Cracking the Shell   von elektroyu
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                                Kapitel 9: Jail
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Just a little later we were well on our way. To my chagrin we were both on foot,
Kweh just slightly behind me. Foulques had refused to use the aetheryte right
under our noses, because of “all those people” and because he didn't “want
to enter the city”. I thought he was childish to refuse it, but he silenced me
by telling me he wouldn't mind if I used it, but he would certainly not. So I
just grumbled to myself and followed him southwards out of the camp.
 
The weather had improved from the day before. The temperatures were still
freezing, but there was no fresh snow, and the clouds seemed to get lighter in
some places. It was nice not needing to worry about getting caught in a snow
storm. I was tired enough as it was. I tried to lighten my mood by talking to
Foulques.
 
„You still don't like Lord Haurchefant very much, do you?“
 
Foulques huffed.
 
„He's just a creep.“
 
I'd heard that before, but not about Lord Haurchefant.
 
„You're aware that people do say that about you as well, don't you?“
 
He gave me a look, but rather than showing any signs of being offended he again
had that strange arrogant aura around him.
 
„You're talking about the people from the guild. Well, it's no surprise
they're uncomfortable around me. They don't understand what real courage is, and
being faced with someone who does they can't help but cower.“
 
I stopped short and stared at him. I didn't believe he still talked like that
after what happened in the last suns.
 
„I don't think that's quite true, you know.“
 
He turned around to me, a challenge in his suddenly hard eyes. But he remained
silent, so I explained to him.
 
„I think you're missing something important there. Of course you can't gather
courage if there's nothing threatening in the first place. On that point, I
agree. I'm not sure how much you know about what's going on in the guild
nowadays, but what Master Ywain is trying to teach is not simply to stop being
scared in the face of danger. On the contrary. Being scared is important,
because the feeling tells you to be careful. I mean, you don't want to die, do
you?“
 
Foulques' look went even darker. Not expecting an answer I continued.
 
„So the thing about his idea of courage is that you actually need this fear.
But you have to learn not to get consumed by it, or it will render you helpless.
If you're getting overwhelmed by your fear it's much more likely that you're
making fatal mistakes or that you even won't be able to move anymore.“
 
I still had a clear image of Foulques during the fight in the Steel Vigil, eyes
wide and unable to move from his spot on the ground. His eyes and jaw set told
me he was thinking of the same, so I made sure not to rub it into his face any
more than that.
 
„Likewise, if you're suppressing your fear you'd likely end up making such
mistakes as well, because you'd lose sense of what you're capable of. So you
have to be aware of being afraid, but still keep a clear head. And I think
that's what he means when he says courage comes from resolve and composure, and
that a lancer doesn't know the meaning of fear. The latter's not meant to be
taken quite literally, if you ask me.“
 
Foulques' expression had changed not all that much, but I thought it meant
something that all he did was look tense and grumpy and just walked on, staring
into the endless white in front of us. I knew that was as far as I could push it
now, so I moved my feet again and left him some space to think it over.
 
 
 
When we reached the observatory, however, I broke the silence.
 
„Will you wait for a couple of minutes? I'd like to say another proper goodbye
to someone.“
 
Foulques paused, brows furrowing. He didn't look happy and pondered my question
for a moment, but finally he shrugged.
 
„If you must. But I'm going on ahead and wait outside in the woods. I'm sick
of all these people everywhere.“
 
So he actually was willing to wait now instead of just ditching me? That was
some improvement! I smiled at him and nodded.
 
„I'll be quick.“
 
I jogged off to find Ser Alberic in one of the buildings, throwing Foulques a
last glance before I entered. He was already on the way southward, his wounds
still causing him to move cautiously. He did look pretty stiff, but I couldn't
tell if he was uncomfortable because of the people or if it was just the cold.
Kweh was waiting near the entrance of the building when I entered it, but she
seemed to watch Foulques go, ruffling her feathers.
 
Finding Ser Alberic didn't take long. He was shuffling some papers on his desk
when I entered the room.
 
„Ser Alberic.“
 
He turned around, a smile already on his face when he recognized my voice.
 
„Ah, Khuma'zi, I didn't expect you back here already. How are you?“
 
„I'm fine, thank you. I'm actually already headed back to Gridania with
someone I picked up in the area. He's waiting outside.“
 
„Oh, why didn't you just take him inside with you?“
 
I smiled. That's what I liked about Ser Alberic.
 
„I'd have, but he didn't want to. I don't want to make him wait for too long,
as he's injured, but I wanted to at least visit you before we're leaving--“
 
We both turned to the window when we heard raised voices and the sounds of
crossed blades from outside.
 
„What's going on?“
 
Ser Alberic went to the window, brows furrowed. I stepped beside him to get a
look at what happened down there and groaned. It was Foulques, pointing his
lance at someone. There was already a small group of people surrounding them,
trying to de-escalate the situation. Whatever did Foulques get into this time?
Couldn't I let him out of my sight for even a few minutes?
 
„Sorry, I need to go. That's him.“
 
I ran down the stairs and out onto the court, passing by Kweh, who was still
waiting near the entrance and watching the commotion from a safe distance.
Foulques stood straight, his back to me and lance still pointing at the small
group of people. I could hear the smile in his words.
 
„What? You're not even up to a little fight with me? And here I thought you'd
actually grown some back bone when I saw you fighting those dragons.”
 
Dragons? When did he have the chance to... oh. The attack in the Steel Vigil.
 
”But I should've known. You've always been a coward, haven't you? I'm sorry,
but you won't have the choice to opt out of it this time. You know the reason
well, don't you?“
 
His opponent didn't reply, only stared at him darkly and hesitantly. Presumably
a Wildwood Elezen, his slicked back hair was of a very light ashen color, and
his equally light eyes had an unpleasant expression in them. My first impression
of him was... not too nice, and one of my ears folded back.
The guy was holding his own lance in front of him, but it was pointing to the
sky now instead of at Foulques. So this was one of the lancers that were
involved in the theft a few years back? Slowly it dawned on me what had brought
Foulques into these freezing lands in the first place. If he had been tracking
this man... but even so, I had to stop Foulques. I reached him, grabbing his
arm.
 
„What are you doing? Stop that!“
 
My voice was low, and while I was sure he'd heard me he immediately shook off my
hand, not even looking at me. He took a step forward, readying his lance. The
smile was still on his face.
 
„Get ready!“
 
Then he charged at the guy, and I got moving immediately. I couldn't outrun
Foulques, so his opponent had to defend himself for a moment. The people around
us retreated a few steps. Some were touching their weapons, but otherwise not
moving. I figured they'd see if I could settle it before interfering.
 
Again, I grabbed Foulques by the arm, more forcefully this time and thus
succeeding in interrupting him.
 
„Stop it!!“
 
He did look at me now, and his eyes were full of a wild fury. He pushed me away
so forcefully that I stumbled backwards.
 
„Get lost!“
 
Before I could regain my balance he charged at the guy again, quickly landing a
couple of hits that got him bleeding in several places. I groaned inwardly.
 
I ran to them, my own lance ready, and threw myself in the way of Foulques' next
thrust. Evading the blade I blocked his lance with the shaft and thrust it
upwards, so it couldn't harm anyone. I grabbed it and held on to it. Foulques'
eyes chilled me to the bone.
 
„Get out of the way! That's one of the traitorous bastards from the guild!“
 
So my conclusion was right indeed. But still...
 
„No! Get a grip on yourself, you idiot! You're just going to get into trouble
if you keep doing this!“
 
Even while I threw my words at him he danced to the side and twisted the lance
free from my grip. His eyes were already locked on his target again, bloodlust
overflowing. He'd kill him if I didn't stop him. Out of the corner of my vision
I noticed Ser Alberic standing by the door, his brows furrowed in worry. I
couldn't dwell on that, though.
 
I kept my place between Foulques and the other lancer, concentrating on warding
off all of his attacks. But instead of calming him down it only made him more
furious. He suddenly looked at me, his stare burning hot. With a pang I realized
he felt betrayed by my resistance. My heart sank. Completely beyond words
Foulques let out a frustrated cry and attacked me full force, not holding back
even a little. It was almost the same as in Alder Springs.
 
Only that we were surrounded by a few seasoned fighters this time, some of which
probably matched his strength, or even surpassed it. But Foulques either didn't
notice or he didn't care about it, because all of his attention was on me,
focusing only on aiming the lance at my most vulnerable spots. I parried and
evaded his attacks one after the other, but I couldn't bring myself to seriously
point the lance at him for a second time. I hoped he'd give up after a while
when I wouldn't engage him. At the same time, I worried about the others. It was
only a matter of time until someone would decide to step in and do something
about this fight, and as things were that most likely meant that Foulques would
get hurt again.
 
„Just fight back and kill him! He's completely crazy! He doesn't deserve
otherwise!!“
 
The voice cracked in fear. From it's position behind me I gathered that it must
have been Foulques' original opponent. I ground my teeth, wanting to turn around
and face him, but I couldn't afford to remove my attention from Foulques, whose
attacks still came fast and strong, albeit a little sloppy due to his rage. From
the way he moved I was fairly certain he paid his injury no mind at all.
 
In that moment, three Elezen came at Foulques from behind, and I quickly decided
to let them subdue him since they hadn't drawn their weapons. Two of them
grabbed an arm each and the third one put an arm around him in a choke-hold.
Foulques growled when they got him and thrashed about, but from this close the
lance wasn't of much use anymore. He didn't let go of it, though. He never did.
One of the soldiers hit him in the stomach. Foulques gasped and would have
tilted over if the guy behind him didn't hold him upright so forcefully. The
sight let my heart hammer in my chest, even though I believed he hadn't gotten
near his injury.
 
„Don't hurt him!“
 
Tucking away my own lance I was at Foulques' side immediately. His breath came
in tiny gasps and he was squeezing his eyes shut in pain. The Elezen behind him
gave me an irritated look as I grabbed his arm and tugged at it, but his voice
was surprisingly calm.
 
„We'll deal with him, just don't get in the way.“
 
„No, please don't hurt him anymore. He's my friend, I'll manage this on-“
 
„Your friend?!“ This shriek came from the lancer behind us, but no one paid
him any mind. The comment sparked some anger in me, though, and my ears
flattened a bit. Otherwise my attention remained on the Elezen behind Foulques.
 
„I don't care if he's your friend. Apparently he needs to cool down a little,
so we're giving him a good long chance to do so in a cell. Troublemakers won't
be tolerated in this observatory, and you can bet your ass that this applies to
you adventurers tenfold.“
 
Oh no. Not this.
 
Foulques immediately tensed up and started struggling again. The Elezen behind
him nodded to one of the others to take his lance from him. He didn't succeed,
having to restrain him at the same time. Still standing right in front of him I
grabbed Foulques' wrists gently, but firmly. His stare burned holes in my skull
and he growled like a wild animal.
 
„Don't touch me, you bloody traitor!“
 
Since he couldn't move his arms or torso anymore, he resorted to kick me away
from him and the Elezen around him roughly jerked him away. He probably wouldn't
have succeeded anyway, as I managed to avoid his foot on my own, but I felt my
own temper flaring for a moment. That impossible idiot! Sometimes I really
wanted to slap some sense into him. Glaring at him I ground my teeth and
swallowed back my anger. My words still came out rather rough, even if my voice
was low.
 
„Don't fight them anymore, you'll only make it worse. Let me take care of
that. Just bear with it for now. Please.“
 
I grabbed his lance and tugged slightly. Foulques didn't let go, still staring
down at me with seething fury, showing his teeth. He still had trouble
breathing, but he didn't back down. If he kept this up he'd pass out soon.
 
„Please, Foulques.“
 
My voice was almost down to a whisper, but I couldn't clear the rough edge it
still had. I carefully met his eyes and forced myself to calm down. From the
look in his eyes I almost thought he'd spit on me, but I was glad he didn't. My
next words finally had a softer tone to them.
 
„Let me keep this for now. I'll give it back to you, I promise. Try to calm
down a little. That's the only thing that'll help you right now.“
 
The guy holding him rolled his eyes.
 
„Enough of that, I don't have all day. Get moving. And you, take that damn
lance already.“
 
He wasn't talking to me, but to a guard that was standing nearby. He all but
ripped the weapon from Foulques' and my grasps, but before he could take it away
I again grabbed it.
 
„Please let me take it. I promise I won't do anything that will get anyone in
trouble.“
 
„I'm afraid I can't do that--“
 
„Oldaric, please give it to him. I'll take full responsibility.“
 
I turned around to Ser Alberic, who interfered for the first time. He looked at
the guard firmly, but still with his usual goodnaturedness. The guard, however,
hesitated and made no move to give up the lance just yet. His expression was
conflicted and he broke the brief eye contact with Ser Alberic. I didn't know
how their positions interacted or how hierarchy exactly worked in the
observatory, but Oldaric was clearly struggling to find an appropriate answer to
the seemingly simple request. Or rather, he looked like he was struggling to
find the appropriate words for a refusal. Ser Alberic straightened, his
expression changing.
 
“That is an order, Oldaric.”
 
Ser Alberic was no giant, especially compared to an Elezen, but even I could
clearly feel the force of his unleashed authority. I'd hardly ever seen him like
that before, but there was a reason this guy had been an Azure Dragoon and was
now training new generations of Dragoons. No one would doubt it in this instant,
and Oldaric certainly didn't. He gave in after a moment, but not happily. I
guessed it wasn't exactly praise he'd be earning from his superiors today, but I
quietly thanked both of them. Ser Alberic nodded, but his eyes told me that he
expected me to not make this a mistake on his part. I returned his gaze firmly
with a nod.
 
When I looked back to Foulques, the three guards had him almost to the building
where the cells were located. The rigidity of his movements told me he was still
screaming murder inside. I'd have to talk to the guards once Foulques was
completely out of earshot. I waited a couple moments more once they had taken
him inside. Oldaric was about to return to whatever he'd been doing before, but
I called him back.
 
„Just a moment, please.“
 
He certainly didn't look happy, but he heard me out. Maybe he was still
intimidated by Ser Alberic's presence. I motioned to the building with the
cells.
 
„Please make sure there is no possibility for him to break out of his cell.
There shouldn't be anyone else with him in there in any case, or he might try to
take them hostage.“
 
I hesitated. I didn't want to make matters worse for Foulques, but I also
couldn't risk the lives of other people. I pulled myself together.
 
„Be extremely careful around him. I'm not sure if he's even able to do it, but
he might try to kill to get out of there. I'll talk to him later, maybe I can
get through to him by then. And please, don't do anything to hurt him further if
it can be avoided at all. It would only make him more aggressive.“
 
The guard looked almost disgusted, clearly not enjoying this sort of trouble
anywhere near him. But he nodded curtly to my words before he took off.
 
„I'll let them know.“
 
I sighed. That was not what I wanted to deal with, myself. We could've been well
on our way back home already.
 
„So that was your friend, yes?“
 
Ser Alberic sounded a little doubtful and a little worried. I couldn't blame
him.
 
„He is. I know it didn't look like that.“
 
That reminded me. I looked around to find the lancer that had been involved in
Foulques' betrayal all those years ago, but couldn't find him. He probably had
gotten out of there as soon as he was certain Foulques was being safely
arrested. I turned back to Ser Alberic.
 
„He met someone who betrayed him pretty bad in the past, and it completely
tipped him off. I'm already trying to get him back on a more reasonable path,
but I guess this will take a lot of time.“
 
Ser Alberic nodded contemplatively.
 
„Such things do take time indeed, and I do wish you luck with it. We'd
appreciate it if he wouldn't cause any more trouble, though.“
 
„I'll try. Actually, I was planning to talk to the guy he was attacking, but
he already disappeared. Do you know him, by any chance?“
 
To my relief, Ser Alberic nodded.
 
„I've seen him take part in practice around here, but not very often. His name
is Cillien, I believe. You could try talking to the other lancers, they might
know where he went.“
 
Again, I thanked him, and took off to look for this Cillien.
 

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