Chapter Text
Altina was right. Duvalie truly was an irrational child. Unfortunately she was also right when she claimed that their opponent was exceptionally dangerous. Sure Class VII had fought many powerful opponents since their foundation, but there was something wholly unique to the Stahlritter's leader that bugged Fie to no end:
Duvalie the Swift was just as fast as Fie was.
Well, she couldn't say who was quicker with any sort of certainty in the middle of the battle, but it was undeniable that Sylphid was currently going darting across the battlefield at full speed, but the Swift was matching her step for step. With no advantage in mobility their duel became a test of experience and skill with their chosen weapons.
And unfortunately for Fie she came up short in both of those categories.
A point that was proven as Duvalie launched a trio of swift sword slashes at her, which she dodged in quick succession – no small feat considering they were both still in motion – but that success mattered little as the time spent evading allowed the Stahlritter to close the distance and follow it up with a surprising shield bash. The former jaeger threw up a hasty guard, but her weapons were not meant to repel a slab of metal that large. She let out a grunt as she was pushed back.
But before the Swift could follow through with her success the only other person in the fight capable of handling her speeds placed himself between them using his Gale stance. The two sword-fighters engaged in a rapid flurry of blows while Fie reoriented herself. She considered moving in to help Rean, but in the end decided her momentary freedom could be spent better elsewhere.
She trained her gunblades not on the Swift, but on the Sharp. The archer was currently engaged in a shootout with Juna and Musse while also playing keep-away from Kurt and her focus was entirely on those three. A perfect moment for an opportunistic jaeger. Without hesitation she pulled the trigger...
...And was immediately disappointed when the third member of the Stahlritter deflected the shot with her halberd. No small feat considering she was currently locked in melee with Class VII's two heaviest hitters in Ash and Altina.
Fie grimaced. The Stahlritter didn't even seem to possess any sort of ARCUS combat link and yet their teamwork was immaculate. Despite outnumbering them two to one it was hard to say that Thors held the advantage in this fight.
“That was dishonorable!” Came the petulant cry of the opposing side's leader. Fie turned to see Duvalie charging towards her at full speed, with Rean trailing a step behind, “I'm your opponent!”
The silver-haired girl could only see two options available to her. Either she stood her ground and tried to fend off the furious knight until Rean got back into the fight. But given her opponent was charging in with full momentum and she herself was almost completely flatfooted that didn't sound appealing.
As for option two...
“Get back here, you coward!” Yep. Duvalie was not a fan of option two. Running away was probably the opposite of what any chivalrous knight would do, but Fie most certainly wasn't one of those, “When I catch you I'm going to gut you, you whelp!”
Running was definitely the right call for her. Duvalie was positively furious.
It started to feel like less of a right call when the Swift once again unleashed some dangerously accurate ranged slashes towards her. Luckily they didn't seem all that powerful and she was able to block the only one she couldn't evade, but they were effective at impeding her retreat, which was a scary concept as the dangerous knight was closing in on her surely but steadily.
It was a shame they were trapped on a deserted island far away from the mainland because right now she would've gladly taken one of the old Class VII's patented surprise interventions in that moment. Laura fought this psycho knight back in Sutherland, right? She'd be perfect right about now. Sara too. Really any reinforcement would be great.
Sadly reality meant nobody was coming so it was up to her to rescue herself. A dangerous idea came to mind, but given how upset Duvalie seemed to get at 'dishonorable' actions there was a possibility it might just work...
Too bad it was gonna be miserable for Fie.
“Stop running, damn you!” Duvalie's enraged cry was the last push Fie needed to accept the crazy plan in her head. With a groan of despair she reached into her uniform and sought out the item in need before giving a teeny tiny tug. It was tricky because she needed to keep her opponent from seeing what she was doing, but sleight of hand was something she had a little proficiency in so she managed.
With that done she continued to run and dodge, but it was difficult as her focus was on the countdown going on inside her head. She needed to time it perfectly, something which was becoming increasingly difficult thanks to Duvalie's attacks. She winced as one of her opponent's ranged slashes grazed her – not enough to put her down, but the pain wasn't what her concentration needed.
It was about two and a half seconds later when Fie finally abandoned her retreat and pivoted towards her opponent. The Swift's surprise at her action was obvious as she fumbled to prepare a strike even as she continued to close the distance. Just as she neared her sword's range Fie acted.
The item she had fumbled with earlier? A flash-bang grenade. One that was now in her hand being held outstretched towards the knight. One with only a fraction of a second before detonating, with her opponent too close and too surprised to react.
Of course there was someone else even closer to the grenade as it exploded: Herself. She'd just managed to release it from her grip when the fuse reached its end which prevented her hand from being completely incinerated, but it was still close enough that the heat released from the weapon was more than enough to cause significant burns. She had no idea if she screamed out in pain as the bang from her grenade left her deafened.
At least she'd managed to close her eyes in time, but that was little solace thanks to all the agony she was experiencing. The former jaeger was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to use her hand again until Musse or someone else with healing arts took a look at her, so until then she'd just need to cope.
She was able to see the effectiveness of her action once she blinked past the pain and focused her eyes. Fie's hopes that the opening her grenade had provided would give Rean an easy victory were dashed upon seeing the two sword-fighters locked in a stalemate, but given how wobbly Duvalie was looking and how her eyes were screwed shut it was obvious the older warrior was now at a serious disadvantage against her teacher.
Something which the other Stahlritter must've noticed as they somehow managed to break off from their battles in order to protect their leader, with the Sharp forcing Rean back with a barrage of arrows and the Stout placing herself between Duvalie and Class VII.
It sucked being forced to stand there and watch the advantage she'd sacrificed herself for be wasted away as Duvalie recovered, but outside of maybe Rean none of them were in any position to force their way through the coordinated defense of the knights. Instead an awkward stalemate arouse as both sides stared down the other while Fie's opponent worked to recover her vision.
At least the break in combat meant Musse was free to send a Tearal art her way. Very appreciated. She'd still be nursing some ugly burns on her hand for a day or two, but at least the soothing waters dulled the pain and gave her the strength to grip her precious gunsword for a potential round two.
“Grr...!” Duvalie stomped her foot petulantly before leveling a glare their way, “I'll admit you all have some skill, but it's time you paid the price for your cheap tricks!”
What followed was something surprising. The three Stahlritter stood together and... something happened as they began to glow ominously. “A combat link?!”
“No,” Rean answered Juna's question even as he maintained a ready stance, “this is different!”
“Be careful! This is how they caught me!” Millium chimed in.
Just wonderful. Even if it wasn't a combat link it was clearly some kind of boost in power. And given how much of a struggle it had been to hold their own already...
Ennea the Sharp let out a mocking giggle, “It's been a while since we've performed the Radiant Star Formation for such a big audience.”
“There's a reason we Stahlritter are considered the strongest in Ouroboros.” Ines the Stout continued.
And Duvalie brought it to a finish, “And you're about to feel it firsthand!”
“There's no need for that.”
Were it any other situation Fie might've laughed as a new figure teleported onto the battlefield. So this was what it must've felt like for their opponents when Rean was about to summon Valimar or use his Spirit Unification only for a member of the original Class VII to intervene.
Sadly there was little humor in the current situation because they were officially screwed.
The newcomer was a woman clad head to toe in thick armor. The outfit might've been silly looking except the person gave off an air of power that was unlike anything Fie had ever felt before. Her jaeger instincts were warning her that this person stood at the same level as the likes of the Jaeger King or the Golden Rakshasa. Maybe even higher!
The woman's introduction as Arianrhod, the Seventh Anguis of Ouroboros was wholly unnecessary as it was beyond obvious that this was the person the Stahlritter were utterly devoted to. And given how powerful they were-
“Heed my call... Valimar, the Ashen Knight!” Despite having seemingly coming to the same conclusion Rean's action surprised them all. To summon his Divine Knight just to fight a single human... “We can't take any chances, not with her! Class VII, take Millium and get out of here!”
“A wise decision. But your timing was poor.” The Steel Maiden's words were reinforced by the Aion behind her waking up abruptly and teleporting right to where Valimar had appeared. This close it was too clear just how much bigger it was compared to their teacher's knight, and while Fie obviously didn't see size as the same advantage as a lot of other people, a Valimar with no pilot against a giant machine like that...
At least the Aion seemed content to merely pin Valimar instead of doing real damage, but that was small comfort for a Class VII that had just lost their Plan B.
“Now. I've been meaning to test you for some time.” If her words alone weren't ominous enough the hilariously oversized lance she summoned into her hand certainly was, “Show me what your Eight Leaves One Blade school is capable of, Ashen Awakener.”
She wanted to fight Rean in a duel? Sure it'd been a few hours since he wore himself out against Bardias so he should be recovered, but even still. As much as Fie was kinda sorta starting to respect her teacher this was an impossible fight.
But at the same time it wasn't like they had any choice in the matter.
Something which her teacher must've realized as he handed away his only safety net in Emma's pendant to Juna before transforming with his Spirit Unification and launching himself towards the Steel Maiden.
Fie hated being helpless, but right now that was exactly what she was. Could she or her classmates do anything to someone as powerful as the anguis? And even if they could wouldn't that simply provoke the ire of the three knights who were standing back watching their lord duel Class VII's instructor?
The only idea that came to mind was to somehow sneak around the battlefield and help free Millium. With the Stahlritter so engrossed in the ongoing battle she was at least confident she could make it to the trapped girl. But what then? Sure adding Millium to their ranks would help, but it wasn't enough to shift the tides back to their side. Would the Steel Maiden actually let them walk away with Millium, Rean, and Valimar?
The indecisiveness plaguing her mind kept her feet rooted to the spot and she found herself doing nothing more than watching helplessly as her teacher battled the terrifying woman opposing him. On paper it seemed like Rean was doing pretty well for himself – He was attacking more often than not and was defending himself exceptionally well whenever the Steel Maiden brought that deadly looking lance to bear.
But one didn't need to be a professional warrior to see that Arianrhod wasn't going all out. Rean was attacking because she allowed him. Her attacks were evaded or blocked because they were merely a reaction to Rean's aggressiveness and she wasn't bothering to follow-up her strikes. It wasn't as if she was taking it easy on him, per se, but at the same time she didn't seem to be playing to win.
The knight stated she wanted to test Rean and that was exactly what she was doing.
“Gh... Augh...” With the situation as it was something had to give. And that something ended up being Rean, “Grahhh...!!”
While Rean hadn't fully lost control it was obvious he was on the verge of it. Overusing his Spirit Unification had finally caught up to him at the worst moment possible. Fie wasn't surprised when Juna charged forth to place herself between their struggling teacher and his opponent, nor was she when her classmates followed suit.
She did find herself a little shocked that her own two traitorous legs followed them into an impossible fight. As cocky as she was this wasn't a fight they could win, and Rean's order for them to retreat was the soundest one he'd said. And yet the silver-haired girl willingly placed herself alongside her friends despite the futility of it all.
Frantically she tried to come up with something... anything. Even if Rean could reign in his powers there was no shot he'd be able to make use of them again. And a Rean without his powers and a bunch of of skilled but inexperienced students stood little chance against their terrifying opponent and her annoyingly skilled subordinates.
As far as she could tell there was zero chance they'd be able to escape this situation with Rean, Millium, and Valimar all intact. Even if the Stahlritter were willing to let them leave there would be a hefty price to pay.
“That's enough!” Instead Class VII was saved by... a bird?
No. The bird was just the precursor to the one who spoke. That honor belonged to a tall Nord spearman. She'd thought it impossible that someone could track them down to this hidden shrine on a deserted island, but somehow the impossible was possible once more. In fact this reminded her of all the other times when a member of the-
“The last member of the original Class VII...”
Altina confirmed it, but even her voice expressed surprise and awe at this turn of events. Even still, as annoying as it was that once again their senior class had come to their rescue this time Fie couldn't complain – at least she couldn't then and there. If there was any time they were truly in dire need of rescue it was in that moment. For once she'd swallow her pride and be grateful for the reinforcements.
Still, even if the newcomer was strong she wasn't sure it would be enough to best the Stahlritter, especially with their teacher still struggling to regain control of himself. Which was why the sight of Millium and her combat shell taking that moment of surprise to free themselves from the trap was another relief. If one member of the original Class VII wasn't enough than hopefully two would be.
But instead of the climactic battle they were all expecting Arianrhod let out a laugh before putting away her lance and calling back her Aion, “We have enough mana. The stage is set. Young horned lions... and agent of the Gnomes, tonight, at least, you may rest at ease.”
Just like that? As Fie watched the Ouroboros warriors teleport away she wasn't sure if she should feel relieved they were somehow out of that messy situation unscathed or disappointed that all that buildup amounted to nothing in the end. What an odd mix of feelings.
The silver-haired girl was so caught up in that mental debate she completely missed the Steel Maiden's final words about the agent of the Gnomes until Rean called him out. To her and the rest of her classmates, the masked weirdo known as Azure Siegfried was just another powerful enemy that seemed determined to get in their way.
But for Rean, Millium, and Gaius? They all stared at the man like he was a ghost.
Fie'd heard the story, of course, so their reaction at seeing their dead classmate alive again was understandable. It was probably pretty similar to how she looked when Boss first revealed himself in Sutherland. She could definitely sympathize.
Luckily it didn't seem like he was there for a fight either. Instead he gave some cryptic warning about the future before departing like the Stahlritter before him. It was really starting to bug Fie just how obnoxious their enemies were being with their ability to spout vague nonsense before teleporting away.
But the important thing was that Class VII had accomplished their mission for the day. Millium was safe and sound, they'd discovered what Ouroboros was up to, and they'd even met the final member of the original Class VII.
It was on the boat ride back that Fie asked a question that had been bothering her greatly, “So how did you get to the island anyways?”
“You know what his answer was? 'The winds carried me there'. It was the stupidest thing ever, but both Rean and Millium just laughed it off and ignored the question!”
Somehow she, alongside Kurt and Juna, had found themselves the center of attention after Class VII finally made it back to camp as more than a few of their schoolmates were curious about their activities for the day. Maybe at an earlier day she would've shied away from the attention, but then and there she saw no reason to not regale her friends with the good, the bad, and the confusing events they'd just lived through.
After making it back to the mainland they'd returned to the Cayenne manor to drop off Millium and share what they discovered with the friendly nobles. Given that Arianrhod had stated outright they'd gathered enough mana for their plans it was imperative that everyone did whatever they could to be prepared for whatever was coming soon enough.
Fie definitely didn't envy General Bardias and the other people with authority in the region. It was going to be a long night for them.
“In hindsight perhaps we should have pressed your question a little harder, but I think we were all physically and mentally checked out at that point.” Kurt sorta agreed from his seat next to her, “If I recall the Nord people do venerate the wind. We've heard General Bardias say much the same, after all. Perhaps it was simply a symbolic answer?”
“Ooh!” Juna chimed in, “Maybe it was an airship that brought him there?!”
On the paper her idea sounded reasonable, but there were plenty of massive holes in it. One of which Leonora was quick to point out, “I was in the city most of the afternoon after tearing that jerk a new one. The only thing that flew towards Byronia Island was Valimar.”
“So maybe it was a stealth airship?”
Juna's dogged insistence led to a few groans around the kitchen car where they were all sitting at, “So you think a cutting edge stealth airship flew him all the way to the island, dropped him off, and left him there with no way of getting off, without anyone noticing?” Jessica asked dubiously.
“...Yes?”
Once again all the assembled students groaned. Juna was many things, but a moron was chief among them.
“S-So what happened after that?” Tita asked awkwardly in an attempt to move the conversation.
“After we dropped Millium off we went around and checked out the festival, but we were all pretty worn out so we didn't stay long. Didn't even grab any food there 'cause your cooking is better, Sandy.”
“Aww. Thanks, Fie!”
Altina tilted her head thoughtfully, “I thought you wanted to come back because Rean said you'd need to pay for our own-” The little girl wasn't allowed to finish because she was no match for the self-proclaimed 'most agile former jaeger alive' leaping across the table and smothering her words, “Mmmph!”
“I-Ignore her. She's still a little on edge after seeing her big sister in such peril.”
“Fot my mif fifter!”
“Geez. Class VII doesn't do anything in halves, do you? Dunno if I'm jealous or glad I'm not in your group.”
“Jealous.” Maya answered Sidney's question, “The rest of us have to suffer through your constant complaints about how they get to hang out with all the 'bodacious babes' that Instructor Rean knows.”
“H-Hey! That was supposed to be a secret shared between friends! You can't just go blabbing it out to everyone like that!”
His cry earned a few disbelieving stares, “Pretty sure you've made your stupid thoughts public knowledge at this point?”
“All of Class IX knows it.”
“My notebook entry has you listed as a degenerate.”
Being told off by Leonora, Sandy, and Altina in quick succession caused the boy to let out a pitiful sob, not that any of them felt even a curim of sympathy for him.
“Sidney being a perv aside...” Juna's words caused him to let out another pathetic cry, but once again he was ignored, “...being in Class VII is a hassle! Seems like every day we're running into some new psychopath out to kill us and we need to constantly stop our teacher from getting himself killed stupidly. We really gotta do something to stop him from doing that.”
Kurt and Altina seemed to ponder on their classmate's words, but Fie responded without really thinking about it, “What, like a leash or something?”
“Oh my! Is that the sort of thing you fantasize about doing with our beloved instructor?”
Speaking without thinking? A terrible idea when a certain someone was unaccounted for, “I didn't mean it like that!”
Musse let out a giggle, “So you say, but the blush on your face says otherwise~ I certainly wouldn't mind leashing Instructor Rean. I bet he'd look simply divine in leather... Or perhaps he'd rather put the leash on us and turn us into his pets? You're already his favorite little kitty cat, after all~”
Fie wanted to use her gunswords to teach that annoying gremlin a lesson, but the girl had brilliantly placed herself behind multiple layers of human shield. Even still she briefly considered such level of collateral damage to be acceptable.
Any distraction to get those horny images out of her mind.
“I could buy that from Musse, but I didn't expect you to have such dirty thoughts, Fie.”
“I guess it's true the quiet ones are the most freaky.”
“It's no fair! I want a cool hottie like Fie to make me her pet! Woof woof!”
“Instructor Rean's depravity knows no limits.”
The others had to know that Musse was just being Musse and making stuff up, so why did they still think it was funny to play along and make her out to be some kind of twisted person? Well, all except Altina who seemed to blame the entire situation on Rean, which was kinda funny.
“You guys all suck.”
Once again her threat was met with nothing but laughter from her friends. They'd all pay for this. Especially Musse.
As usual, Fie found herself missing the early days when most of the other students were too wary of the cool aloof girl to even think about joking at her expense.
“Alright, everyone!” Towa yelled out as she entered the car, “We have another day of exercises tomorrow so I hope you all get a good night's sleep!”
The silver-haired warrior wanted to roll her eyes. Their instructors wanted them to sleep early because based on what the Steel Maiden said the next day is the most likely time for Ouroboros to strike. She seriously doubted any actual field exercises had been planned.
“Hey, where's Ash?” Juna asked as the assembled group of students began dispersing to do any final things before bed.
To the question the former jaeger simply shrugged her shoulders, not really caring where their final classmate was. Musse on the other hand let out her signature giggle, “I'm sure he's just being a naughty boy somewhere. Don't worry. I'll go and find him before bed.”
“I am fairly certain none of us are actually all that worried about him.” That it was Altina who said it was cause for minor chuckles among the remaining members of Class VII. Still, it was probably a good thing the mint-haired girl went outside in search of the punk, as while they didn't actually worry about him the possibility of him showing up hungover the next day was improbable, but not impossible.
“Have a good night.” Kurt let out as he entered his room, leaving just the three original girls of Class VII. Silently they entered their own room and began reading themselves for bed.
Juna let out a yawn, “Can I sleep with you again, Allie?”
“I refuse.”
“Pleeease?”
“I said no.”
“Aww, you're no fun.” Despite that the eldest Crawford sibling seemed to give up the discussion as she climbed into her bed, “Do you really think the society is going to do something tomorrow?”
Fie too followed suit with her own bed, “Given everything we saw today it seems pretty likely.”
They still knew little about the experiments Ouroboros claimed to be using, but the one constant was that there had always been an Aion involved. And since the Aion they discovered earlier in the day was now fully charged with mana....
“They are almost certainly going to act either tomorrow or the next day, likely in an attempt to disrupt the council.”
Altina's confirmation caused the pink-haired girl to groan, “Can't they just leave us alone for a change? Just one month of peace and quiet, that's all I'm asking for!”
“My main concern is making sure Instructor Rean doesn't choose to leave us behind again.”
“He'd better not! He's done it twice already and that's two times too many!”
Fie glanced across the room towards Altina. Should either of them point out that Juna was responsible for the previous month...?
Nah. Neither of them wanted to open that can of worms.
“All I know...” She stated at last, “is that I'm tired. They'd better not try anything early if they know what's good for them.”
“Aren't you always tired?” Fie's refusal to answer Altina's question caused the other girl to shake her head, “Still, I know what you mean. It has been a long day. Good night.”
“Night.” Fie closed her eyes. Given how exhausted she was it wasn't a surprise that she felt her consciousness begin to slip almost immediately. As she fully drifted into sleep she vowed it would be a long rest and a late morning for her-
It was still dark outside when the first artillery shell landed, shattering her rest and plunging the entire province into chaos.