Chapter 18 "To Catch a Consul"
At last, the true nature of Mio's adversary had emerged for her, Noah, and the rest of Colony Rho to see. No longer was the consul a woman simply clad in red armor but rather an unspeakable abomination with claws on one hand and an equally sharp cleaver for the other arm. This was the moment that the oppressed Agnian had been dreading but awaiting, to confront the one responsible for controlling her life until now. Naturally, the defied dictator was rather displeased to deal with such mutiny.
"Mio! You and the Kevesi have ruined everything! All my efforts… utterly wasted!" The being now confirmed as Moebius towered over the soldiers, her distorted voice making their skin crawl. "I should never have brought you here in the first place!"
"I wish you hadn't!" her equally regretful subordinate balked at hearing these tragically ironic words. "I despise you with every ember I've got!" Momentarily forgetting the plan to lure the Moebius into the City folks' traps, Mio leapt at the bane of her existence with ring swords extended and teeth gritted. However, the consul's surprisingly quick, mutant hand snatched the aggrieved soldier out of the air and bound her to the ground.
"To think I'd placed my faith in you," the monster lamented while her cleaver lined with her prey's neck. "Next time, I'll find elites who can't think for themselves."
"Mio!" In a scrambling panic, Noah stuck his Blade in the way to narrowly divert the devastating chop from his running mate's neck to the beast's left arm. The resulting, inadvertent injury sent a plume of red motes into the deserters' faces, accompanied by a guttural scream in their ears. While the enemy writhed in agony, the Kevesi soldier pulled his Agnian counterpart free. Although he could've struck again, Noah's concern remained on the traumatized Mio.
"That was… n-nearly my nightmare coming true…" the older of the two soldiers quivered in the younger one's arms.
"I-I got you," his voice was hardly stable either. Five seconds passed before he realized how tightly he was embracing her, but she seemed to take comfort in it.
"Thanks for saving me," her eyes quickly found his, "yet again."
"Nothing can save you now," the Moebius' warbling threat recaptured their attention. "I will make you regret your actions thusly!" Extending her gashed arm forward, the red motes mysteriously turned green in an apparent act of recovery.
"She healed herself?" The instant he asked, his running mate grabbed ahold of him. "Huh? Are you okay?"
"Ugh… sorry," Mio willed her tender body to straighten out again, "suddenly feelin' tired."
"Do you think you can still…?" His question fizzled upon noticing that all the other soldiers had fallen to their knees, including Lieutenant Bowan and Commander Moraine.
"Wretched Kevesi," the monstrous consul advanced towards the deserters. "You've befouled Colony Rho, spoiled my once-prized Agnians, cankered Mio most of all!" Listing these allegations seemed to fuel her own derangement as her claws and cleaver outstretched for another round. Mindful of the City folks' traps, Noah and Mio backed themselves onto the main path in hopes of leading the Moebius there.
"Mio, I don't think we can win this way," Noah gave her a knowing look whilst feeding the consul a baiting line. "It's too risky to get close."
"R-right…" the moonblades-wielder followed in his tracks, no less wary of the danger still casting shadows over them.
"Now you see what you can no longer preclude!" the Moebius likewise kept within shouting distance of them. "Time to clean up this mess!" Thus began the onslaught on her targets descending the hill, every attack a close call which kept them on their toes. The Urayan Trail seemed to go on forever while they ran for their lives, but soon the base of the ruins came into view. Before they could reach it and the nearby traps, however, Noah and Mio realized that nobody was behind them anymore.
"Wait! Get down!" Feeling the vibrations of his Blade, the perceptive Kevesi screeched to a halt and clumsily dove for his Agnian cohort.
"What're you…?" Unable to finish speaking, Mio looked past his shoulder to find the Moebius' cleaver cutting just above them in the nearest miss yet. A request for communication transmitted via her Iris, but now wasn't the time to answer it. Once Noah rolled off her, the two soldiers observed the rest of their pursuer fully rematerializing in front of them.
"Thought you could run away from your troubles, did you?" the beastly adversary chortled at the sight of Mio fearfully crawling backwards. "Let me end your misery. We'll both be better off for it!" Despite her large, imposing size and menacing arms, she hadn't the reach to completely block the path. Noah spied an opening through which he and Mio could slip by, though it wasn't the only thing in their line of sight. Approaching from behind the Moebius was Verna and several more City folks, all of whom carried a Blade.
"Attack!" the battle cry from the deserters' new ally was loud and clear as the reinforcements bombarded the common enemy.
"Get off me!" The monstrous consul spun and backhanded her assailants with her cleaver, knocking almost everybody to the ground. "I don't have time to deal with these pests!"
"You've had more than enough time, Moebius creep!" Verna zinged back while she swung her heavy sword at the agitated beast.
"Us soldiers are the ones without it!" the zephyr took umbrage at the consul's insensitive, ironic phrasing. "Every second of my li-"
"You've not the right to speak to me anymore, Mio!" The Moebius was in no mood for backtalk, taking a swipe at the defiant soldier. A gust as vicious as the cleaver that created it blasted her hair as she barely dodged the attack.
"She's wide open!" the scar-faced woman declared behind the enemy's turned back. Soon, a second bombardment was upon the Moebius, though their collective efforts didn't appear to have a noticeable impact.
"Raaahhh!" The monster's roar was thunderous enough to echo across the trail while a waft of both her power and rage successfully warded off the so-called pests. In seconds, Verna and her teammates found themselves grounded by the gluey, penumbral substance which had previously been used on the soldiers of Colony Rho. "Curse the City rats who bred you! I'll have to deal with you, after all!" Raising her cleaver, the mutated consul prepared to behead every immobilized person within her reach.
"Don't you dare!" Noah likewise raised his Blade and intervened with a subsequent, downward slice on the weaponized arm before it could be swung. The severance was swift, precise, and painful, showering the successful swordsman with another plume of red motes.
"Gah! What have… you done to me?!" All at once, the Moebius' furor shifted from Mio to Noah. "You… I'll rip you apart… from limb to limb… see how you like it!" Still furnished with sharp claws on her left hand, the deranged consul attempted to pierce him where he stood. However, the agile Agnian grabbed her Kevesi counterpart and hightailed it down the path. "Ay! Get your arses back here!"
"She's really mad now!" the tenth-termer peered over her shoulder.
"Good," her travel partner kept his eyes straight ahead, "she'll be too focused on us to notice where we're going." It wasn't a simple sprint to their destination. Twice the Moebius rematerialized in front of the soldiers, but both times they avoided the ambush thanks to a timely warning from his Blade.
By the time they reached the bottom of the Urayan Trail, both Noah and Mio were nearly out of breath. Regardless, they trusted that the City folks' camouflaged traps were buried somewhere in the grass. Moments later, a flash of electricity erupted from behind, followed by a garbled howl of pain. No longer running, the two soldiers slowly turned around to observe the Moebius seemingly frozen in place.
"Wha…?" the moonblades-wielder squinted until her eyes adjusted to the spectacle. "Is she… really ensnared?"
"Target neutralized!" an unfamiliar male voice suddenly rang from above. "Surround the Moebius!"
"Huh? Who's there?" The ponytailed soldier glanced around before a group of additional militants scaled down the nearby ruins' wall. Within seconds, they'd encircled the enemy with their Blades drawn and aimed. "Are you more City folks?"
"Yes we are, but we can talk later!" the leading man acknowledged him briefly. "Right now, we've got some business to wrap up here!"
"Sure…" the ninth-termer nodded tentatively. Both soldiers were awestruck at the sight of the activated traps continuing to paralyze the Moebius. Eventually, the struggle ceased and the monstrous body receded back to the familiar red armor of the consul.
"Golden! That's how to catch a consul!" The male militant pumped his fist victoriously before tapping his temple to send a message via his Iris. "Verna, we got her!"
"Verna?" the swordfighter stepped closer to him. "She and the others were glued to the ground by the Moebius."
"Yeah, that's what she told me right before you got here," the City man informed Noah and Mio. "Killing the Moebius will remove whatever her power created, but first…" Curiously, he entered the electric field which appeared to have no effect on him and reached around the consul's head. With an audible click, her mask dissipated to reveal the face underneath.
"What the…?" Mio could hardly blink, not wanting to miss a detail. The antagonist of her life looked like a normal woman with dirty blonde, shoulder-length hair and skin which didn't quite seem to be as taut as anyone's she'd yet seen. "This is… really her?"
"Do you recognize her, Mio?" Noah inquired while the City folks got a good look as well.
"I think I might," the male militant answered instead, rubbing his chin. "Anyway, she should probably be finished off before it's too late."
"Please, let me!" the zephyr spoke up the moment he readied his Blade.
"Hmm?" her new, yet-unnamed ally faced her.
"She's my consul," she began to explain, "who's responsible for throwing my life into chaos."
"If you think you can deal the death blow, be my guest," the City man scooted aside for her.
"Y-you… you f-filthy… miscreants…" the captured consul lambasted everybody around her, having evidently heard their conversation. Any attempts to dematerialize off the plane appeared futile while she remained paralyzed and partially suspended.
"Madam Consul, I…" Mio stared her enemy squarely in the eyes, unable to finish her sentence. This was a moment that she'd long desired but never imagined would happen. With both ring swords raised, the aggrieved Agnian shrilled her frustration and shattered the red armored woman's core to pieces. Penumbral matter instantly ejected from both cuts before the rest of the enemy's body began glowing blueish-white. Breathless from the adrenaline, Mio watched the bright motes rise until the consul was gone completely.
"There we go, mission accomplished!" the male militant opened the floodgates for his team's cheers.
"Mio, you did it," the pacifist gently patted her back.
"I-I… did it," she echoed him, withdrawing her Blade. "I really… killed her…"
"Oh, yes indeed!" the City man clapped approvingly.
"She's gone," her face was painted in disbelief. "I'm free… from her control…"
"Congratulations," her travel partner scooted closer. "That makes two consuls you've defea-"
"I'm actually free from her now!" she spun and grabbed his shirt with both shaky, sweaty hands. "I don't know what to… h-how to feel…" Mio's eyes became moist as several emotions overwhelmed her like whirlwinds.
"I told you that you could do it," Noah wrapped his arms around her, taking in her elation.
"Looks like everything panned out," the voice of Verna entered the joyous palaver.
"You all made it back," the male militant waved to her as both of their groups combined.
"Yeah, the gunk disintegrated when the Moebius did herself," the muscly woman shared her account of the experience before turning to the soldiers. "Well done. I'm glad Emmet hooked us up for this mission."
"Me too," Mio gave up trying to hide her tear-stained face. "Everyone… thank you. I-I'm sorry I was so doubtful."
"No need to apologize," Verna grinned at them cautiously but sympathetically. "We understand where you soldiers come from, what you've been led to believe."
"I'm not sure I ever believed anything my consul said," the ponytailed soldier adjusted his collar.
"Mine never gave us much room to think for ourselves," the tenth-termer grumbled, eyes momentarily shut. "She would punish anyone who questioned her authority, but we don't have to worry about her anymore."
"I hate to burst your bubble, but your consul was just one of many Moebius still out there," the female militant rested her hands on her utility belt. "She'll likely be replaced someday."
"Emmet's friend, Randol mentioned something along those lines," Noah recalled from his and Mio's first meeting with City folks.
"I'm aware that I'm not truly free," his running mate stole a glance at the Ferronis in the distance. "We're still bound to our respective Flame Clocks."
"There is a way to free you two from those as well," Verna revealed to the deserters.
"What?" the cat-eared Agnian perked up.
"Are you serious?" her Kevesi cohort expressed a similar reaction.
"Yes, I'm serious," their scar-faced ally's brows hardened. "It'd be an awfully cruel joke otherwise, huh?"
"I can't imagine why you'd want to pull our legs now," he soon wiped the astonishment off his face. "You have my attention."
"I guess I'm willing to trust you people after everything that's happened," Mio recomposed herself too, hands clasped together over her chest.
"Likewise, we're choosing to endow you with information that's sensitive to our military," the City man stood tall, almost imposingly, "but you've proven to us that you're precisely the kind of soldiers we're looking for."
"Because the City was built by people like us?" the swordfighter recited another claim from Emmet's group.
"Exactly," Verna's expression softened ever so slightly, "and if you desire true freedom, then we encourage you to travel there."
"I'd already planned on it," the younger soldier turned towards the older one, "after assisting Mio here."
"Y-yeah…" the moonblades-wielder dropped her contemplative gaze to the ground.
"Oh, uh, you don't have to decide right now if you want to accompany me or not," Noah interpreted from her diffident demeanor. "You must still be processing everythi-"
"I'm going with you," she cut him off, no longer averting eye contact. "How can I not, after all you've done for me?"
"I hear you," both of his palms were displayed to her.
"This goes beyond my wish to repay you, too," Mio assured him, both of them mindful of their prior discussions on the matter. "Now that I've officially defected like you, I'm… suddenly feeling greedy. I want to live independently from my Flame Clock."
"So do I." It delighted him that she appeared to have found new resolve in the wake of her nightmare. "We have an incentive to go to the City."
"Excellent," the male militant recaptured their attention, "though it won't be easy traveling there."
"I assume you don't have any means of transportation," the pacifist alternated glances between his City allies, resisting the urge to groan.
"That's correct." The muscly woman easily read the disappointment on the soldiers' faces. "When we're done here, we'll be hiking back to Low Maktha Wildwood."
"Seems like we can never catch a ride," he faced Mio next, "unless we can take the transport Levnis that the Agnian recruits used to arrive in Colony Rho."
"Honestly, they'll need it more than we will," the zephyr scratched just above her forehead with her knuckles, "especially since it's their only one."
"Very noble of you," Noah chuckled at her before returning to the female militant. "So, the City… we've been told that it's in Cadensia."
"Yes, let me send you the exact coordinates," Verna activated her Iris and gladly updated the deserters' map data. "It's on the northernmost landmass, fairly close to Agnus Castle."
"We have a pickup point on the southern end, at Morrack Inlet," the still-unnamed man added, having activated his Iris as well. "It's a short jaunt past Swordmarch. If you can make it there, then one of our boats can ferry you across the Erythia Sea to the City."
"Wait, we'd have to go through Keves Castle territory," Mio noted after studying the overall route. "How could I possibly cross that?"
"Maybe with a disguise?" he tossed out a suggestion haphazardly. "It's the quickest path, and the Cent-Omnia region is currently rife with war."
"True," her head tilted downwards. "I need to think about this."
"We totally understand." Resuming the planning, the scar-faced woman proceeded to pinpoint a more precise location on the map. "When you do arrive to the City, locate the military headquarters and tell an officer there that we sent you."
"Okay, we'll… er, wait a second," a pertinent thought occurred to Noah. "We never got your name, sir."
"Ah, right, my apologies," the male militant bowed his head, grinning embarrassedly. "I'm Malik, co-leader of this team, as well as Verna's brother."
"Brother?" the cat-eared Agnian contorted her face.
"We're siblings, born from the same parents," Verna quickly picked up on the growing confusion. "I… take it you're unfamiliar with these words."
"Uh… yeah," Mio slumped at what felt like illiteracy on her part.
"No need to fret over it," Malik deactivated his Iris, as did everyone else.
"Pardon me, but both of you have your Irises in your right eyes, huh?" the swordfighter observed of his City allies. "Are you Kevesi, perhaps?"
"Not quite," the muscly woman fiddled with the bun of her hair, "though our lineage can be traced back to soldiers from Keves."
"I'm not sure I understand…" Noah's posture began mimicking his running mate's.
"Head for the City and you'll learn everything," Verna got them back on track without untangling the soldiers' befuddlement. "For now, we must resume our previous mission in Low Maktha Wildwood."
"Okay," he let it go at that. "Mio, I guess we should return to Colony Rho first."
"You're right," the moonblades-wielder was likewise ready to move on. "Verna, Malik, thanks again for helping us."
"It was our pleasure," the female militant posed proudly. "Eradicating Moebius is what we do."
"Good luck on your journey," her brother sent his regards next. The rest of their team started packing up their equipment behind them, including the traps that'd successfully subdued the Moebius.
"You as well." The ninth-termer watched the City folks for a few seconds longer before the two soldiers turned to head back up the Urayan Trail. It was a triumphant, homeward march, though business wasn't quite finished for the day.
All Agnians were remobilized by the time Noah and Mio returned to the colony. News of the consul's death elicited a whoosh of whispers from the new recruits, but they remained in orderly formation for the duration of the assembly. Colony Rho's unforeseeable future included no known leadership beyond that of the recently appointed lieutenant and commander, the latter of whom soon dismissed the bewildered ranks for Feriferi's caretaking and Docca's cooking. Meanwhile, the remaining quartet reconvened in the barracks where they debriefed privately.
"So, our consul turned out to be a monster… literally," Bowan shivered with his arms around himself.
"She really wanted to kill me…" Moraine assumed a similar stance, "a-all of us…"
"She might've drained some of your life force to heal herself too," the ponytailed soldier hypothesized, unintendedly adding to their discomfort.
"Is that why I suddenly felt exhausted? Are we… actually food for the consuls?" This concept that the defender had previously thought to be rubbish now seemed plausible somehow. "What're we even doing here?"
"That's a good question," the pondering swordsman leaned against the wall. "Hopefully, the City will provide us with answers."
"I believe there's much we can learn," Mio looked to him in agreement, seated on her bed.
"You're leaving us, then?" Bowan's tone was a little more than pouty.
"Of course, you know I can't stay here anymore," the zephyr returned his frown. "Besides, wouldn't you want to live independently of the Flame Clock?"
"Well, yeah, but you're putting all your eggs in one basket with this whole City thing," the blue-finned lieutenant voiced his perpetual concern. "What if it doesn't go as planned?"
"We won't know if we don't try," Noah argued back, disfavoring but no less aware of the possibility. "I appreciate that you care, though."
"At least stay one more night," the healer urged him and Mio.
"Is it even safe for me to do so?" the lone Kevesi rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't want a repeat of Colony Phi…"
"You two can take the officers' tent," Moraine offered without hesitation, not wishing to let her allies go just yet. "Bowan and I won't mind."
"Alright, let me grab my things." Mio needed less convincing than Noah did, her willingness perhaps buoyed by her personal victory from earlier.
"I suppose it'd be foolish to travel without recuperating first," the pacifist conceded, finding Moraine's offer more logical than precarious.
"Right," the cat-eared Agnian stood with an armful of journals. "It'll be a long trek to the City, regardless of which path we take." Keeping their distance from the new recruits for the rest of the afternoon, Noah and Mio holed themselves up in the officers' tent until it was time for bed.
For the first time that she could remember, Mio laid herself down to rest without a care of her consul to keep her mind running. The nightmares seemed like distant memories now as she took a breath long and deep enough to catch Noah's attention. He too, had gone to bed feeling good about how their joint mission with the City folks had played out. Tonight they would enjoy a most satisfying and well-deserved sleep, however, tomorrow would be the start of their next adventure with a whole new set of challenges. True freedom still eluded Noah and Mio while they remained bound to their respective Flame Clocks, but perhaps the City might provide them a means to live life the way they'd always wanted.
Author's notes:
Thus concludes the second arc of this story and Mio's mission therewith. As you can see, however, a new adventure awaits her and Noah now that the City beckons them. Before we continue further, I'd like to thank everyone who's tagged along up to this point. I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate the feedback and encouragement to keep it going. Anyway, let's dive into those author's notes.
Were you able to pinpoint the colonies on the map? Colonies Phi and Rho are located on the current sites of the Tableland and Clifftop Ferronis Hulks respectively, while Colony 17 from Noah's flashback is positioned somewhere between the Aetia and Fornis regions where there's no gameplay. Regarding characters, I purposely swapped Taion's and Isurd's roles for their guest appearances. Much like Noah's consul, the abilities and habits of Mio's consul were designed specifically to fit her situation. In case you were wondering why the City folks haven't been called Lost Numbers, it's because we never got confirmation that the name existed in the past.
Before I'd started writing this story, the plan for the second arc had no further details than for Noah, Mio, and her allies to reach Colony Rho and challenge its consul. Mio's mission to change her fate arose from the end of her first fight with Noah in Dannagh Desert when she'd demanded that he finish her off, a line which honestly came out of nowhere. Subsequently, her portion of the plot was developed as the chapters were written. Not only do the characters seemingly write the dialogue themselves, but also their actions sometimes take interesting turns. Sounds like improv, doesn't it?
Questions and comments are welcome! Thanks again for reading!