"The battle's already started." Altina pointed out as they approached the tower.
"Really? And here I was thinking we were just watching a lame ass fireworks display. Who could have possibly imagined the fireballs being shot off the roof meant something else?"
Fie stepped between Ash and the glaring Altina, "Sarcasm is my thing. Let's just hurry up and get inside."
If Altina wanted to claw Ash's eyes out later she would be glad to assist, but right now they needed to hurry into the tower. Fireballs meant that Rean and friends were at the very least fighting that McBurn guy, and likely Campanella was there too. She wasn't sure just how much good she and her classmates would be in a direct fight, but considering how badly the odds were stacked against their teacher any contribution would be helpful.
"Fie's right. I don't think Instructor Rean has summoned Valimar which means that Campanella guy must be blocking him again. We need to go!" With her piece said Juna broke out into a sprint as the Crossbellian worked to cross the remaining distance to their destination as quickly as possible.
The silver-haired girl rolled her eyes. She was just as anxious as Juna was, but it would be pointless if they wore themselves out before arriving at the battle. Against monsters like Ouroboros they needed every edge they could get.
Luckily it didn't matter much, as the pink-haired girl was standing stationary just inside the tower. One didn't need to be a genius to know why, "...You don't know the path, do you?"
"I-I do!" Juna protested immediately, "...We're going up!" The girl glowed crimson under the disappointed sounds her classmates and friends made, "It's not like any of you have ever been here either!"
Unlike her hopeless friend Fie wasn't nearly as lost, as she pointed her finger towards a nearby door, "We're going that way."
"Right. There aren't many monsters that way. Instructor Rean and the others probably cleared out that area as they progressed." Leave it to Kurt to understand her thought process.
"Oh my! I can only imagine the kind of dashing figure our gallant instructor cut as he carved his way through all these fiends." Musse let out a giggle that was extremely out of place in this dark and gloomy tower, "I'm rather jealous I wasn't here to see it for myself."
"I say we ignore Egret and kick some ass." For once Fie found herself in agreement with Class VIII's hot-head.
Decision made the six of them took the path she had pointed out. Even though the area was mostly cleared of monsters it wasn't completely, which meant that Juna couldn't charge in recklessly anymore. Instead they took it slow as they progressed through each floor carefully, trying to avoid as many enemies as possible. Sadly, that only got them so far...
"This sucks!" Ash muttered as he just barely dodged a massive bullet from an enemy that was both a fiend and a miniature tank, "We're following Schwarzer's path and there are still so many enemies! What gives, Wild Filly?"
"Why are you blaming me!?"
"It would stand to reason that a place like this would fall under the care of the local Bracer Guild, but with the guild out of action these fiends would have had ample chance to fully populate the tower." Altina intoned softly while directing her combat shell to take out Ash's nemesis.
Their conversation was interesting. It truly was. Fie would have loved to partake in it... "Can you idiots shut up and help kill this stupid spider!?" Instead she was forced to roll out of the way as a giant spider the size of an armored vehicle spat webs at her in an attempt at entangling the agile girl.
She didn't want to be a monster's lunch today!
"Aww, but watching you dance around the battlefield with such grace is awe inspiring. I can see why you're named Sylphid." Oh if she weren't currently dodging for her life Fie would have shot Musse the dirtiest look imaginable, "In that case, allow me to provide assistance."
One bullet. That was all the assistance the mint-haired girl provided. Of course much to Fie's annoyance that one bullet hit one of the spider's many eyes, causing the large enemy to rear back in pain and shock, leaving its vulnerable stomach completely exposed to the annoyed student. All it took was a single vengeful thrust before the girl found herself nearly trapped under the massive corpse. "...I hate you guys so much."
"W-Well, regardless..." Kurt spoke, trying to act as the voice of reason despite his own uselessness, "I believe that was the last of them. And do you guys feel that?"
"Feel what?" Juna asked, before eyes widened in realization, "...Is it just me, or is it getting really warm up here?"
"We must be near the top." Musse's playful attitude faded upon that realization.
Altina tilted her head thoughtfully, "Should we perform reconnaissance on the battlefield like last time?"
"Nuh uh. I can't imagine Instructor Rean has much time left if they've been fighting since we arrived here. I think we need to rush in and improvise when we get there."
Fie was impressed. It felt like Juna had been taking command of the crew ever since getting out of her funk, and despite the Crossbellian being an idiot most of the time there was little of her decision making that the jaeger found herself complaining about."Ja. Remember the mission. We just need to set the beacon and buy time for the soldat to arrive."
Getting determined nods from her classmates – plus Ash and Musse – the group sprinted the final distance to the roof of the tower. Now free from the inside of the building they could hear no sounds of combat, but the conversation taking place above them let them know their instructor and friends were still up there. And that conversation would hopefully give them perfect cover to get up there and do... something.
The sight that greeted them was pretty crazy. Rean's team – with the prince – was on one side of the roof, while Campanella, a powered up McBurn, and the currently dormant aion was on the other. As expected, the entire battlefield was covered with a large barrier, preventing their teacher from summoning his Divine Knight.
None of them were looking in their direction, so that gave Class VII a few precious seconds to prepare, "What should we do, Fie?" Asked Juna, much to her surprise, "You're the expect on ambushes and dirty tactics, right?"
Wow. Was that really how her friends saw her? Even Ash and Musse were nodding along with Juna's assessment, albeit with teasing grins on their faces.
Well, fine. It wasn't as if they were wrong. This wouldn't be the best ambush she had ever concocted, but it didn't need to be. Their mission was simple. "Musse, you're in charge of the beacon. The rest of us just need to keep those two distracted and away from her. If you can get a hit, great, but we just need to keep them occupied until Juna's soldat arrives."
"Understood."
"Let's kick some ass!"
"Claiomh Solais. Arcadias Gear."
"Let's go!" With Juna's cry their group – minus Altina who had taken to the skies – charged onto the battlefield.
Fie didn't take the lead this time. Since all her classmates were charging straight at the two enforcers she elected to hang back with Musse. With her gunblades and her speed she could respond to any situation while still keeping her sorta friend covered.
Surprisingly, she didn't need to do much. Kurt and Juna managed to drive the annoying Campanella away without getting turned into a vegetable or a fruit or whatever, while Ash actually landed a glancing blow with his switchaxe on McBurn after Altina dive-bombed him. Instead Fie shifted her focus towards her teacher, even while keeping Musse covered, "We're gonna take this barrier down, so get ready."
Rean probably had no idea what they were planning, but he gave a decisive nod regardless, "Understood!"
Both enforcers recovered quickly from the surprise attack and were about to counter, but Fie grinned. It was too late. Already she could hear the roar of an engine.
Seeing both their seniors and their enemies look on in surprise as the panzer soldat slammed through the barrier was a sight to behold. That surprise wasn't enough to stop Rean from taking advantage of the opening to summon his Divine Knight before Campanella could rebuild the barrier, thankfully.
Naturally Campanella responded by activating his aion, and just like in Sutherland she found herself with a front row seat to an epic machine battle. Except this time she and everyone else were trapped on the roof of a small tower. Not exactly the best place to be a spectator for a big clash like this.
Instead all she and the rest could do was put as much distance between them and the three robots without plummeting off the edge. Rean definitely would do his best to keep the aion away from them, and Juna would probably try as well whenever she thought about them, but against an aion that fast they would be completely helpless if it went after them...
Once again their ARCUS units began to glow. Kurt wasted no time in forming a link with Juna. That just left Valimar as the sole combatant in need of a combat link. Given she had participated in the last fight she was willing to hang back and enjoy the silent but quick battle as her classmates and the original Class VII fought for the right to support Rean-
Fie blinked in surprise as she felt the telltale sensation of a combat link being formed with her, "I'm going to need your speed, Fie!"
She was not a poor winner. She did not gloat to the others. The victory sign she made with her fingers was because of something entirely unrelated, of course. The pleasure she felt at the envious looks Alisa and Altina were sending her was just a strange coincidence. Yup.
The aion didn't seem to want to celebrate her victory as it instead darted forward before taking a swipe with its wings. Juna's Drakkhen was too slow to respond, but the Crossbellian was saved thanks to Rean – with enhanced speed courtesy of Fie – who intercepted it with his blade. Unsurprisingly, the smaller aion lacked the strength of the one they faced in Sutherland and was easily repelled by the block.
Undeterred, the Ouroboros robot began launching orbs of energy towards the soldat and knight. The attack was fairly slow, but neither Rean nor Juna moved to evade. The reason became painfully obvious once Fie tracked the trajectory of the attack to understand that the only thing keeping the attack from the spectators was the wall of steel they were forming.
"Don't worry about us! Celine and I can handle it!" Even though Fie had seen the witch of Class VII break a barrier with her spell, seeing her form one was a bit of an eye-opener. She wasn't the only one, either, as both Altina and Celine also provided their own forms of protection. Their combined efforts left the entire group encased in an azure bubble that was capable of repelling the attacks after Rean and Juna finally evaded.
Huh. Celine might have been a crabby kitty at the best of times, but she could be pretty useful when she wanted. Altina too. Maybe she should reward them the next time they were all together? Celine liked fish and Altina pancakes... Were fish pancakes a thing?
The aspiring angler and chef was broken from her thoughts as Valimar charged forward with a swift counter. The tachi was mere rege from slicing into the aion before the machine escaped by taking flight and transforming into a more aerodynamic form. Sure Valimar could fly and the soldat had a jump pack, but fighting the enemy in its comfort zone would have been a terrible idea. Like trying to fist-fight a shark while underwater.
Fie breathed a sigh of relief as Juna seemed to realize this and promptly switched her gunblades to gunner mode. The rapid fire of her twin weapons made her into an extremely effective anti-aircraft weapon, and the aion was forced to circle around the tower evasively to keep ahead of her tracking. Still, at some point the student would have to stop firing, and surely the aion wouldn't miss that chance to strike...
She blinked at the unexpected sensation of her orbment drawing energy, as if she was about to cast an art. Something which made absolutely no sense as she was definitely not casting an art. The only possible explanation she could think of was...
Yep. Valimar was in the process of casting an arts attack, using her energy to do it. That seemed kinda unfair, but in the end it didn't really matter. She barely cast arts in combat as is, so letting Rean and Valimar borrow it wasn't the biggest deal.
Still kinda rude.
It was definitely her art as the attack that shot out of Valimar's hand looked like one of the time element, which was her favorite. The lithe jaeger did fist-pump a little as her attack – yes she was taking credit for it despite doing nothing – solidly impacted the airborne enemy. Although it didn't seem to do much damage, it was enough to force the aion into landing, albeit at a surprisingly sluggish speed. Had that attack caused it to slow down?
What Fie – nor apparently the aion itself – had expected to see was for the enemy to be tackled the instant it landed. It wasn't Rean who did it, either, but a rampaging Juna. For some reason her classmate had decided to slam into it at full speed, foregoing use of her weapons in order to slam the aion with her Drakkhen's body.
At first it seemed like the two machines would go over the edge, but the aion corrected itself quickly. Despite being pinned by the soldat the aion still had the blades on its wings, which it began to use to great effect as it began carving up Juna's mech. The silver-haired spectator watched with baited breath as a few of the slashes came dangerously close to her friend's head, but the pilot at least had the sense to protect her vitals, even if it came at great cost as one of her arms was completely sliced off the body with one particularly nasty swipe.
Juna's attack had been reckless and shortsighted, and she was paying the price for her brash action. That being said, Fie had a feeling that the Crossbellian had known this would happen even before she decided on the attack, but still went through with it regardless. It was a suicide move, pure and simple.
And she was rewarded for her actions by the flash of steel as Valimar finally arrived, tachi already in motion. Unlike the aion they fought in Sutherland all Rean needed was a single slash to put down the speedy aion, and Juna's play gave him the opportunity. Just like that it was all but over.
Juna's crippled soldat dragged itself away from the dying aion. The robot didn't seem to realize its status as it attempted to take flight once again, but the wings began to spark dangerously when it tried to use them. Without those wings its attempt at flying was doomed to failure and it instead face planted into the ground.
It did not rise again.
"Yay. We won again." Her deadpan cheer set off a celebration among the members of Class VII, old and new. One that grew even louder when Juna's Drakkhen opened up, revealing that their friend was mostly fine – even if the shaken-up girl wobbled perilously as she left her machine. Everything had turned out alright in the end.
Although privately Fie reiterated to herself that she would be piloting the next soldat. There's no way she could do worse than Juna, especially against such a fast machine. That was pretty much her specialty!
"Well, I guess we were beat this time. I'm sure the professor won't like it, but it seems the experiment was over."
"Eh, no big deal. It was expendable anyway." Fie always strove to remain aloof during battle, so as to not allow the enemy an unneeded advantage. But the way the two Ouroboros enforcers so casually played off her friend's accomplishments kinda pissed her off a lot, "Anyways... Hey! Why don't you three come out of hiding already?"
Wait... what? Her irritation faded at McBurn's final words. There were three people spying on them? But Fie didn't sense around. And they were on top of the tower, so...
She partly got her answer when the first person appeared by one of those cheating teleportation techniques. Although the beautiful woman was unfamiliar to Fie, she was able to put the pieces together quickly based on Emma's shocked gasp. Altina's exposition was wholly unneeded as this was obviously the elder sister they had been warned about – Vita, the Azure Abyss.
Glancing towards her classmates revealed the same visible confusion that was probably on her face at the moment. On paper the ongoing conversation was probably important considering the woman before them was one of Ouroboros' anguis, their leaders. But what they were hearing was completely over their head. And plus, it sounded more like a conversation between lost sisters than anything important to the rest of them.
Instead the former jaeger glanced about warily. Didn't the McBurn guy say-
"Since I've shown myself, don't you think it's only polite to step out of the shadows, too?"
Yeah. That. Thanks, Vita.
"Hmph... Fair enough."
To Fie the silver-haired man that appeared atop one of the nearby pillars was just like any other weirdo they had been coming across lately albeit this time with a mask. What really caught her attention, however, was the way the Old Class VII reacted.
Why did it look like they were seeing a ghost?
"It's nice to meet yo all. I am called Azure Siegfried. I've come here today in lieu of the Chief of the Gnomes."
"What the hell...?" Yet another strange new group was making itself known. Gnomes? That sounded like something out of a stupid story, and yet Emma's explanation that they were the ones that originally created the Divine Knights alongside the witches made them seem like a pretty big deal.
So big a deal, in fact, that the Azure Siegfried guy completely dismissed them as a threat as he trained his two guns upon the Ouroboros agents. While Fie couldn't say she was looking forward to another battle, being blatantly ignored like that bugged her something fierce.
Fortunately - or perhaps unfortunately? - neither of the Ouroboros enforcers seemed all that inclined to continue the fight. Instead they all watched as McBurn turned towards the destroyed aion before focusing his powers upon it. Even from her distance Fie felt the oppressive heat of his actions long before the ruined machine caught into flames.
Watching the aion that had opposed Rean and Juna melt into molten slag so quickly was a terrifying sight. Not even the Boss could do something like that. Her earlier opinion that the Blazing Demon was a monster might have been wrong.
He was a monster among monsters.
That Rean and his friends had managed to hold their ground against a guy like that gave her a new appreciation for the Old Class VII. Sure Laura had impressed her earlier, but it seemed like every member of that group was quite capable. Even though she hadn't met them all of Class VII Fie had a feeling they could match up favorably against Zephyr's most elite squads.
Their eyes were forced away from the smoldering remains of the aion as Campanella let out a laugh, "That's right, I nearly forgot. Since I've got a big audience here, I can finally make my special announcement..."
"I am Enforcer Number Zero, Campanella, the Fool. As the Grandmaster's representative, I hereby declare our plan to reclaim the Phantasmal Blaze is now in motion."
With that the two snakes teleported away – just how were they to beat Ouroboros when they could keep doing that!? - leaving the assembled group to chew on his words. While the so-called 'Phantasmal Blaze' meant little to Fie, one didn't need to have the same prior understanding that her senior group seemed to have to know that could only be something bad.
Two encounters with the secret society were enough for the former jaeger to implicitly understand that any plan they were involved in was a bad plan for the rest of them.
"Haha. I'm glad I was able to witness such a unique scene." At first she thought the voice had come from Azure Siegfried, but it didn't quite match up with his earlier lines. That's when she realized the voice came from the strange looking orb hovering near the masked person that she hadn't noticed before, "There is no need for further observation. Fall back for now, Siegfried."
"Understood." Fie had expected the guy to teleport away like the others, but instead his means of escape was something a lot more shocking as a large machine appeared out of thin air, allowing the Gnome to board it.
It was a Divine Knight, just like the ones Rean and the Boss were using.
"Ashen Awakener... Class VII of Thors. Your performance earlier wasn't bad, but you're still a long way from being able to join in on our battle. You'd better brush up your skills before next time."
"W-Wait..!" Rean's shocked cry achieved little as the Divine Knight flew off. Once again Fie couldn't help but notice just how confused and hurt the Old Class VII members were looking as they watched the machine vanish into the distance.
Things had definitely just gotten a lot weirder.
But on the plus side, didn't this mean they had somehow won yet again? Hurray?
Everyone was abuzz with excitement as the train began to slowly accelerate. Fie found herself envious of the other classes. They got to spend the past few days doing training exercises, relaxing in camp, and some even had the freedom to visit the city without an absolute mother hen of a teacher constantly looking over their shoulder!
All Fie and her classmates got was an emotional roller-coaster, some exhausting combat, and the mother of all headaches from all the random tidbits of information they gained from allies and enemy alike.
At least their efforts had borne fruit. Shortly before leaving Vita had informed the group that all the Pleroma Grass was gone, and with Ouroboros no longer having an interest in the occupied city-state things should return to a relative calm. Sure the place was still under the heavy thumb of Rufus Albarea and Giliath Osborne, but clearing out the immediate threat was enough for Juna, which made it enough for Fie.
The exhausted girl closed her eyes in her seat, content to do her best to ignore the inane chatter from her friends and classmates. She was a pro at ignoring others and sleep sounded a lot more appealing to the silver-haired girl. Surely that much would be allowed after everything they'd gone through... right?
The answer to that question was no, because almost as soon as she began to drift off there was an excited murmur from her immediate vicinity. She wanted to ignore it. She truly did. But the curiosity was too much for her to ignore, and so reluctantly the agitated girl opened her eyes and tried to figure out what had caught the attention of her friends.
...Maybe she was more of a cat than she cared to admit. That was the only possible explanation for her curiosity.
What she saw when she looked out the window of the train were three individuals staring down at them from the ground above. One was a child, but the other two seemed to be warriors. Between the little tidbits of information she had learned during the trip plus the loud whispering of those around her she was able to put names to the faces.
KeA Bannings, the Zero Child. Arios MacLaine, the Divine Blade of Wind. And Lloyd Bannings, the guy Juna thought was better than Rean.
Meh. Sure the guy was probably pretty strong if he beat a cryptid, but better than Rean? She just didn't see it. And plus the guy was making a fist towards the train like he expected someone to bump with it. What kind of moron would do something like that?
Scratch those previous thoughts. Rean was returning the gesture. Clearly the two 'heroes' were more alike than anyone cared to admit.
They were both morons.
With that moment passed Fie settled back into her seat. Sleep was probably off the menu for now, but that didn't stop her from thinking about the past few days. Crossbell City had been neat, she supposed. It was a shame they didn't get to explore the Entertainment District, but at least they got to see most of the other districts. And the food was-
Fie froze.
"Son of a...!"
"Huh? What's up, Fie?"
Annoyed yellow eyes met the concerned emerald of Juna, "With everything that happened we never got to stop at the noodle stand."
"...That's what you're worried about?"
Juna's deadpan was wholly unappreciated right then, "This is serious! I was really looking forward to those noodles!" The deadpan stare remained, causing the silver-haired girl to try a different approach, "We'll have to visit again. Maybe once everything's back to normal and Crossbell's free. And then you can treat me to a bowl of those noodles."
"Why do I have to-" Juna paused, eyes widening as she took in all of the words Fie had spoken. A beatific smile took hold of her face, "...Alright. You've got yourself a deal."
Privately Fie wasn't sure if Crossbell would ever be free again. And it was even less likely that they would all survive long enough to see it. She had seen enough of the world to understand that it could be an ugly place.
And yet... what was the harm in having a little hope? As a class they had already made it through some tough situations unharmed, so whose to say their luck couldn't continue? And seeing how happy just speaking those words made her friend was incentive enough to want to keep trying towards that impossible goal.
With her piece said the former jaeger closed her eyes to enjoy the comfortable silence. Maybe now that the excitement had finally died down she could catch a little rest. Already she could feel sleep beckoning and it would only be a few more seconds before-
"You're wrong, by the way."
Letting out a miserable groan Fie opened her eyes again. This time Juna's gaze held a mischievous glint to it. Clearly the pink-haired girl knew what she had been doing with her timing. "And what am I wrong about?" She groused tiredly.
"Yesterday when you were trying to cheer me up you said you've never had a home of your own. That's a lie."
"...Huh?"
"You have a home. It's here. At Thors. With me and everyone else."
Fie blinked as she processed those words. Twice. Thrice. What was she supposed to say to a comment like that!? "Wow. Rean's cheesiness is spreading."
"Shut up! Not my fault he gets under your skin like that!"
"...You know I can still hear you two, right?"
Naturally they ignored his comment, "Like a bad rash, right?" Both girls laughed at the tired groan that ensued, "So, what? Are you trying to say that we're all one big happy family?"
"Y-Yeah... It's a little weird when you say it like that, but I guess so. I mean Altina's basically our little sister. Kurt's our annoying brother. And I guess that makes me the big sister."
"Wait." Fie furrowed her brows in consternation, "How the hell does that work? Last I checked I'm like a year older. Shouldn't I be the big sister?"
"Age is just a number. You're the one who's a total mess so it's up to me to cover for you." Fie said nothing, but she felt her eyes did a good job at conveying her disbelief. Was Juna seriously saying that after the past few days!? The Crossbellian seemed to realize the mistake she made as she let out a sheepish laugh, "Haha... We can iron out the details later...?"
Fie would never admit it aloud, but Juna's words left her feeling a little warm and fuzzy. It was definitely cheesy as hell, but perhaps that wasn't the worst thing in the world.
Class VII wasn't Zephyr, nor would they ever be. That didn't change the fact that in the last two months they had gone through a lot of insane stuff as a group, and against all odds they've managed to make it through unscathed every time. By that metric they weren't all too different from the jaeger corp she used to rely on.
Maybe... Just maybe she could accept that. That this was her family now. A family that she would do everything in her power to protect.
But... what would happen the next time her new family met up with her old? What was she going to do then?