It was late in the evening, and for most members of Class VII it was the time for homework, writing correspondence to family back home, or even just getting an early night's sleep. For one Laura S. Arseid, it was time for her to practice with her blade. Physically, she knew she wasn't really gaining anything from doing the same swings that she has done thousands of times already, but for her it was a way to clear her mind of distractions so could deal with her thoughts with an open mind. And there was one thought in particular that was really bothering her at the moment.
Unfortunately for the swordmistress, her thoughts would have to wait as her door was unceremoniously opened. There was only one person she knew who would enter without knocking like that, and a quick glance at the messy silver hair approaching confirmed it was indeed her newest friend, Fie Claussell. While others might find it rude, Laura found herself appreciating the straightforward nature of her classmate.
"Fie." She greeted as she lowered he sword. While she knew she could multitask, there was no point when her focus was elsewhere. "I'm surprised you are still up."
The younger girl merely shrugged. "Caught a nap during homeroom once Sara started in on her stupid rant, so I'm good for now. So what's up?"
The Arseid practitioner blinked in confusion. "I'm uncertain as to what you are referring to."
"At dinner you were clearly bothered by something." Had she been that obvious, or had Fie just been that perceptive?
"It's... nothing. Just have some thoughts on my mind." Fie merely shot her a flat, unamused look as she moved into the room and settled herself on the bed. In hindsight Laura should have expected that. Fie, despite her harsh upbringing, exhibited many catlike tendencies, and curiosity appeared to be one of them. It was clear that her deflection had only piqued her curiosity more.
"Alright, spill."
Laura realized there was no way out of this one, but perhaps an outside opinion was what she needed. "I have just been thinking... about Rean."
"Oh? Laura has a crush~." Despite the singsong voice Fie maintained her flat stare.
"No! It's not about that." If Fie noticed that wasn't much of a denial she was at least kind enough to not say anything. "I was thinking about what happened in Legram."
"You mean his special powers?" Fie and the rest of Group B had been given a brief rundown of their leader's hidden powers, but the idea had sort of slipped to the back of everyone's mind after the events at Garrelia Fortress, which had occurred just a day prior.
"Indeed. It was a shocking revelation, but one that answers so many questions..."
"You mean his hesitation when he fights?" Laura shot the younger girl a surprised look, which caused her to shrug. "I might not be a sword fanatic like you guys, but even I could tell that Rean is always holding back. It's the only thing keeping him from being on our level."
"Right. While I believe that him fighting my father was a first step in acknowledging the problem, I'm not sure he is ready to overcome that barrier on his own."
"And you want to help him."
Laura nodded her head at the accurate guess. "I do. Rean is a dear friend to me, who has helped me with many problems of my own, including my own prejudice." Fie merely grinned slightly at the pointed look sent her way. "I would like to help him with his own problem if at all possible.. I just don't know what to do."
"Hmm..." Fie tilted her head in thought. "I think we need to know more about it first. It sounds kinda similar to the berserk state certain Jaegers can go into, but different at the same time. Maybe you should ask Rean directly?"
Laura was unconvinced. "Isn't that a bit... rude?"
"Maybe?" Fie would be the first to admit that she was far from an expert at good social graces. "But sometimes the best solution is the direct one."
"You... might be correct." Perhaps she should take a page from the blunt girl's book. "I think I will talk to him tomorrow after class."
"Can I come with?" At the surprised reaction, Fie looked away shyly. "You aren't the only one he's helped, you know..." And that was the truth. From major issues like her spat with Laura and her Jaeger past to simpler things like helping to take care of her flowers. It might have only been half a year, but Rean Schwarzer had become very important to her.
Laura just smiled in understanding. Despite coming from opposite backgrounds they truly were alike. "That should be fine. And thank you for the advice." It appeared that a second opinion was exactly what she needed.
Fie went to respond, but instead let out a yawn. "Well, I think I'll turn in for the night. Let's talk to him tomorrow." Laura bid the girl farewell and soon found herself alone again, but this time with a much clearer mind. With her plan made the girl decided to follow her friend's example and turned in for the night.
After a day of uneventful classes, Rean Schwarzer found himself relaxing at his desk having a conversation with Elliot and Gaius. The news that the school was thinking about canceling their next field study after recent events wasn't exactly shocking, but it did leave the members of Class VII in an awkward limbo.
It didn't help that they still had yet to come up with an idea for the upcoming festival in a month and a half. Combined this left an undeniable tension in the class and he knew he wasn't the only one concerned. Elliot had a worried look in his kind eyes and even Gaius was standing a little stiffer than usual.
Still, despite the tension, everybody was still keeping themselves busy with schoolwork and club activities. Rean listened as Elliot excitedly informed him that his sister had sent him some new sheet music that he was eager to play, and Gaius was nearly finished with his current art project. After promising his friends that he would gladly show it to them once it was finished, the kind Nord politely excused himself so he could do just that. Another minute later and Elliot also left, as the wind orchestra had need of him.
Usually this would leave him as the last person in the room, but today was apparently an exception as Laura and Fie were still in the class, having their own private conversation at the older girl's desk. Had he been paying attention he would have noticed the furtive glances sent his way while he was conversing with his male friends and known something was up, but he hadn't, so he was surprised when Laura called to him before he could exit the room.
"Rean?" While unexpected, it wasn't a big deal and he quickly made his way over to the two girls.
"What's up?" He asked curiously.
"Actually, we had some questions we wanted to ask yo-." Laura was cutoff as the door to the classroom opened and Instructor Sara strolled in.
She looked at the three curiously, but shrugged and strolled to her desk. She rummaged through the drawers for a minute before pulling out a sheet of wrinkled paper. "Ahah! I knew I still had it. Now that annoying old turd won't yell at me. Hmm... but he might get mad at me for it not being pristine. Oh!" The older woman's eyes zeroed in on the sole remaining male. "Rean. Be a dear and take this to the staff room for me, would ya?"
"No." It wasn't Rean who answered, but Fie, as said girl knew the bleeding heart of Rean would accept without hesitation. "Do your own work, Sara." The former Jaeger turned to her two friends. "Let's take this somewhere private." She knew Sara would take it the wrong way and tease her about it later, but it beat having to deal with an annoying curious Instructor. She didn't need to look to know that Laura and Rean were silently following her out of the room.
"Hmm... This could be a problem." Unfortunately for Laura, private places were few and far between right now, as the halls were filled with chattering students. Between recent events and the upcoming festival there was no shortage of topics to gossip about, but it presented a conundrum for the members of Class VII.
"How about the Old Schoolhouse. I have the key on me?" Warning alarms were going off in Rean's head at their insistence the conversation be private and he had a sneaking suspicion of what topic they wanted to talk about. If he was right than he wanted to make sure they were in the most private place possible.
"That'll work." Fie agreed. With that the threesome made the short journey towards the site of many of their class adventures. After a few minutes they arrived, and after fishing the key out of his pocket, Rean unlocked the door and the three entered.
"So what is it you wanted to ask me?" He asked once they were alone.
"We have questions about your powers." Fie stated, bluntly.
Rean sighed. "I figured as much."
Seeing his discomfort Laura attempted to backpedal. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, of course."
"No, it's fine." He gave a rueful grin. "I expected it sooner, but I guess with everything that's happened it slipped everyone's minds."
"When Jusis asked you about it you said there was a beast-like entity inside you, could you elaborate on that please?"
"Right. When I use that power it's like I lose control of myself. I still understand what I am doing, but it's like I have no control over my body. It's like I become some mindless beast."
"I'm not so sure about that." Surprisingly, it was Fie who denied Rean's words. Turning to her best friend she sought clarification. "Laura, you told me that when Rean fought your dad he used the Eight Leaves, right?"
"Indeed. He was more aggressive with it, but it... oh." Laura trailed off as she understood where Fie was going with this.
Rean did too, but remained unconvinced. "Couldn't that just be muscle memory?" It was a weak argument and he knew it, but he wasn't ready to admit otherwise.
Laura refuted this with a shake of her head. "Muscle memory might enable you to make a specific swing or block, but you were clearly switching between forms to match my father as best you could." It obviously wasn't enough, but not many could claim to have witnessed Victor Arseid's signature technique and walked away to tell the tale.
Getting back on topic, Fie continued. "And you said you used it when your sister was attacked in here, right?"He hesitantly nodded. " You managed to keep that armor away from Elise and were able to suppress your powers when Crow and that annoying noble intervened. Point is, I think you have more control than you realize."
Rean struggled to find the words to counter her, but instead it was Laura who broke the silence. "I agree. You might not be fully you, but I truly believe that some part of you is still there."
"...So what do you suggest?" While Rean wasn't quite sure he was ready to believe their words, curiosity demanded he investigate further.
It was silent for a few seconds before Laura found an answer that worked for her."...I suppose the next logical step would be to train with that power, but..."
"Can you use it at will?" Fie asked the important question.
Rean snorted. "I have spent most of my life running from it, but... Yes, I think so. I've used it enough times lately that I think I can reach that dark energy inside me."
"Do it." Fie's request drew her two shocked looks.
"Fie!?"
"No way! That's way too dangerous! I could hurt one of you!"
Fie was nonplussed. "How strong would you say he is when transformed?"
Laura had to think about it. "Well I wouldn't say I got the best look at the fight." She had been so shocked that she barely noticed the details of the fight itself. She closed her eyes as she replayed the duel in her mind and tried to analyze it as much as possible. "If I had to hazard a guess I would say his speed was similar to yours and his strength might have surpassed my own."
"Similar to Sara?" It was the closest comparison Fie could think of.
"I believe so, although I think our Instructor would still win." She did have decades of experience and would be fighting with a clear mind, after all. Maybe it would be better to get her for this?
An idea popped into Fie's head. She approached Rean, who watched her warily. But before he could say or do anything the agile girl darted forward and with one clean grab stole the boy's tachi from him. "Yoink."
"Fie?!" The bewildered swordsman asked as the girl sprinted out of the Old Schoolhouse. The two remaining occupants shared confused looks, but after a few seconds the former Jaeger returned with a smug look on her normally stoic face.
"There. You might get a lot stronger, but without your sword we should be able to win if you attack us." Rean always scored among the top whenever Sara had them fight unarmed, but he was a lot less dangerous without his weapon.
"...What did you do with my tachi?" The only response he got was a simple shrug from the youngest member.
"I agree with Fie's suggestion. You said you were ready to stop hiding from yourself and I think this is the best way to accomplish that."
Their words clearly had merit, but Rean couldn't help but feel extremely nervous about this course of action. He had to ball his fists to stop his hands from shaking and talking was difficult with his dry mouth. "If you two are certain about this...?" He really wanted them to change their minds.
The two girls didn't say anything, but both drew their weapons in unison. A quick look assured them that the other was just as determined to see this through as they were. The activation of an ARCUS combat link only added to that image.
Seeing that they weren't going to back down, Rean took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Alright, here we go." He closed his eyes and searched within himself for the dark energy that resided there. He found it easily enough and hesitantly reached out to it. He refused to embrace it fully, but allowed himself to touch it just slightly, almost akin to a person just dipping their toe in a hot spring.
Immediately power sprung forth from within and threatened to consume him. "Raaaaaaaaaagh!" The yell was almost bestial in nature. His hair turned from black to white and his eyes became a demonic red. After a second the energy died down and the demonic boy focused his attention on the two girls standing opposite of him warily, but made no immediate move to attack.
"Whoa..." Sure she had heard the stories, but Fie found that seeing it in person was far more dramatic than she had expected.
"Rean? Are you still in control?" The fact he wasn't immediately attacking them was promising, but Laura could tell that any sudden action could set him off, as if he were a dangerous animal.
"Barely." The voice was still Rean's, but a lot deeper and more ominous sounding. It honestly bothered the two girls a lot to see their kind and selfless leader look so evil, but it didn't weaken their resolve at all.
"Can you turn it off?" Rean tried, he really did. But it was like trying to swim against a raging river. The power was overwhelming.
"I... I can't." The frustration from that failure threatened to overwhelm him, but he did his best to clamp down on it before he lashed out, which was exactly what he didn't want to happen. Still...
"Seems like you need to get beat up a bit before you can regain control." While she wasn't exactly chomping at the bit, Fie had suspected that this would end in combat from the beginning.
"Right. I'm not my father, but I know we can bring you back. Defend yourself Rean!" With Laura's declaration the two moved to engage the white-haired boy. Before his mind could comprehend their words his body saw the threat and reacted accordingly.
Her earlier assessment that Rean's transformation made him as fast as Fie proved spot on, and it was only thanks to fighting against the smaller girl that Laura was able to respond in time to place her massive sword between her and the incoming fist. If Rean was at all bothered by the fact that he just punched a massive hunk of steel he didn't show it.
Any further attempts to get around Laura's weapon were stymied as he was shot twice in the side. Growling, the berserk boy shifted targets to the girl who had shot him. Fie was ready for this, however, and successfully dodged the frenzied rush. Rean was not deterred, however, and pushed the girl back with a fierce combo of blows that she struggled to evade.
With Rean distracted Laura found herself at a loss. Unlike Fie who relied on quick precise attacks, Laura's strikes were meant to inflict large amounts of damage in a single hit. Even enhanced as he were a direct hit from her while he was distracted could cause serious damage. Still, she couldn't not attack as it was clear that Fie wasn't going to last long by herself. Thinking fast, she decided to use only the flat of her blade while Rean was distracted, but to trust in his ability to defend himself from her full might when his attention was on her, as her father had.
Rean was so focused on the girl that shot him that he failed to realize the threat approaching him until the last second. He just managed to raise his arms to block when the flat of Laura's blade, swung with all her strength, slammed into him. The ashen-haired warrior was sent flying away, slamming into the walls of the old schoolhouse with a resounding thud. A normal human would have been out cold after taking a hit like that, but Rean was back on his feet after a second, glaring hatefully at the swordswoman who attacked him.
With the respite provided the combat specialists of Class VII formed a unified front against their berserk leader. Neither attacked as they wanted to see if Rean could regain control of himself, but unfortunately their hopes were for naught as the adopted noble let out another roar before charging at the two girls.
As he closed he was subjected to a barrage of bullets. He evaded most, but a few scored hits. Undeterred by the damage he was taking he continued to charge, but was forced to abort as a mighty swing from Laura's sword forced him back, subjecting him to even more bullets courtesy of Fie. This continued for several minutes as Laura kept him at bay and Fie wore him down.
Even in this more feral state Rean understood that the current pace of battle was unfavorable for him and that if he didn't separate the two opponents he would lose. Thankfully he had a move for that. He charged again, but instead of stopping to avoid her superior range he managed to duck under it. With Laura briefly overextended he struck her with an open-handed disarming move. Not expecting such a hit the Arseid struggled to maintain her grip on her weapon. She succeeded, but the effort left her wide open.
Seizing the opening, Rean cocked his fist back. Instinctively Laura closed her eyes to await the imminent pain. Expecting his fist to impact her square in the face she was instead surprised as he instead punched her in the chest. Still, the force of the blow sent her crashing to the ground.
Rean prepared to continue his assault on his downed foe, but was instead stopped as the painful sensation of blades raking his back stopped him. He turned just to be greeted by Fie's follow up: a pair of overcharged shots from her gunblades. He staggered back, but turned his glare upon the silver-haired girl and prepared to attack.
But stopped suddenly as one hand went to his chest. He let out a roar as he struggled with himself for a few seconds. As the roar died down so did the malevolent energy that had been surrounding his body. Laura staggered to her feet as the pair cautiously observed the transformation. It was only when his hair shifted back to the normal black and the red faded from his eyes that they let their guards down. Rean collapsed to his knees as exhaustion took hold of him.
"Rean? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Just a bit tired." He felt more mentally drained than he did physically, but in the end it was all the same. Wearily he pulled himself to the side of the room and allowed himself to sit against the wall. "What about you?" He asked the blue-haired girl in concern.
"It was a blow well struck, but you don't need to worry about me. I've taken a lot worse in training. Still..." Rest did seem to be an appealing idea, so she walked over to Rean and sat down next to him.
Physically Fie came out of the battle the best off of the three, but she had given up on valuable nap time to participate in this fight, so she saw no reason to not join the others, sitting herself on Rean's other side. "That was tougher than I expected." She admitted.
"Still, I would say that this has been a success." Laura declared happily, much to Rean's surprise.
"Wait,what!?" If anything Rean saw this as a failure. He lost control, attacked his friends, and even hurt one of them. In what world could that be seen as a success?
As if picking up his thoughts Laura answered the unspoken question. "You didn't attack us until we provoked you and that disarming move you used at the end. That was one of the Eight Leaves moves, correct?"
"The most important thing." Fie cut in, to the surprise of the other two. "When you punched Laura. You should have gone for the head and broken her nose. You even started that way. But I saw it. At the last second you adjusted and punched her in the boob instead." The two nobles blushed slightly at the crass remark. "So either you had enough control to divert your blow or your transformation makes you a lot hornier and you couldn't resist."
"Fie!" Rean tried to glare at the younger girl, but his burning face rendered his efforts moot. All he received for his efforts was an amused smirk in return.
"She is correct, though." Laura tactfully chose to ignore the second half of her comment. "I think you are a lot closer to controlling that power than you think, and I would like to continue doing this if you are willing. What about you Fie?"
"Yup. Kinda curious to see how this will turn out."
"Laura... Fie..." Rean was speechless and filled with gratitude. But could he really do this? Could he really burden his friends with his own selfish problems?
"Don't do that." He turned to see Fie glaring at him. "I can tell you think you are some great burden to us. Normally your selflessness is endearing, but right now it's just annoying. So just shut up or accept our help. You're always helping us so let us return the favor for once."
The Arseid nodded her head in approval of her friend's words. "If nothing else you can think of it as a good training opportunity for us."
"I..." Rean was unsure what to say, but apparently it didn't matter as the choice had been taken out of his hands. "Thank you. Both of you. I'm still terrified of this thing inside of me, but I trust you, so I'll gladly accept your help."
The idea that other people might want to help him the same way he helped them was pretty obvious in hindsight, but one that surprised him greatly. While he still wasn't entirely comfortable with the chosen course of action, he at least knew he was grateful to the two for their selfless assistance.
After that the group descended into a comfortable silence. Fie rested her head on Rean's shoulder and looked ready to take a nap when a thought came to mind. "So... how was it?"
Warning bells went off in their minds as they witnessed an impish grin cross her face. "How was what?" The Schwarzer heir asked warily.
"Laura's chest. You got a good feel of it, right? Did it live up to your expectations?" Yup. That did it. Fie couldn't contain the giggle as she watched her noble friends sputter in shock at her question. It was just too easy.
Deciding it would be in everyone's best interest to ignore Fie's teasing, and not just because thinking about it made him recall just how soft it actually was... 'Bad thoughts!' Rean instead allowed himself to think about the events that had transpired that afternoon. While he had told the Viscount that he was ready to stop running from himself, the simple fact was that he wasn't actually sure what he was supposed to do to change that. While he still wasn't certain that this was the right path to take, at least he was finally marching down a path, and much to his surprise he wasn't doing it alone.
To his right sat Laura S. Arseid. Of all the members of Class VII he could easily say that she was the one he admired the most. Both as a noble and as a practitioner of the sword she represented everything he aspired to be. She carried herself with an inner strength and unwavering determination that he wished he had for himself.
To his left was the biggest surprise of Class VII. If someone had told him five months ago that the quiet loner of the class would be helping him to overcome his demons he would have thought them crazy. But after months with the class the girl had opened up and shared her story with them. Now, while still a quiet person, she was a lot warmer with them. She was funny, loved to tease everyone, but could be fiercely protective of her new family. Rean would have looked over and shot the girl a fond smile, except she was still leaning on him and from the sounds she was making...
"She's asleep?" Laura asked, half with amusement and half exasperation. Really that girl could sleep anywhere. She sent a warm look towards the girl opposite Rean before turning back to the boy. She couldn't quite hide the giggle at his bewildered look.
It was at this moment that Rean realized the position he was in. Here he was relaxing next to a beautiful girl while another girl was on the other side of him and using him as a pillow. It took all of his willpower to force his body to not start reacting to the intimate position he was in. The fact they were in a spooky abandoned building didn't detract from the situation any.
Luckily he was spared from his thoughts as Laura decided to make small talk. Simple topics like the day's classes, club activities, and training methods were discussed. They chatted for a while until Rean noticed that the sun was setting and that they needed to get back to their dormitory for dinner. Gently Rean shook the sleeping girl, causing her to wake with a yawn. The two informed the bleary-eyed girl of their intentions and the three got up from their resting positions and made their way out of the old schoolhouse.
"Wait a second." A thought came to Rean's mind. "What did you do with my tachi?" He asked the younger girl.
She gave a small shrug in response. "Chucked it in the woods so you wouldn't find it." She said simply, causing the three to turn their attention to said forest, only to realize that in the fading light they couldn't see far at all. "Oops?" Was her reply after the two sword users sighed in unison.
It took a while, but eventually they found his blade. With that in tow the three made their way back to town with Laura attempting to chastise Fie for mistreating a sword, only to get completely ignored in the process, much to Rean's amusement. Darkness had settled over Trista by the time the three had arrived.
"Welcome you three." The voice of Sharon greeted them. "Now that you're here dinner shall be served momentarily."
"Sorry we're late. We lost track of time." Rean apologized guiltily once he realized that their tardiness was delaying the meal.
"No need to apologize, Master Rean."
Entering, they saw that indeed everyone else was waiting at the table. All eyes turned towards the late arrivals.
"And where have you three been?" Alisa asked suspiciously.
"Training." Fie's answer was vague, but one look at how worn out the three were gave proof to her words.
That drew a few confused looks. "But... aren't you three already super strong?" Elliot asked nervously.
Laura gave the musician an understanding smile. "While we might have more combat experience than the rest of you there are always higher goals we wish to strive for. We don't wish to rest on our laurels if we have the chance."
"Plus we need to get stronger so we can pay C back if we ever meet him again." Fie grumbled that last part out. While neither of them had lied, they both had decided to keep the contents of their training vague. While they certainly trusted their classmates and knew they would gladly assist, it might be risky to keep them around Rean if he lost control, plus there would be less pressure on the boy with only the two of them present.
Crow just shook his head. "Still seems crazy to me that that terrorist could take on all three of you at once. And given how worn out you guys look I wouldn't want to be in his shoes the next time you meet him."
"Next time just let me handle it. Lammy will smash that guy in an instant!"
"Who cares about all that. Now that our three combat junkies are here we can finally eat. I'm starving!" Their instructor's comment earned her glares from the three 'combat junkies', not that the older woman cared one bit.
Dinner was a normal affair, although any meal with Sharon's cooking couldn't be considered anything less than spectacular. Luckily nobody seemed all that interested in their extracurricular training and conversation shifted to more mundane topics like classes, the festival, and club activities. There was also plenty of discussion about the current state of Erebonia and what it meant for their future field studies.
Once finished, most of the students retired to their rooms so that Sharon could handle the cleaning duties in peace. One of the few exceptions was Fie, who followed Laura into her room without waiting for invitation, not that the older girl minded at all.
"So what do you think?" Laura asked her companion curiously.
The former jaeger thought about it. "This should work. Hard to say for sure since this is the first time I've seen it, but it seems like he had more control than how he described it as before."
"I would have to agree. And like we said to our classmates, this is good training for us. Should we try again tomorrow?"
Fie shook her head. "Sorry, but Edel would get on my case if I skip out too much, especially with my flowers so close to being ready." Laura couldn't help but smile at the excited gleam in Fie's eyes.
"True. I wouldn't want to be remiss in my swimming either." Laura let out a small giggle. "You really care for your flowers, don't you?"
Fie looked somewhat abashed. "I didn't think I could do it, but Edel and Rean helped me out so much with them and now the flowers mean a lot to me."
After that the two conversed for a while longer. With the topic of training broached the two girls found themselves comparing the formal, but strict methods of Victor Arseid to Zephyr's training, which while a lot looser had the specter of death always hanging overhead. Eventually the two parted as Fie had promised to study with Emma that evening.
And here we are again. An idea came to mind and I just had to write it. In canon it was Alfin making Rean realized that other people cared about him that caused him to get over that final barrier with his powers, so what happens if that realization were to come a bit earlier and in a more direct way?
The pairing, obviously, is ReanXLauraXFie. While the initial emphasis will be on Rean, expect some LauraXFie to occur as the story progresses. Rating this one M cause I might try my hands at lemons down the line. This will initially hold close to canon, but small changes early might lead to major shifts down the line.
Work continues apace on my other story in case anyone was worried. Updates will be a little slower as I split my time between both stories, but I kinda wanted the change of pace. Expect an update to Their Future in the next few days.