act18d3

Silent. Strange. Unfathomable. Outsider.

So they naturally come to say.

Shadowy. Cold-blooded. Leaves for dead. A born monster.

So all will say behind my back.

Yes.

One needs only lose one's home, and one is nothing at all.

Reason says that I, coming here, should have been able to begin a new life.

Except the past cannot be rid. These things follow your shadow and climb your shins, dragging you into the abyss of the swamp.

Not one of us can break free of the past.

If there comes a day, and your home has found you...

2:33 A.M. \ Overcast

Rhodes Island Landship, Hallway

Alright! Once this report's handed in, your field mission will be formally closed out.

Mm.

Wait, is it still... blank? Ahem, hm-hm...

The only thing on this entire sheet is the word 'complete!'

Hmm?

The mission definitely is complete.

I-I mean, that's not wrong...

...but it wouldn't hurt if you wrote a little more, right?!

Hm?

(What do I do... just how difficult is she?)

(I never really talked to her before. I heard we were linking up with her, and the group leader even warned me... but this is still going to be tricky to handle.)

(Deep breath)

Alright, okay. I understand.

If the Doctor has any questions regarding the particulars of your mission, we'll seek confirmation from you again then.

...The Doctor?

Yes, Dr. Kal'tsit presumed you wouldn't want to hand a report in to her... and she also mentioned Amiya's too soft on you, and it can't go on like this... and so on.

So then we filed this mission away on the Doctor's end.

That woman. Hmph.

Do you want to report directly, then? Looks like the Doctor's out right now, so you can relax for a few days until the Doctor's back.

This report of yours, right now, could seriously use some more fleshing out!

Such a pain.

Fine, then. Mission code F1071, confirming submission. Follow-up specifics—

Wait.

Huh?

Give the files back to me. I've decided, it's okay if I add a few more details.

Oh! Of course it's okay! I'll leave it to you, then.

(This might go smoother than I anticipated...)

That's all from me then. Do head back and get some proper... um?

Your expression just completely changed. Has something happened?

In likelihood.

Huh? In here? Aboard the ship? An intruder?! I've heard about your acute senses. Could it be...

No, that's not right. The alarms should have sounded if there was danger aboard, right?

...Singing.

Singing? What singing? Er, it's silent all around. I can't hear any...

How? Why is there singing here?

I suppose there is a sort of droning sound, but that's not a song, is it? There's all kinds of machinery operating aboard Rhodes Island. Is it their vibrations, just maybe? Are you still not fully used to it?

No. The scent.

The scent of the seawater.

...Skadi? You're scaring me a little. What are you tal...

Huh? Hey! Skadi!

Skadi runs too hurriedly, too rapidly. She runs for the stairwell, fearing that those few seconds of apprehension riding the elevator will allow that scent to slip away.

A hunter is walking on seacoast way♪

She can hear the song. Aboard this ship, a vast majority cannot.

This language, this melody, has roused her memories. She is not one for nostalgia, but she knows it all too well.

But... this shouldn't be. This is a song that should not arise here.

With homeland left a mile behind, they must lament and pray♪

The singing shivers all throughout the ship's pipelines.

The scent of seawater, breaking unbreakingly, seeps out from the cabin walls.

Skadi remembers this scent just the same. With the damp closed in on her, her skin continuously contracts, becomes taut. Nervous, yet she is stirred too.

Could she have awoken? She cannot help but hasten her step.

Specter!

She pulls open the door to the treatment ward.

The bed is empty.

Perhaps she wanted to take a stroll outside after becoming lucid.

Wait... what is this?

She picks it up, and rubs it in her fingers.

...It looks like hers.

Specter's gold chain had been carelessly thrown to the ground. Or perhaps, deliberately.

Did she despise this item? Then she surely isn't pleased with her current identity.

The affairs of the Church—at least the Church of the sea—are all nefarious ones.

But... something's not right.

Outsider.

Without knowing why, Skadi has abruptly recalled that word.

She realizes that the scent is not Specter's at all.

Compared to the Specter of past, this scent now is too strong, and too callous. Skadi doubts it was simply a surprise that went all too hard to her head.

You're here. Who are you? Come out.

An Abyssal Hunter. But not Specter. Of all things, there were still other Abyssal Hunters who survived!

But why here?

...Where has Specter gone?

No matter who, or what, you are. Come out.

She needs to give chase. Something's not right. She senses the other one truly is nearby.

Skadi rushes out the door, and a silhouette flashes by the farthest recess of the corridor.

No... it's two. The singing still remains. The other one still incants.

Specter. That Abyssal Hunter has taken Specter.

So laggard.

If you were any slower, we would've been on our way.

Hunter! Who are you?

In one leap, Skadi pivots the corner, involuntarily feeling for any weapon on her she can use.

—What are you up to?

In that instant, before all else, she meets the other by the eyes.

Wait, you're...

Someone that she has never expected.

Skadi.

You seem quite well.

Could... you be the Second Company's—Specter's leader...?

You're... Gladiia...?!

It has been some time, Skadi. You are still able to recollect the Ægir's song, which deeply gratifies me.

Skadi cannot pick out even a single trace of 'gratitude' in her expression. This woman, from the first she knew her, has never once shown any change on her face.