"Well," Aston hummed to himself. "Well, well, well."

"Well?" Anise asked impatiently.

"Well..." the mechanist started slowly, stopping to gather his thoughts.

"Well, well," Jade shrugged, taking his hand out of Tokunaga and readjusting his glove.

"Well?!" Anise cried.

"We're good," Aston finally said, stretching to straighten his back.

"I believe you mean we're well, Aston," Jade commented in his normal Jade tone.

"Don't you start telling me how to talk, you young whippersnapper!" Aston jokingly shouted, shaking his fist at the colonel.

Anise grabbed her head in her hands, spinning her body above the waist to express her exasperation. "Who cares about that? What about Tokunaga?" The doll was laying on the table, enlarged, with the severed enlarged tail sitting on a smaller table nearby. Aston and Jade were going back and forth between the two pieces, examining how the doll moved. Since Anise still had control over the size functions of her weapon, they concerned themselves only with figuring out how Tokunaga moved and how to repair him.

"Have you figured it out, yet?" Anise asked again, impatience growing to near-Luke levels.

"I believe so," Jade confirmed, nodding shortly. "Do you see this sturdy cable that's poking out from the tail?" When she nodded, he pulled back a little fluff from the matching hold in Tokunaga and said, "The same cable is right here. I believe the cable is responsible for movement."

"That's right!" Aston jumped in. "It's a special kind of cable. It's extremely durable, remarkably flexible and seems to have been fine-tuned to be exceptionally responsive to specific fonons."

"Yeah, those would be my fonons, rights?" Anise asked. "Dist told me Tokunaga would be responsive only to my own fonon signature."

"Ah, yes, I figured as much," Jade commented, smirking slightly. "In order to move Tokunaga, you begin by gathering fonons through your fon slots. Then you direct the fonons, which are now imbued with your own fonon signature, into the cable. The cable reacts to your fonons, and then moves wherever you will it to." He scratched his chin, smiling. "I must admit, that's a rather impressive design, coming from Dist the Runny."

"So, wait," Anise said, "doesn't that mean the problem is just that cable? We can just reconnect that, right?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Aston frowned. "The cable is made with a very specific type of ore. We'll have to find that ore, then, and solder the two pieces together with it. Then we can sew the tail back on."

Anise giggled. "You can sew, Aston?"

"Well... no, not really," he replied. "But I've invented a new piece of fontech that should be able to-"

"I'll do it myself," Anise said suddenly, hugging the tail and turning it away from him.

Jade smiled. "You're an accomplished seamstress, Anise?" he said, smiling.

"It's a good talent to have when one is fishing for a rich husband," she smiled back, batting her eyes.

"Indeed," the colonel replied simply.

"Anyway," Anise said, shaking herself out of her marriage hopes reverie, "what kind of ore do we need?"

Aston smiled. "You're very lucky in that regard, little missy! The ore you need is Meggioran Ore, which can be found out in the Highlands. They're particularly windy for this time of year, but you've handled that once, so I think you'd be all right."

Anise blinked awkwardly. "Seriously, Meggioran Ore? That's rather convenient..."

"Not particularly," Jade frowned. "The ore will be difficult to find and excavate with such a small force able to go in. There are monsters in the Highlands, remember."

Anise scowled. "So what? We can take them out, Colonel. Even without Tokunaga, I can still fight! I can still use fonic artes."

Jade looked bemused for a moment. Then his normal face was back up, and he said happily, "Very well, then. Anise, you and I will leave for the Megiorra Highlands first thing tomorrow morning." She smiled at him. "Just be careful," he added. "I don't want you being a liability without Tokunaga, understood?"

"All right!" Anise exclaimed, hand raised in the air. "Colonel, from this point on until Tokunaga's repaired, I'm officially naming you my Fon Master Guardian!"

"However shall I contain my excitement?"

The nice thing about staying in Yulia City was that lodging was very inexpensive. Since Tear lived there, they could either borrow sleeping bags and take the floor or camp out in the garden. Tonight saw the four of them laying in sleeping bags in the garden, talking idly while they slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Baticul or Grand Chokmah?" Guy asked lazily, suppressing a yawn.

"Hm?" Tear mumbled.

"Which would you prefer to live in, Tear?" he smirked. "You don't have an attachment to either."

Natalia eyed her as Tear stumbled through saying, "Oh... Well, I-I suppose... um... Grand Chokmah..."

"Well!" Natalia admonished, though only teasingly and to get at Tear. "Is my beloved home not good enough for you, Tear?"

"N-no, it's not that at all!" the hymnist replied, now blushing. "It's just that... um... Grand Chokmah has those beautiful waterfalls... and..." She kept speaking beyond this, but her last words were mumbled too softly to be heard.

"What was that, Tear?" Luke asked.

"...cute rappigs," she said, embarrassed. The others laughed. "Oh, stop that!"

"Sorry," Guy laughed. "It was just a burning question, I guess."

"Oh?" Tear answered. "Well, you've lived in both. Which do you prefer?"

"Yes," Natalia asked, slightly forcefully. "Which do you prefer?"

Guy sweatdropped. "Ah... let's see. Well, when I was in Baticul, I had to look out for Luke. Now that I'm in Grand Chokmah, I have to look after rappigs."

"So you prefer Baticul?" Natalia pressed.

"Actually," Guy said, grinning, "the rappigs are a little cleaner..."

"Hey, come on, now!" Luke exclaimed, but the girls were already laughing.

"Well," Guy smirked, "I don't think there's any point in asking Natalia, so what about you, Luke?" Natalia smiled as Luke deliberated.

"Really... the mansion's felt a lot more like... ah... home, lately," Luke admitted. "So... I guess Baticul."

Natalia hesitated. "You mean it has felt more like home since Asch died."

They flinched. Of all the people to bring it up, Natalia was the least likely. "...yes," Luke admitted. "I guess I do."

Silence ruled them momentarily, until the princess suddenly said, "Oh! I'm sorry... I... really didn't mean to bring everyone's spirits down."

"No, that's all right," Guy said, flashing a quick grin in her direction, though since she was laying down, he doubted she saw it. "We do have a lot of serious things to think about, too."

"Yes," Tear agreed. "I'm actually a little concerned about something." They heard the rustle of her sleeping bag as she turned, and knew she was now facing Luke.

"Yeah, I figured," Luke sighed. "Let me guess. The Bane of Existence, right?"

"Indeed," she said. "I think we know enough about that to piece things together, even without the Colonel here."

"Agreed," Natalia agreed in her normal regal tone. "What do we know?"

"Well, from what the sentiences have said," Guy recollected, "the Bane of Existence is either the Orb of Lorelei or Luke."

"No one who carries the Bane of Existance shall help me!" Efreet argued. "That alone makes you a threat!"

"You mustn't come near me. You of the Bane of Existance, you must not!"

"You have no right to comment on events in the fon belt," it raged, "you, who seek to bring me ruin, you, of the Bane of Existance!"

"We know two or three things for certain," Tear said. "First, the Bane of Existance is either the Orb of Lorelei, Luke, or some quality about Luke."

"Yes," Natalia offered. "Second, there must be something in error in the fon belt, or else the sentiences would not be so hesitant to remain there."

"More than that, Natalia," Guy said softly. "It's not just that something's wrong up there, it's that whatever is going on up there is deadly to the sentiences."

Luke made a tight fist before he knew what he was doing. "Something's wrong here," he stated. "A sentience shouldn't be able to just die. Did we do something...?"

"Maybe," Tear admitted simply. "Maybe not. What did we do to the sentiences or the fon belt on our journey?"

Luke heard a sudden slap, and looked over to see Guy's hand pressing against his forehead. "Lorelei. We released Lorelei into the fon belt."

"That much we know," Luke muttered. "But what does that mean?"

The princess said, "The Orb must be related in some way, too."

"Right, let's think about that for a second," Guy said. "Luke received the Orb from Lorelei when it passed into the fon belt."

"That's right," Luke confirmed. "We don't know if it was purposeful or not, but the Orb was definitely left behind."

Tear began to think out loud. "The Orb was left by Lorelei. Lorelei went into the fon belt. The fon belt is now dangerous for the sentiences. Therefore, Lorelei's presence in the fon belt is dangerous to the sentiences."

"How is that related to the Orb?" Guy asked.

"Well," Natalia answered slowly, "it could also be that the Orb not being in the fon belt is dangerous for the sentiences."

Tear shook her head. "But the Orb wasn't in the fon belt to begin with."

Guy interjected, "Neither was Lorelei."

"Let's take this one step further," Luke said, mind now thinking in overlimit. "Lorelei's presence in the fon belt is dangerous to the sentiences. The sentiences ran to Auldrant. On Auldrant, the Orb of Lorelei is, or I am, dangerous to the sentiences." He paused, and the others waited on him with baited breath. "...sorry, I don't know where I'm going with this."

Tear jumped on it. "I think I do. Lorelei, the Orb of Lorelei or Luke are all dangerous to the sentiences. Therefore, they must each share something in common."

"They do!" Natalia grinned. "Lorelei, the Orb and Luke are all comprised of the seventh fonon. So, the seventh fonon is dangerous to the sentiences."

"Why?" Luke asked. "I can understand why, say, the first and sixth fonons would be dangerous to each other. They're opposite fonons, they'd... break each other apart or... something."

"That's true," the other swordsman said. "There's not really anything about the seventh fonon that would be dangerous for other fonons, is there?"

"That's a funny way to put it," Tear commented, "since fonons aren't alive, but I see your point."

"And no, there shouldn't be," Natalia frowned.

"The next time we see a sentience," Luke said, "we're going to ask it what's going on in the fon belt for certain."

"No," Tear admonished him, "someone other than you is going to ask it what's going on in the fon belt. You seem to aggravate them."

"Yeah, that's right, Luke," Guy said. "If we want to get any information out of them, I think you'll have to take the Orb and stay out of range for it."

Luke growled in frustration. "No way... I'm the one causing all this trouble, and I can't even be there?"

"This time, it looks like," Guy confirmed. "Don't worry, we wouldn't take long." Luke stayed silent, letting the others plan out how they'd approach a sentience. It was sure to be a sensitive topic, and having already defeated three of them, the remaining three were unlikely to want to talk. Luke turned over in his sleeping bag and closed his eyes. It was only the soft snoring of Mieu off a near corner of the garden that told him he wasn't the first one to fall asleep.

Jade sighed inaudibly to himself. It was an hour to midnight, an hour since he'd sent Anise to bed, and an hour since he was going out on one of the stupidest excursions of his life. Aston frowned at him, disapprovingly. "This is a very foolish move, you know. I was expecting better for a man of your years!"

Jade gave him a half-smile, hidden by the shadows of night. "Don't worry, I fully expect to survive to become a man of your years."

"Oh, a smart guy, eh?" Aston smiled. "Well, let's hope you're right. Now," he said, looking over their emergency supplies. "What do you think you'll need?"

"I could use a standard-issue Malkuth army emergency kit," he said quickly, knowing full well there was no way Aston could procure one at this time of night.

"You could use a sign saying, 'This way to the Meggioran Ore,' for that matter," Aston shot back just as fast.

"I could use a box with a tag saying, 'Fully functional Tokunaga doll inside,' too, but I'm afraid we're not that lucky, Aston," Jade replied. "Now, is there any reason why there isn't any of this ore laying around in Sheridan at the moment?"

Aston nodded slowly. "Meggioran Ore is very rare, to begin with. It can only be found in the deepest parts of the Highlands." Jade put his hands in his pockets, thinking deeply. He gave a curt nod, as though he felt Aston was waiting for a sign of understanding before going on. "Also, like I said earlier, the Highlands are very dangerous at this time of year. The wind is particularly ferocious, and that always seems to rile up the monsters."

"Yes," Jade frowned, "that does seem rather troublesome. The wind did seem to aggravate them when we were saving Ginji."

Aston sighed. "Are you really insistent upon going tonight? If you waited until morning when the shops open, we could get you more supplies. As it is, now, we have rope and a lantern."

The colonel frowned. "I'm afraid I'd like to have this trip done before morning's light," he said simply. He took the rope and lantern and headed for the door.

The mechanist's laughter stopped him at the door. "Oh, I get it!" he chuckled. "You're concerned about the girl being in danger without her doll."

Jade fixed his glasses casually and replaced the hand in its pocket. "Aston, you shouldn't spread rumours about people like that. It's hardly nice."

"Even better when it's true!" he called to Jade's retreating figure as the soldier walked out the door. "Well," he said to an empty room, "just make sure you come back. I'd hate to have to tell that girl of an unfortunate incident..."

Jade didn't hear, of course, as he was already walking with a determined stride out to the edge of the town. If he was to have any success, he would have to be in and out of the Highlands quickly. He'd also have to be prepared to cast on the double, which meant that he'd be relying on lower-level fonic artes. Jade loved his Meteor Storm, but the arte's casting time was just too immense when he was fighting solo.

And fighting solo he would be, because bringing Anise, as much as he wanted to, was out of the question. He tolerated... well, no, enjoyed her company, but it was entirely too dangerous to bring her along into the Highlands without her Tokunaga, especially with higher than average wind activity. The monsters were likely to be aggravated and out in spades. Jade realized what a problem this might be, so he stopped off at the Albiore. He picked up some stones and started bouncing them off the cockpit (even though Noelle had a bed on the Albiore, she always seemed more comfortable sleeping in the pilot's seat). After the fourth stone, he saw her face appear in the window, and the cabin lit up with fonstone lighting. She lowered the ramp and came down to meet him.

Yawning, she managed to ask, "Jade, what's wrong?"

"I'm afraid I'll need you to carry a message to Yulia City," he said. "I'm sorry to make you run around like this."

She shook her head, and as she did, it seemed like all traces of sleep had slipped away from her body. No, don't be," she said. "I don't mind. It's nice to get another chance to fly. Why Yulia City?"

"I'll need you to find Luke and the others," Jade explained. "Tell them I need a specific kind of ore from the Meggiora Highlands in order to repair Tokunaga. I know I promised them a half-week, but I might need their help sooner."

"What's the matter?" Noelle automatically asked.

Jade sighed. Oh, what he wouldn't have given to have Guy there! "Aston told me the winds are stronger than usual," he explained. "I'm concerned. The Highlands are normally very windy, but if they're this bad..."

"Oh," Noelle blinked, "a lot of wind means a lot of third fonons."

"Exactly. Please hurry," Jade said urgently, and with a nod and a half-salute, she scurried into the Albiore. Jade walked off to the Highlands as he heard the engines powering up. With a backwards glance as he crossed into the canyon, he saw twin streaks of light tearing off into the distance. "Well, then. I suppose it's about time to explore," he said to himself, picking up his stride and taking the first steps into the red canyon.

Aston yawned as he walked up the stairs to his bed. He'd loaned out the spare bedrooms to Jade and Anise, passing the former's room with a long yawn. The door was open, waiting for its eventual occupant to return from the Highlands. Aston let a deep breath out slowly, hoping that the man would find his way back safely. He kept walking down the hallway, slowly leaving Anise's room behind him as he continued on. The door was closed, and Aston felt no desire whatsoever to intrude on her sleep. He stifled a yawn as best he could, and followed the hallway to its end, stepping only where he knew the floorboards would not creak. Aston settled into bed, only slightly on edge with worry that the colonel might not return. Still, old age had taught him to approach things with a little more of a relaxed attitude; there was no point in worrying about the colonel not coming back when it was entirely more likely that he'd appear in the morning's light, red Meggioran Ore held within his hand. This relaxed attitude suited him, especially as nothing else particularly worrisome had happened to him, tonight. He would have been more worried if, say, he'd opened the door to Anise's room to find the bedsheets strangely flat against the mattress, but he didn't open the door, so he drifted off to a pleasant sleep.
Jade held the lantern high over his head. He had to tip his metaphorical hat (perhaps stethoscope, in the best of conditions) to the engineers of Sheridan. The lantern had apparently been designed for use in the traditionally windy Highlands, and so the flame was protected so as not to go out in the dead of night. He swung the lantern a little, listening to the sloshing of the oil within the fuel chamber and withheld a grunt of exasperation. Aston hadn't refueled the device, and it hadn't occurred to him to ask when he was still in Sheridan. It was too late to turn back; he'd already been walking in the Highlands for about twenty minutes, he estimated, and if he stopped now, the odds just became that much better that Anise would be here tomorrow. He sighed, just then noticing that the fingers of the hand that was in a pocket were fidgeting. He stopped himself, wondering when he'd started and hoping that wouldn't become a habit in his old age.

Aston, for his bad memory, was quite right about one thing: it was exceptionally windy. It was certainly windier than the last time he'd been here, and he noted with mild annoyance that his hair was flapping about his head and face rebelliously, at once fighting and dancing with the wind. Realizing it couldn't be helped, he reached into his pack and pulled out the long hair elastic he was duped into wearing with the outfit Peony had given him, which Guy teasingly said made him resemble an evil fonist. He quickly drew the hair back in a long braid, and the weight of the hair together kept the wind from playing with it quite so much. At the very least, it stayed out of his face, which, he knew, was all that mattered in a battle.

Speaking of which, an armaboar appeared and had apparently decided Jade was either trespassing, food, or trespassing to the point that the crime was punishable by becoming food. Jade signed as he noticed the red quadruped, scales running down its body and an enormous horn protruding from its head. He scarcely had time to react before the scaled beast was charging him, its massive, pale horn rushing forward with full intent to impale him. He sidestepped left, and the armaboar skidded to a stop a few feet beyond where he'd dodged. Jade summoned his spear but the armaboar was quick and was on him before he had a chance to attack with it. The spear was used laterally as a defense against the horn, but the beast's sheer strength started pushing Jade backward as it struggled to tear through the colonel's guard.

Jade twisted his spear clockwise, tilting the beast's head to the left. With a small gap but no time to thrust, he slashed with the blade across the lower part of its head, missing its neck but connecting in the fleshy underside of its head. The armaboar squealed out in anger, quickly bringing its head around in a sideways headbutt that took Jade by surprise. Out of position to guard, he took the hit and rolled to a stop several feet away. Upon standing up, he blinked, then berated himself. The lantern had broken upon his landing. The light was out.

He heard the monster charging him from its heavy footsteps thudding against the stone. Predicting its path, he sidestepped again, but this time its bony side scraped him as it passed. He grunted, but it was only a clipping blow, no lasting damage. The battle would get easier, he realized, as his eyes adjusted to the new lack of light, but the monster's eyes probably adjusted immediately. His own eyes, fonic-boosted though they may be, still needed time to adjust to different levels of light like a regular pair. He was just about to think of a strategy for defeating the armaboar without having proper casting time when something bounced off the back of his head, leaving a wound trickling blood. He whirled around, squinting in the moonlight, and just managed to make out a grey and white bird with a jagged beak, tiny and struggling to stay up in the air: a cawcaw. He suspected the cawcaw was more thrown into his head from the wind than it was actually intending to attack him, but he could tell from his squawks of protest that it was angry at the collision, and was ready to take it out on him. "Marvelous," he muttered dryly.

The cawcaw started spiraling around his head incessantly, chirping menacingly the whole while. Jade was so focused on the coming aerial attack that he almost didn't notice the armaboar sneaking up on him from the side. At the last moment, when the large horn was coming at him again, he knocked it off-course with his spear, then turned his attention back to the cawcaw. Still circling his head, he couldn't see it for the lack of light; his only glimpse of it came from when it passed between him and the moon, its silhouette eclipsing the heavenly body every couple seconds. Jade drew his spear back, counting the timing between revolutions based on when he saw the bird before the moon. Then, when he successfully predicted when it was to cross the moon, he stabbed, impaling the cawcaw and slaying it with a single thrust.

Unfortunately, the time taken to stab it resulted in the armaboar having plenty of time to line up an attack of its own. It pawed at the ground for a moment, howled, and began to charge. Jade was just pulling his spear out from the cawcaw, too late to block. He prepared to take the hit fully.

"Feel the hammer of light! Limited!"

The armaboar howled as a localized ray of light ripped through its body, decimating its form and reducing it to a lifeless pile of ash that quickly scattered in the wind. Jade squinted over in the darkness and saw a short girl with one hand on her hip and the other clenching a staff. "So," Anise growled, tapping her foot on the ground. "Tomorrow morning, huh?"

Jade unsummoned his spear and put the hand back in his pocket. There were two ways to handle this, he figured, that would get her to understand: the nice way and the jerk way. He was very tired of coming off as a jerk.

"Anise, please go back. You're going to be a liability if you remain."

But he was so good at it.

"Like you're any better?" she cut back, walking up to him. "You almost died because you came out here alone. You're strong, Colonel, but you're not invincible, and you're most certainly not a frontline fighter."

He balked. He hadn't counted on Anise, of all people, to point out his weaknesses. It was true he was slightly weaker without having time to rely on his artes, but having her here...

"So what do you intend to do, Anise?" he asked calmly. "You can't buy me time to cast. That would mean distracting monster attention from me to you, and you're hardly able to do that safely without Tokunaga. I'm astonished you even got here without being attacked."

"Hah, see?" she replied smarmily. "Wouldn't you be more astonished if I managed get back safely? I couldn't do the same thing twice. I'm likely to be attacked and killed if I go back, now. Better to stay here with you."

Jade frowned, an expression he didn't like to show often. She was right, which was the most annoying thing about her argument; to send her back was likely to be just as, if not more, dangerous than keeping her with him. If he couldn't beat her argument, then it was best to deflect it. "And what about you, Anise?" She blanched a little, but he couldn't see it. "Surely you're not all the way out here out of concern. You were coming here by yourself, weren't you?"

"D-don't turn this around!" she cried. "This is about you!"

"Actually, I believe it's about both of us," he said smoothly.

"Boo. Fine," she said. "I didn't want to do this, but Colonel, I think I can still pull rank on you."

He narrowed his eyes. He didn't think she'd go quite that far.

She grinned, a little evilly. "Would you like me to officially petition your services as a Fon Master Guardian, or will you just stay with me of your own accord?" Jade shrugged non-commitally, then nodded his assent.

"I suppose," he said slowly, "you can stay for now, if you must." He returned his hands to his pockets. "But we're running from every fight we can, understood?"

"Boo," Anise griped again. "You're no fun, Colonel."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I was here exclusively for your amusement," he replied.

Anise shrugged. "Well, now you know. Let's get going!" Keeping a weather eye out for trouble, the two set out walking deeper into the Highlands.

Jade said a silent thanks for the moon and starlight they had received through the night. Without it, they'd have been completely blind in the canyon. They managed to avoid fights for most of the night, and the two they were forced into against minor cactossuses, ground-dwelling monsters with large green heads adorned with yellow spikes, were handled via Jade holding them off and Anise crushing them with artes from afar. With a weather eye scanning the horizon, he began to note the slightest hint of red in the sky over the rocky cliffs. "It seems it's almost morning. We might want to consider heading back."

The girl, despite herself, stifled a yawn as she tried to rub the fatigue from her eyes. After all, they had been up all night. "But we must be so close, Colonel," she argued.

"Close only counts in darts and horseshoes, Anise," he said lazily. "We'll look for five more minutes, and then turn around for Sheridan."

Anise grumbled. "Colonel, after all this, I don't want to leave without the ore!"

Jade let out a sigh. "It won't do us any good to have the ore if the puppeteer gets gravely injured from being too tired to fight. Four minutes."

"That wasn't a minute!"

"My timing's off," he smiled. "Old age, memory loss, I forget how much time has passed..."

"Boo!" Anise complained, as intent on teasing him as he was on teasing her. She ran to a bend in the road, picked up a rock and tossed it in a false angry throw at his feet. "You're mean, Colonel!"

The stone bounced off the ground oddly and ricocheted for Jade's shin. His eyes glinted strangely, and with the slight light from the slowly rising sun, he followed its trajectory, catching it under his foot in midair and stepping on it, stopping it against the ground. "Well, what do we have here?" he asked rhetorically, moving his foot as he bent over to inspect the stone. "Let's see... it's red and durable, though surprisingly light." He poked it. "It seems to be of a consistent feel with other ores that I know to be particularly malleable..."

"Colonel...?" Anise asked, walking over quickly and looking at the stone.

"Yes, indeed," Jade said, a faint grin on his face. "I believe you've found the ore we've been looking for, Anise."

"All right!" she cheered. "Chalk another one up for Fon Master Anise Tatlin!" She lifted her arm in the air in celebration.

"Indeed," he said. "We'll need a little more, though. Is there more around the bend, there?"

"There must be," Anise replied. "Let's go see." Jade nodded curtly, and the two started walking toward the bend in the path, but their progress was hampered this time. The wind had picked up again, and Anise was having difficulty keeping her footing in it. It kept threatening to blow her backward if she didn't keep her body low.

"Anise, wait here!" Jade shouted over the wind. "Stay against the ground so you don't lose position. I'll acquire it and come back!" he promised, but the wind was still impressively strong even for him. Anise, however, was determined to not be left out of something important, and so crawled on slowly. Meanwhile, with an arm bent protectively over his face and crouching into the wind, Jade struggled for every step to get to the bend in the road. The bend curled around a rock face, so when he was within range, he grabbed onto the first outcropping of rock he could find and hauled himself to the bend. Embedded in the rock on the opposite side was a large slab of Meggiorian Ore. Jade used his spear to chip away several suitable pieces, but his attention was not undivided.

Off in the distance in a low part of the canyon, a brilliant green light was shining. It appeared to flow through the air from a wide, circular area. The green glow danced through the air currents like droplets of food colouring in water, mingling and vanishing entirely when they grew too distant from the source. Jade noted how the bend in the path came at a ridge, and from this precipice he could see down into a lower part of the canyon where the green emanated from. His eyes came to rest on a woman's figure deep in the midst of the green. Her attire was a pale emerald shade, and apparently designed to flow and play with the wind at the extremities. She had blonde hair, which also skipped in the wind. Though the air was violent where Jade and Anise were, it looked surprisingly peaceful near her, and so her clothes and hair where not furiously whipping about, but rather tickling the breeze.

"Wow," Anise gasped when she finally arrived at Jade's side, clinging to the stone wall and gaping at her. "I wish I had a figure like that..." At her words, the figure looked over at them, her eyes glowing a brilliant green. Recognition seemed to pass on her face.

"This is bad," Jade shouted over the wind, gritting his teeth. "The other sentiences manifested themselves only when we appeared. This one had already made itself manifest and stable in its physical form well before we arrived! The sentiences are coming faster..."

"The other sentiences... Ah!" Anise gasped, shaking her head. "That's Sylph!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You are tired, aren't you?"

"Maybe just a little..."

Sylph was regarding the two of them as they spoke with a curious look on her face; it was stuck somewhere between being amused and being annoyed. "This is not good," Jade commented.

"Can she hear us?" Anise wondered.

He mused, "Well, if words can be carried on the wind, I'd say so." He frowned deeply. "It's time to get out of here."

"Yeah," she agreed. "This isn't a safe place to be." Anise turned to leave, but a sudden updraft of air lifted her up twenty feet into the sky, holding her stationary. She screamed as she realized that safe ground was now only a relative term.

"Anise!" Jade cried. "...Sylph! You are attacking a Fon Master!"

"That's amusing," Sylph said dryly. "I had thought you were about to attack me."

"Sylph!" Anise cried from the air. "I have no intention of hurting you! Can we talk?"

Sylph did not answer, and Jade noted with grim accuracy that the sentiences were becoming less and less friendly. Beings who had once begun as mighty incarnations, friendly to mankind, were now degenerating into dangerous beings of pure fonic power. Even the influence of Anise, as Fon Master, was holding less and less sway. He was sure it was only her standing as Fon Master that was keeping her alive to this point.

Jade backstepped out Sylph's sight, and tied the rope he'd brought into a lasso. He judged the distance to Anise and threw the loop, hoping to snag her. Unfortunately, the wind was too strong, and the rope was dragged well off course before it had even gotten close to the girl.

Jade gripped the rope a little tighter in annoyance. "Damn," he muttered, the word almost entirely inaudible over the wind. He dropped the rope on the ground, and placed his palms over them, pressing the rope against the ground as quickly as he could, simultaneously opening his fon slots. If this wind is bolstered by third fonons, then all I should need to do is infuse the rope with earth fonons, and it should repel the most drastic of the wind's course changing abilities. Being on the ground, even in the middle of such a crowd of wind fonons, it was easier to gather the second fonons into the rope. Jade's face didn't display any emotion as he grimly added in his mind, Of course, I'll still need a magnificent shot...

The rope complete, he tried a practice throw, flinging the loop a few feet away. The rope still swayed in the wind, but at least it wasn't being utterly knocked around. He threw it at Anise, but the loop was off by a few feet to the right. He aimed more to the left and a little in front of the girl, and the combination of his aim and the wind brought the loop to Anise. She grabbed hold of it, and he began to drag her to the ground.

Of course, Sylph, who the whole time had a perfect view of Anise, noticed when the rope neared her and she began to lower. "I am deeply sorry, great Fon Master," it said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "But I'm afraid I cannot allow such wanton destruction of my fellow sentiences... or myself." She raised a hand in their direction, palm extended. "Sonic Shunt." A blunt blast of third fonons rocketed toward the two of them. Jade managed to drag Anise down to the ground just before the attack connected. The arte collided against the ridge where they were standing, ripping the rock asunder. The arte was weakened, but not stopped, and residual energy still ripped across Jade's back; he was standing protectively in front of Anise, his body blocking the arte from getting to the girl who had just touched down on the ground.

"Colonel!" Anise screeched, as the air slammed against him and the stones that were torn off the precipice and carried in the arte's wake collided roughly against his frame. Jade grunted as he dropped to his knees, struggling to stay upright. He tried to stay focused, but his vision was swimming.

"Anise," he managed to mumble, giving her the ore with whatever reserves of strength he could summon. "Get this to Aston... Luke and the others are coming. Fix Tokunaga... and come back." And he fainted, collapsed against the ground, sapped of strength.

Anise's expression was unreadable for a moment. She nudged him twice with her right hand, gripping the ore tightly in her left. "Colonel...!" She frowned, and reached into her pouch. She pulled out a Life Bottle and poured the liquid into his mouth. Jade revived and blinked at her. "Hey. Can we leave without the melodramatics, Colonel?"

He cleared his throat. He hadn't thought she'd have spent inventory space on a Life Bottle when she had originally planned to sneak out alone. Fixing his glasses, he said, "You shouldn't waste so many items, Anise."

"Whatever," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him away. "Let's go, let's go!" Sylph, under the impression that the two were dead or at least mortally wounded from the shower of stone, did not pursue them. The pair stumbled to the entrance of the Highlands, the going easier the farther they went as the wind died down slightly with every step. The sun was up when they reached the entrance.

"Look!" Anise said, pointing up. Jade actually smiled genuinely as he spotted the Albiore coming to rest by Sheridan. He would have liked Noelle to come and pick them up, but he figured it was better not to risk the Albiore circling in the airspace above Sylph. Luke and the others greeted them as they arrived shortly afterwards.

"Jade..." Tear blinked, looking at his limp.

"I'm all right," he said suddenly. "No lasting damage."

"No, there won't be," she agreed, somewhat forcibly. "O healing power... First Aid!" Jade sighed in relief as the lingering pain vanished. The stiffness remained, however.

"I'm very appreciative, Tear," he said, switching immediately into a business tone. "Now, Guy." The swordsman looked at him carefully. "We've figured out both how Tokunaga works and acquired the proper materials to repair him. However, Anise and I have been awake all night in the process. Would you help Aston-"

"Yes."

"Very well, then."

"Whoa, whoa!" Anise cried. "Guy, don't break him!"

"Don't worry!" he replied. "He'll be good as new when you get him back." The grin on his face looked like it was about to stretch beyond his cheeks.

Anise sighed. "Natalia?"

"I shall keep an eye on him for you."

"Come on..." Guy groaned, and the princess just winked at him.

"Excellent," Jade said. "Then Anise and I are going to sleep until about noon."

"Oh, why so little sleep?" Anise complained, trying to look cute to change his mind.

"Because Sylph is gaining power, no doubt, in the Highlands, and we have to stop it," he replied levelly. Luke looked over at the Highlands, and reached back to feel the Orb in his pocket. No one had to ask what he was thinking. They already knew. Jade correctly guessed that Noelle had already told them about Sylph being here, and so didn't feel the need to launch into an explanation; or, rather, to tell Anise to explain. "At noon, we go," he repeated. "I'm going to let this old body rest up, for now."

"You're not looking that bad for an old, beat up man, Jade," Luke smiled.

The colonel laughed. "Luke, be careful not to make Tear jealous."

"Don't say weird stuff like that!"