Faded

Still Here

Lexis and Oleander were in a bar sitting on a couple stools next to each other as the two blankly stared at their drinks. Lexis then scratched his head and cleared his throat.
"So what's up?" He said trying to make conversation.
"Huh, you know," Oleander said with a shrug.
"Hey, when I caught up with you I saw you were trying to communicate with someone?" Lexis pointed out.
"Oh heh yeah. I was trying to get in touch with Nerium," Oleander said with a modest chuckle.
"Oh yeah?" Lexis said with a smirk.
"Yeah. But it's not whatever you're thinking. She was a big help with my recovery back in those days. We both helped each other out. It only made sense to let her know who I had just seen."
"Were you able to?"
"Nah," Oleander responded. "But what was she gonna do if she did anyway? I would just make her worry."
"There's nothing wrong with looking for some support from a close friend. I get it," Lexis said as he took a sip of his drink. Oleander looked at him and smirked.
"I'm grateful for you guys being here," he added.
"Hey, we're grateful for you being here to help us out on this thing we wanted to try," Lexis responded.
"Heh yeah, until it turned into a confrontational mission," Oleander chuckled.
"Only adds to the thrill," Lexis said with a confident grin.
"Guess you're right," Oleander said with an amused shake of his head.
"Once this whole things gets worked out, we can enter ICA in and really have a good time," Lexis assured.

"Yeah, until then, I think we should start going back to the ring. To catch up with Jude and Lucine," Oleander said.
"Gotcha," Lexis said. The two payed for their drinks then headed out. They walked for a while until they ran into Jude and Lucine who had been briskly walking the opposite direction. Lexis noticed them holding hands and the flustered look on Jude's face. He rose a brow and smirked. "You guys had a good time?"
"What's with that look, idiot," Jude huffed.
"Nothing nothing! Geez. I'm just glad to see you guys enjoy yourselves," Lexis said as he rose his hands.
"I hope you guys were enjoying yourselves too," Lucine said.
"Yeah you know, watched some more fights then had a drink," Lexis said. "So you want to catch me up to speed on your whole situation?"
"Actually, I think the champion match is set to start pretty soon. Let's start heading over," Oleander said as he began to lead the way.
"Catch me up on our way there," Lexis chimed as he wrapped his arm around Jude's shoulders. Jude groaned and shook his head, but felt he owed him some sort of explanation.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Types and kinds of all the far reaches! The champion match is set to start in just a few moments, so find your posts, make your bets, and hang on tight as our champion Mason Delacour and his widget JNO-46 takes on our winner, Vincent Alcor and his widget HYT-96!" The announcer exclaimed on his megaphone. The people cheered as they finished up the last of their things and started filing to the ring. Lexis looked around then noticed Vincent setting up on one side of the ring.
"Hey I see him," he told the others. They walked over to the area as Lexis and Oleander greeted Vincent. They were met with Andreas and Mori as well. The two looked at Jude and Lucine for a moment. Andreas smiled while Mori waved. Jude gave a nod while Lucine waved as well.
"Hey Mori, will you help me out real quick?" Vincent asked.
"Oh yeah sure," she responded. Meanwhile, Oleander had an uneasy look as his gaze was set on the other side of the ring. Lexis noticed and patted his shoulder.
"Alright, Oleander, we got this. Mason is just on the other side. We're gonna beat him and then get some answers," he encouraged.
"Heh, but what if we lose?" Oleander asked.
"Nah we won't, how do you think Vincent made it all the way up here?" Lexis said confidently.
"But one thing is fighting other fighters and another is fighting the champion," Oleander argued.
"Ugh come on, have some faith. We got this!" Lexis said confidently. Oleander smirked and gave a nod.

Mori finished helping Vincent and walked away from him with a halfhearted expression.
"Hey you ok?" Andreas asked.
"Yeah I'm fine," she responded with a shrug. She then glanced at Jude who met her gaze before she continued to walk a bit away from the ring. Jude looked to Andreas who could only give an unsure shrug.
"What's up with her? Hm, I think I'm gonna catch up with her. I think you could stick around but don't let her see you," Jude said to Lucine. Lucine nodded in agreement and slipped into her more down state so she can utilize her 'overlook' ability. This power was the other side of her suggestion ability where she could make everyone around her completely ignore her rather than be attracted to her, therefore making her virtually invisible. She stuck near Jude but he could no longer notice her. Because of this, he practically forgot she was there in the first place as he went to find Mori. He found her sitting at a nearby table of a concessions stand by herself. He pulled up a seat and sat with her without saying anything for a moment.
"Hey," he began awkwardly.
"Why is it you of all people who came after me?" She responded stubbornly.
"Well... I was faster than Andreas this time," Jude said, trying to lighten her up. She only moved her eyes to look up at him.
"You know he misses you," she said, suddenly changing the initial topic. An anxious look came to Jude's face until he shook his head.
"Where is this coming from? You've been acting nothing but weird to me and Andreas the whole time I've been around. You weren't like this," he said more firmly. Mori gave a sigh, knowing her attempt had failed.
"Alright. He's actually doing fine, but I didn't lie when I said that though. Cause we both miss you, the times we spent together as a band. But that's just part of the reason I'm frustrated right now," she explained.
"Ok? What's the other part?" He asked.