146 Trusting A Human For the First Time

For the next half an hour, the battle between Thunderspark and Death_Sun_OMEGA continued. Every battle after the first round was longer than the first round by at least five minutes. Both sides knew some of the tricks of the other side so it came down to a more skill based matchup as they changed their arms to defend against the tricks of the first round.

In the end, Thunderspark won out over Death_Sun_OMEGA with a score of three to two.

Altair was thoroughly entranced through the whole spectacle after Marissa had told her that she, too, could use such monsters. She couldn't help but feel a little excited at learning how they worked. To her, they were weapons capable of driving away the Ancient Dragon that had haunted her nightmares since she encountered it so long ago. They could also drive away God's Hero as well, but that wasn't much of a fear for her at the moment. It even caused her thoughts of her impending death away from her mind as well.

She constantly wondered how the Mecha's even worked. How did someone pilot such a thing? Where did they control it from? How were the controls themselves? Were there a lot of buttons involved? Did the buttons flash and taunt you like the first button that Altair had pushed?

Since Marissa mentioned that there were some Mechas that could fly, how did they fly? Did they have massive wings to do so? Did it feel strange to fly? Was it awkward? How did their weapons work? What were the limitations of their weapons? What was that strange barrier she saw a lot of during the fight? How much did a Mecha cost? How old did one have to be to be able to start learning how to pilot one?

Serius was too irritated to actually analyze the battles as he wanted. As a result, he was mostly quiet through the whole thing while Marissa took over the analysis with brutal conviction. She did not hold back a single bit as she picked apart the thought processes of the two civilian pilots and mocked them for their inexperience.

Once the winner was announced, as Marissa had claimed and suspected, neither of them were granted the large size license. As she wrapped up the broadcast by talking with Serius and drawing him out of his shell, Altair felt her Mana reserves were becoming a bit too low for comfort.

She wasn't sure she would be able to learn what she wanted to from Serius before she ran out. It would be incredibly awkward for her and embarrassing for all of her clothes to vanish in the middle of her lesson. She figured it would also raise some questions she probably wouldn't be able to answer as well.

In order to keep Altair in the dark about the broadcast having continued on, Marissa grabbed her by the hand and said, "We'll wait for you to finish things up in here outside, Serius. I trust you can handle the rest?"

Serius rolled his eyes but nodded anyway.

Marissa then walked out of the small room with Altair. By now, most of the audience had already shuffled out of the arena. The Holodisplay in the center was repeating a highlight reel of the match but no audio was coming from it. The only sound in the air was the shuffling of thousands of feet and some noiseless chatter from the distance.

Altair looked at Marissa and asked, "The lesson-"

Marissa interrupted her by saying, "You're going to need to make a choice, little darling." She then turned to Altair with an uncharacteristically serious expression on her face and asked, "What will you do from here?"

Altair blinked as she didn't understand the meaning behind what Marissa just asked her.

Marissa could tell that she didn't get it as she continued, "Those people who are after you, what will you do about them?" The light of understanding flitted through Altair's eyes for a moment as Marissa went on, "During the initial broadcast our audio was muted. However, the video was still there. They could have had someone reading our lips and that would have given away who you were immediately. They can't act against you due to the amount of people here. However, those people are now leaving. So, what will you do?"

Altair's gaze shifted to the ground as her mind caught up with her situation. The battle she had seen between the two Mecha and her banter with Marissa during the broadcast had driven it completely from her mind. She only remembered now because Marissa had reminded her and added that they probably knew where she was at this point.

She didn't have much Mana left to flee with. Even if she knew the direction of the Marnithok mansion at this point, she probably wouldn't be able to reach it before she rested. She also didn't know what sorts of technologies existed for tracking people down in the Empire.

One thing was for sure though, if she was caught again then she would likely be unable to escape once more. That meant that she had to run and hide immediately if she wanted to stay out of their hands. She didn't have the time to stay with Marissa and Serius to learn about Mechas. She could always learn about them in the Marnithok mansion. There was no need to risk being captured to stick around here.

Having made up her mind, Altair pulled her hand free of Marissa's grasp. She then turned to her and bowed respectfully, which caused Marissa's brow to rise slightly, while saying, "Thank you for inviting me to this show. I shall take my leave now." She then straightened up and turned to walk away.

But Marissa ruffled her head roughly as she chuckled before she could get more than a step away. She then asked, "Why do you think running away is your only option here?" She admired Altair's bravery to make such a choice but she also mocked her for not seeking their help. It should have been obvious that they would have been able to lend a hand to her and that they were willing to help. Otherwise, why would she have even said anything about it? If she wasn't willing to help then she could have simply delivered her to LEO as soon as they were done with their broadcast and Altair wouldn't have even known.

Hell, Serius could have been in there right now making the call, but Marissa knew she wasn't because they were already mostly in agreement on what would happen next.

Her question caused Altair to stop moving. Many things ran through her mind in that moment but the most prevalent was the fact that she was too used to doing things on her own when she ran into problems. She preferred to not lean on others and handle things herself because she trusted herself the most. She had also only just met Marissa and Serius. Just because they were mostly not hostile didn't mean that she could trust them.

Thus, Altair simply responded with, "What other choice do I have?"

Marissa smiled wryly as she asked, "Do I not look trustworthy to you?"

Altair turned her head towards Marissa, made a show of looking up and down her body, before she looked her in the eyes and matter-of-factly stated, "You look like a whore."

Marissa's lip twitched as her anger rose up abruptly within her. If it was just Altair there, she could have endured it, however, Serius had come out of the room with that timing and had burst into laughter when he heard that. As a result, Marissa quickly exclaimed, "Valendria is not a whore! She's an amazing hero with a proven track record of saving lives! Just because she dresses provocatively does not mean she's just eye candy!"

Marissa really admired Valendria. She looked up to her when she was younger and was greatly pleased when her body had developed in a way that she could accurately dress as her. She couldn't stand it when someone insulted that character at all.

Altair's eyes narrowed as if Marissa had proven her point and turned to continue walking away.

Serius seemed to sense the discussion that happened before he came out and quickly stopped his laughter. He then asked, "Are you sure you want to walk away, Altair? Despite how we look, we have the power to stop them from chasing you and harming you in the future."

His words caused Altair to pause before she asked, "Why would you though? You don't know who I am or where I have been."

Serius gave her a genuine smile as he said, "Because we don't agree with the people who do those things. As I said before, we are actually quite powerful in the Empire. However, we cannot stop what they do as a whole but we can protect those that we find. We can give you a normal life."

'A normal life,' Altair thought to herself as she turned her gaze to the starless sky. 'Just what is that like here, in the Empire?' She felt a tinge of warmth flow through her at the thought of it. She then considered some of the words she had spoken with Renald before she had left.

She remembered him saying that he had a backup plan in case she never returned about her death being falsified. That meant that she didn't really have to return. Besides, he would probably find out what happened to that house he had sent her to eventually.

'Since the curse will take me anyway, why not take this chance. If it's a lie, I have enough Mana for a couple jumps.'

Thinking to here, Altair turned around to Serius and Marissa. Marissa had swallowed her anger by now as she knew the seriousness of their discussion. Altair hesitantly asked, "Can you really?"

Marissa nodded confidently, "Of course. We can give you a normal life for the rest of your days within the Empire."

Altair stared at them expressionlessly as a silence descended on their conversation. After several moments, Altair finally said, "Then, I'll live with you." She pointed at Marissa as she said that. She didn't know the exact details of what they meant, but that didn't mean she would blindly go live with whoever. She also didn't want to live with Serius because… she didn't like the color of his hair. It reminded her of her inability to swim.

Marissa's face cramped for a moment as Serius burst into laughter again. Before she could refute, Serius slapped her shoulders harshly and interrupted her while saying, "Good for you! You got yourself a daughter."