Cross Ange: The Knight of Hilda

Chapter 18: Strangers in a Strange Land

The last thing Ange remembered was diving towards Tusk, her heart pounding in her chest from terror as the black Ragna-mail prepared to fire its weapon and obliterate him. Then, it felt as if Villkiss itself was starting to pulse with the same energy as when she sung the song of the Imperial Family. Ange caught sight of something red flying towards her from the corner of her eye and then the entire world vanished in a sea of ringing iridescent stars. 

As consciousness returned to her, something nudged Ange's head and she weakly looked up. A reptilian head came into focus and Ange shrieked as she fell back against the edge of Villkiss's cockpit. But instead of attacking, the Schooner gestured at itself with a clawed hand. "Oh," she gasped as she realized who it was. "Vivian it's you." Vivian whistled in agreement and nuzzled against Ange. "What are you doing here? And what happened to Tusk?" Ange received her answer as a muffled cry of pain rose up from beside Villkiss.

"Will you watch it!" a girl's voice yelled. "You're supposed to fix it not make it worse!"

"I have to set the bone in place so it can have a chance of healing! And I don't have any painkillers so there's no other way!" Standing up, Ange looked over and saw Tusk's skyhook sitting next to Villkiss alongside a red Glaive. And propped against the skyhook, Rio sat with his teeth sunk into the fabric of his jacket. On his right, Tusk was busy tying two sticks to frame Rio's upper arm while on his left, Hilda kneeled with her arm around his shoulder.

"Hilda? Tusk? What happened?" Looking up from his work, Tusk secured Rio's broken arm in a sling and turned toward her.

"Hey you're awake. Any injuries?"

"I don't think so. But what are you two doing here?" Taking his free arm over her shoulder Hilda helped Rio to his feet and laid his jacket over his lean frame.

"You tell us," Hilda told her. "The last thing I remember was diving after you before that black Para-mail could blast you. Then there was a flash and the next thing I knew Rio and I almost crashed into that building over there."

"Building?" Ange asked. It was then than Ange finally noticed her surroundings. All around them were structures that looked like hills but it wasn't until Ange noticed how the structures followed a geometric design that she realized what she was looking at were actually growth covered buildings. Grass, vines, and scrub covered their surface while all along the clearing where they had "landed"; trees and undergrowth had taken root in cracks in the pavement, turning what had once been a city promenade into shattered and broken rock. All around them, objects that looked like cars lay rusting and blanketed in weeds. Wherever they were wasn't just abandoned. It looked like it hadn't been inhabited for centuries. "What is this?" she wondered. "Some kind of ancient ruin from before the Age of Mana?"

"It looks that way," Rio said. "But look at its size and how intact it is."

"I agree," Tusk added. "If this really was once a city of the Ancient Folk then there's no way it would be left undisturbed like this."

"So where are we?" Hilda wondered. "I've flown all over the waters surrounding Arzenal and I've never once seen anything like this."

"It's possible we're no longer near Arzenal," Rio theorized. "Ange, when you were diving for Tusk, what was going through your mind?" With a leap, Ange dismounted Villkiss and shrugged.

"I guess desperation, panic. All I could think of was getting to him before that guy could kill him." Finally, the realization set in. "Wait, you and Hilda were diving in as well. Were you trying to stop me?"

"We were trying to keep you from getting killed," Hilda answered. "A little gratitude would be nice."

"Let's not try and waste time arguing," Tusk suggested. Vivian chirped in agreement. "Rio, are you trying to say that Villkiss reacted to Ange's desire and transported us away?"