"You're still awake, Eve?" Cleri yawned, rubbing her eyes as she stepped into the palace's barracks. As expected, Moby was with her, cradled in the warmth of her arms. The sun was just about to rise, and a small gathering of officials had gathered to address the previous night's attack. The El Search party, being the main witnesses of the event, were included in the discussion. At the moment of Cleri's arrival, Raven and Elesis were in a heated argument about the details of the assassination while the captain of the guard was discussing setting up patrols for door-to-door inspections.
"Unlike humans, Nasods only require a minimum of four hours of rest per day," Eve explained, noting the bags under Cleri's eyes, "You, on the other hand, look like you had yet to sleep."
"She was tossing and turning and kept jumping awake all night," Moby reported, "I thought I'd keep her company."
Eve and Remy eyed the black drone, the mistress withholding the urge to reprimand Moby's continued insubordination. If he had only been there when Eve was chasing down the assassin, then maybe they wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place.
"It's hard after what just happened," Cleri yawned again, "I can't get the image of Thironin out of my head. That and I was scared another attack might happen while I was asleep."
"Patrols around the palace have tripled. You should be able to rest, especially during the daytime," Eve said.
"And what about you?" Cleri asked.
"I'll be assisting in the search for the phantom."
"The… phantom?"
"Contestant number 20 from the Proving Grounds exhibition," Eve explained. The image of the cloaked figure taking her raven from her still burned in her mind, "It has to be the same person. Elesis felt the same way when I explained the situation to her."
"I can help, too!" Cleri volunteered.
"Didn't you need proper rest?"
"I can't sleep during the day," Cleri said, doing her best to show how much energy she had, "I'll be fine! You can count on me!"
At that moment, Raven approached the two standing at the doorway, "Good morning, Cleri. Up bright and early, I see."
"Just eager to do what I can to help!" Cleri said excitedly.
"Good, good. Since Rose is missing in action and Elsword is… unavailable, I'm going to have you paired with Eve-"
"Where's Rose and Elsword?" Cleri asked.
Eve shrugged, "Rose still hasn't shown up since we parted after we came back from the Proving Grounds. She said something about meeting with that woman who gave her the prize money."
"And Elsword?"
"You saw the state he was in," Raven sighed, shaking his head, "He's 'guarding' Thironin's body while Vapor takes care of him."
"I see…"
"Besides. It's a good thing Rose isn't here, anyways. The murder weapon was a gun and with her missing, the guards aren't ruling her out as a possible suspect."
"But it's not her!" Cleri insisted, "She wouldn't do that! Even Eve thinks it's someone else."
"I believe you, Cleri. But that doesn't mean the rest of Sander's guards are on the same page as us. We'll just have to prove it was someone else, and we can start by capturing our culprit… which brings me to the topic at hand: you and Eve have been around the Scrap district longer than the rest of us. If Eve's hunch is right and this phantom person participated in the Nasod exhibition, then that would be a good place to start asking around for info. Can I trust you two to handle that area?"
"Yep!"
"Eve? Any objections?"
Eve looked to Cleri. The boundless energy she had was a convincing front, but she was well aware of the effects of exhaustion on a human. Still, Eve knew what it meant to be a lone Nasod in the Scrap district. At the very least, Eve would feel safer with a bit of company.
"None."
Early morning foot traffic had begun by the time Eve and Cleri had set out for the Scrap district. Raven had lent them more than enough funds for travel and food for the day, even going as far as remarking the amount to be enough for a round trip to Velder and back. Although Cleri at first waved off the offer, Raven insisted, knowing that the emissary would be running low on her personal cash as well. Thanks to the prize money they had won, the idea of scraping by looking for work was a distant memory now.
Though shops and ships began to fill the streets and the airspace above, a nervous hush had fallen over the citizens. The alarm bells had sounded during the late hours of the night in the palace, and every building within the surrounding blocks seemed to carry on in tentative whispers. From what Eve could make out from the morning gossip, as they traveled further and further away from palace guard ears, no one seemed to know what had happened last night.
"Will you be able to ride an airship?" Eve asked as they reached the transport hub.
"Yes! I'm not as helpless as I was before! I feel like I'm getting used to the ground shifting under my feet, so riding shouldn't be a problem!"
"She's growing up so fast!" Moby chirped as he followed closely behind Cleri to the ticket booth.
Cleri paid their fare and the two of them boarded the waiting ship bound for the Scrap district.
As the airship floated out of the transport hub, the two were greeted by the breathtaking view of Sander City in the early morning. Long shadows from towering moisture farms slowly spun in the distance. The man-made moat that surrounded the inner portion of the enormous dune valley Sander was built in gave off small patches of steam. From their cruising height, several more airships, including large supply freighters, came and went over the wide open airspace. Unlike the Capital district and its pristine, gilded spires at the heart of the city, the scrap district was near the outer edge and stood out like a dark blemish.
"Eve?" Cleri called, pulling Eve's attention away from the view and back towards her travel companion.
"What is it?"
The mage looked… unwell to say the least, but Cleri seemed to be keeping her stomach down as they stood along the guardrails.
"If you need to lie down, there are plenty of seats in the cabin-"
"No, I'm fine! I just need to… distract myself. As long as I don't think about being sick, I can manage."
"If you say so…"
"Which brings me to what I've been wanting to ask for a while now. Your leader… Elsword, is he going to be okay?"
The Lord Knight was a mess, Eve had to admit. During the initial panic, Elsword remained by Vapor and Thironin's side until the guards escorted the three of them to the safety of the recovery ward. Eve hadn't seen him since but assumed he must still be dutifully standing guard at the alchemist's considerate request.
"He wasn't always like that, was he? He doesn't strike me as the brooding type, at least at first glance. Even Elesis seems to have had enough of him."
"Yes. He hasn't been well for some time," Eve sighed, "I suppose it's only fair that I fill you in on Elsword's situation, seeing as you're much more involved in our affairs than I anticipated."
"I like to think of it as you all warming up to little ol' me," Cleri smiled.
"Think of it what you will then," Eve shrugged. She tapped her chin in thought as she pieced together a quick explanation. "The El Search Party used to be much larger than the three members you see now."
"Three? But there's five of you."
Eve shook her head, "Rose is not part of the party. Neither am I. I left a while ago. Raven, Elesis, and Elsword are all that remain. Back then, at the height of our time together, there were nine of us."
Cleri put a hand over her mouth, "Did… did everyone else… die?"
Eve paused, recounting the faces and the fates that befell the former members. "Rena, an elf, had a falling out after the Hamel campaign. She had retreated to the elven woods back in Lurensia, last I heard. Ara, a nomad from far north, had betrayed us. Add also betrayed us. He was presumed dead, yet you saw for yourself that my assumptions were wrong. Chung… I have yet to hear from him, and I doubt I will. All I know is he is in Hamel, hopefully doing well rebuilding his kingdom… and then finally Aisha…"
"Aisha… Thironin's daughter," Cleri was quick to piece together the puzzle to that mystery, "She's… dead, isn't she?"
Eve nodded, "Killed in action… Chung was the last to see her alive, and he claimed it was Ara that murdered her. Elsword had never been the same since."
"Oh…"
"Before we lost Aisha, you could say Elsword was much like his sister: brash, quick to help others, and even quicker to start trouble himself. Although I found his personality annoying at times… they were his most endearing traits. It was easy to see why he and Aisha became so close as time passed."
"Do you think Elsword will ever get better?"
In truth, Eve had never thought of the distant future of Elsword's mental state. She found his depression worrying, of course, but had been too preoccupied with what she needed to do to consider how she could go about helping Elsword. "I don't know…"
Cleri tilted her head, "And how about you?"
"Hm?"
"Are you going to be okay?"
Eve sighed, "If you're worried about my lack of sleep, I already told you, I only need 4 hours per day-"
"No, I mean… are you okay? You came here to find a way to fix your coding things, right? And then you found Add. Your condition is getting worse and, to be honest, I thought you were going to leave us and go back to your home. But here you are, helping us find a murderer. Is this really what you want to do… considering how much time you have left?"
Eve knew full well she had an exhaustive list of tasks she needed to complete back in Altera before she ceased to function. She knew full well with the time she had, the revival of her race was no longer in her hands. If she could at least lay the foundation for the other generations to build off of, then maybe-maybe Nasods could live on in some way or another in the future. That is… assuming she was able to lay said foundations in the first place. Cleri was right. She shouldn't be here. Her priorities rested elsewhere. And yet…
The Nasod held herself tightly, turning her golden eyes towards their distant destination, "I can still be useful to my friends… I can stick around for a while longer."
"Eve…"
It felt like Cleri wanted to say something more. From the corner of her eye, Eve could see the mage was pitying her.
She didn't like that. Eve hated being considered useless or a nuisance by others. But to be pitied and looked down on as if she was someone who needed help… her own sense of pride would not let her sink that low.
"I'll be fine," Eve said in a tone closer to a growl, "I just wish to tie up some loose ends."
"If you're looking to tie up loose ends, why not make a bucket list?"
"A what?" Eve turned to Cleri. There was a visibly excited gleam in the mage's eyes.
"A bucket list! You know, you fill it up with things you want to do in your life before you-you know-kick the bucket?"
"Why would I kick a bucket?"
"That's a metaphor for dying, Eve," Cleri said, trying to hide her giggling as it was admittedly inappropriate considering the situation.
"Oh," Eve trailed off as she processed what she was saying. In short, Eve was confused. "I already have a bucket list."
"You do? What's in it?"
A screen appeared in front of the Nasod, and she slid it over to Cleri with a wave of her finger. The window was practically a wall of text that seemed to scroll down forever.
Cleri adjusted her glasses and squinted at the tiny letters, "Is this…"
"My bucket list," Eve stated plainly, "As you can see, there is much to do."
"Trim coding for factory construction drones… Optimize timing for gardening unit frame construction line… Balance mineral acquisition and consumption… Eve, what is all this?"
"My bucket list," Eve stated again. "It is everything I need to do to ensure the prolonged survival of my kind. Though the tasks may be daunting, I feel if I can manage the first 22.9% of the list before my life support systems begin to fail, then my foundries should be able to carry on the rest of my work for the next few decades-"
"Before your life systems-Eve! This isn't a bucket list!"
"It is. It's everything I need to do to-"
"But isn't there something you want to do?"
Eve stared at Cleri, "But… My primary function is to revive my race. What I want is irrelevant to what needs to be done."
"But your life is ending! The point of the bucket list is to live a fulfilled life without any regrets!"
"The only regret I'd have is not getting more of my tasks done sooner."
"Then why are you still here?" Cleri asked, genuine frustration in her voice, "If your primary function is really all you care about, what are you still doing here? Why stick around and help us find who murdered Thironin? Why worry about Elsword's wellbeing? Why go out of your way to search for a ribbon?!"
Eve couldn't answer. She didn't know how to. Cleri was right… Why was Eve still sticking around when she could just leave? She had more pressing matters to attend to regarding her primary function, and yet here she was wasting time.
"It's because you're a good person," Cleri answered for her, "I see what you do for everyone. I see the way you try to accommodate for others and take it upon yourself to help your friends wherever you can. And although you try to hide it as something that needs to be done for your own personal gain… you can't help but worry about us. And that's what makes you such a good friend… at least to me."
Eve said nothing. But Cleri's words had such a strange affect on her. Her eyes were starting to water. Not wanting to be seen in such a state, Eve turned her head away.
"Eve?"
The Nasod knew if she said anything, her voice would be shaking. If her emotional stabilization program had been functioning, she would have easily leveled out and gave Cleri a proper objective answer about why she simply had better things to do. She would scold the mage for wasting her breath and tell her that Nasods were built to fulfill their directive and nothing more.
But her emotional stabilization program was offline. Everything Eve knew that was objectively right felt so… wrong. She was so moved by Cleri's insistence that it would be a crime to go against her suggestions. It would be wrong to do that to her friend.
By then, Cleri had just about given up, sighing sadly to herself as she turned to leave.
"I'll make a new one," Eve said, just loud enough for Cleri to stop and turn to her. Eve looked back at Cleri over her shoulder. Her golden eyes were glossed over, "I don't know exactly what I'd put in it… But I'll think about it."
"Revolver, please, Remy," Eve ordered. The drone opened a portal to the pocket dimension above Eve. The double-barreled revolver and its holster fell onto Eve's hand. She pulled the strap around her waist, the weight of the weapon resting against the small of her back.
"Is an armed Nasod considered okay on the streets?" Cleri asked, cocking a brow at her.
"A precautionary measure," Eve explained, "My weapons systems are compromised, and priming what I have available takes some time. And if anyone protests, tell them you own me and that I'm a security android."
"And that's just supposed to work?"
Eve shrugged, "Can you think of a better lie?"
Cleri sighed in defeat as the two of them stepped off the platform near the scrap district's main gateway. "We're here at the scrap district… but where do we even start? Do we just ask around?"
"I may have an idea," Eve said. She turned to her white drone, "Remy, the signal you've been decrypting… is it finished?"
"Yes, mistress," the white drone chirped, "However, the signal is far too weak at this range. We need to be much closer to its source to understand what it's broadcasting."
"Was the signal available while we were at the palace this morning?"
"No, mistress. I've only just picked it up a moment ago."
"That's what I was hoping for. We can use that to locate our target. Remy, if you please..."
"Of course, mistress," the white drone took to the skies, hovering a fair distance directly above her queen.
Eve then turned back to Cleri, "Shall we go?"
"What's going on?" Cleri asked. She was struggling with the strap of her gas mask and was really only able to pick up half the conversation between Eve and her drone. With the mask fit snug over her head, the emissary hurried to her companion's side.
"Since we arrived in Sander, Moby and Remy had sensed an encrypted Nasod signal. Remy has been trying to decrypt it for the past week. We had assumed it would have been tied to the person that could help me with my code, but… recent events had proven that invalid. Fortunately, the signal is tied to the assassin."
"Ah!" Cleri quickly understood, "And you can follow the signal then, right? That should make things super easy!"
Eve nodded, "While this is true, it also leads me to a rather unsettling discovery…"
Cleri tilted her head.
"This is the weakest I've ever sensed the signal, meaning whoever is broadcasting it has been watching us since we first arrived."
The news brought a visible shiver down Cleri's spine. She clutched her bag tightly, "Watching us? What do they want from us?"
"Their goal was to kill Thironin, of course," Eve said. Her eyes drifted to the mage's bag containing the magically sealed box, "But I feel their job isn't done yet. Remember that thief that stole your box at the Cheese Wheel?"
"Oh! Yes! That was scary!"
"The Phantom was likely the culprit, as well."
"Really? And all this time we've been followed?" Realization struck the mage like a lightning bolt, "Wait! M-Maybe I should leave the box back at the palace. Do you think we should go back?"
Eve sighed, "It'd be a waste to travel all the way back. And after last night's attack, I don't feel secure leaving it there in the first place. Keep your belongings close. The last thing we want is for them to have whatever it is that's in that box."
"Oh… Right!" Cleri held the bag tightly against her chest and kept a watchful eye of all who approached her, essentially washing away any doubt that she was carrying something of value on her. Still, it was better than losing it without knowing.
"What's in that box, anyways?" Eve asked, curiosity getting the best of her. Cleri has, after all, been holding on to the small container since the beginning of the journey, "I understand it's to gain the favor of Sander's sultan, but Sander is quite wealthy as it is. A container that small couldn't possibly contain anything that valuable…"
Cleri glanced around, stepped closer, and lowered her voice. "I'm sorry, Eve. I'm not allowed to say," Cleri apologized in a whisper. "I know what it is, but I was under strict instruction not to reveal its contents to anyone but His Greatness. The box doesn't even unlock unless it's near him."
"I see," Eve said, not taking any offense to it at all. If the mage was sworn not to tell, then Eve wasn't going to force her. Though that didn't help but make her more curious about what was inside.
They forged on deeper into the bowels of the district. The smog thickened as they traveled further. Even the morning sun's rays were choked behind a sickly grey cloud. Foot traffic was beginning to rise as morning commuters had already begun filling the streets-each one wisely wearing a ventilator system.
Eve let out a hacking cough. The air was so thick that every breath clung on to Eve's throat.
"Here," Cleri said, offering Eve her gas mask.
"But what about you?" Eve coughed. She hesitated to take the mask but her companion insisted, shoving it against her.
Cleri waved it off and pulled her robe over her mouth and nose, "This'll work just fine. It's not like you can do the same with your clothes, so it's okay."
"If you say so… but if you start feeling unwell, let me know, and I'll give it back immediately."
Cleri gave her a thumbs up, and Eve strapped on the mask. If the streets were hard to see with the smog, it was even more difficult with the dirt that clotted the lenses.
"Let's just find who we're looking for quickly," Cleri said with a muffled cough.
Eve turned her eyes skyward towards the distant floating ball within a skyway filled with airships and transport drones. "Remy! Status report!"
"It's difficult to gauge the position on my own, mistress," Remy chirped, "a second sensor would help greatly in triangulating the signal's location."
"Moby. Help her out," Eve ordered.
The black drone, who had been hovering idly behind Eve and Cleri, simply turned away without so much as an answer.
"Moby!" Eve scolded, getting a visible wince from the drone.
"Moby, listen to Eve," Cleri urged.
"I… I don't want to!" Moby chirped.
This was the second instance Moby had outright denied her orders. Eve was not in the mood to argue. "Get up there and help Remy. Now."
"That's not Remy! Remy died in Garpai! Stop treating it like it never happened!" Moby whistled in a way that even concerned Cleri.
"Is… everything okay between you two?" Cleri asked.
Remy flew in from above, setting herself between Eve and the black drone, "Do not speak to your mistress in such a way. She is your creator. She can simply undo you."
"Then why doesn't she? She already did it to you!"
Remy turned to Eve, "Moby is correct to question this. Why not simply reset him?"
"I… I can't believe you!" Moby whined before flying off past the other three girls.
"I'll subdue him for you, mistress-" Remy began to take off after the black drone before Eve stopped her, gently putting a hand to the white drone's head. "Mistress?"
"We'll make do without him for now," Eve said, her eyes locked onto the fading black dot as it vanished into the smog-filled clouds, "Continue the search, Remy. The sooner we leave, the better."
"Yes, mistress."
The search continued for most of the morning. Despite having Remy tracing the signal and making their way directly towards the source, they can't seem to get closer to their target. Moby never returned. And though Eve worried for the safety of the black drone, she couldn't waste time searching for him. The air within the scrap district was slow to warm up without direct sunlight, but with the gases trapping the heat, the late morning air eventually turned into something akin to a hot, heavy soup laden with motor oil. This only made things more difficult, as not only was it hard to breath, but the temperature was becoming more and more uncomfortable for the two of them.
They had to stop a few times for Cleri to catch her breath towards the latter half of their search. Although Cleri insisted they continue, it was on the fourth stop, when the mage had to pull herself to a side alley to vomit, that Eve decided to call it quits.
"We'll end the search for now. You're clearly unwell," Eve said, holding the mage's hair and rubbing her back as the mage dry heaved for the umteenth time. They tried to buy a second mask from a few vendors, but because of how desperate Cleri looked to need one, the merchants were quick to charge an arm and a leg, an offer that disgusted the mage enough to outright refuse.
"I'm sorry, Eve… I thought I could go on, but I can barely walk without feeling dizzy."
"Here, just take your mask," Eve said, pulling it off her head and handing it to her, "I can last until we leave."
"Thank you… but first, I need to sit down for a bit."
Cleri flopped on a pile of wooden pallets and scrapped metal parts as she weakly adjusted the straps of the filter. Eve joined her, taking a seat on what little space was available. She leaned back, neither of them saying a word as Eve quietly listened to Cleri catch her breath through the mask.
"Did we get close at least?" Cleri asked after some time.
"Closer than we've been since we started the search," Eve shrugged, "But nowhere near as close as during last night's assassination. It doesn't help that the target seems to be moving."
"Do you think they know they're being followed?"
"It's a possibility. They were able to intercept my raven so it would make sense that they'd… know if we were drawing near…" Recognizing the flaw in her plan to follow the signal, she looked up at Remy who was dutifully floating up in the air and tracking their target.
"Of course!" Eve grumbled at her own ignorance, "If I had only realized it sooner. They're probably well aware that we're on the Phantom's trail. If that's the case, then this search was fruitless from the start. Remy! Cancel the search! The Phantom most likely knows we're following them."
"So are we going to continue without Remy's help, then?"
"No. We'll return to the palace for now, and then head back to the scrap district when we're more properly equipped."
"Okay. Maybe… maybe we can ask Rose to join us too, since she knows more about these streets than all of us combined."
"Remy!" Eve called, again, noticing the Drone still hovering high above and scanning their surroundings, "Remy, to me! We're leaving!"
"Mistress!" the white drone whistled, circling once in the air before diving down to the alley. "Incoming! Multiple threats incoming!"
"Multiple threats?" Eve stood and caught Remy as she slowed to a stop in Eve's arms, "What do you mean multiple threats? Who is it-?"
"Eve!" Cleri backpedaled off the pallet, nearly falling out of Eve's end as she pointed in a panic towards the main street.
A flat, white, disc-shaped Nasod hovered into view. Another joined. And another, effectively blocking the path back to the streets.
"Ralek's drones…" Eve whispered, eyes going wide as the machines' bolas launcher spun to life, and their laser sights were fixated on Eve. Once again, Eve was like a deer in the headlights as her body froze in the face of danger.
"Look out!" Cleri screamed, grabbing Eve by the hip and causing her to fall back just as a volley of metal-wire bolas whirled over her head.
The girls tucked behind the pile of junk they had been sitting on, shards of wood shattering around them like shrapnel as the drones continued firing.
"Cleri?!" Eve yelled over the sound of metal crashing against wood.
"I'm okay! You-? Ah!" the mage yelped as their cover continued to shrink against the continued fire of the drones.
Eve's heart was racing. She could feel panic setting in. They needed to get out. They needed to run. But how? She couldn't think!
"I'll take care of them!" Remy whistled.
The white drone quickly swung into action, flying up and over the line of fire and slamming downward on the topmost drone. The impact punched straight through the fragile top armor of the drone, destroying its rotors and causing it to crash into the other two. The attack was enough to stop the assault as the drones set their sights on Remy.
"You're clear!" Remy chirped, looping high and above the drone's arc of fire.
Eve peeked over the wreckage. But the ceasefire was only temporary as one of Ralek's machines returned focus on them.
Cleri rose from cover, grimoire open as she finished reciting the last of a spell. She pointed her hand outward as electricity began to course from her fingertips. "C-Chain lighting!"
Forgetting to brace herself, the blast of electricity nearly knocked Cleri off her feet. Lightning shot out of her hand, arcing in a concentrated stream that hit both of the surviving drones with enough amps to completely fry their circuits.
"I… I did it!" Cleri cheered, adjusting the mask to get a better look at her handiwork.
"More are coming!" Remy screeched from outside the alley as she tried to fly in to reunite with the other two. "More are coming!"
Cleri didn't need to understand what Remy was saying as a dozen more appeared at the alley's entrance and high above them, effectively walling Eve's drone behind them.
Not waiting to be pinned down again, Eve grabbed Cleri by her collar and pulled her into the narrow alley streets.
The two sprinted for the next turn, barely managing to avoid the bolas as they whirled past them. Fortunately, the pipes from the surrounding buildings began to clutter the alley, growing more and more dense the deeper they traveled. The alleyway began to split to different paths and Eve strategically chose to follow the path with the most overhead shelter in hopes of losing their pursuers.
Yet despite the maze of metal pipes that stood in the way, the drones expertly weaved over and around the tangle of steel.
"We need to split up!" Eve said, trying to keep her bearings as they tore down the straight path and turned into another.
"What? I'm not going to leave you!" Cleri protested, struggling to keep up.
"I'm not asking you to! Ralek's machines are only after me! If we separate, then maybe you can come from behind and hit them with another lightning attack. Can I trust you to do that?"
"I… You want me to-"
"Can I trust you to do that?!" Eve asked, again, more forcefully this time.
"Yes! I can try-"
Satisfied, Eve suddenly shoved Cleri down a different alley and continued further down her original path.
Alone and without her drones to assist her, the Nasod unbuttoned the holster to the revolver strapped to her waist. She focused her El into her palm, charging the chamber. The handcannon gave a faint bluish glow as its chamber filled with energy.
Eve stopped at a corner and assumed the proper firing stance Rose had taught her. Far in the distance, Eve could see the shadows of the approaching drones weaving through the dozens of pipes that lined the alleyway.
She took a deep breath, both to calm her nerves and steady her aim. She squeezed the trigger, firing a double shot down an open lane. The energy shot didn't connect but instead ricocheted off the wall a few times before dissipating into nothing.
Red lasers flashed only briefly, and Eve slid into the cover of the alley just as the bolas clanged and clattered loudly against the large pipes past her.
She didn't wait for them to catch up and continued onward, hoping to find herself out on the main street soon.
Squeezing past the two large pipes that the drones couldn't possibly fit through, Eve eventually found herself in a clearing. The pipes that had surrounded her suddenly fanned outward along the walls into what appeared to be a major steam hub. The machine was a massive heating unit jutting out of the ground. A tall concrete chimney belched a thick cloud of polluted steam into the air and seemed to be maintained under the thick steel flooring below her. With nothing but the smog filled sky above her and iron and brick walls all around, Eve quickly realized that she had, unfortunately, reached a dead end.
Eve spun around, holding the revolver as steady as she could as she focused on any sign of movement past the thick pipes at the entrance.
With nowhere to take cover, she had to make these shots count. Movement caught her eye in the shadows. Red lasers peered in between the metal columns and Eve fired again and again, emptying the entire chamber into the shadows through the narrow slit between the pipes.
As some of the missed rounds ricocheted in the narrow alley, she could see the silhouette of multiple drones waiting on the other side.
The revolver clicked empty, and she struggled to focus more of her life energy into the weapon's chambers.
Sparks from several lasers sprayed out of the pipes as Ralek's machines began cutting their way through the metal. Steam began to billow outward, shrouding the area in a thick, pungent cloud.
Finally reloaded, Eve fired. The blue flashes of the revolver were reflecting off the sickly grey smoke. Whether the shots found their mark or not, she didn't know. All she could see through the steam was the bright orange glow of sparks that continued to slowly draw a large circle into the pipes.
Her revolver clicked empty once more, and Eve spent the next grueling few seconds focusing more of her life energy into the weapon.
The cutting ceased, followed by a loud clang of metal hitting the floor. They were getting through! With only a half-filled chamber, Eve pointed the weapon at the target, waiting for any sign of movement.
Suddenly, her hair began to stand on end. The air around her began to flicker with energy. A white flash followed as the silhouettes of dozens of drones could be seen bursting into flames in the narrow corridor.
"Chain lighting!" Cleri's voice could be heard within the alleyway, the force of her spell blowing a tunnel in the steam, giving Eve a clear view of the flashes of yellow and white as the clustered drones exploded in the wake of Cleri's spell.
"Cleri!" Eve cried, more than relieved to see the mage as the cluster of drones fell burning and inert between them. Remy could be seen floating behind her.
"Eve! Are you okay? Hold on…" The mage flipped through her grimoire. She whispered an incantation that rapidly drew in the nearby steam into a concentrated cloud over the destroyed husks. With a wave of her hand, the cloud formed into a slab of water that fell onto the burning wreckage, dousing the fire and briefly flooding the area around them.
"Mistress!" Remy chirped, "Are you hurt? Do you need emergency repairs?"
"I'm fine, both of you," Eve sighed in relief as she lowered her weapon. Cleri stumbled over the wreckage and hurried to Eve and Remy's side. Eve quickly gave Cleri the once-over. She was out of breath but looked no worse for wear. "Your timing was impeccable," Eve said, "Thank you."
With steam still billowing from the damaged pipes, the three of them quickly found themselves shrouded in steam once more.
"I haven't had to cast that many spells since I graduated from the academy back in Velder," Cleri gasped through her mask, "I need a mana potion, I think…"
"We'll see about buying one on the way back," Eve said, holstering the revolver and flicking her hair over her shoulder, "Come. If Ralek has sent his machines, then we should hurry and leave this place. We'll continue the search next time."
"Agreed… Oh… I hate the scrap district so much," Cleri sighed, relieved to hear that they were going back to the safety of the palace.
"Oh! Mistress! Wait!" Remy chirped, following after her, "Regarding the search! The signal! It's getting stronger!"
Eve stopped, turning to her white drone. "Stronger? Here? But there's no one-"
Suddenly, a large hand emerged from the thick fog, grabbing Eve by her hair and pulling her back.
"Eve!" Cleri cried, pulling out her grimoire.
"I'd watch what you're casting, little girl, unless you want to fry your friend here as well!" the assailant said.
The person pulling her hair immediately went for the throat, wrapping their fingers tightly enough to begin digging into Eve's flesh. Eve clutched at the large, muscular arm. She could feel herself being lifted off the ground.
The steam cleared around the man's face, revealing the soft orange glow of a cybernetic exo-skeleton that he used to control his machines.
The gorilla-of-a-man stared up at her, his eyes focused solely on the blue gem embedded in her skull like a beast savoring the moment before the kill.
"Hello, beautiful," Ralek sneered, "What brings you to my part of the woods?"
"Ralek," Eve coughed, "You're… the signal?" It couldn't be. He wasn't the one when they first ran into him… was he?
"Signal? The hells you talking bout?"
Remy was the first to act, flying in to attack but was smashed against the metal flooring by a large metal claw that emerged through the steam in a wide downward strike. The steam cleared briefly as the shadow of a large mecha-scorpion could be seen hanging just behind him.
"R-Remy-" Eve choked.
Heat emanated around Cleri as magical flames manifested in her palm.
Before she could complete her spell, however, the mecha-scorpion rammed into the mage, knocking her aside and out of sight in the thick fog.
"Mages," Ralek grunted. "Think they're hot shit until you take away their limbs. Break her arms. But don't kill her. They don't allow murderers to participate in the Proving Grounds, after all."
The scorpion groaned and leapt into the fog. Cleri's scream followed.
"You know," Ralek said, turning his attention back to Eve, "I find it strange how whenever my machines breakdown, I always seem to find you nearby. Those drones cost money, you know. Money that you and your blonde friend stole from me!"
Eve coughed, her free hand reaching for the revolver behind her, but Ralek stopped her, grabbing her by the wrist.
Ralek snorted as he watched her struggle. "Look at you. So weak. So helpless. At least put up a fight. It'd make my defeat in the colosseum hurt a little less. Do you have any idea how far that sets me back when you stole that win from me? Hell, after what you did to my drones, I can't afford to build anymore… Luckily for me, I have a stockpile."
Dozens of tracking lasers appeared all around her as more of his machines slowly hovered into view through the fog.
"And you know what's even better? I won't be needing that money anymore. Now that I have you and that little pocket dimension of yours quite literally at my fingertips!"
Eve could feel him squeezing her neck tighter. She gasped for air. Any tighter, and he could easily rip her throat out.
"But before I take that pretty little gem off your head, answer me this… what in the hells compelled you to waltz your way back into my territory? You were home free the moment you left my stomping grounds… and yet you came back over and over again. Are you really that stupid?"
He loosened his grip, enough for Eve to cough out a single word, "Signal…"
"This again," Ralek sighed, "What are you even talking about?"
Suddenly, a loud crash caught both of their attention as a damaged drone fell from the sky, rolling to a stop at Ralek's feet. A single deep claw mark was carved onto the drone's hull.
"Who's there?!" Ralek cried out into the fog.
A gunshot echoed from the other side as another drone whirled out of control and crashed against the chimney. The small yellow flash brought their attention to the silhouette of Ralek's mecha-scorpion locked in a grappling hold with a single, large cloaked figure.
"Phan… tom…?" Eve wheezed as the shadows faded back in the fog.
"Who-?!" Ralek spun around as a smaller, almost child-sized, shadow zipped past him, dispatching another drone before it had a chance to draw a bead on them.
"Do something!" Ralek ordered, immediately mobilizing his remaining drone fleet. Beams of red lasers swept the surrounding area. The drones fired as soon as the beams hit a solid object through the fog. Yet despite their instantaneous reaction, the bolas hit nothing but air. Stray shots tore into the steam hub, hitting a vital power line that immediately caused the hub to power down.
More and more of his drones were destroyed around him. The assailant made quick work of Ralek's machines, shooting and shredding its way through the entire fleet like nothing.
As the fighting continued, the steam began to fade. Before long, it became inherently clear that Ralek's entire drone army was being reduced to scrap before his very eyes. With the last of his falling, Ralek quickly changed strategy. He took Eve and used her as a shield as he slowly began backing towards the exit.
"Is this that blonde friend of yours? Where is she? Tell me, or I'll break your neck here and now," Ralek whispered to Eve.
She didn't know what was going on. All she knew was there was someone standing in front of them through the fading fog, and they had a gun pointed right at them.
"If you want your little Nasod friend alive, I suggest-" Before he could finish his sentence, the figure fired a shot that grazed past Ralek's head. He flinched, catching him off guard just long enough for the figure to rush forward, grabbing Ralek by his head and driving it backwards into the metal ground.
Eve restled free from his grasp, gasping for air as she saw the cloaked figure roll to their feet and began circling Ralek with the revolver pointed at the man.
"Mistress," Remy whistled weakly from the crater she was wedged in, "It's… the signal that's-"
"I know," Eve whispered. She was still on her knees, clutching at her throat and gasping for air, "It's the Phantom."
Unlike the others, this one was undoubtedly the Phantom. The very same that participated in the Proving Grounds exhibition. They had the same build, the same height, and the same exact weapon that Eve was using. If only she could see their face that was hidden under the gas mask and hood.
"No!" Remy chirped, "The signal… it's… It's one of ours!"
"What…?" she coughed.
Remy chirped, "Mistress. Here! The data. Relaying signal now!"
"You, again…" Ralek groaned, rolling to his knees and rubbing the back of his head, "Why is it, whenever I'm just about to take that machine's data stores, you're always around to stop me?"
The Phantom remained silent and continued to circle around Ralek.
"No answer? Fine," Ralek snorted, "But after trying and failing three times, I think I get it. You win. She ain't worth all this effort."
The Phantom stopped in front of Ralek as the muscular man bowed his head in a deep apology. Satisfied with the display, the Phantom spun the revolver in their hand and holstered it.
Unfortunately, this was the reaction Ralek was hoping for.
He lunged at the Phantom, catching them by surprise and pinning them down on the ground. The revolver slid out of their holster, clattering some distance away in the fading fog. Ralek held the Phantom down, landing a hard punch across their masked face that shattered a lens.
He wound up for another strike, but the Phantom caught his fist. Though Ralek was much larger than them, he was surprised by the superhuman strength that threatened to twist his hand right out of his arm.
Ralek howled in pain as his hand twisted away unnaturally and rolled off of the Phantom, resetting their positions as both of them hobbled to their feet.
The smaller cloaked figure moved in to assist, but the Phantom raised a hand, stopping them as the Phantom entered a fighting stance.
Ralek shook the twisted wrist, steeling himself for a fist fight as he came in with a straight punch that the Phantom nimbly angled away from. Ralek followed with a hook which his target ducked and immediately countered with a hard uppercut that sent the larger man stumbling back.
The Phantom capitalized on his loss of balance, landing a hook on his side then a hard straight punch to his gut, causing the man to fall forward right into the Phantom's knee.
Ralek lost consciousness before he even hit the ground. With the main threat taken care of, the Phantom breathed a sigh of relief before turning to Eve.
Realizing she was in their sights, now, Eve tried to stumble away.
"There's no need to be afraid" the Phantom reassured her, their voice muffled under the mask. They approached her slowly. In a show of non-aggression, the Phantom held out their hands, showing they were unarmed. "I'm not here to hurt you. In fact… I'm here to return something that belongs to you."
The figure slowly reached under their cloak. Eve jumped to her feet, expecting to have a gun pulled on her but was shocked to see a torn, white ribbon in the Phantom's hands.
"You…" Eve stammered, taking a wary step back, "Who are you?"
To say Eve was confused was an understatement. Why did this person have her ribbon? Why were they returning it to her? What did they want from her?
As if to answer her questions, Remy's relayed signal was finally processed, and she was hit not with a message or a series of numbers or coordinates like she expected. Instead, her senses were flooded… with colors.
It was a swirl of uncertain greens, bubbling yellows, and anxious blues dashed with a hint of hot pink.
Now, even more confused than before, she strained to keep focus in an attempt to process this tide of information. What did this all mean?
The Phantom took another step towards her as Eve was caught in her own head. By the time she realized it, they were already within arms reach of each other.
"All I want… is a trade," the Phantom whispered, carefully placing the ribbon in her hands.
"A… trade?" It was the only thing she could manage to say. Everything was coming to her so fast. The voice… it sounded so familiar. Black and white armor could be seen under the cloak. They stood eye to eye with Eve and, through the single broken lens on the gas mask, she could just barely make out cyan-colored puppy-paw eyes looking right back at her.
Then, without warning, the Phantom pulled the revolver from Eve's holster. He spun around, and fired into the fading steam directly behind him.
As the last of the fog dissipated, Ralek's shadow could be seen falling over, clutching at his knee, a deep guttural wail of pain escaping his lips.
"Ah, shut UP already!" a smaller cloaked figure approached the man, winding up a hard kick to Ralek's jaw, silencing him, and severing the neural link to his exo-skeleton. The scorpion mechanic fell unconscious, and the orange glow of his suit faded.
The sound of a mecha-scorpion powering down could be heard, followed by the heavy clang of metal as the metal insect fell lifeless at the larger cloaked figure's feet.
"Finally!" the large one sighed in relief, shaking out his arms and rolling his shoulders, "I was starting to think you forgot about me."
"Honestly? Yeah. I did," the smaller one said, their voice recognizably female, "You're lucky I broke this guy's robot controller doo-hickey. Otherwise, we woulda left ya like that."
"Bitch," the larger one chuckled, shaking his head. He turned to the mage cowering right behind him. "Don't worry, ma'am, the big scary scorpion's dead now. You alright?" He offered her a hand up, and Cleri tentatively took it.
"Hamelians," the smaller one snorted and addressed the Phantom, "We done here? Or are we chasing another black drone halfway across the district?"
A black drone? Eve turned her attention towards the roof, spotting a fourth, taller cloaked figure accompanied by none other than Moby.
"In a moment, Lu. I just need to speak with this one," the Phantom said, turning fully to face Eve.
"Really? We're supposed to be laying low, and you choose now to pick up a girl-wait…" the one named Lu eyed the Nasod up and down. Eve could just barely pick up wavy punk locks and shining blue eyes under the mask and hood. "No way… Is this her?"
The torrent of colors in Eve's head shifted, overtaken by a softer, fluffier, shade of pink.
"It is," the Phantom nodded, pulling back his hood and removing his gas mask.
Eve knew who this person was. It was obvious from the moment she felt the rush of his emotions from their re-established neural link. But she couldn't accept it. If the Phantom really was him… then that would only bring thousands of more questions to the table.
"Eve," Chung said as he stood before her, "It's me."
She recognized his brown-tipped blond hair, his strong yet gentle cyan blue eyes. She recognized his voice, his scent, and the pattern of emotions he sent her when he looked deeply into her golden eyes.
Yet despite this, she could not erase the lingering feeling of abandonment. The loneliness she felt for the entire year of not hearing a single word from him, the suffering he caused for his former friends, and the image of Aisha's father lying dead in Vapor's arms all came to a head. It culminated into an emotion Eve could only express through a single, hard slap across the young king's face.
"How could you…?" Eve whispered. She gripped the ribbon and threw it onto the ground.
"Cleri!" Eve shouted, startling the mage who was just in the process of pulling Remy out of the hole she was stuck in.
"Y-Yes, Eve?"
"Let's go," the Nasod's voice shook as she spoke. She pushed past Chung without even waiting for the others.
"Hey, are we just gonna let her leave?" Lu asked as Eve stormed back into the alleyway, "They're witnesses, you know. Hey, Chung?"
Eve didn't hear Chung's response, but frankly she didn't care. She didn't want anything to do with him. Not anymore. In her mind, she felt his emotions manifest in colors once more. Hot blues and prickly yellows. This was the feeling of rejection.
The trip back was silent. Neither Cleri nor Remy said a word as Eve strode ahead at a pace that threatened to leave them behind if they couldn't keep up.
In short, Eve was furious. The Queen didn't even acknowledge Moby when the black drone rejoined them. It's not like she was in the mood anyways. Not only had he left his mistress to fend for herself, but his actions also put Cleri and Remy in more danger than they should have been. And that wasn't even the worst part.
"Eve…?" Cleri finally called as the airship was reaching the end of its flight back to the capital district. The Nasod's eyes flicked towards Cleri for only a moment before turning back towards the approaching airship platform. "What are we going to do? Are we going to tell the others about Ch-I mean-the Phantom?"
"Our job was to find out what we can about him," Eve said, "You've seen him. You know he's not working alone. I trust you can report all that to the others."
"You want me to tell them everything? Even who the Phantom is?"
"Whatever you deem necessary," Eve shrugged.
"But what about you? After all isn't he your… I thought that maybe you'd prefer if I left out a few de-"
Eve let out a long, drawn out sigh as the airship slowed to a stop and lowered its boarding gate. "What I want is irrelevant to what needs to be done. Which is why I'm going back to Altera."
Cleri stopped as they both disembarked the ship. "You're leaving us? Now?"
Eve glanced over her shoulder, and gave the mage a small nod. "We discovered what we could about the Phantom. I'm sure the rest of the El Search Party can handle it from there. As for me? I have work to do."
"Oh…"
Eve left Cleri at the platform. Looking at her left over funds Raven had left them, Eve knew it was more than enough to get her home. He hoped they didn't mind if she used it for that purpose.
"Eve!" she heard Cleri call after her. The Nasod picked up her pace, not wanting to deal with anything related to Sander anymore. "Eve! Wait!" Cleri said, catching up with the Nasod and grabbing her by the arm in a clear panic.
"What?" Eve glowered.
"The box!" Cleri cried, holding out her bag and showing it to Eve, "It's gone! I… I think it was stolen!"
A/N: Big thanks to Akina and Aevari for the edits. Happy holidays everyone! See you all next year!