"I wonder if I'll be able to find anything useful here…." Laura mumbled to herself as she and Zenesha inspected their war ships.
The military base that was surrounded by a large city sat on the shore of not just the Gulf of commerce to its south, but the Great Veroso river directly east. The river was large enough to allow relatively large ships to sail its waters.
Considering the Zari legion boasted the largest navy in their region if not the world, being able to use their strongest card to fight the White Ash was a major advantage. The river snaked right through the Eastern part of the country. It was also a great place to set a base of operations when invading since New Veroso was also elected east of them.
Laura however was more concerned by the idea of finding more materials for her experiments. She didn't know where to find Angelic Ore. She especially didn't know where to find Void Ore in the mortal realm. She was reluctant, but she was considering a trip back… home.
"Sigh, I could always go to another world and steal Angelic Steel, so I don't have to purify it myself." She muttered. "If things get tough, I could also just use my weapons and repurpose the Null Steel from them."
"What are you muttering about?" Zenesha asked, realizing her ever present shadow had stopped to look at the water below.
"Nothing. I'm at a standstill till I get the materials I need."
"Ah, for that stuff huh?"
"Yep."
"Ma'am…s, is something wrong?" Xavier asked.
As the Condor in charge of the navy, he decided it was important for him to guide them on their inspection. Seeing the two of them stop made him worried they found something wrong. He did take pride in keeping their fleets up to code after all.
"Nothing is wrong Xavier." Zenesha responded by straightening up. "Let's continue."
The tour continued but Laura's mind was still on her Abyss experiments. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to explore the river floor, or even the gulf. There was plenty of stuff in oceans that mortals just never knew about.
Frankly speaking Laura didn't like large bodies of water either…. There was always something lurking.
Eventually the tour ended before Laura had time to realize they were on solid ground again. They've been inspecting ships for weeks now and Laura stopped paying attention a while ago. Most of every ship was basically the same with little to no problems.
"That was the last ship we needed to inspect right?" Laura asked Zenesha with mild hope.
"Yep, that was the last one."
"Thank God." Laura said with relief.
"Thank God?" Zenesha repeated with a questioning tilt of her head. "I thought you hated the Gods?"
"I do, but I can still use the expressions, right?"
"I suppose."
The two of them fell into a comfortable silence as they fell into step with one another. Eventually they arrived at the military jeep they used to get to the docks. Technically as her bodyguard Laura should be driving, but she didn't know how.
With no visible hesitation nor remorse, Laura got into the passenger's seat as Zenesha took the drivers. The wolf took one last look at the water before the fox turned the vehicle on and drove away. Maybe she'll check the Black Forest first since she's been there once before and can easily teleport to its location…. Kind of anyway.
"Zenesha, I might take a short trip soon." Laura said suddenly.
"Where too?"
"I'm thinking of the Black Forest."
"The same one on the western shore of the continent."
"Yes."
"The same one that is technically in White Ash territory even though they don't dare expand into it?"
"Yes."
The one you're probably going to enter as a normal mortal and possibly get killed?"
"I won't get killed… fully." Laura said defensively. "My mortal vessel might die, but that'll just send me back to the void."
"The same place where everyone wants to kill you?"
"... Yes."
Zenesha pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. She wondered how she managed to fall in love with such a moron. For several moments the only sound heard was the jeep as it drove down the road.
"Look, I understand this is very important." Zenesha said slowly. "But there will be no point in going through this if you're just going to get yourself killed."
"I'm not goi-"
"But you will Laura; and it'll be my fault." Zenesha snapped. "From what I can tell you were being so careful until I came into your life." Zenesha sighed.
Laura was reckless, but it was for her sake. It was as if Laura lost all reasoning if she thought something could benefit her in some way. Even at the cost of her own life. Zenesha both loved and hated that.
"Can't you value your life a little more?" She asked. "If not for you, for me?"
"... I'll be more careful, but please let me check the forest at least."
After asking the Question Zenesha decided to pull over and look over to her girlfriend. She studied the woman before sighing again. It wasn't like she could stop Laura even if she wanted too.
"Just be careful and don't hesitate to use your power when you're in mortal danger." She said sternly.
"Of course."
"Thank you."
=======
Laura wasn't leaving immediately of course. She still had responsibilities there, by Zenesha's side. They were gearing up for war, and while she occasionally turned out the boring discussions, she made sure everything was running the way they should be. It was her princess's life after all.
Which brought them to the Research and Development area. Laura had Zenesha start working on weapons using Ather, and they came to check on the progress. While this was Laura's idea, she couldn't help but feel sick by the large amount of energy in the air
"This Ather is amazing Ma'am." The weapons researcher said with glee. "Despite the small bit we used to create this, the amount of power coming from it could keep this thing charged for years or even decades…. If it's not used."
Zenesha gave the man a nod, taking the revolver looking gun from him. The fox did ask why it looked like an old revolver and the answer she got back was, "Why not?" Now holding it in her hand she could feel the rush of power crossing through it.
She sensed it since entering the building, and the deeper they went the stronger it got. Of course it was dull and hard to notice. Mortals in this world had a hard time recognizing such power so the fact Zenesha could was amazing.
"Laura what do you think?" Asked the fox as she held the weapon for Laura.
Reluctantly stepping closer the wolf studied the weapon. It was very clever, despite the unrefined techniques. It was simple, but effective. It wouldn't randomly fail on the user simply because.
"You and your team have done well Doctor...?"
"Toobo." The researcher finished. "My name is Dr. Hustad Toobo."
"Do you mind if Zenesha takes this weapon?"
"Her Majesty is welcome to take it. That's our finished prototype." The doctor explained missing the informal way Laura addressed Zenesha. "It's as close to the finished product as it can get."
Laura looked at the weapon with mild jealousy. Despite using Ather they didn't need to find a specialized alloy to make it. Unlike her they weren't using a vast quantity of Celestial energy, just tiny bits and pieces.
If only she could do that.
"Zenesha, take the gun." Laura said. "You'll need it."
"I will." The fox said before turning her attention to Hustad. "I also want you to make another…" She paused as she thought. "Five Ather guns then after that cease all operations."
"All of it?"
"Yes. Don't worry Doctor, you'll have more opportunities to work with Ather."
"Yes Ma'am."
"Thank you." Zenesha thanked the human doctor and signaled for Laura to follow her. "We must coordinate our efforts with New Veroso next."
"Yes Ma'am."