Chapter 4 - Diplomats
Midchilda
The initial plan given to Bathory's group was that the Midchildian diplomatic party would travel by spaceship to Siba. However, the group awoke to new orders. They would meet at the Ground Forces Headquarters to use the Bureau's private teleportation chambers.
Arin, Asana, Bathory, and Negati soon found themselves in a large elevator with Fate, climbing up the countless floors of the building. All were back in their uniforms – the light-and-dark brown coats of the Ground Forces for the visiting group and the black Enforcer uniform for Fate.
"Are we transporting straight to Siba?" Negati asked. "They do have pads to receive us. Siba isn't that backwater."
"No," answered Fate, "we are continuing with our travel plan. It's just that our ship would not have easily been able to use Midchilda's port for docking. It's hovering above the planet as we speak."
The elevator continued rising and Bathory watched the display as the floor numbers counted steadily towards their destination.
"Fate," he asked, "where is Hayate's group? Are they on board yet?"
"Not yet. They are waiting here for our arrival."
"So… when that door opens, who are we going to see?"
"Hayate, Signum, and Vita – oh, and their unison devices as well. Reinforce Zwei and Agito."
Bathory's throat suddenly felt dry. He swallowed, though that did little to soothe it.
"Okay, we're now mingling with some very important company. Any words of advice?"
The elevator slowed as it reached the teleportation chambers and Fate smiled lightly.
"Try to be on your best behavior. I wouldn't worry - You will fit right in."
The doors opened, showing the lobby to another floor of the Headquarters building. Fate noticed Hayate and her party and she walked over with her guests following behind. As she got close, Hayate went in and hugged her friend tightly. Bathory and Negati looked on at the one Ace they had never yet met – Commander Hayate Yagami, a woman with medium-brown hair where her bangs bundled up and fell down above her eyes and the back of her hair went down below her neck. She had two yellow bands wrapped parallel to each other around some of her hair on her left side and two red bands in an 'x' shape around some hair behind that. She wore the blue uniform of the TSAB Naval Division.
The rest of the group matched Fate's list and Bathory scanned his eyes over them. By Hayate was Reinforce Zwei, now the size of a doll and hovering in the air by her master. Behind them were two of the Wolkenritter, first Vita – the knight of the iron hammer, far shorter and younger-looking than the other woman – and then Signum, the taller flame knight with long, purple hair. By Signum's shoulder, another minitature doll-sized girl hovered about. Agito had crossed her arms and was looking sternly at the newcomers.
Hayate stepped back and as Fate's group stood in front of her, they bowed lightly and Arin addressed her.
"Commander."
"Welcome," said Hayate. "I'm glad to see you answered our call for assistance. Was it a nice trip here to Midchilda?"
"Excellent," said Negati, "and we're happy to be here."
"Good. I'm glad to finally meet you all. We never quite crossed paths when you were here before. Though it sounds like you have met Vita and Signum once or twice, correct?"
Bathory glanced over at the two knights and the unison device beside them. Though they all remembered the specific moments mentioned, Vita and Signum kept their faces professionally formal. Agito, however, glared at Bathory with a look that could have turned him to stone.
"Correct," answered Negati.
"By accepting this mission, you will be under my command for the duration of it, with an official role as Diplomats from the Administrated planet of Midchilda," said Hayate. "You will be reinstated into your prior positions upon completion of our mission…or upon abandonment of it if we shift to provide combat assistance to Siba. I hope that doesn't happen."
"Neither do we," added Negati. "We don't want to see our homeworld fall."
"And so I expect you to carry out our tasks with the highest priority. Diplomats Kardenis, Kardenis – heh, we can go to first names once we depart -, Vesceron, and his Familiar Asana, I welcome you to our team."
Bathory and Negati replied with muted thanks. Asana's tail twitched wildly back and forth at her excitement and her acceptance drowned the others' out.
"Rein," asked Hayate, "is our ship ready for us?"
"Yes, Miss Hayate!" cried the small white-haired girl. "We're ready to go."
Hayate nodded and looked around the entire group.
"Good. Follow me."
Hayate turned to walk towards the teleportation chambers and Fate followed. Signum and Vita lingered, following alongside the diplomatic group. Asana moved next to them and looked in awe at the knights.
"Wow," she said, "are you really the Vita and Signum that people talk about?"
"Depends," said Vita. "What do they say?"
"Oh, good things! Really good things! You're ancient warriors from the past, right?"
"It's more intricate than that," added Signum. "Perhaps Testarossa or Mistress Hayate herself could tell you."
"On that note, I'm sure it's been addressed but there may be some misconceptions about you on Siba," said Bathory.
"Hmm?" asked Signum. She glanced at Bathory out of the corner of her eye.
"Siba understands and knows what they want to. To them, the Wolkenritter are fierce warriors, returning Ancient Belkan to a universe that had been washed over by Midchilda. Many of us on the Siban Bureau looked up to you and wished we could meet you."
A very slight smile formed on Signum's face.
"I remember that was our conversation topic many years ago."
With that prompt, Agito spun around to face Bathory.
"I remember all of it, ya know!" the girl cried. "You never did apologize for being a jerk."
"Agito, drop it," said Signum. "He wouldn't be here if he didn't want to help."
"Right," said Bathory. "And if you remember, we blamed Hayate for keeping you away from us. She stuck you in the heart of Midchildian magic where you didn't belong. She won't be treated well on Siba."
"Don't worry, they ain't gonna put a single finger on her," boasted Vita.
"They think their voices will work fine…" said Negati.
The group reached a large room with a circular pad in the middle of it. In front of the pad was a female officer at a control station. Following Hayate and Fate's lead, the rest of the group assembled on the pad, with plenty of room still available for more people to stand. If this were the transportation pad, it had been obviously designed to send a lot of forces off-planet quickly.
"Ready, Commander?" asked the officer.
Hayate stood at the front of her group. She nodded.
"Ready!"
The officer in charge typed away on the holographic panel and soon the outer rim of the pad began to glow with the energy of the teleportation spell. A solid wall of energy formed up out of the rim and towards the ceiling, surrounding the group, and below them a Midchildan magic circle formed on the area of the pad. With it all, there was a sound like something charging up, growing in volume from a quiet murmur to a noticeable rumble. After a couple seconds of building, the spell went off and the group was teleported out of the room.
On a ship in space far above Midchilda, there was a nearly-identical room with a large transport pad as well. A spell formed on it and the group teleported in. Bathory and his group looked around, excited to even be on one of the Bureau Navy's ships, while Fate also glanced around. The exact setup of the room was very familiar to her – though not what she expected.
"Wait, Hayate, did you really..."
The brown-hair Commander formed a wide grin.
"I called in for one extra favor. If we're using a mobile base between our planets, I wanted someone to handle some of that for me. That, and we haven't hung out in forever!"
The door to the transport room opened and a man walked in. He had short dark-blue hair and wore the black uniform of the TSAB Executive branch. The ship staff who were present all stood at attention, and as the man made his way to the newly arrived group, the Midchildans did the same. Bathory, Negati, Arin and Asana followed along, though they glanced among themselves as neither of them recognized the man. He stopped in front of group and commanded their attention.
"Welcome," he said. "I am Admiral Chrono Harlaown and this is my ship, the Claudia."
Siba
Ferraz Delahaye sat in the train car as it rumbled its way down the tracks. She had the day to herself while Siba waited for Midchilda to arrive, and she decided she had to get home before she got busy with the Bureau's discussions. Her sister would say Ferraz was 'blowing her off' if that happened, and Ferraz would rather get one awkward moment out of the way now than fear the consequences of avoiding it.
She was out of uniform and wearing a jacket with a hood that she put over her head. The footage of the incident she'd been on the scene of had played multiple times since it happened and often included the short interview she had to give in the aftermath. Ferraz didn't want everyone recognizing her face, though it was inevitable that someone did. From the brief scan she did with her eyes when boarding the train, there were a couple people who lingered on her in recognition. They kept to themselves though and nobody made a scene. They weren't against the Bureau, or weren't rebellious enough to act on it, and they didn't deserve Ferraz's scorn.
Her childhood home was on the outskirts of Siba Capital in a satellite town that was founded separately long ago but was joined to the capital city as development on both expanded. Near the end of the train line, it was far away from the towering buildings and endless urban blocks into a place that was more spread out and open with tree clusters on either side of the rails. Ferraz looked out the window, watching the sun parse through the trees. There was a blue sky with patches of white clouds in it.
The train began to slow and Ferraz stood.
Here's where the train ride ends…screaming "is this your decision?"
She kept her head down and her hands in her pockets as the doors opened and she departed. A bus line would get her from the station to her suburb and there were no altercations there either. Eventually, Ferraz was dropped off on her street and she finally looked up at her surroundings.
Houses lined the streets, all a uniform distance apart for each other, but this was nicer than the condensed housing in Siba Capital. There was more variety to the structures, more colors adorning the outsides, and trees planted along the yards that grew tall and cast shade across the lawns. It was quiet as well. That alone was somewhat uncomfortable to Ferraz who could always hear sirens in the distance somewhere from her apartment in the capital.
She started walking to her old house. It was just up the street and soon she could see the blue-gray exterior. Even among the peaceful surroundings she found it harder and harder to take another step. This visit was still something she'd have rather not done. Fragmented memories flashed through her mind – figures looming over her, pointed fingers often paralyzing her will, shame swallowing her completely – but she was an adult now and surely she could dance around all of that. She knew Merlina would.
Ferraz reached the front door. She pulled her hood down and knocked. A few seconds later, muffled footsteps came from inside the house and a woman pulled the door open.
"Ferraz," her sister said, "come on in."
Ferraz nodded and followed. She looked around at the inside of the house. It changed little across the years and most of the decorations that had been up since Ferraz was a kid were still there, however wherever floor space was available there were boxes taking it up with various artifacts from the last decades laying in them. As Ferraz stood in the entryway, Merlina walked over to a box on the dining room table she'd been looking at.
"So…" Ferraz said, "how are things?"
"Oh, it's...quiet. With mom gone, that's…quiet, that's how it is."
Though Ferraz put the hood down, her hands went rapidly back into the pockets of her jacket. She had the standby form of Subrosa in one pocket and it felt more comforting to have it within reach.
"Is it just you at the moment?" she asked. "Husband out?"
"Yeah, he's out for a few hours. But even if he were here, he knows he can't help much. All of this was my family's stuff – our family's."
Ferraz had shuffled over to her sister and Merlina looked up at her. She lowered her voice.
"Ferraz, I've been digging through forty years, all alone. How the hell can you just run away and leave this as my burden?"
Ferraz looked away for a moment.
"Merlina, please, I don't want a confrontation. I've told you – I don't feel safe here. There are things I'm keeping at arm's length to even be here now so let's get on with this while we can."
Merlina stared at her younger sister. Slowly, a smile began to form.
"Either way, better here than with the rest of your Bureau friends. I saw you on the news. People really aren't happy with the TSAB, are they?"
She patted Ferraz twice on the shoulder as she went to get the box she specifically wanted Ferraz to look through.
"We're doing what we can," said Ferraz.
"But is it enough?"
"We've kept things under control so far. We'll be able to."
"If you call that 'under control', Ferraz, then I'm calling myself 'the richest woman ever'."
Merlina brought the box over and set it on the table. It was full of old documents. She pulled out some papers that had markings all over them and handed them to Ferraz.
"I'm pretty sure these are yours."
Ferraz looked the first drawing over. There were several stick-figure smudges that she instinctively knew were supposed to be her and the other kids in the daycare she went to. She could hardly remember more than a few faces and names but it was a nice memory. The second drawing was of her, Merlina and their mother. Again they were all stick figures but Ferraz noticed the distance she'd added between herself and the other two and how small she had drawn herself compared to them. At this point, an uncomfortable feeling flew through the woman and she took a deep breath to fight back a nauseous feeling. Swallowing, she flipped to the third page.
It was another drawing that matched the previous two. The jagged, heavily-pressed crayon lines formed two figures. One was supposed to be Ferraz herself. The oval that was supposed to be her head had her black hair on top of it, uniform on both sides as it was then, and had two purple dots that were her eyes. Next to that figure was another one, drawn in black outline with a head that was more vertical than horizontal. Here, the entire head area was colored in black except for two white dots for eyes and then a large mouth that showed a full set of clenched teeth, unnaturally tall and wide even given the poor anatomy of the drawings. This figure towered over the girl next to it, and the girl had an obvious frown.
Ferraz's hands shook just looking at this. She shut her eyes and immediately more images came back to her mind. She thought of the many times her mother had yelled at her, sometimes towering over her as Ferraz cradled herself on the floor. Then she remembered a recurring nightmare where this shadowed figure with the wide-open eyes and bared teeth took the same place, always looming over her with whatever cruel intent it had. Ferraz couldn't remember this demon ever doing anything further, but she knew it was there to punish her.
Merlina leaned over and looked at the drawing.
"Wow, Ferraz," she said, "you were such a good artist. Very creative."
Ferraz's eyes shot open rapidly.
"This isn't some random creature. That's you. That's mom," she responded.
Merlina rolled her eyes and dug back through the box.
"Geez, get therapy much?" she mumbled.
That struck a nerve in Ferraz's mind. She reached out and gripped her sister's arm tightly.
"Merlina, this is exactly what I knew you were gonna do. I want an answer, right now. Tell me, why did mom only ever yell at me? Were things really always my fault all the time?"
"I – I mean, I don't know why that's my problem. Ask yourself."
"No, she never got mad at you, always me. Every little thing I did was scrutinized, and everything you did was perfect. Does that make any sense to you?"
"Ferraz, not again. Stop lying. And besides, look at us right now. I'm trying to get stuff done and you're having a panic attack over here. Maybe that explains things?"
"I'm not having a – no, you don't remember? You always had her back too, even when she passed your problems onto me."
"Grow up! How are you still like this? You got all the magic power, you got your own special device, you'd think you could be tougher on the inside."
"Don't deflect me, Merlina. Stop deflecting!"
Ferraz slammed her hands down on the table. The booming sound momentarily paused the argument. The officer took this as an opportunity to get things back on track and possibly de-escalate.
"Merlina," Ferraz said softly, "can you please just acknowledge that we weren't treated equally?"
Merlina lowered her voice to match her sister's.
"I just don't get why that confuses you. I wasn't a problem child."
"Do you think I wanted to be a problem? Do you even think I knew when I was one? I couldn't tell with mom. Even if I did everything perfectly, she'd still find a reason. And that's when you'd do something and she'd pass that onto me!"
At the mention of herself, Merlina deflected again.
"See that's another thing you always do, you keep fishing for what you want to hear. Even on her deathbed, you were treating her like garbage because she wouldn't placate your lies."
The voices quickly re-escalated.
"Treating her – what? You were there! All I asked for was an apology. One acknowledgement across all the years we lived here that I didn't deserve what she did to me."
"Deserve, deserve, deserve – if you're still acting like this as a grown woman then maybe you 'deserve' to get treated poorly."
"When I was a kid, all I wanted to know was what you two expected from me. I stayed to myself, I got yelled at. I spoke up, I got yelled at. I just wanted to be like you so she'd treat me the same. So why, Merlina? One simple question. Why was I not good enough?"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
Merlina grabbed the box in anger and flung it off the table, spreading the papers within across the floor. The argument once again froze and Merlina panted with the anger that had built up. She stared at the mess for a bit before glancing back at Ferraz from the corner of her eye.
"You…you little hypocrite…taking whatever problem you had with mom out on me. She's gone now, Ferraz. You can't manipulate her anymore."
She slowly pointed a finger towards the door.
"Why don't you go? Get out of here. I think we're done for the moment."
Ferraz blinked several times and turned around.
"…about time you said that…"
She headed for the door again and let herself out. As she walked down the street, her hands shook again and she fought to keep herself from crying. Everything she held back during the conversation washed through her though and it kept her close to tears.
Dimensional Space – Aboard the Claudia
"And lastly, here are your rooms."
Signum was with the four mages from off-planet, guiding them around the ship. They had started at the bridge, where they had gathered to watch the ship depart from Midchilda's atmosphere into dimensional travel. Then they had been led by Signum down the many hallways and to some other areas of interest aboard the ship. Bathory and Negati had long ago given up trying to remember the layout of everything they had gone though.
"You'd think you'd need a map to remember all this," said Negati.
"You get used to it," said Signum. "Trust me on this one. Now, your access keys should have been transferred to your devices. Test that now before I go."
Bathory nodded. He held up his right arm and rolled the sleeve of his jacket up enough to show the dark green gem.
"Aphelion, do you have that?"
The green gem pulsed in response.
[AFFIRMATIVE]
Bathory held the gem near the panel for the door and the door's mechanisms activated, sliding open. Next, Arin took a dark grey crystal from his pocket and addressed it.
"Retrigal, do you have it too?"
[IT WAS RECEIVED]
Arin did the same, holding his device close to the door next to the one that was opened. It also beeped and slid open.
"Good," said Signum. "Spend some time getting comfortable and then we will meet on the bridge again soon. Chrono and Hayate will want you to mingle among them more before we-"
She was cut off as a female officer cried out to them rushing down the hall pushing a cart in front of her.
"Excuse me!" she said. "While I have you all together!"
She pulled up to them and the group saw the cart had several sets of clothes on it – blue clothes that matched the uniform she was wearing. The group recognized her as one of the bridge staff.
"Umm, Commander Yagami has provided you with new uniforms for your mission," she said while handing the four sets out. "Under her direction, you will be representing the Time Space Administration Bureau Naval Division."
"You really found something in Arin's height?" joked Bathory. "You might have to stitch together a couple sets."
"We – we used your sizes you had on your files," said the officer. When the four mages all got a set, the young officer bowed towards them. "Please let us know if there are any issues."
Then, she took the cart and wheeled it off again. Signum sighed and address the group again.
"That means Vita and I need to change as well. I'm hoping that this time, Hayate didn't make any special modifications…"
"And what does that mean?" asked Bathory.
"…Nothing. We will call when we wish to assemble again. Farewell."
Signum headed off and the group went into their rooms. Arin and Asana went into one room, and Bathory and Negati took the other. Immediately, they scoped out the room. It was rather large and well-furnished – definitely a room for special guests instead of the expected barracks. A double-wide bed rested against one wall with nightstands on both ends. The wall across from the couple was slightly curved from floor to ceiling. They figured they were probably at the side of the ship and it was that way to match the exterior. Across from the wall with the bed was a decent-sized kitchen area and a bathroom next to it.
Immediately, Negati slipped the brown shoes she was wearing off and set the uniform given on the bed. She opened the closet and saw the large mirror inside, and then she started to undress.
"Negati, aren't we…" said Bathory.
"What? I want to see how I look. Don't you?"
Bathory looked down at his own uniform and laughed lightly.
"Yeah, kind of."
The two got out of their brown Ground Forces uniforms and began putting on their new ones. For both, there was first a black undershirt and then a white collared shirt buttoned over it with a blue necktie to drape over it. Next, there was the legs – dark blue pants covering the legs or a skirt to mid-thigh level based on gender. Negati had white pantyhose that she put on to cover her legs below the skirt. Then, there was the blue jacket to put on and button up, with a fold above the buttoned-up section to tuck the tie under uniformly. After that was a white belt that was looped around the outside of the outer jacket and covered with a matching white buckle. Lastly, there were the shoes for both outfits, though the male shoes covered up the entire foot while the female shoes showed part of the top of the foot open.
The two looked themselves over in the mirror. Negati especially checked all angles, turning to see how her ponytail of red hair fell against the blue back and darker blue shoulders.
"…Huh…" she mumbled. "I like it."
Bathory stood behind her, putting his arms around Negati and pulling her in.
"It looks good on you," he said.
"It looks… distinguished. Important – like you better treat me with respect. Not every officer can get in the navy."
"Sounds like it's time for a career change?"
Both mages laughed – they knew that question wasn't totally serious.
"Might be good for some free drinks while we have them," said Negati. "Gotta get used to the legs though. I don't really cover them normally."
"Hey, you want to see something else?" asked Bathory.
"Sure, why not?"
He let go of his partner and moved to a small panel he saw on the wall. He had a strong idea for what this did, and as he pressed on it, he looked towards the long, slightly-curved wall behind them. His expectations came true as the wall began to slide downwards, revealing windows behind them that looked outside the ship. Currently, as the Claudia traveled through dimensional space, the view showed an ever-changing wash of colors mostly centered around a dark-purple and dark-blue.
Negati stood in front of it, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Bathory stood next to her. He reached for her hand and they interlocked their fingers.
"How did we ever land this position?" Negati asked.
"Remember we do have to go to Siba."
"Ugh. Right. Thanks for the reminder, mister realist."
"Still, we have a day or two to make the most of it. Lay back, watch the show, maybe order room service…"
With a soft moan, Negati stood in front of Bathory, putting her free hand up on his collar and leaning in.
"You trying to say something, Bathory?"
"Ahh…No, Negati, we're…it's not a good time…."
"The uniform kinda makes me want to roleplay, you know?"
"Negati, we're on board with two Aces, two Wolkenritter, and a distinguished Admiral. If we show up and then bone in the first hour, we'll be 25 different kinds of dead."
Negati leaned back again.
"Pah. No fun."
She noticed something with Bathory's tie and quickly adjusted it to be symmetrical. She stood back and looked again while Bathory humored her. Then, she nodded.
"All good?" asked Bathory.
"All good."
Then, Bathory's device started to pulse again. He raised his arm again and looked at the gem.
"Go ahead, Aphelion."
The device projected a screen, and on it was another young woman who'd been on the bridge earlier.
"Hello!" she said. "Admiral Harlaown is requesting you on the bridge."
"We can do that," said Negati. "We'll be right over."
The woman nodded and ended her transmission. Both Bathory and Negati sighed.
"Shall we?" Negati asked.
"Sounds like it."
The two went for the door and stepped into the hall. Arin and Asana were already out there, having received the same request just before. Both also had their new uniforms on.
"To the bridge," said Bathory. "Though, they didn't say anything about giving us a map…"
Siba
The blue crystal pulsed in Daito Mazzanti's pocket.
[SIE HABEN EINEN ANRUF VON – EDELKROONE]
Edelkroone – Hinode's device. Daito paused what he was doing and reached for his device.
"Go ahead, Boden. Answer it."
Daito didn't go with Hinode back to the church. He assumed she'd be calling from it. Not enough time had passed to make it there and leave already – as if they'd let him or Hinode go so quickly. That's why he wanted to avoid the trip altogether but Hinode was more loyal than he was and she took off on her free day to visit there.
The screen opened and the girl was on the other end. She was wearing her Sister habit uniform and looked concerned.
"Ahh…D – Daito," she stammered, "hey."
Something about her wide, pleading eyes kept Daito focused on the screen.
"Hinode," the boy said, "what's going on?"
"Umm…your…p – presence is requested at the church…"
"Who told you to say that to me?"
"Ahh…uhh…Sister Sharan really misses you!"
"Sharan would understand if I didn't make it. Who else?"
For a moment, Hinode's eyes glanced off-screen to look at something in front of her.
"And…and Diaken Sonderklasse wants to see you too…"
Daito groaned. There was the problem – the Diaken himself wanted to see the boy. Diaken – translated from Ancient Belkan to Deacon in the modern language – was the high role of the Siban branch of the Saint Church. This man controlled the operations of the church and the structure of the members within it. Apparently he would force Hinode's hand to get to Daito.
"Okay," snapped Daito. "If he wants me over, I'll get there. He needs to leave you alone; if he wants to speak to me, he should talk to me."
Before Hinode could answer, a man's voice spoke up from off-screen.
"That is the plan."
The boy gritted his teeth as two hands grabbed the screen on Hinode's end and turned it around. Those belonged to an older man wearing a white coat atop his regular church uniform. His hair had mostly greyed from its original color and he had a connected ring of facial hair from a mustache, down the sides of his face, to a short but prominent beard on his chin.
"Diaken!" said Daito. "Leave Hinode alone. You know you can reach me directly."
The older man crossed his arms.
"I knew you would need some convincing, especially considering our recent interactions. When you failed to arrive earlier with Hinode, I knew to take no chances."
"Well fine, I'll get over there. I'll do it, okay?"
Sonderklasse smirked.
"And you will be here in time for service, correct? I fear you have many troubles you must admit to our Kaiser."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there fast as I can."
"Good. We will be waiting for you."
He ended the transmission and Daito rapidly looked himself over, making sure he had everything he needed to get on the train to the Capital Cathedral.
"Ugh, eventually…" he muttered. "Eventually he'll let me go…"