30 Green Meadows

This was the day Lupus had been hyping for. She had promised to bring Frain and Jack to one of the many idyllic spots her parents brought her to when she was a child.

They arrived at a wide-open field, a sweeping slope of green grass and overlapping meadows that cascaded like Mother Nature's own staircase. To the east, it bordered the edge of the dense forest called Mirehaven, a line of wooden pillars serving as a fence separating the treeline from the rolling hills.

The morning sun offered a perfect, soothing warmth, vaporising the dew on the grass blades.

"Whoa! Lupy!" Frain exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.

"Heheh!" Lupus giggled, running her fingers through Frain's wavy locks. "I told you you'd love it!"

"It feels like… heaven!" Frain exaggerated, nodding rapidly.

"Right. This is how I'd picture Elysium to be," Jack interjected, manoeuvring his Armatus over a relatively flat patch of ground.

"Elysium? You believe in that?" Lupus asked.

Jack simply shrugged. "Who knows, right?"

"Yeah! Maybe there is something more after life," Frain said with a smile.

The hatch of the Armatus lifted upwards after Jack made landfall. The mobile suit knelt, using its hands as steps for him to descend. Once Jack was on the ground, he arched his back, stretching and hoping for the ache to go away. If only it was that easy.

"Man, I miss zero-G," Jack whined like an old man.

"Heheh! I wanna run!" Frain cried with ecstasy, throwing her hands in the air. Her legs shuffled through the soft grass as she sped away.

"Ahhh! That little Wildren, running off the first chance she gets," Lupus groaned, frowning. "Don't go into the forest, okay?!" she bellowed, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify the sound.

Jack chuckled, watching Frain's hyperactive display.

"Yippie!" Frain hopped around like a rabbit, chasing after a black dove. She sprinted so fast they could barely follow her with their eyes, the grass twirling in her wake.

"Looksie!" Lupus nudged Jack with her palm, pointing.

The panoramic view of Hasenwald could be seen from here. Even the Grand Riverfall was visible in the distance.

"Such a nice picnic spot," Jack exclaimed, feeling a wave of relaxation wash over him. The scenic view, the warmth from the sun, the fresh scent of the earth. He couldn't ask for more.

Watching the city beside him, Lupus exhaled endearingly.

"What was that you said about your back?" she asked, nudging him with her shoulder.

"It's my backache," Jack admitted, hiding his embarrassment with a dry chuckle. I'm not that old. It's my time as a spacenoid. He prepared the counter, but Lupus's quip never delivered.

Lupus's eyes shimmered with a golden spark. "Well, I can help you with that!" Her fingers moved frantically, accompanied by a creeping smile.

A massage? Stumbling back a step, Jack asked, "What do you mean?"

"Turn around!" Lupus ordered sharply, spinning him on the spot.

"O~Okay…" Jack couldn't resist her when she was like this.

"Now, link arms!"

He followed her command, interlacing his arms with hers at the elbows.

"Lupus! What's going on?" Jack asked again, a seed of fear taking root in his heart.

"Trust-y trust!" Lupus chirped, adjusting their interlocking arms until they were snug. "Now, relax!"

"Ooooof—!"

Lupus curled forward, forcing Jack's back to arc backward. His spine overextended. Jack's eyes widened with shock. "Woooah~wait!"

SNAP!

His spine somehow fell back into place, and a sense of profound ease washed over him.

"The back pain is gone," Jack gasped, looking at Lupus with utter bewilderment.

"Told you! Trust-y!" Lupus exclaimed, thumping her sternum with a proud fist.

"You just cured my back pain! Lupus, you're amazing!" Caught in the moment, Jack grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her a few times.

"Um~hm! Any time!" Lupus returned with a sweet smile. Then her gaze fell to his hands, which were still clasping her shoulders tightly. Heat rose on her cheeks, turning them visibly pink.

"Oh~sorry…" Jack snapped out of it, retracting his arms with lightning speed—

Her hand caught his fingers mid-action.

"I… I don't mind that, actually," she said, drawing her lips into a thin line before finally meeting his gaze.

Stolen novel; please report.

"What are you two doing?"

Frain's sudden appearance snapped them out of their trance. She shot them an unblinking thousand-yard stare.

"Nothing!" Jack whistled, trying to act innocent.

"Curing back pain, am I right?" Lupus added through a dry chuckle.

"Then why are you two holding hands like a couple?" Frain's question struck them like a bolt of lightning.

Both figures stiffened. The air grew thick with awkwardness.

Thinking fast, Lupus pointed past her. "There! A big, bad bird!"

"Where?! Where?!" Frain sprinted off, leaving behind a gust of wind. Her misdirection had worked against Frain's childlike innocence.

Her brain might have been underdeveloping somehow.

"Phew…" Jack wiped the sweat from his forehead, sweat he hadn't even realised was there.

They exchanged a funny glance, and a shared laugh echoed through the green meadows. "Hahahahaha!"

***

In the afternoon, they brought out the corn dogs they had prepared that morning. The temperature had increased considerably, so the trio sat in the shade of the Armatus.

While Frain devoured her food without issue, Lupus stared at her now-cold corn dog, which had lost its crispiness — its best feature.

"What's wrong? Are you sick or something?" Jack asked, looking at her with concern.

She shook her head. "I was just thinking it'd be pretty handy if we had Empyrion."

"Empyrion?" Frain looked at her blankly. The term was foreign to her.

"Is that a fire spell of sorts?" Jack asked.

"Yeah! How did you know?" Lupus stared at him with surprise.

"Well, I, um, I've been reading the book you gave me…" Jack admitted. "It's not like I'm good at it. The ancient language is hard to translate."

Then he launched into an explanation, describing how he'd spent weeks comparing ancient symbols to the modern language until the book's contents finally revealed their secrets.

"Jack's smart!" Frain chirped, rocking sideways with joy.

"Ahoho! You're a bag full of surprises, Mr Jack Squire!" Lupus quipped before nipping at her food.

"Not really. Magic intrigues me. Perhaps in a past life, I might have been a mage."

"Oh? Then, how about we make a trade? I'll accept you as my disciple! My esteemed Novitcius. But you'll have to give me something in return! A favour!"

"Okay. I'm all ears," Jack entertained her.

"Starting with you teaching me that!" Lupus pointed at the towering Armatus.

Raising his brows, his lips parted slightly before he replied, "With pleasure, M'lady!"

"Frain, you come with me, too!" Lupus suggested with a smirk.

"No."

"What do you mean, no!?" Lupus almost choked.

"You'll crash the thing. I'd better not be in it," Frain reasoned, causing Jack to burst out laughing.

The lunch was cut short, turning into a full course on piloting an Armatus mobile suit.

Without a simulation station like the ones Jack had at Luna Base, there was no other way but to have Lupus sit on his lap as he instructed her. She was heavier than he expected, with all the dense muscle she had acquired, but Jack couldn't complain.

"I've briefed you on the basics. Now we'll flick the auto-mode on; this will help you with standard movement."

Lupus followed his instructions, pushing the button overhead. The auto-mode chimed with a green glow.

[Auto-mode Engaged. One Armatus unit detected.]

Lupus gasped. "Woah! It talks!"

"That's just a system voice, Lupus," Jack urged her to regain her focus. "Now, insert your hands into the mechanical glove controllers."

"Okie dokie!" Lupus chirped.

Jack hovered his hands over the gloves. "May I?" he asked softly. Lupus hummed in response.

With her permission, he gently placed his hands on top of hers, each of his fingers over each of hers. The aromatic scent of her hair rushed into his lungs like a welcome wave; he shook his head to focus on the task.

"I'll try to direct you around. Since this is the auto-mode for a single Armatus, you'll have a full range of movement. Your left index finger will be able to move in six degrees: up, down, left, right, forward, and back," Jack said firmly. "Now, try it."

"Which index finger again?" she hesitated.

"The left one," Jack tapped gently on her left hand. "The right one is usually for weapons. I've disabled that for safety for now."

"Got it!" Lupus nodded. The machine began to move forward, each step shaking the cockpit.

"Woah! This is so cool!"

"Now turn left!" Jack ordered, and she was able to pull it off without a problem.

"That's how intuitive the Armatus is designed. Any Bronze Knight could control not one, but two simultaneously," he added, admiring the sophisticated machine and its controls.

"Whoa! Can I fly!?" Lupus exclaimed, her eyes gleaming with awe.

"Sure." His finger pulled her index finger upward. The Armatus's thrusters flared up, lifting tonnes of metal a few metres off the ground.

Lupus looked around. "Frain! See, I can fly!" she shouted with enthusiasm. Below, the lioness was crouched in a patch of dandelions, picking them up one by one.

"Sorry, you need to turn on the speaker," Jack said, reaching over and clicking a button on the side panel with his pinky.

"It's on now?" Lupus asked, smiling. Jack returned a simple nod.

"Frain! Hey!" Lupus tried again. This time, Frain spun around with dandelions in her hands, just as she was about to put them into her mouth.

Shocked, Lupus warned, "Frain, you can't eat that!" Her fingers slipped, causing the Armatus to dive toward the ground.

"JACKIE!" she screamed, shutting her eyes tight.

Yet, no crash came.

She opened her eyes. Am I dead?

The Armatus's head was just a few centimetres from the grass.

It was Jack who had lifted her finger just in time.

"Holy Gaia! I thought we crashed!" Lupus exclaimed, retracting her arm from the glove. The cockpit slowly stabilised itself.

"Not bad for the first time," Jack said lightheartedly. Lupus bit her lip, strangely quiet.

His hand brushed softly on her head. "I crashed a few times in the simulation. Don't be too hard on yourself, Lupy."

A white lie.

"Sorry, I got distracted." Her ears drooped to the side, a clear sign of upset.

"It's alright. That's why I'm here, isn't it?" Jack spoke softly, his voice husky.

"Mm~mm," she hummed, a faint smile tugging at her lips. For the first time, I feel like it's okay to make a mistake.

"Let's calm down a bit, and perhaps…" Jack signalled, pointing at Frain with his free hand.

"Whaaa?! She's still eating them!" Lupus exclaimed aloud.

After a few more sessions of Armatus training, Lupus got the hang of it and was able to move it around without crashing. In the late afternoon, they spent their last moments in the beautiful field, chit-chatting away.

The time with just the three of them was more memorable than anything.

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