|| The Einherjar ||
|| The Naldia Narrow ||

By the time Lyra regained consciousness a few days later, her body was healed. There wasn't even a scar left behind from Barnabas' attack. She realized her head was resting in someone's lap. As her vision cleared, she saw it was Jill's lap her head was resting in.

The silver-haired woman sighed in relief. "Thank the Founder..."

Unlike Jill, Lyra's hands weren't cuffed with crystal fetters. In fact, she wasn't shackled at all. She was surprised as she lifted her head from her friend's lap and looked around to see they were in a cell. Feeling the swaying of the sea, it only took her a few seconds to realize where they were. "This is..."

"I'm afraid so," Jill replied weakly, her strength having been sapped because of the crystal fetters. "We're aboard the Black Galleon."

Lyra looked around the cell they were trapped in before she looked back at Jill. "Are you injured?"

She shook her head. "No. You protected me."

"Then...why didn't you escape?" She asked. "You could have avoided being captured if you had left me behind."

"I refuse to leave you behind, especially in the hands of such a man," Jill replied.

Lyra got to her feet at the same time the door to the brig opened. She turned to see Barnabas and Indra. She glared at both of them as they approached the cell. "You have meddled in the affairs of mortals as well, Indra."

The corrupt god chuckled. "How could I not? Though I still see them as fodder, they are quite amusing, to say the least." He then glanced at the king. "Unlock the door."

"As you command." Barnabas didn't complain as he opened the cell door. It was clear he was more than willing to listen to the god.

Indra entered the cell and stalked toward Lyra, but he stopped the movement Jill placed herself in front of her. "Do not touch her!" she hissed, glaring daggers at the god.

He calmly spoke to the silver-haired woman. "You are only here as leverage to ensure Gaia does not act out. Behave, mortal."

"Why, you—!"

Lyra stopped Jill by stepping out from behind her. She willingly approached the god. "What do you want, Indra?"

"Your cooperation. Come, Gaia." Without laying a hand on her, he exited the cell. When he saw she wasn't following him, he eyed her through the bars. "If you do not cooperate, I will see to it your friend here is punished in your stead."

Lyra's glare morphed into a horror-stricken expression. She looked at Jill before making her decision. "If I do as you command, you will not lay a hand on her?"

"You have my word," Indra reassured her.

Lyra lowered her head. She couldn't allow Barnabas nor Indra to hurt Jill. Reluctantly, she walked out of the cell.

"Lyra!" Jill shouted.

She managed to smile at her friend. "It will be all right, Jill. Trust in me, always."

Following Indra out of the brig with Barnabas trailing behind her, Lyra was escorted to the captain's cabin. To her surprise, the king bowed to the god and didn't follow them inside. She expressed her shock to him when the door closed behind her. "What is the meaning of this, Indra?"

"This ship may sail only at the behest of Waloed's king, but he is under my control as Ultima declares it," Indra stated calmly.

Her eyes narrowed. "It sounds almost as if you and Ultima are close friends."

"Friends? Nonsense. We are just simply two parties with the same end-goal. Of course, I shall allow him to take full control for now."

"You plan to betray him?"

"If I must, then I shall. But I did not bring you here to discuss him." Indra walked over to her and gently grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "Become mine, and I shall see to it your friend is released."

Her eyes widen. "What...?"

"Of course, I will ensure you are unable to escape until we arrive back in Waloed. I will only release you once you have ascended just as I have."

She yanked her chin out of his grasp. "You haven't ascended. If anything, you have decayed and now are a walking corpse of the man I once knew."

Indra smirked in amusement. "You will change your mind once your body has absorbed enough aether."

Her glare returned. "Who said I would be agreeing to this?"

"Why, me of course. If not, I can have your precious friend killed in an instant. She may be a Dominant that has yet to be absorbed by Mythos, but I know you would never let any harm come to her. If you agree, I shall see to her release immediately."

Lyra clenched her fists before unclenching them. She couldn't allow any harm to come to Jill. She had no choice but to agree. She lowered her head and sighed sorrowfully. "You win, Indra..."

The god's smirk seemed to grow even more. "Excellent. Now, let us see your friend off."

Feeling a sense of defeat, Lyra mindlessly followed Indra back to the brig with Barnabas. She wasn't even able to look at Jill as she was escorted out of the cell and to the main deck. Royalist soldiers were gathered around to make sure neither of the women would do anything crazy.

When Jill was freed from the crystal fetters, she rushed over to Lyra and grabbed her shoulders. "What did you do, Lyra? Please, tell me."

Lyra lifted her head, finally finding the strength to meet the woman's worried and confused gaze. "You are free, Jill. Return to the others, please."

Jill's eyes widen. "What of you? I am not leaving you behind!"

Lyra immediately hugged her. "I cannot leave. To keep you safe, there are sacrifices I have to make. When you see the others, please tell them how sorry I am."

The silver-haired woman was in shock. "Lyra..."

Images of the future flashed through her mind. She saw Clive aboard the Einherjar before the images changed to him being injured by Barnabas a second time. She clung tighter to Jill as the images faded. She whispered to her. "And tell Clive to not pursue this ship. He will be put in danger again if he does."

Before Jill could say anything else, Indra interrupted. "Time to depart, Shiva."

Jill glared at the god. "You monster!"

Lyra stopped her by pulling away and grabbing the sleeves of her shirt. "Go, Jill, and please be safe."

"No...!" She tried to protest, but the goddess wouldn't listen.

She stepped away from Jill and called upon one of the beasts. "Theia, please grant my wish." The dragon appeared and stretched her wings. She turned to the beast. "Take care of Jill."

Jill was in utter shock. She didn't know what to say. All she could do was weakly release her friend. "I-I..."

Indra interrupted by grabbing the goddess' arm and pulling her against him forcefully. He dismissed the heated glare he received from Jill and simply said, "Go before I change my mind. Or perhaps would you prefer I punish both of you?"

Jill gritted her teeth as tears of frustration streamed down her cheeks. Having no other option, she climbed onto Theia's back. As her tears dried, her sharp glare returned tenfold. "Know this, Indra—you will not have her for long."

As Theia took off with Jill on her back, Lyra watched them disappear beyond the horizon. She was relieved to see her friend was now safe. Her gaze was torn from the horizon when Indra forcefully dragged her back to the captain's cabin. She tried to break free from his hold, but he was too strong. She found herself being thrown onto the bed. "This treatment is unnecessary."

"With your little mortal now safe, I must ensure you remain aboard this ship until we reach Waloed." Indra pulled out a shackle that had a chain attached to the boards of the wall not too far from the bed. He slipped the shackle around her neck and locked it.

Lyra was confused until she felt as if her neck was being pricked by thousands of needles. She screamed in pain and clawed at the shackle locked around her neck. She collapsed on the bed as she desperately tried to break free. However, as the pain started to fade so did her strength. She felt sapped of energy and slumped weakly against the bed. "Wh-what is this...?"

Indra grinned from ear to ear. "You remember Achlys, yes?"

"The goddess of misery and poisons..." she mumbled feebly, her body being consumed by a cold sweat.

He chuckled. "Indeed. I recalled the poison she concocted that was used to suppress the powers of the gods who were causing too much trouble in the heavens. Fortunately, I remember the exact recipe and was able to get my hands on the ingredients. What better way to ensure your cooperation if you are powerless?" He stood up and turned his back to her. "I thoroughly checked the amount to guarantee it wouldn't kill you. Until we reach our destination, you shall remain as is. I do hope the swaying of the waves does not upset your sickness further for we have quite the trip ahead of us."

As Indra left the captain's cabin, Lyra lay helplessly on the bed. Tears fell from her eyes as she thought of the faces of all the ones she cared about. As she thought about Clive, a memory from her childhood resurfaced in her mind.

*****

A sixteen-year-old Lyra was carrying a box of goods to the chocobo stables. After begging Rodney to allow her to deliver the box to Eastpool to Hanna, he finally caved and allowed her to. She knew the way home like the back of her hand and wanted to prove to him that she could be even more useful.

While she was strapping the box to the back of her chocobo, which she had named Marigold, she heard running footsteps and what sounded like her name being shouted. Looking around, she saw Clive running toward the stables. Blinking in confusion, she stepped away from her chocobo. "Clive? What are you doing here? Did you not have training with my father?"

He smiled sweetly at her. "The Lord Commander informed me you were returning to Eastpool, and I wanted to accompany you."

"And he agreed?" she asked, shocked.

He nodded. "Yes. He clarified that this short journey would be my training for the week. Unless you prefer to—"

"No!" She found herself shouting. Realizing her childish behavior, she cleared her throat. "I-I would love the company. The roads can be perilous. But...is the archduke all right with this decision?"

"Yes," Clive said. "He was more than supportive when I asked for his approval."

She sighed in relief. "And here I was worried about stealing Rosaria's finest Shield without His Grace's permission."

He smiled at her words before formally bowing to her. "Allow me to be your Shield on this journey, my lady."

She too was smiling. "I would be honored."

The two friends prepared their chocobos before departing from Rosalith. Along the way to Eastpool, they talked about anything and everything. It had been a while since they had some time to properly talk and they had so many stories to tell each other.

By the time they crossed through the Dim to reach Eastpool, their cheerful banter was interrupted when Marigold suddenly came to a halt next to Ambrosia. Both chocobos seemed to notice something their riders didn't.

Lyra stroked her bird's neck in confusion. "What's wrong, girl?"

All of a sudden, men dressed in black emerged from their hiding spot and charged toward Clive and Lyra. Marigold became frightened and wound up bucking the girl off her back. She landed on the ground with a yelp of pain as the chocobo dashed off. "Marigold!" she shouted. Looking back at the thieves quickly approaching, she started to panic and began searching for her talismans.

However, her sight was obscured by Ambrosia. She looked up to see Clive reaching a hand down toward her. Jumping to her feet, she grabbed his hand and he pulled her up onto Ambrosia's back. She sat behind him and looked to see just how many bandits there were.

"There are too many," Clive said. "Hold on to me. I'll get us out of this."

Lyra wrapped her arms around Clive's waist and hugged him as he commanded Ambrosia to run as fast as she could. As the chocobo took off, she could here the frustrated cries of the bandits slowly vanishing. She looked back to see they were unable to keep up with the chocobo.

Once they were safe, she groaned and buried her face into his back. "My father will never let me hear the end of this..."

Clive, unbeknownst to the girl, was enjoying their close proximity. He found himself reaching down to touch the arms that were wrapped around his waist but he promptly stopped himself. "We won't tell the Lord Commander the truth. We'll simply explain to him Marigold ran off after being frightened by a dog. She is rather skittish, after all."

"And now we have to find her," she sighed. "That bird will be the death of me... What if the bandits find her before us and steal the box I'm supposed to give to my mother?"

Finding the strength, Clive placed a hand over her two smaller ones that were resting against his abdomen. "It will be all right, I promise. For now, let's search for Marigold."

She lifted her face from his back and nodded. "All right."

*****

Lyra began to cry harder as the memory faded. She was becoming overwhelmed with the poison as the strength was being sapped from her body. With all the strength she could muster, she managed to turn over onto her side and curl up into a ball as she silently cried. "You've always been the one protecting me. Please, let me protect you this time..."

She feebly gripped the sheets. Closing her eyes, she allowed the darkness to take her.

|| The Ironworks ||
|| Old Kanver ||

As Mid was doing system checks on all of the Enterprise's systems, Clive was aiding Joshua, Byron, and Gav with the crates. They were preparing to sail after the Black Galleon to get their friends back.

Clive turned to see Rhea was also helping. She was carrying multiple boxes with her grand antlers. The sight was amusing yet heart-warming. It almost felt like Lyra was with him whenever the deer was close. He took the boxes from the beast with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Rhea."

"The beast's pretty useful, eh?" Gav asked.

"Quite so," Joshua replied. "Beauty and strength... I would love to—"

The youngest Rosfield was interrupted by a thunderous roar.

All eyes fell to the horizon where they saw a mighty dragon flying straight for the hidden cove.

"Oh, fuck..." Gav mumbled worriedly. He was about to draw his blade when Clive stopped him.

"Stand down!" Clive shouted. "That beast is another guardian."

"Bloody hell!" The scout shouted. "Are the other two goin' to make a surprise appearance too?!"

As Theia drew closer to the hidden cove, they noticed a figure riding on her back.

"Founder... It's Jill!" Gav shouted.

The dragon soared past the Enterprise and safely landed. Clive, Gav, Byron, and Joshua rushed over to Jill as she slid off the beast's back.

"Clive!" Jill shouted in panic. She stumbled slightly but managed to remain on her feet. She grabbed Clive's arms, clutching tightly.

"Are you hurt?" Clive asked out of concern.

Jill shook her head. "I'm fine, but Lyra... We must save her! Indra...he has her."

Clive's eyes widen in horror. He felt his blood run cold. "No..."

"She begged me to tell you to not pursue the ship, but we cannot allow him to have her."

He was more than determined to save the woman he loved. "We're getting her back. The ship is almost ready."

Jill released Clive. "Before we depart, take my power and use it to save Lyra."

This took him by surprise. "Is this what you truly want?"

She nodded with a smile. "Yes. Please, Clive."

He nodded and accepted a portion of Shiva's power. He could feel the new power coursing through his veins and couldn't wait to use it in battle.

The moment he was about to thank her, their attention was drawn to the wooden door not too far away from them. They could hear the shouting of Akashic drawing closer.

"I thought this cove was meant to be hidden!" Gav shouted.

"Mid! Company!" Clive shouted to the young woman.

She popped her head over the side of the Enterprise. "Eh?!"

"We'll hold them off until the ship is ready! But hurry!"

"Bollocks! All hands! Man your stations!"

Clive, Jill, Byron, Gav, Torgal, and Joshua gathered together to deal with the approaching threat. They had their weapons at the ready. The moment the door was kicked in and Akashic soldiers poured into the hidden cove, they got to work cutting down each and every one. They killed wave after wave to give Mid as much time as she needed to prepare the ship for departure.

When they thought they had killed all the Akashic, they let their guard down and sheathed their weapons.

"That was easy enough," Clive said.

"Alright, you lousy lot! Get your arses on board! She's ready to sail!" Mid shouted, her voice echoing through the hidden cove.

"You heard the captain," Byron stated.

As the group was about to board the Enterprise, Gav heard a noise and realized there were more enemies on the way. "Clive!"

The others turned around at the same time a familiar armored figure stepped through the door.

Clive couldn't believe he was seeing Sleipnir again. "But... But I thought he was—"

"Confound it," Joshua said, placing a hand on his head. "Then it is as I feared. Sleipnir is no man...but a creation of Odin."

More recreations of Sleipnir appeared. There was a horde of the armored man, each one the same as the last.

Byron glanced at the same-faced men in shock. "Phoenix's fiery fundament! Have you no normal enemies?"

The Sleipnirs slid their helmets over their faces and drew their swords.

Just as Clive and the other were about to grab their weapons, Theia swooped down and Rhea charged forward. The two beasts attacked the horde of Sleipnirs and used their bodies and magic to kill most of them. Even though there were only two of them, none of the enemies could slip past them.

Jill grabbed Clive's arm. "We must go!"

Clive glanced at her before looking back at the beasts. He knew they were tough, but part of him didn't want to leave them behind.

"Clive," Joshua grabbed his brother's attention. "The guardians are capable. Our main priority is rescuing Lyra."

"Aye, let the beasts tear into these fuckers!" Gav shouted.

"Agreed!" Byron shouted.

Torgal barked as if he too was in agreement.

Clive removed his hand from the hilt of his sword and shouted, "Mid! Start the ship! We're coming aboard!"

"Aye!" Mid shouted back.

The ship's four mythril engines came to life and it started to sail out of the hidden cove. Theia and Rhea ensured the Sleipnirs couldn't reach the others as they ran to the ship. All of them safely made it onboard.

Clive ran to the back of the ship and watched the beasts fight against the horde of clones. As the ship's engines were turned to full power and they were putting great distance between them and the hidden cove, it was becoming harder to see the battle. He gripped the side of the ship tightly, lowering his head. He hoped to see the beasts soon so he could thank them properly for their aid.

After an hour of traveling, the Enterprise came to a stop. Byron would be departing using a smaller ship so he could return to the coast. While the crew of the ship scurried around to tend to their duties, Joshua and Clive saw to their uncle's departure.

Aboard the small ship, Byron hung a lantern so he could use the light to see. "I don't suppose Mid has a spare engine?" He then looked up at Clive. "Since you rose from the grave, my fortunes have plummeted."

Clive shrugged, not knowing how to respond.

"Are you absolutely certain of this quest of yours, Clive?" Byron asked. "The foes you face are as terrible as they are numerous."

"Aye. And they'd have us live and die on their terms—which should answer your question," he replied.

The lord chuckled. "You have that same stubborn look as your father did when he set his mind to something. On the battlefield, I am but a single axe—a deadly one, mind, but a single one nonetheless. Yet what you require is a thousand, and I believe my old friend in Ran'dellah can provide them." He picked up an oar. "Take care, Clive. I have many more tales of your father's exploits to share...and I cannot very well do that if you're dead! Again."

"Good luck, Uncle. And may fair winds attend you," Clive said.

"As for you, Joshua... Take care."

Joshua smiled down at his uncle. "I shall do my best, Uncle."

"Oh, and Clive?" Byron turns this attention back to the oldest brother. "Do be doubly sure to bring back my future niece-in-law. I still wish to sit down and share a few cups of tea so I may get to know her better!"

Joshua was shocked and looked over at his brother. "You proposed?"

"No," Clive replied. "Uncle has been this way ever since he traveled with Lyra and I across the Velkroy."

"Ah, I see. One of his delusions."

"Tis not a delusion!" Byron shouted up at them. "Once all of this is over, I propose there will be a grand union! But for now, I shall wait patiently. Farewell, my nephews. When next you see me, it shall be with an army at my back!" He let out a hearty chuckle, only to stop when the boat swayed and he stumbled a little.

Clive and Joshua lightly laughed.

Byron regained his balance. He sat down with the oar before waving up at his nephews. "Cheerio!"

The brothers waved back to their uncle.

The older man, with the help of a couple of Cursebreakers, got to work rowing the boat. "Do keep up, my boy!"

Clive stared at the small boat as it took off. "Well, we can't have him showing us up now, can we?"

Joshua smirked. "We would never hear the end of it." He turned to his brother. "Now, let us focus our efforts on rescuing Lyra. We cannot allow Indra to have his way with her."

Clive nodded. His eyes showed emotions mixed between determination and hatred. "He won't get away with what he has done, but our main priority is Lyra's safety."

"Yes," Joshua agreed. "Let's proceed with our plan."