Spoiler Alert!

Big spoilers too

Originally created for the Practical Magic prompt on the Square Enix Amino.

---

Placing his lunch onto the steel table, Fayt settled into a chair in the common area of the Quark ship, Diplo.

“Eating again, Fayt?” Sophia looked up from her digital book, smirking with a glimmer in her large blue eyes. Stray hair fell into her face and she tucked it behind her ear. “You’re going to gain weight. Remember?”

“You’re still mad about that?” He held his open hand above his lunch, the symbol of his ability forming in front of his palm. He’d learned to refine it from a massive laser beam to destroy whole battlefields to something he could use casually.

“Fayt,” Maria snapped, flowing blue hair behind her. Military grade boots carried her to stand between him and Sophia. “These abilities are to help us stand against the threat to–”

“Come on, Maria.” He laughed, stirring the fork through the vegetables on his plate. “You need to relax a little.”

The faint hum of runology came from Sophia’s seat and an angel statue made of ice slowly formed beside her. Maria shook her head, the tips of her fingers brushing her forehead. “Don’t encourage him. I thought at least you would take this seriously.”

“I am, Maria. We have worlds and lives to save, but…” She tilted her head, leaning forward to rest her hands on her delicate knees. “We are not war machines. Our abilities can be more than just weapons.”

Briefly, a shadow passed through her oceanic eyes. An unknowable figure beneath an unfathomable surface. Sophia’s smile softened and Fayt watched her from the edge of his vision.

“We have a purpose. The Federation and the Creator won’t rest, and we won’t rest,” she insisted.

Sophia stood from the reading chair she claimed from Cliff, gliding to Maria and putting a hand on her shoulder. “We have to fight. We all understand that. But if we don’t rest, what kind of threat will we pose or withstand?”

“Sometimes,” Fayt started, getting up to stand with them. “You’re the only one who can make a difference.” He smiled and shifted his weight to one leg, propping an arm loosely on his hip to that side. “But that’s just sometimes.”

Maria studied them both in the time of a steady breath. She slipped her shoulder out from Sophia’s hand, raising her own hand as the rune appeared before her hand. The ice statue gradually altered to a dark, metallic stone.

Maria approached it, picking the angel up. Another beat, another breath. She looked over her shoulder and glanced back at them. “Can I keep this?”

“Of course!” Sophia beamed, nudging Fayt.

“What? It’s not my statue,” he protested. But Maria had already tucked it beneath her arm and strode to her room. The door sealed behind her.