It was sunrise of the next morning, with the orange sun coasting across the autumn horizon. The luminescent crystals in the tundra that Ardine, Alfaic, and Arisz stood upon served as guides for trade and travel, making it much easier to navigate through the lands with the Rot Mother's fragments in hand.
Ardine placed them on the ground as Arisz kneeled over them, concentrating his vision on the copious amounts of aether radiating from them. The two watched as he shut his eyes in a pseudo-meditative state, cupping his palms together as he sat cross-legged. Minutes passed as he attuned to the aether, searching in a mile-wide radius inside his mind for the locations to the final two fragments.
"Center of dreams, abstract dimension. Center of dreams, abstract dimension." Ardine repeated over and over again, pacing himself back and forth.
"You're pretty invested," Alfaic commented on Ardine's commitment to finding the Rot Mother's location. "I'd almost forgotten all about that from Qliphos Station."
"You're not invested enough," Ardine retorted. "Lyn told us we were being followed last night after the festival. Joke around all you want, but I'm setting up precautionary measures now."
"You're right, you're right," Ardine began, but he quickly took back his humorous personality in favor of Ardine's serious gesture. "You know, Claire had a really good time last night, talking and working with the refugee children. I think it's because you were there for her and you went along with everything."
Ardine paused his pacing back and forth, looking back at D'Avuzel's entrance. After a while, his face lightened up, knowing that what he said was true. "She's just a kid. She deserves it the most out of everyone else," He said. "They're taking their sweet time. Where are they, anyway?"
"Last time I checked, the chief's granting them a wish of their choice, as per the reward that she previously stated," Alfaic said, crossing his arms and looking back at the mountainous crystal towers sheltering the village. "Funny. Despite my history here, it's good to see the Figments still in order, throwing parties like that for strangers bound anew."
"I need you two to shut the fuck up," Arisz's blunt voice intervened. "The more you talk, the more I lose concentration."
"A little please would have been nice." Alfaic said.
"Pretty please, on my mother's nest, shut the fuck up."
After several minutes passed, Ardine found himself examining several unique rock structures with hues of glowing emerald light shining in between holes carved upon them. He leaned forward, poked the top of the rock, and became completely astonished when it began to move upright and walk away in disturbance of the peace. He found it quite sarcastic at first when Chiwa said that the lands of D'Avuzel were alive. Now he knew what it meant.
Out of the corner of Alfaic's eyes came Lyn and Claire, walking together to rejoin the three. The moment their presence was there, Arisz finished his meditation and stood upright like he had just been awakened from a thousand-year slumber.
"Done." Arisz said bluntly.
"That's quite the glow-up..." Alfaic commented as Ardine moved closer to them to examine the two.
"Huh," Ardine commented. "Maybe I should have gotten something too."
Lyn and Claire both wore two different combat variants of the white and azure colored dresses that the Figments crafted for them.
The Figments crafted Lyn a skin-tight alloyed suit very similar to her original appearance with Alfaic's influence upon her when they had first met. Up from neck to toe was a chromium metal that offered her solid protection against the mightiest of physical blows, etched with black fibers to cover up her revealing translucent skin. The Figments crafted her matching heels that attached to the suit itself, which glowed vibrantly sapphire in the light. Adorned over her skin-tight suit was a pure white bolero with several buckles and a whole lot of style to the human eye. She kept her original elongated ponytail style.
Claire, on the other hand, opted for very similar attire to the one she wore at the festival. She wore white and blue dotted buttoned up feminine shirt, with an azure colored tight skirt wrapped around her waist toward her elongated white socks. Her outfit was reminiscent of an old century style, finding grace in a less is more, simplistic design.
"How do I look?" Lyn asked.
"Absolutely gorgeous." Arisz muttered.
"Like an entirely different person," Alfaic admitted. "The Figments always do such a fantastic job with everything, so I've known. I see she also gifted you a new blade our of pure generosity."
Attached to the right cuff of Lyn's wrist was a device that could summon a weapon by triggering it through the gathering aether and movement. As Lyn flicked her wrist, an elongated longsword, whose handle and hilt resembled the complex design of the Figment trees, appeared out of thin air in her grasp.
"She called it Déraciné," Lyn clarified, examining the beautiful sheen that the sun reflected upon it. "It was my wish; to be able to defend myself in combat against the Rot even when you're not with me, Blade."
"Smart idea," Alfaic said. "Looks like the Rot will have no chance against you."
"Oh yeah, sorry we took so long," Claire said, approaching Alfaic with a sinister gaze. "Sleep well, last night?" Her voice trailed off into passive-aggressive territory, only to control herself in the end to prevent herself from being discovered on knowing too much about last night.
"Yeah, I slept fine..." Alfaic said, turning away to face Arisz, who stood in the middle of their group. "Well then, my friend, where to?"
"The aether from these fragments are special." Arisz said.
"Special? Special how?" Ardine asked.
"Seems like whoever created these piles of shit didn't want to be found," He grumpily stated. "I can't get seem to get a strong reading on its trail, but I can still sense something brimming in the north. It's weak... but it's there."
"Hmm, looks like getting you back wasn't worth the effort after all." Alfaic joked.
"Would you like to try that again after I lead you on a thousand-mile voyage to the land of fuck-all?" Arisz bit back.
"Hey, knock it off," Claire intervened, approaching Arisz from behind. "If he has some kind of trail set, we follow it. We don't have any other leads, so why should we ruin it?"
"Looks like the Little One knows what she's talking about, Alfie," Arisz said. "I'm... I'm so proud someone trusts my intuition."
Ardine moved forward and swept the fragments, placing them into his leather pouch impatiently. Arisz and the others made note of his action, watching him move toward the north with a compass in his palm. "Sorry, are we trying to waste time?" He began. "Let's move, already."
Arisz nodded in understanding, moving north ahead of him. "Watch for Rot activity. The denser the aether, the more dangerous they'll be." He said.
As the group began to embark with Arisz in lead, Claire kept a close watch on Alfaic from the back as he strolled beside Lyn. They trailed slowly behind the crystal landscape of D'Avuzel's outskirts, moving past tall orange grass and numerous shimmering boulders decked across the fields. She consistently tuned out their conversation and couldn't help but focus her attention all on Alfaic's position.
"You look really upset," Ardine's voice broke Claire out of her suspicious trance. "Did you get enough sleep last night?"
"Not very much," Claire said. "Those Figments know how to party hard. I woke up - multiple times, actually. And of course, you were snoring in your sleep."
"I do that?"
"In the bunker, under the Florians, you name it."
"Huh," Ardine accepted, appearing unamused with a smirk. "I've been lacking rest recently, after... you know."
"You're right to be skeptical, you know," Claire mentioned. "That person who told you everything didn't seem to have her head straight."
"You noticed too, huh?" Ardine replied, agreeing with her. "I will admit - she has been acting strange recently. But I always thought it was because she's been too preoccupied with helping people that she can't even remember the feeling of a good night's rest."
"Something like that isn't to be joked around. I think she, out of all people, know that."
After Lyn, Alfaic, and Arisz paced faster through the fields until they reached an upward hike through autumn leaves, Claire pulled Ardine's arm backward until they gathered a great amount of distance from them. She slowed her pace and focused her eyes on Ardine. Her voice completely changed from innocent to furious and tense, trying her absolute best to restrain herself.
"That fucking traitorous scumbag." She began, hissing quietly. "Alfaic. I woke up last night and he was speaking to the man who killed my family!"
"What...!?" Ardine spoke in a hushed tone.
"I didn't want to trust him from the beginning, and now, I have even less reason to now," Claire continued. "They spoke so casually, as if they were... friends or something!"
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"I know what I saw. And I'll never forget it. It was the same man... the one who I fought back at Qliphos, and the one who watched me leave Szene behind that night. And that traitor's letting him get close to him, all for some kind of scheme or something he's trying to pull off."
"From what I know, Alfaic isn't like that. Lyn always paints him in a good light, even though he lied, and all. But then again... he's been a bit too lighthearted recently. He's definitely hard to read." Ardine noted.
"We have to keep this a secret," Claire said. "When the time's right, we have to confront him about it. And when we do, if I have to kill him to get to that man, here's to hoping you won't stop me."
"Claire! Ardine!" Lyn called, sheathing Déraciné from her back beside Alfaic and Arisz.
The two of them rushed over the clearing, encountering a colossal set of stone blocks stacked upon one another. They were a larger version of the rocks that Ardine interacted with. However, this larger version was plagued with Rot, corrupting its emerald glowing color into a crimson red. The rocks began to stack upon another until it formed into a massive stone golem with yellow virulent veins tattooed across its surface.
Arisz sheathed his spear and dodged an overhead slam from the golem by slipping into his deceptive portals. Lyn and Alfaic dashed into together, intending to sever the golem's hands from its blinding red spiritual form. The two moved in unison, assuming the golem's size would make it a slow and sluggish enemy to deal with. But the speed that its next swipe performed was unlike anything they had ever imagined.
Before the swipe tagged both Lyn and Alfaic, Claire slid underneath the two and extended her left hand, instantly atomizing the golem's makeshift fist. Arisz reappeared above the golem's glowing head and pierced through the center of the stone with his spear, jolting it back from the others. Lyn used Déraciné to slice through its legs as Alfaic lunged forward with his shoulder, shoving the golem to the ground. A weakened golem attempted to lift its head, leaving Ardine with the killing blow, firing a bullet into the center of its head where Arisz's spear laid.
The golem's virulent veins began to dissipate as it collapsed into giant square-shaped rocks with all signs of parasitic behavior gone.
"That was thrilling," Arisz voiced out as he knelt to examine the destroyed golem. "Normally these creatures would make me absolutely mad, but I see a fine display of talent that keeps me going."
"Luckily Claire was there to save us." Alfaic commented, glancing over at her with a positive expression.
Claire gave a swift glance over to Alfaic with a neutral face before turning away. She paid him no heed or attention after swiping the dirt and debris off of her shirt.
After the five descended the hilltop facing against more of the Rot together, they reached a shoreline north of their original location without any sign of vehicle transportation across. It was already past noon. Visible aether straits brimmed through the skies, blurring the environment beyond the seas. Lyn approached the water and kneeled down, embracing the cold texture of it with her hands.
"How's that weapon holding up for you?" Alfaic asked.
"Hmm. Kind of miss the old one." Lyn said, peeking up at him with a light smile.
Alfaic's face lit up, hiding it by turning around. Arisz approached the shoreline and pointed through the blurred sea.
"Alfie, have you learned to swim yet?" Arisz asked, turning around to face the group.
"Don't need to when you're a sword," Alfaic said, standing beside him. "So, the fragment's past the ocean."
"Precisely. And if none of us can swim, we'll need to use our talent to build something worthwhile to cross it with."
"I think we should split up and find a path through. Maybe there's a dock somewhere," Claire said, pointing toward a forest entrance with sapped oak trees scattered across. She approached Lyn from behind. "Wanna go together?"
"Okay," Lyn said, turning to face Alfaic and the others. "You three check the other side of the clearing."
Claire inched forward. "Arisz, want to come with us too? We could use your amazing expertise."
Arisz moved toward the two, keeping his eyes locked on Alfaic's smug expression. "Finally, worthy apprentices who know of my talents," He said. "Huh, Alfie? Where did all that praise go from before?"
"Still haven't quite impressed me yet." Alfaic said.
Ardine appeared concerned for Claire's unusual plan. He gave her a quick stare, and the two locked eyes with one another for a split second, creating a sense of acknowledgment. He pressed his palm against Alfaic's shoulder, catching his attention before he could deduce any unusual activity. "Come on, let's let them be," He ordered. "You come straight to us if there's Rot you can't handle."
"I should be telling you that, old man." Claire jokingly retorted.
The group separated with Claire and Lyn taking the lead to the forest. Shadows descended upon them as yellow leaves swayed through the winds. As Lyn and Arisz kept a close watch for danger, Claire was more focused on whether or not she should present her findings to them.
But then it struck her; Alfaic gave her the green light to trust him during the one night the spoke in secret. Yet at the same time, it was something she knew she had to address, for if it meant a step closer to her destined vengeance, then she would have done anything to pursue it.
For a moment, she thought she was crazy. She was selfish enough to believe that she was the only one suffering. Yet another moment of self illumination pushed her to refuse to speak about last night, forcing a mask of regret on her cheerful face.
Hours passed after a careful search of the surrounding forest area, and nothing of interest was found that could help them across the aether-brimming ocean. Sunset was about to strike, and they were thousands of meters away from their original rendezvous point. Time seemed to be unwinding faster than ever before now that they had a clear-cut objective in mind.
"Do you think they'll be okay?" Lyn asked Claire and Arisz as they journeyed side by side. "It's getting dark."
"Alfie's not one to lay in the dirt and die to those savages," Arisz said. "Not sure about the marksman."
Claire knew the answer to that. No one seemed to be safe around Alfaic, to her.
"Let's make camp, then," Lyn said, pointing toward several trees in the distance. "Can the two of you gather wood? I'll find a comfortable place for all of us."
Lyn approached the end of the clearing, reaching the edge of a cliff where the enormous aether brimming strait stunned her eyes with such beauty. She learned to appreciate it as time passed, knowing that her life could have ended then and there with a blade plunged in her chest.
In the distance, the blurry aether blocked several landmarks that were noteworthy. She wanted to know more about them, but all of the aether obscured its detail, making it impossible.
She wondered if time was running out.
A sudden swish from tree leaves caught her attention. She remembered Chiwa's words. Unsheathing Déraciné, she readied for combat. But all of it was just a paranoid hallucination after a whole entire minute passed.
She placed away her weapon, knowing that Claire and Arisz were to arrive soon.