"...you'll be participating in the Ruins investigation too, Krulcifer-san?" Lux asked in feigned surprise, "But I thought you couldn't participate with the Syvalles, since you're a transfer student from Ymir,"
It was the next day, and he and Krulcifer were in the mess hall, eating a lunch of sandwiches and a salad.
"Yes, but I asked for an exception. There's something I have to do," she explained vaguely.
"...is there anything I can do to help?" he asked gently. She smiled before answering him.
"No, you've done more than enough, after agreeing to Balzeride's challenge like you did,"
"But, if I could do anything else to help..." he trailed off.
"...you really are kind, huh" Krulcifer noted, almost to herself, "And you don't get mad, do you? Most people would be angry after getting dragged into a duel,"
"I couldn't just do nothing though," Lux reasoned.
"...you could've," Krulcifer whispered.
Lux never got to respond though, since Lisha and Philuffy all of a sudden appeared.
"Lux! Can you come to the hangar! I finished tweaking your sword device!" Lisha said excitedly.
"You know Lisesharte," Krulcifer started with a teasing smile, "You shouldn't interrupt two lovers having lunch together,"
"Guh!"
"It's fine," Lux quickly cut in, "I asked Lisha-sama to look at my sword device before the investigation,"
"Lu-chan, do you want an orange?" Philuffy asked, holding out a peeled orange.
"Ah, sure, thanks!" he said, accepting the orange. He had just bitten into it though, before the Triad appeared.
"Ho, did the princess only look at his Wyvern, or did she look at something else too?" Sharis said, walking over with the rest of the Triad and Airi.
"Yeah! Or did she look at something more secretive?"
"Yes. I judge that something's going on,"
"SHARIS!" Lisha yelled, red-faced and mortified, "That's not what happened!"
"Noct!" Airi exclaimed, surprised at her roommate playing along with the seemingly dirty joke. Noct just smile at her in return.
"...I didn't expect you to say such an inappropriate joke, Sharis," Krulcifer said, surprised.
"I'm not! You guys should get your minds out of the gutter!" she laughed, slinging an arm around Lux, who chuckled along with her.
"Lux! Don't laugh with them!" Lisha said, turning to look at Lux.
"But she's right. It wasn't inappropriate," he said, stifling his laughter.
"But what does she mean then-" abruptly she cut herself off.
"Wait," she said, turning to look at the Triad, "do they know?"
Lux nodded his head, and Lisha seemed surprised, but didn't say anything else.
"...did he tell you all?" Airi whispered to Noct, who nodded.
"...it seems you're quite popular, Lux-kun," Krulcifer said. Of course, she knew that they were referring to his other sword device, Bahamut. She hadn't realized though that Lux had been so close to the Triad, and trusted them enough to tell them his secret.
He seems to be gaining more and more allies and friends at the Academy, she noted to herself.
After classes, at the drag-ride hangars. Syvalles was preparing to head off, when Raigree hit them with a bombshell. Or rather, the bombshell walked in through the door. It was Balzeride.
"...Raigree-sensei," Lisha asked, her voice low, "Why is this man here?" The students murmured their agreement. Krulcifer clenched her fist.
"Lord Balzeride has asked to be allowed to join the investigation," Raigree responded stiffly. She had heard unsavoury rumors about the blond-haired noble, and she didn't trust him.
"Why? Only members of Syvalles were told to participate,"
"...the House of Kreutzer had asked for an exception to be made,"
"Bullshit," Lisha whispered under her breath. Lux silently agreed with her.
"No need to worry!" Balzeride said loudly, "I'm a terrific drag-knight! I'm sure that I'll be able to take care of and protect all you girls! Most of all my future wife, Krulcifer,"
A ripple of indignation went through the students, most of all Krulcifer.
"Lord Balzeride," Raigree forced out through a fake smile, "Please don't coddle or demean the cadets,"
"I've no such intention, instructor!" he claimed.
"...jackass,"
"I think the Black Hero missed a few Old Empire scum,"
"Dang I feel bad for Krulcifer. Having this guy as a fiance,"
"Enough talk!" Raigree called out, "All units, move out!"
As they left Cross Field and flew for a short while, they came up on the cube-shaped Ruins, Garden.
It was massive, covered with a dense forest of the top most side, while its sides were made of a bluish sort metal, with intricate carvings running along most of its surface. It seemed to glow faintly.
"There it is," Krulcifer whispered, before surging forward.
"Oi Krulcifer!" Lisha called out, "Don't be too hasty! All units, spread out and prepare for landing!"
The members of Syvalles obeyed, but before they could get very far, a scream tore through the sky.
"GRAAAAAAHHHHHHH"
Out from a cloud flew an Abyss. But it wasn't a Gargoyle, no. It was a Diablos, a much stronger and faster Abyss. One that could, on its own, wipe out an entire town in the span of a few hours. Its pupil-less blood red eyes gleamed menacingly in contrast to the dull armour covering its entire body.
"Noct!" Lisha called, "How many are there?"
"Just this one Diablos, Lisha-sama," Noct replied, looking at the radar on her Drake.
Suddenly, the Diablos charged at Noct, lunging with its powerful jaws.
Noct though, was prepared.
The daily training with Sharis, Tillfar, and Lux had helped her tremendously, especially for a Drake user, who wasn't expected to do any actual combat. And though she hadn't mastered quick draw yet (none of the Triad had) her strength, agility, and reaction time had skyrocketed. She easily evaded the Diablos, but she wasn't safe yet. After all, her Drake had very little in terms of weaponry. She couldn't take it on in a straight fight yet.
Just as the thing turned to take another jab at her, Lux was on it.
His Wyvern tackled the Abyss, and while the thing turned to snarl in outrage, Lux slashed at it with his greatsword, landing a good hit, but not a fatal one. With a cry and a shove, the Diablos retreated.
But not before grabbing a Wyrm user on the way.
"GAH!"
"Somebody go help her!" Lisha commanded, before she and the others lunged forward.
"Shall we make a wager, Fallen Prince?" Balzeride suddenly said, appearing at Lux's side clad in the purplish grey armour of his divine drag-ride, Azi Dahaka.
"Now's not the time, Lord Balzeride," Lux said darkly, before joining the others in pursuit of the Diablos. Balzeride followed him.
"Whoever takes that Diablos down first gets to have a free shot at the other in our upcoming duel!" he said haughtily, flying beside Lux, as they neared the Diablos, who still held a struggling Wyrm in its claw.
"Wise Blood,"
Suddenly, a shot of cold energy hit the Diablos' arm, and the monster cried out in pain before dropping the student, who was quickly carried away by her teammates.
Krulcifer, from her place nearer to Garden, had her canon raised, magic circles in her irises.
"GRAAAAAAHHH"
The Diablos, angrier now that ever, started foaming at the mouth, before lunging at another student, a Wyvern user this time.
"LOOK OUT!" Lux yelled.
He lunged forward, putting himself between it and the student. The Diablos swung its great scaled arm at Lux, who blocked it with his sword.
"Go!" Lux told the Wyvern user, as he pushed back against the Diablos.
"R-right," she said, before quickly retreating.
"Wise Blood," Krulcifer chanted once again, intending to kill the Diablos.
But something happened, or rather, nothing at all happened. The magic circles didn't manifest. Her divine dress didn't activate.
"...what? Why isn't Wise Blood working?!"
"LUX! LOOK OUT!" Lisha abruptly called out.
*BOOM!*
"GRAAAAAAHHH!"
"AGH!" Lux cried out in pain. Something had just hit him and the Diablos. He felt Wyvern's armour splintering, and the nerves in his back burning and tingling before going numb. He'd gotten hit with a drag-ride's energy canon.
"LORD BALZERIDE!" thundered Raigree, sword raised and eyes glaring dangerously, "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?!"
"Relax woman!" he responded condescendingly, "I was trying to get a good aim on that Abyss, and the Fallen Prince simply got in the way!"
"GOT IN THE WAY?!" Lisha yelled out in fury, "You just attacked your teammate!"
"Scum like him isn't worthy of being MY teammate, princess," he responded with a harsh laugh.
"You," Lisha started angrily, here eyes burning in cold hatred.
"Lisha-sama!" Sharis said, "The Diablos is exploding!"
The Diablos, his body now scorched black, had started cracking and glowing an ominous red.
"Shit! All unites, deploy barriers at max input!"
As Lisha raised her barrier to max, she looked over and saw Krulcifer unmoving, still stunned from her divine dress' failure to activate.
"...why?" was all that she said, a despaired look in her eyes.
"Krulcifer-san!" Lux called out, before forcing himself to move in front of her, his bloody and numb body covering hers as the Diablos let out one last cry, right before it detonated.
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
"...ow, my head," Lux said as he woke up.
Man, I really have to stop getting knocked out.
He was on the surface of Garden now, the one covered by a trees and foliage. His back was still numb, and his head was pounding, but otherwise he was fine.
"Looks like you're finally up, huh," a voice said to him.
Slowly, Lux stood up and looked at the voice's identity, Krulcifer. She looked worn down, but otherwise safe. She offered him a small smile.
"Thanks for shielding me back there. Because of it, I seem to be relatively fine"
"Ah, no, don't mention it," Lux responded sheepishly.
"...you seem to be getting hurt because of me a lot recently, huh," she whispered.
"Pardon?"
"It's nothing. Anyways we should get going,"
"Where?"
"Garden's altar. That was the meeting place that was decided on after all, if anybody were to get separated,"
"...are you sure you're feeling well enough to keep going?" Lux asked gently.
"If you don't want to go, that's fine," Krulcifer responded curtly, "But I'm going, no matter what,"
"No," Lux said, shaking his head, "I'll go with you,"
And with that, they started walking to the center of the forest, were there would be a path that led to the altar. But they didn't get very far until Krulcifer collapsed.
"Hah, hah…" she breathed heavily, breaking out into cold sweat. She had fallen on her hands and knees.
"Are you alright, Krulcifer-san?" Lux asked, kneeling down and putting a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Let's take a break, okay? You shouldn't push yourself too hard,"
"No." she gasped, still trying to catch her breath, "I, have to go, no matter what,"
"...understood. At least let me help you then, alright?"
Lux helped her up and slung one of her arms over his shoulder, supporting most of her weight. And with that, they continued steadily onwards.
It was nightfall now, and they'd decided to make camp. Krulcifer, even in her haste to reach the altar, knew that it would be suicide to try and navigate the forest in the dark.
There was a warm campfire, and the two were eating the hardy rations they'd brought with them on the investigation.
"You know, you're an extraordinarily understanding person, Lux-kun," she said suddenly, setting aside her meal.
"Ah, I don't know about that," he answered with an awkward laugh.
"You're quite humble too, it seems," she responded, giving him a tired smile.
"...you didn't even ask why I'm so dead set on going to the altar," she said softly.
"You have your own reasons for going, and I get that,"
"But you didn't have to come with me," she countered.
"I couldn't just let you go by yourself, especially knowing how tired you were,"
"...perhaps you're too kind for your own good, Lux-kun"
"? I don't think so. You're my teammate and friend after all, Krulcifer-san,"
"...I don't think a friend would be someone who would drag you into a deadly duel just for their own selfish sake," she said darkly.
"I don't think of it as you forcing me, Krulcifer-san!" Lux assured, a bit surprised, "I did it of my own will, because I wanted to help,"
"That's why you're too kind, Lux-kun. I've brought you nothing but trouble and danger since I first met you,"
"That's not true at all, Krulcifer-san," Lux said, shaking his head.
"Well, seeing as we both seem pretty adamant in our stances, how about we put the conversation away and get some rest? We'll be going quite a distance when the sun comes up after all,"
"Ah, yes. You can sleep first, Krulcifer-san. I'll take first watch,"
"Alright, then I'll head to bed Luxー" abruptly Krulcifer cut herself off. She'd been walking to where they'd set up the tents, when she'd notice Lux's back.
His thin pilot suit had been scorched black, with scratches littering his entire back. Where his neck met his right shoulder, shards of metal had dug themselves into his skin, and a thin trail of blood ran from the ugly wound.
Did...did this happen when he was covering for me in the explosion? She thought in horror.
"Lux-kun," she forced herself to say, "When did this happen?"
"When did what happen?"
Krulcifer stepped closer to him, and gently touched the area close to his still bleeding wound.
"Ow!" he hissed. Krulcifer jerked her hand back like she'd been scalded.
"...I'm sorry" she said softly.
"Oh, don't worry! My back's pretty numb, so I can't actually feel any pain unless I touch it," Lux assured with a smile.
"Your back being numb isn't a good thing Lux-kun," she berated softly, "Why didn't you say anything to me before? That you were hurt."
"I didn't want to trouble you with something like this. I'll be fine, I can take this much pain,"
Why can you endure so much? Krulcifer wondered silently. To be honest, it kind of worried her, how little he cared about himself.
"Lux-kun, let's make a deal," she said. Lux tilted his head at her, urging her to continue.
"From now on, we'll rely on each other freely, okay?. You'll let me know when something's wrong, and I'll let you know if something's wrong. Deal?"
"...of course," Lux said, giving her a soft smile.
"Alright then," she said, returning the smile, "Let me help you get those metal shards out of your shoulder, before they dig themselves any deeper,"
Slowly, she started removing the pieces of metal from Lux's shoulder, taking care not to cause him any more harm.
As Krulcifer worked in the glow and warmth of the campfire, Lux was lulled into a comfort that he hadn't felt in a long time. Her touch was gentle and soothing, and so was her presence and company in general, even if they didn't talk. He realized that he'd truly missed this close relationship of theirs. He closed his eyes and exhaled softly.
"Hey, do you guys think Lux-cchi's alright?" Tillfar asked with a worried expression.
"Yes, he seemed pretty hurt before the explosion occurred," Noct added.
"Lux will be fine," Lisha assured, "That guy isn't someone who would go down because of something like this. Just trust him,"
"Yes, the princess is right. Lux is strong after all," Sharis agreed.
The Triad and Lisha were sitting in their own camo, next to a fire. They were lucky that most of the members of Syvalles had ended up close together, aside from Lux and Krulcifer of course. Even Balzeride was here, although he'd long retired to his own tent.
"And besides," Sharis continued, smiling encouragingly, "He's not alone. Krulcifer's with him too, Noct saw them both on her radar"
"But before, she seemed pretty shaken up, since her divine dress malfunctioned," Tillfar said.
"Yes, hopefully they're alright," Noct said.
"You two worry too much! You don't really think Lux'll be taken down by something like this, do you?" Sharis laughed heartily.
"'Course not!" Tillfar laughed, perking up, "I know him better than that! I guess that I'm just worried that the two lovers might get a little too frisky, y'know?"
"Yes. I wouldn't want to report anything unsavoury to Airi, after all," Noct said, smiling slightly, while Sharis laughed and agreed.
"!" Lisha's face went red at their comments, before she sighed.
"Since when were you all so close to Lux anyway," she said to no one in particular.
At her words the three best friends stopped laughing, and looked at each other.
"I guess after he told us about his secret," Tillfar said, "But I feel like that's putting it way too shallow,"
"Yes. I believe that that made us closer, but we'd been close beforehand too,"
"I guess it just sorta happened," Sharis said.
"I have enough trouble just dealing with that air-headed childhood friend of his, I don't want to deal with three other rivals too!" Lisha complained without really thinking about it. Sharis, Tillfar, and Noct all did a double take at that.
"W-wait, Princess!" Sharis said, flustered, "It's, we're not like that! We're just good friends!"
"Yeah! There's nothing like that between us and Lux-cchi!" Tillfar insisted, her face flushed.
"Y-yes. He's just a reliable teammate who we trust in," Noct said, her cheeks gaining the slightest tint of red.
Lisha, realizing what she had just said, and admitted, had a deep blush of her face, but she squinted suspiciously at the Triad.
"Sure," she whispered sarcastically, "At least I can admit that I like him,"
"Princess! Like we said we're not like that!"