For a second, the mountain felt still before everything trembled.
The very ruins shuddered as if the ice itself had a heartbeat. A pulse of Xana shot up through the fissures, rattling the frozen foundations and shaking loose entire shelves of snow. The mercenaries below panicked, their comms erupting in static and confused shouting.
"The fragment's reacting! It's here— it's—"
A surge of azure light burst skyward, spiraling into the shape of a massive column. Within it, something l crystalline floated, spinning slowly. The Fragment had revealed itself at midnight. But between the three women and it, a hemispherical barrier glowed faintly red. Six figures stood around it. Their Flux signatures were so heavy it was like standing in the middle of a thunderhead.
Verdamona landed first. Xaessia followed, carrying her massive dark claymore that radiated a faint crimson shimmer. Hinesia arrived, her boots carving a trench into the snow as she slid to a halt, the lantern still glowing in her left hand.
"Of course. It couldn't be that easy."
The Flux barrier began expanding, crackling and distorting the air.
"Guess we're late to the party," Verdamona smirked, her eyes scanning the six mercenaries.
"No," Hinesia said flatly, tossing the lantern once in her hand before catching it again. "We're right on time."
She dropped her fist against the glowing barrier.
The shockwave shattered the sigils in a single hit, exploding outward in a halo of light. Crystals and snow spiraled upward as the barrier collapsed. The mercenaries stumbled backward, shouting. Hinesia's flames flickered across her arms.
"Verdamona, Xaessia, handle them."
Xaessia planted her claymore into the ground. "You're going for the Fragment?"
"Obviously."
"Then let's give you a boost."
She swung her claymore around in a single, massive arc, stopping it mid-swing as the weapon glowed with gravimetric force. Hinesia dashed, stepping onto the flat of the blade just as Xaessia shouted—
"Rise!"
The swing launched Hinesia upward like a meteor. She soared through the blizzard, flames streaming from her boots as she ascended toward the Fragment. Down below, Verdamona flicked her wrist, and crimson roses bloomed across the snow, spreading in spirals.
The leader stepped forward. A tall man in black composite armor with red Flux running through his body appeared. He had short silver hair and looked like he was in his 30s.
"So, the heroine and villainess decided to team up. This is unexpected."
Xaessia tilted her head. "Villainess? Heroine? What the fuck are you talking about old man?"
He smiled faintly. "Oh. So someone else is pulling the strings. You must be overconfident because you're a villainess, huh?"
Behind him, the others took position. Two were leaping up toward Hinesia with aerial boosters flaring. Three turned toward Verdamona. Xaessia slammed her boot into the ground. Roses spread outward, forming a circular bloom around her.
"You have no idea what overconfident looks like."
The first of the three mercenaries reached Verdamona, firing Flux bullets that warped in mid-air. Verdamona cracked her whip, each strike turning into an arc that sliced the bullets apart mid-flight.
"Pathetic. You dare use Flux against me?"
She snapped her whip forward. It wrapped around the first mercenary's neck. She pulled. The sound that followed was short and wet.
Xaessia, meanwhile, was face-to-face with the leader. He drew hi twin-bladed flux saber glowing with sharp yellow light.
"You fight with plants?"
Xaessia smiled. "Not plants. Predators."
He lunged. The clash between his saber and her claymore ignited a shockwave that tore the snow open. He swung horizontally but Xaessia rotated her weapon and parried, pivoting off the impact. With each strike, roses bloomed on the ground where her blade landed, each one glowing faintly.
The leader noticed too late. His Flux began to stutter.
"What are you doing?"
"My roses don't just bloom. They feed. And here I thought you had information about us."
The petals around him started to vibrate, absorbing the surrounding Xana, even draining it from his body.
"You—"
"You're fighting me in my garden. Your Flux doesn't belong here anymore."
He roared and unleashed a pulse of Xana, blowing the roses away, but the damage was already done. Above, the sky blazed with gold. Hinesia burst through the upper clouds, the two aerial mercenaries following her.
"Give us the lantern!" One of them shouted, firing Flux spears.
She twisted in midair, dodging the first, then the second and letting the third graze her arm before she spun, pulling in the flames around her fists.
"Try and take it."
She kicked off a floating shard of ice, turned, and unleashed a fiery punch so powerful it detonated the spear mid-flight. The resulting explosion illuminated the entire mountain ridge. The blue light pulsed once more then died. The Fragment stopped spinning, dimming into a small sphere of glass-like crystal. Hinesia caught it midair.
"Got you."
The lantern she'd been carrying began to hum. Xana from the fragment bent toward it like a magnet. Verdamona looked down in alarm as the blue energy began to coil around the lantern like smoke. The lantern's glow intensified then abruptly snapped, the energy collapsing into it.
Hinesia landed on the ground before summoning flames that burned the two mercenaries in midair.
"Right. That's enough heroics for one night."
She shoved the Fragment and lantern into her System Inventory, pretending to put it in her pocket.
"We're leaving. Now."
Verdamona cracked her whip one last time to scatter the blood off it. Xaessia dragged her claymore against the ice, causing it to vanish together with the roses. Before either could react, Hinesia grabbed both of them by the waist, one hand around each.
"Wait, what are you—"
Flames burst from Hinesia's boots before Xaessia could finish. The snow beneath them vaporized instantly, sending a shockwave of heat outward. They shot upward.
Verdamona screamed, clutching Hinesia's shoulder. "Warn us next time!"
"Where's the fun in that?"
Below, the mountain ridge grew smaller and smaller, the burning campsite fading into pinpricks of light. Xaessia's hair whipped wildly in the gale a she yelled.
"You're actually insane!"
"Thank you."
"Why you... it wasn't a compliment!"
A faint, almost mechanical voice buzzed in their earpieces.
"Handmaiden here. The survivors evacuated. I repeat, all survivors have evacuated. There's a Teleportation Flux in use. All signals trace to coordinates approximately fifteen kilometers west in Geneva. Expect a full ambush if you take the standard Fast Travel route."
"Well shit."
The voice returned, sharper this time.
"You have less than ten minutes before reinforcements regroup at the Geneva Fast Travel Building. I suggest a reroute or silent elimination of entry personnel."
The three exchanged glances, the high-altitude wind whistling around them. Xaessia exhaled hard.
"She's not wrong, though. If they are setting up an ambush, they'll wait exactly where we need to go."
Verdamona said with a sigh, though it couldn't be what's over the wind.
"Technically, we'll be bringing them into the conflict. Not the other way around."
"Yeah, because that's so much better," Xaessia muttered.
The city lights were faint on the horizon now, shimmering gold beneath the blanket of night. Hinesia slowed their descent, letting the flames dim to embers as they began gliding lower. Xaessia spoke to Rielinne. Apparently none of them knew their names because Phaser told them not to mention them.
"What's our play, then? We can't fast-travel, we can't risk a fight in the open, and if the Swiss authorities detect a fight, we'll have their forces on our heads."
Verdamona sighed. "In other words, business as usual."
Hinesia glanced at them both, her eyes reflecting the faint glow of the city below.
"There's another way to bypass the Fast Travel System."
Xaessia raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you mean—"
"Oh, I mean exactly that."
"Hinesia, no. You seriously can't be asking for that!"
"That is the only way."
Xaessia pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're saying we'll phase through the Fast Travel manually?"
"Yes. But we'll need cover of course. Setting coordinates without using the Fast Travel Room's controls will be slightly difficult but it won't be an issue."
Verdamona stared at her. "You do realize that's basically jumping through a blender, right?"
"Only if you think about it negatively. Besides, it's either that or fight a hundred Fluxers in the middle of Geneva."
Xaessia sighed with a resigned expression. "I hate that that's a fair point."
Hinesia activated her comms again. "Whoever you are, since I don't know your name, keep an eye on the Fast Travel Building. We're heading there now."
The voice returned:
"Understood. Eliminate anyone suspicious. Silent operation will be recommended."
Hinesia smiled faintly. "Perfect."
She turned to her two passengers.
"Verdamona, Xaessia, hold on tight. We're about to make Geneva very, very nervous."
Xaessia rolled her eyes. "Fantastic. I always wanted to be on an international watchlist."
And with that, Hinesia kicked her boots once. The flames reignited and they shot forward through the cold night sky, cutting a fiery trail toward Geneva. Below them, the Alps stretched endlessly, unaware that three women on were about to drop a diplomatic catastrophe right into Switzerland's front yard.