Chapter 26 "Nothing Unusual Here"
Morning brought limited sunlight through the small windows of the long dorm room where Noah, Mio, and a handful of other visiting soldiers had spent the night. The older deserter sat awake on the top bunk while the younger one continued to sleep below her. With four hours to go until the gates would open again per lockdown protocol, she was in no rush to descend the ladder and disturb him. Fate, however, had other plans as a low-pitched siren began blaring across the entire Keves Castle region.
"Huh?" the Kevesi-disguised Agnian's ears strained in the modified padding of her helmet.
"Mio…" her travel partner scrambled to his feet to check on her, squinting from having been ripped from his peaceful slumber.
"I'm here," she peered down at him before scanning the room. Curiously, most of the other occupants didn't appear to be in any state of panic.
"Something must be going on," Noah attempted to gather his wits about him whilst still in the process of waking up. With two fingers to his temple, he activated his Iris for the map of Fort O'Virbus and was greeted with a message. "High concentration warning?"
"Don't worry, it's not for us," a calm voice came from two bunkbeds down the row.
"Come again?" he looked through an empty one in between to find a Kevesi reading a Levnis operation manual.
"I've been told that it's to call the patrollers back from the wastes," the occupant informed him without leaving their reclining position. In a few more seconds, the siren ceased and the warning text disappeared.
"It's stopped already," the ponytailed soldier sat back down on his mattress.
"There'll probably be another one," they flipped the page before lowering their manual to make eye contact with Noah. "When you travel through the stations as frequently as I have, you pick up on a few things."
"I see…" he didn't question it and deactivated his Iris.
Now with a moment to catch his breath, the moderately frazzled Kevesi surrendered himself to his bed. It was hardly the first time that he'd been awoken by a siren, but that didn't stop his head from pounding from the sudden excitement. As the dorm room fell silent too, Noah ran his hands over his pouting face. Moments later, however, he felt his mattress compress by his ankle while a warm hand began rubbing his shin. Peeking through his fingers, he spied Mio attempting successfully to bring him comfort when he needed it. The rest of the morning went without further disturbance, though they mentally prepared themselves for another long day anyway.
By high noon, Noah and Mio had already crossed the Third Ixia Bridge to get in line at the next gate. Fortunately, no inspection was required to exit the fort, so their admission into Colony 21 went without hassle. Compared to the sparseness of Colony 11, this one's grounds were considerably fuller with more buildings and machines within them. Neither the canteen nor the barracks could be seen at first glance, a minor inconvenience at best. Before their search could begin, however, they noticed someone struggling to drag an empty but large ether tank out of an open garage.
"Hey, would you like some help with that?" This time it was Noah's turn to reach out to a local Kevesi in apparent need.
"Huh?" Facing them breathlessly was a girl with two-toned gray skin and shoulder-length hair that was longer in the back. "O-oh, thanks, but be careful. It's heavy."
"Y-you're not kidding around," the pacifist was soon winded himself upon taking the tank off her hands.
"Don't throw your back out," the zephyr warned him as well, slipping her own hands underneath.
"You're both going to help?" the two-toned soldier appeared appropriately bewildered.
"Oh, uh, I guess we are," the deserting Kevesi shared a similar look with his Agnian counterpart, wondering if they'd gotten themselves into another undesirable situation. "Er… where should we move this?"
"To the refueling area," their latest acquaintance motioned for them to follow her. "It's along the north wall, not too far." True to her word, the detour took them only a minute to complete. This was the more spacious half of the base which included the canteen and barracks. The front gate was visible as well, though unsurprisingly it was closed per the lockdown.
"What's this?" a male mechanic with short, light brown hair peered from behind a wide, adjustable hose. "Peridot, you could've just called me for help if it was too heavy for you."
"They offered and, well, you're busy," she told him shyly before realizing that they were still holding it. "Oh, s-sorry, you can set it down over here." Readding her strength to the effort, the three soldiers carefully placed the tank under the hose to be fastened together.
"That'll do," the brunet promptly performed the final step before standing with everyone else. "So, who do we have to thank here?"
"W-we never introduced ourselves," the girl now known to them as Peridot covered her mouth embarrassedly.
"Don't worry about it," the ponytailed soldier assuaged her. "I'm Noah."
"Amie," Mio used her undercover name, now accustomed to doing so.
"You can call me Radek, and this is Peridot," the mechanic spoke for both his teammate and himself. "I didn't realize we'd be getting new recruits."
"Actually, we're just passing through the stations," the younger of the two visitors corrected his misassumption, "slowly, as it were."
"Ah, lockdown's a bummer, eh?" the brunet chuckled as the tank behind them began filling with ether. "Say, if you were in the fort yesterday, did you see the homecoming ceremony?"
"Yes," the swordfighter answered hesitantly, wishing that any other question had been asked instead.
"Wasn't it great?" Radek ignored the sudden drop in his guests' moods. "We've managed to make it to a few."
"I find them bittersweet," the two-toned soldier stared westward towards the fort. "It's the aspiration of every soldier here… not only to make it to homecoming, but to fade away in the cathedral as well."
"You guys outside Fort O'Virbus get to be honorees in the future as well?" Noah's curiosity outpowered his apprehension in letting the conversation meander around yesterday's ritual.
"That's right," the mechanic started wiping a dirty wrench with a rag, "though our chance of survival is much lower than that of the people in the fort and castle."
"Is it because you guys here and in Colony 11 are the ones doing the fighting?" the pacifist looked to both of his hosts.
"Right again, but also we're prone to losing personnel in the wastes," Radek responded with a tinge of morosity in his tone.
"I hope you don't mean… annihilation events…" his Kevesi guest turned to face the rocky land outside the colony.
"That's exactly what we mean," Peridot began ogling the same thing, as did everyone else. "The Syra Wastelands are our turf, but they're volatile. Makes me uncomfortable to be here, honestly."
"Wait, are we in danger, then?" the moonblades-wielder fretted over the distant craters which were easily discernible even through her visor.
"We won't be affected," the brunet remained calm as he directed their attention back to the right. "See that thing atop the castle?"
"The spire…" the swordfighter scowled at the sky. "It seems to draw in the black fog."
"That's because it does, in fact," Radek prepared to explain what'd been a mystery to Noah and Mio yesterday. "The spire filters the black fog to prevent the castle and stations from being annihilated."
"It can do that?" the younger deserter's eyes widened briefly. "I'd read about this region, but I didn't know the castle had that kind of technology."
"Awesome, right?" the more informative of their two hosts rested his hands on his toolbelt. "The higher-ups don't seem too concerned about preserving the wastes, though, and sometimes there's too much black fog for the spire to handle."
"Too much?" Mio pushed him for clarification, both her and Noah's concerns not quite put to rest.
"You guys heard the alarm earlier, yes?" the female Kevesi took a turn to speak instead.
"We did," the ponytailed soldier nodded, his prior headache still somewhat present.
"It means we're in a high concentration period," she gestured with an open palm.
"Just like the warning said," he crossed his arms, dropping his dimmed sights to the ground.
"That's for our patrollers so they know to return from the wastes," the mechanic repeated what Noah and Mio had been told this morning, unaware that they were already privy. "Sadly, we lose more friends in annihilation events than in battles against Agnus."
"We don't fight that much," Peridot brought her hand back to her chest, "just against the occasional Agnian force that tries to sneak through."
"From what I understand, Keves Castle has been allowed to rule this land largely uncontested due to its ability to contain the black fog." A serious expression developed on Noah's face while he added to the pool of knowledge. "In a way, annihilation events act as a deterrence for opposing entities."
"You might say they're part of our arsenal," Radek adopted his Kevesi guest's pose, though not as intensely. "Peridot's right, though, we hardly ever fight. It seems like we're only needed for Levnis maintenance and repairs."
"Is that why you have so many garages?" the pacifist glanced to where he and Mio had first encountered Peridot.
"Probably." The brunet stepped closer as if to encourage their chatter to quiet down. "I've even heard rumors of our colony being converted into a storage site."
"Really?" his teammate did the same. "I've heard that it might become a defense base."
"Well, either way, it probably won't change during our lifetime," he resigned himself to whatever fate that was to befall them and their home.
"Anyway, we've talked your ears off," she turned back to their guests. "You guys can use our facilities while you're stuck with us."
"Thanks," the younger visitor acknowledged for both the older one and himself, "we will."
While Radek and Peridot prepared to load the now filled ether tank into an Auxilia Levnis, Noah and Mio made tracks for the canteen further down the same wall. It was by far the smallest of the three in which they'd dined during their segmented sortie through Kevesi territory. However, the travel-weary youths found it better to sit down to a prepared meal than to hunt for food in the wild themselves. Such a fact was ever present in their minds as they idly watched an ekidno flapping its wings near the colony, let alone that their surroundings were the precarious wastelands.
Before long, a new rainless storm began rolling overhead with another dose of sporadic thunder and lightning. It seemed like the air was destined to be rattled with noise today, much to the aggravation of Noah and Mio. However, watching their new acquaintances continue to toil unbothered helped to ease the tension for the moment.
"We're almost out of here," the ponytailed soldier spoke exhaustedly while they decompressed on a bench near the canteen. "Less than a day to go."
"Yeah," Mio leaned back until her helmet tapped against the wall. "How're you holding up?"
"That's what I was going to ask you," he faced her briefly while she rested her eyes behind her visor. "I'm sure it's been harder on you than it has for me."
"My hair must be an awful mess," his running mate inhaled through her teeth. "I need a wash in the worst way."
"Me too," the ninth-termer became aware of his hygiene as well.
"You can use their showers, you know?" she reminded him of his yet uncompromised status, enviously.
"I don't want to leave you by yourself while we're here," Noah lowered his voice again, the two deserters now staring at each other.
"Good point," the zephyr conceded to his logic of caution. "Still, once we're out of here, we're hopping in the first pond that we find."
"You'll probably beat me to it," a smirk drew itself on his face, "knowing how fa-"
Suddenly and interruptingly, the dreaded blaring of the siren kicked up again. Its reentrance into the airspace nearly slipped past everyone's ears this time, thanks to a timely rumble of thunder. Noah quickly accessed the map data via his Iris and was expectedly greeted with the same warning message from earlier. Being the visitors that they were, he and Mio could only stand and watch the soldiers of Colony 21 assemble for an emergency meeting. Despite the impromptu nature of it, there wasn't a trace of trepidation among the ranks while their commander handed out orders. Upon dismissal, Peridot spotted her two guests and proceeded to walk in their direction.
"Everything's under control," the two-toned soldier's hands were extended in front of her. "Ahem, that's what they told me to tell you guys."
"Should we be doing anything?" the pacifist felt compelled to ask.
"You're fine where you are," she declined their involvement in her colony's procedures. "We're just waiting for our patrollers to come back."
"Very well." Raising his wary gaze upwards, Noah observed the black fog swirling into the castle's spire with noticeably more fluidity than it had previously. The storm clouds only added to the ominous scene, accentuated by the errant lightning strikes.
"Guess it's doing what it's supposed to," Peridot wasn't quite so awestruck by it. "Amie, you should take off your helmet so you can see it better."
"I'd rather not give myself nightmares again," the Kevesi-disguised Agnian kept her head low and her voice even lower. The siren continued to compete with the storm for noise dominance, its current alarm having long outlasted its previous one.
Before another word could be spoken, the air around them suddenly shifted towards the south with nearly enough force to pull everybody to the ground. It wasn't just a vacuum, however, as a massive sphere of light formed where the winds were being drawn along the wastelands' nearer edge. Instinctively, Noah wrapped his arms around Mio while she held onto her helmet, the ensuing implosion now easily drowning out the siren and thunder. Unfortunately for the stunned soldiers, it was merely the first annihilation event as three more of decreasing magnitudes followed successively.
When it was over at last, Syra Wastelands boasted four new craters in a crooked but connected row. Dust continued to spin in each one while the decibels returned to normal levels. Within a minute, the siren ceased its blaring and thus the storm reigned supremely in the airspace. As for Colony 21, its inhabitants and visitors needed a little more time to get ahold of themselves.
"Are you two okay?" the female Kevesi's voice jabbed through the slight ringing in Noah's and Mio's ears.
"I think we are…" the ponytailed soldier restored his posture, "right, Amie?"
"Yeah," the older deserter likewise straightened herself out. "Could be worse, I suppose."
"Right," their hostess wiped her brow, "I have to report for a roster check, but I'll be back."
"Okay," he lowered himself to their bench again as she turned to leave.
"So…" Mio sat down as well, wishing that she could remove her helmet and massage her ears, "that was something, huh?"
"I feel my heart pounding," her travel partner's hand was on his chest.
"Mine, too," she copied his motion, the two youths having just about caught their breaths. "Can you tell if the black fog has thinned out?"
"Mmm…" his sights centered on the castle's spire for what he hoped would be the last time on this trek. "I think so, unless I'm only seeing what I want to see."
"Too much of it is what causes an annihilation event, yes?" the tenth-termer latched her fingers onto the edge of her seat. "If one's just happened, then the air should be clearer for now."
"You're exactly right," the voice of Radek wrangled their attention as he and Peridot were on their way back. "You guys will be timing your exit perfectly, should you leave tomorrow."
"We plan on it," the younger visitor stood upon their return, as did Mio.
"Has everyone been accounted for?" she inquired about Colony 21's troops, mindful to keep her inflections tempered.
"One Equites got hurled from the small blast at the end there," the mechanic passed along the update, "but the pilot's being patched up now."
"A close call, then," the moonblades-wielder's hands came together over her concealed gem.
"Yup," his response seemed nonchalant, "it happens."
"How often does this happen, though?" Noah's expression was considerably sterner than the other boy's. "An annihilation event, I mean."
"That depends on the season," Radek rotated to face the blighted wastes, everyone else following suit once more. "The black fog's thickest during summer, so these days it's about once a week."
"Is it really that frequent here?" the pacifist asked incredulously, both he and Mio fixated on where the land had just been disintegrated.
"It can be, but luckily it's almost autumn," Peridot rubbed her arm that was hanging by her side.
"But the siren, and the implosions…" the lone, undercover Agnian couldn't stifle her concerns as the four soldiers began focusing on each other again. "You're all used to them?"
"We are." The brunet's demeanor would've been enough of an answer even without vocalizing. "It's nothing unusual here."
"Have you two never seen annihilations before?" the two-toned soldier couldn't help but wonder.
"I've experienced a small one," their Kevesi guest thought back to his days in Fornis. "The desert has plenty of sinkholes caused by them."
"I saw one as well, but it was really far away," Mio reflected as well, keeping her voice in check this time.
"Guess you could say these were our first ones up close," he summarized after exchanging bleary looks with her.
"Well, wherever you're going, I'm sure it'll be much more peaceful," Peridot steered the conversation in a sunnier direction.
"Incidentally, where are you guys headed?" her teammate had a curiosity of his own. "If you don't mind me asking."
"Cadensia." Noah volunteered no further information than that, suddenly wary that he and Mio had loosened their lips too much. As glad as they were to have such polite hosts, the two visitors knew that they shouldn't let their guards down so close to the end of their time in Kevesi territory.
"The only way to Cadensia from here is through the Great Sword's Base," Radek still had geography on the mind.
"Do you know of any colonies over there?" The ponytailed soldier wasn't opposed to gaining insight from his hosts about potential obstacles ahead.
"Hmm…" the mechanic wracked his brain for anything relevant. "Well, we've got friends in Colony 20, however, they like to hang around the north side of the Great Sword."
"It's normally active on the south side, but last I heard, nobody was vying for the wetlands," the female Kevesi offered an additional tidbit before shrinking her stance. "I'm actually a little jealous."
"That's encouraging to hear," the swordfighter took her word for it, perhaps a little desperate for some positive news. "Thanks for letting us know."
"No problem," Radek smirked upon turning to leave. "Anyway, we have a replacement Equites to boot up, so we must return to our posts."
"It was nice talking with you two, though," Peridot's eyes were momentarily closed for her own smile.
"We appreciate your hospitality," the pacifist bowed his head, a gesture which Mio copied but with a hand on her helmet. "We'll be taking it easy for now." Parting ways with their hosts for good this time, Noah and Mio were more than content to keep to themselves for the remainder of what'd been yet another distressing afternoon.
The next day couldn't come soon enough. For the cat-eared Agnian whose time was limited, every delay caused by lockdown had been excruciating. Now more than ever did she yearn to reach the City, sick of being held back by the stations' gates. Only one more stood in their way, and the two deserters were sure to plant themselves in line for its opening at noon. With no inspection necessary for exiting military grounds like before, they were finally granted passage across the Fourth Ixia Bridge and into Syra Wastelands proper.
Trusting that annihilation activity had indeed subsided temporarily after yesterday's events, Noah and Mio began trudging up the rocky terrain with great impatience. The skies hadn't completely settled down, but a little thunder was hardly irksome anymore. Now in the eastern canyon of the gradually eroding region, the two youths found themselves in the Great Sword Furrow. The gigantic monument itself was barely visible in the distance, but it would soon stand as a guide for their march into Cadensia. With a glance behind themselves, Noah also realized that they could no longer see Keves Castle and its quarantined stations.
"I think we're in the clear," he determined with a mentally exhausted sigh.
"And not a moment too soon," his running mate groaned similarly, dropping her backpack to the dusty ground. "Let me out of this." With both hands, Mio lifted her helmet off her head and immediately delighted in the next breeze that swept through the canyon. Her whitish-beige hair was residually damp from layers of unvented sweat, while her ears twitched limply from having been confined for the past three days straight.
"How do you feel?" the ponytailed soldier took in her disheveled state.
"Not as relieved as you might think," Mio lamented while she gingerly kneaded her ears like she'd been aching to do.
"I'm starting to see that." As the ninth-termer watched her recondition herself to little avail, his sympathetic frown slowly morphed into a jocular grin. "You were right, though. Your hair is a mess."
"Is it, now?" Her brows came down together before she gently poked Noah just above his eyes. "How about yours, then?"
"Er, what about mine?" he retreated one step with his hand now on his forehead.
"Let your hair down," the zephyr made her snippy demand. "I want to see how messy it is."
"But I don't want to let it down, yet," his palms were out now.
"Aw, come on," the older soldier's head tilted back slightly, her face contorting with dissatisfaction. "I could use a laugh."
"Huh? You think it'll be that bad?" Noah couldn't quite tell how serious Mio was until she tried to reach around him for his hair tie. "D-don't do that, please."
"You're no fun," her lower lip stuck out at him.
"You can see it when we find that pond you'd mentioned," the pacifist self-consciously ran his fingers through his ponytail, mildly surprised by her spurt of playfulness.
"Hmph, guess I have another reason to look forward to that, then," the cat-eared Agnian stored her helmet away before she heard a single, subtle chuckle from him. "What?"
"I'm just… really glad to see you in better spirits," her Kevesi counterpart smiled at her again, unabashedly.
"You've said something like that before," the moonblades-wielder averted her eyes for a moment, feeling her face warm up inexplicably.
"I-I'm only speaking the truth," the gallant swordsman incurred a similar sensation.
"I know," Mio looked at him again, her voice almost too soft to be heard against the wind. "You're a very caring man, aren't you?"
"You're pretty considerate yourself," he responded with a compliment of his own. "It's been going both ways, has it not?"
"It has," the tenth-termer was quick to concur, reequipping her backpack for the next part of their journey.
Satisfied with where their chat had ended, Noah and Mio set their sights on the distant Great Sword which beckoned them out of the wastes. Neither soldier was sorry to leave the Keves Castle region and all of its treacherous trappings behind. Now that they were on the road again, Cadensia and the City therein no longer seemed so far away.