#Ciggma Khint | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

misedejem · 7 years ago

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The Ethics of Revenge

During a pit-stop in Florem on the way to challenge the Kaiser, Edea and her friends end up running into some familiar faces, claiming to also be in pursuit of the Empire, but not explaining why.

Word Count: 17,958

Spoilers for the end of chapter 3/beginning of chapter 4 of Bravely Second

(This fic has two endings. Please follow the link at the end of this first chapter to the ending that corresponds with your choice.)

Victor S. Court, the shining prodigy, and holder of the Spiritmaster asterisk. Despite his youth, he once stood on the Council of Six, outmatching his peers in his keen wit, cool attitude, and brilliant intellect by a sharp mile. Yet beneath his calm exterior lay a heart overflowing with the bitterest of despair. A despair that overcame him and destroyed him when he lost somebody dear.

And Ciggma Khint, the enigmatic mercenary, and holder of the Spell Fencer asterisk. He once served the Khamer & Profiteur Merchantry as a bodyguard, for a steep price, in order to help fund a part of his life that he deigned to keep a secret. He vanished one day after being caught in an altercation with the duchy, and not a single soul had seen him since.

By what strange trick of fate do your paths cross anew?

“Hey, Yew! How many Phoenix Downs did you say we had?”

Yew started at Edea’s words, despite her having been talking to him for almost ten minutes now.

“Oh, um… We have twenty-three left on the ship. Do you, uh… Want to take that up to a round thirty?”

“Fine by me,” Edea replied, shrugging and turning back to the items vendor to continue placing their order.

Yew’s eyes dropped back towards the water he had been gazing at, and he sighed. He distantly registered the brightly coloured shoal of fish that scooted past him, the garish neon lights of Florem’s business district dancing as the tiny creatures disturbed the water’s glassy surface, but they were a poor distraction from the turmoil that rumbled within his mind – a turmoil that had been present ever since their altercation at the Temple of Water with the Empire.

The altercation that had led to Sir Nikolai’s demise.

It was all so much simpler when the opposition conceded. Many of the Imperial soldiers they faced ran, or were still breathing when the four of them claimed their spoils in battle. Edea’s old duchy companions were no different, simply giving up when they knew they were defeated. But those Imperial asterisk holders… They would keep going, and going, and going until the party had no choice but to kill them just to stop them from wreaking any more havoc and taking more innocent lives. Only one of them had ceased the battle while he still drew breath, and even he intended to slay himself until he had been convinced otherwise. Why couldn’t they all be like that? All Yew, and his friends, he presumed, wanted was to save Agnès. These fatalities were unnecessary. Yew had accepted long ago that he would have to fight for his life. But he had always hated the idea of having to kill for it. He hoped he would never be responsible for the death of another Imperial soldier again.

“You know, I never noticed these before. Magic bottles?” Edea asked the vendor, snapping Yew once again out of his stupor. He hadn’t noticed them either.

“Ah, yes. I’m not really sure what they do, but apparently they undo some kind of ‘exorcist magic’. A young man asked us to produce and sell them here about six months ago. They’re made with hot spring water.”

“You don’t think maybe they undo you-know-what, do you?” Tiz suggested, clearly catching the mention of hot spring water in the same manner that Yew had.

“Well, I’ve been studying exorcism ever since we got hold of that… thing…” Yew trailed off once he remembered the vendor, not wanting to mention asterisks or the Empire in public. “And a specific branch of their magic coincides with Necromancy, even though they’re both from different magical classes entirely. Exorcists have been known to assume a form like the people in Hartschild. And those two did work together, so I suppose they could have developed both this curative and the recipe that inflicts the ailment it cures themselves. But why have it sold in Florem, I wonder?”

“Oh, the man who commissioned them is from here. He’s been around for years,” the vendor supplied, “I haven’t seen him in a few weeks though. I hope he’s alright…”

“We’ll take ten of those, too,” Magnolia interjected, delving into her bag to fish out the pg to purchase them. “Just in case there’s more of them,” she added in a whisper.

Yew nodded. Who knew if the only ones in the Empire with access to the ghost ailment were Geist and Panettone, or even if the man who commissioned the bottles was one of those two. He felt an insatiable urge to go and investigate – one so strong that he had completely overturned his growing despair. The occult branch of white magic, that encompassed such things as Exorcism and Spiritism, was something he’d never really had the chance to explore before. He made a mental note that if they escaped the Skyhold with Agnès, he would go straight to Al-Khampis and research it.

After finishing their purchase, the party pulled away from the item shop and checked over the wares they had purchased once they reached a seating area in the city square.

“I think we have everything here we need,” Tiz affirmed, pouring over the servicing supplies they’d bought for their weapons from the blacksmith.

“Oui. We have all the spells the shops sold, and we’ve replenished all the items we lost in Sagitta and the Temple of Water,” Magnolia stated. Edea nodded and beamed.

“Then are we ready to go kick some Kaiser butt?”

Yew was about to meet Edea’s enthusiasm with some of his own, but before he could get the words out, he was interrupted by a voice he did not recognise.

“Pardon the intrusion, but I would like a moment of your time, if I may.”

Edea was the first to react, erupting in a small scream. Tiz stumbled back, and Yew just stared in the direction of the voice, completely stricken with awe.

***

“Do you hear that, Private?”

“That I do, sir! Even this high above sea level, the ocean is still incredibly loud.”

Sergeant Sapp pressed his hand to his brow and sighed irritably.

“No, Private. I meant the damned machine.”

Private Piddler’s mouth hung open briefly, before he laughed and nodded with vigour.

“Ohh, you mean this?” He patted Vucub Caquix’s dented head. “Yeah, I hear her loud and clear, sir! She’s roaring like a real beauty.”

“I… I can’t believe I actually fixed her. Maybe we can get back to the Skyhold after all?”

“You can do anything if you put your mind to it sir.”

“Ehhh… Don’t get your hopes up too soon. We still need to make sure she can fly.”

Piddler climbed into the cockpit on the robot’s back and looked curiously at the buttons on the control panel.

“Well, I can’t make out any of these weird squiggles, sir.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s mighty complicated.”

“Yeah, didn’t the Kaiser get a different mechanic to make her? I don’t even think we stole the blueprints for this one from Anchiem.” Sapp mused, climbing in behind his subordinate and looking at the panel himself. “Uh… I know the green one is the fly button, and then the purple one makes her transform… Ahh, but that one’s all busted. Good thing she broke down in her aerial form, I guess. I have no idea what button makes her descend though, once we’re up in the air.”

Piddler shrugged. “Only one way to find out.” And before Sapp could stop him, he pressed a stubby finger to the green button. The gears began to whir, and air blasted out around them as the mech began to rise into the air, it’s noises so deafening that even Piddler could not hear the various curse words that Sapp was spewing behind him.

“You idiot, Private!” He roared. “I just said I don’t know how to get her back down!”

“Huh… Maybe it’s the green button again?” Piddler suggested, jamming his finger into the same place he had done before. Vucub Caquix whirred again, and began to rise even higher, levelling out at the height of the Temple of Water’s crest. Sapp squeaked and gripped the sides of his seat.

“Stop pressing buttons without my permission! Gah!”

“Haha. Looks like that didn’t work. Maybe this red button?”

Sapp seized Piddler’s arm. “No, Private. No more. Look, we need to be airborne to reach the Skyhold anyway, so… Let’s just stay like this and ask once we get there.”

“Alright, sir. I might not know how to get us down, but I think I learned how to get her auto-pilot to work in that battle we had with them kids.”

“Excellent. Then to the Skyhold!”

“Alrighty!” Piddler punched the air, and then did nothing. Unable to see his face from his position, Sapp was left confused that he wasn’t acting.

“Private?”

“Uh… Sergeant Sapp, Sir? Which way is the Skyhold?”

Sapp’s face plummeted and he let his arm drop. And then he began swearing again.

***

Edea stared in bewilderment, clapping her hand to her mouth once she realised she had screamed. Of all the people she had expected to see there, in Florem, on that day, this was the last person she would have thought of. And yet, the voice matched the appearance she knew so well, and had known for her entire life, albeit in a different form. The man she had known had been paler, gaunter, and thinner. He had no life in his eyes back then. The man before her looked healthy, healthier than he had seemed even in his youth, before that harrowing moment when his life had come crashing down around him in front of everybody he had known. Even his hair, though as long as ever, had been pulled back into a braid, which was more effort than she’d ever seen him make in the years she had known him. But if the white coat and red cravat, and the spectacles, and the floating staff he used as a weapon did not give him away, that was undeniably his face. Even the way he carried himself was the same.

Then, behind him, there was another man, whom Edea was even more certain she had met. He had not changed at all in the three years since she had last seen him �� in fact he looked no different from the man in the pictures who had served her father eighteen years ago, save the long, dark green robes and the fact that there were more lines around his one visible eye. Edea knew there was one more difference to his face as well, a scar, even though his right eye remained covered by his curly, green hair. But these were not enough to hide the fact that the man from then was who she saw now.

Edea had run into many of the duchy’s asterisk holders on her quest to save Agnès, and had soon come to believe that by some trick of fate, she had not killed any of them after all. But these two had been different. Of all the people in the duchy, there were six of them she felt sure she would never see again. One of them, she knew to be dead. The other five, she assumed, had met the same fate.

Yet, undeniably, Ciggma Khint and Victor S. Court stood, very much alive, in Florem with her right then.

“Why are you screaming, child?” Khint asked with a sense of urgency, turning his head behind him and placing a hand on the hilt of his blade. It hadn’t occurred to him that it was his sudden appearance that had startled the others.

“Yes, why are you screaming, Edea?” Magnolia asked, seizing her glaive. “Are these men dangerous?”

“No… I mean… Maybe? Are you?”

“We aren’t here to hurt you, if that’s what concerns you,” Victor assured them, “please, ma’am, Ciggma. Put down your weapons.”

Magnolia and Khint obliged warily.

“I… I have so many questions. How… Are you here?” Edea asked them, still struggling to find the right words.

“I might ask the same of you. Especially you, Tiz Arrior. Did the duchy find a way to restore you that I could not?”

“Well… Sort of. Truth is, if I hadn’t been kept in your elixir, I’d have died a long time ago.” Tiz grinned. “I never realised you were directly responsible for my treatment though. I mean… I knew you designed the Vivipod, but I thought you were… Umm…”

“Dead? Well, considering I was very much hidden from the public eye when you collapsed, I am not surprised. For a time, I wanted the world to believe I was dead.” Victor smiled slightly. “Yes, I was partially responsible, though I cannot take all the credit. You have Victoria to thank as well. I’m glad to see that you’re alright, Mr. Arrior. I’m… happy… that she did not have to die for nothing.”

Tiz started slightly at his words, but could not say a thing. Edea only felt more bewilderment as the conversation had grown longer. Victor was… smiling? Victoria was dead, and he was standing in Florem, looking… Happy? Three years ago, he had threatened to kill himself at the very thought of the child’s death, and Edea remembered clearly how he had reacted when she had actually passed. It was an image of despair that she would never, ever forget. This was so strange to her. What could you even say in a situation like the one she had found herself in?

Luckily, neither Edea nor Tiz had to say anything at all, for Magnolia took the silence that followed as an opportunity to express her utter confusion at everything that was going on.

“It’s a long story, Magnolia.” Edea affirmed, hoping she would not push for clarification. The entire Victor and Victoria affair was among one of the worst things she and her friends had been through three years ago, and she didn’t want to recount it.

“…But anyway,” Tiz blurted out suddenly, sensing that his friend was uncomfortable and quickly changing the subject, “it was actually a man who didn’t come from the duchy who managed to bring me back. Professor Norzen Horoskoff, if you know him? I owe my life as much to him as I do to you.”

“I see… So that’s what he was doing…” Victor placed his hands on his hips and hung his head. “It pains me to say it, but the professor was actually murdered several weeks ago by the Glanz Empire.”

“Yeah, we know…” Tiz sighed. “Oh, but you knew the professor?”

“Yes, I did. In fact, he was my uncle. After I-”

“Whatever happened to urgency?” Khint interjected curtly.

“My apologies… I would love to hear about how my uncle restored you, Mr. Arrior, but now is not the time. We do have some questions for the four of you though.”

“Never mind those now, doctor! Didn’t you hear what the Templar’s daughter said?”

“You’re referring to her comment on the Kaiser?” Victor turned to address Khint directly and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Yes, I heard it. I suppose that is of greater importance than my previous queries.” He turned back to Edea and the others. “Are you, perhaps, pursuing the Skyhold as well?”

“As well?” Edea spluttered, “you mean that’s why you guys’re in Florem?”

“Yes. We are here to board the Skyhold, and ask the Empire some questions. That is all you need to know.” Khint’s face was stony, and his words had an air of finality to them. He would certainly not be divulging anymore.

“You made it sound as though you know how to reach the Kaiser. But all the airships in Eternia were destroyed… how do you intend to get airborne?”

“We actually have an airship… just got it actually. Another long story,” Edea said, grinning nervously.

Khint and Victor both exchanged a wide-eyed glance.

“Then let us accompany you! If it would not be too much trouble, that is.”

“W-w-we would be honoured if you were to join us, Sir Victor,” Yew stammered, speaking for the first time. Edea hadn’t noticed until he spoke that he had the same look on his face that he got whenever Tiz did something impressive. Or Magnolia. Or just about anybody he had a giant crush on, which was surprisingly quite a lot of people.

“Sir?” Victor raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, allow me to direct you to our Rubadub – aah, airship. It’s this way!” Yew ran off, in the wrong direction.

“Ah, la vache…” Magnolia sighed, running after him and calling his name.

“What interesting new friends you have now, Edea,” Victor mused. “They’re a different sort to the Vestal of Wind, that’s for certain.”

“They’re oddballs, but you gotta love ‘em.”

“Is that why you’re after the Skyhold? I understand that your friend was kidnapped by the Kaiser, wasn’t she?” Khint queried.

Tiz furrowed his brow. “Yeah. They got Agnès. We’re going to do anything we can to get her back.”

“No wonder the world wept for you when you collapsed. You’re a noble kind, that’s clear to me.” A whisper of the old Victor, filled with despair, appeared on his face. “But don’t let protecting someone else cost you your life.”

“That’s rich, coming from you.” Khint said briskly. Victor shot him a venomous glare.

“I would… Disagree.”

Khint shook his head, but did not retort. Instead, he turned his attention towards Magnolia and Yew, the former dragging the latter behind her as he frantically tried to pull away and cover the beet-red colour of his cheeks.

***

“You didn’t tell me you knew Sir Victor!” Yew plopped himself down next to Edea with so much enthusiastic force that it looked as though his dinner would overturn.

“Our fathers were buddies,” Edea replied, shrugging. “You seem pretty damn familiar with him though.”

“Oh, uh… Well, I’ve never actually met him in person. I’ve only ever seen him in pictures. He’s like a legend in Al-Khampis! He’s the youngest ever person to graduate with six stars, and he pretty much wrote the entire syllabus for crystal studies, along with his father. He’s amazing.”

Yew cast a glance to the upper floor of the Rubadub, where the party’s new companions were conversing with Lotus and Sakura, a wistful glint in his eye. Edea sighed.

“How many more celebrity crushes do you gotta meet before you’re no longer completely star struck?”

“Hey, Edea… About what he said earlier,” Tiz said tentatively, perhaps choosing that precise moment to save Yew the embarrassment of replying. “What happened to Victoria? I mean… He made it sound like she died for my sake, but…”

“Ahh… Well, I don’t really know if I can say she died for your sake… More like her choice to die benefitted more than just herself…”

Edea sighed. She hadn’t wanted to do this, but Tiz had the right to know. She launched into a description of everything about the incident that she knew. How Victor and Victoria had suddenly fled the country after they were defeated by Agnès’ party, only to return just over a year later to use Eternia’s healing facilities. So she had heard, once it became known that if Tiz was not given a stronger dose of curative than the ones he was able to take in the city that he would die, Victoria took the opportunity to give him the chamber that had kept her alive for so long. And so, in exchange for her own life, Tiz was allowed to be kept around long enough for Professor Norzen to bring him back.

“As far as I know, she’d already been written off. Everybody on the Council knew she was going to die; it was only a matter of time. So I guess she chose to end it quickly?”

Tiz remained silent, but nodded solemnly.

“Then shortly after she died, Victor just… vanished. He was in a real bad way, and when I asked father and Alternis about it, they just looked sad and said nothing. I really though he’d… you know.” Edea brought her knees up to her chin. “He seems to be doing okay now though. I can’t remember the last time I saw him look so well.”

“He said he’s Professor Norzen’s nephew, right?” Magnolia said. “He seems to be quite familiar with what the Professor was up to before he died, so maybe he just went to stay with him? Sometimes when you witness something horrible, it can help to get as far away from the place where the event happened as you can.”

“But what about the other man? Uh, what was his name again?” Yew queried.

“He’s called Ciggma Khint. He’s just a mercenary as far as I know. My guess is that Victor hired him to help out with whatever business he has on the Skyhold.” Tiz replied nonchalantly.

“Nah, that can’t be it,” Edea interjected curtly. “Khint’s a wanted man. He’s not gonna just go ahead and work with a former member of the Council of Six for money. Even he’s not that desperate. Whatever he’s doing with Victor, there’s got to be more reward in it for him than just pg at this point.”

“What? No way, what did he do?” Tiz gaped and leaned forwards.

“He was caught assisting Dr. Qada in one of his creepy schemes. Heinkel’s been out to get him ever since. I assumed he’d got him to be honest, given I hadn’t heard of him since.”

“Dr. Qada? The death-row inmate who was assassinated in his jail cell before he could be executed?” Yew’s eyes widened, and he looked quickly back up at the two men on the top deck. “That’s his accomplice?”

“Khint’s a total enigma. I don’t really know what he was up to with Qada, any more than I know what he’s up to now. But… if it was anything fishy, Victor would hand him over to the Sky Knights faster than anyone. He was always on very close terms with them, even after the war ended.”

“So what you’re saying is that whatever issue those guys have with the Empire, it has to be incredibly serious?” Magnolia frowned.

Suddenly, before anyone could reply to her, there was a tumultuous roar that heralded a huge, bird-shaped shadow that swept over the Rubadub like a cloud.

“What the heck-!?”

“Is that what I think it is?”

“Imperials above us!” Magnolia cried out, dropping to the deck.

“Imperials? That thing is one of the Empire’s machines?” Victor called out over the sound of the air gushing past the clamorous wings.

“Yes, but – Vucub Caquix? I thought we destroyed it in the Temple of Water?” Yew looked to the others for guidance, but they could offer none.

“Yew, what do you want us to do?” Lotus’ voice cried from the ship’s helm. “It’s headed in the opposite direction of the Skyhold!”

“The Skyhold should be our main priority,” Yew tried to say, but he was interrupted by Khint’s voice from above him

“If that’s an Imperial weapon, we need to go after it. It may contain the answers we need.”

“But… The Skyhold…? I thought you wanted to confront the Kaiser and-?”

“The Kaiser? I don’t recall ever mentioning the Kaiser specifically. Ciggma and I merely wish to find an Imperial, period. Soldier, officer, Kaiser, whomever may come our way.” Victor stated, his eyes affixed firmly on the disappearing shape of Vucub Caquix out in the distance. “This monstrosity may be dangerous. It is simply unacceptable to let it go unchecked.”

“You can’t be serious!” Edea hissed.

“Ah la vache!” Magnolia cried suddenly, clapping her hands to her mouth, “the wing just broke off!”

Everyone on the airship turned to face the machine in the distance, which was smoking profusely from its left side. It teetered, and began spiralling towards the ground at rapid speeds, leaving a plume of smoke in its wake. All the party could do was watch as it cascaded down, down into the ground, where it smashed into a field with a calamitous, final crunch.

“They’ve crashed in Florem Gardens. Now is our chance to make a move,” Khint announced, to Victor moreso than anybody else. The doctor nodded, and without another word, the two of then cast a teleport spell in succession and vanished from the ship in an instant.

“…Huh. They teleported…” Tiz folded his arms across his chest and frowned. “Do they expect us to wait for them and give them a ride to the Skyhold?”

“They didn’t really say, did they? I don’t know…” Magnolia replied, her own expression a mixture of confusion and concern.

“They seemed to just want access to an Imperial soldier, but… I dunno, guys, do you think we should go after them?” Edea said, her voice wavering.

“The Skyhold hasn’t made a move yet… I think we’d have time to go after them, but why do you suggest we do?” Yew cast a glance towards the beam of light far off in the distance. So far, nothing had changed. The Kaiser had not made use of it yet.

“It’s just… I don’t really know what Victor and Khint have planned, and what if the people on the mecha are hurt? It’s gotta be Sergeant Sapp and Private Piddler, right? I don’t want them to die or anything. They’ve kinda grown on me, haha.” She rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

“That crash did look pretty serious… Maybe we should go and check, just to make sure everything is alright.” Tiz nodded.

“Right.” Yew pounded his fist into his palm. “Lotus! To Florem Gardens!”

***

Sergeant Sapp was on fire. There was a ringing in his ears, and every inch of his body ached, but most alarmingly, he was on fire. Somehow, this was the last thing he registered once he realised that the pinprick of white light he saw was the moon, and not the heavens opening up to take him away. Only when he had convinced himself that he was alive did he suddenly notice the burning, which he resolved to put out by rolling into the tiny stream that was running alongside the crash site. Alas, he had been too slow to respond. His military jacket had been reduced to a smoking wreck.

“Private?” he called out, shakily rising to his feet in the water and taking in his surroundings as he surveyed the area for his subordinate. The crash had scorched much of the plant life to a black, smouldering crisp, but if he strained his eyes, he could make out a vast field of brightly coloured flowers that stretched all the way out to the grey silhouettes of the mountains in the distance. It looked as though they hadn’t even made it out of Florem, let alone to Harena where the Skyhold had headed. There was no sign of the Private anywhere.

“Private!?” he called again, slightly more urgently this time. He still didn’t reply. Sapp’s pulse quickened. He couldn’t have… He wasn’t… Was he?

“Piddler?” He dragged his feet out of the stream and wobbled back over to the wreckage, his stomach sinking. He’d already ruined another one of the Kaiser’s robots, but that could be rebuilt. But if he’d killed his Private… He had always been a handful to deal with, and Sapp was astounded that he had lasted this long, but he’d been the one to fix the robot, and he was the one who declared it safe to use. If his own mistake was responsible for Piddler’s death, he didn’t know how he would live with himself.

“Sergeant?” he heard a quiet, but comfortingly familiar voice reply from the other side of the crash site. Instantly, all his doubt flushed from his body as he turned to see the Private rise from the wreckage. His coat was also damaged, torn along the front, and his helmet was missing, but he seemed fine otherwise.

“Shit, Private…” he began, wanting to tell him not to scare him like that again, to express his pleasure in knowing the man was alright, but as always, his words failed him. Try as he might, he could never manage to express himself in that way. “…what a mess we’ve landed ourselves in…”

“Poor thing. I don’t think she’s gonna go back together again, Sir…” Piddler nudged a sheet of metal gently with his foot.

“She’s well and truly dead. Rest in peace, old girl.”

“Yep, rest in pieces.”

The two of them stared at the wreckage for a few moments, only the sound of the wind rustling the grass and the babbling of the stream breaking the otherwise silent atmosphere. Sapp placed his hand on his forehead and sighed.

“So now what?”

“Wanna explore?” Piddler suggested, taking off his ripped coat and inspecting it.

“…I guess we probably better, huh?” Sapp was slightly taken aback at a sensible suggestion coming from the Private, but he didn’t mention it. “But first, we should probably check for anything salvageable…”

***

“Hey!”

Sapp snapped his head up and he looked around. He and Piddler had been working on moving a sheet of metal. It wasn’t particularly big, but both men were still aching terribly from the crash, and Sapp was afraid to put too much strain on himself in case he injured anything more. He’d healed them both with the White Magic he knew, but he was concerned it wasn’t enough. They wouldn’t be moving it at all, had it not been covering the control panel of the mecha, which Sapp hoped had a transmission device built into it so they could call for help.

“Did you hear something, Private?”

“Hear what?”

“It sounded like a woman’s voice…”

“Oh, yeah. There’s a couple of people walking over with guns out right now, Sir. It was probably them.” Piddler smiled and pointed out across the stream behind the Sergeant.

“WHAT!?”

“Hey you two!” a different voice snapped. “Put that down and step away from the machine. Now!”

“Are they pointing guns at us now?” Sapp asked in a wavering voice.

“Yup. Fingers on the trigger and everything, sir.”

Sapp nodded and slowly placed the sheet metal back on the ground, before turning with his hands up to face the gunmen. As soon as he saw them, he let out a choked sound that was something between a gasp and a scream.

Piddler had failed to mention a few key things, apparently. Firstly, that the two women preparing to shoot them were Imperial Sniper Vans, wearing the khaki green uniform synonymous with the soldiers the Kaiser had dispatched to Eisenberg. Secondly, that there was a third person with them, not carrying any weapons but still no less intimidating. And thirdly, that the third person was an asterisk holder.

“Oh, hey there Lord Angelo.” Piddler was still beaming. “I didn’t know your ghost haunted these here gardens.”

“…What? Ghost? I’m not… What?”

“That’s Imperial property,” one of the snipers barked, apparently ignoring Piddler’s remark. “Step away, or we will shoot you.”

“We’re Imperial soldiers!” Sapp said, his voice no less strangled than it had been earlier.

“Unlikely. Imperial soldiers are not allowed to remove their uniform except for showering or sleeping,” the other sniper replied sharply.

“They caught on fire... I… I’m Sergeant Charan Sapp, and this is Private Poran Piddler. I swear, we’re Imperial soldiers! Look, I’ll show you.” He attempted to move in order to grab the remains of his uniform, but the sniper’s finger on the trigger of her rifle twitched and he froze to the spot.

“I know those names. But how do we know you’re not posing as them?”

“I have my name written in my underwear if you want to see that I’m me,” Piddler supplied.

The snipers both went bright red. “You don’t need to-!”

“It’s alright. They’re legit. I don’t recognise them as such, but only the Kaiser’s idiots would think to call me ‘Lord Angelo’.” The third person, whom Piddler had dubbed as such, held out his hand, and the two snipers lowered their weapons. “Why on earth do you think I’m a ghost though?”

“You are Lord Angelo? B-b-but you died! You went to Yunohana to fight Yew Geneolgia and you didn’t come back!” Sapp lowered his arms and moved forwards to get a closer look.

“Don’t call me that childish name. It's Chef Angelo to you. And no, just because I never returned, doesn’t mean I’m reckless enough to get killed. The Kaiser simply told me never to bother coming back if I didn’t kill those kids, and evidently, I didn’t. So I didn’t go back.” He tapped one of the snipers on the shoulder. “These men need medical help. Go make use of yourselves and get the others.”

“Yes chef!” they chimed, and the two of them ran off in the direction they had come from.

“Others? There’s more people here?” Sapp enquired, not quite sure how to address the man. Was he still technically his superior?

“Oh yeah, about ten others. All from different divisions of the Glanz Empire,” Angelo put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. “Uh, let’s see… There’s two Guards, another Van, two Deserts, and then the rest are all just regular soldiers. They all insist they’re still part of the Empire, so they’ll probably help you out.”

“Are they not still part of the Empire?”

“Would you consider people abandoned by the Kaiser still ‘part of the Empire’? Hmm. It’s not really any different to getting fired from a job. He obviously doesn’t want them anymore, so therefore they’re not Imperial soldiers. They’re just idiots who travelled across half the world chasing a man who probably doesn’t even know they exist.”

“So why are you with them, if you don’t agree with their sentiment?” Sapp clenched his hands into fists. He had never spoken to the baker at length before, and now he was glad of it. He wanted very much to punch him in the face, he was so pretentious.

“I’m not with them. After I left the Empire, I just came here because it’s where Aimee and I were living before we joined you lot. When the Skyhold got blasted by that beam of light, it fled over this way and the soldiers following it wound up getting lost here in the gardens, and now they won’t leave!” Angelo’s voice went up an octave and his speech grew faster as he went on. “And now you guys show up, and you take out half the gardens by smashing Vucub Caquix into them. Do you even know how long it took Aimee to make that thing? It was like her damned child, and you go and wreck it!”

“How can a person have a robot child?” Piddler asked, not seeming to realise just how frazzled Panettone was becoming.

“I didn’t realise Lady Aimee was the one who built this thing,” Sapp said, taking on what was a feigned tone of interest in the hopes that it would quell the man’s irritation. Angelo was well known among the Imperial soldiers, not only for his good looks and his talents in the kitchen, but for his ruthless tendency to poison anybody who got on his bad side.

“Well, it obviously wasn’t any of the regular mechanics the Kaiser hired. It was actually decently built. Yes, she certainly designed it, and helped direct the building process for it. She always had a talent for engineering, especially in the weapons department… She was nothing sort of amazing at it…” His voice became softer, as did his face, but that did nothing to ease Sapp's wariness of him.

“So I’m guessing you know a bit about it then?” Sapp asked tentatively. “Like, perhaps you know if we can contact the Skyhold with it?”

“You ought to be able to. I think all the Empire’s mechs are built with a transmitter, in case of emergency. But…” he tilted his head towards the wreckage. “Whether or not it’ll work in this state, I can’t say. Knowing Aimee, she’ll have built it so that you can contact the Skyhold even if the body of the mech has been blown up, but that’s just an inkling, I’m afraid.” Angelo’s eyes suddenly widened. “Wait, if you can contact the Skyhold then that means you and the other soldiers can leave!”

“Uh… yeah. That’s the idea.”

“Then we’d better find that transmitter.” He rolled up his sleeves and stepped over the little stream, before marching over to the remains of the mech and beginning to peer over it carefully.

“Alright… I’m still a little shaky from the crash, but if three of us work on moving this stuff then it should be possible even with our injuries.”

Sapp pointed out the sheet metal that was covering the control panel first, and the three of them spread themselves out around it so they could try lifting it. They were just about to take hold of it when they were, once more, distracted by a disembodied voice.

“Here’s the crash site. But I don’t see Victor or Khint anywhere, do you?”

“What the hell? Yew Geneolgia?” Sapp felt himself deflate. Of course they’d show up now. He wasn’t ready for a fight.

The young boy and his friends jumped once they spotted the wreckage, and began to rush over. Sapp tensed, and wished he had a weapon. He really wasn’t ready for a fight.

“Crystals, that looks bad,” the boy with messy, brown hair murmured, his thick brows knitting together with concern.

“Ah, la vache… How did the two of you survive this?” the tall, white haired woman gasped, hopping over the stream and coming towards them.

“Wait…! Panettone? What are you doing here?” the blonde girl gaped and followed the taller one across the water as well.

“Honestly? I was trying to take a nap, before these two showed up,” Angelo sighed. “What do you want?”

“We saw the crash happen, and we came as fast as we could,” Yew stated proudly. “We wanted to make sure nobody was hurt.”

“…Oh…” Sapp raised his eyebrows. Weren’t these people enemies of the Empire?

“We’re also looking for two men,” the blonde girl added. “Have you seen any?”

“But you’ve got two men right there.” Piddler pointed to Yew, and then to the brown-haired boy. “And with us three, that makes five men. You’ve got more than enough men.”

“Ehhhh… No… Two specific men,” the girl sighed, the corners of her lips threatening to twitch into a smile. “A really tall guy in dark green robes, and a guy with long grey hair in a white coat. You seen anybody like that?”

“The only people I’ve seen in these gardens are Imperial soldiers,” Sapp affirmed.

“Same here. None of them fit those descriptions either.” Angelo folded his arms.

“You have a real specific type, missy.”

“Private. Be quiet.”

“Yessir.”

“They probably teleported further in. We should keep going,” the brown-haired boy mused. The others nodded.

“But first, you three need to get out of here,” Yew said abruptly to Sapp, Piddler and Panettone.

“Right,” the white-haired girl agreed. “If those guys catch you by the wreckage, even without uniforms they’ll think you’re with the Empire.”

“They’re both asterisk holders,” the blonde girl explained. “And one unarmed Imperial asterisk holder, plus two injured soldiers, versus two incredibly powerful Eternian asterisk holders… I don’t think you stand a chance.”

“You took my asterisk anyway, remember?” Angelo grumbled quietly, pouting.

“The duchy is here?” Sapp stepped backwards in alarm. “That’s… real bad.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“Uh… I wouldn’t really say they’re with the duchy, Edea,” the brown-haired boy said.

“Well… No, but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous, Tiz.” Edea replied haughtily.

“They’re after the Empire regardless of who they’re working for,” Yew said in agreement. “So you need to get away before they find you.”

“Why should we trust you? You’re the bastards who killed all our superiors, and countless soldiers. This could be a trap,” Sapp spat. He’d seen these kids kill Nikolai less than two days ago, and now they’d turned up again with that same steely glint of determination in their eyes. It was terrifying.

“It’s not like we wanted to!” The white-haired girl’s voice was choked in exasperation. “Don’t think their deaths don’t haunt us to this day.”

“Magnolia…”

“We only want to save our friend,” Tiz scorned. “And we only take life if we have to. Why do you think you guys are still alive? It’s because you know when to back down. Do you really think that if we were heartless killers, we’d spare you?”

“Sergeant…” Piddler interjected.

“Not now, Private.”

“Sorry, sir. It’s just that ain’t there a whole bunch of other Imperial soldiers who don’t know about these anti-risk people right here? Like them girls who tried to shoot us earlier.”

“…Shit! You’re right! You said there were twelve other soldiers in the gardens, right chef?”

“Yes, that’s right. They’re very deep into the thick of the place, but it doesn’t take too long to get there from here.”

“Say, Edea, or whatever your name is,” Sapp turned to address Edea directly. “These guys – are they dangerous? Are they going to kill the Imperials they find?”

“I don’t know… Victor probably won’t, but I don’t really know Khint well enough to know what he’s thinking. There’s a real chance he will kill them, but I honestly can’t say.”

“My, my, this is Ciggma Khint we’re dealing with?” Panettone piped up, rolling his sleeves back down and stepping over the stream. “Then this is serious. Khint makes me look like an amateur, and I don’t say that lightly.”

“Well, it’s my duty as a Sergeant to protect my subordinates. If they’re in any danger, then I have to go. You in, Private?”

“Yessir! I’m always in for a fight, sir.”

“What about you?” He looked at Angelo.

“Oh, I suppose. I’m not dumb enough to pick a fight, but those idiots are camped right outside my house. I guess I should probably stand by in case I need to put out any fires.”

“Right. Then lead the way, you kids!”

Yew Geneolgia and his friends looked befuddled for a brief moment, but soon their steely looks of determination returned and they took off at speed into the very core of the blooming gardens of Florem.

***

The air was already pungent with a smokiness that anybody who used fire magic knew all too well by the time the party reached their destination.

“It only gets worse from here on in,” the familiar voice of the orange-cladded traveller who always seemed to follow them around affirmed grimly.

“Are we too late?” Edea asked, her heart still in her mouth from the sprinting to get there. The Adventurer shrugged.

“See for yourself.”

Their nonchalant behaviour never really helped ease a person’s nerves before a battle. Edea probably would have kicked them a few times, were they not an excellent resource for items.

The party moved forwards into the huge clearing that led to the thick of the Gardens, immediately discovering the source of the smokiness. Khint was stood in the clearing, his scimitar ablaze with flickering, orange flames. Somehow, the cuffs of his long sleeves never caught fire while he was wielding the powers his asterisk gave him. Some distance away, calm as ever, Victor stood, watching, his golden staff floating gently by his side.

A few meters away from the two men were the reason for their hostility – a huddle of about twelve Imperial soldiers, all dressed in an assortment of different coloured uniforms, carrying an array of weapons. One of them looked no older than fourteen, while the oldest of them had to be in their fifties or sixties. Yet, despite their differing ranks and ages, at that very moment in time, they all had the same look on their faces that brought them together as one. It was a look of nothing less than sheer, undiluted terror. They were all stood next to a wooden house that Edea did not remember having been there before, when they had faced Mephilia in these gardens three years ago. Its roof had been masterfully shaped into the image of a stack of pancakes. Was this where Panettone lived?

“We will not ask you again,” Khint warned them, his voice even and gentle. “Tell us what you know.”

“I swear we don’t know a thing!” A Desert Axeman squeaked, his voice trembling.

“Khint! Victor! I thought you said you just wanted to interrogate one Soldier.” Edea snarled, stomping forwards and attempting to seize the Spell Fencer by the sleeve. He slapped her away.

“Don’t interfere Edea,” Victor told her sharply. His voice sounded nothing like it had before. It was chilling and harsh, like the voice of the man Edea had fought against all those years ago once more. It was a voice that instilled terror into the hearts of any foe. The doctor’s eyes were equally as harsh, an icy blue as biting as the snowfields of Eternia. Edea tentatively placed her hand on the hilt of her katana.

“Please help us…” one of the Sniper Vans whispered through a voice strangled with tears.

“They’re not gonna answer you if you’re brandishing weapons like that. They’re scared to death, look at them!” Tiz argued.

“Maybe he’s right, Ciggma. Let’s not resort to torture quite so soon.”

“Hmph. You may have a point.” Khint extinguished his blade and sheathed it. Edea sighed in relief, but the soldiers remained tense.

“We don’t want to hurt you without reason,” Victor assured the soldiers, stepping forwards. “If you really can’t answer our questions, we’ll take you into custody and move on. No blood should needlessly be shed here today.”

Khint shuffled slightly, and Edea though she saw him scowl at Victor’s words.

“Now, I’m looking for some people the Empire took prisoner when they attacked Eternia. Specifically, the ten researchers I tasked with watching over Tiz Arrior here while I was away. You’re all sure you don’t know anything?”

The soldiers conferred amongst themselves in a hushed whisper.

“I’m sorry. None of us were tasked with taking Central Command. Only us in blue even set foot in Eternia, and we all went to the city,” an Imperial medic affirmed. “We don’t know anything.”

“Uh oh…” Yew could be heard muttering under his breath, and he quickly whipped his head round to whisper to Magnolia. “You don’t think he means those ten researchers, do you?”

“Oh no… Oh Yew, what if he does? How do we even begin to tell someone something so horrible?”

“We can’t really know they’re telling the truth, doctor,” Khint could be heard saying in an equally hushed voice.

“You guys are talking about those research notes we found in Ancheim?” Tiz asked, his voice quavering. “They specifically mentioned the researchers tasked to protect me were used… I don’t see any two ways about it. It’s the same people.”

Tiz dug around in his bag and pulled out the notes he was talking about. He had gone slightly white, and Edea knew why. Both she and Tiz had witnessed first hand how Victor could react in the face of loss, and it was not a pretty sight to behold. There was a very good chance that if he read what was on those notes, he would kill every one of those soldiers right there and then.

But then she couldn’t just not tell him. He had the right to know. They were his handpicked research team, after all. The same faces Edea had seen running after him almost every day for eight years, and after his father in the seven before that. She hadn’t realised until just then, after hearing Victor mention them, that those were the people the Empire’s research notes referred to.

As she walked towards Victor, the papers in her quaking hands, she found herself having to force herself not to throw up.

“H-hey, Victor. You should probably look at this.”

“Hm? Is it relevant? If not, it can wait.”

“No, it’s relevant. I think it’ll answer all your questions… But just promise me you won’t get mad, okay?”

The silence was suffocating as the Spiritmaster read through the notes Edea handed him. On trembling legs, she began to retreat back to her party and braced herself for the potential fight to come.

It took an age for Victor to finish reading, or so it felt like it did. Then the silence was broken suddenly by the sound of his staff dropping to the ground and striking a pebble in the grass. His face went deathly pale and his mouth twitched. His eyes widened. He dropped the papers.

“…What…? This is…? I can’t believe it…”

“Victor…” Edea considered going to him, but Tiz seemed to sense her intentions and grabbed her hand.

“What is it? What does it say?” Khint asked, stepping forwards and making to pick up the paper. Victor stepped on it, and then with his heel, began to grind it into the dust.

“No. No more… Nobody else should ever see these notes again…” His voice was so quiet, but it was obvious that it was breaking. He kept grinding the paper into the ground, the same stony, wide-eyed look on his face. Only after it was pulverised did he look up, and he made a slow turn to face the soldiers again, all of whom had gone rigid and quiet.

“You… killed them?” he grimaced. “No, this is worse than that. Worse than torture, even. I might even be able to excuse that… But this? This is… This is… THIS IS BARBARIC!” He punctured the air with a spine-chilling scream and hurled a holy spell towards the trees to the side of him, his body heaving. The clearing filled with the hot light, but only the flora was singed. The people stood around him remained unharmed.

“Crystals, Victor, calm down!” Edea called, not even sure he could register her words at that point. At least he was taking out his anger on the surroundings. She’d seen him fly into a rage like this before, and he had tried very hard to kill her when he did.

“What the hell did that paper say?” Khint asked her, pulling out his blade again. He could probably cut Victor down if he needed to, but Edea hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

“They… They experimented on them…” Victor replied before she had the chance. “They turned them into a monster… What kind of sick person does that!? What was it for!? Why does this… this thing exist!?” He looked directly at the soldiers, his eyes blazing. “Tell me what you know! Why did your Kaiser let this happen?”

“We… We don’t know what you’re talking about,” the same Imperial medic from before spluttered, clutching at the grass beneath her.

“I’m talking about this Amphisbaena experiment! Those notes… They said you turned my friends into a monster… Why…?” Victor’s voice was suddenly thick with what sounded like tears. “Why!?”

The soldiers were silent. Then one of them, the Guardstave who looked like the youngest, spoke out. “Amphisbaena was… People? It was made out of people?”

“Yeah. It was. I read the notes too, and that’s what it said,” Yew affirmed, his tone dark. “We fought and killed the thing when it attacked us in Ancheim, and we found the notes inside it.”

“That’s so sick…” A Guardspear whispered.

“How… Could they? How could the Kaiser authorise such a thing?” One of the Sniper Vans squeaked.

“That’s fucked up…” Sergeant Sapp said to himself. “That’s so fucked up… What the fuck…”

“How scary…” Piddler quavered, staring at the ground.

“Do the soldiers not know what goes on in their own fortress?” Magnolia asked. Based on the reactions of everyone in the area, she seemed to be on the mark. There was no way all of them could act so convincingly. The looks of horror on all their faces seemed genuine. Even Khint, who usually looked so stoic, looked unnerved. “Surely the higher-ups should have said something to them! That’s insane! How could you keep this from them?”

She and the rest of the party turned to face Angelo and confront him on the matter, only to find him on his knees with his hands clasped over his mouth. He had gone a sickly shade of green.

“How… horrible…” he mumbled meekly, placing one of his hands on the ground to steady himself. He looked as though he was going to be sick.

“Even you didn’t know?” Edea turned back to face the rest of the crowd. “Maybe the experiment wasn’t made public to the rest of the Glanz Empire?”

“We don’t know anything that goes on in the research department. It’s top secret, ma’am.” An Imperial Katana affirmed.

“Then… take me to the research department,” Victor croaked. His voice had gone hoarse, but had regained the confident tone it usually possessed. He rose back to his full height, no longer trembling as much as he had been in his rage. “I’ll deal with these people directly… I’ll find out who did this, and I will kill them. Edea, let me go with you to the Skyhold.”

“Yeah… Of course… I won’t stop you,” she replied, not wanting to look him in the eye. She didn’t blame Victor for wanting to spill the blood of the people who had tortured and murdered those researchers in such a way. Part of her wanted to do the same.

“But first, we need to alert the Grand Marshal that this lot are here. They’re not responsible for anything that gives me cause to kill them, but they’re Imperial soldiers nonetheless. They need to be arrested for their crimes. You said that boy is one of them too?” he cast a stern look towards Angelo, who was still doubled over, but who was staring up at the doctor with contempt. “He’ll have to go in for questioning as well. You two should get out of here – I don’t know who you are, but you don’t look like you can hold up in a fight.” He addressed Sapp and Piddler as though he had no idea they were his enemies as well. “I have no use for you, and it’s probably safest for you that way. Do not repeat anything you’ve heard here.”

“Uh… Okay…” Sapp replied shakily.

Edea expected Sapp and Piddler to take their opportunity for freedom, but she had also expected Panettone to object. Instead, he just stayed quiet. Perhaps he thought he would not be able to resist Victor’s power if it came to a fight. Or perhaps the revelation of the Empire’s sick schemes had made him complacent to the Spiritmaster’s demands? He had chosen to fight the party in Yunohana for a personal reason, so it wasn’t as though he was particularly devoted to the Kaiser’s ideals. Or perhaps he was just being a stubborn ass.

‘Probably a mixture of all three…’

“Ciggma, can you help me tie this lot up?” Victor said, demanding it of him moreso than asking.

Khint remained silent for a brief moment. Then he scowled and spoke. “No. I don’t appreciate what you have done, so I am not going to take your orders.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“You haven’t upheld your end of the bargain, Doctor Court. We made a contract, and you are infringing on it. I don’t appreciate that.”

“We never… I didn’t agree to this,” he hissed, and then lowered his voice. “Khint, I really… can’t afford to pay you for your help. I genuinely do not have the pg for it.”

Edea knew Victor had grown up in relative poverty, pouring all his income and his father’s savings into his research, leaving barely enough to feed himself and Victoria sometimes. There was no way he could pay Khint’s rather extortionate fees for his service, and there was no way he would hire him if he knew that he needed to.

“I never specified that I wanted money,” Khint replied curtly, though even with his harsh tone, Victor still looked relieved. “I’m well past the need for it. But you still owe me blood.”

Victor started. “Blood? You don’t mean… They’re not the ones we’re looking for. They told us who we’re after, so now we’re going to go and get them. You can have your blood then.”

“I don’t think researchers will cut it, I’m afraid.” Khint shook his head. “They are your enemies. Not mine.”

“Your… enemies?” Victor narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing here, Khint? Why did you agree to help me? What is your motive?”

“My motive is my business. I have reason to take issue with the Glanz Empire, much like you do, but that reason is for me to know.”

“If you have your own agenda, then by all means act on it. Ask them anything, but I will not allow you to kill them unless I am satisfied that it is justified. How does that sound?”

“They’re bartering with human lives like they’re cash…” Magnolia breathed into Edea’s ear. “How awful…”

“I don’t need to ask any questions. They’ve already told me everything I need to know. You, in the blue. You said you and your other comrades in blue went to the city of Eternia, correct?” He pointed the tip of his blade towards the Imperial medic who seemed to speak for her squadron.

“Yes,” she replied quickly, her voice slightly more panic-stricken than before.

“I see you’ve become one of the Empire’s weapons now, Angelo. They must be paying you well. Can you confirm that the ones in blue here went to the city of Eternia?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “Probably. Only soldiers in blue were dispatched to Eternia, and I see no reason for her to lie. And for your information, I wasn’t being paid at all. Not in cash, anyway.”

Edea kept meaning to ask how Khint and Panettone knew each other, but this was not the time.

“Alright. Then I’m certain. All the soldiers in blue uniform die here.”

“What? Why? What did they do?” A Desert spear gasped.

“The rest of you can get lost, for all I care,” Khint scorned, ignoring the soldier.

“No, Ciggma…!” Victor growled threateningly, hoisting his staff into the air with a flick of his wrist. “It’s one thing to kill them with no justification... But to squander the opportunity to take in these wanted criminals while we have them in our grasp… I cannot let that happen.”

“So, take them in. I’m not stopping you. I only care what happens to the ones who attacked Eternia.”

“But who is to say they deserve to die for their crimes? You don’t even know what they did.”

“You know what part of Eternia had the most casualties when the Empire attacked, right?”

“Of course I do. Central Healing Tower. But even then, the death toll was in single digits, and only because the White Magic Cables got briefly interrupted. But who’s to say these four individuals in an army of thousands are the ones responsible?”

“They are the ones responsible,” the very quiet voice of Sergeant Sapp whispered to Edea. “They’re our squadron. And we’re definitely the ones who caused the cables to get shut off.”

“Well, don’t tell him that. He’ll kill you for sure,” she replied in an equally quiet voice. Sapp said nothing, but Edea could tell from his face that something was causing him discomfort.

“Give us credit. We may not be the smartest, but we know how to avoid dying when we need to,” Private Piddler told her in her other ear. For a brief moment, Edea cast her mind back to the joke she had with Yew about the Private being some kind of super soldier, and hearing him say something so cunning almost made her believe it.

“Hey, Edea.” Tiz sidled up to join the hushed conversation. “You know how Khint said he was past money? And you know how when we fought Profiteur that one time, he mentioned how Khint was only fighting to pay his daughter’s medical bills… You don’t think he’s doing this because she got hurt, or even died in the Empire’s attack, do you?”

Edea cast a glance back at Khint, who was still holding his sword to the medic’s throat. “Yeah… What else would he be fighting like this for?” she balled up her hands. So many people she knew of, or had met, had turned out to be dead in so little time.

“I’ll excuse myself with them, if you’d like. The gardens go on a little bit further. I can execute them there so you can do with the rest what you will.”

“You’re not executing anybody, Ciggma. I’m taking them to the Lord Marshal, where they will be interrogated properly. And should you resist, I’ll report you. I know Heinkel would love to see you again.”

“Empty threats,” Khint sighed. “Your sense of justice is frustrating Victor. Some people don’t deserve saving.”

“It’s not my job to decide who deserves saving, Spell Fencer. It’s my job to just save them.”

“And it’s not my job to decide who deserves killing. It’s my job to just kill them. And yet, here I am, deciding who to kill on my own. You should break the boundaries you’re tied to, Spiritmaster. Make your own decisions, for once in your life.”

“You fiend!” Victor whipped his staff around to strike Khint, but the Spell Fencer was too fast, and his sword flew from his hand, clashing into the neck of the staff and pushing it away.

“Stop it!” One of the soldiers, an Imperial Shield, cried out. “Don’t fight each other over us.”

“We’ve made a decision,” the Imperial Axe of the group stated.

“It was us who cut off the supply of White Magic to Eternia. It was only brief, but we now know it cost lives.” The Katana added solemnly.

“We’re under the impression that perhaps somebody you care for was among them. It’s only right that you take our lives in return.” Their Sniper wiped a tear from her eye and met Khint’s with determination. There was a small outcry from amongst the other soldiers, and both Sapp and Piddler paled.

“But we have a condition,” the medic added, raising her voice above the din. “Only us five will be punished. You will kill only us, and everybody else here goes free. They will not be taken to prison or interrogated by the duchy.”

“That’s fine by me. Thank you…” Khint pulled his blade away and walked towards the group of soldiers.

“I won’t allow it!” Victor snarled after him, sending his staff at Khint’s head for another attack. Once again, the Spell Fencer’s scimitar batted it away, sparks flying where they clattered together.

“This is ridiculous!” Tiz exclaimed, “they aren’t even trying to reach a decision.”

“Well someone better make them decide,” Angelo said sharply. “If they keep fighting like this, they’ll surely destroy this place, and us with it. If I die here, Yew Geneolgia, I swear I will torment you for all eternity when I see you in Hell.”

“Why is this my fault!? Wait… Hell?”

“Be careful, everyone. We’ve been through this before. If we side with one of them, we’ll definitely have to fight the other.” Magnolia’s expression was stern, and she readied herself into a battle stance.

“But we haven’t had to make this difficult a decision before, either!” Edea reminded them urgently. “These are people’s lives at stake.”

“Right. But it’s gonna cost all our lives if we don’t step in now.” Tiz stated, with an air of finality. “So what do we do? Do we let Khint have his way, perhaps even avenging the death of his only daughter, allowing him to sacrifice those five soldiers in exchange for the others’ freedom? Or do we side with Victor, and let him take all the soldiers, and Panettone, into the duchy’s custody, possibly leading to their entire lives being spent in prison?”

“We have no option but to choose, then. So what should it be…?”

Side with Khint

Side with Victor

#bravely second #edea lee #victor s court #ciggma khint #misede writes

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