AN: So, yes, as you can see, new title, (hopefully better) summary. Cleaning up the story and all. I've also been working on the last chapter, this one, and the next one all at the same time. In other words, I've been busy, in a good way, of course. Things might be "heating up" per say in my personal life, so the next chapter will be taking on a slight delay. Possibly until November or December, maybe. Hopefully though, the second paralogue, alongside the last chapter and this chapter will satisfy for the time being. However, otherwise…enjoy.
As I will continue to say, reviews are well appreciated and recommended. I'd like to know what I'm doing right and wrong, of course, in order to make a better experience in terms of my writing. And maybe your own personal thoughts on things, questions you may have and the like. Thanks for reading in general, no matter if you're new or revisiting. And finally, I don't own anything here, sans Corvina. They belong to their respective companies, video games or otherwise. :)
"...wait, so what's that?"
"That is the Full-Full Rabbit Tank bottle. As the name obviously implies, it allows me to fully harness the power of the Rabbit or Tank bottle in its entirety. Like an upgrade in a way. I would get into how I was able to deduce that but…unfortunately, the device I would use with this was destroyed. So it's kind of just there, until I can properly rebuild it.. It also isn't complete as of yet; the Rabbit side is almost finished, but the Tank side seems to have taken some more…severe damage. I'd have to recalibrate it, and most of the tools I have, I left back at Garreg Mach when the Empire stormed the place. Or they just straight up don't exist as of yet. " Sento responded, Lysithea looking interested in the thin metallic device, two small displays on either end of it. With various different wrenches and tools surrounding it, as it looked to be the current thing he had been working on. The mage's eyes then laid on another object nearby, as coffee brewed from the unknown device.
"So what's this? This coffee thing?" She asked quizzically, as Sento leaned next to her.
"That, my dear apprentice, is an attempt to make an automated coffee machine. The coffee beans were from a farm out west. Daphnel territory I think? Thankfully, I remembered solar power existed in our world, so I just scrunched up a bunch of parts from the Alliance's old stockpile of weapons and made this. Forgoing a few extra steps along the way. It isn't perfect though; it only makes about a cup a day. Gotta do it the old-fashioned way afterwards, or go to one of those coffeehouses; they don't make them the same that I want."
"And you didn't need any magic of any kind to make that? Or anything in this room?"
"Nope."
Lysithea, to say the least, was fascinated. Both she and Sento stood around his expansive lab, looking to and fro the area. From little things, like what looked to be some type of elongated device, torn in half, to a display of the white panel from before, this time connected with loose tubes towards a giant bottle, its glass casing in the middle shattered in some type of fight. Nearby a dual crocodile-themed device of some kind laid dormant, a completed device by the looks of it. Yet, it looked inactive. As if he had purposely did so, for some inexplicable reason.
But out of all things in the lab, Lysithea was currently investing her time in…a solar-powered coffee machine. Out of all things.
"How do you people survive with no magic? Back on Earth?" She asked Sento curiously, as she took a sip out of her mug of coffee.
"I believe I mentioned it before, but I'll mention it again; human ingenuity, grit, and a lot of luck and experimentation. Observation too, of course. Exploring the world around you, curiosity of how the world works. Most of us humans have that curiosity for the natural world around us, and we want, if not definitive, at least the closest thing too an answer. Wouldn't you agree the same applies to your 'magic', Lysithea?"" Sento claimed, as he leaned back against one of the desks, sighing. Lysithea gave a small smirk at him, eventually choosing to relax with him. As she munched on a sweet, Lysithea chose this time to actually remember what occurred the day before. Or, rather two days before. . "It's why I made the old world logs. So in the case that I ever get thrown into a new world, I would remember the old. Memories, if you will."
"Why didn't you continue those other logs? The personal ones you had on Project Blue?" Lysithea said after a long while out of nowhere, causing Sento to quickly twist his head in her location rapidly, eyes widening. "I mean, after you…came to Fodlan. From whatever confusing 'world' you came from."
"Lost track of time. I could tell you my story when I was in Fodlan another time, but let's just say that I never had the opportunity to actually go over those types of things. The Cross-Z Dragon was lost to me, most of my equipment, I was only able to gather sporadically over the past decade…" He explained, sounding actually stressed for once. "To say the least, ten years is a long time to gather everything. Especially when half of it involves a war in which you can't really travel anywhere beyond the Alliance without watching your back. And even then…"
"Then start over again, Sento. I do that all the time whenever I'm having trouble." Lysithea deadpanned, surprised that a so-called "genius" like Sento couldn't grasp the singular concept of restarting over again. However, Lysithea realized something. An almost sinister smile creeped up her face, as she looked towards Sento pleadingly. "Plus, imagine how many people will look up to you, Sento. Teaching them about the war, perhaps managing to bring the new world the teachings of the old. People will recognize you as the genius you truly were."
Sento raised his eyebrow as she stared with hopeful eyes towards him. He recalled that he had plans for a scenario when and if he did arrive at the New World he and Evolto created unscathed. He just…didn't really expect it to be like this. After another moment of consideration, he looked towards Lysithea, a smile on his face.
"Actually…not a bad idea. I had planned on chronicling my past adventures; I can't really see why not now." Sento replied, surprising Lysithea. "But what are we gonna call it…can't just call it "Project Build" again.
The two geniuses pondered for a moment in thought, the only sounds being the echoing in the room as they both quietly sipped their coffee. Eventually, it was Lysithea who came up with an idea, snapping her fingers.
"I've got it! Set yourself up on the table, Sento, and we'll start!" Lysithea shouted excitedly, as Sento justifiably became panicked.
"W, wait, now?" He replied, panicked as he placed his coffee down on the ground, quickly sitting on the table.
"And, let me just see how this entire thing works somehow…" Lysithea mumbled, fumbling with the Build Phone, as she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.
"Just give me that." Sento stated, as he grabbed the Build Phone off Lysithea's hands. Grabbing a Fullbottle nearby, he shook it a little bit, before twisting the Fullbottle, placing it into the slot at the bottom of the phone. After pressing a few more buttons, he eventually set it up against one of the glass cups nearby, eventually motioning Lysithea now to put the finishing touches. As she did so, she seemed to handle using said super-advanced technology just fine, as Sento chose to assume that the white-haired girl's intellect allowed her to realize such things on the fly. Eventually, she set up the finishing touches, placing the Build Phone back where Sento placed it, as she gave a nod towards him.
"Are you ready, Sento?" She asked him, as Sento nodded hesitantly.
"As ready as I'll ever be I suppose." He responded semi-nervously, as Lysithea began to record.
Project New World
Log: IY 1185, 7th of Horsebow Moon
Sento walked himself up to the Build Phone, it being neatly placed on a nearby table. Lysithea was behind said table, curiously watching as Sento prepared to do the log. Suddenly, his face morphed into a feeling of slight nervousness, as he quickly turned to his new apprentice.
"You sure you want me to do this? I think Petra knows the very basic gist of Cross-Z's abilities. I mean, I gave her the log and everything." Sento stated towards Lysithea, as she sighed.
"I mean, from what she said, this project log turned into your own personal log by the end. And it only took us reading 4 out of 50 or something amount of logs. So I'd imagine that we'd need to make sure that she at least has something. In case something happens to you; death,accident, poisoning. Or, I don't know…maybe so history remembers us? That type of fame." Lysithea asked, shrugging towards Sento.
"Alright then, fine, Lysithea. But you owe me an hour helping me repair whatever the hell you did to the Volcanic Knuckle, alright?" Sento asked her. Lysithea nodded yes, as Sento turned back to face the front of the Build Phone, its camera on and reflected towards Sento.
"This morning, Claude had notified us that he and the Ashen Demon Byleth were leave, to scour out the western parts of the Alliance. Apparently, there's a growing dissension for Claude and his Alliance there; he suspects Empire sympathizers. I'm anticipating that this, also, is Blood Stalk's fault. It feels like it would be something he would do to sow chaos within this world and within humanity; I imagine he's already done so with this war. Manipulating the Empire like a puppet on its strings."
Sento paused to look at Lysithea. She gave a smirk and a thumbs up, motioning for Sento to continue.
"However, this is merely a progress log. The group left this morning after announcing it to us. Soon after, the rest left for I guess what you would consider "downtown" Deidriu. Hilda seems to have stayed close to Balthus, in time. Possibly as a sole excuse to leech off of him; he told me a plenty of stories about her and her famed, almost protective older brother. I only say protective and not overprotective because he seems to be busy holding down the border with Almyra all on his own, with the rest of House Goneril's forces. Meanwhile, from what I hear, Petra and the Black Eagles have gone out to the docks to celebrate her birthday. Banjou apparently wanted to join them, so he and Shamir went out on their own accord."
He paused for a moment, confusing Lysithea as he sighed, his face changing into that of both simultaneous embarrassment and of a jovial mood. Somehow. His body visibly relaxed and became much more lazy, as he became more comfortable with the situation at hand. He took one last deep breath before continuing. "I just damn well hope he hasn't decided to put on one of those ridiculous outfits. I remember the time when he chose out of all the outfits he could wear, he decided to be a clown when we were searching for my mohter. Out of all things, I remember when we were searching for information about Takumi Katsuragi...anyways. Getting back on track, Catherine went with Alois with the plan to gather the Knights from the Eastern Church as reinforcements. From what I hear, once and if we deal with the Alliance's problem at home, they plan on convincing Claude to reinforce Rhea's people in Fhirdiad. Apparently, the archbishop wanted to be on the direct frontlines of the war, and since the Empire's pushed further and further towards. Leonie joined Claude and Byleth out towards the west. Which just leaves myself, Marianne and my new lab prodigy, Lysithea, here. In the main palace here in Deidriu."
He took a calm breath from the long explanation before continuing.
"I would rather not sully details around, but…let's just say for the first time in a long time, I'm feeling quite well. Slept rather well too, for a man in his mid-30s having to sit out of a continent-wide war. Hunting for a woman with a gold band who may or may not still exist. Anyways, um…"
He quickly saved the log, stopping the recording. Lysithea looked puzzled by his stuttering.
"Sento, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly, as Sento somehow, within the log, managed to come to a startling revelation of himself solely by looking himself in the log proper.
"I need to go outside." Sento realized this about himself, as Lysithea laughed at him.
"You realized that now, Sento? I mean, people around here have compared you to Bernadetta for the past few months!" She yelled, as Sento gave a scrunched up look to her.
"Well, the fact of the matter is that I wasn't well, Lysithea. Too focused on my work and nothing else." Sento retorted, as Lysithea crossed her arms, her face tense by the conversation. Sento stuttered, as if he was ready to backtrack immediately from what he just said. "Plus, now that I think about it, maybe I already got my weekly dose of exercise from two days ago. Outside could probably wait another…"
He would quickly be stopped with a sudden casting of Miasma on him, slowing him down temporarily, as he had attempted to scramble towards his little bedroom, his body slowly turning to see Lysithea lower her hands from casting the spell.
"Sento Kiryu, I'm taking you outside today. Marianne needs some food for her horse, and I need to not only visit the local mage to see if there's any tomes or books there, but I have to ALSO compensate for my sweets that Balthus took just for me to break into your room yesterday!" Lysithea complained, quickly taking a holster, wrapping it around her waist. She started picking up six Fullbottles, slotting into each section of the holster. "And I'm taking this in case Evolto tries to sneak up on any of us again!"
Sento opened his mouth to say something, only for Lysithea's eyes to darken, Dark Spikes active over her. They were lucky the room they were in was vertical, else the amount of Dark Spikes there would've probably crammed the room.
He closed his mouth quickly, shaking his head yes, as the Dark Spikes vanished, Lysithea smiling. She eventually grabbed the Build Driver sitting nearby, eventually waiting on Sento to leave the room. The poor man did so, as the two exited the room. Somehow, Marianne had already been waiting there, outside the room, a surprisingly beaming smile on her face as that, somehow managed to convince Sento, if the Dark Spikes weren't enough, to actually go ahead and go outside with them.
"Well…I mean, if we're going outside, I might as well stop by whatever food you have here; I mean, I haven't exactly been downtown since…what, two years ago?" He stated with a semi-sarcastic type of tone, walking along.
Lysithea looked at Marianne, her head closing up on the latter's ear.
"Was he always so sarcastic?"
"He was. But he was most certainly better now than he was earlier. Much healthier as well; he seems to eat quite a lot these days, if what Balthus told me was true. Especially since we've returned." Marianne responded with a warm smile, as Lysithea looked back towards Sento in confusion, him somehow deciding to skip his way out the castle. As exact words to describe what just happened couldn't exactly formulate into the mage's mind, she just simply followed Sento, lighty jogging to try and catch up with him. As she did so, she could hear Sento…mumbling things.
"The second law follows that all heat energy moves from hotter objects to colder objects, which, if we treat the universe as an isolated system with disregard to the work or heat done by the system, would theoretically mean that the heat death of the universe is inevitable…" She could hear Sento mutter out, as she looked up to him with a small amount of uncertainty at his odd behavior.
"Are you…spouting out laws?" She asked curiously, as Sento slowed his skipping, turning to face her.
"The laws of thermodynamics, yes. I had to memorize them; I mean, you were there for the explanation I gave, right?" He asked. "The Project Build and Blue I accessed were meant to teach you guys not only about the basis of the Fullbottles, the Rider systems I've created, that type of thing, but also an educational lesson with the essential laws of physics, whether that be thermodynamics, mechanics, etcetera. A brief synopsis, though, so you guys understand. Alongside my own personal explanations of things catching you up, without me having to do all the work. Made in my free time not too long after the end of the war with Hokuto and Seito." Sento stated, as Lysithea continued to look perplexed at him.
"Yeah, but…the Project Blue files that were in that dragon machine mentioned things like some File XXX I found restricted in the files. Or whatever File Ending is supposed to mean. Apparently your dragon wouldn't let me access them." Lysithea claimed, her tone getting more suspicious as time went on. Sento simply stared ahead.
"The only reason those files are restricted are because they're what we refer to as WMDs back on Earth. Weapons of Mass Destruction. It's said that a single Rider, even as basic as RabbitTank, could essentially become a one man army. Especially in times like this where you haven't invented guns, or any explosives beyond magic and gunpowder; I fear what would happen if that type of science fell into the wrong hands. It's why I could only share the bare minimum of most things in that presentation; surface level things. The Old World files, I could easily show you. Many of those things require inventions Fodlan doesn't have yet, or possibly never will in our lifetimes; it's why six of those hours were dedicated to just Earth. History is one thing. Sharing anything else about the Rider systems other than the bare minimum, and I would have risked that type of knowledge leaking out into the public. Imagine the panic and terror when the world finds out what's behind the drapy curtain of Project Build. Or Blue for that matter." He claimed, as Lysithea stared at him. "Imagine an entire city, much less an entire government collapsing because someone decides to use a Rider system knowing full well its reach. Maliciously."
"I…see your point." She stated, relinquishing her point as she gave a drawn out sigh. "If too much was revealed, Fodlan would look like a wasteland. And, I know this war has been taxing on all of us, but I don't think that we'd want all of that fighting to lead to nothing."
Sento smiled, as the three arrived at the gates out of the massive complex. Lysithea knew that he was lying through his teeth, possibly with some personal history attached. But she chose not to budge too much. She would figure out the full truth on her own accord.
"You know, I believed a long time ago that Riders shouldn't be used as weapons of war. The more that our war dragged on, between Hokuto, then Seito, then Evolto, the more that I found myself contradicting that point. I'm a hero of justice, but technically speaking, I'm also a war criminal. By all accounts." She could briefly hear Sento say, not staring towards her, as he opened the doors. "Perhaps it's time that they become weapons, the Rider systems. To finally bring a world of love and peace."
As he bursted open the doors, however, his emotional speech was quickly cut off, as he was suddenly blinded by the sun. Like a vampire, he quickly backed away, only to be pushed by Lysithea back forward.
Lysithea would roll her eyes. However, in her mind, she reflected on what Sento said.
And her mind became filled with fear as to the ramifications of what the hell Sento and group were still hiding.
"Ugh…let me sleep." Banjou muttered to himself out loud. His room was a relative mess, various tools and medical gauze rolls surrounding Banjou's bed. He himself looked healthy, yet his body continued to ache in pain. As if he himself couldn't be able to get up without much assistance. His clothes, switched to what equate to just a white cloth shirt with white wool pants. However, poor Banjou was aching for a completely different reason. "Stop speaking about men rejecting you."
He would unfortunately be caught saying this. Not by whomever he was speaking about, but instead by an unexpected source, having sat there for half an hour, cautiously applying a wound to his arm.
"You really are one of the stupidest people I've come to meet, Banjou Ryuga." An annoyed voice stated, as Banjou slowly turned to the other side. His face morphed into that of pure amazement at who was sitting in front of him.
"Shamir Nevrand. You're also with Sento? Little surprised; I would've assumed even a more 'stoic' individual like you would be annoyed as hell by Sento's ramblings." Banjou nervously replied, as he groaned, making her way back to bed. "You still with the Knights of Seiros? Debt still unpaid?" He responded sarcastically, as Shamir gave him a look, warning him against going further.
"You chose to disappear yourself a long time ago, Banjou. You could've gotten at least somewhere in life. Or had returned to Brigid. As opposed to being a homeless, wandering vigilante for nearly a decade." She quipped, grabbing his arm forcefully as she wrapped the gauze around it carefully and slowly. "But if you must ask, yes, my debt is repaid in full to Lady Rhea. But lines have to be drawn in conflict. And I chose to draw mine here. I'm assuming your line is going to be drawn with Petra and Sento?"
Silence followed, as he grumbled, slowly moving his body to meet Shamir's eyes. He clearly looked too tired to actually answer anything too serious.
"It's always going to be drawn with Petra and Sento. Them two are the closest thing I got to family right now; everyone else either I don't know what happened to them, they're dead, or here." He replied. "I gotta stick to what's familiar with me, you know?"
Shamir gave a hint of a smirk at that statement. Whether it was Banjou or Catherine, somehow some things always stuck. Personality and what not. At times, Shamir would find that type of thing annoying. Today, perhaps not so much.
"I see you haven't changed a single bit then, Banjou." She would reply, sounding slightly happy for him. "As much as I hate to say it, we need more muscle around here. At least as heavy handed as you might be. Plus, maybe it'd be a good thing for someone like you to be around. Might balance out some things in our favor, if what Sento always said about you is true."
Banjou raised his eyebrow as he faced Shamir. "Sento said things about me? Were they good things? Positive things?"
Shamir would stare at him, trying to not break into any type of major emotion.
"In his sleep, yes. He always claimed you were his, and I quote, "Best Match". If I didn't know him or you any better, I'd say you two were romantically involved in the past." She told him, as he immediately looked slightly offended. Shamir gave the slightest hint of a smirk as she realized that she was right on the matter, at least partially. Banjou pouted as Shamir stared at him.
"You say that, yet…" He began, quickly being shut up by a spoonful of porridge shoved into his mouth. Shamir stood there, staring at Banjou as if he shouldn't continue the line of thought.
"That was all in the past, Banjou. I'm doing this because you're now considered a war asset. Your training and experience I mean."
Banjou would shrug, sighing as he relaxed back first on the bed, as if he expected that answer.
"Where's the more emotional, scared, yet just as capable Shamir I knew? The one that didn't hide her emotions behind a blank stare?" Banjou asked. For just a brief moment, Shamir would genuinely stay silent, as if she had started to remember those thoughts.
She stared towards the distant fire of the pirates, sitting on a small cliffside overlooking the rest of the island below. The small, yet fragile pin marking the Knights of Seiros was contained on an inner pocket in her jacket. She stared at it longingly, alongside a second thing in her hand. A feather, of all things. A reminder of what occurred long before.
"Oy." She could hear Banjou behind her claim, as she quickly stuffed the things into her inner pockets. "You alright?"
Shamir briefly hesitated before continuing, wanting to not let Banjou see her in this state.
"I'm fine. I'm just…debating." She claimed, moving her head to watch the cliffside. Banjou didn't believe so, quickly deciding to sit next to her. He noticed her body shaking, both in fear and by the cold the island somehow brung. He took off a long leaf from one of the trees, wrapping it around Shamir.
"You didn't have to do that, you know. I can survive a little cold." She responded sadly, as she sighed. Banjou wasn't taking no for an answer, as he wrapped the leaf further around Shamir's body like a cocoon, smiling as he did so.
"I…it's just been my first operation alone in a long time, Banjou. You'd be shocked to see how things end up alone." She claimed, as Banjou chuckled, looking over in the moonlight.
"Well, you were never one to feel much, from what little I've met from you. Mourning someone?" He asked her genuinely. Her face quickly turned away from him, and it was clearly all that Banjou needed to see. He turned his own face away, as he felt, for the first time in a while, distraught. And genuinely hurt.
"You aren't the only one. Lost someone close to me too once in a war. A girlfriend. Used as nothing more than another weapon in a pointless war." He replied, only being met with silence as he sighed.
At least, he was met with silence at first.
"Tell me about her."
"Excuse me?" Banjou asked Shamir, who turned to face him. Her face looking much more dejected than he thought, as she looked towards him.
"Tell me about your girlfriend."
Banjou would give a wistful smile, clutching his hand into a fist, as he turned back towards the Dagdan archer, giving a tiny chortle.
"Only if you tell me about who you lost."
Shamir would give a wistful smirk.
"I see we're at an impasse then. Perhaps we may find a different way to see who goes first? A race, perhaps?" Shamir asked Banjou, the two of them staring at each other for a moment. Suddenly, both smiled, as they both bolted back towards the small camp they set up.
Making a face, she quickly returned to her monotone mood, albeit her body looked to have stiffened up a tiny bit.
"That Shamir grew up. Saw things no normal man nor woman would ever see. And I suggest you do the same. If not for my sake, for Petra's sake. Because she needs someone who can actually train her to be whatever the hell you and Sento are, and I hate to want to endanger a princess just because her mentor is teaching her the wrong things the wrong way." She responded dangerously and suddenly, as she got up to quickly leave.
Banjou, however, stopped her. With a hand directly latched onto her arm. In any other circumstance, Shamir would've most likely killed whomever had done that, or at least be able to subdue whoever was doing so. This however, felt different. It wasn't how she remembered Banjou. And as she turned to him, she could see why. His face was much more different; a lot more serious and different. As if he became a completely different person in a matter of a few seconds. She looked genuinely surprised; not only at the sudden change in the air, as if it was trying to hold her back from leaving, but the sheer face she was being given by Banjou. She eventually sighed.
"I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing, Banjou. I may look much more serious, but there's a reason for that. A lot has changed since we've last met. I'm just suggesting that perhaps you should. For the sake of all, if what Sento says is true. A world of love and peace, how realistically impossible it is, may require more than one thing. And if you and him truly think it's possible…then I'd like to see the results. Without the fumbling and running. The hiding. It works in combat. Not so much to your allies." Shamir claimed, as she yanked herself out of Banjou's weak hand, walking away from the room. Banjou felt numb, as he quickly let go of her hand. She stormed off unsarcastically, leaving Banjou in the room alone. He raised his head, groaning.
"I really fucked up Kasumi, didn't I?" He would reply to himself out loud, as he laid idly, and numbly on the bed, choosing not to sleep for the day, instead grabbing his pillow, slamming it onto his head.
On the other side of the door to Banjou's door, Shamir leaned against the door, her head slamming against the back of it. She breathed heavily, sighing as she tried to calm herself down. One of her hands tucked tightly to her jacket, as she chose to walk away, in an attempt to clear her mind on everything.
She didn't want to let her personal feelings get in the way of what was to come.
"I am…surprised. Deidriu looks just as peaceful as Enbarr. It reminds me so much of the docks back in Brigid." Petra stated with a smile. Sauntering with Dorothea, the two would walk with each other, hand in hand, as they walked along the market. Shouts of what they were selling could be heard around them, as they walked. Songs from displaced opera singers were almost absolutely flooded by the idle chatter of civilians, alongside the hums of factory workers, hard at work. The sun beamed down directly onto the surface, as they would reminisce about each other.
As they squeezed through a couple of people to get out of their way, they turned around, seeing Bernadetta shyly squeeze through the crowd after them. Though her face was quite nervous, it wasn't quite as severe as before, more nervous at the closeness of the people there. Despite this, she still clutched the silver bangle now attached to her wrist, as if she didn't want to lose it. Following them, Bernie saw her eyes drawn to everything in the city; from the dancers and singers trying to liven up people's days in the streets, to the merchants and farmers trying to make a living.
However, her focus was instead more on the bickering young women in front of her.
"Come on, Petra; we have to get you at least SOMETHING for your birthday. To make up for lost time, to say the least." Dorothea pleaded with her, as Petra turned to the songstress, her head tilting slightly.
"Being here with you two is enough for me. We do not celebrate birthdays as…lavishly in Brigid. Even if I am its princess." She mentioned, as Dorothea pouted towards her. They heard an audible gasp from Bernadetta.
"You don't celebrate birthdays?" Bernadetta repeated to Petra, mishearing what Petra replied, as Bernadetta, in a bit of surprise to both, grabbed both of their hands.
"Marianne told me about this place that celebrates birthdays! We can go there!" She shouted. She wasn't pulling at their hands, but it was clear from the sheer resolvement on her face that she truly wanted to go. Both women looked at each other; Dorothea with a slight smirk, Petra with a look of caution. Eventually, both turned towards Bernadetta, who's face looked worried at what they would answer. Returning to her almost recluse-like personality, as if she had done something reprehensible to them.
"Take us there, then, Bernadetta. I'll gladly pay. As a gift from both of us." Dorothea told her, before turning to Petra, mouthing something to her silently.
"You WILL celebrate your birthday today Petra!"
Petra, however, was quick to mouth back towards Dorothea.
"I will not allow you to waste money on me."
This silent bickering continued on for a little bit, as poor Bernadetta was left to ponder just what they were saying. She learned that today, she was not good at reading lips. Then again, she honestly wasn't really good at anything regarding people in general, even after nearly five years of attempting to do exactly that.
Her father certainly didn't help with that type of mentality.
Eventually, the two stopped, staring at one another as if they had straight up devolved into a staring contest to determine what they would do. Finally, Petra sighed, relenting to Dorothea and Bernie's suggestion.
"Fine. Let us see what this place is all about." Petra would state, slightly dejected as Dorothea silently pumped her fist, realizing that they succeeded, as Bernie would let go of their hands, pointing ahead. They followed, pushing through crowds of people as they would pass into a much more emptier alleyway. Following through the alleyway, Petra would take the lead, with Bernie in the middle guiding them, and Dorothea taking the rear. As if Bernadetta was some type of very important person and they were the bodyguards. Bernie felt just a little more confident at this, as they would arrive at yet another busy part of the market district of Deirdriu.
"I think…its left!" Bernie shouted almost enthusiastically, the three darting to the left, sticking close to the front of the buildings so they wouldn't lose each other so easily. Traveling together, they ran around people, ensuring they weren't in their way. Petra was doing it quite easily, dodging past people with a grin on her face, the wind doing much of the same as she freely flowed through the pedestrian traffic.
Bernie and Dorothea on the other hand…not so much.
"Excuse me, excuse me; oh, sorry!" Dorothea stated, weaving in and around other people as she passed by, Bernadetta now deciding to backtrack behind her as they followed each other and Petra, who was a bit ahead of them. They eventually chose to reconvene at a crossroads. Then a right. A left. A right.
Eventually, by that point, they found themselves finally somewhere near the docks, as Petra took a deep whiff of the smell of the sea. Dorothea and Bernie quickly stopped, as Bernie widened her eyes.
"I think that's the spot; she said that it was where the crazy guy in yellow and red was?" Bernadetta noted, as she pointed to a little stand. The stand planly read something that seemed faded. All that could be seen was a "scita" at the end, a couple of letters too unrecognizable to see. Nearby, among the various sweets and treats lying around, alongside what looked like handmade coffee nearby. The owner of said stand sat on a nearby bench, sleeping on the ground, as he looked..ridiculous to say the least. A red bandana was pulled tightly on his head, as he wore a yellow unbuttoned coat, a red shirt tucked into black pants. His hair was pulled up into a mohawk, as he casually slept. The three approached the man, as he slept, trying to find the right way to wake him up.
"How do we want to wake him?" Petra asked the other two innocently, as Dorothea would slightly shrug. Bernie would also look to them, concerned about potentially waking the guy up from his natural rest.
The fortunate thing was, they didn't need to do anything. As they blocked the very little sunlight peeking over them, the guy woke up from his slumber, rubbing his eyes as he looked at them tiredly.
"Am I in heaven?" He asked, briefly, before shaking his head, his eyes widening in reaction.
"Oh shit! Sorry, you guys are customers, right?" He told them nervously, jumping up to walk to the stand. "It's just that out of all days, Boss's Girl wanted me to take over the local stand. What are you guys looking for?"
Dorothea quickly then decided to become the voice of the group, as she stepped forwards towards the front of the stall. They all chose to ignore whatever the hell he meant by Boss's Girl.
"What do you sell? Our friend here told us we were recommended this place by Marianne von Edmund; we were curious, so we decided to come search and find this place." Dorothea explained, as the man's eyes widened at the mention of Marianne.
"Oh! You guys know Marianne; she hasn't been to our place up north in the past 3 months! How has she been? Does she need her bi-yearly supply of coffee or ingredients, already? We promised Margrave Edmund we'd made more for her to bring around when she was working with the Alliance!" He explained enthusiastically. "I mean, I also promised him I wouldn't try to be so hot-headed with my shit, but, here we are."
"You knew Marianne?" Dorothea asked curiously, as the man laughed.
"Her father sent her to us not too long after the Academy went to smithereens. Stayed there for a few months, helped teach her about her mental state and her confidence. Took her around the Rinascita cafe and Genasi for a while. Boss and his girl even taught her how to better herself. Good woman, she was. She visited us often afterwards, apparently even loved Boss's Girl's treats so much, Margrave Edmund required us to bi-yearly send us treats and coffee. In return, we get free reign over the town." He stated proudly, before briefly fumbling as he realized the reason why the three were there in the first place. "Oh, right! She wanted to use the people of Deirdriu to test a new coffee she made. Imported some ingredients from Brigid, and she wanted to see how she made it."
Bernie and Dorothea quickly gave brief looks to Petra, as she looked towards the man suspiciously.
"What?" He asked them, as Petra walked up to them.
"Shall I be allowed to try some?" She asked him, as he grabbed a small cup of coffee beans to roast.
"Consider it done! Just give me ten minutes!" He yelled, as he set up to make it. As he did so, Petra and crew walked to a nearby storefront, waiting patiently for it to finish.
"I can see what Marianne was talking about; this man seemed quite off for someone who's supposed to represent a bakery." Dorothea mumbled to the two, quiet enough so the coffee maker didn't overhear them. "But he seems…nice despite all of this."
Bernadetta silently agreed, nodding her head.
"Yeah, he seems very…" Bernadetta drifted off, trying to find the best word to describe the man.
"...passive-aggressive, if I am correctly using the word that Banjou had used to describe something I can't quite remember." Petra finished, being in a perspective where she could watch the man make the coffee. Cautiously, as if she was judging the man's every step. Based on his nervous demeanor, he most likely noticed this. Or he was fearful of making a bad cup of coffee, as if he would incur the wrath of the so-called "Boss's Girl", whoever that may be.
Eventually, he whistled towards them, as they all turned to him. On the stand, three small, wooden cups filled with coffee were placed for each of them.
"Your coffee, per your request, ladies." He said with a small informal bow, as the three approached the cups, each taking one. He watched with earnest eagerness as the three sipped their respective coffees. Dorothea and Bernadetta immediately winced, placing their cups down on the stand immediately.
"That's so strong! I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep for at least a few days!" She shouted, coughing. Bernadetta silently had a shivering look on her face, as she reflected on why she drank it in the first place.
Petra, on the other hand, sipped it in its entirety, giving the now empty cup back to the man, who looked in shock at it.
"So?" the man asked curiously towards Petra, as she gave a neutral glance towards her friends briefly before turning to the man.
"Your Brigidian coffee is the perfect amount of strength. You only lack sugar. It is all." Petra replied matter of factly, leaving behind at least 100 coins to him. The man bowed to her, grateful with a big smile on his face.
"Thank you for trying our coffee. Please, come back north to Renascita if you have the time, in Genesi; and tell Marianne that Akaba says hi!" The man, now named Akaba, yelled towards the group as they left the area of the stand. As they walked away, the three could overhear saying something about how his fellow friends were gonna be jealous of him for succeeding in his duty.
As they walked away and towards another, less crowded street, once they were out of earshot of the stand, Dorothea turned to Petra as she looked a lot more awake than she did earlier.
"Is your coffee always that strong in Brigid?" Dorothea asked, as Petra looked at her, a smile on her face.
"We've had stronger coffee, yes. But we only drink such on special occasions. Perhaps they had simply chosen to make some money off of it. I do not blame them, but at least they are authentic and honest about it." Petra claimed, as the three continued to walk away, enjoying their day.
"Hilda…you can't be serious."
Balthus, being dragged partially against his will by Hilda, found himself in front of the one place he really didn't really expect himself to be; a barber.
"Come on, Baltie; you need to at the very least trim down your hair; you could barely see with those locks!" Hilda yelled, as Balthus looked towards Hilda hypocritically.
"Says the woman with the giant pink pigtails on her head." He responded, causing Hilda to pout at him pointing out her hypocrisy.
"I only put it in these ponytails because it looks nice; and at least my hair's out of the way!" She rebutted, jabbing her finger into Balthus's chest for emphasis. "You don't have that much of an excuse, Balthus! Imagine that; bringing back the old Baltie look with the white coat and everything; you could impress every single lady in the Alliance solely with that."
"So, what, having the title of "King of Grappling" ain't enough for me, hm?" He asked, genuinely, as Hilda pulled on his hand to enter the barber shop.
"Self-proclaimed, Baltie. Self-proclaimed King of Grappling Big difference. Besides; who knows? You might end up actually seducing the enemy with the abs and all that. Change in outfit, change in look…" Hilda mouthed off, as Balthus grunted playfully. Entering the barber shop, they noticed said barber was already busy dealing with somebody else. His face looked very similar to that of a pug from Earth, a fancy, small light grey paperboy hat to its side, weathered by time, most likely. His clothing looked to be a weird motley of a blue buttoned coat, underneath a white shirt, yellow pants on his personnel. He was sitting in the chair himself, getting what was currently on his own head trimmed with scissors.
"Sit down and wait, Mistress Goneril. I've already got a customer on deck. Shouldn't take longer than half an hour." The barber told her, as the two sat down on a makeshift bench in the room. While they waited, and while the barber silently chopped the hair of the unknown man, he chose to make conversation.
"Goneril? As in Hilda Goneril?" The man asked curiously, as the man was forced to keep his head still. Balthus looked suspicious at the man right away, and whilst he had chosen to leave his gauntlets back at Alliance HQ, he was still yet determined to pummel this guy if he potentially had any plans to harm Hilda in the slightest.
"What's it to you, buddy?" He asked, trying to sound as inconspicuous as possible. Obviously, the man briefly raised his hand on the chair, as if to suggest he was raising his hands up in a sign of surrender.
"Actually, it's because Marianne mentioned you, that's all." The man replied innocently. "I'm sure she's told great things about us?"
"Yeah…" Hilda replied awkwardly, as Balthus gave a short awkward stare towards the man before letting him off, staring towards literally anything else. "...Marianne hasn't mentioned you guys. At all. Who are you?"
The man looked surprised at such a revelation, eventually choosing to clear his throat, as the barber casually brushed his hair off.
"Alright, you're free to go, Aoba. Remember to have you and your boys stay out of trouble here, you hear me?" The barber replied, as the man gave a small nod, as he eventually got up. As the barber silently notified Balthus with his hand of his upcoming haircut, he grunted, relenting to Hilda once more as he walked to the chair.
"Get me something sweet after, and I'll consider going all the way. Complete makeover." Balthus claimed, as he looked towards Hilda.
"I'm not that stingy, Baltie! Of course I'll get you something! I'll even throw in a little incentive and maybe keep that one guy that keeps wanting you to gamble with him for some..thing you sold to him, I don't know, he looked weird!" Hilda shouted in response, as Aoba looked towards Hilda.
"Mind if I come with? I gotta see if I can find my boys around town; they're quite aloof to say the very least when it comes to their duties. Wouldn't want the Boss or his girl to catch them doing that." Aoba warned, as Hilda nodded, the two choosing to leave. Balthus would silently roll his eyes and give a hearty laugh.
"Give me the full treatment, my good man. I've got to teach a good friend of mine how to get a girl; poor Sento needs some damn pointers if he's gonna be some type of genius with a hot date." Balthus claimed to the barber, who promptly looked uninterested in whatever the hell the brute was going to say, just deciding to prepare himself to cut down a lot of hair.
Meanwhile, outside, Hilda walked with Aoba, as he put his hands in his pockets. Hilda turned to him, confused.
"So…who are you again? And how do you know Marianne?" She asked him, as he chuckled, smiling.
"Well, I'm Aoba. Part of the Hokuto Trio of Crows. Nowadays, we're just called the Three Crows. Some people tend to confuse us for the legend of the Blue Crow, but we're quick to scuttle any rumors. Marianne's dad brings her to us to help her learn to be better. Mental health wise, when he's busy building up the Kingdom. Apparently, we also were her protection. Some people wanted her dead." Aoba explained, as Hilda's eyes opened, stopping Aoba with her hand, as she forced him to turn towards her, her own eyes boring into the man with an almost uncanny ferocity to them. As if the moment he said anything negative, she was going to kill him right there in an instant.
"What people?" She warned him darkly, her other hand clenching into a fist, ready to strike at any given notice.
"Just some of the more paranoid people. I don't know all the details, but apparently, they think she's some kind of beast or something that might ravage the land one day; you'll have to ask Boss about that; he knows more personally about that than the rest of us do." Aoba explained, scratching his head. "Personally, however, she just seems like a sweet girl. Probably the sweetest girl we've met in a very long time. Boss's Girl even calls her…what was it…"
As he tried to remember, Hilda let go of her fist, as she sighed a heavy breath of relief. Aoba snapped his fingers, a bright grin on his face as he remembered.
"Ah right; she called her a perfect blueberry cinnabon! She had no idea what it meant until we allowed her to taste it for the first time. Ever since then, she's seemed to accept that nickname. Just don't spread it around too much; I wouldn't want to ruin the charm of the name." Aoba warned her, as Hilda admittedly chuckled a little. After all, if they were actual allies and friends of Marianne, then they should, in theory, be friends of hers.
"Yeah. Lot of people think she's some kind of monster. Since they expected her at the castle, he sent her over to us. Because in truth…" He stated, pulling something from his pocket. Hilda's eyes widened at what item he actually did pull out; a Fullbottle himself. "...we're kind of in the same boat as her. Except we've learned to deal with that side of ourselves. Plus, we're retired. We keep these more as mementos now." He replied, as he briefly shook the Fullbottle. "Since the Boss is retired, of course. We don't want any part in this war; just want to live, is what he said."
Hilda decided this would be worth taking advantage of, as she looked towards the Fullbottle with earnest interest.
"So…what is that then? A trinket from the last war you guys were involved in?" Hilda asked, attempting to sound as innocent as possible. Aoba would plainly look towards the Fullbottle, as if the man was reminiscing about memories she couldn't really know.
"Somewhat." He would respond, as if he feared responding more would elicit some type of unwarranted reaction. Hilda saw it in his face; a scarred, scared look on his face. His expression showed a pang of worry, as if he himself was reminiscing the horrors of whatever he faced. It reminded her of Dorothea's similar expressions; if ever so slightly. His face quickly changed back into that of his slightly jovial self, as he chuckled. "It's been a long time since I've thought about that. But nowadays, we're just simple farmers and bakers. For the Boss and his girl and all. We've left that life mostly behind us."
Hilda, at least to her, didn't believe that for a second. But she knew better than to just directly confront the situation head-first; this was very different from the field of battle. At least, if Claude was anything to go by.
So, she solely chose to bide her time. She'd have to ask Marianne why she never mentioned them of course. But she knew that, based on what little Aoba had said, it was something much more than personal. For the time being though, Aoba looked to have seen something at a nearby shop, as he looked over.
"I know you Alliance folk though. Take care of her; I got some private business to deal with for the business. Hope you find your friend something good though; he looks like he needs it, with the way he looked. Probably had one of those mid-life crises or something like that.." Aoba responded, entering the shop much to Hilda's confusion.
"What the hell is up with that guy?" Hilda thought, shaking her head. Her mind, however, chose to instead prioritize itself to getting Balthus something to eat after the haircut. After all, she at least to do something to make up for all the times the brute managed to bust her out of a sticky situation. Which were a few. But then again, they were important moments of near-death.
So, deciding to go hunt for a sweet gift, she walked her way over to the market, smiling all along the way.
"Do you believe Dorte would like these apples, or this wheat from Fredalin?" Marianne asked Lysithea, as she placed a finger to her chin for a moment in thought.
"Get him some sweet apples; from what I know, even horses need a sweet treat once in a while." Lysithea claimed, as the two bonded over each other in the local farmer's markets near the docks to the city.
Nearby, Sento casually munched on a wooden bowl of rice and pheasant, a drizzled orange sauce catered on top. Clearly, poor Sento was hungry and decided to grab some food during the entire trip. As Marianne started putting them in the small woven basket she was carrying, Lysithea turned to notice Sento chowing down.
"Look at you; finally outside and about." She mentioned, as Sento turned his head up from his current activity, giving a warm smile towards the mage. "I mean, at least you aren't a recluse of some sort anymore. But…that's the 5th bowl of rice you ate. With something different; we had lunch not even an hour ago."
"Actually, I visit this vendor every single week or so. Pay him in advance for lugging someone a week's worth of food supply over to the barracks; then I have one of the guards bring me them in return for…" Sento began, before Lysithea chose to pick up an orange from a nearby stand, promptly plopping it into Sento's mouth, much to his chagrin.
"You didn't have to go and explain that. I just asked a simple question." She responded, as Sento looked slightly offended by Lysithea's way of shutting him up.
"You could have just said enough was enough. I can take a hint, Lysithea." He started with the slightest raising of his voice, as Lysithea stared at him like a parent to an arrogant child would. Disappointment spread around her face, as she sighed. He could swear he felt Takumi was doing the same thing to him, wherever he was hiding. Then again, it wasn't like anyone else could see him.
"Is this one of those 'side effects' of Hazard Levels you mentioned? Constant consumption of food? Because if so, that probably means that Rapheal must be the strongest out of all of us with that stomach of his." Lysithea decided to say, as Sento looked up from his meal.
"Depends. Sometimes, it's a side effect. And then other times, I'm just really hungry. Picked it up from Banjou probably, that brainless muscle he is." Sento told her matter-of-factly, as he paused to dig into his rice, strangely like a vicious animal. After a moment of doing so, he looked back up towards Lysithea. "Plus, more money means more for the nice old lady who made this stuff at her restaurant. Really nice old lady came from the Empire and opened the place not too long ago." Sento explained, as he casually finished his meal, placing the bowl in one of his many pockets. Lysithea looked baffled by the strange behavior.
"Why did you just put that bowl in your pocket?" She asked, puzzled by Sento's strangeness. The genius would simply shrug, as if he was implicitly telling her that he just did it because. This strange interaction would thankfully end, as Marianne approached them with a small smile, basket in hand full of various fruits.
"Thank you to both of you. I had quite a lovely day today." She told the two, her face suddenly beaming with happiness. Somehow, Marianne's sheer existence of a smile managed to warm up both Lysithea and Sento's moods at once, the two feeling much more happier than either thought they should've been at the moment. Marianne quickly got a little embarrassed at the sudden shift in mood, and decided to keep talking. "May we come home now? I'm excited to treat Dorte today."
Both quickly got up, smiling, as they agreed on Marianne's proposal. The three began to walk together through the market, both Lysithea and Marianne wrapping their hands around Sento's arms as they walked hand in hand. To any other person who didn't know who Sento was, it looked as if both the Ordelian and Edmund nobles had somehow managed to find comfort and solace in the same guy. That both somehow were attempting to find a commoner to date.
To Sento, he just felt rather uncomfortable given the current circumstances. He should be at home, trying to rebuild the Rider systems and trying to stop Evolto. He still had to fix Prime Rogue, still had to repair both the Volcanic Knuckle and the Genius Fullbottle. Work on a couple new things he thought up. Then, end the war quickly so he could finally achieve what he and his former self Takumi wanted. A world of love and peace.
Instead, he was busy escorting two noble women down the streets of the Alliance capital, most of whom were aloof to the current massive war going on in the continent, no thanks to the squabbling politicians no doubt too busy trying to discuss anything instead of taking action. It reminded Sento a little too much of back home. But at least there, he could freely be able to fight Evolto and travel across wherever he wanted without attracting too much suspicion. Fodlan and this new world, however, was a very different story. And whether he liked it or not, he had to think things differently nowadays. Starting with escorting his new apprentice, and the noble from the nearby Edmund territory down a busy street. By which he did as graciously as he can, despite his dirty look.
The looks he got from other commoners certainly didn't help his case. Some of jealousy. Some of confusion at the contrast between him, and either Marianne or Lysithea. Not to mention both at the same time. He would've rather been doing anything else than doing this, much as he hated to admit it.
Then, things only got worse.
"Hey; Sento!"
His blood ran cold at the sudden voice. His head throbbed as he remembered that voice. Matching the person.
The person he remembered died.
Sento laid in front of a makeshift grave. Yellow and blue flowers in hand. Seito had declared war on Touto and had already conquered Hokuto during Grease and the remaining Trio's absence. And as an ultimate cost, two of the three Hokuto Trio had died. With him, the Hazard Trigger laid dormant nearby, as if he had thrown it in some fit of rage. He remembered what his boss barely told him long after the fact. One died saving him from a shot that would've killed his boss right then and there. All out of loyalty, and all out of respect.
The other, he personally recalled how he died.
Because he killed him directly in front of the rest of them. Their boss included.
"Sento!" He could hear the man shouted, his entire body slowly turning around, as if he forced himself to confirm his suspicions. Lysithea and Marianne both looked to Sento in fear at the shift in attitude, as the unknown yelling man approached them, skipping his way to them. The man wore an entire yellow themed getup; a light burlap yellow coat, under a browinish baggy cloth shirt. Tucked into some grey linen pants, the man looked rather disheveled, to say the very least. Cloth-woven yellow shoes finished the outfit, alongside a faded yellow beanie on his head. To some, he may have been mistaken for some kind of weird jester.
But Sento knew better. He knew damn well who he was.
"Kiba…" He would reply in a scared tone, causing the young man to smile, as he would hug Sento, who continued to stay there, frozen in terror. "You're alive."
"Well, of course, silly Sento. How else do you think I would be here?" He asked, sounding much more…jovially fake than usual. As Sento continued to be frozen by the sudden revelation that the man was alive, Lysithea shaking him as if to try and get through to him, Marianne had a much different reaction, as Kiba realized her presence, his smile only growing wider as the two hugged.
"Mari; it's been so long! You know Sento? And is that perfume I smell on you?" He asked in surprise towards her, as she gave a soft laugh towards him.
"It has been a very long while, Syou. Hilda asked me to try on the perfume before we all left in the morning. And yes; I knew Sento. He was a professor at Garreg Mach before the war. Now, he's been helping us as of late with the Alliance." She responded, as Kiba looked towards the thawing Sento. The genius would notice the forced smile on the man's face, as if Kiba was cautious of him being around Marianne. Thankfully, Marianne noticed this and chose this time to specifically cool the situation down a little bit, as they released the hug. "Tell me, what are you doing here?"
"The Trio and I are just hanging out; Boss's Girlfriend wanted to go ahead on her own to pick some stuff up, so we've just been doing our own duties." He responded. As much as Sento did want to laugh at their Boss having a girlfriend, his lingering feeling of shock from seeing Kiba still alive after all this time prevented Sento from doing so.
But before anyone else could hear anything, they could hear the panicked screams of the crowds, running away from the docks.
"The hell…" Sento muttered to himself, as he and Lysithea looked at each other in a brief moment. In a dual moment of understanding, the two of them nodded, before rushing off towards the scene of whatever the hell was causing the panicked commotion.
As the four ran, they saw Hilda run with them, equally as confused as the four.
"Where's Balthus?" Sento asked out of concern.
"I may have kept him in a barber's salon for a good 3 hours." Hilda claimed sheepishly, carrying around her Silver Axe she kept. "I was getting something good for Baltie's new haircut when I heard the commotion. Didn't know you guys were outside too."
Lysithea, in a very realistic reaction, promptly freaked out.
"Wait, you what?!" She shouted about just casually leaving Balthus in a barber's shop, about to say more until they were interrupted by more screaming. And the source of all the panic and chaos.
At the docks, a dock worker was being held up by his neck, a…monster of some type doing so. Vaguely human-shaped, the body of the monster had what looked to be a horizontal, dark brown chassis in the rough shape of a Viking Ship. The arm that wasn't holding the man was seen crudely crafted into the shape of a longsword, it being warped and disfigured. On his head, horns crudely shaped its head, its face painted with the shape of a skull and crossbones. On its shoulders, tiny cannons mounted up on the figure This…wasn't a human. Or at least, it wasn't a human any longer. It threw it into the air, before firing cannon shots from its shoulders before firing it towards the dock worker causing him to…explode. The fire from the explosion evaporated any evidence of who the worker formerly was.
The four looked at the berserk being in shock, as at least two of them realized what it was.
"Is that…" Lysithea said in astonishment at the monster, Marianne also softly raising an eyebrow in a similar state of shock. Hilda just looked worried about the other two's reaction to it.
"A Smash." Sento and Kiba responded at the same time, realizing what this monster actually was. Sento was quick to take over, turning his thought process into a much more tactical one. "Lysithea, Build Driver, now. Give me two Fullbottles. Any now. Marianne, start evacuating people out of here, and then get to cover. Hilda, I need you to give Marianne some muscle in getting everyone out of here."
As Marianne and Hilda nodded, helping evacuate whoever was still watching the commotion away from the main scene of the potential fight, Kiba stared towards him for a moment. Sento stared back as he was given the Build Driver.
"Kiba, you don't have to fight. I know you and the rest of the Trio are most likely retired.. You can help the girls evacuate instead." He stated. Kiba stared at him but for only a moment, as Sento was eyeing that he was about to grab something from his pocket. Letting go of it, he quickly nodded, running off with Marianne, grabbing the injured dock worker on the way out. Slamming the Build Driver on his waist, Sento looked towards Lysithea, nodding.
"I'll try to help." She warned him, casting a Swarm spell, a variety of projections of insects coming out, temporarily stinging the Smash. The Smash swatted the projections away, buying Sento a precious few seconds. As Sento shook the Fullbottles, something…confusing happened. Math started appearing around the sides of him, spreading into the sea. He smiled as he did so, snapping the top of the two Fullbottles into place. Lysithea could only stare in confusion, as he smiled, making a little motion with his hands. So too did the monster feel confused at the presence of the equations, despite its lack of intelligence and sheer brutality it displayed earlier.
"So…" He began to state, slamming both Fullbottles into the Build Driver and cranking the side of said Driver. "Shall we begin this experiment?"
[Lion! Tank! Are You Ready?]
"Henshin!" he shouted, the two half pieces of armor coming together to complete his armor. Unlike his other armor formations however, there were no further announcements to his driver. Just a musical tune to accompany the transformation and nothing else. Lysithea was somehow not surprised by it, nor really wanted to question what the hell he just said due to the current situation at hand.
"I think you said this in the presentation, one of the only things you explained; this is a Trial Form right? Not a Best Match?" She asked, as Build nodded, charging into the frey without any more words. As he charged in, suddenly, the cannons on his shoulder activated, aiming directly towards Build. He realized what they were supposed to mean.
"...oh no." Build's reply would be simply, tanking two of the shots, before being sent upwards by an uppercut by the longsword arm of the monster, sending him flying back, sparks flying from the armor.. Lysithea approached him, trying to cast a Luna Spell at the creature. A projection of the moon was seen, hurling itself right at the Smash, as it was sent flying back to the edge of the dock,its impact creating a small crater of wood around it. Slowly trying to lumber its way up, it bought the two of them some time.
Build looked up, expecting Lysithea to be worried about his safety. Instead however, she had on what would equate to a frustrated look towards him, as she pulled the Tank bottle out of the Build hold
"Aren't you supposed to be good at doing this, Sento?" Lysithea asked, as Sento felt dazed, groggy by the landing as he attempted to get up.
"Yeah; but I also haven't used a Trial Match in forever, Lysithea. It's why I keep insisting that whoever wields the Build Driver practice with these forms. Or be highly experienced in previous combat." Sento responded, getting up for a moment. Somehow, however, he chose this time to actually ponder the look of the Smash, as it casually ripped apart the dock in its haste to get up from the spell. "Haven't seen that Smash before. I'll call it the Viking Smash for future reference. He most likely has one of the Fullbottles that we still need."
As Build concluded that, he noticed that the aptly named Viking Smash got up, a gaping weak spot formed from Lysithea's Luna spell, a charred ring in its center where the spell made impact. It proceeded its way forth, lumbering slowly towards them. Finally, Sento formed an idea, unnecessarily snapping his fingers.
"The Rabbit Fullbottle and the Light Green one. Lysithea, do you have it?" Build asked her, Lysithea throwing it to him, as he caught both in one hand. Taking off the Lion and Tank Fullbottle with his other hand, he threw them at Lysithea, who gave him a frustrated face, as she barely caught it. Both realized that the lumbering Viking Smash was almost literally upon them. Until of course, reinforcements arrived.
[Draconic Finish!]
The Viking Smash would be slammed with the full impact of Cross-Z's finisher, as it threw Cross-Z back, sending her crashing into the wallface of the stairs leading up to the docks. A crater on the wall was left from her impact as she cobbled on the ground. Dorothea and Bernadetta rushed to see the damage, the former of whom fired off a Thoron spell followed by a simple Thunder spell; both collided into the weak point Lysithea formed, sending the Smash back a bit of a distance, as it eventually fell through the dock, creating a hole as it smashed into the shallow waters below.
"Welcome to fully being a Kamen Rider, Petra." Sento stated towards her, as Cross-Z groggily got up, eventually grabbing her knee as she slowly got back up.
"I thought this was Cross-Z's most powerful attack. I did not think it wouldn't work." Cross-Z replied. She also realized something else. "I forgot the sword back home. I should have brought with me, if we were to face one of these beasts."
Build just stared at her puzzled by her sentence.
"You know you can just summon the weapon by calling its name, right?" Build said to her, as Cross-Z tilted her head in confusion. Lysithea quickly followed that tilting, her face becoming more and more frustrated.
"And you didn't mention that towards her before?!" Lysithea asked in shock, as Build sheepishly rubbed his head.
"You never asked. Just call the sword's name. Or something like that type of matter; I still don't know how exactly that functions." Sento claimed, as Petra slowly got up, shaking her head at the sheer hubris of Sento not really actually explaining much about how the Cross-Z armor actually worked. Or really answered all of their questions.
Then again, as Lysithea noticed, Sento had some type of pompous attitude toward him, as if he was smarter than anyone else at times. It didn't nearly bother her as much, but it definitely reminded her of Lorenz's attitude, especially in his younger days. Especially.
"The sword's name is the Beat Crosser!" He yelled, as he stood himself up, placing the two additional Fullbottles in the proper holster.
[Rabbit! Densya!]
Cross-Z's body language showed that she was still a little hazy on what exactly Sento was saying, nor implying. But she chose to try it anyway, standing up.
"Beat…Crosser." Cross-Z stated out loud, which, at the time, sounded like she was basically crazy. However, lines formed from the Build Driver, pipe like structures forming out of it. When they eventually took on some kind of form, of course…
[Beat Crosser!]
It announced the sudden appearance of the Beat Crosser right into Petra's hands, as Lysithea raised an eyebrow at its presence.. Even the Smash monster stopped for a moment, its lumbering getting it halfway through the pier somehow. Unfortunately, that moment of hesitation would cost it, as a flurry of arrows and magic sent it back to where it was before. And it bought just enough time for Build to insert his Fullbottles, managing to form a brand new armor on his personnel. One side was, obviously, familiar as it was the Rabbit side to his Rabbit Tank form. The other side however, was new. An image of an Earth train could be seen on where the eyes for that side of the armor were, the color palette being a whole lot of green, similar to the inside of a lime in terms of color.
"Now, to see whether I can actually summon them again." Build whispered to himself, as he raised his arm.
"Kaizoku Hassayar!" He shouted. Nothing happened. Build was visibly confused by this, staring at the hand where he would've summoned whatever the hell what he said was. The Smash quickly took the opportunity to try and get itself back up, as Build rolled his head.
"Was that supposed to do something, Sento?" Lysithea asked him, sounding just plain disappointed at this point, as he shook his hand in some vain attempt to summon whatever he was trying to summon. After a brief delay, however…
[Kaizoku Hassyar!]
In his hand, a bow and arrow formed in his hand. Albeit, this bow was vastly different. A blue, much more bulky bow formed in his hand, smaller in size. A green train was the replacement for the arrow, stuck on some type of rail that acted as its brace height, stuck onto there. A flexible metallic string attached to the rail, acting as a fortified drawstring.
In other words, it was a mechanized bow that was train themed. Not that this was known to anyone who wasn't
As Sento briefly geeked out about summoning the weapon out of thin air, Lysithea pointed at it, her face changing into a smile of all things, her mood changing drastically in that instant.
"That is magic, and you can't tell me otherwise!" She shouted as she pointed to the weapon, as Sento chose to promptly ignore his new assistant for the time being, being instead focused on the Smash currently, unintentionally smashing the docks in its attempt to get itself up from the water.
"Alright, new plan. Need to minimize the damage we have around the pier; wooden ships tend to be very flammable, and explosive, and we don't exactly want to burn down the docks!" Build shouted, looking at everyone present. It looked to have been just on time too, Marianne returned, bringing reinforcements in the form of Akaba and Aoba, alongside Kiba who returned, noticing the Riders.
"So Build and Cross-Z have truly returned!" Kiba shouted, as he and the rest of the Hokuto Trio looked from Dorothea and Bernadetta's position. Marianne quickly joined them, as the two looked towards They both turned towards the three women, who subsequently turned to the three men. Akaba and the two ex-Adrestians instantly recognized one another, with the former falling flat on his back from the mere shock of it.
"You two?! What are you doing here!" He shouted, as the other two of his people got him up. The mere sight of a man falling on his ass at the sight of two people he saw not five minutes ago managed to somehow make Bernadetta laugh, as Dorothea looked softly surprised at their presence. So too did Marianne, who smiled at their presence as well.
"You're all here." Marianne whispered followed by a soft laugh, which was loud enough for Dorothea to hear, as she turned to face them.
"We're friends with Cross-Z." Dorothea bluntly stated, as they looked at the battle going on. The three looked on in awe.
"Cross-Z's a woman now? Since when? What happened to Banjou?" Akaba asked, only to be promptly smacked in the head by Aoba.
"Oy; rude of you. I'm sure whoever became Cross-Z did so because Banjou was busy!" Aoba shouted, as his eyes stared towards Build. Wistfully. This wouldn't go unnoticed, as Marianne looked worried towards his look, before slowly looking back towards the battle. Akaba's fingers shook as he pulled out his own Fullbottle, an image of a castle on the front of it. Most of them, sans the rest of his trio and Marianne, looked in shock at the appearance of the Fullbottle. As he attempted to charge into the fray, Fullbottle in hand, Aoba and Kiba would stop him, as the other three women looked shocked at the situation at hand.
"Akaba, the hell are you doing?! Boss said not to transform!" Aoba shouted, as Kiba tried to stop him from doing so. Dorothea and Bernadettta admittedly had no idea how to stop the man from doing whatever he was about to do.
Marianne, however, had a different idea. Approaching the three directly from the front, the three would stop their bickering, as Marianne stared at them, clearly looking slightly disappointed by the trio. The disappointed look alone caused the three to stop, as she placed a single hand up.
"Don't." She responded semi-authoritatively, clearly trying not to sound super serious in regards to the trio. "If he said not to transform, you don't have to. Build and Cross-Z can handle things."
Quickly, the trio stopped, profusely stuttering as Akaba quickly placed his Fullbottle away, the hint of an apology somewhat heard within the scuffle. Both Dorothea and Bernadetta looked surprised by the change in confidence and tone for Marianne, as she sauntered over towards the duo as if she hadn't just done that, watching Build concoct his plan with Lysithea. Eventually, after a moment, the two eventually looked towards Bernadetta. They briefly looked at the Smash, as it slowly tried to get its one actual arm out of the water and back onto the dock, struggling to get itself up. Then, back at Bernadetta, who looked worried at the sudden attention being placed on her.
"Hey, Bernadetta; catch this!" Build shouted.
Build quickly tossed Bernadetta the Kaizoku Hassyar bow, as she fumbled with it. Despite its heavy and mechanized look, she found it surprisingly light to wield, wide-eyed at the device. Meanwhile, Build raised his hand to Cross-Z.
"Switch Fullbottles, Cross-Z! Rocket for one of my own!" He shouted towards the Rider, pulling both of his Fullbottles out. He threw the Densya Fullbottle towards Lysithea, as he raised his other hand with the Rabbit Fullbottle, shaking it in suggestion that he would trade for the Rocket Fullbottle. As Lysithea tossed him the last Fullbottle she had in her holster, Cross-Z would toss the Rocket Fullbottle with her hand, grabbing the then tossed Rabbit Fullbottle back. As Build shook the Fullbottles and inserted them into the Build Driver, doing what he did the previous two times, Cross-Z installed the Rabbit Fullbottle into the slot for it in the Beat Crosser sword.
[Taka! Rocket!]
[Rabbit! Special Tune!]
"So, what is our plan?" Cross-Z asked them, as she looked at Build, now in a different armor completely. In strips of orange and light blue, mechanized wings sprouted out from his armor, along with some type of propulsion device on his right arm. As the Viking Smash charged at them, Cross-Z immediately decided to buy them time, as did Lysithea. As the latter threw a Miasma spell towards the Smash, slowing it down, the former pulled the back of the mechanized sword twice.
She raised the sword, slashing it in the air, creating some type of energy projection of a rabbit as it charged right at the slowed Smash, impacting it as it slowly was thrown off by the projection.
[Million Slash!]
Impacting it ,the Smash would recoil back, as Sento nodded towards them.
"Have Bernadetta pull the bow back; the little green thing where the bowstring's at. When it announces 'Kaizoku Ressha", release the string. Once you do that, everyone fires their magic or weapons or whatever ranged thing you have at the creature." Sento stated plainly, as he cranked his Build Driver.
"Well then, what are you gonna do, Sento?" Lysithea asked, as he looked towards Lysithea.
"I'd suggest you guys get back and get ready, if you want to know." Sento hinted. Her answer would come when he placed his foot back, mechanical wings sprouting from the armor's back. The rocket on his wrist lit up, as he charged, rocket arm first at the Smash, dragging it along with him as he threw himself up high into the sky.
[Ready? Go! Vortex…Attack!]
With a solid uppercut from his rocket arm, the Smash went flying up in the air, high enough to the point where it could buy the group at least a minute's worth of time. As everyone who was able to, prepped their spells, and as Cross-Z pumped the bottom of her modernized sword again a multitude of times, Bernadetta…was clearly not ready to do this. Her hands shivered on the cold, metallic weapon, her face trembling full of fear as she grabbed the train, too hesitant to pull on it.
"Bernadetta?" Dorothea asked her worryingly, as she prepared her Thoron spell almost hesitatingly. Marianne slowly looked at the lavender haired archer, thinking quickly of some way of comforting her as she slowly breathed in and out. Dorothea looked and saw what Marianne was doing, slowly following her cue. Finally getting it, and managing to breath in and out heavily, she slowly, but surely aimed the bow up, and pulled the train acting as the bowstring back.
[Kakusei Densya (All Station Train)! Kyuukou Densya (Express Train)! Kaisoku Densya (Rapid-Fire Train)!]
As she held back on the bowstring train for longer and longer periods of time, she found that the announcement on the actual bow started rapidly rising in intensity, as if she was about to unleash some unholy power the moment she let go of the trigger. For a brief moment, she closed her eyes. She could somehow feel the Smash falling, the heartbeats/pulsations of Crests everyone around her. Her silver bangle glistened as she felt her nerves coming back, somehow feeling all of this at once. However, those would all temporarily go away. For a single moment, as she felt something grasp her hands gently, lightly pulling back the mechanical train a little further.
"Corvina?" Bernadetta thought, as she only felt the warm feeling pulsate in her Crest of Indech as reassurance that it was true.
As this somehow gave her the briefest of confidence boosts, she opened one of her eyes, keeping the other one closed. Then, as the Smash was about to pass the top of the boats docked on the shores…
[Kaizoku Densya!]
She let go of the train right then and there, a smile on her face for the briefest of moments. The "arrow" , if you would call it that, fired a projectile of a train, as it sped towards the falling Smash. This train fired out a few blue bolts of energy towards its target. As Lysithea applied a Miasma to the Smash, slowing it down from falling, the train projection Bernadetta fired out was amplified by Thunder, and Blizzard spells courtesy of Dorothea and Marianne respectively, as it created a massive colorful, yet literally magical spectacle of a blast. At the same time, Cross-Z air slashed towards the Smash with her Beat Crosser sword.
[Mega Slash!]
This time, the rabbit projection formed out of the Beat Crosser, quite literally merging with the running, magic-powered train projection as both made an impact with the Smash. The moment they impacted the Smash, a massive explosion occurred. Cross-Z and the descending Build tried to block some of the debris created from the impact from the others, as panting was heard from almost literally everyone.
"Is everyone okay?" Sento asked, managing to shield Lysithea from the brunt of the explosion, as he looked at the damage. Said damage was evident around them; a wall now sporting a crater, irreparable damage to the docks and some of the ships. A number of piers and docks with massive holes sunk into them. It was clear that Sento probably was going to need to pay for whatever sort of damage he did. Not to mention how the Alliance lords would think of this.
Cross-Z got up next, having stared at the mess they made.
"I am assuming that we will have to pay for this damage?" Cross-Z asked the group.
"I'm assuming that Claude would completely understand what we've done and gladly exclude us from having to pay for the damage, right?" Sento asked Lysithea, turning around to her. "Right?"
That second 'Right?' was clearly a lot more panicked, as Lysithea seemed to notice, genuinely looking at Sento with a neutral glance.
"Ask Claude when he gets back." Lysithea replied planly. Cheering went on from the city above the cratered wall, where Dorothea and Marianne genuinely looked happy, gesturing them up. Bernadetta actually looked, and more importantly felt relieved as she lowered the Kaizoku Hassyar, the mechanical bow feeling ever so slightly less heavy on her arms. As Build and Cross-Z could see, a Fullbottle dropped from what was left of the so-called 'Viking Smash'...alongside a hell of a lot of gold rings.
"Huh." Build responded, slightly confused as the actual body of the Viking, a female by the looks of it, slammed into one of the decks of one of the ships, making both Build and Cross-Z jump a little at the sheer impact. "I'm sure she'll be fine. I hope."
He quickly walked over, gingerly picking up the Fullbottle as he inspected it cautiously. Cross-Z and Lysithea both approached him in confusion.
"What?" Lysithea asked him. "Is there something wrong?"
"Not quite; actually, it's better than I thought. Normally one has to purify the Fullbottle of a Smash, but here?" he mustered, turning around to them, showing off the new Fullbottle off to the two of them, as he shook it a little for fun. "Here it seems as if the Fullbottle is already purified as is. Actually satisfies one of the Fullbottles we already have as a best match."
Both just looked puzzled at Sento's casual interest in the Fullbottle as he continued shaking it for some odd reason. The three turned around, making their way back up to the town proper, as Leicester soldiers marched past them in order to see the damage and capture the unknown pirate responsible for the transformation into the Smash. When they reunited, Cross-Z would planly rub her chin in thought.
"So perhaps it was but a literal translation after all. A woman with a gold band, meaning she literally had a number of gold rings on her." She mused, as Sento shrugged.
"Sometimes, that type of stuff happens. And that is why…" Build stated, his and Cross-Z's armor vanishing from them. They heard a soft gasp from nearby, and as they turned, Sento stopped directly in his tracks, frozen in place as his mouth laid agape. They could see the woman dropping her basket of food onto the ground, as she placed both of her hands on her face. She wore a light pink skirt and a linen gold and silver corset on her body, heels woven with leather and silk as if they were handmade. The most noticeable feature of hers, however, was a golden bangle, held together by a tiny silver chain, laid on one of her arms. Her hair was in a messy ponytail of some type, her soft innocent brown eyes widening at the sight of Sento.
"...Sento?" The unknown woman asked quietly in disbelief, as everyone turned between Sento and the woman. Wordlessly, everyone looked between each other, and while the Fodlan and Brigidian women looked towards Sento in bafflement at why Sento was in the state he was in, The Hokuto Trio weren't, on the other hand, more surprised by the sheer existence of Sento. No one at the time was able to speak due to the prevailing situation ahead of them. Hilda managed to finally arrive, alongside a less-haired Balthus, both of whom looked confused at the rather awkward situation they found themselves in.
"What the hell…" Balthus whispered to himself, as they looked between the various parties. He was promptly elbowed by Hilda for nearly ruining the moment.
Meanwhile, Sento himself was flabbergasted, as he looked towards the unknown woman. Only then, after a moment of silence, did both Petra and Bernadetta see the gold bangle on her wrist.
"Find the woman with the band of gold. She will lead our kinds to the beginning of salvation."
"Is that…Vernage?" Bernadetta whispered to herself, loud enough for herself and no one else to hear. Her silver bangle pulsated faintly, as if it also recognized the person standing in front of them.
Sento slowly began to mumble something, getting louder and louder, until, in abject shock…
"M.m.m.m.m…MISORA?!"
