Rex stared at the man incredulously, trying to process his words. How had he learned that!? The rumors about them being associated with the Aegis shouldn't have…!
No, of course they had reached here. It had been more than two weeks since they had left Gormott. Even with the transportation issues from the Consul locking down the ports, that was more than enough time for them to spread.
They had been doing a good job staying beneath notice for the most part, but the distinctive nature of their party made that difficult. He and Nia could deflect notice just fine with a simple clothing change, but it would be pointless when all anyone looking for them needed to do was keep an eye out for a white tiger, a robot girl, and an oversized nopon.
However, just because these guys had tracked them down didn't mean he needed to admit anything. After all, thanks to Tora's little gift, there wasn't exactly any obvious proof of them being related to the Aegis.
"…You want to run that one by us again?" Nia asked, raising an eyebrow at the man. "'Cause I'm pretty sure I misheard you."
If the man was put off by her reaction, he didn't show it. He glanced over at his Blade, an amused smirk on his face. "Get a load of this, Pandy!" He said. "They're trying to play dumb!"
Azurda coughed into his fist, trying to get their attention. "I'm afraid there's no 'playing' here." He said apologetically. "While we no doubt respect your …determination," the Titan spoke the word in a bitingly sarcastic tone, "you'll find that none of us are the Driver of the Aegis."
"Even if one of us were, why would we hand her over to you?" Nia pointed out. "I mean, you've just jumped out in front of us and started posing and yammering like the lead actor in a play. That's not exactly a convincing argument."
"Tora think sillypon just like sound of own voice." The nopon said with a tone of disapproval. "Talk too much for serious about goal."
He looked up at his Blade. "Poppi! Be sure not use for behavior development module! Tora not want Poppi learn bad habits!"
Poppi blinked at the sound of her name being called, her focus on the turtle broken. "Poppi apologize." She replied. "Not catch what Masterpon say. Please repeat?"
Zeke, hearing the artificial Blade speak for the first time, turned his attention to her. "Don't listen to that furball!" He insisted. "I'll have you know that Zeke von Genbu is the greatest role model a Blade like you could ever…"
He trailed off, his eyes widening, as he saw what the mechanical girl was holding. "Ah! Turters!" He exclaimed, pointing at the turtle in her hands.
The entire party blinked in surprise at his declaration. "Wait…" Rex muttered, looking over at Poppi. "Are you guys… his owner, then?"
Rather than respond, Zeke vanished in a flash, so fast that both Rex and Nia felt the surge of electric ether with their Core Crystals before their eyes registered his movement. He appeared in front of Poppi in the blink of an eye, faster than even the artificial Blade could react.
"Unhand him!" The Driver cried, swiping the turtle from her hands. The action took Poppi by surprise, so much so that she could only blink in shock before the man dashed back to his Blade in a similar burst of speed.
Reappearing in the exact spot he had departed from, Zeke seemed to ignore the party for a moment, instead turning away to fuss over the turtle. His Blade, likewise, leaned in to his hand, inspecting their pet to ensure he was in good health.
"What is even happening right now?" Rex asked in disbelief, watching the bemusing scene play out in front of them. "This had got to be a prank of some sort."
That had to be it, right? There was no way he was being serious. That speed he had just demonstrated… if he was really trying to fight them, couldn't he have just blitzed in before they were aware of his presence and wiped them all out?
"I…" Nia replied, shaking her head. "Let's… just get out of here. I can practically feel my brain cells dying just looking at them."
Dromarch huffed in agreement. "That seems to be a most prudent decision, my Lady." The tiger replied. "I do not believe there is any benefit from remaining here any longer."
The group began walking, moving to bypass the Driver-Blade pair. As they walked, Tora looked up at his Blade. "Is Poppi alright?" He asked, a concerned look on his face. "Meaniepons snatch turtle from Poppi's hand without so much as 'thank you for keeping safe'!"
She looked down at her hand, an uncertain look on her face. "Poppi not sure what think." The mechanical girl admitted. "Happy that return turtle to owners, but also sad to see go." As she walked past them, she gave the pair a concerned glance. "At same time, also worried turtle safe with."
Apparently satisfied that the turtle was okay, Zeke turned back to the position that the party previously had been, only to realize that they were gone. The man looked around frantically, pointing directly at the party as he spotted them trying to go around him. "Ah! W-wait just a minute!" He yelled, dashing to cut them off again. "Do you really think you can sneak away from us?!"
"We were hardly sneaking." Azurda pointed out.
"Yeah… you guys were too busy playing with your turtle to notice." Nia chimed in, hands resting lazily on her hips. "I mean, it seems to be more important to you than… whatever you wanted with us."
Zeke's cheek twitched in annoyance at the Gormotti girl's dismissive tone. "You're not taking me very seriously, are you?" He said through gritted teeth.
"Nope, not really." Rex replied, scratching his cheek. "Kinda hard to… you're not exactly selling the situation, you know?"
The man glared at him. "I'm plenty serious, Aegis Driver!" He yelled, pointing his greatsword at the boy again. "So if you're too scared to fight, why don't you just hand her over and be…"
He trailed off, looking around. "…Done with…" Zeke was silent for a moment, glancing around in confusion. He leaned over to whisper at his Blade. "Pandy, where did the Aegis go?"
"I don't know!" She whispered back. "I didn't see her in the first place!"
"What do you mean, 'you didn't see her'?!" Zeke shot back, annoyed. "You were the one that signaled she was with them!" He emphasized with a bizarre hand signal.
"No, that's the signal to let you know they were landing!" She corrected him before making an equally bizarre, but clearly different, hand signal. "This was the one saying I saw her!"
Dromarch covered his muzzle with a paw. "I believe I am experiencing second-hand embarrassment just watching this." The tiger muttered.
"Tell me about it." His Driver replied, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What, did they just hear the rumors from Gormott and come running without doing any verification? What a bunch of idiots!"
"Even Tora know not believe every rumor you hear." The nopon shook his head in disappointment. "Did sillypon's parents not teach better?"
Apparently, being mocked by Tora as well was too much for the man. "My sources are trustworthy!" He insisted, slamming a fist against his chest. "And while I'll admit they never saw you with the Aegis directly, they did see you with her weapon!" He revealed triumphantly, pointing at the hilt of the Aegis Sword poking out from behind Rex's back. "So unless you're going to tell me that thing isn't the Aegis' weapon, then you better be ready for a fight!"
Rather than reply verbally, Rex merely pulled the weapon from behind his back. He didn't activate it, instead just flipping it around so that the flat of the Blade and thus the false weapon core over the quillon were visible to the man accosting them. "Okay." He replied flatly. "Does this look like her weapon to you?"
Zeke froze mid-pose, his eyes bugging out as he saw the pyramidal blue gemstone set in the center of the blade. "But…! That's…!" He stammered, pulling out a notepad from the inside of his shirt. "I could have sworn the description said…"
"It matches the description we got out of that guard captain back in Torigoth." Pandoria muttered, biting her thumb as she mulled over the reveal. "He swore upon the Architect that the sword had a green weapon core…"
"No offense," Nia snarked, "but I wouldn't trust half the Ardainian garrison on Gormott to correctly identify the color of their shirts, let alone a single gem on a Blade weapon they saw once." She made a dismissive motion with her hand. "Now, if there's nothing else, we'd really like to get a move on. I'm itching for a spar."
At her words, the man chuckled, sliding the notepad back into his coat. "A spar, you say?" He said boisterously, reactivating the ether crystal blade of his greatsword. "Well, why didn't you just say so?"
Rex scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Sorry, but can we not?" He said. "We kind of wanted to spar against each other, and you guys are, well…" The boy gestured at the two of them and then at himself and the other four. "…A little outnumbered, don't you think?"
"Hah! That just makes it more fun!" The man replied. An affinity link snapped to life between him and his Blade, the green haired girl stepping into a rearguard position behind him. "Whether you're the Aegis' Driver or not, don't think I'll shy away from a fight just because of something as small as a numerical disadvantage!"
He crouched slightly, electric ether rolling off of him. "Better ready yourselves, because the Zekenator has challenged you to a fight!"
"…So you're the 'Zekenator' now?" Nia rolled her eyes, even as she grabbed her rings from her belt. "Just pick one of your lame titles and stick with it already!"
The only response she received was a smug smirk before the man vanished in a flash of electric ether. In an instant, he appeared before them, his sword raised in an over-the-shoulder slash that, had he not been moving so quickly, would have been considered telegraphed.
Fortunately, Dromarch was on point. The moment Zeke had tensed, the tiger Blade threw himself between his Driver and Rex, already preparing to project a barrier. As the greatsword lashed out to swipe them both, it struck a wall of solid ether and bounced off.
Despite his comical demeanor, the man was obviously prepared for that to happen. Where a normal opponent would have staggered from the deflection, he instead used the sudden change in momentum to push him out of range for any retaliation by the party.
Well, out of melee range, at least. Seeing him bounding out of her reach, Nia brought her rings together, firing off a bolt of compressed water at the enemy Driver.
Zeke leaned slightly to the side, allowing the attack to fly past him, before grabbing the hilt of his sword in both hands. He twisted it in front of him, as if to catch a blow.
The whine of rocket engines filled the air as Tora rushed forward, hanging on to his Drill Shield as the thrusters fired at full power. The point of the drill, spinning viciously in preparation to dig into a target, was pointed at Zeke's center of mass.
A loud clang filled the air as Tora slammed into the enemy Driver, the drill of his shield striking Zeke's greatsword. The man was pushed back several feet by the force, grunting in exertion as he resisted the power of the rocket thrusters.
He laughed heartily, shifting his grip on the sword slightly. "Gotta admit, I don't think I've ever seen a nopon so willing to fight up close and personal like this!" He said, looking Tora in the eyes. Lightning crackled across the greatsword as the man charged an Art. "Let's see how well you handle it!"
With a burst of lightning, Zeke broke the blade lock. Tora stumbled back, shaking his dominant wing vigorously as arcs coursed across the metallic portions of the Drill Shield. The enemy Driver wasn't done, though. The lightning surged around Zeke's weapon, bursting from the sides and tip to give the impression that the sword had an energy blade like Rex's.
"Dynamic!" He cried, slashing at the nopon with the weapon. Tora, fully familiar with the effects electricity could have on the body, bounced out of the way with a squeak of alarm.
"Spark!" He leapt into the air, ignoring the retreating nopon. With Tora out of the way, he had a more obvious target. His eyes locked on Rex as he brought his greatsword into an overhead slash.
Rex brought the Aegis Sword into a guard, bracing himself as the enemy Driver rushed in. At the speeds the man was moving, he had little other option than to prepare for impact.
"Sword~!" Like a meteor, Zeke crashed down to earth, the blazing fulminations from his blade exploding in a burst of arcing lighting as his sword struck Rex's.
Or at least would have, had Rex not deployed a barrier of his own.
Lighting surged across the dome of golden energy, engulfing everything on the far side but unable to reach Rex. The flash was nearly blinding, yet both the young salvager and the older Driver's eyes met through the glowing dome.
He could see the emotion in the other man's eyes. It was strange—a mixture of excitement and… approval? That didn't make sense, considering the situation.
Zeke broke eye contact with him after a mere moment, his gaze shifting down to the quillon of the Aegis Sword. The false weapon core was still firmly in place, despite both the sudden combat and several days of training before. Even with it in place, he could see the man's eyes widen slightly as he looked at it.
All of this happened in the space of a breath as Zeke's strike rebounded off of Rex's barrier, sending the man flying back again.
The older Driver calmly shifted his weight as he flew back, preparing to land gently again. His landing would have left him briefly open to attack, but Rex was out of position to capitalize on the opportunity. Fortunately, he was not fighting alone.
No sooner had Zeke's boots touched the ground when a familiar column of water and sound blasted by Rex, aimed at the enemy Driver. The older Driver's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting to be hit with such a powerful Blade Art this early in the battle.
Pandoria, on the other hand, was. The electric Blade had apparently been paying attention to the actions of the other fighters and knew exactly when to step in. In a flash, nearly as quickly as her Driver's, she appeared in front of Zeke, both arms held out as her barrier absorbed the ether attack.
It shone brightly, so much it hurt to look at, as the barrier struggled to resist the powerful Art. Still, despite the energy that the tiger had thrown into the attack, it wasn't nearly enough to overcome the protective field.
As the attack dissipated, the green-haired Blade stepped back, gesturing theatrically for her Driver to step up again. He eagerly took the opportunity, laughing excitedly as he looked over the party again.
"You're not bad at all, chums!" He crowed, resting his sword across his shoulders. "I've fought plenty of Drivers that wouldn't have endured my first strike, much less the terrible light of my Dynamic Spark Sword!" The man boasted.
"And here we go again." Nia groaned. "I thought we were done with this part!"
Rex stifled a laugh. "Oh, don't worry." He consoled. "We'll get the chance to make him quiet down a bit."
The enemy Driver didn't acknowledge her complaints, instead dramatically clenching his fists. "In that case, it looks like it's time to kick this up a notch!"
Electrical arcs streamed across his body as he swung the sword above his head. "We'll see how well you handle my supreme finishing move!" Once more, his sword blazed with lighting, a solid sheet of arcs licking a full ten feet past the tip of the blade.
"You've got to be kidding me." Nia grumbled, shielding her eyes from the flashes. "'Supreme finishing move?' Who talks like that anyway?"
Zeke slashed the sword in front of him, dramatically brandishing the weapon as he continued to rant. "The ultimate move of the Bringer of Chaos! Ultimate Lightning Fury Sla-!"
As he spoke, the man took a step back, trying to point the weapon into the air. He was so focused, however, that he neglected to watch his footing. As he set his foot down, the man adjusted his weight in preparation to kick off...
…And immediately slipped on a pebble.
He cried out in sudden alarm as the foot that had been intended to support the bulk of his weight slid out beneath him, firing the offending pebble off in the direction of the party. The tiny rock pinged off of Poppi's chassis harmlessly, but it had already spelled Zeke's doom.
Zeke toppled backward, pinwheeling his arms frantically in an attempt to keep himself upright. It did him no good as he fell over, knocking Pandoria, who had still been holding her rearguard position behind him, down with him.
Had they been standing in their original positions, before Rex and the party had attempted to sneak around him, this would have merely been an embarrassing accident, albeit one that would have ended the fight with the party.
Unfortunately, their hasty repositioning had left them on a ledge overlooking the Cloud Sea, where the path took a sharp turn to remain on land. As such, rather than tumble to the ground, Zeke and Pandoria fell screaming into the sea some fifty feet below.
"Not again~!" Zeke cried out in despair as he fell, tangled with his Blade.
Rex and Nia exchanged a glance before looking to their partners, and then Tora and Poppi, in complete befuddlement. Hesitantly, the group sidled up to the ledge that Zeke and Pandoria had vanished over, peering down to investigate the status of their unlucky foes.
"Well, that happened." Nia surmised, the tension leaving her body.
"Are… are they okay?" Rex asked, peering into the Cloud Sea. The cliff face was pretty much flat, and there weren't any obstructions at the base of it, but he imagined that even a Driver might have trouble with that far a fall.
"Most likely, yes." Azurda replied, reclining back into Rex's helm after being jostled out during the fight. "I've encountered his type before… for all their bad luck, they are remarkably adept at surviving such ordeals."
The boy nodded dumbly, merely watching the waves crash against the cliff face.
After a brief moment, Nia brushed herself off. "I don't know about you, but I think I've had enough of this place for the day." She said, turning around to head back the way they came. "We should see if the ferryman is still here."
Rex cast a glance at her. "Huh? But we just got here." The boy said in confusion. "You're even the one who was itching for a spar."
"Yeah, but that was before dealing with eyepatch down there." She gestured over the cliff. "The old man's right; they're probably just fishing themselves out of the sea, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather not still be here when they make their way back up."
That was a fair argument. The island was small enough that it would only take a few minutes at most for those two to find them if they remained. Somehow, Rex didn't think they would be any more amenable to talking the next time, either.
"Good point." He admitted, crossing his arms behind his head. "I guess we'll just have to explore around the city."
Nia shot him a look. "That's fine, but I swear to the Architect, if you drag us up and down the city running errands for random strangers again, I'm tying you up and using you as a practice stand for that Art the old man taught me."
He chuckled at the threat. "Come on, it's hardly that bad." The boy replied, waving the sentiment off. "You seemed to appreciate the treats they gave us last time!"
As the group wandered off the way they had come, Poppi gave a final look over the cliff. Tora, who was remaining near his creation, looked up at the artificial Blade. "Is something matter, Poppi?" He asked.
"…" She remained silent. After a moment, she turned away from the cliff, a sad look in her eye. "Poppi hope turtle okay." She answered.
"See?" Rhys said, pointing into the void beyond the brick they had just removed. "I told you this was the one to take!"
"Yeah, I… I guess there isn't much denying that." The Osirian boy replied numbly, staring into the darkness beyond the wall.
He had spent weeks dreaming of this moment, working desperately to find a way out of the cell. To rescue himself and his new-found friends. (To validate that his wasn't worthless.)
And now, after all of that work was finally paying off… it almost didn't feel real. Like despite the work and planning he had put into getting here, it felt too easy.
In all honesty, it made him nervous. Was… was this a trap? Had their captors intentionally left a big void behind the cells as bait, a way to catch kids who thought they were being sneaky?
Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he shook his head. No, that couldn't be. Why would the adults go so far out of their way to keep anything that could conceivably be used to escape out of their hands, only to leave such a trap that the kids wouldn't be able to reach? It didn't make sense.
Now wasn't the time to be having second thoughts. He had proved that his plan was viable, but he still needed to find out if there was an actual escape path somewhere inside that dark void.
"Can you see anything in there?" He asked Rhys, leaning in closer to the hole. It was pitch-black, the only light within coming from their cell, and even that didn't make it very far. There was a thick cloud of dust floating within, seemingly kicked up by removing the brick.
"Nothing." The Gormotti boy replied, squinting as he stared in. "I can't even tell how far back it goes."
"Great." He grumbled, running a hand across the bricks beneath the hole. They were probably going to have to remove more bricks before they could actually tell what was back there. That wasn't a bad thing—if there was a way out beyond here, they would need to do it anyway—but he was anxious to actually figure out what was back there.
(And more than a little hesitant, too. He hated the dark, so the idea of having to carefully work away at the mortar while an impenetrable black void that could be hiding anything was right next to him sent a tingle of dread down his spine.)
Well, at least there was a goal in sight. He kneeled down, preparing to start scraping away at the brickwork again, when he saw Rhys shove his hand into the hole.
"Rhys!" He hissed, eyes widening in surprise. "Are you crazy!? You don't know what's on the other side!"
The Gormotti boy snorted petulantly. "I'm not scared of whatever's back here!" He insisted, fishing around with his arm. "'Sides, I have a faster way to do this."
He shoved his arm as far into the hole as he could fit it, even pushing most of his shoulder through the gap. The boy seemed to brace against something, probably the far side of the bricks, and began to push.
"What are you…?" The Osirian boy asked, watching as his Gormotti companion struggled against seemingly nothing.
As if to answer that question, the brick directly beneath the gap began to shift ever so slightly. The mortar, softened as they had already found it to be, began to crack slightly as Rhys pushed against it from the far side.
"Don't just stand there!" The Gormotti boy spat, straining against the wall. "Shove that metal bit into the cracks! This'll make it easier to get 'em apart!"
He didn't need to be told twice. In an instant, he was on his knees, jabbing the improvised spade into the narrow cracks in the mortar. He twisted the metal, ignoring a flash of pain as it bit into his hand yet again, in his hurried attempts to scrape away as much of the material as possible.
If the mortar on the first brick had been soft, this stuff was basically still wet. Beyond a small dried layer, barely thicker than his pinky, it had a consistency more like mud. Compared to what he had scraped at on the first few bricks, this stuff was almost eager to separate from the surface.
As he scraped, the brick slid further and further out. With the dried outer layer gone, the only resistance holding the brick in was the soft, clay-like material that remained. It only took moments for it to slide far enough out that it could be easily removed by hand.
Seeing how far the brick had gone, Rhys ceased pushing, allowing his arm to go slack. The Gormotti boy tenderly pulled the limb out of the hole, wincing slightly as his shoulder brushed against the top brick.
"That smarts." He commented ruefully, rubbing his shoulder. Even through his fur, there was a clear welt where the corner of the top brick had pressed into his arm while he was pushing.
What discomfort he felt didn't keep him distracted for long, however. Eagerly, the Gormotti boy yanked the brick the rest of the way out of the wall before investigating the mortar still attached to it.
He tilted his head slightly, prodding at the material on the brick with a frown. "What's up with this?" The boy muttered, scraping up a small sample with his fingers. He rubbed it between his pointer and thumb, testing the consistency.
"This stuff's fresh." He muttered in confusion. "It hasn't cured a bit!"
"…Is that a good thing?" The Osirian boy asked, watching Rhys inspect the bricks. The Gormotti was the expert here, after all; there wasn't much his own input would contribute right now, (as much as the thought chafed at him.)
"Really good." Rhys muttered, almost shocked by what he was seeing. "I've mixed a ton of this stuff for Da. There's no way whoever did this brickwork was in the trade; if I had to guess, they must have used at least double the amount of water needed in the mortar."
He looked back over at the wall, a thoughtful look on his face. "If that was anywhere near set, no amount of shoving I could do would'a moved that brick. But with it like this…"
Rhys looked over his shoulder at the others in the cell. "Hey, one of you, give us a hand for a moment!"
The Orsirian boy hadn't realized it before, but their work had drawn the attention of the others in the cell. Rhona was still sitting numbly in a corner, alongside Ewan who was trying to get her to open up, but the rest of the kids were watching them, rather pointedly holding their breath, as if saying anything would ruin the glimmer of hope the hole in the wall had created.
Surprisingly, it was Leon who answered Rhys' call. The meek Tantalese boy jolted upright, scrabbling over to the drainage channel before anyone else could respond.
"W-what do you need?" He asked nervously, yet with an eagerness that the boy hadn't displayed before.
"Gimme a boost." Rhys answered, pointing at the hole. "I'm gonna stick my leg in next, but I can't get up that far."
"Your leg?" The Osirian boy asked, eyeing the hole. It would probably fit, but it would be tight; Rhys was the oldest, and second biggest, kid in their cell. Two bricks were a narrow diameter for the leg of a ten-year-old.
Rhys nodded. "Yeah." He replied, pointing at the brick they had just removed. "We got one out from me pushing on it with my arm… wanna bet we can get a bunch more if I use my leg?"
He blinked in surprise. That… could work. He'd have more strength to work with, and if Leon was holding him up, the angle would be more favorable…
"Let's do it." He agreed, kneeling back down into the channel. "I'll wedge wherever it looks like the wall's buckling."
With a nod of agreement, Rhys scampered onto Leon's shoulders. "H-hey!" The Tantalese boy complained, struggling to hold up a kid that was noticeably larger than him, but still moved closer to the wall.
Rhys adjusted his positioning slightly, placing his foot up against the hole. "You'd better not drop me, Leon!" He threatened, biting his lip nervously. "I swear, I'll clock you if you do!"
He unceremoniously shoved his leg into the hole as far as it would reach and began applying pressure, bracing himself against the cell side of the wall with his other leg. Leon yelped in surprise as the weight on his shoulders lessened, but he still did his best to remain in a position to support Rhys.
"Ngh!" The Gormotti boy grunted, straining against the wall. Beads of sweat began to trickle down his face from the exertion, but he didn't let up the pressure.
Slowly, the row of bricks near the bottom of the channel began to subtly shift. Between the bottom-most layers, the dried outer layer of mortar began to crack as the bricks separated, buckling out under the force Rhys was exerting.
The Osirian boy jammed the twisted shard of metal into the opening crack, scraping away the material binding the bricks together. He focused single-mindedly on the work, blocking out all other distractions. The grunts of Rhys struggling to keep up the pressure, Leon fussing over keeping the boy in place, the sounds of the other kids leaning in to watch… he ignored all of that as he raced to dig as quickly as possible.
Like before, the more he removed, the easier a time Rhys had moving the bricks. Soon, the bricks near where the Gormotti boy was applying pressure began to roll as the strength of the soft, uncured mortar was no longer able to resist.
All of a sudden, the entire section between the bricks Rhys was loosening and the hole he had shoved his leg into bowed out. The Osirian boy had only a moment to recognize what was about to happen before the entire chunk separated from the wall and collapsed into the drainage channel.
(It figured that he would get all this way, only to die with the end in sight.)
He yelped in alarm, diving out of the way of the bricks. Behind him, he could hear Rhys yell something at Leon but was unable to process exactly what.
There was a loud clatter as the bricks fell, echoing through the cell and down the corridor beyond. A thin cloud of dust was thrown up by the collapse, not nearly enough to block vision but more than enough to irritate their lungs.
"What are you doing!?" Ewan coughed, waving the dust out of his eyes as he marched over. "Do you want the bad men to know what we're up to!?"
"We're tryin' to get us all outta here, stupid!" Rhys shot back, pushing himself to his feet. He and Leon had toppled over when the bricks fell, but the Tantalese boy had managed to push them out of the way. "Look! See? It doesn't matter if they're coming; we can all…"
Rhys actually took a look at the hole in the wall for a moment, and his ears slowly tucked back. "…Get…out?" He concluded uncertainly, staring at the hole.
The brickwork that they had managed to remove had, indeed, allowed them to finally see what was on the other side. Unfortunately, it was not exactly what they had expected.
It was less a hole and more a tapered slot between two of the larger stones, like those that made up the rest of the cell. Two feet high, it was only a foot wide at the top and maybe a third that width at the bottom.
(His heart fell at the sight. Would they be able to fit through something like that? Or had this all just been a waste of time?)
"How are we supposed to get through there?!" Ewan fumed, pointing at the gap. "Half of us are too big, and the rest'll have to slide through the top half!"
Rhys was quiet, his ears drooping as he understood the implication. He was absolutely in the 'too big' category.
Ewan huffed in annoyance, looking down at the Osirian boy sprawled on the floor. "We need to get this covered up before they come back." He said in an authoritative tone. "There's no way they won't notice this."
He wanted to disagree, to tell the Ardainian boy that they should at least see what was in there first. After all, the next time their captors came around, it would probably be to haul them off for whatever experiments they had been taking the others for. He had no desire to be subjected to that when escape was literally within reach!
But at the same time… he couldn't argue with Ewan's conclusion, either. The wall coming out had been loud, and he had no doubt that their captors would be coming to investigate. If they found the cell in this state, he didn't even want to imagine what would happen to them. Sealing it back up for now and investigating later, when there was less suspicion on them, would be the safest option.
(Not to mention it would mean he didn't have to go into a dark, scary hole without preparing himself first.)
"We'll need to be quick." He answered after a moment. "They'll probably be down here soon."
Looking over at Rhys, he asked, "If we stuff the gaps with straw from the floor and put a bit of mortar over it, do you think it'd look convincing?"
The Gormotti boy frowned, looking at the pile of bricks. "I dunno." He admitted. "Could be? But it'll take a while either way. If it doesn't look good, we won't have many options to…"
Down the corridor, the sound of a metal gate being thrown open drew their attention. Immediately, everyone in the cell went perfectly still.
Footsteps echoed down the hall outside. They were not the slow, hesitant pace of the human caretakers bringing them food, nor the threatening, barefoot slaps of that creepy Blade coming to collect them. These were fast, heavy steps—the sound of someone running. And they were getting closer.
"T-they're coming…" Leon whimpered, shivering in place. He stared down at the pile of bricks, teary eyes wide at obvious sign of what they had tried to do. "W-we'll never hide this in time!"
"Rhys?" Ewan looked at the Gormotti boy for confirmation, a fearful look in his eyes.
He was met with a shake of the head. "W-we'll need like an hour to put these back convincingly." He said, a waver in his voice as he seemed to consider the options. "We… we're done for."
Ewan chewed his lip, glancing fearfully toward the door. "They're gonna kill us when they find this…"
Personally, the Osirian boy didn't think that was likely. As neglectfully as they had been treated, their captors had put in at least a token effort to keep them alive. They were needed for something; otherwise, they wouldn't have been put through this in the first place!
(Did they, though? There were dozens of other kids down here—ones that hadn't tried to escape. For all he knew, it would be more worthwhile for the adults to kill them as an example to the others!)
But no matter what happened, the adults would be keeping a closer eye on them from now on. After getting this close to escaping, there was no way they wouldn't be constantly monitored from here on out.
He stared longingly at the hole and immediately came to a decision. It didn't matter if he didn't know what was in there, (or how scary it looked,) they would never have a better chance to escape than this.
"Guys, push me through." He said, getting to his feet.
The two other boys just stared at him, as if confused by what he had said.
"Huh?" Rhys asked, surprised enough that he stopped shaking for a moment.
"I said, push me through." He reaffirmed, walking up to the hole. "I'm the smallest; I'll fit if you can lift me high enough." The boy explained.
"Okay, but…" Ewan processed what he was saying. "What about the rest of us?"
Without pausing, he tried pushing himself through the hole, wincing as his Core Crystal scraped against one of the stone blocks. "I'll get help!" He said, scrabbling a little higher. "But if we don't do something, we won't have another chance!"
Ewan and Rhys looked at each other, pondering the situation, before nodding in agreement. They both hurried forward, grabbing the Osirian boy's legs and pushing.
He had already been positioned a little precariously, using what little upper-body strength he had to try and pull himself high enough to fit through. So when the other two boys, in a hurry to get him through before the adults reached the cell, shoved him, he was not only pushed through the hole but fell face-first towards whatever ground was on the other side.
Tumbling uncontrollably through almost perfect darkness, he desperately shielded his face, tensing for impact. In these conditions, he had no way to know what he was going to land on or how far above the ground he was.
(He screamed in terror, his stomach lurching violently as he fell. How far was the drop!? If it was too far, there was no way he would survive the fall!)
In the dark, he brushed past something. He couldn't tell what it was, but it didn't offer any resistance, like it was hanging from the ceiling. Almost instinctively, he reached out and grabbed ahold, tugging himself tightly against it.
Which wasn't the best idea. Falling as he was, his grip strength wasn't nearly enough to prevent his handhold from being wrenched from his grasp. The sudden shifting of force did cause him to rotate end-over-end, however, so that he was no longer falling head-first.
Small blessings.
After what felt like an eternity but was probably only a second or two, he hit the ground. Water splashed around him as he landed, pain exploding across his buttocks as he landed seat-first in some sort of pool.
He flopped backward, letting the shallow water flow over his shoulders, breathing heavily as he resisted the urge to sob in pain. He had survived the landing, at least, but where was he?
Lazily, he looked upward at where he had fallen from. Above him, probably no more than fifteen feet, he could see the light from the cell. From this angle, it illuminated the area around it much more clearly.
The place he had fallen through was a slot cut into the ceiling of whatever chamber he was in now, very obviously not part of the original design. Even in this level of light, he could see that it had been crudely hewn into the stone. Thick bundles of wires ran up it, scattering across the back wall of the cell. He couldn't tell where the other ends went, instead vanishing into the darkness of the… tunnel?
Leaning up, he looked around. Rather than a chamber, he was indeed in a tunnel of some sort. The masonry was the same as the cell, so they were probably built around the same time. There was a thin layer of water on the ground, maybe a few inches deep, that ran along a central trench. Along the side of the tunnel, there were grates that allowed more in, almost like a…
He blanched, pinching his nose in distaste. This had to be the sewer, didn't it? Gross. It certainly explained the smell, though.
Standing up, he winced at the throb of pain emanating from his hips. Even moving his legs was painful… he didn't even want to know how badly he had hurt himself in the fall. Hopefully, the faster healing they had all gained following the procedure would be able to help.
Above him, the sound of shouting drew his attention. He couldn't hear what was being said, but it definitely wasn't one of his cellmates. The voice sounded too deep, probably from one of the adults.
If they were already in the cell, that meant he had to run. It wouldn't take them long to figure out where he went, and they would probably know the exits better than he did.
Following the flow of the water, he took off down the tunnel, with only the soft glow of his Core Crystal to light the way. His feelings about being in the dark were pushed aside by desperation as he ran. He had to get out of here!
(He didn't want to think of what would happen to the others if he didn't.)
"How could you let this happen?!" Dr. Castrofari snarled at the pair of undergraduate students, reigning in the urge to break something.
Something like this shouldn't have been possible! He had given very clear instructions to these imbeciles to not let the test subjects gain access to anything that could be used as a tool! No bowls, no eating utensils, no jewelry, nothing!
Yet somehow, despite those very clear orders, one of the groups had managed to dig their way through the wall and nearly escape! One of the test subjects even had! How hard was it to follow instructions?!
Ugh, interns.
He glared at the two students, wearing his 'stern professor' face. They visibly wilted at the sight, fully aware that this failure was their fault, yet hoping to avoid further scrutiny by remaining quiet. That wouldn't do.
"Well?! I'm waiting!" He shouted furiously, rage boiling beneath his eyes.
The pair of students flinched back, refusing to meet his gaze. One of them, Norton, an Ardainian with straw-colored hair, nervously spoke up.
"W-we're not sure." He said, fiddling with the hem of his tunic. "We didn't see any signs of this when we brought them their food."
Castrofari resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "They were digging through the Architect-damned wall!" He growled. "Surely there should have been some sign of that during the cell inspections?!"
Norton stared up at him, wide-eyed. "C-cell inspections, doctor?" He asked in confusion.
He froze, staring at the two students. If looks could kill, he would have been running autopsies on them already. Surely, this idiotic, incompetent child masquerading as a graduate student had not just implied what Castrofari thought he had.
Letting out a long, beleaguered sigh, he adjusted his glasses before speaking. "When I assigned you the task—the mind-numbingly simple task—of managing the test subjects, I left you a clear and concise list of instructions: 'Deliver food once per day, ensure they have nothing that could be used as a tool, and inspect the holding cells daily.'"
His voice lowered as he continued. "Do you mean to tell me that you have not been following my instructions?"
Norton shrank in on himself under the doctor's gaze. "W-we were concerned that one of them might slip by us if we entered the cell on our own, so we've been conducting the inspections when Delphus takes them to the training room." He explained.
Castrofari was not impressed. "And how have you been managing the inspections for the preoperative holding cells? Or the cells for groups undergoing postoperative convalescence? Perhaps I don't need to remind you that it was one of the latter groups that caused this incident?"
"W-we…" The student stammered weakly, trying desperately to come up with an excuse. The behavior would have been almost comical, were the potential repercussions not so dire.
That was all the answer he needed. "Idiots." He snarled, turning away from them. "Do you have any idea what sort of position you've put us in?! If that test subject manages to alert the authorities to our activities…"
He let his assistants fill in the rest on their own. After the amount of time he had spent hammering in that they would be held just as culpable for the work being performed here as he and Lynette should they be discovered, all of his assistants knew exactly what was at stake.
If they were lucky, they would only be expelled from the most prestigious academic institution in the world.
"Find him and bring him back." Castrofari ordered, glancing over his shoulder at them. "Do it without raising the alarm, and you might not find yourselves on my operating table."
Without a word, the two students raced out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts. He sighed, clenching his fists. Such a simple, easily avoided mistake. He should have known better than to trust graduate students with even that easy of an assignment.
"Quite the mess we've found ourselves in, isn't it?" A female voice spoke up behind him. Lynette's voice carried none of the usual levity or faux-warmth that she preferred to project, instead echoing with the ice-cold severity he had come to expect from Indoline academics.
"Lynette." He greeted, turning to look at the woman. Her face was blank and expressionless, almost as much so as the veiled Blade standing behind her, but her body language was clearly agitated. "I assume the rest of the rebellious batch of test subjects has been secured?"
She nodded, placing her hands on the table. "Yes." The woman confirmed. "We've moved them to the surgical theater holding cells for the moment, under the strongest compliance-inducing incense Delphus believes is safe for their physiology."
"Good, good." The doctor nodded. At least they wouldn't be getting any more escapees for the time being, and while those cells lacked the ether suppression units the postoperative cells possessed, they were at least sufficiently shielded that anyone with a tracking Blade would struggle to detect their ether returns. "Were you able to determine how they managed to dig through the wall?"
"Indeed. Once under the effects of Delphus' incense, I was able to perform a rudimentary interrogation." She explained. "According to subject 47—the Gormotti boy, you know?"
"Of course." Castrofari scoffed.
"Subject 84—the surviving Osirian male from the batch—was able to remove a small piece of metal from one of the sheet metal plates holding their cell's ether suppression units in place."
Castrofari frowned. "That should not have been possible. Those sheets are nearly two inches thick."
"Apparently, the corner of this particular plate had been partially sheared off during the installation process." She replied. "That had not been the case when I inspected the units post-installation… I suspect one of your assistants accidentally damaged it while performing last-minute adjustments."
He growled again, but didn't say anything. When he discovered which of them had been responsible, there would be consequences.
"Using the shard of metal, subject 84 was able to carve his way through the mortar of the bricks over the course of the last three days. Under normal circumstances, this should not have been possible, at least not within such a short timeframe, but subject 47 was able to confirm that the mortar failed to cure properly."
Before Castrofari could say anything, she gave him a pointed look. "And I'm afraid that you cannot place the blame on your assistants this time; the brick facade they carved through was the one you personally installed following the renovations to the postoperative cells."
The doctor fumed. "And I suppose a mere child was able to explain exactly how my repairs failed?" He replied bitingly.
"Yes, as a matter of fact." She smiled mockingly at him. "As an apprentice bricklayer, subject 47 was of the opinion that you added too high a proportion of water to the mortar mixture. Even my cursory inspection was able to confirm that, beyond a superficial dry surface layer, the mortar was of a similar consistency to a freshly-mixed batch."
Castrofari scowled at the accusation. "I followed the recipe to the letter." He insisted. "The stonemason I consulted for instruction on the work must have misled me."
"A shame, that." She said dryly. "Once they had determined that the wall had been poorly constructed, they were able to remove enough bricks to access the shaft we used to run the power conduits for the ether suppression units through. The noise of their demolition work was sufficient to alert your assistants, but subject 84 was able to enter the shaft and use it to access the old fortress' sewers before they arrived on-scene."
It was a frustrating conclusion, but not a calamitous one. Despite the potential danger of being exposed, a single eight-year-old child, even a Blade Eater, was a much less daunting prospect to capture than a dozen of them would have been.
"I've dispatched Gavin and Norton to recapture him." Castrofari informed her. "But I would prefer to hedge our bets."
Lynette gave him a haughty grin. "I have already made moves to reinforce them." She explained. "Delphus was able to confirm that the Driver team that delivered yesterday's batch of test subjects has yet to depart Tadbir. I've dispatched Simone with a portable communication terminal and an emergency payment to assist us in securing the child, should the circumstances require it."
"Good, good." The doctor muttered, pacing in agitation. There wasn't much else they could do in the situation, at least until they received confirmation that the boy had been recaptured or not.
The Indoline woman took a seat at the table, gesturing for Delphus to join her.. "We were about to begin tracking the escapee so that we may determine his status." She said, settling into her chair. "You're welcome to join in as well."
He paused, glancing over at them. That would probably not be a bad idea… he was rather anxious for updates, and being able to see the current status of the search with his own eyes would do much to curb the restlessness he was currently feeling.
Grabbing the chair across from her, he took a seat as well. "Yes, that sounds like a wise idea." He agreed, attempting to sound more calm than he truly was at the moment. "It will make it easier to direct your Driver team, should that be necessary."
"Of course. That was the main intention." Lynette agreed, pulling her own portable communicator from her robes. She looked at her Blade, offering him a nod. "Delphus, if you would be a dear and begin?"
The fire Blade gave no affirmation, instead reaching into the incense burner hanging from the head of his Blade weapon. He pulled out a handful of embers, wisps of scented smoke drifting lazily from between his corpselike fingers.
"Reveal the lost child's plight." He whispered, his raspy voice echoing around the room, before blowing the embers from his hand. A plume of white smoke quickly filled the room, swirling wildly around them.
In the middle of the table, the smoke began to shift and darken, forming from undulating noise to distinct shapes. It quickly resolved into something far more easily discernible: a young boy running wildly through a darkened sewer.
"Thank you for your time." Perun inclined her head politely as she left the building. Outwardly, she was smiling as she departed the store, but inside she was fuming.
She had been on Tadbir for days looking for information regarding the missing children, but had found nothing. No secret shipments, no back-alley deals—nothing.
It was baffling! There should have been some sort of sign! The ship she had caught back on Voltis had been carrying a dozen children! How did you disguise moving that around?!
Yet if she didn't know any better, she would have thought that nothing was going on here! She had spent the last two nights staking out the port, hoping to find something suspicious, but besides a few cutpurses, the nights had been downright boring!
At this point, she knew there had to be something missing. While she still wasn't sure whether Tadbir was the final destination of the children or merely a tradeoff point, if anything like that was running through the port, there should be signs.
Had the man she had interrogated back on Voltis been lying? Even back when she had encountered him, she had suspected that, but she considered it unlikely at this point. Those Garfont mercs, Ciaran and Lyta, had come here after all, and they would have had access to the ship's navigation records. If the man had been lying to her, they would have gone wherever those indicated, rather than here.
No, they were here, but they weren't following the normal patterns. Perhaps the transactions were occurring on a private dock somewhere else on the Titan? That would explain the difficulty she was having in locating them…
Sighing, she slipped into the crowd, wandering idly towards the gates of the academy. With no leads, she had been spending the days adhering to her cover for coming to the Titan in the first place: looking for publishing contracts for her and her husband's printing business. She didn't really plan on actually going through with any, but it would be suspicious if she wasn't at least going through the motions of looking.
Besides, there was always the chance she would legitimately find someone worth contracting with. The two of them may prefer their vigilante work to their daytime cover, but she and Percy were proud of their printing business.
As she walked, she pulled out a list of other potential business partners. She hadn't been this close to the academy yet, so checking in on some of the other businesses would give her the opportunity to scout the area for anything suspicious. She didn't think there would be anything so close to the heart of the Titan, but…
In the alleyway off to the side, she saw a flicker of movement—a pair of figures running down the street on the far side. It was fast—too much so for her to easily catch their appearances.
Who was running, and why? It could be something benign—a pair of students late for an appointment or some children playing in the streets—but it could also be something more sinister.
Whatever it was, her instincts told her that she needed to investigate it.
She parted from the crowd, quickly making her way into the alley. With her current attire, it was unlikely she would catch up with them, especially on the ground. Fortunately, neither of those were a particular issue.
As soon as she was sure that nobody could see, she touched a hand to her chest. It was an unnecessary gesture, little more than a mnemonic she had used since the early days, but it was habit at this point to do.
In a flash of ether and ice, her appearance suddenly shifted. Her conservative dress and cardigan were replaced with a rather revealing skirted leotard and armored thigh boots. Her white hair, formerly worn loose, was now in a simple ponytail, the ends glowing a soft cerulean.
Blue ether lines traced across her exposed skin and outfit, drawing attention towards the shield-shaped Core Crystal on her chest. One that was mirrored by the weapon core of the Megalance she summoned only a moment later.
Opening her eyes, she let out a single, deep breath before immediately reaching into her bag and pulling out a handful of objects—additional aspects of her vigilante disguise that didn't come with summoning her Blade outfit.
First was a small metallic clip, the same shape as her Core Crystal, yet the color of the frame around it. It was a fairly simple item—a cover plate for her Core. It didn't afford much protection, but it did hide the crystal, making her identity—and some of the more… troublesome aspects of it—just a little harder to discern.
Slapping it into place, she was careful not to press too hard. It had a secondary function that she would rather not trigger if not necessary.
Next was a small cloth, a tattered red scarf with a black, scrolling character on it, which she quickly wrapped around the weapon core of her Megalance. It didn't fit the colors of her outfit, instead based on the colors of the war banners Percy used.
Finally, she drew a small, white mask from the bag. It was small and thin, barely covering more than her eyes and the areas directly around them, but it didn't need to cover her entire face, only enough to obscure her identity.
It also needed to be able to be worn alongside her circlet, which would have been a pretty big ask for anything larger.
As the mask settled on her face, she took a deep breath as she shifted her mindset from her public guise as 'Perun Wrotham, demure wife' to her true self: 'Tokiha, infamous vigilante'.
She only allowed herself a moment to adjust before leaping to the roof and dashing off after the runners. It would be far easier to follow them without having to worry about being constrained by streets and pedestrians.
Perhaps it was nothing, just another dead end, but it wasn't as if she had another lead right now.
His lungs burned as he ran through the pitch-black sewer with no end in sight. Never in his life had he ever run so far or fast, yet despite the protests of his body, no matter how much he wanted to stop, he wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop.
(They were behind him. They had to be. Running was safety, stopping was death. He couldn't stop until he found help—until he found anything besides the creeping darkness and the fears behind him.)
The shallow, fetid waters of the half-abandoned sewer splashed with every footstep, throwing drops of waste-filled liquid onto his legs and pants, but he barely paid it any mind. (It was gross, to be sure, but better icky poop water than being caught.)
Despite the effects the exertion was having on him, he was actually feeling better now. The massive, mind-numbing headache he had felt during the entire stay in the second cell had faded not long after he had escaped. After days with it constantly pounding in his head, he had almost gotten used to it, so having it suddenly gone made it feel as if the world had opened up again.
Everything felt sharper, in a way. The air, despite the stench, felt more vibrant and full of life. He couldn't see much around him, yet despite the only source of light being his Core Crystal, the walls seemed far clearer than they should be.
Unfortunately, all of this didn't help his situation. He had been running for what felt like hours, yet there had been no sign of an exit.
Already, he had passed a number of pipes branching off from his current tunnel, some of which he probably could have fit through. Yet when he tried to divert down them, he found that they had been grated off.
It wasn't a good sign. What would happen if, somewhere down the line, the tunnel he was already taking was grated off as well? Would there be another way out of here? (Or would he be trapped, waiting either to die or be recaptured?)
Was he going the wrong way? Should he have tried every turn, looking for a pipe that wasn't obstructed? Or should he have gone against the flow of the sewage when he first started running?
(Had he ruined everything by just blindly running, leaving himself hopelessly lost?)
Even with these thoughts in mind, he kept running. He had gone too far at this point to do anything else. All he could hope for was that, somewhere in front of him, there was a way…
There! About a hundred feet in front of him, far outside the radius of the light from his Core Crystal, a dim glow shone through one of the pipes. Daylight, maybe? He had been locked away for long enough that he wasn't quite sure.
Putting on a burst of speed he didn't realize he still had in him, the boy desperately sprinted for the light. He stumbled slightly, slipping on something in the water, but managed to remain upright as he ran.
Upon reaching the pipe in question, his hopes rose. There was no grate on it, nor was there any obstruction he could see. A fresh breeze, free of the stench of waste, tickled his face as he looked, confirming exactly what he had been hoping for: that this was an exit!
He leaned over, entering the pipe. It was a little cramped, even for a kid as small as he was, but still wide enough that he didn't need to crawl. At this point, he wouldn't have cared, but it was appreciated nonetheless.
As he proceeded, the boy was awash with emotion. He… he was really doing this, wasn't he? He was about to get out, to reach the surface, to escape! (The fear clenching at his heart was slowly abating with each step. He could hear no footsteps in the tunnel behind him, feel no monster breathing down his neck. For the first time since this ordeal began, he was feeling hope.)
As he approached the end of the pipe, the light became almost blinding. He was forced to shield his eyes as he walked. He could hear the sounds of the wind blowing, of birds chirping. The sound of gravel crunching underfoot and the distant rumble of conversations from a busy street.
He was almost there.
Then, almost as if drawn to his hopeful thoughts, the light suddenly dimmed, obstructed as someone blocked the pipe in front of him.
(No no no nononononono-!)
Without any further warning, a hand shot into the pipe and grabbed him by the hair. He could barely react before the hand wrenched back, dragging him unceremoniously out of the pipe and towards whatever awaited outside.
"Alright, you brat." A voice, adult but not particularly old, said wearily. "Good try, but I'm going to have to bring you back now."
It was an adult, probably only barely so, wearing a set of sporting protective gear that looked like it had been put on in a rush. Most of his body was covered in dyed padded armor, and his face was covered by a protective mask.
Even through that, he recognized the man. It was one of the men that followed the creepy Blade around, the one who had been so visibly ashamed as they had been led to the lab, who had been so obviously terrified of that man with the cruel smile that had experimented on them.
And he didn't seem to be any happier with this situation than with those ones. He gave the boy an apologetic look as he dragged him off. "Sorry to do this, but if I don't bring you back, the doctor'll be after me instead." The man shook at the very thought, his face paling. "And I can guarantee that what he's done to you is a kindness compared to what I'd be getting."
(Why was he still helping those monsters?! If he was out here, didn't that mean he could escape too?)
He thrashed wildly in the man's hands, screaming at the top of his lungs for help. Being dragged by the hair, he couldn't exactly bite the man, but he could wail on his arm with as much strength as he could manage.
The teen was obviously unaffected by his flailing and strikes, the fists of a malnourished eight-year-old doing little to harm someone at least a decade older than him. His screaming, on the other hand, at least seemed to make him nervous.
"Pipe down!" He hissed, trying to cover the boy's mouth. "I can't afford to have you get me caught!"
"No! Let me go!" He continued to scream, constantly turning his head to keep his mouth clear. "Somebody help! HEL-!"
A fist smacked into his skull. "I said shut the hell up!" He roared, painfully clamping his hand over the boy's mouth. "This is hard enough to handle even without you hollering like that! We are going back to the lab, and that's fina-!"
The only warning the boy got was a flicker of… something on the edge of his perception range, some sort of ripple in the air that he had no idea what it was. An instant later, a flash of white cut between him and the teen trying to recapture him.
His would-be captor recoiled with a shout of pain, clutching the hand that had been holding the boy's hair. Blood flowed freely from the hand, from an injury he didn't know where it had come from.
Instinctively, the boy scuttled back from the teen, his eyes wide as he saw the blood. What had happened? How had the adult been injured?
As if to answer his question, a figure landed between them. It was a woman with skin even darker than his, wearing a strange white outfit. She held a spear of some sort, very obviously a Blade weapon even to a non-Driver like him, with a three-pronged blade of crystal that looked almost like ice.
"Don't you lay even a single finger on that child!" The woman commanded, her spear held in a ready position as she faced the teen.
The man, on the other hand, just stared at her blankly, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "W-what?!" He muttered dumbly. "Y-you, but you can't… you're not…!"
He took a step back, nearly stumbling onto his rear. "Y-you can't be Tokiha! Not here! You're supposed to be on Mor Ardain!"
"I go wherever I am needed." She replied, tensing in preparation to move. "Injustice is everywhere… how can I rectify that if I only stay in one place?"
Throwing his hands into the air, the teen bolted. "Screw this! I'm not fighting one of the Architect-damned Ardainian Vigilantes!"
From the ground, the boy watched as his would-be captor ran up the hill, away from the woman. He didn't get far, though; another ripple of something tickled his senses as she raised her spear, brilliant light shining from the lines across her skin. She spun the weapon above her head, cool air rolling off of her, and a wave of ice launched out of it toward the fleeing man.
The teen squawked in alarm as the ground beneath him suddenly became a sheet of ice. He slipped almost immediately, falling on his face as gravity and a sudden lack of traction dragged him back into the ditch and towards the woman.
She took a step forward, placing a foot on his back as he slid to a halt. Ice flowed from her heel, creeping across the fallen teen as it locked him in place. He thrashed, struggling to escape from his frozen prison, but the ice didn't so much as budge.
(Not so nice to be on the other end of that, was it? Maybe next time he'd think twice about how it feels to be trapped and helpless!)
Apparently satisfied by the condition of her captive, she turned around to face him. In a panic, he hugged his arms against his chest, desperate to cover his Core Crystal. He didn't have a shirt—he hadn't since it had been cut off of him during the procedure—so it was visible to the world otherwise.
(Would she still help him if she thought he was a Blade? …Maybe, she looked like she was too. But if she found out he was a freak…?)
He shrank in on himself slightly under her gaze. After what he had been through, he was hesitant to trust any adult, but she had saved him, and he needed to get help….
Meeting her gaze, he was given his first look at her face. She was… really tall, at least compared to him. Not exactly an achievement considering his age, but after weeks of being in a cell with kids around his age, it was easy to forget. She wore a stern yet concerned look on her face, and even through the domino mask on her face, he could see the gentle look in her eyes. A look that told him she genuinely cared.
Together with the way the early-afternoon light reflected off her hair, outlining her head like a halo, he could almost believe for a moment that she was a guardian angel, sent by the Architect to rescue him.
Kneeling down to his eye level, the woman did her best to appear non-threatening to him. "Hello there." She greeted gently. "Are you hurt?"
He shook his head, remaining silent for the moment. He… he didn't know what to say. After how much had happened… there was so much he needed to tell her, yet he didn't know how…
The woman's eyes traced over him, double-checking the boy just in case. She frowned as she looked at his chest, seeing his arms tightly crossed over it. "Have you been injured there?" She asked, not making any move towards the area.
Again, he shook his head, pulling his arms even tighter. She didn't challenge him on the matter, instead giving him a reassuring smile. "Thank goodness." She said, returning to her feet.
Something about her presence made him feel… safe. Like when he had sought the protection of Miss Maia back when he was younger. Was it the fact that she had saved him?
In the distance, there was another of those strange rippling sensations. He jolted upright, his head shooting in the direction of the feeling. In his peripheral vision, he saw that the woman had reacted similarly. Could she feel it as well?
Before he could consider the idea further, she suddenly stepped in front of him protectively. A golden glow shone in front of her, just as a massive burst of flame licked the ground of the ditch.
He scrambled to his feet, clinging to the woman's leg. What was it now?!
Flames clashed against the golden light, the shimmering patters of the fire beautiful in a way that would have been hypnotic had the situation been any different.
After only a brief moment, the flames died down. The woman kept her spear aimed in the direction of the attack, the tension in her clear even while standing in her shadow.
"Right, then." A voice called from a few feet away. "Here's what's gonna happen."
Looking up, the boy could see a group of adults standing on the edge of the ditch. There were three of them: an Ardainian man, a Gormotti woman, and a third man of a race he couldn't immediately identify but looked fairly similar to the Ardainian. Slightly behind them were a trio of Blades, more generic-looking than the woman who had saved him.
The Drivers were all dressed similarly, wearing fairly utilitarian clothing with patches of armor over them. They held their Blade's weapons—a one-handed hammer and shield, a pair of long knives, and a giant axe respectively—with confidence.
"You," the lead Driver continued, pointing at the woman, "are going to walk away. I don't care what you do after that; fuck off to your Driver or something, just get out of here and forget it ever happened."
He gestured at both the boy quivering in place behind the woman and the teen frozen to the ground. "Those two, on the other hand, are coming with us. Understand?"
In response, the woman merely adjusted the grip on her weapon. "I will do no such thing." She declared. "This child is under my protection. I would suggest you respect that."
The lead Driver sighed in annoyance, scratching his head irritably. "Ah, cripes, I was hoping you'd not say that." He muttered, giving his companions a nod. "Would'a been easier on us all if you'd just walked away."
Shifting his weight slightly, he brought his weapons into a ready position. Fire ether trailed from the hammer as he took his stance, already preparing to launch an Art.
"Oh well, I guess we are getting paid for a situation like this." He shrugged before launching forward, trailed by the other two Drivers.
Author's Notes
Well, it took a little longer than anticipated, but everything is finally in position to really start getting moving.
In retrospect, I'm kind of glad that I had to split the Zeke encounter between this chapter and the last, because otherwise there may not have been any scenes with the actual party in this chapter. It wouldn't have been the end of the world, but I'd rather them have secondary focus than none at all.