Code Fantasy - R0: Warriors of Light

by DarkFusion

One year prior to his fated meeting that will grant him the Geass, Lelouch is offered power from a different Source in exchange for becoming a hero for more than just one world. In doing so he finds himself down a path of heroism that he will be anything but alone in walking, yet this path will lead into conflict with foes more fearsome than what Britannia could bring.

7. Chapter 7: The Depths of Sastasha

AN: Welcome back, everyone! Been a while since the last chapter, in fact I was hoping to have this out by Christmas, but I guess that's the way you jinx things no matter how far away the date may be. I have nothing to blame save for myself, the holiday work schedule, my anime backlog (which I am also to blame for XD), Baldur's Gate 3 (and the next playthrough I'm considering) and taking my time enjoying Endwalker's post MSQ quests.

Next, in case anyone's curious it is also with this chapter that I will be posting this fic on AO3 along with the postings. This is partly for convenience sake in case anyone has preferences and also make the story available to potential new readers.

Okay, the fun stuff out of the way, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put a trigger warning for all readers given this chapter covers Sastasha. It's the first dungeon of the game, but it goes to dark places if you take the time to explore it. Then again, the same can be said of Final Fantasy 14 itself.

WARNING: The following chapter contains references to sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.

Disclaimer: The following is a fan-based writing, Code Geass belongs to Bandai Entertainment, Sunrise, MBS, Funimation and Ichiro Okouchi. Final Fantasy 14 belongs to Square Enix with major props to Naoki Yoshida/Yoshi-P and his dedicated team at Square Enix's Creative Business Unit III for its continuous great quality. Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals belongs to Madhouse (and whoever else owns the rights). Please support the official release.

Chapter 7: The Depths of Sastasha

"So this here's the lass that's been makin' rounds in Ul'dah." Baderon commented after Lelouch introduced her. "A pleasure to meet ye, Kallen."

"Thanks, and it's good to meet you too." The Japanese pugilist replied somewhat formally as she shook the guildmaster's hand. "So, what's this job you said requires both of us?"

"Straight to the point, eh? I can see why the two of ye 'ave teamed up." Baderon glanced over at Lelouch. "Ye both 'ave me thanks fer takin' the time to help me out."

"We're just seeing if it will work out for now." Lelouch said in a casual tone. "Anyway, the job is…"

"Word 'as it some suspicious-lookin' buggers 'ave been sneakin' in an' out o' the Satasha Seagrot an' I need some trustworthy sorts to 'ead up north of Aleport an' find out who they are an' what they're up to." Baderon explained before giving the pair a knowing look. "Don't sound like much, I know…But, as Lelouch 'ere can attest, it weren't so long ago as the fishbacks' pet pirates paid us an unwelcome visit, an folk are feelin' a bit nervous."

"Given what the visit entailed, I wouldn't blame them." The raven-haired magic user said. "Have any of the ones they abducted been found?"

Baderon gave a grave shake of his head. It looked as if he had more to say when a new voice spoke from behind the two.

"If you would permit me, Master Baderon, I should be happy to elaborate." The speaker's voice was recognized by Lelouch and as he strode forward to stand near the pair, Kallen also recognized him as Reyner Hansred.

"Well, well, if it ain't the Chief Yellowjacket 'imself." Baderon said in greeting. "To what do I owe this rare honor, Commodore Reyner? Come to make sure me patrons are behavin' - -or just thirsty?"

"Neither, in fact." Reyner answered simply before turning to face the two adventurers. "I was informed you had requested a pair of adventurers to assist in my investigation, and I came to offer what information I could sift from recent reports."

"That would be most helpful, Commodore." Lelouch said. "What can you tell us?"

"Over the course of the past moon, there have been several sightings of an unfamiliar vessel off the coast of Aleport, in the vicinity of the Isles of Umbra." Reyner explained. "This information came to my attention no more than a few weeks after a squad of my own soldiers had completed a routine patrol of the region, the Sastasha Seagrot included. Their search revealed little, save that a family of coeurls had taken up residence in the caves. Nothing to concern us, in short."

"So what's changed?" Kallen asked. "From what Baderon says, there's more than just some big cats in there."

"Recent developments such as that have indicated it might be wise to search Sastasha again." The commodore conceded. "But with the Sahagin testing our defenses daily, I am loath to assign the task to the limited forces at my disposal. Our lines are stretched as it is. Thus I sought the aid of any available competent adventurers to conduct an investigation in our stead. Any aid you can offer in this matter will be gratefully appreciated."

"I'm willing to accept this job." Lelouch said before turning to look at Kallen. "What about you, Kallen?"

"No reason I can't check out those guilds when we get back," The redhead said with shrug. "Count me in too."

"Then it is settled." There was a combination of both relief and gratitude in Reyner's voice. "It is a good thing you both did as this job is meant to be a group effort. Head down to the lower docks and a Yellowjacket named V'mpella will direct you from there."

---

V'mpella turned out to be a brown haired miqo'te woman who directed them to the ferry that would take the pair straight to Aleport. While Lelouch could have teleported there himself, given Kallen had yet to attune to the town's aetheryte he figured it would probably be best to just ride along with her. The miqo'te guard also directed them to go to a training area near the town called the Hall of the Novice, which would give a quick assessment and any needed instruction concerning group combat.

It didn't take long for the boat to reach Aleport and after Kalen had made the necessary attuning, they then exited the town in the direction of the Hall of Novice. Upon reaching the Hall, Lelouch and Kallen were greeted by a seasoned adventurer, who in addition to giving them an explanation of the group combat training the place provided also made it clear why it was necessary. Be it beasts or the rumored Serpent Reavers, the cave systems occupants were numerous and dangerous enough that guards stationed at the known entrances were not to allow any adventurers to enter alone and nothing less than the standard group of four.

As they made their way up the path to the sea grotto entrance, it was clear more than just guards were present as there were several other people along the road. The most noticeable was a girl who looked to be about their age with long dark brown hair and eyes dressed in the typical white robes and hat of a conjurer. She was kneeling on the ground and clearly breathing heavily in exhaustion, yet the three standing near her, a hyur man who looked slightly older than them wearing a a full cheap set of armor, an elezen woman with short black hair dressed in the typical archer's gear and a lalafell man wearing a dark blue hood and robes, didn't seem concerned at all, in fact it was quite the opposite.

"What took ye so bloody long, Edda? If me purse was too light, ye might've considered usin' some of yer own bleedin' coin to get us what we need!" The hyur man said in a jovial but clearly mocking tone. "Ye've only ever been as useful as the contents o' yer pockets - the gods know ye can barely 'eal a scratch!"

"Bwahahaha! Edda, you're so slow, you'd lose a footrace to a tree slug." The man's elezen companion cried out after a peal of clearly drunken laughter, as could be seen by her tipsy movement and the open bottle of wine she had in her right hand.

After a gasp for breath, the clearly exhausted Conjurer, Edda, spoke, obviously mortified at the man's words. "I-I'm sorry, Avere, I came as fast as I could! I tried haggling with the merchant, but two potions was the best I could get with the money you gave me. I had no idea how expensive they were!"

"We took up the 'venturin' life to take on the big jobs an' claim the big rewards." Avere continued his lecture, oblivious or uncaring of how his words were affecting his cowed companion. "How're we meant to do that if ye can't even get our supplies in order?"

"Jackass." Kallen muttered under her breath while the hooded lalafell began giving some long winded talk about the party's good fortune and potential profits. "Though the other two aren't much better."

"Between one of them being clearly drunk and those three being stupid enough to abuse the person in charge of keeping them alive, I have no arguments there, Kallen." Lelouch agreed, disdain evident in his voice before turning his attention away from the dysfunctional party. "In any case, according to the instructions we're to meet the Yellowjacket guardsman in charge of this at the cave entrance."

As the pair made their way to the entrance, their passage was noticed by Avere, blissfully ignorant of the two's opinion of him.

"Hm? It's them - - the two Baderon was talkin' to!" Avere exclaimed in recognition and then gave a snort of contempt before declaring, mostly to himself. "Well, we'll see who gets the glory! This job should've been ours in the first place!"

Meanwhile, as Lelouch and Kallen approached they could hear voices that sounded like a heated exchange was going on further ahead. By the time they reached, they could see two people were talking with the guardsman: a woman in her twenties with long red hair tied back in a ponytail and wearing a black outfit one would think was a bit scanty for battle and at her sides were a sheathed pair of knives, and a muscular mustached man with short gray hair wearing a pair of dark goggles. The man looked slightly older and was wearing a suit of armor with a sword and shield noticeably finer than the amateur they'd just walked past.

"So how much longer until those adventurers arrive?!" The redheaded woman asked, a noticeable edge to her voice, and as the guardsman was about to speak, she cut him off. "I don't care how highly the Admiral regards them, I know two of my girls are in there somewhere and time is of the essence!"

"Now, now Rouge, we should be reasonable. We both know when it comes to combat it's easy to get overwhelmed in caves." The mustached man said in a supporting tone as he placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. She looked back at him but relaxed noticeably at his words. "I say we can give it one more hour, then we take our chances and go in."

"Sir Valkus… I understand that she's your wife, but could you perhaps show at least some of that discipline from back when you were in the Maelstrom?" The guardsman asked with a sigh.

"As good a memory as those days I served under Admiral Bloefhiswyn are, the moment I joined my love's crew her crewmates became my sisters in arms!" The armored man, Valkus, declared strongly. "There is naught I would not confront for their sake, be it something as fearsome as any spawn of the Void or as strange as a dragon made of bees, my blade and shield shall be ready!"

"Thank you, Valkus." Rouge said, giving him a genuinely appreciative smile. She looked like she had a little more to say when she noticed Lelouch and Kallen. "Ah, might you be the adventurers we're expecting?"

"Most likely, and if so, then my apologies, we had to go through the Hall of Novices before being cleared for this." Lelouch said politely.

As Rouge shot him an annoyed look, the Yellowjacket guard didn't back down.

"There is a process to this, Rouge, and if it ensures a safe and efficient path for adventurers we sorely need, then it must be done." The guard said and turned his attention to Lelouch and Kallen. "It's clear you're here on business and not treating this like a stroll, unlike the daft sods over there." He indicated Avere's party. "So I assume you already know about the ship seen slipping around the Isles of Umbra?"

"That's what Commodore Reyner told us, yes." Lelouch answered.

"We've been on the lookout for pirate activity ever since that vessel was sighted, thinking a crew of cutthroats might have a den nearby." The Yellowjacket explained. "So when we received word that men of questionable quality had been seen passing in and out of Sastasha here, we weren't entirely surprised."

"You could have done a better job in making sure people were warned about that." Rouge said testily. "Two of my crew were receiving a delivery at Aleport yesterday only to disappear shortly after they got the goods."

"That I won't argue about, my squad and I were too lax on account I've yet to see the blaggards for myself." Apology was evident in the guardsman's voice. "If you ask me, I worry if this lot belongs to those fishback-fancying Serpent Reavers... Well, you can imagine the panic it'll cause. The kidnappings are still fresh in people's minds."

"I wouldn't blame them; it's only been a matter of days since those were stopped." Lelouch said in agreement.

"Anyway, your task is to poke around in the caves, find out exactly who we're dealing with and aid in finding any trace of Captain Rouge's missing crewmates." The Yellowjacket said to steer things back to business. "While you do that, I'll be keeping watch out here... praying you don't spot any blue face tattoos."

"Speaking of which, there's something I need to ask about." Lelouch pointed put. "Assuming we are dealing with the Serpent Reavers, what do we do if we find any of the people that were abducted not too long ago? Do you want us to turn back and escort them to safety?"

The guardsman paused to give that some thought, apparently he hadn't considered that possibility. After a moment, he gave his answer.

"If you can find any that can be saved, contact me using the linkpearl." The Yellowjacket said, a note of hesitation in his voice. Perhaps he'd given up on that possibility and didn't want to get his hopes up. "If you'll give me a moment to set that up…"

As the guardsman stepped away to tune with his device, Lelouch and Kallen then turned towards the pair they would be working with. After they both gave their names, the latter pair gave their introductions.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Rouge, captain of the ship Queen Faris' Fire," Rouge said, her tone more relaxed now that things were underway to find her crewmates. "My crew and I sail in partnership with the Sanguine Sirens." She then turned to Valkus. "Your turn, Dear…"

"I am Valkus, Rouge's sworn sword, shield and other half!" The muscular man declared proudly, and both Lelouch and Kallen couldn't help but notice the pleased smile on red haired ship captain's face. Apparently, she found his over the top declarations endearing. "It is a pleasure to work with you in this noble endeavor."

From there it was decided that Valkus would take point as the one to draw the enemy's attention, while Kallen and Rouge were to be the team's main attackers and Lelouch the party's healer. Before proceeding into the cave entrance, the Yellowjacket guard had one more thing to say to the group.

"The fishbacks and their Serpent Reaver lackeys cannot be allowed to establish a permanent base in these lands. You must uncover the truth behind who or what is lurking in these caves. The peace of western La Noscea may depend on it!" The guardsman declared.

All four each gave a quick acknowledgment before proceeding into the Sastasha Seagrot. After watching the group leave, the Yellowjacket turned and looked down the road and towards the much less impressive group of adventurers before giving a sigh. He hadn't told Lelouch that there weren't enough guards to spare at the moment should the raven-haired conjurer actually find savable victims of the recent kidnappings. The reason being there was an alternative, and while the guardsman was doing his best not to get his hopes up, he was going to insure if things did turn out for the best then there would be a ready escort. As he made his way to get Avere's party in line, the Yellowjacket was secretly glad all he'd have to do regarding that timid conjurer girl was give an order to rest and reserve his rebukes for the other three; pity aside she was the only one who was treating this seriously.

---

Whatever worries there were of difficulties navigating the cave system were immediately put to rest as the four entered it. The place was alight with the glowing that was emitted by the vast plant life coupled with phosphorescent coral that grew around the vast sea grotto. Yet there was also a clear path to follow that had been carved out of the cave's stone floor.

The party of four proceeded forward, and both Lelouch and Kallen noticed their impromptu companions were taking this as serious as they were, Valkus dropping his cheery nature to focus along with his wife on keeping an eye out for either enemy attack or a sign of pirate activity. After a brief tussle with a couple of startled bats, the four soon came to a fork with the path going straight ending in a dead end, while the right path went downwards.

"Wait." Rouge spoke as she looked down the dead-end path. "There's something there."

With no objections, the party followed the ponytailed redhead to the end of the path where there was a pile of junk and rocks that were already in the process of being grown over by the coral.

"So what did you see?" Kallen asked her fellow red head as Rouge took a closer look at the pile.

"That path had a few too many footprints on it for a dead end or a rubbish heap." Rouge answered as she took a closer look at the pile, quickly finding what she was looking for and produced a piece of paper from it. "If it had just been the latter, then we'd see more prints stop short of the pile so they can just throw it away, but all the prints go all the way up to it."

Lelouch took a look at the paper, which looked old but there was a clear message on it despite the writer's attempt to make it look faded.

" 'The Capten lykes his sees bloo' ." The former prince visibly cringed at the poor spelling as he read it out loud. "I really hope this is a code intentionally designed for obfuscation."

"We'll find out soon enough." Valkus spoke. "Rouge here has quite the eye for detail, and it's helped our crew many times before."

"More an eye for jewels and other precious or interesting things." Rouge said, briefly giving her partner a knowing look. "Anyway, it's just a case of it taking one to know one. Back in the day, we left some kind of sign for our crew to know where a hidden treasure or safe house was."

"Yeah, the trick is making one that your people will recognize, but your enemies won't." Kallen said in agreement only to reflexively catch herself and almost immediately reminding herself she was in Eorzea. "Just something I picked up back home."

"Oh don't worry, you're not the first I've heard that from." Rouge replied in a reassuring tone. "Shall we get going now?"

From there the group took the downward path to proceed further into the cave system. The wildlife of the caves from bats to the jellyfish-like aurelias proceeded to bother them, but they were easily dispatched or chased away by the combined swing of Valkus' sword, Rouge's knives, Kallen's fists and the casting of either Stone or Aero from Lelouch when he wasn't seeing to the few wounds his teammates took from the creatures. For the former prince, the role of healer was proving to be an interesting experience. Monitoring his teammates to see which ones were in need of healing or not was a different mental exercise than he was used to, but it was a challenge he was more than willing to undertake. Doing so would not only make him more proficient with the healing magic, but it would also put him in the position to study his current allies and get a feel for their style of combat and through that come up with potential future strategies.

It was also adding another layer to the learning experience his time with K'lyhia had provided, mainly with the element of magic creating a new flaw with his chess analogy with combat. With chess if a unit is attacked by an enemy piece, they're considered eliminated, but with healing magic that changed things, at least for infantry units. Of course, that couldn't be applied with Knightmare Frames, but on the other hand there were shielding spells… the former prince shook those thoughts off for the time being as the cave opened up into a massive grotto that contained a vast mix of pools lined with coral and colored stones.

"Any signs of our cave dwellers?" Lelouch asked the two more experienced of their company.

"It's easy to miss if you're not familiar with these kinds of things but take a look over there." Rouge pointed to a collection of the colored stones that went onwards for a good way. "That's the start of the pathway but expect it to either end at some shallow water or for the path to get rougher just to throw non-crew members off."

"I'm guessing all the monsters around here help with that too." Kallen observed as she indicated not only more aurelias, but also some firefly-like creatures along with what looked to be much larger than average crabs.

"Yes, that is standard for concealing a pirate crew's lair." Valkus spoke. "In most cases the pirates would have something that either drives the creatures away for a bit or lulls them enough so they can have safe passage." The armored man then readied his shield. "Unfortunately, we don't have whatever it is they use, so we have to fight our way through."

"Anything we should know about the things down there?" Kallen asked as she, Lelouch and Rouge readied themselves.

"Don't worry too much about the giant clams, just follow me and we'll stay out of their range of attack." Valkus answered.

That had been a surprise answer as neither of the two Earth born adventurers had even considered the giant clams as a possible attacker. That hadn't been the oddest thing either had encountered so far though, so they each just decided to go with it.

As it turned out, fighting through the camouflaged pathway was a more trying task than one might believe. Even with moving past the clams so as to have less foes to deal with, the other monsters began swarming the party as they entered their territory. The firefly-like creatures, which Lelouch and Kallen later learned were called Shade Seekers threw little balls of fire at their enemies that one their own wouldn't have done much damage but coming from a swarm added to the fire's potency considerably. Meanwhile, the aurelias and crabs, the latter known as Fossilshells, made their own attacks on the party, but at a much slower frequency than the glowing insects.

As Valkus bore the brunt of the attacks, Kallen and Rouge helped him in cutting through the oncoming mass of cave creatures while Lelouch focused on healing the wounds they inflicted on his three teammates (plus on himself in the odd instance one of the creatures noticed him), and quickly learning how to gauge the right times to use Cure for one teammate or Medica would heal the whole team at the cost of more energy from the caster, but was slightly less potent in healing power than the former. It wasn't an easy process, but it was a manageable one.

Soon the party managed to fight off the small horde of cave creatures and the path came to a rocky slope that went upward until it ended at a cave wall. Like the rest of the massive cave system, there was a mix of large coral and plants growing on either side of the path leading up to the apparent dead end, yet there were three of the former that stood out as they were glowing even brighter than the other phosphorescent things that the party had passed. Yet those coral were each of a different color: a green one on the right side of the path and on the left side red and blue, the latter of which was closest to the wall.

"Well, clearly this isn't the actual end of our road." Lelouch commented before turning to Rouge. "Do you see any tell tale signs?"

"I'll take a closer look." The pony-tailed redhead replied as she went up to the wall and after a moment of further inspection shook her head. "Sorry kid, but if there is a hidden doorway then the ones we're looking for are hiding it different from what I've seen."

"Maybe this is the part that note was for." Kallen suggested. "I mean, you said yourself it might be a code."

"I admit I was half joking, but seeing as there is a clear choice of colors and blue is among them…" Lelouch trailed off as he gestured to the three glowing coral. "Let's have a look at each one, shall we?"

With that, the party did so, and within few minutes discovered that each coral had a switch hidden near its base.

"If I were to hazard a guess, pressing the switches that don't correspond to that little hint will trigger a trap and possibly even an alert to our concealed corsairs." Lelouch said before looking over to Rouge. "Would you agree, Rouge?"

"You have no arguments there." Rouge replied and with a quick agreement from her teammates pressed the switch beneath the blue coral.

There was an audible click followed by a sound of something grating against rock coming from the direction of the wall. A quick look in that direction revealed a small panel loosening itself before sliding to the side to reveal another switch.

"Guess this will open the door for us." Kallen said as she stepped forward towards it.

"Let's make sure we're ready in case anyone's waiting on the other side." Lelouch advised. "At the very least we might be able to prevent the pirates from being alerted."

After a moment for the party to do so, Kallen quickly pressed the switch before getting into a battle-ready stance. At first, nothing seemed to have happened and the redhead was wondering if maybe she hadn't pressed the switch hard enough when her thoughts were interrupted by a growl coming from behind and to the right.

Each member of the team turned in the direction of the growl, but Valkus saw and acted the quickest. The muscular swordsman immediately dashed forward, shield up as he blocked the charge of an enormous spotted cat, its bared fangs and claws clashing against the hard metal in its way. With a snarl the beast drew back as it prepared to strike and the rest of the party got a better look at their new foe.

The great cat that stood before them was spotted in a way Lelouch and Kallen would compare with a leopard, but that was where the resemblance ended. This creature stood at the height of a regular man and from head to tail its muscular form was over twice as long. A pair of long whiskers floated in the air and fluttered back along its sides. All this identified it as a coeurl, which matched with the rumors of there being some within the cave system.

The coeurl resumed its attack, powerfully lashing its clawed right paw forward at Valkus in an attempt to swat its enemy's shield away. The goggle wearing swordsman noticed the attempt and quickly adjusted the shield so the claws ran harmlessly off its surface before thrusting his blade forward. The enormous cat gave out a yowl as the sword point bit into its shoulder, but swiftly twisted aside to prevent the point from digging deeper into its flesh. The spotted beast then countered by biting forward in a a bid to get around the shield now.

The creature's attempt was interrupted as the rest of the party joined in the fight. Kallen and Rouge made their attacks on the coeurl's left and right respectively with the Japanese pugilist striking with a Bootshine, briefly pausing to execute a Meditation to build up the chakra she would need later, and then moving on to True Strike, followed by another build of energy and then ending with Snap Punch. Meanwhile, the latter redhead made a series of quick yet deep cuts with her pair of daggers. As that was happening, Lelouch had cast Aero and was in the process of casting the spell Stone at the monster.

That turned out to be well timed as the coeurl, letting out a frustrated growl at the dual attack at its sides, whirled around to attempt an attack on either of the redheads only for that to be interrupted as the Stone spell completed and the aetheric rock struck the great cat square in the face. The beast gave a yowl at the the impact followed by a shake of its head to get rid of the disorientation from the head injury.

"Remember, your opponent is me!" Valkus taunted at the coeurl, slashing his sword into its unprotected tail, so as to regain its attention.

That worked as the enormous cat reflexively turned and made a bite toward the goggle wearing swordsman, only for that to be blocked by his shield. The coeurl suddenly stopped its attack and took a more hunched and defensive position, now not seeming to notice the blows from its attackers. Seconds later, to Lelouch and Kallen, the telltale sign of a circular orange field of light appeared around the beast.

"Everyone get back a few f-yalms!" Lelouch barely managed to give the Eorzean measurement, all the while making the few steps backwards he needed to take his own advice.

Realizing the the words were more for their two companions than her, Kallen did so while shouting. "Do as he says, that cat's about to do something!"

Rouge nodded and leaped back, but not before looking over at Valkus, who gave a quick nod at her in reply before withdrawing his sword only to hold it in front him. Lelouch just had time to see something semi-transparent appear in front of the man, before the entire told area encircling the coeurl was suddenly alight by a flash of intense electricity.

Seconds later the three who had avoided the attack saw Valkus still standing and looking only slightly injured by the electric discharge. Meanwhile, the coeurl was looking winded, apparently that attack combined with what it had endured from its attackers had taken a good deal out of it. Knowing not to waste an opportunity, Lelouch quickly cast the Cure spell on Valkus to heal whatever wounds he'd sustained, light or not, and while that went on Kallen and Rouge made their attacks.

Kallen made the first strike, having used the time of avoiding the coeurl's electric attack to utilize the Meditation technique to charge up the rest of the chakra she needed, and unleashed the fully charged Steel Peak into the massive cat's side. There was an audible series of cracking noises as several of the creature's ribs were shattered under the impact, causing it to falter and lose balance. That gave Rouge the opening she needed, as the red ponytailed captain altered her charge so as to come at coeurl from its blind side before plunging her daggers into the side of the beast's neck.

The coeurl gave a cry that soon devolved into a sighing gurgle as it slumped to the ground, lifeless, save for a few brief twitches. The party waited for a moment to ensure the creature was dead before getting their bearings. Lelouch made a cast of Medica just in case, while Rouge retrieved and cleaned her daggers.

"Well, here's something interesting." The ponytailed redhead said as she got a closer look at the now dead coeurl's neck. "There's a collar on here with 'Chopper' written on it. Somehow I don't think this is your common wild coeurl."

"So instead of a watchdog it's a cat instead." Kallen commented dryly. "Well let's try that switch again…"

After another press, this time a large portion of the rock wall the party was facing came loose before pulling upwards to reveal a much better paved pathway that led on into the darkness.

"Well, whether they're aware of us or not, let's keep our guards up." Lelouch said. "This is their territory, after all."

With murmurs of agreement, the party then proceeded forward.

---

It didn't take them long to encounter the first of the cave's pirate occupants: one hyur man accompanied by two canine-like creatures. Lelouch inwardly sighed as he immediately recognized the tattoos that marked the man as a member of the Serpent Reavers, even if it wasn't much of a surprise.

The moment the pirate saw them, he did something none of the party expected after siccing the dog-like creatures on them. Rather than run away to get or call for help, the tattooed corsair charged towards them, brandishing a badly kept cutlass.

"Take the women alive!" The pirate exclaimed with a lecherous leer at Kallen and Rouge.

That would prove to be a mistake as Rouge, with a look of disgust, leaped into the air and tossed what looked to be a series of small throwing knives that she had concealed in the direction of the oncoming foes. The rain of blades hit their mark but weren't enough to stop the reckless advance, in fact the pirate didn't even seem to notice his wounds, yet it was enough to make all three of the oncoming attackers falter for just a second. Enough time for Valkus to charge forward and with a single swing, smote the offending pirate's head off. Meanwhile Lelouch and Kallen were able to put down the attacking dogs with relative ease.

With the immediate enemy dead, the party paused , still ready for battle as they faced in the direction of where the tunnel was leading. After a moment, when nothing happened they slightly relaxed.

"So, do you think they know we're here or did we just fight the dumbest of the crew?" Kallen asked in a hushed tone.

"Hard to say with these being Serpent Reavers." Rouge answered. "Being inducted into the fishbacks' cult leaves most of them with barely any sanity save for fighting and pillaging."

"Yet the ones that have some leadership in the Reavers seem to have more sense." Lelouch commented.

"Aye, that's one thing that makes them dangerous enemies." Valkus explained. "One gets so used to Serpent Reavers acting as insane heathenish depraved berserkers, the ones Leviathan chooses to keep their wit can put together a nasty surprise."

"So basically, don't underestimate these guys." Kallen summed up. "Can we go on?"

With that the party proceeded at a slow but cautious pace before eventually coming to a more open cavern lit up by lanterns further ahead. Thanks to their stealthy approach, the four were able to keep to the shadows and see ahead was a shut gateway with the walls made of solid wood and reinforced with metal. The way through was shut and three men stood in front of the door; the most notable of them was speaking to the two roegadyn men standing on either side of the door, likely guarding the entrance. The speaker, a hyur man, was dressed in a garb that marked him as a captain (he even had a parrot-like bird at his shoulder), at least by the standards Lelouch had picked up while doing research on the Serpent Reavers. A quick whispered question to Rouge and Valkus confirmed that and even got the Earth born pair a name.

"His name's Madison, according to the wanted information on him he was a navigator on a merchant vessel years before the Calamity who skipped town to escape some gambling debts." Valkus explained. "Not too long after that he reappeared, having thrown his lot in with the Serpent Reavers and the captain of a crew."

"Then if he's the captain, he's also our way through that gate." Lelouch said. "It looks like he isn't aware of our presence, so this would be the perfect time for an ambush."

The group took a moment to wait until they were sure the trio of pirates weren't looking in their direction before charging them.

"How did ye find this place?!" Madison cried out in shock as he drew his sword to defend himself.

"Are you seriously expecting an honest answer?" Lelouch asked in mocking reply before casting Aero on the Serpent Reaver captain.

Madison swore as he felt the pain of the wind spell and the continual light cuts it made at him before glaring murderously at the raven-haired conjurer and saying, "Come closer. I'll slit yer throat and feed yer tongue to the sea serpents!"

Knowing better than to dignify that with a response, Lelouch just cast Stone at the pirate and quickly settled into the routine of casting healing spells when needed or casting either of his attack spells at the three Serpent Reavers. Soon, the two accompanying Madison fell to the party's onslaught, and the aforementioned captain backed away towards the door. The look on his face showed little concern at the loss of his men, as he grinned at the four nastily.

"Try an' catch me, ye two legged lubber!" Madison taunted as he whirled around and shoved open the doors.

The Serpent Reaver captain proved to be quicker on his feet than one would expect; the moment he was through the door, Madison made a dash that would surely impress professional athletes. Yet as the party followed him, it became apparent that their target had more than just speed in aiding his flight, for the massive cavern they entered featured a large makeshift tavern clearly made from the remains of old ships. Said tavern was also occupied by several pirates being attended by a number of women, a mix of hyur, miqo'te and lalafell, dressed like serving girls.

Madison barked a quick order to attack his pursuers as he ran past his crewmates and towards another door in the distance. In an almost perfect, and eerie, unison the Serpent Reavers put down their drinks and got up with their weapons ready. Meanwhile, the women's reaction was more normal: take cover behind whatever tables or crates they could get to.

With a near unified battle cry the Serpent Reavers charged the party. Valkus assumed a stance as he prepared for the enemy's approach and as the foremost of the pirates brought his axe upon the swordsman's shield, Valkus executed that same circular slash, the blade biting into a number of the charging corsairs. That was essentially the signal for Lelouch and the rest to begin their attack, and none of the party wasted time in doing so.

As the pirates' assault began to waver with their numbers beginning to fall, the Reavers suddenly received a surprise that Lelouch and co. found quite welcome. The serving girls at the makeshift tavern had picked up whatever was available be they dishes, bottles of alcohol that ranged from full to empty or rocks and were hurling them at their former patrons.

"Please! You must save us!" A lalafell woman cried out to Lelouch and Kallen's party.

Hearing this, the former prince realized it was very likely these women were among those recently abducted by the Serpent Reavers. This added more resolve for him to complete this job as it would mean some closure to the kidnappings.

As it turned out, while the onset of debris pelting wasn't directly fatal to the group of attacking pirates, indirectly was another story. The combination of surprise and minor annoyance was enough to distract most of the corsairs to give their opponents openings to attack, and a few were foolish enough to turn their attention from their immediate danger completely either to curse at or try to rush back and retaliate at their unwilling barmaids. The latter bunch never succeeded as they were either cut down by Valkus' sword or knifed in a vital area by Rouge's daggers. Within minutes, the fight was over, leaving only Lelouch's party and the now freed serving girls as the cavern's only living occupants.

Moments later, the kidnapping victims had been gathered, and there was a check to see if any of them needed healing. A few did; some of them taking Lelouch's casting of Cure while others took potions offered by the party instead. It was clear all of them, even the uninjured, had suffered in their captivity, enough that a good number were too traumatized to talk much. Eventually it was the lalafell woman who had called out to the party who stepped up to speak on her fellows' behalf and answer questions.

"My name is Momola." She introduced herself. "Whatever you need to know, I'll do my best to answer."

"Are there any other captives here besides you?" Lelouch asked and then noticed a hesitant look come across the other's face. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's…" The lalafell woman briefly looked away from him, a look of shame briefly crossing her face before she sighed and then returned his gaze. "Can you really keep us safe and returned home?"

"If there's anymore bastards like these here, they'll have to get through us." Kallen said in a reassuring tone before palming her first. "Though they should be more worried about us going through them."

"We'll be calling on another group of adventurers to escort you back after everyone's accounted for. You can thank this kid's quick thinking for that." Rouge added with gesture at Lelouch. "In any case, have there been any new captives in the past couple of days? They'd be part part of my crew."

"Were they two roegadyn women?" Momola asked in reply, her tone lightening slightly and at Rouge's affirmation a grim smile came upon her face. "Yes, they're here. Gave those Reaver scum a fight all the way here and forced them to lock them up in The Hole." Noticing the questioning looks on the faces of each member of the party, the smile faded as she looked to their right where there was an entryway to a forked hallway. "There's a large cell next to the crew's quarters where they keep the captive women picked to… 'entertain' the crew. Thankfully, those two new ones gave the blaggards so much trouble that was the only place they had to hold them and the Reavers haven't been able to hurt those poor girls anymore." A sadistic grin then came upon her face. "The few that tried came out gelded, and it was the Reavers' turn to bear the screams of their fellows."

"As expected of my girls," Rouge said, her face reflecting Momola's sentiments.

"Anyway, you described it as a cell, do you know where we might find the keys?" Lelouch asked.

"They're probably in the Captain's Quarters, along with the remaining prisoners like us." Momola answered. "As you can guess that's where Madison keeps the girls he took a personal liking to. The room's guarded by his first mate."

"Then I suppose we should make that position vacant, shouldn't we?" The former prince asked rhetorically, but with a very eager smile. Even Kallen found herself returning that smile despite herself.

"Be careful though," Momola warned. "That one's a mean one and isn't Madison's favorite for nothing. He has the strength to back it up." She paused before that same guilty look from before came across her face. "He also threatened to have anyone who said anything about The Hole to outsiders thrown in there before personally giving them to that sea snake they worship."

After giving the helpful lalafell reassurances and thanks, Lelouch and co. proceeded to the door to Madison's quarters. Despite clear attempts to make the door look fancy, there were plenty of signs of wear along the hinges and the bottom part of the closed double doors. In the latter case, there was enough space beneath the door that someone could fit a hand under, something that didn't go unnoticed by the former prince.

"Does anyone here have a mirror?" Lelouch asked.

Kallen noticed where the raven-haired Conjurer was looking and spoke up.

"This should do, right?" The Japanese Pugilist asked as she pulled out and opened a pocket make up kit. It was part of her spying equipment in that it wasn't for its intended use as the mirror was to really be used to send signals aside from a couple things meant for cover, the rest was her way to smuggle in anything she could need just in case.

"Is this to get an idea for the first mate's position in there?" Kallen asked and at the other's nod, continued. "In that case, let me do this. I know how to use this so it doesn't accidentally give us away."

Seeing no reason to argue, Lelouch acquiesced and after a few minutes in which the rebel turned adventurer took a look at the room, she put away the kit.

"There are four women: two miqo'te and two lalafells; I see the first mate, he's a roegadyn and he's big even by those standards. He's in the back and he's just standing and watching the door from there." The Japanese pugilist reported. "He's got an axe, but it's sheathed for now. I can't say for sure if he heard the noise our fighting made."

"Do you see anything else of note?" Valkus spoke.

"One of the miqo'te women is standing near the door." Kallen answered. "She doesn't look like a guard, and I don't think she's armed."

"She's probably supposed to greet Madison; make his return feel…'welcomed'." Lelouch surmised, with a note of contempt at the last word. "Would anyone happen to have a piece of paper?" After hearing a series of 'no's from the others, the former prince began to weigh whether to take a piece for use from either the Arcanist grimoire he currently had or the blue and gold book, only to feel that odd yet familiar feeling from the part of his pack where the latter book was stored. That actually made him more reluctant to damage a book that was of unknown magical origin and potentially not as easily fixed or replaced as his grimoire, only for a strange feeling of approval to wash over that.

As Kallen watched Lelouch take his blue and gold book out from his pack she gave an audible realization she'd forgotten hers, only to remember the significance of it and was about to ask Lelouch if he was sure but stopped as she noticed his eyes widen in genuine surprise as he opened the book. The reason for the raven-haired Conjurer's surprise was quickly revealed as he pulled out a loose and completely untorn page from the book. He turned in her direction and held up the page with a questioning look on his face to which she nodded, mostly to acknowledge what she'd seen and also hoped he would take it as an indication to talk about it later. The other gave a return nod before quickly taking out the quill he used for his grimoire and quickly writing something down.

"So what's the paper for?" Rouge asked.

"What I'm hoping is a potential advantage." Lelouch answered. "The plan is as the door opens, I hand this to the woman at the door. It instructs her to pretend we're the captain coming in so we can catch that guard of theirs by surprise."

"And if she decides to warn him instead?" Kallen asked.

"She'll need a moment to turn and give the warning," He answered. "If she tries that, we just slam open the door and charge through."

"Fine, just give me a minute to charge my attack." The Japanese pugilist said, after an affirmation from the other she used the Meditation technique until she'd amassed enough chakra to unleash a Steel Peak. "Okay, whenever you're ready."

Fortunately, upon opening the door, the miqo'te woman proved to be cooperative, quickly hiding her surprise at seeing the party of adventurers before discreetly taking and promptly reading the note.

"Captain, you're back already!" She said in light tone as she hid the paper in one of her skirt pockets. "Please come in and we'll make you comfortable."

As the reluctant greeter made as if to open the door herself, it afforded Lelouch and co. a quick look at their unaware foe. Her words had been enough for the lumbering roegadyn guard to relax and take a seat in a nearby chair.

Knowing this was as good a time as any, Lelouch nodded at their impromptu collaborator and she quickly stepped out of the way of the door. Valkus, Rouge and Kallen charged forth, Lelouch close behind, at the now surprised Serpent Reaver.

The guard quickly got to his feet, but only had time to get his hands on his axe before his assailants reached him. This particular guard quickly proved to be as tough and experienced as Momola had warned; recognizing Valkus was going for a fatal thrust to run him through with his sword, the roegadyn pirate twisted aside so the blade only glanced along the leather armor over his left shoulder and seeing Rouge coming made another defensive move so the knives cut into a less vital part of his right. It was Kallen's move, however, that caught him off guard.

Having noticed what the Serpent Reaver guard was doing, the redhead changed from trying for a fatal strike, instead falling upon her years of using her martial arts skills as a resistance fighter and knowing where best to hit an opponent to inhibit them as a threat. Kallen unleashed her charged Steel Peak in the right area of the stomach, hoping to at least knock her enemy off balance so her teammates could get a better opening for attack. This ended up working out for the best as the strike knocked the wind out of the pirate, enough that the axe he had grabbed fell from his hands and to the floor, inches from where Lelouch was standing. The raven-haired Conjurer wasted no time and kicked the axe away in the direction of the door, only for the kick to send it barely a foot away.

Mentally cursing that he couldn't do more, Lelouch quickly returned his attention to the currently disarmed guard and only had enough time to cast Aero on him before the roegadyn corsair opted to bull his way through his attackers to try and regain his weapon, bearing the attacks of opportunity from Valkus, Rouge and Kallen. The former prince opted for a different approach and simply stepped aside, save for sticking his right leg out in the rushing pirate's path. Despite throwing him off balance due to his enemy's massive size, it worked, and the guard stumbled to the floor with a curse.

In frustration, the Serpent Reaver guardsman lunged forward to grab at his axe only for his fingers to find no purchase save the stone floor. Looking in the direction of where his battle axe should have been, the roegadyn pirate saw that the heavy weapon was being dragged away by the woman at the door, the other miqo'te and one of the lalafells. Knowing his attackers would be on him soon, the corsair shouted a mix of curses and threats at the three women as he began to stand up. He didn't begin to question the whereabouts of the fourth one until it was too late.

The other lalafell woman had bounded up the top of a nearby table, grabbed one of the knives that was part of the cutlery and then leaped off to bring the blade down on the downed pirate counting on her weight to make up for the knife not being all that sharp. She was proven right as the roegadyn Serpent Reaver let out a scream as his attempt to regain his footing was thwarted by the impromptu stabbing. The brute made a grab at this new attacker, but she nimbly dodged and dashed to a safe distance away, shouting a curse at her doomed tormentor.

Disoriented by the pain and anger, Madison's first mate didn't notice Lelouch and the rest of the party until they were on him. After a combination of bladed strikes, fists and magically dispatched rocks, the Serpent Reaver did not get up again.

With the threat gone, a quick check was made to see if any of the women they rescued needed healing before Rouge and Kallen escorted them to where the other freed captives were while Lelouch and Valkus searched the room and the deceased first mate. Several minutes later, the only thing of immediate value they found was a single key on the dead pirate. After regrouping, they couldn't tell if this key was meant for the aforementioned holding area or the door Madison had fled through. The only way to tell was to see for themselves.

On the way to The Hole, the sound of multiple shouts coming from the left passageway got the group's attention and prompted them to go down it to investigate. The party slowly crept forward until they found themselves looking into what looked to be a combination of a smaller makeshift tavern and sleeping quarters and its current occupants were half a dozen Serpent Reavers and a single lalafell woman who looked to be their assigned attendant. What Lelouch and co. had heard was the beginnings of a drunken agreement that had gone so bad that blades were drawn and within seconds a full-on fight broke out between the pirates while the lalafell woman was clearly backing away to put as much safe distance between herself and the brawlers. It didn't take much for the party to subtly get the reluctant bar maid's attention and the group proceeded back the way they came to leave the drunken revelers to their fighting.

After seeing that their single rescue joined with the rest, they continued to find a large, metal barred doorway, guarded by two Serpent Reaver men. Fortunately, their attention was more towards the door or possibly the inside, so much so that the party had no trouble ambushing them and dispatched the pair in a matter of seconds. Nearby, on a barrel being used to hold a lantern for light, they found another key. Naturally, the commotion of the brief fight didn't go unnoticed by the occupants within as the sound of moving feet could be heard and some muffled voices.

"If you'll let me…" Rouge began and at Lelouch's nod, took the key and approached the door before calling out two names. Almost as soon as she had, the sound of heavy footsteps came rushing towards the closed door.

"Is tha' you, Cap'n?" A deep female voice said, her voice a mixture of surprise and relief.

"Aye, it's me." Rouge said reassuringly as she began fitting the key into the lock. "Valkus and I brought along a couple of adventurers to get you girls out of here. How are you two holding up?"

"A couple bruises, but nothin' major, Maam." A different female voice answered. "If you need us to help payback them fishback lovin' bastards, just give us a blade an' we'll do so!"

After a few more words were exchanged, the door was opened and two roegadyn women in black leather armor of a similar design to Rouge's stepped out. After greeting Valkus with similar appreciation to their Captain, the two then regarded Lelouch and Kallen.

"Ye both have our thanks." One of them said and noticed the former's equipment. "I see yer a healer. There's some girls in there that could use yer spells, but I'll give ye fair warnin', ain't a pretty sight in there."

"Given what we've been told, I wasn't expecting it to be." Lelouch said gravely. "Let's just get in, see to whatever injuries we can and then focus on getting you to safety."

As it turned out, Rouge's underling hadn't exaggerated. From the ill kept state of The Hole to state of its captives minus the two crewmates. There were eight women in total: four lalafells, two miqo'tes and two hyurs. One didn't need a sharp eye to see all of them had endured worse abuse from their captors than the others that had been rescued from the rough state of their clothing to the signs of bruising that clearly went further than where their garments obscured.

Rouge was the one to step forward and speak to the prisoners.

"We've seen to the bastards keeping you here and we'll be getting you out soon." The ponytailed redhead said reassuringly before gesturing at Lelouch. "If any if you need healing he has the spells, but if you'd rather not…" She then gestured at Kallen. "She and I have potions."

Most ended up taking the latter option, though a few did go to Lelouch for healing. As Kallen handed the potions out, she couldn't help but look over in the direction of her Britannian partner, wondering if he would be able to handle this. While most gangs operating in the ghettos preferred dealing in drugs over human trafficking, her cell had come across the exception from time to time (though they dealt the gang members the same permanent fate), so she was somewhat used to helping victims. From what she could see, Lelouch clearly wasn't, but he wasn't reacting as strongly as she expected. He was mainly flinching and trying to maintain a calm face at the clear indications of what the rescued women had gone through, though whether it was to hide a look of pity or outrage at it, she wasn't sure.

On Lelouch's end, the redhead was only partially right, as this was bringing back unwelcome memories of the atrocities he and Suzaku had witnessed, and done their best to conceal from Nunnally during their trek through the battlefields Britannia's conquest of Japan had created. While slaughter both occurring and past were among the most common sights to be seen, they would occasionally come across clear evidence that despite the Britannian Empire's boasts of racial superiority its soldiers were not above making carnal sport of those they conquered. As he heard the words of these freed captives, from one of the lalafells nervously asking if they really were safe to one of the hyur girls inconsolably sobbing for her parents, and the feelings of pity that seemed to bore into him, Lelouch couldn't help but feel the same frustration he felt back then at being unable to do anything to fix the injustices before him.

"Please, milord I'm ever so sore…" One of the miqo'te women said in a piteous voice as she approached Lelouch to be healed.

While he automatically raised his wand to begin casting, the raven-haired Conjurer found himself at a sudden loss for words as something about the woman before him brought to mind his friend, K'lyhia, and how traumatic it was for her to see Doesmaga again. Feeling he had to say something, yet finding himself without any prepared words, nor any reassurances he could come up with, Lelouch could only fall back on what he had left: his own honest words.

"I'm sorry, I truly wish I could do more. All I can do for you is heal your injuries…" Lelouch said gently with a regretful tone in between castings of the healing spell, and his tone hardened as he continued. "…and make sure the ones responsible pay for this with their lives."

"Assuming you haven't done that already…" The lalafell woman spoke, her voice a mix of bitterness and weariness. She was silent for a moment as she waited for her turn to be healed before speaking again in cautious, but slightly hopeful tone. "Can you…really get us out of here?"

At that point, Kallen had to return her attention to giving the potions to her own rescued prisoners and couldn't overhear what remained of the conversation. Soon after, she and Rouge personally walked them to where the others were waiting, mainly to assure them they really were safe and to be taken to safety, meanwhile Lelouch used the linkpearl to make the call to the guardsman at the cave system entrance. All the while, her thoughts kept straying back to what she'd seen and overheard from her impromptu partner in this. She could tell he had been genuine in his words, be it his attempt to be reassuring or the barely held back outrage at what had been done to these women in this sick rape dungeon. She'd seen similar expressed from her fellow cell members, as expected of any decent human being, but what was troubling her was how odd it was seeing it from a Britannian.

---

Nearly half an hour had passed until the escort party arrived, thankfully no further attacks from the Serpent Reavers had occurred and it was apparent the backup adventurers hadn't run into any on their way.

"Sorry fer bein' a little late." Avere said lightly. " 'ad a bit of trouble with some bats an' those big clams on the way here." He then glanced back towards his party's conjurer. "Also, this one 'ere held us up; I swear even cripples could out pace her!"

As Edda's face flushed and she looked away from the others in embarrassment, Lelouch grit his teeth as he mentally resisted the urge of casting either of his offensive spells at the lout for that particular tasteless joke. As the man introduced himself fully as Avere Bravearm and how it would soon be a name known throughout Eorzea, a subtle glance around by Lelouch showed him the rest of his team were varying levels of unimpressed with Avere as well. Still, the former prince had interacted and dealt with worse throughout his time in the student council and needed little mental effort to keep things civil.

"Very well then." Lelouch said in a neutral tone. "You and your teammates have at least helped clear the way back. I assume you have a defensive formation planned to escort the captives we've rescued to safety…"

Avere didn't answer at first; apparently, he had not and was quickly thinking of one. All the while the look he was giving the group of released captives was one of irritation than concern. An idea then seemed to come to him, and he returned his gaze to Lelouch.

"I'm sure I can think of something, but ye clearly 'ave." The brash swordsman said with a sly grin. "What say my crew an' I take it from 'ere and ye all take them womenfolk back instead?"

The raven-haired conjurer was about to give a diplomatic refusal, only for Avere to cut him off.

"I know that guard back there gave us the job, but I'm sure anyone who can sway the Lominsan Admiral can do the same fer 'im. Nothin' wrong with sharin' some o' the glory an' excitement, right?"

"Are you serious!?" Kallen demanded furiously. "You're trying to pass this on to someone else just because it's not exciting enough for you!?"

As she said that, the Japanese pugilist was aware of the irony, but shook that off with the knowledge that like it or not, she at least did the tasks Naoto would give her. She wouldn't try weaseling her way out of it, unlike the glory hungry dolt in front of her.

Speaking of, Avere gave a start, he hadn't been expecting that kind of a reaction to his proposal. In fact, he hadn't been expecting anything from whoever the Admiral's new favorite adventurer had thrown his lot in with. As Avere saw it, this was an obvious sign that however this Lelouch Lamperouge had gained renown it had to be dumb luck. This boy couldn't even keep his own woman under control.

" 'ere now, that's not what I meant! Just…meant to be concerned fer some fellow adventurers." Avere replied, using that sincere enough sounding tone that always worked whenever Edda took any of his jokes the wrong way. "Ye've clearly been fightin' a good bit, so yer probably tired. Wouldn't it be better if ye took the easier task?"

Seeing that Kallen was buying the other's words as much as he was, Lelouch decided to speak up before this turned into a full-on argument. Aside from wasting time, it was something that wouldn't do well for either party's reputation, and given the other party leader's distasteful behavior the former prince was going to ensure the oaf was the only one to suffer that.

"If I may, good sir." Lelouch said in that diplomatic tone he reserved for difficult Ashford students, their family members and/or toadies. "These women we've rescued have been through enough under the Serpent Reavers' captivity and seeing them to safety is of great importance. If you're truly adamant about this, we can do as you propose, or we can do a compromise instead."

"And what would that be?"

Whether Avere meant what Lelouch was about to propose or the meaning of the word 'compromise', the former prince couldn't say, but explained as if it were the former.

"We swap members." He said simply. "One from your team will assist us in apprehending the Serpent Reaver captain and one from mine will assist yours in the escort. I'll make sure the credit is properly shared."

"Well, that's, uh…" Avere stopped to think about what he'd just heard. While he personally wanted to capture the pirate captain himself so as to boost his name and that of his party, the raven-haired conjurer's idea would be easier even if it did mean not getting the full credit for himself. "Can I talk with my party first, see what they want?"

"Of course, I'll be doing the same myself." Lelouch kept his friendly diplomatic voice and look until he turned away and out of the other party's sight. Returning to his own and noticing the looks all three were giving him that demanded answers, the former prince said. "My apologies, I know that was hasty of me, but I had to say something, otherwise that dullard would have turned things into an argument."

"I think I could have handled that myself, thanks." Kallen said, annoyance clear in her voice.

"That's not the point, Kallen." Lelouch replied before making a subtle gesture towards the prisoners they'd recently freed. "Consider their perspective; our esteemed Avere has essentially made it clear to all present his reluctance to be their escort to safety. An argument over that could easily be seen as us, their rescuers, being of similar mind and little better. Better only the deserving party take the hit to their reputation, I say."

"That's a pretty cynical take on things…" Kallen commented.

"While I agree with that, Miss Kallen, I'm afraid he has a point about reputation mattering." Rouge spoke. "Back when Admiral Bloefhiswyn began organizing things into how they are now, it was crews with the least bloody reputation that had an easier time getting started. My crew and I were more known for thefts, and we avoided killing unless we had to, so we were able to change things to shipping valuable cargo after showing we could follow our oaths."

"Back on topic, but who do you have in mind to switch with?" Valkus pointed out. "I'm hoping you aren't planning on exchanging me for that fool greenhorn."

"I believe my Carbuncle could do a better job than him." Lelouch said, actually meaning it, and then turned to Rouge. "If you don't mind, Captain, I was planning on having you switch with that party's conjurer, Edda."

"Don't take this as an objection, kid, but can you explain why?" The redhead pirate captain asked.

"In your case, it's to ensure the efficacy of the escort should the Serpent Reavers have any nasty surprises for them." The raven-haired conjurer explained. "Your two crewmates we freed have been healed enough that they can fight if need be, and as their captain you'll do a better job of commanding them than any of us. Not to mention if that oaf and his teammates make some kind of blunder, I'm confidant you and your crewmates will be able to act as backup to ensure the women get to safety."

"That makes sense." Rouge conceded. "But why are you picking that party's healer? She doesn't look as skilled as you."

"For a few reasons. First, from what I saw when we first got here, she seems to be the only one of her party regarding this operation seriously." Lelouch answered. "Second, I do have a plan around her potential lack of skill. While she's acting as a healer, I'll be using my skills as an arcanist. That will put me in the position to keep an eye on her, I can offer directions given my experience with the conjurer's spells and if worst comes to worst I can use the Carbuncle for support and will have a minor healing spell."

"You just…came up with this strategy, just like that?" Kallen asked, surprise showing on her face given his conversation with Avere had only been a few minutes ago.

"It's my natural talent…is what I'd say, but that's honestly a half-truth." The former prince smirked at the redhead's twinge of irritation at the boastful former half of his statement. "Really, I've just had the opportunity to study the standard formation adventurers use when working in a group since a friend of mine I made in Mealvaan's Gate introduced it to me a while ago. This is just a variation on a plan I made with the possibility of working with a lesser skilled conjurer."

"Gee, thanks for being so modest." The rebel turned adventurer said sarcastically. "Anyway, we should get things started; don't want to give that Madison bastard more of head start."

After exchanging a few more words regarding the plan, Rouge went off to explain the plan to her two crewmates, Lelouch, Kallen and Valkus proceeded to explain it to Avere and his party. As expected, said party leader immediately had objections; clearly, he wanted to be the one to go.

"If ye take Edda along, she'll just slow ye an' yer lot down." Avere declared, not even bothering to look in said conjurer's direction, though if he had he wouldn't have paid the brunette's hurt look any mind. "Even if yer fine with that, 'er 'ealin's not that good, anyway. Now if ye want capable help…"

Lelouch glanced over and saw that the freed women were already gathered near the cavern entrance and ready to get going, Rouge's two crewmates had picked up weapons from the dead Serpent Reavers that they clearly preferred, plus they were well within hearing of the conversation they were having. He then gave an audible sigh.

"Avere, my team and I have neither the time, nor the patience for anymore of this." The former prince said in a weary tone. "As far as I'm concerned getting these women to safety and out of their captors' reach is as important as securing a route for the Maelstrom to clear this cave system. We can either go along with my proposal, I'll even let you and your party have my portion of the reward for this job, or we can do as you like and we'll be the escort instead."

Avere was about to take the latter offer, when he felt a tap at his leg, causing him to turn to see it was his lalafell companion. "What is it, Paiyo Reiyo?"

"With your leave, Avere, I think we should go with his offer." Paiyo Reiyo suggested. "We could all use some extra gil."

"So long as the girls all get out of here in one piece, you can have my share too." Kallen spoke up. Normally she'd be against what Lelouch was planning to do, but this jerk had pretty much done everything to prove he deserved it.

That was apparently enough to get Avere to relent, and with a clearly insincere wish of good luck, he and the remainder of his party departed with Rouge, leaving a clearly nervous Edda behind. After a moment, the brunette approached her impromptu new party members.

"Hello, my name is Edda Pureheart," The nervous conjurer introduced herself awkwardly. "It's an honor to work alongside such famous adventurers, and I promise I'll do my best as your healer so this job succeeds."

After giving their own introductions, the first to start a conversation with Edda was Kallen.

"Hey, don't take this the wrong way, but it's obvious you're nervous." Noticing the brunette flinch at that, the rebel turned adventurer held up her hand in a calming manner. "Don't worry, no one here's going to judge you for that. It's normal to be nervous, especially in situations like this. Have you done anything like this before?"

"N-not really…" Edda did start to visibly relax at the redhead's words. "We've done a few monster hunts after registering with the guild, but nothing like this."

"Yeah, I can see why this looks like a big step up from that." Kallen said reassuringly. "Valkus and I will focus on dealing with whatever the enemy throws at us, Lelouch, being the magic user will be hanging back with you while attacking from a distance." The Japanese pugilist then looked over at Lelouch, who had already switched his gear to that of an Arcanist and summoned the Carbuncle, before doing her best to display some confidence towards her Britannian teammate, even if she didn't fully trust him. "He does have some experience being a conjurer himself, so he'll help you along if you need it."

With that, Edda approached Lelouch, who noticed the look Kallen was giving him that plainly said, 'Don't screw this up!'. Before he could say anything, the brunette spoke up first.

"Are you sure you want to entrust the healer role to me?" Edda asked and fidgeted as she realized that might be taken wrong in some way. "I mean… if you're more experienced at it than I am…"

Giving a reassuring smile with an efficacy made from years of student council experience, Lelouch answered, "Now, now, let's not give too hasty a judgment of your skills, Edda. Not at least until we can give a quick assessment. What spells do you know as a conjurer?"

It took a couple of minutes for Edda to give her answer, and it was a surprise to the former prince.

"Those are all the spells I've been able to learn so far myself." Lelouch commented. "How are you at casting them?"

"I can cast them fine if I'm not moving too much." Edda replied. "I'm not very good at casting the spells in battle though. Avere and the others say it's important I keep up with them, but I don't think I've gotten the hang of casting while running."

Knowing full well how drastic movement could impede the casting of any spell, healing or offensive, Lelouch was biting back quite a few choice words regarding Avere's intelligence.

"So…it sounds like your main issue is experience." The former prince said diplomatically. "In any case, it's basically as Kallen told you: with my experience as and working with conjurers, just stick close to me and follow any directions I give, and it should be fine."

"Okay…" Edda paused to consider something before adding. "I apologize in advance if I end up slowing things down."

"That may not be necessary as I doubt rushing through this would be a good idea." Lelouch then looked towards Valkus.

"You're right about that." The goggle wearing swordsman acknowledged. "Since our quarry has gotten ahead of us, we can at least expect the Reavers ahead to be ready for us, so we'll be moving at a careful pace."

After a few more words the adjusted party began following Captain Madison's trail through the doorway he had fled through and into the tunnel. It wasn't long until said tunnel came to an open doorway, fully lit by lanterns on each side. The light was enough to show the advancing party that the way led into an open cavern where directly ahead was a large door and to the left was a smaller door. The former was more of an attention drawer though, as aside from the lit torches fixed at either side, standing in front was Captain Madison, with an axe wielding roegadyn pirate at each side. The parrot-like creature gave a warning squawk as he saw Lelouch and co. approaching, but it wasn't needed as the three Serpent Reavers saw them well enough.

"Back fer more, eh?" Madison asked with a sneer as he pointed the blade of his sword in his foes' direction. "I sharpened me blade, just fer this very occasion."

"Words are wasted on scum like you!" Valkus declared fiercely. "Prepare to be paid pack for what you did to my comrades and the damnable acts upon those poor women!"

At that Madison ordered his two lackeys forward and the two axe wielding pirates charged with their captain following behind them. Valkus met them with a wide swing of his sword; one of the roegadyn was able to take a defensive stance in time, but the other wasn't. The latter of the lower ranked Reavers groan of pain and staggered, yet regained his footing despite his wounds. He would have resumed his attack but was cut short by the combined salvo of Ruin cast by Lelouch and the combination of Aero followed by Stone cast by Edda.

"Good casting there, Edda!" Lelouch congratulated the brunette as the less fortunate of Madison's lackey's fell. "Just keep that up while keeping an eye on Valkus to heal him when needed."

Edda gave a quick nod of both acknowledgment, and appreciation, before casting Aero on both Madison and his remaining guard and then moving on to cast Cure on Valkus.

The battle continued and it was clear Madison was starting to feel the injuries he was taking, and his remaining minion looked to be on his last legs. Despite this the Serpent Reaver captain gave a confident grin as he suddenly moved back and to the side at the cave wall behind him before using his free hand to reach for something among the rocks. Valkus made an attempt to stop him, but was blocked by the remaining roegadyn underling, and though the swordsman was able to find an opening to cut the obstructor down it was too late to stop Madison from pushing onto something.

"Eat 'em alive!" Madison shouted with glee as there was a click followed by the sound of the door to their left bursting open to reveal four of the dog-like creatures before they bounded forward in defense of their master, barking and snarling all the way.

Unfortunately for the Serpent Reaver captain, the canines soon proved less effective against his enemies compared to his two dead lackeys as the party quickly dispatched them. As he watched the pack of scurvy dogs go down with about as much trouble to the enemy party, Madison once again chose the option to retreat, only this time with genuine fear for his life. As he dashed through the doorway and signaled to the underlings he passed by to expect company, Madison was far less confident than he was after his first retreat that the number of crew he'd left behind could stop this group of adventurers. Not after they'd almost certainly killed every one of his crew back there, including his first mate, given he held the key. As he heard the telltale sounds of fighting that quickly devolved into dying screams, the corsair captain increased his pace as much as he could. The only protection that was guaranteed was from Orcatooth, surely one so blessed by Lord Leviathan could save him.

Just as he reached the docks where his sahagin benefactor was waiting, Madison stopped and chanced a look back. He immediately wished he hadn't; that menacing party of four was still coming after him, leaving the corpses of so many of his crew lying in their wake. Out of breath many times over, Madison quickly strode forward to what he was certain was safety. Perhaps his benefactor's presence would even get the adventurers to retreat.

Meanwhile, despite intimidating their quarry in their pursuit, Lelouch and company weren't quite as indifferent to the chase as Madison thought. They were certainly at least as determined as the corsair captain thought, but the pursuit was starting to get on the two Earth adventurers' nerves at the man's cowardice, particularly Kallen at how the pirate was more than willing to flee while his crew died protecting him. She probably would have been angrier if the bunch of thugs that she and her team were putting down didn't deserve it.

By the time they got to the docks, they found Madison crouched down in exhaustion in an open area with a set of four trap doors being approached by a large bipedal creature carrying an enormous spear. It was dark blue in color, save for the fins on its back and head that were a lighter shade. Its most notable feature though, was the set of enormous sharp teeth that protruded from its jaws. From descriptions he'd been given during his time in Limsa Lominsa, Lelouch was certain this was one of the Sahagin but it was a good deal larger than normal, at least as far as the descriptions had gone.

"Oh, great Den the Orcatoothed-!" Madison began, only for the named Sahagin to cut him off.

"Pshhh… You sssully our spawning grounds, shorewalkers!" Denn the Orcatoothed hissed in rage as he looked past Madison and at Lelouch and co. He then turned his gaze at Madison, the Serpent Reaver captain unaware that from his Sahagin overseer's view he was responsible for bringing these intruders here.

That blissful ignorance was quickly shattered as Denn thrust his spear at Madison, and the surprised pirate didn't even have time to cry out as the curved tip of spear plunged into his stomach. Madison wordlessly crumpled to the ground after Denn withdrew his spear and returned his attention to the immediate threat.

"Pshhhh! Finleshhh fools!" The monstrous Sahagin cried out in a mixture of a hiss and snarl as he continued past the body of his minion, eyes firmly fixed on Valkus, who strode forward ready to meet his new foe. "The Lord of the Whorl shhhall sssup on your sssouls!"

Lelouch gave a quick nod to Edda, signaling to the brunette to cast Aero at the Sahagin leader before casting Stone while the window was still open to attack, while he cast Aethercharge before directing his Carbuncle to assume its fiery form and attack while he began casting Ruby Ruin. Den the Orcatoothed didn't even flinch as he took the spells head on and then lunged with his spear at Valkus. The goggle wearing swordsman stepped aside and took the opportunity to slash at his opponent with his sword. The blade cut into the large Sahagin's flesh, but he hardly noticed it nor the spells hitting him from afar as he struck back with his free clawed hand while issuing a challenging hiss at his immediate enemy.

The Sahagin leader's seeming disregard for taking hits was quickly changed though, as Kallen came at him from the side and struck with Bootshine, followed by True Strike and Snap Punch in quick succession. This time Den faltered slightly before turning a baleful eye to the Japanese Pugilist. Using his spear to parry Valkus' sword strikes, the massive Sahagin made a retaliatory slash with its free clawed hand at her. The redhead was barely able to take a defensive stance, and bit back an audible acknowledgement of the cuts from said claws, only for the pain to suddenly fade away as Edda cast Cure on her.

Speaking of whom, the brunette conjurer found herself starting to figure out the rhythm of healing her new teammates and using the brief instances they weren't hurt to either cast Stone or renew Aero's damaging cycle at the monstrous Sahagin before her. As she turned her eyes to check on Lelouch, Edda stopped as she noticed an odd movement from the barred trapdoor that she was closest to. Suddenly, water began spurting out through the bars, prompting the brunette to slowly move towards it while keeping an eye on the rest of the party for when they needed her to cast any healing spells. Upon reaching the door, Edda looked down only to gasp in surprise as a clawed scaled hand emerged from the bars with large spray of water, causing the door to rumble around and begin to open.

On reflex, Edda kicked at what was clearly the hand of another Sahagin and to her surprise the creature below gave a raspy cry of frustration as her shoe connected with its hands. Said cry quickly faded away and that was quickly followed by a distant splash. Realizing she had to warn her fellow party members and that this discovery had maybe drawn her attention for too long, the brunette cast the mass healing spell Medica before calling out to the two adventurers she knew better by reputation.

"Sir Lelouch! Lady Kallen! More Sahagin are coming!" Edda called out her warning. "They're coming up from below through the trapdoors!"

Both Earth born adventurers heard her and took a look, quickly spotting the odd movement from the barred doors, Lelouch as he finished casting to combination of Fester and Energy Drain while waiting for Aethercharge to renew and Kallen as she was weaving around to avoid Den the Orcatoothed's retaliatory strikes.

Realizing he was the only one, besides Edda in a position to do anything about this, the raven-haired Arcanist called out to Kallen, "Edda and I will handle this!"

At the redhead's nod, Lelouch ran over to the nearest of the doors holding back the emerging sea creatures. A simple hit at the grasping clawed hand with his grimoire revealed that whatever traction the Sahagin below had on their way up was a flimsy one at best. As he prepared to either deal with this new problem or resume attacking the Sahagin leader, he looked just in time to see that the next attempted emergence was dealt with as Edda once again prevented it with a kick at the enemy's would be backup.

Meanwhile, the fight on Kallen and Valkus' end continued with their Sahagin opponent showing signs of weariness from the combat. After a few more series of strikes, Kallen felt the energy she needed to unleash another Steel Peak come to her and she quickly did so, striking her foe in the stomach area and causing Denn to falter. Valkus slashed at the creature with his sword in an attempt to take advantage of the opening, but the large Sahagin was able to bring his spear up in time to block the coming blade with the polearm's metal head.

For a brief moment there was a struggle as the two edged weapons pressed against each other, with their respective owners trying to overpower the other, only for that to be broken as a shot of aetheric energy struck Denn the Orcatoothed in the side, followed by a fiery blast signaling the dual attack of of Lelouch and his Carbuncle. On reflex, the Sahagin leader turned in said caster's direction, only to be caught in the face by a Stone cast by Edda, which shattered a number of the teeth he was named for.

This sent Denn flailing backwards in an attempt to stay on his feet, and it was the opening his closest attackers needed. Valkus charged forward and made a powerful slash with his sword that caught his enemy full in the chest, but in desperate move Denn thrust his spear in retaliation and the spearpoint got the swordsman in the left shoulder, knocking him off balance and preventing his blade's cut from being fatal. However, the Sahagin, in his desperation, had forgotten to take Kallen into account and that proved to be his last mistake.

As Lelouch and Edda's attacks had struck, the Japanese Pugilist had taken the time to charge up another Steel Peak before charging at the Sahagin leader from the right side and proceeded to unleash it on her foe. The chakra empowered blow struck the creature in the neck with a loud snap, and Denn the Orcatoothed collapsed where he stood with a dying hiss.

There was a brief silent moment as the victorious party paused both to catch their breaths after the intense battle and to take in the sight of their fallen foe. Then Edda proceeded to heal her teammates, starting with Valkus, before checking the area to see if there was anything of potential value to bring back and to get a layout of the vast docking area that the Serpent Reavers and their Sahagin allies had put together to inform the guardsman that was waiting for their return. Afterwards they began the trek back to the entrance to the Sastasha Seagrot.

---

The party briefly stopped at the makeshift tavern the Serpent Reavers had set up for a break. It was there that Lelouch and Kallen stepped aside for a private conversation.

"I must admit, that was good how you were able to ease Edda into working with us." The former prince commented once they were out of earshot.

"I've...helped with getting some new people adjusted to...working with my friends outside of school." Kallen replied with a reflexive guard to her voice. In the back of her mind she knew this was kind of pointless, but that was the durability of a habit born of a requirement to survive. "Anyway, you didn't do so bad encouraging her yourself."

"It comes with working on the Student Council…" Lelouch said with a simple shrug before regarding the other with a humorous smile. "Funny how we've both cultivated skills for managing people in our own way, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, I guess…" The redhead briefly turned away from the other's gaze, feeling the mental fatigue at the day's events, which then reminded her and with that she looked back at the raven-haired Arcanist with a serious expression. "By the way...are you…. okay?" At the other's questioning look, she continued, "Look, you may have done better than I expected at handling that stuff in that fucked up holding cell, but I could tell it still bothered you, so…"

Lelouch flinched, but quickly regained his composure, enough to reply with a quick and neutral, "I'm fine...can you really blame anyone for being unsettled by that?"

"I guess not, not anyone decent anyway…" Kallen was silent for a moment as she couldn't help but be reminded how that indirect compliment echoed her thoughts when they were here previously. She was tempted to voice her suspicions that something clearly happened to Lelouch sometime in the past to make him different from the typical Britannian, and it wasn't just that one day he suddenly woke up to how bad things were for their world. She decided against it for the moment when she was reminded of a more immediate question. "By the way, what's the thing that happened with your book?"

"Oh, that…" Lelouch then proceeded to explain how at the need for a loose piece of paper the book suddenly seemed to provide it, and continued, "This actually raises a question as to the nature of this book; I wouldn't be surprised if there was more to it than a convenient record keeper and information source…"

The former prince then took said blue and gold book out, did a quick thumb through its pages and spoke further. "Despite providing a loose page for me, the book doesn't appear any lesser for it. In fact, even accounting for the records it puts down relating to our actions and movements changing, there still seem to be more than enough pages and the book doesn't seem to have changed in mass or weight since I first got it. Surely you've noticed similar, Kallen."

"Haven't really thought about it…" Kallen trailed off as she took her book out to give it a quick look herself. Out of curiosity, she flipped the pages until she got to the job they were currently on and upon giving it a read, she looked back at the other.

Now Lelouch was aware Kallen had been keeping an eye on him ever since their impromptu partnership started and he couldn't really blame her for that. Given their circumstances of course trust wouldn't be easily earned, she'd basically told him that herself. What was unusual about the look she was giving him was alongside the usual curiosity there was also a slight bit of amusement in it.

"What does it say?" The former prince asked.

"Just go to the part about our current job." The other answered simply.

Lightly frowning as it was obvious the redhead wanted to see his reaction, Lelouch quickly turned the pages until he reached it. As he silently read, the ex-royal turned adventurer soon stopped at what he was sure was the part in question.

'Thanks to your quick thinking, the Serpent Reavers' remaining captives have been rescued. While your attempt to mask your noble intentions and desire for justice do not go unnoticed*…'

The former prince noticed the asterisk and his eyes went to the bottom of the page and found the mark along with the words 'Your personal details are yours to reveal, be they through word or action'.

"What does yours say?" Lelouch asked, trying not to sound too wary.

" 'Your partner's quick thinking ensured the rescue of the Serpent Reaver's captives,'" Kallen began. " While you do wonder at his attempts to mask clearly good intentions and a desire for justice, you decide to let it be for now. From there, you…'" She paused as she had noticed a slight look of worry on the other's face as she read that part and after making a quick read to make sure there wasn't anything too personal on the current page and said, "If it's bothering you, you can look at this page, but just that, for yourself."

Lelouch did so, and after a quick thanks, gave a sigh.

"Well, at least confirms that whoever or whatever is putting down this information it's sentient enough to have an opinion." He said as with as much annoyance in his voice as the look he was giving his book before putting it away. "We should probably rejoin the others now…"

As Lelouch began to walk away, Kallen couldn't help but give her own comment.

"Hey, at least it gave you a compliment." The redhead couldn't help but smirk as she saw the other stop for a second at her words before continuing on with a light huff and dismissive wave.

As Lelouch approached where Valkus and Edda were waiting, the latter noticed him and walked towards him, that same nervous gait from their introduction returning.

"Are you and Lady Kallen ready to go, Sir Lelouch?" The brunette asked politely.

"I think so…" The former prince glanced back to see Kallen was close behind him. He was then going to tell Edda she could drop the 'Sir' she'd attached to his name, only for that to be tempered by the likelihood of them seeing each other again being low. "Anyway, given we're nearing the end of this job, allow me to say you did good work backing us up. As I surmised it's only a matter of gaining more experience; keep it up and I'm sure you'll be an excellent healer."

As Edda blushed and stammered her thanks at Lelouch's praise, Kallen decided to add her own. This girl looked like she could use some positive reinforcement.

"He's right about that, Edda. You got the timing for healing us back there right and you even spotted that ambush attempt." The redhead complimented. "Build skills like that up and whoever else you team up with should appreciate it."

Edda's expression became troubled at that.

"What do you mean?" The brunette conjurer asked, frowning slightly, her tone becoming wary but still polite.

Lelouch noticed and decided to speak up in order to smooth things over. While the chances of them meeting or working together again were low, there was still a chance, along with the possibility she might become skilled enough to be one of the conjurers he'd need for the Curaja ritual.

"Oh, were those other two with you from the start?" The raven-haired Arcanist asked, doing his best to sound mildly surprised. He then took a chance on what he could surmise from Avere's drawl. "I mean, it's clear you and Avere are together, but we assumed with the other two it was a matter of circumstance much like our teaming with Rouge and Valkus."

Kallen could tell what the other was doing and added, "Yeah, and you could say the same about me and Lelouch. I mean, our teaming up is pretty recent too. Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea."

"Oh no, it's fine, really! I should be the one apologizing!" Edda gave her own apology, mentally chiding herself for jumping to conclusions. Of course Sir Lelouch and Lady Kallen would see it that way, they'd just met her and her party. Also why did she just assume the worst of either of them? They had both been so kind to her, and it proved Avere's admiration of the pair true.

"Now, now, it was just a simple misunderstanding that could happen to anyone." Lelouch said reassuringly, something he was well practiced at. "Let's just agree to part in friendship and wish the best for our respective parties."

"Of course, thank you both." Edda relaxed as she gave them a grateful smile. "If all goes well, Avere and I are to be wed in the spring."

From there Edda gave the pair an assurance she'd have invitations sent to them once they had a date before walking off to get ready to resume their walk back to the cave entrance. For a moment Lelouch, Kallen and Valkus simply remained where they were, surprised at the revelation and each of them having their own variation of 'What the hell is wrong with that guy?!' running through their minds at that. Of the three, it was Valkus whose thoughts had the most derogatory insults and expletives concerning Avere. From the point of view of one who practically worshiped the ground his wife walked on, such treatment of even a future spouse made the young swordsman lower than dirt in his estimation.

---

Limsa Lominsa

It was evening by the time Lelouch and Kallen returned to the city and the Drowning Wench. Avere and the rest of his party had simply collected Edda before making a hasty return to collect their profits. The guardsman, while happy at the rescue that they'd pulled off, hadn't been particularly happy at the payment arrangement. The way he saw it, with one exception, Avere's party had shirked the responsibilities agreed upon and only taken them up again in exchange for extra pay and promised to make arrangements for some compensation for the pair in recognition for saving the surviving remnants of the kidnapping victims.

Speaking of, Rouge, Valkus and their crewmates volunteered to help with escorting the rescued women to the Maelstrom headquarters to receive any further medical treatments from the more experienced healers there and make arrangements for their return home. Of course, a good number of the freed captives gave their thanks to both Lelouch and Kallen before their departure. One of the miqo'te women even apologized to the former for losing 'that fine piece of paper' he'd given her, to which the raven-haired arcanist had told her not to worry about.

It was during that when Kallen couldn't help but notice that despite accepting said thanks, there was a slight sign of discomfort on Lelouch's part behind the gracious words of acceptance. One might assume it was a sign of humbleness, but the redhead had been around the guy enough to know humility wasn't Lelouch's strong suit. She thought on this as the two of them were preparing to leave, only for those thoughts to be interrupted upon them running into an two elezen: an old bearded man and a woman with short dark brown hair and eyes who looked to be in her early twenties.

The woman introduced herself as Alianne Vellegrance and the old man was her grandfather, Isildaure Vellegrance and the two of them were on a journey to explore the world. The two had come to Sastasha to not only explore the cave system but also out of curiosity for history. Apparently the cave system had been used as a base long ago by a legendary pirate named Mistbeard, a historical figure Lelouch had acquired a passing bit of knowledge of during his time in the Limsa Lominsan libraries. The news of the caves having been in use and was soon to be combed through by the Maelstrom once word of that discovery Lelouch and Kallen had a hand in reached naval command completely canceled that as a travel destination. After briefly seeing them back to Aleport, the Earthborn duo used the Teleport spell to return to Limsa Lominsa.

Soon after entering the tavern, the pair headed in to find Baderon already in conversation with a green haired and bearded roegadyn in full armor and wearing a sword and shield. Accompanying him was a red haired miqo'te woman in leather armor and wearing a trident at her back and a dark skinned lalafell woman with braided white hair and wearing the robes and cane of a conjurer.

"Aye, such a task was on the books. 'Was' mind." Baderon said to the roegadyn man as Lelouch and Kallen got close enough to hear. "I'm afraid that ship 'as already sailed, friend."

With the conversation appearing finished, the two Earth born adventurers walked up to Baderon's desk. As they did so, the roegadyn swordsman turned to look at the pair curiously.

"Ah. Might you be the adventurers who accepted the job of investigating Sastasha?" He asked.

"Yes, though several other adventurers assisted us in the process." Lelouch answered and glanced over at Baderon. "I take it the second party has been by?"

"Aye, they 'ave and received the pay ye agreed on." The guildmaster gave a nod in reply. "I admit the lad leadin' them 's a bit too eager fer gil an' fame, but 'opefully more experience'll cure it. That, an' he may 'ave some trouble workin' with some o' the locals soon."

"I don't quite follow." The roegadyn spoke.

In reply both Lelouch and Kallen gave a simplified account of how their investigation of the cave system went. Not surprisingly, even that didn't really paint Avere in a positive light as the other party trio each had their own disapproval to voice.

"Hmph. It seems the ship had room for another to sail with, and despite the second's bad crewmanship, both returned to the harbor none the worse for the voyage." The armored roegadyn commented. "A pity. We dragged our boots too long on this one."

The red haired miqo'te, who at a closer look had an eyepatch over her left eye, looked up at her companion and said in a confident, yet supportive, voice, "No matter, the wheel will turn, and our chance will come."

"You are right, of course, E'manafa." The green haired roegadyn said as he turned to address her and their lalafell companion. "But there shall be no rest till we have attained our goal, lofty though it may be!"

The lalafell conjurer pumped her fists, energized by his words, and proclaimed, "Not a wink of sleep, great leader!"

The roegadyn man then turned back to the pair and introduced himself as Dolorous Bear, the miqo'te as E'manafa Kett and the lalafell Kikina Kifu. Lelouch and Kallen gave their names in reply before the conversation continued.

"Our aim, lest you wonder, is to perform such feats of heroism as will earn us a place in the songs of every alehouse in Eorzea." Dolorous explained. "We mean to write a legend which will inspire adventurers as yet unborn to follow our shining example."

"Well, that's…commendable." Kallen replied with the most diplomatic answer she could think of off the top of her head.

"Do the two of you have such a goal?" The green-haired roegadyn asked. "Large or small, it matters not. Only have a star to reach for and you will reach higher."

Lelouch hadn't said anything at Dolorous' introduction since he was trying to measure if the man was as drunk on greed and delusions of grandeur as Avere had been. By the time of the question, he decided the altruistic part of the roegadyn swordsman's professed goal was genuine, at least as far as the former prince could tell. That was enough for him to be willing to allude to an honest answer.

"I'd say I have a couple such goals." The raven-haired arcanist admitted with a smile. "By your words, I should be able to reach both in time."

Kallen couldn't help but glance at her Britannian associate at that. She'd been noticing ever since they teamed up that the guy had this weird liking for making things theatrical, so there had to be something behind that smile he was giving as if privately enjoying a joke only he knew the context for. One of the goals was obviously healing Nunnally, but what the hell could the second be?

"Same here." The redhead said simply just to move things along.

"Purpose can sustain you through times of hardship. Keep your eye on the prize, and all obstacles will be overcome in time." Dolorous said with a nod of approval at their answers, even if they were vague. "You would not think to stride into battle unclad, would you? Well, goals are as arms and armor for the spirit! I wish you both fortune in your endeavors, sir, and milady."

With a respectful salute Dolorous made to depart; the two girls gave them friendly waves before following their leader, leaving Lelouch and Kallen to give Baderon their full account of what had happened in Sastasha.

Baderon was eager to hear their report and as he finished listening, the guildmaster put a hand to his bearded chin as he processed it all.

"Fishbacks? An' there I was thinkin' ye'd only 'ave to crack a pirate skull or three. Seven hells... Ye turn yer back fer five bloody minutes, an' the scaly bastards've set up shop on yer bleedin' doorstep..." Baderon relaxed as he returned his gaze to them. "Still, sounds like ye left 'em in pieces, so I don't s'pose they'll be carryin' out whatever mischief they was plannin' - unless they was plannin' on feedin' 'emselves to the fauna o' Sastasha, o' course. Anyroad, all's well that ends well!"

The guildmaster then noticed a troubled look on both of their faces, Lelouch doing noticeably more to hide it than Kallen and he could easily guess why.

"I know seein' what the womenfolk ye rescued went through would be disheartenin' an' sayin' ye made the bastards pay for it by sendin' 'em to the tombs may not seem enough. Know this though, ye all saved 'em from a far worse fate than death an' what kin they 'ave will be glad fer what ye did." Baderon said supportively. "On behalf o' Limsa, I thank ye fer sheddin' some light on this mystery an' bringin' some closure to the kidnappins. Ye've both lived up to yer reputations, an' I couldn't ask fer no more'n that."

"Thank you…" Lelouch began letting genuine gratitude for Baderon's words come out before the bit about reputation reminded him and he quickly followed up with a more appropriate response for an up-and-coming adventurer. "Though really, I did no more than any good adventurer should."

As Kallen gave her own thanks, she couldn't help but notice the slight contrast in the Britannian arcanist's voice mainly because the latter statement sounded so similar to when he was in his student council vice president persona.

---

With the day ending, Avere Bravearm would say it had been a good one. He and his party had completed their first foray and earned a sizable pay, enough that upon collecting said pay he'd opted for the team to go to one of the higher end bars with a better selection of food and especially drinks to celebrate. It was unquestionably a good establishment; it was the kind where adventurers who enjoyed the finer things in life could safely leave their weapons and armor at the door before enjoying the place's offerings. Truly the way to end a good day. The only parts of the day he didn't like was the loss of an opportunity at making a name for himself, the lack of appreciation from the Yellowjacket or those women he'd escorted out of the caves and most of all Edda's constant praise of those two specific adventurers. He wondered if she realized those two were their rivals; he was sure that was clear every time he came across news of these so called 'rising stars' from Limsa and Ul'dah.

Fortunately for the starting adventurer, those inner troubles were soon washed away by the fine spirits he and the others had ordered to accompany their meals. By the third round of drinks the mood at the table was jolly enough for Avere. For the most part, anyway. After finishing her meal and her second round, Edda had to return to her room at the inn to rest. After letting her go with a couple of lighthearted jokes that she didn't seem to hear on account of her laughable alcohol tolerance, Avere gave a sigh as he hoped his betrothed wouldn't be so much of a wet blanket when the time came for their wedding night.

From there the amateur swordsman's thoughts drifted to what he had been considering for after said wedding. It was clear Edda just wasn't cut out for the life of an adventurer; the best thing to do was to have her stay behind at the house the two of them were to soon have once they'd acquired enough gil. Yes, housewife was a far more suitable and safer role for Edda, and given the likelihood of their first, second or third night together producing a child it was simply more efficient to have her get ready for that role anyway. The party could always find another healer; Avere wouldn't be surprised if that spindly kid Lelouch would come to him for work after inevitably falling behind his rightfully deserved fame.

Soon their archer, Liavinne Painefort, had drank enough that she was out cold, not that Avere could blame her as she could actually hold her liquor like a real adventurer should. His thoughts began to drift to how the elezen woman was proving to be more fun company than Edda was, only for those thoughts to be interrupted by the voice of Paiyo, on the very edge of sobriety. Marveling how such a small fellow could have such a high tolerance for alcohol, the two began a very cheerful conversation, only that too to be interrupted, this time by two well dressed men: one a hyur merchant and a roegadyn man whose build and manner of dress indicated he was likely a ship captain of some sort.

"So, I guess you've heard the good news?" The hyur man asked.

"If ye mean about some of the folk taken by the fishbacks bein' found an' rescued before that foul sea snake o' theirs go its coils on 'em, then aye." The roegadyn man answered. "From I 'ear, it were Limsa's risn' star 'venturer Lelouch partnered with U'ldah's own star 'venturer that did the rescuin'."

"Aye, I heard similar." The other nodded, taking a drink before continuing. "The other one's a girl named Karen, right?"

"Kallen, I think." The roegadyn took a swig of his own and gave a satisfied sigh at the quench of thirst. "I 'ear she's one of them Domans from 'cross the seas, 'ere on account o' the Garleans bein' Garleans."

As the conversation between the two men turned to them discussing other current events, Avere couldn't help but feel annoyed that he wasn't being mentioned. His hopes started to go up when the conversation drifted back as that woman captain and her attendant were mentioned.

"By the way, how did you hear the news?" The hyur man asked as he applied some seasoning to his meal.

"One o' me deck -'ands; 'is sister's one o' the rescued." The roegadyn man answered. "Said 'e'd need a few days off ship to see to 'er wellbein'."

"I hope you allowed it." The hyur man gave his companion a concerned look.

"O' course I allowed it! What kin' o' git d'you think I am?!" The roegadyn asked incredulously. After the other apologized, saying he'd cover one additional round of drinks in doing so, he relaxed and then gave a chuckle as something came to mind. "Speakin' o' which, that there deck-'and 'ad a bit o' a funny thin' to tell. There were two that the rescued folks had curses fer: their captors an' this one bloke who was supposed to 'elp escort 'em out o' the Reavers' lair but dragged 'is 'eels until 'e was paid extra plus what was agreed on."

"Seven hells! He was willing to leave such unfortunate folk to the mercy of the Serpent Reavers just like that?!" The other exclaimed. "What was he, a Brass Blade moonlighting for extra gil?"

"Ye'd think so," The roegadyn ship captain answered with a chuckle. "Thing is that the git was wearin' armor so cheap an' shoddy ye couldn't mistake 'im fer one."

"Is there any name for this particular 'git'?" The hyur man asked in amusement. "Because if his name's known the joke truly is on him if he tries for work in La Noscea. Prospective employers would be hesitant to hire him and any family or friends of the people rescued even more so. The latter would probably try to shortchange him even if he's their only choice."

"Aye, an' I think so. The lad I 'eard it from said it were 'Strongarm' or somethin' like that." The roegadyn paused to try to remember and then shrugged. "But enough o' foolish, would be 'venturers. When the barmaid brings our next round let's just drink to good fortune an' to up an' comin' 'venturers good enough to make life easier fer the rest o' us!"

Meanwhile, Avere was seething at the men's words and the apparent fact that he'd been duped. That skinny shrimp Lelouch had tricked him and somehow spun the story of the job they shared to make him look bad. How, the young swordsman wasn't sure; perhaps Lelouch and his party members had found some treasure held by the pirates and bribed those prisoners to spread those lies.

"It might be a good idea for us to make our way to Gridania for the time being." Paiyo suggested, having heard the conversation as well, before stopping to look over at the dozing Liavinne. "We may need a few days though...maybe we can get you some new armor and you can keep the visor down. What do you think, Avere?"

Before giving his answer Avere took his mug and drained it. He had to admit Paiyo's idea was a good one and there should be better opportunities for gil and glory in Gridania. He privately swore to himself that once he'd made a name for himself, he'd show that deceitful scoundrel who was really worthy of being a hero renowned throughout Eorzea.

---

A few days had passed since completing the Sastasha job, Kallen had introduced herself to both the Armorer's and Blacksmith's guilds and had begun learning each crafter's trade, meanwhile Lelouch had resumed studying the magic arts he'd picked up and…also gone fishing, literally. The Japanese pugilist had been exploring the town in between jobs and spotted the raven-haired arcanist just sitting at one of the fishing areas doing just that. She hadn't called out to him and after a few minutes just continued on her way while trying to get her mind off how odd it was to see Lelouch so relaxed in a situation that didn't involve his little sister.

Speaking of jobs, Kallen had just finished doing delivering a package for a miqo'te representing the Brugaire Consortium named J'nasshym; the recipients being some religious sounding group called the Dutiful Sisters of the Edelweiss. She'd ended up giving the package to a roegadyn guard stationed outside the building it was addressed to, upon which she found out from said guard that the package contained a whole bunch of sandwiches specially made by the Bismarck restaurant. Whoever these 'Sisters' were, either they were really well liked by the locals, or they had a pretty loose vow of poverty.

As she returned to where J'nasshym was waiting for her, the redhead was surprised to find Lelouch waiting there with the Consortium representative.

"You've delivered the package as I requested?" J'nasshym asked and at Kallen's affirmation, continued. "Very good. I shall pass on the Sisters' sentiments to my superiors." She then turned over to Lelouch. "Also, I will ensure Baderon knows your associate has met the requirements and will be accompanying you?"

"Okay, wait a second." Kallen spoke with a held-up hand while looking at both. "What's this all about?"

"On account of my work with Mealvaan's Gate and the business regarding the Serpent Reavers up to recent events, the Dutiful Sisters of Edelweiss have requested a meeting with me." Lelouch gave his answer and glanced to the Consortium representative before returning his gaze to Kallen. "I've been given hints at the 'contributions' that the Sisters have made to the good of Limsa Lominsa, and so when Baderon informed me I asked if it was possible for you to join me."

"That is why I was asked to approach you specifically for the delivery job, so it could confirmed that you could be relied upon." J'nasshym explained and noticed the pugilist's expression. "I take it you wish to know what manner of services the Dutiful Sisters provide, correct?"

"Of course." Kallen replied simply.

"Well, normally I would say 'Continue your stay in Limsa Lominsa, and you'll likely find out soon enough', but since you are being invited…" The other paused to consider before continuing. "All I'll say is, if you're confident in your abilities –and comfortable with the unconventional—then I would suggest that you accept it."

With that business concluded, Lelouch indicated the lesser aetheryte and the two of them headed towards it.

"I get the irony in asking you, but can you give me a less vague answer than she did?" Kallen asked as she and Lelouch neared the crystal fixture.

"So long as you don't mind that it's still an educated guess." Lelouch answered. "I think we can both agree that these Dutiful Sisters are likely quite secular in their orthodoxy, so…"

The conversation between the two continued as they used the aetheryte to teleport to the one nearest their destination.

AN: And that's another chapter finished! Sorry that this took longer than I expected (I was hoping to have the chapter ready by Christmas); just another case of having what seems like a complete idea for the story ready to put down to text only for it to grow to unexpected size as you figure out how to properly convey it and as more ideas flow in to enhance things (and you consider how those new ideas could affect things later). Also didn't help that the holiday season inevitably adds wave after wave of things to do, be it for work or one's personal life, and admittedly by the time I was in a position to have more free time was when I was trying to finish up the heavier scenes that warranted the potential trigger warning way up above and that clashed so much with taking time to enjoy the holidays I just wasn't feeling it right then.

Speaking of which, I do hope I wrote that part in a proper way. Bear in mind the majority of what I portrayed is in Sastasha, but it is missable given in your typical run a party is just going to kill the pirates as quick as possible then make a beeline to complete the dungeon. If you want to see for yourself but don't want to do so in game then through YouTube I would recommend either "Final Fantasy XIV Dungeon Secrets - The Dark Secret of Sastasha" by Lore and More for a quick and simple look or if you want something more humorous there's "5 Totally Family Friendly Moments in FFXIV…" by Lucy Pyre, it's the first of the subjects, though I give fair warning her style of humor might not be for everyone (and to her credit she does post a trigger warning on the subject matter herself as a pinned comment).

Moving on to lighter things I hope readers enjoyed this chapter, returning or new, especially any newcomers on AO3 now that I've begun cross posting. I'm also hoping some readers recognize Rouge and Valkus from the 1994 OVA Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals. For anyone wondering why I did, mainly for nostalgia as that was my intro to Final Fantasy as a kid as I'd heard about the series but hadn't had an opportunity to experience it. I came across the VHS tapes at Blockbuster, convinced my parents to rent them (thankfully they did not pay attention to what I watched so long as it wasn't rated R) and I liked what I saw enough to invest my allowance into trying out the games. Also, I was fond of those two characters in particular and given now in ARR you have the option to tackle the dungeons solo assisted by AI controlled party members but in the starting dungeons all you get are nameless NPCs I thought it would be more interesting to include them as a tribute. Finally, I get the feeling due to Madhouse looking to be the main license holder for the anime, the chances of any AU versions of the characters from the OVA showing up are relatively slim.

Anyway, with all that said, I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope you had good experiences in the now past holidays! Take care, please and review I hope you come back for more as we cover perhaps my favorite of the initial job quests (its main competition is Arcanist) of A Realm Reborn: Rogue.