3 Days Later

— Sundia, Ranth 10, 8054 —

“Ah, finally… classes are over.”

“Complaining already?” Pierce remarked with a smirk as he elbowed Conrad in the side. “It’s the first day of the week, man. Keep it together!”

“I’m kinda with Conrad…” Sky replied as she rolled her shoulders. “Feels like we spent all day training! I’m exhausted!”

“And after what felt like a long weekend, too…” Spike muttered. “Can barely believe Austin and Twy actually volunteered for more trainin’…”

“Twy can use her water to cool herself off and keep hydrated, and Austin can copy her powers to do the same,” Phoenix pointed out. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. It certainly was a rough day, though…”

“Yeah, see? Tough day,” Conrad said, passing Pierce a glance before turning forward again to push through the doors of WCU’s classroom building. Pierce, Sky, Spike, Phoenix, and Kestrel followed him out onto the campus grounds, brightly lit by the mid-afternoon sun and abuzz with other students who had just gotten out of class.

“…Bright…” Kestrel muttered, adjusting her straw hat to keep her face shaded.

“It’s getting warmer, too,” Phoenix observed as she grabbed the collar of her shirt and began fanning herself. “I think summer is coming up, soon…”

“Heh, can’t take the heat?” Pierce jabbed.

“Shut up, I can see those sweat stains,” Phoenix shot back.

“Oh c’mon, this is nothing compared to Texas,” Sky responded smugly.

“Let’s wait ‘til the height of summer before we start makin’ those comparisons…” Spike muttered, his gaze slowly drifting across the campus grounds. “…The other students don’t seem to mind much, though. Guess they’re all used to it.”

“It’s not just that…” Conrad commented. “…Everyone’s talking about Creators’ Day.”

Pierce passed Conrad an incredulous glance. “Are you eavesdropping, again?”

“I’m not… not eavesdropping.”

“Social impropriety aside… I suppose I’m not surprised that people are talking about Creators’ Day,” Phoenix remarked. “Today is the first day back after a big holiday. It makes sense people would want to talk about the things they saw, and did.”

“Well, credit where credit’s due… the people here really did make some pretty cool stuff,” Pierce said, and then glanced toward Sky, Phoenix, and Kestrel. “…You guys did pretty good, too, I suppose.”

“You ‘suppose’, huh?” Phoenix replied with a smirk.

“Mostly Sky, though. And Kestrel. And Twy. You, though? What’d you even do?”

“Alright, asshole. Don’t you have somewhere to be? A girlfriend to waste your time with?”

“Classes just ended, Liask won’t be out of detention for another few hours. So I have time to burn.”

“And you decide to spend that time handing out compliments, huh?” Conrad remarked.

“Why is everyone so surprised when I have praise for someone?!” Piece replied incredulously. “I just said that I liked Sky’s singing! That’s a normal thing to say!”

“I mean, I’m not that good, or anything…” Sky responded bashfully. “I just, you know, went up and sang a little. Nothing special…”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Spike insisted. “You sang pretty good.”

“Yeah, and…” Conrad said before pausing for a moment, as if listening for something in the distance. “…I’m hearing a lot of people talking about the ‘outsider with a beautiful voice’.”

“Wha—what?!” Sky exclaimed.

“Mm. They’re right,” Kestrel declared.

“I mean, they are, but still — stop that,” Phoenix retorted, reaching up to softly rap Conrad up the backside of his head. “Eavesdropping is rude!”

“Hey, they’re the ones having conversations in public,” Conrad retorted.

“Heh. You hear that?” Spike remarked, passing Sky a smile as he ruffled her hair. “People think you have a beautiful voice!”

“I— it’s— it’s not that special…” Sky insisted.

“Oh, yeah?” Pierce questioned, and then nodded to the side. “What do you say about them, then?”

After Pierce’s gesture, the rest of the group turned to look to the side, where they spotted a group of Tresédian students watching from a distance. As soon as the students realized the Earthians were watching, they all turned away to begin discussing amongst themselves — though with repeated furtive glances thrown back in Sky’s direction.

“Oooooh, what’s this?” Phoenix cooed, “looks like someone’s got a fan club!”

“You don’t know that,” Sky countered.

“…They’re talking about the best way to approach you,” Conrad commented.

“Probably to make fun of me, or something…”

“Aren’t you the one always tellin’ Twy to have more confidence in herself?” Spike pointed out. “You should take your own advice.”

“These kinds of things are always best-solved with an upfront communication,” Pierce declared — and then, before Sky could say otherwise, he rose his voice to shout at the group of Tresédian students. “Hey, you guys over there! Come on over, already!”

Sky immediately turned to glare daggers at Pierce. “What are you doing?!” she hissed.

“I’m just making sure you get the praise you deserve,” he replied with a wink as the students began to approach. He then took a quick glance at his watch. “…And would you look at the time! Hey, Conrad, let’s go grab some food. Wouldn’t want to get in the way of Sky and her fans, now.”

“Wha—!”

Phoenix shook her head in disbelief. “You have the most assholeish way of doing things, Pierce. But… he’s kind of right.” She offered Sky a wink and a thumbs up. “Don’t worry, girl, you’ve got this. Have more confidence in yourself!”

“B-but—…!” Sky began to protest, but by then, Pierce and Conrad had already left — and the other students had just approached. Upon seeing them, Sky finally forced a smile. “Um, hey…!”

“Uh, hi…” responded one of the students; a young girl, barely 16 or 17 by the looks of it. “Um, sorry, I’m just a first-year, here, but… you’re, you’re that outsider that sung on Creators’ Day, right?”

“Yep, this is her!” Phoenix declared, moving up next to Sky and throwing her arm around her shoulders. “Quite a nice song, don’t you think?”

“Phoenix—!” Sky started, but was interrupted by another student.

“Yeah!” they exclaimed, “it was really different, you know? From what Tresédians usually sing about. In a good way, of course!”

“And the music, too!” another student remarked. “Did you make that?”

Kestrel immediately began to turn away from the group, but before she could, Phoenix grabbed her shoulder and replied, “that’d be Kestrel, right here! She made the backing track for Sky’s singing. Impressive, right?”

“Yeah, her music was a lot better than my singing!” Sky remarked.

“…” Kestrel passed Phoenix and Sky an expressionless glance, and then looked back to the students.

“…Wow, so you made the music, huh?” one of the students finally said. “I liked it! It was more, uh… …I dunno how to put it. Different, I guess.”

“I’ve seen y’all around campus, and I didn’t think much of it, before,” another student said, “but y’all ain’t even Nimalian, right? You’re from Earth? That’s pretty cool.”

“Do you have more Earth music we could listen to?” someone else said. “If it’s even half as good as what y’all did on Isdia, then it’s gotta be great!”

Kestrel responded with wordless silence, still staring at the students; a second later, she shifted her gaze back to Phoenix.

Upon seeing this, a sheepish smile crossed Phoenix’s face. “Sorry,” she whispered to Kestrel, and then turned back to address the group. “Kestrel’s just tired after a day of training, so please excuse her silence.”

“Oh, so you give her an excuse not to interact,” Sky hissed, just quiet enough for the students not to hear — though she immediately jolted back into a forced smile as the students turned back to her.

“Well, what about you?” one of them asked eagerly. “Do you think you could sing again, for us?”

“Yeah!” cheered another one from the back. “Let’s hear your singin’ voice, again!”

“A-and maybe we, uh, could go out for dinner, afterwards!” someone suggested.

“Hey, you asshole, I was gonna ask her out!”

“Yeah, but—!”

“Alright, now…” Spike finally spoke up, casually stooping down to scoop Sky into his arms, princess-style. “…Sorry, folks, but she’s taken.”

“…Uh, right!” Sky quickly added, amid a chorus of giggles, disappointed groans, and “I told you sos” from some of the students. “A-and we actually had plans, like… right now! So, um… sorry, but we gotta go!”

“Welp, you heard the lady,” Spike replied with a smirk. He offered a nod towards the students before walking off towards the dorms, with Sky readily wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

“…Me, too,” Kestrel commented, taking advantage of the brief lull to spin up the winds around her. A second later, she lifted into the air and then flew back towards the dorms, leaving Phoenix alone in front of the students.

“…Aww…” one of the students groaned. “They left…”

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,” Phoenix remarked with a sigh, but then turned to give the students a smile. “But, you all aren’t out of luck! I helped out on that performance, you know?”

“Whoa, really?” one of the students responded. “What’d you do?”

“Well, just a little bit of helping out, here and there. But I can tell you guys all about the whole process of putting the performance together. Did you know, we actually had an entirely different song ready, but scrapped that version a mere few weeks before Creators’ Day?”

“Really? Why? …And can we hear that version?”

“Ha! I’ll see what I can talk Sky into,” Phoenix remarked with a smirk. “But how about we all go get some dinner, huh? I can tell you everything over a good meal!”

“Yeah, that’s more like it!” someone remarked.

“For an outsider, you got a good handle on how Tresédians do things!” someone else declared.

“Oh c’mon, not everyone’s a glutton like you,” another student said.

“Ha ha ha, it’s fine, it’s fine! Talking over a meal is how a lot of Earthians like to do things, too! So let’s go!” Phoenix replied as she led the group toward the campus gates, readily indulging the curious students’ desires to hear more about her experiences leading up to Creators’ Day.

---

*

“Okay. Now, concentrate. Focus on your sword.”

“Got it…” Austin muttered, his brow furrowed in concentration. His sword hovered in the air in front of him, its silver blade pointed skyward as he held it aloft through the power of his Imperator Psychotechnism.

Kaoné and Twy watched him from the side, both ignoring the bright sun that beat down on their backs. After a moment of silence, Kaoné spoke up. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah…” Austin responded, offering a curt nod. “Do it.”

Kaoné nodded back, at which point the dirt and sand all around Austin leapt up to encase his body up to his neck in stone. He flinched slightly as the stone coalesced around him, but he managed to maintain his focus on his hovering sword all the while.

“…Alright,” Kaoné said a second later. “The stone will hold you in place while you manipulate your sword. Try swinging it around and moving it through the air; keep note of how your body tries to move as you do.”

Austin nodded again. “Right… okay.” He took a deep breath and then followed Kaoné’s suggestion, mentally manipulating his floating sword to begin making slow sweeps through the air. As he did, he could feel his body reflexively leaning to the side, attempting to make the same movements as the sword — but Kaoné’s stone kept him in place. And with his body anchored, he found it much easier to move his sword around.

Kaoné watched silently for a few moments as Austin continued to swing his sword through the air over one of WCU’s practice fields. Eventually, she called out, “alright, that’s enough for now.”

“Huh—? Oh… okay,” Austin responded, and then dismissed his sword in a flash of light. In that same moment, Kaoné collapsed the stone holding him in place, allowing him to move his body once more.

“…Well?” Twy prompted. “Did that help?”

“Uh… kinda, actually,” Austin replied. “The biggest problem with my Imperator powers is trying to not move my body in the same way that I’m moving another object, so holding my body in place actually makes things easier.”

“Remember, though — this isn’t meant to be a crutch,” Kaoné said. “The aim here is to get your body used to the feeling of moving separately from the object you’re manipulating.”

“I know, I know…” Austin said. “But I gotta be honest, I thought you were just kidding when you suggested this kind of training. I didn’t expect it to work so well!”

Kaoné smiled. “I’m glad it’s working for you. But now, I’d actually like to switch to working on your Simulator powers. If you can get to the point where you can copy Twy’s Hydrotechnism to hold yourself in place, in the same way that my stone did, then you won’t need to come to me to train your Imperator powers.”

“That would be more efficient, I suppose,” Twy remarked.

“Sure, but…” Austin eyed Twy sheepishly. “I feel like that’s just shifting my dependency away from Kaoné and onto you. I don’t wanna force you to hang around every time I train…”

“No, it’s fine, really!” Twy insisted. “It gives me an excuse to do some training, too, so it works out.”

“And unfortunately, Simulator powers require at least one other person to train with,” Kaoné pointed out. “But, hopefully, with this training technique, you’ll be able to hone both of your Psychotechnic abilities at once.”

“Sounds good to me,” Austin remarked. “The sooner I can get in fighting form, the better…”

Twy passed Austin an uneasy glance, though the expression was lost on him as he began stretching for another training attempt. He must be thinking about EA… Twy mused, her thoughts momentarily drifting; CSF-1, along with Mark and Danielle, had left Compound Tresnon just a couple days ago to take part in a raid on EA’s base. Austin — and the rest of the Keys — had only known about the raid for about as long, but ever since learning about it, Austin seemed to be taking the idea of training more seriously.

Just as Austin re-summoned his blue and golden claymore, however, a sharp crack and a blast of wind heralded the rapid appearance of Davídrius. In the blink of an eye, he stopped just next to Kaoné, dust and sand blowing up all around him due to his rapid entry.

“Ack—!” Austin spluttered, a coughing fit overtaking him due to the whipped up dust. “What the hell?!”

“Sorry,” Davídrius quickly replied, and then turned to Kaoné. “We need to talk.”

“I was just in the middle of some training with Austin and Twy,” Kaoné replied. “Can it wait…?”

Davídrius responded with silence, his lips pursed as he stared down at Kaoné. He then passed Austin and Twy a glance, his expression unreadable.

“…It can’t wait, can it?” Kaoné added with a wary sigh.

“I don’t like the sound of this…” Austin muttered.

“If you need some privacy, then Austin and I can train on our own,” Twy suggested.

“No, no…” Davídrius responded, his voice low as he quickly scanned their surroundings, as if searching for any eavesdroppers. “…This kinda involves the two of y’all, too. But what I’m about to say can’t be repeated elsewhere, a’ight?”

Austin and Twy exchanged a glance before nodding in unison.

“Is this about the Bleeders?” Kaoné questioned quietly.

“No… worse,” Davídrius muttered. “…I just got a report that some infected creatures were sighted in Treséd.”

“Infected?” Twy echoed. “As in… the metallic infection?”

Davídrius nodded. “Aye. Out by Oasis Lake.”

“Oasis Lake… not Mirage Lake?” Austin questioned. “How far away is that?”

“Oasis Lake is in west Treséd,” Kaoné replied. “It’s a few thousand kilometers away, I believe.”

“Oh… well, that’s good, right?” Twy asked. “That means it’s not an immediate threat, right?”

“We can’t afford to take the infection lightly,” Davídrius countered. “Treséd can’t afford to let the infection take hold in the wastelands the same way it has over in Relédiaka’s forests. In Relédiaka, they at least got their cities up in the trees, and constant eyes on the forest floor. Here, though… there ain’t nobody out in the wasteland. That means the infection will spread slower, but it also means that it’d basically be free to run rampant, since there’s no one to stop it.”

“This is… unfortunate timing…” Kaoné mused.

“Yeah, I’ll fuckin’ say,” Davídrius remarked. “Right when we’re most vulnerable to the Bleeders… it can’t be a coincidence.”

“You mean… because CSF-1, Mark, and Danielle left?” Twy questioned.

“That’s part of it…” Davídrius replied. “Tresnon is basically defenseless, compared to Hunger’s Bane. The Defense Force is on alert, but we’ve lost people to trying to protect the other Compounds. On top of that, Christeané and Rebehka aren’t here. Karísah is off in Riverana for the ACT — although, she lost last weekend, so she should be comin’ back, soon… Relia’s off doin’ dirt-knows-what in the wastelands, with no way to contact her, like usual. Ralak’s down an arm, and your CSF-1 and Eximius Vir are gone. Kaoné’s our only heavy-hitter left, aside from me, I guess.”

“The Defense Force may be weaker, but don’t underestimate them. Or Selind,” Kaoné pointed out. “Not to mention Gavon; he’s a trained Chaotic from the Black Suns. We do need to keep an eye out for the Bleeders, I won’t argue that. But if this report about the infection is true, then we need to take care of it now. And I’m the best person to do that.”

“Kaoné…” Davídrius muttered in exasperation. “…You can’t leave. You’re the most powerful person we have, here!”

“And, what if that report isn’t true?” Austin suggested. “You said it yourself, right, Kaoné? This is bad timing. What if the Bleeders are trying to trick us, or something?”

“Exactly my thoughts,” Davídrius said, turning towards Kaoné. “It’s possible these reports are false info from the Bleeders, meant to trick you into leavin’ Tresnon!”

“But it’s also possible that these sightings are real,” Kaoné countered. “Otherwise, you never would have brought them up to me, would you?”

“Tch… what if it’s all a trap by the Bleeders? They infected everyone in Falnon, remember? So they might be responsible for this new report, too!”

“That would only make the situation more urgent. Even if it’s a trap, we can’t just let the infection fester. Someone has to go after it!”

“Would Compound Tresnon really be so defenseless, if the Bleeders attacked while Kaoné was out?” Twy questioned.

“Defenseless, no…” Davídrius muttered. “We’d be able to put up a fight, but there’d likely be casualties. I mean, we have the shields, but we have no idea what the Bleeders still have in store — those shields could be meanin’less, for all we know. As long as Kaoné’s around, she could shut down an army instantly, but if she leaves—!”

“And if we let the infection fester, then it could wipe out everyone in Treséd!” Kaoné argued. “You know as well as I do that I’m one of the most qualified people on this planet to contain the infection, but there’s still only so much I can do. I can’t stop it if it gets out of control!”

“You said it yourself, you’re just one of ‘em. If we got Rebehka on it, then—“

“Rebehka’s still dealing with the fallout of the destruction of the Infection Research Facility on Karania, and of canceling the Chaos Knights contract without Archoné Ledkia’s permission. I have no doubt that she’d try her best to help out, here, but we can’t count on her arriving for several days at least.”

“Well, okay, sure. I could get Christeané on it, then. Or at least get him here to help deter the Bleeders while you’re gone.”

“Even Christeané can’t just show up at the drop of a hat. You know this, Davídrius. If someone’s going to go after the infection, then it needs to be me, and it needs to be now! Unless you want to go, yourself?”

“Tch…” Davídrius’s brow furrowed in frustration, but he otherwise fell silent in the face of Kaoné’s arguments.

Austin glanced between the two Deans uneasily. “…Is it really that important that the infection be dealt with immediately?”

“Or that Kaoné stay here, in Tresnon?” Twy asked.

“Yes, and no,” Kaoné replied. “You were both on Oriciid’kas. You remember how quickly the situation deteriorated there, right? And I’ve heard about what you saw on Nayasis, Austin. You recall how bad things got, there, as well, right?”

“…True…” Austin muttered. “And you’re saying that it could get that bad, here, in Treséd…?”

“If we don’t deal with the infection now, then yes, it could,” Kaoné declared, turning her attention back to Davídrius. “It’s even possible that the infection is already endemic, and that these reports are just the first time anyone saw it. At a minimum, we need to send someone to figure out the scope of the infection problem, and we need to do it before anyone gets hurt, or before a Critical Infection Incident occurs!”

“And what if you leave, and the Bleeders immediately attack?” Davídrius pressed. “We know they had SFC help, now. There’s no tellin’ what kinda shit they’ve got with ‘em!”

“Then why would you tell me about the infection, if you were going to argue so hard for me to stay here?” Kaoné shot back.

“…Ngh…”

“Look… I understand how you feel, Davídrius. I do. But the infection is bigger than Tresnon. Also, I’m really not as powerful as you seem to think. I can’t single-handedly turn the tides of an entire battle, not when there are dozens or hundreds of Chaotics on each side.”

“Bullshit. Your Overdrive alone is tide-turnin’.”

“Less ‘tide-turning’ and more ‘stalling’ — remember, it would affect everyone on our side, too.”

“Uh… sorry…” Austin spoke up, “what’s your Overdrive, again…?”

“Conflict’s Judge…” Twy muttered. “…I saw her use it on Karania. It immediately and completely diffused a fight.”

“Between two people,” Kaoné quickly pointed out. “My Overdrive suppresses aggressive intent within a few kilometers of me, yes, but it applies to everyone. Using it in a Bleeder attack could stall them, and give the defenders time to prepare. But it wouldn’t fully stop the attack. More importantly, Davídrius, don’t forget that the Black Suns agreed to send a detachment to help protect Compound Tresnon from the Bleeders. They’re due to arrive on the 14th — that’s in just four days. And I’m sure they’ll be more useful in a fight than me.”

“The Black Suns are coming?” Twy questioned incredulously. “But… why?”

“…We sent word just over a week ago, after the Bleeders hit Falnon,” Davídrius answered. “Gavon helped arrange for some of his Sector 1 buddies to come guard the place. Damn it… I’d hoped that seein’ the infection in Falnon would be a one-off thing, but this report from Oasis Lake ain’t encouragin’…”

A moment of tense silence passed as Davídrius mulled over his thoughts. Kaoné watched him carefully, but never once did her expression falter.

“…Agh. Fine,” Davídrius eventually conceded. “Ain’t like I’ve got the authority to stop you from doin’ as you please, anyways.”

“Thank you for understanding,” Kaoné responded, already turning towards the campus gates. “I know this is a stressful time, for you. For everyone here. I’ll try to get back as soon as possible!”

“Just… make sure the infection gets dealt with!” Davídrius called after her. As soon as she fell out of earshot, though, he released a deep, tense sigh.

Austin glanced at him uneasily. “I mean… it’ll be fine, right…?” he questioned warily. “It’s just a few days until the Black Suns get here, right? So it should be fine…”

“And there’s a whole school of Chaotics here that could help defend the Compound, as well,” Twy pointed out.

“Most of the students ain’t yet seen a real fight,” Davídrius countered. “Involvin’ ‘em would be irresponsible. If even a single student dies to the Bleeders, then…” The Dean trailed off, his gaze diverting away from Austin and Twy. A moment of silence passed, followed by Davídrius taking a deep breath. “…Not a word of this to anyone, understood?” he ordered, his attention returning to Austin and Twy. “We’re keepin’ Kaoné’s trip as secret as possible. We don’t want the Bleeders to know she left until the Black Suns show up.”

“We won’t say anything,” Twy replied.

“I have a really bad feeling about this, though…” Austin muttered.

“Yeah, no kiddin’,” Davídrius replied with a bitter smirk. He then turned to leave. “Anyways, I’m off. Be careful with your trainin’.”

“Yeah… sure…” Austin responded warily, watching as Davídrius disappeared in a cloud of dust. “Be careful…”