Worry

"She'll be okay!"

That was the fifth time Anelace said it aloud, reassuring herself that her dear friend was safe. It had only been a couple of hours since she left the mansion, and all she felt was an ever-increasing dread. She could still hear it— the crack of the chandelier as it smashed against Fie's forehead. Perhaps it was luck that the wall closed when it did. Otherwise, she would have had to defend an unconscious person against a swarm of insects hoping to munch on their innards. Thank Aidios that Fie woke up when she did.

Choosing to trust in Fie's words, Anelace hurried over to the Albarea mansion and quickly informed Jusis of what happened. He was shocked that Fie, of all people, would lend herself to such a precarious situation. After further explanation, that shock turned into a calm, understanding nod.

"She should still be within the city grounds," Jusis said. "I've instructed the guards to keep watch on all of the gates leading into the tunnels, as well as the sewers. It is only a matter of time until she shows up."

Altina tiptoed beside him and glanced around the room they assumed Fie was referring to. This was the second time that she had been here. She remembered seeing the smushy objects scattered on the floor, which upon further inspection, appeared to be webbed-up husks. "As I thought," she said, "these appear to have been former victims of an arachnid of some kind. If the monster is as you said it was, then I can assume that one of its kin had been preying off the rodents in the area."

"Hey, hey, hey—" Millium exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Doesn't that mean we have a huge pest problem going on here?"

"Not necessarily," Altina rebutted. She flashed a subtle smile towards her sister. "This specific breed operates more akin to honeybees than regular spiders. With their queen gone, the hive would soon disperse, and the drones would then become fodder for other predators that are more adaptive and are poison-resistant— such as the dromes inhabiting the sewers."

"So... we all good? It's fine?" Millium asked. "I don't have to go bug-squashing with Lammy?"

"That will not be necessary, dear sister."

"Boo."

Jusis shook his head in exasperation. "That may be so, but as the acting Duke, it's inexcusable for me not to have noticed this."

"Bareahard is one the larger cities in the Empire," Altina said. "Not to mention that this city is populated mostly by nobles that have their own skeletons in the closet. Hardly anyone would fault you for an oversight or two— I believe you are governing the city adequate to your abilities, Sir Jusis."

"...Regardless, that leaves us with our current issue."

Altina grimly nodded. "Yes. The whereabouts of Instructor Fie."

They could mobilize a search party, but even with a sizable amount of volunteers, that task could prove daunting. Bareahard was a large city with a large network of tunnels crisscrossing together like an underground maze. By the time they would have charted a sizable chunk of it, it may already be too late.

Another option was to go back to the basement where she split off and demolish the wall blocking the way. Claiomh Solais or Airgetlam could easily do so— but that left the problem of. navigation. It was entirely possible they would get lost themselves. At most, that option should be saved as a last resort should the worst come to pass.

Anelace paced back and forth, one hand fiddling with her hair ribbon and biting her nails on the other. She wanted to do something. The unwavering faith Jusis, Millium, and Altina had, however, convinced her to wait and trust those that knew Fie more than her.

"If it makes you feel better, Annie…" Millium said, holding Altina out by the shoulders. "You have express permission to hug my sweet little sister as much as you like."

Altina glared. "I refuse."

A tempting offer indeed, but Anelace continued to pace back and forth as if she didn't hear any of it.

"...Boy, this is more serious than I thought," Millium said.

A knock came from the door. Arnauld, Jusis' butler, politely bowed as he entered the room, to their disappointment. "Sir Jusis, your guest has arrived as per your summons," Arnauld said.

"Show her in."

"Understood."

"Excuse us," Jusis said as the two left to attend to their guest.

"This is the right room, right?" Anelace asked. Her voice cracking, tears threatened to spill from her eyes at any moment.

"I'm positive this is the room Instructor Fie was referring to," Altina said.

"Oh yeah… this room was— " Millium said, only to quickly clam up afterward. She stuttered and averted her gaze, drawing the curious stares from the other two.

"Was…?"

"N-nevermind!" A bead of sweat rolled down Millium's cheek as she faced the door. "Oh yeah! When Fie comes back, she's gonna be hungry! Let me go down to the kitchen and…" She didn't even finish before trailed off and hurried out of sight.

Anelace sighed. Millium was right. Distracting themselves sounded better than pacing around in anxiety. It might lead her into doing something rash. Turning to Altina, she grabbed the girl by the hand and smiled. "We should go too— "

A loud thud, strong enough to rattle the loose furniture, came from somewhere in the room. Then another. Altina would have lost her balance if not for Anelace catching her at the last second. Their eyes darted left to right trying to look for the source of the noise. Was it a monster? Thinking that, two stood up and readied themselves for combat. Claiomh Solais materialized from thin air and floated in front of them, ready to shield its master from harm.

*CRASH*

A portion of the wall, the one that looked like some sort of window, crumbled to dust as an electrifying blast of wind arts thundered through. Fie stared at her now blue knuckles, looking more annoyed than in pain. With a shrug, the fire imbuing her arms flickered out, leaving only the smell of burning ash and concrete.

Her face held the picture-perfect image of nonchalance. "I'm out."

"Fie!"

"Woah—!"

Fie collapsed under the weight of an Anelace tackling her into the ground.

Altina was more reserved, nodding welcomely at her instructor. "Welcome back."

"Hehe… I'm back."

"Cats sneak in through windows or climb over walls," Jusis said after coming back because of the commotion. "This is the first time I've seen stary going through one. Door not wide enough for you, perhaps?"

"What can I say?" Fie smiled. "Food's good, the bed's free— I'm surprised you haven't adopted me yet."

"It's great to see you in one piece, Fie."

"Same. Thanks, Jusis."

Millium yawned as she rolled over her nest of blankets in the living room, the fire burning in the fireplace not doing much to warm her up. Night had only barely fallen over the city, which meant the temperature could drop even worse. "Geez, how cold could it get? Everything's freezing..."

Altina, meanwhile, busied herself tending to her instructor's wounds. She wiped a hot towel on Fie's forehead with an annoyed pout. One of the unfortunate side-effects of using healing arts was that sometimes cuts wouldn't close properly. Oftentimes, this led to an infection or an unnatural swelling of the muscles as its regeneration is forcefully pushed to past its limits.

Fie looked away when Altina glared at the bruise on her hand. She preferred not to be treated like this but accepting deep down that she liked the pampering was a hard pill to swallow. The physicians had already examined her for any signs of lasting trauma. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. After plenty of rest, she'd be able to go back to work by tomorrow.

It didn't make the present any less awkward than it was. She had no excuse to act so recklessly. "My explosives wouldn't cut it," Fie said. "I had to do something"

Lugging dynamite on her person was just a force of habit by now. She tried to dial back and only carried around enough to blow a couple of doors or so. Punching through the wall sounded a lot more cost-efficient.

Altina pressed on the bruise harder. "It would have been a net loss if you broke your arm instead," she said. "I'm beginning to wonder why you picked up 'his' thoughtlessness, of all things."

"Sorry…"

"I'll forgive you if you promise not to do it again," Altina said, almost pleadingly. The way her ears seemed to droop drove the nail home.

Fie nodded silently.

Altina wasn't the only one, too. Anelace worried herself to the point of exhaustion, and letting the woman rest her head on her lap was the least that Fie could do. She didn't have the right to complain.

She really did mess this one up. What would have been a walk in the park for the two of them, turned into a troublesome mess. Maybe a break from work wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Fie, a minute, if you please," a voice called. Jusis deftly dodged a Millium crawling up towards hug his legs as he continued. He gave Fie a small envelope and a letter. "For you."

"Hm?"

"I took the liberty of contacting your client for you. I asked if she wanted to see you in person, but she insisted on prioritizing your recovery. The request was fulfilled successfully and thus, your pay."

Fie glanced at the envelope and was not surprised to see Madam Imelda's signature on the bottom. The old crone really had been their client, and if that were the case, Fie didn't blame her for being busy. Peering inside the envelope revealed a generous sum of mira, along with three vials of grainy expensive-looking medicine— or Zeram powder if Fie had to guess. It bordered on excessive; the money she got paid for was more than enough, in her opinion.

She's not gonna complain, of course.

"What did Madam Imelda say?" Jusis asked, pointing to the letter.

Skimming over it, Fie gently folded the letter and tucked it in her vest pocket. "Nothing much. Said I should come visit her shop again when I have the chance. Seeing as Crossbell is not in Erebonia anymore… That would have to wait."

"Was that it?" Millium asked.

"Yup."

Altina picked a comfortable spot inside Millium's blanket fort to sit on before speaking. "Odd. Madam Imelda was quite eager to get a chance to talk to you earlier. She only changed her mind when we told her you were badly injured."

"That's it," Fie answered curtly.

"Okay…" Millium trailed off, rolling lazily sideways to grab ahold of Altina's exposed leg. "Oh yeah, Fie. You never told us how you found your way out!"

"I dare say I'm curious myself," Altina said, patting her sister on the head. Jusis nodded along.

Fie shrugged. "It wasn't anything special."

It really wasn't.

"Did you find something interesting down there?" Millium pestered, craving for something to talk about to alleviate her boredom. "No scary monsters? No secret, super-duper rare treasures?"

"There were ghosts."

"Gh-Gho— ?!"

"Anyway," Fie continued, "I'm pretty beat. Night."

Carefully setting aside Anelace off her lap, Fie stood up and stalked out the door.

…

"That's unusual," Altina said.

Sighing, Jusis rubbed his temples for the umpteenth time that day. "So, you noticed."

"Instructor Fie rarely acts so coldly nowadays. The last time I've experienced something similar was when— "

Her words were interrupted by Jusis clearing his throat. It took Altina a second to realize why.

"I apologize," she said. "I spoke without thinking. It is not my place to judge."

"It's alright. It seems we've got a long way to go."

"T-T-TILLY!" Millium exclaimed, interrupting their thoughts. Face pale, she clung to Altina's arm as if for dear life. "S-she said there were gh-gh-gh-ghosts down there! Did I hear that wrong?! Ghosts don't exist, RIGHT?!"

Right?

Come play with us again!

Or so the ghost girl said after subtly leading her to the exit shaft. Ghosts were indeed real.

And so was insomnia. Fie covered her eyes with her arm in a desperate attempt to maybe get some sleep.

Absolutely no luck, whatsoever.

"I can't sleep."

It wasn't about the nightmares either. On one hand, the nightmares were getting worse— darker and more vivid with each passing night. On the other, she simply could not calm down. Mental rest was just as important as physical rest. That didn't stop her mind from going several hundred thoughts per second.

Fie grabbed the ARCUS sitting by her bedside. Twelve midnight. Around this time, Rean would still be up working, trying to squeeze some trivial tasks or assignments in his teaching plan. No doubt about it.

She felt dirty thinking about the fact that she remembered.

Figuring it was best to distract herself before she did something regretful, Fie jumped out of her bed and sat on her desk. Inky blotches dotted the luxurious wood, flanked on all sides by crumpled pieces of paper. Some had already spilled to the floor— all a sad consequence of what she was doing earlier.

The Dark Prince of Helmdrr, Vol. 7.

Though… calling it a volume was a stretch. The book was only a relatively few paragraphs long— barely taking up half a dozen pages if added up. It felt more like a compilation of sorts, a collection of tangential ramblings that, when strung together, formed a narrative. It made no sense to her considering she hasn't read all the previous volumes.

Therein lay another issue: even if she knew the story, she couldn't understand it. Entire sections of paragraphs were written in a language she didn't recognize. Some were crossed out, marked, and scribbled over with their supposed meanings— as if someone had been translating the text into something more intelligible.

Not the work typical of an author.

On that basis, she deduced that: a) the illegible text was probably the original penned by the author, and b) the copy she had now belonged to a dedicated fan trying to translate the book.

Whatever it was, though, it felt unfinished. The last page ends abruptly, and the translation notes dwindle in occurrence partway through.

"...'Have fun,' huh?"

Those were Madam Imelda's words to her in her letter. Somehow, the old woman knew that Fie would stumble across the book and wrote down references with which Fie could start researching on. Among them was a manual on how sentence structures are broken down and analyzed, a book about basic syntax and grammar, a glossary listing the different dialects spoken in Zemuria, and lastly, a study talking about literary practices in the early periods of history.

It was also infuriating to think that Madam Imelda knew all of this beforehand and that Fie wouldn't resist digging deeper simply because of her curiosity.

Opening up a few of the materials she stole— er, borrowed without permission from Jusis' library, Fie started to work on where the previous translator had left off. It had been difficult at first, but eventually, she managed to create her own word chart to help in her translation. While there were bound to be some errors here and there since she didn't have the proper academic acuity or authority to judge whatever the hell she was doing, that was neither here nor there as it helped pass the time.

As for why she was going through such lengths… she can't answer. Curiosity can only motivate one so far. Maybe boredom struck, or maybe it was because of the stress. Maybe a subconscious part of her felt that studying hard like this would make her fall asleep. She can't really be sure.

Fie never thought she'd be invested in a book so much, though. It surprised even her. She'll get bored and tired of it eventually. What's important was that her eyes and hands were busy enough to serve as a distraction.

A sharp, pungent odor assaulted her nose. Fie had to hold herself back from grimacing when a familiar cup of black ooze appeared in her vision.

"Black coffee," Altina said, her grin glowing in the night. "Same blend as his. I hope you like it."

"Thanks…" Fie muttered out. Not having the heart to refuse, she took large gulps of the drink and downed it all in an instant. She gave Altina a satisfied smile, to which the girl beamed in delight.

It tasted bittersweet.

"What are you doing?" Altina asked, pointedly staring at the papers strewn across the desk. "Bracer work?"

"Yeah," Fie said. Her arm subtly moved to hide The Dark Prince from Altina's gaze. "I can manage, don't worry about it."

"Then, the caffeine should be helpful. I advise you to finish soon, however; you need not overwork yourself."

"I will. Thank you."

"He's always worried about you too, if I may remind," Altina said. Fie noticed Altina hasn't mentioned his name at all. Was she trying to be sensitive?

Still, Fie patted the Altina's head gently. She had no reason to be mad at her; Altina meant well. "I know."

"Then please… sleep," Altina said, in a stern, yet caring tone.

"Goodnight, Altina."

Altina frowned. Her disappointment was clear as day. "...Goodnight, Instructor."

Altina Orion soundlessly closed the door to her room. It was already past midnight; making unnecessary noise in the house she was a guest at would be considered rude. More than that, she didn't want to wake up her sister as they shared a bed.

Gliding past Millium and into the balcony, Altina took a deep breath to clear her head. She felt annoyed. Her day had been one stressful event after the other, yet here she was sitting still and observing from afar. She wished she could do more— wished she could have done more. Delicate matters such as this require delicate solutions, not brash ones.

Sometimes, she wished that she didn't have her emotions if it meant that she wouldn't have to act on them.

They did have a plan, though, courtesy of her sister. Maybe it was finally the time to chip in, as shamelessly 'Millium-esque' as that plan was. There was guarantee if it would work— it had just as high a chance of backfiring, but Altina felt that it could be their best bet, given the circumstances.

But that was a bundle of trouble reserved for later— she had more pressing concerns. Dialing a number she'd long memorized by now, she was greeted by a ragged voice from an increasingly ragged man.

"Hello?" Rean asked. His eyelids blinked rapidly as if it was chasing sleep away.

"Goodmorning."

"Oh, it's you Altina…"

Something felt off. Couldn't Rean have seen her name from the caller ID? It seemed like he didn't recognize her until he heard her speak.

"I'm here to report about the favor you asked of me," Altina said, voice barely audible in the night. "It's about Fie—"

"..." No response. Rean stared blankly at her, his mouth was ajar, and his eyes muted— unfocused and distant.

For a brief moment, those fuschia eyes flashed yellow.

"Rean...?"

Hearing her call out his name, Rean snapped back to reality. Color surged to his face, and his eyes blinked back to normal. "Huh? Oh, yeah… How is she?"

"She is as hale and hearty as you are, Instructor."

Which meant: not at all. Rean looked far worse than he had been yesterday when he asked her to look after Fie. The two were two peas in a pod if that pod involved killing themselves through overwork, anxiety, or stress.

And that was barring the fact that what Altina had just seen could clearly not have been her imagination. She could still see her instructor with those blank golden eyes— ominous, yet not lacking in beauty. Something was definitely off, and just as before, Altina was powerless to stop it.

"Go to sleep."

Zemuria was a wicked place indeed when the student was the one telling the teacher to go to bed like a parent disciplining their child. An analogy could not be more apt. Altina tempered herself not to yell in anger.

"But—"

"Go to sleep, or I'm telling everyone how you coerced me into calling you every day, late at night just so you could hear me talk."

The implications of that… were not pretty. If Rean's face wasn't pale before, it was now. "F-fine… you win," he said.

"I'm hanging up. I shall call you again tomorrow. Goodnight, Instructor."

Before Rean could greet her back, she had already hung up.

She should get some sleep, too.

"Tilly?" a quiet voice asked from the bedroom. "What's got you up? Did'ya have a bad dream?"

Yawning, Millium joined her sister in the balcony, seemingly woken up from the noise. She hopped atop the balustrade, staring in awe at something on the horizon.

Altina followed her gaze and saw, in full view, the cityscape lighting up the night. The cathedral took center stage, glowing in vivid green colors as it ended its late-night mass. Faintly, she could hear the rambunctious chatter of nobles and smell the alcohol as they host their parties throughout the district. A shooting star trailed past the sky— a luxurious cruiser that is just about to dock into the airport.

Thinking about it, she's never had enough of a reason to visit Bareahard at night. This may be the first time she's seen the city as peaceful as this.

Millium giggled beside her, holding the same sentiments in her mind. She looked as glamorous as the landscape. Her simple, yet elegant nightgown complemented her budding beauty quite well. Breezy and tasteful, she looked like a lily glistening in the moonlight. Altina guessed that part of the reason Millium wanted a more mature body was so that she could wear age-appropriate dresses like this more often.

Reminiscing about why they made that body was a fond, but painful memory for them. So much so, Altina reflexively asked: "How are you feeling?"

"Me? As great as ever," Millium answered, with far less enthusiasm than Altina would have expected. It almost sounded… melancholic. "My body's perfect as it is. You don't have to keep worrying about me."

"Oh…"

"It wasn't all that long ago, either," Millium said, sitting up on the edge of the balcony. "At first, I thought I was going to have to live the rest of my life as a talking sword. I guess I wouldn't have minded that. Being carried around by Jusis wherever he goes sounded kind of like a dream at the time.

"But," Millium continued, "even if I didn't deserve it… I was saved. I got to hug you guys again, and feel your warmth on my body all over again."

She grasped Altina's hand in hers. Warm, and alive.

"Mil…" Altina muttered. She held Millium's hand tighter— as if it would eventually wither it away. Like it had done so before.

"And even then, THAT body started to rot," Millium said. "I couldn't move as I used to, and, eventually, I couldn't even speak. My flesh started to mold, and I could feel my bones breaking inside of me. I was back to being helpless again."

Altina closed her eyes as she remembered the visceral detail. They only had a hypothesis, gleaned from months of research into the homunculus creation process. Millium's old body couldn't contain her very being. It was outdated; the recipe of materials used to transmute it wasn't optimal, and thus her body rapidly started to decay.

Millium's 'soul' had far exceeded the limits of what ancient alchemy was capable of.

"Then," Millium said, "I was saved yet AGAIN, and even got me a sweet bonus to boot!"

She cupped her hands on her (admittedly) larger breasts, and smirked when Altina instinctively looked away, face red in embarrassment.

"I owe you guys my life, like, three times over by now," Millium said, gazing back to the cityscape. Her words carried with them a sense of wistfulness. "I would do anything if it meant I could pay you guys back. I would give everything I have, except one."

"Which is…?"

"My life."

"Oh…"

"Yup. Not gonna trade it for anything." Millium puffed out her chest like a smug child realizing she's invincible. "You guys think my life was so precious enough that I got to cheat death twice. I can't just give it away."

Now that, Altina cannot fully agree on. The two girls shared a laugh at the ridiculousness of that statement.

"Anyway," Millium said, melancholy back in her tone. She leaned on the balustrade while fighting back oncoming drowsiness. "What Fie's doing now— killing herself with work and whatnot… it just doesn't sit right with me, you know?"

"This would hardly be the first time she did such a thing," Altina said.

"Yeah, exactly! Her life is just as precious as mine. She should know that."

"So, you intend for her to realize this truth with your 'plan,' don't you?" Altina asked.

"Yep!"

Altina grinned. By this point, she was sold on going along with their scheme, for better or for worse. While it would pay to be cautious, if Millium had placed this much thought and faith in it— unlike her usual spontaneous shenanigans— then she should put just as much faith in her sister.

"And what, pray tell, does this 'plan' involve?" she asked.

Millium pointed a finger passionately towards the sky. "A race!"

…

"Eh?"

Millium's story is part of a prequel I have in mind for Millium's fanfic. Eventually.

So. Hi. I'm back, probably.

Tl;dr, Utawarerumono good. Arknights good. Quarantine bad. It sapped all motivation I had to write.

Finally get to the racing part of this arc, which is basically the meaty action part of it. Place your bets now. Among the characters introduced, who'd you think will win?

Next up will be Trails of Zeph. Then Heaven's Wings. Look forward to it.

Surprise should be posted up by now, if you're on browser. I don't know how to view a story's cover art if you're on mobile. Go to desktop site or something. If you're on AO3, pixiv link should be down below.

Reviews, Favs, Follows are much, much appreciated.

See ya.

PS. Rean's part is based on the latest Hajimari no Kiseki info. If you haven't seen it yet, do so now. It's pretty hype. Whether it will go somewhere in the context of this fic, we'll find out.

Cover Art (pixiv): en/artworks/82676256