Right! Now that I'm all caught up again... Sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday like I'd planned. Got a little sidetracked.
Gotta say, I love what Sync says in response to Asch's quote here...
Okay, Enjoy!
"I do not sound like a dying cat!" –Asch
Chapter 5.4 – Almost War
Part 51
Dark's POV
I sighed, watching as the citizens of St. Binah slowly got off of the Albiore again. We'd landed in an open area just inside the barriers of Yulia City.
Selenia, Glenn, and Elder McGovern were doing most of the traffic-control. The elder was leading them toward the city, Glenn and Selenia making sure no one strayed off. More than a few natives of Yulia City met them and started finding them shelter.
We watched them go until the only ones left were those of us who had come to evacuate them originally, Selenia and her father, and Teodoro.
"Is there anything we can do to save St. Binah?" Glenn asked. Asch crossed his arms, while Teodoro sighed.
"It may be possible to program the passage ring to hold the land afloat above the mud, but even if that were so, we have no idea how to do it," Teodoro stated.
"Kairi, Sync and I have been to all of the passage rings except the two gates," Asch said. "I've watched Kairi operate all of them... I should be able to do it. If not, I'm sure once we've gotten the passage ring open, Jade can do it."
Teodoro blinked, before sighing. "I swear that girl was dropped into this world from the Dawn Age..."
Asch, Sync, and I exchanged looks, Asch turning his head away from the others to hide the smirk, while Sync snorted. I just let my head fall forward, bangs hiding my face. Teodoro had no idea at all...
"Well, if you three are done laughing... Noelle? Do you think you can take us back up?" Jade asked.
"It fell," Asch said quickly. "Shurrey Hill should be down here in the Qliphoth." Noelle smiled.
"Alright. Back to where St. Binah was, then. I'll just sleep while you guys are dealing with the passage ring. Besides, I'm happy to fly," she said. Selenia and Glenn exchanged a look, and Glenn pulled her off to one side before bending over to talk quietly. Selenia said something, and her father made a gesture with one hand, then she spoke again, looking surprised.
By the time they were done, Selenia looked caught between elation and pure shock. The two of them walked back over to us.
"I'm sending Selenia with you," Glenn announced. Jade frowned.
"Glenn..."
"Don't get me wrong, Jade. If you let her die, I'll kill you myself. But... There's nowhere for Selenia to escape to outside Yulia City where I can keep a discrete eye on her. It's all miasma, or Aramis Spring. I'd rather she be with you than here, with nothing to do except get in trouble," he said. Then he took a deep breath. "Besides. I'm not so much trusting you with her as I am Sync."
Sync flinched slightly, while Selenia shot him a look that read, quite plainly, 'he was gonna figure it out sooner or later.'
After getting confirmations from both Jade and Sync, Glenn turned, gave Selenia one last hug, and headed into Yulia City with Teodoro. The rest of us got back onto the Albiore.
Twilight laid down in a corner, I sat up against him, Sorylle laid down with her head in my lap, Sync used her as a pillow, and Selenia sat cross-legged next to us, looking very much like she was tempted to claim Sync as her pillow like he'd done to Sorylle.
We'd been in the air for about half an hour (it would be another four and a half yet, if the initial journey was any indication) when Asch came back and sat down nearby as well, dragging Reighn along with him. Of course, that resulted in Seth joining in, and soon enough, everyone was sitting in the back except for Tear, who was resting in the seat behind Noelle, Natalia, who was writing in her journal, Guy, who was bugging Noelle, and Noelle, for obvious reasons.
"So, what're we up against?" Seth asked, looking at Asch and Sync. Asch had sat down near Sync's feet and his lap had turned into a footrest for the lazy-looking teen.
"Fonic golems, mostly. A few ropers."
"The damn tuning fork was a bitch," Sync grumbled, eyes closed. Asch sighed.
"Too bad Mieu disappeared on us. We could've used his attack ability for that," he said. "At any rate, depending on how sloppy Van, Luke, and Zion were, we may not have to deal with it. The passage ring is going to be the hard part. We know the key we put in place, but who knows what Van's done?"
"And what about the—" Sync started, cutting off suddenly. He glanced up at me, then seemed to shake it off, holding up a hand to sign the last word. 'Miasma.'
Asch shrugged, signing more words. 'Poison cleansing technique. Painful, but works.'
Sync sighed, letting his eyes close again.
"Dark, do you mind translating for the rest of us who didn't understand that?" Jade asked. Asch looked at me in alarm before smacking himself upside the head. I chuckled.
"Nah. It wasn't that important." I made four letters. 'U. O. Me.'
Asch made a motion that almost looked like he was blowing a kiss, further baffling everyone, while I chuckled. "Anyway... You two know how to get past the rest of it, right?"
Sync nodded. "Yeah... Although... Tear, which hymns do you know the melody for?"
Tear was quiet for a moment. "All but the seventh."
"And Shurrey Hill was...?" Sync continued, now looking at Asch. He scoffed.
"No fucking idea. Do you remember any?"
"Mt. Roneal is second, third, and fourth."
"You only remember that one because you were there within the last month, don't you?"
"Akzeriuth was the first, fourth, and fifth. Mt. Zaleho had the third hymn, but I don't remember the other two. Zao Ruins are first, second, and fourth. Um... Beyond that, no clue."
"What are you two talking about?" Anise asked. Asch sighed.
"There were three seals on the sephiroth before we came along and added a fourth. With Akzeriuth gone, the Albertesque Seal is done for. The Daathic Seal is the one Ion and Sync can undo..." Asch said. Ion frowned.
"That leaves the Yulian Seal. How did you three bypass that one?" he wondered. Asch smirked.
"Kairi knows the melody of the Grand Fonic Hymn. Remember her comment about my singing voice on the way to Keterburg? Each passage ring has three designated hymns. You have to sing at least two of them to unlock the Yulian Seal."
"Assuming we don't need all three," Sync piped up. "Remember in Daath, just before we ended up in Baticul?"
"That was because of the Albertesque Seal closing up again," Asch said. Sync shrugged.
"True. But with it gone, who's to say some security feature didn't kick in? We might need to do all three now."
"But what if we need the seventh hymn? I don't know that one," Tear said. Sync looked uncomfortable.
"If worse comes to worst, I'll do it myself."
"Assuming you can actually sing."
"I can sing a hell of a lot better than you can, Mr. Dying Cat!"
"I do not sound like a dying cat!"
"Dying frog, then."
I couldn't help it. I busted up laughing at the sheer absurdity of the situation. Which, of course, turned both Asch and Sync bright red.
"That conversation got very off-topic from the sounds of things," Guy said, finally leaving Noelle alone to come join us in the back. I shook my head.
"Only a little. So how far out are we?" I asked.
"About an hour," Noelle called back.
"What?! But we've only been up here for about an hour!" Anise said. Seth rolled his eyes.
"The Albiore's a lot lighter without all of the civilians, and we don't have to fight the wind like we did on our way to St. Binah. Of course we'd go faster."
Anise shot him a glare, while Reighn sighed.
"Tear, Natalia, would you two join us please?" The two girls came back and sat down, and Reighn shot a pointed look at Ion, who nodded once. I'd obviously missed something there.
Ion stood and looked around before taking a deep breath. "With Dorian General Grants and the majority of the God-Generals now working against the wishes of both the Grand Maestro and the Fon Master of the Order of Lorelei, I have decided to reinstate Reighn Aurelius as the Head of my Fon Master Guardians. In addition... Asch fon Fabre and Sync Osborne. I would like to formally request that you return to your old positions in the Order of Lorelei, at least until we clean up the mess Van has made."
Sync and Asch exchanged startled looks, though Sync looked less surprised than Asch did.
"I won't ask you to make up your minds immediately," Ion said quickly. Then he sighed and glanced at Reighn again. The man nodded once and took Ion's place standing up.
"I made good use of the time we spent in Grand Chokmah waiting for Jade to recover by mailing all of my contacts. I've gotten word back from more than half of them, which, given recent events, is impressive," he said. "Mohs is spearheading the war effort, with Count Almandine as his main hand in Kimlasca. Malkuth doesn't want the war at all, but Brigadier General Aslan Frings has already begun preparing the troops around Engeve."
Jade nodded. "Ari said he and Aslan would be stuck in that area. Anything else?"
"Aerith has taken over the Intelligence Division and seems to be operating as a double agent between Mohs and Van. I'm not sure yet who she's really working for, but I'll throw my money on Mohs. First Division is still led by Largo, second by Dist, and third Arietta. Flick the Phoenix and Legretta the Quick have actually switched, so to speak. Legretta took over the fifth division, Flick's taken over the fourth. Cantabile is still in command of the sixth." Reighn paused here and looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Starlorne Arlynde has been placed in command of the Special Operations division."
I blinked. That name...
"The girl who was supposed to be your predecessor?" Anise asked. "She's back?"
Reighn nodded. "Yeah. All the reports claim a girl with silver and gold hair and blue eyes, always wearing white and light blue. That's Star. I'd know, I went through hell trying to get her into her first temporary Guardian uniform because it wasn't in those colors," he said. "At any rate, in addition to that all happening just before Akzeriuth's fall, which was when Van, Zion, Luke, and all of the God-Generals with the exception of Cantabile left the Order, it seems Danté Daemione has disappeared off the face of the earth."
A shock ran up my spine, and I noted that I wasn't the only one who was suddenly uncomfortable.
"What do you mean?" Jade asked. Reighn shook his head.
"I can pin him down near St. Binah four months ago, and we saw him in the Abandoned Factory two months ago, but..." he trailed off with a frown. "Aside from those two instances, no one's seen him. Which is odd, because I can usually get recent word of him just from asking the nearest civilian."
I took a deep breath that was supposed to be slow and controlled, but just felt sharp. "He's gone under. Rhunön, or maybe Ryndor... They've called him back down and he's not coming up again until he's got a mission from one of them, or maybe Zion."
All eyes turned to me, and Seth sighed. "Damn."
A wry smirk tugged at my lips. "Yeah, that about sums it up."
Reighn frowned. "Alright. What do you two know that I don't?"
I glanced at Seth, who sighed and shrugged. "Dark and I were raised by Rhunön and Ryndor Daemione, a pair of assassin siblings. Rhunön has long since retired from that in favor of fucking around with replica data, as the two of us sitting here can attest to, but Ryndor is still an active assassin. He found Danté as a child and raised him, and then took Zion and Star in a couple years ago. Flick is a replica of Star, believe it or not. The seven of us, Rhunön, Ryndor, Zion, Danté, Star, Flick, and I, were all supposed to be a detached part of the Order of Lorelei, meant to ensure that the Close Score was fulfilled properly," he said. I nodded, remembering that, as well as a conversation a few kilometers north of Keterburg.
"If I remember correctly, that would put Zion, or maybe Star, in charge, wouldn't it?" I asked. Seth rolled his eyes.
"Zion. Which is why I left."
Asch smirked. "And where does that leave Flick, then?" Seth gave him an odd look, and he chuckled. "Flick handed Kairi her wing pack the first time she was kidnapped, then again after she lost her memory, and she gave Kairi my wing pack when we were preparing to leave her and Arietta in the Zao Ruins," he said.
Seth blinked a few times, then sighed, sounding tired. "You know what? Flick's always been strange, so for now, I'm just going to leave that be. I'm not entirely sure I want to know what's going through that head of hers, honestly."
I sighed. "Noelle? ETA?"
"Fifteen minutes?" the girl guessed. The rest of us sighed, a few people, including Jade, standing up and moving away. I leaned back against Twilight, watching as everyone except for Sync, Asch, and Seth moved to sit or stand elsewhere for the last little bit of our journey. Asch glanced at Seth, then me and Sync, then at Seth again. Then I noticed something.
"Hey, Asch? You should go get Ion and dump him with us while you do something else. Clump all the replicas together."
I got smacked upside the head for my efforts. Not that I didn't deserve it.
Asch sighed. "Seth... Do you mind giving us some space. The three of us need to talk," he said. Seth shrugged, stood, and looked around, before making a face and walking over to Jade.
Yup. I'd be making a face, too, if I thought that had been my best option. Oh well.
"Did Kairi tell you, or were you just being a really good friend?" Asch asked, looking at me. I blinked a few times, noting exactly how serious the former noble looked. I frowned and shook my head, simply for not having a clue what he was talking about.
Sync shrugged. "Oh well. Still, does the poison technique she taught us really work on the miasma?" he asked. Asch nodded.
"Yeah. She's done it before, though she said it was really painful to do in large amounts," he said. "I've got the next best Energy control behind her, so I'm hoping I can program the passage ring alright, but..."
Sync nodded. "I'll help if Jade has to."
I could only sigh.
Fun Fact: If you all want to, go check out my DeviantART. Somewhere on there is a written entry labeled 'Re:Ripples Character Interviews'. Go read it, if for no other reason than to laugh at Ryndor's oddities. It's all, 'I hate kids, I hate kids, I like casinos, I'm bored, I hate kids' and then the very last question has such a serious, touching answer that it's almost out of character...
