Disclaimer: I don't own Last Exile or any of its characters.  The original creations, however, are mine.

Author's notes:  Thanks for all the positive feedback on the first chapter; I hope you enjoy this one as much!

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Chapter 2: Into the Sky

Claus never felt better than when he was flying a vanship through the clear skies above Anatoray, but this time was different.  This time, he wasn't piloting for fun or enjoyment; he was piloting because he had to.  The skies no longer looked as free and open as they did when you were flying for fun, Claus thought.  It was a beautiful day though; the sunlight glistened on the metallic exterior of the vanship, and the warmth made the cool air running through Claus's hair welcome.  He, Lavie, and Alvis rode in silence for the entire trip; only speaking to communicate piloting information.  The last time they had ridden like this was in the aftermath of the battle with the Guild, when they went to the funerals of so many friends that they had lost.  Each passenger was thinking about what had happened and why Sophia had been in such a hurry to summon them to her personally.  Claus didn't like the situation at all, but he had no choice but to come as asked.

"Claus, we should be coming up on the capital.  We can probably land at the palace," Lavie said to her pilot.

"I would think so; I'm just going to follow Tatiana," Claus replied.

"Oh, right…" Lavie replied, slightly dejected at the mention of Tatiana.  Indeed, the red vanship in front of them landed directly at the palace's private docking area.  Claus followed and executed a flawless landing, as always, despite being in no particular hurry.  He wanted to see Sophia again, but not like this.  Memories of the kiss they shared on the Sylvana echoed through his head.  He still didn't understand why she had kissed him; she had no romantic interest in Claus, and he certainly didn't have any in her.  He wished he could ask her, but he was too afraid to bring it up and wrote it off as a spur of the moment incident.

"Hello, Claus? Are you ready to go?" Lavie asked while waving her arms in front of him.

"Huh?" Claus fumbled for a reply as he realized that he had been lost in thought for close to a minute in front of his vanship.  "Yeah…sorry.  I was just thinking is all," Claus managed to get out.

"About what?" Lavie continued inquisitively.

"It's nothing, we should go," Claus answered quickly; Lavie would kill him if she ever found out.  The three met up with Tatiana and Alister at the edge of the circular landing area, near the gate to the palace itself.

"Her Highness will meet you all in her private chambers," Tatiana announced.  She sounded decidedly more formal to Claus than the last time they had met, but she still retained that air of pride about her that she was so well known for.

"Why do I have to come, Miss Tatiana?" Alvis asked politely, although with a tinge of nervousness in her voice.

"To tell you the truth, I have no idea," the ace pilot replied.  "Sophia sprang this on me and Alis just as quickly as it was sprung on you.  All I know is what you know, but it has to be important; that's for sure," she continued.  Alvis sighed in response as the three made their way down the massive hallways of the Anatoray Imperial Palace.  It had been a huge job to repair the palace after all of the damage done when Sophia's father, the Emperor, was assassinated.  Amazingly though, commoners and noblemen alike came together in the time after the armistice to rebuild not just the palace, but the entire city in its former glory.  Although some of the palace was still under construction, the areas that led to Sophia's chambers were strikingly beautiful.  Incredibly high arched ceilings, plush vermillion carpets, and sculptures greeted the eye in every direction.

As the group turned a corner into a smaller hallway, a pair of uniformed armed guards greeted them with a salute and a greeting to Tatiana.  Soon after, Tatiana and Alister stopped in front of a pair of ornate double doors.  "This is it; remember that even though we all know Sophia well, she is the Empress.  Please be polite," Tatiana instructed everyone.  The three outsiders nodded nervously, it had been a long time since they had last seen Sophia in person.  Tatiana knocked on the door and called to the inside, "Lady Sophia, Claus, Alvis and Lavie are here at your request.  Are you ready to meet them?"

"Yes, of course, bring them in please Tatiana," a voice from inside replied.  With that, Tatiana swung open the double doors and allowed the rest of the group to proceed in ahead of her.  Inside, Claus surprisingly noted that Sophia was not alone.  Sitting in a chair to her left was Vince, the captain of the Urbanus during the war with the Guild, in full military attire.  Sophia herself was also dressed rather formally, with her hair down and a beautiful amber dress on.  She looked slightly different from the last time Claus had seen her though, but he couldn't quite discern what the difference was.

"Your Highness," Tatiana and Alister said simultaneously with a bow.  Quickly, Lavie and Claus mimicked the two Imperial couriers, although with considerably less grace.  Alvis merely looked at it all quizzically; she didn't care about any formalities, she merely saw Sophia as someone who had cared for her in the past.

"Claus, Lavie, Alvis; it's so good to see you all again.  Please though, there's no need for formalities in here, just Sophia is fine. We're all friends here," the older woman said with a laugh.  Claus blushed slightly at the comment, much to the confusion of those who noticed.

"Your Highness—I mean Sophia," Claus began, before being cut off by the Empress.

"The note, right? I wish we had more time to talk; I hate to meet under these circumstances for the first time in months.  Tatiana, Alister, please stay.  I'd like you two to hear what I have to say as well," Sophia said as she noticed the two couriers begin to move for the door.  "This would probably be easier for Vince to explain, please listen to him carefully," she finished with a nod to the captain at her left.

"I too hate to see you all again under these conditions, but that can't be helped anymore.  I'm just going to be frank about this; you all know something is wrong, so there's no point in beating around the bush.  Two nights ago more than half of the Anatoray Navy's fleet was hijacked by a group of well organized survivors from the Guild," Vince started.

"What?! That's impossible though! I thought all the ships were kept under tight security, right?" Lavie blurted out, prompting Claus to mutter her name under his breath.

Vince let out a resigned sigh before continuing, "They used to be, but ever since the end of the Guild security has been loosening gradually.  Nobody ever predicted that someone would want to start a war again, after this world has been through so much recently.  Add that to the fact that the guards and personnel on the ships take their jobs far too lightly in these times of peace, and you have a recipe for disaster.  As I was saying though, about sixty percent of the Anatoray fleet has been taken under Guild control, which is six capital ships and about fifty assorted destroyers and small battleships.  Among them is the revamped Urbanus."  He grimaced at the last bit of shared information before continuing, "I can see on your face that you're wondering what exactly any of this has to do with you, right?"  Claus and Lavie nodded at the inquiry.

"I know that this is a serious situation, but what do you want us to do about it?  We don't fight anymore; we're just simple vanship pilots!  If you needed pilots to fight for you, then why ask us?" Lavie said angrily.  Lavie's expression went from anger to worry, as a theory formulated itself in her mind.  "Wait, something else is going on isn't it?  There's more to this than you're telling us, that's why you asked us all here," she deduced.

"Yes, you're right Lavie.  It would be best if you just read it yourself," Sophia spoke in response as she pulled out a letter from her dress.  "We received this yesterday, from a badly wounded pair of vanship couriers on one of the captured ships," she added. 

Claus took the letter from Sophia's hand and read it aloud, "It reads, 'Empress, as you no doubt have heard, more than half of your precious fleet is now under my control.  I'll get straight to the point, unless you adhere to the following demands, one city will be attacked and destroyed every other day starting one week from today.  First, relinquish the throne and proclaim that the Guild is once again in power over Anatoray, and advise the Disith leadership to also instate the Guild as it's ruler.  Next, hand over the following people for committing crimes leading to the destruction of the guild…'" Claus's voice trailed off as he read the names to himself silently, unable to believe what was written.  "It's all of our names, every one of us in this room, along with most of the other crew of the Sylvana," Claus said quietly.

"You didn't finish," Vince replied dryly.

Knocked out of his state of shock, Claus continued reading, "'Lastly, personally hand over Alvis Hamilton to myself on the Urbanus.  I expect all of these demands to be met within a week, or we will take back this world by force.' It's signed Maestro Decio Adrensen."  The entire group, with the exceptions of Sophia and Vince, stood in shock at the note.

"What do they want from me, I thought all the bad guys were gone now," Alvis asked innocently.

"I'm not sure, but we won't let them take you Alvis, I promise," Sophia answered with a compassionate tone.

"Maestro?!  How is that possible?  We did away with the Guild didn't we?  Isn't the fighting supposed to be over?" Lavie asked, sounding more than a little hysterical as tears began to form in her eyes.

"We obviously aren't going to meet their demands, so what's the plan?" Tatiana asked, entering the conversation sounding as emotionless as ever.

"We're going back to the Sylvana; all of us, together," Sophia stated frankly.  "I am already prepared to leave unexpectedly, and there are news reporters that I have told to spread false rumors that I have abdicated to certain known Guild informants.  I've also sent out messages to all of the people on the list of demands to rendezvous at Horizon Cave, where the Sylvana is being kept.  We'll act as if the Sylvana is meant to hand over all of the people on the list, but in secret it'll be bait in an ambush.  The specific details are still being worked out, but that's the general plan.  After all, the Sylvana is the safest place on the world, right?  It also happens to be the only ship that's capable of standing up to the Urbanus," Sophia finished with a hint of a smile.

"It sounds good, and it looks like we'll have plenty of time to catch up with each other too," Tatiana replied, shooting a glance at Claus with the last comment.  Tatiana didn't seem fazed by the news at all, she wore the same expression as she always did, not showing any emotion.

Lavie still stood staring at the ground, desperately trying to hold back tears.  "D-Does this mean we'll have to fight again?" she asked hesitantly, on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

"I'm sorry, Lavie.  I wish I could say no, but I can't," Sophia responded gently.  Upon hearing her answer, Lavie immediately ran out of the room, her tears landing softly on the plush carpeting of Sophia's private chambers.  Claus chased after her, leaving Alvis and the rest of his friends in Sophia's room, knowing how devastating the news was to her.  He wished that he could keep her out of all of this as he followed Lavie down the halls of the palace, but he was powerless.  They both had been caught up in something greater than them, for the second time in their short lives.  After several minutes, Lavie finally ducked into a small side hallway, where Claus came upon her crying into her arms as she leaned against the wall.

Silently, Claus put his arms around his friend and held her head to his shoulder as she cried.  Softly, he spoke, "Lavie, I'm sorry. You're always getting caught up in things because of me and my decisions.  But I want you to know that no matter what happens, I'll always be by your side, no matter what.  We'll get through this just like we've gotten through everything else that life has thrown in our way, I promise.  We'll get through it because we're together, okay?"

Every once in a while, Claus said something so profoundly sensitive and compassionate that Lavie was at a loss for words; this was one of those times.  Lavie looked up into Claus's cerulean eyes, her own eyes still glistening from her tears.  "Claus…thank you," was the only thing Lavie could manage to say.  She wished she could say so much more to him, but she could tell that he wasn't ready to hear that yet.  Instead, she stayed in his arms for a while longer, wishing that that moment would last forever.  She always felt better when she was near Claus; he had a way of comforting her that no one else could match.  However, unbeknownst to the two, Tatiana had noticed them together from the end of the hallway.  Her emotions a mix of jealously, anger, and sadness, she held back her own tears and quickly continued walking to her quarters.  She harbored her own feelings for Claus, and there was no way that she was going to give up on him.

"We should get back Lavie; we need to know what's going to happen next," Claus finally said.  Lavie broke away and nodded to him, looking as strong and sure of herself as ever.  Together they retraced the path back to Sophia's chambers, and were let in without a question asked.  Inside, Claus was surprised to find Sophia dressed not as the Empress, but as the Captain of the Sylvana in her full uniform.  She was wearing her glasses with her hair up, just as she had while she was masquerading as Alex Row's second in command.

"Oh, you're back already?" she said as the two entered the room.  "Alister took Alvis with her to get ready for the trip to Horizon Cave.  I suggest you do the same; all of our facilities are open to you. We're leaving in two hours, there will be two cargo ships and several vanship escorts to ensure a safe trip, although I don't think that this Decio character will make a move yet.  You may want to outfit your vanship with a machine gun before we go though, any of the mechanics would be happy to help," Sophia informed the duo.  Lavie's eyes widened a bit at the mention of putting weapons on their vanship, but she kept her emotions under control.

"Thank you, Miss Sophia, for helping us and Alvis again," Claus said politely.

"Don't thank me, Vince is the mastermind behind this plot, I just hope it all goes according to plan," she said back humbly.  The two pilots turned and began to leave, but Sophia stopped them short of the exit.  "I feel like I have to apologize, this is more than partially my fault," she suddenly said, with genuine sympathy in her voice.

"It's not your fault Miss Sophia, we're all guilty of being a little complacent in these times," Claus said back, giving Sophia a comforting smile.  She smiled back and nodded, then returned to preparing herself for the journey ahead.  Claus and Lavie exited the room, and headed for the landing area where their vanship was.  Upon their arrival, they saw Alister and Alvis already at the dock, ready to depart.  Seeing Claus walking towards them, Alvis ran up to meet him, with Alis following close behind.

"Claus! You should see all of the amazing things here; Alis was showing me around before we came here," Alvis excitedly said.

"Really? You'll have to tell me all about it later," Claus said back, kneeling to be at eye level with the younger girl.  "Where's Tatiana?" Claus asked Alis, looking up at her from his position.

"I'm not sure, but she said she was going to her room to get ready.  It's been a while though; it isn't like we have many things to get ready.  She better hurry though, we're scheduled to leave pretty soon now.  It's unlike her to be late, especially for something this important," Alister answered, showing a bit of concern over her best friend.  As the two were talking, a palace mechanic approached them, with a questioning look on his face.

"Are you Claus Valca?" he asked, to which Claus nodded.  "I heard that you might want to have your vanship armed, for safety purposes.  We're ready to do it quickly if you want; it doesn't take long to complete the procedure," he notified the pilots.  Lavie looked sick at the mere notion of arming their father's vanship, which they had worked so hard to repair.

"Thanks, but I think we'll be okay.  If we need an armed vanship we can just use one of the ships on the Sylvana when we get there," Claus replied graciously to the mechanic.

"Are you sure? What if you happen to get attacked on the way to the Sylvana?" the mechanic asked, puzzled at Claus's response.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure we'll be fine, but thanks anyway," Claus said again.  The mechanic merely shrugged and walked off to get to work on other projects.  As the mechanic walked away, Tatiana entered the landing area, carrying large traveling bags in each of her hands.  Claus, being the polite guy he always was, rushed up to Tatiana to carry the bags for her.

"Oh, thank you Claus.  Sorry it's so much, but I decided I would pack some extra pilots uniforms for you and Lavie, since I didn't remember you having anything with you when you came.  I have some old dresses that Alvis can wear too if necessary," Tatiana said, showing thoughtfulness that one rarely sees from her.

"Wow…thanks Tatiana, but you really didn't have to do all that just for us," Claus said, a bit embarrassed.  He was slightly stunned that Tatiana would do something so generous for all of them, but she was right, they hadn't come with anything except themselves.  Lavie and Alvis echoed Claus's thanks, also slightly shocked.  Alis looked thoroughly confused by this act of generosity by her friend, but she seemed happy about it.  Claus loaded the bags onto the cargo ship, and the group spent the next half hour mainly making preparations to their vanships for the journey ahead.  Tatiana and Alister mainly worked on covering the Imperial insignias on their vanship, as the mechanics had done on the cargo ships.  Secrecy would be important in the journey to Horizon Cave; nobody could know that the Empress was leaving the Capital. About ten minutes before the scheduled departure time, Sophia herself entered the landing area, with a regiment of non-uniformed guards and Vince at her side.

"Is everyone here already?  We can depart now if everybody is ready, if you wish," Sophia told the assembled group.

"Yes, I think we're ready to go now, Your Highness," Alister replied for the group.  The rest of the crew nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's head out then, and please don't call me Your Highness.  Remember, I'm supposed to have abdicated, right?" Sophia said with a joking smile.  She and the guards accompanying her started to board one of the unmarked cargo ships, but Claus stopped her with a question.

"Miss Sophia, can Alvis ride with you?  Just in case something happens?" he asked as she was entering the ship.

She looked back and with a nod said, "Of course, that's an excellent idea.  I don't think it will be necessary, but it's certainly a good precaution."

"Claus, I want to stay with you and Lavie though," the girl at Claus's side insisted, grabbing Claus's arm.

"Don't worry Al; it'll only be for a little while.  It's just safer this way; we'll see you as soon as we get to Horizon Cave and the Sylvana," Claus assured the somewhat frightened little girl.

"Okay…you promised though, as soon as we get to Horizon Cave," Al said as she ran over to Sophia's side and entered the cargo ship.

"Well then, let's head out," Tatiana told the remaining pilots.  Claus and Lavie headed to their vanship and boarded it, waiting for the cargo ships to take off as their cue to follow.

After a few minutes, the cargo ships began their ascent into the skies, and Claus shouted back to his navi over the noise, "Are you ready?"

Lavie shouted back, "I'm always ready!"  With that, the two prepared for takeoff on the palace's private runway.  After receiving some help from palace personnel, the two were soon flying next to the cargo ships and on their way to Horizon Cave.  Tatiana and Alister's red unmarked vanship was close behind them, as were five other unmarked vanships to escort the precious cargo.  The skies seemed grayer than when they had arrived at the capital, Claus thought.  There were only a few hours of daylight left, but there was plenty of time to make it to Horizon Cave with only light, fast ships to make the journey. Soon enough, they were out of sight of the Imperial capital and over relatively uninhabited land.  It was a relaxing journey for the most part, with the sun large in the horizon; painting the lands in beautiful orange tones.

"Claus, look to the right, do you see anything?" Lavie suddenly asked.  Claus focused in on four silver specks in the distance, too far to identify exactly what they were.

"Yeah, I think so; I can't tell what they are though.  It's probably nothing; don't worry about it," Claus replied optimistically.

"Claus…I think they're coming this way!" Lavie suddenly said.  Indeed, the shapes were heading straight for the convoy at a very high rate of speed.  They were soon close enough so that Claus could tell exactly what they were: four star shaped Guild fighters.

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A/N: Whew, that was considerably harder to write than the first chapter.  Sorry about the mostly expository nature of this chapter, I promise there will be more action in the next chapters, which will hopefully be up faster than this one.  Please R&R, thanks for reading!