It had taken a while, but it seemed that they had finally found the lead they were searching for. Although the inn had been a bust as far as information related to Class VII was concerned, it was what happened after the three of them exited the building and regrouped that led to his current excitement.
It was as they were sitting there deliberating their next course of action that the kid known around town for selling the Imperial Chronicle approached. Although Rean, as an avid reader, wasn't opposed to purchasing the newest issue, he was surprised by how forceful the child was in making sure they bought it.
The newspaper itself was remarkably biased, making it clear that the Noble Alliance was in control of the company and making sure that anything printed was in a very pro-noble light. Despite that, there were a few interesting pieces of info to be gained, such as recent battles in the west and the arrest of Governor Regnitz. All in all, that alone would have made it a worthwhile use of one hundred mira.
It was the final page that changed everything, as attached inside was a small slip of paper. On it was a crudely drawn map that Toval noted resembled the farmlands to the east of Celdic. Also on the map were four different black letters, a R, N, B, and P. There was also a white Q.
It was all very vague and confusing until they turned the paper around and discovered more writing and drawings on the back. This time the drawings had the four black letters on grids with arrows pointing to different spots. It was then that Rean made the connection that the letters represented pieces on the chessboard, as each of the arrows matched up with what a rook, a knight, a bishop, or a pawn could do on a board.
The final message 'The one who takes the queen holds the key to the king.' was the clue they needed to solve the riddle. Of the four black pieces on the map, the only one that was in position to take the queen were it a regular game of chess was the bishop. They weren't sure what the key they were looking for was, but if they followed the riddle it would be near the farmhouse that gave Class VII their monster extermination request during the field study.
Realistically speaking, there was the chance that this little riddle was actually a trap, but every instinct in his body was screaming otherwise. There was only one person he knew who would use chess to make up a riddle. His heart was hammering in anticipation and it took all he had not to charge right out onto the highway like an idiot to find the key. Obviously the others noticed just how anxious he was, but Rean chose to ignore their amused snickers in favor of leading them out of town.
Traveling on the road was a risky proposition as it would be where any soldiers passed through, but it was also the quickest way to their destination and Toval was confident they could get off the road in time if they heard any vehicles approaching. Not to mention if Rean recalled correctly their destination was on the other side of a small river and they would need to cross a couple bridges to get there. A few monsters were scattered about, but without the higher elements present to mess with their behavior they were content to give the travelers a wide berth.
After a few minutes of uninterrupted walking they reached the farmstead where the bishop was supposedly located. According to the map it lay just off the road on the other side of the bridge leading further down the road. And sure enough, when they investigated the area they found a small box having been hastily set there.
Cracking it open they examined the contents. A second map, and an old looking key. This map showed the same area, but the positions of the pieces were altered. Also, instead of a queen, it had a K that could only represent a king.
As before, there was a note with the map. 'The king lurks within the fortress; take him, and your path shall be clear.'
Although the others were clearly getting exasperated by the chess riddles, Rean couldn't find it in him to care. Assuming he was right, they were so close...
He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Best to not get ahead of himself. Best to focus on the here and now. Which meant solving that riddle.
Of the symbols listed on the map, the only one that made any sense was the rook, as that was often depicted as a castle in chess. That would be the fortress where the king was at. And if the map was correct, the rook location was just on the other side of the river. He looked up...
And realized that the only thing over there was a windmill. That must be their destination. Pocketing the key the group once again took to the road, but this time on a much shorter journey as they retraced their steps across the two bridges.
"Safe to say that this is where that message was pointing to?" Clearly the bracer was not much of a chess player as he didn't appear nearly as sure as Rean did.
"Yeah. This has to be it." He assured, before approaching the door to the windmill. Unsurprisingly, it was locked. "Let's try that key we just found... Bingo." A perfect fit.
"That was easy." Celine commented. "I'm betting the one responsible for the riddles is inside."
While Rean didn't know that for certain, thanks to his training with the Eight Leaves he was sure about one thing. "There's someone inside, at any rate." The fact he could only sense one person was a little concerning, but if it were his classmates it would make sense for them to be scattered about.
"Ready to go in now?" He could only nod his head at the bracer's question as he steeled himself for what was to come. With equal parts hope and trepidation he cracked open the door and stepped inside, the others following. The first thing he noticed as he entered-
"There you are." It was Machias! The disciplinarian of Class VII was standing there, looking none the worse for wear.
It was entirely expected given the riddles they had dealt with, but the swordsman was so ecstatic to see one of his dear friends again that the ruined surprise didn't bother him one bit. "I knew it! Machias!" Suddenly the situation didn't seem nearly as grim as it had just a little while earlier.
The class vice-president was clearly trying to act casual about everything, but even he couldn't help but let out a small laugh in relief. "I knew you'd be able to solve my riddle. If anyone could, it's you." Machias coughed lightly as he tried to reign in his emotions. "And, umm... you look well, Rean."
Screw composure! Rean couldn't stop himself from darting forward and capturing his friend in a hug before Machias could even consider evading. "Wh-Whoa!" Rean!" Clearly he had not been expecting that reaction, but Rean didn't care. "T-Take it easy, there..."
"I'm... I'm just so glad you're alright..." A myriad of emotions ran through him, but chief among them was relief. "When we parted that day, I... I honestly thought I would never get to see you again..."
He didn't need to see Machias to know the bespectacled boy standing there awkwardly was struggling to come up with something to say. "Come on, Rean..." He muttered, laughing nervously as he tried to escape the hug. "You haven't changed a bit." Instead he seemed to accept the situation and reluctantly returned the gesture. "I had no intention of losing my life in that battle... and neither did the rest of us."
The presence of his two traveling companions had been completely forgotten until Celine let out her traditional exasperated sigh. "I think the tearful reunion's gone on long enough now."
"C-Celine?!" Machias too was caught off guard by the presence of others. "...Still a talking cat, I see..." He responded lamely. "And I think I remember you. You're a bracer if I recall correctly."
"Yeah, that's right. They've been helping me out for quite a while now."
Toval didn't seem offended that the student barely remembered him, as he had only really chatted with a few of them during their prior encounters. Instead he gave a real introduction before addressing the matter at hand. "Mind filling us in on what you've been up to all this time? We'll tell you about what's been happening on our end, too."
Machias, seeing the wisdom in the bracer's words, was quick to comply. Rean listened with rapt attention as he informed the swordsman of what had happened after his retreat from Trista. How Viscount Arseid and the Courageous showed up shortly after he left to draw away Crow and give the rest of Class VII a chance to themselves escape the area before reinforcements secured the town.
It was a bit concerning that apparently nobody had seen nor heard of the Courageous since that point, but with Victor Arseid at the helm the odds of them having escaped safely were extremely high. "So you escaped to Celdic?"
"Essentially. I managed to escape with Fie and Elliot."
Further down the line Rean would look back on this moment and feel a sense of guilt, as Elliot was the first friend he made at Thors and yet he almost instantly dismissed the musician from his mind. But that wasn't important. Fie was here! He couldn't help but feel a sense of nervousness at reuniting with her again, but that was far outmatched by his sense of giddy excitement.
Unfortunately, while Machias claimed that they were there in the Celdic area with him, they clearly weren't in that little windmill, so it seemed that those reunions would have to wait a bit. Disappointing, but he had waited so long already that he could afford to wait a couple hours longer... Maybe.
The shotgun-user informed the group about the past month, how they have been using the windmill as their base while they unsuccessfully tried to find a way to Garrelia Fortress. In turn Rean relayed the events he went through, and unlike his retelling to the other students this time he spared no detail to one who was already in the know. Machias, ever a believer in things that can be explained still seemed to be wrapping his head around all the events that had happened, but given everything he had already seen and heard seemed to have some success at suspending his disbelief long enough to accept everything.
As much as Rean wanted to immediately set off and reunite with the others, even he understood that trying to blindly seek them out was a terrible idea that would take even longer and could potentially put them all at risk. Given that they had a few hours before Fie was supposed to contact them on the large radio stashed away in the windmill it was decided that they should head back to Celdic and meet up with Otto and see if there was anything they could learn.
When they reached the town Machias removed his glasses to reduce the risk of him being noticed. It honestly surprised Rean just how different his friend looked after a small change like that. Could glasses truly be an effective disguise? Maybe something to think about in the future?
Despite the fact their group was now one larger in number, what little security was present in town paid them no heed as they walked around town. Eventually they made their way to the market manager's house and were pleased to find that he was both in and available.
Although physically Otto looked just the same as Rean remembered him, it seemed that the current crisis was taking its toll on the older man as he looked far more worn than he had the previous time. Despite that, he still put on a warm smile when he saw Class VII, and even seemed to know Toval. He was quick to rush them into seats and had his wife prepare some tea as they chatted.
The man had been shocked to hear what had happened in Ymir, which made sense considering that despite the tense atmosphere Celdic had been relatively free of the war. His own information, while nothing new, reinforced that the students already knew: Fighting was still fierce at Garrelia, with Elliot's dad and the 4th Armored Division repulsing each and every attack made against them. It seemed that Machias's group had the right idea when they decided to head that way, even if their mission wasn't entirely successful.
From what Machias had said, it seemed like Otto had been a huge reason why the escaped students had managed to remain in the region for so long without being caught. In so doing, he had earned Rean's eternal gratitude and the swordsman vowed to do what he could to make it up to him. Thus, with the students and bracer having a few hours to kill, he asked if there were anything they could do to help Celdic. Celine didn't seem too enthused by the idea, but both Machias and Toval were all for it, thus leaving the bitter kitty to stew in annoyed anger.
Although surprised by the suggestion, it seemed that Otto was well-informed as he had two tasks on hand that the group easily accepted. One request to gather some herbs for the church, and the other was a monster extermination request. Just the kind of stuff they would do on their field studies. Their first stop was the church.
According to the father, the herb in question was simply called a Healing Herb. Rean vaguely recalled having dealt with them before, but couldn't quite place when. Given that it was a plant used in medicine the group figured the best place to look would be the market. But before going they stopped and checked in with Rosine, who was happy to see Machias. The gunner admitted that he had intentionally avoided her and Becky lest they potentially get in trouble for being involved with Class VII. He apologized, but the nun-in-training waved it off, understanding his reasoning. She even supplied the group with some medicines that she had made herself.
Despite it being early in the evening the market was still as empty as it had been earlier. This meant they had no problem searching the place for the plant in question, but none of the shops seemed to have them. Asking one of the shopkeepers, it was discovered that with the train network out of commission stocks of the plant had completely dried up. Thankfully he was able to point them in the right direction, as Lunaria Nature Park was one such place where they tended to grow.
Before leaving the market Rean couldn't help but notice a different stall that was selling books. In it there was one old looking book that seemed to draw him in for reasons he could not explain. The writing was of a language he didn't understand, but given the price tag of five mira he picked it up anyways. The others gave him questioning looks, but given that he himself had no idea why he was so interested in it he could not explain it to them.
Retracing their earlier path, the group soon found themselves back in the nature park. The task itself was quite easy, as these were the same monsters they had fought earlier in the day and now they were up a man. The hardest part was simply finding the herbs, but even that didn't prove overly challenging as Rean finally recalled the fact that they had sought out an identical plant during the field study to Bareahard and he remembered enough to know what to look for.
Since they were already there, the group made a quick detour to check in on Valimar. As expected, the machine was still sound asleep and would remain so for a while longer, but now they he got the chance to see it up close without anything trying to kill them Machias couldn't help but gape at the giant robot. It was actually pretty comical to witness, but he supposed the reaction was to be expected given how insane everything was.
The return to Celdic was uneventful and they delivered the plant without issue. The grateful Father rewarded them with some medicine, which was appreciated, but they did feel a little guilty as Rosine had already provided them with some earlier. Still, it was a job well done and the plant would hopefully help out some people.
Once finished they set their sights on the other request: The monster extermination. It seemed that a Giant Crop Muncher and a band of its more normal kin were living up to their namesake and causing trouble for the local farmers. Normally the local garrison would be responsible for such an extermination, but given the current state of affairs expecting something from them was laughable at best.
This request took them down the East Celdic Highway, even further than they had gone thanks to Machias's little riddle. As they passed the windmill Rean glanced at it longingly. He knew there was no point in waiting around for Fie to call them, but he was getting impatient! According to Machias there wasn't that much time left, as they were supposed to report in later that evening, so it would be about that time once they returned from the extermination.
So obviously, as soon as they encountered the dangerous beast, Rean immediately transformed, used an Arcane Gale to clear out the little monsters and finished things up with an Azure Flame Slash. Quick, clean, and easy.
Needless to say this ended with Toval, Machias, and Celine giving him looks like he was a complete moron. "...You do know that exhausting yourself to kill the monster quicker isn't going to make their report come any sooner, right?"
Under the three judgmental looks and one pointed question from Machias, he wilted in embarrassment. "Of course I know that! I was just.." He trailed off as he failed to think up an acceptable excuse.
Lucky for him, Toval was there to lend a hand. "Don't be like that, Machias. Guys do stupid things when they got a lady waiting for them." He let out a shrug. "This isn't quite the same situation, I suppose, but close enough."
"If nothing else at least it's a good sign that his control and confidence over his power has gotten to this point?" Celine stated dubiously.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm an idiot, I know. Now can we please hurry up and get back?" His obvious impatience earned him a flat-stare from Machias, a grin from Toval, and a miserable sigh from Celine. Despite that there was no reason for them not to acquiesce to his suggestion and so the group made the quick trek down the highway to their little base of operations.
The person who came up with the old adage that waiting was the hardest part didn't know the half of it. According to Machias, it shouldn't be too long before the scheduled check-in time, but to Rean that time felt like weeks. Had something gone wrong? Were they in trouble? Was the radio busted?
His impatience must have gotten on the other's nerves as Machias gruffly shoved a cup of hot coffee into his hand. "Sit down, drink this, and stop stressing out over everything." He demanded of the swordsman. Reluctantly, he did just that, belatedly realizing that yes indeed there was actually a coffee machine in there.
Come to think of it, hadn't the three of them been using this place as their home for the past month? Glancing around he noticed that the windmill did possess the bedding and supplies needed for three students to live in, but it couldn't have been a comfortable month. Although considering he spent an entire month on top of a mountain who was he to compare living arrangements?
He was broken from his reverie as the tone on the radio went off, signaling a connection. With high hopes and a little worry he focused his entire being on that singular device.
That hope was rewarded when the static faded. "Testing, testing. Beginning periodic update."
"Testing, testing. Beginning periodic update. This is Elliot. Do you read me, Machias?" Fie stifled her yawn as she let Elliot make the call. Honestly, it was all so pointless. As expected, their mission had been a gigantic waste of time as they failed to discover anything useful for their mission.
"This is Machias. Yeah, the signal's pretty clear. Fie's nearby too, right? How's everything on your end?"
She rolled her eyes. She ditched Machias once on an early excursion and now he treated her like a flight risk. "We've surveyed the area around the Twin Dragons Bridge as best we could. As we expected, their defense is airtight."
Elliot took the time to explain what they had seen of the recently implemented permit system to allow merchants to pass, but it wasn't anything they could make use of. Not only were said permits extremely hard to acquire at the moment, but unlike the losers in Celdic the security at the bridge was on high alert. There was very little chance of them crossing the entire bridge without someone noticing that they were wanted.
"All right, then. It sounds like we'll need to devise a plan. Oh, and by the way, I have some good news for the two of you." For some reason Machias sounded excited. Fie shared a confused glance with Elliot. Did something actually come from that mysterious thing that their third member had been investigating?
"Can you hear me, you two?" All boredom and lethargy escaped her body as she let out a gasp. That wasn't Machias's voice. She had to have misheard, right? Or maybe she had laid down somewhere and was now dreaming. Cause that almost sounded like...
"It... It can't be..." Maybe she didn't simply mishear, cause it seemed that Elliot heard it too. And yet he was quicker on the recovery."Is that you, Rean?!"
Hearing that Elliot too thought that it was who she did was was nearly too much for her. "Rean... Is that really you?"
"It's really me." She staggered back upon receiving confirmation. It really was Rean. Rean was here. He came back...
So many emotions were swirling through her head. Elation at his return. Relief that he was alright. Anticipation at getting to see him again. Nervousness about that same meeting. She still had some trouble expressing her emotions, so going through such a deluge of them at once was overwhelming.
"You remember Toval the bracer, right? He and Celine are with me, too"
"Hmph. Hello again, you two."
"Yo. Long time no speak."
Now that was an odd group to be apart of. She was sure that eventually she would be curious about it, but right now she barely paid them a second thought.
Beside her, Elliot starting laughing in disbelief. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. This isn't a dream, is it?" Oh good, so he was wondering that too. That meant she didn't need to feel any sense of guilt as she leaned over and pinched his arm. "Ow! If you're going to pinch someone to check, pinch yourself!" So it wasn't a dream, even if it still certainly felt like one.
"Come on, stop messing around." Normally she would roll her eyes at boring old Machias's comment, but this time he had a point.
Said point let out a laugh. "You two are the same as ever." It was hard to tell over the radio, but Rean sounded relieved. She wanted to ask what kind of ordeal he had gone through since leaving Trista, but reluctantly held her tongue as such a conversation was better done in person.
"A-Anyway, we're really happy that you're all right! You're in that windmill now, right? Is there any way we can meet up?" Good on Elliot for asking the important question, but there really shouldn't be any question at all. They had been apart for far too long, there was no chance they weren't meeting up as soon as possible.
"That was what we were planning on discussing with you, actually." Rean chimed in.
"We'd like to come over to you. Do you have any save place in mind that we could use as a meeting point?"
A part of Fie wanted to simply say that she would meet up with them as at a full sprint she could make it back to the windmill in just a few minutes, but that would be rather unfair to Elliot. Instead she desperately wracked her mind for a place nearby that was also safe from prying eyes. "How about Point D in front of the Twin Dragon's Bridge? It's not visible from the surrounding area, so the provincial army shouldn't notice us if we meet there."
"Point D was the one on the outer edge of East Celdic Highway, right?" Good, Machias at least remembered the location. "All right, that should be fine. We'll head over there right away."
"...See you soon." There was so much more she wanted to say, but it would need to wait.
With the call finished Elliot flipped the switch, shutting the radio off, before standing up. "Oh, thank goodness Rean's okay. Thank you so much, Aidios!" Aidios wasn't who she normally would thank in a situation like this, but maybe she will say a few nice things to the goddess at some point. "...Weird that he's with Toval, though. I get Celine being there, but why a bracer?"
It was a good thing the musician wasn't looking at her, as she could no longer keep her feelings bottled up and tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "...We'll just have to ask once we see them." Despite that, she managed to keep her emotions out of her words. Gotta keep up the cool and skilled appearance, after all. "But the most important part is he's okay. Feels like we're finally making some real progress."
Elliot began turning to her, so she quickly turned to keep her teary face hidden from him. "Yeah. Agreed. Anyway, let's get going. I can't wait to... Fie? What's wrong?" He trailed off, finally noticing that she wasn't looking at him.
Time to make up an excuse! "Go on ahead. I'll catch up." The looming fortress that was the Twin Dragons Bridge dominated her vision. "There's something I need to check first."
The young musician seemed to reluctantly accept that but began to walk off. Fie let out a sigh of relief. Honestly after a month there was absolutely nothing left for her to check out in regards to the bridge, but it made as good an excuse as any. And plus, with the addition of Rean and a bracer at Sara's level maybe they could make a move...
But those were thoughts for a different time. Right now, Fie was just content to take a minute to calm down and get her emotions under control. At least for now.
She had a funny feeling that all this effort was going to be in vain as soon as she laid eyes on the missing swordsman.
It took a few minutes, but eventually she was ready to move on. Thankfully Point D wasn't all that far away, especially with her speed, so it wasn't long before she neared the point. The meeting spot was hidden on the other side of a hill and for a brief second she considered doing something cheeky and climb the hill to ambush Rean, but decided against it. She had already waited too long for this reunion, she wasn't willing to wait another second longer.
Instead she chose to run down the path. With her sharp senses she was able to hear the conversation before she rounded the final corner, and to her joy she heard the voice of the young man who had filled the boss-sized hole in her chest. With one final deep breath she took the final steps and laid eyes on her prize.
In hindsight it was a good idea to wait a couple minutes, as it gave Elliot the chance to reunite with his friend. But now that time was over. He must have sensed her approach as he looked up at her and smiled warmly, but she was far quicker on the uptake. "Rean!" Credit where credit was due as he managed to brace himself and catch the silver-haired missile as it slammed into him without falling over.
"Hi, Fie." His response was simple, but those two words were all he could get out, and even they came out in a hoarse whisper. Instead he contented himself with simply holding the girl tight as they embraced after so long.
"...You're late, dummy." Her own voice was no louder as her face was buried in his chest.
Despite that, he still heard her quite clearly. "Sorry about that. A lot's happened and-"
Still trapped in his embrace, she shook her head, both to wave off his statement and in a vain attempt to wipe away her tears on his shirt. "Not your fault." Finally mustering the courage she pulled away just enough to look up at his face. "You really came back..."
"Of course I did. We promised, didn't we?" Technically half of that promise belonged to Laura, but that didn't really matter in the moment. He smiled down at her. "Thank you for protecting them for me."
Deciding that the time for words was over she stood on her tippy-toes and leaned in towards his face. Although her intentions were plain, she didn't seal the deal as she worried that Rean might be uncomfortable taking such action in such a large group. But that fear was unfounded as after a brief moment of hesitation he closed the remaining gap and captured her lips with his own.
For a brief moment the harsh realities of their current situation faded away as they focused solely on one another. Even though it had only been a month for Fie and a couple days for Rean, the time spent apart felt like an age. For Rean this moment was proof that returning to those happy days he cherished so much wasn't impossible as long as he kept moving forward and believing in his friends. For Fie it was the realization that her new family was not like her old. They would not abandon her, and in return she would give her all in protecting those newly formed bonds.
"Ahem!" Unfortunately, that happy moment could not hope to last forever, especially as they were in a group with Machias Regnitz. "C'mon, you two. There's a time and place for that."
Reluctantly they pulled away, but Fie leveled a glare at her new arch-nemesis so fierce that it caused him to stagger backwards a step. "The time it right now. The place is here." The sheer venom she placed in her voice was enough to make the shotgun-user fear for his life. Thankfully Rean was keeping a firm grip on the tiny girl, but even he looked displeased at the moment being ruined, although he was physically incapable at glaring at a friend.
"Ahah..." Elliot merely scratched his cheek nervously. Either he was unsure of what to say or simply unwilling to risk earning the ire of the young girl.
Unlike the two students, Toval had a shit-eating grin on his face. "Cut 'em some slack. It's been a month. I know Rean's been fretting about you guys since the moment he awoke on that mountain, and I'm sure it's been the same for the little miss."
Fie's opinion of the bracer went up a notch, although she could have done without being called 'little miss.' But she didn't dwell much on that as his words sparked her interest. "Awoke on a mountain...?" Elliot's confusion mirrored hers, although Machias appeared to have heard the story already. That jerk. Now that she thought about it the little mission he stayed behind for was because he heard about Rean being in Celdic and wanted to be the first to see him.
Silently she vowed painful vengeance upon her new arch-enemy. It might not happen soon, but it would happen. There would be no mercy.
Machias grimaced as he once again found himself subjected to a terrifying glare and couldn't help but worry for his life.
"Anyways..." Oh right, in all the excitement Fie had completely forgotten that there was a talking cat in their midst. Despite all the stuff she had seen in her life that was still really weird! "It's all well and good that you're all back together again, but can we get back on track and figure out our next course of action?"
"Let's shelve that idea for now." The bracer's comment earned him an ugly glare from the little kitty. "It's getting late. Why don't we call it for today and come up with a plan later. Alright if we crash at your place?"
Rest sounded quite good. These past few minutes had been far more draining than she could have imagined. That and her brain was not operating on the level needed to come up with a plan. "If by our place you mean the windmill, than sure."
"It's gonna be pretty cramped..." Shut up, Elliot! Cramped was good. There was opportunity there.
"It'll be fine." Toval waved off his concerns with nonchalant ease. Fie decided that she liked the bracer, despite his worrisome affiliation with Sara.
Beside her, Rean nodded his head in agreement. "We were preparing ourselves for much worse when we first arrived in Celdic, so a little cramped is alright. Want to head back now? We can swap stories along the way."
It was a sound idea, and all agreed to it, even if Celine still looked a little miffed at being brushed off so easily. She was quite eager to hear his story even if she had a feeling it wasn't all sunshine in roses. And in return she would share her tale.
It was surprisingly easy to talk about the failure and boredom of the past month, as all that frustration was now in the past. They were together again and that was all that mattered.