If there was one positive about her current position it was the fact that she had never eaten as good as she had since arriving at Leeves. Not only were all the stores in town good, but surprisingly even the school cafeteria's servings were better than most of the stuff she had had during and after her time in Zephyr. Something which she was currently experiencing as she sat in the noisy room while munching through a bowl of surprisingly flavorful chunky potato salad.
The girl was broken from her food related bliss when a tray was placed on the table opposite her. Just great. She had been sitting alone because she wanted to be alone. She glanced up, fully expecting to see one of her classmates or her pain in the ass instructor.
She was half-right. It was a pain in the ass instructor, but it wasn't hers. "...Randy."
"Aren't you supposed to call me 'Instructor Randy' now?" The red-haired man teased as he took his seat with a grin. "So I heard you accepted Instructor Rean's offer."
A slight widening of the eyes was the only expression of surprise she offered. "You knew about that?" That was just the previous night!
"Of course I did. When I heard a girl entering Schwarzer's room I had to listen in. Gotta get a feel for the guy, you know? And what better way of doing that then listening to how he handles the ladies. Hopefully he isn't another baby-faced playboy..." The older man let out a cough before refocusing himself. "Anyways... Imagine my disappointment when I found out it was just school related stuff."
The girl rolled her eyes before glaring at her fellow former jaeger. "It's not like I had much of a choice in the matter."
"Sure. And it's definitely gonna be a pain in the ass for you. Still, I'm glad Schwarzer came up with the idea. Trying to go legit ain't easy, but if this helps you pull it off than I support it one hundred percent."
"...How did you do it?"
"Hoo boy. Demanding my entire backstory this quickly, huh?" He hummed thoughtfully. "Sure, why not. This probably goes without saying, but what I tell you needs to stay with you for now, got it?"
She nodded at that reasonable request. "Understood."
"When Zephyr disbanded you were directionless, right? I was the same way after leaving the Red Constellation. Ended up signing on with the military. The Crossbell Guardian Force, to be exact."
Red Reaper grimaced as if he had swallowed something sour. "Big mistake. The basic military is no place for someone like us. Too rigid. Too much focus on drill and ceremony. Waste of time if you ask me. Didn't help that the CGF commander was a corrupt asshole who had it out for me personally. Still..."
He let out a chuckle. "Maybe it wasn't a mistake, 'cause after some time I got transferred out of there and into the police."
A jaeger becoming a cop? "...If you're gonna lie to me at least make up something a little more believable."
"Yeah, I can get the skepticism, but it's the truth! To be fair the unit I was placed in was rather... unusual. The Special Support Section. A motley collection of misfits with different backgrounds brought together as little more than a publicity stunt."
"Uh..."
He must have expected that reaction given the way his grin widened. "Yup. We were basically seen as bargain bin bracers. And yet somehow we ended up involved in a whole lot of crap. Even put one of your guys in the slammer. Remember the Killing Bear?"
"Garcia? But I thought he joined a trading com- Oh." Duh. Pretty much every kind of criminal organization masquerades as a 'trading company.'
"And that was just the tip of the iceberg. The mafia. A cult. A massive conspiracy. I assume you heard about all the stuff that went down with Crossbell's independence movement? Well we were right in the middle of it. Was a hell of a ride."
His smile grew warmer. "And during that wild ride we all grew close. That group of misfits? We became a family."
She stiffened at the word. Family... She had thought the same about Zephyr. "And that was when Erebonia showed up?"
"Uh huh."
"And now you're here and I'm sure the rest of your so-called family are somewhere far away."
"Ahh... So that's what happened to you when Zephyr disbanded? Damn. That sucks." The pitying look annoyed her, but she was more annoyed with herself for giving away too much to an outsider. "But you're wrong. Sure we're all physically apart, but none of that changes the fact we're family and we'll be together again. This whole occupation is just another barri-"
He paused as he let out a big shudder. "Actually, forget that last part. I trust them and they trust me. That's what a real family does."
Silence descended upon the duo as Fie absentmindedly picked away at her food while contemplating his words. He seemed so genuine in his words, but he was wrong. She had trusted Zephyr and thought they trusted her in turn. Either they had been lying to her for years with that trust or it was the worst family imaginable. She wasn't sure which answer was more palatable.
"...Instructor Randy? You know Fie?"
Great. Now Juna was here. And alongside her was one of the girls from Class VIII. Already she could see the cogs beginning to turn in the pink-haired girl's head.
"Hey Junie, Jessica. Take a seat!" The teacher didn't seem at all bothered by their appearance. "And no, this is basically my first time talking with her, but I was acquainted with some of her family."
She understood that he was intentionally trying to be vague to keep them from asking questions, but his cover didn't really sit well with her thanks to her previous thoughts. But that was something she kept to herself as she begrudgingly slid over to make room for the two girls.
It seemed her quiet lunch wasn't gonna be quiet any longer.
Fie allowed herself the luxury of one final exhale before taking off with a burst of speed. Her target wasn't real, but that didn't stop her from assaulting it with all she had. One swipe of her gunblades followed by the other. Remaining in one place for too long was hazardous so once again she darted away in order to attack the enemy from a different angle.
Having put some distance between her foe she turned the barrels of her weapon on it. Of course she didn't fire, as doing so while inside the training room of the dorm was a terrible idea, but everything else she did was the same as if she were on a battlefield. Train as you would fight and all that.
Normally she wasn't one to bother with this kind of simulated training, but her performance during the Einhel Keep training had been something of an eye opener for the former jaeger. Sure she performed solidly enough against most of the stuff they had encountered, but she hadn't realized just how little she had improved since Zephyr disbanded. Over two years only fighting simple monsters, bandits, and the bizarre but increasingly common machines known as archaisms hadn't done much for her.
Sure she had made sure to keep in shape and all the growing she had done had helped her speed and strength tremendously, but none of that affected her combat instincts at all. Everything she did felt like it was in slow motion. What little pride still remained in her body raged against her mediocrity.
It took fighting against that weird Magic Knight to make her realize just how dull she had become. Sure the lumbering machine had been too slow to truly threaten her agility, but she in turn struggled to exploit the few visible vulnerabilities it possessed. Yeah she made it out the battle completely unscathed, but she was fairly certain that Altina and her weird robot had done more damage by the end.
And as much as it pained her to admit it, once Rean started taking the fight seriously he outclassed her completely. The Boss would be so disappointed in her if he were still around.
She didn't allow such gloomy thoughts to distract her as she went for a finishing strike against the invisible foe. Her Sylphid Dance would be a better way to end it, but again that wasn't something she wanted to do inside the building. Instead she opted to end it with a flurry of rapid fire strikes.
Once finished she let out a sigh. This kind of training worked, sure, but it was way less useful than fighting against a live opponent. But training like this after most of the other students had left for their rooms that night ensured her relative solitude.
Or at least that's what she had assumed when she started.
"Can I help you?" The annoyed girl growled out.
"Don't mind me. I'm just observing your footwork. It is quite impressive, I must admit." Kurt - the only other occupant of the room – waved her off.
When he had first appeared shortly after the beginning of her workout she hadn't thought much of it. Everyone knew that the Vander swordsman spent a great deal of time in here. Even if it was slightly inconvenient the room was big enough for the two of them to coexist peacefully.
Only that had never happened.
"Well stop that. It's annoying." Instead her classmate had proceeded to merely stand there while watching her intently. Sure some observation was probably to be expected given that they had fought together, but the boy had been fixated on her the entire time. Maybe she was being paranoid, but having a relative unknown scouting her out made her battlefield instincts scream out in concern.
"My apologies. I had no intention of making you feel uncomfortable." He didn't sound very apologetic.
"...Whatever." She decided to once again ignore the boy and refocus on her own efforts.
Only to pause as she heard the telltale sign of blades being drawn. "On second thought, perhaps you would be interested in a spar with me?" Glancing back she confirmed that Kurt had drawn his twin blades and was staring at her with increased intensity. "Surely fighting against a live opponent would be more beneficial for both of us?"
His words were the same as what she had just been thinking to herself minutes prior. That being said... "No thanks."
"And why not?" Gone was his previously calm expression as the swordsman narrowed his eyes as he demanded an answer from her.
"Too tired. Thinking about calling it now."
"That's a lie and we both know it." Came the cold retort. "You were just about to begin training again when I stopped you."
She let out a huff. The hell was this guy's problem? "I just don't feel like it. Why do you care so much?"
"I care because you are clearly hiding something from the rest of the class."
"I'm sure that everyone in this damn school is hiding something from everyone else. That's something people do." This guy was seriously starting to get on Fie's nerves.
Kurt took a step closer, causing her to place a hand on the hilt of a gunblade just in case. "Everyone has their secrets, I agree, but at some level I can trust that the others are of no threat to myself or the other students. I don't get that same feeling from you at all. Everything about you feels dangerous. How am I supposed to trust someone like you if you continue to remain so evasive when around others?"
"You can think whatever you want. It's not my problem." With that said the girl brushed past the noble and left the training room, cold eyes following her every movement.
Although her words and expression remained clear, internally Fie couldn't stop herself from thinking about his words. Kurt was right, of course, but did she really seem so different to the others that he thought of her as a threat? Or maybe there was something else to it?
In all fairness she too had been assessing the others. None of them even remotely felt threatening to the girl. Even the likes of Randy and Rean – while obviously quite powerful individuals – never once made her feel wary in their presence. It was certainly a far cry from the people she interacted with on a near daily basis during her old life.
...With one exception, of course. While Aurelia Le Guin didn't seem particularly malicious she did set off all kinds of warning bells in Fie's mind. That woman was one unfortunate training accident away from obliterating half the school and everyone in it.
She let out a tired groan as she headed towards the baths. This was too much to think about right now, and honestly none of it mattered. If the others wanted to see her as a danger than that simply meant they were smarter than she gave them credit for. She wasn't bothered that Kurt and probably some of the others saw her as a threat.
Not at all.
Tita Russell hummed in approval as she carefully inserted the final screw to the mini joint actuator she had been working on for the past few hours. This was only a prototype, but if it was able to endure the myriad of tests she had planned for it than it would be a monumental step towards the eventual construction of her Orbal Gear III. If it worked as well as she hoped it did the new joint would possess a wider range of movement capabilities and twenty-three percent more power compared to the previous generation!
It was still early, but thus far she had been glad of her decision to leave Liberl for Erebonia's newest school. Both Agate and her mom had been against the idea, but she took the gamble anyways. All the stories she had heard about Erebonians had worried her, but so far they felt entirely unfounded. Everyone in Class IX was so nice to her. It was like being in a room filled with Oliviers!
...Thankfully they were a little less eccentric compared to the Erebonian prince.
Professor Schmidt was strict, but she could work with that as the man's genius was nothing to laugh at. This was a man that her grandfather begrudgingly held in high esteem, after all. Between his sky-high expectations of her, her own personal projects, and her normal classwork it seemed the next two years would be quite hectic for her. But that was what Tita wanted.
It was the only way to catch up to her level, after all.
She was startled out of her project as the door to the hangar opened, but fortunately not so startled that she dropped her work or anything along those lines, something which had happened a few times while younger, much to her horror and humiliation. Instead she carefully set down the actuator before focusing her attention on the new arrival.
"You're... Fie, right?" The only member of Class VII she had actually chatted with thus far had been Juna, but she still knew all of them. Watching from the control room as the four member class plus their instructor had traversed through Einhel Keep had been both quite exciting and very stressful, after all!
While all the members of Class VII had really impressed her, the girl in front of her had really stood out in her mind the most. Her crazy speed. The weapons she used. It was all very familiar to her. While Tita wouldn't say she was homesick, watching the girl in front of her fight had made her feel a little nostalgic. She wondered how Joshua and the others were doing right now...
"Yeah." The girl answered simply before stepping in. "Is it alright if I..." She didn't verbally specify what she wanted, but the way she drew her gunblades in a nonthreatening manner gave Tita what she thought was the answer.
"You want to perform maintenance on your weapons?" A nod was her answer. "Sure! There are plenty of empty workstations in here. If you need any specific tools I can get them for you. Just make sure you stay away from the Professors office, the Soldats, and Valimar."
Like clockwork, Tita could tell that her mention caused the silver-haired girl to glance across the bay towards the Divine Knight. She couldn't really blame her. Even though Valimar wasn't much larger or bulkier compared to the newer model Drakkhens in the room it held an air of majesty that the production models couldn't hope to compare to.
In a way getting to see Valimar inside the train that brought her here had spoiled Panzer Soldats to the young engineer.
After a few seconds staring at the massive machine Fie seemed to shake herself from her thoughts. "...Thanks." Without another word the Class VII girl drifted off towards a nearby workbench to begin her work.
Tita wanted to busy herself with something else and let the other girl do her own thing. She really did. It was impolite to watch other people working without their permission, after all. That was something her grandfather and some of the other engineers at ZCF had chastised her younger self for many times while growing up.
Still... She couldn't quite shake away her curiosity. All of the members of Class VII had such unique and interesting weapons! So as impolite as it was Tita did her best to watch the other living person in the hangar out of the corner of her eye with as much subtlety as possible...
Which was ruined within seconds when she let out an audible gasp after Fie detached one of the blades from her weapon, revealing the internal structure within. Naturally such a reaction didn't go unnoticed as the other girl immediately stiffened, sending a glare her way while keeping a hand hovering over her disassembled weapon protectively.
"Sorry!" Came her immediate retort. "I didn't mean to look! It's just... I saw what those gunblades could do during the trial, but I wasn't expecting such modern technology inside a weapon like that! The miniaturization of the orbal engine in particular must be quite advanced to allow you to control the power and rate of fire like you-" Tita couldn't help but flush slightly. She must sound like such a weirdo right now.
Given the weird way Fie was now staring at her it was safe to say she agreed with that sentiment. Tita colored slightly further, but at least it beat the suspicious group the girl had been sending her way prior. After an awkward silence her body seemed to relax slightly as she shifted her gaze back towards her weapons. "...I've had them for a few years now. Not sure who made them, but mira was never an issue for Bo- the person who gave them to me." She shook her head before letting out a humorless chuckle. "And I've been treating them like crap these last years."
As a dour Fie returned her focus to her blades Tita couldn't help but frown in thought. Although the silver-haired girl hadn't said much, that in itself told a lot. Something about her reminded the engineer of the likes of Agate, Joshua, and Renne. It was clear to her that Fie was carrying a hefty burden. And she also understood that now was neither the time nor place to bring such an observation up.
Still, even if she couldn't help her schoolmate out with all of her problems, there was one obvious one that she could assist with. Rising from her seat the Russell went to a nearby storage chest. She hadn't been here long, but conducting a full inventory was the first thing she had accomplished and so she was sure it was- There! After grabbing the tool and a hefty stone she returned to the station where Fie was working at before depositing the two items on the table.
Naturally this caused the other occupant to stop her work before looking up at her curiously. "My parents always told me that when you're doing maintenance you should go the extra arge and get the job done right. This..." She pointed at the long tool. "is a fairly recent invention used by the army to clean the barrels of their guns. And this whetstone..." Tita let out a shrug. "I don't know much about blades, but a... friend of mine who's a bracer swears by the quality of it. He won't use any other stone for his sword, so it should be enough to sharpen your gunblades." A thought came to mind causing her to perk up even more. "Oh! We have plenty of polish in the back if you'd like. It's not really important for maintenance, I know, but I think they'd appreciate a nice new sheen."
For the longest time it was silent and Tita shuffled on her feet nervously. Had her engineering obsession gone too far this time? Had she erred by getting close to the girl who obviously wanted to be left alone? Just as she was beginning to despair Fie finally glanced up from the objects. There was the tiniest of smiles on her face. "...I'd like that. Thanks."
"I was starting to think you had forgotten about the deal."
"Trust me. I wanted to. I really did."
The laugh she received only made her want to punch the smug bastard in the face. "Well I'm glad you didn't. Don't forget that you promised me a second night each week as well."
Fie let out a tired groan. She wasn't ready for this first tutoring session with Rean and he was already reminding her about the next one? Was he actually a sadist under his nice guy facade? That was the only explanation for why someone can enjoy the situation as much as he seems to be. "Fine. Let's get this over with."
"Very well. Since this is the first session I figured we should start with something simple." History? Military science? Political economics? He had better not say math. "Let's start with math!"
Composure failed the jaeger as she groaned in dismay. This bastard truly hated her, didn't he? And since she had already agreed to this stupid deal...
Her look of annoyance and resentment caused the teacher to raise his hands in mock surrender. "I know. I know. Nobody likes math, but basic arithmetic is an important foundation to build upon if you ever want to catch up. Other classes like economics, orbal computers, and military science rely on mathematics formulas, and even music has its roots there."
Her glare didn't relent until the bastard placed a piece of paper in front of her. With great reluctance she tore her gaze away and glanced down at it. Yup. Those sure were numbers alright. Numbers that she had no idea what to do with.
Rean wasn't at all surprised by this as the swordsman began detailing the steps she needed to take to solve the first problem. Receiving one on one lessons like this felt patronizing as hell, especially when he had to stop her to correct mistakes, but it was undeniably more effective than having her sit in the class listening to a big lecture.
...Although a lot of that was because she couldn't try and slack off under his undivided focus.
And finally, after what felt like actual ages... "And this is the answer?" ...She finished solving the last of the equations.
"It is. Good job, Fie." She let out an exhale. Finally she was done. "Onto the next equation." Wait... what? Her surprise must have shown as the teacher let out a rather rude snort. "You didn't think we were finished, did you? I have a whole bunch of equations for you to solve and after that I'm hoping we can get started on the basics of Erebonian history tonight."
There was no possible way. With mounting horror the silver-haired girl glanced over towards the nearest clock. That time that felt like actual ages to her? Five minutes had passed. And she had promised to remain here for at least an hour. "...Dammit."
This was gonna be a long night.
"Hey, Altina?"
"...Yes?" It had taken some time, but she had finally managed to corner her classmate in private. The two were alone in their room after Juna had left to go do... something. If she had said what it was then Fie hadn't been listening.
She knew the questions she wanted to ask weren't exactly the safest for conversation, but social graces were not her strong point, so she shrugged and barreled straight ahead. "I heard that you were working for the nobles during the war, yeah?"
As expected, her classmate's eyes narrowed. "...Where did you hear that? That information is classified."
"Rean told me." Throwing him under the bus like that might not have been nice, but she wasn't all that interested in being nice. He was the one who blabbed away that info so he could deal with the consequences himself.
Altina huffed in annoyance, but that was the only visible sign of her annoyance. Instead the girl seemed almost to lighten up her demeanor at that revelation. "Very well. That is indeed accurate, although the circumstances weren't quite as they seemed." Just what was her relationship with their teacher that caused her to become forthcoming as soon as his name was mentioned? Sure she knew as well as anyone that being enemies in the past meant nothing in the present, but even still...
"So does that mean you know what happened to Xeno and Leo?"
"Ah..." Eyes lit up in understanding. "I take it this is in reference to your prior affiliation?"
Fie shrugged. Altina had already hinted out that she knew about that, so it didn't surprise her at all. Still, the fact that it seemed like half of the campus knew about her time in Zephyr was kinda annoying. So much for being her secret. "Yup. I hadn't seen them since..." She shook her head to drive the memories from her head. "I was hoping you knew something about them."
"Hmm. My knowledge of the two jaegers is more limited than you are hoping, unfortunately. While we were fighting on the same side – on paper, that is – our missions rarely crossed paths." Altina's eyes narrowed dangerously. "...In fact I do believe the longest we worked together was that time when Instructor Rean did obscene things to me before kidnapping the Princess of Erebonia."
"O...kay?" Of all the things she expected to learn from this conversation that was definitely not one of them. "So you don't know what happened to them?"
"Most of the details regarding the Zephyr members are above even my classification level." Altina tried to keep a straight face, but it was impossible to miss the way she pouted at that revelation. "Still, I do know that the two had been in secret talks with the Erebonian government for some time before the war ended. While I lack details as to what that was all about, I do know that that deal was what allowed for them to safely exit the conflict after Duke Cayenne was apprehended. Their current whereabouts are unknown to me, but I am quite certain that ranking officials in the Intelligence Division and Ironbloods have been in close communication with them."
Fie groaned tiredly. While useful, the information she had gotten pretty much only confirmed the suspicions she already had. Once again her quest for answers had reached a dead end. "Thanks anyways."
"You are welcome. I apologize if what I know is not what you wanted to hear."
"It's fine. To be honest? I'm not sure why I even care about them anymore. It's just something I've been looking into for so long... I guess I don't really know anything different." She had no idea why she was opening up to the other girl like this, but there was just something about her that made it easy to talk freely in her presence.
Altina tilted her head in thought. "While I do not fully understand your situation, I do believe I can relate a little. The mission I've been on during the past year expired upon my enrollment here, but I still find myself wanting to continue it."
"Mission...?" The former jaeger paused to consider what little she knew of the girl. Given her previous position and a few noteworthy interactions there was one possibility that came to mind. "Does this mission of yours involve Rean?"
"That information is classified."
Fie couldn't help but let out a small laugh. If nothing else she could appreciate the girl's sense of humor, even if she was almost certainly being dead serious. So many people used far too many words to convey the simplest of things. It was obnoxious. She had met so many of them during her travels. Altina's almost robotic efficiency was a nice change of pace.
And she was starting to believe that despite their vastly different circumstances and objectives that the two were surprisingly similar. Sure she had a lot of similarities with Randy, but Altina was close to her own age. It was kinda refreshing.
She let out a tired yawn. "I'm exhausted. Let's start getting ready for bed before Juna comes back from..."
Altina must have noticed the way she trailed off as her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You weren't listening to what she said before leaving, were you?"
Fie huffed, but couldn't quite keep the tiny grin off her face. "I was! She said she was going to..." Time to trust in her jaeger instincts. "Apply more hair dye?"
"I was led to believe that her hair color was natural."
"Do you really think a color that obnoxious can be natural?"
"But what about her family?"
Fie followed Altina's gaze to the picture in question. She shuddered. It was just way too much pink! "Paid actors, maybe? Dunno."
"I find your reasoning flawed, but the premise is intriguing enough. Perhaps an investigation is in order?"
Everything else she thought about Altina? Irrelevant. It was definitely her dry sense of humor that made her so easy for Fie to get along with. The one bright spot in this class of annoying busybodies.