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The Least Common Denominator XVI.V Geophysics: Olivia
"If I was Sister, where would I put it..."The first few marks had been located etched into the wall; the 'x's evenly spaced approximately a few paces away from each other. Barring the other marks that denoted ores and other stuff that she didn't really know about, the next mark should be somewhere in the center of the cavern. Sister was particularly obsessive with uniformity sometimes, and if the pattern held, then it was a step towards following the trail that would lead her to the missing pair.With a raised eyebrow, Olivia paced back towards where she stuck her first torch, her eyes peeled just beyond her feet for the supposed mark that she so desperately needed. If she could just find it, then it would strengthen her idea that the marks were indeed spaced evenly, and from there, she could extrapolate the distance of the next mark and narrow down the possible answers from
The Least Common Denominator XVII.I Cartesian Plane
I supposed that I was getting some sense of deja vu, but the sight before me right now was the last thing that I ever expected to come across.“Leader?”Atop the hill that we found ourselves in, I stood aghast as the remnants of my old home stood out amidst the sea of grey rock that was the hillside that I used to live at.“I never thought I’d see this place again…”It was surreal. I didn’t even register the fact that Lace was trying to grab my attention as my eyes were glued solely on the remnants of my old home. Gone was the homely and comforting atmosphere that I felt whenever I saw the old stead, instead, only a strange sense of despair and nostalgia flooded my chest as I seemed to be unable to tear my eyes away from the ruins.“Sister?&rd
The Least Common Denominator XVII.II Cartesian Plane
“It’s okay, Leader,” Lace soothed with a voice that was far too effective for me to ignore, her hand gripping my shoulder with the warmth of encouragement. “We’re here to help.”“Yeah, Sis,” my sister added, giving me even more guilt about what I was about to do as she held my hand. “I’ll always be by your side, remember?”I felt the warmth of their words permeate through my being as I stood in silence. It was comforting, but I knew that I wouldn’t last. There was a reason I wanted this to be something of a private affair.And I won’t be budging anytime soon“T-Thanks…” I managed to sputter out before shrugging off the two’s gestures of comfort. “I-I’ll call for you both when I’m ready.”<
The Least Common Denominator XVII.III Cartesian Plane
My knees buckled as I found myself kneeling in front of what I now knew to be my parents' graves. Undeserved relief flooded throughout my body as I realized that I didn't have to face my parents' corpses anymore. But the short-lived relief was quickly surpassed by the growing confusion that was building up in my head. I couldn't even fathom how this had been erected, and when. And the most important question was still left unanswered:Who did this, and why?There was just no way that the nearest town could have even managed to see what had happened. While our family frequented the markets as both our source of food and income, we hadn't really made enough of a connection to the point that someone other than ourselves even knew where our house was located. As far as I was concerned, there were only three people that knew this place even existed."Wh
The Least Common Denominator XVII.IV Cartesian Plane
Having made my peace, I wiped off what few sniffles I had on my nose before calling out to my two companions. If they ever noticed just how much of a wreck I looked like, they didn't comment about it beyond their eyes widening a bit. I was grateful, perhaps; that they stuck around long enough for me to do my thing with my parents. I probably looked like shit while doing so, but I could finally focus enough that I got my thinking face back.Which meant that it's time to think about who the fuck had the time, knowledge, and resources to erect this ornate a gravestone in the first place."So, any idea on who did this?"I crossed my arms in front of my chest as Lace eyed the errant gravestone. Olivia was also doing her own once-over, but she only held a frown as she ran her hands across the engravings. At first glance, my sister seemed to recognize the
The Least Common Denominator XVII.V Cartesian Plane
I hadn't seen this thing in a long time, even before the incident that took my quiet life away. Mom had only used the sword once as far as I could recall, and that was during her demonstration of her Numerator element to me back when I was... seven or eight? Either way, Dad was particularly proud of this thing; its perch above the fireplace being second to none as its simple, yet elegant design was enough to make even myself appreciate its splendor."Sis, what's- Woah..."I didn't even need to look beside me as I felt Olivia's jaw drop from the sheer craftsmanship on display above us. There weren't any fancy jewels on the thing, mainly just a polished pommel and a modest crossguard, but the sword's beauty laid on the runes that ran across the length of the blade."Is that what I think it is?" Lace whistled from behind us before taking her place on
The Least Common Denominator Interlude VII: Lace
Walking through the caves that got them lost in the first place, Lace briefly let her mind wander as her group traveled in silence with her Leader's self-fashioned little sister lighting the way. It was probably close to sunset by now, judging from the time they had spent waiting for Crimson to do what she needed to be done, but overall, it was still a very productive two days despite getting themselves lost after subtly strong-arming herself to lead their two-man expedition.Heh... she should've admitted that they were lost as soon as she realized she had lost track of their markers.The unfortunate accident was her fault, and she eventually realized it as soon as the temperatures dropped. Crimson had adamantly tried to place her own, but the older woman's pride won out after the younger of the two gracefully relented. And they, unfortunately, paid dearly for it.&
The Least Common Denominator XVIII.I Algebra
I knew that this day would come.I knew it, and yet I was dismayed all the same by the speed with which they managed to find us. I was sure that we had at least masked our trail a bit better than this, but if they found us this quickly, then I guess there was no choice for us but to try and defend from this."What do we do?" I heard Lace whisper behind me as we cautiously approached the besieged settlement. "We can't just barge in and hope for the best, right?"I nodded at the sentiment, "Yeah. It's already a miracle that we're going in from behind our front, but we're gonna have to use the fact that they don't know where we are to our advantage."While pretty shitty on our part to leave the defense on the others' more capable hands, we had to use the chance that was given to us to get some more info and possibly attack
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