Thank you so much for your support on this fic so far! I really appreciate all your comments, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it!

2- Cryogenian

The office of Doctor Kirk in Zaphias was nothing more than a little loft over a store just three blocks away from the Lower Quarter. Yuri and Repede had broken off from the group to visit Estelle and Rita in the castle and explain the situation, so the others went on to ask about walk-in availability for Bell.

Judith had mentioned that Kritya-run businesses tended to be more laid back than ones run by humans, but Karol and Raven were still surprised at how easy it was to get Bell in to see the doctor. The receptionist said it would be about twenty minutes before Kirk was finished with the next patient, but it only took fifteen minutes for an elderly Krityan man to exit the doorway on the far side of the room, followed by a middle-aged Krityan woman dressed in a white coat. The receptionist addressed her and pointed over to the group.

"There's a group from Dahngrest asking about a physical examination for an infant. I told them your next appointment isn't until later this evening, so you could work them in."

"Of course," the doctor answered with a smile and stepped forward to meet Judith halfway. "But what brings you all this way just for a physical?"

Judith held Bell out for the doctor to examine. "She's only half Krityan, so we thought she should see a doctor who specializes in Krityan medicine just to be sure we understand her needs."

The doctor took Bell and held her at arm's length to examine. "Incredible… I've never seen a healthy human-Krityan hybrid before. What is her name?"

"Belius. Bell for short. And I'm Judith."

"Lovely names, both of them." The doctor smiled and held Bell close, rocking her as she began to whine and squirm. "Come with me, then, Miss Judith. And, ah-" She glanced around Judith toward the others, looking momentarily at Karol before ruling him out and settling on Raven. "-does the father want to be present as well?"

Raven stiffened. "N-no, no, no, ya got it all wrong! We ain't the kid's parents, we're just a guild charged with lookin' after her fer a little while."

Judith nodded in agreement. "Unfortunately, we don't know anything about her biological parents. That's why we've come to you to ensure we take proper care of her while she's with us."

"I see. Then follow me, Miss Judith. Your companions are welcome to wait here."

Once Judith and the doctor had disappeared through the door, the receptionist motioned to the bookshelf on one wall and encouraged Karol and Raven to read something if they wanted. Karol was quick to take her up on the offer, muttering something about "if Yuri hadn't given away my Pythia book this morning…" Raven, however, just leaned back in the chair and made himself comfortable with his eyes half-closed and his hands propped up behind his head.

Once some time had passed, it became clear that the little office wasn't as sleepy as they'd first thought. It doubled as a pharmacy, and within a few minutes, a Krityan man with his son in tow appeared to pick up some kind of medication. The little boy spared a curious glance over at the two humans sitting across the room before his father scolded him and dragged him out. The elderly woman who came in a few minutes later did the same, but the girl who appeared behind her seemed completely unfazed. She was about Judith's age, maybe a little younger, and something about her caught Raven's eye. He didn't move, but opened his eyes all the way to watch her as she spoke with the receptionist.

"Good to see you again, Miss Kida. It's been a while."

"I've been busy," the girl replied, resting her arms against the counter. Her curt words were accompanied by a shy frown as she passed a piece of paper across the counter. "Give Dr. Kirk my regards."

"Would you like to speak with her yourself? She should be almost done with the physical she's performing-"

"No, thank you. I'll speak with her later when I come to pick up my medicine."

"Of course." The receptionist glanced over the piece of paper. "The same dose as always, right? I can prepare it for you while you wait-"

"I have errands to run." The girl had already turned around and was halfway to the exit. "I'll stop by this evening."

"O-okay! Take care!"

There was a pause as the office grew quiet again following the girl's exit. The receptionist- and apparently pharmacist- had stepped into a closet with a distinct herbal smell to retrieve something from a shelf. With her distracted, Raven leaned over and nudged Karol.

"Hey, Captain Karol, did'ya see that girl just now?"

Karol glanced up from his book. "What? No."

"C'mon, yer tellin' me that ya didn't even give her a passin' glance?"

"I don't ogle girls like you do. I'm a teenager, not a pervert-"

"I'm not talkin' like that!" Raven snapped and then leaned in to whisper "I swear, she looked familiar. I've seen her before around Union Headquarters."

Karol gave him a puzzled look. "You sure it's not just a case of you being unable to tell Kritya apart?"

"No, dammit!" Raven hissed with an indignant frown. "I'm tellin' ya, it was her. I've seen her at headquarters before, and I know because I saw her this mornin'!"

"That's impossible. Ba'ul flew us here- there's no way she could have made it from Dahngrest to here in that time."

"I know. That's what made me suspicious." Raven sighed, crossing his arms and glancing toward the door. "I may be gettin' old, but my eyesight's still perfect. I just can't figure out how she got here so fast."

Karol went back to his book. "Maybe she has a twin sister who lives in Dahngrest."

"Maybe so… but then what're the odds we'd see the both of 'em in the same day?"

Karol didn't have an answer to that.

As soon as Judith and the others made it to the palace that evening, Estelle began fawning over Bell. Even Rita couldn't distract her- though she didn't seem to be trying too hard.

"Look at youuuu-! You are so cute! Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl-?"

Bell cooed and reached out, flailing her arms excitedly as she followed the stuffed toy that Estelle was waving at her. Rita tried to feign disinterest, but Yuri could tell she couldn't pull her eyes away from the baby either.

"It's not as unheard of as you think, the whole human-Krityan hybrid thing," Rita was saying. "Horses and donkeys are different species too, but people breed them all the time."

Yuri scoffed. "So you're calling her a mule?"

"I'm just saying, it's more accepted for humans and Kritya to hook up nowadays." Rita shrugged. "Statistically speaking, it's only natural that we see kids like Bell."

"You mean there's going to be more kids like her in the future?" Karol asked.

"Maybe. Crossbreeding can be dangerous, but it can also lead to what's known as heterosis, or hybrid vigor. The combination of a variety of traits can protect against diseases and disorders that affect either of the parent types. That's why mutts live longer than purebred dogs."

"Hah! You hear that?" Yuri slapped a hand on the scruff of Repede's neck. "I always knew you were better off than those stuck-up designer doggies in the noble quarter."

Repede nudged Yuri's hand with a pleased wag of his tail and let out a quiet howl. The sound spooked Bell, and she began to cry.

"Yuri! Repede! You're scaring her." Estelle scooped up Bell and held her close to calm her cries. "I'm just glad she's healthy. There's no way of knowing how long she'd been separated from her parents before Fortune's Market found her. Anything could have happened to her."

"There was one odd thing Dr. Kirk pointed out," Judith broke in. "Look on the inside of her left arm, just above the elbow. There's a small wound there- like something beneath the skin. She didn't think it was dangerous, but she said to keep an eye on it and have it examined if there's any sign of growth or infection."

"Her arm…" Estelle pulled the blankets aside and pushed the sleeve of Bell's dress up to get a better look. "Oh, I see. That little red spot… but it's so tiny-"

"Let me see!" Rita pushed her way in next to Estelle, leaning over Bell. Bell squirmed and tried to pull her arm from Rita's grip, but Rita murmured reassurances under her breath, and it seemed to calm her. "This looks like the implantation site for an aer tag."

"Aer tag?" Raven repeated. "What kinda technology is that?"

"It's a miniature identifier that uses frequencies in aer to send and receive signals. But it's still an emerging technology, used mostly in wildlife studies and livestock management to replace tracking blastia. Why in the world would somebody waste a piece of powerful new tech on…" Her voice trailed off and she looked up at Estelle. "Something isn't right here."

Yuri stood up and walked over, putting an arm on Estelle's shoulder to lean over Bell. "If these aer tag things are a replacement for tracking blastia, that means somebody, somewhere, wants to know where Bell is."

"Which means," Judith added from across the room, "that she hasn't really been abandoned."

There was a pause. Yuri turned around to look over at Judith.

"You don't think this is some kind of trap, do you?"

"A trap?" Karol repeated.

"I've heard of thieves and scammers using kids to do their dirty work," Yuri explained, "but I've never heard of it being done like this."

"Rita," Judith began again, "would a device like that have the capacity to record and transmit audio? It's possible that Bell was left at headquarters as a method to spy on the Union."

Raven sat up straighter. "Y'mean somebody could be listenin' inta our conversation right now?!"

"No, they couldn't," Rita shot back, waving one hand dismissively. "These things are too small to be listening devices. They emit electromagnetic signals that can be picked up by specialized machines to triangulate a position. All you can tell from the tag is where it's located on a map."

Raven let out a sigh of relief. "Good to hear. Ya had me scared for a minute there, Judith, darlin'."

"Why? Have you said something to Bell that might get you in trouble?"

"N-no, but…" He sighed and shook his head. "With Harry's inauguration comin' up, the Union is at a critical crossroads and I just don't wanna put it in jeopardy by ignorin' a threat like this."

"Threat?" Estelle clutched Bell close to her chest. "How could you consider a baby to be a threat?"

"It's not the baby," Yuri scolded. "It's that tag. Rita, do you know how to remove something like that?"

Rita sat down again, scooting her chair closer to Estelle and Bell. "It's not my area of expertise, so I'd be scared that I'd hurt her in the process. But if I can study the signals that it's giving off, I might be able to figure out what the model is and where it originated. We could then ask the developers to remove it for us."

Karol moved over to lean against the back of Rita's chair. "Do you think that it could be her parents' doing? Maybe they were forced to give her up, but still wanted to keep an eye on their daughter."

"I highly doubt that." Rita shook her head. "If they had the resources and connections to get their hands on a piece of new technology like this, they could have used those to find a home for her rather than just dumping her on the steps of the Union. Besides that, this is Empire tech. They wouldn't let just anybody get their hands on it, especially somebody from the guilds."

"So at least one of her parents must be from the Empire, then," Judith offered, and Raven laughed.

"Wouldn't that be a beautiful story? A human from the Union and a Krityan from the Empire- it's a forbidden love fer the ages!"

Rita groaned. "How do you figure it's the Krityan parent who's from the Empire? There aren't many Kritya involved in the Empire's tech research, y'know."

"Ah, just waxin' poetic, Rita darlin'."

Yuri let out a long, frustrated sigh. "I knew this job wasn't going to go smoothly. All I really care about is making sure that Bell is safe. We can't let her become a pawn in some kind of political espionage."

"Yuri's right!" Karol exclaimed. "We accepted this job to make sure Bell was safe and healthy, and we can't consider that job done until we know what this tag is and why she has it."

Judith gave Karol a pat on the shoulder. "I agree. There's no way we can just leave Bell like this. Rita, will you come to Dahngrest with us tomorrow? We'll have to explain why we want to keep her for a little longer, and we could use your expertise in explaining the situation."

"Of course I'll come with you! I was gonna do that anyway-"

Estelle broke in, pressing a finger to her lips and shushing the group. "You guys," she whispered, "I think she's asleep."

"She has the right idea," Yuri whispered back. "It's getting kinda late."

Judith reached into her pocket and retrieved Ba'ul's horn. "I'll call Ba'ul and confirm that we'll be staying in the capital tonight. He can pick us up and take all of us back to Dahngrest tomorrow morning."

"Judith, Rita," Estelle began again, "would you like to stay with me in my room tonight? It'd be like a sleepover, and we could take turns caring for Bell when she wakes up."

Yuri chuckled. "I like how you said when, not if."

Raven, meanwhile, stood up and walked over to the table where the others were gathered. "Say, with all this uncertainty around the tag thing, would ya ladies like somebody ta stay with ya and stand guard?"

"I think we'll be fine," Judith answered with a smile.

"Ya sure? We don't know who might come lookin' fer the kid."

"We can take care of ourselves. If you don't believe that-" Judith turned around to look him in the eye. "-would you like us to show you?"

Raven fought back a shiver. "Yeah, uh… I'll take yer word for it."

The beds in the palace were comfortable, there was no doubt about that, but something about the conversation that evening put Karol on edge. He tried to sleep, but he found himself tossing and turning, imagining horrifying experiments being performed on a poor, innocent baby. It was unnerving, and he knew he had to do something to get his mind off it or he'd never get to sleep.

He crawled out of bed and strolled out to the nearby courtyard, hoping that taking a walk would clear his mind. However, when he made it out the door, he noticed someone sitting against the side of the fountain and froze until he identified him. It was Yuri- leaning back and absentmindedly tossing some kind of coin up and down in one hand. Yuri looked up and noticed Karol, waving with his free hand.

"What's up, Captain Karol? Can't sleep?"

"Y-yeah. You too?"

Yuri gave a curt nod and patted the ground beside him. "What's on your mind? You wanna talk about it, or would you prefer a distraction?"

Karol walked over and sat next to Yuri, leaning back against the fountain too. He could feel the mist against the back of his shoulders, but it was a nice feeling, and combined with the warmth of Yuri sitting next to him, it helped calm his nerves.

"I just got scared thinking about Bell and the horrible things she might've experienced at the hands of the people who put that aer tag on her. It made it hard to sleep, so I guess I'd rather be distracted than try to talk it out tonight."

"Hey, that's fair." Yuri shrugged, still tossing the coin up and down. "It's not like we can do anything about it right now. So what do you want to talk about instead?"

"Um… well…" Karol gave it some thought before finally remembering a conversation they'd had earlier. "Hey, didn't you say you wanted to talk to me about some guild stuff?"

"Yeah, that's right. I guess now's as good a time as any." Yuri shifted and turned slightly so that he could face Karol. "I know we're still hammering out some of the guild rules, so it's only natural that there're things we haven't discussed yet. I wanted to ask what the guild policy should be on members pursuing romantic relationships."

Karol perked up. "Is this about you and Flynn?"

"Um, can we pretend for a minute that it's just a general question?"

Karol chuckled and nodded. "Sure, sure. The way I see it, Brave Vesperia aims to do justice, right? And forbidding someone to be with the person they love would be unjust. So Brave Vesperia should approve of its members pursuing romantic relationships."

Yuri smiled, but stayed focused on his hands rather than looking at Karol. "That sounds good in principle, but guild members are supposed to be dedicated. All for the guild and the guild for all, right? So what would be your policy on members getting married?"

Karol stiffened and looked over to where Yuri was still playing with the small metal object. He'd assumed it was a coin, but upon closer inspection, he realized that wasn't what it was at all. It was a ring.

"Yuri!" he gasped, jumping up on his knees and leaning over Yuri's lap. "Are you gonna ask Flynn to marry you?"

"No." Yuri shook his head. "He asked me."

"Did you say yes? You said yes, right? Oh, Yuri, this is so exciting-!"

Yuri pushed Karol away. "I said I'll think about it."

"Whaaaat? You'll think about it?" Karol crossed his arms and pouted, slumping back against the side of the fountain. "What's to think about?!"

"The guild, for one. How can I commit myself to a person if I'm already committed to Brave Vesperia?"

Karol went quiet and finally let out a sigh. "There's a difference between committing yourself to a guild and committing yourself to a person. You can do both. I mean, even the Don- the old Don- had a wife and a family. It didn't affect his ability to dedicate himself to Altosk and to the Union. And it's not like you're going to move to the capital and leave the guild behind, right?"

"Yeah, but that's another thing I don't get." Yuri shook his head. "It's not like getting married would change anything. I've got my guild work and Flynn has his work with the knights. Neither of us is going to give that up, so we make things work when we can and understand when we can't. I want to be with him, but at the same time I don't see anything wrong with the way we are now."

"I guess that makes sense," Karol replied. "But there must be a reason he asked you. Did he say why he wants to get married?"

"I asked him, but couldn't get a good answer." Yuri started tossing the ring up and down again, following it with his eyes as the light from the palace around them glinted off the sides. "He said at first that it was just the natural thing to do. Then he said that it was only honorable given our, uh, history. He said it would be easier to explain to the knights that he's in a committed relationship, that it would justify him taking more time off to visit me, that it would give me certain privileges when I'm visiting him, etcetera, etcetera. All pointless if you ask me. Who cares about all that stuff?"

There was a moment of silence as Karol debated saying what was on his mind. Not sure what else to say, he blurted it out against his better judgment.

"Obviously Flynn does."

Yuri shrugged. "Yeah, but that's all secondary stuff. Like, I get that there are benefits to marriage. But if you don't love the person, it's no better than an arranged marriage. I don't want him to see this as some sort of knightly obligation, or worse- some kind of political ploy."

"You don't doubt that he's in love with you, do you?" Karol asked. "Any of your friends could tell you that he's head-over-heels for you, Yuri-"

"I know any of our friends could tell me. I want him to tell me."

"...hasn't he?"

"In other contexts, yes. He tells me all the time. But…" Yuri held out the ring, frowning as he examined it. "...when I asked why he wanted to get married, it never came up. Shouldn't that be the very first reason?"

"Maybe Flynn didn't think he needed to say it."

That prompted a laugh from Yuri. "That's our commandant. Stubborn to a fault, even with matters of the heart."

Karol put a hand against the side of the fountain to steady himself as he rose to his feet. "I think this is a conversation you should have with him. As close as the two of you are, I don't think he can actually read your mind. You're not wrong to want a marriage based on love. But if you wait for him to say something he thinks he already has, you might be waiting forever."

"Heh, you give pretty good romantic advice for a teenager with no relationship experience."

"Hey!" Karol stiffened. "I-I do too have experience!"

"One-sided crushes don't count."

"Wh-what do you know? You and Flynn have been together for, like, ever!"

"You've got me there." Yuri placed the ring in an interior pocket of his coat and rose to his feet next to Karol. "Think you can sleep now? I'll walk you back to your room," he offered, patting Karol on the back.

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks."

Karol started back inside and fell into step beside Yuri as they made their way back down the hall. He could feel another question gnawing at his mind, one he knew would bother him until morning if he didn't ask it, so once they reached the door to his room, he took a deep breath and spoke up again.

"Yuri… if I'd given you a different answer… if I'd said you couldn't marry Flynn and stay with Brave Vesperia… what would you have done?"

Yuri considered Karol's expression for a moment and then smiled, elbowing his shoulder. "Don't look so scared, Boss. If you gave me an ultimatum like that, I'd just have to give Flynn his ring back. Tell him that he's still welcome to the milk, but the cow isn't for sale."

Karol covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. "That's the strangest version of that saying I've ever heard. But really- if you had to choose between the guild and Flynn, what would you do?"

"I wouldn't." Yuri just shrugged. "There's always some other option. Either I'd find another way, or I'd die trying."

"Yeah, you're pretty good at that."

"What, dying?"

"N-n-no!" Karol waved his hands. "I mean, finding other ways to solve problems. You've taught me to never be satisfied with a lose-lose situation, that there's always a solution out there. I admire that about you and I don't ever want to lose that. So, uh… thanks... for being part of my guild."

Yuri considered the statement for a moment before reaching out and resting his hand on Karol's head.

"Thanks for making me a part of it, Boss."

The next morning was overcast and chilly, mirroring the group's apprehension. Bell had slept most of the night, much to the girls' surprise, only waking once about 3 A.M. to cry for a diaper change and some attention. Estelle and Judith had pretended to go back to sleep when Rita urged them, but they secretly stayed up and listened to Rita's affectionate whispers as she rocked the baby back into a calm slumber. Neither of them said anything about it the next morning, but Estelle made a point to ask Rita if she wanted to carry Bell, and was delighted when Rita accepted with minimal protests.

That was how Rita ended up being the one to feed Bell as they rode back to Dahngrest, huddled inside the ship's cabin to keep out of the biting wind. The ship leaned to one side as Ba'ul made a sharp turn, and at the same time Bell spit up onto Rita's coat.

"Gross," she muttered, placing the bottle aside and taking a cloth to Bell's face before setting her gently on the bed and removing the soiled coat to clean, "but I feel you, kid. It's been a pretty bumpy ride. Judith, would you mind telling Ba'ul to take it easy?"

Judith glanced down from one of the upper bunks. "Oh, Ba'ul's just playing hard-to-get. Apparently he has a little admirer."

"An admirer?" Yuri repeated.

"A young Entelexia. He says it's been following him around since yesterday, acting like a lovesick schoolchild, trying to stay close but not too close. He wants to see if it's just a coincidence or if it really is following his movements."

"Aww, ain't that cute?" Raven commented. "Even Entelexia can fall in love."

"It's adorable," Estelle agreed. Karol, however, was less enthusiastic.

"You don't think it's after Bell, do you? If those tag things send out signals through the aer, then Entelexia can probably pick up on them-"

"Ba'ul said it followed him around yesterday when we were in the capital," Judith interrupted, "so it's obviously not interested in us."

"Oh. That's a relief."

"Still…" Yuri murmured, "...it's a pretty strange coincidence that an unfamiliar Entelexia started following Ba'ul around at the same time we started taking care of Bell. We should stay on our guard."

Judith nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll tell Ba'ul to keep an eye on it. He'll let us know if it starts acting suspicious."

"More suspicious than it is already?" Rita asked.

"Yes," was all Judith said.