Chapter 27 "Just a Game"
The path into the Cadensia region was about as straightforward as Noah and Mio could've asked for it to be. Guiding them northward was the Great Sword which commanded their attention upon entry into its base. Unlike the previous region, this one was lush with a menagerie of strange flora. The air was noticeably humid, but the two deserters were relieved to find not a wisp of black fog. Dusk had long descended upon the land by the time they heard the first trickle of water, an encouraging sound to the travel-weary, unwashed pair.
"Are we in the wetlands yet?" the cat-eared Agnian wondered with a tinge of whininess.
"Nearly there, I think," her Kevesi counterpart tried to placate her before momentarily accessing his Iris. "Despite receiving the map of Cadensia from Verna, this is still uncharted territory for us."
"The Great Sword would've kept us from getting lost anyway," Mio looked ahead, though the monument itself was hardly visible in the misty darkness. "Still, I wouldn't mind wandering into a pond right about now."
"I know, I know…" he shared in her yearning for a bath. Their lower extremities ached from having hiked up the gradually inclining terrain all day. When at last it seemed to level off, they were rewarded with the first two bodies of water that they'd seen since leaving Colony Rho.
"Ah, here we go," she observed both choices before a disappointing realization occurred to her. "Ugh… too bad they're right in the open."
"Peridot did say nobody was trying to claim this area at the moment," Noah recalled what their former hostess at Colony 21 had speculated, hopeful that the coast was indeed clear.
"I don't want to risk anyone sneaking up on us," the older soldier remained wary. "The last thing we need is another bad surprise."
"Shall we walk a little further, then?" the pacifist suggested, wishing to keep her spirits up. "There must be more ahead."
"Let's go," her head nodded with approval.
Now along the Bannis Path, mud gradually gave way to coarse sand while local fauna sniffed around for something to eat. Mio's still stiff ears were tickled by droplets of dew descending from several protruding rock formations overhead. Curiously cascading off one of them was a weak waterfall whose depositing point was the thin, shallow end of the longest pond that the two soldiers had seen yet.
"Will this do?" he conferred with her whilst scanning their immediate surroundings.
"Yes, it's secluded enough," she determined after having a few glances herself, "at least while it's nighttime."
"In that case, I'll set up camp," the swordfighter volunteered and soon commenced with the gathering of necessary materials. These were the N'ohm Wetlands that they'd been aiming to reach by day's end. Noah was quite proficient at roughing it in the wilds by now, evidenced by how quickly he brought back sticks and stones to build them a cozy fire. As for Mio, she'd already removed her boots and reclined at the water's edge with her feet submerged for a relaxing soak.
"Ahhh… this is more like it," Mio's head was momentarily thrown back while she leaned on her arms. Her unzipped backpack leaned against her side, her hand periodically sneaking inside for a few dried obsidian berries.
"Is the water cold?" he sat facing her with the campfire between them, snacking on dwindling provisions from Docca as well.
"Not as much as I thought it'd be," she peered over her shoulder to him. Not long removed from the rainless storm and annihilation events of yesterday, they basked in the tranquil atmosphere of the Great Sword's Base while it sat presently uncontested by Keves and Agnus. Neither soldier had ever camped amid such whimsical vegetation before, many buddings of which glowed warmly, prettily in the dark. It was enough to induce drowsiness, but certain tasks hadn't yet been tended. "Right, I'd better stop putting off what I've been wanting to do."
"Huh?" Noah blinked twice while she dug out every piece of clothing which she'd accumulated. Even her helmet with its modified padding was brought out as part of the laundry.
"I'm taking the first dip," the tenth-termer informed him before she tossed both pairs of boots into the pond.
"Oh, uh, I see," he shook the lethargy from his head and climbed to his somewhat rested feet.
"You can look if you want," she proceeded to undress, starting with her outer shirt. "I don't care anymore that you're Kevesi."
"Shouldn't I stand guard, though?" the ponytailed soldier reminded her of their need for vigilance.
"Of course." After a brief pause, Mio began tugging on his tight undershirt which she'd been wearing to cover her gem. Fortunately, her ears didn't get stuck on its way up and off. Everything that she removed went straight into the water until it was time to step in herself. Meanwhile, Noah had already roved a few paces away, intending to get in a little sword kata during her turn in the pond.
It wasn't the deepest water in which Mio had ever waded, its rippling surface only coming up to her knees. Nonetheless, the weak waterfall acted as a sufficient shower for the cat-eared Agnian who gladly washed away her layers of sweat and grime. Once finished, she seated herself such that the water nearly came up to her shoulders and began scrubbing her collection of gear.
"So, uh…" he restarted their chat, lowering his sword, "my background no longer affects you?"
"Hmm?" her concentration nearly caused her to miss his query. "Oh, yeah, I don't really view you as Kevesi like I used to, nor do I view myself as Agnian."
"Is it because you've since been in disguise?" Noah turned around and noticed half of her clothes already set by the campfire to dry.
"I suppose it helped," the zephyr wrung the water out of her camisole, "but the lines to me were already blurred."
"Ah," he stared at his Blade before withdrawing it. "I confess that I'm curious to know, um, when that might've happened."
"Hmm, not sure," she raised her knee around which to wrap her arm. "My life has changed so much lately. I need my journals now more than ever, else I lose track of things."
"Right…" Sensing that his turn was coming soon, Noah began removing his own gear like she had done. In just under a minute, his entire kit was untidily folded and stacked in his arms.
"All done," Mio announced while she prepared to trade places with him. True to her word, she no longer felt a shred of embarrassment to be this open around her trusted Kevesi partner. If anything, it now seemed silly to her that she'd ever let his prior affiliation matter in the first place. The boundaries for their wandering eyes were gone as they casually walked past each other. Mio paid particular attention to Noah's ponytail which feathered the back of his neck on his way towards the waterfall. "Er, wait a second…"
"Huh?" the pacifist swiveled back to her.
"Your hair," she approached him, dripping with each step. "I want to see it down first."
"Oh, I suppose I did promise." It had completely slipped Noah's mind to show her how messy his hair might've become since his last bath. After dropping his kit in the water, he reached behind himself to pull out the little red tie that'd been holding his ponytail together. In another moment, it all flowed freely with nary a strand out of place. "There… how's that?"
"Hmm…" the moonblades-wielder observed his gorgeous locks while he slowly rotated for her.
"Disappointed?" he felt compelled to ask, not quite teasingly.
"No," her gazing concluded with a grin, "not really."
The rest of the evening remained lighthearted between the two deserters while they chatted by the fire. Once their gear had dried, they redressed themselves and unrolled their sleeping mats. Knowing that the pickup point at Morrack Inlet wasn't too far north, it soon dawned on them that this would likely be their final campout before reaching the City. It was an exciting prospect, one which made it a little more difficult than usual to settle down their minds for slumber. Perhaps it was a good thing, then, that the wetlands were mercifully calm and peaceful tonight.
Unfortunately, the ambience was sullied by morning thanks to an explosion in the distance. Riled awake, Noah and Mio first stared at each other before they tracked additional noise coming from the direction of the Great Sword. It didn't take them long to discern the clear shapes of two Ferronises facing off with several Kevesi Velites and Agnian Avis Levnises locking slicers below.
"W-when did that start?" the stunned swordsman stood woozily from what'd been yet another rude awakening.
"I didn't hear them set up," she rose to her knees, "probably due to the waterfall."
"It's alright," he scrambled to pack their belongings. "We're still in one piece, and… they don't seem to notice us."
"That's good, for now." Mio, now back in her normal uniform, momentarily used her Iris to identify the emblem on the Agnian Ferronis. "Colony Kappa… never interacted with them."
"Neither have I," her travel partner took her cue and activated his own Iris to read the other Ferronis' emblem. "As for Keves, that's… Colony 20, the one which Radek had mentioned."
"Didn't he say they're supposed to be on the other side of the Great Sword?" the zephyr brought up their former host's additional detail.
"Colonies are mobile, as you know," he strapped on his crossbody bag.
"Still, it's weird that they both showed up out of the blue," her brows lowered while her suspicions rose.
"I agree," Noah observed the scope of the fresh battle, some ether beams of which had already scorched the canyon's walls. "It'd make more sense if territory had been preestablished by one and subsequently challenged by the other."
"Regardless, we can't hang around here anymore," she maintained her focus on their present predicament. "But how do we get to our destination?"
"The path goes straight into the battlefield," he confirmed with his map before deactivating his Iris, "however, we can veer off it and climb the hill to the left."
"We'll have to be quick about it, then," Mio started moving ahead of him, fearful of getting swept up in the war's latest battle. "Come on."
"I am," the ninth-termer kept up with her. Following Noah's projection, they ran across shallow waters towards a separate tract of land whose hill would take them out of the Great Sword's Base. Before ascending all the way, however, the two deserters ducked behind where an adjacent shelf jutted out.
"Someone must've seen us." Now from a better vantage point, the moonblades-wielder spied on the personnel involved. There were plenty of soldiers from both sides, as well as one consul atop each Ferronis.
"Let's lie low for a moment, then," he quietly advised, slightly winded from the sprint. "Our exit is close to Kappa's line of fire, should they miss."
"Yeah, but when would it be a good time to dash for it?" the agile Agnian kept her wary eyes on the red-armored leaders whose arms gestured their inaudible orders. "We're tempting fate, whether we move or not."
"I don't think they'll settle anytime soon," her Kevesi counterpart speculated as Colony Kappa's consul disappeared from view. "We might be forced to take a chance, here."
"Then let's take it now," she tugged on his arm anxiously. "There's no one standing on their Ferro-"
"Got a couple of stragglers out here, do we?" a muffled but hostile female voice startled them upright. Quickly turning around, Noah and Mio found themselves in the company of the consul who'd left the action. "Why aren't you fighting with the rest of your peers?"
"We aren't from… er…" her words dried up as every excuse that came to mind seemed too weak to use.
"Eh? What's this, now?" Leaning to one side, the caped woman analyzed Noah's uniform. "A Kevesi? S-standing with an Agnian?"
"What'll we do?" the zephyr whispered to him in a stifled panic. "I don't know what to say."
"Why are you talking to him?" Colony Kappa's consul dropped her jaw behind her mask before the realization struck her. "You two… you've broken away, haven't you?"
"Too late…" the ponytailed soldier muttered through his gritted teeth.
"I should've stayed with the Kevesi kit…" his running mate regretted with a similar expression. Before she could finish her thought, her ears were filled with the dreaded, nauseating sound of another Moebius materializing onto the plane.
"Oi! Why did you leave your Ferronis?" This time it was Colony 20's consul, a man who casted a larger shadow in the morning light. "You know you can't do reconnaissance once the match has started!"
"Match?" Noah discreetly repeated the word which stood out to him the most.
"Huh?" the male leader noticed belatedly the two frozen soldiers. "Were they snooping on us?"
"Worse!" his comrade revoltingly backed up to him without taking her eyes off Noah and Mio. "They were deserting! Probably heading for the City!"
"Well, isn't that just odious?" he rested his hands on his hips, sneering at what she'd correctly assumed.
"We can't let them escape!" Colony Kappa's consul brandished a pair of brass knuckles on her fists, reminiscent of a cestus Blade.
"Indeed! The less the City has, the better!" His own weapon was of a slightly more traditional variety, a thick mace bearing several short spikes. "Can't have them playin' tootsie, now!"
"We have no choice, Mio!" Noah exclaimed as the two youths likewise summoned their Blades. "We've got to fight!"
"But there're two of them…" the older soldier's ears flattened from intimidation.
"I'll take the Kevesi traitor while you take the Agnian one!" the red-armored man patted his free palm with the upper portion of his mace's handle.
"Just what I was thinking!" the smaller consul smacked her brass knuckles together. Wasting not another second, she dove for Mio who nimbly avoided the opening punch of their private skirmish. Nearby, the other aggressor swung his Blade against Noah's, a clash which sent brief but sharp recoiling pain through the swordfighter's arms. Both dictators made sure to stay between the soldiers and their exit up the hill, in spite of Mio's agility. "Trying to sneak by, are you? I cannot permit this!"
"Leave us alone!" It was hardly the first time that the moonblades-wielder had shouted such a plea during their trek. "We weren't interfering!"
"Ah, but you were, my dear!" the male hierarch's tone teetered between petulant and cavalier.
"We don't appreciate distractions during our battles!" his female counterpart snarled her continued grievances. "And we certainly won't tolerate rebellions such as yours!"
"How were we distracting?" Mio held her ring swords in front of her while the fisticuffs endured. "What does it matter?"
"Concentration is of utmost importance!" her opponent's brass knuckles gained the unmistakable glow of Moebius power. "Can't make a bad move or else I'll be well on my way to losing!"
"Losing?" the older deserter sliced backhandedly but whiffed the nearly equally fast woman. "Losing what?"
"Why, our match, of course!" Colony 20's consul pounded the dirt after likewise missing Noah.
"Your…?" she glanced over her shoulder to the battle between the two colonies which pressed on without their leaders.
"Mio!" her travel partner alerted her to an incoming strike. The agile Agnian had less than a second to refocus and block, thus barely avoiding injury.
"See? Taking your eye off the prize will cause you to lose!" The boxing consul shoved her a few steps backwards while their Blades remained connected.
"W-what's the prize to you consuls?" the zephyr conceded her hold and instead rolled aside to regain her stance. When at last the consuls paused both their fighting and squawking, the answer started to become clear to her.
"It's life, isn't it?" Noah understood it as well, moving to stand beside Mio. "Soldiers' lives… our lives."
"You two know too much," the caped man lowered his head, disappointedly, discontentedly. "Your fates have been sea-"
"That battle over there," the swordfighter pointed to the larger mess which the two consuls had started, "it's not for territory, is it?"
"No, it's for their own enjoyment…" the tenth-termer was on the same page, grimacing.
"Well, don't act so tetchy about it," the mace-wielding man rested the blunt end of his hefty weapon on the ground. "It's just a game we're playing… a little harmless fun."
"Yeah, and you soldiers are easy to come by," the smaller dictator adopted a similar, pompous pose. "I don't mind starting a colony over. But losing a battle? Now that would be embarra-"
"We're not your toys!" Mio lashed out with both her voice and one of her ring swords, resulting in a deep gash precariously close to the female aggressor's core.
"Ugh!" Colony Kappa's consul fell to her knees. "You… little bitch!" Her comrade put away his Blade to check on her, unintendedly leaving their blockade wide open.
"Mio! Now's our chance!" The pacifist grabbed her trembling arm and led her around their temporarily disarmed opponents. Before they could make decent progress up the hill, however, a massive discharge of red and purple energy from behind knocked them flat on their faces. Twisting around, Noah and Mio were horrified to discover two transformed creatures glaring at them with incensed eyes aglow. "Moebius…"
"Where on Aionios could you have picked that up?" the male monster growled while their disfigured bodies oozed with power and hatred.
"It matters not," the female one flaunted her mutated knuckles which now appeared to be directly connected to herself. Curiously, her injury hadn't disappeared, though it was of no hindrance as she began hovering in the air. Familiar but no less unsettling penumbral aura emanated from her fists in preparation for the next maneuver. "We have the perfect punishment for soldiers who slip through the cracks!"
"Ah, that we do!" The Moebius of Colony 20 clasped his hands together to form the shape of a mace head at hulking proportions. "Pounding husks into dust is my favorite pastime!"
Not waiting to comprehend the absurdity on display, Noah and Mio ran for their lives up the hill until a downdraft forced them off their feet again. Once the dust cleared, they found themselves lying in a shallow crater apparently created by the floating monster.
"Don't even think about getting up!" she alternated aerial punches which blew further piledriving currents onto her immobilized targets.
"Let me finish them off!" the larger beast leapt with his merged fists and demolished the lower half of the hill. Debris was flying everywhere, enough to obscure his vision while he franticly searched for a fresh pair of husks. "Did I get them?! Where'd they go?!"
"I don't know… wait, there they are!" her distorted holler rattled the air before she prepared to deliver another onslaught. Having narrowly split the male monster's extraordinary attack, Noah and Mio pulled themselves onto the remainder of the hill and resumed their attempt at escape. The next wave of nonnatural downdrafts dented the terrain at their heels, a near miss each time. "Hey! Come back here!"
"I've got them!" The mace-fisted mauler handily scaled his self-made cliff and smashed the rest of the hill, effectively forming another shelf.
"You missed again!" the Moebius of Colony Kappa snapped at him. "Fine, I'll stop them myself!" Upon the soldiers' approach of the exit, she raised her aim and threw a forward, aerial punch in the direction of the canyon wall. Noah felt his ponytail whisk over his head before the impact caused several boulders to crash down in front of him and Mio.
"W-we're trapped?!" the moonblades-wielder wailed as they skidded to a halt.
"It would appear so!" the destructive monster caught up to them, his hands no longer together.
"Break their brittle bones!" the hovering one ordered upon drawing closer herself.
"No, this can't be how it ends!" Mio cried out defiantly, bringing out her dual weapons once more. Noah likewise summoned his own sword, but by some anomaly, it fizzled apart a second later.
"What the…?" the confused Kevesi stared at his empty hands. "Why did my Bla-"
"Got you now!" The Moebius of Colony 20 snatched both deserters clean off the ground before the cat-eared Agnian could toss one of her ring swords at his core. With Noah and Mio suspended in each oversized fist, the grappling beast prepared to crush their bodies with his raw strength. The moment his bulbous fingers began tightening, however, a sudden flash of electrified light burst from beneath his feet. Everybody was blinded by it, though his two tenderized prey managed to pry themselves out of his grasp and hobble out of the way.
"M-Mio…" Completely winded and partially wounded, Noah held onto her until both soldiers collapsed to their knees.
"I-I'm here…" his running mate was hardly in better shape. Realizing that no further attacks had come, they looked up to find that the monster who'd nearly ended their lives was now paralyzed by the electric field. Strange though it was, this bright and dazzling spectacle seemed familiar somehow. "Hang on… where have we seen this before?"
"The City folks," the ponytailed soldier remembered with a tiny gasp. "I think it's one of their traps."
"What… utter… rubbish…" Within moments, the monstrous body receded back to the red armor of Colony 20's wayward leader.
"Just like with my consul," Mio recalled how her personal vendetta against her former oppressor had ended in similar fashion.
"Whoa! Bagged us a brute back here!" Adding another surprise to the mix, a new, gravelly male voice sounded from atop the rock pile. Noah and Mio peered over their shoulders to find a group of eight City folks descending a slung rope ladder, all decked out and ready for combat. "Ah, and a couple of soldier kids to boot."
"Be careful!" the ninth-termer quickly directed their attention towards the sky. "There's another Moebius!"
"Blasted City vermin!" the remaining beast approached them by air, right on cue. Before she could wind up another aerial punch, however, the electricity from the activated trap zapped her power dry. "Bah! Of all the…" Unable to rescue her neutralized comrade, the Moebius of Colony Kappa took careful notice of how outnumbered she was and thus begrudgingly dematerialized in retreat.
"Might be for the best," the unnamed man adjusted a pair of goggles over his eyes. "Anyway, let's deal with this one." Stepping into the electric field unaffectedly, he reached behind the consul's head for a hidden button. With a firm click, the mask dissolved to reveal their enemy's face which featured a pencil-thin mustache and a broad chin. "Hmm… not a rapscallion I know. We'll have to check our references later."
Noah and Mio continued to watch the City folks handle the situation with nary a second wasted. The man who was clearly in charge leaned inward to retrieve personal data from the consul's Iris via his own, while two team members brought forth a peculiar device with pointed rods sticking out of the side. In one precise and seemingly well-trained movement, they shoved it against the embedded Moebius core which shattered instantly. Upon standing back, everybody beheld the cathartic sight of the defeated enemy's decomposition into a scattering of white motes.
"He's gone…" the weakened Kevesi sighed in relief shared by his Agnian counterpart. No longer in danger, he turned his attention to the group leader. "And you're from the City, yes?"
"Sure am, sonny," their new, unexpected ally confirmed while the others were already in the process of clearing out.
"Can you take us there?" Noah pulled both himself and Mio back on their feet.
"I was hoping you'd ask," the goggled man motioned for them to follow. "The City will be glad to have you!"