Three days later, the two feathered Aberrations returned. Karabell and Shono were outside, watching Kei shred yet another training dummy. She was already at her fourth one. Shono was the one who first spotted the creatures. They were running at full speed towards the base, not showing any intention of stopping. They knew that feathered Aberrations were fast, but that trip would've taken a normal human just under six days. It hadn't even been four days since their departure. The creatures' sprint came to a halt. Karabell looked around nervously, walking towards them. One of the Garglings was holding Gun in its arms. At first glance, Karabell thought the old man was dead, but he seemed to be breathing. He'd probably passed out. The Aberration lowered him to the ground, staring into the Captain's eyes.
"We could use some of Gull's powers right now," Karabell sighed. "Thank you for your help. The others left a few days ago, just after you set out for the Lower District. You can wait for them at the abandoned factory."
The Aberration who'd been carrying Gun nodded. Karabell made a mental note to ask Gull what their names were later. Before that, however, they had to take Gun to the infirmary. Shono's shoulder had gotten a little better, so he offered to lend Karabell a hand.
Karabell yawned. It really felt like the past few days had flown by. Alice had continued to act as if nothing had happened, much to Karabell's delight. Just like he'd said, that could wait until they took care of the Ringleader. Kei had gotten even better at handling her knives, too. Frederick and Lyra had managed to convince the teachers to let them use one of the training rooms, but Kei still preferred to murder the dummies outside. Een had come up with over thirty strategies and had made sure to memorize all of them down to the tiniest detail. Karabell had to admit, some of the ideas he'd thought up were pretty crazy, but, all in all, they were good plans of action.
"Well, I can't really tell you much until he wakes up," Annie yawned, pointing towards Gun. "But if he's really gone mad, it could be dangerous to leave him here by himself. We do have dungeon here, though I highly doubt you'd want that.
"We'll gladly accept your offer. Where is the entrance?" Karabell said promptly. The corner of Annie's mouth twitched. The Captain was dead serious.
He and Frederick had decided that they were going to leave the next day. They couldn't waste their time looking after Gun. Een had told him that he'd found a way to create a new toxin, even better than the one Frederick and Lyra's weapons were coated with. They needed to get to Base Yuna as fast as possible. They also had to get their hand on some new weapons, but Karabell'd already asked Dante to take care of that.
*
Lyra loosed another arrow. Her aim had certainly improved, but she still felt like she could do better. They didn't know what they were going up against. They didn't know if they would be able to get close to it. The Commander had also spent a lot more time honing his skills than normally. Well, of course. At the very least, they were sure they would run into a bunch of Aberrations. Fen, one of the teachers, had asked them what they were working so hard for on a few occasions, but Frederick had managed to evade his questions. Alice had ensured them that Kei was only learning those things to be able to defend herself if necessary, but Lyra still didn't like the idea. The girl was only ten, she was a child. What were they thinking? Lyra drew a deep breath and readied her bow. Once they took that thing down, everything would go back to normal. Back to how things had been two thousand years before. For some reason, she couldn't picture it no matter how much she tried. The arrow sunk into the dummy's chest.
"Are we really doing this?" she heard herself ask.
"Naturally. You don't seem excited at all. Think about it, Lyra. We'll finally be free. Once our enemy is defeated, we'll be free," Frederick responded mechanically, his usual grin plastered on his face.
Why would she be excited? They weren't guaranteed to win. Lyra wished that it'd all go well from the bottom of her heart, but they couldn't get overconfident. When all was said and done, she wanted everyone to be able to look back on those days and smile. She wanted everyone to live.
"Working hard as always I see," Alice said, startling her. Had she always been that stealthy? "Sorry, sorry, I didn't realize you were so focused. It seems like a long time since we last saw each other, even though we've been living under the same roof."
"We do spend most of our time here..." Lyra lowered her weapon. "How're you holding up?"
"I don't like to think about our mission. We get there when we get there, that sort of thing," Alice's voice faltered.
Lyra knew what she meant. Even Commander Frederick seemed a bit under the weather. But it would all be over in a few more days. They needed to hold out until then.
"Everything will be fine, Alice." She managed a smile. "We're humanity's strongest fighters, aren't we? So let's show those things what we're made of."
"I feel like I've heard that before, though. Oh, hat's right! I'd completely forgotten why I came here in the first place. Dinner'll be ready in a bit, so make sure you don't get too immersed in your training... like that guy." Alice chuckled, looking in Frederick's direction.
Lyra almost dropped her bow as she burst into laughter. Only then did she notice how much she'd missed those moments. It seemed like, before she'd realized it, she'd grown quite fond of Squad Ress' members. Everything was going to be fine as long as they all did their best. She was sure of it.