“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Trim asked as she leaned back on a canvas chair, smiling absentmindedly as the ocean breeze drifted over them. The sun was already hanging high up in the sky despite the fact that it was only mid-morning, while the residences and businesses around them were slowly springing to life.

“Yeah…” Nina replied softly. Lying back in the hammock which hung in the corner of the balcony, her head was propped up by a cushion from the sofa so that she could look out over the ocean. Her joints remained stiff and her head still throbbed occasionally, but at least the tightness around her chest had loosened a little. It was a significant improvement.

After she had told Reina that she was feeling up to it, she had finally been given the OK to be carried outside.

Areinis had turned out to be something that the pictures in ‘The Seven Plates’ couldn’t accurately portray. The warm salty air, the blue skies, and the mesmerising stretches of blue water all combined together to form something that had left her entranced. It was fascinating when she compared it to the blacks of Caecus, the greys of Luem, or the reds of Sandscale Pass, while even the endless green plains of Zaffre’s Moat fell significantly short when it came to impressing her. If someone right now had asked her to pick a plate to live on for the rest of her life, she would have been very, very temped to pick here.

And that was before she had even taken a step out of the house.

She lamented the fact that she had been unconscious when they had dropped through from Zaffre’s Moat. Trim had already told her that the view from above was stunning, and Nina believed her without a doubt. The islands that dotted the ocean as far as she could see already formed such an impressive sight from where they were up on the mountain, so from high in the sky it must have been incredible. She was already thinking about the next time she would have the opportunity to drop through so that she could finally see it for herself, but she also knew that she couldn’t get too far ahead of herself. Coming back for a second time wasn’t even something that was set in stone.

“Can I get you anything?” Svanda asked. She was sitting beside Trim, as was Reina, while Aline stood by the railing. Saela was watching TV again, while Jade was probably still asleep.

Nina shook her head. Talking wasn’t really a problem anymore, but she reasoned that it wasn’t a bad idea to avoid it where she could until she felt a little better. She had taken up Trim’s earlier offer to help her change though, so now she was wearing a simple black singlet and some navy shorts that only ran halfway down her thigs. The white sheet that Aline usually used when she was occupying the hammock had also been thrown over her, and now as she swayed back and forth gently she found that she was actually quite comfortable. A lot better than yesterday, that was for sure.

Despite the fact that Nina was outside and somewhat functional, the mood that hung over the group was somewhat sour. It was almost strange considering the turn in their fortunes and the pristine weather, but the reason for the atmosphere was because Nina had brokenly relayed what Rucille had been talking about when she had been stuck in the lab. Svanda had of course been immediately alarmed at the thought of a lunatic being on loose with a weapon that could be used for genocide on her home plate, but at the same time she had been kept in check by Reina who had reminded her that they wouldn’t be leaving Zaffre’s Moat. The bigger problem, she had concluded, was that if Rucille managed to somehow complete her goal of developing a virus that would infect people from Neo Luesa, the power across the seven plates would shift drastically.

They would be out a job too.

The best solution that they had come up with, as crazy as it sounded, was to seek out Ormain. He would be intelligent enough to understand the implications of what Rucille was planning, and so there was a high chance that he would abandon his pursuit of Nina and hastily return home to report the news. It sounded ideal when they thought about how it would get Ormain off their back and deal with Rucille at the same time, but as a long-term solution to their problem it would create significant difficulties. SuTSU would almost certainly invade Zaffre’s Moat when they learned of the news, and they probably wouldn’t wait to verify if the information was true either.

In fact, an excuse was probably just what they were looking for.

There was also the problem that Ormain’s team wouldn’t just consider the death of their teammate as water under the bridge. Nina herself obviously wouldn’t be relaying the information, but whoever did would be at serious risk of becoming a target for retaliation. Even sending the news indirectly through a letter or message had risks as it would be drawing a line between the two parties, and leaving any trails that could be traced wasn’t something that they wanted to risk.

The biggest problem of all, however, was that SuTSU taking control of Zaffre’s Moat would be disastrous for not only The Cloud Orchestra, but also for every other non-SuTSU party who wanted to travel through the plates in the future. If SuTSU managed to take control of the Royal District, the Merchant Guild, and the Farmer’s Guild, they would instantly have a complete monopoly on the paths through to Areinis and wouldn’t hesitate to use it for strangling anti-SuTSU activity.

Unfortunately, it was another scenario which would also leave them out of a job.

Going after Rucille themselves was probably impossible too. Not only would they have to do an entire loop through the seven plates to get back to Zaffre’s Moat, they weren’t even sure how reliant the whole program was on her in the first place. Nina had made it clear that she was the person in charge of the lab at the Inin Estate, but had Rucille already done enough work so that someone else would be able to take over if she was removed?

That was if they could even get into the Royal District.

“Are we going to move soon?” Aline asked. “Nina’s better.”

“Not better enough,” Reina replied with a sigh as she looked over from the chair. “We still need to work out where we’re going too.”

“Have you even found anyone reliable to take us there yet?” Svanda asked. It would be useless if they took a boat out to a faraway island only to have their driver tell Ormain where they had been dropped off, so finding someone who wouldn’t turn their head at a bribe was vital. Finding a trustworthy driver was more difficult than it had first looked, however, as they were usually fisherman or water transporters that didn’t get paid too much to begin with. Money turned heads, especially with the less fortunate, and Ormain had already proved to them in the Badlands that he didn’t mind using it.

“Just rent a boat and drive it yourself,” Trim said to Svanda with a playful smile. “It couldn’t be that hard, right?”

“Don’t tell Jade,” Aline joked. “She’ll want to drive it.”

“Can I?”

The group turned their heads as the door opened to reveal that Jade was standing behind it. Wearing a loose green shirt and a pair of orange shorts, she stepped out onto the balcony before walking over to Reina with a glint in her eye, the small skip in her step evident for all to see before she came to a stop.

“So-”

“No,” Reina replied flatly before Jade could even start her attempt to sell herself. “You don’t know anything about driving a boat, and you don’t know anything about the maritime traffic regulations either. An out of control boat with a group of women on it being stopped by the authorities would make for some interesting gossip for Ormain to hear, wouldn’t it?”

Jade frowned as her shoulders sank, turning around before slinking over to Aline who stood at the railing without a word. It had been a rather brutal shutdown even for Reina’s standards, and therefore there was usually no point pushing for a different outcome. She was right after all. Jade had no clue what she was doing just like the rest of them, and there would also be more than usual at stake when Nina’s fragile condition was factored in.

“Just let her learn,” Svanda said as she nudged Reina. “We’re going to have a few more days at the minimum before we’re ready to go, so she can read up by then.”

“She has no experience driving a boat.”

“So does everybody else when they start,” Trim chimed in with a thin smile as she enjoyed the moment. “It would be handy for someone on the team to be able to do it too.”

“One of you two should lea-”

“Can’t drive and shoot at the same time,” Svanda shrugged. “Sticking someone else behind the wheel is our best option when you think about it. We’ll pick up someone who can drive a boat for any other time we need, and it’ll save us money in the long run because we won’t be hiring drivers. It’s more secure, and we won’t have anyone second guessing what we’re carrying around on a job either. It would open up a lot of work on this plate for when Ormain isn’t breathing down our necks, and it’s not like hanging around here for a little longer is that bad, is it?”

Trim smirked at Svanda’s comment. Saving money, developing skills for future use, and opening up avenues to more work were all priorities for Reina, so it would be difficult for her to argue her way out of agreeing to the proposition. Jade seemed to think so too, because her smile was gradually getting wider as Reina sat there in contemplation, her eyes occasionally drifting from Svanda to Jade and back.

“Alright, fine,” she finally sighed, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “If you can sufficiently read up on what you’re doing by the time Nina recovers enough to leave, we’ll do it that way.”

Jade was already halfway across the balcony before Reina had even finished her sentence. Throwing open the door to the living area, she turned back to face them with a glint in her eye that the group would have associated with trouble more than anything else.

“I’m gonna go buy some books,” she said, ignoring the fact that they weren’t supposed to leave the house without Reina’s permission. “Just you watch. I’ll be an expert before you know it.”

Instead of reminding her that she needed permission to leave, Reina for once simply smiled as Jade disappeared in the direction of the front door.