2: Home Sweet Home

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_oOo_
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"We should be arriving soon," Judith called from the doorway. Rita flapped her hand at the krityan, too preoccupied to look up. There was a pause, and then the Fiertia's cabin door closed gently again. Even with her goggles on and the focus up to three hundred percent, the little arcing rings of the formula within the tiny blastia core were so fragmented that Rita could barely make them out. She didn't need distractions.

"Well, It's not a bodhi blastia," she said firmly. She could tell that much at least.

"R-Really? But it's so small!" Estelle hissed. She was hovering over the little cabin table secretively, voice low. For what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour, Rita squinted at her friend suspiciously.

"The formula is in pieces, but it looks more like a mixture of a barrier and hoplon blastia to me... and where did you say you got this from?"

"F-From a fan," Estelle managed, looking somewhat terrified at the prospect. There was a small pile of letters on the bench-top next to Rita's open research journal, and she was about to reach for them when Estelle quickly gathered them up and stuffed them back into her pockets.

"But who would just give away something this weird?" Rita wondered next. She felt a pang of loss when she looked into the core again; the formula was custom, beautifully written, and it almost made sense despite having deteriorated after three inactive years. It was times like this that she missed the age she had helped destroy.

"Is it that weird? I-I was just hoping you could tell me where it was from... or who it belonged to."

"You mean the letter didn't say?" Rita wondered aloud.

"I-I-It was... anonymous..." Estelle stuttered. Rita huffed. Anyone that would send precious items to their favourite author was probably the kind of nutbar to hide their identity as well. She shrugged.

"Whatever. Sounds like a freak to me, but I think I can at least figure out what this thing was. Who knows, it's so unique that figuring that out might just point to who owned it."

"Oh, thank you Rita!" Estelle exclaimed.

"Don't mention it," Rita replied, and meant it. As much as her own research was important and exciting, a change was always nice. And a change for Estelle was nicer again.

"I'll need tools," she said next, hitching her goggles back up on her forehead. "This might have to wait until Dahngrest."

"Do you have a workshop there?"

"No, but I have a license to use the guild ones of the Crossed Crucibles. It shouldn't take me long." The blastia core was almost black in the dim cabin light. Rita smiled at it sharply, daring it to hide its secrets from her. "Is it alright if I hold on to this for a bit?" she asked.

"Please do!" Estelle replied. Rita nodded her thanks, and then tucked the small gemstone into her breast pocket reverently. She knotted the strings of the sleeve, just in case.

"Well, let's go see what Karol is whining about now," Rita announced, dusting off her hands. She and Estelle made their way up to the main deck just as the Fiertia began its descent.

The guild Fortune's Market had built a land pier that jutted out of the Union HQ's peak like an elaborate wooden fan, and they approached it in a wide, slow arc. It had been constructed both as a repayment for services rendered and, Rita knew, a not-so-subtle bribe to do more delivery work for the merchants that built it. Even as Ba'ul gently lowered the Fiertia to lock against the airborne quay, she could see Kaufman standing by the loading cranes like a really persuasive and attractive vulture. On the other side of the pier was another figure. Rita had to squint to recognise them.

Karol had grown again since the last time she had seen him, and the kid, now looking suspiciously like a young man, was almost as tall as Kaufman herself.

Rita tried not to be surprised. She didn't mean to be the reclusive one out of the troupe that had seen so much adventure together, but sometimes research and life just got in the way. The occasional visits were better than nothing, right? The fact that she could barely recognise one of her only friends in the entire world didn't mean anything.
She had been busy these past few years, that was all.

The weirdly grown-up leader of the guild Brave Vesperia was jumping slightly on the spot, all gangly teenage limbs and ill-fitting boyish excitement.

"Hey!" he called as soon as he caught sight of them. He didn't bother waiting for the gangplank to be lowered; Karol grabbed the end of the walkway and heaved it down to the dock as if he could hurry the whole process along. Estelle barrelled down the plank and threw herself into a hug as soon as he straightened.
Hadn't they seen each other last week?

Yuri was a little more sedate, but he offered a casual high-five in place of a hug and even Repede nudged the kid with an aloof shoulder. Judith gave him a loose embrace.

Rita stomped off the end of the gangplank and refused to be baited into such embarrassing displays of needless affection.

"Wow Rita, look at you!" Karol exclaimed, face aglow and no longer pudgy with youth. To ruin the effect, he ran the back of his hand under his nose and grinned at her, lopsided. "You've grown up, I almost didn't recognise you!"

She had the sudden urge to blast him right off the dock.

"You're one to talk," she snapped back, folding her arms. "Are you trying to resemble a beanpole, or is that just coincidence?"

"Same old Rita," Karol replied happily. He seemed to be waiting for something, and Rita debated with herself before walking over and bringing the edge of her hand down on his head. She had to stretch upwards to do it however, and his grin said that he knew it.

"Idiot," she muttered.

"So, Karol," Estelle burst out, fists pressed to her chest. "I might just die if you don't tell me what this emergency is!" Karol grimaced.

"I don't know much myself," he complained. "Raven was supposed to have been here to explain everything, but he got a message from the Dark Wings this morning and hasn't been back since."

"Typical," Yuri sighed.

"I wonder why the secrets," Judith mused.

"Ugh, he's just useless," Rita exploded, secretly glad for the old fossil's absence. To Judith, she continued, "He probably just called us all here to annoy us. When has he ever had anything even remotely useful to contribute?" It wasn't until Judith broke the pregnant pause with an amused smile that Rita realised she'd expelled a little too much venom. She turned aside to hide her embarrassment, and directed her glare at the city view.

"It's not like that Rita, he said it was something really important! Even dangerous," Karol exclaimed passionately.

"Dangerous enough that he didn't bother showing up," Yuri pointed out satirically.

"I'm still so curious," Estelle sighed. "Do you know when he'll be back, Karol?"

"Well he did say it would be this anytime today, but... Hey, Rita!"

Rita had been making her way towards the warehouse door and she stopped irately, not bothering to turn around.

"What? I've got things to do, you know!"

"We-we should probably wait!" Estelle called.

"I'm not going far," Rita replied in exasperation. "The workshops are on the west side of the inner circle. You can come get me if anything actually happens." She scowled fiercely and pinched at the bridge of her nose. She found herself regretting leaving Halure. Suddenly not wanting to think about it, she shrugged hugely and continued on.

"Raven said to keep a low profile!" Karol shouted at her back.

Low profile? Since when had anything that lecherous old coot ever done been low-profile? The only low he'd ever managed was the low he sank when Alexei was still pulling the strings. The very thought of it was an irritating buzz in her skull, so Rita simply swept it aside. She had work to do after all.

She closed the warehouse door on the dock, on Vesperia and on her unstable mood.

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_oOo_
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"What was that all about?" Yuri asked no one in particular.

"I wonder," Judith replied with a smile.

Estelle was biting her lower lip furiously, and Karol knew something was wrong by the way Yuri kept looking at her in that patient, expectant way of his. The swordsman didn't look like he was going to say anything, so Karol decided to.

"Estelle, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied. After a moment, "Well, I think that may have been my fault. I wanted Rita to look into something for me..."

"Oh, is that all?" he asked. "Nah, she loves that stuff Estelle. I'm pretty sure she's just ticked off with Raven."

"Yeah, the Old Man doesn't even have to be here for it anymore," Yuri pointed out with a grin.

"I wonder," their krityan companion said again.

"I kinda feel bad though," Karol admitted. "Listen, you guys don't have to stick around if you don't want to. I'll wait up here for Raven and meet you at HQ later."

"I'll stay," said Judith. That suited Karol just fine; he hadn't really seen Judith in a while, and he had been meaning to ask her about something.

"Honestly guys, it's okay," he said genuinely. "Anyway, you haven't seen the new guild front, Estelle!"

"Oh, it's done?" she managed, green eyes wide.

"Yeah, I had the last of it installed while you were away." That got her interest. She broke into a smile full of curiosity and excitement. "Well it's sorta for the whole guild, you know," he continued with a sheepish grin. "But I figured you'd really like what I've done with the second floor. You can go see if you like! Me and Judy will join you guys later."

Estelle had already taken a step towards the warehouse door.

"Are you sure it's alright?"

"It's better than waiting around here, anyway," Yuri said flippantly. He absent-mindedly tapped his scabbard against his leg a few times. Looking out over the city, he added casually, "I'm a bit curious myself. I guess we'll see you guys later on."

"Right," Karol replied happily. Repede turned his muzzle from his master, to Karol, then back again. The young guild master could have sworn the dog heaved a sigh, then Repede was on his paws and stalking along after Yuri.

There was a small silence after the warehouse door closed. Karol dusted off one of the wooden crates stacked on the pier and hoisted himself onto it. Judith didn't find a seat; the krityan gazed up at the sky, no doubt seeking out her entelexeia companion.

"It will be good to see the gang all together again," she admitted, eventually giving him a warm smile.

"It's been a while," Karol replied.

It had disturbed him to see Rita. She was... well, she was a girl. She'd never be tall, but she had grown a little, and she'd... well, it was hard not to notice that she had... you know, filled out a little. It was almost like looking at another person. Well, it would have been if not for that really familiar anger and that ever-present danger of fiery death. Even then, it was an attractive young woman committing the acts of wanton violence, not a kid, and that in itself was terrifying.

When he'd been asked to call Vesperia back home for an emergency, Karol had been imagining an adventure like their first. It never occurred to him that too much would have changed for that to happen.

"It's not like I'm scared of change," he said aloud, to convince himself.

"Change can be scary," Judith replied pleasantly.

"I-It is the heartbeat of humanity," he managed next. It felt a little like cheating though, as it was one of Raven's favourite sayings. Karol swung his legs, heels drumming out a rhythm on the crate.

"Was there something you wanted to ask?" Judith had a sly look on her face. It was really hard not to choke out a fake laugh and just pretend that there wasn't.

"What makes you say that?" he asked instead, and stalling wasn't really running away. Not really.

"You keep looking at your bag. Do you have something in there? Something for me?"

The thought of it was oddly upsetting.

"What? No! It's for Nan!" he snapped. It took a few moments before Karol realised his mistake and clapped two gloves over his mouth. Judith laughed blithely.

"Something for Nan... Now this I have to see."

"Promise not to laugh..." he whined, and reached into his bag. He dug out the slender box and passed it to Judith.

She didn't make a noise when she opened it, but her eyes widened with surprise. Karol had to try really hard not to groan with humiliation. He had to look out over Dahngrest when she pulled the necklace from its box and let it dangle in the morning light.

"It's beautiful, Karol," she said.

"I-It's Nan's b-birthday next week," he explained, "and I wanted something nice. That she would, you know, like."

"The gemstone?"

"P-P-Peridot. It's k-kinda like her... eyes."

"Karol, you surprise me."

"Well I figured she'd get alot of p-practical presents, what with her being in the Hunting B-Blades and all. Whetstones and hand-wraps and stuff. I thought it would be n-nice if she got something a little... girlier... Just for... her."

It was hard to watch Judith as she admired the spinning pendant. The green stone cast little lacquer lights across the krityan's face like playful fireflies and she concentrated on the effect so completely that her smile faded and her eyes became sharp.
She wasn't angry; she was unguarded. Karol knew her well enough to know that the serious, severe expression meant that she was fascinated... and trusting enough to show it.

"I think it is thoughtful and lovely," she suddenly said, and the moment had passed. With quick, efficient hands, she coiled the pendant and its silver chain up and replaced it in the padded box. She passed it back with a smile. "Nan will love it."

"Do you think so? I-I'm not... it's not too much?"

"I think it is just enough."

"I mean, I wanted it to say 'you deserve things just for yourself', but I'm worried she might think it says 'you should pay more attention to your appearance'."

"I think it says 'I love you'," Judith confessed casually. She should have punched him in the teeth. It'd have been less shocking.

Judith leant back against the crate and turned her eyes upward again. Karol tried to say something once or twice, but couldn't quite dislodge the horror that had wedged itself in his throat. Eventually Judith took pity on him and chuckled.

"Are you alright?"

"Well I'm not going to give it to her now!" he wailed, horrified.

"Why not?"

"Are you crazy?"

"Don't you love her?"

"WHAT? Ugh, no! That's... just... what? No!"

"Was I mistaken?" Judith wondered, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Yes!" Karol snapped. There was a small pause.

"Ba'ul thinks you are scared."

"What? Ba'ul? Of course I'm no-" Karol realised he'd leapt to his feet and was shouting at Judith. He stomped a foot and redirected at the sky instead. "I'm not scared, Ba'ul!"

"Are you sure?"

"Ugh, I changed my mind! We're not having this conversation!" Karol threw his hands up in the air and then threw himself down on a packing crate. As interesting as his shoes were, he couldn't quite focus on them or the pile of black ash that had leaked out of the crate he sat on. He wondered briefly who else he could have asked for some advice. Estelle would have probably tried to take matters into her own hands. Raven would have... well, Raven's advice probably would have scarred him for life, and Rita was a death wish. And Yuri?
Out of the question.

On the other hand, he probably should have known Judith would bring her own brand of torture to his personal problems.

"Change can be scary," the krityan said cheerfully, and he groaned.

"Well, can we change the topic?" he whined. Judith laid a hand on his shoulder and gave it a little shake.

"The necklace will say anything and everything Nan wants it to," she said calmly. "I think it will be fine."

Karol didn't feel fine. As he sat there with his chin in his hands and his eyes out over the city, he could only think of the peridot necklace, and how he was going to get away with not giving it to Nan. As Judith chuckled yet again beside him, he knew it was going to be a long, long evening.

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_oOo_
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Yuri had to smile.

"I can't believe this!" Estelle gasped, and she would have tripped up the final few steps if he hadn't have caught her elbow and helped her onwards. She was so excited she didn't even notice.

The guild was lavishly decorated downstairs with such a variation of memorabilia and bric-a-brac that it was impossible to tell just what Brave Vesperia was. Yuri recognised some of the weapons on the walls, and he could almost see Kaufman's fingerprints still on the expensive paintings.
They were tokens from other guilds. Gifts and rewards and donations. In any other situation, it might have felt cheap and thrifty to decorate a guild front with the work of other guilds. For Brave Vesperia, it was like a photo-album dedicated to all their friends and allies. He and Estelle had spent quite a few warming moments identifying every gift from every friend.

Upstairs was a little different. Yuri stood in the doorway as his companion fluttered about the room like an over-excited butterfly.

Karol had built a library.

"Nice one, Captain," he said softly, admiring the view. Estelle was almost glowing.

"The entire Markim Collection!" she exclaimed, falling to her knees with her hands hovering over a stack of fraying tomes. She eventually dared to lift one, but it was in that moment that something else caught her attention. "And the Encyclopaedia Geraios! F-Fifteen volumes!"

Repede yawned.

"So many non-catalogued works... And entire faculties of research reports, without patents."

Her fingers flashed by her cheek as she tucked some of her hair away, but the twist of pink slipped from her ear and back down into her eyes. She hadn't noticed.

"T-This one is by Master Archibald, before he was discredited!"

The newest treasure she'd found was the bundle of scrolls standing up in a barrel against a bookshelf, and each roll was tucked under Estelle's arm before she discovered the next. They cascaded to the wooden floor when she tried to stand, and Estelle almost fell over herself in an attempt to collect them up again.

She bit her lower lip in a half grimace. Her nose crinkled guiltily. It wasn't until the second nudge at his shin that Yuri drew his eyes away.

"Hmm? What's up Repede?"

His furry companion couldn't have looked more impatient and exasperated.

"We're in no rush," he said dismissively, and then leant against the door jam.

"I-I haven't even read this one..." Estelle murmured. She had sunken down to sit with her back against one of the shelves, book already open in her hands. Her eyes were the colour of an aquamarine held up into hazy sunlight, her focus dancing from left to right over the words.

There was a sharp tug at Yuri's hip. Repede, shirt hem between his teeth, glared up at Yuri with a pointed expression.

"Alright, alright," Yuri said placidly. "Hey, Estelle!"

She turned a page and tilted her head just so, half listening.

"Repede and I are going to get some air, we'll be back later."

"Alright, I'll be here," she said.

"I know," he replied, but she wasn't listening. Yuri heaved an amused sigh and retreated quietly. The guild front was a strange place when you were there alone, and his footsteps down the stairs and across the lobby echoed weirdly. The crowded streets of Dahngrest were much livelier in comparison.

"Where to?" Yuri wondered, watching a street performer set up his busking corner for the day. Repede gave his coat a shake and transferred his pipe from one side to the other with a clack of teeth.

"Well you're a big help," the swordsman muttered. Shrugging to himself and the bustling street in general, Yuri picked himself a random direction and began walking.

He didn't have anywhere in particular to go. Dahngrest wasn't exactly a tourist destination of choice for him, as each street was a struggle to dodge the peddlers and recruiters. It was entertaining trying to make sense of the city-planning however, though Yuri didn't expect to get very far. He officially gave up when he found a guild front for florists right next to a fish-mongers. Repede whined the entire length of the street until they reached higher ground away from the stench.

Yuri took a break by a memorial plinth, waiting patiently for his old friend to rub the conflicting scents from his muzzle with a paw. It was while he was gazing listlessly at the city skyline that he caught a familiar flash of purple. A few moments more and the flash became a figure, traipsing across the rooftops at considerable speed.

"And what have we here..?" Yuri wondered with a slow grin. He bent and picked up a small rock.

He tossed it up carefully, once, twice, then pulled back and threw it with a sharp snap.

He'd caught Raven out like this before. The old man wasn't that hard to catch off guard, and it had always been satisfying to knock him from whatever perch he'd found to nap on.
That was probably why it shocked Yuri so much when, in a flash of metal, the stone ricocheted off across the rooftops and the distant figure spun fast and low.

Raven had his bow drawn taut and aimed steadily at Yuri before he'd fully registered his target. The arrow-head lowered. Raven's face went from shock to disbelief.

"Easy, Old Man!" Yuri called, a little startled by the unexpected reaction. He cast a look at Repede who sat back on his haunches, ill-at-ease. Together, they watched Raven skid down the roof top, hop from a chimney to a railing and then to another rooftop, then leap to land on the memorial plinth with that peculiar grace he occasionally displayed. The transform bow snapped closed with an angry shank.

"Is this what you kids are callin' Low Profile nowadays?" Raven demanded, angry.

"Woah, it's good to see you too!" Yuri replied defensively.

"Didn't Karol pass on the message?" was the next irate question.

"He said to lay low, sure..." Yuri muttered. He scratched the back of his neck before he had the presence of mind to object. "Wait, what is this all about, anyway? You weren't at the dock this morning."

"I had ta meet up with the Dark Wings, and I tried ta get back as fast as I- this is all besides the point! Where's the rest of Vesperia?"

Yuri frowned. A serious expression didn't suit the scruffy old spy at all, and the tone in his voice was very quickly putting Yuri on edge.

"Estelle is at Head Quarters," he said slowly. "Rita's in one of the workshops in the artisan circle, and Karol and Judy are on the Fierta's dock, waiting for you."

Raven cursed.

"Come on, Old Man, you haven't even told me what this is about!"

"An unnamed guild moves against Brave Vesperia today," Raven mumbled distractedly, squinting up at the sun.

"What do you mean, moves against?" Yuri demanded. His older friend seemed to come back to the present. He cast him a look that was sharp as sin.

"Listen ta me kid, I ain't got the time ta say this more than once," Raven said darkly. "An unregistered guild has been shiftin' contraband under the nose of the Dark Wings and Fortune's Market. These guys aren't big enough for a charter, and an inquest could only gather that they were interested in us."

"Interested in us how?"

"Interested in wipin' us from Terca Lumireis."

It took a moment to sink in.

"Assassins? For Vesperia? But why the hell would anyone..?"

The ground rumbled underfoot like a shifting beast, followed shortly by a deafening, echoing clap that scattered every bird in the inner circle from their rooftop roosts. As they watched the birds take flight like so many leaves in the wind, an ugly black cloud rose from the cityscape and the sounds of a confused mob of people replaced the usual marketplace din.
Yuri's blood ran cold.

"The guild front," was all Raven said. "And so soon."

"Estelle," Yuri managed, stunned. He jumped slightly when Raven gripped him by the shoulder and gave him a rough shake.

"Snap out of it kid! There's still the dock ta worry about!" Yuri shook himself and nodded.

"The dock, right..." he glanced down to his left. Repede stared back knowingly, gave a rolling half-bark, then was barrelling off down the street and around the corner before Yuri could take a breath. He tightened a fist around the leather straps of his scabbard.

"I'm sorry, Old Man. I have to go find Estelle."

"I figured as much," was the simple reply. Raven added, "Listen, if the Wings have the right intel, this city is a minefield. Don't stick around. And don't bother waitin' up for the rest of us. We'll catch up in Heliord."

And then he was gone, already back up to the rooftops and clattering away.

Yuri didn't need telling twice. He shoved and pushed his way through the crowd until he found a side street and started running. No matter how tall the buildings were, he couldn't lose sight of the black cloud of smoke that continued to blot out the early morning sky.

He ran that little bit faster.

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_oOo_
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A/N: Oh, how I love Judith.
I suppose now is the time to point out that this fic (and the romances within) is probably destined to get strung along quite cruely by plot. I'll do my best to keep it succinct.
Also, thank you very much for the kind reviews! They give me great happiness.