Chapter 22 - Consistency

 Tetsuo’s patrols would normally be rather uneventful. He’d investigate high activity areas, disperse any brewing conflicts, and move onto more important matters. However this time, he found himself cornered by two ruffians standing on each side of the alley. The walls were too tall to try to climb up to, and they didn’t seem like they were interested in public service.

“You two need help?”

Neither of them responded. The one in front of him drew a short blade and began running at Tetsuo. In one swift motion, Tetsuo twisted the segment on his ring finger, locking it into place, focusing his Ars through it. Ice quickly formed over the knuckles of the gauntlet. Tetsuo swung his left arm at the man charging him, launching the icicles at him. They pelted the assailant forcing him to hide behind his hands for a moment. Tetsuo used this moment to reach out and grab him by the wrist. The man yelped, as the pain and shock from the freezing metal caused him to drop his knife. Tetsuo quickly struck him with his other hand in the nose, knocking him into a pile of crates.

His co-conspirator, called to action by his defeat, drew a shortsword and closed her eyes. She threw a glass vial of liquid at Tetsuo, that shattered as he blocked it with his gauntlet. He felt fine so he assumed it must have been water. She began to run forward, holding her sword out in front of her. Tetsuo tried to grab her sword but she drew it back and touched his gauntlet, freezing the water on the glove, leaving Tetsuo’s left arm completely covered in ice. She began to run forward, holding her sword in front of her. Tetsuo quickly struck his gauntlet against the wall of the building, shattering the ice. He reached to change the segments to use the combination on his middle finger, but the ice had caused the mechanism to jam. The woman lunged forward at him, aiming for his gut, but he side stepped as the sword clashed against the wall. She swung horizontally back at him, with Tetsuo blocking it with his gauntlet. She reached her hand out ready to use Ars again. Embers flickered from her palm as she was about to attack. Before thinking, Tetsuo reached out and grabbed her wrist in an attempt to stop her. The embers from her palm quelled.

“Huh? Why’s my Ars acting..?”

Tetsuo recalled Ficium’s draining properties. Although she should have still been able to use Ars, the shock of it being disrupted seemed to have broken her concentration. Tetsuo made a mental note of this application of the gauntlet, and swung her into her collapsed ally.

“Hah… Alright…” Tetsuo took a moment to catch his breath. “Who sent you?”

The two assailants, although dazed, still refused to answer.

“Alright… What do you want from me?”

Again no response.

“Can you at least–”

In the reflection of the melted ice, Tetsuo caught a glimpse of someone watching from the roof of the alley. Tetsuo quickly turned around to get a better look, but the moment he did the watcher fled. Tetsuo calmly sighed before retrieving the shortsword and dagger, and returning to his duties.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the knights quarters, Tetsuo dropped the dagger and shortsword onto a table at the center of the room.

“It happened again.”

Wilbur had been writing notes within his notebook, seemingly analyzing a contraption he had seen in the streets again. Tetsuo pulled out a seat beside him, and sat down next to him. He let out a loud groan, which made Wilbur look at him concernedly. “Isn’t this is the third time this week?”

Tetsuo sighed to himself. “At this point it seemed redundant to arrest them. Have you had any?”

“No… My patrols have been the same as usual”

“Huh…”

These attacks started out sporadic, but rapidly grew in frequency. Every time these attacks would happen, someone seemed to watch from afar. Whether or not it had always been the same person was hard to say. If he could just capture one of those watchers then maybe he’d be able to confirm his suspicions about whether this was about that Ficium sheet he had smuggled out of the workshop.

“What does the inscription on that dagger say?” Wilbur pointed at the dagger that was on the table. Tetsuo picked it up and examined the lettering scrawled printed at the base of the blade.

“Vivio al vivicium.”

Wilbur seemed confused by the phrase. “Do you know what it means?”

“It…” Tetsuo caught himself before he had automatically answered the question. “I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem to be from around here…”

“Yeah I guess so.”

Wilbur quickly inscribed the phrase into his notebook before returning back to his notes about a contraption. While Wilbur had been one of his first allies in Tervana, Tetsuo did find obsession with Earthen culture a bit suspicious. Additionally, he was familiar with the patrol schedules of every knight operating in Tervana, which could have been a way for him to have informed the assailants where Tetsuo would constantly be. If someone from within was helping them, Wilbur would be the perfect candidate.

“Wilbur, how much do you know about Remes?”

“Not much. It’s Eleanor's home town, we get our Ficium from there, and we give them a couple weapons in return. The kingdom closely guards information about it.”

“You’re not holding out on me, are you?”

“Nope. Why would I? Remes is just some small mining town the kingdom looks after.”

“I see.” Tetsuo observed him. His body language and words made it seem that he believed what he was saying. “Sorry. Just wondering. I thought maybe it had something to do with them.”

“Why’s that?”

Right.

“Well uh… you know this gauntlet is custom made, one of a kind. Maybe it broke an agreement or something, and they’re trying to get rid of me.”

Wilbur laughed to himself. “Yeah, these attacks must have you on edge. Far more likely it’s just some Earthen thieves trying to get themselves a shiny toy.”

Tetsuo quietly muttered, “they were using Ars though.” During all the fights he’d had to deal with, the assailants had always aimed for his life before the gauntlet. Tetsuo felt certain it was about him, but for now it would be better to avoid giving that away.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite Wilbur’s proper nature, many knights in Tervana cared far less about how behaved they were while on the job. The two Alvanian knights Tetsuo was working with were a great depiction of this. Their mission was to investigate a building that was reported as housing illegally obtained Ficium armaments. The two knights joked loudly with each other as they followed behind him. The older one, a strong looking girl with her blonde hair tied back in a braid, ran up to Tetsuo.

“Hey, so, what’s it like being an Earthen?” The way she asked carried a certain bluntness that bothered Tetsuo. “It must be weird to not be able to just do stuff with Ars the way we do.”

Tetsuo couldn’t tell if she was trying to provoke him, or was simply ignorant. “It’s not that weird. It’s how I’ve been the whole time I’m here.”

She seemed to barely pay any mind to his answer. “Still, using that thing it’s gotta be weird. Can I touch it.” She reached down before Tetsuo could even offer a response. He pulled back his arm quickly.

“Sorry, I’m married. Let’s not get overly familiar.”

“Jeez… Don’t get the wrong idea.” She seemed annoyed by his actions and retreated.

The other knight, a young boy with short black hair, sped up a bit to walk beside her. “It’s best if you don’t touch that. Using metal for Ars, it’s unnatural. Makes sense why it only works for Earthens.”

“You know I bet Earthens probably can use Ars, they just haven’t put in enough work into figuring it out is all.”

“Doubt it. Ars is a part of our world. The natural proper order. Earthens exist outside of it. It makes sense why a mista-, er… outsider wouldn’t have access to it.”

These opinions regarding Earthens weren’t uncommon in Alvania, but even so, talking about it so brazenly in front of one; these knights seemed to care very little about his opinion. Tetsuo looked forward to the end of the mission.

Their chattering faded as they approached the site of their objective, a large run down home. Although it has long since belonged to a wealthy Alvanian family, they claimed the Earthen population had begun to grow ‘too unruly’ and refused to stay at the property. Still refusing to sell, the house remained abandoned, until now anyway.

The windows were broken and replaced with wooden planks, and the front door was rusted around the hinges. The exposed structural supports and the crumbling bricks made it seem like a miracle that the building was still standing. To Tetsuo’s delight, the two knights seemed apprehensive about entering. Determined to show them up, Tetsuo balled his gauntlet into a fist and knocked the door in.