DOMINIA I
Dominia held him after he fell asleep as closely as she could. That had been the most fantastic moment she had ever had in all her life, but she wasn't sure of what to do next. Would her sisters be angry with her? Would she be able to look at him in the same way again? Would she become dependent upon this kind of physical affection? Was he even the same man she fell in love with seven years ago? Would she be comfortable being seen with others with him? How much of this was rebounding off Miang? Was she somehow not as strong as she was before, now having her wish somewhat granted?
All of this thinking made her angry, and she righted herself abruptly. The Commander had been propped up on her torso the entire time, and flopped over unceremoniously when she moved. Dominia grimaced, but luckily he didn't wake up, so she moved him back into a position she thought looked comfortable and brushed his hair out of his eyes. The whole thing still seemed so surreal to her. She almost didn't want to leave, but she couldn't sleep and he needed the rest. She searched the room for where her clothes had ended up and she picked up his speedo, having mistaken it for her own underwear. She felt the blood rush to the tips of her ears and decided that, if this never happened again, she'd like to have kept at least something from it. It wasn't in any decent condition to be worn, so she stuffed it into her boot and collected the rest of her clothes.
She unlocked the door and walked out into the hallway, and she gasped audibly when she turned her head and saw Sigurd Harcourt leaning against the wall.
"There's no need to panic, Ms. Yizkor. I'm not angry or anything," he said. "And I wasn't up against the wall while it was happening, but...people heard some...kerfuffle, and the other girls are up on deck, so I put two and two together."
"I'm sorry for...causing a disturbance. We're still your guests, I-"
Sigurd stood up from the wall. "Please relax, there's no harm done. Kahr has a certain...effect...on people face to face." He smiled sadly. "I have to admit to a little bit of jealousy, but there's a land war between Kahr and I these days, and my obligations are to my family. I am glad to see that he's surrounded by people who want to make him happy."
Dominia felt the tips of her ears turn red. "N-not a whole lot's set in stone right now." What the fuck are you trying to say? Not a whole lot's set in stone, so if you wanna, like, walk in and bang him behind me, go ahead?
Sigurd crossed his arms and tilted his head. Dominia had never seen a more apparent, "Oh honey, please," look in her life.
"I know about the...thing."
Sigurd narrowed his eyes in amusement. "The thing?"
"Yeah, the thing, you and the Commander..."
An eyebrow raised.
"He still really likes you, you know."
"Enough to try to bury us in the desert?"
"I guess Solaris' intervention in the Kislev-Aveh conflict really has made a lot of things a lot more complicated than they were before," Dominia admitted.
Sigurd nodded. "Exactly, which, while I don't think I can start over with Kahr all that easily, I would like to try to be friends with you, if that's all right?" Sigurd extended his hand and when Dominia shook it, he smiled.
She smiled back, though it felt a little hammy. After the moment had passed, she looked up and said, "This is a little awkward to ask, but is there a place I can get a shower?"
"Of course. I can see to it that your uniform is cleaned, too. Follow me."
Sigurd led her down the hall, into what looked like a laundry room. "Pick anything you like. When you've changed, we can get your uniform washed."
Dominia picked out something practical-looking that fit and he ushered her into the showers. "The water starts out cold at first, so be mindful of that." He handed her a primitive-looking, but large, fluffy towel.
Sigurd exited the room and she stripped out of her uniform, glad to get out of the stink of it. Her boots and pauldrons didn't need to be washed, but she fished the Commander's thong out of the bottom of her boot. She decided that while she had the chance to get her little prize washed, she should take advantage of it, so she rolled it up in the center of the pile so it'd be inconspicuous. She topped the pile with her headband and walked over to one of the stalls.
She hung the towel Sigurd had given her within what looked like arm's reach from the outside of one of the adjacent stalls and took a look at the shower knobs. She cautiously turned them, keeping her distance from it until the water was warm enough to shower under and grabbed for soap. There were two bars of things that looked like soap in a metal enclosure, clearly labeled SOAP and SHAMPOO in surface common. The soap was greyish and the shampoo was greenish. She picked up the shampoo bar and studied it for a bit. She'd never seen a solid shampoo bar before, but from a utilitarian military supply standpoint, it was a lot more portable, and she was really excited at the concept. Examining the soap more closely, she found that it had bits of sand on its bottom side, which made it better to scrub with. She couldn't figure out what tactical advantage scrubby soap had, but seeing no wash rags around, she guessed that its value was in that.
When she was done, she felt cleaner than she had in years, even in Solaris. This good, rough, manual cleaning felt better to her than the softer feel of the high tech showers in Etrenank. She grabbed for the towel, which ended up just slightly out of her reach than she anticipated, but she got it. It was bigger and warmer than any towel she'd ever used before, and she kept herself rolled up in it longer than a soldier probably should have. She closed her eyes and exhaled. She wasn't a soldier anymore, so there was no more need for that kind of rigorous expectancy in her life. For a moment, she wondered if barking or following orders would have been something she would have done if she'd gotten to grow up in Elru, but letting her thoughts slant that way always ended up making her sad, so she snapped herself out of it. She walked out of the stall and sat in the towel a little while longer.
Everything she agreed to do from now on would be her choice, which was an encouraging thought. She'd still be fighting, but she'd be fighting the right things from now on: the things she wanted to fight all along. She hadn't felt this sure or right about anything in a long time, and she found herself looking forward to the future for once, despite how dangerous it was.
When she got comfortable enough to unroll herself, she got dressed. She'd chosen a uniform with a plain white shirt and green pants and a green jacket that was probably a Gear tech's. It looked a little looser than she was used to, but the underwear she'd picked out was tight enough that she didn't feel insecure, though the straps on the sports brassiere were resting in a blank spot her uniform left uncovered, and it felt a little alien. The shoes she'd picked out were a little big for her, but she could walk in them fine, so it didn't matter. She put her headband back on and walked out to the laundry room with the towel and her uniform, where Sigurd was waiting.
"Do you feel better?"
Dominia nodded. "A lot better, thank you. Where should I put this?"
Sigurd motioned to one of the machines. "There's fine."
"Parts of it can't be washed. Is there any place I should put them?" she asked, after depositing her clothes.
Sigurd motioned her to follow him again. "I've arranged a slightly more permanent place for you, Kahr and the other girls to stay. You can keep your things there."
He walked her down to the Yggdrasil's gear hangar, where she recognized several of the crafts she'd faced off against in battle before. They had a long way to walk to the opposite side of the hangar, but she immediately recognized Bladegash lined up in front of the largely disassembled remains of Vendetta. "Has anyone said anything about if Vendetta will fly again?" The last battle in Nisan had left Vendetta completely inoperable, and the Commander had to retreat on the cruiser with the rest of the troops, much to his humiliation.
"Not yet. Between whatever Elly did to it at Nisan and the loss of its Anima Relic, its locomotion has been arrested, its weapon systems are locked up and its engine isn't responding. There was also...some...structural damage caused by the residents of Nisan." Sigurd smirked, but quickly turned his head so Dominia wouldn't see.
"I see..."
"It was riling the survivors of the last attack to look up and see it standing there, so Margie requested we remove it. Originally, Bart had it dumped off the coast between Aveh and Nisan, but when we picked all of you up, Hyuga thought it prudent to retrieve it. We haven't had a chance to tell Kahr yet."
She followed Sigurd down to the lower level, and he led her to a door close to where their gears were docked. Dominia looked up at Vendetta as Sigurd started tapping on the door's lock panel, noting the new anti-Solarian graffiti that had showed up at its ankles. Large strings of seaweed still hung off some of the spines at its hip and knee joints, and the area smelled fairly like saltwater. Most of its puter paneling had been removed to the corner of the hangar, but what was left still shone proudly.
The door panel gave a friendly chirp as it opened, and she followed him in. "This isn't the most luxurious arrangement, but it's more private than the barracks, and it'll keep you closer to your gears," he said. It was a fairly cramped room that had four very modest beds shoved into each corner hastily, and what looked like an older, larger mattress in the center. A few plants and end-tables were wedged where they could fit, but there were dents and an extremely heavy-looking replacement gear part gave away that this area had previously been storage for spare parts. It smelled slightly of fuel under the smell of detergent, but it was nicer than any other arrangement she'd had on the surface, the exception, of course, being her childhood home in Elru.
"Thank you, Mr. Harcourt."
"Please, you can call me Sigurd."
Dominia placed her boots by one of the beds and set her pauldrons at the foot of it. "Have the other girls been in to see this yet?"
Sigurd shook his head. "Not yet. They're outside, with their gears. Would you like to join them?"
Dominia exhaled. "I know I need to, but I haven't worked out exactly what I'm going to say to them. There's no way they won't know, and I'm not going to lie to them. I know I'm not the only one of the Elements in love with...him." Why couldn't she just say Kahr?
"You're pretty hardcore with your truths. I assume you don't want to alienate them, though."
"Absolutely not. They're my sisters, my equals. I don't know where I'd be without them, and I don't want to be without them. I'm...actually pretty scared to face them, come to think of it. I didn't think this through all the way." She found herself staring at the floor.
"How about you try to break it to them gently?"
"Gently?"
Sigurd shifted his weight and put a hand on his hip. "If I were any or all of the other girls right now, what would you say to me?"
"Uh...I told him how I felt and kinda threw myself on him and we did it?"
Sigurd smiled in polite exasperation. "You really aren't ready for this, are you?"
Dominia shook her head.
"This is only a suggestion, but I think they will take it better this way: Tell them that you poured your heart out to him. This is the truth. It's also the truth that he didn't turn you away. Unless they ask for details you want to give, I think you have free reign to omit them. Also tell them the other truth in this. Tell them that you still cherish their friendship, and maybe you weren't thinking at the time, but that you hope that this doesn't mess your friendship up. And, you could leave off with, as you've said before, the fact that nothing is set in stone."
Dominia blinked, massively impressed. "H-how did you come up with that so quickly?"
Sigurd shrugged. "Prince Bartholomew Fatima is prone to far worse perceived rudeness on a regular basis. I have become his apology translator, I think."
Dominia smiled, and her hope for the future bubbled to the surface again. "Well then, looks like I might need a ladder to get back up on Bladegash."
Bladegash had gotten a considerable upgrade since boarding the Yggdrasil, she noticed. She wasn't an expert on gears, but she could tell from the hum of it that she had a better engine. She had also been outfitted with had a sharper-looking, lighter sword that reminded her of the kind of sword Hyuga used. She guessed that she'd find out any other improvements fairly soon.
When she emerged from the Yggdrasil's hangar out into the open, she found the other Elements easily, keeping a perimeter between the ship and the lighthouse that served as the topside entrance to Zeboim.
Tolone was the first to notice her. "Well, look who's done bashing her head against the wall!"
"How are things going? Is there any kind of plan?" Dominia asked.
"We've just been squashing Seraphs to keep a path clear for the others right now...which is kinda...ironic?" Seraphita said. "Is that the right word, Tolone?"
"Yeah, for once, that's the right word, Sera."
"Apparently there's some kinda business dealer down there selling ridiculous gear upgrades and DRIVE," Seraphita continued.
Dominia was immediately concerned. "Wait, they're using DRIVE?"
"Hey, don't act so scandalized. We're going after God, aren't we? We've been on DRIVE for reasons less important than this," Seraphita said. "Though I did suggest they concentrate on getting the gear parts first. I still have a pretty decent stash in Grandgrowl here that I'm planning to hand over, but I wanted it to be a surprise."
"I knew you were holding out on us!" Tolone exclaimed.
Dominia let Tolone and Seraphita bicker for a few moments more. She could feel her resolve starting to build back up. Maybe if they were distracted enough, she might not have to breach the subject. She turned around and her heart jumped in her throat. She hadn't noticed Marinebasher creep up behind her. "It is rumored that this arms dealer has been alive for 4000 years. It seems that the other nanomachine girl was drawn there, as well. She had been prodding at Fei for quite some time before they ventured out," Kelvena said.
"Is there a plan after this?" Dominia asked.
"We still have to make our formal announcement to Fei to join him. We have decided amongst ourselves that we're joining them whether you or the Commander do or not," Kelvena replied evenly. Tolone and Seraphita stopped their bickering to listen.
"Count me in, too," Dominia said. "There's no sense standing around while there's ways we can help, and I don't think the Commander is going to be far from us, even if he doesn't fight. Sigurd Harcourt had some space officially cleared off for us, too."
"Aaaaa, Dominia, that's great news~! I was getting a little tired of those cramped barracks." Seraphita piped.
"So, like, did the Commander ever get up?" Tolone asked.
Her heart jumped in her throat again. "He did."
"Did he have anything to say?" Tolone pressed.
"He...apologized to me for calling me a traitor in the Merkavah, and I told him I would be fighting against Deus whether he was going to or not."
"Woah, how did he react to that?" Tolone asked. She could tell the others were anxious. Kelvena's silence was beginning to get to her.
"He just apologized again. I'm not sure if he thinks he has the means to help. Sigurd told me that he doesn't know that they have Vendetta in the hangar yet."
Tolone was getting suspicious. "We left you about four hours ago, though. Did he really just apologize to you for that long?"
Dominia wasn't sure if having this conversation over the comm system was better or worse than doing it in person. "I had a lot to tell him, at least."
"Wait, does that mean you-" Tolone started.
"-you told him your feelings?!" Seraphita finished.
The others converged on her when she didn't immediately sputter out the expected 'no' that had happened the last five or so times she'd attempted confessing. "I did."
"Ohhhhh!" Seraphita hooted.
"Ohhhhhhhh!" Tolone hooted back.
"What did he say?" Kelvena asked softly.
Dominia was disheartened by her tone. "He said that he was flattered to have the affections of someone as loyal as me..."
"...and then what? You've been gone for hours, Dommi!" Dominia really hated when Seraphita called her that, but she could use all the humanizing she could get right now.
She steeled herself for the rest of it. Sigurd's advice seemed to slip like sand through her fingers. It was all just happening too fast, and she lost control. "He said he was sorry he couldn't respond to my affections right, so I kinda...kissed him and he didn't push me away, and I..."
"And then you what?" Seraphita piped.
"A-and then, never you mind!" The other girls were silent for a while, which scared her. She scrambled to get some kind of dignity back. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking of anyone's feelings but my own. I wasn't thinking of the consequences. My loyalty should have been to you guys first, and it was really selfish of me to-"
Tolone cut her off. "Wait, so you're apologizing for doing...something you've always wanted to do?"
Dominia was glad this wasn't a face to face conversation after all, with how red her face got. "It was all just very abstract before now, and I don't really know how you guys feel about him, either."
"Dominia, I was ten years old when he saved you. I'm just a little girl to him...and I'm kind of...stuck this way, you know? You're, like, my sister. Don't apologize for something like that. At least not to me. I'd much rather you be happy, you know?" Tolone said.
"Yeah, the Commander is super great, and yanno, without him, I have no clue where I'd be. I'm happy to just be by his side, but I kinda can't think past that. He's gorgeous, you're gorgeous, and I'm not as dumb as Tolone thinks I am, so even if I did feel that way, I think you got dibs, man." If Seraphita had said anything like that to her in the middle of Etrenank, she would have been mortified, but somehow, there and then, it put her at ease.
Kelvena stayed silent a little longer. "I have something to say in private, but I think it can wait. I am not sure how I feel, but thank you for coming at this apologetically."
Of all the girls, she hadn't wanted to be at odds with Kelvena. She always kept quiet when the other girls were egging her on to confess her feelings to the Commander. "I understand."
The rest of a potentially awkward conversation was interrupted by Fei, Bartholomew and Emeralda resurfacing. Dominia had never seen Xenogears up close before. It was an impressive sight to behold.
"Hey, did everything go all right?" Tolone asked.
"Yeah, things went all right. I think we're done for the day. A lot of stuff just happened and the sun's about to set, so we'll try again tomorrow," Fei replied.
"Did you guys get all the parts you wanted? Once we get in, the girls and I kinda have a surprise for you!" Seraphita said.
"Man, we are nowhere near where we'd like to be," Bart said. "We just don't have enough money to give Big Joe for the upgrades he's got. I have no idea why he's charging so much! There's like, no economy anymore. I don't know where the hell he's going to spend all that money down there all by himself."
"I guess when you've been alive for 4000 years, economies kind of are a joke to you," Fei mused out loud. "Oh, Dominia, looks like you've joined back up?"
"Er, yes." She still wasn't sure about how to go about conversing casually with the Demon of Elru.
"Let's get back inside, then. I think there's a lot to go over."
The Elements fell in behind Emeralda, who had been silent as usual, but Crescens carried itself differently enough that Tolone noticed. "Hey Emeralda, are you okay?" Tolone was naturally curious about her, both of them technically being cybernetic organisms.
A completely unfamiliar voice answered her back, "Yes, I'm fine."
"Woah...you sound...different!"
"When we get back, I'll show you."
Tolone continued to excitedly press for details and Dominia turned to look back at Kelvena in Marinebasher. Neither of them said anything.
When everyone dismounted in the hangar, Emeralda stepped down fully grown, and everyone around gaped as Fei recounted what happened. Dominia found it interesting, but she was more focused on worrying about Kelvena.
When the main group dispersed, Tolone kept talking with Emeralda and Seraphita seemed content to stick around her, so she took the opportunity to tap Kelvena on the shoulder. "Are you ready to talk? I can show you the space Sigurd set aside for us."
"Sure." It was icier than Dominia was comfortable with, and she should have expected it, but apparently not.
Kelvena followed her over to the door Sigurd had showed Dominia before. They both looked up at Vendetta, which was even more torn apart than it had been before Dominia had left. She pressed the door panel and showed her in. "It's a lot more private than the barracks..."
"It's...very nice..." A polite lie, Dominia surmised, to be sure. As the only one of the Elements that was born and bred in Solaris, 'nice' for her must have started at second class.
Dominia shifted uneasily. "Wanna tell me what's going on?"
"Are you going to be all right?" Kelvena asked. "The Commander is in an extremely bad state of mind, and has been since Bledavik. Are you sure you are okay with things happening this way? It has not been very long since Miang's...departure. Are you sure you want to be a...rebound girlfriend?"
"I-I never said we were dating. He kept apologizing for not really being emotionally available, and I was the one who threw myself at him. If I hadn't, I probably would have just left the room and let him sleep. Nothing's set in stone with this."
"Yes, and as the Element of Earth, how does this situation make you feel in the long term?"
"I wasn't really thinking about the long term...I just...I've wanted...to be close to him for the longest time that I didn't really give a thought to who's taking advantage of who..."
"I suppose I should get to the point of why I wanted to talk privately about this," Kelvena said, sitting on one of the beds. As usual, she had not opened her eyes the entire time. "I do not like the idea of you waiting around for years for someone who might not be capable of truly loving you."
"Why would you really care about something like that? It's just me and my stupid decision," Dominia replied, folding her arms.
"I think you need to understand something just a little bit better about me. In the course of the last few months, my best friend has turned out to have been the primary component in an interplanetary weapons system, her destined soul mate has destroyed my home, and the man I've looked up to all my life now needs to look up to us. The people I have been close to for most of my life are gone, except you, Tolone and Seraphita." She was wringing her hands. "I do not want to see you dragged down, too. I mean...I really do admire the Commander, but I am really worried that you will just...lose yourself to him in this."
"So are you saying I should just stop?"
"I am saying you should be careful. I know that is not your area of expertise, but if he breaks your heart even more, like he has been breaking your heart for the past seven years, I do not think I could forgive him..." Kelvena turned her head away. Dominia had never seen her flush before.
"Wait, what do you mean by that...?" She stepped closer.
"What do you think I mean by that?!" she opened her eyes, then, and Dominia saw the tears. "To be honest, I have not really thought about the future, either, but you should know that my feelings for you are very strong, and I do not want you to get hurt. If you are happy, that is fine, but...please, before you destroy yourself, I wish you would think of me. I know that might be an unreasonable expectation...I have never told you, or anyone else, the way I feel, but I have always admired you for you. Behind your reflection of what you admire in the Commander is this strong, beautiful, rash woman that I am too scared to try to be myself, but I still love."
"Oh, Kel...I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I wasn't paying attention. I'm such an asshole..." Dominia walked over to her and hugged her.
Kelvena hugged her back as fiercely as she was capable of, which wasn't much, but she still tried. "I did not know I was capable of having such feelings for another woman, but I suppose, here I am. I never thought Miang would be out of the way, and I underestimated how stubborn you are and how quickly things were happening. I should have told you when I had the chance. It is...my own fault, but...I am still sad." She squeezed her tighter.
"If you'd said this to me yesterday, I wouldn't have..."
"There's no need to say things like that to make me feel better."
"But—" Dominia could feel her own tears start to well up in her eyes.
"If things do not work out between you and the Commander, remember that I will be there for you. In the meantime, I will be all right. I have become very used to heartbreak. If we are able to save Elly, and things calm down, and the world has a chance to settle back in, all of us are going to be in a much better state of mind. Even if we are defeated, at least some of us will have left this world somewhat satisfied."
Dominia pulled away. "I will try to be careful, and I'm going to make goddamn sure we're not defeated."
Kelvena wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. "Thank you for...not freaking out."
"Why would I freak out?"
"I was not sure if you liked other women, too..."
Dominia chuckled nervously. "To be honest, men who aren't the Commander don't really interest me that much anymore."
The door chirped and slid open, and Tolone backed into the room. "-But what if we could get Doc Ricdeau to like, I dunno, upgrade me? That would be so cooooool!"
"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha. We gotta save that stuff for after the big fight. We don't have all that much time, yanno?" Seraphita said. Kelvena and Dominia could tell that this was one of those very rare occasions where Tolone had managed to annoy Seraphita and not the other way around. "Oh, hey, sorry. Hope we didn't super-intrude. Sigurd dropped off your uniform from the laundry, Dominia."
Dominia flushed bright red as she handed it over with the Commander's underwear on the top of the pile. "Uh...thanks."
"This thing is a little too sexy for you, Dommi...and there's another pair of underwear that's much more your style in the middle of the pile. I don't think it's yours, hehehe..." Seraphita said, holding it up.
"H-hey, I stole that fair and square...!"
Kelvena looked up from her gloom. "So...the rumors of the Commander's tight underwear are true."
Tolone and Seraphita burst out laughing, and even Kelvena started giggling. Dominia tried to bite down her embarrassment, but made a grab for it instead, and Seraphita raised it above her head and attempted to start a game of keep away, but was interrupted by Sigurd opening the door.
"Ladies, I hope you're not interrupting, but I wanted to invite you up to dinne-" The girls stood stock still and he took in the scene. When his eye passed over the thong, he tried to contain a giggle, but it didn't work. He backed out of the door. "E-excuse me a moment." The girls could still hear him laughing from outside.
Seraphita gave it back. "Here, like you said, fair 'n' square. You should probably get that framed or something after we take down Krelian."
Dominia exhaled and put it back in her boot, and Sigurd knocked on the door. Tolone opened it and he bowed to them. "Dinner will be served upstairs within the hour if you ladies care to join us. Dominia knows where to get a change of clothes and a shower if you care to freshen up."
The other girls chose to freshen up and as they waited for the laundry. Each of the girls had picked out a uniform that they felt suited their personal tastes. Kelvena chose a medic's outfit, Tolone chose the same green gear tech outfit Dominia had, but left the jacket out, and Seraphita ended up in the beige communications officer suit, sans jacket. When they went to check on him, the Commander was still asleep, so they decided not to disturb him. Sigurd led the girls down the hall, where Prince Bartholomew was waiting.
The prince motioned to the door. "Welcome, ladies! Dinner is served in the Gun Room."
Dominia was fully expecting to be jammed into a munitions closet, but when the door slid open, she found that it actually had a very nice space set aside for lounging. Bart led the way down a set of stairs and motioned for them to sit near the end of one of three very large tables that had been moved together. It had been adorned with a navy tablecloth with the Yggdrasil's sigil in it in yellow at the edge. She recognized most of the faces of the people already seated, but couldn't name most of them. There were at least three roast birds, a caramelized Hobgob amongst the pickings, with an assortment of sauces, breads, and various cooked surface vegetables, which Dominia hadn't had since she left Elru.
"Eh? Is that roast Dive Bomber I smell?!" Seraphita was salivating.
"You betcha! Served Aveh style, of course!" Prince Fatima said. He pulled out a chair for Seraphita and she sat down, and the rest of the girls sat where they felt comfortable.
Dominia kept quiet during most of the dinner conversation, but tried to be polite. Sigurd sat next to her and he taught her everyone's names so that she had a good idea of who was who.
Tolone took the first opportunity to sit across from Dr. Ricdeau and talk to him about her implants. Both of them chattered excitedly about machinery, while the young Etone Dominia was reminded was called William Lee Black attempted to interrupt to ask Tolone if she had any relatives in Aquavy. When Tolone was of no help on that account, Kelvena started conversing with him about healing techniques. Seraphita found herself in paradise with all the food and ate happily and loudly, which Prince Fatima seemed pleased by. Dominia found herself zoning out, and it sapped her to try to act polite around strangers she didn't feel she had a whole lot in common with yet.
As if on cue, Fei Fong Wong got Dominia's attention from the other end of the table and asked The Burning Question: "Are you girls going to be joining us?" Fei asked. Dominia felt herself freeze up when he spoke to her, and she must have gotten a certain look in her eyes because Fei broke eye contact very quickly all of a sudden.
Seraphita was quick to remove Dominia from the hotseat. "Whether the Commander can join us or not, you have our aid. If he objects, one of us might have to stay behind, but it'll be for the best. I'm like, 99% sure he's not going to join sides with our common enemy. It's really more a matter of if he's healthy enough."
"Is he still in the barracks?" Prince Fatima asked.
Yeah, he is. We're very sorry for the inconvenience," Dominia said. She could talk to the prince, but she might need some time to get used to Fei.
"This is going to be a little awkward for all of us at first," Fei said. "It's hard to go from bitter rivals to allies in the course of a week."
Dominia was so relieved the other girls were with her when Kelvena cut in with, "We'll do our best to make up the difference. And when we rescue Elly, I look forward to being able to talk to her again!"
Kelvena and Fei started conversing about Elly at Jugend, and Dominia found herself feeling a little guilty. She had never been kind to Lieutenant Van Houten for any reason. She couldn't explain why, but she just rubbed her the wrong way. She was sure there'd be a wall of ice between her and Elly at best when...if they succeeded.
Dinner ended and people shuffled seats, but kept conversing. Tolone and Dr. Ricdeau had continued talking about the same subject since they'd sat down, and she felt like she'd done something wrong with the way some of the others, namely the heir to Kislev and the young Miss Balthazar, had shifted away from her. Sigurd hadn't moved, and kept smiling at her politely, but it was Jesiah Blanche and his daughter sitting down across from her which broke her out of her gloom.
"C-commander Blanche! It's nice to meet you!" Dominia had never met him in person before, nor ever expected to again, considering how he took a traitor's leaving of Solaris.
"No need for formality, Mz. Yizkor. From one Earth Element to the other, how ya doin'?" He offered his hand to shake and she shook it strongly.
"Everything's happening really fast for me right now, so I don't exactly know, but I think I'll be fine..."
The small girl at Jesiah's side smiled and offered her hand, too, which Dominia also shook. Sigurd had told her earlier that the girl's name was Primera, and there was something about her that struck her, and she couldn't help smiling back at her.
"M-my, aren't you precious? Sigurd here tells me your name is Primera?"
Primera nodded enthusiastically, looked around and saw that her brother was talking to someone else, and giggled.
"I-it's a real honor to meet you, Miss Primera! I've been wanting to meet your father for years! My thesis at Jugend was on his ether techniques," Dominia had never imagined herself talking so easily with a little girl, but it didn't hurt that her father had been her idol.
Sigurd smiled as Jesse recounted his various ether techniques and Dominia excitedly repeated them back and started talking about how she modified some of hers for use in melee combat. Jesse seemed impressed and Dominia was really pleased to hear it. Their conversation came to a complete halt when Billy came over to check on Primera.
"Oh hey, Prim, looks like you've met Dominia?" Billy asked her. Dominia could see her freeze up and crawl back into her shell as soon as she spoke to him, and her heart broke a little. Billy smiled apologetically at Dominia and tried to continue. "Dominia's one of the strongest women I've ever met! S-she's really cool!"
For Primera's sake, she reached over the table and rolled her sleeve up, flexed her bicep. "He's right, I am really strong! Wanna feel my muscle? It's totally up to you!"
Primera excitedly hopped up and put a hand on it, and Dominia tightened her bicep as tight as she could. Primera gasped and started giggling again.
"Feels like a rock, doesn't it?" Dominia asked. Primera nodded excitedly.
"Looks like Dominia could probably carry all the Blacks in one hand if she tried, eh?" Jesse asked, looking fondly at Billy, who reacted neutrally. When her father spoke, Primera plopped in his lap.
"How old is she?" Dominia asked.
"She's just about eight, right?" Jesse asked, deferring that one to Billy.
"Seven and one half," Billy said, visibly annoyed.
"Seven and one half years ago is very close to when my Commander brought me to Solaris from Elru," Dominia offered. It was an awkward thing to enter into conversation, but she figured it was better than nothing. She felt herself return a little bit to the scared, fourteen year old she had been that day and looked at Primera sympathetically. She didn't know all the details of why Jesiah Blanche's daughter didn't speak, but dividing what she knew about Isaac Stein and Billy still wearing several Etone accoutrements, she could guess it had something to do with that.
"So I guess the old Earth Element was leaving as soon as the new one was on her way in..." Jesse mused.
Dominia wasn't sure of where to take the rest of the conversation and stammered a bit. Luckily, Seraphita reached into her pocket and brought out her DRIVE stash. "Oh, hey, yeah, forgot I had this!"
Several of the people who had stopped paying attention came to gather around the small transparent case full of tiny vials.
"And that, my new friends, is why I said y'shouldn'ta spent money on that DRIVE that dealer was tryinna sell ya," she said triumphantly.
Fei and Prince Fatima were quick to inspect them. "This is amazing!" the prince said, aiming to pocket one for himself then and there.
Sigurd stood up at the table. "Now, Young Master, you be careful with that stuff."
Fei frowned, looking at the one he had in his hand. It was labeled in Solarian, which after the incident at Point Bethlehem, he could read almost without trying to. Its cap was blue. "This isn't the same stuff that Elly and Ramsus were on, was it? This one says Ether on it..."
Dominia was surprised he knew Solarian unassisted, but if what she'd heard was true about him and Id coming to a resolution, then it would have made perfect sense for him to know it all of a sudden. She stood up and leaned over to inspect Seraphita's stash, having never seen it before herself. "If I may, I'll show you..." She picked through them gently and pulled out one of three that she saw that was entirely red. "This is the one they were on." She handed it to Fei delicately and everyone leaned in.
Fei took it and read it. "Aggrodrive...?"
"Extreme bonuses to ether and physical attack, increased dexterity, but drastically reduces all defenses. The idea was to hit hard and dodge if you didn't kill in one hit. If I remember correctly, Lieutenant Van Houten was only ever given exactly one of these," Dominia said, looking a little guilty. "It's the most expensive DRIVE ever made."
Sigurd shifted uncomfortably. "Any idea how much of that stuff Kahr was on?"
Dominia frowned. "One of these is enough to keep someone my size awake for 48 hours, so I'm thinking maybe two or three...maybe four, with how awful he ended up. I think he could only withstand it because he..." She felt awkward bringing up Emperor Cain.
"Because he is a clone of Emperor Cain, yes," Dr. Ricdeau finished for her. He stepped in to inspect the stash. "There is a way to organize these to maximize our safety in battle. I do not think everyone here can read Solarian, so that is going to be important. I think even if Kahr joined in, taking all of this DRIVE as-is in one go could kill every one of us. How on earth did you manage to keep this much drive on you, Seraphita?"
Seraphita shrugged. "I dunno, for every two I got, I only used one. That and I didn't tell nobody where I kept the rest, hehe."
"That is very intelligent thinking, conserving a resource as precious as this." Dr. Ricdeau said.
The smile on Seraphita's face usually never left, but she smiled more at the compliment, especially considering who it came from. "Ehe, thanks, Doc! See, Tolone, it doesn't take being as smart as you to still be smart!"
Tolone rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"If it turns out that we can't use all of it safely, we can try to sell the rest to that Big Joe person, unless he won't take it," Dominia said. She didn't like the idea of the Aggrodrive being used by any of her present company, least of all, her Commander.
Sigurd seemed to be in agreement with this. "Wouldn't it be better to just sell it all and get money enough for all those expensive gear upgrades in return?"
"As much as I'd normally agree with you, Sigurd, we could use every edge we can get in this last fight," Fei said, holding the Aggrodrive up to the light.
"What's the plan?" Dominia wondered if Id had been put on Aggrodrive before being deposited at Elru, and mainly asked to get her mind away from that thought.
Fei nodded. "We let Doc and you sort the DRIVE," he said, giving Dr. Ricdeau a distrustful look. "You two seem to know the most about how to use it responsibly. After that's done, we'll go down to Zeboim and try to sell the excess to Big Joe and see if we can't get those upgrades paid off. Whether we can or not, I'd still like to make sure we're all upgraded before we enter the Merkava again. The Yggdrasil's gear techs are very close to finding out what's wrong with Vendetta, so when Ramsus wakes up, it won't be long before he's fully capable of joining all of us. That is, if he wants to." He slid Seraphita's case back to her for now and she pocketed it again.
Dominia nodded. "If he doesn't, I've agreed to stay behind and watch after him so he doesn't become a problem for the rest of you. I think he'll agree to it, but there's a lot of bad blood between all of us. Thank you for taking us in even if you didn't have to. It means a lot to me that you've cleared us off some space and are trying to fix the Commander's gear even though we've been perfectly rotten and worse to all of you in the past..."
Jesse clapped a hand on Dominia's shoulder. "Once an Element, always an Element. We got a fight to fight, and what we can't make work face to face, we can split back up when we win. We owe Kahr that much to give him the chance to get Krelian back for all the shit he's dragged him through."
Dominia smiled and the others seemed to nod in agreement.
Jesse put a bottle of something on the table and the man Sigurd had pointed out as Lawrence Maison began passing out wine glasses to the adults. "Before we get all responsible, how's about one last drink while we're all still together?"
Billy rounded up those he considered not of age (himself, Primera, Marguerite Fatima (who had avoided all of the girls the entire night), Chu-Chu and Maria Balthazar) and said his good evenings politely. He must not have known that Kelvena and Tolone were both his age, or just knew better than to ask a guest of honor to leave. Seraphita nudged at Tolone. "Wonder why he was tryinna ask you where you was from?"
Tolone shrugged. "Iunno. We kinda have the same look, I guess. I'm 'from' Krelian's lab."
"I would not brush off an opportunity to bond with our new teammates. These next few days will be crucial if we are going to work together to stop Deus," Kelvena said.
"She's not wrong, Tolone," Dominia said. A shadow came up from behind her, and the other girls blanched a bit. She turned around and Rico Banderas offered her a glass.
"Thank you for apologizing," he said.
Dominia took the glass offered and Seraphita and Tolone dispersed themselves back into the rest of the crowd. "When things are over, I'd like to help rebuild Nortune, if that's acceptable."
"I would appreciate it if you did. Nortune has been due for a rebuild for decades, so it's a long time coming. I couldn't help but notice you flexing for Billy's sister earlier, which makes me think you'd fit in really well. That and Kislev is the Demi-Human capital of the world now, what's left of it," Rico said.
"The heart of Nortune is powered mostly by ether generators, is it not? It is likely it will shut down entirely after we vanquish Krelian," Kelvena interjected.
Rico nodded. "Yes, that's right. We've escorted most of the survivors just outside the city in case things get dangerous. We need to look further into better urban planning when we get the chance. I've asked for Doc Uzuki's help in this. Do you think any of you might know anything about that kind of thing?"
Dominia and Kelvena looked at each other. "Tolone probably knows a little bit, but I do not think it is her forte," Kelvena said.
Various chatter persisted into the night. Plans and hopes for the future, rebuilding projects in Nisan and Kislev and Shevat were subjects heavily favored. Tolone knew enough about urban planning to impress Rico, and the girls decided as a unit that Nortune was their first destination after Deus was defeated.
By the time that decision was made, Sigurd had passed out in his chair mumbling something about Nisan. The rest of the night started to blur as Jesse challenged everyone to shots. Kelvena ended up drinking too much, so Dominia ended up piggyback riding her back to their room after she'd gone the way of Sigurd before her. Seraphita checked to see if the Commander was still asleep (which he was) and Tolone retrieved their laundry. When they reached their room, they were exhausted enough that all of them just collapsed on the mattress clearly meant for Ramsus together.
Dominia was roused by Tolone's alarm buzzing the next morning. Kelvena had wrapped herself around Seraphita's arm, and Tolone was snoring loudly. She disentangled herself from the Elements pile and got dressed. Just outside the room, Vendetta looked even more taken apart than before, and she went to check on Ramsus again. He was still out. Not really sure of what to do, she returned to the other girls and laid back down until they woke up.