AN: Alright, I know people don't usually celebrate these types of things but...holy shite, I did not expect to reach the amount of follows and favs I had. I know it sounds vain as hell, but let me explain…
I do this fanfic as a side thing, I'd say, if I have nothing to do. (That's why I warned you guys about the updates.) So, you tend to see some fanfics updating and finishing in about a year. Or actual life tends to catch up to others, leaving their five relatively abandoned. Hell, this might honestly be my only fic, which I hope to finish eventually. Not to mention that in terms of Kamen Rider fanfic-wise especially, I want to attempt to create something...different from the norm. So at least to someone like me, it's unexpected seeing how many people seem to enjoy it. So thank you. :)
But you aren't here for my short ramblings about me. Before we actually get on with the actual chapter though...Comment time!
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Dcraus - ...I guess you'll have to read more to find out, eh?
linkthetoaoftime - Hm...wonder why they aren't revealing more, especially if it's so dangerous? Also, nice catch. ;)
—-
Anyways, with that out of the way, let's go!
—-
Leaves crunching. A distant breeze blowing in the wind. The crisp sunlight, bathing onto the five very differently dressed women, armed with somewhat vastly different things, walking alongside one another in the forest. The sun, at the apex of the sky.
With the camp nearly half a day behind them, Petra was, for the most part, enjoying their walk through the forest. Or rather in her case, tree climbing. The Cross-Z Dragon laid there, floating, as one of Sento's logs were playing.
"They always said that Faust wasn't one to back down, but rumors of Hokuto going to war? It's so...unexpected. Especially for something like this. The Smash seem...quiet. Ever since Banjou had to kill his girlfriend. And Pandora's Box...what does that have to do with all that. It created the Skywall…"
Petra then paused the video, as she noticed a squirrel out of the corner of her eye.
"Skywall? How could a wall fall from the sky? And what is a 'Pandora's Box? And...Banjou had a girlfriend?" Petra asked herself in her mind as she skewered the squirrel with her sword, blinking once while briefly looking at it. She looked back to the log.
Log 3 of 50
She already spoiled herself on the ending; something of a caliber similar to the war here in Fodlan. To Petra, she thought it might've been the how that was important to everything that happened wherever Sento came from.
Deciding to find the others, she quickly jumped back down to the ground below, her Silver sword having the dead squirrel on it. They did need some type of protein after all. The Cross-Z Dragon simply stayed to her side, giving a small little roar as Petra gave a small smile.
In the distance, she could spot Bernadetta nearby with her Steel Bow. Shamir was also present, her own Silver Bow out, and an arrow nocked into it. Shamir was seemingly speaking something to her, albeit Petra couldn't tell what they were saying from where she was at.
Petra inquisitively decides to see what was going on, walking up towards them, pushing her way through bushes and trees. She could hear their conversation more clearly the closer she got to them.
"...calm yourself. Aim at the target." Shamir ended with, as Bernie slowly aimed it towards a deer lying in wait. It was too busy eating the shrubbery to notice the two present.
Petra could hear Bernadetta mumbling to herself, as she slowly aimed at the deer. And then...a miss.
Shamir quickly pulled out her own bow, aiming it towards the running deer and fired, smiling as the shot hit its eye, sending it slamming into a tree.
Bernie was terrified to say the least. Not about her actual bow skills it seemed, but more the brutality by which the deer was killed.
Shamir simply turned her head briefly, ignoring Bernie's staring towards the very dead deer.
"Petra." She would state, causing Bernie to turn around in surprise. She seemed freaked, but not as scared as before.
"Shamir." Petra curtly said, walking next to the two. She stared towards Bernadetta for a brief moment, before turning back to the master archer herself. "I would guess you too are helping in Bernadetta's Hunter skills?"
"That I am. Not the worst I've seen. But way too hesitant." Shamir replied, the two almost ignoring the fact that Bernie was right there.
"Hesitant? She seemed to not want to kill nature as much. An understandable trait, but it will not help if people hide behind it." Petra responded, Bernie staring between the two of them. "Or for survival terms."
Shamir simply nodded in agreement, as she grabbed Petra's silver sword.
"I'll get this to Catherine as soon as possible. Before it gets too rotten." Shamir replied, sighing. "Would you mind helping Bernadetta with the deer?"
Petra simply nodded as Shamir walked away, leaving the two with the dead deer.
"Bernadetta, I am quite surprised at how your bow skills have somewhat improved back in Nuvelle. Why do you hesitate now?" Petra asked her, as Bernie simply stared ahead at whatever remained of the deer.
"It looked so peaceful." She blurted out, causing Petra to simply raise an eyebrow.
"Whatever do you mean?" She asked, as Bernie pointed nearby. A small river so it would seem.
"It was drinking water over there. Shamir told me to shoot at it; said that it was distracted;she said the same thing when it started eating the leaves. It seemed unfair." Bernadetta responded, as she stared towards the river. Probably trying to not look at the rotting deer anymore, as Petra simply nodded.
"I see. From what I remember from before, being distracted would be an opportune time to strike. They do not expect it coming." Petra claimed, as Bernadetta looked just a little surprised at how casual Petra was when speaking about shooting wildlife down.
"Petra, you can't just be saying those things!" Bernie said to the Brigidian, who simply gave a look of confusion towards the Varley, as Bernadetta promptly tilted her own head.
Petra simply decided to walk over to where Shamir was before, Bernie following.
"What do you mean? Huntresses tend to hunt for prey, are they not?" Petra questioned, for which Bernie stuttered. She clearly didn't think that sort of thought.
"Yes, but so...brutally?" She asked, as she noticed up ahead, Shamir coming back with the silver sword, obviously getting their lunch via the deer.
"...unfortunately." Petra would state, as she looked towards the Cross-Z Dragon, lifting the Build Driver their way. It eventually dropped right into Petra's arms.
She stared at it. The metallic scar across the belt being a reminder of the fate of its last user.
Bernie simply took a peek at it herself.
She recoiled a little at the sight of the scar, keeping to herself.
The Cross-Z Dragon compacted itself, landing on top of the Build Driver.
Petra had an idea where this was going.
"I think it wants me to try and do it again." She stated generally, Bernie not really understanding what she specifically meant, as she pulled out the Dragon Fullbottle from her hand. For a moment, Petra thought about testing it out again. A sigh escaped her lips the moment after, however.
"Not now, dragon. When we return to the Alliance, then we may attempt it." Petra simply stated, the Cross-Z Dragon extending itself back to its tiny dragon-like form, screeching in annoyance at Petra.
"How do you even understand that thing?" Bernie asked, Petra staring at her for a little too long before answering.
"I...do not know." She replied, just as confused as Bernie over the reasoning of understanding this new dragon...thing.
She turned nearby, where she could hear some light conversation going on between the rest of their party.
Catherine held Thunderbrand in hand, carrying the majority of their food and such in a giant burlap sack in the other. Dorothea simply tried to help out when she could. Shamir just stood there with a couple smaller leather sacks, containing the actual important parts from the deer from before, following them.
"...it's a long story." Catherine concluded, as Dorothea sighed.
"So I see." She responded, as she noticed that Petra and Bernie were present. "Ah; how was the little break?"
"We found deer and squirrel." Petra stated rather bluntly, Dorothea being just a little surprised at the pure bluntness of said statement.
"Well then...I'm sure we could…" Dorothea muttered, before both Catherine and Shamir raised their hands in front of them.
Shamir peered her eyes ahead, as both her and Catherine looked on with a small tinge of nostalgia. A small village laid ahead, the people generally just plowing whatever remained of fertile farmland.
To the group, it took a little bit of time...but they eventually recognized where they were.
"...Remire?" Petra whispered, Shamir slowly nodding in approval.
"To think after so long, the people would just come back here and start over…" Dorothea commented quietly, as the group slowly walked into the village. Some of the ground still laid bare, the ashes and remnants of those from years before were long gone. But their effects and whatever ramifications caused this still remained.
Many quickly ran inside their makeshift houses, avoiding the new wanderers like they didn't want to get a plague.
"They seem scared of us…" Bernadetta responded, staying between Petra and Bernadetta as Shamir and Catherine took the front.
"Remember that you're technically still Imperial generals. Some of them don't forget those types of things." Shamir whispered to the group, sighing as eyes hid behind pretty much anything, peering at their new arrivals. Some with suspicion, clearly. Others, with wonder as to who they were.
They could hear the shuffling of weapons behind them, as what looked to be an older man tried to strike a pitchfork towards the group from behind.
Catherine immediately pulled out Thunderbrand at the same time Petra pulled out her sword, both of them being able to intercept the farming tool before it could hit any of them.
The man tried to push harder. Obviously, having two people preventing that from happening (and one of those people being THE Thunder Catherine) didn't exactly help.
"In the name of...Seiros, you will be punished!" He yelled, the surrounding villagers absolutely worried about what was even going on.
Catherine and Petra for their part held their swords to hold the pitchfork while Dorothea ducked underneath, attempting to talk to said man.
"Why did you try to attack us?" She stated, the man staring towards Dorothea with a bit of anger. She assumed it was for something personal.
"You...Imperial bastards!" He shouted, causing the five to become the center of attention. Catherine and Shamir weren't amused, but still fairly a little cautious.
"Any ideas?" Shamir whispered to her, as Catherine held the pitchfork away from the two.
"Doesn't look drunk; might be something personal." Catherine whispered back as she gave a look towards Petra, the two kicking him lightly back. His body stumbled back, nearly collapsing.
"Your people are exactly who we don't want around these parts! Haven't you caused enough pain!" They shouted, much to the shock of the ex-Adrestian nobles.
"Father...that's Thunder Catherine and Captain Shamir. They ARE Knights of Seiros." One of the townspeople stated from a nearby hut, looking quite worried at the situation unfolding.
"Yeah? Well who are they behind them? They've come to pillage us all!"
"I assure you, we are not! We were here to head towards the Alliance!" Dorothea pleaded, only for the man to immediately yell beyond Dorothea's soft-spoken voice.
"The Alliance? From Adrestian territory? Bah! You've probably just brought the patrols here to come check on us after five long years! Finally come to care about the little old villages who paid for the backbone of the Empire with it being torched!" He shouted, clearly on the verge of charging again when, having enough of this old man's shit, Shamir proceeded to step in front of all of them, Catherine raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"They've defected. They are under custody of the Knights; any action against them will be taken as an act of Imperial loyalty, and thus will be swiftly dealt with." Shamir stated, masking her absolute disgust of being this direct with a neutral, serious look. This was as the townsman from before intervened, placing himself between the senile man and the group.
"I do apologize; my father still hasn't gone over everything that's happened. Very much loyal to the Church, Lady Shamir and Lady Catherine. We can explain everything…" the man tried to state, only for Shamir to simply stop him.
"No need. I understand. So do they." She responded, nudging to the three Adrestian women. Afterwards, she nodded to the dead meat inside the sack they were carrying. "Would you mind if we set up a fire near here? We have extra meat we can hand out to the people if need be."
The man simply nodded, as he went to go collect some wood.
"Petra, Bernadetta, go with him. He might need help. I'll stay nearby; see if there's anything else around here that needs to be hunted. Catherine, Dorothea, make sure the meat's secure. Don't want any thieves getting any bright ideas. Notify any of us if there's an actual Imperial or Faerghus patrol nearby. Don't want any of them getting any ideas or for them to possibly damage Remire or us." Shamir commanded, the group simply nodding before departing ways.
Shamir simply sighed after the majority of them were gone, looking to where the senile man who tried to kill them went. He seemed to have made his way back into the little hut his family most likely occupied. A woman stood in front of the tent, eyeing Shamir curiously as the mercenary went off.
—
"So…" Dorothea stated quite awkwardly, and Catherine simply standing off to the side. It was absolute silence between the two, the only sounds being that of those in the village, working to survive. Fielding whatever crops they could. For the very little of them who decided to return after 5 years.
Catherine simply looked at her with a slightly annoyed look and a huff.
Dorothea wasn't exactly one to simply back down from a conversation, however. Especially when there was nothing else to do.
"Why do you care so much about Rhea?" Dorothea asked out of interest. Catherine twitched a little before briefly looking towards Dorothea. Her head snapped back to where it was before soon after.
"Why'd you associate yourself with the Empress?" She shot back, Dorothea genuinely taken aback by Catherine's coldness. Then she simply stayed silent, thinking about how to answer this.
After another silent moment, she answered, as the air tensed just a little from their previous interaction.
"At the end of the day, her father was the reason that the opera house was formed. Why I became who I became. Hell, Edelgard briefly confirmed back at the academy that she helped me get into said academy. As much as Edie isn't no saint, she's no hellspawn either." Dorothea claimed, Catherine actually turning slightly in interest. "I can understand the reasoning to her wanting to bring down the Church. Not everyone follows the religion. I certainly don't."
A small moment passed before Catherine began giving a small snicker, Dorothea raising an eyebrow.
"I can see what you mean." She responded, much to the songstress's surprise. "Honestly though, bloodshed wouldn't be the first thing on my mind. Much less a war like this."
"Honestly, Edie briefly thought that too. That she could bring peace throughout the land without a war." Dorothea claimed, as Catherine moved her body to face her.
"How'd she react?" Catherine responded, as Dorothea simply looked down for a moment.
"She said that Rhea wouldn't listen to reason; probably ex-communicate her or worse. That she was some tyrant who could be reasoned with through war. Honestly, it's a little far-fetched but...the reasoning for it sounded understandable. But to last this long…"
"Surprising, isn't it?" Catherine inquired. "Before this war, the Knights of Seiros thought they were ready for this. But then to see so much of the Imperial Army marching...and then what happened to Garreg Mach." She stated, looking towards where the former monastery used to be. It stood a distance away, the lights that would show the way gone. Simply a decrepit old building in its place, abandoned and left to rot.
The two stayed silent for a bit longer, the air calming as a light wind blew through the area.
"Sentimental, isn't it?" Dorothea stated, as Catherine chuckled.
"I briefly remember when my class went over here. Small break. There used to be an old man. Not the one that attacked us of course, but this old guy knew how to make some mean pastries. Forgot the name of them." She stated with a chuckle, Dorothea following suit. The two probably didn't want to talk about either the Empress nor the Archbishop at a time like this anymore.
"Did he happen to make those little honey drops from Almyra?" She asked, Catherine's eyes, for a rare time, genuinely lighting up.
"Yeah; same guy! Whatever happened to him?" Catherine asked, a small smile present on her face as she seemed to begin to think some nostalgic thoughts.
"Cassie, the man's selling Almyran honey drops!"
"Coming, Ladi!"
She simply gave a bright smile as Dorothea concluded her own thoughts out loud.
"...last time I checked though, he went to Morfis. Wanted to explore the world, he said. Although that was back just before the Remire Massacre, so I'll admit; I don't know myself." Dorothea said in thought, as Catherine turned to her.
"Did he give the recipe to anyone specifically? I'd imagine considering his popularity here, he'd need someone to pass on the legacy. Had been doing so for what; 15 years at least?" Catherine asked, as the songstress chuckled.
"Well, he gave the recipes to both me and Mercedes. We were regulars there at the time; helped him out sometimes after classes back at the Monastery. Well, when her and Annette weren't busy burning the kitchen down and when Bernie wasn't having an anxiety attack. Or Edie." She replied, the two smiling as they relaxed. Dorothea herself reminsciened about the past a little more as the two simply stayed in silence.
Breaking said silence, Catherine simply sighed.
"This doesn't fix much. But...at the very least, maybe if Lady Rhea comes back...perhaps we could try making it. Or we can save it when the war's won." Catherine stated, Dorothea giving a small smile.
"Maybe."
—
(Meanwhile…)
"Again, I very much apologize for everything that's happened. My father tends to be very much fearful of what happened regarding the Massacre. Not to mention the war that's going on. I'm sure either of you could understand, right?" The townsman asked as he lugged a woodcutting axe, as Bernadetta and Petra followed. The Cross-Z Dragon stalked a small distance behind them, weaving through trees and such to avoid being detected.
"I think I do." Bernie responded, as Petra nodded. She was listening out for anything that might surprise them. Like a Blood Stalk, or the Empire. Or even the Kingdom, if they were still hunting Adrestians.
"Good, good. I was afraid you'd think we'd be actually killing you; we just came back after Garreg Mach burned. Assumed the few of us that came would be able to slowly rebuild Remire Village from the ground up. Or at least use some of the abandoned buildings to try and start to rebuild." He stated. "Thankfully, I don't think the Empire cared enough to revisit this place. At most, we get a wandering trader, or a peddler. Bandits rarely visited this place. And other than that, and the occasional wandering Mittlefrank singer, we don't get much in visitors."
Petra and Bernie silently listened, as Petra looked towards the Cross-Z Dragon. It wanted to at the very least screech a little. A small nod and some small screeches did confirm that Petra had to hold her hand out.
"Why exactly…" she began asking, as what seemed to be blue pipes began to form in front of her, as she widened her eyes. Eventually, the coalesced into the same weapon Banjou had been using before as the Rider; the Beat Crosser Sword.
The townsman didn't seem to notice, too busy cutting down a small tree, while Bernie helped with keeping watch.
"...how?" She whispered, as the Cross-Z Dragon stared at her. It certainly wasn't going to give any answers right now.
She decided to shrug that idea for later, walking off towards Bernadetta as she idly stood around, the man busy chopping off said tree.
Bernie turned to Petra, actually noticing the foreign sword on her personnel.
"W-where did you get that from?" She asked her, for which she gave a brief nod of the head towards where the Cross-Z Dragon was hiding.
"Oh." Was all Bernie managed to muster out, as the townsman seemed to have a hard time bringing the tree down.
Petra turned to the man, as she pulled out one of the Fullbottles that she got from Sento. Hedgehog, so he claimed.
Trying to remember how it worked, she inserted it into the Beat Crosser.
[Hedgehog! Special Tune!]
"What do you…" the townsman began, as Bernie started to help him move back.
She looked towards the bottom, pulling it three times.
[Hippare!]
It started to play some weird techno music that confused everyone present. And that could be heard within a small mile or so radius.
"What...is this?" She questioned, as the sword began to pop up with additional spikes alongside its blade.
She felt...a surge of power, so it would seem. Much similiar to how she felt the first time she met Banjou. The first time she used Cross-Z's form.
She slashed the tree a few times.
[Mega Slash!]
The spikes from the sword, punctured across the tree's center, as it eventually collapsed on the other end, thankfully, away from the three, as the tree separated into small pieces. Easily picked up pieces. Although the side effect to using said Beat Crosser...was that the spikes kept going.
Soon, three trees ended up collapsing on themselves, leaving the three with an abundance of wood to possibly utilize.
And the three shocked members of the group being in...well, shock.
"What just happened?" Bernie asked, the townsman nodding in agreement to the question, as Petra stared at the sword. Then at the Cross-Z Dragon hiding on a nearby tree branch, staying relatively silent while staring at Petra.
She turned towards the other two, in as much of a confused state as the rest of the group as she lifted the sword up to her eye level.
Petra then spoke a response.
"...I do believe I have solved the wood problem."
—-
As the three lugged wood back to the mostly desolate village, they spotted Shamir returning as well; carrying what looked to be a dead beaver. Three, in fact.
They also spotted Catherine and Dorothea with what seemed to be a couple of kids nearby. They still carried their previous spoils, with a small fire already briefly brewing; them cooking the small squirrel meat first.
Catherine especially seemed just a bit more lively than her previous cold self, as she and Dorothea began speaking about what sounded like something about sweets. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Shamir having a small smirk towards Catherine's attitude, as Shamir also looked towards Petra, noticing the new presence of the Beat Crosser Sword and her Silver Sword both latched in her hand and in its holster respectively.
The two gave a brief stare to one another for a brief moment. Just as quickly though, their stare stopped, the two groups walking over to where the rest of their entourage were.
"Thunder Catherine, playing with children. Never thought I would see the day." Shamir neutrally stated, Catherine turning to see Shamir with a smirk on her face.
"Hey; I'm not that heartless!" She responded, only for Shamir to stare, that smirk continuing to be plastered on her face.
"I would beg to differ. If any of our battles proved otherwise." Shamir simply responded, as Catherine simply stared at her fellow Knight with a flustered look.
"What is going on here?" Petra simply asked, slowly helping to build the small fire, as some other kids came back with buckets of water from the nearby river. Probably to put out the fire in case it got too much.
"Nothing you should be concerned about." Catherine replied, attempting to return a more stoic mood. It instead was filled with a bit of continuing flustering at Shamir's discovery of Catherine's softer side.
"It's just buisness, Petra. Between the two of us." Shamir replied, as the two contributed their gains to the fire.
Soon, the townspeople, once fearful of the group, slowly stumbled out, some looking pretty worse for wear. Some were barefoot at most. Others seemed a little malnourished. And others looked very much a little dirty.
They seemed to have barely survived until the group's arrival. Some brought out some grains of rice. Others, bread. To the people of Remire, it seemed like they were going to have a feast today.
To the Adrestian group and the two Knights of Seiros, it was a simple meal.
Everyone began to gather around the fire, as the old man Egar from before stepped out, staring at the scene, slowly stumbling to the group.
In a small bit of concern, Petra placed her hands on the Beat Crosser, before a hand reached out to stop her. Expecting Shamir to be the one to stop her, she looked up...only to realize it was Catherine who held the blade. She gave a brief look of sympathy, before she sat to Petra's right, giving a nod. The Brigidian princess let go of her hand on the foreign sword, as Egar simply placed down his share.
Catherine and Dorothea immediately recognized them.
"...Almyran honey drops?" They both stated at the same time in a small bit of surprise. The old man smiled as he started giving them out to the kids.
The two women looked to each other, before staring towards where the old man was, as he gave a brief look to them. It looked a lot less hostile and desperate than before; it seemed much more tired. But happy.
The two women gave each other looks as both Shamir and Petra have raised eyebrows. It was weird to them seeing the two out of everyone reacting in such a manner. They assumed they could squeeze it out of them later, as they went back to beginning to eat what they could.
Bernie simply stayed silent, as a kid approached her.
"Miss?" The kid asked, poking Bernie in the leg, as she looked up from her small bit of deer, the kid staring at the book sitting next to her.
"Is that some bedtime story, miss?"
"Y...yeah." Bernie responded a little shyly, as this caused the kid's face to light up with general excitement.
"Could you read it to us?" The kid asked.
"U...us?" She asked, as she noticed a group of kids simply in a circle. They all seemed to share one of the beavers that happened to be present, each taking a turn eating it. They all looked to Bernadetta.
Obviously, seeing that many people stare at her naturally crept into Bernie's inner lack of confidence. But, with a small gift of air, and a small smile, she decided to do so.
"...yeah. Of course." She responded, slowly shifting away from her current group to speak with the kids, Batcroc book in hand. As she sat to the side of the group, the group, consisting of kids who looked roughly between the ages of what seemed to be 5-10 at oldest. She admitted, it was a little uncomfortable. Her shaking was clear proof of that.
But she went through it anyways. With a small smile, and her Bow slung around her back, she sat down, seeing the eyes of the kids glued to her and the book.
"So…"she stated, opening the book. She closed her eyes...and for a brief moment, her dream from before briefly popped up. Except with a single sentence she hadn't heard from before.
"...there won't be a legacy left to save for your kind…"
Bernie opened her eyes.
And she began to read.
—-
Whilst everyone was enjoying themselves around the fire, Shamir and Petra simply stayed together around the fire.
"This is...rather comforting." Petra stated quietly, as Shamir simply looked towards the fire. She didn't even pay attention to Petra as she stared at the fire.
Shamir would stare at a young man around her age, as he saw a castle burning, standing in front of her laying body. The Adrestian Empire marched ever closer to the capital. Her bow laid near to her side, a dead woman staring at her just ahead, a sword still so desperately clutched to her personnel.
Dagda burned with every step the Empire took.
"That it is." Shamir simply commented, staring. She and Petra had already eaten faster than most, and thus while the others were picking the remnants of the collected meat and plants, the two sat there.
Petra pulled out her Dragon Fullbottle, as the Cross-Z Dragon stayed to her side, in its compact form.
Both of the two foreign women stared at the Fullbottle, different thoughts coming to mind.
One on Banjou, the other on what the future held with that power.
Whatever the case...it seemed the two would've been able to handle whatever the hell came to them.
As the two continued to stare at them, they noticed Catherine and Dorothea speaking to the old man who tried to kill them earlier. All three of them seemed a lot more...calmer. They could briefly make out something about 'Almyra', before the old man briefly left.
He returned with what looked to be a big jar of honey.
Catherine and Dorothea looked very much excited. And as Shamir and Petra watched, they became just a little amused at the thought of the two out of everyone bonding...over honey.
It was rather sweet.
Eventually, after what looked to be a brief argument, Catherine held on to the honey as Dorothea simply huffed in a wince of stubbornness, eventually going back to where the group was sitting from before.
The two couldn't help but continuing to smile at the rather hopeful moment.
—
(A few hours later…)
As the sun began to dawn against the east, the group started to walk out, actual optimism plastered on their faces. Bernie nibbled on a small piece of bread as Catherine proceeded to lug the jar of honey they had. Dorothea hummed some type of tune, probably to compliment the somewhat nice weather outside.
At this point, both Shamir and Petra's curiosities had peaked, as they looked over to the Knight and Dorothea.
"Dorothea, I must ask; what happened regarding the village? You two seem happy." Petra asked, eyebrow raised as Dorothea simply smiled.
"It's nothing much. Just a tinge of memories from the Academy." She responded with a smile, as she continued humming her tune.
"Catherine, did you suddenly just change personalities halfway through our travels?" Shamir asked, as Catherine held that smirk on her face.
"Nope; just remembering some old thoughts from the Academy." Catherine reiterated.
Petra and Shamir simply stared each other in equal amounts of befuddled confusion, clearly having no idea how to actually figure out what was with the two.
Those thoughts were interrupted when they noticed footprints. Petra kneeled in front of them, looking at them.
"Fresh from last night. Leading to…" Petra stated, looking up towards where the footprints lead. The entrance to the Goddess Tower, so it would seem. Garreg Mach laid a short distance ahead as well.
Shamir noticed it too, as she looked toward the other three members, then to Catherine, who noticed Shamir's look.
"Catherine, someone might be in the tower. I'll have myself and Petra go up. You three stand guard outside." She commanded.
She simply nodded. "Fair enough; but stay safe."
"Catherine...I should be saying that to you." Shamir deadpanned, as Catherine gave a hearty laugh, relaying the directions towards Dorothea and Bernie, as Shamir and Petra quickly moved into the tower.
"Petra, your sword." Shamir stated, as Petra handed over her Silver Sword towards the mercenary, as the Brigidian princess held up the Beat Crosser.
"Take lead." Shamir told Petra, as she slowly moved up the steps. They heard brief sounds of shuffling; couldn't had been more than two people at most up there. Three if one was an assassin.
Petra simply walked her way up, the two eventually reaching the top.
Petra looked around, looking for anything.
Then, she ended up ducking underneath a certain axe, before clashing with said axe.
The first being. Or rather, very pink-haired human.
"Petra? Shamir?" Claude replied in recognition as he stepped out of the shadow behind a pillar, his bow in hand as he lowered it. This was around the same time Shamir came up as well, sword in hand.
He realized the situation at hand.
"Hilda, those two aren't here to fight; lower your weapons!" he stated, as Hilda raised an eyebrow, giving a look from the corner of her eyes.
"Well, they could be fakes, Claude!" Hilda pleaded, Claude simply giving a small snicker.
"Petra, what was I doing just after the mock battle?" Claude asked, earning a very bewildered look from Hilda, as Petra somehow stayed relatively calm despite the clashing of sword and axe and the life or death situation in front of her.
"You were sleeping on the ground. I was able to introduce you to tree climbing after you failed to do so." Petra summed up, Claude deciding to nod in satisfaction at the answer.
"They're real." Claude responded, Hilda giving a small grunt of annoyance as she backed away from Petra, placing her Silver Axe away.
"So...anyone else came with you two? That we know?" Claude asked once the situation calmed down.
"Varley, Catherine, and Arnault. Along with us two." Shamir replied, as she noticed, Claude giving brief stares towards Petra's Beat Crosser sword. She assumed that the leader of the Alliance probably knew about it in some respects based on just the look alone.
She didn't budge at the moment though.
"Huh...nice to see that Dorothea's alive. But, Bernie's with them?" Hilda responded with a bit of surprise, as she mumbled some incoherent things to herself.
"So...I'm guessing you three are here for that promise made by you-know-who?" Claude asked them.
"No actually; we were hoping to escape to the Alliance." Petra replied, Shamir nodding in approval of the statement. Claude's face morphed into a bit of suspicion and thought.
"What happened?" He asked with less of a casual tone that he had originally.
"It's a long story." Petra stated with a sigh, as she looked towards Claude. "Why are you two present in the Tower?"
"Also a long story." Claude stayed with a small laugh following afterwards. He relaxed from the brief moment of suspicion from before, returning to his much more usual, casual tone.
It then entered a brief intermission of silence, before Claude decided it was time to break it once more.
"So...we've got a couple days to be here. Why don't we talk about it for the time being?" He stated, as he sat down. Hilda for her part, was quite ecstatic.
"Finally!" She stated, sitting down as Hilda stretched. "I can actually get a nap!"
Petra and Shamir did much the same after looking at each other, as Hilda stretched out.
"Alright...who wants to start?" Claude asked them.
—
"How long till we reach…"
"Ay, shut your damn mouth. We're getting close to the Monastery. Then, we can talk all we want as we bathe in the spoils the damn Church left behind!" The leader of the group told one of his kin, as a group of men began arriving at the ruins of what looked to be what was once the marketplace of Garreg Mach. Overturned wagons and broken stands littered the area, rotten fruit and rusted arrows dotting the landscape in front of them. Much like the rest of the place, it was lost to the spoils of war, ripe for the picking.
"Oy, Pallardó…" one of the gruffier bandits stated, their boss turning around, his look and beard screaming bandit as it looked somewhat unkempt, but yet near at the same time somehow. He pulled out his own Steel Sword, aiming it right towards the bandit.
"It's boss, kid. Get it straight or you ain't coming home in one piece." The bandit leader warned, the gruffier man backing off a little. He then turned the to the rest of the group, straightening out his fur coat.
"Alright; today is free reign! We gain the spoils, sell them on the Black Market, and we'll be the richest men in the underground!" Pallardo yelled, his bandit cohorts cheering on in agreement.
One, however, disagreed.
"I'd think you could do much more than that."
The voice stepped out, his black hair somehow neatly kempt. His white shirt underneath a beige jean jacket, one side emblazoned with the symbol of the Adrestian Empire present. A foreign man, wearing foreign clothes, with what Pallardo detected as some type of foreign weapon in hand.
"Who are you?" Pallardo asked, his men immediately raising their weapons towards the unknown man. The man simply raised his weapon.
"I'm someone who believes that your goals may align with my current plan. I can pay you up front for it." He stated quite plainly. Pallardo simply gave a smirk.
"Or...we could get rich simply off that weapon of yours and we can be on our way." He stated quite smugly, as one of his thieves attempted to yank off the weapon he had.
The unknown man smiled, as he aimed the weapon behind the thief...firing it point blank at him.
[Steam Shot! Cobra!]
Immediately, a cobra-like entity popped up from the gun, slamming through the thief followed by a brief explosion. There was nothing left but smoke and ash where Pallardo's thief once stood.
"What was that about taking my weapon?" He stated, as Pallardo genuinely looked towards the man.
"W...what do you want from us, sir!" He shouted in a small bit of fear, as the unknown man gave a smile on his face.
"Simple...you've heard of the bounties out on those generals from the Adrestia? The ones who tried to kill the Empress?" He asked the bandit leader, for which he straightened himself out, adjusting his fur coat.
"So what if I have heard about it?" Pallardo bluffed, as the man simply laughed.
"They will travel here quite soon. I want you to bring them. Alive or dead. They'll have Knights of Seiros with them." He stated, Pallardo being even more frightened.
"Are you kidding me? Knights of Seiros? How the hell are we supposed to fight them?" Pallardo asked in a confused manner. Only for the man to pull out what looked to be some type of weird cylindrical device. The shape of a Phoenix was seen on the front of the bottle, as he tossed it. The bandit leader barely caught it, as he inspected it.
"Specialized new thing from the Adrestian Empire. Consider it advanced payment. The rest will come when you bring proof of their bodies." The man stated.
"Clever man. I'll do it then, Mr…"
"Soichi. Soichi Isuragi. Adrestian Advisor to the Empress herself." Soichi responded with a small smile.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Isuragi." Pallardo replied, as he watched Soichi walk away past the bridge.
Once he got a far enough distance, Soichi couldn't help but chuckle.
"Have humans always been this naïve?" He said to himself quietly out loud, as he leaned against a tree, looking at his own Transsteam Gun, before looking towards Garreg Mach.
"I had a gut feeling you'd be here, Petra. Let us see if indeed you have the same power as Banjou himself." He said to himself.
"It's only a matter of time until I can get back what I've lost."