Villain Retirement

"Surrender, or we won't play your games anymore, my dear daughter."

Queen Adel was floating in the expanse of space, carrying Osk and another warrior from the Sisterhood by the neck; both of them were still alive, but barely.

And even from inside the ship, Aerith could see the resolution in her mother's eyes and knew that whatever any of them say, there was no longer changing her mind. But still, Aerith took a deep breath… and began to speak.

"Mother, I know that we have never seen eye to eye—and we probably never will. You want me to surrender, but I can't do that… not anymore, and not now that I know the fate that awaits our people if they stay," Aerith said as she slowly floated closer to the window,

"This isn't just about freedom anymore, mother. This is about survival—and I have already accepted that you and father are probably never going to change. But please, at least give that chance to our people. Let me take my son, let me take the children…

…they don't deserve to die just because you think you belong nowhere else, mother."

"..." Queen Adel stared at her daughter's eyes for a few seconds, letting go of Osk and her friend; lightly pushing them to the side as she flew closer to the window,

"I am done making you understand, Aerith," Queen Adel placed her palm on the window, causing Xra's crew to slightly panic as they transferred all of the ship's energy into hyperdrive—there was no use putting it on the ship's shield, after all.

Fortunately for them, however, Queen Adel seemed to have no intention to fight yet as she just stared at her daughter,

"I am done making you understand what Theran means to our people."

"I know what it means, mother!" Aerith raised her voice, "It means the death of our people!"

"If that is what Theran intends to happen, then it shall be," Queen Adel said without any hesitation.

"Mother—you know that Theran is dying… you are purposely murdering our people if you don't do anything," Aerith reasoned, "Please, if you want to die with the planet, then so be it. But let me take those who do not want to perish alongside you with me."

"We will give you an hour, Aerith," Queen Adel completely disregarded anything that came out of Aerith's mouth as she very slowly floated back, "Return our people, or we will consider them all traitors to be put to Eternal Death alongside with you."

"Mother, this is—"

"Return them, and we will no longer care about your crimes. You will be free to take your bastard child, and leave with that disgusting abomination you call New Theran…

…You have one hour until the full force of Hel destroys you."

And with those words, Queen Adel disappeared into the distance.

"...Mother," Aerith could really only close her eyes; her breaths, whispering throughout the bridge. Her lamenting whispers did not echo for long, however, as she quickly disappeared from sight—appearing outside the ship as she checked to see if Osk and the others were alright.

Those that were left inside the bridge could really only look at each other. Xra's entire crew looked at her as if quietly asking if they should really involve themselves in the war of themarians.

Xra, however, pretended not to see their concerns as she just once again approached Diana.

"The debts you're accumulating from me are getting higher, Caitlain," Xra smiled as she whispered in Diana's ears, "First, you owe me for Akkamesh. Then you owe me for bringing your son to Theran, and now you owe me for joining this ridiculous war against your own people."

"I would actually pretty much appreciate it if you just leave, Xra," Diana also smiled, "And I can stop this war from even happening with just a single tap of a button."

'...Have you told the princess about that bomb?'

'She doesn't need to know,' Diana quickly chuckled as she heard Xra's voice inside her mind,

'On the contrary, I find that war will be good for our people—it'll wake up their dormant blood.'

'Why don't I see the Grand Militia taking action? Shouldn't they be preventing this right now?' Xra squinted her eyes as she looked Diana in the eyes, 'When I visited and killed Aerith's brother in a duel, I couldn't get rid of them until I left the planet…you're telling me they're just going to sit around? Weren't they also chasing you?'

'Well…' Diana breathed in as she walked toward the giant window, '...Let's just say that some of the high-ranking officers of the Grand Militia owed me favors. They're not joining the battle anytime soon…

…if at all,' Diana then started giggling to herself.

'Has anyone told you how scary you can be sometimes?' Xra could really only shake her head as she saw Diana's bobbing shoulders, 'Anyway, I am moving the ship away from the warzone. I don't think it's wise to be anywhere near New Theran.'

'You can go underground.'

'Yeah, no. In the event that you lose, I need to be ready to leave with my crew—and make no mistake, I will be dragging you with me if I have to.'

"..." Riley, who had been quiet the entire time he has been on the bridge, could really only look back and forth between Xra and Diana as they just giggled, scoffed, and stared intensely at each other's eyes without saying a word,

"How close are you with mother, Pirate Queen Xra? The two of you are speaking telepathically right now, correct?"

"You can call us colleagues," Xra smirked, "She's mostly the one responsible for bringing me to Theran in my early days—of course, I was just a distraction for whatever it was she wanted to do here in the first place. I will be very careful with her, Riley—she's shrewd."

"Stop putting ideas in my son's head."

"Oh? Didn't your son tell you how close we've become?" Xra then moved beside Riley, subtly licking her lower lip as she looked at Diana, "Who knows what could happen, you know? So, if I were you… I'd start thinking of a way to help me revive Akkamesh."

"..."

"..."

"...You're seriously using that as a threat?" Diana then started chuckling as she looked awkwardly at Xra.

"To my credit, it sounded better in my mind," Xra also started laughing as she walked toward Diana.

"..." Xra's crew couldn't really believe what they were seeing right now. They've known their captain for years now, and the only thing they have mostly really heard from her were hurtful words and rants.

As for Riley, he couldn't help but imagine just two ordinary old ladies gossiping inside a cafe. It was weird—out of everything that has happened so far, seeing his mother laughing with a friend lightyears away from Earth seemed to have brought some normalcy to the situation.

Sadly for everyone that was seeing this wholesome sight, however, it did not last long.

"Captain! We have several people approaching from Theran!"

"What? But it hasn't been an hour yet. How many?"

"T… that… we don't really have a calculated number…

…but there should be more than a million of them."