Jude watched as the woman walked across the water, entranced by the oddity of the spectacle. Just then, a sudden gust of wind swept his internship form out of his hands and it landed on the faintly glowing bridge the woman left on the water.
Muttering his misfortune, Jude climbed down the stairs and raced across, quietly grabbing his form. When he was going to turn back, the glowing panel collapsed underneath his foot and he scrambled to not fall in. His splashing caught the attention of the strange woman walking on the water.
She turned and looked at him, putting a finger to her lips. "Be quiet."
Jude blinked. "Um… what are you doing?"
"What part of quiet don't you understand?" she said. "Go home."
"Uh-…" Jude frowned. "Alright."
The woman nodded "Good boy. You might have to swim a bit-"
"Oh no, not really." Jude said. She blinked in confusion as the boy turned around and stepped onto the water, which quickly froze underneath him.
"Wha- How did you…?" the woman walked over, inspecting the ice underneath him. "That's some impressive channeling…"
"Uh, thanks…" Jude frowned. "I'm going to get going now before the guards show up-"
"Yes, of course." The woman nodded. She turned and went back to the still-smoldering grate. Jude waited for a moment as the woman disappeared into the building, and then went in after her.
"What on earth are you doing?" Aska asked.
"I want to see what she's up to." Jude replied, carefully looking around.
"I'm fairly certain she was about to drown you." Celsius muttered.
"Oh you don't know that." Jude said. "And if she was, Shadow would've just gotten me out."
"Agreed." Shadow whispered.
"You rely a bit too much on us, Jude." Aska commented.
Jude frowned "Yeah, you're right. I'll try to do more things on my own-"
"Hey!" a guard snapped "What are you doing down here?"
"Starting now." Jude muttered.
"Who are you talking to!?" he said harshly.
"Uh-no one." Jude frowned. "I'm looking for Professor Haus?"
"Oh, Haus huh?" the guard said. "This is a bit of an odd way to look for him…" he muttered something.
"He said 'But your obviously not quite right in the head'." Aska reported.
"Well to him, I'm talking to myself." Jude said quietly.
"Well come along then." The guard said "I'll take you to him…"
"Oh! Thank you." Jude smiled.
"Yes, no problem…" The guard said, taking out a spear.
"Uh-" Jude noticed the spear. "What-"
The guard suddenly charged at him, the spear pointed at his chest. Jude quickly jumped back, startled as well as alarmed. Suddenly, electricity charged up the spear point and crackled across the man's armor. His body shook for a moment and then he fell with a thump!
"Wha-"
"VOLT!" Celsius snapped. A series of 'bzzrt's were heard in response.
"Um…" Jude quietly stepped over to the collapsed man. "Is he… dead….?"
"No. Paralyzed, maybe. But not dead." Celsius said.
"Breathing." Shadow reported.
"Oh... alright…." Jude frowned. "I guess I'll just keep going, then?" he sounded a bit annoyed. "Volt, I'm grateful for the help but I think I do need to learn some independence…."
"Oh shut up, Jude." Celsius said. "We're not going to let you get killed. Just try to be a bit more careful. Like, think about what fights your picking once in a while."
"Heh…alright…" Jude frowned "Sorry for always bugging you-"
"No." Shadow said.
"To clarify, don't feel sorry. Remember Jude, you're keeping us alive just as much as we're keeping you alive." Aska said.
"I still don't really understand that." Jude said, trotting along in the sewage of the building. "How am I keeping you alive? I mean, you're all spirits so I guess I can understand how I'm supplying mana for you, but why me specifically?"
"Well in all honesty, Shadow picked you." Celsius said. "…Still don't quite understand why, but I'm glad he did."
"Thanks Celsius." Jude smiled.
"Why are you now just asking us this?" Aska said "We've been with you for several years now."
"I…" Jude frowned "I really don't know. Maybe it was how that woman acted when Celsius made that ice for me?" He stopped and looked up a ladder. Nodding a bit in satisfaction that it leads somewhere, he made his way up and opened the hatch into the main building. He looked around carefully before climbing out and quietly closing the hatch behind him.
"I guess until then, I didn't really think it was… weird." Jude said. He quickly hid as a guard walked past. Then, carefully, he crept out and looked around. "Hmm…" A spot of red caught his attention.
He looked up and on an upper floor a strange woman was kind of stumbling into a room.
"She's definitely drunk." Celsius muttered.
"Can you go five minutes without making any comments?" Aska muttered.
"I don't know, can you go five minutes without being annoying?" Celsius snapped.
"Come on, guys, don't argue." Jude said as he walked up the stairs.
"Jude, you said you'd pick your fights more carefully…" Aska said. Jude slowed to a stop. He frowned.
"Yes, you're right…" Jude fidgeted. "Maybe I'll wait for her to leave and then check the room out?"
"That'd be wise." Aska said. Jude fidgeted a bit and leaned against the wall a bit of a ways away. He watched from his hiding place as guards walked past. Then he spotted the strange woman- the one that walked on the water, not the red-wearing one- make her way up the stairs. She spotted him quite easily.
"What are you doing here?" she frowned. "I thought you went home?"
"Well- I was going to-" Jude fidgeted "But my professor was sent here earlier, and he still hasn't come back yet, so I thought-"
"That he was forced to stay?" the woman leaned to the left, putting a hand on her hip. She frowned, tilting her head at some unheard voice. "Hm, yes. Alright."
Jude blinked, gripping onto his wrist. "Who are you talking to…?"
"The Four." She said bluntly. She turned to the door the red-wearing woman went into. "I'm going in, stay here if you want."
"Wait- Someone in there might be dangerous-"Jude protested, being promptly ignored. He sighed, fidgeted for a moment, and then followed her in. He walked in to the woman in red on the ground, unconscious, and the other woman picking something off the ground.
"Uh…" Jude muttered, walking through the room. He stopped and slowly, fearfully, looked around. All the test tubes were filled with… people…. "What- Why-?"
The strange woman who was not wearing red straightened up, with what appeared to be a pass-card in her hand. "Experiments."
"They're experimenting on humans-?" Jude swallowed, his eyes wide. "What are they doing-"
"Draining mana out of them, most likely." The woman said. "Are you going to be following me all day?"
"Uh- no- but-" his eye caught on one of the bodies that appeared to be slowly dissolving. His heart stopped. "Professor Haus!" He ran over and banged on the glass. The woman watched him scream at the glass as the body floated, slowly disintegrating before them.
"Jude, he's already dead! Stop it! There's no point!" Celsius yelled.
"But-!" Jude yelled, abruptly cutting himself off. He slowly stopped banging on the glass, his hands sliding down the sides. He hunched over, suddenly feeling queasy. "If I had come in earlier-"
"…He's been dead." Shadow said, breaking his two-word limit.
"What?" Jude said quietly, his pupils wavering in fright and despair.
"We knew he was dead, Jude." Aska said, quietly "We were hoping to keep you from seeing him…"
"I could've helped-" Jude sniffed.
"No, you couldn't." Aska replied. "Pick your battles carefully, Jude. Don't take on regret for something you have no power to change."
Jude cringed for a moment, took a deep breath, and slowly moved away from the glass. He turned to the strange woman and gave a kind smile.
"H-hello. I didn't expect you to stick around for so long…" he said.
She frowned "Oddly enough, I felt like I shouldn't leave you alone." She smiled "You humans have that effect on me."
"Us humans?" Jude blinked "You say that like you're not human."
"Well I'm not." She said. "Isn't it traditional to introduce yourself to new people?"
"Uh… yeah." Jude said, baffled by the oddity of this woman in front of him. He reached out his hand. "My name is Jude Mathis."
"Milla Maxwell." Milla said, taking his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jude."
Heya everyone! Now, it seems like all my Xillia-related fanfics (at the time 'Four Years After' and 'Identity Fraud') have 'skits' at the end of the chapters, so I figured this one won't be an exception. So… here's some skits.
"Milla"
Celsius: "Milla Maxwell, huh?"
Aska: "Do you think it's the same Maxwell?"
Celsius: "Not really. If it was, he… she, would've noticed we were here."
Shadow: … [twitches]
Celsius: "You're right Shadow, let's just keep following Jude for now. If she is Maxwell, we'll deal with it later."
Aska and Volt: [boxes bounce in agreement].
"Imaginary Friends"
Milla: "I can't help but notice that you talk to yourself a lot."
Jude: [that concerned-looking smile he does] "You do too."
Milla: [?] "No, I talk to The Four."
Jude: [Upset Look] "You keep saying that. Who are 'The Four'?"
Milla: "The Great Four Spirits. Efreet, Gnome, Undine, and Sylph."
Jude: [!] "Really? The Four Great Spirits follow you?"
Milla: [smile] "Yes, they're quite helpful."
Jude: "Wow! That's amazing."
Celsius: [To Jude Only] "Oh? And we're not?" [offended]
Jude: "What? Oh, no! You guys are amazing too!"
Milla: [to herself] "He's talking to himself again." [?] "…Yes, I suppose you're right." [indifferent expression] "He might not be."