To say the situation was tense was the understatement of a century. Save for Alisa and Angelica, all the other members of Group A were in the same team during that encounter in Heimdallr, and all of them remembered the ease with which the enigmatic terrorist leader fended off Laura, Fie, and Rean at the same time. Thankfully, while the masked man did appear to be gunning for a fight, his first priority seemed to be ensuring the escape of V and the other terrorists, so the team wasn't forced to fight all of them at once.
Any confidence they gained as a result of the upcoming battle appearing to be a six verse one died a horrible death when C evened the odds by revealing a pair of large archaisms that had been hiding in stealth, the same kind that they fought before rescuing the miners. While they hadn't been tough on their own, their addition to C's strength was more than enough to tip the odds against them.
Fie took the chance to assess the situation and didn't like what she saw. While Rean, Angelica, and herself were still fighting fit, all the travel and combat they had experienced over the course of the day was clearly taking its toll on the other members of the group, and fear and adrenaline can only carry one so far. Even were they to defeat the archaisms quickly, there's no guarantee that C with all his skill and power wouldn't overwhelm and seriously hurt the other members of the group in the process. Luckily, however, they had a trump card. "...Rean."
"I know." The swordsman had been thinking the same thoughts as his sparring partner and knew that now was the time. Closing his eyes and calming his mind he allowed himself to focus inward, seeking the ever ominous energy resting inside him. He had briefly drawn upon it during the fight with V, but now was the time to fully embrace it if they hoped to defeat the terrorist leader in battle.
The entire group sans Fie, including the terrorist opposing them, watched in shock as dark energy appeared to consume Rean, before fading to reveal their friend with ashen hair and crimson eyes. Despite that, however, he appeared to be in control of himself, a far cry from the stories they had heard following the previous field study.
"Rean? Is that you?" Of course hearing about it wasn't nearly the same as seeing it, and Alisa was the one to ask the question on all their minds.
"Yeah, it's still me." Despite the deeper tone the words were still clearly Rean, which went a long ways to reassuring the group.
"Wow." Was Elliot's eloquent reply. "I mean I had heard the story, but... wow."
"Crow told me about this secret power of yours, but I wasn't expecting to see it. Glad you didn't bust it out during our fight." Joked the Taito practitioner.
Machias meanwhile was looking at the transformation with a more analytical eye. "And yet you appear to be in complete control, contrary to those stories." It was he who noticed that one member of their group appeared distinctly unsurprised, which caused the pieces to fall into place. "Wait a minute! Was this part of your secret training!?" His question earned him a small nod from the transformed student and a simple shrug from the younger girl. "...You three were so unbelievably reckless. Now isn't the time, but you can be assured we will be having words once this is all over." Beside him Alisa nodded in agreement, frown present on her face at the implications as well.
The only person who hadn't spoken during this exchange was C, who merely observed the transformation with narrowed eyes. He too had realized that this was the result of Rean's secret training and now found himself reassessing the situation. His plan had originally been to harass the students while they fought the archaisms, scare them with a Deadly Cross near the end, fake his defeat, and pretend to escape on the airship while actually circling around to destroy it from afar.
Now, however, things were slightly different. While the plan remained the same, he would need to be especially careful if he didn't want his fake loss to become a real loss, which would endanger the plan. From what he had seen before, he was still fairly confident in his ability to beat Rean, but the transformed swordsman backed by Gelica, Fie, and the rest? Well, he wasn't one to back down from a gamble just because the other player upped the ante, now was he?
Not wanting to delay any further, especially now that he had put himself on a timer, Rean let forth a bellow as he shot towards the masked terrorist at great speed, tachi colliding with double sabre in a resounding clang that signaled the start of the battle. The archaisms looked like they were about to pincer Rean between them and C, but were dissuaded from that idea as Machias and Alisa started shooting at them in a successful attempt at distracting them.
With Elliot moving to support his classmates and Angelica looking wary at going near the transformed Rean, it fell to Fie to support the swordsman, and that was fine with her. Not only was she the only one in the group with experience at fighting alongside in in this state, but despite her stoic attitude she did possess pride of her own, and had been looking forward to going a second round with the terrorist leader. Her only regret was that Laura wasn't there alongside them for the proper rematch.
Despite his transformation, it was clear that her friend was still on the defensive, as the terrorist was able to utilize all of the advantages of his unique weapon, while the swordsman was still unfamiliar with facing such a fighting style. Her entry into the battle was rushed, but the salvo of bullets she offered was enough to grant Rean a much needed reprieve. He gladly accepted her offer of a combat link and together the duo moved to reengage their foe.
Her earlier assessment that C was similar in strength to Sara proved itself true, as his speed and strength were reminiscent of that which they faced during their fight with the combat instructor a few days prior. Of course in that fight they were able to overwhelm her with numbers, but that advantage didn't exist here. Still, Rean was now powerful enough to face him head on, while his partner alternated between providing fire support moving in to engage directly whenever the opportunity presented itself.
The fight quickly devolved into a stalemate as the terrorist was still more skilled than the duo opposing him, but not so much that they couldn't hold him off with their teamwork. Any time he started pushing Rean back Fie was there, and whenever he tried to target Fie the slippery girl would always elude him, leaving him vulnerable to the powerful swordsman. Despite that, he appeared to have figured out their rhythm, and none of their own attempts at breaking through were successful.
Of course a stalemate, while unfulfilling to the two, only benefited them in the end. A brief lull in the fighting gave the silver-haired girl the chance to check out the other battles, and unsurprisingly they were going well for Class VII. Although powerful, the archaisms were a known foe for them and so even with two of their members fighting a different battle the remaining team was more than enough to handle the two machines. One was already sparking and malfunctioning and the other, while still combat effective, was clearly looking worse for wear and probably wouldn't last much longer.
With those battles in their favor Fie returned her focus back to the one fight that truly mattered. As long as they could hold out until the others had prevailed they would win. C appeared to realize this too, as he redoubled his efforts at defeating Rean. What made things especially troublesome for the duo was the fact that somehow the terrorist seemed to understand their fighting styles well, even going so far as to counter some of Rean's powered-up Eight Leaves moves. Even techniques they didn't show at Heimdallr failed to catch him off guard, and it was becoming frustrating.
Still, his advantage was fading as the two in turn adjusted to his own fighting style. His double sabre possessed both the strength and range of a two-handed weapon while keeping the versatility and quick strikes of someone dual-wielding. It was a potent weapon that neither had faced save for the previous encounter, but getting a firsthand demonstration of it was the best teacher for the two warriors.
The sound of an explosion signaled the destruction of the first archaism, which meant that reinforcements were imminent for the pair. C also appeared to understand that he was losing initiative, as after blocking a particularly vicious assault from the little jaeger he leapt away from the two and allowed a sickly aura to consume him. This drew the attention of not only his immediate foes, but the other members of Class VII and guest as well. Even the remaining archaism paused in it's combat as it appeared to analyze the surging power.
"Show me the cross of your demise!" With that the terrorist leader shot forward towards the group faster then he had moved to date, swinging his weapon relentlessly as he advanced. After cutting through the group of students he turned and with two final swings of his weapon unleashed a great cross of energy towards the group.
For Alisa, Elliot, and Machias, the only reason they didn't get badly mauled by the attack was because they were far enough away that they managed to scramble and avoid the initial lunging attack, but they were still caught completely unawares by the follow-up attack, and all were sent flying. Although they escaped the worst of the punishment, none of them looked to be in any condition to continue the fight.
Angelica fared slightly better, as while she was just as caught off guard as the other three, she was a trained martial artist and was able to focus her energy inside her body to harden her defenses. She still took a nasty hit, but gamely remained on her feet and looked ready to take the fight to C. The archaism she had been dueling with had suffered a grim fate as it was caught in the friendly fire and reduced to scrap.
Despite being the closest to the initial attack, Fie and Rean came out of it the best. The latter chose to counter power with power, using his empowered tachi to block the attack. He was pushed back a few arge and suffered some cuts on his body, but was otherwise unfazed. For Fie, the attack actually reminded her a lot of Rean's Arcane Gale, and thanks to her getting a first-hand taste of that powerful attack during the first spar against the transformed swordsman she wasn't caught off-guard at all, being the only one to completely evade both halves of the attack.
Seeing that his ultimate attack had only been mildly successful, and having exhausted much of his energy in the process, C seemed to realize the futility of continued fighting. Unsurprisingly, however, the remaining members of Class VII chose not to press their advantage, instead falling back to cover their fallen comrades while they struggled to their feet. This worked to the terrorist's favor, as it meant he had the opening needed to make a clean escape.
With the students so focused on him, none of them noticed the flash grenades hidden in the remains of the archaisms until he detonated them, blocking their eyesight and hearing. With that, he safely made his escape.
It took a minute before they regained control of their vision, but C was long gone by that time. Stubbornly, they set about looking for him, but the answer to his location was made apparent when the ILF's airship rose up before them. Despite that, they still weren't ready to give up, with the ranged members of their group readying themselves to start firing at the craft, but before they could, they were interrupted.
"What is going on here!?" Came an obnoxious voice from behind them. Turning, they witnessed the approach of a squad from the Nortia Army, led by a ranking officer. Just behind them came the RMP, with Captain Claire at their head. Both groups halted when they spotted the terrorist airship. With the fight seemingly over and not wanting to reveal his transformation to the army, Rean calmed himself and allowed the energy to recede from his body, turning back into his normal state before any of them could notice.
Despite the situation, only one of the groups took action, with Claire ordering her troops to open fire on the vessel, which they did so. This only infuriated the provincial officer, who ordered his men to stop... the RMP. This led to a melee with soldiers from both sides fighting each other and not the main threat in front of them. If it wasn't already obvious to all present that the provincial army was in cahoots with the ILF, this only reinforced that fact.
"My, my. What a pathetic spectacle." Came the voice of C from inside the airship. None of the students would ever voice it aloud, but all of them privately agreed with the terrorist. They watched, helplessly, as the ILF airship slowly started ascending, while C taunted them with the successful completion of their plans, and how the next attack will be against the Chancellor himself. He next started addressing the students of Class VII, but before he could finish...
There was an explosion on the airship, causing all activity to cease as everyone focused on the spectacle. The students and soldiers both watched with mute shock as the explosion seemed to trigger a chain reaction of other explosions, which caused the craft to detonate in spectacular fashion, with just fragments remaining to fall into the depths of the mine.
They couldn't understand what just happened. Alisa thought maybe the craft had self-destructed, but Rean didn't think the ILF were the type to do something like that. Fie's suggestion that maybe an RMP bullet had hit something critical seemed far-fetched, even to her, but it was the only possibility she could think of.
The Noble officer appeared to agree with Fie, as he immediately turned against Claire and accused her of murdering the terrorists without giving them a chance to surrender. Despite the constant interference, the Icy Maiden remained calm as she dismissed the possibility, instead suggesting that something of that magnitude could only be caused by an on-board explosive of some kind. Instead she suggested that the groups focus their efforts on rescuing the remaining miners before beginning a real investigation.
Claire's calm facade appeared to fade a little when the officer attempted to chastise her for undermining his authority. Living up to her moniker, the RMP officer coolly countered his protests by pulling out a sheet of paper granting her authority in this matter, signed by none other than the Emperor himself. Faced with such a decree, the provincial officer scoffed, but knew he was powerless to interfere.
Instead he set his sights on the one group in the mine that was lacking such a decree: The students of Thor's Military Academy. Unfortunately for the students, they had no authority to be there and were in danger of getting into serious trouble. They did, however, have an ace up their sleeve, as one member of their ranks was in fact the daughter of Marquis Rogner, and that was enough to cause her father's soldiers to pause in their actions, even if just briefly.
Before they could recover from that surprising revelation, the final blow to their attempts at lashing out against those who opposed the terrorists died a painful death when another group made itself known, led by Prince Olivert himself. Accompanying him was his faithful bodyguard Mueller, Crow, and George. The second Olivert placed the students under his protection was the second that the provincial officer knew he no longer had any authority in the matter. Because of that, he didn't try to protest when the prince ordered the provincial army away, instead opting to beat a hasty retreat with his men.
With that resolved the cleanup could finally begin. The trapped miners were thankfully all unharmed, and after recounting the events they were allowed to return home. And of course the members of Group A were interrogated as well, with this one being conducted by Captain Claire personally. Perhaps it was due to the presence of the prince who hovered over the students protectively, or maybe she was just relieved at how the situation resolved itself, but Claire was far less critical of them then she had been earlier in the day. Still, after praising them for their efforts she made it quite clear that their presence was a distraction to the ongoing investigation and personally offered them a ride back to Roer. The request was reasonable and the offer appreciated, so they accepted without hesitation.
After arriving in Roer they saw off Angelica and George before returning to their accommodations in Alisa's family home. As much as Alisa wanted to grill her mother about the incident even she understood that this was not the time or place for such a conversation, as the older woman was almost certainly up to her neck trying to deal with the fallout. Even Sharon had excused herself, stating she had business of her own to attend to, but not before preparing them a lavish meal in recognition of their efforts.
With the events of the day finally at an end the students were finally allowed to realize just how exhausted they were, both physically and mentally. All of them looked ready to head straight to bed and Fie even looked like she was starting to doze off while sitting at the table.
Rean groaned miserably as a thought came to mind, attracting the attention of the other five. "We still have to write our reports for today." One groan rapidly turned to six as the others despaired at his words, with even the ever-studious Machias looking thoroughly defeated at the thought of doing paperwork.
"Please, just end me now." Fie whined as reality sunk in. With everything they had accomplished that day the report was going to be an absolute pain!
Crow sighed. "Sorry Elliot, but I don't think we're gonna finalize the outfit designs tonight."
"Haha, yeah... Honestly my mind's such a mess right now that I don't think I could even if we wanted to."
"Alright you guys, let's just get this done so we can go to bed." Machias stated, ever the voice of reason as long as Jusis wasn't around.
Grudgingly, the group acquiesced and began work on their reports. Despite their many protests, putting the events on paper was a good way for them to organize their thoughts on everything that happened. The group had actually forgotten about Rean's transformation until they started writing about the battle against C, which earned the swordsman and ex-jaeger harsh looks and the promise of a major scolding, but only after a nice long rest and once the class was fully back together again.
Eventually, joyously, they finished, and finally allowed themselves to relax. For Fie this meant closing her eyes and resting her head on the nearest available object, which just so happened to be Rean's shoulder. Although the Schwarzer heir was starting to get used to such an action, the present company was not, and he grew self-conscious under three sets of disbelieving stares and one amused chuckle courtesy of Crow.
"C'mon Fie, you can't go to sleep here." He poked the girl, causing her to groan in dismay.
"Mmm... fine. Take me to bed Rean." And now he found himself facing three scandalized looks and a wolf-whistling Crow.
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" The slightest upturn of the younger girl's lips was all the answer he needed. He just groaned while wondering how he was going to escape from this situation.
To say the group slept well that evening would be an understatement. Even the most disciplined members of the team were content to sleep right in. Were it not for the ever reliable Sharon they very likely would have overslept and missed the train ride back to Trista.
Nobody was really surprised when they found Instructor Sara waiting for them at the station. Despite her casual attitude there was no denying that she was never far away when trouble arose. Also present were Chairman Irina and Captain Claire, with the former thanking the students for their efforts in her signature bored tone, causing the younger Reinford to growl in frustration. Claire's praise was more genuine, but came with a warning that things were coming to a head and that they really should learn to keep their heads down, but after saying that she just shook her head and admitted with a slight smile that she understood that's the opposite of what Class VII would actually do.
With that, the students, their instructor, and their maid all got on the train for the long ride back to Roer. They couldn't help but lament the loss of the Courageous as the cutting-edge cruiser made the trip in a fraction of the time. Still, the eight hour ride wasn't all bad as several members of the group looked ready to fall back asleep...
"So you guys look like shit! I've heard some, but mind sharing the details?" Of course their beloved instructor was having none of that. "H-Hey! Don't look at me like that!" She wasn't intimidated by the baleful glares sent by her students, not at all.
"Can't you just read our reports?"
The instructor made a show of pondering the idea. "Well I could, but I have seen paint that's less dry than the stuff you kids write." A statement like that only caused their glares to intensify. "It's like that old saying. When in Erebonia do something something something straight from the horse's mouth."
"That doesn't even make sense! You just took two different sayings and mashed them together into something barely coherent!"
Machias's complaints went ignored as the supposed teacher looked between the students hopefully. Eventually Rean was the first to crack with a sigh, and began to recount the events of the previous two days. The others chimed in on occasion, but for the most part were perfectly content leaving the narration to their unofficial leader.
"Yikes, sounds like Rean's bad karma struck again." Her words reminded the students of the conversation they had had in the classroom before the field study and the baron's son found himself victim to five different pair of stink eyes. "Oh well, it's all your faults for volunteering to be in this group."
"W-What? We didn't volunteer, you assigned us, remember?" Alisa immediately countered.
This caused Sara to put a finger to her mouth in thought. "Oh right, I did, didn't I? Well how about this, next field study I'll let you kids pick. So who wants to volunteer to be in Rean's group next time?"
The fact that none of his classmates spoke up or could even look him in the eye in that moment left Rean feeling completely defeated. After a minute of painful silence a thought came to mind and he immediately latched onto it as to change the subject and salvage what little remained of his pride. "We heard that something happened in Ordis. Are the others alright?" That question caused the others to perk up as they too had been worried about Group B.
"Yup. They're fine. They ran into something of a messy situation with some of Duke Cayenne's goons, but nothing they couldn't handle. It wasn't nearly as bad as the mess you guys found yourselves in." Although no details were given, the answer was enough to calm the students. "Well anyways, I think I'm done harassing you kiddos for now. Why don't you all relax and enjoy the ride home? This train has an all day bar on it so it would be remiss of me to not take advantage of that."
"It's not even noon." Fie deadpanned to the older woman.
Which earned the younger girl a shrug. "That just means it's probably drinking time on the other side of the world. Stop being so selfish and think about those people for a change?" That comment was so stupid that none of the students could even begin to formulate a reply as she stood and walked away with a lazy wave.
As long as the train ride was, none of the students found it in them to complain, instead opting to enjoy the lazy trip home. They started with an impromptu Blade tournament, that Rean came ever so close to winning, but fell just short to the experienced second year, although his efforts were good enough to earn him the title of 'Crow's Blade Protege', for what little that was worth.
After that they paused to eat the prepared lunches made by Sharon. Of course they were excellent as always, much to Alisa's annoyance and not-so-secret joy. With bellies full and the trip not even half over it was inevitable that eyes would start drooping. Fie was not the only one to fall asleep on the final leg of the trip.
Eventually, mercifully, the train neared its destination and the familiar sights of Trista came into view. That was also the next time they saw their instructor, who despite looking like she had one too many bottles, was still there to make sure all six students were ready to depart the train. One brief walk later and the group were back to the building they had been calling their home for the past half year.
Group B still wasn't back yet, as the distance from Ordis was even longer, so they decided to just continue their trend of accomplishing nothing productive and relaxed while waiting for the others. Sara excused herself, presumably to report to the Principal, and Sharon excused herself so she could acquire the goods needed for dinner. It was after another hour or so that the door opened and the equally tired Group B walked in.
As was tradition after field studies, both groups sat down to swap stories. Although the Ordis team didn't end up fighting terrorists, apparently the friction between the Lamarre Provincial Army and Imperial Government might actually have been worse, and the students found themselves caught square in the middle of it. Their field studies put them into conflict with an armed group that was almost certainly a small jaeger corps in the employ of Duke Cayenne, but the noble merely claimed plausible deniability and denounced the actions of the 'unknown brigands'.
And of course the others were surprised by the ordeal Group A had gone through. It was clear that the situation in Erebonia was rapidly spiraling out of control, but they were hopeful that the destruction of the ILF would give time for cooler heads to prevail. That being said, Group A's story left one lingering issue to be resolved.
Which explains why the three combat specialists of Class VII found themselves sitting at a couch together as if they were misbehaving children while many of the other students stood around them with nasty glares pointed in their direction. Alisa and Machias weren't the only ones unhappy with their actions and Fie groaned as she realized they were about to be subjected to the mother of all scoldings.
"Honestly, I cannot fathom why you three would do something so reckless." Stated Jusis with a disapproving look.
Alisa saw Laura open her mouth to present her defense. "Nope. You don't get to speak. Not until we're done talking."
"I-I agree with the others." Emma seemed torn between her desire to be supportive towards her friends and her own worries about the situation. "I remember that dark energy Rean released while fighting your father. It's too dangerous!"
The fourth member of the group pushed his glasses up as he looked down upon the trio. "Did you ever stop to consider the rest of us? We could have assisted, you know?"
Seeing that nobody else was stepping up to scold them... "Do we finally get to talk yet? Cool." Fie questioned with an annoyed look.
"I... don't disagree that I might have acted a little hastily, but I assure you that we took all precautions to keep it safe." Laura finally answered. "And I was afraid if too many people got involved it might place undue pressure upon Rean."
"Plus, having an enraged demon Rean chasing you guys around might have been dangerous." Fie's comment earned the girls no favor as her statement about an enraged demon Rean chasing them clearly contradicted Laura's assertion that they had taken all safety precautions.
"Aren't you going to say anything about this?" Alisa complained to their instructor who had arrived sometime during the explanation and had been watching the proceedings with amused interest.
"Do I even have the right to criticize someone for being reckless?" In all honesty Sara was quite impressed by their actions. Sure, perhaps the execution might have been a bit better, but going out of their way to help a friend, even if it meant putting themselves in danger, was quite admirable. It was a very bracer-like quality and maybe she could convince some of them to join the Guild after graduation. She was especially proud of Fie, as the girl she had found six months prior would never have done anything like that.
Of course she kept those thoughts to herself, as she really didn't want to draw the ire of her little hellions. "But I agree. Bad students. Bad, bad students. Rean, your punishment is to go to my room and bring me back something to drink." In hindsight, perhaps she should have simply kept her mouth shut, as her punishment idea only served to earn her the ire of all her students, and not just the responsible ones.
"I mean is it really a bad thing? They said they wanted to get strong enough to beat C and they did. I'm just bummed I didn't get to see the ass-whooping for myself." Crow lamented sadly.
"Crow does have a point." Elliot scratched his cheek nervously as he defended his friends. "We might have been in a lot of trouble without it.
Gaius was the next to defend his classmates. "True, and it would explain why Rean has felt a lot more at peace this past week."
Rean, who had been silent the entire time, finally took it upon himself to speak up, drawing all eyes onto him. "Look, I agree the power inside me is dangerous, and even now I am still afraid of what it actually is." He paused briefly as he gathered his thoughts, but took the time to look each of his classmates in the eyes. "But I will be forever grateful to Laura and Fie for helping me face that fear. I promise I will only use it as a last resort, but if using it will allow me to help protect all of you... I won't hesitate any longer."
Jusis just sighed, but couldn't quite hide the tiny smile that broke out on his face. "You are still a bunch of reckless fools, but at least you seem to know what you are doing. Just make sure to let us know the next time you decide to do something stupid. We are a class, after all."
"Aww, no fair. I want to see Rean being all cool and glowy and stuff. I know! Why don't you fight against Lammy? It'll be so cool!" Nobody needed to say a single word as the members of Class VII unanimously agreed to ignore the idiot in their midst.
With the conversation at an end Sharon clapped her hands and with a smile announced that dinner was ready. Unlike the earlier discussion which focused on the major events of the field study, the meal was a good time for the group to chat about the fun sights and experiences of Roer and Ordis, without all the heaviness involved. It was a fun time, but it ended quickly enough and nobody appeared opposed to the idea of turning in early for the night.
Fie moaned in bliss as she sank into her bed, wanting nothing else than to sleep the next few days away. Unfortunately for her, however, fate had other ideas as there was a knock on her door. Happy moan turned into miserable groan, but sensing the presence of her best friend on the other side she begrudgingly yelled for her to enter.
Which Laura did, although she stopped short and raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Is this a bad time?" She asked the miserable looking younger girl on the bed.
"Nah... it's fine." It physically hurt her to say that, but she wasn't going to turn her friend away just because she was tired. Begrudgingly, she sat up. "So what's up? You're not usually the one to come visiting."
"Haha, that is true, isn't it? Still, I couldn't help but be curious as to what transpired with you in Roer."
It took Fie a second to realize what Laura meant, causing her to frown. "Oh... that. Let's just say we are more alike than I wish."
"That poorly? I suppose you don't have much experience in matters of the heart either..."
Fie snorted at that understatement. "The only romance I witnessed with Zephyr was the kind purchased with mira." She couldn't help but shudder as that caused repressed memories to surface. All those times walking in on jaegers getting it on...
Laura grimaced when she realized what Fie was getting at. "I assume you never experienced any of that?"
"Of course not. I was too young and the boss threatened to kill anybody who touched me. I think he delivered on that promise once." She remembered one jaeger who kept giving her weird looks before mysteriously vanishing one day.
"That's... nice?" The honorable swordswoman wasn't sure if she should be praising murder, but considering what the potential alternative was, perhaps it was for the best.
That caused Fie to snicker, as she obviously picked up on her inner conflict. "But yeah, it didn't work out at all. I don't suppose you've come up with anything?"
"Not at present. I have considered pushing him against a wall and kissing him until my feelings are known to him, but that seems a little... forceful?"
That caused Fie to sweatdrop. "Probably. Might wanna shelve that idea. Or at least put it on hold until we've tried everything else."
"You might be right." She conceded regretfully. "Any chance you have an idea that might work better?"
"Really? You're asking me?"
Laura wilted slightly under Fie's unimpressed look, and struggled to come up with an explanation. "Well, father once told me that love is like a battlefield. Maybe you have experienced something similar?"
If anything, that just caused Fie's expression to grow even more unimpressed "You want me to come up with an idea... using my jaeger experiences?" The idea was completely insane, but given how desperate Laura looked... "Let me think.
Well there was one time when four other jaeger groups were chasing after the same objective. We ended up forming a truce with one of them until the others were driven off..."
"And what happened?"
"We found out they were planning on backstabbing us so the boss had us attack them first, wiping them out completely."
"Oh..." That was less than useless in Laura's mind.
Fie perked up slightly as another memory surfaced. "Actually, something similar happened before that, back when I was still just a tagalong. There was an artifact and we were hired to retrieve it, but other groups had the same idea." Fie decided to omit the fact that some of the other groups included the local military and Septian Church. "Like before Zephyr allied with a similar group, and together they were able to beat the others and secure the artifact."
"And?" Hopefully this story had a better outcome.
"The other jaegers were smart. Knew they couldn't match up against Zephyr. They let us keep the artifact. Boss liked 'em though, so he gave them some spare equipment and the promise of a future favor in return."
Now that story caused Laura to pause as she considered the implications of an idea that was emerging in her head.. "That could work, actually."
"Huh?!" There was no way Laura was about to suggest what she thought Laura was about suggest, was there?
"What if we were to work together? At least until we've made our feelings known?" Apparently, she was.
"But isn't something like that... wrong?" The ex-jaeger knew that much, at least.
"As I said, it doesn't have to be a permanent thing. I just know that I am stronger when you are at my side, and I feel that if we work together we can accomplish that which we failed individually. After that we can figure out how we want to handle matters."
"I..." It sounded completely crazy, but leave it to Laura to come up with the most direct solution, completely heedless of the consequences. Still, the idea wasn't without merit. Despite their plentiful skill and outward confidence, at the end of they day they were just two girls who were raised to fight without the comforting touch of a mother to balance it out. They knew what they wanted, but not how to get it. Maybe this truly was their only real chance. "...I can't believe I'm agreeing to this."
That caused the Arseid girl to sigh in relief. Despite making the suggestion, even she knew how audacious the idea was, but something deep down made her believe it was the right course of action. If working alongside her best friend to win the prize they both wanted was wrong, she didn't want to be right. "Wonderful! So what should we do next?"
Right, they still didn't actually have a plan. "I guess we just wait until we're alone with Rean and just wing it?" Fie stated with a shrug. It wasn't much of a plan, but considering how busy they probably would be in the next couple weeks thanks to the festival it probably wasn't a good idea to come up with anything elaborate.
Which Laura seemed to agree with. "Right. I am sure the opportunity will present itself before long. Have a good night, Fie, and thanks for going along with my absurd request." With that she made her way to the door, prepared to follow suit and catch some rest after a long few days.
The younger girl had already chosen to lay her head back on the bed. "Night." Still, as crazy as the older girl's plan was, it would at least prove to be interesting and Fie couldn't help but smile as she fell asleep.