“Well, that was certainly entertaining.” Rylen commented; the imagery of the Accord played out on a massive display in his office aboard the Aegis.

Xanarken stood with him, beaming with pride, “That’s my son up there.”

“Astonishing that you were able to turn him into something useful, considering the dump you found him in.” The First shrugged, “In any case, I am mildly suspicious of Far’nah’s apparent willingness to self-immolate.”

“I think she probably underestimates just how much force you would bring against her if it came to that.”

“Yeah, who would expect every SkyFortress in the fleet all at once?” Rylen huffed, “I’m so tired of this woman…but honestly, what I wouldn’t give to be a fly on that wall.”

Xanarken agreed fully, “I really need to get Gabe and Arbelos to get together. The sooner he gets his mantle set-up, the sooner I can truly put the Duchy in my rearview mirror.”

“Giving up, hm?”

“Gabe seems to be having a better effect than I ever did. I don’t mind.”

“I think it’s because he’s more willing to threaten her with me.” Rylen chuckled, “I suppose I was a bit hard on him earlier.”

“How so?”

“In so many words, I insisted he refer to me by my title.” The First answered, “Dame Ren set me off in a way I hadn’t anticipated, and I probably took a bit of that out on your kid.”

“…Dame Ren set you off?” Xanarken was visibly shocked, “…But…how? She was always one of your favorites. You bent over backwards to fix her situation. I don’t know that you would’ve done it for anyone else.”

“…She was acting like a damn fool.” Rylen answered, still a bit annoyed about the whole thing, “Maybe it was a mistake to put her with Lugios while she was out of commission. They’ve gotten far too familiar with each other. Her behavior with him around the pit was wildly inappropriate.”

Xanarken was still baffled, “I can’t even imagine. She managed for years keeping her private business under the radar. It sounds so…unlike her to suddenly do otherwise.”

“Yeah, I agree. Her and Captain Rydell have maintained their same routine in the public sphere, despite my telling them I’ve known about their relationship for a while.” Rylen pulled his arms forward and crossed them across his chest, tapping his chin with a finger, “Maybe she thought it was different because Gabriel is Vice now.”

“…But she’s still with the Captain, isn’t she? That’s what I was led to believe.”

“You know, I hadn’t really thought about it. It wasn’t a top priority so long as the both of them continued doing their jobs well. No news is good news, et cetera.” The First shrugged, “I sent her away, though, so maybe things will settle down. There won’t be any reason for either her nor Gabriel to see one another again, unless Gabriel gets it into his head to go track her down, again…which I would highly discourage.”

“I’m trying.” Xanarken sighed, “How is Dame Ren, anyway? Other than that.”

.

With the First Wing R&D facility being so near to Mayrain, getting to the Rydell estate only took a few hours, even limited by the reduced speed-capacity of the skiff they’d borrowed. Neither of the Fafnir aboard had bothered getting back out again though, and Furion took the controls back from his brother once things had calmed down.

That thin blue dart came around the beach-front and landed about a hundred yards from the north-face of the house, with its nose towards the bay. First off was Seth, then Ren, then Furion at the last, after he grabbed their things and tossed them through. With just their flight-suits on them, both Fafnir had long-since manifested some casual clothes overtop, and all three made their way towards the family home.

Unlike the first time, mom and pop Rydell were expecting the arrival, and were out on the water-side deck when the skiff flew overhead. Suzu took off like a shot, rushing up the mild incline of that rocky hillside until she got caught by her next-older sibling, and Seth quickly snatched her up, only to carry her back down the way she came.

Lequerion and his wife – Dianna – rose from their seats on that stilt-legged deck to meet the group by the fence-line. The patriarch reached forward to grab his squirmy daughter out of Seth’s arms, and perched her against his hip before setting his battle-weathered hand atop the teen’s head, “How’s the Cloud treating you so far?”

“…It’s okay, dad.” Seth answered a bit dourly.

“You don’t sound half as excited as I thought you would be.” The older man looked on suspiciously. He raised his eyes towards his eldest son, “…What is it this time? Why does it look like you’re carrying half your rooms with you?”

Furion looked at his father with a sigh, “We lost the Aegis.”

“…What?”

Dianna tilted her head, “…You…lost a whole ship?”

“We should probably sit down for this one.”

Lequerion felt a bit deflated, “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“Suzu probably shouldn’t be in ear-shot.”

“I’ll keep her inside.” The older woman said, and pulled the girl off her husband’s hip, “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Mooommmmm but it’s Furion!” The 4-year-old whined, arms reaching out to her older brother. He stepped closer to offer a greeting at least, and that seemed to satisfy her enough to go back inside.

Lequerion was stunned to silence by the retelling of that long and sordid tale. He looked out over the water rather seriously. The sound of the beach lapping at the rocky shore and a small fire nearby – contained within a glass firepit on the deck – were a kind of balm, but the shock still touched deeply. The former Captain just drew in a long breath, “It was a massacre.”

“…Yeah.”

“I’d heard there had been an accident, but I didn’t realize it was this severe.” He commented, and turned his eyes to the pair on the opposite side of a glass-top table, “So what does this mean for the few of you that made it?”

“Lord Rylen is giving us two weeks bereavement. I’m only taking the day, though.” Furion answered, “Long enough to bring Seth home for his term, but then get back to it. Ren?”

“I’ll just stick with you, if it’s all the same.” She answered, sitting in the black-iron deck-chair right beside him, her palm above his where Furion had set it against her lap, “I’m a little worried about where Lord Rylen’s going to send me when we’re done, so I don’t want to be too far away if I can help it.”

Seth was a bit surprised though, and finally chimed in, “…So you came all the way here to drop me off for two weeks? I’m not taking time off.”

“Why not? You’re entitled to it. They were family to you, too.” Furion scoffed.

“…I don’t think I could sit still that long.” The teen answered, “I can still be useful, and keep going over the footage. I…don’t want to just leave it to later when I could start now.”

“He’s unfortunately one of us.” Lequerion shook his head, and pet Seth’s head again, “I don’t blame you, kid.”

“Then I guess there was only one thing to come here for.” Furion slouched, only to wince a little and have to clasp at his midsection with a grunt. He took a breath and sat a bit straighter, “…Dad, I think I’m in over my head. I need your help.”

“What do you need?” He wondered, brow furrowed a little.

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“The notices can only be given by the Captain of the ship.” Furion answered, the pain subsiding enough to at least somewhat relax his posture again, “There’s just…too many, for me to do alone. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to face all of them myself, over and over. I also don’t want them all to find out from the news, and there’s just no way I can get to everyone before that happens. It’ll take days, even with hypersonic, and I don’t want to rush anyone so I can move on to the next.”

“No doubt.” Lequerion nodded, and crossed his arms in all seriousness, “Well, it’s been a while since I donned my armor, but if you need me, then I’m yours. You’ll have to put in a request for it to be pulled out of storage though.”

Furion heaved a sigh of relief, “…Yeah, I will. Thanks, pop.”

“Then there’s one final thing to inquire about before we put this all on the back-burner for the night.” Lequerion noted, and sat up high enough to grab his chair by the arm-rests and move it around the head of that square table, only to park it next to Ren on the opposite side, “Let me see it.”

She wasn’t surprised; the last time she’d been there, the patriarch was none-too-impressed with the state of her post-transplant situation. She dismissed the nanotech jacket she’d made, undid the front of her flight-suit, and peeled her left arm out from the dark material. She wordlessly offered it forward to the older man’s discerning eyes.

“How’s it feel now?” Lequerion wondered, giving it those same inquiring – but gentle – pinches as he felt along the length of each muscle group, “It’s got a bit more definition. Even the skin-tone’s pretty close to matching.”

“Every day is a little better. Strength is still lacking, but I can use it for everyday stuff.” She answered, watching that inspection go down past her elbow and into the palm of her hand.

Lequerion pulled the whole thing up and positioned it like he was about to arm-wrestle her, “Give it a go.” He suggested, and set their elbows onto the table-top at the corner.

Ren drew in a nervous breath, but sat forward and clamped-down as hard as she could onto that thumb, and pushed. His own arm didn’t budge much, and she quickly let it go again, “…Ah, sorry…that’s all I’ve got.”

“Your grip is about as strong as Suzu’s. Not bad, honestly.” The patriarch complimented, and pet her hand before letting her have it back, “Dexterity? Fine-motor function? Numbness?

“I couldn’t bead a friendship-bracelet, but I can hold my own fork.” She said, trying to find a little tease against herself. She displayed how she could also touch her fingertips to the end of her thumb in order, and back again, “And it mostly feels okay-ish. Not quite like I’m wearing a glove over it all the time…more like a sticker? Being able to move it completely normally while in my armor has been a big help. It’s like I’m reminding the whole thing how it could move if it was completely healed.”

“It’s strange that way, right?” Lequerion sat back in his seat again, “It’s like the opposite of that phantom-limb phenomenon. Instead of tricking an extremity you no longer have into releasing its tension, you’re puppeteering it into normal function.”

“Yeah.”

“So how long will you stay? Long enough for dinner?”

“How long do you need?” Furion answered, “At this point, it’s really up to you.”

“Mh…” The elder rubbed his lip with a knuckle, “Agartha’s a seven-hour flight from here, if we take the skiff you borrowed. Maybe it’ll be better if you three stay overnight, and we head out in the morning.”

Furion nodded, and glanced at the other two. They each agreed, and it was settled.

“Alright, well…” Lequerion began again, and stood-up from his chair, “You all have your room-assignments already, so I’ll go tell your mother what’s going on and then help finish making dinner.”

“What’s the E.T.A. on that?” Furion wondered.

“About an hour?”

He looked to his partner, “Wanna take a walk?”

.

The rocky beach went on for miles, flattening-out in areas while rising up in others again. Ren’s shoulder fight right under Furion’s as they walked that far distance, keeping half an eye on the house on the raised rocky hill so they wouldn’t get too far.

“You’ve been really quiet since we got to the beach-head.” Furion commented, glancing down at the Dame where she was pressed right up against his side, “Does your heart still hurt?”

She pulled up her right hand to rub at her sternum, “A little bit… I felt like I was having a coronary.”

“What did Lord Rylen even say to you that sent you flying-off like that?” Furion wondered, “I didn’t want to ask in front of Seth.”

Ren went quiet for a moment, a worried look on her face, “…He called me out for how I was acting around Gabe. I…guess I lost my sense of self enough that I stopped caring what people – even an Eidolon - thought. I should’ve had some damn respect for the fallen, but all I had instead was googly-eyes.” She shook her head in shame, “I don’t know how it got away from me so fast. I really did convince myself that I was just trying to find some solace. I’m still worried how much damage I’ve done to us.”

Furion just paused in his steps and turned towards her, and pulled her closer into a hug. He held there a short while, but then pulled back again and looked down to her, “…Depends, did you go down on him?”

Her face went red, “Why would you ask me that?”

“Well?”

“…No!” She answered with a huff, skin feeling tight for the embarrassment, “Weird as it sounds, the feeling I had about the whole thing made me want to have my eyes up. In the thick of it, I wanted him completely in my sights, and…I was adamant about looking into his eyes. It must’ve come across as strange to him, but he played along anyway.”

Furion leaned down and set a warm kiss to her lips, “Silver linings, I suppose.” He said, and got a slightly confused look for it, only for the dawn of realization to set in.

“…I don’t think I’d let you kiss me for another week if I had.” She noted, and looked down, putting her brow to his chest, “…I don’t know how you can forgive me for this…”

“Knowing what I do, my earnest concern is actually for Lugios.” He answered, and felt that hug around his waist a little tighter, “But I suppose he’s got his hands full right now, and he probably won’t have much time to think about it.”

“What do you mean?” Ren wondered, and looked up just far enough to squish her nose against him instead.

“Oh, you didn’t see all the headlines? Kitez accused the Fourth of trying to kill the Duchess.”

She pulled back with a start, “W-what!?”

“It’s major news everywhere. I’m surprised you missed it.”

“If I didn’t need it for my hair right now, I’d have turned my HUD off entirely once I was out of my armor.”

“Speaking of…” Furion said, giving Ren a palpitation, “When did you first notice?”

She stayed quiet a moment, and turned to start walking again, “When I screamed in the bathroom the other morning. It scared the crap out of me. …It was only my roots at that point, though…it’s spread so far since then…”

“Let’s see it.”

“…Heh? Right now?”

“Yeah. We’re far enough away from the others; no one else will witness.”

She whined a little, but agreed, and made a few gestures to cancel the effect. The nanotech coloration faded off of her like flame-burns eating through paper, and when the effect was all gone, the extent of those extra hours was evident. Her bangs were completely white, and the depigmentation had crept to the base of her ponytail, with the strands that arose from the back of her head going up into her clip like the underbelly of a tuxedo-cat, “…How bad is it?”

“…It’s definitely moving still. What about the rest of it?”

Ren quickly put the effect back, and put a worried hand over her mouth, “…I’ve…got this constant feeling in my chest, kind of similar to stage-fright, but it’s this sense of doom, like if I don’t get back to Gabe right away, something bad will happen.”

“But it’s still manageable?”

“For now…” She answered, and sucked in a long breath, “Can we sit down for a minute? I feel like everything is really starting to hit me all of a sudden.”

“Oh…yeah, sure.” Furion said easily, and looked around for a good spot. There was a semi-flat rock not too far away, and he walked them over to it. He took his seat first, and Ren sat a bit lower on the incline, right between his legs. She draped an arm over each one and leaned back against him, and he slid his own over the front of her shoulders, kissing the side of her head, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“It’s freaking me out.”

“I can tell. You don’t like being little spoon unless you’re not feeling good.”

“I’m just… I don’t even understand why I was able to get through that whole day with Gabe and not have something happen. What the Hell was Scyrexian waiting for? I know Seth said it needs to be invited out, but still…what stopped it from making me say something? He was right in front of me, for hours and hours…and the best it could do was make me feel like I was missing something?”

“Well, if it can’t manipulate you directly, maybe that’s a good sign?”

“…It just whispers sometimes. And then it shows me the nightmares…visions…memories…whatever you want to call them. When I’m asleep.” She explained, and pulled her limbs over again so she could clasp her fingers lightly to her partner’s forearms, “…Did…you see how they died? The ones it killed…”

“I saw what they saw.” Furion answered, and slowly rubbed his jaw against her hair, “The first one to fall was Donivan. I sent him into the room it busted into, and it…”

Ren clenched her eyes shut, “…I can…feel it, on my own hands…like I did it. The pressure. It’s so strong…”

“…Yeah.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to have me around like this?” Ren wondered, and lifted her head to look back at the man, “…I can’t guarantee that it isn’t getting stronger. What if, when all my hair is white, it’ll mean it can make me do stuff? What if it starts turning me, like it did to Ianori, with that weird resin it made on his body?”

“If you feel like you’re a danger, then we won’t go back.”

“…I don’t – not right now, anyway – but…I can’t guarantee that won’t change.”

Furion stayed quiet a moment, looking out over the gentle push and pull of the tide. The foam licked at the rocky beach, then receded again, only for a new wave to softly roll in. He then set his chin atop the Dame’s crown, and shrugged, “With everything I’ve seen and heard, I’m certain that you’ll know if something is wrong. You just about had a heart attack and it still couldn’t get through. Whatever you’re doing – whatever conditions need to be met – it’s not happening as you are. So, we’ll just take it one day at a time. I was thinking about asking Seth to look at you, too…see if there’s any way to assess for commonality between the way it transfigured the others, and now you. There’s so many variables at play… Who knows? Seth said it could only freely get between the bodies of the dead. You’re very-much alive. It could just be trapped completely as long as you stay that way.”

She gave a suspicious look, “And you’d just be fine with that? It’s kind of a weird threesome you’re inviting.”

Furion snorted, and lifted his head, “Yeah, I guess it does seem that way. But I’ve already endured enough tragedy this week. I’m not going to give you up, too. Scyrexian’s just going to have to deal with getting an eye-full.” He answered, and pulled his arms back to cup his hands over those thin shoulders, “…And, pops just messaged me. Let’s head back.”