"No, I told you. Round up the Guardian Force and link up with division HQ in Crossbell before doing anything else."

"Yes, Captain."

She sighed as she unbuttoned her gun holster and left it on the seat next to her. The civil war had taken its toll on her, not to mention the invasion of Crossbell and the skirmishes with Calvard. At any moment, they could have escalated into something way more problematic; but she somehow managed to keep the easterners guessing long enough for them to not fully commit to anything.

She sat down and looked through the window, admiring the reconstruction of what was previously Garrelia into a simple train station and military depot, as they slowly moved further and further away. The train gathered speed and soon enough the landscape was that which she knew well. Erebonia.

Of course, Claire wasn't all alone when doing this. Her trusty cadre of RMP officers that helped her since before the war were all helping keep the order and the lifeline of the empire running like clockwork.

"To think that people lived without trains for the longest time..."

It was getting dark, but she was not sleepy at all. In fact, her trip back to Heimdallr would probably be faster if she simply took a nap, but there was work to be done. Not on the train, although that would be a nice thought. The GF had been subdued in a matter of days, the problem was that most of them resorted to going undercover, and work from the shadows.

She was fine with that, her element was never frontline combat anyways. Claire got up and went to the bar car. She liked travelling on the normal trains, see how everything they did affected the normal people. Millium had Airgetlam and Lechter was often riding alongside the Chancellor himself so they never worried about the trains as much as they should.

And Rufus, well, he had the entire Albarea wealth, and airships, at his disposal. Even if it was now under his brother's command.

Chapter 6

What the Rebellion Taught Us

Her attire caught the eye of a few civilians who scurried away from her path, evidently not wanting any sort of trouble. She tried reassuring them with a smile but that only scared them more. Disappointed, she sat down by the counter. Most of the times, she recognized the people in the trains, more so in the transcontinental railroad, but this particular face was not known to her.

"A martini please."

"Certainly, Ma'am"

She thought that maybe he realized who she was, but his demeanor had not changed since she first went in the room. Methodically studying everyone's reactions to every movement was her... hobby? Would it count as a hobby if that's her job?

A minute later a cold, refined glass sat in front of her, an olive skewer adorning it. Martinis were her drink of choice for various reasons, not just the fact that it was served cold. It could be served sweet or dry, but it would always be the same transparent tones that reflected off the triangular glass as it dripped small drops down the side. If one wanted a cold drink, any other drink would suffice, but none-

"I'm sorry, I never asked if you wanted it dry or sweet." the bartender was apologizing, bowing. He moved to take the glass away, but she stopped him.

"It's OK, I like both either way." She picked up the skewer and took an olive with her mouth before putting the skewer down on the napkin to the side. "You're new here, I would recognize you if you weren't"

"Yes Ma'am. Started right after the war ended." He looked around, at the few customers that were in the train. "Pay's good and I'm used to serving drinks. More than I'd like to admit."

"Oh?" She took a sip, surprised that in fact it did taste better than the ones that she was used to. She herself tried making her own drinks back home but it was not a result she was actually proud of.

"Oh, you weren't just saying that, you liked it sweet as well."

She rose an eyebrow at him.

"No, it's just that, with your demeanor, I figured that you actually liked it dry. I'm just used to serving them sweet"

She took another olive. "And how did you figure that out?" This old man was intriguing to say the least.

Thinking he'd offended her in some way he once again bowed. She quickly reassured him.

"It's just that, normally, the people who drink sweet martinis ask for it."

"You seem to have a lot of experience in dealing with people, for being such a new hire."

Another customer sat on the far end of the counter, glanced sideways and saw her. He got up and left in a hurry. The barman, halfway to ask him what he wanted, turned back baffled.

"It's a normal occurrence." Soon enough her drink was gone, but the barman wasted no time in serving her another, not even giving Claire enough time to ask for one.

"Maybe he's from Crossbell?"

"No, he was imperial. The civil war left a lot of people scared of many things, even if the Crossbell thing did deflect issues a lot." She gladly took the new drink but caught him eyeing the RMP emblem. "I'm off duty, don't worry about it."

The barman sighed before going back to polishing the glasses.

"Ask away." Maybe slightly carefree over the alcohol, she didn't feel bad about confiding to this particular barman. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't had dinner, meaning the alcohol just acted faster.

"Ho-" He seemed taken aback but let a small smile out. I'm not just some random girl, don't worry I won't take offense.

"How was the war?"

Of course, most of the war was not covered by media faithfully, Lechter saw to that, even from below the Azure Tree, so she could understand the question.

"It was… harsh"

Before she knew it, an hour had gone by and her stomach rumbled as she talked. Dinner sounds fantastic right about now.

"We'll be doing a 15-minute stop in Celdic, imperial regulations for all transcontinental trains." he informed her. Of course, she knew this herself as she was the one who made the final call on it. The measure was taken to shift train guards and to report suspicious activity while not looking suspicious inside the train. All lessons learned from chasing the ILF before the civil war.

She juggled the idea of stopping in Trista for a bite, but she enjoyed the company of the old bartender. "Tell you what, I've got a challenge for you." He was already giving her his full attention, but that piqued his interest. "Figure out what's my favorite food while I'm travelling on trains. In fact, let's make it a bet." He liked the idea, they settled on some sort of favor.

While he cooked, she enjoyed the small talk the man gave her. Apparently, he was a butler from a small noble line that was deposed when the railroad took over. Ironic, in a way, but sad. The railway is meant to unify people not destroy lives, that was always their intention, at least her intention. Speaking for Lechter's thoughts was a tall order even for her.

After about 5 minutes he presented her dinner. A plate with a sandwich, chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. A club sandwich.

"I'm actually surprised."

"I'm actually surprised it was your favorite dish as well, I just made the thing I enjoy the most. And that I'm best at doing as well."

Claire sighed, completely defeated by the bartender in front of her.

"So, what was the favor that we were betting on?"

"Oh that. It's not actually a favor, more like a request."

"A request?"

"Yes, you see... I actually have to do a favor for a kid who I helped back in the war." The old man produced a letter out of his pocket. "I agreed to deliver this letter to Ymir, but I don't feel confident sending this the normal way."

"Ymir you say?"

"I think he was a student running away from Thors on the day the war broke out, that's all I know."

She was crossing faces mentally, everyone who left Thors the first day, the people that were not there...

"Actually, they were three kids, not just one. They reminded me of my past, so I helped them move along." He shrugged not thinking much of it. "But yes, since you work for the RMP, maybe you knew who to deliver it to and make sure it reaches. Apparently, the baron there would know who to deliver it to."

Technically, I run the RMP. Also, of course he'd know.

"May I see the letter?" He gave it to her. She eyed it curiously, not opening it of course. It had seen some wear, from being carried around by the old man who evidently was waiting for someone like me, but...

"Why not just deliver it yourself?"

"I would, but I don't really know much about Ymir. I was going to get to it eventually but kept putting it off."

"You work for the railway, I'm sure you could have asked this of any RMP officer…"

"But, none of them wear their heart on their sleeve as you do."

She laughed. "I'm starting to think that you're messing with me."

He was dead serious however, not even cracking a smile. "Everyone from the RMP who I've talked to is constantly worried about what their superior will say if they caught them doing favors for civilians, 'Cool Maiden' or something? I think that's what they said."

She made a mental note to improve communication to the to, drastically. The conversation dragged on for a while, dodging the matter of who she was, of course, to learn how she could improve from an outside point of view.

After keeping the conversation going, she agreed to take the letter to Ymir. Claire had to get to Roer, so it was just a small detour.

"Now arriving at... Heimdallr... Heimdallr..." The speaker told them. She bid farewell to the old man and walked out. She saw that Heimdallr station was in a state of upheaval. Well, it was to be expected, she thought.

Cameramen had gathered beyond the perimeter delimited by RMP guards, by the gates of the station, so the platform itself was not perturbed as the few travelers got off the train, worried by the eerie lack of people on the normally packed place.

"Is he really coming, then, Captain?"

"Are all preparations ready?"

"Yes, Ma'am"

"Then he will be coming."

A single engine and a couple of wagons, one of those which was armored and had no windows, sat lonely on the far end of the station.

"The Ashen Chevalier himself... I can't wait to hear how he beats the Calvardians back to Altair"

She turned around briskly before telling her subordinates that they were not to engage in conversation with him. He should be well rested for what lay ahead, and mere distractions would only bother him.

"Ma'am! Train incoming!"

"He's only a student, how can he-"

"Quiet!"

The train's brakes squealed to a full stop on the far end of the station. Claire simply caught a glimpse of the boy with the walking Divine Knight at his back, he patted it on the ankle as it crouched into the armored wagon.

Claire waited until the Crossbell bound train departed before going back into the RMP headquarters, where she had to field questions about the Heimdallr station being used freely by the RMP to deploy troops and the newly invested Ashen Chevalier by the governor of the capital, Regnitz.

"Surely, governor, as a friend of the chancellor, you could field these questions to him."

"I'm asking you, Captain. Do you agree with this?"

"I have full confidence in the Chancellor."

He sighed as he adjusted his glasses. "You're conflicted, you just can't see it."

"This meeting is over, governor."

He left without uttering another word, finally freeing her up. The station was now busy again, as the last trains of the day started to roll in. She would have to move quickly to get the one to Roer. Of course, she wasn't doing this out of kindness, Marquis Rogner had left a huge mess for her to deal with.

Nothing comparable to what the others were doing. Rufus had to bring order to Crossbell and Lechter was going around western Erebonia, dealing with Cayenne's misdeeds. Rogner was child's play compared to that.

Her trip to Roer was uneventful at best, and she managed to doze off as soon as she sat down.

When she woke up the train was arriving at the station. She took the letter from her pouch, thinking about how she could give the letter to Rean. She figured giving it to him as he left for Crossbell wouldn't help him at all. She didn't come to Roer to give the letter to the baron, but it wasn't a bad idea either.

Without a thought, she found herself in her favorite bar, F. She sighed heavily as she loosened her hair, now really off duty. "I did call him out that day." she stretched her arms as she was offered a Martini. A regular as her didn't need to order anything at this point. Almina, the woman behind the counter came up to her giggling. "Oh? This isn't like you, at all."

"Captain listen to this."

Since she frequented many bars around the empire on her downtime, she got to know a lot of people, and even came across multiple bracers, the few that remained in the country. Toval bought her a martini once, after the whole ordeal in Heimdallr.

"I'm finally seeing someone!"

"Oh! Good for you Almina."

She blushed like a schoolgirl. As she went on and on about how this train operator was a fantastic man, and how he had befriended a few people from Nord on his job until he got transferred to another line. The man was apparently promoted after the war as well.

"The war changed a lot of things here, huh."

"Yeah."

They both looked down into the martini glass for a few minutes of silence as the waltz that was playing came and went. Claire took to paying her drinks on her own money rather than the RMP tab after the war, figuring that her subordinates needed the money more than she did.

However, this time, Almina stopped her. "This one is on me, as long as you help me out a bit."

"Sure, anything."

Almina smiled back at her. Maybe she spoke too soon. She produced a letter.

"He gave me this letter he found on the train, back when the war started, belonged to a blonde girl, student of Thors, that's as much as he knows."

She massaged her temple. "Let me guess. You want me to find the one it was meant for."

"I would expect nothing less from the Icy Maiden" she gleefully went back to her duties at the counter. Claire frowned at her, she knew that she didn't like being called that, but whatever; she let it slide.

"I wish I had that sort of clarity to predict things... no I just have turned into mailwoman all of a sudden." she muttered as she got up.

As she walked up the stairs she just looked at the letter. This one had seen considerably more wear than the previous one. She confirmed her hypothesis after she saw a 'To Rean' on the outside.

An idea came to her. Maybe she can use this as an excuse to talk to Rean finally. She felt he now despised her, part of the reason why she stood back in Heimdallr. Of course, she couldn't say that to her subordinates, but...

OK Claire, this might be your only chance.

1 month later

Trista Station

The perimeter was marked by two RMP men, as the train rolled in, a very quiet train. They'd commissioned a new train for this particular trip, so its brakes were not that harsh to the ears.

The Ashen Knight was tied up at the back, on an unprotected wagon as Rean walked past the few engineers who would be taking care of Valimar.

She was waiting for him at the end of the platform, hoping for a chance to talk.

Why is he going the long way around!?

She quickly made up the distance. This was not how it was supposed to go. Quick. Say something.

"Welcome back, Rean. You must be exhausted."

He stopped on his tracks but didn't turn around.

"Not really. I barely did anything. Everything went off without a hitch, mostly thanks to Valimar's power." He turned halfway. "Not to mention the planning of your people."

Claire was also halfway to getting closer to him to talk at a normal distance, and not with a tank's distance between them. She sighed. "You're annoyed, I take it? By the way we do things."

He turned back. "Not really. Regardless of the means, the war coming to a swift end was a good thing for everyone. As for what happened to Crossbell... I'm not in any position to talk. No, those aren't what bother me."

He finally turned around. "I can buy that you had no idea Rufus was an Ironblood... but did you REALLY not know about my real father?"

She evaded his glare. This was not at all how she pictured this. Why was this happening?

"I didn't have any hard evidence, but I did suspect that might be the case. You just seemed somehow similar. The air about you, your facial features..."

She tried smiling at him, trying to break through his hurtful glare "I was always puzzled by how fascinated he was by your class as well."

"I see. Excuse me, then."

"Re..." She tried to stop him as he simply walked away from the conversation.

"That wasn't the only reason I worried about you, you know... Not that I could possibly tell him that."

She just watched him as he left the station. She left on the same train that he came in from Crossbell, with both letters still in her bag.

Next time, Claire, next time you'll give him the letters.

Epilogue

On the Cold Trail

On a train bound for Heimdallr

Her routine of examining dossiers was the only thing she found true comfort in, that and maybe actually getting her job done properly. It was never really clear to her, however, where the job ended, and her personal stakes drove her to be as meticulous as she was. Her Thors days were not that much different from others', in fact, she was as normal as most graduates. Class VII itself was as normal as they came.

Their paths diverged after only one year, but she was sure that their bonds from everything that happened were as strong as steel. Crossbell had been completely secured now, Rufus and Lechter had already nullified everything that the SSS tried to do, despite the initial setback after the destruction of the orbal network's database. That had, in fact, served its purpose, reminding them to redouble the efforts to keep the SSS in check.

In fact, they seemed to have gone off the radar as well, mostly the same thing that Class VII did. Lloyd Bannings and KeA Bannings aside, Elie McDowell, Tio Plato, Randolph Orlando, Noel Seeker were all being watched. For some reason beyond her, the sixth member was untraceable, but it was of no consequence. The amount of interactions they'd had over the last 6 months were minimal.

With the Bracer Guild branch now closed as well, even the Divine Blade of Wind had nothing much to do to oppose Erebonian rule, but it was all a front. She knew it, and of course, the chancellor knew as well. It was simply the calm before the storm, until they decided to move again, and they would have to be prepared for it.

That was her job.

Her drink spilt all over the dossier of Tio Plato as a pink haired girl hit the glass with her purse.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Flustered, she threw herself over the napkins and tried drying everything up before noticing that it was already pretty much unintelligible. The girl in the green Thors uniform bowed down apologizing before even looking at her.

"Don't worry about it, I already memorized everything."

Perhaps recognizing the voice, she meekly looked up, noticing the blue hair almost instantly.

"C-Captain Claire?"

"Linde? Or is it Vivi."

She laughed.

"Oh, which one, I wonder?"

"Vivi it is then."

She faked frowning back and sat down across her. She would have sat down by the counter but all of the seats were already taken and reading dossiers like she was isn't something a barman should be privy to. Not that it mattered anyways because no one dared approach her, not when she was uniformed up at least.

"Today is a free day, right? Taking a trip to Heimdallr?"

"This late at night? No, I'm going for a job interview that I have tomorrow"

"Then why not take the morning train?"

"Because I can only miss one more class or I'd be forced to repeat second year! This way I can miss one in the morning and barely make it."

Haha! Of course the mischievous one would be this hard pressed to find room.

"A job interview, huh... Then not staying in the army?"

The girl laughed. "I think I've seen enough of war already."

"I'm quite sure that you have a future in the army as a reconnaissance officer, I'd vouch for you."

She smiled back. "I appreciate the offer, but I've seen the effect it had on a lot of people. Rean more than anyone."

A bad silence settled. She wanted to ask but...

"He's changed. With all the upperclassmen graduated and the rest of Class VII gone as well, it's like most people he got along with suddenly left and he's just there, stranded, wasting away."

Staring out of the window, she asked around the subject, trying to not seem interested. "That reminds me, I never got around to delivering something I had to give him."

"That's... not something I would ever expect you to say." Vivi was astonished. "I thought you could outpace an orbal computer with that big brain."

"Haha. No nothing like that, I'm just a simple girl"

Vivi rolled her eyes. "So, what's the thing?"

"Just a couple of letters from the civil war." She'd said too much, she thought she saw a grin show for a few moments.

"Why would you be doing that?"

Groaning in her mind, she started explaining the coincidences that led to this predicament.

"Oh! I want to write one too!" She grabbed a napkin and quickly wrote something in it, before shoving it to her folded up.

"Don't read it! Give it only to Rean!"

"B-But you can-"

"Don't read it!"

"Arriving at... Heimdallr... Heimdallr..."

And with that, the pink haired girl jumped up, waved at her, reminding her not to look at the napkin one more time, and ran off into the station.

Sighing heavily she got up as well, paid for her drink and left the station. Once outside she looked around but trying to spot the girl was a waste of time. She turned around and faced the wall, opening the napkin as discreetly as possible.

'I love you Rean'

She crushed the paper and threw it into the nearest bin, not noticing her own blush.

Fin.

Allow me to have a word with you, random internet person that got this far into the story. Let me preface anything I say with a huge thank you. Huge thank you, for actually reading this far into the story.

This began as a really bad idea that bloated into a massive project for me, I just hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing it. If I have to be honest, however, this wasn't a fun project, rather a really serious one. I spent a lot of work and hours doing this, and I even had to rewrite two chapters in the way because I didn't approve of how bad the writing was at start.

I have to once again thank everyone who got this far, but I have to really thank Kitsune547 and YotakaOfAloy, massive help from both of them. They sacrificed their free time to beta-read for me, and I have no words for how much they helped me, once again thank you.

Minor thanks go to everyone on the Falcom discord who bothered answering lore questions where I couldn't find playthroughs that helped, as well as the two other guys in #f.

And above all I want to thank Nihon Falcom for their games that managed to reignite my passion for writing.

I do have a couple of other projects slowly baking in the oven, so I hope everyone who stuck with me through this story will look forward to them!

Once again, thank you for reading, and staying with me through this long journey.

See you someday!