Draco: Alex Rider has conditioned me to make tactical use of a young character.
Using the Japanese version of Love in the Crossfire from the album because I can't make out the English version enough to write it. If you care to check the track (watch for BS spoilers), I skip the gentle intro verse. It looks like I'm incapable of using use music in English these days.
Slight liberties with the Performer asterisk based on gameplay visualizations and writing requirements. Anything else that doesn't match up can be blamed on something Airy brought up in Chapter... 13. Sue me.
Bravely Default and all related properties © Square Enix.
Eisen Region: Sweet Voice on the Battlefield
Til opened his eyes, but he did not wake up.
He was in what looked to be a cave. His surroundings were sparsely lit, and there was a menacing glow from nearby. Slowly, he stepped forward, looking around.
"Please... help..."
The voice came from nowhere; yet reflexively he turned around.
A girl was standing there, in garb that was familiar - not for its colour, a bright fiery orange, but for its ritual design. Her hair dangled about her shoulders, a deep red; not blatant, like DeRosa's, this seemed more natural. It dangled before her face, obscuring her eyes, and her voice was sorrowful as she spoke.
"The mine... please..."
No sooner had he tried to speak than Til woke in the Hartschild inn.
"What the...?" Weakly, the Norende boy rose to a sitting position. "What was that...?"
"Oh, you're awake." Olivia's voice caused Til to turn; the vestal seemed to be up and about already.
Til wiped his eyes weakly. "Yeah," he murmured. "Something like that." Shaking his head to clear the lingering images; "Did the Shieldbearers have any luck on the Fire Temple?"
Olivia shook her head. "I haven't received any word," she replied. "Did you have something in mind?"
"I..." Til chuckled lightly. "No, I don't know what you thought I might be thinking of." Getting to his feet. "Let's go ask Commander Goodman if he's picked up anything."
+x+x+x+
As the two of them neared the Eisen Bridge, they were surprised to hear what sounded like music emerging from the battlefield. Til and Olivia exchanged confused glances; then they hurried towards the bridge, curious and concerned.
It had faded by the time they arrived. Commander Goodman seemed pleased to see them. "Ah, you're back," he greeted. "I take it the toxin has been disposed of?"
"You don't have to worry about that," Til insisted. "What was that noise? We heard it a few minutes away."
"Noise?" The Commander seemed confused for a moment; then it dawned on his face; "Ah, the music. Here, look to the bridge."
He directed their attention to the view of the battlefield. To Til's bemusement, there was a woman with a squadron of six Swordbearer soldiers at the opposite bank. She was dressed rather... sweetly - white and bright blue with a very fluffy-looking skirt, white tights, heels, and a pair of bunny ears perched on her head. She had what looked like a casting rod in one hand, and the soldiers around her seemed to be excited.
Olivia turned to Commander Goodman. "What... who is that?" she asked.
"That brassy young woman leads the Swordbearers' shock troops," Goodman explained. "Our intelligence suggests she is a high-ranking member of the Black Blades."
"Her?" Til asked, incredulous. "She looked like she came out of Florem." Turning to Olivia; "No offense."
"None taken," Olivia assured him. "You're right, she certainly doesn't look like officer material."
Goodman shook his head. "Don't underestimate her," he warned. "She uses the power of song to bolster her soldiers, and weaken ours."
Til turned to him. "Song," he mused. "You're kidding, right?"
"Her melodies seem to possess a certain... magic," Goodman explained. "Those six soldiers she's with - she calls them her 'fan club' - they're near invulnerable in the thrall of her music. It's all we can do to hold the line against them. Her singing makes it hard for us to focus, as well; the Swordbearers don't hesitate to bombard us when they see us in disarray."
"Magic music, huh," Til muttered. "That sounds like someone with an asterisk."
Olivia set a hand on her chin, thinking. "Have you tried targeting her directly?" she asked.
Goodman shook his head. "We can't," he insisted. "Her soldiers won't hesitate to guard her. For Swordbearers, they're very protective of her. The narrow bridge makes it impossible to get close."
Til hummed. "You want us to try?"
"What?" Olivia turned to him. "Til..."
The Norende boy had his hands in his pockets, and was drawing out asterisks to check them. "I'm small enough to slip past them," he insisted. "I'll wait for them to come at me, slip by them, and cut off her music." He seemed to find what he was looking for, tossing the stone up and down like a ball. "Maybe we can snatch another asterisk."
Olivia lowered her gaze. "I'm not one for singing," she murmured.
"Me neither," Til admitted. "Still, it'll help the Shieldbearers. Just wait back a little bit; the second I cut off her music, you should be able to deal with them with some wind or fire. Your pick. You'll want to get going after that, though; if she does have a stone, she's gonna trap us for a fight."
+x+x+x+
Til and Olivia made their way to the Shieldbearer end of the bridge proper. The singer girl seemed to have noticed they were coming; by the time they had arrived, she and her fan club soldiers were already in position, the six of them arranged two-by-two ahead of her.
"Oh?" The vocalist's voice echoed loudly from the far bank; what Til had assumed to be a casting rod was in fact a microphone. "Is this the water vestal we have here?" She pumped her empty hand in the air. "What a delightful surprise! You've come all this way to hear me perform? Why thank you!"
The voice that very well could have been one of Florem's wannabe Sacred Flowers? The sheer carelessness she displayed in the time of war? The fact that the Black Blades had set up a functional sound system on the Sworbearer bank that actually reached the Shieldbearers? No, what surprised Olivia was the face that the diva seemed genuinely pleased that the vestal was in the audience.
Till stepped forward. He had the asterisk he wanted in hand, and he raised his other hand to greet her. "So, you're the singer giving the Shieldbearers so much trouble?" he asked, shouting to make himself heard across the bridge. "What's your name?"
"I am Praline à la Mode, Diva of the Battlefield!" she introduced.
"A la mode?" Til murmured. "Doesn't that mean ice cream?" Shaking his head, he called back again; "So, what's with the racket? I could hear it an hour away."
He had exaggerated in hopes of annoying her, and it seemed to have worked - Praline looked offended. "Racket?!" she protested. "How rude! Don't you have any appreciation for music?"
Til angled his head from side to side. "I dunno," he called back. "Sing me a few notes, and I'll see!"
Olivia looked worried. "Til," she demanded quietly, "what are you doing?"
The Norende boy only flipped the asterisk he still had in his hand, so he was grabbing it by the gold. "Setting the stage."
"Hey, everyone!" Praline's call caused the Swordbearers to turn towards her as she held her microphone at an angle to her face. "When you hear one of my numbers...?"
"We! Go! Wild!"
The diva spun on one heel before taking a pose with one hand on her hip. "And when you see me dance..?"
"We! Go! Wi~ld!"
Praline giggled into her microphone. "Then get wild! Here we go!" She pumped one hand into the air. "Love in the Crossfire!"
That seemed to be the Black Blade's cue to turn on music; a nasty sound came from the Swordbearer bank, causing Til to nearly drop his asterisk. After a moment, however, it became apparent that it was just what happened when you turned on a sound system to full blast all of a sudden; it didn't take long before some very... metallic music began to sound, and Praline's fan club cheered, calling her name.
"Renai wa tatakai nano
Sanbyou mitsumetara anata ni -lock on-
Itsudatte senjou nano
Akirametara sugu ni -game over-"
Til wasn't fond of the orchestration, and he couldn't understand a word she was saying, but he imagined if he could understand it he might have an idea as to why the Sworbearers liked it.
"Shippai shita toki no
Damage ga, chou maji yabai kedo
Yes! (Go on!) Onna wa dokyou
Torima, kakugo wo kimete -full brave!-"
Praline's Sworbearer fan club turned to Til and Olivia at this point, charging towards them.
"Keep your wind ready," Til warned the vestal.
"-Superstar- ni naritai
Anata wo muchuu ni saseru
Kawaii onna no ko ni!
Demo... Demo... Sunao ni wa narenai
Kawaiku nante dekinai
Jibun wo kaetai yo..."
He gripped the asterisk firmly, wrapping him in light; and when it faded, he was in the Thief's hood.
"Eih... Atatte ku・da・ke・ro!"
The second he was changed, Til shoved the asterisk in his pocket and charged towards the Sworbearers with all the speed his stone could muster.
"Juujihouka
Juujihouka
Koi suru otome muteki no fire
Juujihouka
Juujihouka
Koi suru kimochi hajikete
-Kiss of fire-"
He was in swinging range of the first soldier when he dashed to the side, the sword clattering ineffectively off the large shield he had hooked on his back as he charged forward. The next one tried to swipe horizontally on him, but he only ducked under it; when the third one tried to trip him, he leapt over the swing. The fourth got tripped for himself when Til kicked him in the leg, and when the fifth and sixth tried to clothesline him he dropped to his back, the shield sliding over the stone surface of the bridge.
He managed to stumble to his feet to see Praline looking at him absolutely horrified that he had got past them - now he reached for his hip, where Ise-no-Kami had been dangling, and slashed at the diva's microphone, ripping the head in half and causing the sound system to screech. The Swordbearers, already in disarray from Til's evasive pass, now dropped their weapons to cover their ears.
Olivia saw an opening; she swept her staff forward, magic flaring around her, before taking off running. Aerora ripped up around Praline's fan club, scattering them further along the bridge - one of them was nearly thrown off, but to Olivia's relief landed with his arms on the stone, providing enough grip for him to stay on. The vestal quickly took off down the bridge, where Praline was complaining at Til.
"Why are you being so mean!?" the diva protested. "You're supposed to worship the ground I walk on!"
Til snickered. "The tune's a little catchy," he admitted, "but you sound like a little kid."
Praline started fuming; but when she saw Olivia running towards them, she knew there was only one way this was going to go. Angry, she reached into her pocket, drawing out the familiar shape of an asterisk, and flicked one finger up the handle of her microphone, causing something to click.
On the wall of the canyon, Til was thoroughly surprised when she saw something get consumed in flames - the sight of it causing three Black Blades soldiers to rush towards the bridge. It seemed to be forming just a simple vertical, but then it branched out to form the six-pointed star he was familiar with.
And that was enough for Praline, Til, Olivia, and the diva's fan club to get wrapped in the asterisk barrier.
"That seemed kind of audacious," Olivia reprimanded.
Praline huffed, taking a dancing stance as the Black Blades raised their weapons - one with an axe, one with a spear. Til and Olivia took combative stances, worrying slightly about their odds; Til hadn't had a chance to switch out of his Thief hood, and Olivia was still in White Mage robes, neither of which was exceptionally useful on the offense.
"I'll keep these guys distracted," Til insisted. "Get that asterisk from her."
He shot forward, swinging Ise-no-Kami at the pikeman with intent to disarm. The Black Blade swept to the side, thrusting his spear at him, but Til only turned to stop it on the shield hooked on his back, raising the katana to stop a blow from the the axefighter. He managed to catch the weapon by the handle, twisting it around to pin the weapon to the ground under his foot, then he dashed between them, reaching for the knife hooked on his waist with his other hand.
"Come on!" he taunted. "That all you got?"
Olivia, meanwhile, was trading blows with Praline, the vestal trying to attack with her staff and the diva deflecting with her beheaded microphone. Neither of them were particularly suited to knocking down the other; Olivia's intent was to remove the performer's asterisk from her person, and Praline was trying to stop her. The clashing strikes looked more or less like an impromptu swordfight without the danger of a cut.
Praline noticed soon enough that her bodyguards were getting toyed with by Til's speed; she quickly pranced her way out of Olivia's way and struck a pose. A melodious sound echoed around her - and Til was horrified to see the Black Blades rush towards him with renewed haste in their bodies. "What the...?"
"How...?" Olivia glanced between the diva and the soldiers. "How did you...?"
"I sing 'cause I like it," the diva insisted, swinging her microphone at Olivia. "The asterisk helps me make that work, but it's real use is for dancing to boost my buddies!"
Olivia turned her staff in hand so that she gripped it near the head, striking at Praline with the unadorned shaft - which gave her much more maneuverability than the weighted head. "That's a relief," she insisted. "I've never been able to hold a note."
Praline raised a hand to her lips. "Dang it!" she cried. "Kamiizumi told me not to tell people about the asterisks! You little-!"
She tried to lash forward at Olivia, but the vestal only stepped aside. "Don't look at me," she insisted. "You did that yourself. Just think of it as you being helpful to someone who needs help."
"I-"
The diva didn't get the chance to finish; in a flash, Til was there, knocking the microphone out of her hands. This distracted her long enough for Olivia to strike the asterisk up and out of her pocket, and the battlefield started fading at Til grabbed it and stuck it into his pocket, not trusting himself to toss it without throwing it over the side of the bridge.
Praline looked like she was about to cry. "How could you...?" she whined. "I was born to perform! I only wanted my songs to be heard..." She shook her head irritably. "That does it! I'm going back to ordinary life..."
Her Sworbearer fan club had got to their feet while the battle had been going on; the second they heard her quit, they all cried out; "No, Praline! Don't leave us!"
The Diva of the Battlefield promptly took off, and the six Swordbearers took off after her, leaving Olivia and Til wondering what had just happened.
+x+x+x+
"That worked brilliantly," Commander Goodman praised them upon their return to his post. "I honestly wasn't sure that would go so well."
Olivia was concerned. "And yet you didn't object?" she asked.
Goodman chuckled lightly. "If I had," he asked in return, "can you honestly say that you would have been deterred?"
"Absolutely not," Til confirmed.
"Precisely," Goodman replied. "Thank you for your aid. We should suffer much less attrition on the Eisen Bridge from now on." Glancing between them again; "Now, if you don't mind my asking, your arrival here implies that you had business of some sort with me?"
"Nothing new," Olivia mused. "We simply thought to ask if you had yet found a way into the Temple of Fire."
The Commander shook his head. "No, we've not had any luck, I'm afraid. Had you found some sort of lead?"
Til opened his mouth to speak. A half-formed syllable made its way out before he paused, remembering the strange dream from which he had woken. His gaze fell, trying to remember - he felt as though there had been something important involved.
Olivia noticed. "Is something the matter?" she asked.
"I..." He sighed, raising his gaze to Commander Goodman. "Is there... do you know anything of... a mine?"
Goodman looked concerned. "Well, yes," he confirmed. "There is a mythril mine located east of the canyon the Eisen Bridge crosses. It has exchanged occupation quite a few times during the course of this war. Why do you ask?"
Til scratched the back of his head. "I... I heard something strange, last night, about a mine. It... it must've been nothing. Sorry." Raising his gaze back to Goodman; "So, who's got it now?"
"The Swordbearers, I'm afraid," the Commander replied. "They captured it just recently. About the same time you arrived in this land."
"I see," Til mused. "Sorry to bother you. That was kind of random."
"Not at all," Goodman insisted. "The more you know of what's going on, the better."
Til and Olivia began to make their way back towards Hartschild, but Til couldn't shake the feeling that he was wrong about something..."
Draco: I kept getting sidetracked on this one.