her shirt's collar.
Her eyes darted towards her as she slowly sat up.
''You…'' she searches for the right words. ''You don't know…?'' her gaze locks on Matilda.
Matilda crossed her arms and looked away.
''Only my husband and I were allowed to know…''
Artemis blinks and stares at Matilda, then at Capricorn, then back at her.
''Huh…?''
Matilda sighed and took Artemis' hands.
''Capricorn's parents are—
-Shitty. They're shitty. It's all you need to know.''
She rolls her eyes and walks over to the door to open it.
''You don't need me here anymore. I need to go somewhere.''
With a soft clicking sound, she leaves.
A deafening silence settled in the room.
''What was that about…?'' Artemis asked.
With a soft sigh, Matilda answers.
''Nothing… I shouldn't have spoken… it's supposed to be confidential.''
Artemis looked at her suspiciously then cleared her throat.
''Anyways…'' she tries changing subjects. ''What know?''
Matilda pinched her own chin thoughtfully and gazed at the door, the one Capricorn left earlier.
''We should create the rebellion…'' she trails off.
''Oh- wait—?! I had a deal with Capricorn! She's supposed to answer all of my questions—!!!''
Matilda raises an eyebrow at her.
''Huh…? What deal?''
Artemis urgently stands up.
''She said that in exchange of the rebellion, she would give me all the answers I want!''
And with that…
She runs off.
A beat, then, Matilda blinks.
What was up with everyone today…?
———
Capricorn was walking through the forest now, her steps cracking the leaves under her feet.
Her arms were crossed as she mumbled under her breath:
''Who even needs parents…?'' She grumbles. ''They punish you all the time for no reason, you're supposed to obey them no matter what… and you have no power against them…''
She pauses in her tracks.
''And worst of all…''
She looks up at the starry sky.
''Even after all this… you're dependent on them.''
She rolls her eyes at the thought.
Before she could do anything else, a white parrot was flying in her direction.
''Momma!!!''
Coco settled on her shoulder with a soft wind as he nuzzled her cheek.
She closed an eye and awkwardly stared at him with the other.
Leyla ran up to them and leaned against a tree, too tired to even stand alone.
''We finally found you, ma'am…!'' She barks out between breathes. ''Adam took William under his wing and—!
-He did what?'' She asks, her expression unreadable.
Her irises slowly turned redder and redder as she listened.
''William was in agony…! He was desperate to grow stronger and—!'' She tries steadying her breathe as she slowly drops to her knees, clutching at her heart.
Coco turns to Capricorn.
''What she's trying to say is that William betrayed us…''
She quietly stares at him… then a burst of red fire wrapped itself around her.
A sharp blow of wind made Coco's fur dance around him.
The ground shook as Leyla quietly murmured.
''What's happening…?''
Leyla shook a little as she stares at her with wide eyes. She was trying to brush away the hair that fought against her face to get a better look.
When the fire slowly left Capricorn's form, she was now back into Silver's skin, her red eyes piercing through Leyla with a tight jaw.
She stepped in and threw a punch at the tree Leyla was leaning on.
''Where did they go.''
What should've sounded like a question was disguised as an order.
Leyla shakily rose and rubbed her chest.
''I'll lead you to the place we last saw them…''
——————————————————————————————————————————
When they arrived at the place, Silver took in the surroundings…
The thrown tree, the punched one, the crushed leaves…
She slowly turns to Leyla and clenches a fist at her side.
''From now on, don't listen to Capricorn.''
Leyla's eyes widen.
''What…?''
Coco had a similar reaction as he tilted his head to the side with a light frown.
''What do you mean…?'' He laughs nervously. ''Momma always knows what to do…'' his gaze drops to the ground. ''If it isn't her, then who should I listen to?
-Coco…
-No. Tell me. She saved me from my last master. She's the first one who took care of me…'' he ruffles his feathers nervously.
Silver sighs and crosses her arms.
''Yet I'm the one who led her to you.'' A vein pops on her forehead.
A small silence falls upon them.
She huffs out a breath and slowly uncrosses her arms.
''You know what…? I didn't want to tell you… but if I said that, it's because Capricorn took some meds that led her to be a little…'' she searches for the right words. ''Out of it.'' She lied smoothly.
Coco slowly looks back up at her…
''Really…?''
She nods.
''Yeah… she was just embarrassed to say it. You know Capricorn…''
Coco looks at her suspiciously.
Then he smiles widely.
''Alright~!''
He knew better than to think that Silver was a liar… if only he knew…
Leyla smiles softly at him and turns to Silver.
''So, what now…?''
Silver pinches her chin lightly and thinks.
''I think that the only way for us to fix the mess Capricorn made… is by… finding a crystal ball.''
Leyla cocks her head to the side.
''Why…?''
Silver shrugs.
''Crystal balls are a great way of finding things easily. Some are even powerful enough to hurt the enemy by a distance.'' She pauses and ruffles her own hair, ending up with marking it even messier. ''Aside from The Time Goddess, I think that one of Capricorn's crew mates might have one…''
Coco's eyes light up with recognition.
''Yeah! I remember that Gustave kept it!''
Silver cracks a small smile, rare smile.
''Here we go… now we're getting somewhere.''
She tucked her hands in her pockets and started walking past them.
Leyla raised an eyebrow.
''Where are you going…?'' She asked innocently.
Silver paused in her tracks and looked at her over her shoulder.
''We're going to Cross Bourg.''
Leyla tilted her head to the side, wondering why in Berlin's sake would they go so far…
Silver snorted at her expression and started walking again.
''I'll present you to Cap's crew. You could say they are a sort of second family.''
Coco happily followed Silver, unlike Leyla who felt oddly empty…
It was the first time she would trust strangers without the company of William…
'And it's just now that I realize that William used to do all the work…'
She buries her face in her hands and shakily follows them.
It was time for her to fly by her own wings, instead of staying under her brother's.
And that's how they all went towards the city of 'Cross Bourg', a city known for lot of drug traffics and black markets. But it was also the closest city that owned a port.
When they arrived at Cross Bourg, the crowds made the big city feel small, the smell of cigarettes was thick in the air and the shady deals could be spotted easily enough.
Coco was confidently walking next to a nonchalant Silver, unlike Leyla who was practically glued to them both.
She couldn't stop coughing because of the smells.
'Maybe I should use my own wings later…' she thought.
Silver gave her a side-long glance and sighed, as if she had been in this situation many times before. Her arm hesitantly wraps around her waist to steady her.
When Leyla noticed her touch, her eyes slowly locked onto her face, which she wasn't showing, too embarrassed to admit what she was doing…
The second Silver spotted one of her mates, her grip immediately loosened as she moved like a shadow towards them, her arm unwrapping from Leyla's waist.
She walked to a red-headed girl that looked in her 16's and elbowed her in the ribs.
''Anne-Marie, you made it~!''
The girl grabs Silver's arm and pulls her into a hug.
''Silver~!!! It's been a while!''
She smiles and ruffles Silver's fluffy hair.
''And of course I'm here. I always listen to The Captain's commands!''
Silver chuckles.
''About that.''
She rubs the back of her neck, her smile dropping.
''Adam is somewhere on Pottam… actually, scratch that. I'm not even sure about that information…'' she mutters under her breath and nods towards Leyla— who was waving at her— and Coco— who was being Coco.
''We need Gustave's crystal ball. Is he already here?''
Anne-Marie nods proudly.
''My brother and I were the first ones arriving.''
She hums in thought.
''But he left a while ago with Miel to scan the horizons.''
Silver blinks once.
Then twice.
Then, very slowly, she raises a hand to drag it over her face.
''Oh, for Berlin's—'' she cuts herself off with a groan. ''Is there any interesting thing to do here at least…?''
She shakes her head.
''Me and the others were grabbing a few savings and weapons for the ship, and I think that everyone was too busy with that to notice anything entertaining.''
With a flick of her wrist, Silver pointed at a nearby casino.
''How about we go there to talk business~?'' She asks with a smirk.
Anne-Marie glances at the casino, then back at Silver.
''You know me too well, Captain.''
She snorts as they start walking over to it.
Coco flew to Silver's hair and rested on top of it, while Leyla stayed behind… She couldn't just… go in there… what would her parents think of her?
But on the other hand…
She couldn't stay alone.
With a shaky breath, she covered her mouth and nose with a small tissue and started following them into the dark street, the casino lights being the only source of light…