Chapter 2013

Chapter 2013

Raymund Ballast stood at the edge of the Vulpis Squad camp with folded arms. There were no walls, but a few wooden stakes denoted the limits of their area. He listened to an argument slowly developing at the edge of the space, between one of their now necessary posted guard and one of the more insistent of the loiterers squatting on the Rally Station.

“Are you trying to tell me he’s still not here?” The squat humanoid demanded. Compared to the rest of the rabble that had begun to trickle around the edges of the camp, his well-fitted grey suit made him look relatively respectful. “It’s been a full day! And we aren’t at fucking war.”

The Vulpis Squad member kept her face even. “No, he is not. You will need to continue to wait.”

“I bet he’s out fucking another planet. Do you know plundering Aether is illegal? The people of the Nexus have the right to know how he manages to develop so many images and maintain them. His repeated displays of high Stats have the people’s attention.” The humanoid put his hands on his hips. A group of about ten other loiterers watched the interaction with sharp eyes. “There are laws. And what he has managed to accomplish is impossible without some shady dealings.”

The guard wasn’t swayed by this plea, the third of its type in the last twelve hours. “I’ll be sure to report about your request for an interview when he returns. In the meantime, please remain away from the camp. The Squad is undergoing intensive training right now. Image reverberations can be quite unpredictable.”

The humanoid sneered and took several steps forward, right up to the line of the camp’s edge. His flat nose was only inches away from the guard’s face. “Eh? And what if I want to take that risk?”

The woman didn’t even blink. “Your choices are your own. Feel free.”

Raymund was just glad that Vant wasn’t on supervision duty. He would have thundered down and broken the man’s jaw for disrespecting a member of the squad. Which, as far as Raymund could tell, was exactly the sort of reaction that these people wanted. Simply surrounding them with the disenfranchised and nosy seemed so petty otherwise.

Not that this man would be a good choice. He had strong connections with one of the few legitimate news entities in the Nexus.

A figure approached him and stood alongside him. He glanced sideways. Alana Donal nodded toward the group. “Is there really nothing to be done about them?”

“The Ghosthound said to ignore them so long as they don’t try to interfere with our business. Annoyances like this make us mentally tougher.” Raymund said in a low voice. But then he released a long sigh, not bothering to conceal the strain. “Obviously, someone within Military High Command is spreading rumors of misconduct by Randidly. Another patrol would have picked them up and swept such wanderers away otherwise. But until we know who is responsible, it is better to ignore them.”

“If the opponent doesn’t get a response they want, they will escalate,” Alana said softly. “Not just with these lost people and the dirty journalists. But with a genuine probe on our location.”

Raymund flashed his long canines. His pupils dilated. “At which point they will realize what a mistake it is to antagonize the Vulpis Squad.”

For a while, Alana considered that. She was still sweaty, coming directly from her physical training session to come speak with him. That sort of dedication had been a constant presence in her exercises. Of all their new additions from the Alpha Cosmos, Alana adopted the fastest to the higher demands. Soon, they would need to switch her off the same training program as the others, so her advance wasn’t stifled.

Hell, if Raymund was being honest, her growth was even more impressive than Charlotte’s right now. There were only two individuals with drive like hers that he had ever met. One, obviously, was the Ghosthound.

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“It’s true, though.” Alana’s image spread around them as she spoke, masking the statement. Orange tongues of flame danced around them in a circle. “The Ghosthound’s energy doesn’t come the usual way.”

For a second Raymund was stunned by the dangerous admission; if anything, the truth about Randidly’s Aether Crossroads would bring more antagonism down upon their heads than him murdering millions of people for their Aether. That was just the way of the Nexus. But a split second later, he calmed himself down.

Randidly had declined immediately, but that had been enough. And his relationship with Xershi was entirely different than what he had shared with Helen. Hell, this guy would be a dangerous foe. The metal liger’s emotional affect had sung in a way that made Randidly suspect he would be more difficult than the fat octopi.

But the exchange had been oddly nostalgic. Where he wasn’t fighting alone through every threat. When everyone he interacted with wasn’t just a subordinate or an enemy.

“So, are you willing to brave your precious death to come with us?” In the present, Xershi looked intently at Pullas.

“You are going too?” Pullas blinked.

Xershi had the nerve to smirk. “Not to brag, but when it comes to moving sneakily, I’m pretty confident in my abilities. I certainly won’t have any problem moving through those layers.”

Randidly snapped his teeth shut on the denial he had been preparing, remembering how they met. Shrugging, he turned back to the stew.

“Hum.” Pullas really seemed to pause and consider this option. Her forehead scrunched up as she considered her options. Then she seemed to deflate. “Well, I do not need to commit to a single hypothetical answer now. I’m just... living in the moment, you know? Let’s make it there and I will decide whether to follow or not.”

Randidly took a tentative spoon of his soup, a small smile playing across his lips. The trio would continue on for a few more days. As soon as the spoon hit his tongue, he grimaced. “Sorry, this stuff still tastes sour. Let’s just move on; maybe we can find something more fresh in the next ring.”

Ignoring Xershi’s long sigh, Randidly began to move. They had set up near the edge of the space, after finding the exterior staircase. As he had feared, the size of the world contained in each layer had continued to grow. But it only took them a few minutes to reach the bottom and begin to ascend.

With the Stillborn Phoenix as a cloak, Randidly pushed his way up through the image static. His steps were firm and steady. For a while he had felt tempted to fall back and trade-off with Pullas to shield them in the climb, but he had begun to realize that a lot of the image echoes bouncing off him were distinct notes from the lower floors. The power they wielded channeled upward through the Sonara around him, humming through the edges.

Randidly had to thank the Octopi for that; he had picked the image that had grappled with two of his own out of the sea of other fragments. Once he noticed, he began to listen more intently. It was deeply uncomfortable work, but his mind now ran on Cognition of the Aberrant Alchemist and Unnatural Capacity. Under his scrutiny, the noises fell into place.

Randidly grimaced as a particularly ugly pulse of image hit him. Not that understanding the noise makes it any more pleasant to experience...

Briefly, he paused and glance to his left. Glowing azure fireflies the size of buses began to fly out from the base of the enormous translucent mushrooms. A few picked off the heavy slugs clinging to the long stocks, using their mandibles to rip open their bodies and sucked out their internal organs.

Randidly turned away. Okay, pretty glad we didn’t have to fight the individual who lives in this sort of place...

They passed through the golden portal and stumbled for a bit. The ground underneath Randidly’s feet was soft and warm, with rolling hills around them. The sky above was a soft red, dark as wine. There were trees, but they mostly resembled bushy pink cacti that undulated strangely. However, it was the noise that clued Randidly into the fact something was strange.

A breathy exhale tickled against his ear. Half-heard snatches of conversation rolled lazily around the space, moving between the bushy trees. He turned slowly, but in the area behind him were only Pullas and Xershi. Randidly found himself sweating slightly from the low heat that burned through this ring. His senses spread out but a powerful image blocked his examination. His face twisted into a scowl when his probes revealed nothing but soft laughter. “Pullas? What’s with this ring?”

“Ah, it’s kinda warm, isn’t it? But I haven’t heard much about this place.” Pullas shivered. Her face had almost immediately become flushed. “A few of the guys I worked with always volunteered to handle communications with the twenty-third floor, so-”

A disembodied voice giggled and then release a low moan of throaty pleasure.

“Ugh, a realm of fleshy pursuits,” Xershi scowled at a nearby pink cactus. “How indulgent and messy.”