"Elisabeth! Elisabeth!"
Elsie sighed as she mentally prepared herself for her approaching conversation with her grandfather. She rolled her eyes as she turned on her comms, turning away from the pyramid to focus on the conversation.
"What, Clovis?"
"The Vex are trying to destroy I and the Crypt! Send your Guardians in to assist me at once!" Clovis ordered frantically, the ever-present arrogance in his voice only being amplified.
Elsie paused for a moment. Both Fireteams Noctis and Tengoku, who would've been the immediate choice to send in, are both still missing. And while other Guardians may be available, something told her that the weight of this incursion was far greater than normal.
She would go to investigate herself.
"Hold on, Clovis, I'm on my way," Elsie spoke, preparing to speed over there.
"Hurry up!" barked Clovis in response. "These frames are numerous, but not of adequate quality against these machines."
"...Jose!...Chopstick?...read me?...ello?"
Through heavy static Chopstick and Jose were both relieved to hear the panicked voice of Cinnamon. As Jose finally returned to the ledge overlooking the pit and reunited with his Telesto, Chopstick was able to manage a reply.
"Nah we're mega-dead my guy. This is us in the afterlife talking to you."
"Not funny!" Cinnamon scolded. "We seriously thought you were in trouble! What happened down there?"
"Well for some reason outside of our control we couldn't contact you guys, and we weren't able to get back easily, so we were stuck for a little bit. But that being said, we have a Relic and the message was sent!"
"...Really?!" Cinnamon asked incredulously. "Nicely done!"
"Oh and...bad news, the Vex have a mind that can suppress Jose and I's light."
"...You're joking, right?"
"I wish I was."
Cinnamon was dumbfounded by this information. It took the Vex ages for them to build a mind capable of killing Saint-14! How could they have built a mind like that here?
"Well, did you kill it?"
"Nope! It went into a dark abyss, never to be seen again!" Chopstick said cheerily in jest.
"Oh no…"
"Anyways, we're on our way out now. See you soon."
Meanwhile, Cinnamon processed the information while Lus checked on the students to ensure that they were relatively okay.
"So, 'looks like we got our work cut out for us…" Cinnamon spoke shakily.
"As far as I know," Lus began with a sigh "Jose and I are the only ones with Stasis. Unless Ginzo and Anan got it somehow."
"For now, we need to get the students to safety. Seeing as the other Guardians are back at the monastery still, should we bring them back? I know we were supposed to take them to Fhirdiad, but we can't leave the city undefended while you and Jose go kill the mind."
"So you mean to tell me, we walked all this way, for jack shit?!" Jose suddenly burst out over comms. "And we have to walk back?!"
"Well it wasn't all for nothing." Lus tried. "We got a Relic and you sent the message."
"I'm beyond tired of walking..." Jose grumbled.
After instructing Ferdinand on how to minimize pain from a grazing blow of a Slap Rifle, Lus and the other students turned to see Jose flying towards them on wings of flame. He landed gracefully, before striding over to the group.
"Amazing Jose!" Dimitri commended. "It's no secret that you're strong, but to see that you stood by yourself against the endless onslaught of machines and lived is truly outstanding!"
"Thanks, my man." Jose chuckled. "Now, can anyone tell me what this is?" Jose spoke, holding the spear Relic out in his hand.
"That's…" Sylvain began "That's my family's relic, the Lance of Ruin! How?!"
"The Vex had it. They were doing some sort of...thing...to it, I don't know." Jose replied, handing it to the student. "If it's yours, take it. It's a lot more effective against the Vex and Hive than what you're using."
"...Thank you, Jose." Sylvain hesitantly nodded, unusually frightened.
"Now then...the plan has changed." Lus began. "We're taking you guys back to the rest of the group like we should've in the first place. We're sorry for putting you all in such great danger."
"Don't say that!" Dimitri shook his head. "With these creatures on the loose, I am not so sure we would've survived without you!"
"Still though, it's basically our job as Guardians to protect those without...those who can't fight back and prioritize keeping them out of harm's way. We kinda failed on that front, so allow us to take some of the blame." Jose replied, shrugging.
"In any case, you guys need some rest, so we'll stop here for a bit and let you guys pass out." Lus spoke, holstering his shotgun. "We'll keep watch, don't worry."
"Are you sure?" Ignatz asked, shocked. "I'm not sure I've seen you two rest since the monastery was attacked. Are you two really alright?"
"Well…yes, we're fine." Jose nodded.
"Oh...a-alright." Ignatz conceded, disappointed at the lack of further explanation.
Jose switched to comms, before lying flat on the ground with his hands behind his head. "Do you think they got the message?"
"If they didn't, I think we're pretty much SOL," Lus replied. "unless we can fly into the sky and find the portal again, we may as well become Fodlan citizens."
Jose, Cinnamon, and Chopstick all seemed to hesitantly concede that statement. In an attempt to change the subject, Cinnamon decided to try to contact the other Guardians.
"How are things on your end guys?" The Ghost asked over comms.
"We just beat the brakes off of several bandits here, nothing special." Ginzo answered smugly. "What about you Lee?"
"Actually, nothing much," Leona said calmly. "I'm just sitting here learning about the students and their-"
"Alright, that's boring!" Ginzo interrupted, causing Leona to sigh. "Anyways, what's going on, how'd the mission go?"
"Uhh…well…" Cinnamon began, trying to think of the best way to inform the rest of the team of Jose and Chopstick's new discovery.
"Jose and I nearly died, but we got a Relic and we sent the message!"
"Okay, that's pretty normal…" Ginzo replied.
"He means we could've died our final death." Jose clarified, staring at the sky.
"Oh...yeah that's prolly not good." Ginzo answered, a little surprised at the revelation.
"What do you mean? How?" Moa began to question pointedly, feeling concerned for her teammates.
"Well, the Vex got a brand new mind that can suppress our Light. Felt the same as when Ghaul locked the Traveler up. It's a big Hydra, and it's like a living platform. It tried to take us down into an abyss but we made it out."
"We're gonna investigate as well as find out how to kill it. For now, though, we're gonna bring the students back to you guys." Lus added.
"That's a good idea. But are you sure you guys can take it on with just the two of you?" Moa asked, worry being revealed in her voice.
"We're the only ones with Stasis." Jose rebutted. "Basically, we're the only ones who can."
"That still doesn't mean you can revive, though." Leona retorted. "Stasis may be able to help you two, but would you two really put Cinnamon and Chopstick in that much danger? Besides, that'd be a lot of Darkness in there. Who's to say you two won't fall to it?"
"It's better than being powerless." Lus stated flatly. "We're basically guaranteed to not be able to use the Light in there. At least with Stasis, we stand some semblance of a chance."
"I'm disappointed you don't have more faith in the Light, Lus." Leona remarked.
"And I'm disappointed you still don't see how we can use Stasis for good." Lus bit back, his voice and body language tensing.
"Guys, please don't do this over everyone's comms…" Moa spoke in an attempt to spare everyone from the oncoming titanic spat.
"I have detected numerous humans moving towards our position from the East, Leona."
Leona's body reacted to the alert without missing a beat. Unholstering her Hawkmoon, she quickly instructed the students to be on alert and stay hidden. As Leona peered around a tree to see the incoming party, she was relieved to see it was people from the monastery. She recognized the near entirety of the Black Eagles from the information Noctis had given her, along with a few Blue Lions. The group was escorted by a bearded man in orange garbs as well as an armored woman with a strange sword.
Leona stepped out in their path in order to reveal herself, causing the approaching group to be surprised, but ultimately relieved. Suddenly, Seteth burst forward from the procession and rushed over to Leona.
"It's the Guardians! Thank the goddess!" Seteth spoke before stopping just in front of Leona, slightly putting her on alert. "My sister, Flayn has gone missing! Have you seen her anywhere?"
"Ah-no, Seteth. I haven't, unfortunately." Leona empathized.
"I...see. Will you help me find her? Please?"
"I...sure. But first, is everyone here alright?" Leona asked, viewing the new group of people. She could only recognize Seteth and Edelgard, but she asked Ori to identify the rest of the group who promptly identified Jeralt, Catherine, Dorothea, Hubert, and Dedue.
"We're all well," Catherine answered, nodding. "is it just you, or are the other Guardians around here as well?"
"Moa, Anan, and Ginzo are here as well. We've also been watching over a group of students, too."
"I see. Thank you for doing so." Seteth spoke, bowing slightly.
"Well, it's kinda our job. Anyway, where's the last place Flayn was seen?"
As Leona began to converse with Seteth, The students and the knights began to walk over to the other group of students, marking their first encounter with the Ashen Wolves. Moments later, two out of three Guardians returned from deterring the bandits, Moa and Anan.
"Before you ask, Leona…" Anan began. "Ginzo went to check out the monastery. I don't know why."
"...By himself?" Leona asked with a sigh.
"By himself." Anan returned.
"That little bastard...we're supposed to be a team!"
"Yeah, but team's got me in it!" Ginzo laughed, making his appearance over comms.
"Why did you leave alone Ginzo?" Leona asked, the annoyance showing up in her voice.
"Because y'all were sittin on your asses doing nothing! 'Least this way you can watch over the kids while I do my thing!"
Leona let out an anguished groan in response.
"Anything other than Hive up there, Ginzo?" Moa asked, changing the subject
"Yeah, actually. I got eyes on a horny knight."
Moa opened and closed her mouth several times before replying. "...A...what?"
Ginzo smacked his lips before continuing. "Yeah, that's my bad. 'Should've phrased that better. It's not one of our Knights, but it's something wearing spiky black armor and a skull for a face. Looks kinda cool, not gonna lie."
"Interesting. Are the Hive fighting it?" Glaucia asked, intrigued.
"No, surprisingly. I mean, while it is away from the Hive, the Hive should be able to see it. It's just kinda patrolling around a bit."
"Don't engage yet, Ginzo. Watch it to see what it does." Leona ordered.
"But I got a clear shot!" Ginzo whined, not taking his aim off the figure.
"It may prove useful, or it may even be a non-combatant."
"When has a creature with glowing red eyes, jet black armor, and a skull for a face ever been a non-combatant?"
"...He's got a point…" Moa conceded. "But the useful point still stands. We can capture and question it."
"Fine." Ginzo relented, sighing. "But I'm gonna capture it my…"
"Ginzo?"
"...It teleported away."
"So much for plan A." Anan scoffed, folding his arms.
"Any ideas on where to?" Moa asked.
"Sorta. I'm gonna track it down. I'll give a shout if anything's up." Ginzo said, holstering his Cloudstrike.
"I never doubted that you would…" Anan muttered.
Ginzo began to eagerly survey the ruins of the Monastery under the night sky. He leaped off the rooftop of the building he was on, safely landing on another away from the attention of the Hive.
He quickly scanned the horizon for any sign of his mysterious target, while Fortune conducted a more thorough scan of the area.
"Found him! Up ahead!" Fortune called out, allowing Ginzo to spot his target.
"I'm gonna be on this thing like a fangirl on Anan…"
"Picking up a lot of humans moving towards us. Like, an army almost."
Chopstick flew back into Jose as the group continued their long march back to the monastery.
"Let's mount up on this hill so we can get a better look at them," Lus said, relaying the info to the students shortly after.
The party all followed Lus' plan, hiding in the forest cover. As they spotted a massive procession of soldiers flying the banner of Faerghus, Dimitri and Sylvain both sighed in relief.
"It's Lord Rodrigue! I'm glad he's safe!" Dimitri exclaimed. "They're from the kingdom of Faerghus, our home. They're not hostile, so no need to worry about a battle." Saying this, Dimitri stood and began to march down the hill, to greet the army.
"Guess we better introduce ourselves…" Lus said, stepping down behind Dimitri.
As the boyband all began to walk into the path of the procession, Dimitri announced his presence, alerting an indigo-haired individual and causing him to move ahead of the procession.
"Your Highness? You're alive! It's been ages!" the man spoke, shock on his face.
"Lord Rodrigue! I'm glad to see you're alive and well!"
"How long has it been? Two years?"
"Indeed. Ah! Rodrigue, I'd like you to meet the Guardians." Dimitri spoke, motioning to Lus and Jose behind him. "They're both strong warriors from another world! It's thanks to them that everyone here is safe."
Both Lus and Jose bowed, before introducing themselves.
"I'm Lus-3. A Guardian of the Titan class."
"And I'm Jose-5. A Guardian of the Warlock class."
"Intriguing. So the rumors are true then. Warriors from another world have arrived."
"Yes." Lus confirmed. "We came through while we were tracking an enemy here."
"Well, if you've protected the young prince, you have my respect. Welcome to Fodlan! I am Rodrigue."
"He's an old friend of my father's. When he passed, he looked after me as if I was his own son." Dimitri added.
"Please." Rodrigue chuckled. "It was my honor to be able to care for you. What brings you out all this way, Your Highness?"
"Well, Garreg-Mach fell, as I'm sure you are aware. Many students scattered, causing us to be split up. We followed Lus and Jose because they were going to lead us back to Faerghus, but plans have changed for us to reunite with the rest of the academy."
"I see." Rodrigue nodded. "Have you seen Felix?" he asked, causing Dimitri to shake his head.
"No, the last time I saw him was when everyone was fleeing."
"Our allies have." Lus chimed in. "I can assure you, he's in good hands."
"That's comforting to hear. So I take it it's true unknown enemies exist then?"
"They're called the Hive. They're ruthless creatures from our world." Lus answered.
"I see. It's possible we may need a larger army then, to secure the monastery."
"A-about that…" Jose began, stepping forward. "It wouldn't be wise to attack them head-on. At least with your equipment. They specialize in killing, so we'd advise on holding off on the attack."
"But what about the monastery?" Rodrigue asked, shock arriving on his face.
"Us Guardians will figure something out. For now, I'd suggest you allocate your forces to search for any survivors. If you encounter metallic or skeletal and chitinous creatures, fall back immediately."
"You say that, but are we really supposed to let those creatures have the monastery?"
"I agree, Rodrigue." Dimitri stepped in, affirming their situation. "I've seen the creatures they speak of, and they're...near insurmountable for us. For the Guardians, however, they stand a chance."
"...Can two Guardians take on an army?"
"Well, actually there's six of us." Jose chimed in.
"I know it seems impossible…" Lus added, "but we're used to dealing with the Hive and Vex. We'll figure out a way to reclaim the monastery. And...wait a minute-you guys haven't encountered them yet?"
"Not at all. It seems they remain situated at the monastery." Rodrigue answered, shaking his head.
"Strange...that's extremely unlike the Hive, and even the Vex...please give me and Jose a moment, we have to confer with our allies."
"Of course! If His Highness has faith in you, then I shall too. We shall follow you."
"Thank you. Leave it to us." Lus bowed.
Subsequently, Lus switched to comms.
"Guys...apparently the Hive and Vex haven't gone much outside of the monastery. Besides where we are, of course."
"Well that's good, right?" Moa asked, joining in.
"Right, it is, but why?" Jose replied. "No Vex or Hive I know would pass up a chance to completely take over..."
"Arrgh!" Ginzo growled. "None of this makes sense! We think we have a lead one moment and the next we're getting circles ran around us!"
"By now, it's far more than obvious that there's something locked away within the monastery. Ginzo, think you can go and find out anything?" Leona asked.
"Sure, I really have nothing else to do."
"We must act fast as well." Anan added. "Who knows how fast they expand given the chance."
"I'm still confused, though." Jose added. "We're only six Guardians, but relatively disorganized. We've been giving them the chance to expand, and they haven't taken it."
"Then...it's gotta be a trap, right?" Cinnamon guessed. "It's almost as if they want us to find or kill something…"
"Which could make it into a Dreaming City two." Leona finished. "But what about the Vex?"
"Quria." Lus presumed. "She's gotta be calling the shots here. What other Vex mind is capable of simulating another loop?"
"But that's taken...and there's no taken here...yet?"
"Let's back up for a second here...as far as we know, the dragon that appeared during the monastery assault was not an Ahamkara, therefore we should be at significantly less risk of another loop." Anan spoke. "That being said, I wouldn't necessarily count Savathun out for figuring out another way to get tribute from here. For now, we should start with Ginzo figuring out what's locked away here…"
"But where does Xivu come into play?" Moa asked, questioning the odd variable.
"True, Xivu is still a major player here. I'll personally investigate with regards to that."
"Jose and I will still investigate what's going on with Quria and the other Vex," Lus added, understanding the plan.
"Then, Leona and I will protect the students?" Moa asked, trying to figure out where she fits into this plan.
"Not quite. There are still Relics and unknown variables amongst the students. I'm leaving it up to you to figure out that stuff."
"Wouldn't you and Ginzo be better for that job? You're pretty cunning, and Ginzo...has a way of getting information."
"Oh, trust me, I'll be working behind the scenes alongside you guys as well. Plus, Ginzo is already at the monastery tracking that knight down."
"Alright, if you say so…"
"Well then, I'll be off to investigate Xivu's Hive. Let's hurry up and end this mission."
The Flame Emperor stood waiting for its accomplice to arrive just outside of the ruins of Garreg-Mach. She peered over at the ruins from a small hill nearby, the orange glow of still-burning fires illuminating parts of the monastery.
This, however, in turn also caused them to spy something moving amongst the monastery rooftops. Whilst incredibly hard to see, she saw a cloaked figure, almost certainly a Guardian judging by the way it was moving. They watched closely as the figure darted around, occasionally engaging with Hive soldiers on the ground that spotted the figure. A quick skirmish ensued, consistently resulting in the quick destruction of the engaging Hive forces. However, on the most recent engagement, a Hive soldier managed to land blasts of blue energy onto the figure, causing the figure to visibly recoil before retaliating and decimating its assailant.
At that moment, the Flame Emperor was intrigued. The Ghost of the figure appeared, before emitting a pulse of light, causing the figure to give a thumbs up before proceeding to move again.
The Flame Emperor narrowed their eyes as their head began to think. It had appeared that the Ghost had healed or at the very least, provided some assistance to the Guardian. They had already theorized that the Ghosts were valued by the Guardians, but if a Guardian could be endangered or possibly even crippled given the capture or destruction of a Ghost…
In that moment, the Flame Emperor had contrived a new idea.
Ginzo was hot on the trail of his target, following it into the dark forest just outside of the monastery under the night sky. And like clockwork, he had the knight in the scope of his Cloudstrike once again. He waited for something to happen, following his orders not to kill. He cautiously trailed the knight, both parties narrowly avoiding Hive patrols. Whether the knight was truly on the side of the Hive remained to be seen, but Ginzo guessed that the knight simply did not want to interact at all with them.
The knight eventually arrived at a clearing and halted there. Subsequently, the figure Ginzo and Fortune saw speaking to Thales earlier came out of the shadows.
"I have come to give you your next assignment. You are to capture the Ghost of a Guardian. Whether you have to kill a Guardian or not depends on the situation." The Flame Emperor spoke, its voice still heavily distorted.
"I trust this will be an interesting experience." The spiked knight replied, its voice equally distorted.
Meanwhile, Ginzo and Fortune, once again eavesdropping, began to panic.
"Have they figured our secret out? This is bad! What are we gonna do?" Fortune began, her thoughts racing.
"Calm down, it'll be fine. We just gotta capture him before anything happens." Ginzo replied, attempting to put Fortune at rest. "Oh but you should probably cool it with the random appearances though."
"Shush!" Fortune quickly retorted. "They're moving!"
The crested figure teleported, while the knight began to move again. Ginzo and Fortune followed, wanting to complete their mission of capturing the suspect. As the knight turned to return to the monastery grounds, Ginzo and Fortune decided to make a move to apprehend the suspect.
He pulled the trigger and landed a shot into the knight's shoulder, causing it to recoil before going into a defensive stance, attempting to conceal its injured side.
"Alright big man," Ginzo spoke as he emerged from the shadow of a treeline. "I just wanna know where you got that-"
Suddenly, Ginzo was attacked by a Knight from his world from his right side, the swing of its cleaver striking Ginzo's side as he rolled onto the ground. He promptly landed a shot into the Knight's head, causing it to explode in a thunderstorm.
Ginzo began to approach his wounded prey, Cloudstrike in hand as Fortune cautiously appeared and attempted to heal him.
"Goddammit! You try to do business with a guy and you get jumped. Anyway-"
"You're new. And powerful." The figure spoke, in an utterly dreadful voice.
"Yeah, I am. And I got a license to prove it! But right now I wanna know what's with your get-up? And-"
Ginzo's next question was abruptly stopped as once again, Ginzo was forced to dodge as an attack from his side attempted to inflict harm upon the Hunter. This time not from a Hive soldier, but from a weapon of human origin. As Ginzo instinctively began to swing his Cloudstrike up to land a headshot, the knight swung its scythe, landing a hit on Ginzo and sending him reeling. Ginzo attempted to rise of his own strength, slightly puzzled at the damage the scythe did to him. His wounds heavily hampered him as he lifted his legs to stand. Fortune appeared to heal Ginzo, and in that moment, his target quickly rode upon him and snatched Fortune in its hand before teleporting away.
Ginzo for a brief moment was mortified, before becoming filled with rage and summoning his Golden Gun. He quickly placed the unknown assailant within his sights, which was revealed to him as being the crested figure who was speaking to Thales.
"You have ten seconds to tell me where he went or I'll bury you right here!" Ginzo spoke, his voice growling.
"Halt. Do not get the wrong idea. I understand your Ghost is important to you, but we need not fight-"
"Five seconds." Ginzo snapped, approaching the crested figure, his Solar Light setting forest around him ablaze, in addition to searing the figure.
"I am the Flame Emperor, and I do not wish to kill the Guardians, but rather unite with them-"
The Flame Emperor's instinct took over as it teleported away immediately before a Golden Gun shot rang out, completely incinerating the tree behind it.
"SHIT!" Ginzo yelled out, furiously unloading his Golden Gun shots into the air. Ginzo fell to the ground, clutching his wounds before trying to stand again.
Suddenly, Leona began speaking over comms. "Ginzo, what's going on? I see the forest burning-"
"They took Fortune!" Ginzo yelled out in anguish. "They ambushed me and they took her away!"
"What?! Who did?!" Anan asked, already preparing to rush over to the aid of Ginzo.
"The weird knight and the person who was talking to Thales-they called themselves the Flame Emperor-and they just teleported away!"
"I see…hold Ginzo, I'll be there shortly."
Hey everyone! It's been a fat minute; sorry about that! Don't worry, I'm not abandoning this story. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as always! Reviews, favorites, and follows are always greatly appreciated. See you in the next one!