-creeps in and glances around- Doesn't look like anyone's here...
-lays chapter and a note on the ground and races off immediately-
The note reads: "...Yeah, I spaced out again. Whoops. I have nothing to say in my defense... except possibly 'Tea went and got herself stuck since she's finally getting to the parts of BotM that she doesn't have to do MAJOR re-working on and has been bugging me ever since.'
On that note, be on the lookout for her to start updating again sometime in the next month, since I know she's gotten herself a good backlog of chapters.
On another note... I will be back in a few days with the other late chapter, and this week's chapter will probably be posted on Sunday instead of Friday.
Once again, sorry for the late update!"
"Hey, it's my job to hover, attempt to look as imposing as a five-foot-tall seventeen-year-old can, and make sure no one hurts the Fon Master. I don't necessarily need to know all the details." –Rialle
Chapter 4.7 – Creeping Shadows
Part 29
I glanced around. I hated meetings like these, where we all got together in a big circle.
I especially hated it if one or more of the leaders of the world was also here. Solace didn't count unless he was actually acting as the Fon Master, which was becoming rarer and rarer these days, as he seemed to leave more of the work to Florian and Aerith. Though, I had to admit, the two did fairly well running the Order of Lorelei, when Florian wasn't running around being overly childish. Of course, the replica had been locked up for two years, so none of us really begrudged him that childishness.
I crossed my arms and tried not to look too irritated, because this was one of those types of meetings I really, really hated.
Reighn, Anise, Rialle, Asch, Luke, Cantabile, Solace, and I were standing in one area, Solace in front of the main group with Cantabile next to him, as she was the Commandant.
Peony stood over on another side, Jade next to him, albeit not in uniform—Flick seemed to have 'confiscated' his wing pack again, leaving him to run around in the only outfit he had left, his 'Evil Fonist' costume—with Nordheim, Sesemann, and Aslan Frings behind them, and Guy sort of hovering around that group.
Natalia and Dark stood representing Kimlasca, with Luke and Asch sort of floating back and forth between the two of them and the Order of Lorelei group.
The rest of our friends were tucked against the wall, not particularly associated with any group in specific.
I hated meetings like this.
"Alright. Who called this one together?"
From the sounds of it, Peony hated them too.
I glanced at Asch. He'd been the one to call it, but I'd been the one to list off the things that had him making the decision to call it.
So I sighed and stepped forward, to Solace's other side. "Our list of problems seems to be growing by the hour."
Peony winced. "Not what I wanted to hear."
I shrugged. "I don't like it either, but all we can really do at this point is try to keep up. Gnome has the advantage, as much as I hate to say it," I said.
"Alright. Might as well start this logically. What are the biggest problems we have to deal with, and how much time to we have to deal with them in?" Solace asked.
I glanced back at Asch, and he stepped up. "Our main problem, quite plainly, is the fact that the majority of Auldrant's population is still on the surface... And, bluntly, we can't fit even half that number on Eldrant," he said.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Aslan Frings muttered irritably.
Asch scowled, and I crossed my arms. "Best to put the obvious out there before pointing out the less obvious," I said. "In this case, the vision Lorelei showed Luke when he was released from the Core. Undine was free, had to have been to have unleashed the sort of damage that was done to Grand Chokmah and Baticul in that vision. Myre's already on that, yes, though I'd like to have someone check up on her progress. Still, digressing..." I looked over at Asch.
"We can't fit everyone... But we should be able to get the majority of the women and children into Eldrant. That should at least ensure we have a future; hopefully more of one than Myre came from," he said.
Peony's eyes narrowed. "Wait... 'came from'?"
I nodded. "Myre has managed to tear a rift in the timeline, most likely with help from Lorelei. Not that our Lorelei is quite sure how or when... This is about as confusing for him as it is for us... But it sounds like his consciousness has basically been torn in two," I said. "At any rate, from as best I can tell, Myre came from about ten years in the future. It also explains some of what she knows. The passage rings, the monoliths... the flightstone she gave us. May also explain her hesitance to work with us. We're likely either all dead or... compromised."
No one has to ask what I mean when I say 'compromised'. My glance in Cantabile's direction makes it obvious enough. And from the sheer rage in her expression, she's not pleased that I've basically reminded everyone what happened to Sync.
"So you want us to evacuate the women and children here?" Jade asked. "That's going to take a while, even with you and Luke teleporting and the two Albiores. And you can't transport many people before you have to take a break."
What Jade doesn't mention is that Asch is terrified of using his hyperresonance like that. Which is why...
"I need to go to the Absorption and Radiation Gates. Those two passage rings aren't allowing me to access them remotely," I said. "And if I don't get their self-repair programs going, the stress it'll put on the rest of the passage rings will more than likely send Eldrant plummeting back to the ground. If we're bringing anyone here, we need them taken care of, and I intend to take Asch with me."
Surprised looks get sent my way, and my eyes narrow. "Besides. Everyone's going to start panicking if we're evacuating the women and children. I think it would be best for Solace and a few others to return to Daath and make some sort of statement in regards to the evacuation order. Another group should go to Baticul and have King Ingobert start making preparations. That group should be able to move fast—alerting all of the city leaders before the Order of Lorelei gives the evacuation order should make things go a little more smoothly. Though I say Baticul first since, aside from Daath, it's the most-populated city, discounting Grand Chokmah for obvious reasons."
Jade frowned. "One more problem. Even with just bringing women and children in, we likely won't have enough space for all of them, in addition to the people already here."
I tried not to look too guilty, but his grim return glance told me he understood.
"I'll see how many volunteers I can find before we have to start throwing weight around," he said.
Aslan, apparently realizing what Jade was talking about, blanched, then seemed to steel himself. "Jade. They'll probably need you elsewhere. Leave that to me," he said.
Jade gave Aslan a worried look, but then nodded and turned back to me. "So, how many groups do we need?" he asked. "I'm assuming three..."
I shook my head. "Of our group of sev—sixteen... we'll be split into even groups of four," I said before looking around. "Reighn, Dark, Luke, and Jade are going to stay here and see if you can figure out where the source of the taint from that one spring is. The four of you also have a secondary purpose—while I agree that it would be best if Aslan or another of the Malkuthian generals heads up the search for volunteers to return to the surface, some of the men who drank water from that fountain simply aren't going to make it. Callous as it may sound, they're taking up valuable space. Also, Luke's better at using his hyperresonance as a transportation technique."
Reighn crossed his arms. "So it's really just going to be me and Dark looking for the source of the taint, mostly? I thought I was on orders not to leave my body?"
"You are," I said. "But you have far more patience than Dark does when it comes to meditating and sitting still, and Jade has more finesse with Energies than Dark. He's going to mostly be covering the gaps between you and Jade. I'll tell you three exactly what you're looking for and how to go about it before I leave."
Rialle took a half-step forward to move into my line of sight. "Who are you planning to take with you to the Gates? Asch is good, but you'll probably need someone else to help cover your back," she said.
I nodded. "True, but I'm sending you with Cantabile, Solace, and Anise. You and Anise are Fon Master Guards, Cantabile's the Commandant, and Solace is the Fon Master. The four of you are needed in Daath." I glanced around at the remaining group, then scowled. "Natalia... I know you're worried about the citizens of Baticul... but you need to get in, give your father the message, and get back out fast. You'll be working with Flick, Seth, and Guy, and I plan to send one of the Albiores with you. Guy isn't the best pilot in the world, but he can fly the Albiore III. Ginji still isn't clear to be flying, himself."
"So that leaves Selenia and myself with you," Tear noted.
I nodded. "Yeah. Selenia's got Gray Larkspur, and we've already proven that the poison on those blades works well enough against the pure-fonon enemies we've had to face previously," I said. "And while I'd be willing to send you with the Order group, I think Asch would be better suited as a melee fighter rather than a healer for this mission."
Asch didn't say anything, and Tear just nodded. "That's fine with me."
I crossed my arms and looked around. "Alright. I've addressed what we're capable of doing right now. I'll leave the Order and Courier groups to figure out what you're going to do about the evacuation and letting the city leaders know what's going on. In the meantime... Jade, Reighn, Luke, Dark. I need to get the four of you briefed on what you'll be doing here."
Dark hummed, then went stiff and glanced over his shoulder. Then he relaxed again, and I frowned. "Dark?"
"Eraia's back. We found something in Grand Chokmah I think you're going to want to look at," he said, turning to look at me. I nodded. If it was so important that Eraia had been willing to separate from Dark, it took precedence over the tainted spring for the time being. Because I knew, as a Clockwork Guardian, Eraia would be vehemently opposed to leaving Dark.
It would be considered a betrayal of the trust placed in her, and that was something that Clockwork Creatures could be counted on for above all else—trustworthiness.
Once you'd gained their trust, at least. If they trusted you, they became eternally loyal...
And I really needed to tell Dark the implications of his Clockwork Creature friend, anyway. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.
I headed out after Dark, following him as he wandered around for a bit, because it didn't look like Eraia wanted to be anywhere near the tainted spring, but then, it wasn't the only one giving off a not-so-pleasant aura...
If it weren't for the fact that Luke was better with his hyperresonance-teleporting than Asch, I'd have left Asch behind, because he's got the most experience with Energies of all our friends who'd started learning so far.
Him, and Sync, who was, quite plainly, unavailable.
Once Eraia finally found a good enough spot, I noted that she went from being a ghostly image on the second plane to a very solid image on the second plane. An image that was now ghostly on the first plane.
I knelt in front of her. "What'd you find?"
She opened her mouth, and a black crystal dropped to the ground.
A black crystal with what seemed to be a black glow.
Oh dear...
"One of Dist's robots had that," Dark said.
I reached out and hovered my hand over the crystal. It was definitely a Midlight crystal, but to be so black...
I grimaced. "I was worried about that..." I murmured. Stupid Midlight crystals... I sighed and glanced at Dark, then at Eraia. No, those two had been exposed to it long enough...
Luke, Reighn, and Jade finally caught up to us, and I noted Rialle trailing along with them. When she saw my frown, she shrugged.
"Hey, it's my job to hover, attempt to look as imposing as a five-foot-tall seventeen-year-old can, and make sure no one hurts the Fon Master. I don't necessarily need to know all the details," she said. "Huh? What's that?"
...And she just solved my problem. Because Dark also had the White Lotus chakrams, and Jade had Gungnir and the problem of the fonic glyph in his eyes, and Reighn had Gold Wisteria, Luke was Lorelei's champion...
I stood, picking up the Midlight crystal with an Energy-coated hand, already starting to leech out bits of the negative Energies. Once they were all out, this would be so much safer, but we didn't have the time to waste right now.
"Rialle. I want you to go find Saphir. Ask him where his little bot found this," I said, holding the crystal up. "And have him meet us at the temple holding the passage ring. You need to come along, too. I can't risk giving this to anyone else."
Rialle tilted her head to the side, then nodded. "Okay. Um... What is it, before I go?"
I grimaced. "Ask again when you get back. So I only have to explain once. Because I don't think Saphir knows what it is."
"Is it just me, or have you fully converted to calling Dist by his birth name?" Jade commented.
I smirked. "Dist was a cover, always was a cover. The man that helped us in the Zao Ruins, who's been wandering around helping on Eldrant, is Saphir. So yes."
Jade shrugged. "Alright. Well, we'd best get going then... Round and round we go..."
"Where we'll stop, only I know... most of the time. If I don't know, then maybe ask Lorelei, if he's really, really lucky," I teased.
Jade scowled at me, and I just grinned back, half-skipping all the way to the temple.
Then again, part of that was probably the fact that prolonged exposure to Midlight crystals, heavily-tainted or not, tended to have the same effect on me as coffee did.
Frightening thought, and all the more reason to try to get this done as quickly as possible.
Which was why Rialle found me sitting about where Van is kneeling in the end of the game, with my hands on the edges of a quickly-drawn Energy Circle.
"...That is the strangest fonic glyph I've ever seen."
I smirked. "It's not a fonic glyph. Which might be why." Then I frowned again. "Damn it, just let go already you little—gotcha!"
A small ball of black shot out of the crystal, but didn't slip past the Energy Circle, as a small barrier had blocked it. I scowled. "Asch. Get that crystal out and don't let that little buggard touch you."
Asch moved very quickly to do as I'd ordered.
The black thing, that looked sort of like a blob of flying slime, raced around the edges of the barrier, trying to escape.
Then I shoved.
Fun Fact: So. Midlight Crystals. We don't get a lot of detail here, but over the next few chapters, you'll learn plenty, trust me.
By the way, that 'blob of flying slime' is now very much GONE. Non-existent. Kairi quite literally shoves it out of existence in that last scene.
We should all be very grateful for this. (The 'why' will be explained later.)
(Also, you gotta love Rialle's quote. You just gotta. 'Cause it's so true.)
