Volume II: Unforgiving Kingdom
Chapter XXIII: The Peaceful First Floor
Location: 1st Floor, Goldenia
Meanwhile in another part of the floor, Albert had been showing Grena around the first floor where the majority of its civilians lived. The chain-wielding mercenary was looking all around, taking in as much of the area as she could while they walked around. Grena took notice of how everyone manages to keep their spirits so high despite the earthquakes and poverty they're forced to endure daily.
"I don't understand these people..." Grena thought to herself. "They live down here in a floor that looks like it's on its way to becoming a ghost town any day now, and yet they're all so happy. So cheerful... What the hell is with them? How can they stand living in such terrible ass conditions?"
"Grena?"
Grena was snapped out of her thoughts as Albert called out to her.
"Are you alright?" He asked. "You seemed to be lost in thought for a moment."
"Oh, yeah I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She answers. "It's nothing important." Grena looks ahead of them. "That aside, everything seems so peaceful and calm down here. Everyone's trying to get along. Nobody's trying to put down one another. It's different. WAY different compared to what you'd see on the higher floors."
"We do try to keep things peaceful down here as much as possible, as I've said. Each other is really all we have down here."
"I guess that makes sense. You guys have nothing but each other so you don't have a choice but to get along. Meanwhile, people on the higher floors do nothing but argue with each other. The higher you go the more you find people thinking they're better than one another. But of course, you probably already know that Mr. Ex-Imperial Soldier. You've seen this type of crap all the time, huh?"
"Well everything you said is correct. Except for the part about us having no choice down here. There's no rule saying that we have to get along."
"Really?"
"When you go through hard times with others, you learn to work with them not by force, but because you want to work with them. We aren't relying on each other because we have to, but because we want to. It's like we're a large team like you and your friends."
"That's it? There's got to be some another reason."
"I'm sure you've had to see this somewhere else before. A town full of people with very little working together to accomplish a lot."
"Yeah, I have. It's back in my home village. And even then, that still ended with people turning on others and going off on their own a lot when I was younger."
"And that never changed?"
"It only changed when a disease broke out throughout the village caused by Demons, killing a lot of people including my father. But even then, we still weren't like this. People were still selfish. If anyone found something to take care of themselves after being infected, they tried to keep it to themselves, not caring if it meant leaving the other villagers to die." Grena turned to face Albert. "Mankind is just naturally selfish. It's how we were born. So I'm sorry if I'm so surprised by seeing people work together like this."
"If you believe that humans are indeed so selfish, then why do you bother to travel with the rest of your group? You have every option to grab your stuff and leave anytime that you wish but yet here you are."
"Because just like I'm sure they have one, I have other motivations. I don't know what'll happen if I were to try and leave Goldenia now. There's no telling anymore with all the surprises and shit we've been met with. Even if this is the end of our journey, better to play it safe and have their help for as long as I need it. That's my reason. And I'm positive Ragna and the others all have their motivations for wanting me to tag along. Frankly I can't say that I blame them." Grena raises an arm up and puts a hand over her muscles. "I mean if you've seen how much power I'm packing, you'd do the same in their situation." Grena puts her arm down. "At the end of the day, we're all just a bunch of people who are heading in the same direction right now. Doesn't mean it'll always be that way and that'll be when our teamwork comes to a close. What happens to them after we leave here isn't my concern."
Grena's stomach growls slightly.
"Alongside that... I'm kinda hungry myself. So doing them a favor does my stomach a favor."
"Well then." Albert said. "Can you explain me then?"
"Excuse me?"
"I don't have any reason to help your group whatsoever and yet here I am. Isn't that an example of my kind nature superseding my selfishness?"
"Please, you said it yourself. You want to keep peace in this place as much as possible. Not fighting us is a good way to do that."
"But, wouldn't turning you in to the imperial army also be a good way to go about that as well? Think about the benefit that would have on the first floor if I didn't even allow you five to stay here."
Grena scoffed, realizing he had a point. "Well-"
"What's more, a reward was offered up at the maximum price of whatever the Imperial Court itself can afford. Imagine what I could do for the village or for myself with that reward."
"What are you getting at?"
"I'm merely making a joke to show you that what I am doing is not out of selfishness."
"Well so what? One good apple isn't gonna purify a bunch of bad ones. So what if you're telling the truth about your kindness? So what if these people don't have any motives other than being nice? It doesn't change human nature."
Albert sighed. "I can appreciate that you look at the bigger picture of everything. But here, we're more concerned with the actions of few than the actions of many. Perhaps that's why you feel this way about humanity."
"You're probably right." Grena shrugged. "Then again what do I know? I'm just a girl who's as selfish as the people she insults. Sorry if my attitude's brought down the mood for you."
"Oh, no worries. I promise."
The two continued to walk through much of the populated area. Grena continued to make note of her surroundings. Despite everything she said however, she still found it quite delightful to see smiling faces and people who greeted them with kindness across the first floor. No fighting, no arguing, no one being shaken up by the random earthquakes here and there. Part of her was a little surprised at all of this, but the other part of her thought it would be best to play and act nice as well, if only to not cause unnecessary trouble for Albert or any of the others. Albert had noticed her going along and being friendly, but chose not to say anything about her attitude.
Eventually the two found themselves in what appeared to be a shopping district for the first floor. It came to a surprise for the mercenary that they've managed to establish their own shopping district inside such a nearly deserted floor. Even with all of that there were still such a variety of different shops in the area.
"Oh! Albert! Over here!"
Albert's and Grena's attention was caught when someone called out to the former. Looking to the right of them, there was a woman who was running what appeared to be a flower shop signaling for Albert to come over there. Grena remained behind as Albert walked over there.
"Hey, who's that girl that you're with?" The flower shop girl whispered to Albert when we walked over there. "I don't think I've ever seen here around here before."
"Oh, she came from a higher floor." Albert answered. "When I ran into her she asked me to give her a tour around here, so I was just showing her around."
"Ah. Well would you might giving her these for me?" The flower girl hands Albert a small bouquet of flowers. "Consider it a welcoming gift for her."
"Very well then. I'm sure she'll appreciate this."
Albert took the bouquet and started walking back over to Grena. The mercenary immediately took notice of the bouquet in his hands.
"What was that all about?" Grena asked. "And what's with all the flowers? Is she your girlfriend or something?" The last part Grena said with a mocking tone.
"Oh, no it's not." Albert answered. "She just wanted to give you this lovely bouquet."
"Huh? What for?"
"Think of it as a welcoming gift."
"Oh hey, it's Al-Hm? Who's that girl with him?" The two heard someone nearby asked.
"Wow, she's so cute! You think that's Albert's girlfriend?" Another person asked.
"That's his girlfriend? You'd think she'd come to see him more often then. Like that other girl." Another person said as well.
"Let's go." Grena said suddenly to Albert. "People are starting to make weird assumptions."
Grena started walking way faster than Albert could respond, leaving the man to just walk after her as she left.
Sometime later, Albert and Grena decided to stop somewhere so that the two could take a break from walking around. Eventually they found a bench sitting out in the open that no one else was currently sitting at. It was then that the two were able to take a break, Grena sitting down on the bench while Albert leaned on the side without sitting down.
"Well, this has been one hell of a tour." Grena sighed. "I could've done without everyone making assumptions about us."
"I can't say that I blame them for thinking that way." Albert said. "When you think about it, it really does look as if the two of us are out on a date. It's only natural that the people would think that." He chuckled slightly. "I suppose it will be fun later on when I have to convince everyone that's not the case though."
"Yeah, you have fun with that. In the meantime, I'd better go on ahead and do some shopping for the rest of the group then."
"Very well then. Whenever you're done resting I suppose I can lead you in the right direction."
"Right. Right. Till then, why don't you tell me about yourself huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Tell me more about when you were an imperial soldier. If were gonna be sitting here for a while then I might as well get to know the guy showing me around then, am I right?"
"Hm. . . There's nothing wrong with that."
"So what was it like?"
"Seeing as you heard of my record down here on the first floor, is it possible that you have heard of things about the imperial army in the past as well?"
"Such as?"
"For starters, have you heard of the Sky Knights?"
"No, I haven't."
"We were the royal guards assigned to protecting one of Goldenia's previous kings before his death. Our group was very small as there was only five of us, but we all got along and worked together very well. It was if there was nothing that could harm the King of Goldenia when the five of us were around. I was the group's commander."
"You had all of that?! Holy shit that sounds like one hell of a position!"
"Please, there's no need to think of it that way. I was nothing but another soldier."
"Yeah 'another soldier' my ass. You were able to get that close to the ruler of this kingdom as well as the Prime Ministers I'm assuming. What the hell happened? How do you go from the captain of a royal guard to living down here on the first floor?"
"Well-"
Albert was cut off by the rumbling of another earthquake, this one being more vicious than any earthquake that they've faced all day. Grena was shaken right off of the bench by the earthquake while Albert was knocked to the ground. After ten seconds passed the earthquake finally ceased and the two finally had a chance to get back up.
"Holy shit..." Grena groaned. "That came out of nowhere..."
"That one was far worse than any of the earthquakes we've recently suffered." Albert sighed.
"I'm taking it that it's unusual for it to be this rough?"
"It's not entirely unusual. But it doesn't happen that often. We had one just like this about two weeks ago. Usually these kinds of earthquakes don't happen so close together." Albert looked back towards the populated area, seeing that several people seemed to be shaken up by the sudden earthquake. "We'll continue this conversation another time. I had best go around and see if everybody's alright."
"Oh. While you're out, you wouldn't mind getting everything we came here for would you? I might as well make myself useful and go check the other four on the other side of the floor."
"I would be happy to."
"Sweet. Thanks."
Grena and Albert nodded at each other as the two walked off in separate directions.
At the same time, in another part of the 1st Floor. . .
"Are you alright?"
In another area in accordance to Iska's plan, Mona and Predator had both arrived at the first floor via a lift. The moment they arrived however, they were hit by the same earthquake that everyone else across the first floor felt as well. Predator tried to keep her balance, but was soon forced to take a knee. Mona had been knocked straight to the ground by the earthquake. Eventually after it stopped, Predator was the first to get back to her feet as Mona laid on the ground, groaning in pain as she landed on her staff when she fell to the ground.
"It hurts..." Mona groaned, Predator pulling the girl off of the ground.
"If a single earthquake is enough to defeat you then you had better stay here." The assassin said. "I can do this mission on my own."
"This is my assignment too. I need to be here to help."
"Then I'd suggest you start by asking around, or trying to find your sister."
"What about you?"
"If we're going to do this out in the open you're the best one to ask around the floor." Predator gestures to her attire. "Do you believe that if they had a choice they'd be willing to inform someone as menacing looking as I am?"
"I guess not..."
Predator puts one foot against a wall she leans on and folds her arms.
"Then I'll wait till the cover of darkness before I search around on my own. If you find out anything useful before then on your own then report back to me as soon as possible. We don't have time to waste."
"Right!"
Mona nodded her head as she turned around and walked off into the populated area of the first floor. As Mona started to leave her view sight, Predator slowly turned her head over towards the area that looked abandoned.
"Now where over there could they be hiding?" She thought to herself.
Meanwhile. . .
In the abandoned area of the first floor, Grena was making her way back to Feena's house where Feena, Ragna, Monika, and Goblin Mage were hiding. The woman looked around as she walked, thinking about everything that's happened earlier today.
"An entire floor where people can get along with each other this easily for so long, eh?" the mercenary said aloud to herself. "If he's right about that then I'll be damned. Can such poverty and adversity really unite people like that?" Grena stopped walking and looked up at the sky. "Yeah right. What good did it do for my home?"
Grena shook her head and then continued walking back towards Feena's house. Another earthquake that wasn't as bad as the one from earlier occurred on her way back, but she wasn't shaken up by it too much.
"Ah, I'm just thinking too hard on all of this." She continued. "I've got more important issues to deal with right now anyways." Grena sighed. "Hopefully Albert will be able to handle all of that stuff that I was suppose to do."
Grena suddenly went alert as for a moment she heard what she thought was the sound of footsteps that were not hers. She stopped walking for a moment and looked all around her without moving her feet. Looking back and forth, up and down, she did not see anybody else around, although her view was blocked on the right by the abandoned building she was standing next to. Eventually Grena shrugged and thought that it was simply her hearing things. However the moment she walked past the small opening in between the building on her right and the building besides it, she suddenly got her answer as to where the footsteps came from.
"The hell?!"
"W-Wha?!"
As Grena walked past this opening, walking out of it at the same time was a girl in uniform with blue hair. Just before the two of them could bunch into each other they both reacted and jumped backwards, the two landing about half a dozen feet apart from each other. Grena and the new girl stared at each other for a solid moment, both of them tense and waiting to see what move the other will make. Finally, Grena initiated the conversation.
"Who the hell are you?" She started. "What are you doing in a place like this?"
"I could ask you the same question I believe." The girl responded. "This area of the first floor has been abandoned for a while. I wouldn't expect there to be any civilians around here."
"What? You not a civilian or something?"
"I am a high ranking captain of the Imperial Army of Goldenia. I am simply on an... 'investigation', and this area seemed like the perfect place to start with. What about you? It's quite suspicious for somebody else to be back here, especially if they aren't a soldier. As far as I've gathered, civilians on this floor choose to not traverse these areas due to the dangers that they pose." The girl looks at Grena with a serious expression. "Therefore I would like an answer. Why is somebody like yourself in a place like this?"
"I live here."
"Preposterous. As I just said-"
"I heard you the first time. Listen, I'm not that much of a people's person, so I live out here by myself. I don't like large crowds. And besides, it's not like I can afford to stay anywhere else." Grena shrugs. "This place is abandoned, as well as nice and quiet except for the occasional earthquakes. What place would be better for me to freeload?""
"I. . . I see."
"If you mind Ms. Soldier, I'd like to be getting back to the house I've chosen to stay in."
"Alright..." The look in the girl's eyes went from a serious one to a very apologetic look. "I'm sorry for thinking of you in a suspicious manner." She bowed politely before Grena. "Please, continue on with your day."
"Eh? Is that it?" Grena thought to herself, a little surprised by how smoothly this went. "I just lied right out of my ass and she's buying it like it's nothing? What, is she trying to take pity on me based on everything I told her?"
Grena eventually stopped thinking about it so hard and continued to walk off, the girl standing there politely as she did so.
"Whatever. Guess there's no need to start something if she's gonna play 'Ms. Nice Gal' or something."
"Oh! Wait! Please, wait for a moment!"
Grena stopped as the girl suddenly called out to her, walking quickly to catch up to the mercenary.
"What is it now?" Grena asked while turning around. "Knew this was too easy." She murmured.
"I don't mean to bother you anymore but before you go, may I ask you a few questions while you're here?"
"I'm kinda in a hurry."
"I understand, but please this is something important. I promise I will try to be quick."
Grena sighed, knowing that its better to go along with this in order to remain as non-suspicious as possible.
"Okay, fine." She answered the blue haired girl.
"Firstly, I would like to know that if you have seen a man that I am looking for on this floor. He's around our height, has blonde hair, and wears a red scarf."
"You know Albert?"
"You've met Albert? Is he here? On this floor?"
"I've seen him around before. He's come onto this side in the past to check on things around here. Don't know why though. Besides me, the rest of this area is abandoned after all."
"That's the kind of person Albert is after all. He's just genuinely nice." The girl said smiling.
"If you're looking for him, I don't think he's over here. Try looking where all of the people here normally are."
"Alright then. I'm sure to find him if I search there."
"Can I go now?"
"One more question. Recently per the orders of Her New Highness herself, the Imperial Army has been in pursuit of three individuals labelled as criminals to Goldenia. I do not know the identities of these three, but I do remember their descriptions. I can tell them to you quickly if you do not know who I am talking about-"
"I heard the announcement when the Queen made it. I don't know them."
"Do you think that they could be anywhere here?"
"Why's that? Because this area is abandoned?"
"Yes. That would be what I would expect. You see, I have been tailing this group since about the tenth floor."
Grena's eyes went wide when the girl said that.
"If my hunches were correct, then I have been following the right group around sometime there was an incident around the clock tower on that floor." The girl continued to say. "It was then that I started heading down to the lower floors to try and find them. I managed to find one of them on the seventh floor battling against Prime Minister Alexiel, but they escaped from my sight afterwards. Seeing how at that moment I saw him heading for a lift I can only assume that's how he escaped. So I can assume that he must've immediately made his way to the bottom floor alongside company."
Grena kept her normal expression as the girl explained herself. She was now fully aware that this woman was almost one hundred percent aware that Ragna, Monika and Feena were on the first floor. However, she was still confident over the fact that the girl seems to be unaware of her involvement.
"Can I go now?" Grena asked. "I'm not sure what in the hell you're talking about."
"Oh, my apologies." The girl replied. "I went off on a tangent instead of asking you my questions. I'm sure you're eager to head back home after listening to me for a while."
"Yeah. I am."
"I still had a few more questions to ask. Perhaps I could come along with you for a moment."
"P-Pardon?!"
"I would like to finish asking my questions before I leave you be. If you're heading home, I'll accompany you and finish along the way. That way we can both get what we want."
"No, you can't!"
"Huh? Why not?"
"I-You're a busy woman I'm sure. An imperial soldier. You don't have time to be dealing with someone like me. Go ask someone else these questions, will you? I need to go."
"W-What's with the sudden attitude-"
Another earthquake suddenly occurred in the middle of the two's conversation, knocking down both Grena and the soldier girl.
"Dammit, another one?!" Grena groaned as she stood up and spoke to herself. "I don't have time to waste on this bitch. I gotta get her off my ass and get back to the others."
"Others?"
Grena blinked as she realized how loud she was being when she was talking to herself.
"Wh-What are you talking about now?" Grena asked the girl, still trying to talk her way out of this mess.
"When you were talking to yourself, I heard you say 'others', as in you're concerned about someone else other than yourself." The girl replied. "Is there something that you didn't tell me?"
"They're... They're my friends, yeah. It's me and my friends that lives out here. They're in the same boat as me, alright?"
"I believe you're lying. When out conversation first began, you told me that you live out here alone, by yourself."
"That's because I didn't want to get them wrapped up in anything in case I was in trouble! You are a soldier after all, and I don't know what to expect from Goldenia."
"You also stated that you aren't 'much of a people's person' which is why you lived alone. Now you're telling me that not only have you managed to make friends, but now you're all living together in this abandoned area? The things you are saying aren't adding up Miss."
Grena scoffed knowing that the girl was backing her into a corner, using her own words against her.
"Dammit..."
"Miss, I would like a response please." The girl took a step forward. "Is there a particular reason that you are lying to me?"
Grena kept quiet as she was trying to think of something else that she can say to get out of this conversation, however nothing came to mind.
"Miss... If there's something that you're doing that could be considered a punishable offense, I ask that you come clean now. Depending on the severity of any possible crimes, I may be willing to negotiate with you for your safety as well as the others who live in Goldenia."
"Dammit, this is bad! I slipped up...!" Grena said in her head. "Do I tell her about Ragna and the others and that I'm with them? Albert was willing to listen so maybe... No, who am I kidding? Why the hell am I just gonna try and see if she's trustworthy all of a sudden? She's already after us. Anything else I say is just gonna come back to bite me in the ass, I know."
"Miss, please provide me with an answer. Or else, I will have to place you under arrest for resisting the demands of an Imperial Soldier."
"Ah, screw it."
The girl jumped back as Grena's chains wrapped around her arms, immediately igniting and covering her arms and fists with flames.
"Conversation's over."
Meanwhile. . .
"Excuse me. You wouldn't have happened to see a girl with blue hair in a uniform, would you?"
"No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen anybody like that."
"Okay... Thank you anyway."
-x-
"Sorry lady. I ain't never seen anybody like that down here."
"I see... Thanks anyway."
-x-
"Haven't seen 'em. I'll let you know if I do later on though."
"Alright... Sorry for bothering you."
-x-
During this time, Mona had started making her way through the populated areas of the first floor in search for her sister Mina. After searching the area on her own, she ended up empty handed. Mona then started to ask around town for some aid in her search. She went around to several different townspeople asking them if they have seen Mina based on a small description of her sister, and even then she still came up empty handed. Some time later, Mona found herself walking around the floor again, trying to see if she can spot Mina on her own.
"That's strange..." The blonde soldier said to herself. "Mina told me that she was coming down here, but nobody seems to have seen her..."
Mona looked over to the abandoned area of the first floor as a thought went through her head.
"Could she be over there...?" Mona rubbed her head. "Maybe she thinks that they're hiding where nobody else would notice them, and so she's investigating over there... But it would be dangerous for her to go alone! I know you're strong Mina but all of them against one of you just isn't fair!" Mona continued to walk around, making her way back into the populated area as she talked to herself. "I know that Albert is down here too but... I'm afraid that he might not be with you. With all these earthquakes he's probably helping out everyone over here right now!"
Mona sighs, as she continued to walk around. Preparing to go ask around some more.
"Predator's no help at all, so I don't have a choice but to keep asking around right now..." Suddenly an idea popped into Mona's head. "Wait, Predator! If Mina's over there, then I can ask Predator to go over there since everyone else is over here! If my sister's in danger then I'm sure that she'll help her!"
Mona cheers aloud to herself, unknowingly attracting the attention of people alright.
"All right!" She exclaimed. "Now I know how I'll be able to help Mina!"
Mona started running off back towards the lift to meet up with Predator. As she ran, her little outburst from before had attracted the attention of several townspeople, who watched the girl run off.
"That woman seems to be quite excited about something." One of the civilians said.
"Wasn't that the girl who was asking around looking for somebody?" Another civilian asked aloud. "You think she found where that person is?"
"Maybe."
"That would explain why she's so happy all of a sudden." A third civilian commented.
"Hm? What's everyone talking about?"
The people looked up to see Albert walking up as well. Albert was also carrying a bag full of everything he said that he would buy for Grena and the others before the earthquake hit.
"Oh, Albert. You just missed some girl running off excitedly." the second civilian answered. "She was asking around earlier looking for some girl, and we think she found her."
"Whatever it was, she seemed quite happy." A fourth civilian added. "She dropped something when she took off though."
The civilian gestured to the staff that was lying on the ground.
"Wait..." Albert said, walking over and picking up the staff. "This is..." He then turned to face the others. "Was the girl that ran off blonde? And seemed to be in uniform as well?"
"Yeah, actually. You know her?" Asked the first civilian.
"She's an old friend of mine." Albert starts walking off in the direction that the others were looking in. "I'd better go return this to her. The rest of you take care."
Meanwhile with Mona, the girl was making a beeline for the lift to meet up with Predator, having full confidence in her plan working. However on her way back she started to realize just how far she was from the lift, growing exhausted.
"Getting... tired..." Mona said, breathing heavily. "I didn't realize it... would be this long a run. Oh! I know...! I'll just give myself... a little jolt with my staff!"
Mona went to hold her staff in front of her. It was then that she realized that she no longer had the staff in her possession. She went wide eyed in shock as she looked all around her.
"Where's my staff?" Mona asked herself. "Oh no, I dropped it somewhere back there...! I'd better run back quickly then..."
"No need to trouble yourself, Mona."
Mona perked up at the sound of someone behind her who knew her by name. She turned around and laid eyes on Albert, who had the girl's missing staff in hand.
"Here you are." Albert said, handing Mona her staff.
Albert stepped back and chuckled slightly as Mona ran up to the man, throwing her arms around him in a hug.
"Albert! Oh Albert, thank goodness it's you!" She exclaimed happily. "I'm so glad that I ran into you!"
"It's nice to see you again too. It has been some time since we've last spoke to each other. What brings you down here?"
"Oh right. I-Wait, it'd be better to talk and walk at the same time." Mona grabbed onto Albert's arm and started to walk in the direction she was heading. "Come on! Come on! This way."
"Is this something urgent?" Albert stood in place, stopping Mona from pulling him along. "If it isn't then perhaps that could wait? I still have a few things that I need to take care of before I can follow you around the floor."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Mona noticed the bag that Albert was carrying. "Is it something to do with that?"
"Yes, it is. I was helping out a few new friends of mine since she doesn't know her way around the first floor. I still need to drop this off. You welcome to come with me if you want to."
"But Albert!" Mona whines. "This is really important! I need you to come with me right away!"
"Okay, okay, calm down Mona, I understand. I would be glad to help you, but this is something that I need to finish first before I can choose to follow you."
Mona looks down. "Alright..."
"Here, come with me for now. We can at least talk on the way. It's been a while, so I figured we have a lot to catch up on."
"I guess you're right." Mona nods. "Okay! I'm coming. Which way?"
"Over there." Albert pointed over towards the abandoned area of the floor.
"Over there?! Why?!"
"Due to a few circumstances, they've decided to stay in the abandoned area. You know, not to cause trouble for anyone." Albert starts walking off into the abandoned area. Mona quickly follows after him as he continued to talk. "I did give them the offer to head into the other side of the floor, but they turned me down. Therefore, the least I can do is help them out."
"You're too nice, Albert."
"As you've told me before."
The two laughed as they continued to talk.
"How have things been down on the first floor, anyway?" Mona asks. "Are they still as bad as ever?"
"In terms of the earthquakes..."
As if the earth wanted to provide an answer a light earthquake occurred, slightly shaking the two of them around.
"They're the same as ever." Albert answered. "But compared to how things were when I first arrived down here, things are much more peaceful on the first floor. Everyone's getting along, and I'm doing my job at driving off anybody who wants to disturb this peace."
"Is there even anyone trying to bother the first floor anymore?" Mona asked. "I've heard people higher up talking about you before, but they've never mentioned you by name."
"So you say. My friend told me the same thing when we met earlier."
"The new one that we're heading to see?"
Albert nodded. "Apparently this reputation I made for myself has reached the ears of those higher up. While I could do without the praise, it does seem to ward off anyone looking to stir up trouble so I'm thankful for that."
"Well, that's good to hear. Life down here must be pretty easy for you without all of that trouble."
"Certainly. Speaking of, how has life been treating the two of you recently?"
"There's nothing that we can complain about at least. Though, Mina's been promoted to a Captain in the Imperial Army recently. So it has been a while since we've gotten a chance for the two of us to just hang out."
"Oh, Mina's gotten a promotion? I'll be sure to congratulate her the next time I see her."
"About that Albert... I think Mina's actually down here..."
Albert blinked in surprise. "Mina's on the first floor? What for?"
"That's why I was trying to-"
A light rumbling sound was heard in the distance, shaking the ground underneath Albert and Mona slightly, resembling an earthquake. All of a sudden it happened again, only a few seconds after the first one. A third one followed up.
"That's... strange..." Albert said. "Those were some of the lightest earthquakes I've felt as long as I've been down here. And back to back as well... They couldn't be an ordinary one then."
"I don't think they were earthquakes..." Mona commented. "It sounded like it came from something up ahead."
BAM
BAM
BAM
"Stand still, damn you!"
Somewhere up ahead in the abandoned area was indeed the source of the sounds that caused the "earthquakes" around Albert and Mona. Those sounds were being caused by the miniature explosions being created from Grena's fists as they slammed again various parts of the floor, causing a feeling and sounds that resembled earthquakes across a short distance. The reasoning behind all of this is because a fight between her and the girl with blue hair was no longer avoidable due to her slip in tongue. As such, Grena knew that she had to do something else to keep her from finding Ragna and the others. As Grena swung her fists again, they clashed against the girl's rapier.
"I ask again that you think this over and try to come up with a peaceful solution!" She says to Grena. "If these 'friends' that you bought up earlier are the three people I'm after then perhaps we could come to some sort of agreement!"
"You think I'm falling for that shit?!" Grena responded. "Get outta here while you can still run!"
Both girls suddenly backed off of each other. Grena reignites her chains quickly and rushes towards the girl, throwing several fiery punches as the girl blocked with her rapier. As the girl's blade reflects Grena's fist to the ground she jumps out of the way and reaches inside the satchel that she has on her uniform. The girl pulls out a glass bottle full of water and pops off the top. She threw the water bottle to the side, but the water suddenly shoots out of it and wraps around her hands.
"She's a water elemental, huh." Grena commented to herself.
The chain wielding mercenary saw no need to let up on her opponent, and charged at the girl once again. She threw two punches while spinning around and then went for a kick to the head, all of which the girl avoid. She slashed at Grena with her rapier, catching her across the chest to open her up. The girl suddenly caused the water around her to turn into a large fist and punch Grena in the left side of her face, knocking her around. The girl followed up by having the water fist smack Grena in a hammer like motion, knocking the mercenary backwards. Grena manages to get control of herself mid flight and forces her hand into the ground, slowing herself down as she landed back on the ground.
Grena stomps on the ground furiously as she rushes back at her opponent. She threw out a roundhouse kick to which the girl jumps out of the way. Grena follows up with a straight, fiery jab to the chest, only for it to be blocked by the soldier's shield made out of water, a bit of steam slowly rising afterwards as the flames around Grena's right arm were doused. Throwing a punch with her left arm resulted in the same thing. Not letting the lack of flames stop her, Grena goes in for a series of punches and kicks, all of which were being blocked by the water shield which was surprisingly able to take all of this despite being water. Grena clasped her hands together and swings at her opponent once more. The girl steps forward and bashes her shield into Grena's hands, forcing them apart and opening up her opponent. The water shield disappeared as all the water went down to the girl's legs and shot out like a jet stream when put her left foot in the air. The girl slams into Grena and grabs hold of her arms, pushing her backwards as she shot herself forward. Soon the chain wielding mercenary found herself with her back against a wall as the soldier had her pinned there, holding on tight to Grena's arms.
"Please, don't resist!" The girl tried to order Grena. "If you come quietly now I can assure that you will not-"
"Oh, go kiss my ass!"
Grena's entire body erupts in flames and causes a short burst of energy to occur around her. This energy burst forced the female soldier to let go of Grena's arms and knocked her back a good distance. Looking around, Grena noticed a broken area of an abandoned building that she could easily wrap her chains around and proceeded to do just that, swinging herself towards the girl who was pulling herself up. Grena came at her with a flying kick that the girl avoided by ducking down, however the chain wielding mercenary wasn't done. She swung herself around in a full circle to come back at her opponent, this time with a flaming right hook. The girl forms her water shield again and blocks the flaming punch, in which Grena loops around a third time. Grena comes in with a double flying kick, the first one was blocked while the second one was parried off by the girl's sword. Looping around for a fourth attack, the chains around the building were unwrapped as Grena was coming down on the girl. Igniting both fists, the chain wielding mercenary slammed her hands into the ground as she crashed, creating a fiery shockwave that sent the female soldier flying backwards, hitting the ground hard.
"Walk away while you can, Ms. Captain." Grena taunted, walking towards the girl who was groaning on the ground. "I ain't afraid to kick it up a notch!"
The girl manages to get back to her feet, rapier and water in hand."I will not give you that chance!"
The girl runs straight at Grena, rapier being held in both hands. Grena readied herself and ignited her chains again, setting her fist ablaze. She threw out a punch and sent a fireball at the female soldier, who ducks under it in return. She suddenly sends out a large gush of water straight at Grena, who holds her hands out to block. As the flames and water collided a lot of steam was formed as Grena's flame were being put out. Soon the chain wielding mercenary found her own flames extinguished by her opponent's water. Trying to ignite them once again, she was having trouble due to the fact that her chains were wet.
Suddenly, the girl came in on Grena, striking her back and forth with several slashes both horizontally and vertically. Grena was sliced in several different areas by her opponent's rapier. The girl ended her assault with a spin kick, knocking Grena back to the ground. Grena quickly gets up and goes on the offensive again. The girl proceeds to sheath her sword, and moved towards Grena as well. As the mercenary threw a punch at the soldier, she suddenly moves out the way and grabs hold of Grena's arm and chains. She pulls Grena's arm to her and clenched it underneath her arms. Grena tries to throw another punch but only ends up in her other arm being caught as well. The soldier suddenly forced Grena to turn around and then pushed her to the ground. Grena struggled to get her opponent off her back while the female soldier forced the chain wielding mercenary's arms behind her back and close together. Suddenly she ties up Grena's arms using her own chains which were still wet and couldn't ignite to free the mercenary. Grena struggled as she tried to look up and back at her opponent who was successfully mounted on top of her.
"What the hell?!" Grena yelled. "Get off me!"
"For resisting the demands of a member of the Imperial Army of Goldenia, I am placing you under arrest." The girl responds. "The water on you chains will keep you from reigniting them easily and escaping. Therefore, I suggest that now is the time that you come quietly and perhaps you can be let off without any major consequences."
"Like hell! You're not taking me in!"
The girl gets up, pulling Grena up along with her as she still had the mercenary in her grasp and unable to fight back.
"Considering your current situation, that is untrue. I've cut off your abilities to use your fiery chains. You will not be able to break out easily."
"Chains or not, that doesn't mean you've- Huh?"
Grena suddenly looks ahead of her as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. The girl that had apprehended her also looked up and also looked both surprised and happy when she saw what was before them. Running up to the area where the two were fighting were none other than Albert and Mona.
"Albert! Mona!" The girl called out.
"Hey, Albert! You know this chick?!" Grena asked while still struggling.
"Mina! It's you!" Mona responded to the girl, her sister Mina.
"Mina? Grena?" Albert asked confusedly. "What's going on?"
"Damn woman got me good." Grena groans, not wanting to admit her loss. "She's tied my arms up and I can't get out for shit."
"Albert?" Mina asks the man. "You know this woman?"
"What's... going on?" Mona also asks wearily.
"Let's not raise any suspicions, all of you." Albert replies. "I'm not sure what's going on between you two but perhaps let the four of us try talking and figure out what's going on."
"I did try talking with this woman you called Grena." Mina commented.
"Talking my ass!" Grena exclaims. "I listened to your questions, and I know that if I said anything else you'd end up fighting me anyway." Grena looks at Albert. "Yo. If you know her, talk her out of going after Ragna, Monika, and Feena."
"What?!" Albert responds in surprise. "Mina, you're..."
"Who's..." Mina questions, not knowing the names of the three. However she soon put the pieces together. "Wait, are those the names of the three criminals that I was chasing?!"
"Albert, you know these people?!" Mona asks in surprise.
"I'll explain things to the both of you I promise." Albert answers. "But, why on earth are the two of you even getting involved in this mission? When I first heard the announcement I didn't see any reason for the two of you to get involved with this at all, regardless of whether or not you're soldiers. Your concerns have always been with other affairs that involved outside Goldenia, and as such those officers should be remaining out of this and focused elsewhere."
"Albert..." Mina said as she looked down. "I'm sorry. But I need to do this for all three of us!"
"What?"
"If you know where the other three are then please, help me and Mona capture them!"
"Mina, the three of them along with Grena aren't what Her Highness has made them out to be, I swear! I spoke to them personally, and-"
"Albert, please cooperate with us on this!" Mina cuts him off in a demanding tone. "The prize for their capture is a reward that only the Imperial Court themselves could fulfill! Don't you understand what I could do with that? You... me... Mona... We can... We'd be able to...!"
"Mina, a single request isn't worth taking away the freedom of these four!"
"And you shouldn't have to pay for a crime that wasn't your fault!"
"You're-"
"Ah, forget it Albert." Grena suddenly butts in. "Her mind's made up."
Grena suddenly lets out a vicious war cry as her entire body ignited into flames, her chains remaining unlit. Mina jumped back in shock and both Albert and Mona both went on guard. Suddenly all of the flames around Grena's body gathered onto her right hand as she turned to face Mina, aiming the large fireball to throw at her.
"Grena, don't!" Albert exclaims.
"I ain't gonna let it kill her." Grena replied. "Once she's out, take her and her sister somewhere to cool off and the four of us will get outta your hair. You don't want us to cause trouble around here, so I'll apologize now. This'll be the most trouble I'll cause on the first floor!"
Grena chucked the fireball with all her might at Mina. The girl attempted to fire another gush of water to put a stop to it, only for all of the water to be immediately turned to steam as the fireball keeps going. All of a sudden with amazing speed, Albert zoomed in front of Mina and held out his arms in front of him. A large amount of electricity could be seen running through the man's body as he managed to keep the fireball in one place. The ground all around the four of them was shaking furiously, nearing affecting the entire floor. Albert continued to hold it back with all of his might.
"Grena!" He called out to the mercenary. "Stop this! You don't have to do this!"
"She's stubborn as hell, no way that she's gonna give a shit about what we tell her!" Grena yells back. "Let me solve this my way!"
The three were standing back as Albert was holding back the large fireball with all his might.