by A M Lopez
"We're going to descend some steps right now, careful."
She took a steady step down and felt the step. After that one, she got the hang of the steps and went down a few more.
"Stop. We're here."
Eva set her other foot down and waited for Connor to take her blindfold off.
"Oof-- Right."
Connor untied her black blindfold and Eva opened her eyes.
"Surprise!"
Chapter Four
“No way.”
Eva took everything in at a slow rate. The faces in front of her displayed various levels of amusement and happiness.
Behind them, Eva could see decorations spread throughout a room. Streamers were hanging off most of the surfaces around her and confetti was everywhere. To her left, there was a mini-kitchen separated from the rest of the room by a long counter that had bar stools. Across the counter’s surface were different foods. Eva saw a wide range of desserts;, the only non-sugary item was lasagna. At the center of the room, was a huge dining table surrounded by comfy looking chairs to match. The dining table held a birthday cake with white icing. A big banner above their heads read, ‘Happy Birthday, Eva!’
Arthur and Dimitri were wearing black skinny jeans, red and grey button- down long sleeve shirts respectively, and black sneakers. Aaron was wearing black pants, a purple v-neck, and black combat boots, her hair tamed but let down. Allison wore black tights and a white shirt with a black leather jacket and boots, her hair pulled into a nice ponytail. Connor himself had been wearing black jeans, black combat boots, and a white v-neck.
Eva put a hand to her mouth and took a step back, only for Connor to wrap an arm around her and lead her forward. She was so overwhelmed that she can only think to scan the room one more time. To her right, there was a large flat screen TV and connected to it were multiple consoles. Under the TV was a cabinet holding stacks of video games and movies, while in front it were bean bag chairs on a large carpet. At the wall across from her, there was a long table against it with two computers and six unused outlets. Underneath the table were black ottomans. Glancing behind, Eva saw an open door and through it, the stairs she had taken minutes before.
“Eva.”
Her head snapped to look at Aaron who had stepped forward. Aaron smiled and hugged her. “We are all glad you joined the team. We love you, and in these two years you have become family. Without you, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
Eva’s brows furrowed and she began to protest when Aaron interrupted her. “Even if we would be here, we wouldn’t have been as happy and full in your absence. You mean a great deal to this team, to this family. I have fought by your side and know from experience that you are passionate in everything you do. That, among many other reasons, is why I am happy to call you my sister, on and off the battlefield. Happy birthday, Eva.”
A single tear fell from Eva’s right eye as Aaron’s words left her speechless. Aaron stepped back and Allison moved forward.
“I have so much to say, but to avoid annoying everyone I will keep this quick—”
Eva couldn’t help the small laugh that fell from her lips. Allison smiled at her before continuing.
“You have made things around here so much fun, whether you’re helping me with pranks or just talking to me about anything. Honestly, I didn’t think I could find someone so like me. Girl, you are crazy and willing to do anything to protect us, so thank you. Happy birthday.”
The smile that stretched on Eva’s face seemed to make the whole room brighter. Allison gave her a wink before stepping back. The twins stepped forward together. They shared a look before Dimitri began to speak.
“Eva, you are amazing. You have been with us every step of the way and I thank you for that. You have truly become a part of this family of fools. Also, you are by far the one I tolerate the most— ”
“Hey!”
Everyone started laughing as Arthur complained, but cleared his throat and spoke.
“Ignoring the common theme of people laughing at my distress—” He glared when Allison snickered then sighed before continuing. “— I am jubilant that you joined Astrolabe. You make things interesting and more bearable. Without you, I probably would’ve driven everyone else insane or vice versa. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
The twins gave her the biggest hug, and spoke in unison. “Happy birthday, Eva!”
Tears were running down Eva’s face as she tried to gather herself. However, there was still one person left to talk.
“I am going to keep this short and sweet. You are always there when I need you, and I will try to do the same for you. That’s a promise. Thank you so much for everything, and happy birthday.”
With that said, Connor kissed her check then went to stand next to Aaron. Eva’s face glowed red and the tears had finally stopped falling.
“Thank you, guys. I mean it.” Eva gave a huge smile.
Allison smirked while rocking on the balls of her feet. “Thank us after the presents.”
Eva raised a brow, but was interrupted by Aaron. “We will give her the presents after we have gotten the food.”
Eva smiled as Allison grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the counter, the others following. Everyone grabbed a piece of lasagna and some of the desserts, then made their way to the dining table. From up close, Eva could see that the white cake had the words ‘Happy Birthday, Eva!’ in a light blue. She was smiling as she took her seat.
“Alright, just hand her your presents. We have a busy day so we need to eat and get a move on.”
Aaron handed Eva her present after speaking. It was a thick rectangular box in purple wrapping paper. Eva gently removed the wrapping paper and opened the box to find an detailed silver dagger with a holster.
“You can attach the holster to the inside of your boots. The dagger is thin but sharp and durable.”
Eva immediately stood up and put her foot on her chair. Putting the holster in her boot was easier than she had expected.
“Thank you, Aaron.” Aaron nodded and motioned to Allison.
Suddenly, she shoved a box in Eva’s face. She didn’t say anything, but she was bouncing in her seat. Eva laughed and grabbed the blue box. When she opened it, there were small black spheres inside. Her brows furrowed as she tried to understand what she was seeing.
“Those are some smoke bombs I created. I thought they could be useful to you. I know you’re not a ninja, but you could be.” She shrugged.
Eva smirked. “Honey, I am a ninja. Thank you, anyways.”
“You’re welcome, ninja girl.”
They shared smiles, then Eva turned to the twins. They gave her a single box that was covered by red and silver wrapping paper. She raised a brow. The twins shared a look and stayed silent. Eva slowly removed the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside was an empty book sharing a plant pot with a yellow, star shaped flower. The flower was not like any other she had ever seen. She pulled it out slowly, unsure what to do. She saw Dimitri nod at Arthur, who began to explain.
“The book is like an physical e-book. You can read any book downloaded on it as if you had the paperback version in your hands.”
Dimitri continued for Arthur. “The plant is the charger. When you are done using the book, put it in the pot with the flower and it will charge up.”
Eva’s brows were almost raised to her hairline. “How did you guys—”
They interrupted in unison, “Don’t ask.”
Eva looked back and forth between them. “Okay… Thank you?”
“Welcome.”
Allison shuddered. “Will you guys stop speaking like that?”
The twins shared a mischievous look before turning to Allison. Whatever they were about to say was cut off by Aaron glaring at them. Eva snickered as Allison smirked at the twins, who stuck their tongues out at her. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to Connor.
He handed her a slim gold box. She opened the box and froze, bringing a hand to her mouth. Inside
was a beautiful silver necklace, with a circle charm. On the circle, a heart was engraved into the gold. Eva was speechless and turned to Connor, who was running a hand through his hair.
“It is a communication necklace. Touch the heart and you can contact me through mine.” Connor pulled a matching necklace out of his pocket and put it around his neck.
Eva smiled. “Thanks, Connor. This is super useful.”
Connor winked. “No problem.”
Allison hummed, then turned to the twins. “Why don’t we all have that?”
The twins smirked at her. “We have twin telepathy!”
“Stop! It’s creepy!”
Connor, Eva, and Aaron laughed as Allison and the twins continued their argument. Eva turned to Aaron and raised a brow.
Aaron sighed. “Alright, alright. We still have things to do, so stop arguing.”
Miraculously, the argument died in seconds. Eva looked at them with wide eyes, not completely believing what just occurred.
Aaron motioned for everyone to dig in, and that they did. However, Eva wasn't prepared for the wild spin the rest of the day was.
~
"Oh my gosh, is this ever going to stop?" Eva groaned, leaning on Allison who laughed.
"We're still not done yet, there's still one more stop."
The team was walking in the streets, and it was already night time. The day was spent riding bikes, going to a random park they saw, and going to a movie. The night was now cool, and the darkness was soothing. They had to split up into pairs because of the narrow sidewalk, and Eva walked with Allison.
Eva turned her head to look back. "Does everyone know where we're going, Aaron?"
Aaron's brown eyes glinted as it caught in the streetlight. "Surprisingly, only Allison does. I had no time to force it out of her."
Allison nervously laughed. "Glad you didn't, I need my strength for this future activity." She paused. "Speaking of which, we're here!"
After turning the corner, a red sign flashed at them. A glass restaurant greeted them with jazz music floating out. They walked towards the glass door and pushed it open. There were circle tables with normal white cloth covering them and few people occupied the gold seats.
Allison went up to the wooden desk which seated a blonde woman. "Reservation for Astrolabe, please."
The woman's eyes widened and she rushed out of her chair, leading them through the tables. Going straight through the back- glass door, a boardwalk like place was filled with lantern lights. Long white tables were spread out and a separated wooden floor was lighted. Couples of various ages were slow dancing on the floor.
"Wow Allison, why don't you do this for us?" Arthur whined.
"You guys aren't Eva." Allison snarked back.
Arthur pouted and crossed his arms.
Sitting down around the table the team ordered appetizers, after having walked for a whole day, they were burnt out.
"I feel like dancing. Dimitri, you're coming with me." Aaron abruptly said, after having 'accidentally' hit her leg on the table.
"What? No. What are you talking about? I can't dance for the death of me." His eyes widened, and his head quickly shook.
Arthur snorted. "Stop lying, you’re a great dancer." He reached back and grabbed a flower from the bush behind him.
Throwing it to Dimitri, Arthur winked. Aaron rolled her eyes and grabbed Dimitri's hand, towing him towards the softly lighted floor. They started laughing and twirling on the dance floor.
Eva's attention was drawn back to the table, just as Arthur winced.
"Okay, um...Allison do you want to dance?" He grunted and stood up.
"I thought you would never ask!" Allison sarcastically remarked.
They stood up and head over to the others. The only ones left were Connor and Eva, but they didn't make any remarks, there was only laughter at their teammates. Eva sneaked a glance at Connor, his eyes were glinting. However, there was a slight hint of sadness in his eyes.
"No. Nopety nope nope. Get up." Eva stood and went over to him, gripping his rough hand and pulling him up. Connor chuckled and looked down at her.
"It's not fair, you grew. I used to be close to your height." Eva grumbled and started to tow him towards the floor.
"Well, now the world can go back to normal. The knight saving the damsel in distress."
She squinted at him. "We talked about this, don't make me put smoke bombs in your room at four in the morning."
His eyes widened. "Don't. Please. I like to sleep."
"Watch your words carefully then."
They reached the rest of the group, Aaron and Dimitri were waltzing impressively around while Allison and Arthur awkwardly shuffled. Connor let go of her hand and gripped her waist, her hands automatically going around his shoulders.
Allison forced Arthur to shuffle towards them. "How are you liking your birthday?"
Eva grinned at her best friend. "It's the best. You are the best."
"You bet your stealthy butt I am, having gone to all this trouble to give you the best day ever."
Eva grinned and winked at her.
Arthur shifted his feet. "Are we done yet?"
Allison snapped her head towards him and glared.
"I guess not." With that, they began to dance away.
Connor smiled. "I love these guys." Connor looked down at her, his features softened by the light.
Eva sucked in a breath, laid her head on his chest, and whispered, "Thank you."
He rested his forehead on top of her head.
"Anything for you."
Chapter Five
Nothing was going right. For the past two years, Astrolabe had been trying to catch Richard. However, their efforts were fruitless. No matter how hard they worked, Richard always managed to get away. Each failure hit them harder than the last, causing them to train everyday nonstop. One after another, dimensions began to tear apart little by little. So far, two dimensions were completely destroyed, dimensions that slowly began to deteriorate. Despite knowing the problem, there was no solution in sight. At the beginning, they were hopeful. Now, the members of Astrolabe had barely spoken to one another.
As a stealth agent, complete silence was something Eva strived for. However, that was in her movements. A stealth agent used their surroundings to survive, one being the noise. Almost any noise, even whispered conversations, could be used to their advantage. The agent’s light footsteps could be easily lost in the sound of other things. The silence of her surroundings unnerved Eva, to say the least.
Taking a deep breath, she scanned the room as she wrapped her hands with athletic tape and gauze, hoping to find some noise to focus on. She was in the gym with the rest of Astrolabe. Aaron had laid a yoga mat on the floor in the far- left corner of the room. Arthur and Dimitri were in the far right corner next to the treadmills, stretching and avoiding the other’s gaze. Allison was in the near right corner by the dumbbells, putting on leather gloves. Connor was setting up a training sequence on a tablet in the middle of the room. Eva herself was in the room’s near left corner.
Sighing when she continued to hear nothing, Eva turned her focus to the punching bag in front of her. If she couldn’t find any noise, then she would make some of her own. She shook out her arms, clenching her hands repeatedly to get her blood flowing. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, holding it. A few seconds later, she released her breath at the same time as her fist. The noise of her fist connecting to the punching bag sounded like lightning in the quiet room. Still, Eva refused to stop. Finding a rhythm, she kept up her assault on the bag, making her own lyricless song. She focused on the beat she was creating with her fists and got lost in its calming influence.
Punch after punch, Eva let her worries disappear. She allowed herself to stop thinking of the missions, of the failures. It was as if her soul had left her body and flew away. She felt freedom, which had become such a rarity in the troubling times that had passed. Despite the fact those times were still in progress and would l
ikely continue to be for an unknown duration, Eva focused on that feeling. Her breathing evened out and her stance became more relaxed. Her movements transformed from executing an attack to performing a dangerous dance. Punches and kicks were thrown in rapid succession, no end in sight. As she moved, the noises around her finally began to register. No matter what she threw at the punching bag, she could no longer ignore the outside world. Admitting defeat, she let the noises come into focus.
The sounds of treadmills and footfalls, leather squeaking, a sigh of contentment, and a fight broke through her subconscious. She slowly stopped her onslaught of the bag and caught it as it swung at her. Eva reluctantly opened her eyes and let reality crash into her. No longer was her soul flying and free, it was back in her body. Sweat ran down her face and pain burst across her knuckles. She looked at her hands and unwrapped them, finding slight bruises despite her wraps. Eva realized she had probably been attacking the punching bag for longer than she thought. A quick glance at the clock confirmed her suspicions; it had been two hours, not half of one.
Eva slowly began to take in the gym, and what had been going on around her. Aaron was in the lotus position, her legs crossed with her feet in her lap and hands resting on her knees. Her body was completely relaxed as she breathed in, held for a few seconds, and then released. Connor was almost her complete opposite. He was tense and in constant motion, dodging and attacking a blue human-shaped hologram. His breathing was ragged and quick while sweat dripped from his chin. He was moving slower than usual, his wild hair getting in his eyes. Despite his obvious exhaustion, it looked as if he wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon.
Allison was lifting two light pink dumbbells, one in each hand. Sweat ran down her arms as she continued to lift the dumbbells over her head and back down. Her leather gloves squeaked with every movement. Checking the rack, Eva realized Allison was lifting a 20- pound dumbbell in each hand. A sudden grunt caught Eva’s attention, causing her to turn to the twins. Arthur’s hand was gripping the treadmill handle as he rightened himself, not stopping his running even once. Dimitri was running next to him, though his attention was more focused on his twin. His arm was outstretched as if it had been reaching to grab Arthur before he moved it back to his side. Despite the hiccup in their exercise, neither of them stopped running. Both had headphones blasting music in their ears, making it hard to hear anything else. However, with one look they could communicate everything they wanted to say. Eva watched as Arthur reluctantly turned to look Dimitri in the eye. Dimitri nodded and the two slowed their treadmills to a jogging pace.