Glaring up at the women, Hugo struggled to understand her intentions.
Her silver eyes shined with a peculiar brightness, vivid and almost molten despite it being dark. They weren't dulled by exhaustion like everyone else's, nor were they savage like the brutes clinging onto survival, but calm, steady and unwavering.
He didn't like it. It gave him bad feeling. In such a place, eyes like these were the sign of defiance.
"You want to help us? What can you help us with? And why? Why should I trust you? Who are you?"
But the woman, still calm and unfazed by the barrage of questions, answered each and every single one.
"Yes, I do. And as a matter of fact, I don't just want to help you..."
Her smile softened, contrasting to the absurdity she uttered next.
"I want to save every single person locked in here. "
A hush spread through the room. Even those pretending not to listen froze, breaths held.
Hugo was about to call her out, but then she tilted her head slightly, as if considering the question she knew was coming.
"As for why.. hm."
Her eyes flicked briefly to Azdins, then to back to Hugo in front of her. That peculiar shine never dimming.
"Because I know that the Awakened behind you would be much more inclined to help."
She shrugged lightly, as though the conclusion were obvious.
"So why else would I not save everyone, which also includes myself?"
It was then that Hugo understood, her subtle but true nature. She wasn't noble in the same way that Azdin aimed to be, but rather she was willing to bend down a knee if it would benefit her. The two shared similar interests, so the woman moulded her own desires to be able to match his, in order to use him.
'So she's the cunning type.'
Still distrustful, he reminded her in a passive yet, aggressive tone,
"You still haven't given me your identity."
The woman didn't hesitate.
"My name is Lotte, and I am but just a simple traveller."
Hugo's eyes narrowed, not falling for the obvious trick.
'She's lying.'
Not just anyone who could sail these seas could be a simple traveller. A particular set of skills was needed just be able to figure out where you were going, which was one of the reasons why Hugo had used the excuse of him and Azdin being workers on a merchant ship.
This woman.. Lotte couldn't possibly have travelled on her own as a mundane, nor could she have travelled with others on a carrier vessel. They were sufficiently protected by numerous awakened and were too large for ordinary pirates like these to somehow take over.
So how she my have ended up here, was a complete mystery.
He let the silence stretch, acting unimpressed while trying to deduce her true identity.
"Well?" He pressed.
"You haven't answered all my questions yet. What can you do to help me? Even if we were to agree to this ludicrous idea.. how do you plan on dealing with the crew up there, and then the war empire afterwards?"
Lotte hummed thoughtfully, as if he'd asked her something trivial.
"How about I start with dealing with the war empire first? The answer is obvious, in hindsight."
Hugo scoffed.
"Obvious?"
She smiled faintly.
"The obvious thing to do.. is to not encounter them at all."
Azdin stiffened, Hugo's attention sharpened despite himself. The idea sounded like a bad joke, but it also peaked his interest.. slightly.
Continuing calmly, she spoke,
"We will take over this ship, and then sail elsewhere. Somewhere safer, more protected from their influence."
It was then that he let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
"Okay, say we were to do that then. What is your plan for Roswell and his crew? It's 1 Awakened against 5 might I remind you."
Lotte met his gaze without flinching, the peculiar shine in her silver eyes still unwavering, as though she had already figured it out a long time ago.
"Except it won't be a 1 verse 5."
Hugo frowned, Azdins breathing hitched.
"It will be a 2 verse 5."
Lotte continued, her voice steady and almost casual.
"Or even a 2 verse 4... with a little luck."
Her voice then lowered, as if sharing a harmless secret, one which everyone knew except them two.
"You see, there is a second Awakened aboard this ship."
But that wasn't the only secret she had to share. The next was.. something that only the two boys were supposed to know, rather than everyone else knowing except them.
Leaning in closer, right up to his ear, she whispered, warm and unmistakably content,
"But I suppose that she's actually the third?"
Hugo froze.
The implication hit all at once, and for the first time since he and Azdin had argued, the deck felt dangerously, impossibly quiet. She knew of Hugo's true identity as an awakened.
'How could she tell? Is she actually an awakened too? Not even the other Awakened were able to tell??'
When he recoiled back and looked at her properly, all he saw were the same eerie silver eyes, as well as that smile.
Lotte said calmly,
"She's in the lower dock, right below this one."
The words settled uneasily, making him even more nervous.
Despite this, that didn't disrupt his calculating mind, allowing him to spot an inconsistency in what she was saying. To which he pointed out quickly.
"Why is she down there?"
Even Azdin as an Awakened was kept up here with everyone else, and yet the other one was moved down before they even got captured. Something must've happened to her.
She clicked her tongue softly.
"You're annoyingly sharp."
Her expression dimmed, just slightly.
"She was.. violent. Even with the Soul Essence absorbing shackles, she was far too active. She proved to be troublesome to hold down, to the point that the four Awakened under Roswell all had to get involved to suppress her."
She folded her hands behind her back.
"She was so dangerous, that she put everyone else's lives here in danger."
Her gaze drifted briefly towards the floor, towards the decks below.
"And so, she had to be separated from the rest of us mundane. In order for their goods not to get damaged.. and also for their prize not to damage herself too."
Hugo studied her for a long moment.
He had no choice but to acknowledge that everything she said was almost perfect. She had a solution to almost every problem, and to top it off, it was even better than his own plan to escape with Azdin alone.
For starters, even if he were able to escape the ship, depending on where they ended up, everything would fall apart.
An example.. what if they were to end up in a war empire fortress? If that was the case, then trying to hide amongst them there would be supremely difficult, or borderline impossible.
Even if it was a simple floating city or an island ruled by the war empire, they would quickly become wanted fugitives and everyone would be looking for them.
'If this awakened is truly as powerful as she says, then even with disadvantaged numbers.. it may just be enough.'
He admitted slowly,
"Everything that you've spoken sounds believable, and your logic behind it all is sound."
He edged through his nose.
"But what if I were to simply refuse? I'm not obligated to go the extra mile for people I don't know. Especially when those people lose sense of what's right and wrong the moment things turn south."
Lotte's smile returned, unchanged and unfazed.
"Ah, that would be a shame indeed."
Once more she leaned in, her voice dropping just enough to feel dangerous.
"It would also be such a shame if the people up there were to find out your true identity too."
Hugo's blood ran cold.
'Crap.'
It was then that he understood, he had been driven into a corner long before the conversation started. This whole time she had a leash wrapped around his neck, and he didn't even know.
She was fully prepared to ruin his own plans of escape, just to get him to comply with hers.
'She wasn't just planning on using Azdin, but me too.. I knew I wouldn't like her!'
Unwillingly, he had no choice but to listen to her demands. She had forced her way to become their only hope of freedom.