Chapter 45 - Siegfried

5.22.1206 - Monday

Towa sat alone in the faculty lounge as the moon rose in the night sky. Classes had ended hours ago, and everyone had already left to go do their own things. Even though the Crossbell Field Exercise had concluded yesterday, she couldn't help but still think about what they all saw at Stargazer's Tower.

"I see you're still here as well." Rean greeted Towa as he joined her inside the faculty lounge.

Even though Rean had greeted Towa with a smile, they both knew that he was forcing it. they'd been both doing their best to hide how they'd truly been feeling from their coworkers and students ever since yesterday.

"Good evening, Rean." Towa greeted as Rean took a seat next to her.

The pair sat silently as they waited for the other to continue the conversation. They both knew what was on the other's mind, but didn't want to be the one to bring it up out of fear of reopening old wounds.

"So, that 'Azure Siegfried' person. Something seems familiar about them." Rean spoke up as he decided that enough was enough.

"You also noticed?" Towa replied.

"How could I not?" Rean replied.

The pair soon quickly recalled what they saw at Stargazer's Tower on the final day of their Field Exercise in Crossbell.

After taking down two members of Ouroboros and their Aion. Another figure appeared out of nowhere.

It was a white haired man dressed in blue. Their skin tone was extremely pale, it was almost as if they were a walking corpse. Their voice sounded familiar, yet haunting. They both had their suspicions on the identity of the man, however, they couldn't really be sure due to the figure wearing a mask.

It couldn't be who they thought it was. They both attended Crow's funeral, alongside their friends.

"I think it's time we head back to the dorm. The others might start to worry if we miss out on dinner." Towa suggested as she got up.

Rean could tell that Towa was trying to put her thoughts on Azure Siegfried aside, but it was clear that there was more to it. After all, there was a chance of them being an old friend.

"Hey Towa… Would you like to go check up on Grow's grave? Just to be sure." Rean asked as he followed Towa into the hallway.

Towa stopped dead in her tracks as she thought about Rean's question.

"Rean, I'd like to. But the station is closed at this hour." Towa replied.

"We can take Valimar?" Rean suggested.

"Principal Le Guin might not give us permission to leave Leeves on such short notice." Towa noted.

"I'll send her a message via my ARCUS." Rean replied as he pulled out his ARCUS from one of his pockets.


After being given permission to leave by Aurelia, Rean and Towa quickly locked up the Branch Campus Main Building and made their way to the Hangar to ask Valimar for a ride.

"Good evening Rean, Towa. Is something the matter?" Valimar greeted the pair.

"Good evening Valimar. I was wondering if you could take us somewhere?" Rean greeted.

"Of course. Where do you two wish to go?" Valimar replied.

"Himmel Cemetery outside of Heimdallr." Towa answered.

"I see. As you two wish." Valimar replied.

Rean carefully helped Towa inside Valimar, before sitting down in the cockpit. With Towa taking a seat on his lap like she usually did when she traveled with Rean and Valimar.


After a few minutes, Valimar made it to the outskirts of Heimdallr.

"Anywhere in particular we should land?" Valimar asked.

"That hill by Himmel Cemetery should be good." Rean answered.

"Acknowledged." Valimar announced before landing on the hill that Rean instructed.

"Mind if we take a quick detour into the city?" Rean asked as he helped Towa get outside.

"Not at all. Take all the time you need." Valimar answered.

"Thank you, Valimar." Towa replied before grabbing onto one of Rean's hands as they made their way into the city.

Once Rean and Towa were out of sight however, Valimar sensed two figures close by.

"Show yourselves at once!" Valimar announced as he activated his autopilot mode. It was usually saved for emergencies. Even if it meant that he wouldn't be able to fight at max strength and speed without Rean.

Strangely, the two figures disappeared into thin air before Valimar could focus on them.

"Strange. I swear that I sensed two figures standing a few feet away. They felt familiar." Valimar thought to himself as he kneeled down to rest.


Rean and Towa cautiously walked around Heimdallr in search of a flower shop that was still open. Luckily, Rean remembered to put on his glasses before entering the city, so no one bothered them.

After a few minutes of searching, they found a small flower shop.

"Good evening." the shopkeeper greeted Rean and Towa as they entered their store.

"Good evening, we're here to visit an old friend. You wouldn't happen to have any white carnations available would you?" Rean asked.

"I'll go check in the back." the shopkeeper replied before retreating into the backroom.

"Do you think that we should visit your family while we're here?" Rean asked as he turned to Towa.

"I don't think it would be wise to drop by unannounced. I'll make sure to let them know in advance next time we come to visit Heimdallr." Towa answered.

"If you say so." Rean replied before the shopkeeper returned.

"Here are the last two white carnations we had for today." the shopkeeper informed the pair as they handed the flowers to Rean.

"Perfect, how much?" Rean asked as he took out his wallet.

"Oh, they're 50 mira each." the shopkeeper answered.

"Okay then, 50 mira…" Rean repeated before freezing up.

"Rean?" Towa asked with concern as she saw Rean drop a few mira coins.

"S-Sorry, about that. I wasn't sure if I had enough, haha." Rean said as he bent down to pick up his mira.

Rean quickly composed himself and handed the shopkeeper two 50 mira coins.

"Have a safe evening you two." the shopkeeper said as Rean opened the door for Towa.

"Thank you, have a good evening." Rean and Towa said together before leaving the store.

"Is everything alright, Rean?" Towa asked as they walked through the streets.

"Yeah, just caught a little off guard by the price." Rean admitted.


Rean and Towa both soon entered Himmel Cemetery.

The pair placed their flowers on Crow's grave and quietly said a prayer together.

What happened to Crow was a constant reminder of the dangers they all faced when in combat. Be it working as an instructor, a Bracer, a musician, a duke, a spy, or any other occupation. They always needed to keep an eye out and be grateful for being able to go back to bed each night.

After a few minutes of standing silently, Rean and Towa examined the area to clear their suspicions.

"There's no sign of anyone tampering with Crow's grave." Rean noted.

"Yeah, if someone tried stealing Crow's corpse, then surely there would be evidence of the theft left behind." Towa added on.

In truth, the idea of someone digging out Crow's coffin shook them to their core.

"This place looks the exact same as we left it after Crow's funeral." Rean commented.

"I suppose Azure Siegfried resembling Crow is only a coincidence." Towa noted.

"Still, I can't help but feel like there's more to this." Rean continued.

"Do you mean the Divine Knight that Azure Siegfried had?" Towa asked.

"It looked similar to Ordine, but that shouldn't be the case. Crow should be the only person able to pilot him. Now that I think about it, how did they get Ordine?" Rean questioned.

"After we handed Ordine over to the Military, George volunteered to keep an eye on him since he started working as an engineer for the military right before. Maybe I should ask him if he can check on Ordine's current status. Just to be safe." Towa noted.

"That sounds like a good idea." Rean replied.

"Although, George still hasn't answered any of my messages. Not from your birthday, or any of the follow up messages since then. He's been oddly quiet as of late." Towa continued.

"I'm sure he must be busy with something. I'll try sending him a message later myself." Rean assured Towa.

"Thanks, Rean. Should we head back to the dorm and call it a night now?" Towa replied.

"Yeah, we still have classes tomorrow after all." Rean answered.

After taking another look at Crow's grave, Rean and Towa made their way back to Valimar.


Siegfried and Ordine watched from miles away as Valimar flew into the sky and made his way back to Leeves.

"The targets are no longer within range. Should we follow them and shoot them down while they're backs are turned?" Ordine asked.

Siegfried sat silently inside the cockpit as he thought about what their next course of action should be.

They were sent by the Gnomes to keep an eye on Valimar, Rean, and Towa after one of the robots they kept to watch over Himmel Cemetery alerted them of their presence, and make sure that they didn't figure out the truth. By any means necessary.

"Stand down." Siegfried ordered.

"Acknowledged." Ordine announced.

Seeing as they had a few minutes to themselves, Siegfried ordered Ordine to land close to the grave they were sent to protect. He grew rather curious about what the Gnomes wanted protected so badly. He couldn't help but feel a sharp pain in his head as he approached the grave stone.

"Crow Armbrust." Siegfried read aloud.

It was a name that ran hollow, but still very familiar at the same time.

"Ordine, any idea who this person was?" Siegfried asked as he turned to Ordine.

"He was a classmate and friend of the two people who were here before." Ordine answered. He had been ordered by the Gnomes to keep any information on Crow to a minimum, even to Siegfried.

"I see then." Siegfried replied. He could tell that there was more that he wasn't being told, but decided not to ask any further. Whoever Crow Armbrust was, it had nothing to do with him.

Siegfried soon got back inside Ordine, and ordered him to make his way back to the Black Workshop.

It was a mostly quiet ride, until someone called Siegfried.

"This is Siegfried, what's the order?" Siegfried answered.

"No orders, just curious. Why did you let your targets leave?" the person on the other end questioned.

"I was only ordered to eliminate them if they uncovered the truth. While they did approach the grave, they did not in any way try to tamper with the burial. So as far as I'm concerned, I did not need to do anything about them." Siegfried explained.

"I see then. I suppose I'll have to check in on them myself soon. Just to make sure." the person on the other end noted.

"Suit yourself." Siegfried replied.

"See you back at the Black Workshop Cr- I mean Siegfried." the person on the other end responded. It wasn't the first time they almost slipped up Siegfried's name, but it was still worrying to them that they still didn't feel comfortable calling Siegfried by their name.

"That's Azure Siegfried to you, Copper Georg." Siegfried replied before hanging up.


Towa snuggled up to Rean as he piloted Valimar back to Leeves. She couldn't help but fall asleep as a result of his warmth. Something Rean was more than willing to let her do.

After a few minutes Valimar finally arrived in Leeves and landed inside the Hanger.

"We have arrived in Leeves." Valimar announced.

"Thanks Valimar. I appreciate you willing to take us to Heimdallr at this hour." Rean replied as he princess carried Towa as she slept.

"Not a problem, Rean. Have a goodnight." Valimar responded.

"Goodnight, Valimar." Rean replied as he watched Valimar enter rest mode.

"It's about time we get some rest ourselves." Rean whispered to Towa as he locked up the Hanger and made his way back to the Branch Campus Dorm.

Rean quietly made his way up to Towa's dorm room, so as to not wake anyone up with their late arrival.

Upon entering her dorm room, Rean gently placed Towa on her bed and put a blanket over her.
"Goodnight Towa." Rean whispered before giving Towa a kiss on the cheek.

Before Rean could leave however, he felt something tugging at one of his wrists.

"Rean… Can you stay here… for the night?" Towa asked while still half asleep.

Rean contemplated Towa's request for a few seconds, but knew he couldn't say no to her.

"I'd love to. I'll just make sure to wake up extra early tomorrow so I can go back to my dorm room and change into a cleaner uniform." Rean replied before taking off his uniform coat.

Towa scooted over as Rean joined her in bed and placed the blanket over him as well.

"T-Thank you, Rean. I-I don't want to be alone tonight." Towa whispered as she fell back asleep.

"It's alright Towa. I'll always be by your side." Rean whispered before drifting off to sleep.


Author's Note

A more solemn chapter this time around. I figured that since Rean and Towa had access to Valimar, they could go check on Crow's grave without much issue.

Note - By the way, I updated the previous chapter with a new scene at the end. Mainly for those who were curious about what Towa's birthday gift for Rean was. I promise it's sweet.