Endless Evolution: Last Star

Nessa paced behind Magnus and Refesa, while more and more questions appeared in her mind. She realized that Magnus was a grown man, moreover, he had been married once before and had obviously had many women in his life as well as relationships.

However, she couldn't take her eyes off Refesa, who at first appearance had set boundaries between them, immediately taking Magnus for herself.

She looked like a student who had just entered university, someone so trivial wouldn't be able to last in Magnus's company for even ten minutes before breaking down or becoming too boring for him.

'Wait...? Am I jealous?' Nessa internally muttered as her eyes went wide.

She didn't want to admit the feeling, but it was the most accurate description of what was going on inside her right now. But, she wasn't jealous of Magnus as a woman to a man, but as a daughter whose father's attention had been taken away by someone else.

'Moreover, father said that Refesa is older than him by a few years, so she's over 30, no... is it possible that she's over 40? Then... How does she look several times younger?' Nessa clenched her fists tightly, gritting her teeth.

Refesa noticed this, chuckling slightly.

''Don't worry. There is no one in this world that Magnus loves more than you. Of the two of us, I'm the one who should be jealous, not you." Refesa said, in a sweet voice, making Nessa wince.

"I wasn't thinking anything like that! I'm preparing to go to Fume Throne! A battle, that's all I can think about!" Nessa quickly replied looking up at the ceiling, her face visibly flushed.

Refesa covered her mouth with the palm of her hand, giggling.

"Magnus, your daughter needs more social interaction, she doesn't know how to lie at all. Any child could come up with a more believable lie than she is right now."

Magnus nodded, abruptly grabbing Refesa firmly by her face.

"Yeah, you're probably right, but don't you dare say things like that in front of her again." Magnus said with a slight smile on his face, but his grip was firm and strong, showing that he was a bit pissed off.

Refesa directly showed what kind of feelings Magnus had for Nessa. Sure, Nessa knew it, but hearing it was something else entirely.

Clutch.

Refesa's small hands grasped Magnus's wrist, as if in an attempt to loosen his grip.

"Hehehe, instead of hurting my face, why don't you channel your anger here?" Refesa smirked with a crazed look, moving Magnus's hand to her slender neck.

Magnus's eyes went wide as a wide grin appeared on his face and his eyes narrowed sharply.

"Hehehe, you crazy bitch, do you have no shame at all?"

Refesa only exhaled hot air, completely unembarrassed, it seemed that shame was unfamiliar to her.

Nessa blushed even more. She felt like she shouldn't have been here and seen what was going on.

However, Magnus realized that as well, so he soon reassured Refesa who unlike him had no limits and no sense of tact.

Tap.

Magnus pressed a button, summoning an elevator that plunged them into the depths of the Iron Observatory.

"You're going to let Nessa use it, right?" Magnus asked staring intently at Refesa whose head was still on his shoulder. It was clear from his eyes that he wasn't going to take no for an answer, especially after the path they had already traveled.

Refesa nodded.

"Sure, but, just this once. Honestly, I thought about stepping in on this too, but you beat me to it." Refesa said in a quiet voice while they made their way down to the lower floor.

Magnus raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You know, though I'm no Aiden Henk, but like any Citadel resident I have an interest in making sure that Phantoms with a promising future survive." Refesa said calmly, with only mild interest.

"Hah, are you really talking about Adam Vinter?"

Refesa nodded.

"Well, he's strong, if he can survive today and defeat Plague Reaper, it will be a worthy precedent in his history. However... I'm also interested in one girl from Golden Light Squad. Her name is Osana, one ability she has... I wonder what it might turn into next and how she will use it."

Magnus narrowed his eyes. Now he wanted to know more about this Phantom if Refesa had any real interest in her abilities.

The two of them had a rather close and unusual relationship, as well as their statuses, but they had boundaries too. Refesa didn't try to pry into the depths of Magnus's experiments as much as he did.

Sure, Refesa knew about Nessa just as Magnus knew about some of the curious things Refesa was up to, but that was only part of their secrets.

Crackle.

The elevator doors opened, ushering them into a massive hangar that could fit hundreds of military vehicles of various sizes, from trucks and helicopters to multiple BH-01 fighters.

However, this lower floor at Iron Observatory was not a warehouse, that's what the Forts were for. This is where Refesa created their wildest ideas, test and experimental variants, and something unstable and overly dangerous.

Maybe some of it would be in every Fort's inventory someday, like exoskeletons and False Nexuses, or maybe Refesa would consider them useless projects and just abandon them. No one could control her and stop her from doing that.

"Here." Refesa said pointing towards the massive gateway behind which something really big was supposed to be hiding.

Magnus nodded, approaching the gate.

Refesa jumped from his arms as she stood in front of the gate allowing multiple scanners to verify that it was her, giving her access.

Crackle.

At the same moment, the gate opened revealing a long, pointed object with broad wings.

Nessa's eyes went wide with a slight shiver throughout her body.

"Is that an improved fighter?" Nessa tilted her head trying to figure out what it was, "No... It's something else, it's nothing like the SH-01 or the BH-01... Wait, it's a completely different model of fighter?"

Refesa nodded calmly stepping forward, raising her gaze, and looking at her creation. This fighter was one of the most stable and proven of her designs, fully operational and serviceable for use, even for combat purposes.

"This is the XH-01." Refesa said majestically, holding her hands behind her back, her gaze thoughtful.

This fighter was slightly larger than the SH-01, but considerably longer, bigger, and with pinched pointed wings.

The SH-01 had only two engines, which along with the shape of the fighter and aerodynamics allowed it to reach its incredible speed. The BH-01 also had two engines, they were larger but not as powerful, and the BH-01 itself was extra heavy compared to the SH-01.

The XH-01 had as many as six engines, whose power seemed destined to tear this fighter apart on ignition, but Refesa was able to overcome this problem.

How?

With the help of hard alloys, her genius mind, and... monster parts that had become embedded in this flying machine.

"Get in. You'll fly straight from here." Refesa said calmly, glaring at Nessa.

Nessa blinked a few times, not understanding what she was talking about.

"But... I don't know how to fly fighters. I need a pilot."

Refesa giggled.

"Oh, silly girl, you don't need a pilot, at least not for a simple trajectory like ours. XH-01 can be controlled from afar, you can do quite well without a pilot."

Nessa's eyes went wide in disbelief.

Tap.

Magnus put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, we don't have much time. This fighter could surprise you more than once. The remote control capability is just one of the features."