Chapter 35 "Separate Ways"
~ SOLLERTA ~ [Four days later]
"The students made their decisions, so here are the treasures that they wish to donate overseas." Gerard the historian and his associates had dropped off two crates, each containing treasures destined for different Titans. The admin canopy of the Solly Mercs was filled to the seams with people, including Nia and I who were there to learn about the upcoming missions.
"Right, let's see what we have here," Chief Reynold knelt to inspect the crates.
"Do not worry, chief, the treasures have been wrapped and cushioned for transit," Gerard assuaged. "This crate goes to Uraya, while that crate goes to Tantal."
"Ah, well, that's simple enough, innit?" the chief chuckled to himself. "Although… Tantal, huh?"
"Correct, we determined its treasures to be from Torna whose descendants now reside in Tantal," the historian was happy to regurgitate information that we already knew.
"That's all well and good, but Tantal's a tricky one, it is. I've only been there once, and the traveling was more challenging than the mission itself. Routes to that Titan are anything but direct. So, Remi," my wary chief turned to me, "having said all of that, you're more than welcome to make the easier delivery to Uraya. Since you're here first, you ought to choose."
"Uraya or Tantal?" I suddenly realized that these two options couldn't have been worse for me, personally.
"Rem?" Nia stepped out from behind.
"I… er, we can't go back to Uraya. They treated us like criminals." The shiver creeping up my back was subdued by her warm hand.
"I'm sorry, I forgot all about that," the chief slumped uncharacteristically. "Ahem… so, does this mean you're interested in making the delivery to Tantal?"
"Absolutely," Nia answered for us, though naturally I had some reservations about attempting to travel to a Titan that didn't want to be found. "Rem, I know we've discussed it before, but I won't press for it if you're not comfortable."
"Thanks, but I'll be okay," I quickly dismissed it, not wanting to be the center of attention. "So, chief, if we have no direct route to Tantal, how will we get there?"
"Argentum, no doubt," he crossed his thick arms. "As a hub, ships come in from all nations on Alrest, even Tantal… once or twice a week…"
"Sounds like we may have to spend the night there," which, to me, wasn't the worst thing in the world if it came to that.
"And if snagging a ride isn't bad enough, then the cold in Tantal will be downright biting," the chief warned, accentuating a bit. "If you're serious about going, please bundle up… especially you, Nia… no offense."
"None taken," my unashamed Blade waved him off.
"Put our names down, chief. I believe we're due for a new adventure." As soon as I turned to smile at her, two Ardainian men appeared at the entrance, bringing a rather familiar, masculine odor with them. (Are those the same guys who showed up last time we were here?)
"Is this a bad time?" one of them inquired, removing his hat.
"I'll be with you in a minute, my good man," Chief Reynold nodded to him as he handed me a pen. "Sign here, Remi, and report to the Sollerta port in three hours. We'll have the baubles waiting for you there."
"Yes sir." I took the opportunity to study the logbook but found no new entries that appeared to be from anyone within Newt's circle. (Hmm… just a few cleanup missions in town.)
"Thank you again," Gerard acceded our services to his cause before we slipped out. "I wish you the safest of travels."
"You can count on us." With the plans inked, I made my way out of the crowded room, but not without a glance toward the two men as they submitted a request into the logbook, taking a long look at it themselves. Suspicious, I stopped just outside the entrance, eager to eavesdrop.
"Three hours, huh? That's just about when the boys will be leaving…" Nia had gone a few more steps before realizing that I'd stayed behind. "Rem? Somethin' wrong?"
"Hopefully not, but all the same…" It wasn't difficult for me to listen with the men's voices booming inside.
"Why not go back later and ask the chief?" she quickly caught onto what was bothering me.
"Sounds like they've rented a row of garages in the new Iradell port and need a ton of junk carried in." I'd skipped away as soon as I heard footsteps.
"Sounds more like a drag to me," Nia offered her usual candor. "At least we get to visit a new Titan."
"Nia, I think those were Newt's men again." I peered over my shoulder as we made a brisk exit out of camp.
"Sheesh… you need this trip just as much as I do, huh?" My partner was having none of my qualms, with the getaway journey that she'd desired all year now within reach.
~ HAGAN ~
"Tantal? You're going to Tantal… today?" Tommy stared at Nia like he was never going to see her again. Both he and Rodwyn had been packing their belongings while we were out.
"We'll be fine. Besides, you're headin' off, yourself. Today's our last day together, no matter what." Her smile did nothing to fix his frown. The young heir was genuinely upset to be leaving her, quite the change of color from the beginning of the week when the two of them were angrily breathing flames at each other. "Make sure you don't forget anything."
"Speaking of which, we've got some packing of our own to do," I motioned for her to join me in the hall.
"What are you talking about?" she started to fuss. "I always travel light."
"Y-yeah… I know you do, but not this time." With a good tug or two, I extricated an old trunk from the closet.
"What's this?" My curious Blade leaned in for a closer look but quickly retreated when the dust flew off the lid as I lifted it.
"It's my extra gear that I'd offered to you months ago." My hands made a quick mess of my neatly folded blankets and heavy-duty jackets, one of which I set aside for myself.
"You think I'll fit your stuff?" she started digging through them as well.
"We're roughly the same size," I wagered, but in case we weren't, there was a particular outfit that I had in mind. Buried at the bottom was a yellow jumpsuit which I hadn't seen since my earliest days as a mercenary. "Here we go. What do you think?"
"Kinda drab, eh?" Nia was hardly impressed, but she draped it over herself anyway. "This will keep me warm?"
"It should. I stopped wearing it because it made me too hot." My hands ran along the vertical lines of the jumpsuit, its condition unblemished after little use and years in storage. "The Solly Mercs used to wear these because they're multipurpose. This material conforms to any body shape and repels almost anything that nature throws at it. Plus, it has these neat shin-guards and a toolbelt… er, rather, I took the toolbelt off for my current merc-wear."
"Which begs the question," she eyed me curiously, "if these jumpsuits are so fabulous, how come you all don't wear 'em anymore?"
"They were too expensive, especially with new recruits taking them and dropping out after a few missions," I explained, likely forgetting a detail or two. "Go ahead, try it on."
"If you insist…" Nia seemed hesitant to wear it, despite having no issue in wearing my outerwear previously. I was aware of an unspoken commitment that Blades had towards exclusively wearing whatever attire originated with them, although she appeared to remain on the fence about it. After two minutes in the bedroom, she reappeared in her new outfit, moving her arms around like a robot with a few nuts and bolts loose. The boys paused their packing to observe her, perhaps disappointed by how much less revealing the jumpsuit was. "You're right… I'm feelin' a bit warm in this thing."
"Good, then you won't freeze later." I could tell that she was struggling to adjust to the foreign threads. "It looks like a decent fit, maybe a little loose in the arms."
"No… really?" Her sass smacked me square in the face. "This hoodie is botherin' me somethin' fierce, though."
"It'll be worth it if it keeps you warm. As for me…" I retrieved the jacket and dug in the trunk for a beanie, another piece of clothing which I'd neglected until now.
"Right, then… all packed!" Rodwyn announced behind me.
"Me, too… just about…" Tommy scrambled to toss the last of his belongings into his luggage like it was a race. Now finished, he stood back and surveyed the living room one last time.
"Will you miss this place?" I asked, half-teasingly. If he had an answer in mind, then he opted not to say it.
"He'll miss it when he remembers how cozy it was," Nia joined in, "right Tommy?"
"S-sure…" he rolled his eyes at us.
~ SOLLERTA ~
The Sollerta port was as busy as I expected for a weekend. I found my cargo easily enough, guarded by a couple of our common Blades from camp. Fortunately, there was sufficient space in the crate to consolidate my artifact with the rest of the Tornan treasures, all of which must've amounted to a fortune. Meanwhile, Nia kept up the friendly chatter with the boys until their ship from Gormott appeared in the horizon. After five months together, it was nearly time for us to go our separate ways.
"There it is," she turned to Tommy, "…your ride out of here."
"Oh…" he swallowed hard, suddenly realizing that his time left with her had diminished to mere minutes. Despite their recent argument resulting from her rejection of his romantic advances, the young Gormotti was genuinely disheartened to leave.
"Aw, c'mon, don't look at me like that." Nia couldn't help but smile at his pouting lower lip. "It's not like we'll never see each other again."
"I know, but… I wish…" he trailed off, unconfident in expressing his obvious desire to take his favorite Blade home with him.
"Hey, we had good times," she mused, ignoring the bad.
"Besides, you've got your homecoming party to attend," I reminded him. "That ought to be fun, right?"
"Yeah… maybe…" The younger of the two Echell sons had undoubtedly learned a lot during his stay with us, particularly in how to live in a less affluent environment where not everything came easily. In that regard, I almost hated to see him leave… almost.
Our Gormotti guests weren't the only students waiting at the port. I recognized a few of their classmates nearby, all eager to return to their respective Titans and share their stories. The ship from Gormott arrived first, and once all of its passengers disembarked, it was finally time to say goodbye to the boys. Inevitably, Nia wrapped her arms around Tommy, her biggest fan, and held him close until the Echell family's butler emerged from the arrivals.
"You be good, okay?" she stroked his hair before letting him go.
"Thanks… for everything," his eyes were glistening. "Next time you see me, I'll…"
"Yes…?" Nia waited for him to gather the rest of his thoughts.
"Forget it, sorry." Tommy clumsily reached for his luggage, but the butler had already carried it aboard for him. With one final glance to her, the young heir climbed aboard himself, with Rodwyn close behind. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they were no longer our responsibility. At the same time, however, our day was far from over. As the Gormotti ship pulled out, others began making the scene, including our own Prudentian ship from Argentum.
"Alright, here's our ride." I signaled for lollygaggers to get out of the way so that we could load up. "Let's go to the rear of the sh-"
"What do you mean no more service?!" an angry voice bellowed suddenly from across the port, loudly enough to startle us.
"That came out of nowhere." Nia leaned against the rail, her ears straining to pick up the rest of the agitated dialogue. A rather sizeable crowd had formed around an Ardainian ship whose captain was up to his neck in their complaints. Likewise, the conductor on the ground struggled to maintain order as information remained scarce.
"What're they saying?" My hearing was no match for hers.
"I dunno, more of the same," she gave up after another minute.
"It's strange for an outsider vessel to get stuck here. Their captain must've known that something was up before they pulled in." As curious as I was, we weren't about to lose our spot on our ship to find out. It'd only been a few minutes since the boys left us, but I was already committed to our new mission, one that Nia had wanted us to take, no less.
~ GOLDMOUTH RETURN PORT, of Argentum ~
As it turned out, however, the conflict was more widespread than we'd thought. Despite being several Titanpeds out from Argentum, we could tell that something was off. Nearly every dock was occupied by an Ardainian ship, resulting in highly unusual traffic in the Cloud Sea. (This can't be a coincidence.)
"Come on, keep an eye out for a Tantalese ship in all of this mess," I made the directive once we landed.
"How do we know if there'll be one, today?" Nia looked tired for having done very little on this trip so far. "The chief sort of sent us out blindly."
"Let's ask a conductor. They're supposed to know which ships are coming and going." My suggestion was easier said than done, however. Much like in Sollerta, passengers were restless at each dock, wanting to know why service had been disrupted.
"We sure picked the right day to go for a cruise," she wisecracked. "Still, I'm glad to be traveling again."
"And I'm happy when you're happy." My hand extended to her shoulder for an affectionate pat. "Anyway, let's move our cargo to a safer spot and then I'll see what's going on."
"Don't get lost, now." Nia sat on the crate like a mother hen while I picked a dock and attempted to navigate its maze of disgruntled patrons to the poor conductor at the end.
"We paid our fare!" someone yelled in my ear as I pushed past. "Now let us on, y'hear?!"
"I keep telling you, sir! We've been ordered by Mor Ardain to not let any commuter ships return until their crisis has cooled!" The conductor was holding his clipboard in front of him like a shield. "I repeat, we are not clear to let Ardainian ships depart at this time!"
"Excuse me," I took my turn, "do you know if there'll be any ships arriving from Tantal today?"
"People are screaming about Mor Ardain, and you want to know about Tantal?!" He looked at me like I was crazy. "I'm sorry, but we never know when they're coming!"
"Right…" I backed away before I even thought to thank him. Escaping the crowd was as perilous as it was entering it.
"Sweatin' already, are ya?" Nia noticed the moisture on my face upon my return.
"Yeesh…" my eyes shut in disgust. "It must be everybody's spit from shouting back there."
"Here," she pulled her puffy sleeve over her hand to wipe me down. "So, did you get anythin'?"
"Not really," I groaned, "besides a headache."
"Well, I got somethin', check it out," my eagle-eyed Blade pointed at a lone Tantalese freighter stuck in the sea of ships.
"Glorious…" I sighed, smiling as much as I could. "Alright, let's mosey over to that dock and roost for a bit. Hopefully, it'll be quieter over there."
"Dream on," she huffed as we lifted our cargo once again. "What are all these people… cryin' about, anyway?"
"Trouble… in Mor Ardain…" I, too, was out of breath by the time we made it to the end dock. "They're not letting any ships reenter the empire, like it's under lockdown."
"That'd explain a lot, eh?" Nia sat cross-legged as soon as we resecured the load.
"Yes, including the one in Sollerta." It occurred to me that the suspension of service meant that some exchange students were likely stranded on our Titan, but we were in no position to help them now. We would've been stranded too, had our destination been to the sizzling desert. Instead, we were bound for a frozen tundra.
In due time, the Tantalese ship that Nia had spotted earlier made its way to the front of the queue. The solo vessel's manifest consisted of four Tantalese men, including the captain, and a modest cache of exports, the volume of which paled in comparison to the imports that would soon replace them. Since their visits to Argentum were scarce, it made sense for them to stock up when they could. I'd long lost track of how many bags of grain were tossed in before I decided it was time to introduce ourselves and our endeavor.
The captain and crew were friendly enough, if a little hesitant to make conversation. We presented our request, along with our treasures for good measure. Understandably skeptical, they permitted us aboard but warned of a long ride ahead. After being stuck in Argentum all afternoon, we were raring to set sail to our first new Titan in years.
~ GENBU PORT, of Tantal ~
The extensive journey across the Cloud Sea was uncomfortable at best with what little standing room we had. We found the Tantalese Titan skimming the surface long after sunset, the chills from its frosty biome cutting across our faces as we descended into it. I hadn't realized until now that this trip meant going inside of a Titan, inducing a sinking sensation not felt since our adventure in Uraya. The captain explained that once on land, we were to transfer our collective goods to a sled pulled by ories and ride through the tundra to the capital. (It would've been nice if it were just past the gate.)
The port looked so lonely with only one other, tiny ship docked, like a forgotten bridge to a land appropriately frozen in time. By now, I'd donned my beanie while Nia struggled with a hoodie not made for long hair and ears. I felt guilty as she helped me haul our cargo across the precarious stone tiles to the mainland. Anticipating that the delay at Argentum had prompted our connector ride to retreat before dark, the captain fired a flare gun to send a message to the capital.
"He says it'll be an hour before the sled arrives," I informed Nia who tried to keep her ears warm with her hands.
"Great… more waiting," she snarled under her breath.
"I'm sorry, I should've known that the hoodie wouldn't fit." I started to remove my beanie, but she shook her head before I could offer it.
"Don't suffer for me," my stalwart Blade insisted, "I'll manage."
"Will you, though? Even the men who brought us here, who live here, are shivering something awful." As I was talking with her, I noticed that we weren't the only ones freezing in a holding pattern.
"Ahoy there!" a foreign voice sounded downwind, belonging to a young man who'd apparently been here all along. "F-fancy selling me a blanket?"
"A blanket?" I soon realized that he was accosting the captain behind us instead. We watched his brittle figure wobble across the plaza, clearly not dressed enough to withstand the cold. After enough dickering back and forth, he returned with an extra layer around his shoulders. "They sold you one, on the spot?"
"Indeed," he grinned and winced simultaneously, "they'd be h-heartless to turn down one of their own."
"What're you doin' out 'ere, alone?" Nia's hands were still clasped to her wilted ears. "In case you haven't noticed, it's cold!"
"O-oh, I'm not alone, I've got my Blade with me, minding our ship," he tried to point forward, but his arm was caught under his new blanket. "You're right about the cold, though. I thought we'd be fine with our oil-heater, but…"
"You ran out of oil?" I presumed.
"No, we've got plenty, but trying to keep warm around an open flame is… dangerous." The pathetic man untangled himself and displayed the holes burnt through his gloves. "Got too close, I'm afraid."
"Your palms are swollen," she observed as well.
"Aye! It's a mess." He shook his hands as if to magically shake the injuries away. "What burns even more is that we're about to take our ship on its maiden voyage, and I can't even grip the steering wheel."
"Give me your hands," Nia demanded, reaching for them herself.
"Eh?" The man was confused but he welcomed the warm contact just the same. In a matter of seconds, her healing power awoke like trapped embers escaping a glowing log.
"Relax, I'm a healer Blade," she assured him, "and I can't stand to watch you kill yourself with carelessness."
"Y-you're a Blade?" he stammered.
"I'm Nia," her healing finished.
"And I'm Remi," I introduced myself too, through a teeth-chattering smile.
"Tyros is the name, and thanks for fixing me up," the grateful man turned her grip into a handshake. "Now we can finally travel the world."
"This is your first time leaving? This is our first time visiting." My arm draped around Nia whose hands had returned to rubbing her ears for heat. "We've got business at the capital."
"You'll find the capital Theosoir… quaint…" Tyros' tone had cooled considerably. "My people hardly venture out of it, much less the Titan. Those men over there go to Argentum twice a week to bring home the goods since we can't really produce our own."
"Now it's your turn, eh?" Nia surmised, having revitalized his ability to do so.
"Yes, thanks to you," he bowed his head in gratitude. "If there's anything you need, say the word."
"Just… be safe out there," she cautioned. "Alrest is… y'know, big."
"All the more reason to explore it," his enthusiasm rekindled. "It's my dream to visit every major Titan."
"Best to avoid Mor Ardain for now, while they're dealing with some sort of crisis," I added my own warning, remembering the traffic at Argentum.
"Aye!" Fixing his new blanket around his shoulders, Tyros began making his way back to his Blade and ship. "Be seein' you."
"Fat chance we will again," Nia muttered as we watched him prepare for departure. His rudimentary ship teetered as it left the port, its small Titan displaying about as much experience as the man steering it.
"Interesting how he didn't realize you're a Blade," my eyes scanned her up and down. "The jumpsuit really covers up your ether marks."
"I appreciate that you lent it to me, but it's comin' off as soon as we get home," she tugged at the material like it was smothering her. Our chat with Tyros had helped to pass some of the time, but we still had long to wait before the sled arrived. Backing against the wall, we huddled for whatever heat we could muster. It'd been a long day, and we hadn't yet begun our journey through Tantal.
There was no sugarcoating how miserable we felt sitting through a blizzard, a type of phenomenon that we never experienced in Prudentia. Still, I thought better than to ask Nia if it was worth it for the change in scenery. Now that we were here, the rest of the world was cut off from us. With trouble reportedly brewing in Mor Ardain, I wondered what was actually happening out there and if other Titans were being affected.
Had we unknowingly picked the worst time to be away from home?