Chapter Text
No one could have guessed that during all the festivities at Thors, Garrelia fortress would have been completely, inconceivably wiped off the map. And that the next day... Crow would go missing, and Chancellor Osborne would be assassinated by the Imperial Liberation Front, who they had thought had been destroyed at Garrelia only a week before.
And they definitely didn't predict that the leader of the terrorists, Comrade C, was actually Crow. But almost before they had time to feel betrayed, the Noble Alliance had captured Heimdallr, Machias' father the Imperial Governor went missing, along with the royal family, and all hell broke loose everywhere.
And then the Alliance came for Thors. Worse than that, Crow was with them. In a giant mechanical knight... the same as they'd seen in the lowest floor of the old schoolhouse, only this one was a blue-green color. They faced him down, and Rean suddenly found that he knew how to call on the mech in the schoolhouse... Valimar, the Ashen knight. Crow referred to his mech as Ordine, the Azure knight. The rest of Class VII watched, speechless, almost paralyzed, as their friends fought each other in the two giant mechanical warriors.
Someone pointed out that the Ashen knight was taking Rean's unarmed combat stance... and the Azure knight wielded an enormous double-bladed saber, just as Crow had when he'd fought them as C. The two were fighting as if the mechs were extensions of their own bodies. It was awe-inspiring, impressive, terrifying... and heartbreaking. At first it looked like Rean was getting the upper hand, somehow... But then Crow did something to power up an attack, and felled Rean with a single terrible blow. Rean, inside Valimar, struggled for consciousness, and Class VII, of one mind, ran to protect him from Crow. Rean protested weakly, arguing with someone inside the mech, but then Valimar suddenly took off to the North, rapidly disappearing from sight.
Class VII faced Crow down... and just as they had given Rean time to escape, their instructors and Sharon came to aid them, giving them time to escape. There was no time to plan -- they just split up into small groups and ran in different directions from Thors. (There was also no time to process the revelation that Sharon was actually an Enforcer from Ouroboros, "The Severing Chains", but apparently on their side.) They found out later that most of the commoner students from Classes III, IV, and V had fled as well, to all parts of Eastern Erebonia.
But for more than a month... most of them didn't know where anyone else was.
~*~
Machias lay on his back in the windmill with his arms behind his head. Elliot and Fie were scouting out the situation with Elliot's father, General Craig, to see if they could help him -- they wouldn't be back until tomorrow morning. And he'd just gotten the most exciting bit of good news they'd had... well, in weeks, he thought. Someone matching Rean's description had been sneaking around Celdic Market yesterday. If it really was Rean... then maybe there was hope... he let his thoughts wander. Hope for the war... hope that they might help Elliot's dad... Hope for *his* father... hope that they'd be reunited with the rest of Class VII again... hope that he'd see Jusis again... he sighed angrily, frustrated with himself and the patterns of thought that always seemed to lead back to Jusis.
Ever since that night in Jusis' room, he'd alternated between regretting it and daydreaming about it. But lately... after they'd all been separated from each other... he found himself daydreaming quite a lot more often than regretting. He had to admit to himself that at this point, he would give anything to hear that sarcastic voice insult him again. It had seemed so important at the time... to fight back, to make his point... but now...
In the past, even in the midst of stress, when he had a quiet moment, like this one, he'd used to think through chess moves. Now instead there was the memory of that night, or of the concert... the way they'd shared the stage, the way their voices had twined together, stage presences blending together... an echo of their earlier blending...
He shook his head. Best not to get too ahead of things, he told himself. Who knew whether this was what it looked like. That thought seemed to apply to several aspects of the situation. It might not be Rean, and... who knew how Jusis was feeling. Maybe it wasn't mutual... Jusis had tried to avoid him just as much as he'd avoided Jusis, after that night. Though he had seemed just as pleased with the concert as Machias had... And, anyway... who knew if he was even alive and unharmed... Machias' thoughts grew worried again.
He scolded himself. Again, patience was needed here. The situation was always unfolding. Got to stay cool. Got to keep from getting ahead of himself. He'd learned that much, at least, from watching Jusis handle difficult situations. Now he just had to practice it. Turned out to be harder than it looked. He sighed again in frustration, turned on his side, and tried harder to go to sleep. Eventually he succeeded. Tomorrow would be a new set of challenges and opportunities. Time enough to see then, what to do.
~*~
In the cave, waiting for the right moment to sneak out, Jusis sat casually on the cold ground. He thought of the comforts of the noble life, and thought how completely opposite this was from that. He still arranged himself as if he were sitting on the most comfortable and opulent couch at his father's mansion. For him, he thought, it was about self-respect, and tradition, even if it was a tradition he'd only really understood for the latter half of his life so far. It was about self-control. Poise. He refused to let that be taken from him even now. Even though his father -- and apparently his brother Rufus as well, which was a crushing thought -- were demonstrating the worst of the nobility with this terrible war. For them it was about power, control, about limitless resources... the ability to do whatever the hell they wanted.
He thought of Machias, and how little he could control his emotions. He supposed that was the stereotypical noble view of commoners... they weren't refined, they had no judgment, had little intelligence. Well, Machias was one of the most intelligent people he knew, and one of the most well-read. And though he saw how Machias' passionate nature got him carried away, might lead to errors in judgment, particularly when trying to think on his feet... maybe that was the thing Jusis liked best about him.
Jusis sighed. Maybe that was why he had made the move he had, that night all those months ago. Maybe it was why he enjoyed provoking Machias so much, to see that flash and flare in his eyes when he responded... the way it caught him off guard, so determined as he was to prove himself Jusis' equal. With a word or two, Jusis could always disarm him. Maybe that was about power, too... his ability to remain calm while Machias flew off the handle. Except... it was just the way they communicated with each other. It was already a kind of familiar give and take. Though... if Machias could control himself, if he didn't feel such a drive to compete... who knew what he could accomplish? When they'd performed together, there had been no competition, only harmony in more ways than one, and the proof of what they could achieve together was in their overwhelming success.
Jusis flushed a little, alone in the cave, thinking about it. But. There was no room now for the luxury of speculation about what he and Machias could do together, or be together. He sighed and got up, preparing to leave. Time to work; time to push these thoughts away for now. He felt his mind and body shift into readiness, the gift of eight years of practice and training. Noble training, discipline, self-control. Maybe Rufus was on the wrong side of this fight, but... at least he'd given Jusis this. Grace under fire: poise. He crept to the entrance of the cave, and made ready to leave.