Alitia: Welcome to Millenia

XXXII: Battle of Reunions

The next morning, all eight girls rose relatively early to get ready for the day ahead of them. The plans to see Nebula in Millennium City were still on, and for some of them, it was their first time meeting her. If they were unsure though, Luce, Helena, S.M., and Iris kept them from staying behind in their dorm. It was especially difficult to drag Carys out the door, but as soon as Iris mentioned Nebula's 'cute little umbrella', Carys became hard to keep up with as she sprinted off towards their meeting spot at a little café in the heart of the City.

It was the same restaurant they had been at the day Iris got her Isolis. That battle had perhaps been one of their worse given how many injuries each girl received, but they were stronger now. Besides, the Possession Master wasn't going to attack them again after they had already fought at this location as far as the girls were concerned.

The eight sat down at the largest table in the café and waited for Nebula to arrive. They had only been waiting for about two minutes before Nebula walked inside, a wide grin on her face. She dashed over to her new companions and bowed her head to them. "It's nice to see you all," she told them.

"Hey, Nebula!" Helena waved. "Welcome to the party. I saved you a seat."

Nebula sat down in between Helena and S.M. in the final available chair at the table. She tucked some of her hair behind her ear before speaking. "I'm glad you all agreed to meet me here. I know it was a sort of sudden arrangement, and I don't even know you all, but..."

"Oh, we don't mind at all! We're glad to be able to see you again. Besides, this is a perfect chance for you to get introduced to everyone," Helena smiled. "You already know me, Luce, S.M., and Iris, so I'll skip them for now. That's Tanith, Sophia, Sylvia, and last but not least, my sister, Carys."

"It's nice to meet you all," Nebula said with a polite nod.

Carys jumped out of her seat to stand behind Nebula. She started playing around with her hair. "Wow, you must use some nice conditioner... And this outfit! You know how to pick out an ensemble... Where did you get that umbrella? You'll have to show me where sometime. I would kill for something like that," Carys rattled, continuing to fiddle around with Nebula's outfit.

"The umbrella? Oh, it was a birthday gift from my father. He gave it to me about three years ago, but I'm sure I could ask him if you really did want one," Nebula replied.

"Perfect! You know, as much as I love these girls, none of them have a fashion sense quite like you do, my dear," Carys continued. "We should go shopping sometime. I'm sure you'd be able to help me find the prettiest dresses in Millennium City. Plus, maybe we can help these seven find something to match their styles too."

"Maybe we can all go shopping for a few fancy dresses. There aren't really any large events aside from the big celebration at the end of the semester at the Millennium Six, but sometimes, you just want to find something cute," Nebula smiled. "I haven't had the chance to go shopping for anything, dresses or otherwise, since the school year started, so this will be a refreshing change."

"Why not? Have you just not needed to get anything?" Luce asked with a frown, already getting the feeling there was something else going on behind the scenes with Nebula's isolation up to this point. She could see the sadness lurking beneath the surface without having to hear anything about it.

Nebula's cheeks went pink. "Well... Um... I don't exactly have any friends at Sacred Heart. One problem with the Millennium Six is how many cliques tend to form at each school. Sacred Heart has a large issue with it in particular. Since everyone else already has their crowd, I don't exactly have anybody to be with," she explained sheepishly. "Maybe that's why I wanted to hang out with you guys so badly. Even if the circumstances under which we met weren't optimal, you were so nice to me during the Sacred Heart raid. I figured if anybody would want to hang out with me, it would be you guys."