Chapter 38 - Returning

At long last, the squad was ready to depart. Ono and Ergo waved them goodbye, embarrassed smiles across their faces. They weren't eager to go back to Base Yuna after everything that'd happened, but once again, they didn't have much choice. They'd left the two Aberrations back at the factory after making Ono and Ergo promise they wouldn't tell anyone about them. The Captain wondered how Arago was doing. Were Gull and the others alright?

Frederick looked around, examining their surroundings. It'd been a while since he'd last been to that part of the Upper District. He sunk his hands deep into his pockets, clutching his knuckledusters. Base Miu, the only fighting base, had fallen. But if they managed to take down that Ringleader or whatnot, that wouldn't matter anymore. Despite knowing how talented his brother was in that regard, he seriously doubted they'd be able to create a stronger acid than what they already had. For so many years, Base Yuna and Phi's scientists hadn't even managed to come close to doing something like that. Karabell, on the other hand, really seemed to believe that those three could do it all by themselves in less than a day.

"Somehow, it feels a bit lonely," Alice remarked.

"I guess last time we did have Arago with us, huh?" Een replied absently.

After a while, Frederick and Shono resumed their heated discussion about whether or not killing an Aberration with just a supporting weapon was possible. Apparently, Frederick was claiming to have done that at some point in the past. Kei had already begun pestering Annie and Lyra with a bunch of questions. Alice hadn't exactly been referring to Arago when she'd said that.

"Annie, Lyra, let's go," Frederick suddenly said. "That one's ours." A scaled Aberration had emerged from one of the buildings. It didn't make any noise, so it was probably a regular one.

Lyra sighed. He'd called her name too, but she was pretty sure those two would manage on their own. Annie drew her weapon, a one-handed sword, a bit shorter than Alice's. Frederick tackled the Aberration, taking it by surprise. With incredible speed, he punched the creature's kneecaps. The creature didn't fall. Frederick immediately distanced himself from the creature and started circling around it.. It was covered in scales, so it wasn't fast at all. He jumped on its back, trying to land a blow on its nape. With the Commander out of the way, Lyra released the bowstring. The arrow flawlessly found its way into the Aberration's eye. Annie watched closely as the beast fell to the ground, flat on its belly. Frederick drove his fist into the creature's lower back several times, creating a series of gaps in its scales. In the next second, Annie plunged her sword into the creature's flesh. Frederick jumped down, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Great job," he praised his teammates, grinning.

Alice looked at Een. Usually, her brother would've complained about being left out. However, he was so focused on explaining his plans to Karabell for must've been the thousandth time that he hadn't even noticed anything. It was probably for the best. Kei, on the other hand, was scolding Shono for not taking the initiative. Alice had to admit, Frederick and Lyra's coordination was impressive. The entire fight had lasted twenty seconds at best.

They arrived at Base Yuna at just after noon. Karabell had expected the place to look dreadful after the battle, but it looked exactly like he remembered it. Dante greeted them, waving his arms above his head.

"Long time no see, guys! Especially in your case, Frederick," he said, struggling to keep a straight face. "Karabell said you had something to show me, Een. I know you're kind of in a hurry, so let's get down to business."

Annie examined the hallway as they headed towards the laboratory. That place hadn't changed a bit. She'd been the one who'd suggested going all the way to Base Yuna. But could they really do it? No, they had to to do it. All they needed to do was replace one ingredient with another. Besides, Dante was there with them.

"So you want to try using myrosinase instead of glycoside hydrolases... I'm not saying it's not possible, but it might be tricky." Dante looked over the documents Een had brought with him. "Well, we won't know until we try, so here goes nothing."

*

Karabell and Frederick entered the base's armory. At Dante's request, the others had already prepared their weapons. However, they were pretty much useless, since they still hadn't been coated with poison.

"That being said, they did a great job. These ones seem even sturdier than what I have now," Frederick claimed, trying on the pair of knuckledusters.

Karabell inspected his new spear. Certainly, those things were a lot better than their old, damaged weapons. They also seemed to be slightly lighter.

"So, are you ready to take that thing on?" he heard himself ask. Karabell was beginning to think that blurting random stuff out like that was a bad habit.

"Pretty much. We can finally do something, at least. We don't have to hide in our underground bases, praying the monsters wouldn't sniff us out anymore. Now, we can win. So I'm ready to go all out." Frederick stared at his fists. "We have to do this for our comrades. For all those people who died. We can't let their deaths be meaningless. Each and every one those deaths held meaning. We'll avenge them, won't we? Only we can do that."

A shiver ran down Karabell's spine. He was glad that Frederick wasn't hesitant... Yet, for some reason, he found those words awfully disturbing.