Form Fours, Right Turn
After some explanations as to what had occurred, the Cherrystone soldiers began escorting the travelers to an encampment further down the road. Having been out on a patrol, the fight had garnered their attention to investigate only to find the odd group in the middle of the battlefield. With one of the group being a Cherrystone mage and another a Floran mercenary working on behalf of the Kingdom (supposedly for them both as they had no documentation and thus falling under suspicion), it became clear that standing in a forest battlefield would not be the best place to sort things out. (That and everyone wanted to get out of the rain.)
"Music changed again," Toth commented as they walked.
"Toth please, just shut up," Amber groaned as she leaned on Edward for support.
"Is this always going to be a thing with you?" Edward asked as he adjusted his grip on her.
"Only when I go all out. Limited use just gives me a headache. What I did back there makes it worse."
"Sounds like using magic," one of the soldiers said, "Use too much at once and you're left drained."
"And how would you know that?" Susan questioned, "You're an archer, not a mage."
"Brother-in-law is a mage."
The conversation dropped off as they continued walking. A few curses and complaints were muttered as someone stumbled or tripped, but the walk had been mostly quiet save for the rain. Before long, they had reached the encampment.
"Get the captain," one of the escorting soldiers called before turning to the travelers, "I'm afraid this is where you relinquish your weapons and submit yourselves for questioning."
"Very well sergeant. Thank you for your assistance," Susan replied.
"Can I sit down and take a nap first?" Amber questioned as she slouched over Edward's shoulder.
"Not on me you can't," Edward said bluntly.
Sil flicked his tail anxiously. The others had disarmed themselves and had been forced to comply with an examination to ensure they truly were disarmed. While hiding nothing (other than his wings) and having shown that he had no physical weapons on him, the soldiers were well aware of the fact that he had the Light. It was because of this reason that he was dragged to a tent and found himself face to face with a different mage.
"This is only a precaution," the mage said with a hapless smile as he held up a pair of binders, "Strange things have been afoot as of late as you are no doubt aware."
"Let's just get this over with," Sil held out his arms.
The binders were clamped onto his arms and he suddenly felt exhausted and empty. The feelings of vulnerability and as if a part of him was missing almost forced him to curl up into a ball and whimper. Everything was cold, quiet, and dull. It was agonizing in a way not even his limited brushes with the Decay could compare to.
"It's gone… The Light is gone…" he whispered in shock.
"Really wish there was a better way of doing this," the mage sighed, "This won't take long. Come, the others are waiting."
Unable to reply, he began shaking. With another sigh, the mage gently helped him to his feet and escorted him out of the tent.
Susan bit her cheek and tried not to ignore the feeling of her magic being cut off. It felt like torture, a part of her ripped away with a gaping void left behind. She knew such measures were necessary, but that did not make the feeling hurt any less.
"You all right there?" Wraith asked as he sat next to her.
"I will be," she hissed, questioning why the binders could not be adjusted like any other magical item.
"And here I thought Coalition security measures were strict," Edward said, "You look like death."
"Perhaps now would be a good time to keep that blunt attitude of yours to a minimum my Europan friend," Toth warned as Sil was brought in.
Amber gave a glare at the mage who helped sit Sil down before walking straight out, not even bothered by the look. Following his exit, the captain came in and looked at the assembled group. Her gaze was piercing and uncompromising, only coming to a brief stop by looking at Edward, Sil, and Amber.
"I am captain Harley of the Eighth Border Guard Battalion," she said coldly, eyes looking over them all, "You will answer my questions honestly and without hesitation or you will be treated as enemies of the Kingdom. I don't have time for muffins so don't test my already thin patience."
Susan took a deep breath and stood up, "Corporal Susan… Second Relic Survey Corps… These individuals are...under my employment."
"You don't have that authority corporal," Harley said before looking at the others again with a huff, "But I am well aware of the unique circumstances we find ourselves in."
"Captain, with respect, no you don't," Wraith said bluntly, "I've worked with the Survey Corps for years and I know what 'unique circumstances' usually entail."
"Then enlighten me."
"Where's my bag?" Amber groaned out the question.
"Why does that matter?"
"Relic… Cult of Decay wants it," Susan hissed out the response, "Need to investigate...before making...a decision."
The captain looked at Susan and then Amber. With the snap of her fingers, one of the guards outside walked off. Susan huffed and sat back down, gripping her hands into fists and taking measured breaths to deal with the emptiness.
"You, drifter," Harley pointed at Amber.
"I have a name. It's Amber," Amber snapped in response.
"What did you unearth and how much of a threat does it pose to the Kingdom? Why is a Cult of Decay after it?"
"The bastards didn't say, they just shot at us."
"The survivor said that nothing matters," Edward said suddenly, "He said we bought a few more minutes of existence before he killed himself with a cyanide pill."
"He wasn't Decayed," Sil trembled quietly, "Fought with Decay and machines, not Decayed."
"The hell? The Decay doesn't work with anyone. You of all individuals should know that, Guardian," Harley exclaimed, eyes widening from shock before narrowing once more.
"Tell that to the Second if they come back from the grave," Wraith countered as the guard returned with Amber's bag.
Harley handed the bag to Amber with a demanding look. Scoffing and blinking her eyes, she opened the bag and pulled the tablet out.
"They're looking for this," Amber turned it on and the files came to life, "Or what's on it more likely."
"And what exactly are they looking for?" Harley asked, eying the holographic files in a mixture of intrigue and calculation.
"The exact details we don't know," Toth answered with a shrug, "Though we have a guess. The most likely would be the diamond you see there but we don't know."
"It's called the Immortal Cell, an artificial higher being. This doesn't explain how it was made but it has information around the technology that did the job," Amber explained before she glared at the diamond with loathing, "I personally think destroying this would be the easiest solution but we're trying to figure out the best one."
"Need the archives...to make a decision," Susan said.
Harley looked at the image and then group. With a huff she pulled a set of keys out from her belt and unlocked the binders on Susan and Sil. Susan merely rubbed her wrists and took a deep breath to steady herself while Sil collapsed in relief.
"I don't trust you lot yet," Harley warned, "But I can see that this is beyond my station. If what me and my men have been dealing with is related to this greater scheme, then I better do my service to the Kingdom."
"Then be ready captain," Wraith warned, "Because if we're even partially right about whatever is going on, then we're in for trouble."
An hour later the group was served some rations. It was nothing more than hardtack and water but they did not complain. They had been forced to stay in the tent where captain Harley interrogated them but were no longer in restraints.
"So what now?" Amber asked as she sat on some crates, ignoring Toth who was humming next to her.
"We wait for our due process and go on from there," Edward took a bite of his hardtack, "Nothing more we can do right now."
"Second time I've been arrested in a month… Is this going to be a regular occurrence as I travel with you all?" Toth stopped humming briefly.
"Aren't you responsible for what happened back at the Inn?" Edward glanced at her.
Toth had the decency to look guilty as the world distorted and became pixelated.
"Think this will get the captain to believe us?" Amber asked with a general handwave.
"Doubt it," Wraith sighed, "Cherrystone might pride itself as a peaceful kingdom but the moment it faces a threat its soldiers can rival the Coalition in terms of discipline."
"Have you even been to the Coalition? Because I grew up under it even before the reforms took place," Edward stated.
"I've heard enough rumors from travelers and merchants to get an understanding."
This resulted in a debate breaking out between Edward and Wraith over the Coalition and military crackdowns. Toth and Susan sat to the side with the occasional commentary on their thoughts regarding the two differing opinions. Amber, having recovered from her headache, got up to stretch only to notice Sil sitting by himself in a fetal position.
"Hey, you all right there?" she asked as she walked over.
"It was gone," he whispered, "The Light was gone when they put the binders on."
"Oh…" Amber said blankly.
Not sure what else to say, she sat down next to him. He unexpectedly leaned into her side after a moment and other than a small jump, she let him even in spite of the mud. They sat there for several seconds, barely acknowledging the debate going on in front of them.
"How do you live without it?" Sil asked suddenly.
"I'm sorry?" Amber turned her head to face him.
"How do you live without the Light?"
"I… I just do. What's it like to have it?"
Sil gave the question some thought. As much as he regretted the Light throughout his life, he never felt so empty and cold before when the binders were clamped onto him. He had faced Decayed, the lingering remnants of Blind lands, and even the undead (which had been...an experience), but the Light inside of him was always present. To have something that was a part of him, a furnace that could warm as much as it could burn, being seemingly snuffed out was an empty agony that clawed at him worse than any hunger, cold, loneliness, or sadness. Love it or hate it, Sil now knew what it felt like to not have the Light and he never wanted to experience that feeling again.
"Sorry… Forget I asked," Amber said after he failed to respond.
"It feels warm," Sil answered quietly.
"Show's over boys," Susan called out as Harvey walked back in.
The captain glanced around the tent with the same scowling look before letting out a shrug, "You're in luck corporal. I lack the means of holding you and your companions and my lieutenants agree that we are not prepared for whatever this is. You and your band of misfits will be sent on the first supply balloon back to Cherrystone Castle and be judged there."
"Thank you captain," Susan replied.
"Don't thank me yet. I'm still of a mind to put you all in restraints the whole back. The only reason why I'm not is because of the nature of thi-" the world distorted back to normal, "Never going to get used to that… That nonsense and the drifter providing somewhat of an explanation for it."
"Hey!" Amber snapped indignantly.
"Amber," Edward gave her a sharp look that surprised even Sil with its severity before he faced Harvey, "Excuse our companion. We had been in combat not that long ago and traveling for quite some time."
"Hmph. Don't think you're free from my scrutiny either, Europan. It's your weapons that are being used against the Kingdom."
"Captain! Another patrol has returned," a soldier outside reported.
"Excuse me," Harvey addressed them before she turned on her heel and left.
"Bitch," Amber muttered.
"She's a security officer. It's her job to be harsh," Edward said as he glanced between Sil and Amber before sighing, "Causing a scene will result in more trouble and that's the last thing we need right now. We all behave and cooperate with the authorities and it'll go faster for everyone."
"Not fast enough," Sil rubbed his wrists, "Nothing could be fast enough for what happened."
"Well this has been a lovely time and it's clear some kind of war is brewing," Toth said in an overly cheerful voice with a light clap, "But I think we all forgot to ask the important question."
"And what's that?" Wraith asked.
"If you start singing I'm going to hit you," Amber warned as she got up.
"When is that balloon supposed to come?" Toth asked loudly, turning towards the tent entrance, "We're in a rush to go somewhere so how long do we need to wait?"
"Oh muffins, didn't think of that," Wraith sighed and ran a hand down his face, "It could be a month for all we know."
"You're the one who insisted on staying with me," Susan glared at him, "Why didn't you fly off when I told you to?"
Another round of bickering broke out between Susan and Wraith. Amber sat back down and merely let Sil rest against her side while Edward sat down on the crates and resumed eating his hardtack. Toth meanwhile tapped her hand against her thigh in rhythm with the song. From her perspective, it was obvious as to why this particular song was being used. It was raining, miserable, a conflict was indeed breaking out, and this was a military camp to top it all off.
But just how bad is this war going to be?, she thought as the song began to loop.
Edward was also deep in thought. He knew he was approaching the Abyss and getting dangerously close to being crushed by the weight of whatever was going on. The group was under arrest by a paranoid military officer and he knew that the unusual circumstances involving everything is probably the only reason as to why the said officer relented so fast. As a paranoid, cynical, and wary man himself Edward knew that the situation was not the best for anyone and quite possibly going to get worse.
And somehow, all of it trailed back to Amber… That young, sharp tongued, impossibly deadly yet bright eyed adventurer who started all of this. Edward has met optimists and fools before. Amber was neither of those, merely inexperienced outside of her home (which should have beaten the brightness out of her truthfully if everything about Central Town was even remotely true). The tablet, the Cults, the job, the current arrest, Amber was linked to it all…
How much deeper are we going to go Amber? Where is that sense of adventure and that tongue of yours going to take us? We're already diving into the Abyss and with you at the helm we may reach the bottom of it, he thought as he reflected over the time since he met her.