Ba'ul flew to the surface of Zaphias, the party ran as fast as they could but had much ground to cover.

Raven's eyes were closed, but his heart was still active. Yuri and Flynn carried him, running in perfect synchronization to try and get him across the field.

Rita held the chunk of metal in place, trying not to let it slip. Currently, it was the only thing keeping him alive.

The rest of them had formed a perimeter, ripping apart any monster that came too close.

"Stay in line! Don't stray too far away!" Yuri shouted.

Judith was spearheading any flying monsters that came their way, Karol was on the left, Estelle was next to Rita on the right, and Patty brought up the rear.

Unfortunately, Brave Vesperia couldn't sit still for long. The Destruction of the Adephagos wasn't that long ago.

The gates to the capital began to open, knights poured out, and began to hold back the hoards of monsters, allowing the party entry.

"Out of the way!" Flynn shouted at nearby nobles as they headed for the infirmary around the block from the castle.

They climbed the stairs rapidly. Several guards recognized them and inputted the code to the gate.

The gates swung open, and the crew climbed the rest of the steps.

They carefully set Raven's stretcher down on a nearby table and caught their breath.

"Where's the Doctor?" Rita hastily asked Estelle.

The pink-haired princess pointed to a young man in a lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck. He was finished examining his current patient and made his way over there.

Before he could speak, Rita bombarded him with commands, "This man needs lavender herbs, class 3 antibiotics, a panacea bottle and some tweezers that are not metal."

The young doctor equipped his stethoscope.

Rita grabbed his hand, "Unless you want to get electrocuted, you better slow down. His heart is busted."

"Relax, " He spoke, "I know what I'm doing."

He placed the scope next to his heart and listened, tapping his finger in various places.

"He does know what he's doing." Löder appeared from the side, looking down at Raven, "He's kept me alive for a long time, even without the aid Blastia."

"This guy?" Yuri asked.

"He's so young," Rita said.

"I'm 16, to be precise," The young, brown-haired doctor put his stethoscope back around his neck.

"Raven is going to be just fine," He assured everyone.

"You know his name?" Yuri asked.

"Hi," he offered Yuri his hand, "Doctor Akuto, big fan."

Yuri shook his hand, "So, you know all of us then?"

He pointed to Karol," Karol Capel, a former member of the Hunting Blades, leader and founder of Brave Vesperia."

He turned his finger to Judith, "Judith, Krytian, you left Myorzo at age 10 with your Entelexia, Ba'ul, to destabilize Hermes Blastia."

"Oh my," Judith looked impressed, placing her hand on her chest, "You are good."

He pointed to Flynn, "Flynn Scifo, Commandant of the knights, "

Flynn smiled politely as Doctor Akuto's finger pointed to Patty.

"Patty Fleur, Pirate, and treasure hunter, and the founder of a particularly excellent seafood restaurant."

Patty smiled, "Guilty as charged."

"Estellise Sidos Heurassein, Child of the Full moon, the key to the saving of our world." Every word he spoke was passionate.

"Our patient here is Raven, a veteran of the great war, and the victim of an assassination attempt, apparently." The Doctor pushed his hair away from his face.

He turned to Rita with pure envy, "Rita Mordio, I have waited a long time to meet you. To be in your presence is an honor."

Rita blushed, "Um..." She searched for the right response, "Likewise, " She politely responded.

The Doctor chuckled, "Your work with Blastia, your idea to transform the Blastia into spirits, harnessing Estellise's power, it's all amazing."

"Hey, " Rita told him, "You're the one who's keeping heartless patients alive, " She looked at Löder, "No offense."

"None took, " Löder replied.

"I hate to interrupt this, but could you tell us what's wrong with Raven?" Yuri asked him impatiently.

"Right, " Akuto adjusted his coat, "His Blastia is damaged severely, which will be a threat to his life if a replacement isn't constructed, "

The party's hearts felt as if they'd been slashed.

"The good news is that I can give him a bit longer, " The teenage doctor told them. Rita listened intently to his every word.

"I am going to flush his Blastia with water to remove the tiny chunks of wood; this should give him a month or two." He further ran his hands over Raven's chest.

"That's not possible, " Rita told him, "The shock would overwhelm the Blastia and put him into cardiac arrest."

"Not, " The Doctor paused for effect, "If you use water distilled by a miracle gel."

Rita smacked her forehead with her palm, "Of course! The gel prevents the water from being a bridge for the electricity!"

"Bingo." The young boy smiled, "Nurse, bring me some gel water, please," The nearby nurse nodded and then left the room.

"So, " Said Doctor Akutō, "How was this injury sustained?"

The party looked at each other for a moment.

"A group of Mercenaries attacked our ship," Yuri told him.

"We captured four of them, " said Judith, "Repede is watching over them."

"That's odd..." The doctor said, "I would have that you would have traveled by air with your Friend."

"We were..." Rita told him, puzzled, "It was a flying ship that used technology identical to the kind that Patty developed for our boat."

Patty nodded her head, "Except I couldn't make ours fly..."

The nurse returned with the bucket and began rinsing Raven's heart.

"No offense..." Rita started, "But is that Nurse qualified?"

The Nurse frowned at Rita.

The young, brown-haired doctor nodded, "I understand your worries, but every nurse here is more than qualified."

The Doctor readjusted his glasses, "The technology in your boat, I have heard of it."

Patty's eyebrow raised, "Oh?"

The doctor was punctual, "I would like to work with the two of you on developing a new form of Blastia powered by that technology."

Rita's eyes widened, "I had the very same idea!"

Patty shook her head, "The design is simple. Rita knows everything there is to know, Blastia are a mystery to me."

"If you and I figure it out, " Rita spoke directly to the doctor, "We could save Raven's life, and possibly Löder's if we work fast enough!"

Akutō beamed the innocent smile of a young boy, "I'll show you my lab. We should get started right away."

"Agreed, " Rita told him and followed him out the door, but turned around quickly to run back.

She hugged Estelle and kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you," Rita told her.

Estelle took her hand, "I love you too. Have fun doing what you love. I believe in you."

Rita ran off after the doctor, "Hey, slow down!"

Estelle sighed, this would be her first time away from her since the Adephagos, and she already missed her.

"Well, Nurse, do you have everything taken care of here?" Judith asked Raven's attending.

The Nurse nodded, "Everything here will be fine. He's in the best care that Zaphias has to offer."

Löder finally spoke up, "These nurses are conscientious, they take every precaution necessary, I assure you."

The party turned to Löder.

"Thank you," said Estelle, "Sorry if our Mage gave you some trouble on the docks."

"It's fine," he assured her, "I completely understand."

Dorik, his mean-looking bodyguard, emerged from the shadows.

"Sir, " He said, "I believe it is time for your speech at the children's hospital."

The Party was uneasy around Löder's bodyguard. Something about him didn't feel right.

"You..." Dorik glared at them, everyone, except Fynn, glared back.

His look defused, "I am sorry for the way I treated you. Please accept my sincerest apologies."

"Why you little..." Yuri started before being interrupted by Estelle.

"Your apology is accepted, " The Pink-haired princess told him, stepping in front of Yuri.

"Dorik is no longer serving as my bodyguard, " Löder told them.

"So you fired him?" Judith asked.

"Actually, " Löder began to say but was interrupted by Flynn.

"I promoted him," Flynn told the Party.

They looked at Flynn in disbelief, "Why would you do that?" Karol asked him.

Flynn took a deep breath, "His service records are spotless, he served in my brigade as a sergeant for a lengthy time. He even lead one of the ships that stopped Heracles."

"This jerk?" Yuri asked him.

"He's not a jerk, " Flynn assured him, "He's just overprotective."

"So, what's he promoted to?" Judith asked.

"He is assuming control of the Cumore Brigade, after a certain...incident..." Flynn told them.

Yuri fell silent.

"If you genuinely think he's the best person for the job, " Estelle told him, "Then I'm sure he's excellent."

The tall, muscular, newly appointed caption of the knights stood there with his arms crossed in silence.

Everyone else stood in silence as Estelle faked a smile and bowed to Dorik, "Welcome to the Imperial Knights. I look forward to working with you."

Dorik nodded and left the hospital with Löder.

"Dang," Karol said, "It's a good thing that Flynn is still the face of the knights, that guy's face could instill fear inside of everyone."

"Don't worry. I'll watch him." Yuri said.

Flynn tapped Yuri's shoulder, "We need to talk, in private."

Yuri pushed his hand away, "Fine."

The childhood best friends walked outside of the infirmary, on the steps. The sun was beginning to set on them.

"Yuri, " Flynn stated, "There are things you've done..."

"I know, " Yuri interrupted, "My crimes, the justice I brought when nobody else would..."

Flynn sighed, "I will forgive these incidents, and I will forget them as long as you swear never to do anything like this again."

Yuri looked away from him, "You have climbed the ladder now, so as long as you do your job, I won't have to do it for you."

"Yuri..." Flynn said, at a loss for words.

Yuri stepped inside, leaving Flynn with his thoughts for a few minutes.

Yuri shut the door, "Alright then!" He spoke to the party, "I guess we better go take a look at those prisoners then, huh?"

Karol hopped up, "Finally, I've been looking forward to this."

"Aye, it is time to satisfy my curiosity!"

"I do hope Repede is ok..." Judith said.

"I'm going to stay here..." Estelle told them.

"Are you sure?" Yuri asked.

"I'll watch Raven and wait for Rita..." Estelle told everyone.

"That's cute, " Judith smiled, "You miss Rita."

Estelle turned pink, "N-no..."

Yuri rolled his eyes, "Ok, those of us who are left, let's go."

•••

Repede stared at the four men intently, never letting them out of his sight. They stared back, watching, knowing that the chunky dog could rip their throats out at any moment.

"He..." One of the men stuttered, "He has a weapon."

Another mercenary responded, "I saw him kill. He's no ordinary dog."

The other two men had dead looks in their eyes as if they didn't care what was happening.

"What do you think's going to happen?"

"I just hope we don't starve..."

The sound of footsteps raised the ear of the loyal pooch, who didn't take his eyes off of the group until they were here.

"Good work, Repede, " Yuri complimented.

Woof

Judith tapped her finger to her ear, "Ba'ul is flying around looking for the wreckage from their ship; he's had no luck so far."

"That's odd. You'd think he could find it..." Karol said.

Judith got defensive, "He's doing his best."

"I'm sure he is," Karol said, "I didn't mean it in that way."

Patty ran toward Repede and reached into her pocket, "You've earned yourself one of Aunt Patty's special treats."

Repede wagged his tail and ran to her, sitting and waiting patiently.

Yuri grabbed her by the back of the shirt and lifted her straight up in the air, then turned her around to look at him.

Her expression was pouty. Yuri was smiling as he looked at her.

"I told you already, " Yuri scolded her lightly, "He's on a diet."

Repede whined slightly.

Yuri sighed and sat her down, "Fine; I guess he's earned it."

Patty ran over and fed him a treat from her palm.

"This is adorable, " Flynn said, "But the prisoners need to be attended to."

"Right." Judith said sternly.

They surrounded the pillar of their ship, where four prisoners had been tightly secured for a decent amount of time.

"Let's skip the whole interrogation thing and skip straight to the entire purpose of this assassination attempt, " Judith threatened one of them with her spear.

"We will never talk..." One of them said while trying not to cry.

"Yeah, " the other one said, "You can't kill us anyway, you need information."

"Really?" Judith asked, "Because there are four of you here, and I only need one."

The two in the center that had been talking began to sweat, but the two on the outside of the pillar had just been staring blankly.

Estelle looked closer to one of them, "Hey, guys?" She asked them over there.

They all looked at him.

"He looks... Almost dead..." Karol said, puzzled.

Judith waved her hand in front of his eyes, snapping her fingers to try and get a response.

The man simply growled.

"Maybe we hit him somewhere?" Estelle asked.

"That's unlikely," Flynn said as he examined the other, "Unless we hit both of these guys in the exact same place."

Judith pointed her spear back at one in the center's throats, "Start talking."

The mercenary gulped, "I-I don't know anything."

"You're lying!" Patty shouted as she pulled out her musket and pressed it against his sweaty forehead.

"He's dead!" The mercenary shouted horrified.

They collectively gasped.

"He's what?" Estelle asked.

"Whoever hires us is using a mixed army. Some part living and some part dead." The Mercenary began to cry.

"You're not telling us everything!" Judith hollered.

"We don't know who he is. He gave us a ton of money to ram your ship. I swear we had no idea who you were!"

"Judith, stop." Flynn lightly pushed her spear down.

Karol poked one of the dead warriors, "So this guy is dead, but he's fighting?"

"They're lying," Yuri said firmly, "That is impossible."

Patty twiddled her thumbs anxiously and groaned.

"Patty?" Judith asked, "Do you know something about this?"

Patty sighed, and her voice broke, "The technology for the ship..." she sniffled, "I didn't invent it."

Yuri placed his hand on Patty's shoulder to comfort her, "Patty, it's ok."

Judith got sympathetic, too, "Where did you get it, patty?"

Patty looked up at them, "I got it from... me..."

The Party was stunned once again.

"Does this mean that the fleet of the undead, controlled by the infamous Aifreed, were really dead?" Judith asked nervously.

Patty nodded slowly, "And their ships ran on this technology, not on Blastia."

"So you're saying..." Karol started, "This technology can be, and has been, used to raise the dead?"

Patty nodded and teared up again, "It can be used for good, too! I didn't show anybody how to use it for that purpose!"

Flynn shook his head in disbelief, "This is... So much to take in."

The two undead warriors suddenly disappeared, like monsters, dust to the wind.

The two remaining prisoners were now drenched in sweat and shivering, "I don't know anything else... Please don't kill us..." one of them pleaded.

Yuri cut them loose, "Flynn..." He called his friend over.

"Of course, " Flynn told him and then turned to their prisoners, "Under our recently passed law, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be..."

•••

Estelle sat next to Raven, knowing he'd be ok. Rita had been gone for a long time, and she was starting to feel the pit of jealousy swelling within.

Raven stirred, Estelle reacted by taking his hand.

He shielded his eyes from the light, "Oh boy, I guess this ain't the light at the end of the tunnel then?"

"Raven! I'm so glad you're ok!" She gripped his hand tightly.

"Ouch, hey!" He told her.

"Sorry, we were all worried about you..." She told him.

He sat up and looked around, "Apparently, everyone else wasn't too worried."

"We..." She started, "We knew you'd be ok... Rita is working with your doctor on a project to replace Blastia. The rest are out dealing with our four prisoners."

He nodded, "I know about all of that. I can hear just fine during that state. I just can't do anything else."

"I see..." Estelle whispered.

"So, " He began to ask, "Why are you here instead of questioning the prisoners?"

"Well, I guess I didn't feel up to it..." Estelle lied.

Raven chuckled, "No. You're jealous of the doctor."

Estelle's reaction told the truth, she perked up, and her face scrunched, "I am not!"

Raven laughed again and tried to stand, but got dizzy and decided to stay put, "Kiddo, Rita loves you. That smooth-talking teenage boy isn't going to take her."

"But..." Estelle said, "They have more similarities, and there is less of an age gap..."

"Age is nothing but a number, " Raven winked at her and laughed, "No, seriously. That kid loves you so much, take it from the man who has loved and lost so many times."

Estelle smiled, "Thank you, Raven."

•••

Rita and Doctor Akutō wrote formulas ferociously, up to their ears in hastily stacked parchments.

Rita wheeled three boards up, pointing to one, "This is the structure of a normal Blastia, the core is made out of a tiny piece of the soul of an Entelexia."

She pointed to the next one, "This is a Hermes Blastia, an utterly synthetic Blastia Substitute. It would've been a marvel of engineering if it didn't..."

She circled a particular portion of the formula, "This, right here. This was necessary to replicate natural cores, but it absorbed vast quantities of Aer."

Doctor Akutō stepped to the third slide, "But if we use this technology that the Pirates developed..."

Rita interrupted him, "I think you mean Pirate, Patty invented it on her own."

"Right." He said, "You could create a near-perfect Blastia Replica with minimal Aer."

Rita sighed, "The problem is, we could create it, but it would just as much Aer as a normal Blastia. Humanity would be doomed once again."

Akutō rubbed his chin, "What if we just made the two, one for Löder and one for Raven?"

Rita shook her head, "People would find out, there would be a war equal to that of the Great War, and it would end in the usage of Blastia anyway."

The young doctor sighed, "I suppose you're right. But we're so close. I know it has to be possible."

Rita snapped from her Blastia trance when she heard a group of footsteps, "Oh crap, Estelle, " She whispered to herself before running out the door.

"I'll see you at sunrise tomorrow; we'll figure it out!" She hollered at him. She was Essentially giving him a command.

Rita joined the full party in the library.

"Old man! You finally woke up..." Rita said, relieved.

"Yeah, We were all worried about you, " Karol told him.

"Relax, a little near-death experience is good for Ya." He winked at Judith.

Repede wagged his tail and barked gently.

Estelle ran over quickly and gave Rita an oversized hug, clinging to her as tightly as possible.

"Woah, Estelle... I can't breathe, " Rita enjoyed the moment but wished she would ease up a bit.

"Sorry... I missed you..." Estelle said.

Patty smiled, "Aww, now that's a dream couple."

"We all need to discuss something before turning in for the night..." Flynn said.

•••

Rita and Estelle shared an Inn, getting dressed after their eventful shower.

"I can't believe you can actually use this technology to raise the dead..." Rita stuttered, nervously.

Estelle held Rita firmly, listening to her heart run a marathon, "I know... It's scary."

"I mean, The thought crossed my mind while I was working, but I abandoned the idea because it was preposterous." Rita was racking her brain.

Estelle let the red-headed genius lay on her chest, Rita just listened to the sound of Estelle's heart.

Estelle ran her fingers through Rita's hair to calm her, "You'll figure it out, you're super smart."

Rita blushed, "Thanks, you're the best."

Estelle blushed and kissed her new lover on the top of the head.

Rita nuzzled herself into Estelle's chest, feeling relaxed and panicked at the same time.

"How do I stop thinking about this?" Rita asked her.

Estelle simply held her, "You take eight deep breaths, and then let yourself slowly drift off into dreamland. Any problems can be sent to tomorrow because there's nothing you can do right now."

Rita smiled and relaxed, "Thank you..."

Estelle stayed awake until she was sure that Rita had dozed off, and then closed her eyes to join her.

"Oh Rita, " She whispered to her sleeping companion.

"You have a heart."