HEY GUYS LONG TIME NO UPDATE! SORRY FOR THE DELAY BUT SCHOOL'S BEEN BRAIN-WRACKING FOR THE PAST MOTH OR SO. ADD TO THE FACT THAT I (LIKE ANY GOOD AUTHOR) SUFFERED FROM WRITER'S BLOCK EVERY NOW AND THEN AND YOU'VE GOT A RECIPE FOR A LONG TIME. ANYWAYS DON'T WORRY, I WON'T ABANDON THIS SO WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY HERE'S THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF RADIANT CHRONICLES!
"Ah crap I almost forgot about meeting Kanono!"
Such was the thoughts of the young blonde descender as she ran back and forth between her closet and the bag on the bed, unceremoniously tossing clothes, towels, underwear and whatnot into it. Just an hour or so back she had just met her guardian, Riku, who managed to find a room for her to stay in as she lived there with him whilst learning a few tricks of the trade from the retired guild member now turned blacksmith. Now she was in such a mad rush that someone would have thought the devourer was right outside her room.
"What the heck's going on here?" came the curious voice of Riku who stood in the doorway watching his young apprentice turn her cabinet inside out just after she spent the last few minutes arranging it.
"I almost forgot that I was supposed to meet Kanono and the girls at the hot springs!" she said without even pausing to look at him. After quickly deciding on some easy going casual clothes she immediately began stripping down in front of Riku who at once fell down from a heavy nosebleed muttering something across the lines of "I'm not a pervert, I'm not a pervert......"
After strapping on her shoes she quickly turned around to say goodbye to Riku and found him on the floor still suffering for extreme blood loss but shook it of as the heat getting to him. With a quick "Ja ne!" she jumped over him and ran (more like jumped) down the stairs and shot out the door like a bullet leaving nothing but a trail of dust behind her as she went to meet her new friends and comrades.
It was only a few hours after she had just settled in and already her life seemed to have gone from zero to hero in just a short span of time. Sure only she, Mormo and her caretaker Riku knew her secret but somehow the burdens and tasks seemed to be stacking up one after the other.
'Oh well its nothing a small bath with new friends can fix' she thought as she neared the hot springs, slowing her pace down to a jog so as to not overshoot her meeting place.
Finally coming to a halt outside the spring's gates she presented her identification(she got one from Ad Libitum to allow her to blend in since Ganser kept a steely gaze towards suspicious people, especially those who aren't 'registered') to the manager on duty who gave her a curt nod and told her that the others had already gone in ahead just a few minutes back. Giving her thanks for the quick info she walked into the women's changing room and took of her clothes and placed them in one of the many baskets provided while taking the towel that came with it before placing the basket on the uppermost shelf. After she had done so she wrapped the towel around body and proceeded to enter the springs. Opening the door her eyes immediately had to adjust due to the amount of steam but nevertheless she spotted the ever noticeable pink hair of Kanono which stuck out even more since she was right next to another girl with pink hair except it was longer and tied into a high ponytail.
"Hey Kanono!" she called out jogging quickly towards the now identifiable group of women, momentarily forgetting the fact that the stone floor was wet
The Ad Libitum girls turned their head towards the blonde bombshell as she called out Kanono's name and although she was wearing a towel, the cloth just failed at hiding he 'assets' and had each one of them blanching at their own.
"Kanono! I need to ask you somethiiiiiing!!!" she called out, screaming the last part as she finally learned to slip and fell straight into the pool of hot (and I mean HOT) water
Lets just say that it wasn't so pretty
"KIIIYAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
"Oh well at least there wasn't any lasting damage right?" asked Kanono
"You call a perfect imprint of Laena on the hotspring's floor no lasting damage?" asked Raine, rubbing her forehead in amazement, just what is it with blondes and imprinting themselves in hard places (pun on a certain angelic klutz )
It had just been a few hours after their little escapade at the springs and after a little explaining to the manager they managed to get off scoot free of trouble. Of course even the manager was stumped to find a indent of a woman on the bottom of the hotspring's pool and even more so that the owner of the imprint was just relaxing like nothing even happened. Now we find the group of 4 were making their way back home after eating at the inn.
"But at least you girls were right," came the voice of Laena "The hotspring does wonders on stress, right Arche?"
"Yeah but drying my hair afterwards is a real pain" Arche replied, swinging her long ponytail hair to get a few last water drops out of it
Laena thought that Arche was a bit eccentric, first she asked, no commanded, Laena to call her boss and all since she was the senior member of Ad Libitum then got mad after calling her 'senior member' and then went completely friendly by offering her assistance in missions because of her prowess in magic. Whether or not the girl suffered from major mood swing or if it was just her personality Laena found her quite interesting to be with. She was knocked out of her thoughts when Kanono called her name and reminded her which path to take home since she almost missed the turn towards the blacksmith's. Giving her goodbyes she turned around and was about to run back home when Raine called out to her.
"Laena you'll be doing your first few official missions tomorrow, so don't be late since Kratos will be giving out the assignments this time"
A grin found its way onto Laena's face as she ran back home filled with excitement, anticipation and a tiny bit of worry
'my first actual field mission!'
The next day found Riku trying to have a quiet morning coffee, which is hard when his tenant woke up late on her first mission day. He chuckled a bit as he watched the girl who is supposed to be tasked with saving the world make a fool out of herself as she blazed through her breakfast stuffing her mouth like a fool. Yet in the process he found himself reminiscing about his own youth, when he was a member of Ad Libitum himself. Back then he was brash, bold and a loudmouth to boot, always taking the risk no matter the danger. Without realizing it his eyes had drifted to a glass box displayed on a shelf hanging above the doorway, what was odd about it was that is was definitely a sword but it was wrapped in multiple pieces of black cloth and sealed with chains. Frowning at the box, hands fell short of his mouth and the cup of hot coffee wound up pouring into his lap.
"YEEEEOWCHH!!!" he cried out, jumping out of his seat, grabbing the nearest towel and wiping his pants
"Oy, Riku what's got you spaced out?" Laena asked, grabbing a towel and helping clean up the spill. Riku just realized he must have really been thinking a lot because Laena was now fully garbed in armor and was preparing to leave.
"Ah it's nothing. just dwelling on the past a bit" he said with a small tone of sadness in his voice, which was not missed by Laena. Thinking that she shouldn't pry any further she just nodded and made her way towards the door when Riku called to her. Turning around, her reflexes immediately kicked in as a white blur hurled itself at her. In the blink of an eye, Laena was holding up a dirty white rucksack (most likely from the soot) with a noticeable red cross in the middle.
"Some extra supplies you might need since this is a Kratos mission, you may have been training and got a hang already of the monsters at the foot of the World Tree but it wouldn't hurt to be careful in case he assigns you something tougher. I've packed a few gels but remember they only heal you temporarily, don't rely on them too much, a med kit is still a better choice but is less useful in battle or if you've got a priest, let him do the healing"
"Right Master" Laena replied as she opened the door
"And one more thing" Riku called out
"Hmm?"
"Go for the throats, remember you're a thief class so speed is your best asset, not your defense or attack so aim to end things quickly"
"Thanks for reminding me" she said, smiling at her mentor as she closed the door behind her and walked down the path to the town square, all the while reviewing the thief's guide's notes on Diving Dragon thinking she might be able to pull it of today. Soon enough she found herself in front of library with the sign 'closed for the day' tacked haphazardly into the wooden door and found herself giddy with anticipation. Remembering she was almost late put her mind back on track as she opened the door to find all the members assembled, save for Kratos whom she couldn't find in the small crowd (and mind you he was a very distinct character)
"Leana, good morning!" Came the ever-cheerful voice of Kanono "You made it right on time, Kratos just had to discuss something with Raine for a bit before telling us what's going to happen"
At least that put her mind at ease about being late, now the only question left was what was Kratos calling everyone for? Isn't this just supposed to be some small-time mission? Lucky thing Reid had decided to voice the question himself.
"Hey guys does anyone know why we all have to be here?" he asked leaning back on one of the wooden pillars "I mean this would usually mean something big right?"
"For once he has a valid point" Chester agreed, looking worriedly at Kanono for a second "If this is a big mission though as Reid says why call on the rookie member's as well?" he said, sparing a glance at Laena who caught on immediately.
"Hey listen Chester I may be new but I've been training like mad for the past days and I'm pretty sure I can handle myself well enough"
"That's not what I'm trying to say" Chester immediately replied realizing the verbal jab he made "I mean it's just kind of early for any of the really important ones to be assigned to you since you still don't know the layout of the surrounding forest or areas other than the foot of the World Tree as well as we do"
'Can't argue with that logic' Laena thought
"Maybe it's reconnaissance like what Kanono did a few week back?" Arche thoughtfully added
"Oh hell no!" Reid burst out "I am not staying for six days, without food, stuffed into a wine barrel just to listen to Ganser's men talk about girls and whatnot"
"But they spilled their raid time's didn't they?" Kanono said "that's useful info in itself, without it our refugee camps would have been blown"
"But still 6 FRIGGIN DAYS! No roast beef, miso soup, curry, shortcakes........"
Laena decided to ignore Reid's food drama for the time being and asked Kanono as question that's been bugging her since last night
"Kanono" she whispered catching her attention, while motioning for her to come closer. Wondering what her friend wanted she made her way to where she was standing
"Where's Mormo?"
"He said he'd accompany us out if the mission takes us far but right now he's in the back room with Kratos and Raine, offering tips to whatever the mission is"
Before she could ask any more Kratos, Raine and Mormo walked in (or in Mormo's case, flew) Almost at one everyone straightened up, even Reid stopped his rant to listen. Once Kratos thought that he had their attention he began talking.
"You are all probable aware of the missing refugees situation right?" he asked, everyone except Laena nodding her head
"What do you mean 'missing refugees'?" she asked
"Sorry I almost forgot that your new here" he replied "But I assume that you know what Ganser does to people who don't meet their quota right?"
"Yeah, the tiny terror gets a tantrum and banishes the poor sap for some whacked-out conspiracy"
Everyone chuckled at how Laena just called Ganser a tiny terror, which they realized was true, just remove the weird hat and he stands quite shorter than any of them.
"Yes he does" Kratos said "Usually we knock out the guards who escort them out and have them think that the prisoner just escaped while we take the refugee to safety, but recently we have not managed to retrieve a single citizen because they never make it past the front gate"
"You mean that Ganser has some sort of underground prison?" Genis asked
"No it's just that they seem to vanish into Ganser's house" Kratos continued, making everyone's eyes widen at the statement
"That's impossible Kratos!" Chester said, his eyes narrowing in slight anger "I thought you said that Ad Libitum knows every way out of Ailily!"
"We do" Raine interrupted "We now have suspicion that Ganser is using magitech teleporters somewhere in his mansion to transport them to a holding facility"
Mormo then flew to the top shelf of nearest bookcase and retrieved a map and laid it out on a nearby table for everyone to see
"According to what we think there are only a few choices where Ganser can hide that many prisoners and the most likely is here" he said pointing to the north west of Ailily, to a old decrepit structure with a massive crystal floating over it. Even if it was just a picture the place seemed quite menacing.
"The Hallow Bastion" Mormo stated "It's been unused for several years now and from the old blueprints we found in the back of the library the place is huge enough to hold a lot of people
"What's a Hallow Bastion?" Laena asked
"It used to be mana shield generator for the World Tree to protect it against the devourer but Ganser shut it down saying that it was draining too much Mana and costing him a fortune to keep it in check"
"And leave us susceptible to the great terror?" Arche asked, amazed at the man's stupidity "How did such a man even become our town's leader"
"Through money, and political know-how" Genis muttered bitterly
Laena took a good look at the building while everyone else debated on what to do when a sudden pain assaulted her covered eye, clutching it as pain shot through her body like someone had fired a lightning spell at her at point blank range. What shocked her even more were vivid pictures flooding her mind shifting through in bright flashes of blue (Think when Cloud gets affected by GeoStigma), of people, fathers, mothers and children alike screaming in horror at some massive looming shadow, a man in a lab coat staring at a tank containing something but went by to quickly for her to see, a woman kneeling to a man, and finally a huge monstrosity with a gem like eye standing behind the maniacally laughing Ganser.
"Laena are you okay?"
Raising her head and changing her facial expression quickly to hide her sudden pain, she found everyone looking at her quizzically
"Nah, its nothing, I was just deep in thought" she said, a smile plastered across her face.
Everyone else seemed to buy it as they went back to their conversation about plans but Kratos seemed to be giving her a more thorough look, as if he sensed that she was trying to cover up. In truth she actually wasn't far off. Kratos, being the head of guild itself (at least in Ailily) had noticed that she was taking sharper breaths in quick succession but even so he decided not to pry any further and resumed talk about the plans.
"So how sure are we anyway that the Bastion is in use?" Reid asked "It may be that Ganser's a lying bastard but the place seemed pretty dead to me when I came close to it during a hunting mission"
"You only saw the outside" Genis pointed out "and more than likely you were focusing on getting the mission done so you could eat that you didn't notice anything else"
"Hey! I notice things even when I'm hungry!"
"Well sending in a extraction force is useless if we don't know what's in there in the first place" Laena said
"Laena has a good point" Kanono agreed "walking in without any prior knowledge is taking major risks to the mission and to the safety of the captured"
"Wait, didn't Lloyd get assigned to take out a few monsters in Hollow Bastion?" Chester said, holding his chin in contemplation
"Lloyd?" Laena asked "who's he?"
"Lloyd Irving is one of our members" Raine filled in "you haven't seen him since he takes a lot of long term missions"
"But as Reid said Lloyd knows the place so where is he?" Arche spoke in frustration
"The mission was supposed to be an easy one but he hasn't returned so far, nor have we heard any word from him" Raine admitted "As of now we have labeled him as M.I.A"
Everyone seemed to just stop and think. Without Lloyd there was no info and without info there was no assurance that there were even prisoners there. The risk of walking into Ganser's men in a supposed home base was large and already suspicion that Lloyd had been captured was dawning on everyone. This was a major problem with no pros to balance the cons. Suddenly Laena had an idea, sure it was risky but if she did it right then everything would be set.
"How about I do a recon sweep of the area?" she suggested before adding "on my own"
"Are you nuts!" Reid shouted "We have no idea what we are even up against!"
"Actually," Kratos began causing everyone to stop and look at him
"Thats a well suited plan for you"
"WHAT!?" came everyone's reaction
"Think about it, being a thief class she can slip in undetected at night and on her own she'll have less chances of being spotted by whatever is in there"
"But still" Raine started, worry evident in her voice "are you sure you want to assign this to our rookie member?"
"She'll only stay a rookie if we keep holding her back" Kratos said, a tone of finality in his voice "Besides, only she has the skill to do this" At those words Laena felt her chest swell in pride seeing that he was helping her and acknowledging her at the same time. No one else could argue at those points he made seeing that she was the only thief class among them.
"But even I have my worries" Kratos added "So Mormo will accompany her"
Laena was about to argue until Kratos pointed out that Mormo's size and flight will render him invisible and that she could use him to teleport out in case things got messy.
"This will be a simple recon mission" Kratos said seriously "We only want you to find any sign of human activity in that area and don't engage any hostiles if possible"
"If you need any help in preparing I can give you some extra supplies" Kanono added
"Some training wouldn't be too bad" Reid added "Since this is a night mission you've got to be prepared for tougher monsters since the darkness brings out the real tough guys"
Laena couldn't help but tear up in happiness at her new friends. She had only been born a few days back and thrust with a job no one alive would take but now she had the backing of her new friends. This was her time and she wasn't about to disappoint them.
"Okay prepare for the mission!" Kratos barked "tonight you'll be infiltrating a possible enemy base camp for a recon mission, so do your best in preparing and executing the mission"
Putting on a smile, she couldn't help but give a laugh and a salute at Kratos, who acknowledged with a small smile before she began walking to the door to get some more supplies and ready herself for her first major mission. As she walked down the stairs to the courtyard she heard Kanono calling out to her. Turning around, she found that the girl had ran out after her and was panting a bit. Yet it didn't deter her from looking straight into Laena's eyes, her own filled with seriousness and a hint of worry which Kanono couldn't tell was there.
"You'll come back right?" she said "You better promise me that!"
Smiling at her friend's worry she placed her hand on her shoulder and looked straight back at her, her own face turned as serious as Kanono and replied
"I promise, and I'll save the people as well as this town and most importantly, you guys, my new family"
With that she took of to tell Riku of the mission, missing the slight blush which had found it's way onto Kanono's cheeks. All she could feel was the anticipation and a single thought
'Alright, now it's time to see what I'm made of!'
WOOT YEAH BABY I'M BACK AND IT'S DECIDED THAT IT WILL BE A LAENAxKANONO PAIRING SO JUST SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT AND SPECIAL THANKS TO YOU GUYS (THE READERS) FOR READING AND COMMENTING ON THIS STORY AND FOR StrangeoneXD FOR KEEPING ME GOING AND GOING (with all the writer's block I've been having I was almost considering dropping again)
SO UNTIL NEXT TIME!
~JA NE!
-aurion123