This was posted on the 2nd anniversary of GranEssex Chronicles. There will be a note from the two authors at the end.

Chapter 23: Back to Duty

In a secluded area at the headquarters of the Organization, Kurabe was in the middle of flexing her muscles. After weeks of recovering from her grievous injuries, she was finally able to move around without anyone fussing over her.

"I'm leaving, father. You can't stop me anymore, I'm ready to get out there and start fighting." Kurabe said, knowing her father could hear her, despite not being near her location.

After a few minutes of silence, a voice spoke out from a communications device. "...Go to Planet Octal. That's where your force is currently at. Rejoin with your division and take command."

Planet Octal, a strange planet that is separated into eight different parts, each piece connected to each other by a series of bridges. In many ways it was a like archipelago... a planet sized archipelago.

"Understood. Kurabe, returning to duty."

"Please be safe, my daughter." Was the only response from the device.

Kurabe only nodded, her thoughts directed elsewhere. Planet Octal was, to put it bluntly, not the ideal location for a war. Each section of the planet was vastly different from each other, with some segments being unfriendly to those with no experience of the land.

"Meta, Mercury, please be safe."

However, if that was where the base of operations of Void was, they had no other choice.

On one of the islands of Octal, Meta was resupplying at one of the bases. This island, if you could call it that, was actually a blessing for Meta in a few ways. It was rocky and fairly desolate with no trees or any kind of greenery. It reminded him of the place he grew up before Kurabe found him. That being said, the time spent here was very stressful and he appreciated the chance to relax, if only for a moment. That's when he felt a feathered hand touch his shoulder, or the puffball equivalent of one.

"What's up, Vul?" He asked, immediately knowing who it is.

"How'd ya know it was me?"

"You're the only bird I know."

"Huh. Good point." His friend said, scratching his head.

"So, what is it?"

"Just checking up on you. We haven't really talked since... yeah. How goes the fighting?"

"Fine." Meta shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't killed anyone yet." He then said, knowing that's what he wanted to ask.

"Oh... yeah, yeah, that's good. Very good." The bird seemed to reply awkwardly. "Good that we're able to make them surrender or capture them, right?"

Meta nodded, not really feeling like talking.

"Hey, how long do you think this war will last?" Vul then asked.

"It'll last until it's over, I guess." The puff shrugged.

"Well, things are going smoothly at least. We haven't had any casualties yet."

Meta nodded, but Vul knew that he was at least glad about that.

"Alright, let's get back out there." Meta said, grabbing his sword and leaving without a response.

As if noticing this, Vul hesitated for a moment before following along.

As they walked, Vul attempted to make conversation, but struggled to think of something meaningful to talk about.

"So... um... you hear anything from Fettuccine?" He asked.

"She's not on the frontlines. All she's doing is what she does best, interrogate."

While the reply was blunt, Vul could at least tell he was relieved about his friend not being in any immediate danger.

"Yeah, that's at least good, isn't it? What about the vice captain? Have you talked to her?"

"Vice captain Mercury is too busy for standard conversation. Outside of reports, I have no reason to interrupt her work."

"Yeah, good point."

Internally, Vul sighed, struggling ot make conversation with his friend. "Do you think Kurabe will be back soon?" Vul asked, hoping that invoking her name would get Meta to talk more.

"I hope she will." He replied. Admittedly, there wasn't a day where Meta wasn't worried about his mentor. Thanks to the war, he hadn't even been able to contact her much. He knew that she also felt the same way, of course, but it couldn't be helped.

"Well once she does, this war is a good as won."

"No, as much as I wish that was true. If sensei was here, she'd say something like, never underestimate the enemy."

"Well, um... it'll then be better in our favor then, right?"

"It will be." Was all he said.

Vul sighed again, now noting that he clearly did not want talk more about it. The bird then noticed that Meta's hand started to tense up, a sign that his instincts were shouting at him.

"An enemy?" Vul uttered, now readying his crossbow.

Right as Meta was about to respond, a group of twelve Void soldiers yelled out and charged at them. Meta responded by quickly sending a bolt of lightning out at the attackers, knocking them flat on the ground.

"Incapacitated. Vul, help me tie them up."

Vul gave a nod and started to tie up the soldiers. That was when, without warning, he pushed Meta to the ground.

"Vul! Why did-"

Meta's eyes widened in horror as he watched one of the enemy soldiers cut Vul's face with a sword. Without thinking, Meta cut the foe down for good.

"Vul, are you ok?!"

"Yeah. Just peachy. Stings a bit, but I'm fine."

That was the bird's reply, but Meta had a feeling he was putting on a brave front.

"Sorry, if I wasn't so careless, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"Hey, it's not that bad, so don't beat yourself up. Just let me get started on some first aid."

Meta didn't respond verbally; all he did was nod.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Vul then asked.

"No, I'm unharmed."

"Well, that's a relief."

"A relief? You got hurt when you didn't need to. If I was more careful, this wouldn't have happened."

"Yes, but I'm more glad that you're safe."

Meta didn't respond vocally, but internally he was angry. Not at Vul, but at himself. "If only I just killed them instead of trying to take them prisoner. My stupidity got Vul hurt, and my stupidity will only serve to hurt the others. I can't afford to go soft of my enemies anymore. I won't let anyone else get hurt."

"I thought I told you to stop beating yourself up." The bird glared at him.

Meta glared back, leaking out some of his own anger, which caused Vul to back down.

"Geez, I-I'm sorry, I just know how you are..."

"We have a war to fight, let's not waste more time than we need to." Meta stated, walking off with his sword still drawn.

"...yeah, right." The bird quickly uttered as he finished his first aid.

As soon as Vul caught up with Meta, he asked a question.

"So, remind me again what our mission for today is?"

"Eliminate our target. Vris Getztsar, mercenary for hire, apparently has knowledge about the whereabouts of Void's leader. We're to capture Vris and if we can't, killing is authorized. Personally, I'd rather not have to kill again, at least if it can be avoided."

"Got it." The bird nodded in response. "Any hints to where he is?"

"No, just that he's around this area somewhere."

Vul sighed and readied his crossbow. "All right, then we should be careful."

"Yes, we should. From the reports, he uses a strange fighting style."

Vul looked puzzled. "What kind of strange style?"

"Bubbles."

The bird looked even more confused. "Bubbles?"

"Bubbles. Apparently, he can make special bubbles. What that entails is beyond me, but we shouldn't underestimate the power of bubbles." He explained with complete seriousness.

To his surprise, Vul burst into laughter. "I-I'm sorry! It's just hilarious that you're being this serious over BUBBLES of all things!"

"Vul, this is no laughing... matter. Get behind me!" Meta shouted, pulling his friend with him as he jumped backwards.

There Vul saw what his friend was chattering on about: a lone bubble.

"Meta, it's just a silly bubble. That's nothing to be so worked up-"

KABOOM! The bubble exploded like a bomb, creating a crater where it blew up. Vul could only stare in shock, as if he was processing what just happened.

"Now do you get it? Bright side is, we know where he is. Stay alert and stay away from any bubble you see."

His bird friend nodded and once more readied his crossbow, remaining vigilant. The two looked around, waiting for a sign of the target. That's when they saw a group of yellow bubbles. Noticeably, a liquid fell off each bubble, dissolving the ground below.

"Acid bubbles."

"Should I shoot them?" Vul asked.

"Do it."

With a nod in response, the bird took aim and fired. All the bubbled popped, the acid rom them creating a large hold in the ground. Meta was trying to think of what his enemy's plan was, but he was drawing a blank.

"An intimidation tactic? No, I don't think a professional like him would use such a method during a war."

That was when Vul's eyes widened in realization. "Shit! Could it be a trap!?"

As if ready to answer his question, another group of acidic bubbles surrounded them in a circle and self-popped, dissolving the ground around them. Meta understood what was happening now.

"He has us trapped in one place. With the ground gone, we have nowhere to go."

"...we can fly, but I think that'll make us easy targets..."

"That's right, boys." A laid-back voice called out. The source was a turtle like creature standing on two legs, wearing a casual shirt with a pineapple pattern on it. "So, you're the students of the unkillable. Decent senses, but still has room for improvements."

"Is that the guy, Meta?" Vul asked.

"Yes, don't let his appearance fool you. I read about him, his body count reaches the hundreds." Meta explained to his now frightened friend.

"The recorded kills anyway, I've got a few off the record ones." Vris remarked casually, which only further scared the newly scarred bird.

"Meta what do we do?!"

"There's really only one thing we can do. I'm worried my magic will backfire and I can't risk getting close, so...Vul I need you to shoot as many arrows as you can at him."

"Got it!" The bird replied, already readying his crossbow to fire multiple bolts. "Sorry to burst your bubble!" Vul shouted as he fired off his shots, only for Varis to form a wall of bubbles that trapped the arrows inside them.

"I do hope you have a better plan than that. And better joke material."

"Yeah, I think so..." He uttered as the bolts then exploded.

While Varis was seemingly distracted, Meta rushed at him and stabbed him in the stomach. Then suddenly, Varis popped just like a bubble.

"He was a bubble too!?"

"Shit, where is he now!?" The bird uttered, getting down low and searching around.

Meta scanned the area, trying to find where the dastardly turtle disappeared too. The surrounding area seemed normal enough, which left only one other place to look.

"The sky! Vul look up!"

Vul did so quickly. "Dammit!"

He fired another bolt into the sky. Varis, who was laying on top of a bubble in the sky, laughed as Vul missed.

"You need to aim a little better, bird brain. You missed."

"But I won't." He heard from behind.

Meta had taken the opportunity to teleport behind Varis and was ready to strike. But as Meta swung, his blade was stopped completely by Varis's shell.

"Word of advice, never announce a sneak attack."

Faster than Meta could react, Varis snapped his fingers and trapped Meta inside of a bubble. Vul quickly fired another bolt.

"When will you learn? Firing like that won't get you anywhere." Varis said, destroying the bolts with his acid bubbles.

"I was ordered to capture puffball here alive, but nothing is stopping me from taking you out, birdbrain. I'll give you one chance to leave though. You should take it."

"Can I at least ask you why you want him?"

"Seriously? You're asking why the prized student of the Lady of Shadows is wanted? You really are a greenhorn ain't ya?"

"Well, I didn't know if there was something more than that."

"Even if there was, why would I tell you?"

"Good point." He sighed as he looked at Meta.

"Meta, can you get out of that bubble!?" Vul shouted.

"No, I can't move at all. Go, save yourself! I don't want you getting killed for my sake."

Vul let out a sigh, and backed away, keeping eye contact with Varis as he did.

"Sorry Meta, but that's an order I can't follow. Hey turtle soup! What's two plus two?"

"It's four! Do you think I'm that stupid!?"

"Yes, but that's beside the point!" Vul remarked, firing off more bolts, which Varis caught without issue.

"What was that supposed to accomplish? Also, you fired three bolts, not four."

"Count again."

Varis narrowed is eyes and heard a distinctive pop sound. The bubble trapping Meta was no more.

"No!" The turtle shouted as he realized what happened.

The now free knight wisely chose to skip talking this time and stabbed Varis in the stomach. To add to this, Meta sent electricity through his sword, electrocuting Varis from the inside, but only briefly. They were ordered to capture him if possible. As if knowing their creator was out of commission, all the bubbles in the surround area harmlessly popped and Meta gently floated down to the ground, carrying Varis with one hand.

"Alright. Let's take him back to base after tying him up." Vul said.

As Vul started to walk, Meta put his hand up to stop him.

"Wait, he might be pretending to be unconscious. Shoot his leg with a blunt arrow. It won't do serious damage, but enough to make him react if he's still awake."

"Got it." His ally uttered before shooting his leg.

There was no response. The target was seemingly down for the count, but Meta still wasn't convinced. Truth be told, he wanted to finish him off, permanently. It would ensure there'd be no more threat of harm to him or Vul, but he also knew that Varis was needed alive. Perhaps he was over thinking things, letting his adrenaline get to him. Besides, there was no need to kill an already defeated opponent. He would kill, but he was no murderer.

"Vul, tie him up, and make sure to cover his mouth. He might try shooting bubbles at us with his mouth."

"Got it..." Vul looked at him a bit hesitantly as he got to work with that, as if he had read his mind.

Meta watched his friend work, when he got a bad feeling, and he always trusted his bad feelings. He ran up and pushed Vul out of the way and not a moment too soon, as Varis got up and slammed a bubble into Meta's face. The exploded like a grenade, blowing Meta away and heavily damaging his eyes in the process. The turtle laughed as Vul's face twisted in horror.

"Not who I was aiming for, but whatever works." He kept laughing, only for Vul to knock him out cold with a single punch.

"Meta! Are you ok!?"

"...Are you?" He responded weakly.

"Yeah, I am, but you don't look ok!"

"That doesn't matter. You're my subordinate for this mission, even more than that though, you're my friend. Your safety is my priority. Now, tie up the turtle and let's get out of here."

Vul silently nodded, but continued to look worried as he did as he was ordered.

"You sure you're fine?"

"Yeah, I am. Honestly, I'm more concerned about you than anything." The bird replied, looking at the harsh injury the puff recieved.

"I'll be fine. It's nothing."

"Meta, can you even see right now?"

"It's nothing. Can you carry him with us?"

"Meta, answer my question!"

"It's nothing."

Vul sighed in annoyance at that answer. "You're acting just like our sensei."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Let's get moving."

The bird picked up the turtle and began to carry him. "I don't mean it as a complement..." He mumbled.

"Do you even know where you're going, Meta?"

"You haven't corrected my course yet, so I think I'm good. I can see, just a little. Enough to navigate."

"Alright, suit yourself."

"I'm already wearing my uniform." Meta replied bluntly.

Vul immediately stopped and stared, surprised at what he just heard. "Did...did you just make a joke?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing, just wasn't expecting it." The bird replied, finding himself suddenly more relaxed.

"Ok." The puff replied as he continued on.

"And uh, thanks."

Meta looked back, titling his head in questioning. "For what?"

"For saving me from a killer bubble."

"Oh... you're welcome..."

"Man, who knew bubbles could be so scary."

"Yeah..."

Vul then blinked. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Yes, I do. I'm not blind, just off balance." Despite this, he began to stagger a bit as he walked.

"Do you need me to support you?"

"You have your hands full with the turtle, I'll be fine."

"Ok, but please let me know if you need help."

Meta didn't respond. At first Vul thought that was just Meta being Meta, but something seemed off. He was still walking, but it was sluggish. Like a shambling zombie.

"Hey, are you awake?"

He finally received a reply, a nonverbal one in the form of Meta falling over unconscious.

"Shit! You idiot, this is why you should have let me get hit instead!"

Desperately, Vul picked up Meta with his beak and ran as fast as he could, hoping he could make it to a base in time.

It was probably only a couple of minutes, but it felt like hours to the bird as he barreled into the camp, his friend and the captive in tow.

"SOMEONE GET THE MEDICAL OFFICERS! WE HAVE AN INJURY!" He shouted after quickly placing the puff on the ground first.

Calm footsteps could be heard coming towards them, the source of which was a friendly face.

"Relax, Vul. He's in capable hands." The friendly doctor Erhard said, his ever-calm face and voice doing a lot to put Vul at ease. In response, he let out a sigh of relief.

"We also brought someone along with us." He said gesturing over to the unconscious Varis. "Think we can get some stuff out of him."

"That's out of my area of expertise. But, thankfully we received a visitor from the intelligence division. Miss Fettuccine, if you'd please." Erhard said to someone standing behind him.

The usually bubbly interrogator walked out, a serious expression on her face. She stared at the unconscious Meta for a moment, worry evident on her face.

"Er, take good care of him." She said, grabbing Varis by the shirt collar, dragging him off to her interrogation chamber.

"Not going to lie, I feel a bit sorry for the guy..." Vul thought, shuddering internally as he watched. He then looked at Erhard. "I'll trust you to take care of him. Let me know when he wakes up, I have a few things to say to him."

"Of course. He'll be fine. Though it's fortunate you got him here when you did, any longer and the damage to his eyes could have been irreversible. But I should have enough time to fix the damages. Now, if you'll excuse me."

The bird nodded as the Limet took the puff with him. When he was out of sight, Vul grumbled to himself. "Damn it, Meta... why'd you have to do that...?"

"Do what?" A quiet voice said.

Vul turned around, surprised by the sudden new presence. "S-s-sensei!? You're back!"

"Yes, I am. Now, answer my question."

"He...Meta got injured protecting me." Vul said, expecting Kurabe to be angry. However, she seemed calm.

"I see. He's with Erhard now, yes?"

"Y-yeah, he is." He replied, trying to hide his surprise.

Kurabe looked disappointed, but was still mostly calm. "Then our reunion will have to wait a bit longer. Now as for you, Vul. Why are you upset with Meta?"

"Why? Because he got hurt protecting me! Why aren't you upset!?"

"Because he did exactly what I would do. Am I happy he's injured? Absolutely not. But he's alive and you're alive. He risked himself to protect his comrade, to protect you. That was his choice and I'm proud of the choice he made. Let's get to the point, you're not mad at Meta for getting hurt. You're made at yourself for needing to be protected."

Vul groaned, as if he was annoyed that her guess was spot-on. "...yes..."

"Vul, there's nothing wrong with being frustrated. But, don't for a second think you failed. You're both alive. In war, you only fail if you die. You two will live to fight another day, and you'll get the chance to make it up to Meta by protecting him in the future. Instead of doubting yourself, you should be preparing yourself for the future battles we'll face. Learn and grow from your mistakes, that's the way of the warrior."

"I see... thank you, sensei." He replied. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Wait till Meta is released and Fettuccine is finished with her torture session. After that, I'll make an announcement of our next course of action."

"Do we have another target lined up?"

"Yes, but for now, you don't need to worry about it. Go get some rest. Your left wing has a little blood on it."

"Will do, sensei." He nodded before heading off to one of the tents to rest.

Kurabe watched him walk off, then proceeded to walk off herself. While she wanted to see Meta now, she could wait. Rather, she had to wait. Besides, she had a vice captain to visit. With a slight sigh, she headed to the tent.

Upon flipping open the cloth that covered the entrance, she called out.

"Mercury, are you here?"

Mercury, who was looking through mountains of paperwork, looked up to see who it was. Immediately, she hugged her best friend with speed even Kurabe wasn't expecting.

"You're back! If you almost die on me again, I'll kill you myself." She jokingly threatened.

"No promises." She giggled.

"So, the old timer finally let you leave?"

If it was anyone else, Kurabe would tell them to address Z with respect. But Mercury was the sole exception to that.

"Yes, it was a bit longer than I wanted because I needed rehabilitation after all those injuries. He was saying things like "well, if you're going to fight, we might as well make sure your back at your full combat potential before you go"."

"Fair enough. At least you're back now. Now let's get the formalities out of the way. I, acting commander Mercury, now return the duty of commander to you, Kurabe. Welcome back ma'am."

"I'm glad to be back Mercury. Now, what's the situation of the battlefield looking like?"

"Currently it's a stalemate, they haven't gotten any major victories against us, but we haven't gotten any either. Until today that is, with the defeat of known mercenary Varis of the deadly bubbles, we have secured some footing. All we need now is Fettuccine to finish her work, but who knows how long that'll take. As far as casualties on our side, none dead. About one hundred and fifty wounded, a few of them in critical condition, but no confirmed deaths. A majority of the wounded will be back in action in a few days."

Kurabe's expression was unreadable. "I see..." Was all she said. "I'll be on the frontlines from now on. Especially because of something I learned while stuck at my father's."

That seemed to pique Mercury's interest. "What is it?"

"One of the other combatants we'll have to fight. A woman named Sang Lune. My father received reports of her existence one of the islands that makes up this planet."

"And just who is this woman? The way you speak about her, she seems like a big deal."

Kurabe remained silent, as if trying to calm herself down. "She's a Myovam."

Mercury's eyes widened, fully understanding her friend's worry. "I can see why you see that..." She uttered, recalling what happened to Meta during his time with the Intelligence Division.

"Yes. What makes this even more worrisome, is that she's not even a member of our enemy's organization, nor is she a mercenary like our turtle friend. According to the reports, she's attacking both sides. A true wild card has been thrown into the mix. It's partly why I came as fast as I could."

"Alright. Just be careful regardless." The vice captain said.

"Oh please, I'm always careful!" Kurabe replied with a huff.

"Right. It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back." She smiled. "Although I don't like the circumstances." She thought to herself.

Kurabe looked at the direction of where the medbay was, hoping that this conflict would not last as long as she feared it would.

"Do you want to go see him, sis?" Mercury asked.

"Yes, but for now he needs time to rest. He needs it, we both know how tiresome war can be."

"I know... but don't you think that seeing you would make him feel better?"

"You know he's unconscious, right?"

Mercury paused. "He can probably still sense you."

"And that Erhard is still working on him. I have to wait, even though I don't want to."

"Alright then." Mercury replied, looking at her friend.

The warrior was clearly trying to keep a straight face, but it was obvious she wanted nothing more than to barrel over there and just stay by her student's side.

"Come on, let's go get some rest sis. You're probably exhausted from the trip here."

"Yes, and I'll probably need it anyway..." Kurabe took her leave, her thoughts centered solely on her student.

The next arc, "The Prince of Shadows" has started.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've been working on both the next chapter of Hero of the Stars in the Soul Society and doing Art Fight this year. I'd like to make note that I have now made an ask blog on Tumblr so readers can ask questions about the characters! (It's in my bio for those interested.) I hope you enjoy this next arc!

Second Anniversary Messages from the Authors

GundamBailey:

I don't really have much to say. I'm just really thankful for all the support this story has gotten the past two years, and I hope you all continue enjoying it for the years to come. And I'd like to thank Rikka for letting me be her partner in all this. It's been a very fun ride, a ride I'd like to stay on.

KachiKirby:

I'm honestly glad to see that this work is still going strong after 2 years. It also seems like more people are starting to learn about it. That honestly makes me happy. I hope that more people can enjoy this series for years to come and that existing fans can also enjoy it as well. I'd like to thank GundamBailey again for his help with writing this and to thank all the people who read it up to this point. I hope you all continue to support me!