The Rest Before Reclamation

Aeolia felt a smile grow on her lips as the dull silver blade she wielded was blocked by Beth, an action the dark haired girl seemed surprised by.

“Well, would you look at that,” Aria breathed out, lowering her own sword. “Finally got it, eh?”

Beth’s expression shifted to one of triumph and she let out a tired whoop of celebration for finally managing to block a serious strike from either of her ‘coaches’. Then she tried to disengage and fell flat on her butt.

Beth groaned, likely a mix of low pain and embarrassment, “I’d have said yes if that didn’t happen.”

Aeolia let out a little laugh, drawing an accusatory look from Beth.

“I couldn’t count the number of times my legs gave out after training,” she said, soothing Beth’s hurt ego as she held a hand out for her. “Means you got a good workout. And that was a good block.”

Beth took the offered appendage and did her best to help as Aeolia pulled her up. Her legs buckled a bit and she lightly crashed into Aeolia’s chest, her head nestled right into the winged woman’s breasts.

“I did not plan this,” Beth muttered in her defense. “But I’m both not bothered by it and too tired to do anything about it.”

“If you think this is tiring, princess, just wait until we start kicking up a notch now that you’ve got some of the basics down,” Aeolia said, lightly running her fingers through Beth’s sweat slick hair.

Beth groaned, sending somewhat pleasurable vibrations through Aeolia’s body.

“Yeah, I think we’re all just about done,” Aria cut in, making a gesture with her free hand. All three of their blades began to unravel like they had been made of fabric instead of metal. “Mind making us big?”

“Give it about ten more seconds,” Aeolia said, readying herself to grow in time with them. She was half afraid Beth would pitch over again without her support. Holding her wasn’t a bad thing either.

Except for the acrid scent of their combined body odor.

“You know where the showers are?” Aeolia asked Aria as they grew.

Before the leader of Argent Echo could give any answer, Aziza replied from the archway, “I believe they are down the far hall and to the left.”

“Thanks, Az,” Aria said, giving the horned woman a quick salute.

“Forgot we had an audience,” Beth mumbled. “Hope me getting my ass beat was entertaining.”

“I think you did perfectly well, considering your lack of training,” Vivian diplomatically said.

Beth peeled her head away from Aeolia and leveled a glare at the redhead.

“You don’t have to sugar coat it. I sucked,” Beth flatly remarked.

Aeolia flicked Beth’s ear before looking straight into her eyes. “You did not suck. Takes time to get good. And I’d say you got the basics down pretty quick.”

“Got to agree with wings here,” Aria said. “You didn’t fold like a piece of paper and actually managed to work out what we were trying to show you. But if we were going full ****, you’d stand no chance.”

“Guess that means I’ve got to keep practicing then,” Beth groaned.

“I’m sure John and I can help with that.” Aeolia chuckled.

“Yea,” Beth emotionlessly cheered, letting her head lull back onto Aeolia’s chest.

Aria let out a small laugh before heading off towards the showers.

“Guess I’ll take the first one,” she said with a wave. “I’ll try to not use all the hot water.”

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t go overboard,” Aziza declared in a deadpanned voice before hasting after Aria.

“I can still hear you, you know,” Aria called back.

“I had no intention of hiding my plans,” Aziza shot back, her voice maintaining its even tone. The sounds of friendly banter echoed down the hall but Aeolia didn’t pay them any attention as Vivian approached.

“Enjoy the show?” she asked the redhead.

“There is a certain novelty to it, like toys having a fight,” Vivian answered. “I do think it was a little irresponsible of you to have a training session in someone else's home without their permission.”

“Yeah, guess that was a bit much,” Aeolia admitted.

“At least you took precautions to prevent any real damage,” Vivian sighed. “Although, I think we might have a small problem. We never accounted for a long stay. Or to have fights.”

“You can come out and say it. Our threads are pretty soaked now,” Beth said in a grumpy tone.

“We should be able to help with that,” Aziza’s unseen voice said, causing everyone else to flinch slightly and look around the empty chamber. “Over to Vivian’s left.”

They looked over to see Aziza’s face manifested in the glass of a picture frame.

“Right, mirror magic,” Vivian muttered before speaking up, “How do you plan to help?”

“The same way we got those bathing suits,” Aziza answered like it was the obvious answer. “Aria figured you’d want some fresher clothes. Once she’s done, she’ll go out and get some. ‘Won’t be a problem’, she said.”

“That’s nice of her,” Vivian slowly said and Aeolia picked up a note of suspicion in her voice. Aziza just nodded before vanishing from the glass.

“So, what’s the problem?” Aeolia pointedly asked Vivian. The redhead only shook her head and motioned for them to follow her.

Beth let out a groan in protest but shakily moved in tandem with Aeolia as they trailed behind the redhead. Vivian led them down one of the hallways until she stopped in a rather barren section.

“Okay, I think this is a good spot,” she said. “No reflective surfaces, no rooms…”

“Mind letting us in on what all this is about?” Aeolia asked, confusion clearly etched into her tired face.

“Just want to be sure no one’s listening,” Vivian replied, her voice low. “And I think there’s something going on with Aria’s group. Something that involves us.”

“Yeah, I think I’m not going to have the brain power for this,” Beth muttered.

“And I think you’re going to lay out evidence for this,” Aeolia said. “Not exactly getting a bad guy vibe off them.”

“I don’t think they intend us harm, but it seems like they’re, I don’t know, trying to ingratiate themselves,” Vivian explained.

“Isn’t that a math term?” Beth asked.

“You’re thinking of ‘integer’,” Vivian quickly corrected before shaking her head. “What I mean is, I think they want to be on our good side. Having one of them go to the spring, your sparring, the clothes thing. And they seem far too open about things. Aziza plainly revealed that she can store other people’s magic to use later, if only in a limited fashion. Which, now that I think of it, might have been her underselling things to keep some things in her back pocket.”

“You think they’re being nice to play us?” Aeolia asked, a serious note slipping into her tone.

“It's a possibility I can’t get out of my head,” Vivian admitted. “The best case scenario, assuming there is a motive to their actions, is they want us to think of them as a dependable group which we can contact for later jobs.”

“And the worst case is they want to use us for something,” Aeolia finished the train of thought. Now that Vivian put the idea in her head, she began to run their interactions with Argent Echo through a different, more critical light. “That does make them hiring the PI chick make more sense.”

“It does?” Beth asked. “Why, because she was already looking into us? Well, me, really, ‘cus of that fucking blonde bimbo, but she can’t have found much, right?”

Before any further speculation could occur, Vivian urged her two girlfriends to quiet down.

“We’re missing many pieces to this puzzle and I only wanted you to know my suspicions,” Vivian said. “The best course of action, I feel, is to keep in mind that Argent Echo aren’t really our friends. They can be friendly, but this started as a job for them. And that might be how they view the whole thing.”

“Pretty harsh way to look at things,” Beth remarked.

“‘Pretty harsh’ is a good way to describe the Abyss,” Aeolia said in a quiet voice. “There are good reasons your sister wanted you to not get involved, princess. I probably should have been more on guard.”

“Harsh as it may be, treating everyone as a possible enemy would be counterproductive,” Vivian cautioned, a note of hesitation in her voice. “Jumping to conclusions and getting them wrong is a great way to lose prospective allies or partners.”

“So trust but verify, huh?” Aeolia muttered, drawing a nod from Vivian.

“Ya know, this conversion could probably apply to Kiera,” Beth flatly interjected after a moment of silence.

“I think that’s a bit more of a complex issue,” Vivian countered. “We know she’s got no ulterior motive. And what are we supposed to do, just throw her to the wayside now that she’s back to a functional mental level?”

“I’m just pointing it out,” Beth defended her observation. “I don’t think she’s going to go all double agent on us, just like I don’t think Aria’s going to try and, I dunno, sell us out or something like that. I think Lynn’s danger sense would be going off if they were.”

Aeolia let out a short chuckle. “You might have a point there. She hasn’t tried to throw acid on them.”

Beth cracked a tired smile, a hint of sadness gleaming in her eyes. “True.”

Vivian let out a sigh. “We can’t decide what course of action to take before John and Senka get back. Perhaps they’ve gleaned something from seeing Barabra without the other members of her group.”

Doing her best to gauge the time, Aeolia said, “They’ll be back in like an hour, right?”

When Vivian nodded, Aeolia continued, “Then we should probably get cleaned up.”

“I think that would be for the best,” Vivian remarked. “If there’s time once you’re all done, I should probably take a quick shower too.”

Aeolia grinned before wrapping her hand around Vivian’s wrist. “Why wait? Can’t guarantee they won't be back sooner. Taking one at the same time means we can take one that’s three times longer, right?”

---

It turned out showers made by gnomish architects, even in a structure clearly made to accommodate larger visitors, were still scaled to their shorter stature. Vivian found herself squished into the tight space with Beth in front of her and Aeolia behind.

“Ok, this is far less relaxing and romantic than I thought it would be,” Aeolia admitted.

"Beggars and choosers," Vivian remarked with a light laugh as she lathered up her hands. "And it may be snug, but that's not exactly a downside."

"Maybe it'd be an upside if I wasn't ready to fall over," Beth muttered as she let more of her weight rest against Vivian. "You sure you're OK with me using you as a kickstand?"

Vivian smiled down at her and began to massage some soap into her dark locks.

"Isn't that what we're supposed to do?" Vivian uttered. "Provide support to each other."

"I'm not sure whoever said that meant it as something so literal." Aeolia chuckled as she began to scrub the redhead’s shoulders and back.

Beth hummed contentedly. "I'm not going to complain about this interpretation. And you guys can lean on me whenever."

"We'll hold you to that," Aeolia remarked, reaching around Vivian to tap Beth’s arm playfully.

The trio lapsed into a comfortable silence as they cleaned each other. Vivian sharply inhaled as Aeolia moved to soap up her breasts.

"Sensitive, huh?" Aeolia teased.

"More surprised," Vivian retorted.

"As much as I'd like to have some shower fun, I'm dead on my feet, it's too cramped in here, and I really don't want to be in the middle of things when my sister gets back," Beth dully said.

"Fair points," Aeolia muttered. "Rain check, then."

Vivian hummed in agreement as they quieted down, simply enjoying the hot water cascading over them and gentle fingers massaging away the grime and strain of the last two days.

---

Kiera listened enraptured as John rambled on about spirits as they followed the others back to the lab. Even after the hour ride back to the city, he was still going over aspects of his ability, though that could be attributed to him going off on tangents prompted by her questions. If it hadn’t been for his excitement to explain things and the pulses of reassurance from Senka, Kiera wondered if she would have continued to pose those inquiries.

‘Probably not,’ a mocking voice echoed in the back of her head, dripping with sick excitement. ‘You’re too much of a wreck of a person to even think of trying without someone holding your hand. Pathetic.’

Kiera fought hard to keep from shivering from the voice’s reproachful remark, but couldn’t keep it suppressed.

“You okay?” John asked, worry clear on his face, a sentiment Kiera could feel from Senka as well. It was a strange thing to be able to feel the spirit’s emotions and John had likened it to the ability of a friend of his, and offered to arrange a meeting so she could talk to her. She was certain that hadn’t been something she was able to do before.

“I’m fine,” she insisted, even as her guts twisted due to the lie. She didn’t like lying to them, not after what they went through because of her, but she didn’t want them to suffer any more on her account. “Just a l-little twitch.”

John seemed to buy it and continued where he left off, but Kiera could feel a lingering doubt from Senka. She ignored it as best she could, focusing on John’s theorizing on what he could do with spirits. However, the campus that Martius’ lab was in grew close and Kiera knew once they were back inside, John and Senka would reunite with the rest of their group, and even if they invited her to stay for a bit, she would be the outsider.

She was always an outsider.

---

Barbara had a headache. That was normal for whenever she had to move through heavily trafficked areas. She could have used her abilities to dampen the noise assailing her sensitive ears, but she couldn’t risk leaving herself open to something sneaking up on her, nor wasting her mana on something trivial like that.

‘At least everyone got the hint and left me alone,’ the silver haired woman thought as she trailed after her clients as they entered the lab and they began to splinter off. She had no desire to treat them as anything more than that. Strictly business was the motto she clung to. She didn’t need more people to be close to. Aria and Aziza were enough.

Which made the presence of that Piper bitch in their room a larger slap in the face than Aria’s insistence that she go to the springs.

‘Why did Aria have to bring her aboard?’ she heatedly thought as Piper gave her a half hearted wave of greeting. Any ruminations on that were cut short as Aria shut the door behind her.

“So, have a good soak?” the peppy voice of their leader asked, slinging her arm playfully around Barbara’s shoulders. The faint scent of soap wafted into her nose as some of the tension she carried faded away from the familiar touch.

“It was fine,” Barbara muttered quietly.

“Aw, come on. You don’t have to get all clammy,” Aria teased. “I know you like a good bath. Figured you’d like the opportunity.”

The steady rhythm of Aria’s heart served as good proof of her sincerity and Barbara hated that she’d doubted her intentions, but she couldn’t help but think of alternate reasons.

“Doesn’t hurt that you got to tag along with the clients,” Piper interjected, her eyes laser focused on them. “Even if it was just a goodwill thing. Networking and all that stuff.”

“I just wanted her to have a relaxing break.” Aria pouted. “Last job was a little too loud for our liking. Expected this one to be easier but you happened. Which means, you should be trying to make it up to us.”

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around you hiring me after that,” Piper flatly remarked.

“Best payback is using your skills for our benefit,” Aria said smugly.

“If you can think of ways little ‘ol me can help, fire away,” Piper flippantly shot back, but Barbara heard her heart speed up slightly.

“Don’t worry about that, we’ll find something,” Aria chuckled. “But we can talk about that once this job’s done. Aziza, you have the floor.”

“Of course I do,” the mirror dwelling half-devil commented in a flat tone as she appeared next to her and Aria, manifesting from a mirror sewn into her jacket’s collar. As always, the horned woman’s heart maintained a steady, reassuring beat. “It appears that something requires our clients' attention early tomorrow morning back Earth side.”

“How early?” Piper inquired.

“They need to be back in their area by five a.m. local time,” Aziza relayed. “Which is around two hours from where we did the breach, plus they made it known they’ll need time back home to prepare themselves, so add an hour.”

“So that means we need to send them back by two,” Piper said.

“A little earlier than that,” Aria took over, her arm still around Barbara. “We’ll need to escort them to where we should have popped in. Safe house set up for that sort of thing. Got some equipment we’ll need to punch through. Plus, having some extra time on their end so they don’t accidently go past their deadline is just the sort of quality service we aim to provide. Leaving the lab around one in the morning, local time, should give us enough time to get to the safe house, do any last minute set up and shift back, giving them around an extra half hour.”

“So we’ll have to be up at around an hour early to prepare,” Aziza finished.

“So have an early dinner, relax a bit, hit the sack then straight to work, huh?” Piper muttered before letting off a short chuckle. “Not much of a change for me. The relaxing bit is a bonus.”

“Good,” Aria said. “Because we don’t always get to keep normal hours. Now, let’s get some grub.”

‘Grub’ was a smattering of food from Martius’ attached kitchen, mainly an assortment of fruit, cheeses and sliced meats. Barbara didn’t care all that much about it and ate in comfortable silence, thankful that whatever the rest of the lab’s occupants were up to remained unheard.

“It wouldn’t kill ya to be more talkative, you know,” Aria suddenly said as she plopped down next to her, her arm wrapping around her. Her words lacked the boisterous volume they normally had and she spoke in the quiet tone she reserved for more private conversations.

Barbara hummed as she ate something that vaguely looked like a strawberry but was orange and far more tart.

Aria’s expression grew sadder and Barbara felt a little twisting of her guts that had little to do with digesting new food.

“I,” the silver haired woman began, the words feeling thick in her throat, “I know. But it’s hard to care.” It had been for a long while. Other people just didn’t register with her. Not like how Aria and Aziza did. So she didn’t bother with the niceties.

Aria hugged her closer. “I don’t want to push you too hard or anything. Just don’t want you to always look so annoyed with everything. Aziza and I can’t always be the most interesting people around.”

‘I disagree with that,’ Barbara thought, but was wise enough to not say. Aria seemed to understand that she wasn’t going to make any breakthroughs tonight and lightly tapped her shoulder to the beat of their song with her fingers. They sat like that for a while as Barbara ate and she was happy that Piper steered clear of them.

Soon her food was done and Aria stood up, Barbara following her up.

“Best we turn in, yeah?” Aria smiled softly at Barbara, her fingers trailing across her arm. A ghost of a smile made its way to Barbara’s lips as she followed Aria into their bedroom. At least tomorrow the job will be done for a bit.

Thanks again for reading this little story. If you liked the chapter, please hit that thumbs up, and if you want to support my writing, check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/ScrapCrow. Get access to my chapters before they’re published here and join my private Discord.