Class VII was facing their most important mission yet. It was one that required great fortitude, an unbreakable will, and the ability to go on even despite their bodies ardent protests. And it was a mission they needed to finish as quickly as possible.
They needed to check out every famous food place in Ordis without succumbing to their desire to stuff their faces full.
Technically their mission was to locate Millium Orion, who had been missing the entire night. Her last message to Jusis was that she was about to follow up on a lead she'd discovered regarding the society. That was over twelve hours ago and the Albarea was quite adamant that she normally would've made contact long before then, even if her mission took her out of the way for a long period of time.
Rean had offered to look for her without consulting his students, but Fie didn't really mind. Her previous interactions with Millium had been few, but were enough to endear the girl to her. And more importantly Millium was Altina's sister and it was obvious to all of them just how worried the younger girl was, despite her bland denials and attempts at remaining stoic.
According to Jusis her last message had hinted that the missing girl found her intel at a food place in Ordis, thus Class VII found themselves retracing her steps. It wasn't easy considering Ordis was a massive city with dozens of restaurants and food stalls and they had no idea which ones Millium actually stopped in at, thus their mission to check as many of them out as possible. At least they had Musse with them to point out which ones were the most likely eating spots for a tourist on a mission, allowing them to skip some of the more redundant places.
And so, after a long hour spent checking out all of Ordis' most famous dishes they had gotten a pretty good idea of the steps Millium had taken. And even better their target asked some very interesting questions while ordering her many many dishes, all of which were relayed back to the Class VII investigators.
Even still it took a little while to decipher the many questions Millium had asked into a coherent timeline, but at least Rean treated them all to ice cream while they thought it through.
"I can't believe you're all so boring." Fie asked as the group of seven walked down to the harbor.
"Do I even want to ask?" Rean asked, tiredly.
She shrugged. Asking if he should ask was good enough for her, "You got vanilla ice cream. Same with you two." Altina and Kurt in this case. Next she looked towards Juna and Ash, "Chocolate isn't much better. Same with your strawberry, Musse."
"...Is this really the time for this?" Altina asked in stoic disinterest.
"Probably not, but talking about ice cream beats fretting over something we can't control. Expect me to spend the entire boat ride explaining to you the joys of lemon ice cream."
And it was going to be a pretty long ride, too. Bryonia Island was a deserted island nearly thirty minutes away from Ordis. It was famous both for its many ruins and for the massive guardian statue that was supposedly on it.
For Class VII, however, it was most notable for being the most likely place to find Millium.
None of them had ever been to that out of the way island before, but Rean had some knowledge of it since a few of his classmates went there during a field study. Given its nature as a place where few humans tread the news that it was a monster filled place didn't surprise any of them, even if none were all too happy about it.
At least they'd gotten plenty of time to rest up after all the fighting they'd done in the morning.
It was fortunate that Class VII had done that yacht request the previous day as Fie wasn't sure if the harbor master would have lent them a boat otherwise. With it came knowledge that Millium hadn't taken a boat, but that wasn't all that surprising to them. If Altina could ride Claiomh Solais over the pool during her race than it stood to reason her sister could do the same with her own combat shell, even if the distance was a lot greater.
...She really needed to find out where the sisters got their partners. Having one to herself would be super convenient.
Before they departed a stroke of good luck hit Class VII when Professor Lughman - whom they'd previously run into outside of Crossbell the prior month – ran into them just as he hopped off his own boat. The man had just been doing his own research on the island and was kind enough to loan them his map and a device to boost their ARCUS signal so they could remain in contact with the mainland.
It was such an unexpected boon out of nowhere that Fie almost wanted to be suspicious about it, but gratitude prevailed over those natural jaeger instincts.
With Juna at the wheel the boat ride was a dull thirty minute affair. Even in calm waters their little boat rocked too much to attempt a nap, and Rean forbid them from ocean fishing on the fast moving small boat. Instead she was forced to sit through a bunch of small talk.
Which honestly wasn't the worst thing. Despite her appearance and attitude Millium was a member of the original Class VII, and an intelligence agent to boot. That she'd gone to this island and seemingly hadn't been able to escape hinted that something dangerous was waiting for them. But at the same time they didn't really know what that danger was and couldn't do much preparation while on a boat, so instead they just needed to roll with whatever was waiting for them.
Glancing around it seemed like her classmates were of the same mind, even if the normally most expressionless member of the group was showing the most visible worry on her face.
Eventually the ride ended and they landed at the only dock on Bryonia Island. It and the nearby rest center were the only places that received regular maintenance, and the latter was where they headed first. There they setup the orbal transmitter and Rean passed along their mission to a worried looking Towa, even if the other girl already knew the gist of it thanks to Jusis and Angelica.
Leaving their temporary base gave them an idea of just how large the island really was. It was probably bigger than the city of Ordis itself, with a large mountain in the center dominating the landscape with narrow paths running across the entire island. If Millium was somewhere on that island it was going to be a pain to find her.
There was a clearing with a strange little shrine in it not far from the lodge, but outside of sating their curiosity it did nothing for them so they paid it little heed as they began their exploration. According to their map they were on the opposite side of Bryonia from the statue it was most famous for, but it wasn't like they had much choice in where to go with the terrain as difficult as it was.
Something which proved especially annoying as the shortest path to said statue was blocked by a giant boulder. At least it seemed like it had been there for a while so Millium probably didn't take that route.
Unless she flew over it. The other girl could totally do that. The world truly was an unfair place.
Bryonia Island was probably a beautiful place, but it was hard to tell as they were constantly assaulted by monsters. They were pretty weak overall, especially with Rean fighting seriously alongside them, but it was annoying, distracting, and time consuming. How a lone Millium could make any progress like this was hard to imagine.
Actually, it wasn't. Once again Fie was reminded that the other girl could simply fly over most of the enemy groups. Totally not jealous.
Class VII earned a respite when they arrived at a scenic beach that was surprisingly free of monsters. While Juna once again lamented her lack of swimsuit and Rean's sword-arm twitched suspiciously in the direction of his fishing rod after seeing a large fish leap out of the water, Fie's eyes were elsewhere.
The sand was extremely soft. And since it seemed like monsters avoided the place for some reason it made the single set of tracks she noticed on the ground stand out. Tracks that were both human shaped and Altina-sized, "I think she went that way."
"Into that cave, it seems like." Kurt agreed aloud.
As the others gathered around Rean pulled out the map, "It looks like the cave will take us through the mountain and almost directly to the statue."
They also received a more ominous hint when Altina seized up briefly, as if she were nursing a headache. The moment passed quickly, but their concern wasn't alleviated in the slightest when she admitted that there was something strange going interfering with her connection to Claiomh Solais. Nothing so major as to impact her ability to control the combat shell, but a noticeable one nonetheless.
It stood to reason that said interference could very well be affecting Millium as well. Could it be responsible for her disappearance?
Since they couldn't really act on that knowledge and with nowhere better to go the group of seven took to the caves, although given how short the passage was it barely deserved to be called a cave. The only thing of note was a strange little shrine she spotted off to the side, but it was something she immediately disregarded since it had no bearing to their mission.
Upon exiting the darkness they found themselves at a fork in the path, but with Rean giving directions they took the left. A choice that paid immediate dividends as soon as they rounded the corner, "What the hell..."
Ash's comment summed up their opinions quite well. Sure they knew about the statue, but seeing was believing. It was far bigger than any monument Fie'd ever seen before, reaching over eighty arge in height according to Altina, although it was hard to say for sure given how it was half buried into the mountain. Rean claimed there was another one in the Nord Highlands that was almost identical, but that knowledge barely filtered into her mind as she stared at the crazy statue before them.
If Millium was around then she definitely had to have checked out this crazy thing at some point or other, so Class VII approached the base of the landmark. Fortunately there was a ladder built into the wall that seemed to carry all the way to the top so climbing up was possible.
Unfortunately that ladder was both extremely hazardous and long. Climbing it was gonna suck.
"Claiomh Solais and I will go on ahead." Altina stated as she summoned her weapon to her side. Practically speaking it was a good thing to have someone scout ahead as they'd be completely exposed if something tried to attack them while climbing.
But at the same time it once again reiterated to Fie just how badly she wanted a combat shell of her own. Flying was so overpowered.
But since the world was a cruel place and she was bound by the natural laws of gravity the former jaeger began to climb alongside most of her friends. Despite her annoyance the task proved to be a simple one for the agile girl, with more of her focus spent on keeping an eye on her less dexterous friends instead of her own efforts. To her relief Juna handled the task surprisingly well.
So did Ash and Musse, but she didn't feel nearly as strong about that.
That what she thought was the top of the ladder actually ended up only being a midway point annoyed Fie, but she kept that feeling to herself, instead drawing satisfaction from how miserable that revelation made Juna and Ash feel as they gazed upon the second ladder awaiting them.
But that proved to be the final obstacle and soon enough Class VII was at the top of the path, staring at the statue's massive head. From up close there was something familiar about the monument, but she couldn't quite place it. Didn't detract from its majesty at all and she half expected it to come to life and attack them.
But save for some tracks from Millium there was no other clue waiting for them there. Sure it was good to know their target had visited this spot, but given she wasn't there and there was no path save for back down the ladder it meant little. Sure there was a little shrine like the one she spotted earlier, but by all accounts this was a dead end.
Just before she could lend voice to that fact Rean inexplicably hunched over in pain, much to their alarm. Like Altina before him he eventually rose to his feet and waved off their concerns. Fie shared a glance with her original three classmates: It kinda reminded her of that time in Sutherland.
But before she or any of the other original members could bring that up Rean changed the subject by pulling out the pendant that Emma made for him before placing it in front of the shrine, causing it to glow ominously.
...Just how did he know to do that?
And why did he have a love bite on his neck? Fie's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as her friends began to question him about it. If it had been there all day she would've noticed it before, something which meant her classmates teasing about the previous night wasn't true. But that didn't change the fact that it was there in that moment.
Oh well. When faced with something inexplicable it was best to simply roll with the punches. And right now the best way to do that was to join her classmates, "Really? Of all the girls in this world you picked Sara?!"
"It's not like that and you know it!" Rean's panicked denial only served to make the situation worse. Fie couldn't help but appreciate the sheer chaos taking place right next to the head of that ancient landmark.
Eventually the importance of their mission regrettably won out over the free chance to tease their teacher and the group was left staring at the glowing shrine, "...I must admit I was expecting something more to happen." Rean admitted.
Heh. Perfect. This was her time to shine, "Probably because it's not the only shrine. I saw another in the cave."
"There's another by the waterfall we passed early on." Musse chimed in before the others could praise Fie for her observation skills, much to her disappointment and annoyance. Given the way the mint-haired girl smiled kindly towards her before letting out a giggle it was clear she knew exactly what she had just done.
"Alright Class VII. Let's backtrack and find those shrines. Hopefully that'll open our path to Millium." Rean's words were met with a chorus of approval that faded away as the students realized an extremely important part of what he just said – They all needed to backtrack down the ladder again.
"Claiomh Solais." All except Altina, of course.
Fie eyed the combat shell. Maybe there was an opportunity here, "Can I ride down with you?"
The other girl opened her mouth, obviously to agree, but was interrupted by a very inconsiderate Juna, "H-Hey! I want a ride too!"
"Given I don't believe Instructor Rean will carry me down I'll gladly accept the invitation."
"Hell, if you're offering I ain't refusing."
"You guys..."
Altina glanced between her classmates with the blandest look on her face, "...No."
Just as the youngest member began to go over the edge Fie had an epiphany, "I'll make you a plate of pancakes when we get back!"
"..."
"As many as you can eat! And then some!"
"..." The girl tried to remain aloof but she couldn't stop her hand from twitching.
"Covered in syrup! With all the fruit and cream and chocolate you could ever want!"
"..." Just one final push needed.
"I'll even take a picture of it and give it to Millium to let her know what she couldn't have!"
"C'mon, you guys! You're almost to the bottom! Pick up the pace!"
Flying? It totally ruled. She was definitely getting her own combat shell.
"Grr... Can someone shut her up?" Came the bitter lamentations of some poor fool bound to gravity.
Eventually, however, all good things must come to an end and Fie frowned as Rean – the final member of Class VII – reached the ground level, prompting her and Altina to disembark from Claiomh Solais. The teacher shot the former jaeger one final dirty look before clearing his throat, "Let's circle back to the shrines Altina and Fie mentioned and go from there."
Backtracking was obnoxious, but not too bad as the path was mostly clear from monsters. They went to the waterfall first and after that went back to the caves where Fie had found her shrine. The girl waited with baited breath as Rean activated the shrine to reveal...
Nothing at all.
"I do believe there's at least one more somewhere on the island." Musse's words might've sounded normal but the ex-jaeger knew better. The mint-haired menace was delighting in her disappointment. That was just the kind of devil Musse was.
Sadly there was no way to deny her words. Since they'd started on the southern end of the island and cleared both the west and northern sections that meant any remaining shrines had to be on the east side, which they couldn't initially visit thanks to the boulder blocking the path, but if they took a right upon exiting the cavern they'd be able to reach that area from the other end.
There they were surprised to discover the ruins of what appeared to be an ancient village. It was a curious thing and despite herself she wouldn't have minded the chance to explore more – a sentiment which more than a few of her classmates and teacher shared – but they had a mission. A suspicious little plateau above the ruins caught her eye and together Class VII climbed up to reveal yet another shrine.
Score!
This time when Rean used his pendant they were treated to a loud noise. While none of them knew exactly what it was, it was obvious they had done everything they needed with the shrines. Now they just needed to figure out what happened.
The sound itself came from the south not too far from their position, but thanks to the boulder they needed to backtrack all around the island again. Or at least that was what Fie thought until a determined Altina took the lead and went straight to where that blocked path was. The little girl studied the rock for a moment before giving a nod, "This side appears weaker. Claiomh Solais. Use Brionac. Maximum power!"
Giant boulder verses giant laser beam. It was no contest. The boulder didn't just break apart – it practically disintegrated. Ash let out a whistle, "Hot damn!"
Fie too nodded her head in approval, "That was cool. I hereby dub you Allie the Wallcrusher."
"I refuse."
Altina's words, naturally, went ignored, "Like that mascot character nobody likes?" Juna asked curiously.
"I think Laura likes Dogi...?" Rean mused aloud.
"This conversation is pointless. We need to hurry."
Despite being an obvious attempt at deflection, Altina's words were sound. With the boulder gone Class VII made their way down the hill and back towards where they started. They didn't really know what they were looking for, but their destination became pretty obvious once they arrived.
That little shrine they'd spotted near the lodge originally? That was gone and in its place was a large structure that gave off a foreboding aura.
"We've seen this before, Instructor."
"Yeah. It's just like a Spirit Shrine."
Once again Fie found herself dealing with the annoyance of not knowing something that only Rean and Altina knew. Of course that annoyance didn't last long as Rean was quick to give an explanation. Apparently Spirit Shrines were buildings that appeared in Erebonia during the civil war, only to vanish just as suddenly as soon as the war ended.
It was completely nonsensical, but after everything they'd gone through these past months she merely shrugged it off as just another oddity for Class VII.
"Looks like we hit the jackpot." Ash said as he took a step forward before picking something off the ground.
"Millium's pouch!"
While the others stared at the item in his hand Fie's eyes were elsewhere, "A student notebook is here too. And this picture..."
Had there been any doubt remaining that Millium was in the Spirit Shrine the photo of the original Class VII put an end to it.
Rean stared at the items with a pained look before his features hardened. This was the point where he would usually say something really cheesy or really stupid...
"As of now, we're in a state of emergency. You guys will stand by at the inn and contact our allies."
Stupid it was.
As amusing as it was to watch Juna and Ash erupt like a pair of volcanoes and to see Musse and Kurt argue with facts and logic, the former jaeger took the time to consider their next action. Technically Rean was right. This was very much a personal mission for him to rescue his friend and it had nothing to do with her or the rest of the new Class VII. Entering that Spirit Shrine would place them in a lot of danger.
But at the same time she just didn't care.
She glanced towards Altina, seeing the stricken look on the younger girl's face. Millium was Altina's sister, and Altina was Fie's friend, thus giving her all the reason she needed to want to continue. She would've done the same for any of her friends and it warmed her heart to know the others would've done the same for her-
She paused that train of thought. The mere thought of Xeno or Leo being captured and tied up was so absurd she nearly laughed. So maybe the others wouldn't be doing the same for her. That was fine too.
"Despite the fact that Millium insists she is my big sister, I do not think of her as one. But still...! I cannot turn my back. Not on you. Nor on that strange carefree girl who's more like me than anyone else!"
Fie was certain that Altina's words were enough to sway Rean's mind, but all of her classmates got to say their piece so why shouldn't she? "Sure I'll admit you're stronger than the rest of us, but I'm pretty sure we're at least good enough to help out. Or are you saying we still suck that bad? 'Cause if so that would make you a pretty lame teacher."
Rean let out a sigh, and that was enough to let her know that Class VII had won once again, "All right. I rescind my orders. All members, get ready to fight."
There wasn't much she needed to do to ready herself for a fight, but they had a few minutes while Rean summoned Valimar and updated Towa as to what they were doing. Only once the Divine Knight made the crossing – and it was amusing to think about the chaos it must've made flying over Ordis – did Rean give the order for them to enter the Spirit Shrine.
Fie wasn't normally one to let her environment get to her, but the inside of the shrine just had such a weird atmosphere to it. Maybe it was the age, or perhaps it was simply some weird shenanigans involving the mana, but the place left her feeling on edge. Surprisingly it was Ash of all people who summed it up best by comparing the place to the ancient Stargazers Tower in Crossbell that they had visited the month prior.
Except instead of climbing up like they did then they were currently descending deep underground.
With the air as heavy as it was and the high likelihood of enemies waiting ahead Class VII's descent was a quiet one. Tension was thick, but at least the shrine was devoid of monsters to threaten them. Just a bunch of students and a single long winding path.
Soon enough they arrived at a large door. Cautiously the former jaeger fingered her gunswords while sharing a glance at her classmates – Sure she'd never been in this place before but this definitely felt like the end of the line.
And the end of the line almost certainly meant a really dangerous enemy was waiting for them. That was how it always worked.
With Rean taking the lead and pushing open the door the group entered. There was still a long walkway ahead of them, but it didn't take sharp eyes to see what awaited them at the end.
The glowing Aion made sure of that.
Tearing her eyes away from the machine – no small feat considering how massive it was – Fie took stock of the rest of the room. Standing in front of the Aion were the three knights they briefly encountered in Sutherland. And just next to them were Millium and her combat shell, all entangled by some strange glowing web.
The three Stahlritter knights and Millium all seemed to notice Class VII at the same time, to varying degrees of surprise. At least that meant they weren't walking into a trap if even Ouroboros wasn't expecting their presence for a change. A shame they recovered too quickly to consider getting the jump on them.
At least Millium seemed fine. No visible injuries and she seemed cheerful enough to start joking with them despite her precarious situation. Were it not for the three armored warriors opposing them Fie might've enjoyed the spectacle of Altina scolding her for her recklessness, acting just like a sister should.
Which was ironic considering how much Altina always protested that she wasn't Millium's sister.
The leader of the knights, Duvalie, was nice enough to introduce them to the Aion behind her. Supposedly it was the same model that wiped out Garrelia Fortress to kick off the civil war. Although Fie hadn't seen the damage for herself the pictures were in every major newspaper in the days that followed.
And they were supposed to fight something that could do that!? Sure Valimar was waiting on the surface, but none of their soldats were with it so Rean would be fighting alone.
Thankfully either the Aion wasn't ready to fight or the Stahlritter didn't want to use it against them as it remained where it was. That just meant they needed to deal with the three skilled knights. No easy feat considering they held a hostage.
"They're not going to hurt her. I'm sure of it." Rean replied when Kurt brought up that very fear, "I've only faced Duvalie before, but I'm sure the rest of them share her pride. They'd never do something as low as hurting a hostage. It would be a betrayal of everything their lord stood for."
Seeing Rean unleash one of his cheesy speeches on their enemy was pretty funny, especially as it caused Duvalie to get all flustered. It was a little less funny when the angry woman drew her sword and prepared to attack, prompting the rest of the Stahlritter to do the same.
"Be careful." Altina warned as Class VII got into their own combat stances, "I've worked with her in the past so I know just how formidable Duvalie the Swift is, even if she acts like an irrational child at the best of times."
All battle preparation halted as everyone turned to the girl, causing her to tilt her head in confusion, "What? Did I mess up with my attempts at trash talk?"
"Nah! That was awesome, Little Bunny!"
"Haha! Go Allie!"
"That's my sister!"
Unlike Ash, Juna, and Millium, Fie didn't verbally compliment her friend. She did however give a very proud thumbs-up. Even if the trash talk itself wasn't the most original statement, the bland and emotionless way she delivered it made it all the more effective.
So effective, in fact, that a red-faced Duvalie stomped the ground petulantly, "W-W-W-What the hell!? Black Rabbit!?"
"I apologize for the behavior of my students! I've tried to curtail their negative influences, but clearly I've been less successful than I would like. Rest assured they will be facing discipline once we get back."
Great. They were totally getting detention for this. Altina truly was Rean's little darling angel.
"Discipline!?" The Swift let out a haunted laugh, "I'll give them all the discipline they could ever want. Now hurry up and DIE!"
And that was how the battle between Class VII and the Stahlritter began.