( Luke's POV )
Luke was unable to focus on his meditation for the rest of the day and rightfully so, as his mental state was no longer stable.
A whirlwind of thoughts constantly bothered his mind with words from both his brother and Cervantez playing in a loop, aggravating his emotions.
"Is Leo right? Should I have left the DarkSky Guild?" Luke wondered, as he contemplated the consequences of his actions.
On one hand, he had the confidence to join any other guild of his choosing at a relatively high position even if he left DarkSky guild, but on the other, he did not really feel like quitting either.
He quite enjoyed his time at the DarkSky guild, and despite his recent squabble with Cervantez, he truly felt like the DarkSky guild was his own child and something he had helped build from the ground up.
"I need to quit…. I have to. Because I'm clearly not respected enough back there, for me to stay.
Yes, I love the place, and yes it's scary to move on, not knowing if I'll ever find a family like the DarkSky guild again, but I have to do it—" Luke mused, as he inclined towards leaving the guild, however, could not decisively make his mind about it.
"Hello– is anyone here?"
A sweet voice interrupted his thoughts, as looking up, he saw PinkLotus walking into their manor's front yard, with a training sword in hand.
"Apologies, Alia, but Leo is currently meditating…." Luke said, as instead of greeting Alia, he coldly asked her to visit again.
"Oh? But I'm not here for him today... today I'm here to spar with you, if you're not too busy" Alia said, as Luke widened his eye in surprise.
"Is that so?" He asked, scratching his chin, as he shook his head and let out a deep sigh.
"My apologies for assuming you're here for my brother….. I was rude" Luke said, as PinkLotus gently smiled towards him, waving the matter off as if she did not mind it at all.
"It's okay…. I came unannounced anyways…." She said, as she hopped on the porch and took a seat beside Luke, placing her sword beside him.
Her unexpected move to directly take a seat beside him, shocked Luke, as he did not take PinkLotus to be the friendly type of girl that liked to have a chat with strangers.
"You don't look so well today… are you okay?" She asked, as Luke furrowed his brows and mustered his most cheerful voice.
"I'm okay…. Why do you ask?" He said, putting on a brave face, as PinkLotus only softly smiled at his words but said nothing.
For a while, the two sat in silence, glancing off into the distance, before PinkLotus slowly broke the ice, as she said "Your cheeks. They have subtle tear marks from where your tears have streamed down.
Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. But I can see them"
"Oh?" Luke said, feeling embarrassed as he abruptly began rubbing his cheeks to get rid of the evidence that he had shed a few tears in silence.
It was an extremely embarrassing moment for him as he did not expect to be caught crying by such a beautiful woman, as somehow he felt like it made him a lesser man.
However, PinkLotus instead found his behavior extremely endearing, as this was the same way that she reacted to pain herself.
Back on Earth, whenever she wanted to cry, she would do so while sitting on her porch looking towards the sky, shedding a few tears in silence without anyone being any wiser about it.
She was not the kind to kick up a fuss or cry in front of others, which was why she knew that Luke could use some company today, especially when he was feeling so vulnerable.
"It's okay, we have all been where you are. Nothing to be embarrassed about" she said, smiling kindly towards him, as watching her bright smile, Luke instantly felt his heart drop slightly.
'So beautiful…' he thought, as a small smile spread on his own face, as a result of watching Alia smile.
"See…. You look good when you smile, like a handsome knight–" PinkLotus complemented, as Luke chuckled at her response.
This light conversation was probably exactly what he needed right now, as left alone, his mind had begun to overthink about every aspect of his life.
"I'm sorry, I am not in the best mental state to fight you today, so we might have to reschedule" Luke said, as PinkLotus simply shrugged in response.
"It's okay, it's not like we are short on time on this Arc-Ship. Sometime again this week works perfectly for me" she said, as Luke appreciated this understanding nature of hers, which perfectly complimented her beauty.
"Thanks" he said, as Alia laughed lightly at his response.
"You are a knight, always so uptight and gentleman-like" she joked, as Luke blushed at her words.
"So, Mr.Knight, why were you down and crying today? Maybe telling me will help" Alia offered, as after thinking about it for a while, Luke decided to give her a very brief rundown of what happened.
"So I'm just wondering if I should leave the guild or not….?" He asked at the end, as Alia immediately encouraged him to quit.
"Of course you should. It doesn't matter if you will ever find a new home which is as good as the old one, if someone or something threatens your family, you have to quit, no?
I mean, I can't imagine you sitting down and actually strategizing against your brother's forces now…. So what's the point in staying back?" Alia said, as when she put it that way, Luke felt like the decision was extremely obvious.
"You're right. I have to quit" Luke said, as Alia gave him a cheerful thumbs up.
"Attaboy!" She encouraged, as at that moment, Leo stepped out of his mansion to come practice outside, only to find PinkLotus chuckling alongside his brother.
"You witch! What are you doing here?" Leo said, as immediately, PinkLotus's usual calm demeanor vanished, as her right eye began to flutter with anger.
"WHAT did you just call me?" She asked, turning towards Leo with fury, as Luke witnessed the two sides of PinkLotus, within a split second.