Eira couldn't lose him. Not again. Not ever.
She gripped onto his arm so hard she wondered if it had hurt. She yanked as hard as she can and with Jason's combined effort, they broke the surface and threw themselves onto the sand together.
They breathed harshly against one another. Eira opened her eyes to check on him. His face was as pale as hers, but the colour was returning. She reached out and touched his cheek. They were cold, and Jason's eyes were closed, water dripped from his hair, but he was breathing; that was the important bit. He opened his red eyes, the colour as alive as ever.
Eira let out a weak laugh, "We made it..."
Jason slowly formed a grin, "Yes... we made it."
They sat up and looked at Luke, staring at them. The shock was present in his eyes, questions as to why they had saved him was steaming off him like vapour.
"Why..." He finally croaked.
Jason's wrapped his hands around Eira's, and Eira felt his grip tighten; but not tight enough to hurt her.
"I should be asking you," Jason said, "Why were you trying to suicide?"
Suicide.
He used a big word, and Luke felt it as if he was physically hit by it. He didn't want to admit what
he was doing was trying to take his own life, he never thought about it. But then he realised, deep down, he had wanted to simply slip away; run away. It was so much easier than facing everything. And what was the point? They all loathe him for what he has done. He even loathed himself for it and he felt so helpless... as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was scared... scared of carrying on.
He let out a breath when he removed himself from an arm-propped position into a standing one. Jason and Eira did the same. Although Jason didn't push him, Luke knew he wanted an answer and he would wait forever for that answer that he didn't want to give.
Luke closed his eyes, as if pained. Eira watched him slowly crumble, all his emotions that were buried for so long. Eira felt for Jason's arm and held onto it. She searched for Jason's reaction to his friend's. A labyrinth of somethings... Eira could tell it pained him as much.
Trust... friendship... the truth... The memories between Luke and Jason also hurt him. Even though Luke — Lukas Black — had hurt him, had did bad things... at that very moment of seeing Luke fully expose his emotions in front of him, Jason forgave him instantly. He even trusted him. He told himself that he shouldn't let it pass so quickly, so easily! But he had hoped for too long, it was hard not to feel relieved that Luke had come out of the shadows...
Jason looked back at Luke, who had closed his eyes with tears running down his face, who was trembling like a lost child. Lukas Black, the one on the black list, the one who they call... dangerous.
"So... you didn't do everything. Did you?" Jason couldn't hold back the hope they all would've heard in his sentence, "I assume you're trying to come clean."
With a swipe, Luke wiped his tears away. He stared back with his pair of watery dark eyes, they hardened, "How can I come clean? After all I've-"
"You can when you decide to stop doing what you were doing, when you say everything that we need to hear. If you want to bring the axe down, then you better cut the wood in a clean half. We can't have you stuck in the middle." Jason said sternly. Then, he softened, "If that's what you really want."
"Are you helping me?" Luke whispered.
Jason gently let go of Eira's hand and took a step forwards, "Yes. If you want to be helped. And trust me... you can be helped if you want to change... you've proven that you wanted to when you helped me."
Eira swallowed down her emotions. When she noticed Luke's gaze on her, she gave him a smile and an encouraging nod.
"Okay."
That was all it took.
Both Eira and Jason let out a breath of relief, and the both of them seemed to age and look exhausted. But they knew the fighting wasn't over. It was far from over.
The invisible force on Luke's chest and shoulder seemed to weigh heavily on him, but he felt different. He let a small smile slip on his face, and was surprised to see that Jason was also smiling at him, nodding as if grateful at something.
Then, the door bashed open.
"What in Gataria-" The man who had rushed in first was clearly of authority. He had a sharp-looking military suit on, and with his overall look, he would seem to have been very neat with his overall appearance. Yes, he used some strong, expensive hair wax to hold his hair-do, but he needed a clean shave.
"Jason Abbot..." The man had recognised him, Jason was surprised that he would, "Your-"
"I'm guessing you have known my father for a long time," Jason said flatly (with a hint of boredom).
The man nodded, and his lieutenant — Jason assumed — had stepped up beside him. Again, with almost matching uniforms.
"Should we notify chief commander? Sir."
"No, Oakley. The situation is under control."
Luke almost burst out laughing. This man seemed to very certain that the situation would be under control, especially with him: a dark matter manipulator at hand. Might he also add that the dark matter manipulator was uncuffed and unsupervised.
"Yes, Sir." Lieutenant Oakley took a step back.
The two who guarded the death water previously had anxiety written all over their faces. They stared at Luke with wary, also occasionally shuffling forwards to try and cut into the conversation, hoping to grab their leader's attention from actually doing something to Luke.
"Mr. Abbot."
"Jason."
"Ah... Jason," The man said, "I am Captain Orren. And with this situation..."
"Sir, we should... you know," One guard finally managed to say, "He's Lukas Black."
Orren eyed Luke with malice in his eyes, before he boomed, "How reckless of you two to break into the sentence room and save a criminal!"
Eira flinched at the voice and Jason narrowed his eyes. A smile flicked at the corner of his lips.
"And how slow of you to get here."
"Although you are Sir Abbot's son, but as a Ryder you have a rank way below mine, at least you should know military discipline!"
Jason found him intriguing. His smile thinned as he stood straight, "My apologies, Sir, but I have reasons to my actions."
"What sort of excuse can you make out of this ridicule!" Orren waved his hand at Luke, who was unfazed by all the commotion.
"I ask for a retrial, Sir!" Jason threw the bomb.
"A retrial?" Orren's voice lowered, "Interesting. What makes you say that... Black needs a retrial. All the evidence is there."
"Not exactly," Eira took a step forward. "There is new evidence which I have handed in to the department. They have treated it like trash."
"Is that so?" Orren looked towards his lieutenant.
Oakley leaned forwards to speak in a calm tone, "I'm afraid I haven't heard. It probably wasn't in the books, and the files haven't been handed for further processes."
"It's been thrown into a box called Black 702," Eira continued, not giving them a chance, "I also believe that Skyler Rodney..." She balled her fists, it seemed to physically hurt her to say it, "Skyler Rodney, a former Ryder has betrayed Gataria. Luke was framed of murdering her. You should write down in the books that Luke was defending himself from getting killed."
Orren was clearly shocked. Then he took a step forwards and leaned forwards respectfully, "I am aghast. You must be a Ryder yourself?"
Eira looked at Jason for direction, and he nodded.
"Sir," Eira tried, "My name is Eira Riley. I've joined about a year ago."
"Ah. Still quite new," He remarked to himself, "You are in the field?"
"Yes, Sir."
"I see..." Orren was contemplating his next move. Everyone waited for him: a word, a facial expression, a gesture...
"I-"
"Retrial! The note for retrial for Ryder 702!" Stanley stormed through the door, stumbling and panting. A document of some sort was held in his hand, the edge a bit crinkled from his grip. He was bent slightly, taking in quick breathes before he raised his hand.
"Retrial...! For Ryder 702!"
"Stanley..." Eira breathed in relief.
Orren eyed him up and down, studying him like a sharp-eyed fashion designer. He rubbed his thumb and index finger together and made a sound: "Hm..."
"Oh, Sir." Stanley didn't need to be told to know that Orren is in the Ryders department, holding a rank higher than him.
"Give that to me," Orren pointed.
Stanley gazed at Jason and Eira briefly before handing Orren the document with two hands.
"The retrial for 702, Sir."
"Yes, I know that." Orren said, a bit impatiently. He quickly skinned over the words and flipped over the paper without much interest.
"Alright. It is the retrial paper signed by the judge. Oakley...!"
"Yes, Sir." Oakley took the paper out of his hands and read it himself. He then folded it and placed it somewhere Eira nor Jason got the chance to see. "I will have it processed immediately."
"I'm afraid that even though there is the papers for retrial, Ryder 702 is still under our watch. He can't go anywhere until the trials and judgements have been made," Orren looked at Jason, "I hope you understand."
"Yes, Sir."
"Good. Take Lukas back to the cell."
The crowd shuffled and began to move. Eira watched as Luke was cuffed up again, and she wondered why he wasn't cuffed while being thrown into the water. Her gaze never left Luke, just in case he looked back at her. She wanted to make sure that when he looked back, he would see her watching over him.
Luke stepped out of the door. The air was cooler outside and he felt calmer. He looked over his shoulder. Jason was conversing with Stanley, but they both had made eye contact with him. Eira, again, with her blue eyes. Except, this time, without hate, just... trust.
He gave all of them a nod before the door closed on them. And he was in the dark hallway, again... alone.