Chapter 20: Nightmare's Return

By the time the sun was starting to rise over the mountains, Misurugi was far behind the rescue team. The plan was to beeline right back to Recta Base before returning to Arzenal, though along the way they had chosen to stop at the nearest supply point CROSS had marked on the road, a long-abandoned farm. Ange was finally able to change out of her prisoner's rags and into some proper clothing, though with the break she was more intent on getting some answers out of Tusk and his friends.

"Alright, since we're all taking a moment…" she said as she returned. "Just what in the hell is going on here? Tusk, who are these people? Hilda, you're with me too right?"

"Alain pretty much gave me the rundown on the way." Hilda replied. "What little he did at least."

"Hey, I told you enough didn't I?" Alain countered.

"What the heck happened between you two these past couple of days?" Ange wondered.

"Nothing." Hilda and Alain said. The looks the rest of the group gave them all carried a general "sure" feeling.

"Well…" the one called Chopper spoke up. "it's a long story. We're part of a group called CROSS. Think of it as a coalition of the world's outcasts. The people who can't use Mana, Norma, and those who see the world for what it is."

"People who can't…" Ange looked to Tusk as she repeated the phrase. "Come to think of it Tusk, you never did tell me just who you are. Is he saying you can't use Mana?"

"The only one here who can do that would be Shamrock." Tusk explained. "The rest of us, including Alain… we're what you would call Ancient Humans. We're the leftovers from before the Age of Mana. Though, me and Alain had Norma mothers, so we're kind of like them."

"It's why me and Tusk can break Mana like Norma can." Alain said. "The rest of these guys can't. I dunno how on earth it works though."

"Mana Humans have a specific gene code that lets them use Mana." Shamrock said, moving his hand to his implant. "Me and the maid have a specific trait in our nervous system that attunes to Mana. They call them receptors. Basically, like nodes on an electrical board. Our medical experts have put a lot of study into it all. Norma can break Mana because the gene that ordinarily controls it is inverted. Rather than draw it in, your receptors cancel it out."

"And just what are the odds of a girl being born with that particular trait anyway?" Hilda asked.

"The egg heads estimate it's about…" High Roller put a finger to his forehead. "I think one in every fifty births. But it is also possible the inverted gene doesn't kick in until some time after. It's why some Norma aren't found until years later since kids aren't really expected to use Mana all the time."

'Well that explains a lot.' Hilda thought. She never at all remembered times as a child when she ever thought about needing to use Mana. It was always her parents or other adults who would do such things.

"And my parents kept it hidden because I had Momoka with me." Ange murmured, glancing to her maid. "My brother probably only found out because he checked the royal archive behind Father's back."

"I'd imagine that kind of information would have been shoved into the most secure servers they had." Huxian stated. "It's also likely the medical staff who worked for the royal family at the time were sworn to keep their mouths shut… or executed."

"My parents were not the kind of people who would do such a thing!" Ange snapped, getting in Huxian's face.

"And yet they perpetuated the cycle of sending Norma off to Arzenal, only sparing you because you were their daughter." Huxian countered, Ange flinching.

"Come on, let's not get nasty about things." Tusk said, gently grabbing Ange by the wrist. "Also, I think you might want this back." Ange looked down as Tusk pressed something to her palm, relief washing across her face when she saw it was her mother's ring. "Your brother had it on him. I was able to grab it when it went flying out of his hand after your friend shot him."

"Thank you." Ange said as she slid the ring back onto her finger, the new mood around the two drawing stares from the rest. Alain in particular had a smug smirk on his face.

"Get a room!" High Roller sulked, getting punched in the side by Chopper. "OW!"

"Lady Angelise, might I ask who this young man is exactly?" Momoka said. "You two seem rather close." Most of Garuda looked quite keen to hear it as well, save for Huxian who busied himself with fun maintenance.

"We have a… special relationship." Tusk sheepishly said, Chopper and Shamrock grabbing High Roller before he could speak up again.

"Shut up!" Ange yelled, punching Tusk's shoulder to the amusement of the others.

"Of course! Otherwise he wouldn't risk his life to come help you!" Momoka went from happy to teary eyed. "At last spring time has come even for my tomboyish Lady Angelise."

"Please keep layering it on Momoka. I am loving seeing those two squirm." Alain snickered, Hilda turning away to hide her own failing attempts not to laugh.

"You shut it! And Momoka, it isn't like that!" Despite her objection Ange's face was flushed, though it was likely also from anger as she glared at the other snickering boys. "Anyway! Just what the heck is with all of this? An organization made of Mana users and humans like Norma? What is all this? What are you people?"

"Tusk?" Alain said.

"I guess… I'm what you'd call a Knight of Villkiss." Tusk explained. "It's my job to assist the Villkiss Rider in whatever way I can. I showed up to Misurugi because I had orders from Jill not to let you die. It'll be easier if you ask Jill for the details about everything."

"So then what about you?" Ange turned to Alain. "If you're only half Norma then why are you on Arzenal? Are you some kind of Knight yourself?"

"I suppose that's one way to put it." Alain said. "The specific title for me would be the Wyvern Knight. See, my partner has a long history with the Ancient Humans, from way before CROSS even existed… before the Ancient Humans had even found Villkiss in fact. I guess you could say piloting it is my sworn duty, like protecting you is for Tusk. I stayed at Arzenal for that reason… but also for more personal ones." The glance Alain spared to Hilda, followed by the girl looking away, got Ange to raise a brow. When they had the time, she was thinking of asking Hilda what had happened. The usual animosity between them had vanished into thin air and she was curious why.

"I'm guessing you don't know anything either." Ange sighed.

"I tried." Hilda said. "But all I got was some vague stuff about it 'not being the right time' and 'being too dangerous to know.' I now also hate the word complex." Hilda's impersonation of Alain's tone got snickers from Garuda Team.

"Once you know the full story hopefully more of this will make sense." Chopper assured. "Anyway, we should keep moving. If we keep hurry, we should make it back to Recta base within a day. From there, once Trigger's loaded up the Wyvern, we'll have you girls ride with Tusk in a transport trailer we can hook up to one of the Runners. We'll also escort you back to Arzenal, just in case the Emperor decides to come chasing after us."

"I doubt we'll have anything to worry about." Ange said. "My brother isn't likely to do anything immediately. Probably going to be too busy nursing his pride as much as his face. Hope he gets a nasty as hell scar."

"You're welcome for that." Hilda snickered.


The pandemonium that had descended on Misurugi since the previous night had left the city in quite a state. Since the rest of the nation had been cut off from seeing what actually went down, it was only the panicked eyewitness reports that were able to come to the news, much less the news about the Emperor's injury and now likely fractured mental state.

Cipher found it all a bother. The pettiness of Julio's actions most of all. The sheer elaborateness of leaking information to Ange's personal maid to draw her to Arzenal. Then having the younger sister send a faux distress call to draw her back to Misurugi. And all because Julio had grown annoyed at not seeing his sister's name appear on the casualty reports from Arzenal over the past two months. The masked man found it so childishly petty that if he'd been allowed to perhaps he'd have given the boy a scar himself.

But for now he had more pressing matters to attend to. Now that the girl had been swept away by his main target and their allies, all he had to do now was resume his chase and wait for the appearance of that machine. The girl, her ring, and the Villkiss were currently out of their reach, but Master Embryo was keen not to miss a chance to get something else he desired.

The elevator Cipher was descending deep into the Dawn Pillar finally came to a halt, and he entered a massive hangar bay, striding past several sealed bulkheads. Each one was marked with a particular color and emblem, denoting what lay behind it. However, one of the bays was open, empty for years since it's original tenant had been stolen. Cipher stopped at one final bay at the far end of the hangar. It lacked the colored markings of the others and even an emblem, instead only a word: Enforcer. Cipher entered a code into the pad near the bulkhead, the machinery hissing as it opened, old air streaming from the bay as a cool mist.

"It has been ten years since you last flew." Cipher spoke, looking upwards as the bay began to light up, revealing the machine within. Standing taller than the usual Para-mail, its armor was a deep crimson highlighted by traces of black. The flares of its armor lent it the appearance of a demonic knight, rather than a gallant slayer of dragons. Its head was marked by a single blade antenna, the angular visor even without light looking like a glare. "So, Siegfried, shall we hunt a Wyvern again?"

As if in reply, the machine's visor lit up.


The stop at Recta Base had not been a long one. There was no particular rush for the group when it came to returning to Arzenal but acting quickly remained in their best interest. Alain had at least managed to avoid having Ray lecture him about his impulsive decision to join Garuda Team's operation. He was also glad to be back in Wyvern's cockpit. At the time, he was coasting above the open ocean, the Runners of Tusk and Garuda team trailing behind just over the surf. Tusk's unit had been fitted with a trailer that locked between its thrusters, which was at least roomy enough to allow its occupants to not be cramped while Tusk drove. The Runners themselves could be quite fast when put to full throttle, enough they would be at Arzenal within the next few hours if there was no interruption. And yet Alain could not shake the anxious feeling in the back of his head.

"Wyvern, is it just me or does something about this almost feel like it was too easy? It's just weird… I should be raring to get back home and wrap this up. But I feel like something's about to happen."

"Perhaps it's just a feeling of anxiousness." Wyvern said. "Are you worried about how the Commander will react if she finds out you got CROSS to assist you and Tusk?"

"Hardly. I know damn well Jill's gonna find out and probably lay my ass out." Alain bitterly replied. "It's… something else. It's the kind of anxious I get before something comes out of nowhere. Heck, there's that other thing that's been nagging at me for a while too." He wasn't sure why, but his mind went back to that man he had met while searching for Hilda. It still puzzled him just what it had been that made him feel so uneasy. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen people at Arzenal with those kind of unnerving, dark eyes… yet something had been entirely different about that man by comparison. "Man, I just don't get it. I can stare a Galleon in the face without flinching, but some random guy makes me shake? The hell is wrong with me?"

"Perhaps sometimes it is that a human foe is more terrifying than an animalistic one."

"If only that were as true as some think it is." Alain mumbled. There was a meaning behind that phrase. One he hoped the person who made him think of it wouldn't have to find out for some time yet.

"Hey Trigger, how's the radar looking?" Chopper's regular input felt welcome to Alain's wandering mind.

"Long range scan is good. Nothing followed us out this far." Alain said. "We're well past the exclusion line too, so as far as it goes it should be a clean go back to Arzenal."

"That's just so dang boring though!" High Roller complained. "A part of me kinda wants something to show up!"

"Like what, a Singularity?" Huxian bit. "I doubt a swarm of DRAGONs dropping on our heads when all we've got is one Para-mail backing us would make for a fun time."

"Hey!" Alain barked. "For the record, that 'one Para-mail' is one of the best ones in Arzenal and has it's best pilot in the cockpit! I can handle them on my own just fine."

"Can you idiots not jinx us?" Shamrock said. "Keep that up and you'll make something worse than a DRAGON appear."

"I think that won't help not do the same." Tusk added. Alain chuckled as the casual conversing made the uneasy feeling ebb away. Not fully, but enough to get him feeling relaxed again. 'Well, even if it was kind of easy, I don't mind that every now and again.' He thought. 'But…'

Wyvern's sudden alert snapped him back to attention. Alain pulled his throttle hard, bringing Wyvern into a roll while switching to Assault Mode as a bright yellow beam split the air where he would have been had he not reacted

"The hell?!" Alain gasped. His radar hadn't detected anything, the shot only registering thanks to Wyvern's danger warning. And with the sudden attack, the Runners below came to a quick stop as well.

"Trigger, what the hell was that?!" Chopper shouted. "Were we being followed out of range?!"

"What could have taken a shot like that?!" Huxian shouted.

"The fact it was a beam weapon tells me it could not have been a DRAGON." Wyvern said. "Yet its energy signature was… familiar. I know the weapon that fires those kinds of beams."

"You know it?"

"Hey?! What the hell is going on out there?! Why did we stop?!" Ange shouted, her face appearing in the comms window. "Did something shoot at us or something?"

"Alain?" Hilda called.

"Trying to find that out!" Alain replied. That bad feeling was creeping back up as he scanned the horizon. And then Wyvern's radar finally pinged as something came into range. Another beam came arcing towards him, Alain dodging past it and returning fire with his own beam rifle. Whatever was coming in, it was closing the distance fast, the unknown enemy dodging his volley with quick movements. The speed with which it was approaching was staggering, faster than anything but a Sloop Class DRAGON… meaning it had to be a Para-mail.

Then he saw a flash of crimson. The enemy shot past him and upwards, chaning forms before coming back down, Alain barely able to make it out due to the glare of the sun. As he made out the machine drawing something from its shield, he responded by deploying a beam saber, narrowly deflecting some kind of energy hatchet from taking Wyvern's head. And as the beam blades sparked against each other, now that he could finally see what had attacked, Alain felt his blood freeze.

"Crimson armor… like a demonic knight…" Alain's jaw tightened as his knuckles went white on his controls. The thing he couldn't forget, what he wouldn't forget. It was right there in front of him now. "You… it's you!"

Alain broke the blade lock and swung wildly, the crimson machine shifting backwards and flitting away, Alain firing as he gave chase. And over the comm lines, the rest heard the furious roar that ripped from Alain's throat as he went after the crimson machine.

"What the… what the hell is that thing?!" Ange gasped. "Hey, all of you, what's going on?!"

"It can't…" Tusk muttered. "That machine… it's the same one."

"The Crimson Nightmare of Farbanti." Chopper shuddered, the tense or outright fearful looks from the others driving it in for the three girls that whatever it was, it was anything but good. "Change of plans! We can't let that thing follow us to Arzenal, so we're rerouting to the nearest island! We're going now! Trigger, don't waste time fighting that bastard!"

"Like hell!" Alain snapped, Chopper flinching when he saw the furious, downright insane expression on Alain's face. "Ten years… I've waited ten years for this chance! Like hell I'm letting it get away from me! I'm ripping it from the sky right here and now!"

"Trigger stand down!" Chopper ordered, but as the dog fight continued, it became clear he wasn't going to get through to the enraged Alain. "Dammit!"

"Alain it's way too dangerous!" Tusk shouted. "We have to run!"

"Back off!" Alain shouted, growling when his saber missed, rolling past a shot from his foe and firing back, the beams dispersing against the shield as it rushed forward, Alain narrowly dodging the resulting slash from the beam axe. Then something else flipped out from under the shield, another beam axe bursting into form, Alain yelling as Wyvern was grazed from the surprise deployment, then being caught when the enemy planted a foot to Wyvern's torso in a hard kick, sending the machine spiraling down.

"Alain, I advise we do as Chopper requested and flee." Wyvern advised as Alain righted the machine, blasting over the water and back into the engagement.

"Shut up and just give me everything you've got!" Alain snapped. "Like hell I'm running away… like hell I'm letting that thing stay in the skies! Not when it's right in front of me!" Alain growled as his rifle finally overheated from the continued use. He stowed it away and raised his shield, the ports opening and every missile loaded into it being let loose. The enemy flew back as the missiles chased him, weaving around most of the barrage with ease, and with a raise of its rifle, a single beam cut through the rest, filling the air with balls of fire. "BASTAAARD!"

"Chopper there's no point in us sticking around!" Huxian yelled as he brought his Runner around while Alain resumed his furious pursuit. "Trigger's clearly lost it! Let's run now and send out a signal. If the idiot makes it through, he just has to follow it."

"I trust the AI to do that more at this point." Shamrock said. "I agree with Huxian. If we stick around who knows what we'll be caught up in?!"

"This is the last thing I'd bet on happening!" High Roller yelled. "Let's split now and worry later!"

"Are you sons of bitches serious?!" Hilda screamed. "You'd run and just leave him because you're busy soiling yourselves?!"

"If you knew what we did you'd agree!" Chopper snapped. "Alain's being a damned idiot fighting that nightmare! I'm not risking the safety of us or our charges because he wants to let revenge get the better of him! We're going now!"

As the Runners shot off in a new direction, the aerial clash found a stall as Alain's sabers locked against the enemy's beam axe. The head of the crimson machine angled as it followed the path of the Runners but resumed focus on Wyvern as Alain tried to push back against it.

"Well now that they're gone this can go the way I want it." Alain flinched as a voice cracked over his line. 'I know that voice…' but he didn't get the time to think it over before the blade lock was broken and he was kicked away again. "What's wrong boy? You were screaming about ripping me from the skies yet you haven't landed a single hit… well… at least I can say you've fared better than your predecessor did."

"You… FUCKING BASTARD!" Alain roared as he charged back in, the air screaming with the sounds of the colliding beam edges. "Don't you dare! My father, mother… everyone who died because of you! You're dead!" The weapon lock broke again, his enemy shifting back and changing to Flight Mode. As he shot off, Alain did the same and pursued. He didn't care which way it was going. "Like you're getting away!"

The chase became a swirl through the air as Alain and the "Nightmare" danced around the clouds. While the other machine was larger it was no less nimble, rolling and pitching tightly as he dodged past the beam shots. But Alain kept up with all its moves, refusing to let it leave his sight even when he had to reset his lock. When it pitched up and rolled over behind him, Alain responded by lifting his machine's nose and letting it shoot past him. He only remembered he had fired every missile he had when he didn't get a response after locking back on.

"Your rashness is coming back to bite you it seems!" The pilot said as his machine darted back around, the two machines changing modes again and crashing their melee weapons together. "Fighting with only rage… do you honestly believe that will let you win?"

"Against you?! Rage is the only thing I need!" Alain screamed, forcing the enemy back again. "Wyvern, the ARISE mode, use it!"

"I cannot."

"WHAT?! Why-gagh?!" Alain yelled as he was slammed, growling when he saw the damage warnings appearing across Wyvern's monitors, one of the arms sparking from the shoulder ram he'd taken. "Why can't you?! Use it so we can shoot him down! Do what I tell you dammit!"

"I cannot because I do not agree with why you wish to use it." Wyvern said, Alain staring at the console with confusion mixing into his blinding anger. "I cannot allow access to it so long as you remain in this unstable state."

"Just do it you stupid machine!" Alain growled when he was kicked again, glaring at the enemy as he settled again.

"Hmm… the reports Master Embryo shared with me before now implied that machine can do much more than this." The pilot said, sounding almost bored. "Your skills are above average; I will admit that. But what good is piloting that machine if you are unable to draw out its true powers? It's like using a Ragna-mail and being unable to use the Archangel System."

"Embryo… so you do work for him!" Alain snarled.

"Call it more of a mutually beneficial relationship." The pilot replied. "But I'm bored of playing around with an angry child like you. I will now proceed with the retrieval of my objective… Siegfried… Fafnir System is unlocked."

The Siegfried's frame shifted as it paused. Lines appeared across it that took on an emerald glow, the glow of its optic sensors changing to match it. With a roar of the engines, it shot off even faster than before. Alain's eyes darted around as he tried to keep a bead on it, but the sudden increase in speed meant his target kept flickering in and out of view.

"Behind." Wyvern called, Alain whipping around. The beam saber flew back as the Siegfried charged him, but instead of a hit, the machine cut a turn so sharp Alain almost felt the whiplash from it.

"What the heck is going on?!" Alain yelled, drawing his rifle, gritting his teeth as he failed to get a bead as his target zipped around in irregular patterns. "How the hell can he move like that?!" Alain decided he didn't have the time to worry about it. The blade of his beam saber dissipated, and he slammed the pylon into the rifle, dodging a burst of beam shots as its rails extended and it began charging. "A point… I just need to catch a point when he slows down!"

"Alain, I do not advise using the Wave Burst mode. This foe is too quick."

"Well a certain someone won't let me use ARISE mode, so I don't have many options!" Alain yelled. Even if he could barely follow his target, much less avoid being hit – not helped by a suspicion his enemy was avoiding direct blows for some reason – he wasn't going to let up. "Come on… you have to lag at some point bastard!" And as the rifle's charge finished, a crazed smirk split his face as Alain caught what seemed like the opening he was waiting for. "NOW YOU DIE!" The clouds in the air split as the rifle was fired. And Alain's manic expression died away as in the moment it seemed the beam would connect, the Siegfried darted to the side, a Mana coating around it's shield holding the beam at bay as it rushed down along it, right for Wyvern with a beam axe drawn. In the moment the gap nearly closed, Alain felt his blood run cold again… but not from a sudden, ebbing rage. 'I'm going to die here… aren't I?!' he thought, pulling back on his controls as hard as he could as a panic suddenly gripped him.

But the moment didn't come.

Right as the beam axe was within range to cut Wyvern in two, it stopped. The air around Alain felt like it froze as the weapon disengaged and the remains of the Wave Pulse beam died away. 'Why did he stop?' he thought. In the pause there was, Alain finally noticed the shudders moving through him, looking down to one of his hands to see it shaking like a leaf.

"It seems there has been a change of plans." The mysterious pilot said. Whoever the pilot was, his face was hidden by a sterling silver mask, framed by a mane of ashen blonde hair. And even through the image, Alain felt like a cold, piercing gaze was on him. "Circumstances have demanded we stop this… fight." the word stressed like it barely described what happened. "Next time we clash… I hope you'll make defeating you more interesting."

Alain didn't have a reply as the comm image vanished, the Siegfried shifting back to flight mode as the Mana glow around it vanished, and it shot off into the distance. Alain didn't move a bit as he watched it vanish over the horizon, clutching his shaking wrist.

"Alain…" Wyvern said. "I will assume control. The signal Garuda Team sent is nearby. We will be there in a few minutes." Alain didn't reply as Wyvern took control of itself, changing modes and flying off in the direction of Garuda's beacon. The Para-mail was damaged, and the AI could tell that its pilot wasn't faring much better. It at least had the sense to ensure Alain's safety from here. "I do hope you will be alright… please."


The nearest island Garuda team had been able to find was suitable enough. Not too large by far but enough that there was a good degree of foliage to use as cover in case they were chased. Tusk had taken up the perimeter as they waited, watching for any sign of Wyvern or the red unit. He hoped the latter wouldn't become a thing they would have to confront.

"See anything?" High Roller approached from the scattering of the Runners.

"Nothing so far." Tusk said, pulling up his viewfinder. "Come on… no way Alain would go down that easy."

"Maybe… but we're talking about the damn Nightmare here." High Roller grumbled. "That monster is the reason we lost Farbanti."

"Yeah…" Tusk didn't like the memory any more than anyone who had survived that disaster. 'If that thing came out… then it means Embryo must be at least a bit aware of what's going on. And there's no way Ange's brother is going to be quiet about things after she escaped.' He could only see something big coming in the future.

Finally, a silhouette appeared in the distance and Tusk felt a wave of relief as he zoomed in and confirmed it was the Wyvern. The damage wasn't anything serious, but it had definitely been a rough fight.

"It's Wyvern! Alain got away!" Tusk called out, everyone rushing out to the beach as Wyvern set down. It was a quiet moment as its hatch opened and when Alain exited, it was clear immediately something was wrong. There wasn't some cocky exclamation he'd driven the Siegfried off, no wry comment about the fight being a bit tough. He just looked completely out of it.

"What in the hell were you thinking back there?!" Chopper yelled, grabbing Alain by the shoulders, seeming to not have noticed the difference in his flare of worried anger. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" And then he finally noticed it. Alain's expression was cast down, and the look in his eyes was flat and near lifeless. "Hey… what happened back there?"

"What does it matter?" Alain muttered. "He's gone. That's all." Alain shouldered past Chopper and walked into the woods. The others watched him go, and High Roller let out a hiss.

"That is not the look of someone in a good place." He noted.

"… what the hell?" Hilda said. "That is… what?! Will someone explain what's going on?! He doesn't do that! He's… Alain's a wise ass, cocky bastard! He does not go wild either! What the hell happened back there?"

"I'd like to know that too." Ange said. "That was just weird. What the heck was it about that Para-mail that got all of you so riled up to just run?"

"Well…" Tusk looked around to Chopper and the others, the leader of the team nodding. "It's kind of a long story. It's the one I want Jill to tell you. But, to keep it short, that Para-mail is called the Siegfried. And it's the reason CROSS is in the state it's in now. Ten years ago, there was a place the Ancient Humans were making a home out of. We called it Farbanti. And that thing is the reason why now it's water swamped ruins. And… for Alain, it's a lot more personal. That machine is what killed his parents during the siege."

"Oh my…" Momoka gasped.

"It was what…" Hilda's eyes widened as she remembered all that Alain had told her, and the pieces came together. It had to be more than just his parents too. 'The others at Arzenal… and with the way that idiot acts…' Hilda didn't like the conclusion she was coming too. "God dammit!" Hilda took off at a sprint before the others could catch on to what she was thinking. 'With the way he is, no way the dumbass didn't take more than just that on him!'

"DAAAAMMIIITTTT!" Hilda's frantic searching around got a clearer direction when she heard the yelling. When she finally did find Alain, he was at a small clearing where a pond had formed. And coupled with his frustrated yelling, his fist was ramming into one of the trees repeatedly, and Hilda could see the blood flying from his torn knuckles as she approached. "Dammit, dammit dammit! I couldn't… DAMMIT!"

"Hey, will you calm down?!" Hilda yelled, grabbing Alain's arm as he was about to swing again, planting her feet down hard since she knew he was a lot stronger than she was. "What good is that going to do for you?!"

"Just… what else… GAAAGH!" Alain wrenched his arm free and punched the tree again, his jaw tight from trying to ignore the pain in his hand. "Dammit… dammit dammit dammit! I couldn't… I couldn't do anything at all against that damn thing…" As he sank to the ground, Hilda saw the tears starting to drop from Alain's face as he leaned down. She flinched when she found herself reaching out a hand, suddenly unsure of what she was supposed to do. 'I've hated him for so long… but this… I don't like seeing him like this.' "I tried… I did everything I could on my own! I thought I could… I thought I could at least make sure the thing that took my parents – that took so much from everyone – wouldn't do it again… but… I couldn't even touch him! Something… Wyvern wouldn't let me use it like I did before for some reason… when it did something I didn't know it could… DAMMIT!"

"Sitting there yelling about it isn't going to help you." Hilda said.

"Really?" Alain scoffed. Hilda felt something flare up in her when he sat up and looked at her with a face that could only be called broken. 'Is that what I looked like after Mama rejected me?' "I… haha… I'm only alive because something else stopped him. I… if it wasn't for fucking Embryo I wouldn't even be here to feel like this." Alain's sobbing turned into broken laughter as he wrapped his arms around himself. "I thought I'd gotten over feeling that way. I thought like every other crazy nut on Arzenal I wasn't scared anymore. But when that happened… I realized I'm still terrified of the idea of dying. I can't… I don't want to lose anything again… I don't want anyone I love to lose anything again… but I couldn't even beat the thing that took everything away the first time!"

"So what?" Hilda threw caution to the wind. As Alain turned back to her, she knelt and pulled him into a tight but gentle hug. "I don't like seeing you like this, and I know the others won't like it either. You don't have to be that cocky, always on the ball ace pilot all the time. So just let it out. It's alright if you want to be angry. You've seen me cry already… so it's alright if you do it in front of me. It's fine for you to be the same kind of messed up, flawed person as the rest of us. You don't always have to be the hero."

For Alain, it felt like a dam burst. In Hilda's embrace, as words he didn't know he'd needed to hear got to him, he broke into loud sobs as the barely restrained emotions broke free. The frustration of losing, the fear at being confronted with what had taken so much from him, the lifted weight of what Hilda could only see as a burden he'd never asked for. All of it came out in his wails. 'How long?' Hilda wondered. 'How long has he been forcing himself to keep it up in front of all of us? I don't think even Ersha or Salia have ever seen him this way.' In the back of her mind, Hilda was also hoping nobody had followed. She'd be liable to attack somebody if they saw her doing this. When Alain finally went quiet and stopped shaking, Hilda spared a look down, also realizing she'd gone and shoved his face right into her chest. '… then again maybe that helped. Guys calm down when girls do this right?'

"Thanks." Alain sniffled, moving back, rubbing his eyes off on his sleeve. "I can't say I feel totally better but… I feel better than I did a few minutes ago." He winced as the pain from his injured hand registered again. Hilda rolled her eyes and reached into the back on Alain's waist, pulling out some of the emergency supplies she knew he had and getting to wrapping his hand up. "I… I don't know what to do now. Wyvern… it said something about not being able to use that system because of how I was."

"Well then next time don't go crazy and it shouldn't do that, right?" Hilda said, holding Alain's hand firmly as she put salve on it. "The past couple of times it did that weird stuff you weren't losing your mind right? Call me crazy but maybe you have to be in a certain mindset for it to do that."

"Maybe." Alain sighed. When Hilda finished wrapping his hand, he stared at the bandages with a lidded look. "If that guy comes back… unless I can find out how to use the ARISE System at will, I can't win. He has a system of his own, and once he used it, I didn't stand a chance as I was. And now… I'm afraid that's what's going to happen. Things won't just be quiet from now on once we get back to Arzenal. I don't know how long it'll be but…"

"Knock it off." Hilda gave Alain a smack on the head. "You can grumble about it later. If you need to figure something out, then talk it over with your stupid robot. I don't know a damn thing about how any of that works. I still don't even know what's going on at all. This is all way too freaking much at one time y'know? Add that to the stuff I am not looking forward to when we get back. Lockup is gonna be the least problematic thing compared to everything else."

"Yeah… there's everyone else." Alain was able to give a light chuckle at the least. "It might be more than a bit of a mess. But… once there's a chance, I promise I'll tell you – everyone… everything. At this point I don't want to keep secrets anymore. Not if… not if there's a chance of anything happening."

"I certainly hope you don't go and get all mopey about things from here on." Hilda said, Alain looking to the side. "I get it, you need to sort things out like I do. But… don't get stuck in some bad place alright? There's… well, I'd be kind of upset too if something happened to you. So… just don't get yourself hurt because you're feeling down. You don't have to be a hero, but I don't like the idea of you not being a badass either. Got it? Cause if not, I don't play as nice as the rest of the squad does."

"I am… completely lost on which way I'm supposed to take all of that."

"Then you can figure that out after we get back too." Hilda stood up and put out a hand. "Now c'mon. If you've calmed down now, we should get back. I'm just glad nobody came looking for both of us."

"Well, Tusk probably tried to, but the guys might've held him back." Alain said, Hilda giving an amused snicker. "Also… I know it might sound off, but… I don't think it was a bad thing you were born as a Norma." Alain's eyes trailed up to the sky past the trees as Hilda gave a tilted look. "This world is messed up, and there's a lot of reasons to hate it… and now I'm not even sure what my place in it is. But… I think even an ugly world like this is still beautiful. If there's one thing I wouldn't want to change about it… it's the people I've been able to meet. So, again… thank you. I'm not sure where I would've gone if you didn't come after me."

"I'm pretty sure I'm the one who was supposed to be giving the reassuring speech here." Hilda said, tapping Alain's chest with her hand. "But… I think I'm starting to like being a Norma a bit more than I used to. Also, save the sappy stuff for the Captain… Salia. It's not my kind of thing."

"Not trying to be sappy… I really am thankful y'know?" Alain countered, Hilda turning away and coughing into her hand. "Hehehe… nice to see even you can be embarrassed."

"Says the guy who was sobbing into my chest a few moments ago." Hilda returned, looking down at the all too obvious wet spots now on her shirt. "Hand me your jacket so I can cover this up."

"Yeah yeah." Alain did so with a casual shrug. As they made their way back to the beach, he took the time to look at the sky through the trees again. It felt different now, with the suddenly forced change in perspective he had. 'These skies… as long as things like that monster are flying in it… it won't be safe. But… now I'm thinking about what dad said years ago. Fly off to skies unknown… I still wonder what he meant by that. What kind of skies will they be, if I can get us to them at all?'


A/N

This was a chapter long in the planning stages that was for sure, so was fun to finally get to it. And from here, things are gonna get good that's for sure. Now I wonder who can spot what the Siegfried is inspired by. The Char Clone status is a given. Let's also hope the website doesn't break again.