Bit of a filler chapter before next chapter begins a long arc. As always, I hope you enjoy.


Rean let out a sigh of contentment as he relaxed in bed, calmly stroking the hair of the girl pressed into him. It was calming. It was relaxing.

"So are we ever gonna get out of bed?" It was also well after noon.

"Do we have to? Cuddling in bed all day sounds great." Fie replied with a yawn.

"I... don't disagree, but shouldn't we do something a little different? We don't really get many free days like this." This was actually their first free day together since the return from Bareahard a little over two weeks prior. Their schedule had been packed with requests all over Erebonia, but luckily nothing as significant as the fight against Ouroboros.

"I guess so." Fie conceded grudgingly. Rean tried not to make his staring too blatant as the girl stretched on the bed. Neither of them were wearing anything, after all. "Oh? Is that what you would rather do? Rean you naughty boy." Of course she noticed. She always notices.

He merely rolled his eyes while he willed his blush away. "Again, not the worst idea, but not for today." Reluctantly the two got up and prepared for the day.

"So what should we do?" Rean asked once they were ready.

"You're the one who didn't want to cuddle all day, so you figure that out." Rean shot the lazy cat an exasperated look. Fie responded with a smug grin.

"Fine. Let's see... Well we have been traveling a lot lately, so why don't we just hang out in the city today? Maybe something will catch our eye."

"Really? You think we are going to walk out that door and something will 'catch our eye'? I have been living here for over a year and can say without any doubt that you are naive. Fine, but don't come crying to me when we end up bored and you realize what a mistake it was to get out of bed." With that she opened the door and stomped out of the apartment, an amused Rean in tow.

They had just reached the street when they overhead a couple pedestrians talking.

"Did you hear? Elliot Craig is performing at Mater Park today!"

Fie didn't need to look to know that her lover had a look of smug superiority plastered on his face. "Not. A. Single. Word. From. You."

They decided to take the tram to the park instead of the bike. All the while Fie fumed as she tried to think of a way to wipe the smirk off the Schwarzer's face. Her eyes widened as she realized she had the perfect ammo. Rean grew concerned when a malicious grin settled on her face.

"You know, Emma messaged me last night. She is really mad at me right now."

"What? Emma is mad at you?" Rean found that hard to believe. Emma never got mad at anybody.

"Uh-huh. Apparently Dorothee is discontinuing her flagship series and Emma blames me."

"What? Dorothee?" Rean was really confused at this point. What did the author have to do with anything?

"Yup. It was a story about a young black-haired swordsman and his older laid-back classmate. They started off as friends, but became rivals fighting for control of the land. Eventually the swordsman wins and the two became lovers. A truly romantic story that has captured the hearts of many girls across Erebonia."

"W-wait, are you serious?" He knew what Dorothee liked to write about, but he was stunned to find out that she had been writing about him and Crow.

"Yeah. Sounds like she lost inspiration for the story. Not sure why Emma is blaming me, though." The look on Fie's face told Rean that she knew exactly why Emma was blaming her.

"I uh, I didn't know you read things like that?"

"It was recommended to me. I didn't like it much at first, but I thought the swordsman was cute. The sex scenes were pretty good. Sounds like she is starting a new series though. Supposedly it is about the son of a Duke and the son of a Governor being frenemies and having lots of angry sex. Should be fun."

"...If you say so." Rean decided to drop the topic like it was a live grenade. Thankfully it seemed like it was a problem for Jusis and Machias now He wondered if he should warn them, but decided that discretion was the better part of valor.

They arrived at the park to see that a fairly sizable crowd had gathered for the impromptu concert. He spotted his younger classmate in the middle of the crowd, performing music alongside those friends of his from the music school. As they joined the growing throng they noticed a couple familiar faces in the crowd.

"Machias? Altina?" Rean called to his friend and former student.

"Speak of the devil." Fie muttered as they approached the bespectacled inspector.

"Instruc- Rean, Fie? What are you doing here?"

"I would imagine the same thing that brought us here." Machias responded, rational as always.

"Yeah. We had the day off and it was either this or Fie's idea of spending all day in bed." To his credit the Ashen Chevalier was expecting the kick to the shin. Didn't stop it from hurting though.

"Jerk." She muttered with no real heat. Turning to her friends she continued as if she didn't just physically assault the hero of Erebonia. "Not surprised to see you here Machias, but I wasn't expecting to see you, Altina. Is this part of your trip?"

"Yes. After graduation I went to Ordis at Musse's recommendation. I spent a week there and another exploring the rest of Lamarre province. It truly is a beautiful place." She had been there many times prior, but it was remarkable how different she saw things after spending two years with Class VII. Especially now that the signs of war were starting to fade from the Empire.

Fie pouted as Rean gave the younger girl head pats. She wasn't that bothered much, as she knew that he loved the Black Rabbit dearly, but it was a different love from the kind he gave to her.

"You should visit Bareahard soon. Millium would love to see you. And maybe you could help her get better with her new combat shell." Rean suggested it because he thought that Altina would want to support her sister, but the message was taken another way.

"Millium is struggling with her new Airgetlam? Indeed I shall visit her. She will finally understand the superiority of Claiomh Solais." Although her words were flat, there was no mistaking the competitive fire that raged in the girl's eyes. Rean sweatdropped as he realized that he might have made life more difficult for Millium.

"Speaking of, the last time I talked to Albarea he mentioned a situation with Ouroboros? He didn't say much, but I was told that you guys were involved." Machias questioned. Altina looked at the pair with curiosity and the slightest hint of concern.

"Yeah. I'll tell you about it after." Fie replied. This caused the other members to notice that they had been completely ignoring their friend's music. Sheepishly they stopped the conversation and let the relaxing music wash over them.

While Fie would readily admit that it wasn't her favorite genre of music, there was something to be said about the calming nature of an orchestra. Closing her eyes, she rested her head on Rean's shoulder, with him in turn wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her balanced. Sure it wasn't cuddling in bed, but this wasn't half bad either.

They listened to the concert for the next hour or so, occasionally making small talk, but never letting it completely distract them from the performance. The atmosphere was festive and upbeat. It was nice to see Elliot living his dreams, as his music was a salve to uplift the people of Heimdallr from the dark times they had experienced.

"You've been a wonderful audience, thank you." Elliot bowed with gratitude as it finally came to an end. The audience started to disperse and it wasn't long before the musician of Class VII ran up to greet his friends.

"Rean! Everyone!" Elliot greeted with his cherubic smile. "You should have told me you guys were coming, I almost dropped my violin when I saw you."

"We didn't know we were until just a little while ago. Actually a funny story cause as we were leaving our apartment Fie said – ooph!" Rean was unable to finish his sentence as a tiny fist was buried in his stomach, knocking the air out of him.

"Fie said nothing at all, isn't that right Rean?" She had a sickly sweet smile on her face as if she hadn't just assaulted him for the second time that day.

"Yes dear. Whatever you say dear." Rean couldn't quite hide the smile from his face as he played the part of the whipped husband perfectly, much to the amusement of their friends.

"Glad to see that Fie is keeping your obscene behavior in check." Altina stated with a decisive nod.

"Aaaaanyways." Machias interjected as he was acutely aware of the attention their small group had gathered. Whether it was from the celebrities in the group or the improper behavior he was unsure, but better to get the conversation back on topic to be safe. "Now that Elliot's concert is over, which was splendid by the way, you two promised to tell what happened with Ouroboros."

"Right." While it was technically confidential information, it was an open secret that there were no secrets among Class VII and none of the Senior Bracers actually cared if the information was spread. So neither of the two felt any guilt as they told the story, with Rean providing the majority of the words and Fie chiming in on occasion.

"That... is a little concerning." The youngest Craig seemed worried.

"On the surface it appears to be an isolated incident, but if they are testing new archaism models..."

"Yeah. Either way, the Guild knows about it so we know to be on alert for any suspicious activity." Fie agreed with her bespectacled classmate.

"Given what we know about them, it seems unlikely that they are still focused on Erebonia. Still, no reason to not be prepared just in case."

"And I will make sure this idiot doesn't run off to confront them on his own." Fie shot a pointed look towards her partner as she understood full well that Rean still had a bad habit of trying to shoulder all the burdens for himself.

"Good." As did Altina.

"Well, if you ever need a hand make sure to give a call. I can't speak for all of us, but I at least want to help out as much as possible." Good old reliable Elliot. He might not be a warrior, but there could be no denying how much braver he had become since those early days at Thors. Nods from Machias and Altina showed their agreement with the musician's words.

"Enough about snakes. This is our day off. Tell me what you guys have been up to." Fie was pretty ready to change the topic at that point, not that she wasn't grateful for their continued support.

"Well we finally finished our inspections of the government officials." They were all aware at how busy Machias had been with his inspectorate work in the wake of the Twilight. Without the Chancellor's protection there was nothing to protect many of the corrupt officials he had placed and it took over a year for Erebonia to be rid of them all. "Lately I have been helping my father with some of his tasks. It isn't really in my job description, but with everything that has been going on he needs all the help he can get."

None of them wanted to think about how busy Carl Regnitz must be, having to practically rebuild the government from scratch. "Thankfully he has the support of the royal family and the four great houses, so I have been working as a liaison the past month or so. And yes, I understand how amusing you all must find the idea of me working with the noble houses to be."

"Well, I haven't been nearly as busy as Machias," Elliot admitted, "but like him I have been performing around the country. This is actually my first time back home in a few months." Elliot rubbed the back of his head nervously, "I actually feel bad for not telling you guys about my concert today, but I figured you would be so busy with Bracer work.

Oh! I haven't told anyone this yet, but I want you guys to be the first to know. The main reason I came back here is because my friends and I have been considering the idea of an international tour. We know that Erebonians aren't trusted right now, but I was thinking that maybe seeing us going around playing music instead of picking fights would be a good way to ease some of the tensions, even if just slightly. Maybe if you guys ever get a mission out of the country we will meet again in Liberl or Calvard or somewhere."

Classic Elliot. Most people would consider him naive for his thinking, but they all witnessed first hand the power that his music possessed, both on and off the battlefield. If anyone could win hearts and minds, it would be him. However...

"You do know that your dad will never let you go, right?" Rean couldn't help but point out.

"Oh Elliot, my pride and joy! How can I ever call myself a soldier of Erebonia if I can't protect my own flesh and blood. But if you absolutely must go, I insist that you take an airship fleet with you. No! Make that two airship fleets and a battalion of tanks!" Fie's impressed of Olaf the Red was both comedic and scarily accurate. This caused the group to laugh, with even Altina giggling ever so slightly. The only one not laughing was the boy in question, who paled as the thought occurred to him.

"Yeah... I was thinking that I should just not tell my dad and let sis handle it after I leave."

"Wouldn't that just cause him to believe you had been kidnapped and invade the neighboring countries looking for you?" The fact that it was Altina who said that made it seem like it wasn't meant to be a joke.

"You guys are awful human beings." Machias joked as they saw proverbial rain clouds form above the musician.

"I'm sure it will all work out somehow." And Rean believed it. As overprotective as Olaf could be, even he understood just how strong his son had become. Eventually he would understand.

"But in all seriousness, will you guys be taking any international missions?" Machias asked.

"Unless something changes soon, probably not. The situation here has calmed down a bit, but not to the point where they can afford to lose two Senior Bracers for a long length of time. Plus technically Rean is still only E-Rank and the minimum rank for those missions is D, but he will probably be there in a week or two."

"Well it might be a bit early, but would you guys like to go get food somewhere?" Machias asked.

"I want pancakes." Altina, of course.

"That sounds fun." Elliot agreed without hesitation.

Fie was about to voice her own support for the idea when out of the corner of her eye she spotted two men. Two very familiar men. "Aw crap."

"Huh? What's wrong Fie?" Rean saw that she was staring at a distant point and saw for himself. "Ah, that's whats wrong." He let out a groan of dismay, but recovered after a second. "Well we knew we would have to deal with it eventually." He admitted as the two men approached. Seems like their day off was at an end.

"Um, what should we do?" Elliot asked.

"I think this is something we need to handle on our own. If this turns into a battle..." Fie shot Rean a disbelieving look which caused him to amend his statement, "...when this turns into a battle, I want you guys to get all the people out of the area."

"You do know that fighting in the Park is against so many laws. I don't think you are going to escape with just a warning this time." Machias pointed out. Fie could only shrug, not like they had any choice in the matter.

"Fie! ...Schwarzer." The taller man greeted as they arrived, the greeting directed towards Rean a lot less happy sounding.

"Xeno. Leo." Fie returned the greeting with a lot less enthusiasm.

"Oh, hey guys. It's been a while."

"Too long, it seems." The Behemoth replied to the nervous Divine Blade.

"Sounds like someone has been putting their moves on our princess while we were away. I guess we need to have another nice long conversation, Schwarzer."

Fie rolled her eyes. "Can you guys quit with the whole overprotective big brother routine. It is annoying enough when Rean does it, but I don't need you guys maiming my man."

Rean pouted. He wasn't that bad. He wouldn't start a fight in the middle of the city if someone put the moves on Elise. Probably. Unless they really deserved it. He could probably keep civilian casualties to an acceptable level?"

Somewhere in Saint-Arkh a young member of the Hyarms family felt a wave of despair.

"Aw, come on Fie, don't be like that. We just need to make sure that Rean only has pure intentions towards you."

Fie couldn't stop the pit of annoyance from bubbling up inside of her, so her next words were surprisingly tactless, even for her. "Of course Rean only has pure intentions. He had pure intentions this morning. He had pure intentions last night. He has pure intentions in the bed and in the bathroom. He had pure intentions on that train ride last week. He had pure intentions in the forest after a monster hunt! He! Only! Has! Pure! Intentions!"

All eyes shifted from the fuming girl to her partner as he unsuccessfully tried to hide the raging blush on his face after an epic facepalm. "...In my defense most of those weird places were her idea." It was a feeble defense, but it was all he could come up with in the moment.

"Absolutely despicable." Altina looked about ready to join Zephyr and deliver just punishments to her former Instructor.

"W-w-w-what is going on." Elliot might have been even redder than Rean at that moment.

"Rean you are one lucky man. I will remember you fondly."

While the words from their classmates were less than supportive, it was the reactions of the two Jaegers that drew the most attention. No words were said, but both seemed to be of one mind as they drew their weapons, a large mechanical gauntlet for Leonidas and Xeno's blade rifle.

"Yeah, I figured this would happen." Rean muttered as he composed himself for battle. Good thing they brought their weapons despite it being a free day, as he didn't think they would show mercy towards unarmed foes.

"There is only one acceptable payment for defiling our little Fie, and that is with your life. Defend yourself or die."

"He isn't alone." Fie hissed as she drew her gunblades. The other members of Class VII quickly departed to assist the now panicking people get away from what looked to be a very intense battle.

"That is fine." Leo replied. "If the two of you want our blessing you will have to take it by force."

Without warning Xeno aimed his rifle at Rean and fired, signaling the start of battle. Having expected it, the swordsman was able to deflect the round with his tachi. Rean made to close the distance with his opponent, but did so with all of his senses working overdrive in case the Trap Master had a surprise waiting for him.

With a roar Leo charged at Fie causing the youngest member to back off as she understood better than most the risks of engaging the Behemoth at close quarters. She dropped a smoke grenade to assist her, but the veteran Jaeger dispersed of the obstruction with a large spinning attack. Still, it bought her enough time to put distance between them. She started firing, but found no openings as the mechanical gauntlet was used as a massive shield.

Having managed to close the gap the practitioner of the Eight Leaves One Blade style swung his blade at Xeno, causing the older man to abort his offensive plans in order to defend. He just managed to block the swing, and Rean couldn't help but be annoyed at the fact that his blade was unable to even put a scratch on the blade rifle. He knew it was a custom weapon directly from the Black Workshop, but he was able to do damage to an Aion! Still, the large rifle was unwieldy in close combat, so as long as Rean kept on the offensive he knew he would prevail eventually.

Fie also found herself holding the advantage, as Leo was primarily a closed quarters bruiser and she was both faster and had superior ranged capabilities, so she was having little problems in keeping her distance from her opponent. Still, despite her advantage she was struggling to score any meaningful hits due to his gauntlet serving as a massive shield. Despite that, she saw no reason to change her strategy.

"Wow. The two of you sure are fast." Xeno didn't seem all that concerned as he managed to block another strike from Rean.

"Unfortunately for you, we have dealt with speed before." To prove his point Leo slammed his gauntlet into the ground with a roar, creating a shock wave that almost unbalanced his foes. Using that opening, Xeno managed to leap away from Rean while launching multiple javelins in the air. These were scattered in the air and landed all around the battlefield, emitting small beeps to alert those around that they were armed.

"Tch." Fie knew that with those explosives on the field their ability to quickly navigate the battlefield was greatly hindered.

While no words were spoken, their thoughts were conveyed to each other over their combat link and a new strategy was formed. Utilizing the second form, Rean was able to clear out the traps in the immediate vicinity while pitting himself against Leo. It wasn't the ideal situation, but having Rean fight him in such an enclosed space was far superior to leaving it to Fie.

She on the other hand had decided to take a more supporting role. She focused on clearing out more of the traps while engaged in a gunfight with Xeno. It went poorly overall for her as she took several glancing shots, but it was a fair trade to make as she was able to make more space for them to work in.

Rean was faring better, but only by a bit. While he hadn't taken any damage, he knew that it would only take one solid hit from the Behemoth to take him out of the fight. Worse still he, like Fie before him, found it incredibly difficult to get around that gauntlet to deal damage of his own.

Seeing that the situation wasn't favoring them, Rean allowed himself to get pushed back ever so slightly, with each hit bringing him closer and closer to Fie. Understanding his intentions, Fie fired a suppressing barrage at Xeno before taking off in a sprint hoping to catch Leo unawares in a pincer attack. She only noticed her mistake when she saw Xeno smirk and a hidden trap beeped as if about to detonate. In her current position she could do nothing to stop it.

Luckily, Rean spotted her plight and was able to disarm the trap with a hasty Arc Slash. Fie used the opening to continue her strike on Leo, but having sensed the trap fail Leo turned to try and block the sneak attack. He was partly successful, with Fie only managing to leave a shallow but painful gash across the chest of the larger man.

"That was a dirty trick." He pointed out, ignoring the fact that they had attempted a dirty trick of their own.

"And here I was thinking that going to that fancy Academy and becoming a Bracer had made you guys all honorable duelists."

Fie had actually come to appreciate the value of the honorable duel, thanks to her more noble friends, but she still understood that it had zero practical value on the battlefield, and she knew that Rean understood that fact as well. If they wanted to survive they would have to fight dirty.

After that the battle entered a new phase. Instead of a pair of individual battles it became one big fight that was just as much about the strength of each pair's bonds as it was their individual skill. The love the two Bracers shared matched against the decade of hard fighting together from the Jaegers.

Leo grunted as he worked to stave off a powerful flame strike from the swordsman. Hearing movement behind him he merely tilted his head to the side as Xeno fired a bullet that flew past him and nearly struck Fie. He broke contact with Rean and placed some distance so that the two Bracers were both in front of him, but by that point the two had taken advantage of the opening and decided to pursue Xeno instead.

Rean took point as the two assaulted the Trap Master. Living true to his name he had placed many traps around him to keep him safe while he provided overwatch fire. Clearing his mind of distractions he was able to spot all of the explosives in their path, including a few that Xeno had hidden. A Gale followed by a Crescent Flash cleared the path, which Fie quickly exploited. Having done his part the Ashen Chevalier turned to hold off the pursuing Leo.

Xeno let out an annoyed grunt as his carefully placed traps were stripped away and now he was stuck facing little Fie in close quarters. It was a bad spot to be in as the girl's assault was quick and relentless. Since he couldn't hope to beat her in his current position he resolved to change the situation. Bracing himself for inevitable pain he put his full weight behind his body and slammed into the younger girl, shoulder first, ignoring the searing sensation as her blade carved deeply into his arm. With space briefly created he took aim with his rifle and fired.

Fie recovered in time to see Xeno taking aim, but was momentarily confused when she saw that he wasn't aiming for her. Her eyes widened a fraction as she understood the true target. Fortunately the alarm was carried through the link and Rean avoided the attack at the last second. Unfortunately, however, this left him open and Leo capitalized by landing a glancing blow on his foe. Of course a glancing blow from the Behemoth was still enough to send the younger man flying.

While she knew Rean would be fine in a few seconds, it was a few seconds where he was wide open. The Jaeger mindset all but demanded that they exploit that opening. Fie, however, was no longer a Jaeger, so she abandoned her advantage over the injured Xeno and rushed to her partner's aid. While Leo wasn't bothered by the bullets she sent at him, it did slow him enough for her to get between him and his target. Briefly she shifted fire towards Xeno, spoiling his own aim, but that was as much as she could do before Leo arrived.

Luckily she had already bought enough time for Rean to recover so she only had to evade a couple attacks before her partner arrived. Not wanting to find himself surrounded again, the big man retreated back towards Xeno. Neither Bracer pursued as Xeno provided cover fire while deploying even more traps.

'We are getting nowhere like this.'

'In a battle of endurance they have the advantage.'

'We need to defeat them quickly.'

'They are standing close together, think we should use that?'

'Yes. Let's do it.'

Rean allowed his inner energy to swell forth, drawing upon the power of his Spirit Unification. It all came down to this next attack so there was no point in conserving his strength. As he was doing that Fie was in the process of arming and throwing a simple flash grenade. The second it hit the ground with a soft thud, the two vanished in bursts of speed.

Having expected the grenade to be pro-cooked and to explode on impact, the two Jaegers instinctively looked away for a brief second. This proved to be a colossal mistake as they were ill-prepared for the blitz set upon them. They did their best to defend themselves, but both Fie and Rean were moving at such speeds that they created after images of themselves.

Fie leapt into the air just as Rean slowed and unleashed a full body swing. He sheathed his sword just in time as his partner landed upon his shoulders. With a roar of exertion he launched her straight into the air, before momentum carried him out of the rapidly forming whirlwind his last attack created.

As she ascended, Fie charged her orbal guns to the maximum. Once she reached the apex of her flight she fired down straight into the heart of the tornado, with the recoil causing her body to fall away from the storm and into the waiting arms of Rean. When her shots landed they created a massive explosion, turning the tornado into a blazing inferno with the kinetic energy and heat being contained within. To make matters worse, the grenade finally reached the end of its three second fuse and detonated, with both the flash and the bang amplified as It was trapped within the storm.

"Luminous Firestorm!" They announced at the successful completion of their combination craft.

Fie blinked a couple times. "Caught the tail end of the flash so our timing could use a little work. Still..." She took a second to admire the inferno they created. "We kick ass."

"Yeah..." Even though they had practiced it many times over the weeks, this was the first time they actually used it at full power. The destructiveness of it was far more intense than Rean had imagined. Even from a distance the heat was as intense as some of the most powerful attacks of McBurn. "Think they are ok?" He asked at last.

"Yup. Those two are tough as nails. No clue how, but I know they are alive."

After a minute the firestorm finally abated and proved Fie right. Leo and Xeno were still clearly alive. Despite that, it was clear that the battle was over. Both men were blackened and blistered with their clothes and hair in ruins. Neither of them were still standing as they eagerly took breaths now that oxygen was available to them.

"You guys are done, right?" Fie asked as they approached. Sure they were in no condition to fight, but they were stubborn old mules and she wouldn't put it past them to attempt a suicidal sneak attack or something.

"Indeed." Leonidas stated between labored breaths. "The two of you have proven your strength. This is our defeat."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it, but you two got us good. Treat her well, yeah?"

Rean rolled his eyes. "I never had any intention otherwise. She is the light in my life and I owe her more than she could possible imagine."

Leo nodded, satisfied with that answer. "Good. But if that ever changes..." The threat went unspoken.

"Take care of yourself Fie." Rean frowned at Xeno's words. It almost sounded like they were planning on removing themselves from her life. The downcast look on Fie let him know that she believed the same.

"You do know you guys are still welcome here. You are all that is left of her old family. If nothing else you are invited to our wedding."

"Sorry kiddo, but we have no interest in sappy shit like that." The answer was expected, but Fie's crestfallen look only grew at that response. Not wanting to see her that sad he racked his brain for something he could say to change their minds. Luckily he was able to come up with an idea.

"What if I hired you?"

"Huh?"

"Rean?"

Only Leo remained silent as he adopted a more contemplative look. Rean clarified, "You would be providing security. Ouroboros is still out there and we have other enemies that could try to mess things up."

"Our services don't come cheap." Leo reminded him.

"That's fine. If nothing else being forced to do government work as the Ashen Chevalier paid well. I can afford it." It was actually remarkable how much mira he had saved up from living in dorms and eating cafeteria food these past few years.

"Rean?" Fie repeated. She had changed to a more stunned but hopeful expression. His only response was to take her hand in his own and give it a squeeze.

Any comment that might have been made was interrupted by shouting as they saw members of the RMP enter the park headed towards them.

"Well, that looks like our cue to exit." Xeno said as he slowly got to his feet.

"We will get in touch." Leo added, doing the same.

"...Bye Leo. Bye Xeno." Fie finally said as the two made their exit, moving far quicker than anyone with those injuries had any right to.

"Are you two alright?" Elliot asked with concern as their friends finally reentered the conversation. They assured him they were fine, as Rean had only taken the one hit and Fie was mostly unscathed.

"What was that move you two did?" Machias asked his own question, curious at the ridiculously powerful attack they unleashed.

"It looked a like your Termination Slash, but slightly altered to work alongside Fie's attack" Altina commented.

"Right. We combined my Termination Slash – Dusk with Fie's Shadow Brigade into a combination attack. Something we had been working on for a while, but this was the first time we got to use it in battle."

"Can't deny, it was totally epic."

"Right?" Elliot replied to Machias. "I kinda want to think of something like that for me." Little did the two Bracers know that their actions would lead to a flurry of debate and discussion about combination crafts in the next group discussions, both from Old Class VII and New Class VII.

"You five! What happened here?" Demanded an RMP officer as they finally reached the group. The two partly responsible for the mayhem couldn't quite hide their guilty looks as they finally saw their surroundings. Much of the park was completely burned away leaving only dirt and glass. Bullet holes were scattered everywhere and they could even still spot a few inert traps lying about.

"The guys who did this went that way." Fie immediately sold out her old family as she pointed in the direction they escaped in. Despite their serious injuries she had no doubt that they would escape. Maybe they would believe her and they wouldn't get in trouble?

Sadly, it was not to be. It would be many hours before the two were released from RMP custody. Thankfully Machias was proven wrong and they were let off with only a warning, but it was a warning that came after many hours of lecturing, especially once an unimpressed Captain Claire arrived. Needless to say their free day was completely ruined.