Fighters of Kniana

An Etrian Odyssey II Fanfic

by Super Smasher


"Food's ready! Get it while it's still warm!"

All action on deck ceased as the head chef's voice rang out across the ship. As soon as the sound waves from his announcement ceased, a cheer went up from everyone on board, and a mass of sailors and explorers charged the foredeck, running for the set of stairs that took them down to the Galley.


Derek swirled his hardtack biscuit around in the bowl of chowder before raising it to his mouth and taking a titanic mouthful of the floury cake. Kyle, who was sitting across from him, had already devoured his biscuit and was now drinking the bowl of soup as if it were a glass of water. Catelyn, seated to the left of Derek, absentmindedly stirred her chowder with a spoon, hand on her cheek, lost in thought. Derek noticed this, and spoke up.

"Anything wrong, sis?"

Catelyn jerked out of her trance as her little brother's voice brought her back to her senses. She looked over at him, taking a second to contemplate what he had asked before answering.

"Nope. I'm fine." She then ate a few quick mouthfuls of the hot soup as if to prove her point, and then reverted back to staring off into space. Derek knew better than to press the subject, but Kyle, who was not so well versed in the Gunner's mentality, spoke up anyway.

"What?" he asked incredulously, setting down the now almost empty bowl. "I've read too many manga for that trick to work on me. There's something on your mind, and you expect us to know what it is, but we end up being too stupid to figure it out. If you've got a problem, tell us. We're going to be together for a long time, you know."

The girl looked up at him, a menacing expression on her face. "It's nothing." she declared, raising her glass of water to take a swig. Kyle just shrugged and set to work on the rest of his food.

"Do you all mind if I sit here?" a pleasant voice asked. Derek looked up to see a girl hovering over Kyle's shoulder, holding a tray of similar food.

"Not at all." Derek said, smiling.

"Thanks." she replied, setting her vittles down next to Kyle and taking the seat beside him and across from Catelyn.

"Hey," Kyle said, getting a closer look at the girl. "Aren't you the Medic who patched me up after that fight I had today?" Catelyn looked up at this, taking in the young woman for the first time. She seemed about Kyle's age, her hair- orange, like Derek's, slightly obscuring her bubbly, grey-green eyes. The Medic's robe she wore hung loosely over her small frame, her large bag of supplies clinking of glass on glass as she set it on the seat next to her.

"Aren't you the reckless Landsknecht I saw get into an argument with that Dark Hunter?" she asked, smiling happily as she tore into her biscuit with a voracious appetite befitting the most hardened Protector.

"Touche." Kyle laughed, emptying his glass of water. "Name's Kyle. The guy in the armor is Derek, and space-case Gunner in the blue over there is Catelyn."

"Katy." the Medic said, finishing her hardtack.

"Katy?" Derek checked. She nodded. "Is that short for something?" He looked over at his sister, who was now slowly munching some raisins.

"Yup. my birth name is Katherine, but everyone calls me Katy." she explained, chuckling a bit. "Anyways." she diverted her attention back to the Landsknecht beside her. "How's your hand?"

Kyle stopped eating his raisins to examine the palm he had used to grab Scott's whip near the end of the skirmish. A small red line circled around the base of his thumb where the rope had hit his hand, but the earlier pain had since subsided. "It's fine now. Why do you ask?"

She sighed in relief. "That's good. I always like to check up on my patients after I heal them. I'm not a certified Medic, yet, you know. I'm still in training. I heard that the hospital in Central City is one of the best in the world, and there would be a lot of patients there because of the Labyrinth. I thought it would be a good place to further my studies, since there's not a very large amount of the populace involved in medicine back in Evenda." She explained, revealing the location of her hometown. Derek recognized it as a small island not too far north of Kniana.

"You're from Evenda?" A medic there was strange, it had long since been the ancestral home of the Alchemists.

She nodded.

"Cool. We just got on, we're from Kniana."

"Oh, Kniana Gardens!" she gasped. "I was there once on vacation with my family. The flowers are so beautiful in the spring!" Katy went on, eyes sparkling with girlish remembrance.

Catelyn sighed. "Yeah, but it's horrible for those of use who hate bees." she rolled up her sleeve and showed the Medic her arm. It was covered in half-healed stings. "Got it stumbling into a nest near the Lighthouse."

Katy gasped at the sight, immediately diving into her bag. "Wait, I think I have some Salve for that..." she dug around furiously before bringing forth a vial filled with a purplish liquid. She uncorked it and spread it generously over Catelyn's arm. Within minutes, the marks had decreased in size so that they looked only like mosquito bites. The Gunner thanked her for the help, and returned to eating.

"Well, we're going to challenge the Labyrinth." Kyle announced. "Fame, Fortune, Glory. We'll get it all, you'll see." Catelyn stared sadly into her chowder at this remark.

"I wish you the best of luck." Katy smiled. She then looked at the three of them. "Wait. Is it just the three of you that are going?" Derek and Kyle both nodded. "I wouldn't just yet. Without someone specializing in Healing, you'll be pretty much goners. I suggest you find a Medic as soon as you can. That's my advice for you all."

Derek was a bit surprised. "So you wouldn't be interested?"

Katy smiled sadly. "I'd love to, but it would conflict with my education. My skills are my first priority. Maybe once I graduate, I'd be willing to help you all out."

Catelyn looked up again. "Won't that take like a year or something? Everything might be over by then."

"I suppose you're right."

At this point, Kyle grabbed his tray and stood up. "Welp, I'm done. Think I'm gonna take a walk and then saunter off to bed. Been a long day, what with the fight and all." The other three watched him leave.

"I'm just not into it tonight." Catelyn admitted, shoving what was left of her meal in front of Derek. "You can have the rest." She walked out the door and down the hallway, Derek's worried eyes following her.


"So she was the girl you were talking about."

Kyle turned around from the railing. Catelyn was leaning against the mainmast, arms crossed, looking at the starry night sky.

"You heard all that today?" Kyle asked, blushing slightly as he remembered the conversation he had with Derek earlier that night. "Yeah. She was."

"You were right."

"Huh?"

"She's cute."

"Yep."

"...Do you think I'm cute?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Well, It's just that...you know."

"Jealous?"

"Huh?! Of what?!"

"Hahahahaha! Kidding, kidding."

"Boy, you better be kidding, or I'll make sure you never get a chance to see that Labyrinth."

"Okay, okay."

Kyle returned to staring at the waves, gently rolling along the sea. Catelyn walked up to the railing and stood beside him.

"You never answered my question."

"You never thanked me for saving you."

"I told you, I can fight my own battles."

"Didn't seem like it."

"..."

"..."

"...Thanks."

"It's what I do."


In the shadows of the Quarterdeck, Katy watched the two with stoic regret.

"I wish..."