Chapter 3 - A Job Gone Wrong
"Well," the enormous tiger said dryly, sounding like he wanted to cover his face with his paws, "that could have gone better."
Eunie is forced to agree with him, in spite of herself. Even Ashera could have handled that better, and that woman's immediate response to spotting the bloody Queen was "Fight me to the death!" Eunie is both deathly embarrassed by and supremely ashamed of herself. She kind of wants to go lock herself up in Gramps' cabin and just wallow away, especially because Malos won't stop laughing!
"Are you gonna shut up or do I 'ave to cut your damn jaw off, Malos?" Nia grumbles, clearly not enjoying him laughing at them any more than she is.
Eunie admits to herself that she likes this harsher version of the Queen a lot.
Bana grunts and adjusts the position of his monocle. "Mm, indeed, Friends' antics are quite frustrating even without that," he grumbles, voice betraying his exasperation. "Bana trying to hold a civilized meeting here! Honestly! Is common courtesy for Friends at least pretend to pay attention!"
Jin squeezes the hand he's been holding on Nia's shoulder, perhaps to keep her from launching herself at Eunie again, a little tighter. "We will have time for fighting monsters later," he says pointedly, and the catgirl bares her teeth at Eunie before folding her arms over her chest.
"...Fine," she growls, sweeping around to face Bana with an icy glower. "But are these… are this kid and 'is Blade honestly going to be the ones we're hirin'?"
"Hm, Tirkin Head say she not Blade, but not sure how much Bana believe this. However, yes, as Friend Rex from Leftherian Archipelago, and Tirkin Head quite skilled with weapons despite lack of social ability."
She scoffs and folds her arms, squinting. "A kid Driver who doesn't have any military experience and isn't even actually a Driver? Don't make me laugh."
Eunie opens her mouth to snap back at the same time Rex does, but before they can get a word in, the big white tiger bows his fluffy head. "You must excuse my lady's discourtesy," he apologizes with a respectful tone. "She does not mean to insult you. She is simply concerned about your ability to survive the dangers we might encounter."
"Oi, Dromarch!" Nia complains, tugging at his ear with a pout. "How many times 'ave I told you not to speak for me!?"
"Drop it, Nia," the big guy, Malos, orders, in a tone that brokers no disobedience. Nia frowns but relents, letting the topic go. "But I do see your point. In any case, it should be easy to make sure…"
Instincts honed from years of fighting Agnians and months of fighting Moebius scream at Eunie. The winged human lurches to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade that sings through the air as it passes by her face and knicks her right wing. One-third of a feather floats to the ground, Eunie cursing and tensing up. Rex shouts in surprise and only barely manages to duck under a swipe at his own head. Malos squints at them and follows up with a stupidly fast vertical strike swiping down at Rex, which he spins out of the way of, while taking out his own collapsible sword. Rex's weapon, Eunie notes in the brief second she has to do so, is just made of reinforced metal. Meanwhile, Malos' is the same glowing blue energy Aionios bladed weapons are typically made of.
She whips out her steel double-sided sword and presses the switch that turns it from its uncollapsible mode to its fighting mode, just in the nick of time to catch Malos's slash. Steel rings against metal energy, and Malos uses the stalemate to shift his balance and attempt to disarm her. Her weapon buckles; it had only barely unfurled in time and can't properly support his weight as a result.
Rex, however, screams out a battle cry that ― oh, Queen's feathers (or should she do claws now?), really needs some work and rushes forward, stabbing at Malos' shoulder. The black-haired maniac lifts a brow at Rex's surprising speed and changes gears, ending his disarming maneuver and instead swiping his blade up to deflect her friend's stab. The blue blade flashes in a counter-clockwise arc, and another stalemate is reached. As Eunie recovers enough to swipe at his side, Malos quickly ends the stalemate by shoving forward. This throws Rex off-balance. The Leftherian staggers backwards as Eunie's attack is effortlessly blocked. With blazing speed, she's counterattacked with another vertical slash. Eunie judges that she doesn't have time to block with either metal portion of her weapon, so she switches from holding her grip with one hand in the center to two hands at either end, hoists up her sword parallel to the ground, and uses the grip as a means to block.
Her arms and legs quiver from the force of Malos' swing. She adjusts her stance to offer herself better torque, but Malos grins and pulls back, all the fighting energy leaving him as he resumes his previously relaxed demeanor. The suddenness at which he switches from killing intent to a perfectly casual attitude throws her off almost as much as being attacked without warning. An unsettling anti-climax floods the room like a tsunami.
"W-What are you playing at!?" Rex snaps, still tense and gripping his sword tightly. His eyes dart from Malos to Jin and even to Nia, like he's not quite sure if they'll start attacking next.
Malos lifts a brow as he studies them both, a vaguely amused smirk playing across his lips. "Well, well, well," he says, sounding impressed but still managing to sound condescending at the same time. "Guess this was worth our time after all."
Nia bares her teeth at him like a cat. Her ears twist so their openings face the side. "Oi, Malos, what good is it swiping at a kid and a…" She pauses and hesitates, brows furrowing as she clearly wars over what to refer to Eunie as. "A… A civilian!?"
Eunie forcefully bites her own tongue to keep from snapping at Nia's inadvertent dismissal of her service record, but Rex evidently does not have as much self-control as she does, because he immediately accuses her of looking as young as he is. The glare she levels him in response is both withering and comical enough that Eunie just has to giggle. It distinctly reminds her of Mio's glare that time when Taion confided in the wing-headed Kevesi that she once chased a spotlight around Colony Gamma.
Malos rolls his eyes. "You didn't think they were up for it, didn't you?" he pointed out.
"I said nothing of the sort!" Nia protests, clenching her hands into fists.
"Suuuuure, you didn't. And anyway, now we know." Malos' armor clanked a little as he stepped up to examine them both closer, rubbing his chin. "You'll both do right enough, though you don't look like a Driver," he muses, nodding to Rex, and then squints at Eunie. "And you definitely have military experience of some kind, but not any style I've ever seen before. That guard stance wasn't textbook Ardainian, Urayan, or even Indol. It was maybe close to Tantalese, but still…" His eyes fix on her for a few moments more as if she'll display all her secrets to him if he stares hard enough at her.
Eunie lifts a brow at him. "Wot, mate? We've all got things we ain't tellin' each other. I'm not a part o' any military now, an' that's all that matters."
Malos laughs. "You certainly have spunk. Whatever. I'm more interested in where the kid learned his Arts, anyway."
"Gramps showed me a thing or two when I was little," Rex supplies with a proud grin. "It was his idea of playtime."
The man who'd briefly attacked them considers their points for a moment, then nods. "Both of you have enough skill. Kid. Bird girl―"
"Oi!" Eunie is outraged, doubly so as her protest is ignored.
His tone is as steely as her sword. "You'd both better work hard."
The group hiring them leaves without waiting for an answer, Malos in the lead and all the others trailing behind him. That huge tiger Blade ― Dromarch, she recalls ― bows to them again and Nia hesitates, yellow eyes examining them both for a second before she shuffles off behind him. Eunie can't tell for certain, but she's pretty sure those piercing eyes linger on her for a moment longer than on Rex.
"Meh, meh! Friends are such rowdy bunch! Much more enjoyable than rude Tirkinheads!"
The Ouroboros's wings flutter as the sounds of jingling coins and two heavy wooden thunks ring out, one thunk significantly lighter than the other. She opens her mouth to snap back a devilishly clever retort, but a pleading look from Rex makes her puff her cheeks. Snuffin' kid's lucky he's too adorable to disappoint… Eunie sighs to herself.
"Here is advance," Bana says grandly. "Use to buy what gear you need, then go to dock on starboard!"
"Starboard, starboard…" Eunie's brows furrow in confusion. "Which side is that again?" Given that they always let Riku handle The Boundary after Lanz's nearly disastrous attempt at getting behind the metaphorical wheel, she'd never quite picked up on that.
"Ah, Auntie Corinne taught me a trick for that when I was a kid!" Rex pipes up, saving her from a stare from Bana. She's quite sure Bana had been about to say something like she has feathers for brains or a similar insult. "Port's left from the way the ship faces because they both have four letters. Starboard's right since they have more letters than left."
Eunie blinks owlishly. "That… huh, actually makes it pretty easy. Gotcha, right it is, innit."
Bana lets out a long-suffering sigh. "If friends done interrupting, Bana was saying that Bana has arranged excellent vessel for you there. Ship departs today at six."
Rex and Eunie take their leave after accepting their payment and expressing their gratitude. They each have things to take care of before departing, so momentarily split up. While Rex decides to tell Gramps about this mysterious job offer, Eunie tells her boss at 12 Brothersisterpon. Luckily, Motata, having already been severely understaffed and managing well enough in spite of that, is very understanding and grants her a couple days' leave, especially since the job comes from the Chairman.
With her newly acquired funds, she also decides to take Bana up on his offer to purchase new gear. She makes a first stop at the Cosmetipolitan run by a cute cat-eared girl named Jill to pick up something that had been interesting her for a while: some Sparkly Snow Perfume. The scent is just amazing and she can't wait to try it! After slipping that item into her pouch, she passes by the Reedarit Bookstore and freezes as she looks over the books. On an impulse to learn more about this world and its stories, she buys Adventures of Myram as well as The Millenarium Titan. Her pouch feeling rather full, she decides that's enough on unnecessary purchases.
To actually do what she intended, she first visits Shroomblade Smithing. She'd already learned from her boss about Chips, additions to one's weapon that enhance its abilities. She picks up an Iron Chip and has the Smithy, Pelala, apply it to her sword. After Malos' attack buckled it, she now understands that she could probably use it to be more stable. Since it takes an hour for the process to be attached, Eunie kills time by visiting Shynini's Accessories and buying a Muscle Belt and an Attack Stone. She deliberates for a while over a Friendship Ring instead, but she doesn't really need the healing boost at the moment since she's not using her Blades…
(This is a decision she will regret the next day.)
Still having a little bit of time left, she orders a bowl of Argentum Noodle Soup and slurps it down. The broth is absurdly good, both creamy and cheesy. She gives the store owner, Zuzu, a real nice tip for that and has more of a skip in her step when she finally retrieves her weapon.
Before long, it's six o'clock, and Rex and Eunie meet up at the starboard dock.
Rex is giddy about the chance to ride The Maelstrom, and Eunie has to admit she's interested to see how it compares to The Boundary. She's mostly tagging along to make sure her partner doesn't get in trouble, though. After talking with Spraine, one of The Maelstrom's crew, they board her and the ship casts off.
Spraine guides the two to their room, and they set down their luggage.
"Rex, I know I already told you a few hours ago, but just as a reminder, you'll take first watch tonight," Spraine tells them, and Rex nods.
"You can count on me."
"Want me to 'elp?" Eunie offers. "I've got loads of experience with this sort of thing."
He shakes his head and smiles. "Nah, you get your rest. I do, too, actually. Can't ever stay TOO comfortable on the seas, even with Gramps."
"Alright, suit yourself, love."
They play a game of chess while waiting, though Eunie has to be taught the rules. After that, Eunie cracks open one of the books she bought, Adventures of Myram, and reads as the sun lowers in the sky. It's actually very interesting, telling the tale of a Driver from ages past who tried to launch an expedition to the World Tree. But her attention drifts after a few chapters as she starts thinking about Nia.
She really should go and apologize…
Frowning, Eunie snaps the hard-cover shut and stuffs it back in her pouch. She gets up and heads out of their room, then finds Nia idly loving on Dromarch. The sight of the cat-eared girl snuggling the big, white tiger makes the Ouroboros feel warm and cozy enough to chase away her awkwardness.
"Ello, Nia," Eunie says, making the girl jump. She swiftly turns around and stands up, squinting at her.
"And wot do you want, eh?" Nia huffs. "Come to make fun o' my height again?"
Dromarch sighs. "My Lady…" he begins, but Eunie cuts him off.
"No, no, nothin' like that! I actually want to apologize. I didn't mean to insult you." This surprises Nia, the girl's slight tension drifting away. Eunie rubs the side of her face. "I just… you reminded me of someone, that's all, and I mistook you for them at first… until I noticed the height difference. So, sorry. I won't do that again."
Nia bristles at the height difference comment, but realizes that Eunie isn't saying it as an insult and relaxes again. "...Wotever, fine." Those yellow eyes flick to her head-wings and linger, then turn away. "Hey, uh, you said you're not a Blade, but… were you ever a Driver?" Dromarch's eyes narrow at his master, a glint of… sorrow?... in them.
"A Driver?" That question throws her off. It's not the usual one she's asked, after all, and she senses there's potentially something underlying it. "Er, no, sorry. I didn't actually know what either a Blade or Driver were until I came to Argentum a week ago."
"Wot the―wot kinda backwater Titan were you from?" Nia shakes her head in amazement. "Actually, nah, don't answer that."
"To not know about Blades or Drivers is as unusual as your wings…" Dromarch murmurs.
"Gonna pretend I didn't hear that…" Eunie grumbles before frowning. "Why'd you think I was a Driver?"
"...It's nothin'," Nia says after a small pause. "No reason. Just forget about it."
"...Alright, alright, keep your secrets." Her teasing is good-natured, and she chuckles. "Well, anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Night, love."
Nia's cheeks flush at the love comment, and she rolls her eyes. "Yeaaah, yeah, night…"
It's not even morning yet before they reach their destination, but Eunie at least got a few hours' worth of sleep in. She hurries down from their assigned room to the deck at the assembly call.
A crew member whose name Eunie doesn't know explains the situation. "Salvaging team," he says gruffly. "Your target is inside a large shipwreck located 150 peds below-surface. Fighters, your job is to secure the cargo by fighting off any monsters who decide to take a trip alongside it. Searching the wreck while submerged is too high-risk for our tastes, so we'll be using flotation devices and cranes to lift the hull first." A lot of this goes over Eunie's head, but as he orders them to split into teams to explore the ship once it's brought above water, her attention refocuses.
"We're paying you lowlifes a lot," Nia says from the second floor, "so don't screw it up!"
Outside, rain pours over The Maelstrom. Eunie stays a healthy few paces inside while Rex and the other salvagers leap casually off the ship and into the Cloud Sea.
It takes a good fifteen minutes for the salvaging crew to swim down to the ship, attach the flotation devices, and resurface. It takes another five for the ship to actually rise up from the Cloud Sea floor. When it does, Eunie's stunned by its immense size. It's easily as long as the Argentum Trade Guild, if not longer. It dwarfs The Maelstrom by a country mile.
"Whoa, it's massive," Nia breathes, her awe a sentiment Eunie whole-heartedly agrees with.
"Its appearance matches the reports," Jin mutters. "But it's what's inside that matters.."
Eunie chokes back a laugh and grins like the cat that caught the canary. "Hey, size matters too, love."
Jin just looks confused. "What?" he says with a blink while Nia pauses before a mixed look of disgust and amusement crosses her face.
"Object is secure!" Spraine barks out. "Proceed to second phase!"
Everyone boards the raised shipwrecked, tense and prepared for a potential fight. The only people who look relaxed are Malos, Jin, Nia, and their respective Blades, plus Rex. Nia folds her arms and nods at Rex.
"Excellent work," she acknowledges, impressed. "You're not half bad, you know that?"
"I do this for a livin', remember?"
Spraine speaks again before Nia can say anything in reply. "All teams, proceed inside when ready!"
"Right then, let's get moving," Malos grunts. He and Jin walk forward towards the door leading to the interior of the shipwreck, but the tall, white-haired man pauses and turns towards Rex.
"...You―with us," he says to Rex, who blinks in surprise.
"Me?"
Nia is skeptical and Eunie's concern spikes. "You're gonna drag the kid along, seriously?" The cat-eared girl asks.
"Guess he thinks you need all the help you can get!" Malos laughs at Nia, whose ears twist to the side again. Righteous rage clenches her fists tight.
"OI!"
Eunie steps forward, eyes blazing with rebellion. "Hey, if Rex goes in with you, then I'm coming in, too!" There's another reason she refuses to let Rex go in alone, though, besides just wanting to protect him in general. There's something about Malos' tone of voice… Something about it that unsettles her.
Malos shrugs. "The more the merrier, I suppose."
They barely make it a few feet towards the door before it flies off its hinges. A massive sea creature scuttles up onto the deck, claws snapping angrily. It has four claw-tipped legs and four eyes, a round carapace on top of its body, and a flat belly. It's easily bigger than anything living in the waters near Argentum.
Rex lurches back in surprise, but an unfazed Nia narrows her eyes at the monster. "Let me show you two what a Driver can do," she says confidently.
She summons two ring-shaped blue blades that look shockingly similar to Mio's Blade and falls into a catlike stance, while Malos and Jin also pull out their swords. Eunie grins and digs into her pocket, unfolding her newly improved double-sided sword. Rex is only a second behind her in pulling out his sword.
"Skyward Slash."
Jin's attacks blaze forth with such speed that his sword blurs. The air rings with the song of wind rippling off metal, and a gash appears in the monster that cuts so deep Eunie almost sympathizes with it. She doesn't wait for Malos, though, leaping forward and stabbing her blade into the monster's head. She yanks it out, blood spilling from the wound, and spins on her feet before stabbing the other end of her double blade into the same hole. "Demon Slayer!" she calls out.
The monster shrieks in pain, snapping its jaw and launching one of its claws at her. With a shout of "Chakra Burst!" Malos lands a powerful slash, cutting off the claw before it can reach her.
Breathing heavily, the monster staggers backward, favoring the leg opposite to the side of its cut-off claw. Rex and Nia take their opportunity to finish the dying sea creature off. Rex fires his salvager's anchor into its eye, yelling, "Anchor Shot!" while Nia swipes four times and shouts, "Butterfly Blade!" When Rex's anchor retracts, he follows up with a spinning slash that hits hard.
Eunie watches the Drivers with raised brows. A glowing link of ether flows between Malos and his Blade, Sever, as well as Nia and Dromarch. Eunie guesses this powers their attacks and provides additional defense beyond what they'd typically offer. She's never seen anything like it, but she can definitely understand why militaries would bend over backwards to get Drivers on their side.
The poor thing dies after only having been outside the ship for perhaps twenty, twenty-five seconds.
"I almost feel bad for it," Eunie says smugly, folding her weapon back up.
"Something that weak isn't even worth our time," Malos grunts.
Eunie grins at her friend. "Hear that, Rex? Malos wants somethin' a bit meatier."
Rex chokes and his eyes widen. "E-Eunie, you, uh, you do know what 'a bit meatier' usually means…?"
"...A bigger and meaner beastie?"
All the others stare at her like she's missing out on something extremely obvious, except for Nia, who looks just as confused as her.
"...What!? Why are you guys looking at me like I'm an airhead or… or a muppet!?" She refuses to even consider the idea that they think she's a spoon, because she will pitch an absolute fit if they do!
"...Whatever, just get in the ship, brats," Malos says gruffly.
"Rude little so-and-so…" Nia mutters, hanging back with Rex as Malos and Jin walk toward the broken-open door.
Rex shrugs. "Gramps always taught me to respect my elders," he says wisely with a twinkle in his eye.
Nia and Eunie both pause as they register the fact that the sweet, young salvager just called the Driver an old man, then devolve into snickers like gremlins. They all fell into line behind Malos and Jin. The entrance to the ship's innards is a rather tight space with a choice to go up a flight of stairs or down one. A Bubble Medooz has made its home here, but it dies even quicker than the monster they'd just fought. They first choose to explore the upper layer, finding the ship's helm here. There's nothing up here except a few Krabbles and a treasure chest, which Rex enjoys cracking open and taking the gold from.
After Rex is done pocketing his winnings, they proceed down to the middle floor of the ship's deck. It's dark and humid here, air clinging to Eunie's skin and clothes with moisture. They slaughter another Krabble and Rex opens up another chest sitting directly in front of them in an otherwise empty alcove. While he makes quick work of that one, Eunie spots a third treasure chest along a catwalk.
"Hey, Rex, over here, too!" she calls out, heading over to it. She very nearly falls to the floor below when it turns out a couple meters of the catwalk have collapsed. Jin catches her before she breaks a leg or a few ribs. Her heart thuds from the near-miss.
"Careful," Jin warns in his quiet voice. "This ship is five hundred years old. You never know when the floor might give out beneath you."
"R-Right," Eunie gulps, shaken up. "Won't 'appen again, promise."
"If it does, remember to roll when you land. It'll lessen the impact on your body."
"...Oh, gotcha."
Deciding there's nothing else of note here, they head down another flight of stairs to the main deck. The stairs are collapsed at the bottom, so they have to hop down. They only take a few steps away from the stairs when, just as Jin had mentioned might happen, the floor gives out beneath them. Luckily, it's only a short drop to the floor below, and Eunie tucks and rolls into the landing just as Jin had told her to.
Unluckily, they're surrounded by monsters who they've pissed off with the noise created by the broken floor.
"Eunie, Rex, take the Lysaats," Malos orders, summoning his Blade, whose name she only just learns. "Jin, help Nia, Sever and I with the two King Crustips."
Eunie still doesn't like the tone of his voice, but she can see the logic there. The Drivers' weapons, having more Ether damage potential than purely physical weapons, would offer greater damage against the hard-shelled lobster-like Crustips. Meanwhile, the Lysaats are softer-bodied, their carapaces easier to shatter or pierce with a well-placed swing or stab than Crustip shells.
Eunie uses her weapon class's natural orientation towards defense to protect Rex by blocking the multiple monsters' attacks as much as she can. Rex focuses on taking down one Lysaat at a time. He's having a hard time finding an opening, though, until Eunie kicks a loose piece of the floor they fell through at the one he's fighting and draws its attention. Rex slips behind the monster and thrusts his broadsword into its back. "Sword Bash!" he says. The Lysaat looks wounded, but it's not dead, and starts to turn toward him. As it shows its side to him, Rex swings forward and spins with two twisting strikes. "Double Spinning Edge!" Its carapace shatters with the first swing, then the second swing digs into its soft flesh, and it dies with a shriek of pain.
Eunie gives him a thumbs up and then spins her double-sided sword like a whirling dervish, dicing up any Lysaat stupid enough to step foot into the range of her weapon. "Gale Slash!" She cries, then grins at Rex. "Nice goin' Rex. Sparkin' thing didn't know what hit it!"
Rex laughs. "I like your attitude, Eunie!"
That's finally enough to take the first Lysaat down, but there's about three more. Luckily, the Drivers finish killing the King Crustip at about the same time, and the party descends on the three monsters that remain like a pack of Volffs.
In a few seconds, they all stand in a ring of dead semi-aquatic monster corpses.
"That couldn't have gone much better if we tried!" Eunie says smugly.
Dromarch nudges her leg with his nose. "Confidence is important, but do not underestimate the enemy."
"Alright, knock it off, old man," Nia huffs, stroking the top of the tiger's head. Eunie is instantly jealous. She wants to pet the oversized cat so bad!
They press on, and on, and on, exploring every inch of the mysterious ancient ship. Eunie and Rex find several more chests containing cash and various trinkets; even an Attack Stone. This treasure sleeps in a red chest with white outlines, otherwise known as the chest that baited Eunie into almost falling earlier.
Eunie is livid with herself.
"I wouldn't have bought one if I knew we'd find one 'ere!" Eunie cries, glaring at the damned accessory. Rex shrugs.
"Ah, at least we can sell this one if we don't need it later."
In the second hold, they find a door with an ornate design. It's blown open by another monster, this one a Pagul. This proves to be another brief fight. Malos's disappointment with the monsters' weakness grows with each battle.
Beyond the door lies the ship's loading bay, filled with Lysaats and Medooz. Nia and Dromarch briefly get hit with a bubble spray attack that causes them to fall asleep, but Jin wakes them up. Other than that, they have little trouble taking them out. Eunie empties a chest full of ancient cash at the far end of the loading bay, then catches up with the others as they descend through a tight stairwell on the side.
They pop out onto the ship's fuel tank, then press on to the system control room. Mist hangs in the air, clinging to every available surface from the electronic panels the ship apparently operates on to the railings bordering the higher paths. Moss clings to the metal pipes, and an ether fuel chamber sticks out from one, too, empty.
"Looks like if we find an ether cylinder, we can stick it there to open that door," Jin explains, pointing to a door in front of the control panel. "The target must be beyond there."
"What is our target, anyway?" Eunie wonders.
"A need-to-know basis," Malos snaps. "And you don't need to know."
Eunie decides it's probably not a good idea to push her luck. Especially because the way he just said that gave her that sickening, familiar feeling in her stomach again.
They walk to the other side of the control room from where they entered. Here, there's an entrance to the other fuel tank. They slip inside and find a King Crustip guarding an ether cylinder storage bank. It's a bit stronger than what they've fought here before, but it also goes down without too much problem. Eunie wants to explore a side path that looks like it heads back up to a treasure chest they couldn't get to earlier, but Jin sighs and folds his arms.
"We're not here to treasure hunt," he mutters. "We've already wasted too much time. Focus."
"Right, right…" she groans.
They skip plundering that chest to instead open the door in the system control room. They slot the ether cylinder into its spot in the fuel chamber, which slides back into the pipes with a metallic groan. Eunie's no mechanic, but even she can tell it needs a serious greasing. Regardless, ether flows through the attached pipe and a line to the control panel glows blue. Nia activates the control panel, and slides open as they approach it.
A truly massive Aligo with yellow spots on its black back awaits them in the misty chamber on the other side.
Malos folds his arms and regards it with a raised brow. "Not planning on letting us pass, huh? Sounds like a challenge."
"I like a good challenge," Rex says, smirking as they all take out their weaponry. Ether links connect the Drivers to their Blades.
This fight actually lasts a minute. The shark-like monster has some pretty heavy defenses and health, and its bites hurt. Nia keeps them all healthy, a true support healer-type, and Rex discreetly circles around behind it. The Aligo, drawn by its anger towards Eunie's carefully placed slashes, turns towards her and moves to swipe its tail at it.
With a well-placed Art, Jin breaks the monster's stance.
"Thanks for the freebie, Jin," Eunie says with a grin. Since the enemy's aggroed on her, she whirls her weapon around in her Gale Slash art. Meanwhile, Malos takes the opportunity to follow up on Jin's Break.
"Hammer Bash!" he cries, the enemy toppling to the ground as its feet get swept out from under it.
At the same time, Rex shouts, "Sword Bash!" and delivers a hefty stab into the monster's tail.
It's panting heavily now, and Eunie decides it's time to put it out of its misery. She discreetly pours Ouroboros energy into her weapon and Fuses two Arts together: Mighty Beat and Soaring Tempest.
The Aligo launches into the air as Ether catapults it into the sky, then smashes back down, the massive damage from the fall and attack killing it.
"What the…?" Malos mutters, raising a brow. "That Art seemed unusually strong…"
"Not bad, eh?" Eunie cackles. "A little somethin' I've been cookin' up for a while." It was originally Taion's idea to pair the two Arts together, but he only thought of it just before they fought Z.
Jin's eyes train on her carefully.
"Yeah, what was up with that, eh?" Nia wonders, leaning into Eunie's face and making her lurch back.
Rex rubs the back of his head. "Was it really that unusual? I only really know a few Arts, so I couldn't tell…"
Suddenly, Malos grunts and stares ahead of them to what stands on the other side of the dead Aligo's corpse. "Hey, Jin," he says, tone urgent. "Check this out. There it is… Addam's crest." He points to a door; specifically, a seal emblazoned on what looks like some kind of mechanism to open the door.
Jin's brow narrows, attention on her completely forgotten. A million emotions flashing behind his eyes in a split second.
Rex says something, but Eunie's brain doesn't register it, because she's busy studying the design of 'Addam's crest,' whatever that means.
A… clock inside a flame? A flame clock…?
Huh. Although the design is completely different from Agnus and Kevesi Flame Clocks, she wonders if the name somehow came from this crest… Something to ponder over later, she supposes.
"...will only open to one of you people."
Eunie jerks back to attention and realizes Jin's talking to Rex, not her. Rex just tilts his head in confusion.
"One of me? What are you talking about?"
"We're not paying you to ask dumb questions!" Malos growls, eyes flashing as he throws his hands up in frustration. He takes a breath, then his voice drops into a cold, threatening tone. "Just hurry up and do it."
Eunie's wings flutter. This guy's really starting to make her sparks fly! "Hey, don't talk to him like that!" she protests.
Rex also sounds hurt. "Yeah, what the hell!?" he agrees, staring at the rude dark-haired man. "You can't treat hired hands like that!"
"Just. Do it."
Nia tenses, eyes falling on both of them in a silent plea to just go with it.
Rex hesitates, frowns at Malos, but shuffles to the door. "...Fine," he sighs, considering the crest with a confused tilt of his head. "Now, how do we open it…?" He kneels down and studies the base of the door, then looks at the crest again and raises his brows. He touches it, and the symbol glows blue. It parts in four different ways, each segment sliding away and letting them through.
"So that was a release toggle," the Leftherian boy concludes.
Eunie blinks. "Nifty piece of technology…" she hums as Rex marches in, green ether curling at his feet but not hurting him.
"Just as I thought." Jin sounds smug with himself.
Eunie blinks and glances at him. "Eh?"
Nia moves to follow Rex, but Jin lifts a hand up to silence Eunie and says, "Nia, wait." The girl freezes, blinking in confusion as the white haired man nods to Rex. "Open that door, too."
There's another at the end of the newly opened passageway, smaller this time. Rex opens it the same way as before, but this time, it just slides apart in two. Jin nods to the others and gives the go-ahead. Eunie wonders why they weren't allowed to move in until now. Was it dangerous to someone other than Rex, for some reason? Mulling the mystery over, she enters the passageway and steps through the second door with the others as Rex pushes further in.
Water drips from the ceiling, runoff from their salvaging still dripping through the vents and floors. It echoes eerily, like they're in a deep underground cave.
Ahead of them, a walkway without rails cuts through a small pool of what looks like Ether. It opens to a circular floor, centered within the pool like the hole of a donut. A red sword is stuck in the floor in front of the room's main feature: what appears to be a stasis chamber, inside of which sleeps a beautiful woman with red-and-gold armor and huge breasts even the Queen might be jealous of. A cross-shaped symbol on the sword glows green, reminding Eunie oddly of Noah's Blade vibrating.
"It's a… girl?" Rex whispers, awed, and pauses at the sword's glow. As if in a trance, he falls silent, just… gazing at it.
Malos's voice is almost a whisper. "Look," he hisses to Jin.
"Yes…" the man whispers back. "No mistaking it." It's only because she's got much better hearing than most Kevesi that she catches what is said. "That's the Aegis."
"The… Aegis…?" Nia repeats, eyes widening.
Eunie's utterly flummoxed. "What the spark is an Aegis? Does anybody have any plans to fill me in? Is that something I should know about? It feels like something I should know about!" The only time she's ever felt more lost is when she first arrived here and had to have how this world works get explained to her.
Malos glances at her, almost shocked, then Jin grabs his arm and Malos goes pale as he looks back at Rex, who's reaching out towards the sword.
"Hey, brat!" Malos almost sounds… scared? "Don't even think about touching that!"
Malos's voice jerks Rex out of his trancelike state. "Whuh?" Unfortunately, in his surprise, his arm twitches and his fingers brush against the cross-like symbol. Green light floods the room and Malos swears.
"Rex!?" Eunie cries, eyes dancing with fear and concern for her friend. "Hey, what's-"
Something clicks in Eunie's head.
The uncomfortable feeling she's been getting around Malos since meeting him… the way his tone of voice gets under her skin so much, claws at the inside of her skull, makes her eye itch. It's because she knows that tone of voice, knows it all too well. That disregard for life… the expectation for what comes next, as the matter is a foregone conclusion. She's gotten way too familiar with it in the past year alone, specifically, and she has lived and died, and died, and died to it, every single life she's lived.
It's a little bit different here. More… disgusted, somehow, than joyful glee, but… it's the same tone of voice the Consuls used.
The same tone they used as they ordered soldiers to their deaths.
Faster than should be humanly possible, Jin blurs out of existence and then reappears next to Rex. Stunned by her realization, Eunie's body is frozen.
The sound of metal slicing into someone's body immediately follows, accompanied by a strained choke of pain.
Rex's body stiffens and his hands shake. "W-Wha… b-but why…?" His voice is scarily weak. Eunie's frozen on the spot in horror. Her heart thuds so loudly in her chest, she's surprised no one else can hear it. Hell, she's surprised she can even hear anything else over it.
"Don't take it personally," Jin says softly. "It's an act of mercy. At least you won't be alive to see what's coming."
He swipes his sword out and flicks it impossibly fast. Blood flies off of it.
Rex's blood.
"No, no, no," Eunie whispers, unable to do anything but stare as one of her only friends in this new world collapses, life oozing out of his eyes faster than the pool of blood forming beneath his body.
Jin slashes the sword stabbed in the ground to pieces and the green light dissipates.
"Rex…"
Chopped red metal falls in front of a still red woman, sleeping in stasis in a coffin made of glass and metal.
"REX!"