Gathering the Renegades

A row of angels, stone and crumbling, greeted Graham when he stepped through the old church’s doorway. The air was thick with incense clinging to the stale wood and old stone around him. He paused and wondered what kind of body of faith still practiced here on the city’s edge.

“This place is a dump,” Leena said as she slid her finger over a statue, smudging her digit with a layer of dust. “Is this really where Astraea’s recruiting? Looks more like a place you’d get mugged.”

Graham scanned the area. “This is where Ace said to go.”

“You sure he's not the one trying to gank you?”

“Positive.”

Leena crossed her arms, unconvinced. “You sound so sure.”

A figure knelt at the front row of pews—still, feminine, bowed in prayer before the personless cross at the altar. Graham moved toward her quietly, motioning for Leena to follow.

“Uh, hello?” he called out, raising a hand. No response.

Her stillness could have passed her off as a statue like the others, but the redness of her cheeks said otherwise.

“Hellooo…?” He leaned a little, waving again.

“...Come.”

The woman opened her eyes halfway. She clasped her hands together, and bowed her head, one eye still on Graham.

“Huh?”

“You. And the girl. Why not join me for prayer?”

A single shaft of light broke through the dust-streaked open-air windows, falling squarely on the space beside her as if summoned. The women knelt motionless, serene as a summer creek reduced to a trickle. Something about her made the air feel still.

For a moment, Graham could’ve mistaken her for something divine. An angel. A blessed vessel.

And yet—

He couldn't help but notice.

Her dress flowed through her body like ceremonial robes but clung in places they perhaps shouldn’t. Her dark brown hair tumbled over one eye, carefully uncared for. Her features were sharp—delicate at first glance, but unremarkable… until the overly generous curve of her chest broke that impression, emphasized by the way her garment folded like a tent in the breeze.

Smack.

“—Ow! Hey, what was that for?” Graham flinched, rubbing the back of his head.

Leena coughed, pointedly. “Looking respectfully, I hope?”

Though Leena herself wasn’t innocent of the crime, either.

“I wasn’t—I didn’t mean—”

“It is fine,” the woman said, smiling without looking at them in a voice reminiscent of a feather. “I’m flattered. This body was a gift from above. Why should I hide what was given by grace?”

Graham hesitated, then slid into the pew and knelt beside her. Leena followed, but sat instead of kneeling, arms folded and brow furrowed.

Silence settled again.

Then Graham broke it, gently. “Ace sent me here. He said I’d find the captain of Astraea’s Renegades here.”

“So you have,” she said. “I trust you are Graham Akkwood?”

“Yeah. That’s me. And you are…?”

“Chiara. Everyone calls me just ‘Captain’, and so that is who I shall be. I suppose in due time, you will too.”

She didn’t lift her head. Her lips moved in a whispered prayer, too quiet to hear. Seconds passed. Then more. The silence deepened, dense with incense and the hum of old wood settling.

Leena tapped her foot. “Sooo… what now?” she muttered. “We're not just gonna pray here all day, are we?”

“Not interested in prayer?” Chiara asked.

“I…I’m not religious.” Leena replied.

“You don't have to be. Aren't prayers simply wishes, but offered in the name of a chosen god?”

“That sounds a bit reductive, isn't it? There's… more to it than that, right? Contrition, confession, ritual. The whole thing.”

Chiara smiled and nodded. “I see. Our definition of a prayer seems to differ. I understand—and there is no need to do so. I only asked since you might have been interested.”

Graham glanced at Chiara. “You mentioned a ‘chosen god’ earlier. So, who exactly are you praying to?”

“To whoever listens,” she said simply. “And I believe it is our Lord, as it always has been.”

Chiara leaned back into the pew behind her, straightening her spine and stretching out her arms. Her eyes wandered to the empty cross at the front of the sanctuary, letting memory and silence fill the space.

“Everyday, I offer a prayer. One of peace, hoping that the serenity of our time today lasts even past our lives..”

“Peace?” Graham echoed.

“You must have learned about it in school—the war, over a century ago. A conflict so vast it redrew continents, not just borders.”

Chiara’s gaze turned to the fractured pillars of the old chapel. “Many preached peace back then. But when those who wanted war tired of their words, they crushed them. The United Nations was the first to fall. And not soon after—the Holy See. Nothing was left but a crater and ash where the city once stood. The sea rushed right back in to claim the land.”

“Yeah. And that's why it's now called the Holy Sea.” Leena frowned.

“So you pray it doesn't happen again?” Graham asked.

Chiara’s voice lowered. “It will. Of course it will. Us humans seek conflict—it’s in our nature. We will always crave reasons to fight. So I pray… not for the end of conflict, but for restraint. For the wisdom to stop before we go too far again.”

“Well, that’s why the CWG exists, right?” Graham said. “Scratches the itch. Fight for dominance without total war. Crown a champion every four years. The whole shebang.”

Chiara nodded. “And I pray it stays within those bounds and no further.”

“Alright,” Leena looked over Graham's shoulder, and directly at Chiara. “This is nice. But we're really just here to join the Renegades.”

“Oh?” Chiara tilted her head, amused. “We?”

“I—well, she's with me.” Graham stuttered. “I was hoping you had space for her. She wants to be a mechanic.”

Chiara glanced at them both, her eyes rounding. “You're both so young.”

“Did… you expect someone older? Around Ace’s age?”

“Something like that, yes.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” he joked, head dipping.

“Oh, don’t be,” Chiara smiled. She looked at Leena more carefully. “I just wasn’t expecting—two. You could’ve made the cut for the MC.”

Leena looked away, suddenly quiet. “I did. He didn't.”

“Hey—traitor!” Graham laughed. “You really had to bring that up?”

“What, were you gonna lie about it?” Leena huffed. “Ace already figured it out! You think she hasn’t either even before we got here?”

Graham scratched his neck. “Still! It's embarrassing!”

“Embarrassing? I’m the one practically selling myself as a package deal here.”

“Package deal? Don’t lump yourself in with me like that! I know you’re here for more than just—me.”

“Sure, not just for you,” Leena said, arms still crossed. “But that machine won’t move an inch without you in it.”

Graham blinked. “Wait, so I’m the package deal?”

Chiara stood, barely stifling a laugh. “I get it,” she said. “You two.”

She didn’t say more. Just smiled at them—at their chaos, their youth, their closeness. She didn't look too far in the age range, but she looked at them like they were fragments of long lost nostalgia.

“If this is the choice you both made, then who am I to refuse? I wanted you on the team, Akkwood, so if there's anyone you want to bring, feel free to do so.”

Graham rubbed his chin. “So it's true. You really want me in. But why?”

“Guts. Guts you do have. Sometimes that's all it takes to be a great chevalier.”

That’s what he said too. Almost verbatim as Ace.

Chiara then flipped the question back. “And what made you decide to come here, Akkwood?”

“Well, that’s…” Graham shuffled, buying time to find the words. “I really wanted to become a Chevalier. When Ace said there were other ways to become one outside the Mobile Chivalry, I wanted to take it.”

“...Aaaand?” Leena pursed her lips, coaxing a specific answer from him.

“Aaaand—what?” Graham raised an eyebrow. He had an idea of what she was trying to get from him, but he wouldn’t budge. But the only thing more insistent than him was her.

So she held that sly smile. For far too long.

Fine.

Graham sighed. “...There’s this girl.”

Chiara’s eyes lit up, in their own calm, serene, but still enthused way. She wasn’t any different from a schoolgirl about to hear someone talk about the girl they like.

“I want to protect her. She's… not in a very good spot,” Graham looked down on a clenched fist. “But if I can become a stronger pilot, a real Chevalier… I’ll get strong enough to be her shield. Both in and out of the cheval.”

“Oh, dear…” Chiara giggled. “I like the look in your eyes when you say that. You’ve convinced me. Must be nice to be young and in love.”

Leena narrowed her eyes on the woman in front of her. “Aren’t you not old enough to say that?”

“Oh no. It’s just that, you reminded me of someone. Ace, actually.” Chiara said, her angelic tone lifting. “Would you believe that he enlisted after a particularly bad romantic affair?”

“Somehow, I’m not surprised.” Graham said, eyes looking away.

“He told me not to say that though,” Chiara leaned forward with a wink. Her frontal assets drooped down in kind. “So keep this between us, okay?”

Leena's eyes dropped, trying their damndest to not be impressed. “What a dangerous woman.”

“O-okay.” Graham’s voice hitched. There was no resisting this woman’s charisma… and her ‘charisma’.

“That said. I think I’m done with prayer time today,” Chiara dusted herself off. “I apologize if I’ve made you uncomfortable, Akkwood, and…?”

“Leena Mackenzie,” she introduced herself, arms crossed.

“Mackenzie. Akkwood. It’s nice to meet you both.” Chiara curtsied with an invisible skirt.

Graham squirmed. Getting called by their last names—he and Leena both—were a thing reserved for the classroom. “Please. Just Gram will do. And Leena.”

Leena nodded. “What he said.”

“Alright… Gram and Leena.” Chiara cleared her throat of the church’s dust, literally and metaphorically. “Are you sure you want to join the Astraea’s Renegades? I’ll make sure everything runs smoothly and quickly once you decide.”

“I’ve already decided.” Graham took a step forward, a hand placed firmly on his chest. “I want to join. The sooner we start, the better.”

Leena swung a leg back and fro, though the look on her face suggested she thought the same. “I’m already here. So let’s get this show on the road.”

“And your parents?” Chiara asked, worrying she’ll have run-ins with greater authority.

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.” Graham scratched his neck. But this is what they’ve always wanted for him, right? So why would they care now?

Meanwhile, Leena kicked soot off the floor. She was nonplussed. “Nobody’s gonna stop me.”

Chiara shifted her attention between them. At the end of the day, they were only at the cusp of adulthood, just as good as children acting with no supervision.

“Alright. That’s settled,” Chiara clasped her palms together. “Tomorrow, we’ll get things started. So if there’s anything you want to settle now, do it today. You might not get a better chance.”

A thought flashed in Graham’s head.

There was something—someone other than Maya he needed a few words with. He glanced at Leena, and she nodded. They both knew what they had to do.

“Yeah… there is someone I need to talk to.”

####

At sundown, Graham and Leena called up their friend Anton to discuss their next move. They met at Cafe de Sol Gata—their usual hangout, a cozy little cafe with a comfy veranda.

And while Anton did come, an unexpected visitor came with.

Though, Graham should’ve expected it.

Coleda had come with, arriving even earlier than Graham and Leena did. Anton was sheepish the whole time. He wasn’t coerced. He was just the type to do anything for her. If Coleda asked him about anything, he’d say ‘how much do you want to know’ for sure.

Graham had nothing on him. He wasn’t the only one acting for the sake of a girl around here.

After ordering their coffee and latte, Graham and Leena sat down in front of Anton and Coleda. Graham’s sister rapped on the table repeatedly— each tap echoing like a faucet dripping in the middle of the night.

Leena side-eyed Graham, waiting for him—or anyone to break the silence.

Anton broke it first.

“No kidding? You’re joining a team?” Anton jumped out of his seat, stars in his eyes. It took a fair bit of courage—and inability to read the room to still have that smile on his face now.

“Y-yeah…” Graham muttered.

Anton had a bulky frame, and his crew cut and thick clothing gave him an appearance of a bodybuilder, though he was anything but. Graham could make out Anton’s iconic red ribbed sweater underneath his coat, which he wore all year round yet never seemed to sweat because of it.

Everything about him—from the sweater to the bounce in his step—screamed open book.

Coleda continued to tap on the table, unamused.

Anton’s voice hopped around like an excited puppy. “So you beat Leticia a few days ago, and now you’re getting scouted. Dude, do you have any idea how much you’re moving up in the world right now?”

“I have an idea, but…” Graham couldn’t ignore Coleda from the corner of his eye. She was still tapping.

“I knew you had it in you. I believed in you from day one. Oh shit. Oh shit. I can’t believe it. I—”

Coleda lightly slammed her hand on the table. “Anton.”

“Right.” Anton creeped back to his seat.

She raised three fingers. “First, you get into a fight with Juri, which shouldn’t have happened by the way. Do you know how much work I had to do just to finally throw his butt to the proverbial slammer?”

“I realize. I—”

“Then, you get into trouble with the embassy, and get yourself in a fight with a B-ranker.”

“He won that, by the way!” Anton made a toothy grin. Coleda remained firm and unamused.

“And now,” Coleda stared a hole straight through Graham. “You just decided to join a team. And all this without a word to me?”

She leaned back on her chair. A sigh escaped her. “They’ve begun carting the Lionheart into their ship, you know? Imagine my shock when some maintenance guys just started riding out in the desert with their forklifts and cranes and shit.”

“I’m sorry,” Graham slumped on his chair’s armrest. “Everything happened so fast. I knew what I wanted. And when everything happened… I just did it. If I didn’t, when would I ever?”

“You really are like your dad,” Coleda also leaned on her armrest. “Impulsive. Does things when he feels like it, others be damned. Were you really planning to ride out with the Renegades without telling me, if I hadn’t found out now?”

Graham knew the answer, but he didn’t want to say. It was incriminating, and most of all, would make him look like he distrusted her.

He was scared she’d stop him. That’s all it was.

It wasn’t a hit on her character on anything—just a thought born from the status quo.

And his silence? That answered Coleda more than words could.

Coleda turned to Leena. “And what about you? Do your parents know?”

“Of course not,” Leena rolled her eyes. “Why would I tell them anything?”

“You already passed the MC exam. If you go now, you’d have to wait another six months, maybe longer. Then you’d have to retake the test. The school offers it for free—but outside, you’d have to pay up. As your instructor, I’m telling you: you’d be passing up a perfectly good opportunity.”

“And this isn't?” Leena shot back. “In the end, the MC leads to the same destination anyway—a team. We’re just skipping steps.”

“They put the steps there for a reason,” Coleda huffed.

Anton leaned forward, grinning. “No, really. I think this is perfect.”

“Et tu, Anton?”

“Gram just beat a B-ranker. With your guidance, sure. But that’s exactly what he needs, right? I think you’d be amazing out there with him.”

Coleda shook her head. “I can’t. As an instructor, I’m bound here. Leaving would mean quitting.”

“Then maybe the Renegades can take it from here.”

“I don’t trust them… not that much,” Coleda said. “They bombed the CWG five years ago. Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”

Graham exhaled, slow and heavy.

“So… that’s a no?”

Coleda’s voice thinned. She was worried, but she didn’t want to coddle him. “...I didn’t say that. Yet.”

She just wanted to be trusted. Even a little.

Leena slurped up her coffee with a straw then thudded the cup on the table. “Either way, I’m going under one condition—I work on the Lionheart. If he goes, I go. If he stays, I stay. Because that’s where the Lionheart is.”

Coleda perked up.

She hadn’t fiddled with the Lionheart much herself, aside from outfitting its weapons. She’d been hesitant to let anyone—especially someone from outside the family—tinker with it. But wasn’t this a chance to learn more about it?

The Lionheart had always fascinated her. A cheval built solely for their family. A machine that only seemed to wake up in their presence. Their father had hinted at its secrets once—secrets still buried, still calling to her.

Could Leena unlock them?

Or was this something she should keep under wraps within the family?

If she kept Graham here, she could study the Lionheart more closely.

But would that mean caging him?

Espada City stifled her once—and now, him.

She sipped her mocha latte. The ice cooled her throat. But the look in Graham’s eyes? No ice could cool that. It would burn, consume him until nothing was left. It was a fire she couldn’t contain.

A fire that she hadn’t seen in him in years.

It needed to burn.

“Fine.”

Graham and Leena lit up. “Really?”

“Just one condition,” Coleda stopped, counting with her hands under the table. “Okay—two conditions.”

“Name them,” Graham said.

“First,” she turned to Leena. “If you’re going to work on the Lionheart, I want documentation. Every note, every observation. Every single nut and bolt, the tiniest squeak to the subtlest glitch—write it all down and send it to me.”

Leena grinned. “Easy. I was gonna write down everything anyway.”

“And second?” Graham leaned in.

Coleda’s expression shifted. “Before that, answer me this: you’re not doing this for Maya, are you?”

“Maya?” Anton blinked. “Maya who? The idol? What’s she got to do—”

“Shut it for a sec,” Coleda raised a palm. Anton folded like origami.

Graham clenched his jaw. He looked his sister dead in the eye, conviction as sure as the sunrise. “...I am. Partly.”

“Why?”

He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t falter. Even if he had to say it a thousand more times, he would. He pressed a hand to his chest, like pulling the truth from his now-beating core.

“There’s no ‘why’. It just feels right. For once in my life, I feel like I’m doing something right. Maybe I always wanted to be a Solaris Knight for her. I just didn’t know it until now. So I’m following that feeling.”

“I see,” Coleda sighed. “Then, here’s my second condition: If you ever stop feeling that feeling—if it ever bites you back, and start to resent it—you come right back home. With the Lionheart, and Leena, if she wants to.”

Graham hadn’t considered that possibility. But it was a very Coleda thing to say. Reasonable, protective. Grounded.

“Deal,” he nodded. “I can do that. But if that’s your condition, you’d better be okay with me not coming home until I am a Solaris Knight.”

Coleda laughed. “Don’t underestimate an independent woman.”

“My ass.” Leena balked.

“Hold on!” Anton suddenly gulped the rest of his drink and shot his hand skyward. “I’m coming too!”

Coleda’s jaw dropped. “Say what?”

Graham and Leena didn’t even flinch. They’d expected this. Why else bring him here?

“We made a promise,” Anton said, flashing his eyebrows at Graham, who returned the look. “We said we’d join the MC together. Since that’s out, the Renegades are the next best thing. If you two are going, I’m not staying behind.

Coleda groaned. “O Lord, rescue me from my current tribulation.” She held up her hands. “Fine. Do what you want. Just don’t die out there.”

Anton raised both palms for high-fives. Graham and Leena obliged, then exchanged one of their own. The Coffee Knights were back—this time under the banner of Astraea’s Renegades.

Coleda could only sigh in surrender. What came next was beyond her. Tomorrow, as always, was both a gift and a curse.

“Then get packed,” she said, glancing between Leena and Anton. “Quietly, if you have to. If your parents come asking, it’ll be my ass on the line. But I’ll manage. You were already set for the MC—I’m sure I’ve got a white lie or two in my pocket.”

“Thank you,” Anton bowed, taking her hand between his. “I promise we’ll pay you a thousand times back.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You better.”

Graham stepped in and gently nudged Anton back with a pat on the shoulder. Still not quite comfortable with him hovering near his sister. Anton backed off, ears tinged pink.

Coleda turned to her brother. Then, to all three of them. She made sure to hold the image of them together.

“There’s a big world out there,” she said softly. Her lips curled into a proud, cautious smile. “So pack well. And don’t forget who you are.”

She nodded once.

“Your first real adventure. Make me proud, Coffee Knights.”