Chapter 29 - Black Rabbit
3.9.1205 - Wednesday
It had been three months since the Erebonian Civil War ended and Rean was sent to Crossbell to help with the occupation.
Rean had gotten used to his new morning routine. He woke up at the crack of dawn, took a shower, got dressed, finished preparing his luggage, and made his way to the kitchen. He quickly prepared a basic breakfast meal. Mainly some scrambled eggs with a mug filled with black coffee, and some pancakes with a glass of milk.
Rean was only supposed to stay in Crossbell for a single month. Come the end of January, and Lechter called Rean to inform him that Chancellor Osborne had chosen to extend his stay until the beginning of March. It didn't take an orbal scientist to know that this was his punishment for attempting to harm them back in the Infernal Castle.
Rufus suspected that Rean would try to escape Crossbell when he received news of his extended stay and decided to appoint someone to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't try to run away.
Granted with how things seemed, most would assume that Rean was supposed to keep an eye on them.
"Altina, breakfast is ready!" Rean announced.
"I'm on my way!" Altina yelled from her room.
It was clear to Rean that Rufus didn't really have anything for Altina to do anymore, and was just dumping her off on him. He didn't mind however. Despite the fact that just a few months ago she was his enemy, she was at the very least a familiar face in a new place.
"If you don't hurry the pancake will get cold!" Rean teased as he took a seat on the small dining room table and started eating his eggs.
Within a few seconds Altina entered the kitchen in her pajamas and took a seat in front of Rean to make sure her pancakes were still warm.
"I believe these pancakes would have still been warm if I had been given five more minutes Schwarzer." Altina bluntly states as she started eating her pancakes.
"Hey now, I was joking." Rean responded after taking a sip of his coffee.
The two took their time eating their breakfast. They didn't have an eventful day planned, but with Rean finally getting sent back to Trista that evening they had agreed to visit one of the stores inside Crossbell City's Central square to buy souvenirs.
Rean felt a little bad for Altina. Unlike him, she wasn't really sure what was going to happen to her once he left Crossbell. So he decided to use the souvenir shopping as an excuse to buy her a thank you gift for their time together.
After finishing their meals, Rean started cleaning the apartment while Altina prepared for the day.
Compared to Rean's luggage bag that was filled with multiple items he had bought while in Crossbell, Altina had been a light traveler. Her luggage bag was mostly spare outfits that he had bought her throughout their time together. She had insisted that her Black Rabbit costume would be enough, but that didn't stop him from spoiling her whenever he caught her window shopping. Not that she minded, she did wear them each day after all.
Rean and Altina soon left his apartment once everything was cleaned up.
After giving the landlord his Key, Rean grabbed his luggage bag (along with Altina's) and they went to see what Crossbell City's Central Square had in store for them.
"Is there any store that you had in mind?" Alitna asked.
"Oh, I figured we'd visit the Times Department Store." Rean answered.
"If you say so." Altina responded.
The walk to the Times Department Store was fairly uneventful. While still mostly unfamiliar, Rean had started to get used to his surroundings.
Luckily Crossbell City was no Heimdallr, which meant Rean still knew how to navigate without needing a guide.
The two continued walking quietly to their destination.
"Alright, Times Department Store. Let's see what tickles our fancy." Rean said once they entered.
"I would prefer it if the items we buy don't tickle us." Altina commented.
"Don't worry it's a figure of speech. I really need to be careful how I phrase things around you huh?" Rean responded.
Rean and Altina looked around the stalls to see what they liked.
They mainly ended up picking up more clothes.
Rean mostly found shirts and sweater vests, and a turquoise ribbon with a yellow trimming for a certain someone. Altina found a nice small black ribbon. It was only after Rean tied the ribbon for her did she realize that the ribbon made it look like she had rabbit ears.
"If I had wanted to look like a rabbit I would have used my Black Rabbit costume." Altina thought to herself as she looked in a mirror.
"Alright, this should be enough. Oh wait, there's no cashier in this stall. Here Altina, this should be enough for you to purchase that ribbon. That cashier over there looks like they can help you." Rean said as he handed Altina some mira and pointed her to another stall.
Once Altina left his sight, Rean ran back to a stall where he saw something that he knew that she would like.
"Here you go. Keep the change." Rean said as he handed some mira to the cashier and put Altina's gift in the bag with his souvenirs. He planned to give it to her once it was time for them to give their farewells.
Rean quickly stuffed the gift in his coat as he made his way to the cashier he sent Altina to.
"Here you go Schwarzer." Altina said as she tried to give him the change.
"Don't worry. You can keep that." Rean said in response.
The two quickly exited the store, unsure of what to do next. They seemingly still had more than enough time to do whatever they wanted.
"If it's alright with you, would you mind if we take a seat on that bench over there? I'm feeling rather tired." Altina asked.
"Oh, sure." Rean answered.
The two sat down silently for a few minutes.
It didn't take long before Alina said what she wanted to say.
"You miss them don't you?" Altina asked him.
"Oh my classmates? I suppose I do." Rean answered.
Altina wasn't sure if she should clarify who she meant.
"I suppose it's been a while since I've seen or spoken to any of them." Rean continued.
"What's stopping you from calling them?" Altina asked.
Rean then pulled out an Arcus unit that was different from the one he'd been using while at Thors.
"You can thank Captain Lechter for this. Apparently my normal Arcus unit could have been used to track me, so he gave me this spare one he had with higher security. Although it can only make calls with the Iron-bloods, and no one else." Rean answered.
"I see." Altina responded.
"I suppose I should acknowledge who I've missed the most. Towa's been on my mind since I wasn't allowed to go back to Trista with her and the others. Luckily that locket has done a decent job of reminding me of her each night." Rean thought to himself as he patted the coat pocket he placed the locket inside.
"Having trouble breathing since she isn't here?" Altina teased.
"Huh? I don't have breathing problems." Rean answered.
"Never mind." Altina responded as she realized that her teasing went over Rean's head.
"Oh, I've been meaning to ask you something." Rean asked.
"What is it?" Altina responded.
"Well, seeing as we're not really enemies anymore I figured it would be more appropriate if you just call me Rean. It's what all my other friends call me." Rean contined.
"You consider me a friend?" Altina questioned. She immediately recalled all the things she did to him during the Civil War, mainly kidnapping his sister and being on opposing sides.
"What else would I consider you?" Rean asked.
"You mentioned us not being enemies anymore, but is that really true? It's rather obvious that I'm a constant reminder to you that you're being watched by Chancellor Osborne and Governor-General Rufus. If anything… We are still enemies." Altina admitted.
"You say that as if that's the only reason you're here with me right now." Rean told her.
"Huh?" Altina responded.
"While it's true that you were assigned to keep an eye on me, you've done so much more than that. After all, who's been there to cover my back on my missions here? Who's joined me on my daily walks around Crossbell City? Who keeps on eating the breakfast, lunch, and dinner I make for them? You." Rean continued.
"I..." Altina tried to argue.
"Listen Altina, the past is the past. It's never too late to start over from square one." Rean told her as he started to rub her head.
"Schw-I mean Rean…" Altina responded.
Altina wouldn't have minded if Rean kept rubbing her head longer, but soon Rean's Arcus began to ring.
"Hello, Rean Schwarzer speaking?" Rean greeted.
"This is Captain Lechter. There's been a breach inside the Geofront. We suspect it's the leader of the SSS and an ally of theirs. I'm sending you and Altina their coordinates. Stop them from initializing the orbal computer they're after, and if you can't, then destroy it. Stop them by any means necessary." Lechter said.
"Roger." Rean responded.
Once the call finished, Rean turned to Altina to inform them of their last mission in Crossbell.
"Roger." Altina responded as she summoned Claiomh Soloais to fly them both over to the coordinates that Lechter sent them as quickly as possible.
Not before dropping off their luggage at the train station and Orchis Tower respectively.
The battle against Lloyd Bannings and Rixia Mao went as expected.
For the most part it was an even fight. Rean focused on Rixia, while Altina dealt with Lloyd from a safe distance.
The fight stayed as a stalemate for many minutes. Rean didn't want to risk harming them by using his ogre powers, and he could tell that Lloyd and Rixia weren't going all out either. It seemed as if their goal wasn't to win, but to stall for time.
Knowing full well that Rean was the bigger obstacle, Lloyd and Rixia quickly thought up a plan to separate him from Altina.
"Rising Sun!" Lloyd yelled as he started his S-Craft.
Altina froze as she saw Lloyd rushing towards her. Before she knew it, she was pushed away by Rean, who took Lloyd's S-Craft in her place.
Rixia quickly made her way towards Rean and Lloyd.
"Overdrive!" Lloyd and Rixia yelled in sync.
Rean held his ground as Lloyd and Rixia continued their barrage
Once Lloyd and Rixia's overdrive was finished Altina decided to attack them with her S-Craft before they could activate a second one.
"Ragna Bringer!" Altina yelled as she caught Lloyd and Rixia by surprise.
While that was going on Rean attempted to catch his breath before hearing a message from the device Lloyd and Rixia used to hack into the orbal computer.
"Initialization process completed. Rebooting all systems in an initialized state." the device announced.
"We did it!" Lloyd yelled.
"Whew… What a relief." Rixia responded.
"What should we do?" Altina asked as she made her way towards Rean.
"Captain Lechter gave us two orders. One was to prevent the initialization; the other was only to be completed in the event we couldn't. We'll just do that one." Rean announced.
"Captain Lechter!?" Lloyd questioned.
"It couldn't be the same Lechter from the Imperial Army's Intelligence Division, right?" Rixia asked.
Lloyd and Rixia watched as Rean lifted up a closed fist into the air.
"Heed my call… Valimar, the Ashen Knight!" Rean yelled.
Before they knew it, Lloyd and Rixia saw a large magical knight appear before them.
"Holy-!" Lloyd yelled before Rixia interrupted him.
"An Aion? No, it isn't!" Rixia noted.
Rean quickly got inside Valimar and took out Valimar's tachi.
Lloyd and Rixia quickly realized what else Lechter ordered him to do.
"Wait! No!" Lloyd yelled.
With one swing, Rean and Valimar destroyed the orbal computer.
"If we can at least get the data out of here!" Lloyd said as he quickly grabbed the device they were using.
Rean then pointed his tachi towards Lloyd and Rixia.
"We'll split our losses this time. Arrests warrants haven't been issued for either of you yet… So go." Rean announced.
"Damn it…" Lloyd responded.
Lloyd and Rixia decided to use their remaining time wisely and ran towards the door.
Before they left however, Lloyd turned around to face Rean.
"Just tell me one thing. As I'm sure you already know, my name is Lloyd Bannings, and I'm a police detective with the Crossbell Police Department. What's your name?" Lloyd asked.
"I'm with Thors Military Academy, Class… No. I'm a provisional military officer with the Crossbell government. Rean Schwarzer." Rean answered.
With that Lloyd and Rixia made their retreat.
Rean quickly got outside of Valimar once the two were out of sight.
Rean immediately heard his Arcus ringing and answered.
"Yes, this is Schwarzer speaking." Rean greeted.
"Hey. Good job on the mission." Lechter responded.
"Nothing 'good' about it, I'm afraid. I couldn't prevent them from erasing all the data." Rean explained.
"Eh, it's not the end of the world. We've still got plenty of other options. They're not the type to give up easily, but it'll set 'em back in the meantime." Lechter informed him.
"Is that so, Captain? You must know them fairly well." Rean noted.
"I guess you can say that. They're no pushovers. They've had the odds stacked against them in more ways than I can count, but they've come out the other side every time." Lechter continued.
Rean and Altina could only stare out the door from where Lloyd and Rixia retreated from as they questioned what else fate had in store for them.
"You heading back, then?" Lechter asked when he realized that Rean's train was supposed to be leaving in a few hours.
"That's the plan. I've played my part. I'll return with Valimar on the train this afternoon. I already dropped off my luggage with the staff, and left Altina's with Rufus at Orchis Tower." Rean responded.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to go back on the Eisengraf together instead. You two haven't spoken since, right?" Lechter asked.
"Excuse me." Rean responded before hanging up.
"This is where we part ways, then. I look forward to any collaborative efforts we may have in the future." Altina responded.
"Yeah. Oh, right. Do you have anything you want me to pass on to Millium?" Rean asked.
"Not especially. We may technically be sisters, but I am simply a tool. I feel no particular familial bond with her. I imagine that deep down, she feels the same way." Altina answered.
"Yeah, but… No, forget it." Rean said.
Before Altina knew it, Rean began to rub her head again.
"Take care, okay? I don't doubt you're going to be sent on plenty of dangerous missions in the days to come." Rean told her before he stopped rubbing her head.
"Understood?" Altina responded.
Rean quickly turned back to face the door that Lloyd and Rixia used to retreat.
"Is something wrong?" Altina asked.
"Not really. I'm just… kind of jealous of them, I guess." Rean admitted.
Rean then immediately remembered the gift that he bought for Altina and took it out of his coat.
"Oh, I almost forgot, here you go." Rean said as he put Altina's gift on her head. It was a simple black beret.
"Oh." Altina responded.
"I figured I'd give you a thank you gift for making my stay in Crossbell all the more enjoyable. So, thank you Altina. I hope we collaborate again soon." Rean explained.
"I see… Thank you." Altina said in return.
Lloyd and Rixia were able to successfully make it to the Special Support Section Annex building after retreating from the Geofront.
While Ellie, Tio, Noel, and KeA tended to Rixia's wounds, Randy and Wazy helped "tend" to Lloyd's wounds.
"So you're telling me a baby-faced school boy and a little girl did this to you and Rixia?" Wazy teased.
"In my defense, our strategy was just to stall for time. I might've taken some hits so that the fight would last longer." Lloyd responded in an attempt to save his dignity.
"Yeesh, I'd hate to be in the same room as those two." Randy commented as put a bandage over Lloyd's mouth to shut him up.
The train ride back to Trista was fairly uneventful. It was the first time Rean had sensed a little bit of normalcy since before the Civil War started.
Although, it didn't take long for kids and their parents to start hounding him for autographs. Seeing his face plastered over the newspapers was enough to clue Rean in on his sudden popularity. Granted, he got really uncomfortable when a bunch of young men and women started asking him out on dates, all of which he politely turned down the best he could.
Once he made it to Trista he entrusted the staff to take care of unloading Valimar and delivering him to George's lab.
Before he left the station however he was confronted by Claire. Rean felt a little guilty for taking out all his frustrations over the Crossbell situation along with her knowing who his biological father was onto her, not that she blamed him. He was able to calm himself down before apologizing and excusing himself. He knew that she still wanted to talk, but he was scared that he would just continue to let out his frustrations onto her.
Once outside the station, Rean was bombarded by his classmates along with a few others.
"Welcome back Rean!" Everyone yelled.
Rean couldn't be happier to see everyone again, although he quickly noticed that Towa wasn't amongst them.
Author's Note
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
If your wondering why this has the same preview as the last chapter, the answer is simple. This chapter was written over the weekend after deciding to write a Crossbell chapter. Special thanks to CrowgoesCaw for the great idea!
Preview - "Yeah, can't say I've ever dreamt about you headbutting me before." _ joked.
