He stared at the broken and battered girl, hanging by the wrists, brown hair flopping over her face. Up till now, he had never seen her face. It was always obscured by the long, bushy hair.

An image of his mother flashed in his mind as he stared at her, hanging the same way, hair flopping over her face.

His fist clenched in his pocket. "How cruel..." he murmured.

"What?" a soft voice asked behind him. He looked around at the girl standing at the top of the stairs: soft brown hair and large, wide eyes, which he knew were icy blue and just as solid as his. They somehow reminded him of a seagull. The intensity of her stare was of a different level, but it was something he had gotten used to.

"Nothing," he said, as she walked light as air towards him. She stood at his side, and they both looked in silence at the girl under the bright strip lighting, beyond the glass.

"Do you know what the name 'Amara' means?" he asked the large-eyed girl beside him. She glanced at him. "It means 'love'," he continued. "It seems as though she is calling out for love."

"I see," the girl said, turning back to stare. "But they say that she is in her rightful place."

He knew that was what they said. He shouldn't meddle in this affair. But, he still didn't understand...

"Let's go, Ryder." The girl beside him turned and began walking up the steps again. When he didn't follow, she looked back. "Ryder?"

"Ah, coming." He looked at the tortured girl one last time before following.

Why are you always shouting my sister's name?

***

"Alexis! Where do you think you're going?!" Day yelled, trying to get his sister's attention. She scrambled through the forest much faster and easily than he could.

"I saw him run in here!!" Alexis called back, and he only just heard her over the branches cracking and leaves rustling. By the time she had come outside, she just saw him disappear into a forest that was a little far from the north-west of the base.

"Alexis, you're being reckless!" Day shouted. "Stop! Slow down! Let's go back!"

"But!" Alexis finally stopped and turned back, panting, and Day noticed her face was lightly grazed because of the branches. He had also gotten a couple of splinters himself. Day bent over his knees to catch his breath.

"What?" he panted.

"He's a valuable person!" Alexis insisted. "Who knows what all we could achieve with what he knows?"

"You don't know anything about him, Alexis!" Day shouted.

"You have a lot of questions too, don't you?" Alexis demanded. "You want to know a lot of things about him too, don't you?" Day was about to reply, but Alexis cut him off. "Then let me at least do what I'm best at!"

Day stayed silent. He was looking for words to counter her, but he had taken too long. Alexis had turned around, and started dashing through the forest again. In the end, he only came up with, "ALEXIS!!" before taking off after her again. He couldn't handle her like Ken could, after all.

Meanwhile, Alexis dashed ahead, swinging and leaping between the trees, ignoring her uneven footing. She knew that pointlessly running through a forest like this was of no use, and that she might even get lost, and cause everyone else more trouble. But she wanted to grab this one chance. She wanted to be of use.

Next thing she knew, she had stumbled into a small clearing. She regained her footing, and heard Day crashing along behind her. Looking up, she found Ryder, staring right at her, with his piercing gaze, crouching on the ground with a black backpack.

For some time, there was silence, only filled by Alexis and Day's panting. (Ryder wasn't panting in the slightest.) 

Finally, Ryder said, "Oh...it's you. From back there. The...tea girl."

Alexis was surprised, but she nodded. Ryder glanced behind her at Day. "It's one of the bodyguards as well." He looked back at her. "So, what do you need?"

"Wh...where are you going?" Alexis finally let out.

Ryder shrugged in reply. "Wherever I need to, I suppose."

"I...have a lot to ask you," she said earnestly.

"But I don't have much to answer," Ryder replied.

"That's not true!" Alexis protested. "You can have a purpose!"

"What purpose?" Ryder questioned. "I don't see any need for me to be there."

Alexis clenched her fist, thinking hard. She could feel Day's stare on her, saying that they should go back already. She didn't want to.

"Why are you trying so hard anyway?" Ryder asked in turn.

"Huh?" Alexis looked up, confused. Digesting his question, she looked down again. "Because...unlike me, you can be useful."

"You aren't?" Ryder asked.

Alexis slowly nodded. "Ale–" Day began to say, but she raised her hand to silence him.

"Because I can't even fight," she said. "I have no special abilities whatsoever. Even where I think I can do something, it doesn't work out."

"That's not–" Day began again, but Alexis cut him off again in a loud voice.

"That time, when Lennox was entranced, and he couldn't even move. That time, all I could do was yell." She tightened her fist again. "And even after that, my voice didn't reach him."

"That wasn't–" Day tried to say, but once again, he was interrupted.

"That is why I want to do the only thing I can do!" Alexis continued in a loud voice. "So please, help us out!"

Ryder only stared at her. Finally, he asked, "Why?"

Alexis took a deep breath. "Your purpose was to find and protect and Amara, right? Don't you want to do that?"

"I found her," Ryder replied. "And she is already protected."

Alexis clenched her teeth. "Don't you want to ensure her protection?"

"Are you saying you can't protect her?" Ryder inquired.

Alexis gasped. "That's not what I–"

"If that is the case," Ryder interrupted, standing up and dragging his backpack onto his back. He turned to Alexis and Day and held out his hand. "Hand her over right now."

Alexis could feel herself being cornered. She wasn't as good as Lennox with her words. She felt the intensity of Ryder's piercing stare increase.

"I regret to inform you," he said, voice as cold as could be. "That you also seem to be of no use in the 'only thing you can do'."

"Shut the fuck up!" Day hollered angrily.

"I won't hand her over."

Both Ryder and Day seemed a little surprised when Alexis spoke up.

"Sorry?" Ryder asked.

"I won't hand Amara over!" Alexis repeated, louder this time. "She is an important person! I can feel it! I know it! It can truly help humanity, and so you can too!"

Ryder's face suddenly hardened, but it wasn't necessarily cold this time. He hitched his bag on more securely, and then said without looking at them, "I am not an ally of humanity."

"Huh?" Alexis and Day looked puzzled.

"You can call me whatever you want, but I am anything but an ally of humanity." Ryder repeated.

"Why?" Alexis demanded.

Ryder gave her a half-glance. "That, I cannot tell you." He turned away from her and began to walk away, about to disappear amidst the forest once again.

"Are you going to go back to killing?" Alexis asked desperately, but Ryder didn't answer.

He knew she wouldn't follow him this time. However, the moment he rested his hand on the first tree, Alexis suddenly yelled behind him.

"My name is Alexis!" she shouted. She caught Ryder's attention, making him look back at her fierce expression. She continued, "You can come back any time. I'll be waiting. Remember that!"

Ryder stared at her longer, then turned away again. "Well then, Alexis. I'll tell you something else as well." This time he looked at her with such intensity that he caught her complete, undivided attention. "No matter what anyone tells you, this isn't Amara's fault."

"...what?" Alexis was surprised with this information.

"None of this is Amara's fault." Ryder repeated. "She didn't spread this." He paused for some time before completing what he was going to say. "It was her father."

"Huh?" Alexis prompted, even though she heard what he said, quite clearly. However, what surprised her most was seeing the slight smirk on Ryder's face. It wasn't like the smile he had given back in Pedro's office. This one made her feel as if he was teasing her. No, more like he was challenging her.

"Remember that," he finished. "Bye then."

"Wai- Hang on!" Alexis shouted, but he had already disappeared into the thicket of trees.

"A-Alexis?" Day called cautiously, putting a hand on her shoulder. She didn't throw it off. "We can't follow him anymore. We'll get lost."

Alexis didn't say anything, but something suddenly struck her.

"Um!" she called out, hoping he heard her. "What...What were those things? Those crazy creatures?"

Alexis left a hopeful silence, but it remained a silence. Dejected, she began to make her way back, but then a voice replied.

"Humans."

Alexis turned back, but Ryder hadn't reappeared. 

"Wh-what do you mean?" Alexis asked, addressing the wall of trees in front of her. This time, there was no reply. When the silence persisted, Alexis held back her slight disappointment. At least she found out something.

"Thank you!" Alexis said. Then she took Day's arm, and together, they both left the clearing.

Ryder, who watched them leave by peeking between a couple of trees, turned away and rested his back against the tree he was hiding behind. Slowly, he slid to the ground, closing his eyes.

However, he felt himself smiling a little, though he didn't know why.

***

The sun was setting outside, and Lennox was going through the reports he had accumulated from the meeting he just had. Nobody else was in the work room, but then somebody cleared their throat loudly.

He looked up to see Nita leaning against the doorway.

"Ah, Nita." Lennox acknowledged her and looked back down at his work. "I was really thinking...based on everything we have  gathered...it really is time we contact the main base."

He heard footsteps, and the next thing he knew, Nita had slammed her hand on the reports he was going through, demanding his attention. He looked up at her, confused, to see a strange grin on her face. It was rather vicious.

"Before that," she said firmly. "We need to talk to you."

We? Lennox looked around then finally, he saw Amara peering out from behind Nita. And the thing that really grabbed his undivided attention was the fact that she was trying, at least, to put on her own brave face.