"I am so sorry about my father!"
"Ow..."
Fie snickered as she watched a fretful Laura do what she could to treat a very battered and bruised Rean. Given that they were the only three people in the infirmary of the Courageous her amused laughter caught the attention of the others. "If you had no intention of helping me then why did you offer your assistance in the first place?"
Laura's exasperated glare did little to faze her. "This was too damn hilarious to pass up. And plus, you're doing a great job on your own!"
"Ugh..." Rean moaned as the blue-haired girl applied ointment to a particularly nasty looking cut.
"Quit your whining, you big baby." She teased. "You did notice that he was still pulling his punches, right?"
A very unhappy Viscount Arseid had dragged Rean away shortly after everyone had reunited aboard the Courageous. He had assured the others that he simply wanted to have a pleasant conversation between men.
Naturally that involved the older man swinging his massive sword with contemptuous ease while her boyfriend did whatever he could to stay alive. While Laura and the others had tried to stop him Fie had contented herself with watching the Radiant Blademaster in action for the first time. He definitely did not disappoint. Was that how powerful Laura was destined to end up?
That was an enticing thought, but also an annoying one. She would need to step up her game lest she fall behind her partner slash rival.
"Yeah, I know." A serious Rean agreed, a far cry from his previous pitiful facade. "If he really wanted to hurt me he would have. I think it was more of a warning. 'Take care of my daughter... or else.'" He shifted his gaze to the daughter in question. "...Not that I needed the warning."
Laura smiled down at him. "I know you didn't. Still... Did father really need to act so rashly? I was truly worried about you."
Fie would never admit it, but she had been too. Even knowing that the Viscount hadn't been out for murder didn't change the fact that that was a terrifyingly powerful man. A single dodged swing of his sword had managed to cut clean through the hull of the Courageous, leaving that training room completely unusable until the ship could be repaired!
"Well, now I'm worried about what will happen once he finds out that we're together." She mused thoughtfully as she looked to the other girl. "I bet it won't be nearly as bad as this."
"Very funny..." Rean grumbled miserably at the double standard. "Oh well. As painful as everything turned out, I'm glad to have your dad's blessing... sort of? Now I just need to figure out how to get Xeno and Leo off my back..."
The silver-hair girl blinked at the mention. "Oh yeah. How did you survive them anyways?"
"The others are probably already waiting for us, so I'll tell you as we walk." Gingerly the swordsman got to his feet, Outside of a tiny wince he didn't seem truly bothered by his injuries, instead allowing a happy smile to adorn his face. "Thanks for taking care of me, Laura."
"It was my pleasure."
Fie pouted as the two gazed longingly at each other. Curse her decision to sit back and enjoy the show instead of helping out for some easy brownie points!
Ah well. It wasn't as if they were directly competing with each other anymore, was it? She already had tons of schemes in mind that would end with her getting an affectionate pat on the head... or something more. Laura and Rean could have this moment.
Together the three of them made their way out from the infirmary and began the trek towards the conference room two levels higher. Along the way Rean fulfilled his vow by giving them a brief recap of what had happened during his time aboard the Pantagruel, with emphasis placed on the parts of greatest interest to the two girls.
"I wonder if her grievances towards my family are related to the Eisenritter and the Lance Maiden in any way..." Laura mused as Rean explained his encounter with Duvalie. "The Steel Maiden and the Stahlritter..."
Fie meanwhile was quiet as she contemplated what Rean had said about Xeno and Leo. As mixed as her feelings were on the whole matter a part of her was happy to hear that the two Zephyr members were the same as ever. And they had promised to give her the answers she had been striving for at some point...
As dangerous as that was she found herself very much looking forward to that next meeting. And knowing those two it would come exactly when they wanted it to... Which would probably happen at a rather inconvenient time for the rest of them.
But that was for another time. Right now she had ample ammunition to tease Rean. "So not only did you kidnap the princess, holding her in your arms the entire way, but you also watched a younger girl sleep and walked in without warning on another woman while she changed..."
"She wasn't changing!"
"I did notice that your reunion hug with Towa seemed a little intimate..." Laura – bless her soul – kept the ball rolling with the teasing.
"Give Rean a rege and he will take a selge." Fie muttered in mock disappointment. "I thought the two of us would be enough to sate your lustful urges, but I guess we were just two more notches in your belt..."
Their boyfriend let out a miserable sigh. "Please stop teasing me. I'm blessed to have the two of you in my life and you know I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that."
"Of course we know." Laura responded with a warm smile. "...We also know that you have an unfortunate tendency to end up in awkward situations when around girls." The way she said that with such an understanding tone caused the boy to slump down in defeat.
Teasing Rean was always fun. Working in concert with Laura to tease Rean together? That was a treasure.
As expected, they were the last ones to arrive in the conference room. "Ah, there you are." Prince Olivert greeted from his position at the head of the table. "Had I known the three of you wished to have an intimate reunion I would have delayed this meeting. My apologies."
"Oh, my..." The princess rested her head in her palm with a teasing smile. "How scandalous!"
"I-It wasn't like that at all!" Rean protested under the scandalized looks their other classmates and Towa were sending. No, wait. It was the stone-faced Viscount that he seemed most concerned with.
So of course it was her role to add fuel to the fire. "Would be nice for next time. We can be quick." She informed the prince, who only responded with a solemn nod.
"F-Fie!" Aww, even Laura was red now. The Arseid heiress let out an awkward cough as the three approached the only open seats. "Perhaps we should start the meeting?"
"Very well."
As soon as the discussions began Fie lost interest. Everything the prince, the viscount,and Towa were telling to Rean was stuff the rest of them had already heard. It was only thanks to her supreme willpower that she resisted the urge to take a quick catnap.
Even after Prince Olivert brought the discussion back to the present her mindset didn't change much. Sure a lot had happened in the past day, but the topic of what Class VII wanted to do hadn't shifted at all since their previous meeting. They wanted to do something, but still lacked the capacity to affect meaningful change on their own...
"From here on out, the Courageous is yours to command as you see fit."
"Whaaaaaat?!" While her reaction wasn't nearly as loud as Elliot's, the proclamation from the Viscount – with Prince Olivert's approval – was enough to jolt her wide awake.
And of course they weren't the only ones surprised. "F-Father, would you mind elaborating...?"
Laura's dad looked rather amused by their reactions. "It means exactly what it sounds like. The operation of this ship will be left entirely to your discretion. I imagine your journey to make a difference in this war needs a home base to begin from."
Entrusting this airship to a bunch of students seemed all kinds of irresponsible to her, but there was no denying he was right. All of the problems they had come up with during the previous meeting would be solved by having the Courageous at their command. It was both a means of rapid transportation and a central location for them to rest and make plans. They could do so much with it...
She was so focused on the ramifications of their decision that she was barely paying attention when the Debaucherous Prince outlined his plans to disembark in western Erebonia with Laura's dad to help out where the fighting is fiercest, leaving the east to them. In turn, Princess Alfin volunteered to remain aboard, to give political legitimacy to their actions.
Now that this absolutely insane plan decided upon, the meeting adjourned. With the prince and viscount soon to disembark the two hurried to give the group of students a crash course on how the ship functioned.
There was a lot to go over and Fie did her best to pay attention, but she also understood it was of little importance to her. Towa was the new acting captain and Rean was in charge of the actual operation. Her role – as always – was to assist them with skill, style, and her awesome sense of humor.
One thing she did notice, however, was just how undermanned the ship was, with those currently manning the critical stations on loan from the military. That was a problem that they needed to solve sooner rather than later. Class VII couldn't very well fly the ship and conduct ground operations at the same time.
A few hours later the Courageous found itself just outside of Legram as it prepared to disembark its former leaders. To their surprise, not only were Olivert and Laura's dad leaving, but so was Toval, Captain Claire, and Sharon. Fie found that disappointing, if only for the one glaring omission in that group. "...You're not going with them?"
Sara glared down at her. "There's gotta be an adult around to keep an eye on you munchkins."
Fie shrugged, not rising to the insult. "Sure. We'll take Toval."
"Aww. Thanks, Sylphid." She nodded toward the other bracer's appreciation.
"Tch." Sara glared between the two before stomping her foot petulantly. "I'm your instructor, dammit! Someones gotta keep an eye on you lest your teenage hormones get in the way of your mission."
"But wouldn't you rather be out there with Laura's dad?" Her pointed question caused her mentor to stiffen in thought.
Sadly for Fie, someone else came to Sara's aid. "Please do not suggest such a thing, Fie." Laura stated tiredly. It was a painful betrayal from someone she loved, but deep down she knew why Laura was so against her here. Even if they all knew Sara had no shot with the Viscount the mere notion was sickening. It was a good thing Boss was gone cause Fie could only imagine how fervently their teacher would have gone after him...
She let out a shudder. So gross.
Still, while she would never admit it out loud, she was glad that Sara was still on the team. While she didn't know who would win in a fight between the Purple Lightning and one of Zephyr's regimental commanders, she wasn't so arrogant to ignore the fact that their teacher stood a far better chance than she or any of the rest of Class VII did if and when such an encounter occurred.
Their little conversation was ignored by everyone else as they were focused on their final goodbyes, with Victor even handing off a captain's hat to Towa, something which made the tiny president look both adorable and hilarious. And with that they departed leaving Class VII in charge of one of the most advanced military airships in the entire world.
"Let's begin." Rean stated, getting agreements from her and everyone else.
The silver-haired girl watched as the crimson airship lifted off the ground before accelerating into the distance, leaving her by her lonesome in that clearing. Being completely alone after all this time felt surprisingly miserable, but she had volunteered for this mission and it wasn't as if she would be alone for that long.
Their first objective as a class was to acquire warm bodies to help run the Courageous and who better to assist than their fellow Thors students? Two of which resided in Legram, with one of them being her fellow gardener. It was only natural for her to handle this task while the others worked elsewhere.
Being alone meant she could travel at her own pace, and within a few minutes the girl known as Sylphid had lived up to that name and made it to the sleepy village. Given that she had last found Vivi inside the local church, that was where she set out to. The town seemed to be in considerably higher spirits than their previous visit a few days before, but considering their missing lord had presumably just passed through their a few hours prior it made sense.
Fortune favored her, as the obnoxious pink she was looking for really stood out in the drab interior of a church. Given who the target was and just how focused she seemed to be on her prayers, Fie felt that a prank was in order. Stealthily the former jaeger approached, remaining both unseen and unheard by her victim. "'Sup?"
"Wahhh!" Vivi's shock was music to her ears. "F-Fie!? What the hell! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Fortunately the only other person around was the local father, who seemed rather amused by the outburst.
Fie shrugged in response. "You deserve worse. You're coming with me. Let's go."
"Huh?! Go where? Did you find Linde?"
She felt a little bad that she had accidentally led Vivi to the wrong conclusion. "Not yet, but I've got a possible solution." She proceeded to detail how Class VII had acquired the Courageous and was using it as their headquarters and were recruiting their classmates."
"I see... And you think I'll have a better chance at finding Linde with you guys?" A nod was her reply. "Alright! I'm in!"
One down, one to go. "Great, now we just need to get Caspar." Vivi looked less optimistic, and Fie understood why. "Don't worry. Laura told me about it. He's freaking out about his family, right? Rean gave me the answer to that." Reaching into her pocket she pulled out the most recent copy of the Imperial Chronicle. "That dork is always reading this stuff. Told me this issue talks about the fighting in the west."
"Nice! With that there's no way he can refuse two beautiful girls!"
Fie hummed in the affirmative, but paused as a stray thought came to mind. "Actually, we have plenty of time until Towa comes back with the ship. Wanna help me with a prank first?"
Naturally, using the p-word was enough to get Vivi's undivided attention. "Oooh! What are you thinking?"
"Nothing much. You know those crazy local girls? What do you think will happen when they accidentally overhear us talking about how Rean slept with their lady?"
"That! Sounds! Awesome!" Vivi practically had stars in her eyes, although Fie wasn't sure if it was because of the prank idea or the news itself. "Let's go, bestie!"
Bestie? Fie considered the word. Laura had been her best friend, but she had evolved beyond that now, hadn't she? So did that mean that Vivi actually had some possible claim to that title?
She shivered. That was a scary thought. Maybe she should hang out with the others more cause any of them would make for better best friends.
Laura allowed her gaze to sweep over the current base of the 4th Armored Division for the first time. So much had changed since the last time she had been there, but the busy soldiers and rows of heavy tanks were a familiar – and now somewhat comforting – presence.
Truth be told, she would still much rather be on the Courageous with Rean and the others as they traveled to the Nord Highlands to deal with a dangerous monster, but there were a few tasks in this area that needed to be done and Rean had entrusted her, Alisa, and Millium with handling them. She would not let him down.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Alongside the three girls Rean had entrusted them with his orbal bike to travel around in, sidecar attached.
"Mm-hmm." Alisa hummed affirmatively. "I've never ridden Angelica's bike, but I have experience with similar vehicles. Should be a piece of cake."
Millium laughed. "Rean's gonna be so mad if you wreck his bike~" With hands behind her head the cheery girl turned back to Laura. "So I wasn't really paying attention back there. What's our mission?"
Despite rolling her eyes Laura couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Rean said there are a couple students currently staying with the 4th Armored." And one of them was Monica! "General Craig had also put in a request for our help with a missing persons. And if there's any time remaining Rean wants us to look into a lead from the prince about some possible students that had been operating against the Noble Alliance in this area."
"Right-o! What should we do first?"
"Hmm... We have no idea how long the search will take. Perhaps we should talk to our classmates first?"
Alisa giggled. "You just want to talk to Monica first, don't you?" The Arseid colored, unable to refute that accurate guess. "I have no objections to that plan."
The three girls made their way through the base. There were a few glances from the soldiers on duty, but nobody stopped to question them so she could only assume that General Craig has informed his division of their arrival. The sight of the famous crimson airship also probably helped to clue everyone in onto their identities.
"L-Laura?" It seemed her target had found her first. The swordswoman just had time to brace herself as the red-haired girl slammed into her, capturing her in a big hug which she easily returned. "You're safe! I've been worried all this time!"
"Same to you. I was gladdened when the others told me that you were alright."
"Others?" Monica pulled back in confusion before noticing the other two girls with her. "O-Oh. So you were able to meet up with Rean and the others?"
She nodded. "Indeed. As a matter of fact, that is why we are here today."
Her fellow swimmer frowned after she outlined Class VII's mission. "Me? Fight as part of the Courageous' crew? I can't imagine I'd prove all that useful to you... I'm not exactly a natural brawler, especially compared to you..."
She couldn't help but smile kindly at her friend. "Even in the military, not every soldier stands on the front lines with a gun in hand. Success comes from all kinds of people making the most of their talents to strengthen the group as a whole. And speaking personally, having you with us would really put me at ease, allowing me to fight my very best."
Monica's uncertainty seemed to fade at her encouragement. "...I have picked up some skills helping out with the cooking and some other basic tasks here at camp. I don't know how much that knowledge will really help you, but I'll do all I can to lend a hand with whatever needs doing on board."
"Haha! Awesome!" Millium cheered. "That's one down!"
"Are you looking into the others?" Monica asked. "I'm not sure if Rex is around. He's been following the battles with his camera. Munk's here, but he's been kinda down lately. I doubt if he will be interested."
True to word, when the three Class VII students approached Munk his reception wasn't what they were hoping for. While he didn't shoot them down completely, it was clear he had no interest in going with them. Perhaps Rean would have better luck with the radio fanatic later on? Rex too was present surprisingly, but he was far more interested in taking pictures of a uniformed woman, and none of the Thors girls were interested in catching his eye (or his camera).
With the recruitment part of their mission complete, Laura, Alisa, and Millium approached the division's temporary headquarters to speak with the general. A part of her was surprised that Elliot had elected to stick with Rean, but given how overbearing General Craig was to his family she could understand his desire to stay away. Thank Aidios her own father wasn't like that...
...Although given the way he had mauled her love earlier, she wasn't sure if he was much better.
Even though General Craig was in a meeting with other officers he graciously allowed them to enter. Despite herself, Laura couldn't help but glance down at the map. She was no military tactician, but it was clear even to her that the 4th Armored was planning a major offensive towards the Twin Dragons Bridge.
If the soldiers noticed her roving eyes they didn't comment, instead going into detail on the request. Apparently they had found a lone civilian on the roads a few days prior and naturally took him in for his own safety. All was well and fine until early this morning when the civilian disappeared without a trace. The division was too busy to dedicate resources towards the search, but since this area was an active battlefield they couldn't just leave it be.
"I suppose we should ask around?" Alisa asked after they had exited the building.
"I agree. Let's split up and check the soldiers. Surely someone must have seen the civilian leaving."
Asking around proved to be an entirely fruitless venture, as while many soldiers had seen the guy in question that morning, none had any idea as to his current whereabouts. Laura was just beginning to feel discouraged when an armored car entered the base. The others must have shared the same thought, as both Alisa and Millium had beaten her to the punch and were questioning the driver.
"I did actually see him roughly an hour ago." The Sergeant Major answered. "He was heading in the direction of the fortress. I couldn't tell you more than that, though."
That was enough for them. Alisa was quick to retrieve the bike, and with Laura in the sidecar the three made their exit from the base.
Fie had mentioned to her just how unreal the destruction at the fortress was, but seeing it with her own eyes defied comprehension. "To think that Crossbell had a weapon to overcome even the railway cannons..." The blonde girl murmured as she stopped the bike. "It's a neverending cycle, isn't it?"
"Alisa..." Laura muttered sadly. Given the other girl's problems with the cannons it wasn't at all surprising to see her so distraught by the thought of an even greater weapon. And she too couldn't help but feel insignificant in the face of such destruction. How was a sword supposed to compete against such raw overwhelming power?
"Hehe..." Millium giggled. "Whatever did this might be almost as strong as Lammy..."
It was a silly statement, but it was enough to bring a weak smile back to Laura's face. "Perhaps, but Airgetlam is quite capable..." The lightening of the mood was enough for her to peel her eyes away from the devastation, allowing her to spot a tiny figure in the distance. "Over there!"
Approaching on the bike, the three were able to confirm that the figure was indeed the missing civilian, staring at the mysteriously domed Crossbell in the distance. As they got closer Laura couldn't help but feel as if she had met the civilian before, but he was so painfully generic in his features that she couldn't be sure.
The civilian – whom they learned was named Anton – told them that he was searching for a friend that had been missing since Heimdallr was occupied. Laura could sympathize, naturally, but had absolutely no idea why the man thought the ruins of Garrelia would possibly have the answer. Either way, he agreed to return to the base with them, and with Millium riding her combat shell the four of them made the trip back to General Craig.
With their mission complete and still a few hours before Towa and the Courageous were supposed to rendezvous with them, the group of three decided to investigate the possible student sightings on the Garrelia Byroad. Once again they departed the base on Rean's bike.
Since they really weren't sure where they needed to go they decided to simply travel down the road while looking for any signs of human activity. As Alisa was focused solely on the road and avoiding any stray monsters it was up to her and Millium to find their targets. Fortunately, despite its close proximity to the bridge there were no signs of the provincial army so they were fine to remain on the road.
While Laura could never see herself being as observant as the likes of Fie or Gaius, she had picked up a few things from the other girl and was thus able to tell that something was amiss with one of the side trails. Ordering Alisa to a halt the three dismounted and investigated on foot, soon coming across a hastily assembled tent.
And with that tent there were two familiar individuals.
"...Alisa? Is it really you?!"
"E-Emily! I'm so glad you're safe!"
Millium laughed joyously. "Long time no see, Nicholas!"
"Hello there, Millium."
Laura stood back as the others had their own reunions with fellow club members. How fortuitous it was that they were the three sent on this mission. After the touching scenes the two groups settled down to exchange information.
Both Nicholas and Emily were interested in joining up with them, but before they could they wanted to finish their own mission of setting up relay devices on the nearby orbment lights. Laura didn't understand it at all, but Alisa did and that was enough for the Class VII girls to offer their assistance.
Having Rean's orbal bike made the task into a very simple – if tedious – affair. All they needed to do was drive down the length of the byroad while attaching the relay device to every light they came across. Laura did feel a little guilty that it was Alisa doing all the work, but the blonde girl waved it off by saying that it made her happy that her engineering expertise could be put to use for a good cause.
Soon enough they finished, and after reporting mission success the two upperclassmen departed, promising to meet up with Monica at the base to await the Courageous. "We still have lots of time before Rean and the others are back, right?" Millium asked with a wide smile as she looked between the two older girls. "Why don't you teach me how to ride Rean's bike?!"
Alisa looked nervous, but eventually gave a reluctant nod. "I-I suppose that's alright? As long as you are willing to follow my every instruction?"
"Yup! Yup!" The smaller girl cheered. "What about you, Laura?"
The swordmaiden glanced at Rean's bike nervously. Was this really alright? Alisa - despite having no experience with it – was able to figure it out easily enough. Perhaps it wasn't all that difficult? And Millium was right. Even if Rean's monster extermination request went smoothly they still had some time to kill. "...I admit I am interested."
How hard could it be?
"U-Um... What am I looking at?"
Upon her return to the Courageous Fie had immediately set out in search of Rean. Asking around it soon became known to her that he was currently in the cargo hold. Curious, but nothing too weird. With a shrug she took the elevator down to the bottom floor.
What awaited her was enough to pique her interest. Idly she noted that the hold had a few new arrivals in the form of Mint who was checking out Valimar, and that crazy art girl who was setting up shop nearby. But they weren't what caught her attention.
No, instead it was the badly damaged orbal bike, Rean who was looking at it mournfully, and a very shame-faced Laura that naturally drew her focus. With them was George who was looking over the bike and a very amused Millium.
It was the rabbit who first noticed the new arrival. "Fie! You should have seen it! Laura went full throttle off the top of a hill! It was so cool!"
"I-I didn't mean to!" The normally composed girl protested quickly. "I wasn't expecting the bike to move so fast and I panicked and-" She trailed off with a pitiful whine.
While Fie herself found the entire situation about as hilarious as Millium did, Rean was finally able to tear his gaze from the bike. "A-Are you alright, at least?"
"Yes. I'm perfectly fine... Physically, at least." She was definitely gonna be teasing Laura about this.
George finally pulled away, having completed his appraisal. "The good news is that it looks a lot worse than it really is. The body is a mess and the tires need to be replaced, but the engine and other components seem mostly fine. I should have Angie's bike back up and running in a couple days."
"Hmm... That's good." Fie muttered offhandedly. As amusing as the bike situation was, her attention was focused elsewhere: On Rean himself. "...You look like a mess." Most of it could be attributed to his earlier bout with Victor, but there were definitely a few new scrapes and tears.
"Huh?" Laura's shame faded as she joined Fie in scrutinizing Rean. "...I hadn't noticed it before, but she is correct. Was it your monster extermination request?"
"It was." He confirmed, running a hand through his hair tiredly. "The monster actually ended up being a Magic Knight, just like the one I fought outside of Ymir. I made the call to go after it without using Valimar. It wasn't too strong, but its regenerative abilities were tough to overcome. We might have been in trouble had Gaius' dad not arrived."
She hummed thoughtfully. "Sounds like we'll need a different strategy to deal with them next time."
"Perhaps we should focus on weakening it first before hitting it in concert with our strongest attacks?" Laura, as ever, was on the same wavelength as her.
"Well, whatever. I'm sure we'll figure it out. My mission went smoothly, by the way."
"Great job, Fie! I knew I could count on you." He rewarded her efforts with an affectionate hand on her head, causing her to preen proudly. Laura rolled her eyes, but Fie was sure that she was jealous.
She glared at the intercom as it came to life, ruining that blissful moment. "Rean? Can you come to the bridge?" Acting Captain Towa asked. "Bring everyone else too. We've just received major news that you'll want to hear."