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Record 4: A Wolf and His Mom

Spreading her arms wide, ‘Ma’ walked up to Lucas and enveloped him in a hug, giving him several pats on the back; then, with kiss to his forehead, she grabbed his shoulders.

“Luke, hun! For Gireld’s sake, how long’s it been?”

Blushing slightly, Lucas rolled his eyes and smiled, hugging back and kissing his mom on the cheek.

“A while, ma; good to see you.”

“Um, Chief?”

Blinking, Nora turned around and saw an officer pointing at the thief she had just hogtied.

“Ah, right, right. Okay, then, let’s get her back to the fort, see what we can get out of her; Vanessa, Olie, you two on her side, and Carl, watch her back. I’ll tag along behind you and cover things while I do some catching up with this guy right here.” Nora ordered, jabbing a thumb at Lucas with a grin.

“Careful, Ma; she might escape while you’re distracted!”

Nora rolled her eyes, and ruffled her sons hair.

“Why else do ya think I want you walking with us? Never hurts to have another pair of eyes!”

After a small round of chuckling, the escort began, Nora and Lucas walking side by side, never more than a few paces away from the thief.

“It’s real nice running into you, Luke; You doing alright these days?”

“Well, considering that I got the Changeling Blade, yeah, I’m doing pretty well, Ma.”

“That thing? Gireld’s moon, are we talking about the one you’ve had your eye on for the past year?

“Yep! I unpacked it a little while ago; still got some kinks to work out (it is a Ruldger product, after-all), but I’m making progress.”

“Fantastic! You’re being careful with it, though, right? I don’t want to hear anything about an accidental self-mutilation, you know.”

“Ah, don’t worry, Ma, I’ve been looking forward to this for months; I read up on it and everything.”

“Yeah, well, there was no harm in asking, now, was there? So, how’re things at W.I.S.S. these days?”

“Ah, things are basically fine over there. We got some new abaters the other day; a couple of siblings from Glory, and a guy from - get this - Forge Haven!”

“Oh, you met Gilligan already? Glad he got to W.I.S.S. without any trouble.”

Almost tripping in surprise from the information, Lucas quickly realized the obvious, and facepalmed.

“Right, right, you’re the head of the Enforcers; of course you’d know about any political refugees...Well, you’ll never guess who got to help Millie show him and the brother-sister team around the place: Keiko!”

Now it was Nora’s turn to look surprised.

“Wait, really?? Huh. Eh, that’s one way to get in some practice for public speaking. How is Keiko doing these days, by the-! You got her, Carl?”

The convict had attempted to make a break for it, and been grabbed before she could get more than a few feet away. One of the enforcers escorting her, Carl placed some some additional chains on her feet, and gave Nora a thumbs up, getting a nod of approval in return.

“I swear, we gotta push for those newer cuffs Jerome suggested...”

“So, things alright at work? Last time I was there, I coulda sworn all that rust was a fresh coat of paint!” Lucas asked, the fort at last coming into view.

When High Beacon had first been founded, the fort had been located in what was the south-eastern corner of the Haven, and as the Haven expanded over time, it had gradually moved towards the center until it passed it altogether; these days, it was more accurate to say that it was located in the northwestern Sector of High Beacon, however close it still was to the center. While separated by a path, it was still fairly close to some of the most secure information centers in High Beacon, as well as some high profile stores. And, of course, it was surrounded by coniferous trees.

“Hm? Eh, we finally got that fixed a few months ago - cost us an arm and a leg, too...So, again, how’s Keiko these days?”

“Eh, she’s doing fine, though she got into an accident with a Searing Phantom.”

“Right, I heard about that; She get fixed up alright?”

“From what Nick said, she’ll be good in time for our next big job. Good thing too, considering how long we’re going to be outside High Beacon on it!”

Nora’s eyes widened.

“Hold on a sec, your next job involves travel?...Gireld’s moon, how long you gonna be gone?? Treelight Day’s only about a month and a half away!”

Freezing mid-step, Lucas cringed.

“Qalath’s-! I almost forgot!

“Hmm...I guess that’s alright. See if you can get some of your other Exterminator friends to come along - The chef too! I swear, that smoked Shimmerscale of her’s is something else~.”

Soon after, they finally arrived at their destination. Fort Skwal proudly bore the flags of High Beacon and the Enforcers at it’s tallest tower; For High Beacon, a bright yellow circle surrounded by green, sending out three rays - two to the northern corners, and one to the bottom of the center - made up its flag. Within the green spaces were three symbols - at the top space, two hands shook in agreement, the Chair of Trade; to the left, an axe (The Chair of Defense) pointed towards the center. And finally and to the right, a blue cross displayed itself, the Chair of Welfare. The other flag depicted a shield with a six branches extending from it in different directions.

“Well, nice to see the place is still fairly intact...I’m gonna take a stab in the dark here; Still got that hole downstairs?”

“Nah, we got that fixed last week. Things have really quieted down in the cells!”

Happily entering the building after her subordinates, Nora gestured Lucas to come inside. “Come in, come in, let’s talk about the job in my office.”

Nodding, Lucas glanced around one more time at the forts surroundings before heading inside, a breeze from outside slipping past him as he closed the door, pushing in a few leaves. The layout of entrance room hadn’t changed that much, though, like his mom had stated, there didn’t seem to be a speck of rust within sight.

He took a whiff.

...Yep, not a bit of rust.

Of course, this was ignoring the faint traces of mold between the stones, specks of long-dried blood from particularly unruly criminals, with a few fliers and wanted posters pinned to a board on his immediate right. A few lamps were placed in corners, all of them unlit, with a lantern hanging from the ceiling.

“Just make this easier on yourself, and cooperate. What. Is. Your. Name?” To Lucas’s left, the thief was being questioned by her handler, Carl. Evidently, she had refused to say anything thus far, choosing to simply glare at her captors.

“Eh, save it for the interrogation room, Carl. Just get her photographed for now.” Nora ordered, swiping a pack of cigarettes from the counter. “Luke, I got some fish upstairs; interested?”

“Hm? Nah, I’m good, ma. Anything else new around here?”

“Well, I DID get a nice little upgrade to Spitfire. Recoil’s easier on my hands now.” Nora admitted, writing something up on a sheet of paper before handing it over to the Cadet at the desk. Raising his eyebrows, Lucas followed his mom as they walked into the forts main hallway.

‘Hmm, upgraded Spitfire, huh? Wonder if she’s managed to find a Veil that works?’ Lucas pondered to himself as he walked with Nora down the hallway, taking a right at a flight of stairs. Unlike with swords, shields, bows and arrows, guns were much more restricted when it came to what kind of veils could be put on them, due to one simple fact:

The actual firing mechanism of a gun almost always interfered with whatever Veil had been place on the gun in question.

A burning veil caused the gun to explode in your hand.

A veil for firing quicker split the barrel in two;

A veil for toughening the gun itself superheated the metal, burning the wielder.

Most of the time, finding a Veil for your standard pistol was usually deemed not worth the effort. As such, modifying one’s firearm with technology had become the only reliable way to make any sort of enhancement.

“Hey, ma? Any particular reason you haven’t moved your office to some place less….exposed? ?” By this point, they had reached the door to Nora’s office.

“Eh, blame some of the old geezers and their ‘traditions’. Don’t worry, precautions have already been taken. Now where did I put those keys? I swear, that’s one of the biggest freaking drawbacks to being number one around here - way too many keys to keep track - Ah-ha!”

Immediately unlocking the door, Nora entered her office, and grinned in relief.

“Finally!”

Taking out the pack of cigarettes, she quickly lite one, took a whiff, and sighed in contentment. Opening some windows, she walked straight to her desk, and began rummaging through the drawers.

“Hold on for a bit, the file’s here somewhere...Oh, and Luke?”

“Yeah-?!”

Lucas was barely able to react in time to the large fish-stick his mother had thrown at him from a plate on her desk, only just managing to catch it.

“Wha-?”

“Eat. Now”

Grumbling under his breath, Lucas nibbled on the fish, lazily glancing around the office, only to halt at the sight of something on Nora’s desk: A leather band, interwoven with curved metal and inscriptions, with a white-and-gold crystal that gazed forward from the back of your wrist. Staring at it for what seemed like an eternity, Lucas walked to the pad, hesitantly raising a hand.

“Hey, ma?”

“Yeah?

“What’s with the Rysing Band?”

“Hmm? Oh, that; I borrowed it from the supplies to check out how much rysen I’ve got; let me tell you, it is a pain-in-the-*ss to try applying veils when you’re as rusty as I am...?” Nora remarked as she fished out some papers. Getting ready to look over them, she paused as she saw her son staring at the Rysing Band, hand raised. After a moment of silence, she picked up the band and and offered it to Lucas, offering him a hopeful, though weak, grin.

“Go ahead and give it a shot, hun; maybe something will happen this time!”

Hesitantly looking at it for a bit longer, Lucas took it and wrapped it around his wrist, taking time to ensure it was properly strapped on before firmly pressing the gem. With baited breath, Nora and Lucas waited the requisite five seconds for the crystal to start glowing…

...And, as it had always been for as long as they could remember, nothing happened.

“Well, it never hurts to try.” Nora remarked, taking back the band as Lucas took it off in disappointment.

“You, uh, sure it’s working right?” Lucas asked, lighting biting his bottom lip.

Giving her son an amused look, Nora wordlessly put it on, and pressed the gem. Soon after, it began glowing, moderately illuminating the room with a golden-white light for a brief period of time, flickering a few times.

“Luke, trust me on this; I wouldn’t be using it if it didn’t work.”

“...yeah, you wouldn’t.” Lucas admitted, hanging his head slightly in defeat. “I take it that the flickering-?”

“Pretty much. Thankfully, I’m not too out of it; remember that upgrade I mentioned? It’s a veil, and it’ll keep Spitfire from getting lost on me - watch!” Nora happily explained, opening her desk and taking out a case containing a bronze-colored, sighted, seven-chambered revolver. Retrieving it, Nora promptly tossed it over the desk, causing Lucas to immediately jump back a bit in mild panic just before it landed on the rug covered floor with a ‘clack’. “Luke, relax; you think I’d do that if she was loaded?”

“Uh-?!”

To Lucas’ surprise, the gun itself began levitating, slowly at first, before speeding up and flying towards Nora, settling itself into her hulster.

“Nifty.” Lucas remarked, quickly regaining his bearings.

“I know, right? Can’t wait to see the expression on some poor saps face when he thinks I’ve been disarmed - might even happen on this case~!” Nora replied with a grin, taking the gun out and placing it back in it’s casing. “So, onto the reason why you’re here in the first place - you read the file you got from Arthur - And I mean the entire file?

Lucas rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry, I read it.” Taking a second to shoo away a fly from his food, he asked “So, anything else I should know about this before we begin? You want me to take a look for anything you guys might have missed?”

An mildly irritated look was sent his way.

“Ugh, feel free to knock yourself out, but we couldn’t call ourselves “Enforcers” if we didn’t do our job properly. We already know the ‘where’, ‘what’, and have a pretty good idea about ‘who’ and ‘why’, so we just need you to give us a hand dealing with the Incarnations. Can’t say I like the idea, but when there’s no one else on the Enforcers who's a werewolf, and your son’s an Abater...”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. There’s something I want to be clear about, though: Grace Peters is completely fine with this? I don’t want to inconvenience him, or anyone else in the pacaris.”

Taking another smoke, Nora waved off Lucas’s concerns.

“Relax; Peter’s wouldn’t have cooperated if he wasn’t on board. Now, we’re gonna be heading there as soon as we finish up with some things here. I need to finish some paperwork, and you need to give us a little Q&A in regards to dealing with Incarnations. Shouldn’t take more than an hour, maybe two. You got your little pendant?”

Wordlessly, Lucas took his necklace out of his shirt. Dangling from it was a ring, and within was a figure, meditating, surrounded by the sea.

“Okay, good.” Reaching into her desk and taking out official looking documents. Nora handed them over to Lucas, then turned her attention to the documents on her desk, the smoke from her cigarette wafting through the air as she looked them over.

“Head downstairs to the break-room for a bit, and read this; it’s the jist of what information I can share at the moment. ”

“Got it. Holler if you need anything, ma.”

“Love you too, hun.”

Just as Lucas was heading out the door, Nora lifted her head towards him.

“Lucas?”

“Yeah, ma?”

Nora smiled softly, closing her eyes as a memory from long ago played in her mind

“...It’s been a while, hasn’t it? You and me heading out to pacaris, together? I still remember your first day there, learning the ropes....”

After a few moments of silence, Lucas chuckled warmly.

“Yeah, it sure has, ma. A little surprising, too, going before the month’s end.”

“Riiight. I forget sometimes; it’s a once a month sort of things for you.”

“Yep. Well, like I said, holler if you need anything.”

Nora simply gave nod before returning to her paperwork. Closing the door, Lucas turned his attention to the pendant in hand, Lucas stared at it before gently grasping it, closing his eyes as his expression softened into contentment.

“In the shadow of his journey, do we strive to keep ourselves from recklessness, and to seek solace in our company…”

…..

“And...PULL!”

With a ‘Thwunk’, a wooden target was launched into the air. Seconds later, a bolt smashed it into pieces, just after it reached its peak.

Nodding, Keiko turned around, giving a thumbs up to Millie.

“Right on target! Let’s make the next one a bit tougher, then. After that, Walter’s up.” Millie happily remarked, already setting up the next launch.

Set up right next to headquarters, the outer practice area was usually kept fairly tidy, and had been designed to be challenging, regardless of one’s skill level; in addition to the standard hay targets placed against High Beacons wall, there were no less than three launchers set up to give the moderately-skilled long range Abaters a moving target. At the moment, Walter and Vicky were observing Keiko as she practiced her marksmanship, several others practicing around them..

Making some adjustments to one of the launchers, Millie inserted two targets to be launched, giving Keiko a nod of confidence. Hesitating, Keiko slowly gave Millie a nervous smile, before getting ready with her crossbow.

“...P-pull!”

With two “Thwunks”, the wooden discs were launched even higher into the air than before. A bead of sweat traveling down her forehead, Keiko let loose the bolt, successfully smashing through the first target...and barely clipping the second, causing it to rapidly flip in the air before bouncing off the ground.

“...Well, you hit it.” Millie offered as Keiko gawked slightly at her technical success. Retrieving the clipped target, Millie made her way back to the launcher.

“Your turn, Walter.”, she called to the butler with his nose in a book.

“Yes, yes, I suppose I must.”

Snapping his book shut, Walter placed it on a table before making his way over to Keiko’s position. Preparing one of his pistols, he looked to Keiko as she walked passed him towards the observation area.

“Miss Keiko? A word, if you would.”

“Hmm?”

Walter pointed behind him.

“You may want to keep a closer eye on that pet of yours. I glimpsed him eyeing something on a branch belonging to the tree next to me and Miss Arteriel, and I believe we would all rather not have a repeat of the fiasco from a year ago.”

Furrowing her eyebrows in thought, Keiko’s eye snapped wide open before she slapped a hand to her forehead with groan. Muttering something under her breath, she hurried over to the trees, rapidly scanning them for signs of her companion.

Positioning himself, Walter took aim, closing an eye, and got ready to signal Millie.

“One…two…-”

A loud yawn captured his attention.

“¿Qué hay de nueva, todas el mundo?”

Freezing at the voice, Walter groaned, clenching his eyes in dread.

“Oh, don’t tell me…”

Fearing the worst, he reluctantly turned around, and dared to open one eye, immediately grimacing once those fears were realized; the bared midriff and nonchalant expression, he’d recognize her anyday.

“I see you’re no longer in the mending wards, Vega. And just as lackadaisical with your attire as ever.”

Giving Walter an indifferent look with her uncovered eye, the woman casually walked towards the group, stretching an armored arm upwards with a yawn, a chain-sickle attached to her belt, black hair shining in the sun

Yes, casual; that was the best way to describe her, really, what with the exposed naval, and loose chainmail skirt that barely reached her knees. What drew most people’s attention, and continuously irred Walter, was the scale-like, plate armor that seemed to wrap around her torso, climbing upwards until it wrapped around her arm, a metallic pad covering the opposite shoulder.

“Welcome back, Zaneta!”

Crimson lips smiling a bit, ‘Zaneta’ kept her arms upheld long enough to avoid Julie crushing them in a hug from the side, looking down at Julie with amusement.

“Ah, you remembered this time, Julia pequeña~.” Zaneta noted; up until the incident, Vicky had constantly forgotten about the metallic armor that occupied much of Zatena’s left side, resulting in her face meeting iron.

“...Hmm, the weather’s nice enough right now, so maybe...-Hm? Oh! Good to see you up and about, Zaneta. I don’t suppose anyone else is out of the wards, are they?” Millie ask, casually waving to her, before redirecting her attention back the the launcher to ponder something. Raising an eyebrow, Zaneta simply waved back, placed a hand on her hip, and briefly looking around.

“Eh, I just got released about seven hours ago. La curadora said that I should take it easy for a while, so my first job’s going to be in about two days. As for who else got released, hmmm...Well, I came here with Sophie, obviously, and I’m pretty sure I saw Grant, Leo, Roberto, and Alta on my way out.” Ticking off the names, she clicked her teeth in annoyance, before walking over to a training dummy and doing more routine stretches.

“Well, Sophie’s probably got a list somewhere; I’ll give it to Min and ask her to post the names on a notice or something later.”

Continuing his withering glare for a few more moments, Walter scowled, and resumed his aim.

“Hmm, you do that. Miss Cuthers, if you will...Miss Cuthers?”

Hands on the lever, Millie seemed to be looking intently at the launcher

“Mmm...Actually, Walter, would it be alright with you if I had a go at it?”

Eyes widening slightly, Walter gave Millie a rather bemused expression.

“M-miss Cuthers, are you quite certain that you -”

“Please, Walter?? Just a few rounds; practice makes perfect!”

After a moment or two had passed, Walter relented with a bemused sigh, putting the safety on before handing his pistol over to Millie, and taking an observable position against a tree

“...En serio? Esta debería ser interesante…” Zaneta stated, pausing in the middle of her stretches to lean against her training dummy and watch. Julie, having hurried over to the launcher the minute Walter loaned Millie his gun, flashed her an optimistic smile.

“Give it your best, Millie! I’ll launch ‘em for ya; as is, or should I make things a smidge easier?

“Mmm, no, no, as is, Julie.”

With an affirmative nod from Julie, Millie clasped the gun in both hands and bit her lip slightly as she steadied her aim at the firing position.

“...And….GO!”

With a familiar ‘thwunk!’, the target was flung into the air. The instant it reached it’s peak, Millie fired...

...And hit the trunk of a tree a distance away, the actual target left untouched...despite the fact that Millie had been aiming upwards.

“...Again!”

Another reload, and…’thwunk!’

Millie aimed slightly higher, fired four times….and completely missed every shot, one bullet somehow going outside the field of fire to the far right, striking a tree, and sending birds everywhere in wild panic.

“...(I guess some things never change). So, again, anything actually new happen?” Zaneta asked, resuming her stretches.

(“Julie, again!”)

“Well, Walt and I just got back from a long assignment, so there’s not much I can tell you. But, there was an incident with a Fall-Back about half a week ago, and...Oh! Lucas got a Changeling!” Julie recounted as she launched another target.

“Really? You think he’d be interested in a spar?”

(Trying again at the absolute minimum range for a novice, Millie, firing as many times as was possible before it hit the ground, somehow shot the shadow of the target mid-flight, and still somehow missed the target)

“Eh, maybe when he gets back; he’s got some sort of assignment with the Enforcers.”

(“Miss Cuthers, perhaps a stationary target would be more practical?” Walter asked hopefully, eyebrow twitching, not keen on Millie potentially wasting ammunition.

“Uh...right, that sounds lovely.”)

“A shame. I guess Keiko is with him?” Zaneta asked, sounding a bit more curious.

“No, no, Keiko’s right over there, trying to find Shouga.”

Zaneta’s eye light up instantly, quickly following Julia’s direction, and saw Keiko looking up at some tree’s, shielding her eyes from the sun as she tried to spot her pet. A small, enamored smile gracing her lips, Zaneta called to Keiko with a wave. Taking a moment to realize she was being addressed, Keiko bowed slightly and waved awkwardly back, before resuming her search.

“...(As beautiful as ever)” Zaneta uttered softly, her gaze lingering for a bit longer before turning her attention to the sound of a gun being fired, her expression swiftly becoming deadpan at the scene unfolding in front of her, visibly slumping in exasperation.

“Por la bien de Gireld...she practices, what, twelve hours a week, but this is the best she has to show for it?”

Standing a bit more than ten feet away from the large bullseye, Millie unloaded round after round, with careful aim, until at least she had spent all but one practice bullet.

Not only had she completely failed to hit the entire target, but several shots looked like they had been fired from entirely different engles. Aiming as carefully as was possible, Millie fired her last bullet...which not only missed the target, again, but ricocheted off a few trees behind it before disappearing altogether in the branches.

“...more than half a decade's worth of practice- I’d question how this is possible, but I dare say that I’ve seen stranger.” Walter remarked, pinching the bridge of his nose before gesturing to Millie for his gun. Said utter failure of a marksman was bowing her head in comical depression at her abysmal performance, silently handing Walter his gun before walking over to a tree and softly planting her head against it.

“Found you!”

Running over to the tree whose leaves had just been been disturbed by , Keiko skidded to a halt and glared up at the branches, cracking her knuckles slightly as she prepared to jump. Only then did she notice Millie’s current state of mind.

“Uh, Nee-san?”

“Oh, she just tried her hand at the shooting range again, that’s all.” Walter stated, eyebrow twitching slightly. Flinching slightly as she imagined what had transpired, Keiko gave a nervous smile, and patted Millie’s shoulder.

“...D-don’t worry, Nee-san! I’m sure you’ll get it...eventually…”

In the two years Keiko had known her, Millie had never once succeeded in hitting a target even under the most basic of circumstances, whether it be melee, close range, mid range, long range- it always ended the same way. Sometimes, Keiko wondered why she bothered to collect weapons she was never going to be able to use.

Giving Millie one last pat of reassurance, Keiko resumed her climb, already spotting a few claw marks leading up the tree. Doing her best to avoid the pine needles, and once again being thankful that she always wore gloves, Keiko gritted her teeth as she spotted the end of a tail disappear above a branch. Narrowing her eyes, she put on an extra burst of speed, and finally reached her destination, pushing away the greenery to reveal about what she had expected: Shouga silently approaching a bird’s nest, crouching predatorily while eyeing its prey, a small, red bird, known as a Tri-winged Gilver. Said bird sat diligently in it’s nest, either oblivious to the danger it was in, or under the assumption that it actually stood a fighting chance.

Watching the scene unfolding in front of her, Keiko’s eye twitched, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Shouga…”

It’s ears perking up instantly, said creature stopped in it’s tracks. Reaching out with a frown, Keiko grabbed Shouga by the fur of his neck, and pulled him to her face, giving him a disapproving, and fairly exasperated, glare.

“We’ve been over this: You cannot use the local bird population as your own personal banquet!”

A small tongue flicked her nose in response.

“...Why do you have to be so adorable?”

Placing a bell on her pet, much to Shouga’s displeasure, Keiko poked her head out of the tree.

“Hey, uh, excuse me, but c-can someone please reach into my bag, grab a small chunk of the Stalker meat that’s in there, and l-lure Shouga up to my room?”

“No hay problema!”

Rushing over to Keiko’s bag, Zaneta spent several seconds rummaging through it before whipping out a small bit of the treat. Hurrying over to the tree, she held it up above her head.

“Shouga! Time for a bite to eat~!

After a few minutes of silence, Shouga poked his head out of the pine in curiousity.

The effects were instantaneous; His entire body stiffened in joyful surprise, his nostrils flaring as the scent reached him, a small stream of saliva immediately starting to leak out of the corner of his mouth. Grinning at her captive audience, Zaneta cupped a hand to her mouth.

“He’s hooked! He’ll be in your room in a few minutes.”

Seeing Keiko’s hand come into view and give her a wave, Zaneta blew Keiko a small kiss before jogging away, meat now dangling in her hand. Shouga rushed down the tree to give chase, the birds effectively forgotten.

Wiping some sweat from her brow from the narrowly avoided bird slaughter, Keiko began her descent.

“You know, you could have just called his name and dangled the meat from the beginning, right? There was no need to climb the tree.” Called out Walter before taking a shot, Millie resuming launching the target

Halting mid-descent, Keiko paused for a bit before administering a facepalm.

“Not to worry, mate; We all muck up a bit at some point!” Julia cheerfully stated, giving a salute of encouragement.

“...y-yeah, I suppose.” Keiko sighed, her free arm hanging limply by her side in mild woe for a moment before she resumed her descent.

‘Ugh, it still makes me feel like an idiot for not realizing it, though...best not to dwell on it. Maybe I should head to the dining hall for a bit to eat? Oh, maybe some ham glazed with-!”

Any further musings on the future contents of her stomach were abruptly cut short by a loud ‘SNAP!’, courtesy of an abused tree branch snapping under her foot as she lowered herself. Realization hitting her instantly, Keiko had a split second to dawn an almost comical look of horror and utter a quiet “...Meep~!” before the laws of gravity kicked in, and sent her crashing downwards through the remaining branches. Witnesses could only cringe each time Keiko yelped, gasped, and grunted on impact with the tree’s limb, before mercy was finally granted and she landed in a bush with her legs sticking up in the air, twitching with pain.

“Keiko! By Aphyr’s Grace, are you alright?!” Millie exclaimed.

“...Itaii....” Keiko croaked from the bushes, managing to right herself after a few seconds. Twigs and leaves sticking to her now dirty face, Keiko clutched the side of her head in a daze, her eyesight gradually focusing.

“You just fell out of a tree!”

“Y-yeah, I know...I-I-I’ll be fine. I’ll have Nick take a look at me before I hit the kitch-!”

Any further temptation of fate was cut off as a final branch dropped from the tree and clonked Keiko on the head, causing her to immediately stiffen before abruptly collapsing forward; the whole thing was almost...amusing,

“...I’ll just go get Nick; Julia, if you could-” Millie started, somewhat bemused by the timing of it all.

“No need to bother yourself, Millie, my dear; I left my office the moment I saw her climb the tree!”

“Oh! Perfect timing, Nick. Shall I hold that for you while you heal Keiko?” Millie exclaimed in relief, turning around with a grateful smile spreading across her lips.

Under normal circumstances, only the most vain or aesthetically inclined individuals would use an umbrella in broad daylight (or partly clouded weather, in this case).

Most individuals were not vampires.

Perhaps even more striking than the almost tent-length umbrella being used by this particular vampire was the utterly jovial and amiable expression on his face as he briskly walked over...as well as he could, anyway, what with the cane he used to get about. In spite of his pale complexion, needle like teeth, and blood red eyes, most who met him considered him to be nothing short of a jolly old man, almost a grandfatherly figure. And like most individuals his age, his was a rather frail frame, something that was only reinforced by his vampirism, and the rather old-fashioned grey suit he wore.

Handing Millie the umbrella, Nick gave an appreciate nod.

“Quite obliged, my dear; no need to keep it held too high, though. Now, let me see...ah, yes, Julia, if you would just sit her up by that tree over there...”

WIth a flick of his wrist, light red energies began swirling around his hand, glowing beads bound by invisible string.

“Don’t worry everyone, the (singing pork said all I have) to do is stick the honey dagger in the (oversized toe)!” Keiko muttered, half unconscious and half delirious, as she was seated against a tree, her native language mixing with the local.

“...So, she’s definitely got a concussion. A head injury will do that, but at least now we know for certain what needs treatment first.” Nick stated, raising his eyebrows in mild amusement. Placing his hand above Keiko, he dropped roughly a third of the spherical red energies onto her, silently watching as they were absorbed into her head, followed shortly after by dropping the rest onto the rest of her body.

“Well, that’s one crisis averted; What was the length of time, again, that needed to pass before concussions couldn’t be treated by Mend Recrafting?” Millie asked, letting out a sigh of relief.

Nick chuckled

“Oh, roughly five minutes, my dear; Why else do you think I left my office so quickly?

“Hm? Ah,yes, Lucas; he’s quite the natural, if I do say do myself! He’s been eating up the lessons so quickly that these old bones of mine can hardly keep up!” Letting out a good natured chuckle, Nick placed a hand to his chin, sighing slightly with regret.

“It’s quite a shame, though; of all the werewolves I’ve met, he’s, perhaps, one of the most hampered I’ve ever encountered, at least in regards to Recrafting. As dry a well as I’ve ever seen…”

A loud growl interrupted Keiko, eliciting from her stomach.

“...Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Come back in an hour or two?”

Less than twenty minutes later, Keiko was savoring freshly made, glazed ham, her feet swaying under the dining hall table as she hummed a little song to herself.

‘Sooo good~! I really should ask Gracia-san for some more recipes; I’d love to try out some of them for our trip to Bloom Haven! Should provide a good distraction from the-’

“Merciful-!! Okay! Okay! I’m sorry, I won’t touch it!...Cripes!”

Pausing mid bite, Keiko contemplated whether or not to see what the trouble was. Against her better judgement, she slowly turned around, and raised an eyebrow as a fellow Abater, casually clad in a red and grey ensemble with a yellow scarf, hastily backed away from a despondent Gilligan.

“Um...what just happened?” Keiko asked, slowly resumed her meal

Bumping into Keiko’s table, the Abater blinked in surprise and turned around, a single bead of sweat perspiring on his forehead.

“Hah-! Uh-huh...Well, I-I thought the new guy, Gilligan, had the music p-playing too loudly, so I went over to quiet things down a bit; The minute I try lowering the volume, though, a d...dagger’s embedded so close to my hand that I think it split hairs! Next thing I know, the loon’s glaring at me all depressed-like, and tells me never to touch the radio while he’s around!”

Almost chocking on her food at the statement, Keiko slowly turned to look at Gilligan, eyes widened ever so slightly, before finally swallowing her bite.

“...g...good to know…” she muttered, blanching. “H-how long has he…?”

“Not sure; He just barged in about an hour ago, looking like someone just told him his mom’s dead. Take my advice, and avoid him at all costs around him...Aphyre’s grace, I hope Min’s gonna wait him out before she ‘welcomes’ him…”

Nodding as he scampered off, Keiko took a few more bites before freezing again, and turning pale. Quickly getting up, she hurried over to Gilligan, and immediately saw just what her fellow Abater had been talking about.

Gilligan, simply put, looked utterly devastated; his eye staring off into space as he lay his chin on the table, one arm sprawled out on it, the other gripping a stein with a vice-grip, and skin far paler than when she had last seen him. And not far from his head was a large knife, embedded so deep into the wood that Keiko was fairly certain it pierced through to the underside.

And playing some melancholy music was a radio, half a hands length away from said knife.

Sweating slightly at the sight, Keiko gulped, and hesitantly patted Gilligan on the shoulder.

At first, no response. Then, just as Keiko was about to try again, Gilligan shifted his head ever so slightly to look at her out of the corner of his gaze.

“...what?” He asked, voice hollow and depressed.

“It’s just...t-there was something I forgot to warn you about after orientation, and it would be better if I told you sooner, rather than latter, so…”

Staring blankly at her for a few moments, Gilligan let out a sigh, and sat himself upright, casually grabbing the knife and sheathing it in the process.

“...You’ve caught me at bad time, lass…(sigh) by the Eyes of Gourald...Raul, ya’ poor b*st*rd…how in Qaleth’s horizon am I supposed to react ta’ tha’??”

Blinking at the name, Keiko actually realized what he was talking about, and cast her eyes downward in a somber gaze.

It had been...troubling, to say the least, when she had found out. After being informed privately of the situation by Millie Keiko had immediately asked permission to send flowers and some sweets to the man in question. She may not have known him personally, but the information had certainly been depressing. But for someone to actually have a bit of a connection, even if it was through a deceased brother-in-arms...she could hardly imagine how Gilligan must have felt when he got the news.

The previous Chair of Defense, Raul Martinez, had only been in office for about half a decade, give or take a few months, but he had already made quite a name for himself, and was promising to become one of the best Chairs in the history of High Beacon.

In retrospect, perhaps the whole thing had been too good to last.

Near the end of his unexpectedly short tenure, during a meeting to discuss some minor adjustments to the patrols training regiment, Raul slowly fell silent in the middle of an explanation, only to start perspiring and mutter unintelligibly under his breath. Before anyone could help him, he suddenly leapt back, pointed a shaking finger at the meeting table, and began screaming utter nonsense, to everyone’s confused horror. After being subdued, Raul was rushed to the mending wards, where for what seemed like an eternity for those in the know, he was evaluated from top to bottom. And, in the end, all hope for this being an isolated incident was dashed with utterly unexpected, jaw dropping revelation that was summed up in three words: Inherited Neurodegenerative disorder.

After getting over the initial shock, the information was immediately restricted to a need-to-know-basis, and Raul was given enough time to get his affairs in order, and choose someone to replace him. Managing to keep his spirits up for the next month, he chose Morgan Halder without much opposition, and was able to retire early..and then immediately sunk into a deep depression. To this day, he was kept on suicide watch, lest he do something...drastic.

“...I’m sorry you had to learn about it like you did.”

Bringing his stein to his lips, Gilligan took a large swig, gasping slightly once he was done, and almost slammed it back onto the table, giving Keiko a tired look.

“‘Sah’right, lass...might not have been my brightest idea to try and pay him a surprise visit...Just tell me what ya need to tell me. There some emergency company policy ye and the other lass forget to inform me of?”

“N-no, nothing like that.” Keiko replied, scratching her cheek nervously. “It’s, um, just that Fāng-san...she has a ‘special’ way of welcoming new members to the den.”

“...And ya felt that this warranted warning me about it why? She like to establish the pecking order or something?” Gilligan deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

“Mmm, no, no...she, uh, she just pranks all newcomers”

Gilligan blinked, and raised an eyebrow.

“‘Welcoming prank’…- Wait, does this mean that the incident yesterday with the North siblings’ was-?”

Keiko simply nodded, causing Gilligan’s eyes to widene slightly.

The day before, Andreas had been enroute to the room he shared with his sister, when the knob had snapped off the instant he turned it. He had spent a bit of time registering this fact before Keiko stumbled upon him, herself on her way downstairs, and watched as he finally stated ‘The knob came off...’ in what was quite possibly the most blunt, disbelieving tone she had ever heard. Shortly after informing him of the likely culprit, Andreas had immediately bolted downstairs, more or less making it clear what had happened on his way down.

“...Aye, a forewarnin’ woulda been a great help in tha’ regard.” Gilligan had activated his rysing, and seemed to be carefully examining the general direction of his room. To Keiko’s surprise, his previous depression seemed to have elevated a bit, albeit, replaced with caution. “Hmm...If’n ya don’t mind sharin’, what was your fate?”

“...She, uh...put a toy snake under my pillow...” Keiko explained, her voice quieting as she shared the rather embarrassing memory. That little incident had actually backfired on Fāng, if she recalled correctly. Perhaps it had been a simple lapse in judgement, but Fāng had forgotten to take into account that Keiko used Shock Rysing. As a result, Keiko had acted on pure reflex one morning when she had woken up to see what looked like a snake under her pillow. The resulting explosion had caused several Abaters to burst into her room within seconds, weapons at the ready, only to find the front half of her bed utterly destroyed with Keiko blown into the opposing wall, hand stretched out in front of her, sparks dancing on her fingertips, and looking utterly floored. Part of the toy snake had survived and fallen on the floor, quickly leading Dolson to figure out what had happened, and Fāng had been forced to pay for damages.

To Keiko’s surprise, this actually elicited a chortle of amusement from Gilligan, further alleviated by the tale

“Alrigh’...Well, thanks for the warning, lass; I’ll keep my eye open.”

Nodding, Keiko rose from her seat and was about to head upstairs when Gilligan spoke up again.

“Ah, Lass? About what ya requested a few days ago…”