Descending down from the Infernal Castle was, in Fie's frank opinion, worse than their ascent had been. Far worse, in fact. The entire situation just plain sucked.
Annoyingly, those fancy teleporters that they had been taking advantage of the entire time had stopped working now that the Castle was shutting down, forcing them to make the long trek manually. Thankfully all the fiends and other monsters had been the first things to vanish as they retraced their steps before the place disappeared for good, but that wasn't much comfort to them. Despite the physical and mental exhaustion that had seized control of her body a part of her longed for the arrival of something that wanted to kill them.
'Cause maybe an enemy to focus on would be enough to dispel the suffocating pall of gloominess that hung over Class VII.
To say that most of the class had been terribly affected by what had happened at the top of the castle would be a hilariously gross understatement. Between the death of Crow and the barrage of horrifying truths that came after... Not even that awful last day at Trista had done as much to destroy the morale of Class VII like the previous hour had.
The group was almost entirely quiet as they ran down deserted halls, with only the occasional order barked out from Sara to break up the stifling monotony. Fie was sure the older woman was feeling the same misery as the rest of them, but the current bracer had far more experience as a jaeger than even Fie had and was able to easily shunt the pain aside for the moment to keep them going, providing sharp orders for the lost and miserable teens to instinctively follow.
Outside of her the only other person in the group that looked relatively calm was Gaius, but given the kind Nord had volunteered for the grim task of carrying Crow's body she didn't envy him one bit.
As for herself... she was trying not to think about it much. She had the same life experience that Sara had and knew the value of keeping up a stoic front in front of the others. They were still in a dangerous place and needed to keep it together until they were outside. If her keeping it together would help ensure that no other tragedies would pass that day than that is exactly what she would do.
On the inside however was a completely different story. Somewhere along the line she had begun to believe in the same idealistic world her friends had and against all logical reasoning had fully expected everything to work out in the end. That it hadn't was like having a bucket of icy water poured onto her unexpectedly.
Reality sucked.
But as terrible as Crow's death had been, the thing that really tore at her heart was the person silently running near the rear of the pack. Rean hadn't said a single thing since Osborne dropped the mother of all bombshells upon him, and save for the constant movement of his legs was almost entirely catatonic. The attempts at the others to communicate with him had fallen on deaf ears as the boy did nothing but follow along mechanically.
It wasn't as if Fie could blame him for that, either. So much had happened and the swordsman was in dire need of the time and privacy needed to decompress from everything. Time and privacy that he wouldn't get until they escaped from this awful place.
She thought of her own father. Boss was definitely not what anyone would consider fatherly material, but the Jaeger King had been nothing if not honest with her. The compassion he showed for her was fleeting, which made sense given their profession, but it was real to her all the same. He even allowed her the freedom to become a jaeger when the idea clearly bothered him. Despite everything he had been a good father.
Giliath Osborne was the opposite of that.
After descending an elevator the group came across a scene of mass destruction in a large unfamiliar room. At first Fie thought little of it, but a gasp from her side gave her pause. That Laura was looking around with wide eyes and a pained expression helped fill in the blanks.
This must be the place where her dad fought McBurn.
Sliding up to the taller girl Fie placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure he's already back at the airship." She muttered quietly.
"How can you be certain of that?"
Under Laura's hopeful stare she thought about her words, "I can't know for sure, but considering he was only there to buy the others time to get to Cr... get to the top, it would make sense that he only fought as long as he needed to." Although perhaps she should have thought about her words a little more. It was still too hard to even speak his name right now.
"True... Father was never one to let himself be blinded by pride."
"So no three day long battle to the death against a hated rival?"
Fie's joke – despite being very much grounded in reality – had the desired effect as Laura let loose a small giggle, "Father is a busy man. I doubt he would be willing to dedicate that much time to a single fight, no matter how entertaining."
It was only after they exited the room that the former jaeger felt a chill in the air, causing her to realize something kinda terrifying, "McBurn managed to raise the temperature of this entire room... What kind of person can do something like that?" If she assumed the battle had ended a good few minutes ago, and the temperature of that room was still that much warmer than the rest of the Infernal Castle...
"An absolute monster." Laura answered grimly, "One that we stand no chance against as we are now."
Not just McBurn, either. Xeno and Leo, Duvalie and the rest of Ouroboros, Rufus and the Ironbloods, "I'm game for more trips to the old schoolhouse when we get back, but..."
"...I think we're all in need of a little rest first." Laura finished her statement, proving once again that she was Fie's other half, "Still, when the time comes I will most certainly be holding you to that promise. It'll be just like old times-"
She grimaced, and Fie immediately knew why. There was one constant in all their trips to the old schoolhouse, "He'll be fine. He's strong. It's the most cliché statement possible, but time does heal most wounds. I know it did when Boss died, and I bet it was the same with your mom." Laura had never really spoken much about her mom before, but Fie knew enough to know she was no longer in the world of the living.
"I... I suppose you are right." That admission seemed to pain the swordswoman, "I just wish there was more we could do for him."
"The chance will come I'm sure, but for now..." Fie fixed her gaze upon Laura, "...how are you holding up?"
"Honestly? I have no idea. As much as I thought we would prevail I was fully understanding of the fact we might not. What happened here was..." This time her laugh was entirely devoid of humor, "Neither? Both? We prevented a calamity, but lost our dear friend. We stopped the war, but learned some terrible truths in the process. It is... quite vexing."
Fie snorted in derision, "Understatement of the year. I thought I was prepared for how miserable the world can be, but this really sucks."
"Still, thank you." Laura's words caused Fie to tilt her head in confusion, "You cheered me up a little. I can't just wallow in my own feelings while the others are still struggling. As a matter of fact..." She followed her gaze towards a despondent looking Alisa, "...I want to do for them what you just did for me."
The silver-haired girl shrugged. Causing Laura to want to help the others hadn't been her intention, but if the noble girl wanted to see her intervention as something that admirable? "Sure, go ahead." More power to her.
Fie watched as the Arseid walked off to chat with their friend. She was tempted to join her, but a different friend caught her eye instead. One who was acting very out of character as she glanced around nervously with a heavy frown on her face.
It was she whom Fie approached, "'Sup, Millium?"
"Oh. H-Hey, Fie." Definitely out of character. The Millium she knew didn't ever stutter.
Not wanting to beat around the bush... "What's up with you?"
"Isn't it obvious?" The tiny terror's question earned her a blank look, "I'm an Ironblood."
"Ahhh." And now all the pieces were in place. And yet, even if she now understood Millium's fear, she still wanted to hear it for herself, "So?"
"W-What do you mean? I'm an Ironblood! I thought Gramps only sent me to Thors to look out for C, but now I'm starting to wonder if there was more to it. Like... he knew everything that was gonna happen and wanted me there to make sure Rean found Valimar!"
"As crazy as it sounds you might be right on that one." From her few encounters with the Blood and Iron Chancellor Fie was quite sure there wasn't another person alive like him. A guy who could see the entire world as if it was a game board, and they were all pieces to be manipulated and sacrificed at will...
Millium let out a small laugh, "Yeah. Gramps can be like that at times." Her earlier dour expression returned, "...So why doesn't anyone seem bothered by that? Everything I've done since joining the class has been a lie! If I hadn't joined the class then-" She looked away with a miserable look, "Rean should hate me now!"
"Was it a lie for you?"
"Huh?"
"You said the reason you were sent to Class VII was 'cause of a lie, right? But did it feel like it to you?"
The younger girl grimaced at the idea, "No! Even with everything that's happened I've had a ton of fun with you guys!"
"And that's why none of us blame you. I'm sure Rean will say the same thing eventually. To us you aren't the Ironblood infiltrator sent to manipulate us into doing that guy's bidding. You're Millium. The only other fun person in this class. To me you're the girl who sucks at hide and seek, can't sit still for a minute, and who loves to sneak into Jusis' bed at night."
"Ugh. Don't remind me." Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Jusis pinched the bridge of his nose with a pained expression as he entered the conversation, "Despite the less than stellar points, Fie is correct. You might be an insufferable pain in my butt, but as much as it pains me to admit it you are the Ironblood I trust the most."
That was high praise considering whom they just learned was the final member of that group.
"Aww! That's so sweet! I'm definitely sneaking into your room tonight!"
"I forbid it." The noble retorted immediately, "I shall make sure to lock my door before going to bed."
With Millium clearly feeling better Fie made to depart from the duo, but not before providing one final piece of advice, "The windows in the dorm don't lock. Should be a piece of cake for someone with Lammy."
Jusis facepalmed while Millium lit up in understanding. Mission accomplished.
With that little bit of chaos out of the way Fie took stock of her surroundings. They had just passed the room where she and the others had fought Xeno and Leo. As expected, her two brothers were long gone from the place.
She had no doubt that the two of them had gone to ground already, which given their skill meant she wouldn't be hearing from them again until they wanted to be heard. That was just the way they were. Didn't mean it didn't sting, of course. They might have been jaegers, but they were her old family, and after the day she had had wouldn't mind seeing them again.
Plus there was those parting words lingering in the back of her mind. Fie knew that as soon as things calmed down a bit she would seriously have to think about those words, and the vagueness of it would drive her absolutely insane. They really were jerks leaving her with a puzzle like that!
"That's a scary look on your face, Fie." Came a teasing voice from in front of her, "You should stop thinking so much. It doesn't suit you."
"Some days I wonder if you think at all." She snarked back instinctively.
Sara hummed thoughtfully, "You say that, but you can't deny that days like today you just don't want to think at all. Better to turn your brain off and do what you can to forget everything that happened."
"So you're gonna be playing dumb to forget about today?" A simple shrug was her answer. In a way she could appreciate that advice, but there was one major flaw to Sara's words in her opinion, "...But what about all the other days you play dumb? Which is every day."
"Brat."
"Shouldn't you still be up front barking orders to everyone like a military commander?"
The instructor shook her head, "Nah. You kids needed a kick to the butt to get moving, but now it's just a simple matter of putting one foot in front of the other until we reach the exit. It helps when a certain someone is going around boosting everyone's spirits."
Under Sara's sly gaze Fie couldn't help but look away with an embarrassed hue on her face, causing the older woman to snicker, "I wasn't trying to do that..."
"And yet you did it all the same. I'm so proud of you, my young apprentice! It didn't even take a year for you to grow from a moody little brat to an almost respectable human being!" She paused before tilting her head in consideration, "...Still a pain in my ass, though."
"Gonna be a lot more pain when I shove one of my gunblades up there!" Fie could handle Sara's torments usually, but under that teasing look she could actually see the tiniest hint of genuine pride in the older woman's eyes and that left her feeling even more flustered and uncomfortable.
"Oooh! Feisty! Roar!" Sara knew she had gotten under her skin and was exploiting it for all it was worth.
So naturally Fie went to her tried and true defensive technique – changing the subject! "You just wanna get out of here so you can go drinking, don't you?"
"I wish!" Sara cried in dismay, "Unlike you kids I still have a lot of work to do once we get back. People are gonna want to know what happened here. Some days It really sucks being one of the only bracers in this Aidios forsaken country." The bracer turned a contemplative look onto her, "...Wanna do some of my paperwork for me?"
Fie stiffened. Despite the innocent sounding question she knew there was something a little more to it. It wasn't the first time someone had hinted that she should become a bracer. And honestly? She still wasn't sure, "Not a chance in hell. There's a bed waiting for me and nothing you nor anyone else are stopping me from getting to it."
"Is it your bed?"
"Yup." What Fie didn't say was that since she was in a relationship that technically meant they shared things. Rean's bed? It was hers now. Laura's bed? Also her bed.
"Hmm..." Sara didn't seem convinced, but being Sara meant she didn't seem to actually care, "Sure, whatever. I think we all need a good sleep after today. I think I'll let everyone know that they can sleep in tomorrow. Aidios knows I ain't getting out of bed until noon."
For once, the silver-haired girl found herself nodding her head gratefully. Sara could be useful on occasion.
Laura had never been so grateful for the outdoors as she was the moment when she and the rest of Class VII finally stepped through the massive gate letting them out of the castle. The sun was dipped low in the sky, but she certainly didn't mind the air of a chilly Heimdallr winter evening.
Anything was preferable to the oppressive horror of the Infernal Castle.
With the Vermillion Apocalypse defeated the capital was already beginning to return to normal. According to Emma it would take until the Infernal Castle vanished until things were fully back to how they were supposed to be. According to the witch most people wouldn't even remember the events of this day, instead just having vague memories that could be waved off as hallucinations attributed to stress or exhaustion.
None of that mattered to Laura in that moment. As callous as it might seem, right now she couldn't bring herself to spare a single thought for the people of Heimdallr or Erebonia as a whole. Right now she just wanted to get as far away from this horrid place as humanly possible.
Seeing the Courageous parked in Dreichels Plaza was a huge relief. It seemed her wish was close at hand.
The exhaustion – both physical and emotional – seemed to fade for a moment as she and the others crossed the final few arge between them and true freedom. Along the way they passed the area where Class I and the other Thors students had battled against a myriad of Magic Knights. Any lingering issues she might have had with Patrick Hyarms and his companions had faded given their valor that day, and she could only hope that all of them would be safely accounted for on the airship.
It wasn't they who met Class VII at the ramp to the Courageous, however. That honor went to Prince Olivert, Toval, Elise, Sharon, Towa, Angelica, and George. She noticed, however, that her father wasn't there, and with worry in her heart she approached Toval to ask-
A horrified gasp proved too much of a distraction, however, and Laura turned her gaze just to see Towa fall to her knees as she noticed the body in Gaius' hands.
R-Right. With everything that had gone on she had forgotten that Class VII weren't the only ones to have a vested interest in the outcome of their battle with Crow. Watching the kind-hearted president break down into tears upon seeing the corpse of her dear friend threatened to open the wound she had been trying to ignore.
Angelica was quick to Towa's side, pulling the tiny girl up before scooping her into a hug that for once had absolutely no ulterior motives. The heir to House Rogner fared a little better than the friend in her arms as she averted her gaze from them while silently consoling the distraught Towa.
The spectacle of the older girl in tears was uncomfortable to look at, but despite herself she couldn't muster the willpower to avert her gaze. It must have been a common sentiment among her group of friends as she could already hear the occasional sniffle from Alisa and Elliot.
As much as she wanted to join them and let her grief be known, she could tell that they were doing their best to keep their emotions in check. Out of respect for that need Laura did what she could to fortify her own emotional defenses. Finally gathering the strength to tear her gaze away from Towa's uncomfortable scene helped a little, but it also presented her with another unwelcome spectacle.
It was Rean, who she noticed still maintained his hollow vacant expression as he stared at Towa and Angelica.
There was a big part of Laura that wanted nothing more than to rush over to his side and provide whatever comfort she could. The problem with that idea was that she had absolutely no idea what she could say or do in that moment. Fie was right. This was something that needed time.
Although... Even if she couldn't help him directly in that moment, perhaps she could help him in a different way?
With the motivation provided by her decision she turned away from her fellow swordsman and began moving towards her target: Elise Schwarzer. For her part the Saint Astraia student was entirely focused on her brother and failed to notice Laura's approach until the Arseid was standing next to her, "H-Huh? L-Laura?"
"You should be with him right now." She informed the youngest Schwarzer.
"H-Huh?"
Laura glanced from Crow's body, to Rean, and back to Elise again, "...He has had a very long and difficult day, with many ugly truths revealed. Right now more than anything he needs to be reminded that he accomplished a lot of good today." And who better to do that than the sister he rescued earlier that day – even if that rescue felt like a lifetime ago.
Elise's eyes narrowed in understanding, "I understand. I won't let you down!" With a determined look the young girl ended the conversation as she approached her brother. If Rean noticed her taking his hand he didn't react, but neither did he make any sign of protest as she gently dragged him up the ramp into the Courageous proper.
That seemed to be the cue for the rest of Class VII and friends to begin following suit. One by one they shuffled into the airship. Laura elected to remain outside until the end, which allowed her to witness George approach Gaius before offering to take the corpse off his hands in order to prepare a proper funeral, something which the exhausted Nord accepted gratefully.
Laura noticed a shift in the gaze of the engineer as he took Crow into his own arms. By the time she blinked, however, it was gone and George appeared as placid and kind as always. Instead Laura simply brushed it off as a figment of her imagination brought upon by this long ordeal of a day.
There was simply no other explanation for the dark and ugly look she thought she had seen on her friend's face in that moment.
After that display Laura followed her classmates on the ship. There were so many things she still wanted to do, but right now she really needed to make sure her father was alright. Once again she approached Toval who was relaxing tiredly in a seat.
"Hey, Laura." The bracer greeted her arrival, "I take it you're looking for your old man?"
She found herself nodding at his perceptiveness, "I am. Is he...?"
"He came back a few minutes earlier. He must have inhaled a lot of smoke 'cause he was coughing pretty badly. I think he went to the infirmary to get that looked at. Outside of that he seemed pretty alright."
"That's..." She couldn't really say a relief because that news about a cough didn't sound good, but at the same time a part of her had feared a lot worse from an encounter with McBurn, "...I should go see him." She finally said at last.
"I'm sure he'd appreciate it."
A part of her wanted to do just that, but Laura found herself curious. Surely her father could wait another minute, "How was your battle against Duvalie and Bleublanc?"
"Heh." The Zero Artisan bracer let out an amused noise, "Wasn't much of a fight, honestly. After a few minutes His Highness and Phantom Thief B seemed more interested in trading verbal shots than physical."
That... sounded about right, actually. "...I cannot imagine Duvalie was much a fan of that?"
"Oh, definitely. I don't think I've ever seen an Ouroboros member throw that much of a temper tantrum before teleporting off in a rage like that."
Poor Duvalie. Laura wasn't sure if it was right that she was taking such amusement in the misfortunes of her Ouroboros rival, but the other girl just made it far too easy.
With that small bit of sorely needed humor she bid farewell to the bracer before heading towards the infirmary. Along the way she came across a few of her classmates, all almost universally slumped over in whatever seat they managed to pull their weary bodies into. Machias hadn't even made it that far as she found the bespectacled student sitting in the hallway resting his head along the wall, his usual sense of decorum all but forgotten in his need for rest.
The door to the infirmary was open so she didn't hesitate to enter. What she saw...
Sure Toval had warned her that her father had been coughing heavily upon his return, but seeing the strongest man she knew sitting there with an oxygen mask affixed to his face struck her more painfully than she could have imagined.
Still, the fact the Radiant Blademaster greeted her with a smile did buoy her spirits a little. The man proceeded to remove his mask before opening his mouth, "It is good to see you again, my daught-" His words were interrupted as the man let loose a series of dry painful sounding coughs.
"F-Father!?"
After a few more lingering coughs Victor shook his head, "I'm fine. One cannot endure the flames of the Blazing Demon for long without consequences, it seems."
"T-That doesn't sound very fine to me! Please, father, you need to put that mask back on and get some rest-"
"Nonsense, Laura. This cough is not so severe that I cannot share a few words with my daughter after her own ordeal."
"But...!"
Once again he shook his head, "I considered taking up smoking after your mother died. If this is what that would have been like then I am glad I never did."
She could only stare blankly at the older man at his sad attempt at humor, "That's not funny..."
"Hahaha-ack!" Victor's attempts at a laugh were interrupted by another nasty cough. This time she was quick to his side. Even if gently patting his back as he let it out accomplished little, it still felt the right thing to do. Once finished he grimaced heavily, "Alright, so perhaps laughing should be out of the question for now. Aidios did that hurt."
"But father...!"
"But nothing. Any pain I am feeling right now almost assuredly pales in comparison to the pain you must be feeling."
Laura blinked, "How do you know...?"
"It is a father's duty to know. That you are standing before me now tells me that ultimately you and your classmates were successful in stopping whatever was at the top of that place, but the weariness of your body and the sad look in your eyes makes it quite clear to me that that victory came with a heavy cost. Am I wrong?"
"N-No... You are not wrong. What happened up there was..."
Laura hesitated, something which the Viscount obviously noticed, "Relax. I don't need to hear what happened if it is too painful for you to tell."
"No. You deserve to know." Not only did he fight to let them continue onward, but he also took an injury in the process. As painful as it would be, Laura was determined to reward the man for his service. With a deep breath to calm herself, she began, "After we reached the top we-"
Slowly she recounted the events that had just transpired. Naturally she didn't reveal some of the more personal things like Crow's final words or the revelation of Rean's parentage, but everything else was recounted in painful clarity. Throughout the story her father listened silently with an unreadable expression on his face.
"I see..." He said at last after she had finished retelling the tale, "I had my suspicions that he truly wasn't dead, but not even I could have fathomed that everything that has happened these past few months was exactly as he had planned it. Still..." He reached over and placed a comforting hand on her, "You have done very well, my daughter. It seems that you and your classmates have saved us all from a crisis of unfathomable scale."
"I... Thank you, father." His words were appreciated, sure, "But..."
"Being told you did a good job doesn't diminish the pain you feel from the loss of a dear friend, does it?" He finished knowingly.
She could only nod her head, "What's going to happen now?"
The man she admired greatly frowned at her, "I wish I could give you the answer you want to hear, but I cannot. Given how easily he manipulated everything leading to this point I have little doubt he will make true on his word to end this war very quickly. That being said, I have a feeling that this was only the precursor to an even greater storm."
Victor gave her a small smile and ruffled her hair, "...But that is a problem for myself and the others in power. You need to go back to school and enjoy your youth while you still can."
"W-What?! But..." Go back to school? That was it? Sure that had been the goal of all of Class VII since the war started, but with the future so bleak... "How am I supposed to sit idly by with so much going on around me?"
Her father let out a sigh, but it was countered by the soft smile on his face, "As a father I wish you would leave everything to the adults responsible for this chaos, but as the master of the Arseid school I couldn't be more proud of you. In that case, allow me to offer a compromise: If you wish to stand against the upcoming storm then use this time afforded to you to grow in strength lest you find yourself blown away by it instead."
That... sounded a lot more reasonable to the swordswoman. She had already made a promise to Fie to grow stronger together, so making that her focus for the foreseeable future felt right to her, "I will. I swear it."
"Good. I believe you can attain mastery by the time you graduate if you set yourself to it. Still..." His eyes narrowed towards her, "If I can offer a suggestion? Don't try to hold it in anymore."
She tilted her head, "I'm afraid I do not follow."
"Your grief." He elaborated, "I know you. You have been bottling it up for the sake of your friends, haven't you? That is all well and good, but everyone needs the time to grieve."
"...I'm fine." She answered slowly, doing her best to ignore the uncomfortable emotions welling up inside her.
"You truly are my daughter." He admitted with a brief look of amusement, "Still, grieving over loss is never a weakness. It is a very human emotion as it reminds us of what we are-" Whatever he wanted to say would forever go unsaid as he once again broke down into a fit of agonizing coughs.
That proved too much for Laura. To see the most powerful person she knew – her personal pillar of strength – reduced to such a tragic state...
At first she sniffled, then she found her vision getting blurry. Before she could process what was going on her father had pulled her into his chest, allowing her to sob freely for the first time in many years.
Father. Rean. Crow...
It would be a long time before the tears stopped flowing.