Fie let out a sigh. As funny as it was to watch her partner squirm under the merciless glares of Xeno and Leo, she really did not need this situation to escalate further. It would kinda suck if their house was blown up after all the effort they put into it. Especially her precious garden. "So what brings you two here?" She asked as calmly as possible.
"Oh, nothing much." Xeno replied easily, as if he wasn't glaring bloody murder at Rean.
"We were in the neighborhood and thought to stop in." It was funny how neither of them even glanced at her as they answered.
"That's a load of crap." She quickly replied. "I know for a fact that Zephyr has been working in eastern Zemuria for a while now." One of the perks of being a ranking bracer was access to all their available information.
Xeno laughed sheepishly. "Fair enough. But while over there we heard an interesting story and thought to confirm it for ourselves."
Leo's already dangerous glare grew even more fierce. "There isn't any truth to what that enforcer told us, is there?"
Fie let out a groan. She knew to expect this, but even still. This sucked. She opened her mouth to answer-
"Not you." Leo didn't even glance at her. "We want to hear it from Schwarzer."
Kinda rude. She wasn't sure if they thought she might lie about it or if they just wanted to continue to watch Rean squirm. Either way her eyes joined the others as they waited for the swordsman to answer.
"Ahah..." Rean rubbed the back of his head as he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else than where he was. After a second he took a deep breath and seemed to regain his composure, although he still looked quite pale. "Well, I knew this was coming. But yes, it's true. Fie is pregnant with our child."
"I see. I see." Although Xeno's tone was even and the smile on his face grew larger, the killing intent he was emitting grew even stronger. Nearby a dog started barking as if it felt it. "That's wonderful news, isn't it, Leo?"
That same feeling of imminent death was also emanating from Leo. "Indeed it is. Although I find myself questioning why this happened so soon. She just turned twenty, after all. And you two aren't even married yet..."
She rolled her eyes. Despite being criminals these two were always such sticklers for tradition. Either that or they were just being weird and overprotective of her. Probably both. "Look. It's my fault. I did something stupid and now we're paying the price together." She placed a hand on her belly to signal what that price was. "I'm tired and cranky. Do we really need to have a big fight tonight?"
Leo shook his head. "Worry not, we understand just how pointless a battle would be. The two of you have proven your strength..." Good, so at least they still remembered how the two bracers won the last time her overprotective family attacked them.
"...But that doesn't mean we can't punish Schwarzer in some other way." Xeno finished with an eery smile.
"Great." She muttered in dismay. "You booby trapped our house, didn't you?" It was gonna be a long night for her to scour the entire building and surroundings. She could already feel the headache coming on. "Look, I appreciate that you guys are always looking out for me, but why do you care so much? It's my life."
Xeno and Leo shared a glance. "That is true." Leo admitted. "But at the same time you are all that remains of the Boss. You are his legacy. We just want to look out for you."
Fie let out a sigh. Stubborn old fools. "And I thought Rean was the idiot. Just 'cause I'm no longer a jaeger doesn't mean I've cast it all aside. The lessons that Boss taught me, the things I experienced, even the Claussell name he gave me. That's the legacy the Boss left me and I have no intention of forgetting any of it." She had to pause from her thoughts to explain to the pair of confused jaegers the decision she had made those months prior regarding her future name. "...And in time I want to pass that legacy down to the next generation."
The three men looked at her with varying levels of surprise. The fact that one of those was her lover did not go unnoticed by the others. "Doesn't seem like Schwarzer knew about that." Xeno turned to the swordmaster. "And what do you think about all that? Ready for your little brat to learn about the jaeger life?"
Although he was surprised, Rean was quick to recover. "Why wouldn't I be? I can't say I have any love for the jaeger lifestyle, but I know how much it defined Fie. It would be unfair of me to pass on the lessons my family taught me without allowing her the same. The same goes for combat teachings, but only if our children want to learn how to fight."
That was a reasonable stipulation, but Fie strongly suspected that they would. Given that their mom was the coolest and most badass fighter around and their dad was decent too, their children were gonna be under a lot of outside pressure to follow in their footsteps. If they decided to pursue a more mundane lifestyle that had been denied to her she would support it. That being said, she might insist they still learn enough to defend themselves-
No. She shook her head violently to clear those thoughts away. That was the path to becoming Olaf Craig. She was not going to become Olaf Craig.
She refocused on the topic at hand. Both jaegers looked unsure of themselves and the feeling of imminent death was gone. That was cool. Time to go all-in. "Honestly I'm hoping the two of you can help out with that. I know you don't see yourselves as parent material, but whenever the Boss was busy it was the two of you who took me under your wings. Wouldn't mind it if you were around to do the same in the future." She couldn't quite hide the tiniest of smirks as she went for the big finish. "...And it would give them a chance to bond with their uncles."
"...Uncles?"
She found herself amused at their disbelief. "Well, yeah. Rean has his family and Class VII belongs to both of us, but you guys are all I can bring to the table."
"I'm not so sure about us being uncles," Xeno started, "but I suppose we can check in on the little tyke once in a while." Beside him Leo nodded in hesitant agreement. "Don't count on anything, though. We're still Zephyr, after all. Could get ourselves killed before you even know it."
"Yeah, sure you will." Technically they were right, as she knew from experience just how common death was in the jaeger business, but at the same time she knew just how stubborn Xeno and Leo were. Plus they were just too stupid to actually die. She wasn't worried. "So we cool and all?"
"...We're cool." Xeno finally agreed begrudgingly. "For now."
Well, that was a start. "And no more trying to murder Rean, alright? I kinda need him if I'm gonna make it through all this."
This time the two jaegers looked a lot less agreeable. "We won't murder him..."
"...But maiming is still fine, right?" Her flat stare was all the answer they got. "At least let us occasionally put the fear of Aidios into him, please?" Her stare remained unchanged. "...Fine. You were a lot funner when you were young, you know."
"I would rather you didn't." Sadly for Rean it didn't seem like Xeno or Leo heard him. Or more likely they just chose to ignore him, causing him to sigh.
At least that was all taken care of. "So did you two want to come in for a bite or something?" Might as well make the offer to her big brothers.
That only caused the two jaegers to glance at each other nervously. "...We probably shouldn't." Leo answered.
"Yeah, we're really busy and all. We kinda bailed on our current mission without telling anyone to pay you two a visit. We should get back before anyone notices."
Although she was pretty sure that they weren't lying with their words, it was clear that there was something they weren't saying. "You jerks actually did place explosives in our home, didn't you?!"
"Haha... Look at the time. We really need to be going. Bye, Fie-" The two cowards began their hasty retreat.
"Wait." Surprisingly, it was Rean who stopped them. "Before you go, are you still willing to accept the contract I mentioned last time?" Oh, right. His idea of having Zephyr provide security for their wedding.
"Oh? You were serious about that?"
He nodded. "We have important people coming from all across Zemuria invited, and among them are some seriously powerful figures. Not to mention a few members of Ouroboros have already made it clear they plan on showing up. It would probably be a good idea to make sure we have some reliable security in place."
"Well, alright. I take it you finally have a date in place?" At his nod the two jaegers looked thoughtful. "Fine. We'll contact you once we've finished our current contracts and we can work out the financials and details then. Try and stay alive until then, yeah?"
With their piece said the two jaegers made a swift exit, leaving just the two bracers to process what had happened under the evening gloom. She was surprised at just how well everything had turned out and relieved that Xeno and Leo seemed amenable to her suggestion. She truly did want them to be a part of their children's lives, in extreme moderation, of course.
Rean seemed to share in her sentiment as he let out a breath he probably didn't even realize he had been holding. "Well, glad that's over with." He took a step towards their house, but Fie was quick to stop him.
"Nuh uh. Did you forget? Xeno was just here. You don't get to go inside, at least not until I've finished making sure everything is alright."
Xeno earned his title of the Trap Master for a reason. He was quite cunning. She was already dreading the entire process.
And while logically she knew this wasn't Rean's fault, the entire situation left her annoyed and he was the only one around to pay for that. If this meant he was stuck outdoors by himself for half the evening while she double and triple checked everything to be safe? Well, he probably deserved it.
Rean couldn't hold in his yawns the next morning. Once it became quite clear that Fie had no intention of letting him back inside his own home until the early hours of the morning he had departed towards the park. Originally he had just planned on relaxing on the bench until she was finished, but the events of the previous day had left him more tired than he realized and soon he found himself slumbering on the bench.
Despite what his partner would say, sleeping on a bench was extremely uncomfortable. He had no idea how she managed to pull it off. It was cramped, hard, cold, and left him feeling more tired than he had started.
It didn't help that he somehow ended up sleeping there the entire evening. At some point Fie must have finished and went out looking for him, but instead of waking him she had instead just opted to join him on the bench. On one hand that just made things even more cramped, but he couldn't deny that having her warmth did enable him to sleep a little better...
"Oh quit being a big baby." She teased after the two had returned home to prepare for the day. "It was just one night on a bench. You should be used to roughing it!"
"Yeah." He agreed easily enough. "We rough it when we have no other choice. Not when we have a nice, soft, warm bed waiting for us twenty arge away."
She gave a cheeky grin, amusement dancing in her eyes. "Like I said, a big baby. You gotta learn how to live a little, you know? Change things up once in a while. Stop being the pampered noble for a change."
"...Your definition of living a little is different from the rest of us, I hope you know."
Naturally she paid no heed to his words. "C'mon, let's hurry up. Yesterday sucked so we need to get there early today. I wanna kill something."
He wasn't sure if he should be praising her work ethic or once again be concerned that her primary motivation was wanton violence. Instead he did the only sane sensible thing and decided to ignore that part of her comment. Quickly the two prepared themselves and made the trek to the capital.
Toval was already present, but as he was currently looking rather serious and was involved in a conversation over the orbal terminal the two chose to remain silent. Said bracer, however, heard the two approach and gave a cheery wave. "One sec." He told the person on the other end of the screen.
Turning away, he approached the two. "Hey, you two. You've come at a great time. Either of you fancy a trip to Legram?"
The two shared a glance. "Legram? What's up?" Rean wasn't opposed to the idea and he knew Fie wasn't either, but he still wanted to hear more about the request first.
"It's nothing serious. We have a couple of juniors over there – The two you recruited, actually – and they've been doing a good job according to Miles." He nodded his head towards the terminal and Rean spotted the bespectacled receptionist on the screen. "The problem is that they just got a monster request that might be a little out of their pay grade. Normally we'd just send a couple seniors and get it over with, but he thinks this is a good chance for them to get some proper combat experience against a dangerous opponent with a little friendly support. Laura has offered to help, too. Either of you inter-"
"Dibs." Fie answered before Rean had even processed that Toval was asking the question. "I'll take the job." He wasn't actually surprised she jumped in like that. A chance to impress the juniors and hang out with Laura? That was right up Fie's alley.
"Kinda figured you'd take it. Be careful, though. It sounds like the monster is a Gordi Schnarr G. Don't need to remind you how dangerous they are."
Rean frowned. Indeed he didn't. Back during the Civil War they had fought one. It took him, Toval, Fie, Laura, and Emma to take it down, but not before it got a good hit on him. "You want me to come along?"
"Nah. You know how good me and Laura are when we're together. We'll be fine."
"You got this." Toval agreed before turning back to the terminal and reporting the mission update to Miles. After a few more seconds he ended the line before turning back to Fie. "Alright, they'll be expecting you at the Legram branch as soon as possible."
"Kay. I'll be back later." She gave him a quick peck on the lips and sent Toval a cheery wave before making her exit from the building.
Rean couldn't help but let out a sigh, causing the other man to grin at him. "Haha. Sorry Rean. I think it's the fate of all men like us to end up attached to women who are crazy strong and just plain crazy. Keeps us on our toes, you know?"
He couldn't help but grin in response. "I definitely know it." Well, if he wasn't going to be stuck with Fie today it was time for Plan B. "In that case, want to team up today?"
"Hell yeah! Let's find something and get out of here before we have to deal with Sara and her hangovers." Sage advice indeed. Together the two men did just that.
In her excitement at the request Fie had forgotten one crucial detail – Being alone on a long train ride absolutely sucked. No Rean to tease, play games with, or use as a pillow. Hell, even Sara was preferable to being alone. Inevitably she ended up passing the time by taking a nap that ended up on the lower end of her nap experiences.
Eventually, mercifully, the train reached the misty border town at the end of the line and she departed. Legram, just like Ymir, seemed immune to the changes of time, as the town remained the same as ever. The branch office wasn't far from the station, but she instead walked past it as she had another destination in mind.
Surprisingly, the Arseid school appeared to be closed that day, so her target had to be elsewhere. Now while she might have lacked the ability to sense people that her partner had, she had common sense in spades and knew where next to check for her best friend. Onward, to Laura's home!
The second location proved more successful than the first, and Fie found her best friend inside her home. She knew from previous conversations that her classmate had been taking on more and more responsibilities as her father prepared her to succeed him as viscountess, but seeing her in an office struggling over paperwork was pretty entertaining. Especially as she was so occupied in her work that she didn't even notice the new presence in the room.
Naturally, this presented her with the perfect opportunity to mess with her best friend. Going full Sylphid stealth mode, the mischievous woman silently slipped into the little office without alerting Laura to her presence. Slowly and carefully she made her way around the room, not even allowing herself to breath, as doing so would almost certainly give away her position.
Once behind the blue-haired swordswoman Fie leaned over her shoulder to browse over the document Laura was currently reading. "Expanded fishing rights on Lake Ebel? Sounds bor-"
"Bwaaaaah!" Laura was so startled by the unexpected voice that she nearly fell out of her chair, with only the natural grace and balance from years of sword training saving her. Quickly she caught herself, and in one swift move had that oversized sword she loved so much in her hand. It was only an instant later that she froze in her movements as startled amber made contact with amused chartreuse. "Fie!?"
She couldn't help herself. The expression on her best friend's face was just too funny. She started laughing loudly. This only served to increase Laura's embarrassed ire, which made her laugh even more. This continued for almost a minute before a pouting red-faced Laura was forced to look away in shame.
"...Not that funny." She muttered while still looking away once Fie stopped to catch her breath.
"You literally screamed 'bwah.' Sorry, but that was hilarious."
Eventually getting over her embarrassment Laura finally allowed a small smile to adorn her face. "I take it you're here to assist with the monster request?"
"Yup." She nodded happily. "I left Rean behind cause Miles wants us to back the newbies up instead of taking care of it ourselves. So it's just me."
"Very well." The swordmaiden looked rather amused. "In that case, would you be interested in a quick spar before we meet up with the others? We can't really afford to go all out, but it has been a while since last we crossed blades..."
Oh, now that was a tempting offer. Fighting Laura was always a blast. The ultimate battle between speed and power. The smallest of mistakes being the difference between victory and defeat. She opened her mouth to agree...
And paused. Laura, like Rean and Sara, knew perfectly well how she moved and acted on the battlefield. And while Rean hadn't pointed out any differences in her fighting style since that surprising news, that didn't mean they didn't exist. Perhaps her friend's differing perspective might spot something that Rean has overlooked seeing her on a daily basis...
Mostly she was just afraid that Rean - who had picked Laura - would win their stupid little bet. While he wasn't the kind of person to make a big deal over something like that, she could just picture his smug little grin of victory. Oh did she want to punch his stupid little face so badly in that moment.
Halfway across Erebonia, the swordsman in question felt an ominous shudder go through his body that had nothing to do with the winter chill. It was only thanks to the quick reflex of Toval that he avoided a rather embarrassing injury at the claws of a weak monster.
"Probably not a good idea." Fie admitted once she thought up an appropriate excuse. She let out a rather loud and obnoxious yawn. "Didn't get much sleep last night. Xeno and Leo showed up and caused all kinds of problems for us." Half-truths for the win!
"Oh? Is there a story there?" Her temporary partner asked with interest.
"Mmm. I'll tell you as we walk." Mostly she just needed a minute to modify the story in her head. Gotta keep the fun parts like how they threatened to murder Rean without keeping the reasons why they wanted to murder Rean. Thankfully everyone in Class VII knew just how overzealous the Zephyr members were with her, so she could just use an example from one of their many previous run-ins.
The walk across town to the guild took a while, as Laura was just as popular as ever and it seemed like everyone wanted to chat with her about the most mundane things. Fie couldn't resist the chance to tease her friend, but unfortunately for her Laura had the perfect riposte by pointing out that she had heard the bracer tended to get a similar reception literally everywhere in Erebonia. At least the older woman had the good grace to not point out that she was pouting, but that annoying smug grin she had imagined on Rean was now plastered on Laura's face as they arrived.
It seemed that they were the last ones to arrive. Miles, the receptionist, was present behind the counter, and the two juniors – Kay and Celica – were sitting at a table waiting for them. "We're partnering up with Fie again? That's awesome!" Kay seemed quite excited at that revelation. That excitement lasted only for a second as her eyes looked over at the other arrival before widening in shock. "And you're..."
"I have seen the two of you around town before, but I believe this is the first time we have formally met. My name is Laura S. Arseid. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Daughter of the Viscount, master of the Arseid school, former member of Class VII, and most importantly, my best friend." Fie added helpfully.
"...Wait. Are you two the backup we were told to expect?" That revelation was enough to cause the two teens to sit up a little straighter as if they needed to impress the pair of Class VII heroes. Cute.
It was Laura who nodded in agreement. "Indeed. If the monster is what we believe it to be, it is a very dangerous creature. We defeated one years ago during the Civil War, but it was no easy task."
"Yup. It even managed to get the jump on Rean at one point. Whacked him right into a tree." Although she could laugh about it now, at the time she could only remember extreme fear at his condition and rage at their opponent, even if she didn't fully understand why she took it so personally. Scoring the killing blow was a satisfying experience.
"...That being said," Laura continued sternly after Fie's interruption. "we are not here to do this mission for you. It's still your mission, but we will support you to the best of our abilities."
The silver-haired bracer couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Geez. I feel bad for your little disciples. You're just as scary as ever."
"S-Scary?" Oh look, Laura was turning red. "I treat my station with the respect it deserves, unlike a certain other individual in this room, clearly. Don't you think you could stand to be a little more respectful, as befitting your station as a ranking member of the Bracer Guild?" Fie opened her mouth to retort, but apparently Laura was not yet finished. "...Or would you rather continue to mimic our former instructor?"
"Rude." Talk about a low blow. "I might be a bit relaxed, but at least I don't spend my days drinking. And I've never once tried flirting with your dad." Fie felt a little guilty bringing that sore point up, but Laura started it!
To a random bystander, their little debate might have seemed malicious, but anyone who paid the slightest attention or knew of their status as Class VII members and best friends could easily tell that there was no heat behind their words. That and the matching grins as they traded barbs. Perhaps that was why the two young bracers began to giggle at their actions.
Miles too looked amused for a second, before clearing his throat to bring the topic back on focus. "Are the two of you finished?" She at least was respectful enough to shoot a sheepish glance at the receptionist. "Great. In that case, the monster was last sighted traveling around the hills just above the Ebel Highway. There might be other Gordis with it, so be careful."
Considering it was already getting to be fairly late in the afternoon and she did intend on sleeping in her own bed with her own partner that night, she didn't mind the obvious dismissal at all. The four girls made their way out of town and onto the highway in question. By this point the two rookies seemed to have gotten over their nervousness and had approached the swordmaster to truly introduce themselves. Naturally they soon began to barrage the older woman with questions, but Laura, serene as ever, dutifully answered them to the best of her abilities.
Fie didn't mind at all that most of the attention was being placed on her friend and contributed to the discussion when she needed (or when the opportunity arose to tease Laura about something). Instead she focused most of her being on observing her surroundings. While she knew that Laura and herself could handle the Gordi, she wasn't gonna let the juniors get injured on her watch. Jaeger Fie understood that a little tough love was acceptable, but Bracer Fie wasn't gonna allow any kids to die on her watch.
So she wasn't at all surprised when she was the one to first hear the heavy footfalls of their target about an hour or so outside of Legram. She considered warning the others as it seemed to be approaching them and had friends, but given that this was their mission she held her tongue. A few seconds later and Laura perked up, having heard the enemy as well. The two veterans glanced at each other and the unspoken message was clear.
To their credit, the two juniors did notice the incoming danger, but only as it began its attack by leaping in the air at them, and too late for them to get out of the way. The large simian might have ended the fight before it even began had Laura not interjected herself between the monster and the teens, taking the attack head on. Despite the monster being at least twice her size and four times her weight, the swordmaster was unfazed as she blocked the attack with her greatsword.
"Always remain alert when hunting a monster." Fie chided gently as she fired some shots she had been charging up at the beast, forcing it away from her friend. "They aren't always gonna stand around waiting for you to hunt them down."
Celica and Kay were quick to recover and hastily moved to engage the enemy, spear and gun at the ready. Fie could have joined them, but elected instead to hold back and only intervene when they needed assistance. Laura too, backed away from the Gordi, but standing around wasn't really her style. "I will handle the others." She declared as two lesser apes finally emerged onto the area.
She observed as the two younger friends fought the powerful foe. It was clear that although their fighting styles hadn't improved much since joining the guild, their ability to make use of combat links and orbal arts was far superior since getting their own ARCUS II orbments. Celica was using her Schleiden training in an attempt to keep the Gordi Schnarr G at bay while Kay peppered it with bullets and arts.
An effective tactic, but one that couldn't hope to last against a foe more powerful than them. With a swipe of its meaty arm it forced away the tip of Celica's spear before taking a swing with the other arm while ignoring the desperate bullets impacting it. Hastily the target brought her spear up in a feeble attempt to block, but it was unnecessary as Fie had already sprung into action, darting in as a silver blur and slashing at the exposed limb. The creature roared in agony as it fell back while trying to protect the injured arm. "Don't try and block something like that. Laura can get away with it cause she's freakishly strong," She easily ignored the cry of protest from said freak as she carved her way through the smaller enemies. "but for us normal folk it's a lot easier to dodge."
Again she backed off to observe, but a thought came to mind. "Actually, let me help you with that." Saying that she focused her energy into her own orbment. Brave Orders weren't something she used much recently, as they tended to consume a lot of energy and they weren't always practical when it was just her with Rean or one of the other bracers. But in a party like this (even if neither she nor Laura needed it)? "Zephyr Tempest!"
The effects were immediate as both girls immediately began fighting at a higher tempo. Both their strikes were faster and they were quicker on their feet, allowing them to avoid the powerful swings of their enemy a lot easier. It was almost unfair how much of an advantage the next generation had over what Class VII had to deal with during the Civil War. She shook her head to clear those thoughts. That was the kind of crap that the Boss and Sara always whined about. She wasn't that old yet!
She allowed herself to relax a bit as the battle continued. Thanks to her brave order the two girls were able to fight the monster on equal footing and even forcing it back, so outside of the occasional supporting fire Fie didn't assist all that much. Laura too had finished in her task and was moving over to join her in their observations.
With confidence growing the two girls increased their assault on the Gordi Schnarr, but Fie knew better. "Any second now..." She muttered to her best friend once she had arrived. Sure enough, not long after that statement the monster let out a bellowing roar and stood a little taller as its injuries seemed to diminish. "A lot of monsters tend to enhance their power and even heal their wounds once badly damaged!" She yelled out after the fact. "Make sure to use your strongest attacks once it weakens!"
"Couldn't you tell us that before it got pissed!" A panicked Kay screeched as she hastily dove out of the way to avoid the now rampaging beast.
"I forgot?" She didn't actually forget, but telling them that might not go over so well. Beside her Laura let out a rather unladylike snort.
Celica had to back off as her spear thrusts barely seemed to faze the monster. "Well what do we do now? We don't have any attacks strong enough to finish it off!"
"Really? No dramatic over-the-top finisher? That's... kinda lame." She let out a sigh while ignoring the fact that the only reason the juniors weren't glaring at her is because they were so focused on the monkey out to kill them. "You really need to work on that after. Even if it's something as lame as simply setting your sword on fire, it's always good to have an ace in the hole. Fine..." With a bored expression she turned to her best friend. "Be a dear and provide them with your freakish strength, will ya?"
"My strength isn't freakish, it's from years of hard training-" Laura trailed off once she remembered who she was talking to. It was funny seeing the older woman pout. "...Avalon Hearts." She activated her own Brave Order with absolutely no enthusiasm.
All present felt a surge of strength as her order overwrote the earlier one. Now the two junior bracers had the strength to finish the simian off. Of course by doing so they no longer had the agility needed to safely survive its frantic assault. With a final sigh Fie leapt into action.
The Gordi had been so focused on the main attackers that it was unprepared for Fie's assault. Not that it would have done much better if it had been ready as Class VII's speedster darted around it with ease, easily evading the lumbering swipes and slashing through flesh and muscle like it was nothing thanks to Laura's enhancement. She had to physically restrain herself lest she kill the monster when her sole goal was to keep its attention on her for the others.
Luckily the others seemed to have understood her intentions and were quick to go on the offensive with the enemy distracted. What the two girls lacked in cool finishers with lots of explosions they (somewhat) made up for with simple efficiency.
Kay was first, assaulting the enemy with a barrage of bullets before quickly switching to her orbment for an Aerial Dust that Fie had to make distance to avoid. She never really understood why Laura's Brave Order also enhanced arts damage considering the swordswoman was almost as useless with offensive arts as she was, but the results spoke for themselves. The powerful tornado buffeted and sliced away at the monster with powerful ferocity.
Which gave an opening for her partner to dart in and skewer the Gordi with her spear. The attack lacked any of the finesse that Fie would expect to see from a member of an actual martial arts school, but sometimes keeping it simple was the best answer. The spear piercing through the eye and into the skull was yet another example of that.
Naturally, nothing short of a Magic Knight could survive something like that, and fortunately no such creatures had been seen since the end of the Twilight. With the beast finally dead the two young bracers slumped to the ground in exhaustion. Fie merely let out a yawn that had absolutely nothing to do with any feeling of tiredness. "Yay. We won. Good job, you two." She complimented in complete deadpan. "Still, there's plenty of room for improvement. I give you guys a B for effort. Nah. B-."
Which was enough to earn her the two glares they had been desperately wanting to send her the entire time. "No thanks to you! I thought we were gonna have fun fighting alongside two members of Class VII, but I wasn't expecting to suffer like this!"
"I must confess." Laura chimed in, looking towards her friend. "I had assumed you would have taken after Rean when it came to mentoring the next generation, but it appears you really have adopted our own Instructor and her... teachings."
"Nah." She refuted easily enough, even if she did twitch slightly being compared to Sara yet again. "Sara probably would have stayed in town all day getting drunk. At most she would have popped in at the last second, drunk, and stolen all the credit."
The Arseid hummed thoughtfully. "Fair enough. It is probably for the best that you don't do that." She soon adopted a dangerous grin that was out of place on the normally reserved woman's face as she turned to the two girls. "If that had happened we all would have been in trouble. Fie is... notoriously bad with her drink."
"Hey!" She might not have been affected much by the Sara comparison, but that was a low blow! And the worst part was that she couldn't say or do anything to deny it because of her little secret. "Nobody is to talk about that!"
She knew she had lost that argument as soon as the two girls began giggling at her expense. "Fie's a total lightweight?"
"I wish we could have seen it..."
"Yeah, that's never happeni-" Fie paled once she realized that Laura had her ARCUS open. "Don't you dare show it!" Damn that Rean to the deepest pits of Gehenna!
"Don't worry, Fie." Laura answered kindly. "I have no intention of showing them that humiliating video... I merely sent it so they can peruse it at their own leisure."
She gaped, horrified, as the telltale chime of a new message sounded on both junior's orbments. Wasn't Laura supposed to be the prim and proper noblewoman? Clearly Rean wasn't the only one who has gotten better at dealing with her shenanigans. That was unfortunate.
Briefly she toyed with the idea of murdering all three of her companions and hiding the bodies off the road, but unfortunately that would have led to a lot of questions. "Whatever. It's not that big a deal." Time to save face. "But you two aren't allowed to click on that video until after I'm gone or else." The way they giggled in response to her threat made it obvious it didn't quite land home.
After sending one final withering glare towards her best friend Fie recomposed herself and became the professional bracer once again. "Alright, let's head back so you can make your reports and I can catch the train back home. Cause, you know, I'm a very busy and successful senior bracer with my own home and a loving fiancee waiting for me, unlike the rest of you." Maybe not so professional after all, but she was entitled to that much, at least.
Far away in distant Heimdallr a meeting was taking place at a restaurant. This in itself was nothing unusual as plenty of meetings were taking place all across the large city, but this one was a bit of an oddity that drew a few eyes towards it. After all, both young women were almost completely identical in appearance with very distinctive pink hair.
"...And after that the operation was a success." Vivi listened with half an ear as her sister recounted one of her more recent work experiences. While she wasn't all that emotionally invested in the overnight surgery of some random miner, the fact they were letting Linde assist in the procedure showed that she was moving up in the nursing world, and she couldn't be happier for her.
"Huh. Neat. And your reward for all of that is this?"
Linde nodded her head in agreement. "Yes. They've given me the next four days off."
"And yet you're only spending one of those days with me before going off on a trip with your boy toy. Talk about priorities."
"T-That's not it at all! It's just that our schedules don't often line up like this so we thought it best to take advantage of this chance to spend some together and-"
Vivi couldn't help but snort. It was always so easy teasing her sister. "Nah, I don't mind. But still, a romantic getaway to the Nord Highlands... I wanna hear all the steamy details when you get back, alright?"
"That's not happening!"
"Aww. Spoilsport. In that case, I guess I will just be forced to tie you up and take your place. Take the chance to see what your man is packing and all..."
"Vivi!"
By this point her sister looked ready to explode. Best to dial it back, just a little bit. "Fine, fine. I won't pry into your steamy sex life..." She casually ignored Linde's indignant cry. "...For now, at least. Would rather be investigating a far more interesting relationship."
"Huh?"
"Oh? You didn't hear yet? Apparently there's something going on with Fie and Rean. Sounds like they took an unannounced trip somewhere and have been acting all weird after it." Technically false as from what she had heard they have mostly been acting the same, but the gossip inside of her could just smell a scoop from a selge away. "They've been hiding something for the last week and I'm-"
She was unable to finish her declaration as she was suddenly showered in a liquid. It was only a second later that she realized that it was the drink that had just been in Linde's mouth. "Oh gosh! I'm so sorry!" Her sister apologized profusely after getting over a coughing fit that had ensued from her words.
"Ugh!" She was thoroughly drenched! And worst of all, now everyone was staring at them! "Why'd you do that?" Although her disgust was genuine, her mind was racing as she was more interested in why exactly Linde reacted like that.
"I'm so sorry! I just... had something go down the wrong pipe, that's all. But I... wish you luck in your investigation, haha..."
Curious. She knew her twin better than anyone and that was such a fake laugh it almost pained her to listen to. But why would she react like that unless-
She knew. Whatever it was that was going on with Fie and Rean was something her sister was privy to. But she knew Linde enough to know that she had no intention of revealing that secret. Thankfully the act of cleaning her face off was enough to mask her thoughts from the girl who knew her the best, or else she might have realized her suspicions.
But it made no sense why Linde knew their secret and she didn't. Sure it sounded arrogant, but Vivi knew she was closer to the couple, both literally and figuratively. So why did she know and not her?
Of course! If whatever it was they were hiding was something medical related they would turn to the nurse they trusted to keep a secret. She, like most of the others, had heard about the results of the bracer's mission to North Ambria and their encounter with Phantom Thief B, but as someone who routinely lied and schemed to get her stories she wasn't as willing to accept the word of a terrorist so easily.
With that realized Vivi returned her attention to her still sheepish sister, lest she arouse her suspicions. But that was only on the surface. Deep down she was making plans. Since Linde was going to be away from Roer for the next few days it meant the path was clear for 'Linde' to return without anyone being the wiser...
