Chapter 14 "Bump in the Road"
Darkness arrived before the rainstorm left, forcing Noah, Mio and her allies to sleep by the tunnel's exit overnight. In being the last one to take a turn on guard, the ponytailed Kevesi made use of the creeping morning light with a set of his sword kata.
"Ah, there you are," the cat-eared Agnian tiptoed outside to where he was practicing.
"Huh?" he spun around, Blade withdrawn. "Oh, I'm sorry, was I too noisy?"
"Well, technically yes," a yawn escaped her, "but it was time to get up, anyway."
"Eager to get a head start on the day, are you?" Noah observed her tired expression becoming a worried one.
"Yeah…" the tenth-termer attempted to fix her hair. "I'm amazed I slept at all, last night."
"Nobody bothered us, not even a Tirkin," her travel partner was glad to report.
"That's good," Mio glanced back to her reclining allies. "These poor soldiers just want to go home."
"We do seem to have run into more than our share of inconveniences," the pacifist noted of their past few days.
"And yet you choose to stay with us," the moonblades-wielder returned her groggy gaze to him.
"Does that still come as a shock to you?" he stepped closer to her.
"Yes," her arms were crossed. "Look at it from my perspective. Wouldn't you feel undeserving if I insisted on wanting to improve your life, let alone after getting mistreated by your own kind?"
"I… see what you're saying," his posture mimicked hers, their elbows now touching. "However, you also know I appreciate that you hate fighting, like me. Why wouldn't I want to stick with likeminded people?"
"And I understand that, but you're really dedicating yourself to my cause," she poked at his chest. "Is there something else goin' on, here?"
"W-what do you mean?" he felt uneasy with her tonal shift. "An ulterior motive?"
"More or less," her hardened stare invaded his bubble of comfort.
"Bowan basically asked this question yesterday. Was my answer insufficient?" Noah slowly regained his nerve, particularly in the face of her onsetting silence to his demurral. "Do you… not want me to help you?"
"What? No, I need, er, want your help." The apparent slip of Mio's tongue perhaps revealed where her mind truly was on the matter. "I just… don't know how I'll ever make it up to you."
"Haven't I already said you don't owe me anything?" his brows came down together, slightly bemused that this subject had reared its ugly head again.
"Yes, but it doesn't change how I feel," the zephyr momentarily shut her eyes, slowly shaking her head. "Whether or not we succeed in my quest, I'd like to repay you somehow."
"Mio…" Upon a sudden realization, the ponytailed soldier incurred an uncomfortably sinking feeling. "What if we're unable to challenge your consul until the day of your homecoming? You'd run out of time."
"My consul will show herself before then," his running mate claimed adamantly. "I'm sure she's waiting for us survivors to return."
"Very well," he submitted to her confidence, "I'll trust your judgment on that."
"The only thing of which I'm unsure is when she'll bring new recruits," the agile Agnian somewhat reeled herself back in.
"Theoretically speaking, their tending to your Flame Clock would allow you to leave your colony the way I've left mine." Guilt coated these words as Noah spoke them, aware of his own vitality being upkept by his former comrades at Colony 25.
"Right," her voice withered in similar shame before finishing her thought. "Therefore, I'd still be able to repay you for helping me."
"In that case, there is something you can do for me," he finally admitted, much to her relief.
"Yeah?" her ears perked up. "What is it?"
"I've been thinking about the City," the swordfighter uttered the short but presently provocative word, "especially after we learned about soldiers leaving Colony Phi for it."
"Uh-huh…?" she started catching his drift.
"I'd like to see it," his fingers interlaced beneath his chin. "Would you… be willing to accompany me there?"
"You wish to take up the City folks' offer to visit?" Mio repeated his request from a different angle, withholding an answer for now.
"Yes, though it wouldn't just be a visit to them," the ninth-termer observed her facial reaction closely. "From everything they've said about it, the City sounds like the opportunity I've been looking for."
"Opportunity?" she tilted her head at him.
"To live freely, safely," Noah attempted to clarify, his mind soon recalling their first discussion about deserting the war. "You were probably right that Ribbi Flats is untenable, but what about the City?"
"That sounds like… a big commitment," the moonblades-wielder tensed at the thought of immersing herself in something which she hardly trusted.
"Do you picture yourself staying at your colony after we defeat your consul?" he raised for consideration what he knew would be an unpreferable option.
"When you put it that way…" she was nearly sulking now. "I suppose I don't want to risk being tied to a new consul's reins."
"So, you'll accompany me?" her travel partner asked again, ever patiently.
"Let's concentrate on my quest first, then we can focus on the City," Mio finally gave him an answer, albeit an ambiguous one. "Is that okay?"
"What's this about the City?" a new voice billowed onto the ledge.
"Bowan," she found the blue-finned defender rubbing his eyes as he approached them. "Mornin'."
"Good morning," the pacifist greeted him too, glancing towards the tunnel. "Is everyone else awake now?"
"I gave them gentle nudges," Bowan basked in the morning sunlight. "So, you two were discussing the City?"
"Yeah," Noah looked at both Agnians in front of him. "I'd like to explore it once we're done in Colony Rho."
"That hardly surprises me," the defender covered his mouth for a yawn, "now that I know you."
"He wants me to go with him," the zephyr informed him plainly.
"Is that right?" he blinked twice before it sunk in. "Wait, what?!"
"It's true," the lone Kevesi slightly recoiled from Bowan's sudden excitement. "I invited her to tag along, provided she's able to do so, later."
"Mio's going where?" another fresh voice entered the growing group chat, this time from Lennick, the ether-lined sharpshooter.
"Well, now they're all awake," Mio mumbled to herself, watching the rest of her allies shuffle out of the tunnel. "Ahem, don't worry, I haven't committed to anything."
"Committed to what?" Moraine, the lavender-skinned healer, was the last one to arrive.
"An invitation to travel Aionios," the oldest soldier of the bunch suddenly found herself standing in the center. "But that's something we can discuss aft-"
"Let me get this straight," Bowan's interruption kept the topic boiling in the kettle, "Noah wants to see this… City, and he's invited you to go with him?"
"That's right," her hands timorously clasped behind her back.
"Didn't think this would cause a ruckus," Noah shared her vexation, his private matter with her having been blown wide open. "Well, since we're withholding nothing from each other, Mio and I already met people from the City. The idea came from them, furthered by Commander Taion when he informed us about Colony Phi's exodus."
"People from the City?" the blue-finned Agnian's acted mildly leery. "When would you have met any?"
"Soon after she and I joined forces," the swordfighter scanned everyone's varying countenances. "Come to think of it, you guys were ahead of us on the same path. Did you not see three people dressed in gray and brown, with a blue Nopon?"
"We saw nobody," the sharpshooter spoke for his allies. "I think we would've remembered a Nopon."
"Hmm… they must've been dropped off right after you left the area," the lone Kevesi presumed the order of events.
"What were they like?" the healer couldn't help her curiosity.
"Not much different from us," he scratched the top of his head, "except they claimed to have been born outside the Flame Clock system."
"W-what?" Bowan's incredulity exponentially increased. "How is that possible?"
"I suppose we didn't quite get that far with them, huh?" the ponytailed soldier eyed Mio who could only shrug her shoulders in response.
"Did they give you any trouble?" Moraine continued the line of questioning.
"None at all," his palms were out. "In fact, they were wholly charitable."
"Sounds suspicious to me," the defender contorted half his face.
"Admittedly, I'm still skeptical myself," Mio tapped her fingertips together, "but I'd much rather run into more City folks than I would Kevesi soldiers."
"Right, neutrality such as theirs shouldn't affect us," her travel partner both rationalized and hoped. "Anyway, is everyone ready to go?"
"That's what I was about to ask," she momentarily whipped her sights onto him before focusing on the others. "Bowan, Lennick, Moraine?"
"I think I'm fully awake," Lennick rubbed his ether-lined cheeks exaggeratedly.
"Me too," the lavender-skinned Agnian flicked back the sides of her hair.
"Wait, what about the Kevesis that the birdbrain mentioned yesterday?" Bowan brought to attention the warning which they'd inadvertently received from a Tirkin.
"We don't know if they're still in the valley ahead," the cat-eared Agnian hadn't forgotten about the potential threat. "I'll do my best to listen for them in case they're hiding."
"We'll all have to stay vigilant," the pacifist straightened his uniform. "I wish to avoid any conflicts."
"You'll be able to reason with them if necessary, right Noah?" Moraine smiled nervously at him.
"I'm flattered that you have such confidence in me," he suddenly felt undue responsibility, "but an unreasonable soldier can be more dangerous than a confused Tirkin."
"A sad truth I have no interest in witnessing for myself," the moonblades-wielder prepared to lead the day's hike. "Come on, everyone."
Eagerly but anxiously, the quintet crossed the spacious ledge to climb the ladder situated at the end of it. Signs of the alleged struggle between the local Tirkins and some nosey Kevesis were evident, particularly the arrows sticking between the sidepieces. Although no soldiers were waiting for them at the top, there were other dangers present in the premonitorily named Valley of Anguish which hadn't yet been considered.
"Steady does it," Noah held his arms out, placing his feet as carefully as possible. "The ground is still soaked from yesterday's rainstorm."
"It appears that a landslide might've occurred up here," his running mate studied the wrinkles in the otherwise smooth topsoil which had spilt over the rocks. "We should move slowly or else we'll fall ourselves."
"I'll keep an eye on the ledges," the ether-lined boy upturned his wary gaze. "They're ideal positions for snipers."
"Thinking like the sharpshooter you are, eh?" the lone Kevesi peered over his shoulder to him. "It's appreciated, considering how vulnerable we are right now."
"That's not all," Mio stayed focused on the perilous path ahead. "I think I spot a few gogols, though the visibility's not exactly clear."
"Yeah, what's up with the weird dust?" the healer covered her nose and mouth.
"It's black fog," he corrected her. "It's not poisonous, though too much of it concentrated in the air might cause an annihilation event."
"A what?" she absentmindedly dropped her hand.
"It's an implosion of matter, though I'm not sure why it occurs," Noah attempted to explain while the group continued their plodding ascension. "Dannagh Desert is full of sinkholes created by annihilation events."
"Kevesis, gogols, implosions…" the blue-finned Agnian listed the dangers with a prostrated tone. "We're just asking for trouble."
"On the bright side, we can use the black fog for moderate cover from other soldiers," his ponytailed cohort stated ironically.
"I feel so much better," Bowan retorted with enough sarcasm to pack a punch.
"I'd sooner worry about a gogol since they can smell us," the swordfighter concentrated on the most likely possibility.
"They shouldn't bother us if we don't bother them," Mio advised her motley crew while they ventured further up the hill. Soon after emerging from the fog, however, a rather unfriendly sound caused her ears to twitch. "Eh? Did anyone else hear that?"
"Soldiers?" the defender diligently scanned the area, all Blades now drawn.
"Not unless they growl," the zephyr strained to listen for another peep, dreading that her theory was about to be disproven. Seconds later, a sloth gogol crawled into view with its mane in the breeze and its fists on the ground.
"It's huge!" Lennick fumbled with his sharpshooter. "Er… do we fight or run?" No sooner had he asked than Bowan dashed to the gogol to expand his heavy sword into a shield. Unfortunately, all it took was one strong-armed swipe from the beast to knock the protective Agnian clean onto his back.
"Bowan!" Moraine gave him a healthful boost while Mio helped him stand.
"Let's get out of here!" Noah made the call after nearly tumbling himself. "I don't like our chances on slippery ground!"
"Yeah, I can't defend this way!" Bowan wiped off the loose soil.
"Can you run?" Mio started tugging him along.
"Yeah," he shook her off, all five soldiers on the move. "Can't believe I actually miss those Tirkins, now."
"Forget about them," she brought up the rear to keep track of everybody. "We need to stay out of that monster's clutches."
"Is it even chasing us?" the lavender-skinned girl stole a glance behind her to the persistent gogol. "Yup! It's chasing us!"
"I can slow it down a little bit!" the sharpshooter fired a few shots over his shoulder.
"The plains are just ahead!" The pacifist directed his Agnian cohorts to the top of the hill where dew-tipped grass added color and shine to the landscape again. With the distance growing between the oversized predator and its faster prey, Noah hoped to leave the gogol firmly behind them. However, it would soon prove unnecessary as a seemingly random beam of light fatally struck the monster from an unseen perch.
"Nice shot, Colette!" a foreign voice rang from the foliage before a squad of Kevesi soldiers made their presence known to the sprinting quintet. "Now let's take out the mudders so we can rescue our man!"
"Spark!" the blue-finned Agnian rushed to the front of his group as they reached Elsayer Cape. "They were out here, after all!"
"There are four of them!" the one who appeared to be the captain counted Mio and her allies. "Don't worry, mate, we'll save you!"
"W-who, me?" Noah realized that he was the subject of the apparent, impromptu rescue mission.
"Of course, you!" The Kevesi squad leader summoned his dual-dagger Blade while a piloted Equites Levnis wheeled behind him. "Reid! Geneve! Colette! Prepare for hostage extraction!"
"What? I'm not a hostage!" The picture was slowly painted for the ponytailed soldier who by now was the only one without a weapon in hand.
"What're you talking about?" the captain blinked in confusion. "We just saw them chasing you out of the black fog!"
"We were running from the gogol," the swordfighter explained as calmly as he could. "Do we have your Levnis to thank for its defeat?"
"Er… yes," the dual-daggered leader momentarily lowered both pieces of his Blade, "but why aren't you running from the enemy?"
"They're not my enemy," the so-called hostage kept his face expressionless.
"W-what the spark do you mean they're not your enemy?!" the captain sputtered unbelievingly. "They're Agnus!"
"We're not here to fight!" Mio added her voice to the mix from the rear of her group.
"Captain Yvan, look!" a female Kevesi lancer observed the halted quintet. "Isn't that the ring girl from Colony Phi?"
"Ring girl? Y-you mean Mio?" The dual-daggered leader squinted at the soldier in question. "No way!"
"She's the zephyr who used to kill our friends!" claimed their male teammate carrying a staff.
"Uh, Mio?" Noah backstepped to her while Bowan centered himself as the frontal guard. "You know them? Er… they know you?"
"I don't recognize these three," she returned their hardened stares, "but they must remember me from my early days at Colony Phi."
"So, these guys are likely from Colony 18, then," her travel partner deduced from the exchange.
"We are from Colony 18," the captain confirmed after eavesdropping, "which is where we'll take you as soon as we exterminate the enemy!"
"But I've told you, they're not my enemy," the pacifist held out his still-empty palms. "None of us should be."
"Mio is our number one enemy!" the staff-wielding Kevesi altercated, headstrong in his belief.
"That's right!" his equally ranked teammate gripped her lance. "We'll finally take her down and avenge all our friends who died by her hands!"
"I don't think I'm helping the situation," the cat-eared Agnian slumped her stance.
"It'll be a-alright," Moraine hoped to convince her allies, including herself. "Noah c-can negotiate a way out for us."
"Y-yeah…" Lennick's sharpshooter shook in his nervous hands. "I trust him."
"And if he can't, I'll protect you all!" Bowan continued to keep his heavy sword deployed like a shield.
"Captain, they've converted him!" the lancer cringed from her own misinterpretation.
"Is he even worth saving?" the other foot soldier began judging Noah as well.
"He's still one of us, so spare him," their dual-daggered leader decided impetuously. "Now let's dispose of the Agnians!"
"Is there any possible way we can talk this out?" the delegated negotiator tried once more to establish peace between the two sides. "All we desire is passage through here."
"Nothing you say can save these mudders!" the captain no longer appeared to be interested in hearing Noah out. "You can only step aside and save yourself!"
"Guys, I think we should make a run for it," Mio suggested, stealing the quickest of glances to the open fields on their left.
"Captain, she mustn't escape!" the staff-wielder was aching to commence the grudge match.
"That she shall not!" the dual-daggered leader echoed the sentiment. "Squad, resume your positions! Let's make Colony 18 proud!"
"Oh no you won't!" The defender braced for impact, though he didn't expect the opening move to come from the Kevesis' Levnis. One hot beam from the Equites was enough to shatter Bowan's heavy sword to pieces.
"Nice shot again, Colette!" the captain praised the concealed pilot. "Geneve! Reid! Let's go!"
"Forgive me, but please stop!" Noah finally drew his sword, slicing the air to momentarily ward them off. Behind him, Moraine formed a healing circle while Mio pulled Bowan to his feet for the second time today.
"My team was right, you're a tainted soul beyond saving!" the dual-daggered leader relinquished what little faith that he had left for the conflicted swordsman. "You've betrayed Keves!" Sparing no energy, he swung both pieces of his Blade at Noah who held his sword laterally for close but successful parries. Chaos had ensued around them, the familiar sounds of war ringing in their ears.
"I implore you, stand down and leave us alone!" the ponytailed soldier lost a bit of composure. With a moment of separation, they both observed Mio and Bowan slicing off the Equites' wheeled arms before Lennick fired into its cockpit. Nearby, the two other opponents on the ground attempted to gang up on Moraine, a retaliatory maneuver which prompted her allies to rush to her aid.
"Keep up the pressure! I'll soon have the traitor on his knees!" The captain gritted his teeth for another bout with the one whom he'd initially sought to rescue. Aggressive daggers dove for the hesitant sword, driving the two soldiers away from the larger battle. Noah found himself unable fight back against his own countryman, not even a disabling slash to the shin.
"For the last time, please stop this!" the pacifist pleaded with his attacker upon realizing that he'd run out of retreating space. "I really don't want to have to hurt you."
"I'm the captain of an elite squad! You can't defeat me, especially when you're not even trying!" The dual-daggered leader lunged forward with two inward stabs, one of which finally struck his target in the arm. Noah yelped from the small yet stinging pain as he fell to his side. Despite now having better access to his opponent's legs, the persistent flailing of daggers kept the toppled soldier at bay. "You're a tough nut to crack, eh traitor? Don't worry, I've got all day!"
"Well, I don't!" Mio intervened with a decisive slice across the captain's back. Noah's jaw dropped at the horrid sight of red motes billowing between the two deserters before the hardening husk hit the ground beside him. "H-hey… how badly were you hit?"
"Y-you killed him…" her travel partner sat upright, too stunned to answer.
"He would've killed you if I hadn't, since you weren't fighting back." The moonblades-wielder's sobersided stare zeroed in on his wound as she pulled him up. "Besides, if we'd let him live, then he would've alerted the rest of Colony 18."
"I-I guess…" Everything about Noah was trembly, from his voice to his stomach to his legs. "I wish there'd been another way."
"If you can move, then let's get back to the others," she encouraged him forward, having never released his uninjured arm. "They were still fighting when I left them to come to you."
"They don't appear to be anymore," he looked past her towards the mess ahead. Bowan was the only one left standing, leaning reliantly on his staked, heavy sword. Below him was a kneeling Moraine whose wand emitted a flickering, green glow.
"Spark!" Mio burst aloud the moment she realized what'd occurred in her very brief absence. "Lennick… a-are you kiddin' me?" Lying lifelessly among the Kevesi husks was the Agnian one of her sharpshooter ally, his ether lines no longer visible on his now colorless skin.
"I tried, Mio!" the healer's face was already stained with tears. "I tried to save him!"
"How can this…?" the oldest soldier's ears drooped with the mood.
"It's my fault," Moraine rose after her power fizzled away. "I'm supposed to keep you all alive."
"Those mudders targeted you on purpose," the equally weepy defender prepared to take the blame from her. "I should've… protected everybody."
"No, this is all on me," the zephyr shook her head. "The Kevesis wanted revenge on me."
"I don't suppose you'll let me take responsibility here," Noah stepped forward, his tone as flat as it'd ever been. "I'm the one who led us right to them."
"If they were out here all along, then we would've encountered them regardless of which path we took," his running mate reasoned, though it didn't make her feel better.
"This is precisely why I despise the war," he hissed frustratedly, each husk adding to his guilt. "Beyond fighting to survive, it fills people with blind hatred for one another."
"I can't even think about my own mission right now," she lowered herself to offer her warmth to her fallen ally's cold husk. "Everyone, let's pay our respects to Lennick before another Colony 18 unit shows up."
"Good idea," Bowan wiped his eyes and smeared his tears on the sharpshooter's forehead.
"May I join you guys?" the ponytailed Kevesi asked his Agnian cohorts. "I know I wasn't a good negotiator today…"
"Let me fix your arm, first," the lavender-skinned girl finally noticed and tended to his wound. "And I'm not mad at you."
"Me neither," her blue-finned comrade watched languidly, "those Kevesis wouldn't listen."
"Thank you, all… f-for keepin' yourselves together…" Mio left her unsteady hand on Lennick for a few minutes more, leaning into Noah after he'd knelt beside her. Indignation superseded their sadness, both deserters numbed by the war's toil.
Although nobody wanted to admit it aloud, the tragic battle felt like an inevitable bump in the road to Colony Rho. Regret weighed them down, but there were safer places in which to grieve. Far from ready to leave the deceased Agnian behind, the group, now a quartet, picked up their heavy feet with the difficult task to move on.