Class G did, eventually, split up once more.
Not for any particular reason, and none of them really complained. It was just the natural way things progressed when spending a few hours with a group; eventually, even the most sociable ones tire out and need some space.
As the evening hours rolled in, Annabelle decided to call it a day, stating that the airship ride was actually making her quite sleepy. Kiria escorted her back to her room, and as soon as she finished shutting the door, she came face-to-face with Reina. “Hi, Kiria!”
Kiria chuckled. “Why would you say hi again? We were just talking not even five minutes ago.”
The chameleon girl shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno! Just felt like it!”
The two girls began to stroll through the halls without a particular destination in mind. Kiria planned to keep an eye out for any signs of Mistral, especially with nighttime looming closer, but she certainly didn’t mind Reina’s companionship.
Reina suddenly wrapped her arms around Kiria’s, prompting a smile from the latter. “What’s all this about, Reina?”
“I’m just glad we’re spending more time together,” Reina explained. “We haven’t really gotten to hang out with just the two of us for awhile, ya know?”
That was true. Other than the short shopping trip when the group first arrived in Radecross, the duo hadn’t really gotten any time to themselves, as the group was always shuffling around for one reason or another.
Hearing Reina’s words made Kiria aware that she had the same feelings as well. Managing the group had always been a bit stressful and exhausting for her, but time with Reina felt much more relaxed, even with the chameleon girl’s hyperactive temperament.
“I wished you’d stayed at the stadium to watch the tournament with me,” Reina said. “It was really fun, but it would’ve been even funner if you were there!”
Kiria gently placed her hand atop Reina’s head. “I’m sorry, Reina. I didn’t think it would be that important to you. I’m just not that interested in fighting tournaments, is all.”
“That’s okay!” said Reina. “We’ll just have to spend time together when we get to Chateau Aurum!”
“Ah, that’s right. They have a resort there, don’t they?”
“Uh huh! Me and Annabelle were looking in the brochure earlier! They have a parade, and rides, and games, and tons and tons of food carts! It’s gonna be awesome!”
The girls passed by another passenger on board the ship, who met them with an unapproving sneer that only grew more venomous when Reina began to scream in excitement. Kiria bowed her head in apology, pulling in closer to her own body as a gesture to ease up on the volume dial.
While Kiria did not have a destination on board the ship in mind, Reina apparently did, as she not-so-subtly led Kiria back towards the buffet. The desserts for the night were just beginning to be carted out, and Reina made sure the two were first in line.
Unsurprisingly, Reina began to dump desserts onto her platter like hail in a blizzard, and she didn’t stop until Kiria gently placed her hand atop Reina’s in response to dirty looks being shot their way from other passengers.
None of it seemed to dampen Reina’s mood. Nothing ever did, really. A tiny, perpetually shining sun, that Reina.
“Hey, Kiria?”
“What is it?”
“Do you like being the group mom?”
Kiria’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Uh, what do you mean?”
Reina took hold of a macaron and popped it into her mouth. “Ya know, for Class G. You’re kinda like our mom! You’re always making sure we’re okay and handling all the grown-up stuff!”
Cheeks reddening, Kiria turned her attention away, although she had to do it again when she initially met the eyes of the next noble in line at the buffet, settling on one of the big baskets of cookies. “Uh….I don’t really know how to respond to that?”
The girls finished moving through the buffet line, and Reina took hold of Kiria’s hand, leading her over to one of the tables. “We all like that you are!”
“You….do?”
In truth, Kiria had actually been worried that she was coming across as a buzzkill, and too controlling. After all, what eighteen year old liked taking orders from anyone, let alone a peer?
She nibbled on a cookie to help distract her, keeping her eyes on it the entire time. There is something oddly comforting about staring at inanimate objects during times of unease, no?
Kiria had always been like that. She’d always been responsible, and took charge whenever she could. Although, she never really enjoyed being in charge, per se, and was perfectly okay with taking orders. In fact, that was where her preferences truly lied. She didn’t care to manage people and make decisions for them, and she liked having work given to her. It was one of the reasons she was such a model member of the Royal Guard; she carried out whatever order she was given without complaint, and never caused any trouble or played politics to try and climb ahead.
Across the table, Reina squealed and kicked her feet as she bit into a fancy chocolate. That was so cute, Kiria had to admit to herself.
“Everyone likes having you as the team mom,” Reina reiterated as she reached for the custard pie next. “But I just wanted to make sure that you like it, ya know?”
“Huh?”
Reina smiled. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to be, ya know? The rest of us are kinda doofuses sometimes, but we’ll be okay if you wanna take it easy and relax, I promise!”
Kiria’s eyes finally freed themselves from the cookie in her hand, and met with Reina’s. After a brief moment of silence, she smiled. “Thanks, Reina.”
“No problemo! Now that that’s cleared up, you better get ready for tons of fun at the resort! We’re gonna have the most fun anyone has ever had ever!”
With a laugh, Kiria took hold of a napkin and reached over the table, wiping whipped cream from Reina’s cheek. “Okay, okay, settle down. Save it for the resort, okay?” She winked. “You’ll need it to keep up with me.”
* * * *
ULTRA PULSE
* * * *
“How’s yer arm?”
Cain looked up from the book he was reading. He’d been sitting on a bench in one of the cabin halls (Not his own, mind you. For what reason? Who the hell knows?), and Tyger was approaching, and eventually sat on the bench beside him.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“It’s fine,” Cain said calmly, returning his attention to the book. “Not even your best attack could scratch me.” Very much untrue, judging by the break in the bone.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever tough guy.”
“Why are you here anyway? I didn’t invite you to sit beside me. This is a private reading.”
Tyger raised a brow. “If it’s private, why ain’t you in yer room?” When Cain didn’t respond, Tyger smirked. “I bet yer doin’ that thing where you try to act like you don’t want attention, but you actually totally do.”
Cain scoffed as powerfully as his lungs would allow him to.
Glancing down at the cover of the book, Tyger read aloud, “‘ULTRA Power Level Manual’….What’s that, like a book on fightin’ and stuff?”
A look of pure disdain sketched itself onto Cain’s face. “How dare you.”
“How dare I what?”
“How dare you call yourself a fighter and not be aware of the greatest book ever written on the subject!” Cain snapped the book shut. “You bring disgrace to the art of combat!”
Tyger almost couldn’t believe that someone would get so cartoonishly worked up over a book, until it clicked that this was Cain, after all. So, rather than meet the outrage with his own, he merely let out a sigh. “Chill out, you nerd.”
“Wow. Clever response.”
As a trio of noblewomen passed by the boys as they made their way through the hall, another smug smile awakened on Tyger’s lips. “Oh, now I get it. You were tryna get caught readin’ that thing by some chick, weren’t ya?”
“Don’t be ridi-”
Tyger belted out laughing. “You thought she’d be super impressed cuz yer a fighter or somethin’, right?! Ahahaha!”
In what appeared to be genuine defeat, Cain did not respond, and instead glued his eyes to the pages of the ULTRA Power Level Manual, although the subtle tightening of his jaw denied him the veneer of unaffectedness he tried to put on.
After calming down from his laughing fit, Tyger glanced over at the book once, more, and then up at Cain. “Is that how you got so strong?”
“What?”
Tyger leaned his head back against the wall behind him, staring up at the ceiling. “You were already crazy good at fighting two years ago, and yer even more nuts now….Did readin’ books like those help you get like that?”
Cain quietly flipped through the next page. “Are you mocking me?”
“What? How’d you get mockery from that? I said yer strong, didn’t I?”
A few moments of silence passed. Another page turned. “Fighting strength comes from all aspects of life.”
“Huh?”
“The ULTRA Power Level Manual has taught me many, many things. The mechanics of the body, ULTRA Force, Force Slots, Installs — but simply reading a book does not make one a great fighter.”
Tyger rolled his head to the side to give Cain his full attention, though the latter kept his own on the pages of the book.
“Knowledge is the source of power, but you need training to implement that knowledge. Training to download it properly into your mind and upload it into your body. To grow your arsenal of techniques, and to be ready to face any combat situation. You can’t just stupidly throw the same punch over and over.”
Sensing the obvious jab in his direction, Tyger momentarily felt the urge to punch back, but relented. He didn’t have a proper argument to make. Instead, he just rolled his head back until he was staring up at the ceiling again.
“A fighter can’t be complete without a complete training regimen,” Cain continued. “A fighter must hone their mind, develop and master their Installs, and control their emotions. You don’t think when you fight, you still only have one basic Install, and you lack control over your own emotions. Your power level will never increase until you address those issues.”
“He’s right,” came the voice of an approaching woman. “Well, not the power level stuff, but everything else was pretty good advice.”
Both boys turned to face Meifang, with Cain throwing in an annoyed look at her last comment. “Hey,” Tyger greeted.
“Hey, boys. You two look like you’re having fun here. Can I join you?”
The bench was far too small to support all three, and Meifang knew it. As she expected, Cain closed his book and got to his feet. “Take my seat,” he said. “I was just leaving.”
“Oh, Cain, before you go,” Meifang called out as she slid onto the bench. “I wanted to ask; do you know who Gai Lea is?”
He froze in place, which prompted a quizzical expression from Tyger. “Who the hell’s that?”
Cain glanced over his shoulder. “Of course I do. Any fighter worth their salt does. Why even ask such a question?”
“Oh, wait, didn’t I hear you mention this guy before?” Tyger asked. “Maybe, like….back when we were checkin’ out flyers in the city?”
“Gai Lea is a legendary martial artist,” Meifang explained. “He’s the developer of the Flowing Fist style of martial arts, and a member of the God Hand.”
“Sounds like a big deal.”
Cain finished spinning around to face Meifang more directly. “Why are you asking me that?”
She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “He’s apparently attending the party at the Chateau. If I bring you to the party as my guest, I could introduce you to him. You interested?”
No response came. Verbally or otherwise. It was like time had frozen, and the moving world had been replaced by a portrait of what once was. For Cain, at least.
Tyger’s brow arced upward once more. “You alright, man?”
Meifang reached her hand out and patted him on the arm. “Go ahead and think it over, yeah?”
Without another word, Cain slowly rotated back around with the pace of a zombie, and trailed off even slower.
“Man, you really freaked him out with that,” Tyger commented, turning back over to Meifang.
“He’ll be alright,” Meifang said. “Gai Lea’s a friend of mine, so I can help break the ice between the two.”
“That’s nice of you.” He paused, then said, “You’ve been super cool to us in general….What’s up with that?”
She shrugged, crossing one leg over the other, but not before making sure Tyger was able to see her do so. “I don’t know, I suppose I just like you kids, is all. You’re cute.”
“Aight then….”
“I hope you’re not beating yourself up too much over your match with Cain,” Meifang said suddenly. The expression on his face vividly painted his surprise. “You did great. Really.”
Exhaling through his nose, Tyger’s eyes dropped to the floor. “Ah, ya don’t gotta butter me up or nothin’. I know I’m shit at fightin’.”
“Didn’t I just tell you not to beat yourself up too much?” Meifang said with a bubbly laugh, pushing up against his arm.
“Nah, Cain was right. All I know how to do is throw punches. Only thing else I can do is make ‘em hit a little harder. Same shit I’ve been doin’ for years now. I’m….incomplete or whatever he said.”
“So….do you plan on becoming complete?”
“Dunno. I should, but….I don’t really know how.”
He turned as Meifang suddenly leaned in close. “If you’re interested in advice from me, I’d say you should start by becoming more well-rounded and in control of the tools you have now. Then, once you’ve mastered them, you start adding in more. That make sense?”
He shrugged.
“Take that Metal Install of yours, for example,” she began. “What does it- you only have your Body Slot Active, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Okay, so what does the Metal Install do when you set it into the Body Slot?”
Another shrug. “Makes my body super tough. My skin doesn’t get cut. I can punch harder. And, uh, I get a lot slower, I guess.”
Grinning, Meifang said, “Did you know that you could also turn your entire body into metal? Even liquid metal? Or turn your hand into a blade or a hammer? Or that it could adjust where the weight distribution of the metal in your body is to make your attacks stronger without slowing down your legs?”
Both eyebrows went up. “Uh….no, I guess not.”
“If you think outside the box, you can do all sorts of interesting things with Installs. You just have to get creative. And don’t let anyone try to tell you that that only applies to the Mind or Heart Slots, either. The Body can be just as potent.” Her finger poked at his chest. “Especially when it’s in good shape, like yours is.”
His cheeks reddened, and he glanced down. “Could you, uh….teach me?”
“Oh, definitely. There’s a lot of things I could teach you.” She stood up, and held her hand out to him. “Come. My room’s this way.”
* * * *
ULTRA PULSE
* * * *
Zeo couldn’t shake the feeling that Mistral was going to make their move later that day, most likely at night when the activity in the airship died down. And so, he spent the early night time patrolling around, taking a good, close look at everyone he passed by.
During Class G’s earlier excursion through the ship, he’d made sure to get a good read on the layout, but it was a big place, and there were lots of rooms they hadn’t been allowed to go to. Any one of those rooms could be connected to Mistral somehow.
As he passed through one of the halls with windows gazing out into the racing clouds outside, he paused, and concentrated on the space around him. He was trying to get another read on that strange feeling he’d experienced earlier; the one that matched what he’d felt on the train to Radecross when he’d had his first encounter with Mistral. They had to be connected.
He wasn’t quite sure what it was, but….
It’s definitely worth paying attention to….It’s got to be related to Mistral, after all….
When he sensed nothing in the hall, he returned to his patrol. None of the other passengers he walked past appeared to be suspicious, but he supposed it wouldn’t be that easy. Only fictional heroes had that kind of good fortune.
But then….
Zeo bowed his head and stepped to the side as a cluster of passengers came into the hall from the opposite direction that he had been going, as there wasn’t enough room for both parties to pass through the hall simultaneously.
But just before the pass was completed, that nebulous dread struck him once more, weaving its way through the hairs on his arms like a ghost.
He spun around to try and locate the source, but was a smidgen too late, as a massive gust of wind exploded into his chest, hurling him backwards.