Okay so, can someone explain how I'm so inept I can't post chapters on time? Like, easy peasy right? Nope. I don't do shit for three days. I apologise guys. Don't worry, seven chapters are still guaranteed, it's just not ending, you know, today.

Enjoy!

After they had walked off the road and into the snow, Drake followed Quinn closely as they approached the building. Soon they came to a window, and Quinn leaned up to check inside.

"One guy inside," she reported, speaking in a low tone. "He's buried in whatever he's reading."

"Okay," Drake replied. "So what exactly is the plan here?" Quinn didn't reply right away, pulling a dagger out of her boot.

"Here's the plan," she said. "How many do we have in here?" Drake activated his sound magic, doing a sweep on the area.

"Ten," he replied. "Three outside, seven inside."

"Any of them on the ledge above us?"

"No, but-" Drake was cut off as Quinn turned and jumped up, grabbing the edge of the wall and stabbing it with her dagger to get more leverage, pulling herself up to the second floor. She leaned over and offered Drake her hand, making him even more awestruck. Grabbing her hand, Drake was pulled up and landed lightly on the roof, peering around the corner. Two men patrolled the roof, watching the road.

"You know how to do a choke hold?" Quinn asked. Drake stared at her in awe.

"Uh-" Without breaking a sweat, Quinn held her arms up to mimic a choke hold.

"Make sure you put pressure on the neck," she said, pushing down figuratively with her left hand. "Flex your other arm as you do so, and they'll be out before you know it. Ready?"

"Sure..." Without waiting for Drake to regroup himself, Quinn began to sneak up behind the men as they watched the road towards Fiore. Drake followed suit, and Quinn waited for him to reach the guard closer to them. Once he did, she silently counted down from three, and on three, she pounced.

Drake didn't have time to watch as he had a job to do, but Quinn grabbed the man by the neck and took him to the ground, making him yelp in surprise. Drake did so to his man as well, bringing him to the ground. Pushing down on the mans neck, Drake held him as he squirmed violently, before slowly starting to go limp. Once he'd stopped struggling, he released the man, who collapsed to the ground.

"Good job," Quinn said, going through the pockets of the man she'd dropped. "Next time make sure you flex more, it'll work faster."

"Uh, thanks." Drake replied. Dragging the men towards the wall and leaning them up, the pair moved on towards the wall opposite where they'd jumped up, looking down on a man standing next to a door.

"You want this guy?" Quinn asked.

"I'll let you get him," Drake replied. Nodding, Quinn jumped off of the roof and down onto the bandit below, slamming his head into the ground and taking him out as swiftly as she'd done to the first.

"Alright, let's move on to the people inside." Quinn said as Drake joined her at the door.

"Go in and wait near the nearest corner," Drake said, listening to the men inside. "I gotta say Quinn, you're quite capable. Not even sure you need me,"

"I'm in charge of this battle for a reason," she whispered. "What next?" Drake listened and waited for the men inside to move farther away from each other, but he soon realised he didn't need too. moving out into the open, Drake watched six of the last seven men standing around each other talking. Smiling, he opened his mouth and released poisonous gas from his mouth, green in colour and a lot of it. It soon began to fill the room around the men, who started to freak out and ask what was happening.

It didn't really matter to him.

One after the other the bandits began to fall, still shouting out in confusion as the poison paralysed them and left them unable to move. The last man, who had been the one reading his book came running it, but a quick shot from Drake sent him into the dirt quickly.

"Alright everyone," Drake said as he stepped out into the open where the bandits could see him. "What do you think you guys are doing on this road?"

"What do you think you're doing, citizen?!" One of them asked, apparently still trying to play the role they were using to rob people. "Release us or you'll be arrested!"

"Oh stop the act, jackass." Drake replied, silencing him. "I know you're not soldiers, so shut the hell up and answer me."

"And how do you figure?!" The man demanded.

"All border checkpoints on the border with Seven have long since been abandoned," Quinn said, joining Drake. "Not only that, but this shack isn't even close to the border. Are you all really that dumb?" No one said anything at first, but soon the speaker of the group chuckled.

"Seems you caught us," he said. "So, what now vigilantes? Gonna arrest us?" Quinn nodded.

"Absolutely," she replied, pulling a small lacrima out of her pocket. "How long will these guys be out, Drake?"

"Few hours," he replied. She nodded and dialled a number on the phone.

"...Yes, Mayor Dean? Good. Drake and I left for our mission, but we came across a fake border checkpoint littered with bandits...if you could, please send Chief Idek and some soldiers to pick the bandits we captured up, we really must be on our way...Yes sir, of course...Goodbye," hanging up the phone, Quinn turned to Drake. "We should get a move on, we still need to reach our goal."

"After you, Lieutenant." Drake replied, turning to the men paralysed on the ground. "Don't you guys worry, it'll wear off. I mean you'll be in custody by then, but that isn't my problem." Ignoring their indignant cries, Drake followed Quinn outside and past the checkpoint, continuing on their path as if nothing had happened at all.

"Good work back there," she said, turning to him as they walked. "You're quite capable."

"I like to think so," Drake replied, pocketing his hands. "You think we'll encounter any more trouble on the way there?"

"Perhaps," she said. "But I think we'll be able to handle it. Once we get the info we need, we'll need to come right back. No stops, no sleeping, no nothing. That okay?"

"I'll be fine," He said. "I'm not a citizen, like that guy back there claimed."

"I can tell," Quinn said. Silence came over the pair for a moment before Drake looked back at her.

"What's your story, anyway?" He asked. "You're pretty capable yourself." Quinn watched him out of the corner of her eye before returning her eyes to the road.

"...I lost my parents in the Alvarez invasion," she said, making Drake raise his eyebrows. He knew she'd said she was twenty-eight, but the part that surprised him was that the invasion hadn't even been thirty years ago. felt like ancient history to him. "My grandparents sent me off to a private school. Didn't want me around."

"Damn," Drake said. "That sucks. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she said, eyes looking cloudy. "It turned me into who I am. Eventually I went to a military school in my teens, and when I graduated I joined the army. I wanted to protect people, so more innocent kids wouldn't lose their parents. "Quinn then looked to him. "What about you? I wouldn't expect that level of skill from a guild wizard. Then again, I don't know many guild wizards." Drake made a face and looked out at the road. What was his story, exactly?

"...Not as interesting as yours," he said. "Grew up in Magnolia, joined the guild. Childhood was...relatively uneventful. But around two years ago, shit picked up. I was in major fight after the other, but I always won. Until...Well, I told you I lost someone."

"Yes, I'm sorry." Quinn replied, looking sad. "Was she close to you?"

"...More than you could ever imagine." He replied. "Since then...It's been rough. Still kinda picking up the pieces to that one."

"I hope you can," she said. "No one deserves to lose a loved one. I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone."

Well, Drake wasn't so sure about that. He could think of a few people he'd lose to inflict pain upon.

"Let's keep our eyes forward," he said. "Even if it's harder" Nodding, the pair grew silent as they approached the border. Drake didn't know what exactly they'd fine on the other side, but he hoped that it would resolve some of the weight on Ultear's shoulders.

"Man, how come Drake gets to have all the fun?" Steph made a face and looked over at Elise. The pair were seated on Ultear's ouch watching TV, but she wasn't really paying it much mind. She was too busy thinking about their mission.

"You made fun of him for volunteering," she said to her friend. "Now you're mad he gets to have all the fun?"

"No, I made fun of him for not getting to sleep," Elise replied, scratching the back of her head. "Not for getting to have all the fun."

"I don't see what's so fun about illegally crossing the border to go on an undercover mission to map out a bandit fortress in the mountains." Steph said. Elise snorted.

"Different views of fun, I guess." she said.

"I just think you're crazy," Steph said bluntly.

"Let's ask Ul," Elise said.

"Did you already forget she went grocery shopping?" Steph asked. "With you and Drake here she'll go through food fast."

"That's odd," Elise said, making a face. "She went out like an hour and a half ago. Why is she still out?" The girls were silent for a moment before Elise sighed and jumped to her feet. "Alright, let's go find her. Maybe she got lost, these streets sure as confusing."

"I don't think she of all people got confused," Steph said. "She's been here a while."

"Whatever, get up. We're going to find her." Sighing, Steph got to her feet as well and together the girls left the house and went looking for Ultear. It took them a fair amount of time to actually reach the inhabited parts of the city, but once they did Elise made a face.

"That's weird," she said. "I can smell Ul, but it's not as strong closer to the city center."

"Huh?" Steph asked. "Isn't this where everything is? Why wouldn't she be here?"

"You two looking for Ultear?" Steph looked over towards the wall and found the guard from the other day, Josh or whatever, watching them from his post.

"Yeah, you seen her?" Elise asked. Josh nodded and pointed back out into the uninhabited part of the city.

"She was in town a little bit ago, but she left that way. I don't know what she's doing, but that was where I saw her go." Steph looked over the way Josh was pointing, confused. What exactly was that way that Ultear would have been looking for?

"Thanks man," Elise said, walking in that direction. "If she's dead it's on you." Steph hoped Elise didn't find that joke funny, because it really wasn't. Together the two left the bustling center for the empty rims of the city, the sounds slowly turning to silence.

"What the hell is she doing out here?" Steph wondered aloud. "I don't really understand."

"Neither do I, but that's usually how I feel about most things." Elise replied, looking confused as well as she honed in on Ultear's scent. "She's over this way, c'mon." Steph followed loyally as Elise tracked their friend, soon coming across a more destroyed part of the city. It looked as though many of the buildings here had been burned to the ground and left that way, probably from a previous raid. It really was sad, what the people here were going through. Steph could only imagine what it felt like to live in fear.

Finally coming to a stop, the girls found Ultear crouched by a burnt out house, back to them. Nobody said anything, and then Ultear sighed. Elise finally decided to break the silence and coughed, making Ultear jump up faster than Steph had ever seen and whirl on them, looking terrified. The look on her gace softened when she realised it was just them, but she still looked defensive.

"W-What're you guys doing out here?" She demanded, crossing her arms.

"Us?" Elise demanded. "Why're you out here? I don't know about you Ul, but this doesn't look like a grocery store."

"Yeah, what are you doing?" Steph asked. "Why're you out here?" Ultear didn't reply to this, she simply looked over her shoulder back at the ruins before she turned back to them.

"I'm just looking around," she answered, a weak and probably fake smile on her face. "Sorry I worried you guys." Steph didn't believe that for a second, because it was quite clear Ultear was being troubled by something. Unfortunately, she didn't seem keen on sharing with them.

"If you say so," Elise said. It looked like they were avoiding confrontation on the issue, which Steph supposed was okay. Arguing and fighting before a huge mission was probably not a good idea. Ultear moved and walked past them back in the direction of the city center, leaving Elise and Steph where she had been.

"...She's such a liar," Steph voiced once Ultear had walked a bit ahead of them.

"You don't say," Elise muttered as they turned and followed their friend. "But if she doesn't want to talk, she doesn't want to talk."

"You know as well as I do that isn't a good idea," Steph said. "We need each other." Elise didn't reply, simply sighed.

"That's how Ultear is," she said, making Steph raise an eyebrow. "She'd never admit it, but she's always hiding herself from us. How she's feeling. She doesn't want to be a problem. She's been doing it as long as I can remember."

"Really?" Steph asked. Elise nodded.

"Back when we first fought the Enchanted Blades," Elise said. "I could tell there was more to it than she was telling us. There had to be. But just like she had for years, she never told us what the problem was. She mediates all of the problems and fights in the group, but never speaks up about her own. It's how she is." Steph frowned and looked forward towards Ultear, who was either ignoring their conversation or couldn't hear them.

"That's not healthy," she said.

"Try telling her that," Elise replied. "She's not keen on burdening us with her problems."

That sounded familiar.

Steph knew that the whole group was going to be struggling with their own problems. It came with losing someone so close to them. And yet, she hoped they could change. They had to, or they'd be tor apart again.

"And we're here," Quinn said as the pair came to a stop. "Mount Cryc." Drake looked ahead to find that they were, indeed, there. Right in front of him lay two mountain peaks, which were bordered by the lake he'd seen on the mountain that had an opening to the fortress inside. From the other side of the lake where they were, Drake could tell there was some kind of dock at the other side. Clearly he'd been right in assuming that the bandits were using it.

"Looks like our entrance from the water won't be a bad idea," he said. Quinn hummed in agreement.

"Is this really close enough?" She asked, looking over at Drake. "You proved your magic works back at that fake outpost, but is this really a good distance?" Drake nodded and cracked his neck.

"I've got this in the bag," he replied. "So, what exactly are we looking for?"

"Give me an idea as to what exactly the inside of the base looks like," Quinn said. "and how many people are in there. Depending on that, I may need to phone in for reinforcements." Nodding, Drake took a deep breath and activated his sound magic. His magic raced across the frozen lake and towards the mountain, infiltrating the mountain just as easily as he'd been expecting it too. Focusing, Drake looked around at what exactly he was hearing.

"Looks like there's a fair amount of them," he said. "At least three hundred. From the looks of it, the mountain has three tunnels leading underground into a more open base like area. Maybe because it's cold out here in the winter. Down there it looks like they have a whole trove of shit they've taken. Fucking disgusting honestly."

"Anything else?" Quinn asked. "What kind of weapons are we talking about?"

"All the basics?" He replied instantly, looking at the armoury the bandits had assembled. "Swords, maces, you name it it's there. From the looks of it they don't have a clue that anythings about to happen to them, so the element of surprise is still a thing." Quinn nodded and looked back head at the mountain, a serious look on her face.

"We're going to end this is three days," she said. "Be ready."

Drake had been ready since he showed up here.

Chapter 293: The Cryc Fortress