A Frail Immortality

II.

‐--

"Are you enjoying this peace and quiet without your research partner around?" Floren bent down to whisper in his Driver's ear, though she didn't seem to hear his words. He polished his long, magenta nails against the bright green of his lapel and smirked as he waited for his Driver to respond. The woman had had her hands in the dirt and was putting all of her focus into digging long blueish roots out of the soft, swampy earth. She only shook her head and motioned for Floren to bring her travel bag closer.

"The soil here is so rich," was her muted and distracted response.

The Blade puffed out his pale cheeks but dragged her bag closer. How could his Driver sit there and dig around in the muck? Brilliant fluorescent petals were swirling around them and the Titan teemed with wildlife to study, and yet here she was with her eyes turned down to the ground. It was enough to make him crazy. They only had clearance for 72 hours here in the Urayan Titan and there was so much to see!

He decided that the only way to get her to look around would be to distract her. "Luci, think fast!" Floren wrapped his slim arms around her neck from behind and dropped all of his weight on her. She struggled to hold her balance while remaining squatted on her haunches. He nuzzled his chin to the top of her head like an aggressive cat that demanded attention as he pulled her over.

Despite her best efforts, his weight on her back combined with his wiggling sent her toppling backwards onto him. "Floren," she scolded quietly. She sounded more inconvenienced than angry, but her tone was clearly not enough to discourage him. She tried to sit upright and get back to her work, but he tightened his grip on her neck like a suffocating backpack. "Floren, you're choking me!"

"I got you! Now, promise me that we can do something fun and I'll let you free!" He teased as he giggled in delight.

The researcher grumbled in annoyance and pulled at his arms with her fingers, but it was useless. Floren was incredibly strong, perhaps far more than he knew, though not a single soul would have guessed that from his appearance. Many a clueless man had been duped by his sweet face, thin form, and abundant charm.

"This is boring! Don't you want to visit a café in the capital? Or we could go swimming in the Wyrmtears!"

"We brought food along. And you know I can't swim."

"This is the best time to learn, right? I can show you! Come on, let's play a game or something! Something fun!"

She tried her best to reason with him, though he was far beyond the point of listening. It was a touch unlike Floren to be so energetic. Normally he was collected, graceful, and a tiny bit conniving. She wondered if the Titan's flourishing health made an impact on her Blade. "But I was having fun, Floren. I've never seen roots like that before. Do you think they are more like carrots or potatoes?"

Floren released his grip of her neck and flopped backwards on the ground with his limbs splayed out in defeat. "Carrots and potatoes? That's more fun than spending time with me?"

"I spend every second of every day with you, Floren." Lucille sat up and crawled on her knees back to the soft soil that she had been digging in. The black shirt she wore was smudged with mud, and the khaki knees of her cargo work-pants would likely be stained forever. She gathered her strawberry blonde curls up in a ponytail at the nape of her neck to keep it out of her face.

"Luci, you looked so put together this morning. Now look at you! Don't you care what people think?" Floren pranced over to her and bent down to her level. He drew his thumb across his tongue and used his spit to scrub off a smudge of dirt on her right cheek.

"Stop that." Lucille brushed his hand away and uttered a sound of distaste at his action. "Of course I care about what people think, but I'm on the job and there is nobody else here." Finally, her blue eyes widened and she realized that neither her research partner nor the other researcher's Blade was present. "Wait… there is supposed to be someone else here. Where are Eyvel and Azami?"

"I don't know!" He teased in a sing-song voice, kicking his heel against the earth sheepishly. "Maybe they ended up taking a job from one of the freelance guilds or something."

"Oh." Lucille went right back to work. She seemed to be satisfied with that answer. "That makes sense."

That was the exact opposite reaction that Floren wanted; couldn't she tell that he was fishing for an argument?! How did it make sense that a fellow Ardanian soldier would take on a mission for an Urayan Mercenary group? ' She JUST noticed he was gone?! I went through all the trouble of hiding that dweeb's map so that we could go adventuring to find him! Ugh, oh well…'

The Blade swept his gaze upwards as a strong breeze whipped through the Saffronia trees and sent peachy leaves raining down from above in a storm of color. Curious lavender eyes watched them until they drifted towards the port of Fonsa Myma and settled on the surface of the water. They left bright spots of vivid light until the ether coursed through the little veins of the petals.

'Ah, this view! This is the most beautiful place in the world!' Floren felt butterflies flutter about in his stomach at the very sight of such a spectacle. They had never seen anything like that in the rusty Ardainian capital, that was for sure! And while he was soaking in the feeling of nature, Lucille was missing out on the beauty and stuffing samples into jars. There was beauty in that too, Floren understood. He supposed Lucille was in her element, invigorated by the prospect of new plant life in the belly of this wondrous Titan.

It wasn't until he turned his back to Lucille that he realized the two of them weren't alone. A man stood on the shore of the lake with his back to the pair of them. The figure's attention seemed to be locked onto an extravagant boat in the port where the Emperor was meeting with the Urayan Queen.

For a moment Floren was sure that Eyvel and Azami had caught up to them, but Eyvel was a brawny idiot whose floppy, bright blond hair would have been visible from that distance. This other figure was taller, comparatively huge and bulky. Even from a distance, Floren could see the steady blue glow of ether from what appeared to be tubes at the man's waist and the back of his head.

' Oh, I recognise him…' Floren twirled a lock of mint hair around a delicate finger as he tried to recall the Blade's name. He was the newbie Emperor's newbie Blade, Floren knew that much. He had never heard the Blade speak, but he heard others call him the Empire's Sapphire. He was almost always seen silently trailing behind the child-like Emperor Niall throughout the capital whenever the young man felt the need to move about among the people. It made sense that he would be here keeping an eye on the meeting, though Blades were probably not allowed at the actual conference. Political tensions were high enough without the world leaders being armed.

Personally, Floren didn't much care for the history of the Empire, though he kept his opinions of his employers to himself. All that mattered was that he was feeling the urge to chat with someone besides Lucille, and his curiosity was piqued.

"Hey, you!" Floren suddenly called out towards the figure. He felt his Driver's eyes study his back and could sense her confusion. She apparently hadn't noticed his presence, either. ' Poor Luci. Too absorbed in her dirt to even sense that someone else is here. She would have been a sitting duck if an enemy attacked!'

The tall Blade wordlessly turned and approached them slowly at Floren's call. As he moved closer, Lucille rose up to her feet and brushed the dirt off of her palms.

"Don't bother him, Floren. He's on duty." Lucille ordered warily.

Floren pranced closer and threw his hand up in a wave. "...Hello!" he couldn't remember the Blade's name, but the glow of blue ether reflected off of the bright white of man's coat in a way that made it look metallic, so "Silver" seemed fitting enough. "Mr. Silver, you don't look too impressed with the scenery!"

"His name is Aegaeon, not Silver," Lucille corrected Floren matter-of-factly as she tugged the smaller figure by the elbow in an attempt to reign him in. "The Empire's Sapphire is an ancient Legendary Water-element Blade with supposedly excellent defensive capabilities. I do not know if that's true for his current state, but according to what I've read--"

Floren twirled to face her with his mouth open in mock offense. "Lucille! You can't just talk about a Blade's combat abilities in front of them like that. Try talking about people as if they have feelings, especially when they are present!"

She blinked her eyes in what seemed to be surprise at Floren's outburst. Slowly, a hint of pink shame rose in her cheeks. "I didn't realize that was inappropriate to say."

Aegaeon was quietly studying them both, his features were stony and his arms were placed on the hips of his coat in a no-nonsense stance of authority.

Lucille swallowed a painful lump in her throat and quickly moved her eyes to avoid his, but instead found herself only staring at the intimidating sword on his hip as her pulse began to race. "My apologies, I'm always saying rude things without meaning to. I meant absolutely no offense! …Sir." She threw in an embarrassed salute for good measure.

"I am." He finally spoke. His low voice was deep, yet barely above a whisper. Both Lucille and Floren gave a sudden start of surprise.

"You are… offended?" Lucille began to wring her hands nervously.

"What are your names?" He asked. Lucille felt her heart sink. Was he going to report them to her superior officer? Gods, this was horrible. Out of everyone she could have insulted, it would be the right hand man of the Emperor himself.

Floren determined that it was time to turn on the charm. "You are looking at the newly promoted Lead of Outgoing Field Studies in the service of the renowned Scientist Myer Naghi. I am Floren, and my partner is the illustrious Lucille Braham!" He gave a proper curtsy and tipped the water Blade a lovely wink. "If it weren't for us, the people of Mor Ardain wouldn't have a bite to eat! So please go easy on us!"

Lucille shook her head. "That's not true. We collect specimens so that the actual scientists in the agriculture department can find alternate sources for growing plants as the Titan becomes less hospitable. We are not high ranking."

"Oh my God, Lucille, shut up!"

Lucille did not, in fact, shut up. "Actually, there are twenty-nine technicians under Professor Naghi alone, and there are seven professors in the agricultural program. Suffice it to say, we are not that important, especially compared to the many other branches of the military."

"You're going to get us fired and we will be stealing for food again, you idiot!" Floren's voice rose a pitch as he, too, began to panic. "Don't downplay our contributions!"

Aegaeon said nothing for a moment as he sized up the pair of them. He had been studying them both closely, committing them to memory and scouting to see if their eyes drifted towards the Emperor's boat in the harbor with malice. He didn't find them to be particularly threatening or cunning, though they were mildly amusing. "I am not offended. I meant that I am enjoying the view in Uraya. It was an answer to your first question, Floren."

The pair seemed to release a shared sigh of relief. "You really should have clarified that much sooner, you know," mumbled Floren under his breath.

If Aegaeon heard him, he did not draw attention to it. "I believe I may have been here in a past life. This place is new to me, and yet nothing I have seen surprises me. It is an unusual feeling."

Floren frowned. "Oh. Doesn't that make you a little sad?"

"Sad? No." His response was polite but simple. "Should it?"

"Well…" Floren tapped his long purple fingertips against his chin as he tried to explain why the thought bothered him. "I guess I just don't like the thought of going somewhere special without my Driver. Thinking about not knowing her just makes me feel a little lonely."

"I see. I suppose I do feel anxious at the thought of his Majesty traveling without me, but I do not often find myself focusing on my previous Driver."

"Well, that's because there is no mystery! I'm sure you can trace your Driver back in history books over hundreds of years. You are bagged and tagged, Mister." Floren chirped with a sweet smile.

Aegaeon tilted his head. "I am… what? I am not familiar with this turn of phrase, but it sounds dubious."

"He means that your details are accounted for. In fieldwork, we collect samples and store them with tags that we write down all of their info on. Bags with little tags on them. The Empire likely knows everything there is to possibly know about you, and you could likely find it in the Capital Archives." Lucille explained, perhaps over-explained.

"Oh, I understand." The Blade looked delighted for a split second, though in that same second his brightness had returned to stoic aloofness. "I am grateful for any opportunity to learn something new. I will tag and bag this information."

"You mean bag and tag, but yes," Floren corrected. He glanced up at Lucille and saw that his Driver was biting at the inside of her cheek to suppress a smile. His eyes widened in surprise at this but he said nothing to point it out. He just knew that Lucille would immediately clam up and go back to work if he made a point to embarrass her in front of someone she didn't know, but it wasn't often that she smiled while on the clock.

"Do you have any samples that I could see?" Aegaeon asked in the stiff silence that had fallen over the three of them.

"Samples? You'd like to see the samples we've collected to study?"

"Hold on! Aren't you busy keeping watch over that boat where the Queen is having a banquet with His Majesty?" Floren teased with his hands on his hips. "You'd better pay attention instead of worrying about what we are collecting!"

Floren!" Lucille scolded so quickly that her Blade stepped back in surprise. "Clearly he is capable of multitasking."

He gave an indignant scoff of disbelief at his Driver's attempt to silence him. "Uh, I know, it was a joke-..."

"What do you make of this?" Lucille boldly approached Aegaeon and offered up a small, clear container with the strange cut of blue root that she had been fussing with not too long ago. "Do you think this is something similar to a carrot, or more like a potato?" She sounded breathless and excited, as if she had been waiting for someone to ask about her work.

"I suppose it seems to be more carrot-like in nature."

"I thought so, too! I also have a few samples of Saffronia petals. Did you know that the petals almost completely lose all traces of bioluminescent ether the minute that they break off from the tree and fall? They become so fragile that they're nearly fully transparent when I collect them."

"I have been curious as to if they would make a fragrant tea. I planned to collect a few and try it for myself."

"Let me help you," Lucille demanded. She caught herself and shook her head. "Excuse me, I meant to say that I'm sure you're capable and very busy, but if you have the time, I would be more than happy to help you find the best possible specimens for tea. The petals that land on the water's surface absorb such an earthy, refreshing flavor."

Floren stared at her in surprise. "You've been eating the plants you were supposed to be collecting?"

"Floren, please. I only tried a few."

‐--

Lucille fluttered out of her dream and into reality, feeling her presence from within that memory fade as she stirred.

Pain pulsed from behind her eyes and she felt that there was no reason to open them. First, she needed to stop the swirling confusion in her head. What happened to cause this agony? She could remember having her rifle drawn, but everything else was a haze of moments that moved forwards and backwards, inside and out in her mind. Panic drew its way up her throat and she found it impossible to detangle a mess of details.

Suddenly, she smelled sweet pea blooms. The light scent loosened the anxious grip that was holding her oxygen hostage and she felt encouraged enough to open her eyes. "Floren? Are you there?" She croaked as she squinted in the light.

Lucille was on a little cot inside of a back room of a massive, navy-colored canvas tent. The space was decorated with rustic clay flower vases and wide, dusty looking rugs covering the hard packed dirt of the ground.

"Luci, don't move too much," a delicate hand touched her shoulder. The sound of her Blade's voice soothed her fear and allowed her to piece together the events that led to her losing consciousness.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"That boy Rex brought us to Garfont, the Mercenary Village. Special Inquisitor Morag is here."

"Rex? You mean the Driver of the Aegis." A soft chuckle crooned from a dark corner of the tent. Azami stepped out of the shadows. The crack on her porcelain chest was gone; she had repaired herself swiftly. "Do you really want to consort with someone who has the power to erase you with a flick of her finger, Lucille? Why, if she were to grow suspicious of you for any reason…"

Floren's violet eyes flashed with anger. "You led us into a battle with them in the first place! You lied to us and nearly got us killed, Azami!"

"If sweet Luci had died, we would have been picked up by the Driver of the Aegis. Wouldn't that have been something?" Azami chuckled. She brushed her fingers against her painted lips as she grinned. "I think we deserve to belong to a Driver who loves us back. She put your memories at risk too by attacking the Aegis, Floren."

Floren opened his mouth to object, but the heavy fabric of the tent flap was pushed aside and three women entered unceremoniously. One was the Aegis herself, her radiant splendor seeming to bring light into the dim room. The other two were instantly recognizable to Lucille and her Blades; they were a tidy brunette Ardanian in a clean suit and a fiery Blade with flowing locks as blue and brilliant as the Urayan Titan's waterfalls. Special Inquisitor Morag Ladair and the Ardanian Ruby: Lady Brighid.

"Sorry for barging in. I heard you shuffling and thought I'd better speak up before before you try something stupid again." Mythra explained. "I think Morag here might be the person you're looking for." She cut her golden eyes over to the soldier and gave a sarcastic smile, almost as if she could sense Lucille's fear and greatly enjoyed it. It felt like a bit of payback for the disrespect at the Eight-Rock Skip. Of course, Mythra was unharmed, but that was clearly not the point.

"Please, let me explain. It was entirely a misunderstanding because of Azami!" Floren spoke up quickly. "We did not intend to hurt anyone."

"Oh, that's incorrect," Azami interjected. "We were certainly hunting down someone with the intent to kill them."

Floren was completely flabbergasted with the doll's words. He stood in front of Lucille with his arms out, as if she were being physically attacked. "You've got it wrong! We thought our Emperor had been assassinated! Murdered!"

"The events of that day were not released to the public…" Brighid mused thoughtfully. "Are you some sort of spy?"

"That's enough Floren," Lucille uttered as she sat properly upright and moved her feet from the cot to the floor. Her ribs ached from their earlier fall and she applied pressure to the spot with her palm to ease the throb.

"You attacked Rex and Mythra because you believed they injured Emperor Niall, correct?" Morag glared at the other woman. Floren seemed to wince under her scrutinizing gaze, but Lucille only lowered her head and nodded.

"We thought that he had killed the Emperor and stolen his Blade!" Floren tried to explain, but Lucille interrupted him before he could further explain himself.

"A few months ago, I was assigned to Temperantia to collect samples of water sources there. We were disconnected from everyone for a while, but then I received news that Emperor Niall had been murdered. I requested that my Blade look into the situation and I followed her lead with no hesitation."

"News from where?" Morag asked.

Lucille shifted her eyes to Azami before falling silent. Azami had the ability to see over dozens of miles away; this was the same ability that helped Lucille and Floren get the drop on the Aegis' Driver. It had been Azami's announcement that His Majesty was dead. Despite her anger towards Azami, Lucille didn't want her to receive any kind of punishment for spreading the misinformation.

"...A reliable source."

"She wanted to steal that lovely Jewel for herself." Azami added.

"Azami!" Floren began to panic. He turned his wide eyes to the Ardanians to plead with them. "Please do not listen to Azami. Yes, it's true that if Emperor Niall was dead, we wanted to take Aegaeon back from thieves, but we are his close friends. I promise! Just ask him! We planned to return him to the Special Inquisitor."

Morag cleared her throat. "Aegaeon is dead, returned to his damaged core. It will be some time before he is reborn, and he will know nothing of the past. Your vigilante mission to return him to the Special Inquisitor has come to an end. Are there any further questions?"

Lucille said nothing as her chest silently rose and fell and her eyes churned with a bevy of emotions: rage, pain, defiance, sadness, heartbreak. Why did she want to say more, why did she want to explain herself? It did not matter. Her wild chase, her hunger for retaliation, her shred of hope that perhaps Azami had been wrong-- not a bit of it mattered. No words would change the outcome.

"Are you going to be sick?" Brighid asked as she watched the other woman's tan face drain to an unpleasant, moonish pallor.

"Yes, I think so." Lucille answered honestly as she learned forwards with her hands on her knees. Small explosions of hot and cold seemed to alternate against her skin; she broke out into sweat that made her shiver. Floren rushed to help support her and keep her from toppling forward off the cot.

"Rex says you can stay until things are sorted out. Just… take it easy and rest up before you go, alright?" Mythra uttered as she cut her eyes anywhere but at the woman and her Blade. She stole a glance at Brighid and Morag and then she left the room with no pomp or circumstance.

"That's foolish…" Lucille meant for her voice to be stony, but it cracked with emotion regardless. "I attacked him. There is no reason for him to give us a place to rest."

"I believe the words you meant are thank you," Morag corrected. "I have many questions. I don't believe that you were close to Aegaeon. He is hardly ever away from His Majesty."

Lucille was still too shaken to speak, but Floren wordlessly unclipped the small satchel on her hip and unzipped it. He carefully dumped the contents on the cot. As a myriad of trinkets tumbled onto the spread, Lucille rose to her feet and quickly excused herself.

"Where are you going?" Brighid asked quickly.

"I need… please, excuse me, I have to get some air-..." The woman was gone in an instant, as if being in the same room as the little purse of objects would curse her.

Morag raised an eyebrow in confusion as she inspected the pile. There was a little porcelain krabble figurine with tiny crystal eyes, a marble that encased a lovely Saffronia petal, a hand braided talisman, a wood-carved flower, a silver fountain pen so encrusted with jewels that it looked painful to hold, and dozens of little origami birds folded from white paper with gold trim. "What is all of this? What does this mean?"

Brighid let out a small sigh as she plucked the krabble from the pile. "This is a Montecoran figurine. Aegaeon adored these little dolls, especially the ones that looked like fish or insects."

"Lucille's barracks back in Mor Ardain have tons of things like this," Floren explained solemnly. Slowly, a wry smile touched his face. "The folded papers are notes. Would you like to read one?"

"No, I think I'm beginning to understand," Brighid shook her head.

"Notes of what sort? Are they related to His Majesty?" Morag seemed concerned.

"I do not think so, Lady Morag." Brighid chuckled softly. "I think they may be love letters."