Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss.

Chapter 4

Undineday, Gnome-Decan 27, ND 2019 – 8:30pm local time (Central Rugnica)

Colonel Jade Curtiss surveyed the wreckage of what had been, until about ten minutes ago, Third Division's training camp. Most of the tents were shredded, collapsed, or both; the rest were completely gone. Equipment was strewn all over the place – across the entire camp and for at least a kilometer to the east. Supply wagons were overturned, some of them broken into pieces. Boards from the wagons and metal poles from the tents were driven through tree trunks, and many of the trees had been blown down, some of them thrown dozens of meters from where they had grown. Even the grass had been stripped away in most areas. Heavy rain was falling, turning the bare ground to mud. In the distance, lightning flickered in the dark sky – a sky which had been blue and cloudless a mere two hours ago...

More than three-fourths of Jade's soldiers were lying on the ground, unconscious or dead; all but a few of the others sat in small groups tending to their injuries. One of Jade's lieutenants limped over to him and saluted. "Colonel, sir! Are you all right?"

"More or less," Jade replied with a shrug, concealing his own pain. The strong, swirling wind had picked him up, like most of his men, and thrown him at least 50 meters. He had managed to hit the ground rolling, at the cost of some pulled muscles and large bruises, but at least he hadn't broken any bones or sprained anything. But then, he was Jade Curtiss, the allegedly-invincible Necromancer.

As if nothing unusual had happened, Jade asked calmly, "Where is our weather officer, lieutenant?"

"Over there, sir." The lieutenant pointed to a soldier lying motionless under a shattered wagon. "I think he may be dead, sir."

Damn, Jade thought. "I want answers as to why this storm caught us off guard," he said, as he carefully stepped through the rubble toward the fallen officer.

"If he really is dead, sir, are you going to revive him?" the lieutenant asked nervously. "They say you can—"

"No," Jade interrupted. "I can't. That is a false rumor, Lieutenant."

"My apologies, sir!"

Jade sighed as he knelt beside the weather officer's crushed body. Unquestionably dead, Jade concluded. How fortunate for him. I wish I could bring him back, so that I could interrogate him to within a millimeter of his life. It's a shame that torture is illegal these days.

"What do we do now, sir?" a new voice inquired.

Jade looked up into the worried face of the lieutenant, who had been joined by a captain, another lieutenant, and two sergeants. It was the captain who had spoken. All five men were new to Third Division, replacements for the men who had been killed during the attack on the Tartarus over a year ago.

If only he hadn't lost half his soldiers on the Tartarus, and if only more of the remaining ones had survived the brief war with Kimlasca, there would be no need to train a division made up of mostly newcomers and only a few veterans. Jade would have preferred to be back in Grand Chokmah, working on fomicry research for the benefit of the surviving replicas, instead of kneeling in the mud amid a ruined encampment in the rain. Unfortunately, Emperor Peony had not been amenable to Jade's request at first, and then His Imperial Majesty had come up with the most appalling idea...

...

"Jade, you can't be serious. You put a ban on fomicry research fifteen years ago, remember?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I did. It was the correct decision at the time. However, the situation has changed. I no longer have any intention of attempting to revive the dead. What I wish to do now is to help the many replicas created by Van and Mohs, so that they may live normal lives."

Emperor Peony looked skeptical, tilting his head slightly to one side and leaning one elbow on the arm of his throne. "Help them how, exactly?" he asked.

"Among other issues, replicas have special medical needs," Jade replied. "Many are weaker than their originals and more prone to illness. Fonon separation is always a risk. Also, a replica's cellular structure—"

"Okay, I get it," Peony interrupted. "But is that all, Jade? Are you really done trying to revive Professor Nebilim?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I understand that nothing can bring her back. I've made peace with that."

The Emperor raised his eyebrows. "Truly?"

Jade nodded. "Truly."

"Well..." Peony drew a long breath. "All right. I guess I can trust you, Jade. But the Malkuth military doesn't have anything in their budget to support you this time, and neither does the Imperial Research Institute. We'll need to come up with some other arrangement. Any ideas?"

"I had not expected the military to support this project. I'm even less surprised to hear that the Imperial Research Institute lacks funding; they're always short of funds. I was hoping that you might have a solution with regard to financial support."

"Nope, sorry."

Both Jade and Peony were silent for a while, thinking. Finally, the Emperor's eyes lit, and he sat up straight. "I've got it! The University of Grand Chokmah!"

"What?!" Jade exclaimed, aghast.

"Sure! The University does all kinds of research, including biology and medicine. I bet they could slot you in somewhere. They'd want you to teach classes, of course, but—"

"NO."

"Oh, come on now, Jade. If you're such a unique specialist in fomicry, don't you think you should pass your knowledge on to others, in case someone finally manages to assassinate you? And you'll want lab assistants, too, right? A few graduate students could—"

"Definitely not. I hate teaching, Your Majesty. You know that. I don't take apprentices. I don't impart knowledge. Must I remind you?"

"Jade, you NEED to teach others how to care for replicas. You can't be everywhere at once. If the replicas have so many special needs, it'll take an army's worth of doctors and nurses all over the world to look after them!"

Jade grimaced. The Emperor was right about the need for trained personnel, but … teaching?

Peony smiled slyly. "I can picture it now. 'Professor Jade Curtiss, University of Grand Chokmah Medical School.' Heh, I like the sound of that. Professor Jade—"

"NO."

The Emperor smirked at his best friend. "It's the perfect solution. You know it, I know it. So that's my offer, Jade. Take it or leave it."

"No. I will find some other way. I will not have anyone addressing me as 'Professor'!" Jade said angrily. What a travesty that would be, to take on the title of the person he had admired most, whose death was his fault. "Now if you'll excuse me, Your Majesty, I must return to Military Headquarters." With that, Jade turned around and stalked out of the throne room.

...

"Sir?" The captain's voice brought Jade back to the present.

Jade stood up with a sigh of resignation. "Captain, assemble what remains of our medical squad and have them treat the unconscious and the injured. Lieutenants, find your surviving men and get them organized for medical attention. Sergeants, assist your unit's lieutenant. Once we've finished triaging the wounded and treating those we can, we'll gather as many supplies as we can salvage and seek assistance in Saint Binah."

"Yes sir!" The relief in the officers' voices at having orders, any orders, to follow was all too obvious. Jade clenched his jaw in frustration. These newcomers have no initiative. They're too afraid of me. I'll have to do something about that eventually, but for now...

"What was that, sir?" asked the captain, glancing over his shoulder.

No need to ask what "that" the captain was referring to. Jade followed his subordinate's unnerved gaze eastward.

Jade adjusted his glasses and replied with false cordiality, "I believe that was what they call a tornado, Captain."