by Liandra Jake
"Stop it!" He exclaimed.
Arend released him and moved on to the next one. He continued down the line with similar results, preparing to do the same with the last one.
"Stick that in my face and I'll bite it off." She said as Arend' finger crept closer.
Arend nodded. "She can come, no one else. Rose, Flake, and Night can come if they want."
"You can't make such quick judgments! And no, the others must stay." Kale said.
"I'm going to give you three reasons: One, she isn't afraid to do something. Two, she isn't afraid of me at all. And three, She's the only one actually built to fight!" Arend said.
"Fine! She goes alone! But the others have to stay here!" Kale exclaimed.
Arend pointed behind him. The female armored Sereph was ushering the others into a moving platform. "Ya gotta catch em' first!" Arend exclaimed before he ran down the platform.
The moving platform had already pulled away about thirty feet when Arend reached the edge. Without stopping, Arend leapt from the platform, skipping across the gap on red fire. Iode caught him and hauled him over the railing. Arend laughed at Kale as he threw numerous obscenities their way.
"This won't end well." Rose said depressingly.
"I don't think so." Flake said with a grin.
"Let's just say Maeil has already provided us a little leeway." Arend said, leaning against the railing. "It also help his daughter is coming along." He nudged the armored Sereph.
"Noir!?" Flake, Rose, and Night exclaimed in unison.
The armored Sereph glanced at Arend. "You know saying that destroys the anonymity of my position?" Noir asked.
"Then tell me why you have black fur?" Arend asked.
Noir pulled off her helmet. Sure enough, she had black fur. Her hair and eyes were also black. "Damn Pendragon…" Noir grumbled.
"Why'd you take it off!?" Rose hissed.
Noir tossed the helmet to her. She caught it awkwardly. "We have a twenty minute ride to the islands. I don't want to wear that thing the whole way." Noir said. She leaned back against the railing like Arend.
"So Mr. Pendragon, got a girlfriend?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yep. Sorry." Arend replied.
Noir shrugged. "It was worth a shot."
"What?" Night said more so to the exchange than Noir's flirting.
"Don't tell me you have an eye on him as well?" Noir asked.
"No!" Night exclaimed.
Noir nodded. "A purist then."
"She's a bit more open than the others though." Arend said.
Iode tapped the confused Night on the shoulder. "Ignore them. I think they both get off by getting under people's skin."
Arend and Noir bantered back and forth throughout the ride. Even when she replaced her helmet, she still talked with Arend. "You really ought to look me up when and if you're single again." Noir said as everyone unloaded.
A wooden dock extended out for the platform to anchor to. Noir stayed behind to watch the platform.
"I don't understand how she can be so forward. A member of the Holy Guard and she doesn't hesitate! Doesn't she know that kind of stuff can mean exile!?" Night exclaimed.
"I don't think she cares." Arend said.
"Maybe she gets turned on by bad boys." Rose suggested.
"Since when was I a bad boy?" Arend asked.
"Since you openly defied Nova and Kale. Normally that would get you exiled, or worse." Flake said with a sideways glance.
Zeph was waiting at the end of the dock. Two other similarly dressed Serephs were waiting impatiently. A brown haired male with a halo just above his left wrist, and a purple haired female with a dim halo wrapped around her waist. Both lacked wings.
"Zeph, I don't have the time to wait here for a few humans and a few Pog. And you know the Holy Guard will come with them." The purpled haired Sereph said. Arend could easily hear her from across the long dock.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were scared, Lave." Zeph replied.
"You know I am." She snapped.
"You also know that three of us aren't enough to harass the army they'll be dragging along." The other Sereph said. "What do you want to accomplish here?"
Zeph's eyebrows shot up when he saw Arend parade down the dock. "Look for yourself." He said quietly with a nod towards Arend.
"The hell…?" The brown haired Sereph said.
"YO Zeph! The party's all here!" Arend called over.
"I noticed." Zeph said with a half smile.
A board broke beneath Arend' feet. He tripped and slipped over the side of the dock. "Dude!" Zeph exclaimed as he rushed to the edge. Lave and the other Sereph joined him.
"He'll be fine." Corenden said with a dismissive wave.
"Ts' a two thousand foot fall! I don't care how tough you are, that fall would kill anything!" Zeph snapped.
Arend' shadow arced over head. He landed across from the three wingless Serephs in a trail of red flame. "What about a Pendragon?" Corenden asked with a smug smile.
"Nova let a Pendragon hybrid on the fortress?" Lave asked hoarsely.
"'Let'" Arend replied, throwing up quotes.
Zeph nodded sharply. "'Ight. Gotta say you're the greatest person I've ever met."
"Can't disagree." Flake added.
"I'm not that great. My Guild is full of much more qualified people. I'm a greenhorn in almost every sense." Arend said.
"Let's get out of here. I know Kale won't accept you coming here without an army of Holy Guards." The brown haired Sereph said. The group followed him off the dock.
"So what's fun to do around here?" Rose asked, trying to contain her excitement.
"That depends, do you have any money?" Lave asked.
"156,625 Ere good enough?" Rose asked, flaunting the massive ball of bills she pulled out from somewhere. The group stopped dead and glanced back at her.
"How do you…" Night started.
"With money like that, we can have a really wild party." Zeph said.
Rose shook a finger. "I want to buy some things first. Do you guys mind if we split up?" Rose asked.
Night shrugged. "It's your money."
"I'm well known on this island, ask around and someone will point you my way." Zeph said.
Rose nodded and headed straight over the next hill instead of going around like Zeph was. "I'll-" Iode started.
"I'll look after her, see you guys later!" Arend exclaimed, rushing after her.
Iode watched him disappear over the hill. Lave nudged him. "Don't worry none! She's not one to fall for men like him mate!"
"How would you know?" Iode asked.
The others were inching out of view. "Trust me bub, she's all yours." Lave said with a wink. Iode followed her reluctantly.
Arend found Rose on her knees, behind over something. She was quickly shuffling things about with tears streaming down her face. Arend peeked over her shoulder. A bundle of ragged cloth laid beneath a thin layer of Ere. Rose picked the scarce bills from the dust in a crumpled fist.
"There's a story here." Arend said softly.
Rose glanced back, a surprised look on her face. "Arend!" She wiped her face with a forearm. "Please don-"
Arend silenced her with a slow shake of his head. "I won't tell anyone. But could at least tell me why?"
"Why what?" Rose asked as she snatched up the bundle of rags and stuffed them down her shirt.
"Just why." Arend said gesturing to a steel bench nearby. She sat with him, money still clenched in a tight fist.
"Let's start with two days ago. When we crashed Nova's little get together, your heart rate was more than twice Flake's, and he was extremely nervous. How you hid your fear behind a passive face astounds me." Arend said.
"Nova and I have a history. I was afraid he'd try to kill me. I though a final meal in your style would be fitting, so I was able to keep control." Rose replied.
Arend threw an arm around her and pulled her close. "You never have to worry about dying 'kay? I don't le
t friends die." Arend said gently.
"Friends?" Rose said, pushing away awkwardly.
Arend ruffled her hair. "Yes, friends. Just friends, so don't go think I'm trying something." Arend said.
Rose laughed, relaxing a little. "Alright. Friends share things like this right? So what else was in that envelope you received in the jungle?" Rose asked.
Arend pulled his bag onto his lap and took out the letter. He held it out. "Find out." Was all he said.
He watched as she read it. Like him, she cringed at the greeting, and laughed at the mention of a tranny monster. She gave it back silently. "He's silly enough to be related to you." Rose said as Arend put it back into his bag.
Arend shrugged. "I am what I am. I don't care for much else."
Rose sighed, the long and heavy kind of someone with a hard life. "We used to be together, Nova and I." Rose said, smile now gone. "It was before his second halo, and before I slept outside the fortress." She pulled out the bundle of cloth. "During the past two days, my blanket shredded itself. That's why I was hoping to be able to shop alone. I found enough dropped change and worked for what I could when I learned we were coming here. I knew you would somehow get me on an island." She glanced over to Arend. Her eyes held an immense amount of gratefulness.
"Thanks to you, I was able to step off that fortress." She glanced at her feet and wiggled her toes in the lush grass. "This place feels better. Not just as being something fresh, it feels full of life and happiness. I want to stay here for as long as possible." Arend dug into his bag with wild fury. Hidden in the depths below, he found his prey. A foot and a half long piece of ribbon, dark blue swirls on a green background.
"I got this from an old friend. I haven't met him personally, but he's an adventurer in search of the world's greatest treasure. 'It's made to give good luck to those with melancholic wanderlust.' As he puts it. I know where I need to be now. I think you need it more than ever. Pass it on when the time comes."
Rose took it, rubbing the threads gently with her thumb. Her eyes started to tear up again.
"Stop that already." Arend said as he quickly wiped her face.
"Thank you Arend." She hugged him.
He was a little surprised, but smiled. "You may not be as dense as everyone says. At least when it comes to this." Rose said as she tied the ribbon to one of her wings.
Arend popped up and offered her his hand. "Let's go shopping!" She took it, letting him pull her to her feet.
[X]
An hour later, Rose and Arend arrived at a special airport. It was suspended between the main island and many clusters of islands only an acre wide. Larger islands could be seen in the distance. Zeph was showing off his jet to Corenden and Michael. Iode popped up and ran over when he saw Rose.
"You okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine. Arend helped me pick out some new cloths and a new blanket. Rose held up the white cotton bag in her hands.
Iode peeked in. "How much did it cost?"
"Only a few hundred Ere." Rose replied.
"The ribbon however, was a very expensive purchase. 156,000 Ere to be exact." Arend lied, pointing to the ribbon on her wing. "Pure Korvan threaded and weaved. Quite an artifact actually."
Rose glanced back at him with a look of mild surprise. "I didn't want to mention it. The price might have jumped." Arend said.
"It looks very pretty on you." Iode said.
Rose smiled at the compliment. "I'll leave you two to do whatever." Arend said as he headed to join the others.
"So where's everyone at?" Arend asked. Two jets flashed by, leaving the air vibrating and the aroma of peaches in the air. Arend sniffed "Peaches?" He asked.
"Ya! An extract from honey peaches makes an excellent superconductor! It's a nessicary part for it to work properly." Zeph explained. "Though I doubt you guys want to hear the details. It's complicated stuff."
"That's an old technology. Long outdated. Can you not get Thunderston out here?" Arend asked.
"Thunder stone?" Zeph asked quizzically.
"No, it's like 'thunder's tone.' It's a fiber that goes beyond a superconductor. It's gotten pretty cheap." Arend replied.
"Even here we're a bit out of the loop. We've been having trouble setting up a Nexus Terminal. We can't get a hold of the parts we need." Zeph replied, leaning against his jet.
"Tommori in Yitkin can help. My name should get what you need. No discount though, you'll still need to pay." Arend said.
"Can't reach. Our jets don't have that kind of range. They require an almost constant supply of grass-gas." Zeph said.
"Grass-gas?" Corenden cut in.
"Methane." Arend explained.
"That's even older than the peach thing." Michael said.
"Like I said; things are difficult. These three jets are bundles of outdated technology and spare parts. Hell, Sandy's has to use steam to turn!" Zeph said.
Arend shook his head. "You people."
"Are you going to hook them up?" Corenden asked.
"If he lets me fly one." Arend replied.
"Eh?" Zeph said with a curled face.
"Arend Myshcell, Master Kruxsetter ready and willing." Michael said as he poked Arend' face.
"Myshcell? You pulling my tail?" Zeph asked.
Arend rolled his eyes. Pulling out his L-tool, he had Zeph's jet's engine cover off in seconds. "HEY-"
"Standard intake and ignition. Blue coil based system with Methane gas used as a reactant in a process that produces a stream of Orenth that's funneled with cold fired, white-steel mesh coated in honey peach and sand glue. You weren't kidding about being outdated."
Zeph's jaw dropped. "It pulls to the right unless you rotate the shielding tubes often right?" Arend asked, fidgeting with stuff. Zeph nodded slowly. "And about my request, I'll need to see the other two." Arend said. Zeph bolted across the airstrip, shooting an Orenth flare into the air to call the others down.
"You understand any of that?" Corenden whispered to Michael.
"I know white-steel repels Orenth depending on how it's forged, The tubes prevent outside Orenth from corrupting the system, and the blue coil is what converts the Methane. That's about it." Michael replied.
The two jets touched down a few seconds apart a ways from the group. Lave and Sandy had an irritated look. Night and Flake stepped out of their respective aircraft.
"What's up?" Lave asked.
"He's a Myshcell." Zeph replied, pointing to Arend. He saluted in is usual way.
"Goddamn." Sandy said with raised eyebrows.
"He wants a flit about in return for work on our jets." Zeph explained.
Night and Flake met up with Arend. "Does he know we can-" Sandy started.
"He wants to fly it himself." Zeph cut in. Sandy's face darkened. "The thing is; he dissected the mechanism of my engine in a single glance. He's a monster."
An intense stream of blue fire distracted them. Arend had already strapped down the jet and made more than a few modifications. They had more than quadrupled the engine output.
"How's Mach 10!?" Arend called with a grin before shutting the engine off.
Lave hurried over and glanced into the engine housing. "What the fuck did you do!?" She exclaimed, gesturing to the mess within.
"I modified it to function similarly to a Drive. The coil and tubes rotate against each other, forcing the Orenth out in a concentrated spiral that expands when it exits the engine." Arend explained, moving his hands to diagram what he said.
"How'd you get the tubes to rotate? The mechanism doesn't work like that." Lave asked as she poked through the engine.
"The air coolant system. When you fly at faster speeds, the tubes will begin to spin with the fan. I got it to full earlier by manually spinning the system. You can't get a burn like that straight off the ground."
"How will that affect the stability of the jet?" Sandy asked.
"Minimally. Without power steering, you'll have a fight on your hands. I may have stretched the truth a little though. The
engine may be able to reach Mach 10, but the jet itself will break apart at about 2.3. With a completely new body designed specifically for this engine, you may be able to get to 3.2 before you reach a second road block." Arend replied.