Land of the Blades

45. Static

—I have been telling you, I can get it fixed in a minute —Shirou said, but Malachite moved his finger from side to side.

—This is our project; we can't always depend of teacher's magecraft.

Shirou had to give up, and asked me to follow him outside of the room, while Bort was told to wait for at least fifteen more minutes before even walking. Shirou told me more details about that place as he guided me to the lower floor. It had electricity thanks to them finding some salvageable geothermal generators on the bottom of the ocean, and there was even a machine that was able to emulate sun rays.

—That being said, Malachite and Sugilite can go outside when the day is nice. But even with the magnetic distortion I was afraid the Lunarians could manage to come and steal them —Shirou said, going suddenly silent for a few moments—, who was taken when I wasn't there?

—Ghost, the outer layer I mean, probably trying to rescue my head —I said— and... Goshe and Morga, the ones who came with us appeared recently as some sort of exchange.

—... I see.

We walked a bit more in silence, until we got to a door with a more complicated lock than before. Inside of that room there was a machine making a weird humming noise. The gold alloy between my cracks started shivering.

—This machine produces an electromagnetic distortion, it is stronger above the surface of the water, and the machines on the lab are protected of it. I'm not sure what its original purpose was, but it has kept the Admirabilis' kingdom hidden and safe since I found it. The emitters are all over the place, but this is the main control, I can lower its power enough for you to call Caster —he said, rotating a dial—, it will take a moment, though.

He pointed to a small green bulb, which he said will turn on once it had reached the proper intensity.

—Phos, do you remember when I talked with Franny?

—Eh? That... that was back when we fought Rider, right?

—Yeah. You looked so cool when you went to save me. Did I ever thank you enough? —he said, but it seemed as if his mind was in other place—, at that time, Franny told me she was trying to achieve a goal that we had set together. I didn't wanted to believe it, but when I got back this arm, I got some memories from that time, before I came to this planet. They are still blurry and incomplete, but the Franny in those memories seems to be... a nice person.

—What?! —I said, completely incredulous.

She had been the one who threw a meteorite against us and the one who had hurt Sensei, I couldn't never accept the idea of her being a "nice person". Shirou seemed to realize what I was thinking, and once more put his hand over my hair, trying to calm me down.

—Don't worry, I have taken in consideration that this memories might have been altered, so I can't trust them too much. And I can't forgive her for what she did either. I will always be your ally no matter what, but I want to find the truth. So when we get to her, would you allow me to speak with her first?

—... Of course —I couldn't say no to him, and if there was a chance we ended up this conflict pacifically, I'll embrace it with open arms. It would be hypocrite of me to not even attempt it, after I had decided to help the Lunarians.

With that being said, I still had something in my mind. I wanted to ask him why he was covering his eyes, but before I could, the green bulb turned on, and I got the radio out of my body.

—Caster, this is Phos, do you copy me? —I said, and waited for a few moments. Nothing but static came out of it.

—I repeat, Caster, this is Phos, do you copy me? Over —I was starting to get nervous.

Shirou looked at some displays and gauges and confirmed the distortion should be low enough for her to get the call. I tried a third time, but the result was the same.

—Ma-maybe she is away, we co-could wait a bit... —I said, very nervously.

—No, she wouldn't leave it untended unless something happened —Shirou said, looking seriously—. Let's forget about staying the night, we need to go back now.

I nodded, and after returning the machine to its normal levels and closing the door behind us, we briefly explained what had happened to Sugilite and Malachite, took an exasperated Bort and hurriedly returned to the surface. I didn't bothered hiding the radio.

—AECHMEA! —I yelled as soon as I got out of the cave— I can't communicate with the island!

He gave a quick glace to the radio and then to my face.

—We have to return immediately, Franny might have found a way to act before we expected —he said, with genuine concern on his face. I decide to trust him for the moment.

I made everyone get on board of the ship as quickly as they could, while Shirou told most of the young Admirabilis to go to the other "stations" and inform their parents so they could take over the vigilance in this post.

—Ondyne, Bizz, you are coming with us —he said.

The former had demonstrated she was able to fight even against three of our best fighters, and she was pretty excited to go on a mission with her teacher. I didn't expected to the little one to turn into her giant form again and pull the ship faster than we had gone before. As her massive body broke the ice with ease, we didn't had to worry about that either. The Lunarian's vessel was being left behind, even when I tried to grab it with my alloy. I almost ended up with my arms being ripped apart. We decided to leave the Sunspot behind, with only two Sundries on it to catch us later, while Assassin, the rest of the Lunarians, and the three Shadow servants came aboard the ship. Even after getting away from the electromagnetic distortion, Caster wasn't picking up on the radio. It had taken us a bit more than three days to reach that place, but with the titanic Admirabilis pulling us, we were able to saw our island in just half of that time. By that point, Bizz was exhausted, as she had been pulling us even after Shirou had told her she needed to take a break.

—We need... to help... them... —she said when she returned to her slug form out of exhaustion—, it's... what grandma would... have done...

I hugged her the two hours it took us to reach the shore closer to the school. And just as we expected, Franny had indeed made a move.

—Welcome back, I didn't expected you to come so soon —said a blonde girl sitting above a giant rock sword that was embedded in the sand of the beach.

—B-Berserker?? —Assassin said, covering her mouth. It was probably the first time I had seen her shown any emotion as strong as that.

—What are you doing here? —Shirou said as he jumped from the ship into the shallow waters—, what did you do with everyone?

—Eh? Are you sure that's the way you should address me? —she said with a wicked smile, but then changed his tone to one full of innocence—, have you forgotten all about me, Onii-chan?

Shirou was suddenly stopped on his track.

—KAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! —Berserker laughed holding her stomach, though the sound sounded more like a beast roaring.

—H-how... Berserker should be under the influence of Mad Enhancement —Assassin said, her voice full of disbelief—, she shouldn't be able to talk, much less laugh...

—Eh? Are you surprised, Assassin? Should I explain it to you, perhaps?

—Cut it out! Tell me where is Caster! —Shirou yelled, and for a moment, Berserker looked just a bit afraid, but she recovered her wicked smile almost immediately.

—I like that spirit, Onii-chan. I know, let's fight. If you make me admit defeat, I'll tell you everything that you want to know.

—I just have to make you admit defeat, right?

—Right! But... —her smile turned even more sinister, as she jumped from the sword, held it from the handle and lift it as if it was nothing— you'll have to come at me with all your might, after all, I am the strongest hero, Heracles!