Across the Universe: A BFDI Oneshot Collection

Tomboy

Previous chapter: "Sage Time"

"YOU'RE A GIRL?!"

All six cadets stared at the injured Venn with gaping jaws and wide open eyes while Sister Ventine let out a teasing giggle. Even Ree stopped quivering in fear to turn and gawk like the others.

Venn rolled her eyes but nodded. "Yeah, she's right," she sighed defeatedly. With a pained grunt, she shifted around on the couch and sat facing the rest of the room, disappointment in her eyes. "I'm...Sister Se-Venn of Sevendor, the Sage of Charity."

"And a very naughty one at that," Ventine chimed in with a scolding wag of her finger. "Look at you. You are hideous. Your hair is so short and messy. You are covered in bruises and injuries. That is no state for a proper Sage to be in. Shameful; utterly shameful!"

Ventine tilted her chin up with an indignant huff. "Why, you could not even protect your six cadets from harm with an entire battleship at your disposal and had to recite the Prayer just to escape. And to flee back home, luring the Neteos here and endangering the temple? Hmph. The nerve of you to even call yourself Sister."

Venn scoffed and gestured at Ventine with her head. "This lovely lady right here is Sister Se-Ventine. And believe it or not, contrary to what her sour speech and pissed-off mood may indicate, she's actually the Sage of Patience."

"Let me ask you something, Venn," Ventine said sternly. "Do you think waiting for the other Sages to even find you—let alone persuade you to come back—maintaining the Temple and performing the rituals all by myself, and constantly dealing with communications from the rest of the universe on my own for three entire years is an easy task?"

Venn glanced up at her and raised a skeptical eyebrow, but the disappointed and judgmental look on Ventine's face proved that she was being entirely serious. Even though Ventine looked almost the same way she did three years ago, her tired and fed-up expression and posture revealed just how much more of a workload she had had to take on with the others gone. It was then that Venn realized that, at least for now, Ventine had every right to berate her for abandoning her duties. She sighed and hung her head guiltily.

"I assure you, Venn, I have been very patient with you," Ventine finished.

"All right, all right, I get it!" Venn threw her hand up and groaned loudly. "Look, I'm here now. The second our ship's up and running, my cadets and I are out of here, so what do you want?"

A mischievous smile spread across Ventine's face as she once again clasped her hands behind her back. "Well, well. This is a pleasant surprise, Venn."

"Yeah, yeah, don't get used to it," Venn scoffed before turning back to her cadets. "Lee, you're in charge while I go do whatever crap Ventine wants me to do. And fix Ree, will you? The last thing we need is the Pyro trying to reduce this planet to atoms because a psycho—sorry, psychic space nun messed up the general's son's head."

"As much as I do not appreciate your vulgar language," Ventine interrupted, "we will not begin until after dinner. And I will relieve your cadets of the responsibility of taking care of Fy-Ree II. His mental discomposure will recede in due time, given there is no interference; he simply needs to learn his lesson."

Ventine turned to the cadets and nodded. "Come. Your meal awaits."

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In a literal flash, the cadets found themselves in a large, ornate dining hall. The ceiling, several stories above the ground, intertwined an elegant mix of curved skylights and marble white supports. Tall, clear glass windows lined the white walls, which stretched out for several yards on either end and revealed neatly kept garden courtyards along the outside wall. Pink light from Sevendor's atmosphere radiated into the room and splayed itself all across the marble floor while the deep star-filled sky added a dark blue tint to the air. The wall closest to where they all were featured two large wooden doors on either side of a large altar resting on a stage. On the far short wall was a large doorframe leading into a hall, which split and turned left and right.