“Over there,” Yeri said, gesturing to a familiar hilly farmstead on the outskirts of town. “Take us down.”

Sujeong piloted the Blackjack as directed, swooping low over the grassy pastures. “They’ve probably spotted us already,” the much taller girl murmured to the young thief, knowing how conspicuous a giant black airship would be in the middle of the day. No amount of smoke could have concealed their approach.

Yeri only grinned up at her, ready to sink her daggers into some soldiers; the rather unsatisfying outcome of their fight at Narshe left her wanting for more engagement.

Several paces away along the railing, Irene came up behind Seulgi, who was slightly less excited about the impending fight. “Are you ready?” Irene asked, watching Seulgi’s solemn profile.

But instead of an answer, Seulgi dark expression took on a look of confusion as Sujeong brought them in for a landing in the middle of her family’s fields. “Where are the chocobos?”

Irene raised her head and looked down at the pastures, empty save for the long green grass, rippling in the wake of the Blackjack’s propellers. “Maybe they’re scared of us?” the ex-general suggested. Though if this were her campaign, she would have rounded up any and all resources that could empower the villagers and secured them away with a regular guard. She debated whether or not she should voice her speculation, but her musings were interrupted by Joy coming up to join them.

“As soon as we land, I want everyone we can spare off the ship, ready to fight,” the Queen commanded. “Then Sujeong will take the Blackjack back up and wait for our signal.” There was a ringing of steel as Joy surveyed the farmstead. There didn’t seem to be any immediate sign of the Imperial Army in the vicinity, which she was thankful for, but she didn’t like that they were coming into the situation blind.

Off towards the town, they could see a thick column of dark grey smoke billowing up into the sky, creating an umbrella of haze over the small hamlet. “We’ll secure Seulgi’s farm first and use it as our base. After that, they’re all yours, Irene.”

Irene nodded grimly, eyes trained on the distant rooftops of Mobliz peeking up over the crest of the hills. “After we get situated, Yeri and Yooa will be on reconn - a full perimeter of the town, without any engagement. Do you understand?” she asked, leaning back to catch the eyes of the two girls in question. If there really were Imperials here, they would need a gameplan fast and the more Irene knew, the fewer casualties there’d be.

“Touchdown!” Moonbyul shouted, and Seulgi was the first over the railing, tumbling onto the ground with her longsword drawn as if she were ready to strike as soon as she gained her footing. Irene was a split second behind, having taken a deep breath first before climbing halfway down the side of the hull and hopping the rest of the way down. One by one the Returners and crewmembers of the Blackjack alighted onto the grass until the very last figure, a small girl in red, landed beside them and Sujeong took the ship back up into the air.

“Wendy?” Irene asked. All of the old anxieties, all of the painstakingly laid out plans to keep Wendy off the battlefield came back to her in a wave of nausea.

“I can help,” the little witch insisted, swishing her pale cloak out of her way as she joined the group. “Don’t worry, I’m fully recovered!”

But it wasn’t Wendy’s injury that concerned Irene.

Joy kept her thoughts to herself as she listened to their exchange, but figured this fight was in the bag if they had ‘the Witch’ on their side. Seulgi was already breaking away from the group, jogging straight for her family home, and Joy gestured for the others to catch up. “Stay together; we don’t know what we’re going to find.”

With one last clandestine look of concern, Irene turned away from Wendy and raced to keep pace with Seulgi, catching up with her easily. She realized it had been so long since Seulgi had been home - at least a few months, though it felt much longer ago than that. Irene felt like her escape from Doma’s Imperial camp was a lifetime ago, and yet the roots of Seulgi’s hair were only just barely visible beneath the blonde from her impromptu performance at the Opera House.

Indeed, so much had changed, Irene found herself wondering and worrying more about some chocobo rancher’s thoughts and feelings instead of focusing on the mission ahead. Irene rolled her eyes at herself and pulled Seulgi back by the sleeve of her tuxedo jacket as they neared the back of the rancher's childhood home.

With one hand raised, Irene silently called for a halt and gestured with the tip of her saber for Yeri to do what Yeri did best.

Yeri’s enthusiasm for a fight was long gone as she silently ascended the steps to Seulgi’s back porch, peeking quickly through the windows before trying the door itself. The knob turned easily in her hand and she looked down at it in surprise. It could mean an ambush, but wouldn’t they have noticed preparations or activity around the house on their approach?

She glanced back at Irene and shrugged, carefully pulling the door open. The ex-general was at her side in a moment, ready to protect the smaller girl should a soldier be waiting on the other side, but they were only greeted by a country kitchen.

“Half of you go around,” Irene mouthed as she turned to the rest of the group, gesturing towards the front of the house. At least this way they wouldn’t all be caught at a choke point like this, though the more Irene listened and looked around the empty kitchen, the less certain she felt that there was any military presence here at all.

Yeri crept through the homey clutter, skirting the hanging pots and pans, the open cabinet doors, the wicker baskets and stout barrels; every surface was covered in jars and a variety of foodstuffs, as if the occupants had been preparing for a large meal before suddenly abandoning their work.

As the other Returners filed past, slowly exploring deeper into the house, Irene turned to see Seulgi paused in the doorway. The bright sunlight outside obscured her features in the relative darkness of the kitchen, but Irene could just make out a rather unfamiliar stony expression on the rancher’s face.

Trusting Yeri and Joy to lead the team, Irene came back to Seulgi’s side, seeking her free hand. “Seulgi,” she whispered. “I don’t think anyone’s here.”

“Then where are they?” Seulgi returned, discarding subtlety. Irene had meant the army, but she could tell Seulgi was more concerned about her parents’ whereabouts.

“Maybe they’re in the town, helping with that fire. Come on, we need to secure the area first, then we can-”

“I should have been here. To protect them.”

“Seulgi.” She listened for a beat, but she still heard nothing from the other parts of the house. That must mean they were alone. She absently rubbed her thumb along the back of Seulgi’s hand as she tried to shut off years of military training and say something - anything - that didn’t sound like a rehearsed, tactical supposition.

An “All clear!” from somewhere upstairs startled her before she could speak, and Seulgi pulled away to join the others.

“Everyone must be in town,” Moonbyul said, her voice raised to reach everyone spread throughout the house. She made room for Seulgi to push past as she entered the kitchen. The airship pilot had already dropped all pretense of their covert infiltration and approached Irene with her usual swagger. “Should be pretty easy to fortify, and I can have Sujeong hide my baby out near the treeline.” Irene didn’t respond right away and Moonbyul tilted her head, matching the angle of her lazy smirk.

“What’s the matter? Nervous about meeting the parents?”

That seemed to snap Irene back to reality and she glowered at the libertine. Any number of things could have happened to Seulgi’s parents in the interim, so yes, Irene was nervous, but not for the reasons Moonbyul was implicating. “We don’t have time for this,” she answered brusquely as she too left to join the others.

The life left Moonbyul’s expression as she watched Irene go, leaving only a thin facade of amusement in its wake. “Gotta learn how to make time,” she murmured as she finally followed.

+++

Joy was trying to listen to Irene, but Seulgi’s pacing back and forth behind them was proving to be quite a distraction. Her thoughts were besieged by the clap clap clap pause, clap clap clap pause of Seulgi’s dress shoes on the worn wooden floor as they stood together in the kitchen, waiting for Yooa and Yeri to return from the village.

Irene glanced up at Joy, waiting for a response to her question, but when she saw that she no longer had the queen’s attention, she pursed her lips and began clearing off the dining table, leaving only those items she might be able to use to craft a crude battle map. Another hand reached out to help, and Irene realized Wendy was right there by her side.

She still hadn’t had a proper moment to talk to Wendy after Narshe, and in the back of her mind, she knew that was her own fault, but the return of Yooa and Yeri provided her with a new reason to escape the possibility of conversation with the little witch. Irene immediately turned away when she heard the two scouts burst into the house.

“The fire,” Yeri said as soon as she stepped into the kitchen, breathing heavily. “It’s a huge bonfire in the middle of town - in some sort of square.” Her gaze swept the room, easily spotting Joy, as the queen was a good head taller than the rest. “They’ve got all sorts of stuff piled up-” she puffed.

“- Like furniture and stuff,” Yooa added, recalling the broken pieces of chairs and the length of a grandfather clock slanted into the flames. “But it’s like the whole thing’s covered in grass.”

“Grass?” Joy asked as the others from around the house entered the kitchen, hearing the commotion.

“Yeah, it smelled kind of sweet. It was baled up like-” but Yeri paused as she heard the backdoor of the kitchen swing open with a crash and saw Seulgi exit.

Irene was after her in a flash, leaping down the steps to the field that opened up right behind the farmhouse. She was surprised to see that Seulgi was not running off towards the town, but rather to the large barn a ways off. Her concern temporarily defused, she slowed to a jog, and then a fast walk as she trailed after Seulgi.

As Irene followed along the well-worn path between the house and the barn, she saw Seulgi’s feathered hat laying in the grass having fallen off in the rancher’s rush. She stooped to pick it up, picking grass seeds off the grey felt and continued, holding it loosely in her arms as she entered the dark building.

Protected from the wind, the inside of the barn was strangely still, particles of dust dancing in the shafts of light that streamed in from doors opened in the upper level. It smelled strongly of dust and animals, a mix that hit Irene in a surprisingly pleasant way, though she had never before found comfort in these kinds of agricultural smells. It reminded her of Boko, and his owner, whom she spied cut by one of those shafts of light, half in shadow as she stared in the open door of a large container of sorts.

As Irene approached, she realized it was the dispensary of a large silo that reached all the way up through the roof of the barn.

“It’s empty,” Irene heard Seulgi say as her neck was still craned back, looking up through the rafters. She lowered her gaze back to the rancher and stood quietly beside her.

Seulgi gestured for her to look for herself, and Irene could see only a few small piles of old brown grass left at the bottom. “It should be close to full this time of year, after all the harvesting.” Seulgi shut the silo door carefully, letting her hands linger on the metal as she slowly lowered the latch back into place.

“We’d feed it to the chocobos all winter, sell the rest to the neighbors… it’s all gone,” she mumbled as he turned to regard the rows of empty stalls.

Irene could only silently watch Seulgi’s troubled features as she observed the emptiness. Once upon a time, the way Seulgi wore her emotions plain on her face came off as a point of vulnerability to her. Something that could easily be exploited by a cunning enemy, but as they traveled together, she was grateful that all the fighting and running hadn’t changed her. From losing her brother, to possibly losing her parents, and all of these other parts of her childhood home, Irene thought she might be able to empathize.

“Your parents, Seulgi,” Irene said hesitantly. “Yeri didn’t say anything about fighting in town. They are probably safe.”

Seulgi looked at Irene, her gaze a mix of hope and of someone trying to harden themselves to a potentially harsh reality. “Do you really think so?”

“The Empire needs people, Seulgi, not empty, destroyed villages.” Though without her guidance, who could say what the Empire was after anymore? Eunji’s plea up on the cliffs of Narshe echoed her growing fear: I’m the only sane person left in the army. Without Irene there to cull his ruthless methods, only Eunji stood between the Court Wizard and the decimation of the Northern Continent.

Seulgi reached out and put a hand on hers, though she dropped her gaze to the packed earth that made up the floor of the barn. “It’s just… after my brother...”

Irene could see she wasn’t finished blaming herself for what happened to Mobliz, and perhaps she wasn’t the best person to talk about forgiving yourself. “We’re the ones that drew the Empire out here. They were chasing me down, remember? And you helped us. Without you,” Irene tried, giving Seulgi’s hand a squeeze, “we might have been lost on the Veldt, or captured, or…”

“I just wanted to help,” Seulgi said quietly. “But I feel like I abandoned them - my parents.”

“Seulgi.” Irene took Seulgi’s face carefully into her hands, making the rancher meet her gaze. “We’re going to find them, and we’re going to drive the Empire out of Mobliz.” She waited a beat as Seulgi searched her eyes, drinking in that assurance, before adding, “I promise.”

And Seulgi took her hands in her own, but she stopped just short of leaning in for a kiss as she looked at Irene gratefully. There were other questions left unasked and unanswered with all of the recent changes, but for now, Seulgi was satisfied. They had a village to save.

+++

As they reentered Seulgi’s childhood home, they could hear Joy and Yeri arguing. They were in the middle of the cramped group gathered around the kitchen table, gesturing at the positions of the salt and pepper shakers in relation to a jar of pickled vegetables.

“By nightfall, the square will probably have emptied out. It’d be easier to round everyone up and get them to safety if we attack now,” Yeri insisted.

Joy’s jaw flexed as she stared at the table. “From what you and Yooa have been saying, it doesn’t sound like we have numbers on our side. Attacking in broad daylight is out of the question,” she said flatly. “We should wait until dusk; those patrols you mentioned will probably be changing shift-” she paused when she noticed Seulgi and Irene had returned.

Irene caught up with the conversation quickly. “The civilians are our priority,” she agreed, but her input stopped there. Her skill was in capturing towns, not liberating them. She would have to rely on the queen’s experience of defending her kingdom.

Joy nodded and made room for Irene at the edge of the table. “We need teams, and objectives. I suggest three: one for evacuating the villagers - we can use the Blackjack if we need to,” she said with a nod over to Moonbyul, “but we should gather anyone who can’t or won’t fight here at Seulgi’s farm.” She placed her hand on top of an apple, a ways away from the other items gathered on the table. “Two, we need a team to draw out the bulk of their forces here,” Joy continued, rolling a whole pile of walnuts across the table, “to the edge of town. We need to get them away from the village so they don’t do any damage. A third team will circle back around and flank them from the protection of the buildings.”

Irene’s eyebrows knit together in thought. Three teams? Flankers? Joy didn’t want to just drive the Empire out. “You want us to kill them.”

Joy quirked an eyebrow at the ex-general. “Too ambitious? Yeri, how many Magitek Armors did you say there were? Six?”

“At least,” the thief said.

Ambitious indeed, but Irene was more surprised by Joy’s hard stance against the Empire.

“How should we split up?” All of the heads at the table turned to the little witch as she spoke up.

“We?” Irene muttered.

Joy looked at Irene. “I was hoping for your help with that. The heaviest hitters will be needed to draw the soldiers away, so I was thinking…” and her eyes swiveled back to rest on Wendy.

“No.”

Joy had anticipated that. “Then she can-”

“No. She should stay here.” She should have stayed on the ship.

“Irene,” Moonbyul tried.

“No! Don’t you see?” Irene growled, her fingers gripping one of the walnuts until they all heard the brittle shell crack. “We can’t let her anywhere near the battle. If the Empire discovers her, they’ll turn all their attention toward recapturing her and I will not let them have her again-” She stopped herself, but it was too late. With a sudden sharp inhale she quickly looked at Wendy to see her reaction.

Wendy was more shocked by Irene’s violent reaction than what her words implied. It was clear Irene had some very strong feelings about her involvement in the fight - and about her very presence amongst the Returners - but they needed to put aside whatever differences they had and focus on the goal.

“I know how to fight,” she said, her voice wavering between confidence and ponderance. “I remember lessons.” She remembered long days and exhausting drills - a private tutor and the constant threat of his blade.

“No magic here, I’m afraid,” the maestro murmured, the hint of a sneer curling his lip beneath his mustache. “Again! Fifth!”

And he was after Wendy again. Her footwork was shot to pieces by his lunge and it was all she could do to push his blade aside with her own. She felt the back of her saber dig painfully into her palm as she reinforced her block with both hands. He forced her to one knee as he pressed in, ruining the cutting edge of his sword with the friction of their bind.

“You’re small, you’re young,” he barked. “Compensate with speed. Use your head, girl!” Brute strength, all-out attacks, those were the tactics of the desperate and no student of his would be reduced to such a barbaric style.

With a final push, he retreated several paces, letting her regain her footing. Her focus was momentarily broken by the arrival of another student, however, and her gaze shifted for just a moment. It was that dark-haired sergeant, the one who had promised to be her friend. With renewed vigor, Wendy took her stance. This was her chance to show off a little and maybe even impress her.

If the maestro demanded speed and cunning, she had to recall every advantage she had over him. She didn’t expect to beat him of course, he was the Swordmaster of the Empire of Ghestal after all, but he did mention her height…

She began to move, first to the side, then back, switching the position of her long blade. He knew she was trying to entice him to attack, but this was a lesson after all, not a duel, and he wanted to see what she took away from his scoldings. He waited a moment longer, watching her slowly shift her weight from foot to foot, her sword from a low guard to high until he got the rhythm and in he lunged.

Wendy parried his strike, feeling the strength of his momentum as the edge of his blade drove along the side of her own, and with a small burst of speed, she dodged down the line of his outstretched arm and ducked behind him.

She wasn’t in a good position to counter-attack, but she readied herself in the moments it took him to adjust his footing and twist to face her. It seemed like an eternity as he whirled around. She watched the muscles of his back twist, and his heels pivot as he reversed his position. She could count the heartbeats thundering in her ears as she waited for him to face her. Why was he suddenly so slow?

And as the maestro finally faced her, he saw something that gave him the briefest pause, something that struck a chord within his primal instincts: her eyes had turned a deep red, with dilated black pupils as she coursed with adrenaline… and something else. And he thought he saw, in the moment before she made her attack, as she gritted her teeth and prepared to lunge, the hint of fangs.

The tip of her blade bent painfully against the chest of the protective jacket he wore as he stared dumbly.

“I said no magic,” he breathed fearfully as she retreated.

Wendy, the Empire’s little witch, blinked at him in surprise, her eyes returned to their chestnut color. “But, sir, I didn’t…?”

He watched her for a moment longer, taking in her confused expression, before finally straightening and giving a perfunctory salute and returning his blade to its sheath. “Never mind. Take a break.” He sighed and looked over at Irene. “Get changed. I’ll have you two spar for a bit.”

The swordmaster may have taken the wind out from under her wings at finally getting a touch, but Wendy still turned to Irene with the brightest smile.

“Did you see?”

“You know I can fight,” Wendy iterated with a curious look at Irene. “And you rescued me. Don’t I have some responsibility to help?” She glanced around at the others for input before returning her gaze to Irene. Her warnings against the Empire begged so many questions. Why would they want someone like her? Who was she to them?

Who was I to you?

Seulgi took a step up and put a hand on the little witch’s shoulder, but it was Moonbyul who spoke. “Irene… You saw her in the cave. She’s intense.” And what the captain remembered most was how it hadn’t even seemed like Wendy was trying. “She’s like our ace in the hole!”

But Irene knew she’d been called something similar for most of her young life, and it was something she was hoping they could avoid.

Solji, her arms crossed as she watched everyone’s tense features, finally spoke up, though her voice was soft and even. “You can’t make these kinds of decisions for people anymore, Irene.”

It seemed obvious, but that one sentence made Irene blink as she glanced at the gang leader. It was true, wasn’t it? Wendy wasn’t wearing the Slave Crown, so she was free to make her own decisions, wasn’t she? Like Seulgi, didn’t Wendy have a right to defend herself and hit back at the Empire?

“... The strike team, then. With me,” the ex-general finally agreed.

Wendy smiled up at her, until Joy clapped her hands, startling them both. “Great! Okay, it’s all settled, then. Three teams…” she iterated, rearranging the items on the table as everyone gathered in once again.

But like all well-wrought plans, it didn’t survive first contact with the enemy.