"Cap? You're alright?"
Leonel blinked. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Joel was speechless. He knew that Leonel's EQ wasn't this low. Was he just pretending? Or did that brain of his finally short circuit? He didn't even know how to respond to all of this.
Leonel smiled knowingly but didn't say anything else. The way his own logic worked wasn't something that he wanted to take the time to explain. The number of calculations—one part rigorous, and another part arbitrary—that went into his final decision was so large that he would have to be here all day if these guys insisted on him explaining it all.
To make matters worse, they might not even understand and assume that he was simply forgiving Aina because he was lovesick… When he was probably the only person in this world who wouldn't be guilty of such a thing.
Did Aina's actions hurt? Of course they did. Did Leonel understand why she had done so? He understood that as well.
He knew that Aina had abandonment issues. He knew that she suffered severely from panic attacks and anxiety. It was because of this that he didn't want to look at her during those final moments. As much as he cared for her, he simply couldn't ignore the life and death of his brothers for the sake of her emotions, right?
It was harsh when he put it that way, but it was the truth.
Maybe Leonel's greatest disappointment was that he had left Aina behind expressly so that she could protect his teammates from anything unexpected. Yet, from what it seemed like here, she had left before they were in the clear. The irony of it all wasn't lost on him in the slightest.
The second greatest disappointment was that she didn't believe he could come back alive. That lack of trust stung almost as much as anything else. It stung so much that Leonel knew he had made those memories far lighter than they should have been.
He had told Aina a long time ago that the one thing he would never tolerate was her losing trust in him. This time, she was barely within a threshold he could accept. If there was a next time, though, the golden balance might be even harsher than it was this time around.
Either way, the best case scenario right now was to pretend as though nothing had happened. At least that way, the boys would think that he just didn't want to talk about the topic and avoid it. He knew that they had likely said their fair share of harsh words about Aina in his absence, but since he had already made his decision for now, he didn't feel that that should continue.
And, truthfully, even if his decision had landed on the other side, rather than constantly hearing about how terrible she was, he would prefer if all thoughts of her were simply frozen out.
"What trouble are you trying to stir up, Cap?" Joel asked, seemingly realizing something. Since this was what Leonel wanted, who were they to not oblige? After all, it wasn't their relationship and it wasn't they who had invested so many years of their youth into it.
Leonel grinned, scanning the room. Right now, there were far more than the four that had come as seeded geniuses. Though many of his teammates had died during the Metamorphosis, it seemed that eight still remained. He couldn't help but feel genuinely happy seeing all their faces like this.
"Joel."
"Yes?"
"If I said that I want us to rise to the top of the Dimensional Verse and stake our control over it all, what would you say?"
Joel's eyes glowed. All nervousness he had felt about Leonel's demeanor vanished with the wind. His back snapped straight and his chest broadened. One could almost feel the sharp aura of his ability whistling around him, leaving blade streaks in the air.
Was this it?
Looking into Leonel's pale violet eyes, he could see purpose, ambition, determination… It wasn't as though he had never seen the last of the three in Leonel before, but they had always been aimed toward short term goals. This was the first time he had ever seen the first two aimed toward something other than Aina.
If the team had to pick out their greatest fear in this whole ordeal, it wasn't in the fact Aina was leaving Leonel at all. Objectively speaking, they had always believed that Leonel could do better. And, even with how beautiful Aina had become, wouldn't it be too ridiculous if she was the only being with that level of beauty throughout the whole Dimensional Verse?
With their Captain's qualifications, why wouldn't he be able to find another?
No… What they had feared the most was that without Aina, the man they all respected and admired so much would suddenly become aimless once again… An arrow with untold power flying toward an endless abyss without target.
But now…
Joel began to laugh. His boisterous laughter was even fuller and rounder than Leonel's own.
His dark skin almost glowed with an aura of its own. Even Leonel was slightly surprised to see that Joel had suddenly gained a slight violet tint to his energy that most definitely came from Leonel, himself.
Looking around the room, Leonel found seven more grinning faces looking back at him, each one of taking a portion of Leonel's violet energy for himself.
A warmth couldn't help but bloom in Leonel's heart. They hadn't asked any questions, they didn't want to know how or why… They simply took the leap because they trusted him.
And, for Leonel's violet energy to react on its own, taking it upon itself to share his King's Might with them all, that could only mean one thing…
Leonel trusted them unconditionally.
These were his brothers for a lifetime. These were the warriors that would stand by his side to the very end. These were his Generals.