Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Sparks, turn off the lights,” Eunie grumbles, wriggling on a hard surface of unknown type and material as the sounds of the sea wash in her ear. Wakefulness comes to her not with a gentle push into consciousness, but a glare of sudden light that makes the insides of her eyelids an odd pinkish color. She reaches for a pillow to clutch over her head and potentially throw at Taion if the occasion calls for it. Finding none, she opens her eyes with a long-suffering sigh, but only half-lidded, and realizes she is staring at a bright blue sky.

That in and of itself is not anything new. Eunie has grown accustomed to camping outdoors. Usually, though, unless she had a particularly strenuous day, she’s up at the crack of dawn. Missing out on Manana’s cooking is not something she enjoys. She cannot quite remember doing anything strenuous yesterday, but actually, she’s finding it hard to remember yesterday in general. Or the day before. Or the day before that. Eunie’s starting to panic as the earliest memory she can think of is going on that wild Nopon chase for Mr. Samon when a concerned voice knocks her out of her own inner dialogue.

“Ah, ‘scuse me,” says a short boy wearing an odd blue suit with an even odder headpiece bobbing on his back. If Eunie were to guess, she’d estimate him as a fourth… maybe fifth-termer? His eyes are wide with curiosity. His accent isn’t very strong, but it’s still placeable as Agnian, although not a dialect she’s entirely familiar with. “You okay? ‘Cause I didn’t see you here when I went out salvaging about ten minutes ago, but you were lying there out cold when I came back up just now.”

She blinks a few times (she was unconscious on a pier? What?), and looks around, brows furrowing. “Queen’s wings, I shouldn’t be on a pier,” she says with growing concern as she notes that yes, she is indeed on a pier surrounded by very odd-looking ships with even odder creatures attached to them—or are the ships attached to the creatures? She’s not really sure. In any case, she glances back to the kid and the boy’s startled, gaping at her. “Wot? Keep your mouth open any farther an’ you’ll catch yerself a Skeeter, love.”

“Your… your eyes. I’ve never seen a Blade with an eye like that before.” He pauses, and Eunie tenses up. Most of the time when people make a big deal about her Ouroboros iris, it's because they're an enemy. “Well, I guess I’ve never seen many Blades at all, really, but I don’t think that’s normal…”

That is the first clue something is off here. "Oi, do I look like a bloody weapon to you, arsehole!?" Eunie, unaware of the clue being a clue, scoffs. "If you think I'm a Blade, then you're the one who's got weird eyes, you dag!" Sue her; YOU try traveling with Ghondor for a month without acquiring an expanded vocabulary.

"Huh? But Blades aren't wea…" the blue-clad boy mutters, brows knitted. "Wait, if you're not a Blade, then what's with those weird… head wings?"

Eunie stares. "How should I know? They're just my wings , arsehole. Y'never 'eard of a gal with wings?"

"Uh. …No?"

That is the second clue, and this one Eunie is aware of. "You… haven't?" she says slowly, almost unable to believe it. Up until this point, her head's been fuzzy and she's still felt half-asleep or… unconscious, whatever she'd been until a couple minutes ago. Now, though, now she wakes up completely and looks around again, fully taking in her surroundings. "Where the bloody 'ell am… I…?" Her words fall off like they're dropped off Swordmarch.

Behind her this whole time has been something Eunie recognizes as a massive boat -- but a truly ancient style, matching descriptions that Triton's told them the few times his neurons happened to fire correctly to actually recall the way they looked. Extending from the ship is a dock and from the docks, the piers. Humans and Nopons alike -- no winged or gray-skinned Kevesi in sight -- congregate on the docks and piers, lugging crates around, fixing boats; doing whatever is needed. Above, a weird and disturbingly creepy balloon-like creature of a species Eunie doesn't recognize floats, the boat attached to the creature with a series of ropes or cables of some sort.

The biggest hint she was somewhere she was not supposed to be was what surrounded the massive, looming boat. Namely, a giant expanse of clouds stretching as far as the eye can see in every direction. Eunie had initially thought they were just fog on Erythia Sea because of the waves in them, but no, it somehow looked like the sea was made of clouds .

"What in the Queen's banana jumpsuit…?" Eunie chokes, feeling a rush of terrifying vertigo. She whirls around to meet the kid's bemused raised eyebrow and grabs his shoulders, startling him. She's absolutely not panicking because of how high up they probably are. "Where the bloody hell am I!? What's wrong with the sea!? Why's it all clouds!?"

The boy's eyes widen in surprise and he leaps back, tensing. "Hey, watch it! You're at the Argentum Trade Guil…" His eyes widen further. "What do you mean? That's just the Cloud Sea. It's always been like that."

"Cloud… Sea…?" Beginning to feel like she's definitely not in Aionios anymore, Eunie, dizzily, staggers back. "Who are you?"

"Rex," he says slowly, soft eyes knitting again. "I'm just a simple salvager. What's your name?"

"Eunie. Where in Aionios am I?"

"Aionios? Never heard of that before. This is Alrest." His voice raises and he calls to someone behind her. "Uh, hey, can I get a medic!? I think we have someone really hurt here…!"

"Not… Aionios?" Eunie whispers.

It's then that all the memories of the past few days hit; the fixing of their ship, the storming of Origin; N, X, Y, and Z. The splitting of the worlds.

Didn't the Queen of Agnus once say her motherland was called Alrest? And that the Kevesi motherland was the opposite world?

The High Entia immediately looks around for anything she can use for the clearest possible reflection of herself, notices how polished the fifth-termer -- Rex's -- helmet is, and spins him around immediately to peer into it. Her reflection's chest is still cursed with that damned Homecoming Timer.

"...Spark," Eunie swears.

"What the heck!?" Rex yelps.

Since Eunie does not, in fact, need a medic, she tells the man who comes to spark off. The doctor does not look convinced but accepts her decision and scampers off to whatever corner of the stupidly big Argentum Trade Guild ship he came from. Rex, still worried about her, bless him, offers to let her stay with him and his Gramps who's currently out for a swim in the Cloud Sea. Eunie's about forty percent sure she actually heard him say on Gramps, but that doesn't seem right, so she must have misheard. Of course, that also raises the very important point that swimming in clouds should not be possible .

While Eunie works through rationalizing the information she's gotten, she goes over a few key points. First, this is an entirely different world from Aionios. Second, it's specifically the Agnians' world, not the Kevesi's. Third, Rex has no clue what Aionios is. That means he either forgot or was never trapped in it. Eunie can't see it making sense that he's already forgotten everything about it if she still remembers, but she also can't think about what it means if he was never trapped in it and she's stranded in a world that's not her own with a still-active Homecoming Timer. She decides, to ashes with it all; she's going to check with everyone else in Argentum. Surely someone must remember.

"I'm coming with you," Rex decides. "I don't have any more salvaging to do and you could use the support, right?" No amount of convincing dissuades him, and his desire to help her without knowing the first thing about her reminds her of Noah and Mio, so she grudgingly takes him along.

This is a good thing, as it turns out, because by the seventh time Rex is asked “when Friend became driver and how he get so pretty Blade” before she can even ask them about Aionios, Eunie's ready to punt the bloody Nopon into the Cloud Sea. This might also be due to how many stares she gets from, like, just about everyone as they walk around, specifically focused on her wings. Rex, noticing the twitching of her eye, quickly starts guiding her away.

“No, no, that’s not it, Mochichi,” Rex assures the purplish Nopon wearing glasses as they scoot off. “Her wings are just a birth defect of some sort! See, she doesn’t have a core crystal!”

“Birth defect!?” Eunie snaps, wings fluttering angrily. “I don’t know what that is, but oi ! They’re natural! Natural! ”

“Mochichi see…” the Nopon muses as Rex pushes her back to the pier where they came from. “Apologies to Friend!

“Apologies to Friend my arse,” the brunette growls. “I’m not some snuffin’ weapon… Why’s everyone think that?”

Her new friend (?) gives an awkward chuckle. “Sorry,” he offers. “Uh… since you don’t seem to know much about Blades, Blades aren’t weapons. They’re… ah… they’re like people you can summon to fight alongside you and give you weapons, as well as Arts. They all have core crystals in their chests, too. Not many people in Leftheria ever became Drivers, though, so I don’t know much more than that.”

“Huh,” Eunie mumbles, admittedly kind of interested. “So you don’t just… y’know, summon your weapons yourself?”

That throws Rex for a loop, and he blinks at her. “Huh? No, how would we?”

“Uh… no reason.”

Eunie decides it might not be a good idea to show people that she can summon her weapons herself. That would just confuse them even more. “So, uh, I think I know what’s going on with me now.”

Rex sits down on the edge of the pier and dangles his legs over the Cloud Sea. “You did?”

She takes a deep breath, hesitating, then sighs. “I think… well, I think I’m somehow… somehow in the past.”

It is the only thing that makes sense if she thinks about this like Taion would. Why would no one seem to be aware of humans with wings? Why would she only get blank, unrecognizing stares when she asks about Aionios? If things had worked, if Origin had succeeded, at least someone should be like her, should remember. For now, at least.

The only other explanation is that maybe, maybe because she’s Ouroboros, that somehow allowed her to retain her memories. But then why does she still have her body from the Pod when no one else she’s seen does? No one else has a Homecoming Tattoo. She’s the only one.

Therefore, it only makes sense that she’s somehow in the past; the past before the worlds began to collide.

“In the past?” Rex repeats, flummoxed. “You mean, what, you’re a time traveler?”

“I need to see the Queen!” Eunie insists. “Take me to the Queen of Agnus! I can stop Z before he ever gains power! I just have to warn her…”

“The Queen -- Agnus -- Z -- uhh, Eunie, what are you talking about?” He looks overwhelmed, and he shakes his head like he doesn't quite know what to make of her. Which, to be fair, is a reaction she's not exactly unused to.

…Oh no. Oh no, no, no. Eunie’s starting to think she might be in even deeper ashes than she’d thought. “Rex, you listen to me and you listen good, because this is real snuffin’ important: what are the countries you know of?” If he hasn’t even heard of Agnus… this really isn’t good.

His answer does absolutely nothing for how much hope she feels at the moment. “Um… countries? I dunno about that, but the biggest Titans I can think of are Gormott, Uraya, Mor Ardain and Indol? Well, and Argentum and Leftheria too, but they’re really not all that big.” She’s silent for an amount of time that Rex is clearly worried by since he says, “...Eunie? Still there?”

“The spark’s a Titan?”

Eunie discovers there’s so, so much about Rex’s and Queen Nia’s world she had no idea about. For example, apparently there are massive snuff-off creatures the size of sparkin’ continents , that they’re the only solid ground anyone-or-thing can actually live on, that these creatures are slowly dying out resulting in increasing tensions between nations, that they for some reason have a word for nation but not country, that those fluffy cat eared Agnians are actually not humans but an entirely separate race called Gormotti, and that for some Queen-forsaken reason, Rex’s Gramps is a mini Titan. With grass growing on his back. Oh. And he can fly. So apparently humans have Titan blood in them here, which just makes it all the weirder why apparently there’s no bird people here. If Rex’s Gramps is a Titan and Titans can fly, why the heck haven’t humans grown wings yet?

Eunie swears to the Queen this world is going to be the death of her sanity, especially considering how far back in time she apparently is.

...She edits that last thought. Not just the death of her sanity. The death of her .

“You… only have a year left to live?” Rex’s brow furrows. “That’s not right . You’re too… You can’t be much older than me . Maybe a few years?”

“Tell me about it,” Eunie, defeated, says with a hysterical laugh. She slumps against the side of the little cabin Rex has set up on his Gramps’s back, a shaking hand holding up her head. “I thought… I thought I’d finally be able to be free of this damned thing. But now… I’m gonna die here. I’m gonna die here, in a world that’s not my own, without even my best damn friends there at my side.” Without… without even her other Ouroboros .

Her heart aches. More accurately, it’s been ripped in six, and she’s only got the one sparkin’ piece to hold onto. And that ain’t nowhere near enough, not by half… She misses them so, so much. It’s like an icy hand is gripping her heart and squeezing it, and in her mind’s eye, that hand belongs to a face that looks an awful lot like D’s.

“You shouldn’t give up hope,” Rex’s Gramps rumbles, a grizzled yet kind voice that’s admittedly really soothing. Eunie’s breath shudders as she draws in a deeper one. “I can’t say I fully understand your situation, but you said you recognize the name Uraya, yes? Perhaps someone there can help you.”

“Maybe…” Eunie breathes out, sucking in a shuddering breath and then letting it loose. “Yeah. Yeah, maybe. Thanks. I feel. Well, not better. But… I have something to work towards now.”

Rex and his Gramps exchange glances.

“I’d offer to give you a ride on Gramps,” Rex sighs, “but I don’t have enough money saved up for that. I have enough that I get by, but I send most of my money home to Fonsett Village, sorry.”

“What’s a village?” Eunie blurts.

Both human and Titan gape at her.

Eunie suddenly feels like she said something very, very stupid and she does not like that feeling. “...What?”

“It’s like…” Rex says slowly. “A small town, or…” At Eunie’s continued confused look, he slumps. “It’s a place where a relatively small number of people make homes and live.”

Gramps seems amused. “The student becomes a teacher,” he quips with a soft chuckle.

“Oh, so it’s like the City,” Eunie concludes, and Rex nearly trips over his own two feet.

“You knew about cities but not a village or a town!?” he cries out, facepalming. “Wait, no, not important. I can put in a word with Pupunin and get you a job around here if you want? That way you can build up enough Gold to at least get you started on a ship to Uraya.” He pauses and thinks about that. “I’m pretty sure 12 Brothersisterpon has been needing some help lately, actually.”

“Really!?” Eunie’s so relieved she could hug him. She needs a goal, a job, anything to work towards right now to have a hope that she might not die in a year. In fact, she does hug him, and Rex sputters in surprise while Gramps’s very amused chuckles rise up again. “Thank you so much! I really owe you one!”

Rex’s right hand awkwardly rubs the back of his head while his left gives her back a few pats. “Don’t mention it, helpin’ out those in need is the salvager’s way!” His gaze is inviting and comforting, his smile bright and friendly.

“That so?” she says warmly, and she swears she sees a smiling ghost of Noah behind Rex, saying, Helping out those in need is the off-seer’s duty. “I like that. I think you and my friend would get along.”

“Then I would very much like to meet this friend of yours some day,” Gramps tells her with a sincere nod, and Eunie nods shakily.

She wants to meet him again, too. So, so much.

Noah, Mio, Taion, Lanz, Sena. Wherever the snuff you guys are… I’ll find my way back to you. And that’s a sparking promise.

Chapter Text

Thankfully, 12 Brothersisterpon, which turned out to be a drink shop mainly serving tea, was indeed hiring, and Motata, the small and round Nopon proudly sporting fancy silks and an intriguing necklace who ran the shop, was all too happy to have her help them. All she had to do was offer a few of Taion’s Saffronia tea recipes, which she knew simply because of how often he ran his mouth about them if some poor fool asked him about tea, and she was instantly accepted. Unfortunately, Eunie has never had to make tea herself, so her first day is spent learning how to.

Located in the heart of the Argentum Trade Guild ship, 12 Brothersisterpon is an open-air market shop comprised of a single desk for making tea at, a safe where Motata keeps all the Gold earned save for the percentage of tips they each receive, and boxes of tea leaves and other ingredients. The separation between the tea shop and the others is marked by an ornate green carpet, and the entire set up reminds Eunie of those “bazaar” things some books in the City described.

The burning stares people give her as they walk by the tea shop never stop making her skin crawl uncomfortably. She can feel their eyes locked on her wings even without looking at them, when her back is turned to them as she clumsily tries not to scald herself with boiling-hot tea. Rex stops by a few times when he’s not salvaging on the pier or taking a trip out into the cloud sea on Gramps’ back. This helps take her mind off the other customers, as well as the occasional smarting pink burn on her arms, but still, it’s impossible not to feel like a Piranhax out of water.

“Does Bird Friend have place to stay?” Motata asks with a concerned frown as night chases away the light of her first, foggy day in Alrest. Eunie levels a warning glare at him for the Bird Friend thing and he coughs out an awkward “Meh-meh.” He waddles up to her and waves a long, flightless wing. “Can put in good word with owner of Inn. Motata and Inn owner colleagues, since Motata supply lots of Inn’s tea.”

“Oh, she’s staying with me on Gramps,” Rex assures the little fluffball, hands on his hips with all the confidence of a man twice his height. “There’s no need to worry, she’ll sleep fine.”

Eunie washes her hands under the pump, since the aroma of tea wafts off them. Patting them dry on her black pants, the universally misplaced Ouroboros shoots Rex a grateful smile. “Once again, thank you, you’ve been a big ‘elp, innit. I’ll pay you back someday before I find my way back ‘ome.”

Rex rubs the back of his head meekly, earlier confidence bled dry due to a compliment from a pretty bird lady. He does this a lot, she realizes, when he’s embarrassed. It’s endearing. “O-Oh, no need! Like I said, the salvager's code!” He offers a thumbs-up and starts walking back to Gramps. “Come on, I caught us an Aligo!”

It’s odd to her that Aligos still exist in this world, but she shrugs and follows closely. “Lead the way, Cap’n,” she chuckles in a fond mockery of Triton’s voice.

Rex, as it turns out, is not very good at general cooking, but does know how to roast things over an open fire. Therefore dinner is not anywhere near as extravagant as Manana’s cooking, but still decent. Roasted Aligo at least makes her tongue happier than rations, so she doesn’t complain as she chows down on it after returning to their Titan home and dinner is served. Neither does Gramps, who lets out a rumbling sigh of delight.

“That fire does these weary bones good,” he approves, oversized head nodding slowly. His lips curl up in a funny little grin, his rocky scales somehow not grinding against each other as they move.

Eunie’s expression sours thanks to a concerned frown. “So… bein’ old an’ all makes your bones hurt?”

“You really don’t know much about aging, do you…?” the old Titan wonders aloud, shaking his head. “That is simply tragic.”

The winged girl’s response is as blunt as Sena’s hammer. “Nope, practically nothin’ other than ya get all weird an’ wrinkly, and your memory’s shit. None of us even knew about that until we met Geurnica, and the rest we didn’t know until we went to the City.”

“Anyone else, and I wouldn’t even begin to believe you,” Gramps muses, “but your confusion over even the most basic things is too genuine to be an act.”

Rex is oddly quiet, eyes trained on her Homecoming Tattoo. “I honestly thought you were pullin’ my leg when you said you only have a year left,” he admits. “D’you think going home will… fix that?”

Eunie violently rips off a piece of Aligo meat from her shank, letting the sweet fish meat melt on her tongue. Ashera would likely approve of how she bit it off, the crazy idiot. “Well, it’s a bit of a long story, and I don’t like rememberin’ all of it, but yeah, yeah. Somethin’ like that.” Memories of her friends, both the other Ouroboros and the Commanders they’ve met and helped, flash through her head and a nostalgic chuckle escapes her lips. “I guess I can tell a few stories of Aionios if you guys want.”

“If you do not mind,” Gramps rumbles out. Even his eye is enormous, and it makes Eunie feel oddly small as he smiles at her. “We can share some stories of Alrest as well. I’m sure there is much you still do not know.”

“Really now?” Eunie laughs, her wings fluttering. She rips off another chunk of Aligo leg, chews, and swallows with a contented smack of her lips. “Alright, then! Guess this is just gonna be story time, innit!”

As the fog that has covered the horizon all day diffuses the sunset, she launches headfirst into the majestic tale of how they took down the almighty Jingoistic Gigantus and feels lighter than she has since Rex found her on the pier. Gramps treats her to the equally majestic tale of how Rex nearly drowned the first time he jumped into the Cloud Sea in reply, despite the poor guy’s desperate pleading, and explains in greater detail the political environment―or as Ghondor would have put it, the ‘brewing shitstorm’― Alrest exists in.

The next morning brings a shock Eunie couldn’t have possibly expected.

She wakes up in the cabin, seagull calls serving as her alarm. At first, when she opens her eyes, she has a brief moment of deluded hope that the previous day had just been some weird figment of her imagination. Sadly, Rex’s snoring across the cabin shoves that notion down the drain. Bumping her wing against the side of the cabin’s entrance, Eunie staggers outside, cursing the fact that mornings exist. She stretches, yawns, and stares out over the Cloud Sea as she cracks her stiff back. Above, gorgeous reds, yellows, pinks and oranges spill out in the sky over the literally otherworldly ocean, mixing like oil paint on some of the canvases they’d found in Shania’s house. It’s a much prettier sky than last night’s sunset, thanks especially to the fog over the horizon having dissipated sometime overnight.

The sunrise, however, illuminates the Cloud Sea. Its resemblance to real clouds makes Eunie curse under her breath. She again has a brief moment of terror-inducing vertigo, and she has to remind herself that no, that’s an ocean, not actual clouds.

Remember what Mio said. Deep breaths, in and out.

Eunie’s heart rate shakily evens out, and she turns around to start a fire so she can heat up some more Aligo meat. The horizon swings out around her, and it’s what’s on that horizon, previously blocked from her sight thanks to the fog, that causes Eunie to choke out a strained, high-pitched “Ehhhhhh!?”

Framed against the blue-black gradient sky, looming over everything in existence, is a gigantic tree more massive than anything she’s ever seen in her short nine years. It’s so outrageously, impossibly tall, Eunie swears its trunk climbs past the actual clouds. It easily tears past the height of three Great Swords, maybe more.

“How in the Queen’s cuticles is that thing so huge!?” she yelps.

And wait, something’s… how has she not…?

The Titan beneath her shifts, and a low, old man’s yawn blearily rumbles out. “Must you be so loud in the morning?” the aging giant complains. “What has you in a tizzy?”

Eunie regains her composure enough to shakily run up to the edge of Gramps’s shoulder, pointing out to the tree. “Gramps, that… What the spark is that!? I’ve never seen that thing before in my life!”

“The World Tree? Well, I should imagine so—” the dragon-like creature offers, blinking sleepily at her, but she cuts him off.

“No, bruv, you’re not hearing me.” She stares at the tree, mind running a million miles. “The way you tell it, Titans are these massive creatures as big as mountains, right?”

Still half-asleep, Gramps nods slowly, clearly not following. “Bigger than, dear, they carry mountains.”

“Well, I think I’ve seen two’ve ‘em, on Aionios. Remember ‘ow I’ve ‘eard of Uraya? In my world, Uraya was a massive mountain range with what looked like an open mouth full of teeth. Initially, we all just thought it was some weird natural formation, but the Queen of Agnus said that several places in her world ended up in Aionios, and the Urayan Mountains were one of them ― that the biggest chunks of your world were a part of ours. But I ain’t never seen that sparkin’ tree in my life.”

Now Gramps seemed to understand. “...Ah. Oh, dear.”

“Yeah,” Eunie breathes. “Somethin’ must happen to that… that World Tree, you said? What even is it, anyway? Somethin’ that huge not bein’ in my world, i-in Aionios… it has to be important for somethin’ .”

“It is supposedly the home of the Architect, the creator of Alrest,” he explains after a troubled pause. “Legend has it that humanity once lived at the top of the World Tree, in a wonderful garden of paradise called Elysium. But humanity lost favor with their creator, and the Architect cast them from Elysium, giving them us Titans to live on instead.”

“Humanity’s… creator?”

That gives Eunie serious Z vibes, but she shoves down her learned distrust of people in that sort of position of power for a moment. “Alright. I guess that makes sense why it might get destroyed, then…”

“ If it gets destroyed. It is possible that it is just somewhere you couldn’t see it from. Regardless… it might be best if you do not tell Rex.” The Titan’s voice is deep and uncertain, hesitant pauses breaking up his suggestion. At a raised brow from the High Entia, he quirks his lips. “It is Rex’s dream to one day find Elysium; he hopes that if he can convince the Architect, humanity can return there, and not have to worry about land that will sink below the cloud sea one day.”

A smile spreads across her face, chasing away her shock. “Aww, he’s got a right big ‘eart, doesn’t he?” she says fondly, glancing back to the cabin. “Alrigh’, I won’t tell ‘im. An’... An’ I’ll choose to believe what you proposed.”

After all, if this Architect guy and this Elysium place really do exist… maybe… maybe they could be the key to her getting home? Maybe…

It’s certainly something to think about, anyway.

After that, Eunie’s days quickly settle into a similar routine, which she is thankful for. Despite the revelation Gramps gave her, her goal remains Uraya for now, so she still has to scrape together a decent income. The daily grind of waking up, eating whatever seafood had the misfortune of trying to claim a crate Rex decided to salvage as its home, working an eight hour shift at the tea shop, eating dinner, and sharing stories with Rex and Gramps becomes her running schedule.

The stares and whispers that come with people seeing her for the first time, or even the second or third time, never cease. Argentum, she learns, gets a lot of travelers, serving as a sort of midway point for a lot of travel around the world. She even sees a lot of those Gormotti people around, and it makes her heart yearn for Mio. Just hearing the girl’s soft, kind reassurances again would set her mind at ease.

During her first week, she also gets to know the people around Argentum a little better, and in Noah’s honor, helps them out in small ways whenever she can.

She definitely doesn’t do it because it helps distract her from the void in her heart left by not being able to see her Ouroboros; her family, her…

Eunie cuts that thought off before it drags her mood back down.

One thing she does to help out is to protect an Urayan girl’s shipments from some Trent Krabbles and a Pentra Crustip. She’s surprised about how many monsters seem to be the same or at least similar between her world and this one. In any case, Eunie takes some of the money she’s earned to buy herself a weapon at the Smithy. She gets herself a collapsible double-sided sword similar to Ashera’s, but made of steel. She doesn’t know how the hell someone made a sword able to be compacted down without damaging its integrity, but she can feel ether in it; perhaps that’s why?

The weight of the sword is decent. Its handling is a bit off, perhaps because of the length of each blade, but Eunie can manage for now. It’s no replacement for Ashera’s Blade, but then, using any of her Blades is out of the question for the time being.

The monsters are dispatched so easily she can hardly call it a fight. She earns dinner and an extra three hundred gold for her troubles, as well as the girl’s, Ysolde’s, gratitude.

Another day, she decides to play Hide and Seek after work with a human and two Nopon. It takes her a full four hours to find one of the Nopons, Tululu, who decided to hide in a barrel for some reason. She’s amazed he was able to stay in it that long without getting too bored, or hungry.

After her first week, a massive ship rolls into port during her shift. It’s nearly the end of the day, and Rex embarked on a salvaging trip with Gramps, so she’s only had Motata to keep her company. The innards of the Argentum Trade Guild ship crawl with people heading out to the docks, and Eunie studies them, stroking a feather thoughtfully.

“What’s got their knickers in a bundle?” Eunie, who has been brewing up a new supply of Twinklejuice, wonders aloud, and Motata shrugs, waving one of his long, floppy wingish ears.

 “Motata overhear one Friend say, big ship in harbor,” he replies, gazing out at the docks skeptically. “Friend say ship not built on Titan! Meh! Motata say big pile of Ardun manure! Who ever heard of ship that travel without Titan?”

A ship like the Boundary? Eunie’s curiosity flares up.

“Hey, can I go check it out real quick? I’ll tell ya wot’s up.”

The blue Nopon jerks his head in a reluctant nod. “Fine, fine. No customers now, anyway, with Friends all gathered around ship. Go ahead, five minute break.”

“Thanks, Mr. Motata.”

Eunie leaves the green carpet marking 12 Brothersisterpon and joins the crowd heading to the ship. Her wings flutter and she hurries to the front. People flinch as her wings hit them and she mutters a few awkward sorries, then gasps as she sees the ship in question. It truly is a Titan-less ship; a hulk of black metal with gold railings and a gold figurehead. She’s not sure exactly what it’s made out of, perhaps iron, perhaps steel, maybe even an alloy. It’s moored on the far leftmost dock, and its majestic size and build make Eunie feel small.

“Whose ship is it?” she asks a man next to her named Garram. He’s wearing an odd cap with two black rings around the top, as well as an olive sleeveless shirt. A tool belt and pouch are strapped along his waist, and he wears rubber work gloves. She knows him because he’s a regular at the tea shop; he always gets a cup of her Saffronia-Lemon Tea. “It looks like it was expensive to build.”

Garram tilts his head toward her, hands on his hips as he checks out the ship. “Dunno meself,” he says with an apologetic nod. “All I can tell ye is that it’s some clients of the Chairman, and apparently it’s called The Monoceros.”

“The Chairman?” Eunie briefly imagines a chair with a human face and questions her sanity.

“Oh, sorry. Forgot you’re new to Argentum. Still ‘aven’t ‘eard of the Chairman yet, though? Well, I mean Chairman Bana. He’s the one who runs this ‘ole place. He’s a weirdly big Nopon, bigger than even some humans.”

“Huh,” is all Eunie can really say to that, because she’s feeling too much like an idiot to make a more intelligent response. Then she pauses and frowns skeptically at him. “Bigger than some humans ? What’s he been eatin’? Snuffin’ Alpha Gogol steaks?”

Garram barks out a laugh and she hears a few snickers from the crowd around her. “If you ask me, I think he jus’ got good genes. Well, anyway, I gotta get back to work, Eunie. See you around.”

“Yeah, sure thing, Garram.”

Shaking her head, Eunie stares at The Monoceros some more, wondering who’d have the kind of money to build a ship like that in this world where they run on Titans… or have the need. Wouldn’t it be more of a hassle to get fuel for the ship as opposed to food for a Titan? Then again, she supposes the ship’s kind of sparked if the Titan dies…

Eunie, not seeing any reason to stay on the docks any longer, shrugs to herself and reluctantly returns to the tea shop. For the next half hour, 12 Brothersisterpon enjoys a traffic boon due to all the people flocking to the docks to see the ship, which Eunie curses as it means she has to work her ass off not to get caught behind in orders, but it thankfully slows down again once most of Argentum has laid their eyes on the Monoceros. Ysolde stops by to chat again, something she’s done rather frequently since Eunie helped her with her cargo, and the topic immediately hooks the High Entia’s interest.

“So get this, y’know the Chairman, righ’?” Ysolde, a hand propping her up against the side of the pole which the light strings illuminating 12 Brothersisterpon are hung on, rambles excitedly. Her eyes are wide and her voice both rushed and hushed, like she’s telling some huge secret. Her free hand waves animatedly while she talks. It reminds Eunie of Mio’s friend from Colony Gamma ― what was her name again? Kyrie? She used to talk with her hands as much as her mouth like this, too. “Word is, he’s been gatherin’ up a small crew of salvagers and cargo transporters. It’s all real hush-hush stuff, y’know, really on the down low. They even brought out the Maelstrom for this operation!”

“The Maelstrom?” Eunie’s wings raise as she considers the name, tapping her chin. “Is that a ship, too? Like the Monoceros?”

“Yeah, it’s docked on the Goldmouth Exit Dock,” Ysolde tells her, hand motioning vaguely behind Eunie. “Remember? Where ya destroyed those Krabbles like they were nothin’?”

Eunie barks out a laugh. “I didn’t even know the fight had started!” she brags, pouring a few cups of Fizz Juice and setting them out on display on the tea counter. “So what’s so important about this weird Maelstrom thing?”

“Well, normally, it’s only used for really special salvaging missions. Like, digging up some really expensive treasure. Caches of Core Crystals, old sunken ships with loads of really valuable ancient weapons and machinery in them, that sort of thing.”

“Ancient weapons and machinery?” The Ouroboros stares at her. “Why would Chairman Bana want those?”

Ysolde shrugs, shaking her head helplessly. “Look, Eunie, with tensions rising in this world, peace is only a stone’s throw from endin’. All it takes is one misfired shot an’ suddenly we’ll have war on our hands. Any salvager who wants to get up in the world knows they’ve got to find weapons to sell. They’re the items in highest demand right now. So for the Maelstrom to be brought out and a crew this small being gathered to man it, seems like ol’ Bana thinks there’s somethin’ out there that’s super expensive and dangerous enough he wants as few people knowin’ about it as possible.”

“My sword did seem pretty sparkin’ expensive…” Eunie mutters, frowning softly. Her foot drums an unhappy rhythm against the carpeted floor. Ugh… war. “And all that secretive ashes smells like a bucket of Piranhaxes if you ask me. Well, thanks anyway, love.”

“No problem, love!” Ysolde chirps, leaning off the post and skipping away. Eunie swears she gives her a flirtatious wink as she leaves, too, although she’s still not quite sure what does and does not count as flirtatious. Her eye twitches.

“Oi, ‘ow many times do I ‘ave to tell ya not to call me that!? I’m already taken, snuffin’ idiot!” Five times over, even!

“A girl’s gotta try her chances~!”

Eunie’s face turns beet red and beside her, taking the order of a customer who’d just stopped by, Motata’s very clearly barely keeping his chuckles in. The glare she levels at her boss is as hot as her cheeks. “Oi, don’t you even think about it, fluffball.”

“Of course not, of course!” Motata declares as he shakes his lying head… er, body. “Motata never enjoy Friend’s suffering from success!”

“Sufferin’ from ― you wot!?”

Despite the teasing from her boss, her shift ends soon after as evening falls on Argentum. She heads out to the Salvage Deck, a popular salvaging location in the North-most part of the Guild for those who don’t have their own personal Titans like Rex. It’s open to the Cloud Sea, and accessed by traveling through the Argentum Bazaar. She likes watching the salvagers at work, because it’s a window into Rex’s life that she doesn’t get to see otherwise. It’s interesting how often sea creatures seem to burst out of crates and such that they bring up.

As she watches a guy she’s pretty sure is Spraine jump into the Cloud Sea but nearly trip off instead, she hears footsteps behind her and a soft meh-meh.

Her wings twitch and she glances over her shoulder, seeing Pupunin standing there. “Yo,” she says with a sarcastic salute. “Come to make fun of my wings again, arsehole?”

His ears droop. “Pupunin already say sorry!” he stammers. “Pupunin not know how to make it up to Friend other than that! I-In any case… Meh-meh! Have special orders from Chairman Bana! Bana say, ‘tell Bird Friend to come to office of Chairman! Have big job for Bird Friend!’ …Eep!” As Eunie cracks her knuckles at him and looms over him, the little Nopon panics. “T-That just what Chairman call Friend! Pupunin know better!”

Eunie continues gazing menacingly at him, just to put him in his place, before slumping back and sighing. “So, this Bana fellow wants me for somethin’, yeah?” she says, head tilting up to study the underside of the deck above her in thought. Something coming up so randomly, after that unusual ship docked with the Chairman’s clients on it, and he’s apparently gearing up for some big salvaging operation? It’s all got to be connected, but she has no idea why he’d want her; she knows nothing about salvaging aside from watching the men jump into the Cloud Sea.

She hesitates a moment, then nods.

“Alright, fine, wha’evah,” she agrees. “I’ll go see what it’s about.”

Can’t hurt to see what it’s about, at least.

Chairman Bana’s office is a surprisingly lavish place. The dark wood, curved walls are in the most pristine condition of the entire Trade Guild, the floor is an elegantly soft red satin carpet that makes her feet happy even through her shoes, and it’s air conditioned. A passageway stretches out to the right from one’s position as you’d enter the office. Tasteful lanterns at just the right brightness hang from the ceiling on chains, a map of Alrest hangs framed on the flat part of the right wall, and behind the elegant steampunkish desk, a long and wide red banner drops over the back wall with a white symbol emblazoned on it. Eunie doesn’t remotely recognize the symbol, but it certainly seems mystical to her.

Upon stepping into the office, this is everything that Eunie ignores at first, because what the spark is Rex doing here.

“Rex, what the spark are you doing here!?” she gasps, eyes focused on him and therefore not her host.

He rubs the back of his head again, shrugging helplessly. “Don’t ask me,” he says, sounding just as confused as her. “When I came back from my salvagin’ trip with Gramps and sent the money from the job back to Fonsett, Pupunin found me and told me to come here. Said that Bana has a job for me.”

“No kiddin’?” Eunie hums, hips slanting to the side as she places her hands on them and finally focuses her attention on the rest of the room, then on the most… prominent feature of the office. “That’s a familiar storyyyyyyyyy Queen’s Sparking Socks, who put that brog in a suit !?”

Rex chokes out a wheeze that’s somewhere between sheer horror and unending amusement, the two girls in unusually small levels of clothing bite back shocked giggles, and the Nopon of the hour’s own jaw drops to the floor so hard Eunie’s surprised it doesn’t shatter the wood.

“BIRD FRIEND SAY WHAT!?” he exclaims, stomping on the floor like a kid throwing a tantrum. His stubbly arms wiggle in outrage like he’s trying to use them to fly. “You dare compare legendary Chairman to mud-crawling Brog!? Such insolence! Meh-meh! Rude friend!”

Eunie shrinks back from the outburst. “Whoa, sorry!” she says, raising her hands in a sign of peace. “It just… it just slipped out! I didn’t mean it! It won’t ‘appen again, innit!”

Bana still seems impressively unhappy with her, but sighs and grumbles to himself before sitting back in his chair. “ Mehhhh … whatever. No matter! Bana have job for Friend Rex and Tirkin Head!”

“ Eunie, ” she grumbles, wing twitching and fist clenching at the very frustrating name. It’s even worse than Bird Friend! Honestly ! The nerve!

“Since Tirkin Head compare Great Bana to damn Brog , not Eunie, Tirkin Head .” Bana glares at her like he’s daring her to challenge him on this. “And should feel lucky is still standing on Argentum !”

Eunie groans, a dangerous laugh slipping out, and Rex hastily steps in. “What kind of job are you offering, Chairman?”

“Hmph!” the Nopon, who really is bigger than Eunie and Rex (spark’s sakes, he’s bigger than that tub of chunk O !), scoffs, tilting his head toward her friend. “At least one of you is respectful! In any case… let’s see. Bana have job for both Friend Rex and Tirkin Head Eunie.” Every time he says an r, he rolls it obnoxiously long, which only serves to lower Eunie’s already quickly falling opinion of the Nopon. He just sounds so sparkin’ obnoxious ! “Different job for each. For Friend Rex, offer hundred thousand Gold. For Tirkin Head, twenty thousand .”

“Only twenty thousand compared to his ‘undred grand!?” Eunie exclaims, smile straining. Her eyes land on Rex. “Please, can I punch ‘im? Jus’ one li’le punch? Please ?”

“ Fifteen thousand,” Bana says, voice dripping with warning, and it’s obvious he’s a hair’s length from losing his composure on her. Eunie doesn’t like it, but she shuts up. Something about this… this blubberpon just really rubs her the wrong way. She doesn’t trust him as far as she can throw him, that’s for sparkin’ sure.

Rex, meanwhile, seems to have completely blocked out the increasing animosity between Nopon and High Entia. “A hundred thousand!? I-I’ll… I’ll do it! Yeah! I’ll take the job! H-H-Haha!”

“Rex, you wot!?”

“...For once, agree with Tirkin Head,” the blubberpon muses, lips pursed like the thought alone makes him uncomfortable. “Friend Rex really just accept job without knowing what job is?”

“O-Oh!” Rex at least has the self awareness to be ashamed and resets his stance, standing up straighter. “U-Um, what’s the job?”

Bana squints, pausing for a few moments as he considers the boy skeptically. “...Does Friend really have skills for this?” he wonders aloud, then sighs. “Meh. Job is a salvaging job.” Eunie feels a brief moment of proud smugness, then confusion.

“Wait, why am I here then?”

Rolling his eyes, Bana turns to her and harumphs. “See, this is why Tirkin Head is Tirkin Head. Not remember that Great Bana said Friend Rex and Tirkin Head have different jobs? You will be unloading cargo, and helping fight monsters as needed.”

“Ohhh,” she says slowly, then frowns. “Did you hear about me fighting the Krabbles?”

“Something like that, yes,” Bana says without caring much about it, quickly enough Eunie doesn’t totally buy it. “Anyway! As Tirkin Head not play as big role as Rex, not get paid as much, and pay get lowered further thanks to outrageous insults. Since Tirkin Head use sword better than brain, Bana figure job is perfect.”

Eunie’s about to snap at him when her wings flick. “Huh? Is someone-?” she starts to wonder, and then a gruff, amused voice draws her attention to the corridor.

“Oh, I think we’ll be the judge of that.”

Both Rex and Bana follow her example as, out of the shadows of the corridor, a tall man who looks like he could go several rounds with Ashera and not get tired walks up to them confidently. He was evidently the one who’d spoken. Behind him is a strange man with white hair, a long cloak, and a mask covering his upper face, his pace less wide and confident than the strong guy’s, instead more restrained. Behind him , a girl emerges in a both distractingly odd and rather cute yellow jumpsuit, followed by a big white tiger… and Eunie’s eyes bulge out when she sees the girl’s face.

A Gormotti with very specific markings, silver hair and ears, and hazel eyes…

“Y-Your Highness, what are you doin’ ‘ere!?” she gasps, taking a step back in surprise.

“Oi, wot did you call me!?” the girl ― no, the woman ― who can only be Queen Nia hisses, ears folding as she leans forward and glares at her. “I’m not some bloody princess and I never want to be! Royalty is so… so stuffy and boring !” Then she double-takes and points. “T-The ‘ell is up with your wings!? Wait, are you a Blade?”

“So the kid’s a Driver…?” the silver-haired man muses, voice as quiet as his step. “What’s your registration number?”

“No, no, you’ve got it all wrong!” Rex corrects them, shaking his head quickly. “She’s a normal person, those wings are just natural!” This conversation is so common at this point Eunie just sighs. Then again, it’s also hard to be upset about that when she’s so confused. Nia doesn’t recognize her? But… why…?

“B-But you’re the Queen!” Eunie protests. “I’ve… You really don’t remember!?”

The first man, dressed neck to toe in black armor, laughs and folds his arms over his chest. “Hear that, Nia? You’ve got yourself a fan here.”

Nia!? So it is her! But… but wait, actually, something else is off, and not just how Nia is acting so weirdly rash and hostile towards royalty. Has she always been that short? She distinctly remembers Her Majesty being taller than her. Frowning, Eunie walks up to the girl, who jerks back in surprise.

“O-Oi, wot are you―?” Nia stammers, but her question is answered before it can even get out fully when Eunie lifts a hand to the top of her head, then pushes it out at the same height toward Nia. It hovers over her head. She brings it back, to the top of her own head, then pushes it out again. And again.

………..Oh. 

Oh. Ohhhh.

She’d already known that she was back in the past at least a fairly significant amount of time, but Nia’s clearly about her age here instead of a fully blown adult and ruler of a great nation. She was even further back in time than she’d feared. Origin didn’t exist in this world. It wasn’t even a thought yet, probably.

“Snuff,” Eunie curses. She’s in trouble .

Then she notices that Nia’s shrunk back and adopted a catlike defensive stance with her hands curled into a position warning that claws can come out at any moment, ears folded back and a deep blush on her face. The beefy guy’s thoroughly enjoying the situation, laughing his ass off, and the tiger is slowly slinking back, his ears folded back against his head too. The guy in the mask and Bana just look confused while Rex palms his face, resigned.

“You… You…!” Nia stammers, too flustered and thrown off to get the words out yet.

…Make that deep trouble. “Um. I… can explain?”

“ You… you bloody featherhead― !”

It is moments like these that really make Eunie wish she could use her Blade freely. Would be really nice to fix her own blown-out eardrums. Well, one thing’s for sure; this is going to be chaos.

Chapter Text

"Well," the enormous tiger said dryly, sounding like he wanted to cover his face with his paws, "that could have gone better."

Eunie is forced to agree with him, in spite of herself. Even Ashera could have handled that better, and that woman's immediate response to spotting the bloody Queen was "Fight me to the death!" Eunie is both deathly embarrassed by and supremely ashamed of herself. She kind of wants to go lock herself up in Gramps' cabin and just wallow away, especially because Malos won't stop laughing!

"Are you gonna shut up or do I 'ave to cut your damn jaw off, Malos?" Nia grumbles, clearly not enjoying him laughing at them any more than she is.

Eunie admits to herself that she likes this harsher version of the Queen a lot.

Bana grunts and adjusts the position of his monocle. "Mm, indeed, Friends' antics are quite frustrating even without that," he grumbles, voice betraying his exasperation. "Bana trying to hold a civilized meeting here! Honestly! Is common courtesy for Friends at least pretend to pay attention!"

Jin squeezes the hand he's been holding on Nia's shoulder, perhaps to keep her from launching herself at Eunie again, a little tighter. "We will have time for fighting monsters later," he says pointedly, and the catgirl bares her teeth at Eunie before folding her arms over her chest.

"...Fine," she growls, sweeping around to face Bana with an icy glower. "But are these… are this kid and 'is Blade honestly going to be the ones we're hirin'?"

"Hm, Tirkin Head say she not Blade, but not sure how much Bana believe this. However, yes, as Friend Rex from Leftherian Archipelago, and Tirkin Head quite skilled with weapons despite lack of social ability."

She scoffs and folds her arms, squinting. "A kid Driver who doesn't have any military experience and isn't even actually a Driver? Don't make me laugh."

Eunie opens her mouth to snap back at the same time Rex does, but before they can get a word in, the big white tiger bows his fluffy head. "You must excuse my lady's discourtesy," he apologizes with a respectful tone. "She does not mean to insult you. She is simply concerned about your ability to survive the dangers we might encounter."

"Oi, Dromarch!" Nia complains, tugging at his ear with a pout. "How many times 'ave I told you not to speak for me!?"

"Drop it, Nia," the big guy, Malos, orders, in a tone that brokers no disobedience. Nia frowns but relents, letting the topic go. "But I do see your point. In any case, it should be easy to make sure…"

Instincts honed from years of fighting Agnians and months of fighting Moebius scream at Eunie. The winged human lurches to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade that sings through the air as it passes by her face and knicks her right wing. One-third of a feather floats to the ground, Eunie cursing and tensing up. Rex shouts in surprise and only barely manages to duck under a swipe at his own head. Malos squints at them and follows up with a stupidly fast vertical strike swiping down at Rex, which he spins out of the way of, while taking out his own collapsible sword. Rex's weapon, Eunie notes in the brief second she has to do so, is just made of reinforced metal. Meanwhile, Malos' is the same glowing blue energy Aionios bladed weapons are typically made of.

She whips out her steel double-sided sword and presses the switch that turns it from its uncollapsible mode to its fighting mode, just in the nick of time to catch Malos's slash. Steel rings against metal energy, and Malos uses the stalemate to shift his balance and attempt to disarm her. Her weapon buckles; it had only barely unfurled in time and can't properly support his weight as a result.

Rex, however, screams out a battle cry that ― oh, Queen's feathers (or should she do claws now?), really needs some work and rushes forward, stabbing at Malos' shoulder. The black-haired maniac lifts a brow at Rex's surprising speed and changes gears, ending his disarming maneuver and instead swiping his blade up to deflect her friend's stab. The blue blade flashes in a counter-clockwise arc, and another stalemate is reached. As Eunie recovers enough to swipe at his side, Malos quickly ends the stalemate by shoving forward. This throws Rex off-balance. The Leftherian staggers backwards as Eunie's attack is effortlessly blocked. With blazing speed, she's counterattacked with another vertical slash. Eunie judges that she doesn't have time to block with either metal portion of her weapon, so she switches from holding her grip with one hand in the center to two hands at either end, hoists up her sword parallel to the ground, and uses the grip as a means to block.

Her arms and legs quiver from the force of Malos' swing. She adjusts her stance to offer herself better torque, but Malos grins and pulls back, all the fighting energy leaving him as he resumes his previously relaxed demeanor. The suddenness at which he switches from killing intent to a perfectly casual attitude throws her off almost as much as being attacked without warning. An unsettling anti-climax floods the room like a tsunami.

"W-What are you playing at!?" Rex snaps, still tense and gripping his sword tightly. His eyes dart from Malos to Jin and even to Nia, like he's not quite sure if they'll start attacking next.

Malos lifts a brow as he studies them both, a vaguely amused smirk playing across his lips. "Well, well, well," he says, sounding impressed but still managing to sound condescending at the same time. "Guess this was worth our time after all."

Nia bares her teeth at him like a cat. Her ears twist so their openings face the side. "Oi, Malos, what good is it swiping at a kid and a…" She pauses and hesitates, brows furrowing as she clearly wars over what to refer to Eunie as. "A… A civilian!?"

Eunie forcefully bites her own tongue to keep from snapping at Nia's inadvertent dismissal of her service record, but Rex evidently does not have as much self-control as she does, because he immediately accuses her of looking as young as he is. The glare she levels him in response is both withering and comical enough that Eunie just has to giggle. It distinctly reminds her of Mio's glare that time when Taion confided in the wing-headed Kevesi that she once chased a spotlight around Colony Gamma.

Malos rolls his eyes. "You didn't think they were up for it, didn't you?" he pointed out.

"I said nothing of the sort!" Nia protests, clenching her hands into fists.

"Suuuuure, you didn't. And anyway, now we know." Malos' armor clanked a little as he stepped up to examine them both closer, rubbing his chin. "You'll both do right enough, though you don't look like a Driver," he muses, nodding to Rex, and then squints at Eunie. "And you definitely have military experience of some kind, but not any style I've ever seen before. That guard stance wasn't textbook Ardainian, Urayan, or even Indol. It was maybe close to Tantalese, but still…" His eyes fix on her for a few moments more as if she'll display all her secrets to him if he stares hard enough at her.

Eunie lifts a brow at him. "Wot, mate? We've all got things we ain't tellin' each other. I'm not a part o' any military now, an' that's all that matters."

Malos laughs. "You certainly have spunk. Whatever. I'm more interested in where the kid learned his Arts, anyway."

"Gramps showed me a thing or two when I was little," Rex supplies with a proud grin. "It was his idea of playtime."

The man who'd briefly attacked them considers their points for a moment, then nods. "Both of you have enough skill. Kid. Bird girl―"

"Oi!" Eunie is outraged, doubly so as her protest is ignored.

His tone is as steely as her sword. "You'd both better work hard."

The group hiring them leaves without waiting for an answer, Malos in the lead and all the others trailing behind him. That huge tiger Blade ― Dromarch, she recalls ― bows to them again and Nia hesitates, yellow eyes examining them both for a second before she shuffles off behind him. Eunie can't tell for certain, but she's pretty sure those piercing eyes linger on her for a moment longer than on Rex.

"Meh, meh! Friends are such rowdy bunch! Much more enjoyable than rude Tirkinheads!"

The Ouroboros's wings flutter as the sounds of jingling coins and two heavy wooden thunks ring out, one thunk significantly lighter than the other. She opens her mouth to snap back a devilishly clever retort, but a pleading look from Rex makes her puff her cheeks. Snuffin' kid's lucky he's too adorable to disappoint… Eunie sighs to herself.

"Here is advance," Bana says grandly. "Use to buy what gear you need, then go to dock on starboard!"

"Starboard, starboard…" Eunie's brows furrow in confusion. "Which side is that again?" Given that they always let Riku handle The Boundary after Lanz's nearly disastrous attempt at getting behind the metaphorical wheel, she'd never quite picked up on that.

"Ah, Auntie Corinne taught me a trick for that when I was a kid!" Rex pipes up, saving her from a stare from Bana. She's quite sure Bana had been about to say something like she has feathers for brains or a similar insult. "Port's left from the way the ship faces because they both have four letters. Starboard's right since they have more letters than left."

Eunie blinks owlishly. "That… huh, actually makes it pretty easy. Gotcha, right it is, innit."

Bana lets out a long-suffering sigh. "If friends done interrupting, Bana was saying that Bana has arranged excellent vessel for you there. Ship departs today at six."

Rex and Eunie take their leave after accepting their payment and expressing their gratitude. They each have things to take care of before departing, so momentarily split up. While Rex decides to tell Gramps about this mysterious job offer, Eunie tells her boss at 12 Brothersisterpon. Luckily, Motata, having already been severely understaffed and managing well enough in spite of that, is very understanding and grants her a couple days' leave, especially since the job comes from the Chairman.

With her newly acquired funds, she also decides to take Bana up on his offer to purchase new gear. She makes a first stop at the Cosmetipolitan run by a cute cat-eared girl named Jill to pick up something that had been interesting her for a while: some Sparkly Snow Perfume. The scent is just amazing and she can't wait to try it! After slipping that item into her pouch, she passes by the Reedarit Bookstore and freezes as she looks over the books. On an impulse to learn more about this world and its stories, she buys Adventures of Myram as well as The Millenarium Titan. Her pouch feeling rather full, she decides that's enough on unnecessary purchases.

To actually do what she intended, she first visits Shroomblade Smithing. She'd already learned from her boss about Chips, additions to one's weapon that enhance its abilities. She picks up an Iron Chip and has the Smithy, Pelala, apply it to her sword. After Malos' attack buckled it, she now understands that she could probably use it to be more stable. Since it takes an hour for the process to be attached, Eunie kills time by visiting Shynini's Accessories and buying a Muscle Belt and an Attack Stone. She deliberates for a while over a Friendship Ring instead, but she doesn't really need the healing boost at the moment since she's not using her Blades…

(This is a decision she will regret the next day.)

Still having a little bit of time left, she orders a bowl of Argentum Noodle Soup and slurps it down. The broth is absurdly good, both creamy and cheesy. She gives the store owner, Zuzu, a real nice tip for that and has more of a skip in her step when she finally retrieves her weapon.

Before long, it's six o'clock, and Rex and Eunie meet up at the starboard dock.

Rex is giddy about the chance to ride The Maelstrom, and Eunie has to admit she's interested to see how it compares to The Boundary. She's mostly tagging along to make sure her partner doesn't get in trouble, though. After talking with Spraine, one of The Maelstrom's crew, they board her and the ship casts off.

Spraine guides the two to their room, and they set down their luggage.

"Rex, I know I already told you a few hours ago, but just as a reminder, you'll take first watch tonight," Spraine tells them, and Rex nods.

"You can count on me."

"Want me to 'elp?" Eunie offers. "I've got loads of experience with this sort of thing."

He shakes his head and smiles. "Nah, you get your rest. I do, too, actually. Can't ever stay TOO comfortable on the seas, even with Gramps."

"Alright, suit yourself, love."

They play a game of chess while waiting, though Eunie has to be taught the rules. After that, Eunie cracks open one of the books she bought, Adventures of Myram, and reads as the sun lowers in the sky. It's actually very interesting, telling the tale of a Driver from ages past who tried to launch an expedition to the World Tree. But her attention drifts after a few chapters as she starts thinking about Nia.

She really should go and apologize…

Frowning, Eunie snaps the hard-cover shut and stuffs it back in her pouch. She gets up and heads out of their room, then finds Nia idly loving on Dromarch. The sight of the cat-eared girl snuggling the big, white tiger makes the Ouroboros feel warm and cozy enough to chase away her awkwardness.

"Ello, Nia," Eunie says, making the girl jump. She swiftly turns around and stands up, squinting at her.

"And wot do you want, eh?" Nia huffs. "Come to make fun o' my height again?"

Dromarch sighs. "My Lady…" he begins, but Eunie cuts him off.

"No, no, nothin' like that! I actually want to apologize. I didn't mean to insult you." This surprises Nia, the girl's slight tension drifting away. Eunie rubs the side of her face. "I just… you reminded me of someone, that's all, and I mistook you for them at first… until I noticed the height difference. So, sorry. I won't do that again."

Nia bristles at the height difference comment, but realizes that Eunie isn't saying it as an insult and relaxes again. "...Wotever, fine." Those yellow eyes flick to her head-wings and linger, then turn away. "Hey, uh, you said you're not a Blade, but… were you ever a Driver?" Dromarch's eyes narrow at his master, a glint of… sorrow?... in them.

"A Driver?" That question throws her off. It's not the usual one she's asked, after all, and she senses there's potentially something underlying it. "Er, no, sorry. I didn't actually know what either a Blade or Driver were until I came to Argentum a week ago."

"Wot the―wot kinda backwater Titan were you from?" Nia shakes her head in amazement. "Actually, nah, don't answer that."

"To not know about Blades or Drivers is as unusual as your wings…" Dromarch murmurs.

"Gonna pretend I didn't hear that…" Eunie grumbles before frowning. "Why'd you think I was a Driver?"

"...It's nothin'," Nia says after a small pause. "No reason. Just forget about it."

"...Alright, alright, keep your secrets." Her teasing is good-natured, and she chuckles. "Well, anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Night, love."

Nia's cheeks flush at the love comment, and she rolls her eyes. "Yeaaah, yeah, night…"

It's not even morning yet before they reach their destination, but Eunie at least got a few hours' worth of sleep in. She hurries down from their assigned room to the deck at the assembly call.

A crew member whose name Eunie doesn't know explains the situation. "Salvaging team," he says gruffly. "Your target is inside a large shipwreck located 150 peds below-surface. Fighters, your job is to secure the cargo by fighting off any monsters who decide to take a trip alongside it. Searching the wreck while submerged is too high-risk for our tastes, so we'll be using flotation devices and cranes to lift the hull first." A lot of this goes over Eunie's head, but as he orders them to split into teams to explore the ship once it's brought above water, her attention refocuses.

"We're paying you lowlifes a lot," Nia says from the second floor, "so don't screw it up!"

Outside, rain pours over The Maelstrom. Eunie stays a healthy few paces inside while Rex and the other salvagers leap casually off the ship and into the Cloud Sea.

It takes a good fifteen minutes for the salvaging crew to swim down to the ship, attach the flotation devices, and resurface. It takes another five for the ship to actually rise up from the Cloud Sea floor. When it does, Eunie's stunned by its immense size. It's easily as long as the Argentum Trade Guild, if not longer. It dwarfs The Maelstrom by a country mile.

"Whoa, it's massive," Nia breathes, her awe a sentiment Eunie whole-heartedly agrees with.

"Its appearance matches the reports," Jin mutters. "But it's what's inside that matters.."

Eunie chokes back a laugh and grins like the cat that caught the canary. "Hey, size matters too, love."

Jin just looks confused. "What?" he says with a blink while Nia pauses before a mixed look of disgust and amusement crosses her face.

"Object is secure!" Spraine barks out. "Proceed to second phase!"

Everyone boards the raised shipwrecked, tense and prepared for a potential fight. The only people who look relaxed are Malos, Jin, Nia, and their respective Blades, plus Rex. Nia folds her arms and nods at Rex.

"Excellent work," she acknowledges, impressed. "You're not half bad, you know that?"

"I do this for a livin', remember?"

Spraine speaks again before Nia can say anything in reply. "All teams, proceed inside when ready!"

"Right then, let's get moving," Malos grunts. He and Jin walk forward towards the door leading to the interior of the shipwreck, but the tall, white-haired man pauses and turns towards Rex.

"...You―with us," he says to Rex, who blinks in surprise.

"Me?"

Nia is skeptical and Eunie's concern spikes. "You're gonna drag the kid along, seriously?" The cat-eared girl asks.

"Guess he thinks you need all the help you can get!" Malos laughs at Nia, whose ears twist to the side again. Righteous rage clenches her fists tight.

"OI!"

Eunie steps forward, eyes blazing with rebellion. "Hey, if Rex goes in with you, then I'm coming in, too!" There's another reason she refuses to let Rex go in alone, though, besides just wanting to protect him in general. There's something about Malos' tone of voice… Something about it that unsettles her.

Malos shrugs. "The more the merrier, I suppose."

They barely make it a few feet towards the door before it flies off its hinges. A massive sea creature scuttles up onto the deck, claws snapping angrily. It has four claw-tipped legs and four eyes, a round carapace on top of its body, and a flat belly. It's easily bigger than anything living in the waters near Argentum.

Rex lurches back in surprise, but an unfazed Nia narrows her eyes at the monster. "Let me show you two what a Driver can do," she says confidently.

She summons two ring-shaped blue blades that look shockingly similar to Mio's Blade and falls into a catlike stance, while Malos and Jin also pull out their swords. Eunie grins and digs into her pocket, unfolding her newly improved double-sided sword. Rex is only a second behind her in pulling out his sword.

"Skyward Slash."

Jin's attacks blaze forth with such speed that his sword blurs. The air rings with the song of wind rippling off metal, and a gash appears in the monster that cuts so deep Eunie almost sympathizes with it. She doesn't wait for Malos, though, leaping forward and stabbing her blade into the monster's head. She yanks it out, blood spilling from the wound, and spins on her feet before stabbing the other end of her double blade into the same hole. "Demon Slayer!" she calls out.

The monster shrieks in pain, snapping its jaw and launching one of its claws at her. With a shout of "Chakra Burst!" Malos lands a powerful slash, cutting off the claw before it can reach her.

Breathing heavily, the monster staggers backward, favoring the leg opposite to the side of its cut-off claw. Rex and Nia take their opportunity to finish the dying sea creature off. Rex fires his salvager's anchor into its eye, yelling, "Anchor Shot!" while Nia swipes four times and shouts, "Butterfly Blade!" When Rex's anchor retracts, he follows up with a spinning slash that hits hard.

Eunie watches the Drivers with raised brows. A glowing link of ether flows between Malos and his Blade, Sever, as well as Nia and Dromarch. Eunie guesses this powers their attacks and provides additional defense beyond what they'd typically offer. She's never seen anything like it, but she can definitely understand why militaries would bend over backwards to get Drivers on their side.

The poor thing dies after only having been outside the ship for perhaps twenty, twenty-five seconds.

"I almost feel bad for it," Eunie says smugly, folding her weapon back up.

"Something that weak isn't even worth our time," Malos grunts.

Eunie grins at her friend. "Hear that, Rex? Malos wants somethin' a bit meatier."

Rex chokes and his eyes widen. "E-Eunie, you, uh, you do know what 'a bit meatier' usually means…?"

"...A bigger and meaner beastie?"

All the others stare at her like she's missing out on something extremely obvious, except for Nia, who looks just as confused as her.

"...What!? Why are you guys looking at me like I'm an airhead or… or a muppet!?" She refuses to even consider the idea that they think she's a spoon, because she will pitch an absolute fit if they do!

"...Whatever, just get in the ship, brats," Malos says gruffly.

"Rude little so-and-so…" Nia mutters, hanging back with Rex as Malos and Jin walk toward the broken-open door.

Rex shrugs. "Gramps always taught me to respect my elders," he says wisely with a twinkle in his eye.

Nia and Eunie both pause as they register the fact that the sweet, young salvager just called the Driver an old man, then devolve into snickers like gremlins. They all fell into line behind Malos and Jin. The entrance to the ship's innards is a rather tight space with a choice to go up a flight of stairs or down one. A Bubble Medooz has made its home here, but it dies even quicker than the monster they'd just fought. They first choose to explore the upper layer, finding the ship's helm here. There's nothing up here except a few Krabbles and a treasure chest, which Rex enjoys cracking open and taking the gold from.

After Rex is done pocketing his winnings, they proceed down to the middle floor of the ship's deck. It's dark and humid here, air clinging to Eunie's skin and clothes with moisture. They slaughter another Krabble and Rex opens up another chest sitting directly in front of them in an otherwise empty alcove. While he makes quick work of that one, Eunie spots a third treasure chest along a catwalk.

"Hey, Rex, over here, too!" she calls out, heading over to it. She very nearly falls to the floor below when it turns out a couple meters of the catwalk have collapsed. Jin catches her before she breaks a leg or a few ribs. Her heart thuds from the near-miss.

"Careful," Jin warns in his quiet voice. "This ship is five hundred years old. You never know when the floor might give out beneath you."

"R-Right," Eunie gulps, shaken up. "Won't 'appen again, promise."

"If it does, remember to roll when you land. It'll lessen the impact on your body."

"...Oh, gotcha."

Deciding there's nothing else of note here, they head down another flight of stairs to the main deck. The stairs are collapsed at the bottom, so they have to hop down. They only take a few steps away from the stairs when, just as Jin had mentioned might happen, the floor gives out beneath them. Luckily, it's only a short drop to the floor below, and Eunie tucks and rolls into the landing just as Jin had told her to.

Unluckily, they're surrounded by monsters who they've pissed off with the noise created by the broken floor.

"Eunie, Rex, take the Lysaats," Malos orders, summoning his Blade, whose name she only just learns. "Jin, help Nia, Sever and I with the two King Crustips."

Eunie still doesn't like the tone of his voice, but she can see the logic there. The Drivers' weapons, having more Ether damage potential than purely physical weapons, would offer greater damage against the hard-shelled lobster-like Crustips. Meanwhile, the Lysaats are softer-bodied, their carapaces easier to shatter or pierce with a well-placed swing or stab than Crustip shells.

Eunie uses her weapon class's natural orientation towards defense to protect Rex by blocking the multiple monsters' attacks as much as she can. Rex focuses on taking down one Lysaat at a time. He's having a hard time finding an opening, though, until Eunie kicks a loose piece of the floor they fell through at the one he's fighting and draws its attention. Rex slips behind the monster and thrusts his broadsword into its back. "Sword Bash!" he says. The Lysaat looks wounded, but it's not dead, and starts to turn toward him. As it shows its side to him, Rex swings forward and spins with two twisting strikes. "Double Spinning Edge!" Its carapace shatters with the first swing, then the second swing digs into its soft flesh, and it dies with a shriek of pain.

Eunie gives him a thumbs up and then spins her double-sided sword like a whirling dervish, dicing up any Lysaat stupid enough to step foot into the range of her weapon. "Gale Slash!" She cries, then grins at Rex. "Nice goin' Rex. Sparkin' thing didn't know what hit it!"

Rex laughs. "I like your attitude, Eunie!"

That's finally enough to take the first Lysaat down, but there's about three more. Luckily, the Drivers finish killing the King Crustip at about the same time, and the party descends on the three monsters that remain like a pack of Volffs.

In a few seconds, they all stand in a ring of dead semi-aquatic monster corpses.

"That couldn't have gone much better if we tried!" Eunie says smugly.

Dromarch nudges her leg with his nose. "Confidence is important, but do not underestimate the enemy."

"Alright, knock it off, old man," Nia huffs, stroking the top of the tiger's head. Eunie is instantly jealous. She wants to pet the oversized cat so bad!

They press on, and on, and on, exploring every inch of the mysterious ancient ship. Eunie and Rex find several more chests containing cash and various trinkets; even an Attack Stone. This treasure sleeps in a red chest with white outlines, otherwise known as the chest that baited Eunie into almost falling earlier.

Eunie is livid with herself.

"I wouldn't have bought one if I knew we'd find one 'ere!" Eunie cries, glaring at the damned accessory. Rex shrugs.

"Ah, at least we can sell this one if we don't need it later."

In the second hold, they find a door with an ornate design. It's blown open by another monster, this one a Pagul. This proves to be another brief fight. Malos's disappointment with the monsters' weakness grows with each battle.

Beyond the door lies the ship's loading bay, filled with Lysaats and Medooz. Nia and Dromarch briefly get hit with a bubble spray attack that causes them to fall asleep, but Jin wakes them up. Other than that, they have little trouble taking them out. Eunie empties a chest full of ancient cash at the far end of the loading bay, then catches up with the others as they descend through a tight stairwell on the side.

They pop out onto the ship's fuel tank, then press on to the system control room. Mist hangs in the air, clinging to every available surface from the electronic panels the ship apparently operates on to the railings bordering the higher paths. Moss clings to the metal pipes, and an ether fuel chamber sticks out from one, too, empty.

"Looks like if we find an ether cylinder, we can stick it there to open that door," Jin explains, pointing to a door in front of the control panel. "The target must be beyond there."

"What is our target, anyway?" Eunie wonders.

"A need-to-know basis," Malos snaps. "And you don't need to know."

Eunie decides it's probably not a good idea to push her luck. Especially because the way he just said that gave her that sickening, familiar feeling in her stomach again.

They walk to the other side of the control room from where they entered. Here, there's an entrance to the other fuel tank. They slip inside and find a King Crustip guarding an ether cylinder storage bank. It's a bit stronger than what they've fought here before, but it also goes down without too much problem. Eunie wants to explore a side path that looks like it heads back up to a treasure chest they couldn't get to earlier, but Jin sighs and folds his arms.

"We're not here to treasure hunt," he mutters. "We've already wasted too much time. Focus."

"Right, right…" she groans.

They skip plundering that chest to instead open the door in the system control room. They slot the ether cylinder into its spot in the fuel chamber, which slides back into the pipes with a metallic groan. Eunie's no mechanic, but even she can tell it needs a serious greasing. Regardless, ether flows through the attached pipe and a line to the control panel glows blue. Nia activates the control panel, and slides open as they approach it.

A truly massive Aligo with yellow spots on its black back awaits them in the misty chamber on the other side.

Malos folds his arms and regards it with a raised brow. "Not planning on letting us pass, huh? Sounds like a challenge."

"I like a good challenge," Rex says, smirking as they all take out their weaponry. Ether links connect the Drivers to their Blades.

This fight actually lasts a minute. The shark-like monster has some pretty heavy defenses and health, and its bites hurt. Nia keeps them all healthy, a true support healer-type, and Rex discreetly circles around behind it. The Aligo, drawn by its anger towards Eunie's carefully placed slashes, turns towards her and moves to swipe its tail at it.

With a well-placed Art, Jin breaks the monster's stance.

"Thanks for the freebie, Jin," Eunie says with a grin. Since the enemy's aggroed on her, she whirls her weapon around in her Gale Slash art. Meanwhile, Malos takes the opportunity to follow up on Jin's Break.

"Hammer Bash!" he cries, the enemy toppling to the ground as its feet get swept out from under it.

At the same time, Rex shouts, "Sword Bash!" and delivers a hefty stab into the monster's tail.

It's panting heavily now, and Eunie decides it's time to put it out of its misery. She discreetly pours Ouroboros energy into her weapon and Fuses two Arts together: Mighty Beat and Soaring Tempest.

The Aligo launches into the air as Ether catapults it into the sky, then smashes back down, the massive damage from the fall and attack killing it.

"What the…?" Malos mutters, raising a brow. "That Art seemed unusually strong…"

"Not bad, eh?" Eunie cackles. "A little somethin' I've been cookin' up for a while." It was originally Taion's idea to pair the two Arts together, but he only thought of it just before they fought Z.

Jin's eyes train on her carefully.

"Yeah, what was up with that, eh?" Nia wonders, leaning into Eunie's face and making her lurch back.

Rex rubs the back of his head. "Was it really that unusual? I only really know a few Arts, so I couldn't tell…"

Suddenly, Malos grunts and stares ahead of them to what stands on the other side of the dead Aligo's corpse. "Hey, Jin," he says, tone urgent. "Check this out. There it is… Addam's crest." He points to a door; specifically, a seal emblazoned on what looks like some kind of mechanism to open the door.

Jin's brow narrows, attention on her completely forgotten. A million emotions flashing behind his eyes in a split second.

Rex says something, but Eunie's brain doesn't register it, because she's busy studying the design of 'Addam's crest,' whatever that means.

A… clock inside a flame? A flame clock…?

Huh. Although the design is completely different from Agnus and Kevesi Flame Clocks, she wonders if the name somehow came from this crest… Something to ponder over later, she supposes.

"...will only open to one of you people."

Eunie jerks back to attention and realizes Jin's talking to Rex, not her. Rex just tilts his head in confusion.

"One of me? What are you talking about?"

"We're not paying you to ask dumb questions!" Malos growls, eyes flashing as he throws his hands up in frustration. He takes a breath, then his voice drops into a cold, threatening tone. "Just hurry up and do it."

Eunie's wings flutter. This guy's really starting to make her sparks fly! "Hey, don't talk to him like that!" she protests.

Rex also sounds hurt. "Yeah, what the hell!?" he agrees, staring at the rude dark-haired man. "You can't treat hired hands like that!"

"Just. Do it."

Nia tenses, eyes falling on both of them in a silent plea to just go with it.

Rex hesitates, frowns at Malos, but shuffles to the door. "...Fine," he sighs, considering the crest with a confused tilt of his head. "Now, how do we open it…?" He kneels down and studies the base of the door, then looks at the crest again and raises his brows. He touches it, and the symbol glows blue. It parts in four different ways, each segment sliding away and letting them through.

"So that was a release toggle," the Leftherian boy concludes.

Eunie blinks. "Nifty piece of technology…" she hums as Rex marches in, green ether curling at his feet but not hurting him.

"Just as I thought." Jin sounds smug with himself.

Eunie blinks and glances at him. "Eh?"

Nia moves to follow Rex, but Jin lifts a hand up to silence Eunie and says, "Nia, wait." The girl freezes, blinking in confusion as the white haired man nods to Rex. "Open that door, too."

There's another at the end of the newly opened passageway, smaller this time. Rex opens it the same way as before, but this time, it just slides apart in two. Jin nods to the others and gives the go-ahead. Eunie wonders why they weren't allowed to move in until now. Was it dangerous to someone other than Rex, for some reason? Mulling the mystery over, she enters the passageway and steps through the second door with the others as Rex pushes further in.

Water drips from the ceiling, runoff from their salvaging still dripping through the vents and floors. It echoes eerily, like they're in a deep underground cave.

Ahead of them, a walkway without rails cuts through a small pool of what looks like Ether. It opens to a circular floor, centered within the pool like the hole of a donut. A red sword is stuck in the floor in front of the room's main feature: what appears to be a stasis chamber, inside of which sleeps a beautiful woman with red-and-gold armor and huge breasts even the Queen might be jealous of. A cross-shaped symbol on the sword glows green, reminding Eunie oddly of Noah's Blade vibrating.

"It's a… girl?" Rex whispers, awed, and pauses at the sword's glow. As if in a trance, he falls silent, just… gazing at it.

Malos's voice is almost a whisper. "Look," he hisses to Jin.

"Yes…" the man whispers back. "No mistaking it." It's only because she's got much better hearing than most Kevesi that she catches what is said. "That's the Aegis."

"The… Aegis…?" Nia repeats, eyes widening.

Eunie's utterly flummoxed. "What the spark is an Aegis? Does anybody have any plans to fill me in? Is that something I should know about? It feels like something I should know about!" The only time she's ever felt more lost is when she first arrived here and had to have how this world works get explained to her.

Malos glances at her, almost shocked, then Jin grabs his arm and Malos goes pale as he looks back at Rex, who's reaching out towards the sword.

"Hey, brat!" Malos almost sounds… scared? "Don't even think about touching that!"

Malos's voice jerks Rex out of his trancelike state. "Whuh?" Unfortunately, in his surprise, his arm twitches and his fingers brush against the cross-like symbol. Green light floods the room and Malos swears.

"Rex!?" Eunie cries, eyes dancing with fear and concern for her friend. "Hey, what's-"

Something clicks in Eunie's head.

The uncomfortable feeling she's been getting around Malos since meeting him… the way his tone of voice gets under her skin so much, claws at the inside of her skull, makes her eye itch. It's because she knows that tone of voice, knows it all too well. That disregard for life… the expectation for what comes next, as the matter is a foregone conclusion. She's gotten way too familiar with it in the past year alone, specifically, and she has lived and died, and died, and died to it, every single life she's lived.

It's a little bit different here. More… disgusted, somehow, than joyful glee, but… it's the same tone of voice the Consuls used.

The same tone they used as they ordered soldiers to their deaths.

Faster than should be humanly possible, Jin blurs out of existence and then reappears next to Rex. Stunned by her realization, Eunie's body is frozen.

The sound of metal slicing into someone's body immediately follows, accompanied by a strained choke of pain.

Rex's body stiffens and his hands shake. "W-Wha… b-but why…?" His voice is scarily weak. Eunie's frozen on the spot in horror. Her heart thuds so loudly in her chest, she's surprised no one else can hear it. Hell, she's surprised she can even hear anything else over it.

"Don't take it personally," Jin says softly. "It's an act of mercy. At least you won't be alive to see what's coming."

He swipes his sword out and flicks it impossibly fast. Blood flies off of it.

Rex's blood.

"No, no, no," Eunie whispers, unable to do anything but stare as one of her only friends in this new world collapses, life oozing out of his eyes faster than the pool of blood forming beneath his body.

Jin slashes the sword stabbed in the ground to pieces and the green light dissipates.

"Rex…"

Chopped red metal falls in front of a still red woman, sleeping in stasis in a coffin made of glass and metal.

"REX!"