Villain Retirement

"Find her! Whatever you have to do, find her!"

The Grand Militia. The most respected organization on the entire planet, the keepers of the peace between Hel and Varoif; Theran's guard, and home to the best and brightest the planet has to offer. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Grand Militia was a nation of its own.

Themarians are a race of warriors, so it was normal for most of those who have matured to join the Grand Militia to hone and practice their instincts. After all, most of them were not even allowed to travel out of their territory to actually seek or join any sort of war.

They are trained to be fighters in a universe that don't allow them to fight. The Grand Militia offers them to release their frustrations through skirmishes and duty.

And right now, somewhere in the vast and seemingly empty planet of Theran, a platoon was failing their duty.

The individual they were ordered to guard and restrain, suddenly gone.

Most of them were excited and even threw themselves to join this mission. It is, after all, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Caitlain'Ur—an individual that most of those that were just born hundreds of years ago to be a myth, has suddenly shown herself. Not even a second after her existence was revealed, the Order of the Grand Militia quickly surrounded her—even led personally by the Militia's Overlord.

Everyone thought that there would be a fight, but no. Caitlain just surrendered herself, even allowing them to put a collar around her neck willingly. Unlike with the case of Aerith, however, they did not immediately declare Caitlain as an individual to be put on the chopping block. The Grand Militia had rules and due process, after all—unlike the royal family which could pretty much do whatever they wanted to their vassals.

But perhaps that was a mistake because now, Caitlain just disappeared without a trace.

"Why can't we detect the collar!?"

"You three, scour the south side of the island! She couldn't have gone far, we would have detected her!"

"Try finding traces of the collar, she might have done something to destroy it!"

The soldiers quickly scattered throughout the island, searching every inch of it at blinding speed. There is one of them, however, that was just idling in the middle of a forest, visually hidden from the rest of his comrades.

"..." The soldier just watched as the others flew above the sky, before letting out a small sigh and sitting on the ground. And after that, he did nothing. He just sat there, seemingly waiting for something to happen.

After a couple of seconds, however, another soldier landed near him.

"..."

His comrade started walking and looking around, not even minding the sitting soldier.

"Area D 24, 5, 82—Clear."

And without even as much as a glance, his comrade just flew away. The soldier just blinked a couple of times as he watched the dancing leaves left by his comrade, before shrugging his shoulders and letting out a small hum.

"..." And then, once again, the soldier just sat there.

A second.

A minute.

It took an entire hour before he stood up and started patting all the dirt and leaves that stuck to him. He then tilted his head to the side, trying to listen if there was any soldier left on the island; and after only hearing the sounds of animals, the soldier suddenly crouched on the ground and started digging with his hands.

Themarian ground and dirt are different—their density and hardness are comparable to titanium. This is also the reason why themarian technology is different from most other species; materials that would otherwise be limited to other planets could just be picked up from the ground. But most importantly, themarians can harvest and process it with ease.

The soldier, however, did not seem to be digging for harvest, but rather digging as deep as he could as his entire body was already burrowed through the ground; and even then, he continued digging.

He could no longer see the horizon outside even if he stood on his toes, but finally, after a few more seconds, his hands stopped as he looked up toward the view of the sky covered by the umbrella of leaves above.

And very slowly, his eyes started to squint.

"A classic move for an ant, you never change."

"..."

A whisper then calmly seeped into the hole he made, causing the soldier to let out a very long and very deep sigh. He seemed to contemplate on whether or not to continue digging, but after a few breaths, his feet very slowly left the ground; his head, just slightly peering from the hole and looking at the owner of the voice.

"You are on themarian soil, I would like to ask you to leave immediately," the soldier then said as he squinted; his eyes, reflecting the pale-skinned woman standing in front of him,

"...Pirate Queen Xra."

"Let's just say I'm lost and I am looking for a certain ancient hag," Pirate Queen Xra slightly tilted her head up, as if to look down further on the soldier as she talked, "Maybe you saw her somewhere here?"

"There was a beautiful goddess here earlier, she's gone now," the soldier then smiled, before just disappearing into the hole again; the dirt he was digging, obviously being thrown in Xra's direction.

"I don't care whatever the fuck it is you're planning, Caitlain. But you and I are going to talk," Xra stomped her foot, causing a crack to crawl from her feet and straight to the hole that the soldier was digging.

"..."

"..."

And then, once again, the soldier very slowly revealed himself from the hole; this time however, his silhouette started to flicker several times until he ultimately disappeared… replaced by a woman with long brown hair and a very calm smile.

"You're as rude as ever, Shakira."

"Ah, of course. Now I know where Riley gets it from. What name are you going by now? Deborah, was it?" Xra's eye twitched as she saw the obviously mocking smile on Diana's face.

"Diana, but close enough," Diana then calmly landed with her feet as she stood in front of Xra, "So, you've met my son?"

"Has all your bad qualities," Xra smirked.

"Those are my best qualities, then. What do you want? I'm quite busy," Diana let out a sigh as she wiped away the dirt on her hands.

"I heard your human husband swallowed a Guardian Force? You know I can help him with that," Xra then crossed her arms.

"My husband is doing fine, thank you very much."

"Really? I happen to have met your biological daughter."

"Oh, really?" Diana slightly hummed, "You noticed how your mouth is the same? You have the same maturity."

"...I don't really know how to take that."

"...Forget I said that."

"It doesn't matter, she told me your husband still hasn't woken up. That means he's incompatible," Xra rolled her eyes, "You may think yourself the most knowledgeable being in this universe, but when it comes to harnessing the energy of the sun—I think I have you beat…

…I can help him."

"And why exactly would you do that?" Diana's eyebrows started to furrow as she looked Xra straight in the eyes.

"I need you to resurrect Akkamesh. My husband for your husband."

"That doesn't seem like a fair trade," Diana raised an eyebrow.

"It is when you count your deception from the past," the tone of Xra's voice suddenly changed; her red veins, starting to pop out from her unusually pale and gray skin,

"Maybe you've forgotten because of your age, but you promised to resurrect my husband—but you ran away. I am just being the civilized one and offering to help your husband."

"I was chased away, there's a difference," Diana let out a small sigh as she shook her head, "Remember? The Guardians from before are not as… tame as they are today. They must have really needed that thing."

"You could have left it to me! Didn't you say that was the last thing we needed to resurrect Akkamesh!?" Xra raised her voice as her nails started to grow longer and sharper, "We stole that machine from right under their nose and you took it for yourself!"

"Please," Diana waved her hand, "Stop reminiscing about our rebellious phase. And we're technically just borrowing it, I just haven't had the time to return it yet… Come to think of it, I don't know where it is now."

"You lost the Star Compressor!?"

"I'm sure it'll pop up; we don't need it anyway. It's old technology," Diana slightly stuck out her tongue before turning around to return to the hole she was digging; before she could take a single step, however, Xra grabbed her arm.

"You still haven't told me if we have a deal, Caitlain," Xra slightly snarled, "I don't care what the fuck it is you are doing here. I don't even care that your adoptive son is the same as me, I'm sure that's not an accident. I just want to revive my Akkamesh… please."

"..." Diana blinked a couple of times as she looked at the hand that was grabbing her, before turning to look at Xra, 

"What do you mean Riley is the same as you?"

"We have both seen the other side," Xra answered without any hesitation, "I will tell you what you want to know and what you need to know. Just please… finish what you started. Help me resurrect Akkamesh."

"...I can't."

"Why not!?"

"Because there's nothing to revive, Xra."

"...What? What do you mean? I preserved—"

"You're preserving nothing. What you have…

…was always just an empty husk."