The previous five minutes were an absolute whirlwind of emotions that in Fie's opinion summed up this entire field study quite well:
Effortlessly bust up a pair of elite archaisms? That was fun.
Their success drawing the attention of two of the Stahlritter? That was less fun.
Class VII giving one of their best performances as a group to hold off Ines and Ennea? That was really cool!
Duvalie showing up to undue all their efforts and leave them at the mercy of the Stahlritter? That sucked in a major way!
Rean, the principal, and the other members of the Original Class VII showing up to bail them out once again? That was really really annoying, but at the same time a massive relief.
"Is anyone else feeling as exhausted as me?" Physically Fie was still fit for more combat, as she'd endured a lot worse fighting gauntlets during her time in Zephyr, but that combined with the emotional journey they had just gone through left the girl feeling like she'd just gone ten rounds against Xeno and Leo at the same time.
"I just wanna go back to bed!" Juna agreed with a whine, causing both Fie and Altina to bob their heads in agreement.
Musse's weak smile was quite different from her usual mischievous look, "I believe we are nearing the end, so just hang in there a little while longer, alright?"
True enough, after escaping the Stahlritter Class VII found themselves at the base of the fortress's central keep. While the layout of the place was too weird for any of them to know for certain, it seemed that Musse was right and they were almost there.
All that remained was for Class VII to climb. A lot. Something which caused more than one groan as realization spread among the students.
But if there was anything that could keep them going despite how miserable they all were, it was their competitive spirit. Sure Rean and his group had more people, including some absolute monsters, but that didn't stop the students from wanting to keep up with the other team. Theirs was the easier route so there was no excuse for them falling behind!
They'd show Rean that the new Class VII could be counted on just as much as their predecessors!
With that second wind in place they began advancing through the keep. As usual they were attacked by archaisms and monsters, but it didn't seem like any Northern Jaegers or members of Ouroboros were in the area, so progress was good. A few rooms later and they found a massive flight of stairs that seemed promising in their goal of reaching the roof.
Given how high the stairs took them Fie was confident they were nearing their destination. What awaited them on the roof she wasn't sure, but that wouldn't stop them from charging out there and doing their part in-
"Is someone there?!"
They froze. That voice didn't belong to any of them. And given the pathetic weepy nature of it Fie was pretty sure it wasn't any jaeger or knight trying to lay an ambush for them, as even the most bloodthirsty of mercenary had more pride than that. She couldn't help but think the voice sounded familiar, too, even if she couldn't place it.
Curiously Class VII approached the office where it came from. What they discovered was Marquis Ballad, entangled in the same weird magical net that had captured Millium the day before alongside a couple of his personal guard.
And yet being trapped didn't seem to have humbled the noble any as he shot them a dirty look, "Krgh, it just had to be mere students. F-Fine, I don't care who it is! Just save me!"
Really? The guy was just gonna make demands of them like that despite being the sole person responsible for this entire debacle? "Kinda glad I met this guy. Was starting to think all the stereotypes about Erebonian nobles were wrong after spending time with you guys and all the other people we've worked with."
Musse giggled while Kurt struggled to keep the smirk off his face at her kind words. Juna and Ash meanwhile didn't even try to contain their laughs.
"What did you say!?" Marquis Ballad for some reason didn't find her words nearly as humorous. What a shame.
"We need to deal with the Stahlritter before we can release him from this spell." Although Altina's voice gave nothing away Fie was positive she found the situation just as entertaining as the rest of them.
"Heh, we're just wastin' time. Let's go."
Naturally, Ash's words caused the blowhard to panic, "W-Wait! You're just going to leave me here?!" I am from the greatest noble family in the Empire! I'm going to be the next Duke Cayenne!" His voice grew even shriller, "The others don't matter! Get me out of here!"
"For the record," Kurt whispered so only Class VII could hear, "even the most arrogant of the nobility consider this man to be an a fop. Please don't believe the stereotypes."
"D-Don't matter...? Whose fault do you think this is?!" Oh. It seemed the Marquis' words had caused Mount Juna to erupt. The former jaeger took a step back to enjoy the fireworks even as Ballad shrunk underneath the pinkette's furious glare, "You dragged the brigadier general around for your personal gain! And then you let the railway cannons be taken away from you, putting the people of Ordis in danger!"
"...Juna, he is a highly-ranked noble." Once again Fie got the impression that Altina didn't disagree with the words even if she was trying to dissuade the other girl.
Musse let out her signature giggle, "We will do what's necessary to release you, but don't worry, we'll see each other again at a later date."
While most of her classmates seemed to focus on calming Juna down as the group left the trapped marquis, Fie found herself pondering on Musse's final words. Her suspicions about the other girl were already extremely high, but did she somehow have a connection to that arrogant idiot? Ah well. She was already planning on keeping an eye on the surprisingly mysterious pain in the butt, so it was nothing more than extra incentive.
Right now they had more important things to worry about, "If that idiot's the reason Rean's team beats us to the top..."
Reaching the roof confirmed Fie's fears of being too slow, but thankfully only by a few seconds. They watched as Rean, his classmates, Sara, Angelica, and the principal reached the peak of Juno Naval Fortress.
The same place where Arianrhod was waiting alongside her Stahlritter and the final Aion.
That was enough to cause them to pull up short, "S-Should we join them?"
Juna's question was the one that was probably on all their minds. In her heart Fie definitely wanted to charge right in there, but her head was saying a different story.
It was Kurt that lent voice to those thoughts, "I believe if we tried to intervene now we'd merely be getting in the way."
"But we were able to make a difference against McBurn last month...!" Altina pleaded, clearly wanting nothing more than to assist her dear instructor.
It pained Fie to be the one to shoot her down, "That worked 'cause McBurn didn't know we were there. Steel Maiden spotted us the second we got here."
"Bah! This freaking sucks!" Words of wisdom from Ash Carbide.
"Then how about this?" Musse suggested, "We hold back for now, but if it appears that Principal Le Guin and Instructor Rean are on the verge of losing we will lend our support?"
In all honesty it was a terrible idea. If they tried to jump straight into a fight that the Golden Rakshasa and the Ashen Chevalier were losing then they were just jumping to their deaths.
And yet it was enough to calm them all down enough to watch as the Steel Maiden removed her helmet, shocking them all with her beautiful face. Shortly after the battle between legends began in earnest.
Fie wasn't surprised when the principal went straight for the Steel Maiden. They were the two strongest people on the field, after all, and everyone who knew Aurelia Le Guin knew she was always seeking out challenges to overcome. That left Rean and his classmates to face against the three Stahlritter members, who wasted little time in adopting their fancy special formation as they fought the larger group with everything they had.
The clash of steel on steel as the two titans collided almost made the fortress vibrate a little beneath them, so great was the force involved. In a way it reminded Fie of the battle between the Jaeger King and the War God, and just like then she was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch.
The Stahlritter made use of their peerless coordination and unique formation to fight at an even higher level then they had at Byronia Island, but from Fie's point of view it was obvious they'd met their match in the original Class VII. Whereas the Stahlritter relied on their seemingly unbreakable formation, their opponents made use of their ARCUS II combat links at a level their successor class hadn't believed possible, swapping connections seamlessly to support each other in the best way possible whenever one of them went in for the attack.
"We've gotta learn how do that for ourselves." Kurt voiced what they were all thinking.
It was only because Fie was standing next to Juna that she noticed the other girl nodding her head, "Y-Yeah. I knew they were good, but seeing it for myself is a lot to take in..."
"Meh. They're alright. We'll be just as good at kicking ass once we're as ancient as they are."
Although she'd seen the older woman fight before, Fie paid a lot of attention to Sara as their fighting styles were so similar. One second she was supporting Rean as they pincered Duvalie in a high-speed clash of blades, the next she was linked to Jusis and providing cover fire with her gun against the Stout, and after that she deftly evaded a pinpoint shot from Ennea with only Gaius' last second link letting her know of the imminent threat.
Yeah. Fie was definitely taking notes on this one. Annoying woman she may be, but Sara was the real deal.
But while watching the original Class VII push back the Stahlritter with skill, coordination, and raw numbers was vital to the outcome of the battle, she couldn't help but see it as a sideshow to the battle between titans.
Her original comparison to the battle between Rutger and Baldur was inaccurate, because what they were witnessing between the Steel Maiden and Golden Rakshasa actually seemed to go far beyond it. What they might've lacked in raw bloodlust compared to those elite jaegers they more than made up for with strength, skill, and speed. The clashes between greatsword and lance were many, and each one released enough force that Fie could feel it in her bones.
That both the Stahlritter and the Original Class VII moved their battles away from the two legends was testament to just how deadly it was. Nobody wanted to be caught in that crossfire.
"That chick is crazy powerful."
"Which one?" That Ash didn't bother answering her question said a lot.
They were both crazy powerful chicks.
"That's a master level Vander technique!" Kurt exclaimed as Aurelia brought her sword across in a swift slash that accomplished absolutely nothing as Arianrhod deflected it with ease. Undeterred their principal leapt and tried to overwhelm her armored opponent with raw power, "...And that must be an Arseid move."
"She shifts between schools as quickly as Instructor Rean changes stances." Musse pointed out.
Altina hummed thoughtfully, "I know she is listed in the database as one of the Empire's most powerful warriors, but seeing it in person makes it feel more... real."
Fie nodded absentmindedly. As impossible as it was to believe, the psycho woman that terrified all of her students each and every day had apparently actually been holding back a lot at school.
No wonder Boss liked her so much.
And yet despite the absolute insanity that was the Golden Rakshasa, her opponent was matching her blow for blow. The lance wasn't a weapon traditionally used by people on foot, as it was too bulky and cumbersome compared to the spear, and yet the Steel Maiden was wielding it like it was nothing, deflecting Aurelia's greatsword strikes before rearing back and launching pinpoint thrusts in the same movement.
It was impossible for someone of Fie's caliber to know who held the upper hand in that battle of titans.
"One day I too would like to be able to fight opponents like that..."
The former jaeger tore her gaze away from the battle to look over at the speaker, Kurt. He – like everyone else – was watching the battle with rapt attention, but his fists were clenched harshly. Ash too looked to be chomping at the bit. And honestly? She couldn't blame them. Even if her brain understood that they wouldn't be of much use in a fight like that it didn't make it any easier to stand on the sidelines and watch. Ironically it was easier to fight for her life with no expectations of victory against an overwhelming opponent than it was to stay out of the fight.
So yes, she could understand Kurt's frustrations, but at the same time there was one point that needed clarifying, "You mean face the Stahlritter, right? 'Cause sorry to say but I don't think any of us could ever hope to fight someone like her alone."
"O-Of course." Kurt corrected quickly.
Ash too saw fit to chime in his support, "Heh. I'm confident in my ability to kick ass, but I ain't no monster."
"Ugh. Boys..." Should Fie feel offended that Juna's sarcastic comment had lumped her in as one of the boys? It didn't help that Musse gave a knowing wink towards the silver-haired girl alongside a giggle.
Altina's gasp put an end to their conversation, "Instructor Rean...!"
It was obvious why their youngest member was so focused on their teacher as that was the moment he unleashed his Spirit Unification. Duvalie – who had been mostly focused on fending off Sara's ruthless assault – didn't have time to adjust to the shifting balance of power and wasn't able to block the transformed Rean's enhanced slash in time. The Stahlritter's leader gave a cry of pain as her armor only provided the absolute minimum of protection against the tachi strike to her midsection.
It was a good thing that Fie had been trained by Zephyr to spot the tiniest of details as that allowed her to be the only one of her class to keep track of the sequence of critical events that followed: Arianrhod's focus shifted for a fraction of a second upon hearing her subordinate's cry. But that fraction of a second was more than enough for a swordmaster of Aurelia's caliber. Throwing caution to the wind she leapt into the air and brought her blade down with all the considerable force she could muster, "Rakshasa Onslaught!"
It was the same attack she used to one-shot a cryptid. By all metrics the Anguis' attempts at blocking the attack with her lance should've ended with her as a red smear on the ground. And yet Arianrhod somehow took the attack head on and survived.
Survived, but definitely not unscathed. Even though the Golden Rakshasa was panting hard after her attack she was still far better off than her armored opponent who was down on one knee. With her wounded and the rest of the Stahlritter having met Duvalie's fate almost instantly without the Swift holding back Class VII's strongest members, the outcome of the battle was clear.
With victory decided Fie and her friends finally approached the battlefield. Whatever conversation the two absurdly powerful women had been having was lost on them, but they all heard what came after Arianrhod's mouth as she stood back up as if nothing had happened, "Ashen Chevalier, Rean Schwarzer. And your associates as well – Are you prepared?"
Oh, right. Thanks to the crazy battle Fie had completely forgotten how these things ended – After the big boss battle Rean would summon Valimar to fight against the Aion of the month. And Class VII would help out however they could.
"Heed my call... Valimar, the Ashen Knight!"
Rean summoned his machine while Juna called Tita back at camp to have her send over the two soldats they had ready for this very moment – A Hector and a Kestrel.
It was Fie's turn.
As soon as the two soldats arrived she and Ash were in motion as they rushed into their respective machines. As soon as she was settled into her cockpit Rean's face appeared on screen, "Remember: that thing can manipulate space. We don't know what it's going to do. Just make sure to work as a team, and we'll get through it!"
Not the most helpful of advice, but she couldn't really fault her teacher for that. Manipulating space was such a vague power to deal with.
"Fifty mira says I slag this hunk of junk before you!"
Fie rolled her eyes. Did Ash really think that this was the time for that? And more importantly, did he really think his slow useless machine could beat her when she was inside the coolest soldat ever? "You're on."
Given the crowd of allies on the ground she wasn't at all surprised when she felt the sensation of a combat link being formed. What did catch her off guard, however, was that the first one to try and link with her was Musse of all people. Given her personality she would've thought the mint-haired menace would've gone for Rean instead.
Still, a link with Musse suited Fie just fine. She was confident in her speed and agility, but her ability to inflict heavy damage on the Aion was in question. Having powerful arts to assist would make up for that in a huge way.
Now that she was staring it down the silver-haired girl took the chance to analyze their opponent. While it was large and bulky it wasn't nearly as massive as the one Kurt fought in Sutherland. And unlike Juna's opponent it definitely wasn't gonna be flying around causing mayhem everywhere. The space powers were definitely the scariest thing, but the most noticeable feature of the white Aion was the fact it seemed to have quite a few guns on it.
Many of which it trained on the three machines as it finally got bored of waiting around.
Fie pushed her Kestrel into a sprint as their opponent opened fire, evading the first few shots and causing it to shift focus away from her. She wasn't surprised that Rean and Valimar copied her actions, albeit to the other side. A grunt over the radio from Ash let her know that the big bulky Hector wasn't as lucky, but at least that machine could tank the rounds decently enough.
With the Aion recovering after its attack the opportunistic Kestrel took aim and fired center mass at the massive machine, scoring multiple hits upon its body. To her chagrin, however, it accomplished absolutely nothing against that thick armor.
"Target the arms!" Rean yelled even as he brought Valimar in for a swing at said limb, causing the machine to flinch back with a nasty gash on its arm. Ash followed suit with his own attack, further increasing the damage dealt.
Fie scowled. How was she supposed to know the arms were its vulnerable spot in that position? They were almost as thick as the legs!
Petulantly the silver-haired girl took the moment to channel her combat link into her Kestrel, watching with satisfaction as Musse's support manifested itself in a massive glob of water that smashed into the white machine, doing even more damage than the two melee attacks had. That would hopefully make up for her earlier failure!
The Aion responded to their aggression by pointing its other arm straight at Ash's machine, causing the Hector to flinch back instinctively. Fie followed Rean in as they sought to relieve the pressure on their slower teammate. Once again he went straight for the arm, but this time his attack accomplished little as the Aion simply used its other arm to block. Fie – who was a second later – decided to gamble Ash's life by shifting the target of her gunswords from the arm that was preparing to fire to the leg just beneath it.
While her attack only inflicted minor damage on the massive machine, it was enough to unbalance the Aion enough for its shot to sail wide of Ash. It seems she'd guessed correctly that time.
"Fie, Ash! Cover me!" Not questioning orders she placed distance between her Kestrel and the Aion as she went back to firing suppressive shots with her weapons. Ash surprised her more as he opted to fire some kind of time arts at the Aion – Either one of the Original Class VII was providing the link or he was tied to Altina, because she and Fie were the only ones who provided that attack with their link.
With bullets and spells once again impacting the arms of the Aion it was open for Rean to do whatever it was he wanted. And what he wanted became clear once he took a stance familiar to all present, "Enlightened Domination!"
To their horror, the enemy machine wasn't as suppressed as it had seemed because as soon as Rean began its charge it began pulsing a yellow energy before some weird spacial distortion formed where Valimar had been standing. For a brief moment Fie feared the worst, but a second later Valimar emerged through the darkness, appearing relatively unscathed.
...Unscathed save for this tachi, that was, which was missing a significant chunk of its end.
Well, crap. Sure Rean could still fight, but a Valimar with only half its sword was a lot less intimidating. And with his machine being the strongest one by far...
Ah well. This wouldn't be the first time they'd faced stupid odds, "C'mon, Ash! Let's kick it's ass!"
"Hell yeah! Sit back, Schwarzer! We'll show you how it's done!"
Silently Fie was glad that Rean didn't listen to Ash's bravado as even a crippled Valimar was as good as any soldat, but the Ashen Knight did understand his vulnerability and allowed the two students to go first, something which suited Class VII's speedster just fine. Darting in underneath its many guns gave her the freedom to strike with relative impunity for a few seconds until the enemy rewarded her shenanigans with a clumsy yet powerful fist, something which spooked the Kestrel away.
To add injury to injury, by focusing on her the Aion left itself open to both Ash and Rean, both of whom took the opportunity to contribute their own attacks. Individually their blows did little to the massive machine, but the armor tore and crumpled under the rapid flurry of strikes to the same area. Given the way the Aion began to spark and smoke from the injury she was confident they'd managed to pierce through and hit something important.
Just one more good push and they'd have it...
Something which the Aion seemed determined to not allow them as it crouched down and began charging ominously. The silver-haired pilot did her best to interrupt the attack with her guns, or at least delay it until Rean and Ash could get away, but her efforts were for naught as lightning shot forth from the enemy machine. The blast of energy surged over the Hector and Divine Knight in an instant and still had the power to reach across the battlefield and engulfed her Kestrel before she could even consider mounting a defense.
Soldats were heavily armored by nature, with extra insulation to protect them from arts-based attacks. None of that mattered against the surge of lightning that bombarded her machine. The raw energy alone was enough to overlord many of her Kestrel's functions, but Fie paid little heed to that as she herself was subjected to a painful burst of electricity. It took great force of will to resist the urge to cry out in pain, but just because she endured it stoically didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell. Even after the agony of being shocked finally died down her cockpit remained hot and made a sizzling sound that was discomforting.
"Fie! Ash! Are you alright!" Rean's alarmed cry was enough to draw the student's attention. She wasn't at all surprised that Rean's Divine Knight handled the attack way better than she did. What did surprise her, however, was that her Kestrel's radio was still somehow functioning after that debilitating attack.
That thought was enough to get her to check the displays to see the status of the rest of her machine. She was no technical expert, but the damage wasn't good. Still, it didn't seem like she was out of commission, even if she knew she'd just saddled poor Tita with a lot of extra work, "...I'm fine, I think."
"Gonna take a lot more than that to put me down!" It was good that Ash still retained his usual bravado, but given how pained the words sounded she had a feeling he'd taken the attack as poorly as she had, if not worse given how much closer he had been.
But even if they were all standing it was clear they were losing, and badly. Sure they'd done quite a lot of damage to the Aion, but both their soldats were in worse shape and Valimar was dis...armed...?
Why was Rean's damaged tachi glowing blue with an energy blade that extended to its original length?
"The ARCUSes are connecting everyone's strength!"
"Everyone's hearts are with me. Now, we can fight back!"
Really? Of all the things that could happen it was this? Fie was grateful, sure, but their ARCUSes being able to do something like that had to have been the dumbest and most cliché thing ever. Where was this feature listed in the instructions?
Oh well. Hopefully the power of friendship was sharp enough to cut through the White Aion.
Said Aion didn't seem to take to kindly to Rean's new weapon given the way it was now floating above the ground ominously. Although Fie didn't see any sort of attack coming she had the feeling in the back of her mind that letting it do whatever it was trying to do would've been bad news for all of them, "We need to take it down right now!"
Admittedly it was easier said than done as their previous efforts hadn't been very successful, but their enemy was kind enough to leave itself completely defenseless as it charged up some attack that they very much weren't going to see. She blasted it with Musse's arts, Rean sliced it, and Ash slashed it. And yet the Aion continued to ignore their attacks as whatever it was doing caused the atmosphere to grow heavier around them.
"Everyone, hit it with your strongest attacks as one!" Rean demanded, following his own advice as he utilized one of his Eight Leaves techniques to slice deeply into the hovering machine.
Not wanting to be outdone Fie pushed her Kestrel forward to its maximum speed straight at the Aion. Only in a soldat as quick as this could she hope to mimic one of her favorite high-speed techniques and that was exactly what she did. What her soldat-sized gunswords lacked in damage compared to the other machines was more than compensated by her momentum as she sliced through the enemy in her straightforward dash, reminiscent of her Cipher Edge.
Turning after her assault she witnessed the Aion struggling to stay afloat – something which Ash helped along thanks to his own attack – but it was still charging! And given the way it was glowing brightly Fie was afraid they were running out of time...
"Starfall Slash!" Or at least that was her thought until Rean brought his friendship blade to bear with an attack that seemed to draw energy from all the people watching below. There was no possible way a battle orbment should've been capable of something like that, but as Rean's strike erupted into a great azure explosion she couldn't exactly deny what she was seeing.
The power of friendship clashed with the power to control space, and somehow friendship prevailed.
It was something of a lame ending, but considering it was the ending where they didn't get dragged off into a different dimension or whatever it was trying to do at the end there...
"It's a good thing I'm a teacher or else you would both be owing me fifty mira right now." Oh, right. In hindsight she shouldn't have let Ash goad her into that stupid bet when their third member was a Divine Knight of all things. Whoops.
Fie remained inside her damaged soldat as she watched the other members of Class VII grill the Stahlritter on their activities. Gaius especially seemed to understand a lot about how the Aions were supposed to work, which seemed to catch everyone off guard.
But as always the Ouroboros members simply evaded the question. And since it happened in both the previous two months none of them were at all surprised when Arianrhod called forth her own Divine Knight in order to turn the defeated Aion into scrap metal.
Actually, that was a lie. The three knights of the Stahlritter seemed surprised, but it didn't matter much as they teleported out just after their master.
But the Steel Maiden left with an ominous proclamation: The third and final experiment was complete. If the past three months had followed a similar script than the next one promised to be something completely different.
It was an ominous thought, but Fie couldn't really bring herself to care too much in the moment. Even if the scripts had been similar this field exercise had been the longest by far. Multiple encounters with Zephyr and Ouroboros. Lots of jaegers. All the random tasks they could ever ask for. And one crazy assault on this massive fortress culminating in a battle between juggernauts and her own encounter against an Aion.
She'd officially earned herself a nice long snooze after this.
Fie didn't get that snooze.
Oh how she could've It would've been so easy. Rean even told them they were free to do whatever they wanted as soon as Class VII made it back to camp.
If only her curiosity didn't get the better of her.
It was the smallest of things. Just as Fie was getting ready to call it for the day she noticed Musse slipping away. That in itself wouldn't have been cause for much interest, but it was the fact that she was with Aurelia of all people.
That and the two of them were hopping on a horse and leaving camp together...?
She was sure the others had noticed the suspicious things involving their most mysterious class member during this trip, but she alone had the knowledge and curiosity needed to find the answers, even if it meant risking getting in trouble by borrowing a bike without permission.
So it was that Fie found herself tailing her classmate and principal. Technically it would've been impossible to follow them stealthily on an orbal bike, but given the fact they'd left in the direction of the city Fie was able to remain so far away that it was impossible to see or hear her. Catching up to them in Ordis would've been nearly impossible if she didn't already have her suspicions of where they were heading.
Getting to the Cayenne Mansion undetected was easy, but how was she supposed to get in without being caught...? The guards were still on high alert with everything that had happened and even if she found an alternate route she risked being too slow and missing out on discovering what was happening inside the conference.
The answer to that dilemma came in the most terrifying way possible as Principal Le Guin stepped out of the building, looked straight at her despite her hiding spot, and waved her in.
Realizing she was busted the jaeger approached the sight of her own execution, "...How long have you known I was following you?" The dejected girl asked as soon as she reached the Golden Rakshasa and the two walked past the guards.
"As soon as you got on the bike."
Right. That would explain it. Fie thought she had kept a safe distance, but safe for a normal person was far different from being safe from Aurelia Le Guin.
"I'm in trouble, aren't I?"
"Not at all." Came the surprising reply, "I think your presence will be good for Musse."
After exhaling a sigh of extreme relief Fie found herself following the impossibly powerful woman through one of the side halls of the massive mansion. With the conference already in full swing there were very few people in this part of the building, which suited the silver-haired girl just fine.
"Are you ready?" Aurelia asked after arriving at a closed door.
"I am!" Came the familiar voice from the other side, just before the door opened. To say Fie was surprised would be an understatement. In the short time since they'd gotten there Musse had completely changed her appearance. Instead of her school uniform she was now wearing the kind of outfit an Erebonian Noblewoman would wear. An exceptionally high ranking one, at that.
But if Fie was surprised to see Musse then Musse was absolutely stunned to see Fie, "I... uh... Fie!?"
To see the all-knowing chaos bringer known as Musse Egret reduced to a speechless stuttering mess because of her presence? It was a moment that Fie would cherish for the rest of her life.
To her credit Musse recovered far quicker than she had any right to as she gave a sly smile to her classmate,"I wasn't expecting to see you here. I take it you followed us?"
"Yup. How could I not? Wanted to see this for myself."
"Alright, Mildine. It's time."
"Mildine, huh?" The former jaeger couldn't resist that one final tease as the two students followed Aurelia to the main conference room. And it was there that a commoner with an extremely questionable background was allowed to bear witness to the ascension of Erebonia's highest ranking noble.
Fie didn't actually care too much about that as she was just happy to finally have something to hold over her friend in the future.