starlit heroics chapter 2

~*~*Chapter Two: The Art of War*~*~


By the time Letro rapped on Dan's door, a host of other soldiers had gathered in the castle from every kingdom. The man that had stolen the soup the night before sat on a bench nearby a group of soldiers in similar-looking garb. All of this action now prompted Letro to make sure the Prince was out of bed and ready to go.

Knock. Knock knock knock. Knock.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.”

“Come on, Danno. They're all getting here. You're late. And time is fighting. You know that.”

“It's 'time is money', Letro.”

“Not to me. Now get the hell out of bed, come on. We're still waiting on the healer platoon, you still have time.”

“Yeah, yeah. I'll be out in a minute.”

“Well, hurry it up.” Without letting Dan get the last word, Letro went back downstairs to the foyer and sat next to the hooded man.

“Hey Kaj.”

“Hey...” He lowered his hood, revealing his dark features, and brushed back his black hair. “So I guess this is happening.”

“Gonna be a good fight.”

“Heh. Guess there's a reason you're one of Librata's best. No one likes fighting quite as much as you do. Surprised Chaos himself hasn't shown up to fight you.”

“That happened once.”

“The Halloween tournament doesn't count.”

“It so does.”

“I don't count it.”

“You don't celebrate Halloween at all.”

“No, because there are undead walking around everywhere! Fuck that!”

“Kaj, please. Anyway... so, what do you make of all this?”

“I'm disappointed, I guess... I knew they'd been acting strangely. I just hope Luna is okay. She didn't seem any different...”

“You've still got that crush on her.”

“Shut up, man. That's none of your business.”

“You totally do I can see it in your face.”

“Come on Letro don't do this now.”

“Well if you want my honest opinion, if something's wrong with the King and Queen she'll be the first to see it. Think of it this way. You can be her knight in shining armor. Shadowy armor. Same difference. You sweep her off her feet and protect her from the fight and her oh so strange and dangerous face heel turned siblings, you fix the problem, hook up, and then you two get married and go have a nice honeymoon in the Twilit Isles. Maybe end up with a few kids. You know, as you do.”

“Letro, really I-” The man named Kaj was cut off by the arrival of the Libratan Prince, who flopped unceremoniously on the bench next to the two of them.

“You're looking pretty roughed up for a royal.”

“Oh... you must be the Shadowrian delegation. Hello...”

“Did you get any sleep? Like, at all?”

“Huh... no, I guess not...”

“Danno here's been worried about the fight. I told him, I said buddy? There's nothing to worry about. You go in, you Steel Gear this, you tell some guy named Jack about the memes. It's easy.”

“The... memes? Do we even know anyone named Jack?” Dan looked utterly lost.

“Just go with it, Danno.”

“Oh, I heard about this. You're leading the investigation squad...”

“He sure is! He asked me to come with. Hey, Kaj buddy! Why don't you come with too. No one's better at doing the sneaky bullshit than the Shadowranian Army.”

“That's a stereotype.”

“It's a correct stereotype.”

Kaj made a face as if he was about to rebut, but decided against it. “I... suppose I could do that.”

“You could rescue Lunaaa...~”

“...Done. I'm in. Kaj Rajan at your service.”

Dan blinked a bit. “Um... Daniel Librata. Good to meet you? So, you fancy Luna.”

“That's a little more than I'd care to have out in the open.”

“That's fine. I get it, it's none of my business. I just figured since Letro brought it up...”

“I kind of wish he wouldn't have?”

“Just trying to help, friendo.”

~*~*~

“Ladies and gentlemen, you are standing before me today because you have been personally chosen by myself from the Medical Division to aid the Libratan Army in their retribution and investigation of Zempheriea's sudden and heinous act.”

A woman of bright blonde hair and middle-toned skin paced across the floor in the front room of a different palace. The scattering of soldiers gathered shuffled around the room as she spoke, looking over the bright, colorful tapestries along marble walls, and the bright golden décor. The room itself seemed to give off a certain energizing light, keeping the mood a bit less than somber.

The two women who had been at the diner the night before leaned against one wall and watched the woman pace. Standing behind her was a smaller woman, with long, curly blonde hair in an undercut, her sharp cyan eyes looking anxious.

“The Libratan Army thanks you, the Zempherieans will thank you soon enough, and I thank you. Your mission today is to ensure as few casualties as possible, as you did in the aftermath of the bombing. That day, you saved many lives, and this day you will as well.”

“Queen Lumentia?” A scruffy young man raised his hand.

“You have the floor, Ortiz.”

“What exactly do we know about the intent behind the attack? Do we know if it deserves... retribution?”

“That's what this mission is to find out. I've been informed that the frontal assault is a distraction tactic so that a small team of investigators can slip into Zempheriea Castle and learn as much as they can.”

“Understood, ma'am. No more questions.”

“Aunt Lucidia.” Starr raised her hand next. “Maybe we should get going? Surely they're waiting for us by now.”

“...Thank you, Starr. That'll be all for your briefing. Your transportation to Librata has already been arranged. You'll find it outside waiting for you.” The Queen turned on her heel to face a brown-haired man who had poked his head into the room from the hallway. “Hayward?”

“Good morning, your Majesty. Forgive me for interrupting. I've found some texts from a hundred years ago in the magical history section of the library that I think you may want to have a look at.”

“...Ah. Most excellent. Perhaps they'll help me in solving the little mystery I've been investigating. The lot of you! You are, as of now, officially deployed. Don't keep Queen Librata waiting. The sooner this is settled, the sooner we can investigate other matters. Such as the disappearance of the Queen's sister. I'd really like that one to be settled, personally. Go on, go.”

Lucidia drifted off down the hallway with the man, and the platoon was left to head to where their transport was waiting. Indeed, in the front of the castle sat a number of automobiles which bore a striking resemblance to jeeps, white and gold, with the symbology of a dragon and a lioness holding up a sun printed on the side – the royal crest of the Light kingdom of Lumentia.

Spirit pulled herself into a convoy toward the front next to her sister. “Well, I suppose this is it.”

“Everything is gonna be fine. You're one of the best healers Lumentia has to offer. Danielle's gonna be there. What's the worst that could happen?”

“One of you dies. I die. Rocks fall and everyone dies.”

“That only happens in RPGs.”

“You don't know that. What about that cave-in outside of Lumiere last month?”

“I don't count mining accidents, okay? Rocks don't fall on everyone in major battles.”

“What if you're fighting Terrantia.”

“...Shut up.”

“No.”

“Still! Everything is going to be fine. No one dies, we find out what went sideways, we fix what went sideways. Couldn't be simpler.”

“You're acting awfully confident for someone who dual wields katanas like in one of those Venturenian animes.”

“They are special katanas and you know it.”

“Oh yes, so special. Even though they make you look like a gigantic weeaboo? Because you are? You're a weeaboo Starr I hate to tell you this.”

“I am not a weeaboo, thank you. I am an enthusiast.”

“Tell that to your Killer Queen body pillow.”

“Hey, the stands I would fuck are none of your business.”

“Starr. He steals hands.”

“No, that's the stand user.”

“No, that's semantics. You're a nerd. And also apparently a furry I mean come on Starr he's a giant cat. And not even like a Felitera is. A giant purple muscle cat.”

“I thought we were on the way to a battle, not the courthouse, because you sure are being judgemental.”

“I am judging you so hard right now. Judging. So. Hard.”

“Yeah well... well... well you like...”

“Ha. You have nothing on me do you? Because unlike you I don't leave my trash interests out in the open, I leave them safely behind a password-locked computer screen so they can be kept safely away from the prying eyes of certain weeaboos.”

“I don't know what any of this has to do with anything that's happening right now!”

“It doesn't, I just like making fun of you.”

“Fuck you.”

The two fell into silence as the convoy drove out of the big city environment of the Lumentian capital and out into the countryside. The sight of the gently swaying flower fields and the small towns full of brightness and life was enough to ease the worries of the soldiers, for now.

Soon, however, gently rolling countryside gave way to a field of headstones, as they headed along the road to the Crossroads that lay within Time's End Cemetery. The convoy drove around the roundabout surrounding the central tower, and eventually down the road which led into Librata. Through the streets of the capital, and toward the castle they drove, until they came to a stop on the greens in front and were allowed to disembark.

Starr and Spirit were quick to enter the castle, where immediately they ran to the side of the Libratan princess, who sat reading a book on the side of the foyer opposite her brother.

“Danielle!”

“Spirit! Starr! I'm glad to see you. Slightly less glad that you've been asked to come here for war and not just to have another Princess Movie Night.”

“I wish we could have that.” Spirit sighed. “I hope Luna can forgive us for this. It isn't fair to anyone, what's going on.”

“I know... I hope she's okay.”

“I'm sure she's fine.” Starr interjected. “She's tough. She's not gonna go down that easy. I'm sure she knows something is wrong. She has to. I can't believe otherwise. I won't.”

“I hope you're right...” Danielle sighed. “I don't want this to end up like Kaze. You know, where we know something is wrong with her dad but we can't prove it and it's not like we can talk to her about it.”

“You've seen the way he looks at them. I think Angel wants to kill him.”

“I wouldn't put it past her if she's still nursing that crush.”

“Even though she won't admit it. I don't know why she's so in the closet.”

“Lumentia has had so many lesbian queens that it's a non-issue. I don't really understand.”

“Tell me about it. Tia's been trying to get her to fess up for ages now but she just won't do it. She even tried to tell her to do it in song.”

“...Is that what Imperial Ass was all about?”

“You didn't understand the lyrics? I mean they were super clear.” Starr cleared her throat. “Little angel, why won't you just say, 'I want to fuck you until you pass out today'.”

“Well when you put it like that I just look kinda stupid.”

“You are most certainly not stupid, okay. You could book-learn all of us into the dirt.”

“Well I never said I was, just that you have a point and that the lyrics were really obvious in retrospect.”

“Fair enough.”

Before the banter could continue, Queen Talia stepped out into the foyer, causing a tense silence among the gathered soldiers. Behind her, were a number of others, around the twin royals' age and younger.

“Ladies, gentlemen, gender-neutral individuals. If you have been summoned here, you are under the command of me and my own for the duration of this mission, and I will assume you have already been briefed. As a short reminder, this is an act of retribution against the Zempheriean regime for their sudden attack on Bellitudo Arbustum, but it is also a mission to gather information. As you soldiers do battle on the grounds, a small team will sneak into the castle to investigate the sudden change in the royalty and act accordingly. Daniel!”

“Yes, mother?”

“Have you and your sister chosen those who will accompany you into Zempheriea Castle?”

“...I believe we have, ma'am. I've chosen to take with me, Letro Valentine of the Libratan Army and Kaj Rajan of the Shadowrian army.” Dan made a wide motion beside him, where the two men sat on the bench.

“Very well. Danielle?”

“Spirit and Starr Lumentia, ma'am, of the Lumentian Healer Division.”

“So much for not getting chosen.” Starr mumbled under her breath.

“Well, we could dream I guess.”

“Very good. Now then. I would like to ask my nieces, nephews, sons and daughters to accompany the platoons into battle, as well. Rainer, Diana!”

The two oldest people in the small group behind Talia stepped forward and saluted. The first was a man in a long black coat, with his jet hair pulled back into a small ponytail. At his back was a wicked-looking scythe and around his neck was a dark red scarf. The second was a woman in a dusty purple dress, with a witch's hat to match. She looked much like Rainer beside her, with the exception of her more marked pallor. By all means, this was a woman who looked like she embraced some very strange subcultures. Reveled in them, even.

“Yes, Aunt Talia.”

“You are to accompany the Shadowrian Third Division as they approach the Zempheriean capital from the west.”

“Understood, Aunt Talia.”

“You got it.”

“Rosentia!”

At the Queen's call, the nest-oldest woman stepped forward. This one seemed timid, though her broad shoulders and solid stature failed to make her look small no matter how much she shrank away from the eyes of the crowd. She hid behind her emerald hair and wrung her shirt.

“Y-yes...?” Her voice was small, and cracked a lot.

“Accompany the Lumentian Healer Division coming in from the east. It'll be good training for you.”

“Understood, m-ma'am...”

“Finally, young Arcenia will accompany Lieutenant Hanson into battle from the front.”

The small, pink-haired girl who responded to this call didn't seem to be looking at anything through her milky white eyes, although she had no trouble finding her way around.

“The information team may accompany whichever division they decide suits them the most. You are deployed. Go forth and right this terrible wrong for the glory of the eight kingdoms. Dismissed!”

The three platoons saluted, and then began to disperse to their respective modes of transportation, while the apparent information team met in the middle of the foyer.

“Well, this is it.” Dan shuffled a bit, obviously still very nervous. Spirit's third eye watched him, glowing an odd cyan color. Under her second sight, his life essence, his aura became visible. It looked like static, and mixed in with its base color of red were streaks of orange and lavender. Spirit knew this to mean he was nervous, and frought with hesitation, and she frowned.

“There isn't anything to be afraid of. No one is going to die, okay? Danielle and I are going to make sure of that.”

“I-” Dan stared at her. Aura seers were always sort of creepy to him. They always knew somehow. “...I guess I'm just worried about what we might find in there. Who knows what could be happening. I don't want to fight any of them.”

“...I understand. I don't want to do that, either. But if we have no choice...”

“Eh, that's what you have me for.” Letro, however, looked as calm as ever under her sight, light blue, and streaked also with violet excitement. “I'm telling you. The memes, Ja-”

“We don't even know anyone named that.”

“...Rules of nature. Okay. Just putting it out there. So, I don't think I've met you two pretty ladies. Name's Letro Valentine. I like long walks on the beach, nice dinners, katanas...”

“Back off.” Starr looked very unimpressed.

“Alright, jeez. I was just joking.”

“Well, if you must know, I'm Starr Lumentia, and this is my sister Spirit. And you are the guy that stole our soup in the diner last night.”

Kaj looked up, surprised. “I- I didn't think you'd recognize me.”

“I don't forget the face of a soup thief. I'm surprised a Shadowrian military man was even hanging around in Lumentia.”

“The Queen asked me to bring a report to Lumentian Special Forces, that's all. I needed to stop for dinner.”

“...Ah, the missing persons case. That makes sense. You still owe me a bowl of soup.”

“Is now really the time?”

“It's always time to call out a soup thief.”

Dan gently deposited his face into his left hand. “Let's just get on the road. The convoy is still outside, right?”

“I don't think it left, come with us.”

“Good...”

The twin Lumentians led Dan and the rest of the strike team outside, where the vehicles sat waiting for their occupants to finish boarding. As before, they chose one toward the front and took a seat in the back, under the cream-colored canopy.

Unlike before, the convoy did not begin heading straight for the Crossroads, instead making a wide arc around it, taking them first through a mountain pass, where there were visible heavy rainforests between and on top of the crags that stood tall above them. The pass then gave way to familiar golden fields, then to cold, cold ice fields and fir trees. Such was the way, the occupants knew, of the eight kingdoms.

The drive was very tense and silent. No present soldier really knew what they would find, and least of all the information team. A certain dread hung in the air the entire route. Nobody wanted to think the worst, that Zempheriea was trying to break off the alliance and make a power play. The central kingdoms had, for most of modern history, always had a fairly tightly knit population. Surely the royalty weren't daft enough to try to break that, right?

Danielle was the first to clear her throat, as they traveled through a dense pine forest. “Soooo...”

“Lovely... weather we're having.” Spirit shrugged.

“Gotta love that... Glacientyr weather, you know. Snow, and... more snow...”

“Oh, come on. What have I been telling you?” Letro finally spoke up. “The tension's so damn thick I don't even need a katana to cut it. We're going to be fine.”

“But what if-”

“Then the other seven kingdoms set it right. Like what's supposed to happen. We're keeping the peace, guys. That's it. This isn't war. Not yet. I might like fighting but even I know when something is a terrible idea. War is a terrible idea. Natch.”

“I... guess you're right.” Danielle took a deep breath as the pines started slowly fading into deciduous forest again. These trees were interesting to look at, as even though some were still the normal shade of green everyone expected from a forest, others had foliage in a queer shade of lavender.

“We're going to be arriving soon...”

“Look, just empty your minds.”

“Empty my mind?”

“Empty your mind.”

“Empty my mind.”

“Empty your mind of anything that doesn't have to do with the mission. The mission, and breathing.”

“Mmmh...” Danielle seemed more comfortable watching the scenery go by. Soon, visible in the distance, was the Zempheriean capital, with its tremendous sport arena and the shining glass tower rising up above the rest of the city, even the castle. She huffed a little.

“I'm sorry, Forsilvra City. Really. I wish we didn't have to do this.”

The convoy eventually arrived in the city. The vehicles rumbled over its brick streets, paved with the phases of the moon, unchallenged. Something was very wrong, the intelligence team noted. No one roamed the streets but a few brave souls who waved at the arriving soldiers as if they were so pleased to see them, and the buildings were closed up. The sky seemed even to darken as they approached.

“What... what happened?” Spirit found herself asking. “This isn't normal...”

“I told you this wasn't anything war was happening over.” Letro folded his arms. “They're scared of something, and it isn't us. That's our job. To find out what's going down.”

“Well... I suppose this is credence to my theory...” Danielle clutched her lexicon to her chest. “I... I have to prove it once and for all. We can't be scared now. Not after we've seen this...”

“I guess this is why the Healer Division was deployed... this isn't right at all...”

Kaj's face hardened, though he was silent. If this was what the capital was like, was Luna okay? He hated to admit it, but Letro couldn't have been more right. Not only did he have the chance to be Luna's knight in shadowy armor, he had to be.

Zempheriea Castle stood tall over the three divisions as they converged at its front. Its gray stone face glowered down at them as if it was alive and awaiting the first move, but otherwise it was eerily still. Every so often, a scared cat would wander past, mewling as if it was begging the army to help it. There were no troops waiting, no attendants minding the grounds, nothing.

Until, slowly, the doors creaked open.

Exiting the castle was a man they had never seen before, with dusty lavender hair and madness in his feral-looking hazel eyes. His skin was pale and marred with dark spots, as if he had some kind of terrible illness. He didn't walk so much as he shambled, and his face pulled into a too-wide grin as he saw the army waiting.

“Well hello! Greetings, from the Darkness Requiem!” the man started. “Oh, don't look so surprised! After all, why would the poor, poor royals of Zempheriea suddenly turn on you? Well, let me put it to you as simply as your inferior Xephixerian brains can handle. We are assuming control. The Lunar Kingdom belongs to Lord Xerizero. Resistance is futile.”

“The Alliance of the Eight Kingdoms orders you to stand down.” A man standing toward the front of the Libratan delegation commanded. He brought himself into a defensive stance, in order to protect the young girl being carried on his shoulders.

“I don't think you heard me the first time, whelp. Resistance. Is. Futile. And here I thought a reference to some of your cutesy little media would've worked.”

“I heard you just fine. I'm not sure you understand. We order you to stand down. Surrender peacefully, or we will bring you down by any means necessary.”

“Ooooh, I hate it when the whelps don't listen. Like those little girls! Well... if it's a fight you want, then I don't have any choice.” The strange man snapped his fingers.

For a moment, nothing happened, leaving the soldiers confused. As Lieutenant Hanson marched on the man, however, flanked by the two oldest Libratan royals who had accompanied the Shadowranian platoon, the ground rumbled, and the trees rustled, and the ground split underneath them, and the forests poured forth with beasts that should not have been but were.

They dripped with the void and glowed in sickly greens and purples and it seemed like even being nearby them made one sick and achey to the bone. In the moment they appeared, the true battle began, and the Lieutenant and his accompaniment were left to chase after the cretin.

“Shit!” Dan was nearly toppled over by a creature breaking through the earth below him, but used his momentum to bring his weapon around and cleave its head off before it could cause any damage to the group.

“I told you this wasn't right.” Letro made quick work of another creature, using his katana to split the chitin off of it through a thin point and slicing it off without breaking it. “We need to get inside and Steel Gear this. This guy is distracted, I bet we can pull out the royals and get to work.”

“He's right.” Danielle backed away toward the entrance. “Follow me, we need to go!”

As the Information Team made a break for the castle doors however, Dan froze as he caught a glimpse of violet in his peripheral vision, to find a small, serpentine dragon keeping pace with them.

“Purple, no! You're going to get killed!”

“I'm not letting you go in there alone! You need all the help you can ge--”

Dan felt his heart drop from his chest to the floor as a tremendous worm burst from the ground and swallowed the tiny dragon before he could even finish his sentence.

...However, just as he was about to cry out in despair, the creature began to spark violently, eventually exploding from the sheer force of the voltage being pumped into it. When the gore fell away, it revealed the drake, perfectly fine, the row of spines along his back pulsing brightly.

“...As I was saying. You need all the help you can get.”

“I...” Dan looked as if he was about to faint, “I don't really have time to complain right now. We need to go. If you're coming, then hurry up before you get swallowed again!”

Surprisingly, the team managed to slip through the doors with very little resistance, arriving in an empty, grandiose hall. Set into the granite walls were ornate rose quartz mosaic patterns of moon phases, eclipses and cosmology, and the hanging chandelier above them seemed to display the entirety of the Xephixerian solar system.

“It's... so empty...” Kaj murmured. “Where are the attendants? Where is the royalty? ...Where are all the cats?”

“Hold on...” Spirit's third eye again glowed cyan, and she scanned around the interior of the palace. “...The cats are locked in the basement. They're distressed. I think that man must have done something. I see... I think the attendants down there, too. I see... Luna, pretty sure, upstairs, over that way. She's afraid. There's two auras on the other side of the hall there. That one looks like Selene, and the one next to her... is that Azurra? What is she doing here?”

“Ugh... she's been missing for three days.” Dan grunted. “We were starting to worry.”

“We thought she might have disappeared, like her mother...” Danielle looked in that direction along with Spirit, although she couldn't see the auras.

“Well I guess now you know. Anyway, that's them. I see... the King and Queen further in. Looks like they're just... idling there. There's something wrong with their auras, though...”

“... Wait, like what?”

“Well... it's kind of like, they're there, but... there's a core in there that looks like someone else's aura entirely. Lutrine's is silver, but... there's this core of a weird... wine-colored aura. Like someone spilled Merlot on a gray carpet. They don't look hostile, though, they're just... standing there. Doing nothing.”

“That's really strange... do Luna and Selene have that?”

“No, they don't, which makes it weirder...”

“Someone needs to go get them out of here, then.”

“I'll get them.” Starr stepped up, arming herself with her katanas. “You can trust me. I'll get them out safely. Then once we have them out safely, we go see what's up with the king and queen.”

“I'm going with you.” Kaj exclaimed suddenly. “I- I have to.”

“Fine. Let's go.” Starr dashed off in the direction of the stairs, and Kaj followed closely behind her, leaving the five others in the foyer for now.

The hallway leading to the residential rooms was very lavish, with large stained glass windows to the left side depicting scenes of the countryside of Zempheriea and the neighboring colony of Stjarna Rackvidd, the Starwood Mountains. The doors on the right side, however, were barred shut from the outside. Someone clearly did not want their prisoners to escape.

Kaj was right on that as they approached Luna's door, taking a blade from his hip and bringing it down as hard as he could on the wooden bar, smashing it to pieces. There came a startled scream from inside, and he kicked down the door, lowering from his offensive stance when he saw the woman inside.

Her dusty purple eyes were wide as dinner plates and her silver hair was a mess, like she had been freaking out this entire time and hadn't been allowed outside. Her clothes were wrinkled and looked like they had seen better days. She seemed to only relax a little as she saw who had come for her.

“Starr, and... and the ambassador's son... Kaj, right? Everything is so messed up...”

“Listen to me.” Kaj started before Starr could get a word in edgewise. “There's a convoy outside. It's dangerous here, we need to take you, and your sister, and we need to get you out of here.”

“But what about my brother and sister?! I can't leave them! Not now...”

“Princess Luna-”

“Honey. I need you to take a deep breath.” Starr interjected, “We're not in here to hurt them. We don't want to hurt them. We're in here to find out what's going wrong. That's all. Okay? Have you noticed them acting strangely? At all?”

“A- A little, I guess... they've been distant. Like, really distant... The real problems didn't start until that man showed up. About a week ago. Right before the attack got launched. All of a sudden he was acting like he owned the place. Selene tried to stand up to him, and he... he hurt her. Bad. And he had them lock us in our bedrooms...”

“How long have you been in here?” There was a harsh note of anger behind Kaj's voice.

“A few days...”

“...We're going to fix this.”

“Luna. I want you to help us get into Selene's room. Spirit and Danielle are here. Has she had any treatment at all?”

“No, as far as I know she got locked inside with her girlfriend and was left alone.”

“Alright. I'm going to get Spirit. Mr. Rajan, stay with Luna until I get back. Make sure nothing comes for you.”

~*~*~

Blood and void-like ichor spilled across the front lawn of Zempheriea as soldier and beast did battle. The Healer Division did their best to keep everyone afloat, though it proved difficult as they had not expected adversaries like this. And as that happened, Prince Rainer and the lieutenant circled the ringleader, who did not much more than stand there and sway dangerously.

“State your name.” Rainer growled, holding his scythe in front of him to defend himself from any unexpected blow the madman may have chosen to make.

“Well, if you must know... Virulent, 16th of the High Order of the Darkness Requiem. That's a pretty high ranking, isn't it? High enough for the likes of you, almost certainly!”

“I don't give one single damn about your rankings. You could be Number One, for all I care, and I'd still wipe you out for what you've done.”

“Oooooooh! So you want to fight Number One?!” Virulent laughed a raspy, sickly cackle. “No you don't. Oh, I'd say especially not you. No sir. I don't think you could handle them. I don't think you can handle the truth!”

“I will systematically bring down every one of you for harming our eight kingdoms. This I promise you. And I'll begin with you.”

“Come at me then.”

Rainer said no more, swinging his scythe around in a wide arc toward the man and cleaving him in half around the waistline. Blood, too dark to be completely human yet too red to belong with the beasts on the battlefield, sprayed against the wall of Zempheriea Castle and sizzled a bit. Indeed, the blood spattered on the scythe began to eat away at its sharp edge, startling Rainer.

The man, ever grinning like a cheshire cat, seemed none the worse for wear, as his torso gently slid off of his legs and onto the ground. Repairing himself was simple, it seemed. He merely pulled himself back up onto his waist and wiggled around a bit to make sure he was in working order.

“Oh, don't look so shocked, Xephixerian. You don't know the power of the corrupt. Do you know why they call me Virulent? You'll be like me soon. Oh yes.”

He cackled again, but that cackling soon descended into a horrible coughing fit, which again soon gave way to a torrent of dark blood, streaked with rotted looking orange and green. Rainer barely dodged out of the way, but his coat was struck, and began to sizzle and disintegrate. He threw it off without hesitation, exposing the red undershirt he wore underneath, as well as his toned arms. Now down both a weapon and an outfit, he grimaced. He would have to think fast, for this one.

The Lieutenant also backed away, making extra sure to keep his passenger protected. Little Arcenia, on the other hand, had different plans. Her milky eyes seemed to shine and glow, and soon after, Virulent clutched his head and his gut.

“What... what is this... the child...!”

He coughed and wheezed again, and sprayed more ichor from his mouth in the direction of the girl and her mount. This sparked a certain fire in Rainer, and from nowhere, he pulled a falchion with shining black edges and brought it down through the diseased madman's head.

But as he again pulled himself back together, the sound of engines from the sky took his attention away from the battle at hand.

“What...?!”

“Reinforcements. I called them in while you and Prince Rainer had your little chat.” Lieutenant Hanson laughed. “I'd like you to say hello to the Hundred and First Venturenian Airborne.”

Virulent frowned as troops began to parachute in from above. This was far too much for him to handle. “It's no matter. The King and Queen are our pawns now. Her Lady of Ruin won't let them go just because you've lost a battle. Now you'll have to contend with them. If you'll excuse me, I have better things to be doing. Ta!” From inside of his tatted brown cloak, he pulled a crystal, dark blue and full of stars. In but a moment, he was gone, leaving only the mess he had left behind.

~*~*~

“He left them to fester... you did as well as you could, Azurra. Thank you. You might just have saved her life.”

Spirit nodded to the tallest one in the bedroom, a blue-haired woman with eyes that could be called unnaturally bright, who looked mussed up and worried as she wrung her black jacket. The two kneeled next to a smaller, lavender-haired girl, with wounds across her arms and through her abdomen whose edges were puffy and beginning to turn sick shades of yellow.

“It was so gross... he kept coughing and when he coughed there was blood and when he coughed up the blood it ate through the floor...” The blue haired woman shuddered. “And she tried to blow his head off, but he didn't very much appreciate it, and he hit her, and he hit her, and he hit her again, and he hit me, and he locked us in here before I could try to... I dunno, void his heart out of his chest.”

“...That is absurdly grody, you realize. But you tended her until we got here. Look at this, look at how quickly these have gotten to this stage of infection. That's really bad. If these hadn't been wrapped up and tended to, she might have died of sepsis already. You saved her life.”

“But... but I feel like I could have done so much more. There was some kind of inhibitor in that bar on the door. I couldn't void us out. Selene couldn't use her powers to remove it.”

“I saw it when we broke it. It's gone now. I destroyed it myself. You did everything you could and nothing less, Azurra. That's all anyone could ask of you. Now hold her steady. I'm going to do my best to fix it.”

Spirit pressed her hands to the wound, and her third eye opened wide. A teal aura of pure energy emanated from her hands and covered the wounds. The infected, yellowed flesh began to turn back to it's normal, healthy color, and the open wounds finally began to seal, scab over, and eventually shrink.

“She should be fine now... Just let her recover and wake up. We're going to take you two home to Librata Castle once we're done here.”

“Thank you. Really. I don't know what's wrong with Monroe and Lutrine but... it isn't them, Spirit. It isn't.”

“I know. There's something wrong with their auras, and I'm going to get to the bottom of i--”

A chilling scream ripped through the air from the foyer to the bedroom hall, snapping the five conscious denizens to attention, from Spirit and Azurra, to Kaj, Luna and Starr. The five of them dropped the pretense of recollecting entirely and shot off to investigate the source of the scream.

When they arrived to the foyer, it was to the sight of a white-haired woman with scars down her face locked in a weapon-knot with Letro, though within her supernaturally white eyes you could see the pleading. Toward the back, was a blank-faced man with moon-dust colored hair, flanked at either side by two white tigers, creeping ever closer to Danielle, who was backed into a corner. Dan was knocked to one side, presumably by the first woman, and scrambling to gather himself.

The man spoke, but something was horribly wrong with his voice. The undertone was masculine, as you would expect, but it was completely monotone. No inflection. The voice in control was that of a woman with a velvety, yet venomous tone.

“My dear, my sweet princess, oh, you would make such a beautiful subject! Ah, but, what a shame I can't be pressed to take you... No, you, my dear, are in my son's way. And we can't be having that, can we.”

It was quick enough that no one could really have stopped it. In one fluid motion, the possessed King pointed at Danielle, and the pair of tigers leaped upon her. Teeth sank into flesh and claws shredded fabric, and the princess was torn up and thrown around like a ragdoll.

The smell of blood snapped Dan to attention, and for a moment it was as if everything froze, as if time had stopped. In that moment, the tigers were teleported off of Danielle's body and to the ceiling, where they were thrown telekinetically to the stone floor. Lutrine was swept off of the ground and thrown backward into a wall, where she was knocked out, and Monroe – and his possessor – would find themselves stuck within three different bookshelves. The air around him rippled and shuddered with spatial distortion, and as it did, you could swear you saw blue bangs manifest upon his forehead for just a moment.

In the chaos of the sudden movement, Spirit rushed to Danielle's side and frantically examined her wounds.

“No, no no no. Dani. Speak to me. Speak to me.” The teal energy manifested around her hands once more, but didn't do much more than seal a few minor wounds before it stopped. And when it stopped, Spirit knew she was already too late.

Luna, meanwhile, stood stunned and still. Oh, she certainly knew something had gone terribly wrong with her brother and sister, but she could never have imagined this. But at the same time, Dan's assault made her heart ache. Everything hurt. Nothing was right.

Starr snarled in an almost animal way, and threw herself at the pair of white tigers. She would have their skins for her new coat, her mind screamed, and she would make their master into a spiffy new pair of boots.

But before any of them could truly act on what they desired to, it was as if the world had suddenly entered a kaleidoscope. Things warped and shifted around them, and the scenery completely changed. Starr's assault ended in her harmlessly bouncing off of a pillar, and Luna seemed more startled and alarmed than ever.

When Dan collapsed, the information team realized they were back inside Librata Castle.