The calm before the storm part 1

Continuing where we left off

**************

After a while we finally returned to the city of Belobog and the moment we arrived at the main square, Sampo immediately left us behind something that didn't surprise me.

March 7:Ah we're finally back! I had forgotten the taste of fresh air....hmm~ how delicious!

Ritsuka:And what does it taste like?

March 7: Freedom.... Cold.... Mainly cold actually. Let's go. Where will our next stop be? We should find somewhere to put our feet up, as long as It's not Goethe Hotel again....

💭 It would be very bold of us if we went back there..heh..

Seele:Classic unreliable Sampo. He probably guessed we'd ask where his hiding place was. No sooner are we back in the Administrative District than he sneaks off.

Seele said, letting out a sigh, being fed up with Sampo.

Ritsuka:Speaking of which... Where did Stelle end up?

I say this looking for her.

Seele: She's there..... Stroking a... trash can?

Seele said, being perplexed by what she is seeing and I see where Seele is pointing and there is Stelle standing in front of a trash can.

Stelle:When I was down on my luck, you were there for me... I think we make a good pair...trash can.

Stelle said, passing her hand over the trash can as if she were appreciating a lover.

Trash can:S-Stelle-san,I...

💭Wait a minute...did that trash can talk?!

(A/N: Because Ritsuka is used to living in the insane servant asylum that is Chaldea, he can hear Stelle's craziness. Besides the fact that he has a screw loose too.)

Stelle:Ssh... Don't talk. Our actions will speak for us. Now open up. Show me what's inside.

Said Stelle, who immediately opens the trash can and starts looking for what's inside.

Trash can:Kyaa!

💭Am I going crazy? Since when do trash cans talk?

March 7:Dan Hang,look... She's doing It again...

Seele/Ritsuka:Wait... "Again"?!

Seele and I said at the same time, being surprised by the information.

Dan Hang: Her fascination towards trash cans is.... "interesting", to say the least.

Seele: Fascination? To a trash can?

Seele said, being very confused by Stelle's "attraction".

Ritsuka:I'll bring her back here.

I say this going towards Stelle who has her entire body inside the trash can.

Ritsuka:Stelle...what are you doing?

I say this keeping a neutral expression trying to understand what I'm seeing.

Stella: Isn't it obvious? We are having an intimate moment.

Ritsuka:An intimate moment...with a trash can?

I say this trying to see logic in something that is obviously impossible.

Stella:What else would it be?

Stelle said, eating a watermelon that was in the trash can. I decide to throw away the logic of the situation and get straight to the point.

Ritsuka:Okay. It's time for you to get out of there. We have to continue with our mission.

Stella: No! We're not done with our meeting yet!

Ritsuka: Do this after we solve our mission.

I say this, taking Stelle out of the trash can and she starts screaming.

Stella: No! You can not do that! You monster!

Ritsuka: Since when is this my fault?!

Stella: Trash can!!!!

Trash can: Stelle-san!!!

Stelle/Trash can:Nooooo!!!!

I keep hearing their screams in my ears as if I had kidnapped Stelle from the trash can. With that done I return to the group who are silent after seeing the show Stelle put on.

Ritsuka: Let's promise we didn't see what just happened.

March/Dan Hang/Seele: I agree.

************

After this "event" we were on our way to Serval Landau's shop to see if she is able to help us.

Arriving at the store door we knocked on the door making us hear Serval's voice.

Serval:Who is It? Shop's closed today m, you'll have to come back tomorrow!

Stelle: It's the radiator fixers.

💭What?

Stelle said, responding to Serval.

Serval: Hah? Ah, I remember! The four outsiders! Wait! Why are you still strolling around the city? Do you know the Silvermane Guards are looking for you? Quick act natural and get inside. Don't get spotted!

Said Serval making us enter her workshop safely.

Serval: Alright, you'll be safe here. My workshop has pretty good soundproofing,and barely anyone comes in. Just what crime did you commit exactly? They reacalled a bunch of Guards from the front line to track you down. Now that they are patrolling the entire city everyone is panicking.

Serval said, informing us about what happened when we entered the underworld.

💭That was to be expected, after all we kind of "scared" the guards a little.

March 7th:Oh, we just-

March was about to say more than she should and I interrupt her.

Ritsuka: Not yet March. Bronya told us that we can trust you.

Serval: You mean you don't completely trust me?

Ritsuka: Yes.

Serval: Great! That's smart of you. But you guys don't need to worry, Cocolia and I are not on talking terms. She was the one who ejected me from the Architects. I refuse to support her. And I don't believe you're going to do anything bad, and the Architects are going to need conclusive, public evidence to change my mind. Besides, I know the Architects, and if they had evidence they would have already revealed it. I know Cocolia's style. Get everyone into a frenzy first. Most people in a frenzy don't stop to look at the details.

Serval said, making me curious about her relationship with Cocolia.

Ritsuka: You seem to know Cocolia well.

Serval:Hehe,you could say that.... We were like sisters once. Of course,that was all before she became the supreme guardian... These days I just spend my time fixing things in this workshop and playing music. It's a pretty carefree existence. If I'm not careful I'll start boring you all with sob stories from the past. Let's get back to you guys. If long-lost Bronya told you to come here,you must have something important to tell me? You can trust me. I know our paths only crossed once, but my intuition tells me that you are good people. Plus I have good intuition, haha.

Ritsuka: Well prepare yourself, this is going to be a long story.

I say that and we start to tell Serval everything that happened in the underworld, about what happened to Bronya and so on.

Serval: So that's what was happening. It's no wonder we haven't heard from Bronya recently. After these years of insolation without a word down there, this is what the Underworld became.... I believe you, it's impossible for you to have invented this whole story to convince me. Even more so we have Miss Seele as living proof. Now about Stellaron... Heh, I know why Bronya took you guys to meet me. When I was still one of the Architects working in the scientific research division, I was researching Stellaron. I never thought I would hear that word again after being kicked out by the Architects.... Come on, I'll tell you everything.

Said Serval, entering further into her Workshop to continue our conversation.

Serval:Only a very few people in Belobog knew of the existence of the Stellaron. Those that do would never associate It with the Fragmentum or Eternal Freeze. But according to the data recalled from that robot, Svarog...the Architects discovered the truth a long time ago. The results of the research were hidden on purpose to ensure that no one would know about it. Just my luck.... Among all the research topics I could choose, I insisted on knowing about Stellaron. It is clear now that anyone who wanted to come close to discovering the truth would be expelled or "abandoned." Maybe I should thank Cocolia. All she did was push me out.... She could take it a more permanent way.

Serval said, taking a deep breath, still frustrated by what happened when she was part of the Architects.

Ritsuka: I work alongside several scientists and my "boss" did a lot of research on Stellaron. And what she discovered is that the source of the Fragmentum is the Stellaron, as well as what happens to people who come into contact with the Fragmentum. There are also other things that she discovered, but they are still just theories... I think it was the moment Cocolia noticed that you were looking too much into her secret that you were expelled.

💭I still can't understand why I didn't get infected by the fragmentum when I touched it?

Serval: You're right. Obviously someone didn't want me to find out what she was hiding.

Serval said in an irritated tone and Stelle asks a question that makes me curious.

Stelle:Do you know what Cocolia's end goal is?

Serval: Cocolia.... It's been many years since we last spoke. We were great friends once, there was nothing we didn't share. She became a completely different person when she took the place of Supreme Guardian. The convictions she once held, her enthusiasm... It's was like they were drawn out of her by some mysterious force.

When I hear what Serval said about Cocolia I become thoughtful about my knowledge of Stellaron and that it reminded me about a certain incident that happened in the Fuyuki singularity years ago.

💭Hmm... Could Cocolia have been corrupted by the Stellaron? Everything I heard about her was that Cocolia was a good person and that everyone respected her, but when she became Supreme Guardian, all of that turned upside down. All clues are pointing to this hypothesis.... I know that it is possible to use Stellaron to make a wish come true, but is it capable of corrupting too?

Serval:She gave the order to expel me herself and refused to see me...I never understood that behavior,and I gave up trying to use logic to work It out a long time ago. Sometimes I even wonder whether she really did become a different person...is that possible? Perhaps there's a single guardian's consciousness that gets handed down from genaration to genaration....and the real Cocolia has already vanished.

Serval finishes saying this which only adds to my theory about Cocolia's current situation.

💭 Interesting.... This would explain Cocolia's personality change when she became Supreme Guardian. That recording that Svarog showed the supreme guardian of that time said that she was hearing "voices" and the dreams that Stelle had about Cocolia. This confirms that Cocolia is being controlled by Stellaron, but what is their objective?

Ritsuka:This situation is getting complicated...

I say this under my breath as I'm analyzing the clues and uncovering the truth. Our conversation with Serval continues and she said she knows the location of the Stellaron.

The Stellaron is north of Belobog in the vast snowfields, but the problem is that that place has high concentrations of Fragmentum, in addition to the fact that we have to get past the Silvermane Guards first.

As that is where most of the guards are, it will be very dangerous and even if we managed to get through that we still have the Fragmentum to worry about.

March 7: This seems to sound like the four of us and Seele might not be enough. Why don't we head back to the Underworld and get Wildfire to go with us?

Said March 7 being worried to hear that we are going to have big problems going to where Stellaron is.

Ritsuka: Unfortunately we don't have time for that.

💭In addition to the fact that we would put innocent lives in the middle of this conflict.

However, Serval assures us that she is very familiar with the Silvermane Guards and that she uses an ability called "brainwaves" to help us get past them.

With that in mind we decided to head north to Belobog and as we were at the workshop door I felt a presence approaching.

Ritsuka:Wait. We have a visitor.

March 7: A Visit?

At the same moment we hear someone knocking on the door and Serval immediately knows who it is.

Serval:D-Darn It! I forgot my brother said He'd be around today...

💭What a coincidence to have the siblings in the same place.

Serval:Find somewhere to hide! I'll handle him.

Said Serval being desperate and we quickly hid at the right time. While we are hiding we hear Gepard and Serval talking.

The two are talking about the order that Cocolia gave when Bronya left the underworld. It seems that when she was seen, the whole city was in chaos. Gepard also said that Bronya returned to Fort Qlipoth and that he doesn't know what happened to her after that.

This news made me worried, including Seele, about what is happening with Bronya at the moment. After that Gepard finishes talking to his sister and he leaves the Workshop.

Serval said that we should take advantage of the fact that Gepard will be busy in the city to go look for Stellaron to avoid bigger problems. With everything ready we left Serval's workshop to head north to Belobog.

Seele:Is Bronya really safe?

Ritsuka: We have to trust her, Seele. I'm sure Cocolia won't put her own daughter at risk.

Seele: How can you be sure of that?

Ritsuka:Instinct. I can't explain it..... But in the corner of my mind I have this certainty that Bronya will be safe even with Cocolia present.

I say this getting a little thoughtful as my time here goes by I have this feeling that I met Bronya, Seele and Cocolia. But I also know that I never met them before my arrival on this planet, but this feeling makes me sure that everything is fine with Bronya.

Serval: You guys worry a lot about her. You must have become close friends.

Ritsuka: I promised her that I will be with her if she is in danger and I intend to keep that promise.

Serval: Relax. Bronya is lucky to have you two as friends.

Said Serval as we are on our way north of the city.

***************

We arrive at the restricted area of ​​the Silvermane Guards and as expected the entrance is full of guards ready for combat.

Lucky for us, Serval uses her "brainwaves" to prevent us from being discovered in the guards' view and she convinces us to enter the restricted area.

Getting past the guards without causing a fuss we arrived near a huge mechanical bridge shaped like a gear.

Serval:Do you see that gear bridge? When you cross to the other side, you will end up in hell on earth.

Serval said with a serious expression.

Stelle: So what exactly is on the other side.

Serval:An endless Fragmentum, a few exhausted Silvermane Guards....and the stench of death in the air.

💭So a normal tuesday then? Okay. I was missing the feeling of death in the air.

Serval:Ir we want to progress further north, we will need to cross that hell. Are you ready?

Stelle: Without hardships to overcome, there is no trail blazing.

Stelle said with a slight smile of pride as she said this.

March 7:Right on! I'm stealing that!

Serval:Haha, let's go then. First, we need to think of a way to get to the other side. I helped set the underlying mechanism for this type of gear bridge. It's controlled via different terminals in combination. Let's go find them.

We headed towards one of the terminals to change the direction of the bridge, however we soon discovered that Serval was unable to activate them due to the power supply being cut off.

Having this problem, Serval told us to go to the energy supply installtion to solve this problem.

Arriving at the location where our objective is, we saw that it is protected with several guards.

Serval: That's It! The thing shaped like a giant iron ball!

Serval said in an excited tone and we saw that there is a gate in front along with the guards.

March 7:And It's behind a gate. What are the odds...

Said March 7, no longer being surprised to see something standing in the way of our mission.

Serval:Its formal name is the "mechanical energy hub." It's connected to all the energy lines.

Dan Hang:Mm...no wonder It's so heavily guarded.

Seele:One unit for everything? That's a disaster waiting to happen.

Serval:As long as we can gain access permissions to the hub, we can operate the gear bridge terminals.

Stelle:Won't this end up causing a commotion?

Serval:That's why we're here for urgent maintenance! Frontline equipment needs service like the rest.

Ritsuka:Good plan. So we have a perfect excuse to cross the bridge.

I say this with a smile praising Serval's plan.

Serval:Come on, let's see If that guard over there will let us past.

Unfortunately the guard didn't let us in and even said that he would only allow us entry if we had a permission key from a captain. Fortunately the guard informed us that a captain calling Dunn is stationed next to us.

One silver lining in all this is that it appears that Serval knows this captain.

March 7:Serval,this Dunn,do you know him?

March said in a worried tone.

Serval:You bet I do. We go way back. He's easy to talk to. Watch me persuade him.

Said Serval, being very confident in what she's going to do and I have a feeling that the situation won't be that simple.

💭If my adventure history and what happened in the underworld tells me anything, it's that missions that require "negotiations" always go wrong.

To be continued...