#zero squadron

All Zero Squadron story sprites are the exact same. Initially, it was used for Tsubaki in CS, so there’s strands of red hair slightly behind the mask on the sprite.

Tldr all Zero Squadron members are Tsubaki’s clones.

Decimator of Light: Book of Darkness Chapter Seven: Squadron Hall

             Cin sat, an unfamiliar numb sensation filling his lungs and then slowly trickling its way down to the rest of his body. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but the way the Sovereign had said that last part made him feel as though some dark, deeply-hidden secret about him was suddenly revealed, one he didn’t want anyone to know.

             “The...Decimator? Of...Light?” Cin managed to ask, pulling a hand to his stomach to try and stop the sick sensation from spreading.

             “That is what you have been called for generations now. There were many names before it – Savior of Darkness, Birther to Darkness, The Ultimate Creator – but this is the name that has most recently become most popular. That is the current name for the one said to have your Ability: the sorely-needed power to create that which fuels our realm, our people. The ability to create Darkness itself.”

             “Ability to...create darkness?” the teenager gave the man a look of utter disbelief.              Him, capable of creating darkness? Cin could do push ups, he could sort of run, he could draw pretty well -- but creating ‘darkness’ wasn’t something he had ever made before. Darkness was something that was simply always there. There was no way to create such a thing, and if the person who was supposed to be able to do something so amazing was only talked about in legends, Cin seriously doubted that he, of all people, could have been that person.

             “Listen,” Cin started, rather awkwardly and still very uncomfortable around the older man. “There’s no way that is me. I’m not some savior. I don’t have cool powers like the people who took me. I’m not a hero. Heck, I only finish my homework because my mom checks sometimes, and I’m too scared of her yelling at me not to do it. I’m not the type of person legends are written about. I’m sorry – I’m really sorry. I can tell you, like...really, really want me to be this Decimator. But I’m not. You have the wrong guy.”

             The Sovereign smiled, though it was a little strained and more than a little disappointed. “I am so very sorry, my boy, but I am afraid that is not possible. We have searched for you for generations, utilizing every mothing we have at our disposal. There is no mistake, there is no ‘wrong guy’, I am afraid. It is you, Vincint. You are the Decimator, and this is a fact.”

             Cin felt as though the man had just read him his death sentence. “It’s not any fact,” his chest felt tight, but he forced himself to keep speaking. “Make darkness? I’ve never done anything like that. If I was this guy, wouldn’t I have, you know, done that a few times? Maybe when I was in danger or something? Or just for fun at some point?”

             The man nodded gravely. “This actually does not surprise me entirely. I expected this, if it turned out that you knew nothing of where you came from...But do not worry about your capabilities, my boy. You have been away in the Gray World for so long, so very long, it is obvious that your Ability had no chance to be properly discovered, much less used. You never had a chance to train yourself as the beings of Darkness are meant to. All you need is time here, in the Darkness, and I am sure you will find that you are capable of more than you ever imagined.”

             A jolt suddenly ran through Cin’s heart. Time. Here?

             It had been obvious throughout the conversation, and especially considering they’d kidnapped him, but it hadn’t exactly occurred to him that he would be expected to stay. The possibility of not seeing his mother, his father, his brother, or his two friends have him feel ready to panic. What would they think while he was gone? If he was really, somehow, in another dimension, would they think he was lost? That he ran away? Or was even dead? His parents would never forgive themselves, not being there when he’d disappeared. His friends could never move on, when he’d just disappeared from under their noses. He couldn’t simply leave them all without some sort of message.

             “I can’t!” Cin said without thinking, jumping from his seat. He chest felt so tight he couldn’t catch his breath. “I can’t stay here, my family and friends, they-!”

             “Oh, sweet boy, no, please do not worry!” the older man chuckled, seemingly entertained. “We have arraigned for everything to be fine on the Gray World – your disappearance has been taken fully taken care of. You have nothing to worry about while you stay here.”

             “What?” The wave of panic paused for a moment. “Taken care of? But, how did you-?”

             “Worry not,” The Sovereign lifted a hand to stop Cin once again. “We are capable of many things, as you saw. The Abilities we possess allow us to interact with the Gray World on levels you likely have never realized. Something as simple as a disappearance holds no issues for us. Everything shall be taken care of, their lives will not be drastically changed by your disappearance. All shall be well.”

             Something about the way the man spoke didn’t sit well with Cin. He didn’t entirely believe the man, though he didn’t sense that he was lying, either. But he also realized something with more certainty: this man wasn’t going to let him leave. And he had a horrible feeling that he could either play around and try and find a way home quietly on the sidelines, or he could try and take this man head-on. Cin didn’t like his odds, one-on-one.

             “As long as they’re okay,” he said quietly on the matter, sitting back down and trying his best to ignore the screaming voice in his head, telling him he’d be breathing his mother’s heart. He had to focus on right now.

             “You have my word they shall be fine,” the Sovereign nodded his head, before suddenly standing from his own seat. “Now, as it stands – it appears I am not doing a wonderful job convincing you of your capabilities. I believe I understand the issue; having lives in the Gray World, everything here must seem utterly strange, and my words will likely offer little solace without direct evidence. Does that seem to describe the current situation?”

             Cin was taken aback that the Sovereign seemed to actually understand him a little. “I mean -- yeah. You’re saying a lot of stuff. You’re telling me I’m someone I’m really, really sure I’m not. Unless I start throwing darkness around, I don’t think I’m really going to be convinced of anything. I’m sorry,” he added the last part quietly. Just that little bit of understanding from the man had helped ease Cin much more than he’d ever expected.              “Of course not, my boy. Words without evidence are merely fairy tales until proven otherwise,” the man nodded sagely at the words. “Alas, I am afraid I may not be the best person to guide you, after all. I focus so much on my realm here, that my overall knowledge of the Gray World is likely hardly better than your knowledge of the Darkness. If you are to see and experience our world, you will need better guides than I, individuals who understand the Gray World well and will be able to help you bridge the gap between your two homes. I think it would be best if you were around people your age, people you might be able to relate to, do you not agree?” The Sovereign smiled gently at the boy, though again, the smile never reached his black eyes. “How does the Zero Squadron sound? They are roughly twenty, and very good, respectable beings. And I assure you that you will be perfectly safe around them.”

“Wh-what?” Cin was more than a little taken aback. He was all for the idea until the last part. Taken away from his home only to then go spend time with his own kidnappers, who were now, in an instant, supposed to be considered his bodyguards? “The Zero Squadron? The people who took me? Attacked me? Are you serious?”

             “Yes, they are celebrating that successful Extraction at this very moment. Talented individuals, are they not?” the man smiled. “Please, do not worry yourself. Being around the Decimator of Light is as honor for any being of Darkness. They will openly welcome you, even if they may be fatigued at the moment. They are some of the foremost experts on the Gray World in our realm. If any group of individuals will be able to help you make sense of the current situation, I am sure it will be them.” As he spoke, the man only seemed to be half paying attention, his eyes glazed over as though he was focusing on something else in the back of his mind. It annoyed Cin greatly.

Cin opened his mouth to argue again but hastily closed it. Talking to this man was like talking to someone who knew a foreign language perfectly while Cin barely knew a few cheesy phrases. He could ask this guy questions all day, and he was sure he’d just end up more and more confused. The Squadron people – at the very least, they had been to Cin’s world. They had waited there for him, they knew how stuff worked well enough to break into a house. At least, maybe, he’d be able to understand them better. Not to mention, Cin didn’t like this man at all. The way he said some words with hunger, the way he eyed Cin with sick desire, the way he kept smiling in that creepy way...Cin would have rather risked sitting with his kidnappers for a day than staying another minute with this Sovereign.

             “Okay,” he finally said, one hand gripping his chair so tightly that his knuckles were turning white, “If it doesn’t bother them, I guess.”

             “A wise choice,” the Sovereign nodded in approval and stood, placing a hand upon the boy’s shoulder. “Now, I imagine that this will feel rather foreign to you, my boy, so please, do not get too worried.”

             Before Cin could protest to being touched, he felt one of the strangest sensations of his life. It lasted for nothing more than a second, while simultaneously feeling like an eternity. He felt excruciating pain, the feeling of his body being torn apart. He could feel every joint pop, muscle tear, vein and artery sever all at the same time, and then, for a moment, lost all sense of himself, of everything around him. He was gone. It was all over. There was no more him, nothing at all. And strangely, almost frighteningly – he felt eternal, never-ending peace. True tranquility.

             But just as suddenly as that all happened, out of nowhere, that sensation disappeared, and he was suddenly back together, standing in front of a large building like he’d been standing there all day.

             Cin doubled over, so many emotions washing over him at once. Having that sort of tranquility, the losing it, while also having been okay with just not existing for a moment...That was way, way too much all at once. Too many feelings he’d never felt or been prepared to feel that made him wonder what was wrong with him. But thankfully, the feelings he’d experienced in that split second started to pass just as quickly as they had appeared, so although he was heavily disturbed, soon, he couldn’t recall that exact feeling anymore, and instead, it was only a strange thought he’d had rather than a proper memory. Cin took a few very deep breaths, slowly straightening up again, giving his head a light shake, as though hoping to physically shake the feelings off of himself. He was able to focus on where he’d suddenly appeared, instead, and when he looked up, his jaw dropped.

             The building had heart-stopping, gorgeous detail all down it, both painted and carved on, intricate paintings and obscure shapes. The design of the building itself was like a staircase shell, but it was standing up, with each bulge being a different floor, with eight levels in total. The protrusions running along the walls had all sorts of amazing designs of all sorts of shapes and patterns carves into them, almost like it was telling some sort of story as the shapes progressed up the sides, each one original, and yet working with the ones around it to still be aesthetically pleasing. The walls themselves were painted and caved with all sorts of scenes, Squadron members in all sorts of different styles doing all different sorts of feats. Many members weren’t faces Cin had seen in the Sovereign’s room, so he guessed they were from retired teams. At the very top was an amazing orb that looked almost exactly like what Cin imagined earth must have looked like from space. Emanating from the walls were all sorts of music, each piece more beautiful than the last. All the songs seemed to go with the theme of the image closest to them, and yet, somehow, none of the notes clashed, and instead, turned into a different orchestra, depending on what angle they were heard from.

             But most shockingly, when Cin turned around, he realized that very last building on the street was just as beautiful, intricate, almost magical as this one. He could merely stare in awe, unable to focus on only one building when he realized that every single one was as amazing as the Sistine Chapel. For the first time, something good had taken his breath away in this realm.

             “I know,” the Sovereign signed besides Cin, suddenly reminding the teenager that the older man was still standing there. “No matter how many times I see this, it brings me true peace and joy. I cannot imagine what it must be like, viewing it for the first time,” he smiled down at Cin, and for the first time, it actually seemed genuine. But it only lasted for a second, before the man added, “Now, please, go ahead and enter. Captain Veder knows is aware you are here and is waiting.”

             “What?” Cin was once again utterly confused and felt like he missed something. How could the captain have known? The Sovereign supposedly just decided a few moments ago that he would be coming to see them. But before Cin could question what was going on, the Sovereign was simply gone, and he was left alone in the middle of the street in front of the amazing building.

             The moment the man was gone, Cin felt like a weight had lifted from his chest. For a split second, he realized he was alone. He was free – he could run. Then a second voice, just as quickly, reminded him he had utterly no idea where to run to. These buildings were completely unfamiliar, and something in general felt very off about this place, despite its beauty, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Something made him feel more lost than he expected to feel.              Cin realized after a moment he was clinging to the front of his shirt, and after a second, he realized it was because he was looking for some comfort. He was still dressed in his baggy shirt and shorts, the clothes he had been kidnapped in and allowed to put back on again after that girl had undid his wounds. And now, these clothes were all he had left of his home, all that connected him with his normal life.

             Cin’s hand tensed, gripping the shirt tightly when it began shaking as fear and anger started to bubble up within him. These people were trying to tear his entire life from him and thrust some new identity onto him. He was supposed to no longer be Vincint Luna, but instead, act like he was the so-called ‘Decimator of Light’. He was supposed to just leave behind those who cared and accepted him so that he could help the people who were trying to steal his life away from him. It was disgusting. There was no way he could help such people. He had to find a way out of it, figure out where he was, how to get out, and run.

             ‘Decimator?’

             Cin jumped, whirling around, searching for the source of the voice. He vaguely recognized it as the captain’s from the Zero Squadron, but for some reason, Cin couldn’t see him. He looked to the sky, but the bald man wasn’t there, either.

             ‘Decimator? Are you outside of the building?’

             This time Cin noticed a difference. What he was hearing wasn’t a real sound. It didn’t have a small echo, it didn’t sound louder in one ear than another, it wasn’t overshadowed by the sound of the music inside. It came from inside of his own head, like a thought.

             “What the hell...!?” Cin clutched his head, instantly assuming he’d gone insane. It would have made everything else that day make a lot more sense than it had.

             But a second later, Captain Veder floated out of the window from the very top level of the building, only to see the Decimator swinging his head around violently, hands on his temples, as though trying to force part of his brain out through his ear.

             “Er, Decimator...?” Captain Veder landed on the ground besides the teenager and attempted to put his hand on this shoulder. Cin jerked violently at the sudden touch and whirled around, ready to defend himself, but stopped when he saw who it was. Cin relaxed a little, though still looked thoroughly confused.

             “I...I heard...in my head...” Cin tried explaining, but he was out of breath due to panic and head-swinging.

             “Hm?” Veder lifted an eyebrow in confusion for a moment, and after a second, seemed to realize what had happened. He suddenly bowed deeply in apology, arms on either side and forehead past his waist. “Forgive me, Decimator! I did not think it through -- of course you would not be used to Distance Speech!”

             “What...?” Cin squeaked out. He was quickly growing to dread all these weird terms.

             “Er...” Veder looked around awkwardly, as though trying to find the right wording to explain something new to a child. “I believe the word ‘telepathy’ is used on the Gray World to explain a similar ability...It is the closest term I can think of. I apologize, we are not used to having to explain Darkness terminology to someone from the Gray World, it is usually the other way around-”

             “Telepathy? Now you’re psychic, too?” Cin asked weakly.

             “Oh, er, well, it is...not an Ability, if that if what you mean, sir. Distance Speech can be used by anyone in the Darkness, though the capability seems to disappear in the Gray World. We have theories as to why, but we assume a major factor is the lack of the extra dimension-”

             “It’s okay,” Cin cut him off before he could try explaining further. “Whatever you’re going to explain’s probably way over my head.” He was too tired to pay proper attention, anyway. To his surprise, Veder seemed to blush with embarrassment. Cin didn’t know why, and felt it best if he didn’t pry about it. “Anyway, sorry for being dumped onto you and everything, the Sovereign-guy thinks it’s best if I hang around you guys or something. But, I mean, if you show me to a hotel or something, I can stay alone for a while-”

             “N-No!” Veder cried, causing Cin to jump slightly. The captain looked even more embarrassed and once again bowed in apology. “Er, f-forgive my outburst, but everyone inside is truly looking forward to meeting you! Frio and Pila are excited, and everyone has so many questions for you. We have been searching for the Decimator for so long, and we had to hand you over without any chance to ask a single question. But...but I understand if you wish to rest instead,” he added the last part forcefully, seemingly remembering that duty came first.

             “People want to...see me?” This was a foreign idea to Cin. No one had ever wanted to meet him as though he was a celebrity, and he wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to see what it felt like. Not to mention, he wasn’t looking forward to meeting more ‘beings of Darkness’. And yet, after hearing how much Veder was looking forward to this, he couldn’t bring himself to let the man down. Veder just looked so incredibly nervous that it felt cruel to do something to make it worse, even though Cin realized how insane it was for him to care at all about what that man must have been feeling. “Um. Well, I guess I can go, then. Yeah.”

             Veder smiled brightly, though it looked rather out of place on him. “Thank you, sir!” He bowed one final time, before turning and moving his arms in an ushering motion. “Please, follow me!”

             Cin frowned at the use of ‘sir’, but trailed after the captain, a new type of dread filled his stomach. As much as he didn’t want to pretend to be this Decimator, it was clear that it was what everyone wanted him to be. What people were expecting, what they were dreaming about. And all that was now on Cin’s shoulders, all those expectations and hopes. People had never expected much of him; they had always known he was generally more on the lazy side. But the way everyone here was tripping over themselves in front of him, it was as though he was setting himself up to disappoint an entire universe.

             His fears faded momentarily when he actually entered the building. If the outside was impressive, the inside of the building was nothing short of breath-taking. The walls had giant, life-sized paintings of all the Squadron members, and all around them were beautiful shapes and designs that reminded Cin of the classical elements of nature. The walls seemed to glow and almost vibrate from the brightness and vibrancy of the colors in the paint. After they left the corridors, Cin was led into a wide, dome-shaped room that must have been the size of a football field. Cin had utterly no idea how the room fit into the building – there was no way the outside was nearly big enough for all those corridors and this giant room. The room was filled with people are laughing, eating, drinking, and dancing to the hypnotic music that seemed to be coming from the walls themselves. There was nothing on the walls; instead, the room showed its beauty through its furniture. The chairs and tables all around the room were bend into some of the most intricate metallic designs Cin had ever seen, every piece of furniture fashioned after some exotic animal that likely only lived deep, deep under water. In the very center, there was what seemed to be a bar table made completely out of water with live fish floating around in it and barstools that looked to have been naturally formed from some sort of coral. Above the table was a giant hole, where not only music was pounding from and seemingly reverberating directly through the walls, but also odd, bright-violet bubbles that floated around the room like small balloons, unable to pop when jostled by someone. The people were all different: Red hair, blond hair, black hair, dark skin, light skin, tall, short, fat, thin -- all different, all getting along, all sharing only their dark, pitch-black eyes.

               Cin was so enamored by the room that it took him a while to notice that, as he and Veder entered, everyone had stopped moving and were now staring at him with looks of complete and utter shock. The music turned down, quieter and quieter, until the only sounds left were the hollow bumps of the strange bubbles bouncing against things.

             Cin swallowed nervously, feeling his face burn as he hunched his shoulders like he hoped he could hide his head like a turtle and tried to hide behind Veder. He wasn’t used to having so many eyes on him and hoped that the pleading look he gave Veder made that obvious. To Cin’s great relief, the captain seemed to understand, and quickly led the teenager to the far left corner of the bar where a set of metallic doors waited. It had a giant zero carved into it with a beautiful design with floral and mechanical accents that Cin would have liked to have admired more in another situation. The two entered, and Cin sighed with relief as the door closed behind him, shutting away that incredibly awkward and tense silence. He easily preferred the four semi-familiar faces in this room over the strangers outside.

             The room reminded Cin of a college dorm. There was a low, drink-laden table with eight floor-cushions around it and a strange, black cube floating above it, rotating in the air. All the Squadron members were sitting on cushions around this table with drinks in their hands and had frozen the moment the doors had opened. One wall was covered by at least twenty perfectly oval mirrors and the wall opposite of it was covered in what seemed to be fan art, poems, fan letters, and other miscellaneous gifts. On the wall opposite of the one they had entered from were three other metal doors with the faces of the Squadron members carved into them: Pila, the small woman, and Frio, the tall woman with the killer finger-pointing, on one, Sterk, the huge guy with all the scars, and Veder on another, and Tishina, the small one who Cin would still swear had looked him right in the eyes back on earth, was alone on the last.

             Cin swallowed, noticing the looks these Squadron members were giving him. They were hardly better than the people outside, but at least there were fewer of them. Frio was staring up at him expectantly, tense and unsure, looking just about ready to burst. Pila had the same expression as Frio, but she was also gripping a glass so tightly it looked ready to shatter. Sterk looked worried more than anything else, and continued to move his large hands onto his lap, to his side, on his knee, and then repeated the pattern over and over, like he had suddenly forgotten how hands were supposed to work. Tishina, though, continued to smile and only nodded in acknowledgement of Cin and his captain, and then continued sipping his drink and staring blankly at the cube floating above their table.

             “Er,” Cin eloquently began, trying to block all the whispers that suddenly began behind the door they had entered through. “S-sorry. About just bursting in like this and everything. I didn’t mean to be a bother or anything, but-”

             “You are no bother!!” Pila and Frio cried at the same time, both standing up to their knees and then struggling to stand up entirely from their sitting position. Both blushed furiously after doing so and quickly fell back into their seats when they realized how strange they had looked.

             Veder cleared his throat, clearly a bit embarrassed by that outburst. “Now, Zero Squadron, it is our job to keep the Decimator safe and welcome him into the world he originated from. As some of the foremost experts on the Gray World, we should be able to help explain things most clearly. We must do our best to explain everything and help him ease into life here.”

             “Mm,” Sterk nodded in agreement and moved over one cushion, motioning for Cin to sit down. Cin flinched unconsciously, clearly a little hesitant to sitting beside the one who had almost tackled him outside of Kazuko’s office. This instantly made Sterk’s eyes fill with guilt and shame, looking like some sort of kicked puppy (a very, very large puppy), and Cin forced himself to sit down with a small, nervous smile.

             Then there was nothing but awkward silence.

             Even as Veder sat down, no one seemed to have the courage to begin any conversation, both sides having so many questions, but neither side wanting to risk actually speaking and accidentally sounding rude. Cin was afraid of becoming more confused than he already was, and the Squadron was obviously afraid that he held his kidnapping against them (which wasn’t entirely untrue). The Squadron members looked to one another, trying to urge the others to say something, anything, and thankfully, the only one in the room that seemed unaffected by Cin’s arrival spoke up.

             “So, everyone on the Gray World calls you Cin, right?”

             Veder gave Tishina a deeply appreciative look. The ice was broken, and Cin was glad to have a chance to say something without sounding like a complete idiot.

             “Er, yeah. I’m Vincint Luna, but my friends gave me that nickname when we were younger, since there was another Vincent in the class, and neither of us really liked “Vince”. You guys can call me that, too, if you want.”

             The Squadron members all looked to one another again, clearly aghast at the idea of using something that sounded so informal with someone like Cin.

             “Um...C-Cin...” Pila began, the first to use his name, and sounding a bit unsure of herself. “I, well...I...I want to apologize! It was my idea to use the chemicals, and I’m sure that really, really unpleasant, I-I just felt like there wasn’t any other way-!”

             “Um, it’s okay,” Cin was a little taken aback to the reaction but wasn’t really used to girls sounding almost near tears. “Way better than, y’know, being bloodied up too badly. Passing out wasn’t all that bad if I could’ve been more messed up, instead,” Cin laughed awkwardly at his own comment, and Pila smiled in great relief, but Frio and Sterk both averted their gazes in shame. Cin almost felt their reaction without even looking properly at them, and quickly continued. “Not that I really blame you guys,” he half-lied. “I was pretty shocked about it, but I know it wasn’t your fault if you were ordered by that Sovereign guy. You guys adapted really adapted well when I ran and stuff, too. It seems like you guys are a good team, at least.”

             “It w-was Captain Veder’s plan,” Frio said softly, looking away from the captain as she spoke. “He always tr-tries to work through as many possibilities as p-possible beforehand. We unfortunately had n-n-no warning beforehand, or else we c-could have been more prepared and had c-caused less problems for you.”

             “You flatter me,” Veder chuckled a bit. “You and Pila planned the way to subdue him yourselves and managed to avoid most of the unnecessary violence. Which I think all of us are thankful for,” he added, looking to Cin, albeit with a lot less confidence.

             “Maybe. But I still broke the laws,” Pila said with a small, nervous huff. “Hopefully, the Sovereign’ll overlook it since it was so important and last minute, but I don’t know. He’s usually really against disturbing anything in the Gray World, no matter the circumstances...Oh, I’m Pila by the way!” She waved from across the table, going from depressed to cheery in an instant.

             “Ah, I completely forgot!” Veder cried, bowing deeply to Cin in both apology and introduction. “I am Veder, Captain of the Zero Squadron. The woman over there is Frio, second in command. The one beside you is Sterk. The one rudely watching the Versabic instead of paying attention to the conversation is Tishina.”

             Each one nodded politely as their name was mentioned, though Tishina merely raised a hand without so much as looking at Cin. His eyes were locked onto the cube floating in the center of them all.

             “What...is that thing, exactly?” Cin quietly asked, deciding to risk testing to see if they would actually answer his questions. If they were going to be better than the Sovereign, maybe it was worth not trying to run away instantly.

             “It’s like a camera,” Sterk responded with his low rumble, albeit a little timidly. “It can show any part of the Darkness that the watcher wants to see. Tishina’s a little obsessed with watching the higher-numbered Squadrons. He says he does it ‘cause he’s worried about them, but we all think he just wants the attention of a certain someone.”

             “We don’t know which certain someone, though,” Pila pouted slightly, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. “He won’t tell us! We think it might be the leader of the Three Squadron, though.”

             “Maybe we sh-should not be talking about this in f-front of the Decimator...?” Frio requested weakly, though she smiled slightly as she said it. Though Cin had just been starting to enjoy the little back and forth, he shuddered.

             “Can you...Please not call me that? Cin’s just fine,” he said, looking to the side with his shoulders hunching up to his ears in discomfort.

             The Squadron looked taken aback. They looked to one another, as though arguing with each other through their expressions, and in the end, Frio was the one who finally decided to ask, “Not to be r-rude, but, uh, m-may we ask why not...? W-we apologize if it is a bothersome qu-question, but everyone here dr-dreams of turning out to be the Decimator.”

             “Maybe you guys do,” Cin said through gritted teeth, starting to be annoyed hearing that again. “But I have no idea what ‘the Decimator’ is. At all. I don’t know what you guys expect of me, or why you want me to use some kind of weird power to create darkness I’m supposedly supposed to have, or why you think I’d even have that power to begin with. The Sovereign just said I’m supposed to be able to make darkness, and I don’t know how to do that. Honestly...I think that he, and you guys, got the wrong guy. So I don’t want to be called that, since I’m probably not it.”

             The Squadron exchanged glances, first utterly shocked, and then, worried. No one knew how to begin explaining and instinctively, their eyes all drifted towards Veder. The captain nodded and after taking a deep breath, gently touched Cin’s shoulder, his expression filled with pity.

             “I apologize for our assumptions. But there is a reason we are so confident, and why we are so excited by this development. It is...A very long story, however. But if you so wish, we shall try and explain everything to you, everything that you -- er, that is, the Decimator -- is said to do from all our legends, what is to happen with their arrival. But explaining why we need you now, more than ever...that will be considerably more difficult. It is something you must personally see and unfortunately experience to fully understand.”

             Cin looked at Veder, more than a little surprised by how earnestly he spoke. He actually believed the man wanted him to understand, and actually believe that maybe he’d be honest about it all. If that was the case – Cin was dying to understand.

             “Yeah. Tell me all you can now. I’ll see what I have to see when the times comes, right?” He added the last part without any real confidence. He definitely wanted to be gone long before he ever had to see anything.