"I'd say that went well." Fie mused out loud as the two got onto the train. This was the first free day they had had since Yun Ka-fai visited their house, and given the importance of Rean's decision he had wanted to deliver the news to his family personally. Thus a trip to Ymir.

Rean nodded in agreement. "Yeah..." As she had predicted, his family was more than supportive of his decision. Any disappointment they had felt over his choice to abdicate his position was more than offset by the happiness they felt that he had a clearer picture of his future goals. Elise hadn't been there in person, but the progress of technology meant that she was able to participate thanks to her civilian ARCUS unit.

"Elise will make a good Baroness, I think..." Fie could have left her statement at that and everyone would have been happy, but where's the fun in that? "...Especially since Patrick seems willing to accept the title of Baron."

"What!?" Rean immediately understood her insinuation, but it wasn't something he had considered and the idea did not sit well with him.

And of course she spotted his reaction immediately. "Well that's how it works, right?" She asked innocently. "Patrick marries your sister and eventually becomes the new Baron Ymir, right? Kinda impressive for the son of a Marquis." Technically a downgrade in status, but Ymir had gained much fame in recent years thanks to a certain Chevalier, so the title was actually one of the more prestigious ones now, despite the low rank.

"Is it too late to rethink my decision? I wouldn't want my sister to rush herself and make unwelcome decisions just because I-" His second thoughts were derailed by the ringing of Fie's ARCUS unit.

"Hello?" She answered, before grimacing a second later when she heard the reply. Instead of continuing the conversation she instead forced her communication device into Rean's surprised hands. "It's Sara. Deal with her for me, kay?"

He looked at her blankly, but not wanting to keep their former instructor waiting (too long) he eventually acquiesced. "Hello, this is Rean."

"Did she seriously just do that!?" To say that Sara was frustrated with her little sister's decision was putting it mildly. "That girl, I swear... Ahem. Rean, you two are still up in Nortia, right?"

Despite her unwillingness to actually talk to the A-Rank bracer Fie was listening in as he conversed with her. "Uh, yes. We're returning to Roer now. Why?"

"We actually just got a request specifically asking for the two of you up that way, so you might want to stay up there tonight."

The duo shared a look. Requests specifically asking for them weren't rare given their fame, but they usually weren't important enough for Sara or Toval to call them. This could be worrisome... "And? What's the mission?"

"It's from Gaius, actually." And with that statement Rean relaxed and allowed a smile to form. A request from Gaius in this part of the Empire? He had a feeling that they were soon to be taking a trip to the Nord Highlands. "Apparently there's an unusually large flock of Hippogriffs plaguing the settlements up there and Gaius needs help culling them. Think you're up for it?"

One of their own was asking for help. The question didn't even need to be asked. "Of course. We would be glad to help." Fie let out a sigh, but didn't say anything to refute his statement.

"Good, cause that's what I told him when he called. He said the settlement is still in their normal spot so I assume you remember the way?"

How could he forget? It had been years since he had been to the Nord Highlands, but it was a memory that he would never forget. He had been meaning to visit again at some point and it seemed that fate was granting him that chance.

Sara spent a few more minutes relaying details of their assignment before hanging up on them. "You seem excited."

He shrugged since he couldn't really deny her observation. "What about you? Didn't you get to visit during the civil war?"

"Just once, but we were too busy looking for the others and dodging battles for me to take in the sights. Maybe this time will go a little better."

"Haha. I hope so." A flock of angry birds had to be better than a bunch of jaegers and soldats, right?

She sighed again. "I guess this means we aren't sleeping in our beds tonight, doesn't it?" It was a rhetorical question, but he nodded all the same. "...Damnit. At least the hotels in Roer aren't all that bad."

"Actually..." Rean began as a plan came to mind. "I have a better idea."


"This was your better idea? Seriously?" To say that Fie was unimpressed with her partner in that moment would be a gross understatement.

His idea? Spend the night in the guest area at Zender Gate so they could get an early morning start into the highlands.

"We could have had exploring Roer, eating nice food, and sleeping in a room all to our own. Instead you chose to stay at a military installation of all things!?"

"A-At least the food wasn't bad, right?" If anything that only caused her glare to increase in intensity. "Don't worry. There's a reason I brought us all the way here. We're going to do so something fun in the morning."

She looked upon him skeptically after his vague words. "Something fun? It better be really damn fun to make up for this."

"It will be, I promise." Rean wasn't worried. He knew that Fie would absolutely love what he had in store for them...


Fie hated this.

Rean's brilliant idea had been for them to enter the Nord Highlands bright and early so he would have plenty of time to teach her how to ride a horse. Although General Vander was no longer stationed at the gate, his successor had been more than willing to provide them with two horses for the duration of their stay. So it was barely after first light when the two began.

The horses were already saddled up when they were loaned to them, so they were able to skip those steps. And since she did have prior experience riding behind someone on a horse, mounting was something she could already do. That meant the first thing she had to do was start the horse. To do that she needed to...

"Pfft!" Rean snorted as he observed her. "Did you just look for a switch!? A horse isn't the same as an Orbal Bike, you know."

"I-I know that! I'm not an idiot, you know!" Damn his senses! It was just one little glance! "Maybe this would go a little faster if I had an instructor who would tell me what to do!"

"Right, right. Sorry." He might have sounded a little more apologetic if he wasn't still laughing, the jerk. "To get a horse to walk all you need to do is gently kick it's sides with your heels. Don't kick it too hard. On his own horse he provided an example, as a gentle nudge with his feet was sufficient to get his mount to start trotting along.

Right, a gentle kick. Easy enough. Using her feet she mimicked Rean's actions... And nothing happened. Alright, so perhaps a little more force was needed. She repeated the action. The only response was a twitch from the horse's ear as it responded to a flying bug.

Fine, perhaps Rean understated just how much force was needed. For her third attempt she decided to go a lot stronger. Not so much as to hurt the creature, of course, but enough so that it would definitely feel it.

The horse neighed angrily and broke out in a full sprint.

She had been fighting on the worst battlefields since she was a kid. As a member of Class VII she fought against some of the most powerful people and fiercest monsters in the world. She's survived the worst of Sara's shenanigans and Rean's stupidity. She still held one of the highest scores at Mishelam Wonderland's Horror Coaster.

So someone as brave and cool as her absolutely positively did not scream in terror as the horse darted across the plains. If a certain jerk of a lover said otherwise it would be nothing but lies and slander.

Frantically she went to apply the brakes before remembering that this was in fact not an Orbal Bike and there were no brakes to use, not that she really used them on the bike anyways. If Rean had told her the proper way to stop a horse she wasn't listening, so that wasn't an option. She was agile enough to leap off the galloping creature, but that seemed unnecessarily risky, especially with her feet still caught in the stirrups...

Fortunately before she could make a decision her savior arrived in the form of Rean, mounted on his own horse. By riding alongside her he was able to take hold of her reins and guide both horses to a halt. She wasted little time in abandoning the jerk creature once it stopped.

"That horse is defective." She stated plainly as she glared at the horse, who seemed happy to glare back at her in return.

Rean didn't appear convinced, the fool. "It seems fine to me?"

"Nuh uh. It's plotting something, I can tell. Try it for yourself!"

He still appeared dubious, but shrugged and followed suit. She waited for the horse to do something as he approached it, but it appeared content to sit there and observe the male. He inspected the horse carefully. "It seems pretty normal to me."

Much to her chagrin, he started affectionately patting the horse on the head. The monster neighed happily in approval. She was fuming! Head pats were something special and supposed to be reserved for her alone! Not some diabolical creature like this one!

As Rean took the time to mount the horse it shot her the smuggest look a stallion could possibly manage. It was delighting in her rage! And naturally as soon as Rean gave it the gentlest of nudges it began a happy trot around the field.

They had fought a literal demon horse during the Great Twilight, but that curse empowered fiend had nothing on the jerk in front of her. Or even the jerk riding on top of it, for that matter. That thing merely wanted to kill her, not insult and humiliate her at every chance!

And as usual Rean appeared completely oblivious to her struggles as he guided the mount back to it's starting position. "See?" He stated after dismounting. "It's perfectly fine. Why don't you try it again?"

She approached the devil horse. Maybe Rean was right. Maybe she just made a mistake. Perhaps the horse was fine after-

"Um, Fie?"

"Yes Rean?"

He averted his gaze. "You uh... You do know that that horse is chewing on your hair, right?"

"...Yes Rean."

"...Uh huh..." Instinctively he took a step away from her. Good. At least he understood that he was dead meat. He promised her fun last night. Not... this. At least this time he wasn't intentionally trying to screw her over, but he was still gonna be paying for it throughout this trip in the Nord Highlands. She would have her revenge.

But first... "Stop that you big jerk!" She had to save her hair! Had she known that her future was to be filled with stuff like this she would have kept it short!


Rean couldn't keep the grin off his face as the duo rode across the southern highlands en route to the Nord settlement. He was smiling because he forgot how wonderful this felt and how he missed this place. He was also smiling because...

"Stop smiling!" Somehow Fie knew he was smiling despite the fact she couldn't see his face. In fairness, he knew without a shred of doubt that she was pouting adorably despite also being unable to see her.

"Sorry!" He apologized to the upset girl riding behind him. "It's just so weird seeing you fail so badly at something." Fie was always one to excel at most things she attempted. Honestly the last time he remembered her failing at something was one of Instructor Thomas's history tests back at Thors.

He needed to be careful, however, lest he show too much enjoyment at her misery. He was still on thin ice after the birthday incident after all. She could be a vindictive little gremlin when push comes to shove.

He thought she might have been thinking exactly that for a second, but eventually she sighed and seemed to let it go."Couldn't we have brought our bike instead?"

Her question was reasonable, and yet... "When in the Nord Highlands live like the Nord."

"First of all, that's a really dumb expression you just made up. Secondly, the only Nord I really know flies around in his own personal state-of-the-art stealth airship, so unless you're getting one of those for me I don't want to hear it."

"...I don't think Gaius uses his Merkabah for personal trips."

"Really? The same Gaius who flew us all around the Empire during the Great Twilight on all sorts of minor little requests? How do you think he has time to visit Linde so often? Didn't he personally fly you to Bryonia Island just because you wanted to catch some fish? Do you really think he uses the train whenever he visits Erebonia? "

Looking back, that wasn't his proudest moment, but he couldn't help himself! Those Blue Marlins were absolutely amazing to catch! "Fine. Next time we'll bring our bike. Happy?"

"Yup. It'll be fun. I bet we could get some serious air if we rode off those cliffs by the Stone Circle..."

That was when he had an epiphany. "You know, horses are intelligent creatures. They probably sensed your complete disregard for their lives the second you hopped onto it. That would explain why they wouldn't let you ride them..."

"Rude. I'll have you know that I'm a perfectly safe driver. We haven't died yet, have we?" As if disputing her insane statement the horse chose that moment to neigh loudly. Perhaps she worried that it was going to try and throw her back off, as she seemed to grip him a little tighter.

He sighed, mentally agreeing with the horse. "There are so many things I want to say to that, but for now I'll just pretend you didn't say anything. Also? We've made it."

It was refreshing to see that little had changed since the last time he visited Gaius's settlement, as he had heard that despite the shortness of the war much damage had been inflicted upon these beautiful lands. The distinctive form of Nordic yurts and the loud bleating of sheep greeted the duo upon their arrival. As did the smiling visage of their classmate.

"Rean! Fie!" Gaius waved as the duo approached. "It's good to see the two of you!"

"It hasn't even been a month..." Fie grumbled as she got off from the horse, saving her from the elbow he thought about sending her way to shut her up. Technically she was correct, but there was a huge difference in seeing someone in a group setting than it was to spend time with them on an individual level. Realizing that chastising her would accomplish nothing, he merely sighed and also got down from their shared mount.

"It's good to see you too, Gaius."

The Nord spearman couldn't help but chuckle at their differing responses. "Glad to see not much has changed with the two of you. And I'm glad to see you in good health, my friend."

Rean too laughed a little. "Same to you. I was surprised to hear the request was from you. Doesn't the Church usually keep you busy?"

"They do, but my schedule is usually flexible enough that I can come and go when I please. It helps that I can travel across the continent in a couple hours thanks to my Merkabah." Credit where credit was due, Fie somehow managed to refrain from an 'I told you so'. She didn't even attempt to hide her smug look, though.

"Brooooo!" Came a cry that Rean recognized as belonging to Gaius's youngest sister, Lily as the girl approached. Behind her was her older sister Sheeda. If it wasn't already obvious that Rean had been gone from the Highlands for far too long, seeing the two young girls again after nearly four years made that plainly apparent. Sheeda appeared to be in her late teens at this point, and her sister was only a few years behind her.

Sheeda was the first to notice the two guests. "Rean? Is that you? It's so good to see you again!" Clearly she had been informed of their arrival prior as she didn't seem that surprised to see him, but the happiness was genuine all the same. "And that must mean you're Fie."

"Fie?" Lily blinked as she tried to put a face to the name. "Weren't you the quiet girl who came to help Bro during the war? Wow! You've grown so mature and cool!"

Rean couldn't help but groan. Fie always loved it when someone called her cool or mature, and Lily had somehow managed both. He loved her dearly, but seeing her preen thanks to the compliments was annoying and promised him trouble later on. "Heehee, thanks. You two have grown a lot from what I can remember also."

A villager approached and offered to take their horse away, which Rean gladly accepted. This time he did elbow his partner when he caught her glaring at the departing horse. It didn't help that the mount was glaring back at her. What a headache.

"Mother is preparing lunch." Gaius stated to the two. "I figured we can work together to cull the flock after that."

"Sure, that sounds good to me." Nordic food, while simple in it's creation, was quite pleasant and something he had been looking forward to.

Lunch with the Worzels was fun. Gaius's parents were just the same as he remembered them, and it was nice to catch up with them. Thoma wasn't there, but Gaius explained that as his brother was now officially a man he was often tasked with patrolling the highlands for any threats, which was why they discovered the dangerous flock of bird monsters in the first place. Also that job afforded him more time at the gate, where his girlfriend Sharl still resided.

Conversation was a little awkward as Lacan insisted on thanking them for ending the war, but his gratitude was understandable. Had the conflict escalated any further Rean didn't want to think about what affect it would have had on the people of Nord and the beautiful land they called home. Even Fie seemed to be a little less bothered by the praise than she normally might have been.

It was Lacan who took the time to explain the details of their mission while Gaius's mother and sisters took care of cleaning up. As they had been told, a large flock of Hippogriffs were wrecking havoc in the northern half of the highlands and it was feared that they might soon start preying on the settlements to get their livestock and horses. While the adults were generally trained to be able to fend off the local monsters, in large enough numbers they could very well be overwhelmed, and there were the children, the elderly, and the other non-combatants to worry about too...

As Lacan explained it, Hippogriffs were usually a solitary hunter and very rarely worked alongside others of their kind once they left the nest. But from what Thoma had noted, one particularly large Alpha had been spotted, and as was often the case with many monsters of similar kind, had managed to unite the local populace into it's flock. Every day more of the birds of prey were gathering under the feathered banner of this oversized leader.

Rean recalled from experience just how dangerous one Hippogriff could be, and while he and the others were far more skilled and experienced than they were back in their Thor's days, fighting that many of them at one time was a risky proposition at best. Instead the obvious course of action was for the three of them to hunt down the boss bird and hopefully take it out without attracting the attention of the rest of the flock. That should be enough to cause them to disperse and return to their solitary ways.

Plan made, the two bracers and Eighth Dominion prepared to depart for their mission. Unfortunately for Fie, this meant the return of her best friend the horse. She all but pleaded with Gaius to use his Merkabah instead, but he declined as this was not the sort of task the stealth airship was suited for, and also the fact that his squires had taken it back to Arteria for maintenance and to restock supplies while he worked to resolve the situation in Nord. It was pretty funny watching her despair as they mounted the horse, because as far as he could tell it was just as well trained and loyal as any other horse from Nord that he had the pleasure of riding in his life, but it just didn't want to get along with Fie at all.

He had all but forgotten the fact that the northern side of the highlands held the remains of Lost Zem, the Sept-Terrion of earth. The first time he saw what he had assumed was a simple statue he felt awe, but now his feelings towards it and it's rival on Bryonia were conflicted.

"Rean?" Apparently his reverie wasn't as subtle as he had thought, as Fie immediately picked up on his unease. Beside them Gaius on his own horse also looked at him with concern.

"It's nothing. Just thinking about how different everything feels now that we know the truth behind the Sept-Terrions..."

Gaius nodded his head realizing what he meant. "That's understandable given how much we went through because of them."

"Don't suppose you've heard anything about the other ones from the Church?" Fie asked the Nord Dominion.

"Unfortunately not. I believe the First Dominion has her suspicions on one or two of them, but she hasn't divulged much to the rest of us. Locating them has been a top priority for some of the other members, however."

"Lame. You just know there are gonna be snakes all over them when we finally do find them. What a pain."

Fie wasn't wrong, but Rean couldn't help but laugh slightly as she grumpily complained from her position behind him, earning him a quick jab for his efforts. "We'll just have to handle it like we always do."

"Indeed, and rest assured, if I do hear anything you two will be the first to know. The Congregation for the Sacraments and the Bracer Guild are united in that purpose, at the very least."

"Right. Thanks, Gaius."

They didn't have any set destination in mind, but as they were simply looking for any sightings of the dangerous birds they continued going higher and higher as they figured the view from the top would be the best. Normally they could have expected a few monsters to come after them, but they and the other animals that frequented this half of the Nord Highlands all appeared especially skittish, something which made sense given the increased danger they now faced thanks to the flock of angry birds.

They did encounter a few Hippogriffs while they made their journey, but these didn't appear to be part of the group they were after. Perhaps in time they too would succumb to the flock mentality and become threats to the rest of Nord, but for now they weren't so they decided to let them be. It was a relatively peaceful and pleasant ride, save for occasions when Fie would complain that the horse was trying to knock her off, but he was soon able to ignore her, much to her chagrin.

After reaching the top they dismounted as the plan was for them to survey as much of the region as possible until they spotted something. Hopefully any Hippogriffs they spotted would be kind enough to unknowingly lead them back to wherever the flock was massed. They did need to careful, as even if the birds weren't yet hunting humans they absolutely would see their horses as potential meals, and not even Fie wanted to walk back to the settlement that evening.

It was almost an hour later that they found what they were looking for, as a trio of massive birds soon flew in from the east and began circling around looking for prey to hunt. Fortunately none of them spotted the three humans or two horses and instead they descended upon a group of creepy sheep. They watched with morbid fascination as the birds effortlessly slaughtered the mostly helpless monsters before engaging in a gory feast. Once finished they again took to the skies and began a return to trip eastward, from the direction they originally flew in from.

They didn't immediately pursue, as it would be impossible to keep up and they didn't want to put themselves at risk of being prematurely spotted, but it didn't matter much as there was only one area the birds could possibly be headed. After waiting a few minutes they began a more cautious pursuit as they headed towards the northeastern part of the highlands, towards the area where they first discovered the Aria Shrine.

It didn't take long for the trio to reach that distant section of the highlands. They knew they were on the right track when they started hearing the squawking of many distant birds. The group guided their horses behind a rocky outcrop and dismounted. Fie, ever the fastest and stealthiest of Class VII was quick to volunteer her services as a scout and left the two men and their horses behind.

It wasn't long before she returned. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we're definitely close."

Rean and Gaius shared a look. "And the bad news?"

"You know that giant land bridge where one misstep will send you falling to a long and brutal death?There's like twenty birds circling about it."

That... was bad news indeed. While they were all confident of their abilities and could probably win such a fight in a normal condition, fighting a bunch of flying creatures in a space with no room for them to maneuver was an absolutely terrible idea. The only other way to get past that area would be to scale some extremely steep mountains, which also sounded like a poor idea when the enemy they were trying to deal with was a giant bird.

"Gaius, what can you tell me about Hippogriffs behavior?" Perhaps if Rean knew more about them he could come up with an effective plan at getting across...

"Hmm... Well as you are aware, they are both highly territorial and aggressive. Despite that, they are usually content with simply driving their enemies out of their territory. That being said, they are more likely to pursue if they are hunting prey. Of course I can't say any of this for certain as their behavior has been quite irregular."

That last part was unfortunate, but it was a risk they would need to be willing to take. "I see. And how fast would you say they are? At least in comparison to a horse..."

"Flight means they can cover more distance, but in a pure race against a galloping horse? The horse will win, but just barely."

"You have a plan?" Fie asked him after that rather pointed question.

He shrugged. "Less of a plan and more of an... idea, I suppose? We can't really risk fighting them on the bridge, but we need to cross. So why not take the most direct approach and just charge through to the other side? Between Gaius's spear and your guns we should be able to fend them off until we reach a place where we can make a stand. If the Hippogriffs act like they should hopefully only a few of them will pursue us."

"It's simple, but it sounds like an effective plan to me." Despite the risks Gaius couldn't help but smile. "I must admit, it's been a while since I fought on horseback. It would be nice fighting like a Nord warrior again after so long."

With the Nord voicing his approval Rean turned to the one who's opinion had yet to be stated. "Any objections?"

"Uh, yes. I have one major objection. You're trusting that..." She jabbed a finger towards their horse unkindly. "...with our lives. I don't want to die!" It was somewhat amusing to see the young woman and horse engage each other in a glaring contest.

Amusing, but also exhausting. "Fie, that horse isn't going to get you killed, I promise." While he was mostly confident in his words there was always the slightest chance that she was right. So just to be safe, he turned towards said horse. "You aren't going to knock Fie off, right? If push comes to shove I can probably only protect one of you, and it wouldn't be you..."

"Haha! Rean scolded you!" She gloated at the creature. "Maybe I should just jump off and screw you over-"

"You do know it's a long walk back without a horse, right?"

As the two partners continued to bicker about their mount Gaius couldn't help but laugh to himself. It had been too long since he fought alongside his friends and he missed their antics. He was looking forward to the next few minutes, despite the danger involved.

Eventually Fie relented with a huff, and the three of them prepared themselves for the battle to come.