Outside the quarters, Cecilia and Bustamante waited patiently, watching the calm waters of the Kasanaan. "What do you think is happening inside Chief? Do you think the captain is angry at Chief Murillo?" She asked worriedly if Murillo was in danger. "I can't take it anymore. I am going back!"
Bustamante stopped Cecilia from entering. "Chief Murillo is safe. If she were in danger, we would know by now. She'll be fine, trust me." Bustamante assured. He then changed the topic in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I haven't had the chance to say this, Miss Bermudez…Thank you for reuniting me with my family. For decades, I feared that none of my family would be alive. But thanks to you, I found them, and despite the tragedies that befall them, they are not just surviving but thriving." He gave Cecilia a meaningful and solemn smile.
"You two look cheerful," Chris suddenly said from behind, startling them.
Cecilia jerked, nearly jumping off the side. "Captain? Where did you come from?"
Bustamante was also startled but asked a more meaningful question: "How did it go, Captain? Is Chief Murillo still resigning from her post?"
Chris raised an eyebrow. He stared at the ceiling. It was obvious he was leaving the two hanging in suspense. Cecilia crossed her arms across her chest and shot daggers at the captain. "Would you please just tell us?"
Chris scoffed at Cecilia's impatience. "I told her Andrea could leave for all I care." The answer left the two stunned. "However, I rejected Chief Murillo's resignation."
Chris left the two a bit more stunned with his decision. Cecilia followed Chris with her gaze and instantly knew where he was heading. But for the moment, she decided to see how Chief Murillo was faring and followed Bustamante into the quarters.
Inside her quarters, they saw the Chief still packing her belongings. "I can't believe you're Andrea!" Bustamante blurted out, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Of course, my first instinct when I met you was to tell you my secret." She responded sarcastically after exhibiting a scoff at Bustamante's inquiry.
"The captain said you could stay. Is that true?" Cecilia excitedly asked, wanting to confirm if the good news was true.
Murillo turned to face Cecilia. "The captain said…Murillo could stay, but Andrea should leave." She bowed her head and started to sob. "How could I stay, if Andrea, the real me, is not welcome to stay?"
Cecilia wrapped Murillo in a warm embrace. "But you're also Esperanza Murillo…and to be frank, you've been Chief Murillo longer than you have been Andrea." She wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Maybe, it's time to let go of the past, like the captain had said." She explained to the Chief.
"Andrea Primo de Rivera is a part of me as much as Esperanza Murillo is. How can I let go of who I am just to be comfortable on this ship?" The chief continued to sob.
Murillo's sobs shook her frame. "Where do I belong?" she wondered. "In the past that haunts me, or the present that fears me?" She whispered, "I want to stay… but if Andrea isn't welcome, how can I?" Cecilia exchanged knowing glances with Bustamante.
Moments later, Cecilia climbed the observation deck, and as expected, she found Chris lying on one of the lounge-recliners staring into the stars. She sat on the empty recliner next to the captain and looked up at the stars. "They are beautiful, aren't they?" she pointed to a beautiful constellation. "You remember when I first asked you if you looked at the stars? You know each one is part of a vast constellation, and only by seeing them together can you understand their true beauty."
She paused, her gaze steady on Chris. "Murillo and Andrea—they're like those stars. Separate points of light, yes, but part of the same sky. To choose one and reject the other… It's like trying to see the night sky with half the stars hidden. You miss the whole picture, the balance that makes it shine." Her voice softened but held firm. "By deciding Murillo could stay but Andrea couldn't, you tried to erase part of her sky. And that… that was a mistake."
Chris's jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing as Cecilia's words hung in the air like a challenge. "You're romanticizing it again," he snapped, voice rougher than he intended. "It's not about stars or poetry. It's about reality—about what's practical, what keeps this ship running. Andrea's past… that's a liability. Murillo is who we need."
His hands clenched into fists, the old fire flickering dangerously behind his gaze. For a moment, his anger threatened to spill over. But Cecilia didn't flinch. She met his gaze steadily, unshaken. She knew that fire had seen it burn through their time of hardship and pain. Yet she also knew the man beneath it, the one who could listen if only he let himself.
"Chris," she said softly, her voice steady and unwavering, "I'm not asking you to ignore reality. I'm asking you to see it whole. Murillo and Andrea aren't separate—they're parts of the same person. And if you cut away one, you risk losing the other."
She leaned closer and laid her head on his hands, her eyes never leaving his. "I know you well enough to say that you're stronger when you embrace the whole constellation, not just the brightest star."
Chris's breath hitched, the edge in his voice dulling as Cecilia's words sank in. The tension in his shoulders eased, replaced by a reluctant understanding. He was far from convinced, but he wasn't shutting her out either.
The night's stillness was shattered as piercing sirens screamed through the Twilight's corridors. Alarms blared, their urgent wail ripping through the calm like a knife. Cecilia's heart leaped. "What the hell is going on?" Chris muttered, rushing to the railing.
Below, chaos erupted on the starboard deck. A shadowed figure cloaked in darkness moved with terrifying ease, hurling security crew aside as if they were mere dummies. Bodies flew through the air, crashing against railings and decks with sickening thuds.
Chris's hand snapped to his coat pocket, pulling out his two-way radio. "Bustamante, report! Why are the alarms sounding?" His voice was sharp, commanding, but only static hissed back.
"Captain, look!" Cecilia shouted as she pointed toward the unfolding nightmare.
Without hesitation, Chris barked, "I'm going down there! Stay here. Don't move!" But barely a heartbeat later, Cecilia's resolve hardened. She clenched her fists and followed him, determined not to be left behind.
The security team, led by Bustamante, formed a desperate circle, glowing mana spears raised and crackling with energy. "Surrender now!" Bustamante's voice rang out, fierce and unyielding. "You're surrounded!"
The cloaked intruder merely smirked, his eyes gleaming with cold amusement. Slowly, he produced a sinister object from beneath his cloak—a reaper's hourglass, its sands shimmering with an eerie light.
Murillo's voice cut through the tension. "How do you have that?!" she demanded, disbelief and alarm coloring her tone.
The figure whispered a chilling incantation. Suddenly, the air twisted and tore—a swirling vortex erupted, tethered ominously to the hourglass. It pulsed like a living thing, a dark funnel drawing in everything around it.
One by one, crew members were sucked into the maelstrom, their forms dissolving into mist, then grains of sand cascading into the hourglass's glowing depths.
Bustamante's eyes widened in horror and fury as he watched his comrades vanish. "Attack him! Now!" he roared, charging forward with the remaining guards.
But before the assault could gain ground, Bustamante himself was caught in the vortex's grasp, his body unraveling into sand before the stunned eyes of the crew. The shock froze the others in place, their courage faltering as the nightmare deepened.