Chapter 44

[No changes] Grand Chokmah, the capital of Malkuth, apparently closes off its port when there's the threat of war, so we can't enter it from the sea. And not only is Jade probably thought lost in the Akzeriuth disaster, the Tartarus is believed to be in the hands of the Oracle Knights. It looks like we won't be able to use it to get to Grand Chokmah directly. We'll have to land at Rotelro Bridge, to the northeast of Chesedonia, and head for Grand Chokmah on foot.

The Aramis diversion wasn't as long as Raine feared, and judging by the boot prints on the path, the Oracle Knights hadn't come this way yet. They trotted mostly in silence, though she wondered if Guy thought she was mad at him for taking her away from the party to fulfill this promise she didn't know he'd made.

When she snuck a glance at him, though, he seemed satisfied, as focused on the trot and their surroundings as she was. He had no need to ask questions right now, something she was truly grateful for. If she wasn't so harried, she probably would've said something. As it was, she just wanted to get to port. They had already gathered the others and she could smell the ocean on the air. They really weren't that far.

Sure enough, Luke's party arrived at Daath port where the Tartarus truly had been left by Asch. Raine felt a rush of gratitude for the landship and despite the armored look about it, Raine adored the silver with gold trim and how the whole thing stood ready to take her closer to Genis, even though it looked battered and stained from its fall into the Qliphoth. She couldn't be happier to see it.

They approached the stairs when Jade stopped suddenly and turned around to address everyone else.

"We have more than four capable people," Jade said. "I'd like to take advantage of that." Huh? Raine glanced around at the others as they all boarded the Tartarus. Meaning what? "Guy, you take the dashboard and keep an eye on the Tartarus's condition." The boyish excitement list up Guy's face enough that Raine almost thought he would burst. Hadn't he ridden in this thing enough times now? Not that she minded. His excitement was contagious and she wished to hell she could steal some of it. "Tear, Anise, you two take the acceleration and defense support. Luke, you have navigation. Raine, take over radar operations. You'll support Luke in avoiding obstacles."

She might as well have been dunked into the ocean. Radar? Was it the same here as it was back in Sylvarant? "Are you sure about this?"

"You just need to tell us how far away any obstacles are," Jade said. "You are a scholar, I trust you can manage that?"

After a moment's hesitation, she nodded. Yes, a scholar. "Of course." Maybe it would be similar enough. After all, blips were blips, right? Why would Auldrant have different radar systems from Sylvarant? Even if everything else about this world was different…. Raine gulped. Perhaps there'd be nothing to worry about.

As much time as they'd spent in the Tartarus before, Raine never bothered to learn the controls at the different stations. Asch had appointed someone else because Raine made herself absent whenever it came time to leave. But now with Asch gone and Jade wanting to use everyone's support, she had little choice. Why did he have to choose now to decide their roles? Couldn't he have waited until she disappeared onto it first?

No, of course not. It was Jade. He knew better than to let her.

The different stations on the bridge all had complicated-looking panels in front of them. Not that that in itself was a problem. She'd handled complicated machinery back at the human ranches, but back then, she could read them. Without mastering the native writing, Raine felt less confident handling them. Could she read enough of their native language to manage the controls? Stiffly, she wandered towards one of the seats and stared at the controls. Which seat should she take? And why didn't she pay attention when Guy shared all his discoveries with Ion? That knowledge sure would've come in handy now.

Raine passed up this one when she saw a round dial with an arrow pointing between two of the four symbols. Luke helpfully approached. "What are you doing? Jade put me on navigation. You want the radar." He pointed to his right, the only seat in that direction. Well, that made it easy. Guy sat on his other side.

"Yes, thank you." Of course, she knew how to run magitech. Machines really weren't that hard. Radar was radar.

She sat down at the station and studied the panel.

And paled.

How in the hell was she going to work this thing?! Sure the screen was beautiful with rainbows of colors and an ornate pattern, but the panel was an interactive touch-type screen with symbols everywhere that she didn't recognize. Several windows smattered the screen, each with different functions that weren't immediately apparent. No, calm down. All of these symbols had meaning. She'd only seen one written language, and sure enough, now that she looked it over, she could see the writing. Oh boy….

Raine removed her notes from her bag and set it with the screen. All she had to do was translate. Maybe the words would be simple enough?

"What is the status of our engines?" Jade asked.

"Good," Guy replied. "One side still seems to be struggling a little, but that might be because of the mud from the Qliphoth."

"Okay, let's get moving."

Raine studied the panel in front of her, looking for familiar symbols. Oh, there was a large window down there. That visual was basically a radar. When she touched it, it became the main window, but the others were still visible around it in smaller boxes.

Oh, good. The radar really was a radar, very similar to what she knew. She wouldn't have to read. As long as she could maintain visual, things would be fine.

It really was hard to tell how far away things were in the visual, though. Not to mention all of the strings of symbols that connected to some of the targets with a long line. What did these different symbols mean? Her heart began to race. It would make sense if the strings of symbols were numbers. She'd seen them in the books she studied, but she couldn't translate them on her own. The strings of symbols kept changing. They had to be numbers…. Numbers would give her the distance to something, which would explain why they kept changing. What if she needed to read them? Oh, why couldn't Class M have actual numbers on their clock?! She felt the heat rise in her chest and looked over her shoulder to see Jade standing at the helm.

He didn't pay any attention to her. He switched between surveying everyone else and his own monitor.

Perhaps she was only supposed to check their proximity to obstacles? She could do that visually alone, right? She watched the continent of Sylvana drawing itself on her radar. They needed to turn more east than north now. Thankfully, Luke saw that, too.

"We need to turn more to the east, but don't go due east yet."

"Understood," Jade said. The map adjusted and Raine gulped. She leaned to look at Luke's panel. How much different was his from hers? With the barrier between them, she had to stand up and stretch to really see. He was looking at a screen with terrain appearing as different lines. It was sort of like a topographic map, only computerized. Comparing his map to hers, she could see why they had different screens. Aside from the blips pointing out targets, hers was larger and more detailed in the terrain closer to the Tartarus. Where Luke's only showed the land, her map had lines with short bits of text pointing at different, smaller targets that his map didn't have. Oh, so some of the lines with text must mean that those were identified potential obstacles. Marine life, perhaps? It was possible, given the way a couple of the targets moved.

She continued watching the radar. Sylvana remained safely to the north, and the nearest stretch of land, the peninsula at Padamiya, was a safe distance away behind them.

Raine released her breath. All she had to do was watch the obstacles. She could do that. The windows in front of her must be important for something, though. Much of the writing within the windows repeated the same symbols in the same order, but above those, something different each time. What function would need repeating like that? Not to mention the panel was mostly white text. As long as they stayed white, there shouldn't be trouble. At least, that's how it was in the human ranches. Did the people of Auldrant use the same gist of technology?

She watched the map adjust and the Tartarus sailed easily past an island that lay south of them. The blips on the radar from the potential obstacles sank back and disappeared. If they weren't marine life, they were at the very least gone.

"Have we cleared Padamiya? Should we head due east?"

"Yes," Raine said. "We should be okay." She checked Luke's map again and compared it to the radar. They should be safe to head east for a while.

"Wait, are we too far north?" Luke asked after some time had passed.

"Raine?" Jade asked, but Raine couldn't tell either.

How could they tell? The controls in front of her didn't share that kind of information. Shouldn't she be able to see? Luke's screen showed more world than hers did.

The radar showed they cleared half of Sylvana and she checked the map one more time. No, there was a stretch of land in view. "I think we should go more south."

"Understood," Jade said.

They sailed past an island south of Sylvana and she watched the radar for the distance to the land. Perhaps they did cut it a little short; it was hard to tell. There were two more smaller islands on Luke's map. She checked it against her radar.

"Maybe a little more south?" she wondered aloud. "No, we should be fine." Even according to Luke's map. Luke gave her a puzzled expression and let it go.

They sailed east for quite a while. This wasn't so bad. They could keep track of things this way. She just really had to pay attention was all. They sailed peacefully to Raine's relief. It didn't even look like anyone was following them, which meant she really had gotten away from Mohs for now. But how long would this safety last? She rapped her fingers on the panel from nerves. The knights wouldn't reach Malkuth before she did, but Mohs would surely think she'd hurry back to Sheridan. She'd have to plan very carefully, especially considering that Luke was still alive and her lack of ambition to kill him.

And what was going on with Tear? She sounded like she flipped at some point, but Raine couldn't be sure. Could she really trust her? She had already told Mohs so much, something that only made sense to him when he realized she was an alien. What was it?

"We're coming up on some islands south of us," Luke said. "I can't tell if we're far enough north, though."

Raine checked her map. "We should be far enough. Those islands are not on my map yet."

"Okay. When should we do a southern turn?"

"I'll let you know, Jade," Luke said, "Raine, tell me if it's not safe."

But she really couldn't tell. Comparing her map to his again, it looked okay.

She checked the compass, and back to the radar. But then the northern island to the south of them popped up on her map. Crap! "Wait! It might not be safe."

"How close are we to the island?" Jade asked.

"I... I... don't know..." Her tension returned with ferocity. She turned to look over her shoulder to see Jade at the helm. Natalia and Ion sat next to Tear, though Natalia stood up with her hand on the back of Ion's chair.

"The window on the lower left should tell you," Jade said. "It's in meters."

"I know, but—" She suspected that the symbols she couldn't recognize were numbers because they were meaningless, constantly changing. But she didn't know numbers! Should she ask for help? But if she did, they'd know. Glancing back at Natalia, Raine debated. Natalia would be able to help her, but what would they think?

"Is it the island?" Jade asked. "How far away is it?"

"I can't tell from my map," Luke said. "It looks like we're almost on top of it." He turned to Raine. "What about your radar?" He leaned over to look, but he struggled to see her screen as much as she had struggled to see his.

"I..." She had no clue. The writing on the computer likely told her, but she couldn't tell. Four digits…. A few thousand…. What did he say? Meters? That can't be right. That would mean they were going faster than a few kilometers a minute. On the ocean? Were they really numbers? "We've got plenty of room. It says a few thousand meters." She hoped so, anyway.

"A few…?" Guy glanced over at her.

"Understood." Jade spoke slowly as if unsure about the report himself. She half thought about telling him to swap her out, but if she did, they'd know. It was bad enough Mohs knew about her….

Raine scrutinized the screen, checking it against her cheat sheet. No, some of the symbols were letters, but there were others that were numbers. Gah! This screen was so confusing! They had to be numbers, though…. What else could they be?

They went from four symbols to three. Why would it do that?

Wait…

"Huh?" Anise asked from the defense station. "Something's wrong."

"How far is the threat?" Jade's voice sharpened.

"I don't see any monsters. Should I put up a defensive barrier?" Anise asked but didn't get an answer. "Raine?"

"We're still…. At least hundreds of meters away."

"That's not very far…." someone muttered from behind her.

"I'm putting up the barrier!"

Guy peeked over at her from Luke's other side. "Hundreds of meters? Are you sure? The Tartarus moves too fast—" He was right. The Tartarus had gotten dangerously close to the island. The lights on her panel turned red. But then another set of symbols appeared on the panel, some of which Raine recognized right away but others she needed to compare with her notes. The sound the computer made, though, was unmistakable. It was a warning.

Oh, Martel, NO!

"We need to head northward!" Raine cried. "Head north!"

"Understood. How close—" But Jade didn't get to finish.

"Double digits!" Raine screamed, noticing.

BOOM!

The Tartarus smashed against something, and Raine slammed forward into the control panel.

They all heard the whining as the Tartarus scraped forward against the island's northeastern cliffside.

"What the hell, Raine! Are you blind?" Anise shrieked. Raine held her left hand to her face where it stung from impact.

"Damage report." Jade grunted. Raine turned to see him pulling himself back up to his feet, using the rail around his station.

"I want to do a visual check, but it seems the Tartarus has a hull breach on the starboard side," Guy said. He, too, rubbed a spot on his temple above his eye. "We'll need to stop and make repairs."

Jade sighed. "Very well. Can we make it to the Rotelro Bridge?"

"The sensors don't indicate that we're taking on water, but I think we'll need to check things out to know for sure." Guy jumped out of his seat and ran across the bridge.

"Yes, please do," Jade said. "I'll be there in a minute to help you with the repairs."

Raine peeked around her seat to see Jade's expression tighten as he stared in her direction. Without his saying a word, she knew what he was thinking, and she faced the panel again to stuff her translation notes underneath her. She sank in her seat when she heard Jade's footsteps approach her. He stopped just behind her before he said anything.

"No, it seems to be working," he said. "Why didn't you see how close we were?" She blushed, unable to answer. His frown deepened. "We'll discuss this later." He left to go help Guy, but Raine didn't sit any higher.

Anise wandered over to look at Raine's radar screen, too. "Yup. You're blind." She cast a suspicious glance at her before returning to her seat. Everyone else, though, stayed where they were to stare. At least until she looked over at Luke who turned away, embarrassed from being caught staring.

"Think she did it on purpose?" Anise whispered. "It worked getting out of cooking duty didn't it?"

She sat in her seat, sinking as low as she could. No, it wasn't on purpose then either. How was she going to explain this away?

Then she felt a small weight on her shoulder and soft fur brush her cheek. She reached up a hand to pet Mieu. She couldn't help but offer a small smile to him as he touched her face with a single tiny paw. He nuzzled her and she felt the gratitude from when she cuddled him after Akzeriuth when he was so scared and confused. The little cheagle was happy to return that favor. She was happy to receive it.

Thankfully, no one moved as they all simply waited. Raine knew why. There was just nothing to say without confrontation and accusations. The bridge was quiet until Guy and Jade returned. "The damage is pretty bad," Guy told everyone, "but we managed to repair some of it. It's a very temporary fix, though." He returned to his station and Raine smelled a distinctive smell of grease. He didn't hold back when it came to exploring machines, did he? He even had spots all over his clothes. He reminded her a little of Class M.

"So, can we make it to port?" Tear asked. Mieu floated between Luke's and Raine's stations.

"I think we can hobble our way to Keterburg at least," Jade answered her, though he didn't sound too happy about the prospect. "I wouldn't recommend attempting any further a trip than that. Natalia, do you mind helping with the radar station?" Natalia muttered an affirmative as Raine slipped out of her seat with her crumpled notes in her fist. She hurried from the bridge just as Jade said, "Guide us to Keterburg Bay. Properly this time please."

[changes] The Silver World, Keterburg Raine couldn't read the radar screen on the Tartarus for some reason and we ended up hitting an island. The resulting damage to the Tartarus was great enough that we could no longer reach Rotelro Bridge, so we decided to stop at the nearby Keterburg Bay for repairs.

As soon as they reached the port bay, everyone stepped off the Tartarus, Raine in her usual position at the back. She didn't hear Jade's instructions to the Malkuth soldier who greeted them. She stared at the snow at her feet. Another pair of boots came into view. Luke reached out a hand for her.

"It's okay, Raine," he said. How strange that he would console her. In fact, he seemed a little different somehow. Other than his short hair. Even so, she couldn't look him in the eye.

He sighed and gave up on her.

Instead, she followed the others as they walked across the snow through Keterburg Bay. Just ahead of her, she heard Guy and Luke whispering loudly between themselves. Luke wasn't sure what to do about Raine and Guy told him not to worry about it, at which point Guy refused his own advice and fell back to walk with her.

"Is there anything I can do?" He asked her. She shook her head, so he kept in step and walked in silence. Actually, his presence still offered a small sense of comfort, even if he did smell strongly of grease. For some reason, as long as he was around, she felt like she stood a chance at surviving, even with this huge mistake hanging over her. Even with Mohs's threats.

"Thank you," she whispered low. Startled, Guy turned to see her hiding her shame behind a small smile. She could tell he wanted to ask, but he knew better. He offered his own strong smile and nodded without saying anything. Raine felt compelled to reach for his hand, but the moment she did, he jumped away with a yelp.

Oh… right….

"I'm… I'm so sorry!"

But she sank back into her stupor. It's okay, she kept telling herself. His presence was enough. She thought back to Baticul when he helped her down the stairs and she felt the strength in his hand from then. Even if he couldn't do that now, he'd be able to again, she was sure. She found herself looking forward to it.

She saw Mieu sitting on Luke's shoulder with his ears down and she remembered the cuddles she received from the little cheagle. She waved him over and he floated to sit on her shoulder instead. Somehow, between Guy and Mieu, she found a small amount of solace.

Until she caught Jade throw his curiosity over his shoulder. The moment she met his eyes, that cold feeling returned. He would definitely be asking about this later. The path was clear enough and so were the skies, but Raine felt every step as a pinprick in her ego. How would she ever explain to Jade what happened? He would know instantly that she lied about so many things.

Thankfully, he hadn't asked yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time. Anise kept peering back at her from Ion's left, obviously wondering, but everyone else mercifully walked ahead without paying her any further attention.

The trip to Keterburg itself seemed to last forever as they trudged along, leaving inch-deep footprints in the snow. By the looks of this place, the snow wasn't going to melt anytime soon. The numbing cold actually helped somewhat since she didn't have to feel the embarrassment in her skin anymore. Guy stayed with her at the back. Ahead of them, Jade took the lead with Tear and Anise and Luke behind him. Just ahead of Raine and Guy, Natalia and Ion followed everyone else. Raine couldn't see Mieu anymore, but she felt the little cheagle cuddled warm in her cloak. His small body and heartbeat soothed in a way nothing else could.

Above them, the skies were clouded over with enough sunlight to keep things visible. The civil twilight…. It's been like that since they'd arrived at port.

How far north were they? Far enough that it was hard to tell time here, she supposed. It all depended on how long this twilight lasted. She wasn't even sure what time of the year it was since no one had thus far said.

"How does anyone know their way around here?" Anise asked as she looked up. "There's snow and trees everywhere and the sun moves weird." True. For a while now they'd been walking through woods or sparse trees, now and again passing up the local wildlife. Most of them were docile.

Raine pointed up at the sky. "Normally, the stars can tell you when it gets dark. Just look for the stars where the sky spins around them." She turned around and pointed to the left. "Failing that, you can tell where north is because if you look over there, you'll see how some of the trees have a narrow strip of snow on the northern side."

"What?" Surprised, Guy checked and sure enough, a few of the trees had a thin strip of snow running down the trunk, some trees with strips wider than others. "Huh… Why is that?"

"The sun, Guy." Raine smirked. "The sun melts what it can of the snow on the trees. But it can't melt what it can't reach."

"Interesting…." Jade said. "I wouldn't expect someone who's traveled immensely the desert would know something like that."

"It's mere observation, Jade," she said. "I can use my eyes easily enough." And her ears.

"What happened with the radar, then?" Anise asked without really expecting an answer. Raine could tell from the sarcastic tone and ignored it.

"Paying attention to your surroundings is how you survive."

"No kidding."

"Anise, that's enough," Guy said. Startled, Luke looked at him. Apparently, Guy hadn't done much scolding in that tone before. Raine, however, didn't pay her attention. She was more focused on the snow and the trees. Being out here in civil twilight, she had no idea what kind of monsters were on the hunt. Or Oracle Soldiers, for that matter. Would they come here?

Not to mention how much there was to learn about local flora and fauna. The ambient noises said a lot—Raine stopped, snapping her attention to the trees around them—especially when she couldn't hear them anymore. Did something move or was that her imagination? No, the birds have gone silent. A threat hid in the snow, waiting.

"Is something wrong?" Guy asked.

"Heads up!" Jade said. "We've got company." They heard a howl from the right. Sure enough, a pack of wolves leapt from among the trees. Ugh, Raine really didn't have the emotional energy for a fight. How strong were these monsters? Might as well. She couldn't get home to Genis if she were killed.

She gathered fonons of light to fight back with. Then she felt the snow beneath her vibrate a little.

Was that…? Rushing leaves? The sound was harsh in the bitter cold, but the wind didn't cause it. She paused to open her eyes and she saw a massive tree with a gaping jagged mouth scuttling towards them. It reminded her of a torent she'd seen as a small child, but this thing was huge! Jade made quick work of casting Flame Burst at it. Raine pulled more fonons into her collected photon attack and released it over the snow treant. It wasn't as effective as fire, but it was sufficient. The snow wolves were a bit more of a problem, though, mostly because of their numbers.

"Raine, can you use that Ray arte from before?" Natalia asked with an arrow nocked against her bow. "I think if we can funnel them together, we can be more efficient here." Ah! It was just like what Sync was trying to do at Zao, a form of forced ambush. Raine nodded. Everyone else caught on, too, and an ominous glint appeared in Jade's eyes. Guy and Luke nodded to each other as well. They knew what to do.

She checked for where the wolves were and then gathered her fonons for Ray. Luke stayed with her to stand guard against the snow treant. She released Fonic Ray and sent the explosions outside of the pack to chase them to the center. Luke and Guy ran for the back while Anise blocked from the front. It worked for some of the wolves—

But Raine barely had time to turn before she felt jaws clamp onto the sleeve of her left wrist.

She hollered and smacked it with a clumsy whack of her staff. The sleeve tore and the shredded remains in the wolf's mouth fell to the snow as the wolf leapt back. She felt a swirl of energy surround her and bursts of flame erupted in front of her as she bent to pick up the shredded remains of her sleeve.

"Raine!" Luke ran over and deflected a wolf's attack. She stumbled back behind him, the torn piece of cloth in her hand. Mieu emerged from his hiding place in her cloak and floated next to her. Guy hurried over as well.

"Are you okay?"

"Just take them out!" Raine shouted, pointing at the remaining wolf and snow treant. She could heal herself. That wasn't the problem. Now wasn't the time to worry. She stamped the staff into the snow to stand it up, and she hurried to wrap the torn fabric back over her bracelet, folding the edges underneath to hold it in place. Oh, why my left hand? Grr! If anyone saw this thing and decided they wanted it, she'd be in serious trouble. Not that she wasn't already….

"O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through!" What was that? Raine felt a new form of energy gathering, wind fonons and another similar frequency. "Thunder Blade!" The fonons of multiple frequencies swirled until a slanted pillar of electric bolt struck through the snow treant, dropping it backwards into the snow. Raine froze. No, this feeling wasn't new. She recognized this element—No, that wasn't worth thinking about right now.

The next fiery arte from Jade would finish off the snow treant, and with everyone else closing in on the surrounded wolves, Raine knew this fight was over.

"We won!" Anise cried from Tokunaga's back.

Luke sheathed his sword and walked over to Raine. "Were you able to heal that?" Mieu settled on his shoulder.

"Yes, thank you." Raine smiled to get him to back off and started along towards Keterburg. Obviously worried, he sighed. Raine heard Guy tell him, "Don't take it personally. Just give her some space."

"Y-yeah…."

The party continued trudging along in the snow, but it wasn't until they saw a tall tower of a building rising in the middle of a walled city when anyone said anything.

"Is that Keterburg?" Anise asked.

"Yes," Jade responded. They entered the front gates and Raine immediately diverted, spotting an obvious hostel. Guy stopped, watching her.

"Uh, I'll catch up with you guys later," he said.

"H-hey! Where are you going?" Luke called after him, but he didn't respond but with a wave.

"Let's leave her," Tear said. "She probably feels guilty about the Tartarus."

Raine fell out of earshot, but she knew Guy followed her. If his initial call wasn't enough, she could hear his footprints forming in the snow just behind her with the telltale crunch.

She entered the inn and left the door open for him to follow. The nearest chair had a table and no fireplace.

Fitting.

She slumped down onto the table, hiding her face, tears, and humiliation in her arms and hair. She heard the chair scoot at the base of the few voices humming in the inn; she didn't have to guess who it was. She could smell the grease sifting through the cracks in her arms. As much as she didn't like that bitter scent, she appreciated Guy's persistent company.

"Welcome! Can I get you something to eat or drink?"

Raine sat up straight and brushed her bangs from her eyes. "Yes, I want whatever special you have going, some water, and a full bottle of whatever you have that's strong."

"Whiskey?" the waitress offered and Raine nodded.

The waitress wrote down the order and turned to Guy. "Same thing, but… minus the whiskey." When the waitress left, Raine did her best to hide how upset she really was. Trying to slow her breathing, remove all of her tears, stem her shaking, but all of her effort was in vain. He knew.

"Are you sure you're not injured?"

"I'm fine." She adjusted the torn sleeve over her wrist. "There's no blood; it's just a bruise. I already healed it."

"That may be true, but…"

The waitress returned with their drinks and immediately Raine grabbed the whiskey bottle and poured herself a shot, downing it quickly. The burn in her throat sent the warm all the way down, but it wasn't enough. She drank another shot. Guy sat across from her with a horrified expression.

Shortly after, the waitress returned with ramen and set the bowls in front of them. Raine began eating as if this was her first meal in days. She ate a few bites, but then put her fork down to choke down some more tears and hide her distress in futility. After her brief pause, she ate a few more bites, wolfing down the food. Guy only sat and watched, his eyes wide, worried about her as she alternated between eating and struggling to contain her distress. By the time she drained her bowl, he hadn't touched his food at all.

Raine drank down another shot and then rested her head on the table, using her crossed arms as a pillow. Before long, her breathing leveled out.

Guy sat back in his seat. Raine finally fell asleep, though it might've been a stupor from drinking the whiskey. How sensitive was she to alcohol? He hadn't seen her drink before, but as alcohol wasn't necessarily on hand the whole time they've known each other, there wasn't much of a gauge to go by. Still, he decided to start eating after it was clear she wasn't taking a short nap.

Raine had been silent for so long that Guy worried about her. It was like trying to figure out what was going in Asch's head, she was so incredibly hard to read sometimes. The whole trip here, she hung back and walked with her head down, trying to hide her tears. It was so hard to watch, but he just couldn't figure out what happened. She acted like she couldn't read the screen on the Tartarus, but she read all the time. How could she not know what it said?

He promised himself—well, and her, too—that he wouldn't try to figure out what was going on with her, but he couldn't help himself. He pulled out his list and looked it over before adding another notation:

Struggled with radar – And after reading through his list one more time added, fontech in general?

How could she mess up the radar, though? He thought about it as he ate, the paper lying next to his bowl. Something was definitely amiss. Some of these things didn't make sense. She always was reading something. What was so confusing about the radar?! That's when he realized the man at the bar was staring at them with the kind of squinty-eyed expression Guy didn't like. He wore a heavy coat but the turban on his head looked more like he came from Chesedonia. His thin sandy moustache needed thawing by the looks of him.

At one point, the man from the bar wandered over, raising his chin to indicate asking about her, but Guy set down his own fork and pulled the sword from its hilt a few inches. The man quickly lost interest.

[changed] When we reached the port, a Malkuth soldier tried to interrogate us, but Jade's quick thinking got us out of that, saying that he would report to the governor of Keterburg instead. We're now headed for the town of Keterburg to meet with the governor. On the way, we were attacked by monsters. Raine got hurt, but she claims she's fine. I'm a bit worried about her. Ever since we found her at Daath, she's been even more fearful than usual. I wonder why? Whatever it is, I think it's my fault. She won't even look at me let alone talk to me. She and Guy left us for a hostel as soon as we arrived in Keterburg. We should just leave her to him.

He didn't say anything and his gynophobia prevented him from touching her, Raine knew that. Still, she heard him breathing, the chair scraping the floor as he shifted in his seat, and the acrid smell of grease from patching up the Tartarus. She opened her eyes. Through the cracks in her arms, she saw splinters of light. Someone had lit a lamp. The inn was quiet, but he still sat there, waiting patiently for her.

Raine felt a little warmer than she had before. Chills that had twitched her skin and left her with goose bumps now fled from the warmth she had that she couldn't quite explain. She had noticed how Guy seemed to enjoy talking to her all along. Without Genis, she felt lost. But here was someone who seemed to care what happened to her. That must be it. That's why she felt so warm. He was genuinely concerned about her welfare. It certainly had nothing to do with the bottle of whiskey sitting next to her empty bowl. It was nice to have a close friend, someone who was her age. No, it wasn't that. It was definitely the whiskey.

It was enough knowing that he was there, though she was sure that feeling would dissipate the moment he spoke. Thankfully he didn't until she finally lifted her head.

"You're awake." He didn't smile, but he didn't glare at her either. His expression was hard to read. Maybe concern?

She nodded. Oh… she must've fallen asleep. He outstretched his right hand across the table and she stared at it. Really? He could touch her now? He had even taken his gloves off and set them to the side at some point. Grateful for the offer, she took his hand with her own left hand. It was warm and softer than she expected, but why wouldn't they be if he had always lived among nobility? Especially because he usually wore gloves. But soft as they were, she felt his strength wrap around her fingers. For the first time since she came to Auldrant, a wave of calm swept over her.

"What happened?" His tone wasn't accusatory, but curious, worried. Even so, she shook her head. How could she admit that she couldn't read the control panel?

"Did anyone else come to check on me?"

He raised his chin to check the door. "No. I guess they're not staying here. We should probably go see if there's another inn nearby."

But neither one moved. Guy noticed something and brushed the torn sleeve aside for a better look. "Oh, cool bracelet!"

Raine jerked her hand back as if he had just bit her. "Let's go find the others."

Perplexed, Guy followed her. She cradled her arm as if she had just been burned, but as far as he could tell, she was right about not being injured. He didn't even see any bite marks or bruises.

A/N: Hi, Ya'll!

I apologize for the delay. Happenings and rough weekends like to throw wrenches in plans. It took me this long to recover from it.

Anyway, enjoy! The next chapter will be posted soon. Mostly because I can't wait too long.

~~Kat =^-^=