Fie prided herself on her ability to maintain a calm demeanor even in very stressful situations. It served her well during the past few years when she and her friends were subjected to one crazy event after another. Nothing short of her adoptive father coming back from the dead and appearing before her like it was nothing would cause her to lose her cool.

So for Fie to be bouncing around like Millium on a sugar high was highly unusual indeed. Had any of her new family been present at that moment they might have suspected that Phantom Thief B had decided to mock them with a poor imitation of their dear friend. But despite knowing how unusual she was acting, Fie just couldn't bring herself to care. She was just that excited.

Today was the day that Rean Schwarzer was becoming a Bracer.

He wouldn't be arriving until mid-afternoon since he had to see the graduates off and partake in one final staff meeting to end the school year, but that didn't mean they couldn't start preparing early. Rean had hired a transport company to deliver his belongings to Heimdallr and Fie had taken the morning off in order to make sure all of his effects were successfully delivered to their soon to be shared apartment.

Now Fie would be the first person to admit that her apartment wasn't big enough for two people, but in the short term it would suffice until they found somewhere bigger to live. For one thing Bracers didn't actually stay in their home much as they often had to travel around the continent and could be gone for weeks or months at a time. It also helped that Rean had spent the past four years living in dormitories and didn't really have many belongings to bring. Some clothes, pictures, his fishing gear, and some eastern scrolls were pretty much it. He had his Orbal Bike, but that was something he would be arriving on and wasn't something that would be getting stored inside the building. He also had his tachi, but he usually kept that on hand. She absolutely refused to keep his crazy collection of newspapers and old book series, and grudgingly the master hoarder had shipped them off to Ymir instead.

Unpacking all of his stuff didn't take long, so Fie decided to head to work and see if there were any quick requests that she could do to kill time. Of course she had every intention of being there when Rean arrived and nothing short of an evil plot by Ouroboros to destroy the capital would delay her from that meeting, but there were usually plenty of missions that could be accomplished in an hour or two. The trip was the same as usual and she was unsurprised to see two familiar faces waiting for her.

"Seriously, do you two ever work?" She asked Sara and Toval with no little exasperation. Sure they weren't as overstretched as they had been in the past, but it felt like every time something was happening involving Rean they always managed to be there. 'Bunch of gossiping old geezers.'

"H-hey, I actually have a good reason to be here today." Toval stated, as if he could read her unamused thoughts. "None of the receptionists are in Heimdallr right now so Miles asked me to handle the new recruit." Somewhat mollified by that response Fie turned to her former Instructor.

"Didn't feel like working today." Sara replied nonchalantly. Fie didn't miss the open beer sitting in front of the woman despite the early hour, or the two empty bottles off to the side. If looks could kill the lazy Purple Lightning would have died many times over in that moment. Instead she merely took another swig of her drink.

"You guys all suck." Fie finally retorted after deciding that Sara wasn't worth the effort.

"Don't be like that Fie. You aren't the only one excited to have Rean join us. Speaking of, do you know what time he will be arriving?" Toval asked with his excitement clearly visible. Fie thought about it for a second.

"New Class VII should have departed by now, but Rean had one final meeting to attend. So it should probably be a couple more hours. Maybe you would have a better idea about that Instructor Sara?"

"Nah, I know they had that meeting when I was at Thors, but I always skipped out so I wouldn't have to listen to that smarmy old Vice Principal." Really she should have expected that.

"He promised to call me once he leaves the Academy, so I will let you know." Fie conceded. "For now however..." She made her way to the board and looked for a couple requests that she could quickly pull off. There wasn't much available this late in the day, but a couple lower priority missions fit the bill well enough. Recording the details in her Bracer Notebook she departed, leaving Sara to her drinking and Toval to whatever it was Toval was planning on doing.


As expected, the requests were simple and completed with little difficulty. Fie found herself relaxing on a bench in Dreichels Plaza with a delicious lemon gelato to keep her company. She could have found something more productive to do, but she didn't really feel like it, especially as she was still sore from her bout two days prior. Plus Rean could message at any mi-

Her ARCUS chimed to let her know that a message had arrive. Talk about good timing. She quickly flipped the orbment open to check the message.

'All finished here. Be there soon.'

Short and simple, but enough to cause her earlier excitement to return tenfold. She barely recalled throwing away her half-eaten dessert as she immediately left the park. Sure she had plenty of time as it would take Rean at least thirty minutes, even on bike, but impatience easily defeated the rational part of her brain and she found herself in a rush.

Not much had changed since her earlier visit. Toval appeared to be working away at some paperwork. Meanwhile Sara was still drinking the day away. Fie had no idea where she kept getting them from, but the number of empty bottles scattered across the table had doubled in the past three hours. The older Bracer didn't seem to be completely there as she appeared to be staring at the table while muttering something about 'defeating Sharon.' Fie had no idea what that was about, but whatever it was she strongly suspected that the super maid would prevail regardless.

"He's coming." Those two words created quite a stir among the eternal occupants. Toval carelessly shoved away the papers he had been working on, creating a messy pile to the side. Fie would have mocked him for the stupid grin that broke out on his face, but had a feeling that her face wasn't much better at the moment.

Sara meanwhile was a bit slower in her reaction. First she raised her head and gazed at Fie with bleary eyes. She blinked once, twice, thrice. That was all the time it took for the veteran to shake off her drunkenness. She still looked like shit, but her eyes were a lot sharper and her poise was a lot straighter. Honestly Fie wouldn't have believed someone could pull it off that easily if she hadn't already seen her mentor do it many times in the past.

The three settled in as they waited for the new recruit to arrive. The excitement was palpable, but Fie did her best to restrain herself. She was calm. She was collected...

"If you keep squirming like that you are gonna break your chair." She was lying miserably.

"Haha, it is pretty funny. I don't remember the last time I saw Fie acting like a little kid." Toval supported Sara's observation.

"I hate you guys so much." Fie tried to be intimidating, but between the pout and the embarrassed flush she failed miserably. They settled back into silence, but this time humiliation managed to calm her down just a tad. The minutes passed painfully slowly. Seemingly having run out of patience, Sara reached for the bottle she had been working on before Fie arrived. The former member of Zephyr opened her mouth to mock her mentor, but stopped as she picked up the familiar sound of an orbal bike.

Orbal bikes were still pretty uncommon in Erebonia, but there were enough out there that Fie didn't want to jump the gun. She listened as it got closer. Her seniors had picked up on it by this time and were also listening with bated breaths. The sound got louder and louder as the vehicle got closer and closer. Just as she began to fear it would pass on by the bike began to slow. Fie inhaled sharply when the sound stopped, knowing exactly what it meant.

Rean Schwarzer had arrived.


Rean exhaled as he got off his bike at a parking spot near the guild branch on Alto Street. Despite having planned this for many months he couldn't help but feel butterflies in his stomach. This was a new chapter in his life and he felt like he was entitled to a few nerves.

Class VII's graduation had come and gone. He would miss those kids, but at least this time didn't leave him with a bittersweet feeling as he was left behind. Plus the fact that orbal communications meant that they would never truly be far away. Like with the senior Class VII a promise was made among the group to meet up again after one year, with even Ash vowing to be there.

Now here he was. Ready to go from being an Instructor to a Bracer. Rean actually wasn't sure what to expect. From what Fie had told him he could expect to take some kind of simple practical exam before being given the title of Junior Bracer. After that would come a few months of going around the country helping out at each of the Branches doing mundane tasks before eventually acquiring the needed recommendations to become a Senior Bracer.

Rean paused in his thoughts as he realized he had been standing outside of the building for a good few minutes now. A few pedestrians gave him odd looks as they passed, but thankfully none of them realized that the weird dude hanging out on the side of the road was actually the Ashen Chevalier. Taking another deep breath, Rean strode forward and entered the building.

Having used this building before during his first field study to Heimdallr Rean had a good idea of the layout. He also knew that Fie would be there waiting for him. What he wasn't expecting was to find out that the only other occupants at the moment were Toval and Sara. Being in familiar company did calm him down significantly, so Rean was grateful for their presence.

"Sup Rean? What are you doing here?" Toval was the one to break the silence as he greeted the younger man.

"Oh, please. Like the two of you haven't been waiting around all day for Rean to show up." Fie shot back with obvious annoyance. Her annoyance faded as she could no longer contain her excitement and shot out of her seat to capture Rean with a hug, which he happily reciprocated.

His former instructor merely saluted him with the empty beer in her hand. Rean glanced at her with disbelief before looking back at his partner who merely shot him a look as if asking if he expected otherwise. He sighed as he mentally conceded the point. Sara with beer was less surprising than Sara without beer, after all.

"I guess we should get down to business. So I heard from a little Sylphid that you want to become a Bracer?" The way Fie stiffened at that remark let Rean know she wasn't pleased at the way he referred to her as, so he decided to reply before a conflict could start.

"Uh, yes. She would be right on that."

"Well you probably know that we usually start recruits off as Junior Bracers, but occasionally we have uniquely talented individuals join and it would be a waste to start them off as Juniors."

"W-What?" Rean wasn't expecting this at all.

"Huh?" Neither was Fie, apparently.

"Ahh... so that is what's happening." Sara on the other hand seemed to pick up on what was going on.

"It is pretty rare." Toval admitted. "You can't just be skilled. You also have to demonstrate that you possess a Bracer's mindset. It takes a recommendation from at least four high ranking Bracers before HQ would even consider skipping rank."

"I can only remember it happening twice." Sara chimed in. "Cassius Bright for his prior service as a military officer and Arios MacLaine for his work with the CPD. Maybe it's just a Divine Blade thing?"

"W-Wait, so does this mean?" Rean wasn't entirely comfortable with how this conversation was going.

"Uh huh. I said you needed four recommendations. You ended up getting twelve."

"Twelve?" Fie was just as confused as Rean. Did Rean even know twelve ranking Bracers?

"Twelve." Toval reaffirmed. "Obviously the three of us here. But it seems that word spread to Liberl about your intentions after Princess Alfin told Olivier who told Schera. From there you got support from her, Estelle, Joshua, and Agate. Plus unofficially one from the former S-Rank Bracer Cassius Bright. As for the other five, while you might not know them personally, the Bracers in Crossbell were very appreciative of the work you did over there. Seems like all of the ranking Bracers there support you."

"Oh! I actually heard about that. Seems like Arios was very keen on the idea and wants to meet you at some point." Sara had found it hard to believe that the stoic Arios MacLaine would be excited to meet anybody, but it seems like there was some truth to that rumor.

"Oh." It was all Rean could say. He was humbled that so many important people would vouch for him, even people that he had never met before. Humbled and embarrassed.

"How come I didn't get this treatment?" Fie complained.

"Well I wasn't sure how much Rean had corrupted you into acting like a proper Bracer at the time. Needed to make sure you didn't revert to your Jaeger past and just start blowing up all your problems." Sara teased her junior.

"The only problem I want to blow up right now up is you."

"I appreciate all the support, but..." Rean was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of getting special treatment, something which the other three picked up on easily.

"Look, Rean. I know you don't like being treated differently because you are the Ashen Chevalier, but this isn't that at all. You have been a Bracer in all but name these past four years, and a damn fine one to boot. Nobody here cares about your fancy title or all the stories the paper writes about you. So quit with the whole 'Humble Rean' routine and just accept the fact that you are more than qualified to be a Bracer." Surprisingly, it was the original Class VII Instructor who provided the words of wisdom needed to dispel Rean's doubts.

"Right. I guess I can't argue with that. So what next?" Rean asked once he recovered from the chastisement.

Unsurprisingly, it was paperwork. This was an unfortunate evil in most professions and his time as an Instructor prepared him well for the task. He finished in short order and Toval looked it over to ensure accuracy before clearing his throat.

"Ahem... Rean Schwarzer. Beginning this day at 1600 hours you are hereby appointed as a Senior Bracer within the Bracer Guild. From here on, you will work as a member of the Bracer Guild to support the livelihood of those around you, defend peace, and uphold justice." Toval relaxed a bit as the official speech ended. "Welcome to the team, Rean." He added with a grin.

"About damn time!" Sara cheered.

Fie didn't say anything at first, but the bone-crushing hug she subjected her lover to made her opinion painfully clear. It was quiet, but he clearly heard "Thank you." whispered from the girl. Rean couldn't help but fall back to his old habit as he started stroking the girl's hair. The pair remained like that for a minute, until a fake cough from Toval broke them from their reverie and they separated.

"I am kinda surprised you did that so well Toval." Fie stated with a tiny blush as she tried to divert attention away from her. "When Sara gave me that speech she forgot half the lines. It was painfully awkward to sit through."

"I did not!" Sara protested. "Stop making things up, Fie!" Truthfully she didn't forget any lines, but Fie knew who the two men would believe and it certainly wasn't the lazy half-drunk A-Rank Bracer.

"Well anyways," Toval interjected before the older former Jaeger decided to attack her junior, "Now you are officially a G-Rank Senior Bracer. Because you have skipped the Junior rank you will be required to work alongside another Senior Bracer for the next few months in order to learn procedure and how we operate.

"Obviously his partner should be me." Sara stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "As his former Instructor I am the most qualified to teach him everything he needs to know."

"Nah. I think I would be better suited to work with Rean." Toval countered. "His sword skills alongside my arts? We would be unstoppable."

"Please. Rean is a healthy young male. He needs a beautiful older woman to show him the ropes."

"You? The only thing you would show him is where all the bars in Erebonia are."

Rean couldn't help but sweatdrop as he listened to the back and forth between Erebonia's two most senior Bracers. Sure he knew their personalities, but he always expected the Guild setting to be a bit more formal. He turned to the final member of the group and couldn't help but sweatdrop even harder.

Fie had been growing more and more agitated with each comment that passed between the two. They already knew who was going to be Rean's partner, but had seemingly forgotten in their own excitement. Eventually she could take it no more.

"Hes. Mine." She hissed out, just loud enough for the others to hear. To emphasis the point she grabbed Rean's face and shoved her tongue down his throat. To call it a kiss would have been well off the mark, as she was more like a cartographer doing her best to map out the insides of Rean's mouth. He was far too stunned to respond. After a few seconds she pulled away and turned back towards the others.

"Mine." She stated again.

"Oh... wow." Toval wasn't sure how to respond to that display.

"I could have done that too." Sara muttered with a pout, but the tiniest hint of a blush showed that the older woman was completely caught off guard by that extreme display of affection.

"Well I think Sylphid has made her point clear on the matter. Just need Rean to officially agree to this." Not that anybody expected Rean to say otherwise.

"Huh? Oh, yes. Of course I agree." Said Chevalier finally managed to reboot his brain.

"Fiiiiine, but make sure to share him with the rest of us eventually." Sara capitulated with a whine.

"No promises." She would, actually. As annoying as she was, Sara was still Fie's mentor and someone she liked working with. Toval too. She had no doubt that at some point Rean would work alongside them, with or without her. But that being said she had been waiting for well over a year for the chance to stand side by side with Rean as Bracers. It would be a long time before she was ready to give that up, even if only temporarily.

"You know, we did get a few mission requests this afternoon that need to get done eventually. Why don't you go check them out and do your first assignment?" Toval asked the newest Bracer.

Rean glanced towards Fie. Seeing the girl merely shrug her shoulders he took that as acceptance. He approached the mission board with Fie following behind. The girl explained some of the finer points of the system. Outside of a few procedural details it was almost identical to what he was familiar with from his field studies. None of the tasks looked that difficult, but he couldn't help but want something special for his first mission. Sadly none of them looked to fit that...

No, wait. That one looked interesting. Actually, it was perfect. He couldn't help but chuckle.

Fie looked at him in confusion, but he merely responded by pointing to the note that caught his eye. Fie took a brief glance at it before she understood what caught his eye. "That one is perfect." She said with a wide grin.

'A dangerous monster has appeared in the tunnels underneath the Der Himmel hotel. Please come exterminate it before it scares the guests away.'

-Noble

"Ah right, didn't you guys have to do that during your Field Study?" Sara asked after she heard what the request entailed.

"Yeah. Hopefully it goes better this time. Looking back on it now it is almost funny how badly you and Laura screwed things up."

"Shut up, it wasn't funny at all." Fie deadpanned as she wished she could hide the embarrassment on her face. Between her own stubbornness and Laura's narrow-mindedness the two had screwed up badly and nearly gotten their classmates hurt against a fairly simple monster. It wasn't her finest hour at all. The only positive from all that was how Rean took charge and rallied them from the crushing despair that failure had caused her. He reminded her of the Boss in that moment and that was when she first truly became interested in the son of Baron Schwarzer as more than a classmate.

"Fine, fine. Not funny at all." The grin on Rean's face told a different story. Fie merely huffed in response. "Well, guess we should get to it. C'mon Fie." He started towards the exit.

"Right!" She hurried to catch up to him as the pair left the Branch House together.

After they left Sara let out a snort of amusement. Seeing the questioning look from Toval she elaborated, "It took maybe five minutes before Rean took charge and Fie fell back into her role as his shadow, just like in their field studies. He's going to be a great Bracer."

"Yup. HQ was ecstatic when they found out he was joining. They have some crazy high expectations for him."

"Wait, you mean Cassius's rank?" Sara asked with some surprise.

"They didn't say it outright, but that is probably what they are hoping for eventually. We all thought the rank would go to Arios, but we all know how that turned out." It was a bad look for the Guild when the man that everyone expected to receive S-Rank ended up collaborating with a dictator and put a lot of peoples lives in danger. Hopefully the next Divine Blade would work out better.


"I really should get a bike for myself. So much faster than the tram." Fie remarked as they got off said bike in the Garnier District. "Although riding with you is a lot funner than riding alone."

"Having this bike has made my life easier, that's for sure." Rean admitted easily enough.

This was Rean's first time back in the district since that fateful field study nearly four years prior, but he still remembered his way around and the duo reached the hotel quickly enough. Thankfully, unlike that previous time, the owner Noble was there when they arrived. He explained the details of the request, which they were already familiar with, and gave them the same key he had all those years prior. They were just about to depart for the request when...

"I'm sorry, but the two of you look familiar. Have we met before?" He finally asked.

"Actually yes. Four years ago you made this same request to a bunch of students from Thors Military Academy. We were part of that class." Rean answered.

"I see... Who did you say you were?" He probed further.

"I'm Fie. Fie Claussell. B-Rank Bracer. This guy is just some newbie on his first mission. Speaking of, we really should get going." Fie had an idea of where this was going and decided to get away before he connected the dots. The two quickly departed for the underground tunnels.

"Something about that guy seemed really familiar." He muttered to himself. "Thors Academy... Fie Claussell... wait." All the pieces clicked into place. He approached the front desk where Lequi and Ellington were working. "Do either of you know when the Ashen Chevalier became a Bracer?"

"Wait, that Bracer was Rean Schwarzer?" Lequi asked in shock. Quite loudly too, as it drew the attention of a few guests who were in the lobby.

"Oh wow. I need to tell my sister about this. She is a huge fan."

"My daughter is too. She loves her Ashen Chevalier plushies." Some of the guests nodded in agreement.

By the time Rean and Fie returned from the tunnels half of Heimdallr would know of his new affiliation. The rest of Erebonia would find out as soon as the next Chronicle was released. Most of western Zemuria would know within the week. An annoyed Rean would proceed to vent about gossipers for over an hour to an amused Fie.


"Why do I have this sinking feeling that something very bad just happened?" Rean asked as he felt an ominous sensation inside him. He quickly brushed it aside as he deftly bisected a drome that was trying to cast an art.

"Cause you are a superstitious weirdo?" Of course Fie immediately had a Fie response on hand. She also had enough bullets to decimate a group of Dirty Rats.

"Har har. If this is anything like last time the monster should be waiting in that room where your combat link broke." Except this time Rean had a retort available. He followed that comment with a Gale to take down a pair of giant bats.

"That was a low blow Rean Schwarzer." She growled as she defeated the last of the enemies.

Some might consider having a normal conversation in the middle of battle to be a sign of hubris, but both Bracers were easily capable of multitasking. Plus these were the same monsters that they handled four years prior, and the trials they faced since that day have long since proven their improved skill. The fact that they had already cleared half the passageway without a single scratch or any visible sign of exhaustion put truth to their self confidence.

"Since everything else has been identical to be before, think the monster will end up being another Giant Drome?" Rean asked as the two passed the secret passage to Mater Park.

"Probably. Those things always seem to appear in dark wet areas."

"Makes sense. Shouldn't be much of a problem though." Fie responded by humming in agreement.

The two continued deeper into the passageway, easily dispatching any monster that approached them. In no time at all they arrived at their final destination. What they saw when they got there...

"Huh, wasn't expecting that." Fie admitted. They had anticipated seeing a Giant Drome. They had not anticipated seeing five of the giant slime monsters, plus over a dozen of their smaller counterparts.

"Never seen them come together like this." Sure Rean knew that the smaller ones would often gather around the big ones, but never had he seen multiple big ones in one place like this before.

"Same. Doesn't really change anything."

"True. We should probably take this seriously though." Neither of them appeared particularly worried by the current situation, but they activated their combat links regardless.

'Overwhelm them with speed.'

'Clear out the little ones first.

'Keep an eye on the boss monsters. Impede and delay if they try to cast arts.'

Neither of them could actually tell which thoughts came from who, as years of experience together meant that they were usually on the same page in matters of combat. Still, it was always reassuring to know that their thoughts were in sync when heading into battle. Without a single word the two shot forth in unison, engaging the monsters before the simple creatures even understood that they were under attack.

Fie was the first to strike, darting through the enemy ranks at such a speed that three of the smaller ones perished before the others could respond. Rean opted for a more cautious approach as he simply slashed one creature while keeping an eye on the bigger enemies. Predictably enough two of them started channeling arts aimed at Fie. A quick Crimson Slash was enough to cease their efforts.

The fight continued along those same lines. While the enemy were numerous, they were slow and their attacks were clumsy and easily evaded. Their arts were a lot more dangerous, but unfortunately for them they were fighting two Bracers who excelled at quick disruptive attacks. Rean primarily focused on that job, but occasionally Fie would have to slow her rampage in order to stop one that Rean wasn't in position to get. Not once did a Drome successfully cast an art and in just a few quick minutes all of the smaller ones were defeated.

The big ones seemed to realize their predicament, as they slowly maneuvered to be closer together, presumably so they couldn't be picked off one at a time. Despite the damage they had taken all five were still very much in the fight. This made them dangerous, as getting close to one meant exposing themselves to attacks from multiple of them at once. They could engage at range, but the Giant Dromes were resilient and that would be a slow process.

'Lets finish them with some of our strongest attacks.'

Fie was the first to attack while Rean held back. Launching her gunblades like boomerangs would normally be considered a risk, but against foes these slow Fie was confident they couldn't exploit that opening. Snatching one of the blades out of the air she proceeded to fire some suppressing shots, before launching herself forward and slashing at a breakneck speed. Grabbing her second gunblade she set them to maximum power before launching a second far more explosive barrage. This would short out the orbal energy of her weapons temporarily, so it was her finisher for a reason.

Rean had not been waiting idly while Fie unleashed her Lethal Crusade. While he no longer had the curse to draw power upon, he had discovered that he could still draw the strength within himself to the surface. It wasn't as powerful as his previous demonic transformation and often left him drained afterwords, but that was a fair trade-off to not need to worry about losing control ever again. With his Spirit Unification complete he prepared his own attack.

Rean was ready to go once Fie's attack finished. Like Fie, he shot forward through her explosions at great speeds, slashing his foes as he passed. His speed was so great that it created afterimages. With each attack his sword glowed brighter and brighter. Once finished he stopped in the middle of the enemy formation and launched a full slash in a circle around him. He sheathed his tachi as the released energy created a whirlwind around his body that consumed all around him. This was his Termination Slash – Dusk.

A single one of those attacks would have turned the battle decisively in their favor. Using both back to back was complete overkill and left every slime vanquished. The two took a second to appreciate the fact that the two of them defeated five enemies with ease despite the fact that four years ago it took five of them to barely defeat a single one.

"Blech. Got gunk all over my clothes. And that smell." Fie finally said, mostly to erase the silence.

"I kinda miss the Fie that didn't complain about little things like that." Although the way Rean was wrinkling his nose made it clear that he didn't appreciate the scent much either.

"And I miss the Rean that respected his superiors."

"Oh. My apologies. Please forgive me oh wise and powerful B-Rank Bracer Fie Claussell."

"That's right. And don't you forget it newbie." Rean couldn't hold it in any longer and started chuckling, Fie joining in a second later. With that finished the two made their way back to the exit, their mirthful expressions a contrast to the dark and dreary place they were in. Despite that, there was a nagging thought in the back of Rean's mind about the outcome of the battle. Sure they won easily enough, but their final attacks felt kinda inefficient with them having to wait for the other to finish or risk being caught in the collateral. An old memory surfaced and he couldn't help but give voice to it.

"You know, Randy once told me that when was with the SSS they created combination attacks that they could use at the same time."

"Oh." Fie looked interested. Very interested. "We should figure something out." Now clearly wasn't the time, but the two busied their minds with imagining what a potential combo craft would look like.

Going back to the hotel they returned the key and informed the unfamiliar person on duty about the task's completion. With that finished the partners stopped by the Guild to report mission completion, all the while ignoring the passed-out drunk Sara. A quick stop for dinner later and the two arrived at what was now their shared apartment.

Fie was ecstatic about how the day had gone. Sure their first request had been a boring thing, but the fact that it was with Rean made it a hundred times better. Now they were living together. It was everything that she hadn't realized she wanted. The moment was perfect and absolutely nothing could ruin that.

"I think we need a bigger apartment." Rean observed dryly as they entered the apartment and struggled to navigate around the haphazardly placed boxes of his stuff.

Well, ok. It was close to perfect. Good enough.


Woohoo! Finally we have reached the meat of the story., When I originally started writing I planned on a brief prologue before Rean became a Bracer and the real arcs could begin, but as I kept writing and writing and writing I ended up with a far larger beginning than I had expected. Not that I am complaining, of course, as it was a total blast to write. But expect to see a shift in the story as Rean and Fie travel around Erebonia... and beyond. Hope you enjoy!