Chapter 37 "Locked Out"

~ THEOSOIR MAIN GATE ~ [Three days later]

"Ready to go home?" I joined my partner by the gate.

"Not yet, but I'm sure I will be once we're actually movin' again." Nia turned to check on the sled where the captain and his men were loading their paltry exports bound for Argentum. After three days of rest and relaxation in Tantal's capital city, along with the completion of our delivery mission which brought us here originally, it was time to reenter the outside world.

"Will you miss this place?" I pondered. "We probably won't be back."

"When you put it that way…" she surveyed the city from our vantage point one last time. "Mmm… nah. It's nice, but I've had my fill."

"You sure did," I chided, recalling how the city's vendors had gifted us with free samples as thanks for saving the last batch of supplies from an angry gogol. I doubted I'd miss the spiciness of Addam's Embercakes, though.

"We're all set," the captain announced. "Since we're bringing only a few things to Argentum, we've got plenty of room for all you folks."

"All?" I spun around to find a couple of Urayan women and a common Blade, assumed to be partnered with one of them. (Huh, and I thought Nia and I were the only tourists here.)

~ GENBU PORT ~

The ride through the Tantalese tundra went much smoother this time. Not only did we have proper seats, but we also had no foul beasts to interrupt us. Going downhill wasn't a bad deal, either. In the blink of a watery eye, we arrived at the port where the ship awaited us, weighed down by days' worth of snow.

Once cleared, we all hopped aboard, eager to exit the wintry biome and thaw ourselves out. In fact, the temperature rose as fast as the ship did, surfacing above the Cloud Sea to bask in the greeting sun's rays.

"It's so hot out 'ere," Nia panted slightly, tugging at her jumpsuit. "Guess I'm just used to the cold, still."

"We weren't in Tantal for long, but it sure felt long… probably due to it being enclosed, submerged…" I cast a parting gaze behind, but the Tantalese Titan was already out of sight. "I wonder if anything's changed while we were down there…"

~ GOLDMOUTH RETURN PORT ~

The answer slowly came into view as we neared Argentum. While the traffic jam persisted in the grand marketplace, we noticed that they'd moved all the decommissioned ships to the salvage deck, leaving room for incomers like us to dock at the return port without delay.

"Right, then, let's grab a bite to eat and then find a ship home." Aside from the travel case containing my rejected vase, our load was much lighter during this romp around Argentum since we didn't have to deal with the Tornan treasures anymore.

"Uh… Rem?" Nia stepped back to scan all of the docks. "I don't see any of our ships."

"Huh, yeah, only Urayan and Leftherian," I observed as well, "besides the Tantalese one which we left."

"It's probably bad timing," she shuffled back to me, arms crossed.

"There's usually at least one Prudentian ship in the afternoon. Wait here…" I meandered over to the nearest dock where a conductor was dealing with a small gathering of patrons. As soon as I approached the group, one of them shouted at him while the others started making their way back, each one displaying an uninhibited expression of displeasure. (Oof… That's not a good omen.)

"Ahem… can I help you?" The ruffled conductor straightened up, appearing to brace for another round of undignified yelling.

"Yes, do you know when we can expect the next ship to Prudentia?" I asked as politely as possible, hoping to calm the poor man.

"My apologies," he bowed his head, "but all routes to Prudentia are hereby suspended until further notice."

"Suspended?" my brows rose from the nasty news. "We're stuck here? What's going on?"

"Like I've told everybody else today, all ships that arrived from there today came with the message that their ports have been shut down." The conductor's voice was hoarse, like he'd been repeating himself all day.

"Shut down?" I'd never heard of such a farce before. The implication alone of being locked out of our Titan was more distressing than being stuck here without a ride. "Why? Is there some kind of strike? Wait… is this related to Mor Ardain?"

"You bellyachin' about Mor Ardain again?" Nia heard my exasperations.

"Vacation's over, Nia," I turned to her as she joined us on the dock. "He says all routes to Prudentia are suspended, just like Mor Ardain earlier."

"Ha!" she scoffed classically. "Aren't you a funny one…"

"Please, you must understand, this is all the information that the captains made available to me. You can ask them yourselves. They're stranded here, too." The conductor extended his hand toward the main building, encouraging us to get out of his face.

"May as well," I gave up on him. "Let's go before the next angry mob shows up."

"Go where, exactly?" her eyes darted left and right.

"Remember the traffic we saw on our way in? That's probably where we'll find our ships and presumably their captains." If my hunch was correct, then there was a good chance that we'd find someone who could help us. Given the situation, Argentum was likely filling up with other castaways. (Is it me, or is it getting stinky here?)

~ SALVAGE DECK ~

"Whoa… so many of them…" Nia gawked at the countless ships as they bobbed and brushed against each other at the salvage deck. "This can't be good for business."

"I'm no salvager, but I'm inclined to agree. They must've been desperate to clear the front if they felt the need to clutter up this area." There were more hapless vessels than what I could see from where we stood. The views from the dock were hardly better, although we were able to spot a Prudentian ship, tucked away between two Ardainian ones.

"Hey!" she hollered outward. "Anybody home?"

"Sollerta Schooner IX!" I specified to whom we were addressing. "Report to starboard!" We waited patiently, but there was no answer. Nobody appeared from the neighboring ships as well.

"Empty, eh?" Nia looked to me for guidance, but my idea pool was rather shallow.

"Let's try another dock." Fatigue was beginning to slow me down. The day had already been long and full of traveling. Being stuck for the last leg home was not something that we needed now.

"Rem, look," she pointed as we switched docks. "That's a Gormotti ship, isn't it?"

"Indeed," I peered past her shoulder. "In fact, I see a few more of them. I hope it doesn't mean Gormott's been blocked off, too."

"I hope Tommy made it home safely if it has been blocked off." Her hands came together over her core, perhaps in absentminded prayer.

"He went home on the same day that Mor Ardain became blocked off. No other Titan had the restriction back then. He has to be fine, although…" My pause was long enough to get her to face me, unintendedly. "If Gormotti ships are anchored here for the same reason that Ardainian and Prudentian ones are, then…"

"There's a war goin' on across Alrest?" she went straight for the extreme.

"I was going to say something like that, but to a much lesser degree." I rested a hand on her shoulder, though it was hard to tell who was comforting who. "Before the vacation, I'd worried that Mor Ardain's crisis might affect other Titans. It seems that maybe ours and Gormott are suffering similar fates."

"What is this fate, though?" her eyes started to bore a hole between mine.

"I don't know, and we probably won't know until we get home." I set the travel case down to think, but no new ideas came.

"At least we're stranded 'ere, in Argentum," she looked to the bright side of the setting sun. "We don't have to kotow to some stiff king or queen, and there are restaurants everywhere so we won't starve."

"We're running low on travel funds," the lightness of my belt brought to light.

"When we run dry, sell your vase," her foot lightly tapped on the travel case.

"I thought it was 'junk,' according to you," I quipped. "It's a proper 'vase' now that you know we might need money?"

"Tch…" she muttered something inaudible to herself, likely cursing me out. "This situation isn't that dire."

"For us, it might not be, but it sure is affecting way more people than just little ol' us. I feel bad for the tenderfoots." My gaze drifted past her shoulder again, this time settling on a private ship which I hadn't noticed before, just past the Gormotti ones. "Although, anyone who has their own ship may be better off. Theoretically, they can still travel to other Titans."

"If they can, then they probably have, already," her reasoning decreed.

"That one hasn't, yet," I pointed to the private ship.

"Oh?" My graceful Blade spun around so swiftly that her hair flogged my face. "Fancy hitchhikin', Rem?"

"Wait a second," my eyes blinked repeatedly, "we've seen that ship before."

"Have we?" she didn't seem to recognize it.

"Sure!" I nearly felt like jumping, fatigue aside. "Remember the guy whose hands you healed when we first arrived in Tantal?"

"That's his ship?" Nia leaned forward incredulously.

"Look at the flag. That's his new blanket." It occurred to me that the cloth was originally sold from here in Argentum, so it could've been anyone's. However, I was still convinced that the ship belonged to him, given the familiarity of everything else about it. "He must be nearby."

"Are we gonna seek him out, now?" she readied herself to go on my call.

"Yes, let's head back inside." I fetched my artifact before commencing the search. "He shouldn't be hard to find."

~ ARGENTUM BAZAAR ~

Being Tantalese made our person of interest easy to pick out of a crowd. It was a good thing, too, for the grand marketplace was filled to maximum capacity. We rubbed the shoulders of several unwashed castaways on our way to the stairs for a better view of the bazaar. (This looks less like a market and more like a shelter.)

"There he is, with the fur cap," Nia spotted him browsing books in the corner.

"And his Blade's with him, too," I added. "Yes, that's definitely him."

"Guess I'm eatin' my words, huh?" her shoulders shrugged.

"Hmm?" I alternated looking between her and him, not wanting to lose track of the latter. "What are you talking about?"

"Ah, nothin'…" she started to dismiss. "I doubted we'd ever see him again. Alrest is so big, and there are so many people."

"You simply never know. Come on, let's catch him before he scampers off." My sights remained locked onto the lone Tantalese man as we rejoined the masses. Soon, we clawed our way to the book shop where he was ogling the selection of paperbacks. "Excuse me, sir…?"

"Huh? Are you talking to… oh!" It was him, indeed, and luckily he recognized us. "Hello, again! Remi, and… Nina, right?"

"Wrong, it's Nia," she hastily corrected him.

"Right… right…" he cleared his throat. "Fancy meeting you in this busy hive of Alrest."

"Glad to see you found Argentum safely… Tyrell? Wait, no… Tyros?" I, too, had to roll through a couple of names before I remembered.

"Yes, and this is Musashi, my Blade," Tyros introduced his partner whom we'd only previously seen minding his ship from afar. "I don't believe you've met."

"We have, now," I shook both of their hands. "Ah, treated yourself to a new pair of gloves?"

"Absolutely," he held out his hands proudly like he was showing off a ring. "This place has everything. It's everybody's dream back on Tantal. Oh, if only we could bring it all home. It'd solve a lot of our problems."

"That's a nice thought, but you don't have a ship that's big enough," Nia brought him back to reality.

"Sad but true," the Tantalese explorer's morale dipped temporarily. "Besides, we've still got plenty more Titans to visit."

"I remember you said you wanted to see them all." This conversation was starting to drag along, but it wasn't in me to be rude and cut to the chase, at least not yet. "Have you been to any others thus far?"

"We had just left port, yesterday, when a storm forced us back," he explained. "I may be a rookie skipper, but even I know it's too dangerous to sail where lightning strikes. Can't damage my beautiful ship, you know?"

"Beautiful… right. We saw your, uh… handiwork, out there." I could tell that Nia was getting impatient next to me.

"You saw it, did you?" Tyros crossed his arms and passed a buoyant smile to Musashi, although the common Blade didn't fully reciprocate. "I wasn't sure if I was allowed to anchor it at the salvage deck, but it must've been okay if everyone else was doing it." (Hardly the best line of thinking…)

"Ahem… about that, have you any idea what's going on?" I wondered if he'd picked up anything, considering that he'd been here longer than we had. "So many ships are stranded because their home ports are closed."

"Is that why?" he revealed his ignorance without further exposition. "I figured it was normal traffic."

"Oh for…" Nia ran a hand slowly down her face. "Look, you, we have no way to get home thanks to the hold-up. We were hopin' that we could mooch a ride on your ship."

"You want us to take you home?" The eyes of our new friend and potential savior lit up.

"Yes, it'd be a big help," she inched closer to him. "You did mention if there was anythin' we needed…"

"I hear you, mates," he nodded. "Which Titan is yours?"

"Prudentia," I resumed talking duties from my partner whom I feared was getting too direct. "It's not quite a major Titan, but it's home to us."

"Can't say I've heard of it, but we'd be glad to take you there, right Musashi?" Tyros winked at his Blade before refocusing on me. "Er… you'll have to guide us there, if you can."

"That's easy for us. Prudentia is immobile, so we always know where it is, relative to the World Tree. It's why we have seasons while most Titans' climates are affected by where they roam. Although, I suppose Mor Ardain will always be hot and Tantal will always be cold." The geological nerd in me couldn't resist delving into the science, much to Nia's annoyance. "Besides, she can trace its ether zone."

"I can?" her ears pricked up.

"You can't?" I could've sworn she did.

"Listen, we'll be happy to return the favor and ferry you across the Cloud Sea, just as soon as I purchase the book I wanted." The rookie skipper twirled back around with his fingers animated over the table. "Now, er… which one was I looking at, again?"

~ CLOUD SEA ~

We had ourselves a tricky time deck-hopping to Tyros' ship which was situated towards the rear of the floating maze, especially without being seen by authorities who might've found it suspicious. Once aboard, however, we made a quick exit of Argentum and stretched our sea legs towards Prudentia.

Although I was confident that we could navigate the path with the aid of the World Tree, night had descended over Alrest, throwing us slightly off course. While it was nothing that a little circling around the coast couldn't fix, I soon realized that we were approaching the new, Ardainian-made Iradell Port, rather than the closer-to-home Sollerta Port.

"They have searchlights?" Nia observed coming from the two watchtowers on either end of the enormous, steel gate.

"Oh, fancy!" Tyros decreased speed for a clearer gaze. "Your port is so much more updated than ours."

"It's more updated than our usual port, too," I added. "The Ardainians built this one for us after the empire struck some kind of deal with our queen."

"The gate's closed. I guess they weren't kiddin' about everythin' bein' shut down." Nia gripped the side of the ship tensely. "Rem? What should we do? We're locked out."

"We could get their attention, although… these searchlights are making me uncomfortable." My forehead began to moisten with sweat, despite the sea's breeze. "I don't want them to spot us if they're just going to turn us away."

"You don't know that we'll be turned away," she argued. "We're citizens of this place, so we have the right to enter."

"Do we, though? It's unclear how differently ports treat private vessels from commercial ones, and if they told them to not come back, then…" The searchlight found us before I could finish my train of thought. (Uh-oh… I guess we're about to find out.)

We all fell silent as the big, bright light lathered us colorless. It felt like we were more on display now than when we were onstage for the pageant last year, or when we competed in the championship two years before that. A mechanical sound churned in the distance, followed by another. I couldn't even remember a time that I heard anything mechanical from our Titan.

"Shite!" Nia suddenly enveloped me in her Blade barrier as beams of even brighter light shot us from the watchtowers. The ship recoiled harshly, knocking us to the floor in a collective thud. A short breath later, we were hit again, this time shoving us out of the searchlight's circle. "What the 'ell?! They're flamin' shootin' at us!"

"Is everyone alright?" I scrambled to my feet.

"My ship!" Tyros staggered to the side to inspect the damage while Musashi grabbed the wheel and willed the ship's small Titan to swim forward once more.

"Don't fall over, idiot!" Nia took his place and lowered her healing hands overboard.

"You can heal Titans, too?" My head was still spinning.

"All livin' things, big an' small," she heaved, having apparently expended a heavy output to reverse the wound. "Get us out of 'ere!"

Tyros assumed charge of the ship, but it wasn't making us move any faster. The searchlight lurked precariously like a hungry aligo, dying to take another bite out of us. No one spoke again until we were safely out of the watchtowers' range.

"I'm so sorry we brought you into this," I apologized to our novice captain. "I had no idea that our own Titan would attack us."

"It's okay… the ship… the small Titan is okay, thanks to you," he turned to Nia. "How did you know that they were going to attack?"

"I sensed an abrupt increase in ether." My heroic Blade clenched her fists and hissed disgustedly. "Those towers siphoned ether from Prudentia itself. Gollach and his bastards drilled into the Titan!"

"Those were ether beams?" My question seemed pointless now. We had a much bigger problem than an inaccessible port. As we scooted along the coast of the Titan's shoulder, I lifted my sights to the low-hanging cliffs and realized that General Gollach's and Newt's base at Iradell Village was right above us. "If Newt is home, she can sense you."

"I can't sense her," she claimed, "so we should be fine, for now."

"That's assuming she and Gollach are behind this," I backtracked one foot off the panic button.

"They built the blasted towers that attacked us! Of course, they're behind this!" Nia looked like she was ready to beat the stuffing out of them at a moment's notice, but I'd formulated a different, more sensible plan.

"Tyros, sail along the coast another three Titanpeds, and then Nia and I will hop off." My knowledge of my own Titan's geography was being put to the test. "I don't trust any port right now, so we're going to hike through the mountains to our village."

"We will?" her ears wilted, along with her tone.

"Once we're off, keep sailing along the coast until you reach the Titan's head," I continued my directives. "From there, travel straight out to sea for another nine hundred Titanpeds until you find an archipelago of small, interconnected Titans. That'll be Leftheria, which I hear is very lovely right now."

"Leftheria? I've always wanted to visit!" he seemed pleased with where I was leading him. "Er, wait… what's to become of you two?"

"Like I said, we're going the rest of the way on foot. We're not risking your safety any longer." With the travel case firmly under my arm, I extended my free hand for one last shake. "I regret parting ways with you under duress, but maybe we'll meet again when things have settled down."

"I hope it's soon." Tyros steered the ship inward until its small Titan began to rub against the shoulder of our home Titan. "Whoops… there we go."

"Ready to jump?" I faced my partner, unsure of what lied ahead of us.

"Don't trip," she warned, nonchalantly, and leapt first.

"Wait for me…" My body felt like it lagged in the air as I followed suit, using the light of her ether marks as reference for landing.

"Good luck!" Tyros shouted from his slowly fleeting vessel whose distance from us had already widened beyond a faithful leap. I fretted that his final call might've attracted some undesirable attention, but there was no point in shushing him now. We watched the quaint, rickety Tantalese ship and its fledgling two-man crew disappear into the darkness. (Sail on, brave souls…)

~ PRUDENTIAN PEAKS ~

"Rem, c'mon!" Keeping ahead of me, Nia began climbing the embankment quickly like the tide was rising. It wasn't as easy for me with only one hand available to grab onto the shrubs and tree roots. We had no idea how long we'd be climbing, but it seemed like the safest way home, at least until my foot nearly slipped on a loose stone. "You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm just… not as fast as you are…" I looked up and saw that she'd perched herself on a small alcove.

"Why are you still carryin' that box? What a bother," Nia complained for me. "Here, give me your hand."

"Thanks," I gladly accepted her assistance.

"How high up must we be, now?" She steadied her breathing while I was still catching my lost wind.

"I'm not sure, but…" my head felt light, "we can't be far… from the mountain path, now."

"Are you hurt, anywhere?" her hand went straight for my knee.

"I hit my shin against something, but I'll be fi-" I didn't get a chance to finish as she immediately applied her charitable healing to do away with my unseen injury.

"There, all mended. You really ought to be careful, y'know? Maybe you should get yourself a pair of shin-guards, eh?" She stood in front of me and exaggeratedly posed her leg with her heel up. "Right, then, up you go."

"Thanks, again." Exhaustion prevented me from digging into my bag of witticisms for a satisfying comeback. And so, back to climbing we went. The higher we reached, the less we heard the Cloud Sea's din, and soon we were picking up something new entirely. "Nia? Are those… explosions, in the distance?"

"Hang on," my unwavering Blade scaled the top and pulled me up once more. We'd finally reached the mountain path, just past the clearing where the other side of the Titan was in full, picturesque display. "Did you say explosions…?"

"Whoa…" I stood shaking. Littering the plains were several flashes of light, some long enough to be ether shots, some large enough to be explosions. Just as Nia had pitched earlier, this was war, except it was on our own turf. "What on Alrest happened while we were away?"