Chapter 9: Search
11:45; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era
Quasi-Bahamut Class Aerial City-Ship "Musashi" – "Asakusa" Brig
Marcus came to stand within a foot of the bars that separated himself from those outside – an unreadable frown upon his face, and nose slightly wrinkled. Trying to ignore the newly made crater Cole's self-chosen bed had turned into... with the former thrashball player lying unconscious in it, still reeking from the enormous beat-down he received from the drill-haired girl – who had come in after his outburst to beat the sod out of him with such application of force the rest of Delta decided to simply step back and treat it like the elephant in the living room.
In the background – while it was going on – the dark-haired woman, possibly the Vice-President, looked on with tired resignation while trying to verbally calm down the obviously annoyed woman next to her, the one with a bow and arrow ready in her hands. The brunette to the Vice-President's left however did no more than laugh outrageously at the beating till it ended, then stopped right on cue.
It was probably for the best that Cole fainted before it was over. Those overly swollen cheeks looked like they'd hurt a lot.
Done, the assaulter pulled back out and locked the door behind her before stepping aside. Finally allowing the Vice-President to approach their prisoners. She looked over them analytically before setting her chocolate-brown gaze on Marcus. A statement about to leave those lips of hers.
Marcus however spoke first; "Vice-President Masazumi Honda, I presume?"
She paused. "Yes. How did you... Who told you?"
"Someone we know." he replied cryptically, his voice not wavering an ounce.
"I assume you won't tell us who sent you then?"
A shrug. "We sent ourselves." It was partially true.
Masazumi frowned at him, but the corners of her lips soon faintly curled upward. "I'm certain you're aware of what you tried to pull off. Attempted infiltration into foreign territory. You won't be let off easily for that."
"Naturally."
"You may have many questions about us. But we're the ones who'll do the asking. We won't endanger your lives, but your tongues will be loosened before long."
"We've been in a whole lot of shit over the years." Baird growled from the back of the cell. "I've seen how the grubs torture their prisoners up close. I doubt anything you can do to us can top that."
"Baird..." Dom sighed warily, "We just watched a little girl beat the crap out of Cole like he was a piece of wet towel exposed to razor hail."
Marcus grumbled almost inaudibly in agreement. That girl's strength was insane, she completely floored him – a guy nearly twice her size - and collapsed the bed both in one punch. And that was just the first blow! Not only that, he had seen more than enough hand-to-hand fights to see when one was holding back... and she was visibly holding back a lot!
At Dom's comment, the silvery girl smiled slyly.
Masazumi broke the resulting silence with a cough, "For now, let's settle on something you should not have any compunction giving..." Behind her, the purple-haired girl with the bow opened up a frame which included what looked like a keyboard. "Your names."
Marcus pondered about that, and thought of the short list of information captured gears could freely give to their interrogator: Name, rank, and serial number. He found no reason to withhold his identity.. it's not like they could use it against him. "Marcus Fenix." he told them, only withholding his rank for now, and gestured for the others to follow suit.
Dom did so easily. "Name's Dominic. Dominic Santiago."
Baird on the other hand was more reluctant. A piercing glare from their sergeant was enough to make him relent. "Damon S. Baird. And our buddy over here too busy counting sheep; Augustus Cole."
Gratified by the response, Masazumi addressed her friend in the back. "Tomo, did you get all of that?"
Tomo nodded and recited; "Jud. Marcus Fenix. Dominic Santiago. Damon S. Baird. And Augustus Cole."
"Alright. That will do for now."
"Pleasure." Marcus raised his shoulders.
Masazumi held his gaze a little longer and finally turned to walk away. The other females converging on her as she neared the exit at the far end of the brig – engaging in a hushed conversation not meant for Delta's ears.
"Anyone else feel their 'we're screwed' detector go off?" their blonde teammate growled as he sat on his chosen bunk.
Only Dom offered an answer to that: "Shut up, Baird."
11:52; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era
Quasi-Bahamut Class Aerial City-Ship "Musashi" – "Asakusa" Brig
"Did you notice?" Kimi asked once the girls had converged, sparking the conversation with that majestic giggle of hers. "That necklace he wore."
"What necklace?" Masazumi asked, puzzled by how a necklace is in any way relevant.
"It appeared when our mindless little beast decked the big guy."
"B-beast?" Nate half-growled. Oft annoyed by the shirabyoushi's brashness.
The Vice-President tilted her head, "But what about it?"
"Fu~ Unfashionable and ugly, but quite striking. It featured a cogwheel... don't we often enough hear of the faction people out there refer to as the 'COG'?"
"Cogwheel. Are you sure it's not just a coincidence?"
"I don't know..." Nate said thoughtfully, "The cogwheel could possibly serve in the same capacity as dog tags, to quickly identify soldiers – fallen or not. If the others got those cogwheel necklaces too, and if those got heir names on, then their affiliation with the COG will be undeniable."
"Suppose if they are with the COG: Why send common grunts on infiltration missions?" Tomo inquired curiously, "That is a job for specialized operatives far as I know."
"Maybe because they no longer have any special forces available."
Masazumi raised her arms, "Let's not jump to conclusions here until we know for sure. Nate, can you handle their interrogation?"
The half-werewolf pondered for a moment, "... Jud. I got an idea we can try."
"Hoh?" Kimi giggled, "Do share."
"Well, I doubt their food is any better than what the Stranded got. Leave those four to starve till later, then tempt them with Hassan's best curry."
"Really devious~"
"Better than roughing them up, I guess." Masazumi whispered.
Tomo gave a nod of agreement, "Much better."
Nate frowned as she looked to the others, hands on hips. "No promises. They look really hardcore, it won't be an easy oyster to crack."
"I'll leave you to it then." Masazumi stated and navigated the rest of the way to the exit, "By the way, Tomo."
"Yes?"
"About our business later, I'll be bringing Mary along. Said she wanted to know more about the Shinto faith."
The shrine maiden's expression brightened, "Tell her she's more than welcome to come along."
"I'll do that." Masazumi replied as she and Tomo left the brig. Noticing only a few seconds later that Kimi had chosen to remain with Nate. That realization chilled her to the core.
12:01; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era
Lesser Islands – Usak Harbor
Many wipe-open eyes followed her as she descended upon the local harbor, attached to the small Stranded settlement called Usak – no larger than a lone pier with thirteen rusting boats berthed at its sides. It was her fourth assigned harbor so far this trip.
Malga Naruze had fully unfolded her pairs of raven-black wings that identified her as a fallen angel as she gently braked. This broom she currently rode on was a far cry of the one that was destroyed at Mikawa, and was of a somewhat cranky sort, but it had to do.
Her thoughts drifted to her lover, Margot – and thus more or less completely ignored the dozen or so stranded across the pier, even as a few tried to address her. Malga would much rather be with her, but their assignments made that impossible at the moment. They were given command of each their separate team of witches. Those not part of the manga club (the majority) served in the capacity as scouts and interceptors. Malga and hers on the other hand who are part of the club, went about marking the boats resting at each harbor attached to villages affiliated with the Musashi Protectorate.
Carefully, Naruze landed atop the first boat, whilst still being stared at. The local chief and sailors had all gotten the note that someone would come from Musashi to mark their ships to avoid collateral damage in the major hunt that would soon commence. But none expected the person to be a young girl flitting through the air atop a broom – judging by the utter silence that otherwise greeted her aside from the few outspoken ones she payed little attention to.
Wordlessly, she plucked her pen out of its assigned pocket and knelt down to jot the mark down on the roof of the wheelhouse – facing upward. Many were the mutterings about magic as she quickly drew a frame, consisting of lines of cerulean lights that the tip of her pen left in its wake, in the air just inches off the roof panels.
It was a frame from a doujinshi she had drawn since their expedition's departure when the Vice-Chancellor told her of how many ships needed to be marked. She made it long enough that there is one frame for each boat.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't necessary to make it that complex. Random scribbles would have sufficed, simply because of them being spatial drawings, which the locals could not possibly replicate. But no... Naruze did it this way out of simple preference.
"There we go..." she whispered as the first drawing was complete – displaying a pair of girls holding hands viewed from above. Satisfied, the girl remounted her broom and drifted to the next boat's wheelhouse to repeat the process, but with a different image – while humming a song under her breath as she worked.
12:03 – 14 A.E.
Lesser Islands – Usak Town Outskirts
Olsen sneaked close to the pier, as close as he could without alerting the fishermen present. He was no denizen of this shantytown, but a mobile lookout affiliated with LIFTA. Simply put, his job was to travel about to find juicy targets for the organization to capture. And when he wasn't out spotting for new prey, he worked as a trader - his wares mostly consisting of furs and utility goods he had managed to piece together.
He arrived here no more than an hour ago, and was met by a strange tension that filled the small fishing village to the brim. And even stranger, the village sustain itself primarily on fishing... yet none of the boats are out. Instead of working, the locals spoke in hushed yet excited whispers about new tidings, rumors that something was going to go down really soon.
Specifically; Musashi was going to step up their efforts to crush piracy in the region. But when he inquired about further details, he was met with no more information. No one knew anything.
LIFTA has been in these waters for years before Musashi suddenly appeared and established a protectorate that quickly encompassing so many clans of Stranded. Chairman Darrel Jacques, the leader of LIFTA since its foundation was at first ready to continue with business as usual, until news came in about what happened on Vectes.
Thoroughly enraged, the chairman had ordered attacks upon Musashi's allies... which he now universally looked on as traitors for accepting a COG-loyalist enclave into the fold - confident in his belief that the newcomers are much too humane for their own good to retaliate.
Olsen thought that too after all he had heard. But now, he felt a sense of foreboding. That something terrible was going to happen soon.
And now, just minutes ago... he noticed the rising commotion at the pier and went to investigate – with the hope of finding answers to his many questions. Once there, he hid himself away behind a barrel filled with god knows what – and peered past it at the collection of boats and their crews... their attention directed at a lone figure hovering over the wheelhouse of one of the closer boats to his position.
What he saw there, was a strange but very fine-looking girl with several black wings sticking out of her back. She set down on the wheelhouse, broom in hand. Her expression dreamy as she bent her lovely legs to crouch down and do whatever she came to do while treating the people watching her like as much air.
Olsen narrowed his gaze, watching as she hoisted a pen and sketched something on the roof, or rather, a few inches off the roof. An intricate image was quickly made, and she mounted her broom to fly to move on. He scanned the perimeter, and noticed similar drawings upon a few of the other boats.
It only took a few seconds of watching as he tried to make sense of what was going on, and immediately fell on his ass with a gasp once realization struck – of what he thought Musashi planned.
"Hey you!" one of the fishermen had turned at the clumsy noise the lookout made, and discovered him.
Without a word, Olsen picked himself up and ran away. The newcomers are marking the boats! I need to tell the Chairman... before it is too late! God... oh God, I hope I'm wrong.
12:05; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era
Lesser Islands - Usak Harbor
It was that which finally made Naruze pause in her work when several fishermen suddenly broke off the staring to pursue some guy who reportedly – as far as she could tell – had sneaked up on them.
At once, she discontinued her current daydreams to make the inquiry; "Not one of your own?"
Rebecca - chief of this village and clan - shook her head vehemently, "No, some nosy merchant who comes by now and then. Never trusted the guy... Only tolerated him for this long since he oft got good stuff for sale."
"Uh-huh." the girl mumbled in a low tone. Pen hovering over an image she had not quite finished yet, "Must be mighty good stuff. I wouldn't let anyone I didn't trust close to me."
"Should have trusted my gut-feeling all those times before and put a bullet through that pointy nose of his." Rebecca sighed, and threw a harsh glance at the remaining fishers, "The hell are you still doing here?! Help the others catch that son of a bitch!"
Naruze watched out of the corner of her eyes as the remaining men turned with a start and departed from the pier. "Hrm... maybe I should head out too." she whispered and tightened her grip round the broom. "He'd need a boat to get here. If it's not here in the pier... where does he keep it?"
"Want in on the hunt, huh?" the stranded leader asked, grinning from ear to ear.
"Just suspicious. An innocent wouldn't just take off like that."
Rebecca nodded, "Well, typically he takes his boat onto land about a hundred feet or so beyond our outer walls – to the south. Says he's paranoid about his goods."
"Jud. Then that's where I'll go." Naruze replied as she started up the broom for immediate departure. "I'll be back in a bit."
"Okay. Don't get hurt now."
12:09 – 14 A.E.
Lesser Islands – Beach south of Usak Town
Olsen had always been confident about his skills at running away. He won multiple diploma at sprinting back in the day, and had participated in at least three marathons. It's what helped him stay alive when the Locust war began, and what continued to save his butt through the years after that.
And that about sums up the reason people relies on him for this type of work, because he was quick to get out of trouble and report back with any findings. Some would call that cowardice, but he didn't care. It kept him alive.
The pursuing fishermen had gotten weapons, but there were too great a distance and too many hills between him and them. The ground transitioned from grass to sand, and his motorboat was just a short distance away. A quick push and he'd be home free.
But then, a neon-blue trail of light punched into the sand at his feet with the force of a heavy round.
"That's as far as you go."
Olsen did not even slow his pace, and ran even faster while scanning the side for whoever fired the shot, and found the girl he saw earlier hover in the air above him – all six wings arrayed to keep her aloft – with no weapon as he could see it... but held her broom like one would a firearm.
He hurried to his boat, and threw himself in. It was customized with a hidden compartment in the front, with both a radio and a Snub Pistol in it. There, he wrestled with the lock and forced it open to retrieve the weapon – just as the girl landed at the back, right in front of the detachable engine. Broom pointed straight at him.
"Now... let's have a little chat!"
Olsen whirled about, slapped the broom aside, and – pistol in hand - discharged a round at her.
But she acted already before the bullet left his gun. Pen in her left hand, the girl drew a line in the air between them... and the bullet which was supposed to strike her instead splashed into the water-drenched sand adjacent to the boat.
T-the fuck was that...?!
Bewildered, he squeezed another round out... which also landed in the sand as the winged girl rapidly drew additional sets of lines in the air. Olsen shot as fast as his finger could possibly twitch, and emptied most of the magazine without hitting her even once.
What is happening?!
Panicking, Olsen let loose the final round. And apparently, she was quite fed up with him. She drew a sloped circle next, and this time... he finally saw what was going on. The bullet hit the circle, which curved its trajectory into following it... till it finished the loop, and was rebounded back at him.
In that situation, he couldn't evade.. and cried out in pain as the bullet struck his shoulder, "Augh-!"
"And for good measure..." the girl said, and exchanged the pen for a coin... which she fed into a slot-like digital frame on her broom, and shot his left hip – largely immobilizing him.
"Gah-!" Olsen nearly screamed. "W-what the hell did you do?! What the fuck are you?"
"Musashi Ariadust Academy's-" she began to introduce herself. Looming over him with wings all spread out. "4th Special Agent of the Chancellor's board, Malga Naruze."
In the distance, the armed villagers from Usak drew closer.. but slowed their pace upon seeing the intruder subdued by their visitor. Olsen knew he was finished, and invisibly backed away to knock an elbow against the radio behind his back, booting it up in the process. He was a coward, but a coward with pride in his work – even if said work was of the dirty kind. At least now his comrades back home could listen in.
"Now, you best cooperate." Naruze said, leaning slightly closer – smiling ever so slightly. "Or I'll leave you to their chief to do with you as she sees fit." half-gesturing at the men out there while tapping her broom at the deck, "I take it you're not just a merchant."
"Go to hell, y-you bastards. I know what you're planning!"
12:11; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era
Lesser Islands – Beach south of Usak Town
Naruze raised an eyebrow, trying to maintain a mostly neutral expression as she moved on to answer him on his claim; "You do? Then enlighten me. How much do you know?"
"You're marking the ships that belong to clans under your damned banner in a way we can't copy... Ugh..." the balding man croaked in pain from the injuries she inflicted on him – directly and non-directly – and the resulting loss of blood. "Then there's the rumors going on downtown..."
Rumors. It was all that was needed to make the witch mentally droop. I guess strict secrecy is impossible in a community as small as this. Any slippage of info inevitably spread like wildfire.
"And once you're done... you're gonna wipe out all boats you find missing one of those tags."
A crackle of static filled the air, so abrupt it made Naruze's eyes widen instantly in surprise. It was as though someone just emitted a screeching gasp into a badly tuned microphone. "What the...? You surely didn't!"
The balding man managed a smirk, "Oh yes..." and lifted an arm to reveal the radio he kept hidden, "LIFTA now knows what you're up to. If you think we're just going to roll over and die, think again yo-!" and was cut off mid-sentence as a round abruptly buried itself into the back of his skull. Unceremoniously killed, the man simply collapsed like a doll with no strings attached.
Naruze balked at the suddenness of it and very nearly fell off the boat. That risen arm of his must have been interpreted by the nearby fishermen as an attempt to harm her, and acted accordingly. Now, they rapidly closed in. "Hey, you alright?" one of them asked, an old and bearded fellow.
"I'm fine." she replied hoarsely, beating at the air with her wings. Her eyes somber as she stared at the lifeless body sprawled on deck. "... Your leader were right to distrust him. He's one of them... the pirates."
"Son of a bitch. We here lost more than a couple of boats to those assholes before you guys came along..."
"He was probably involved on those incidents too. Though I've got no proof to back it up."
"If that's true.." the old man spat, "Then good riddance I say. Make sure those pirates pay dearly, you hear?"
"We'll do what we can..." Naruze promised - not telling that Musashi only intended to cripple LIFTA, not slaughter them outright - watching as everyone stripped off the boat everything usable. One of them already headed back to the village, the boat-based radio in his arms. "Excuse me. If you find anything that might help us find their bases, please hand it over."
"There's something here..." One young guy near her age retrieved what looked like a furled-up map from the compartment behind where the radio used to be. "Here.." he said and tossed it over.
She caught and unfurled the piece of paper. It was old, but still very readable. But her expression of interest faded into a frown as she found a number of black dots at different locations, but with no way to distinguish them. It could even be false, to send would-be enemies on a wild goose-chase.
Real or false, no way to know for sure without checking first...
Naruze sighed, and watched as the fishermen eventually picked the boat completely clean and had all left. The pirate's corpse left to rot in it.
Do you have any family left in this world...? She thought with a tinge of sorrow. Will they come looking for you?
A solemn sigh left her lips as she turned away to face the ocean, and opened a divine transmission to the "Yamamoto". Ultimately, duty had to come first. The Vice-Chancellor needed to know what had transpired.
Futayo's stern image appeared to the witch momentarily, "Naruze. Is there anything you need to report?"
"We've had an incident here at Usak involving a suspicious person. As of now, we've got to assume the enemy knows what we intend to do."
"I see."
"On the other hand, I've recovered a map with many marked locations. I don't know what might be at those places, but it's worth checking out at least."
Futayo's eyes seemed to lighten up, "Excellent. That could save us much time and effort. Finish up what you were doing and return. Make it fast."
Naruze nodded with a smile just as the transmission ended. She got back on her broom and hurried back to Usak. Regardless of orders, she wasn't the type to leave a job halfway done anyway.
12:17 – 14 A.E.
Lesser Islands – Valesland Island – LIFTA HQ
Chairman Darrel Jacques sat in his office in what used to be a villa owned by some rich guy back in the day. A couple of large buildings, a few small ones, and a modest pier were part of the original set up – all greatly expanded after LIFTA moved in. It had turned into a ramshackle village with a much larger pier to house the many ships possessed by the organization he thought of as one of the major regional powers in this ruined world.
"Hurry up!" was just one of many shouts outside. The number of boats at the piers would only grow as the orders circulated throughout the region. There was no time to lose, especially since Musashi is coming. Little was known of what went down over at Usak, but Olsen was a man he knew to trust.
A snort filled the air, coming from Lyle Ollivar who stood by the door. The guy always looked like a well-groomed manager, or at least as much as one could expect. "So..." he started his question thoughtfully, "... beyond that big-ass recall, what are you planning?"
"What else? We're gonna dig our heels in and bleed them dry."
"Better than running away, I guess. Though I can't help but be uneasy..."
Darrel leaned on his desk, "This turf... is ours. And after what they did at Vectes... they need some sizing down. And I've got just the weapons to do it. I stockpiled them precisely for an eventual confrontation."
"Longspears." Lyle almost whispered. Pendulum wars-era rocket launchers. It couldn't be stressed enough how hard those things are to come by now. A couple of clans out there did manage to acquire large stockpiles of them though, which they either sell at exorbitant prices or save for something big.
"That's right. When they get here, we'll teach them not to challenge us again. Just you wait, Musashi!"
13:11; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era
Lesser Islands – Kraken Class Warship "Yamamoto"
Futayo Honda sat in the bridge in utter silence. The only sound coming from the slightly uneasy Margot who stood to the side, and the chatter of personnel with the low number of scouts currently out. Other than that, the fleet stood still over open water.
They were only waiting for Naruze. With knowledge of their plan, LIFTA would surely pull back from these waters to prevent loss, so randomly searching for them thus was a recipe for failure. It was beyond damned necessary to get that map recovered by the aforementioned witch. And she was the last to arrive.
"Sorry I'm late." the 4th Special Agent almost gasped when she finally came. Close to explaining when Futayo cut her off – arms crossed.
"No excuses. Now, the map."
Acknowledging the order with a sigh, Naruze approached her from the side, opposite to Margot and handed over the furled map. "This is it. Here's hoping none it won't lead us astray."
The samurai accepted and read the aging piece of paper, frowning deeper – eyes narrowed down till she brandished the map and had its image scanned and listed locations projected onto the holographic image in front of them.
"That is pretty far off..." Margot observed as she stepped closer for a look. "It's going to take a while to get there."
"More than that." Futayo murmured thoughtfully and gestured. The distance between them and LIFTA's core territory included England and its protective veil of dense mists... which perimeter may as well be defined as the airborne country's outer borders. "We need to circle around England along the way, extending our journey even further."
"At the earliest, we won't arrive till tomorrow at first light."
"For a battle soon to begin, the dawn is a decent time. Not as much as night, but it will do."
"But..." Malga said softly, "... where should we strike? None of these locations got any specific info."
"You and your fellow hexen will check every location we pass along the way to the middle."
"... Why the middle?"
Futayo's eyes gleamed, "Where would you place your HQ if you expected attacks from any direction?" and she pointed resolutely at the dot placed exactly in the middle, "Right there!"
"I have my doubts." Malga mumbled, "But it's your decision."
"Yes." the samurai stood from her said and made a sweeping gesture, addressing everyone in the fleet'; "Our path lies before us. Tomorrow at first light we will engage the enemy. Before this time comes again, we will announce our total victory! Forward!"
"Judgment!"
14:28; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era
Quasi-Bahamut Class Aerial City-Ship "Musashi" – Asama Household
"Anything else you want to know?"
"Thank you kindly. But I imagine I've got enough food for thought."
They had by this time done away with the tour of the shrine. It was quite crowded at the time, so Tomo wasn't able to elaborate on anything Mary wanted to know until they got to the maiden's house for some relaxing herbal tea – and thus enough privacy for a thorough Q&A. It was in great part the composition of Shinto shrines that piqued the English woman's interest. For example about why the Haiden, the oratory/hall of worship is separate from the Honden, the place where the kamis are enshrined.
Masazumi simply tagged along for most of it and listened as the two went on while sipping tea till it finally seemingly was at its end. "So Tomo. About Tsukinowa.. did you find him?"
"Why yes." the maiden clapped her hands together with great vigor. "Located him in an agricultural garden not far from here. The poor mouse was terribly lost, but not all alone. A few brown algae kept him company till I came to pick him up."
"That's such a relief." she breathed. Hand on her flat chest as she exhaled. "Could I see him?"
"Of course. One moment." Tomo said and got up to leave the room. Most households had low-standing table without chairs.
Mary seemed thrilled, "I so look forward to seeing your mouse."
"Don't coo too aggressively. Tsukinowa's... very young."
"I'll be careful." the fellow student almost sang.
Tomo returned at that moment, gently carrying a glowing open box she soon put down on the table for the others to see. Mary instantly cooed at the sight of the tiny and mildly luminescent anteater lying on the cushioned interior of the box. It seemingly slept, but reacted once the females leaned close. Tsukinowa emitted a low peep of curiosity as it pivoted its sharp head to look up at them – settling its gaze soon enough on Masazumi. "Here you go, Masazumi." the maiden said, "Tsukinowa has made a full recovery since your first encounter with Hatton. You are free to secure it at any time."
Masazumi lamely nodded and reached into the box to retrieve her mouse. It squirmed very faintly against her touch, but did not attempt to resist, allowing her to pick it up. "I will..." the Vice-President smiled and brought it closer, prompting her collar to open with a tell-tale click – a sign frame resting in the resulting opening, ready to receive the mouse. Gently, she gave Tsukinowa a pat on the head with her thumb – at which it let out a comforted peep. Relieved by the positive response, Masazumi brought the mouse up and into contact with the sign frame on her collar, into which it promptly vanished – followed by another click as the collar fell shut. "Tomo, sorry for the trouble."
"Don't worry, Masazumi." the maiden replied, "Always a pleasure to help."
"You're so very dedicated, Tomo." Mary complimented her.
"Thank you. I try."
"By the way... I heard about the infiltrators caught earlier. What are they like?"
The maiden looked thoughtful, "Big and buff, very heavily armed and armored. One seemed to be a noble of sorts, while another was... quite vulgar."
"Yeah..." Masazumi rolled her eyes, "... tell me about it. Nate's going to have a 'chat' with them later. Here's hoping it sheds some light on what we're dealing with here."
"Time will tell." Mary said, still with that delicate smile of hers. "Let's just hope it won't go too far."
Both of the others sighed at once, "Yeah."
21:36; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era
Quasi-Bahamut Class Aerial City-Ship "Musashi" – "Asakusa" Interrogation room
"Anyone feel as shitty as I do?" Dom asked, his words hollow.
Marcus tried to shake the daze from his brain as he looked for those who brought them here, but was only able to see the door close. Delta had gone to sleep after many quiet hours without food, only to be blindfolded and dragged out of their beds and brought here, where the binds where finally removed... but with restraints of metal that tied them solidly to each their chair taking their place.
The room was blindingly white. So much that he was hard-stressed to make out any corner at all, let alone an edge. It looked a whole lot bigger than it actually was because of it.
"Agh... give me a break." Baird groaned a little further away. It took a tilt of his head to confirm that their chairs had been placed in a neat line before the solitary exit that had seamlessly vanished in all of this pure whiteness.
Cole snickered awkwardly. With those still-swollen cheeks of his, he was in no position to perform his regular bravado."Interrogation time, baby. No steeling of muscle nor limb."
"Hurts more. Got it."
"Uh-huh..." Marcus murmured, and stared ahead of them as a rectangular silhouette appeared on the wall, the door opening wide and just long enough to let a single woman through. The drill-haired one from before walked in with a near-seductive but highly dignified pace, seeming like a other-worldly presence with her grandiose uniform framed by all this white, and the mass of chains that orbited around her frame. Her golden eyes locking onto his first – while noticeably avoiding Cole.
"You can probably guess why you are here." she started, folding her arms. "It is time for some answers. You tell me what I would like to know, and you will be allowed to head back to your comfy beds – even with a reward for your compliance."
"Rewards. Lady, we can't tell ya what we-" Cole began.. but she shot him a glare that could have sent a thrashball team flying over a city block – having experienced her strength first hand, Cole immediately shut his mouth.
The lady maintained her glare for an instant longer before she rose to her full height – which was not nearly as impressive as the gears tied down in the room. "As for the reward... what might be your first good meal in years." she snapped her fingers; "Behold."
Behind her, the door flew open and a number of servers walked in - trays in hand - lined up in front of Delta just out of reach. The contents of the bowls upon each tray hidden by plastic covers.
"W-what is it?" Dom asked, his full attention on the bowl in front of him.
Nate grinned and pulled off the cover on Marcus' bowl, which exposed the food fully and allowed its hauntingly spicy aroma to quickly fill the room. Marcus couldn't tell if he had ever smelled anything this good. If there were, he had long forgotten it. There were gasps of disbelief and amazement from the others, and that was before they even saw the contents of said dish.
The sauce almost glittered in this light, and ingredients lying in it shone like gems. Potatoes, carrots, onions along with plenty meat.
Marcus swallowed nervously in such a way that it surprised him. The dish attracted him like nothing else had... A day without food only amplified it. It was only with a tremendous effort that he managed to avoid breaking down just for a taste.
"Give me the answers I seek, and I'll let you indulge yourselves... otherwise you get nothing."
"Shit... shit... shit... shit..." Baird muttered, audibly watering at the mouth, and ashamed of this little reaction of his.
Their sergeant steeled himself all he could. Though tempting it was, he could not offer her any answer she seeks.
Satisfied with their reactions, she leaned close. "Time for question number one..."
21:50; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era
Quasi-Bahamut Class Aerial City-Ship "Musashi" – "Asakusa" outside the Interrogation room
Kimi calmly waited outside the room. Expression neutral. She was unable to hear any spoken word, and resigned herself to simply await Nate's return.
Which did not take much longer than a further couple of minutes when the servers finally left the room – food largely untouched and looking fairly cold. "Fu~ Seems like it wasn't enough to loosen their tongues."
Nate growled under her breath once she had closed the door. Annoyance flashing over her face. "Curse it. For a moment it looked like it was going to work. But not enough."
"So what now?" the Aoi asked, smirking. "Are you going to express your brutal mindless self to them?"
"As if!" the half-werewolf nearly shrieked.
"Then..." Kimi's smirk grew, folding arms underneath her enormous bosom. "I got an idea we can try out."
That earned her a wary look, "And that is?"
Initially, she only offered her reply in the form of a devious look. "Oh, you'll see~"
22:13; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era
Quasi-Bahamut Class Aerial City-Ship "Musashi" – "Asakusa" Interrogation room
The waiting had been unbearable. A while had passed since Nate left with the food. Delta had miraculously managed to avoid giving out any information. Cole had tried to earn the meal by nonsensically blabbering out information about just about everything that came to mind without actually saying anything relevant to her questions – but it was a no sell. It only earned him another hard glare.
"I still can't believe we got through that." Baird throatily commented.
Dom nodded in agreement, "You and me both."
"How long are they going to make us wait anyway?" Cole asked in a low voice, as if he felt Nate's eyes on his neck. "Gonna let us dry up in here?"
The door's silhouette began to show again. "Doubt it." Marcus growled, thankful that the smell had thinned out by now. "Be ready for anything Delta!"
They were ready for anything. Anything except what proceeded to walk in on them: A naked man with tiny wings atop his hairless head.. and a red blob with eyebrows on his left shoulder.
"Good evening! I am not a suspicious fellow! I am the Incubus Kenji Ito! Here to make you feel perfectly at ease!"
Then the blob followed suit and spoke; "Along with myself, I, Nenji!"
Outside, the girls watched the door in silence. Listening to the screams of horror that came from the other room, mixed in with the enthusiastic 'One, two! One, two!' coming from the Incubus. Whatever was going on inside, Nate believed she had not even the faintest interest in knowing. Surely whatever the answer would be, it could drive her insane. Next to her, Toori's sister hummed to a tune, smirking in a wicked manner neither angels nor demons could compete with.
"Y-your evil is peerless."
Kimi let out a curt laugh. "I know."
Author notes: Not able to update as often as I'd like. Got a whole lot of other projects I gotta work on too. Though this chapter would have made it sooner if not for a few irl delays. Such as moving house and CPU fan dying on me.
Was a bit rushed at the end. Had a little struggle with it.