Arc 4: What families entail
Road to a Hero:
Three chances in another world
Chapter 22. Convoy
Julius sits in Beauregard's chamber, drinking tea with him.
Beauregard: “You have spent a week-and-a-half here and we haven’t said anything.”
Julius: “It proves that you are good at conversing without giving any information away, not even with small facial expressions.”
Beauregard: “I could say the same thing about you. Look, you know your friend would like to leave, and I’ll help take you to Leo's camp if you want. You just have to tell me the directions.”
Julius: “I do not think I would fall for that don’t you think?”
Beauregard: “Worth a try…better than sitting here doing nothing. I want to stop this endless fighting, so just make it easier.”
Julius: “I’ve heard that you avoid fighting in residential areas as well as avoiding farmland. So this war is hardly affecting the mass of people.”
Beauregard: “But Have you seen the damage done to the central city? Houses and stress broken, morale is down and we are losing food due to thefts.”
Julius: “Then call an end to the war, like an agreement.”
Beauregard: “You keep saying that but it wouldn’t work, my brother, and we have very different views…we wouldn’t be able to agree.”
Julius: “And I also keep saying that I could help. My father King Cornelius, a god of war himself, taught me how to keep my composure, stay unbiased, and get the victory. I would be a great mediator.”
Beauregard: “Yeah son of the Mad King.”
Julius: “The Mad king has control of one of if not the strongest armies in the western continent.”
Beauregard: “If you get me a meeting with the mad…with King Cornelius at some point I will try to get a meeting with Leo.”
Julius: “A meeting with Leo and then Cornelius. And I will throw in a meeting with King Arthur.”
Beauregard: “But didn’t you say Arthur is a part of the Sect? How would you get a meeting with him?”
Julius: “I have my ways of doing things.”
Julius gives a big smirk, irritating Beauregard.
Beauregard: “Fine! Get me a meeting by the end of this month and I will try my best to end this war.”
Julius: “Great to hear, it took a bit but I’m glad we agreed.”
Beauregard: “But Rosemary must stay here. To make sure you don’t just run away.”
Julius: “Understandable.”
Julius walks away, content with the new agreement. An agreement that Julius proposed again and again, so it stuck. Julius walks to Rosemary's quarters, finding her pacing around her room.
Julius: “May I come in?”
Rosemary: “Yeah sure, what do you want?”
Julius: “I have gotten Bearugard to agree to a meeting with Leo.”
Rosemary: “REALLY! That’s great!”
Julius: “But it will most likely be at the end of the month.”
Rosemary: “Okay…gives us time to prepare.”
Julius: “Yes, but you must stay here. It’s in our agreement.”
Rosemary: “Ugh…of course.”
Julius: “I’m glad you’re accepting.”
Rosemary: “When you get out…can you send a message to Gray…I sent a letter a while ago but he hasn’t come yet…”
Julius: “I will keep that in mind.”
Rosemary: “By the way…what do you think we should do about Edwards…you know…death?”
Julius: “I do not know, but I do know that the Gravestone pirates will be an issue. Moro was able to take Edward out with no issue fairly quickly as well.”
Rosemary: “The Helsing family…it's over…”
Julius: “It is a shame. But we must move forward…and continue on our mission. I will see you when I get back.”
Rosemary: “Alright…well I’ll see you then. Safe travels.”
Julius: “Thank you.”
Across the land, Soku is also gliding using the wind to keep her balance. She stops herself and lands on top of the taller buildings in the capital city, staring at the castle. She sits down on the angled roof, staring at the stars of the dark sky.
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Soku: “It took all week but I can kinda glide now. It’s way better than walking…but it’s hella hard…gotta thank Peter again for it…THANK HIM!? What’s wrong with me?”
She looked down to see an expensive carriage moving quite fast in the direction the Inn was in.
Soku: “Where are you…going?”
Soku jumps between buildings, tracking the carriage.
Soku {Maybe they’re right…this old jacket…I might need to discard it…for actual armor other than some simple padding.}
Soku sees that there isn’t enough room to wind leap between buildings, so she sighs and jumps off, gliding through the wind and tracking the carriage. She lands on every other building to make sure she doesn't mess up her gliding or get spotted by guards below.
Soku {The city is all busted…it’s a big city but it’s empty…Walgonias capital is always loud and alive…but this is just sad. Broken and dirty…it’s a little better looking than the slums that I’m used to…just a little. Hey, the carriage is stopping by the exit of the walls!}
Soku glides to the top of the walls, watching as the Athens army guards stop the horses, then the carriage comes to a halt and the cabin door opens. And out walks Julius with cuffs on his hand.
Soku {JULIUS!? HE’S BEEN CAPTURED!}
Soku jumps off of the walls, gliding straight toward the guards. She flips mid-air, bending her legs, and launches a gust of wind at the ground stopping her descent and pushing the five guards back.
Guard 1: “HEY ABOVE US!”
Soku lands, retracting the glider's wings and she swings the glider like a staff carrying the wind and pushing it toward the oncoming guards.
Guard 2: “STAND YOUR GROUND, WE DIDN’T TRAIN FOR YEARS TO LOSE TO THIS LITTLE GIRL!”
The guards get up and pull out their pikes.
Soku: {These guys are well trained…I might not be able to beat them…I can do it!}
Soku takes a deep breath, puts the staff in a holster, and performs the stances she learned while training. She blasts a powerful blast of wind toward one of the guards, knocking off his balance. She follows up with another, sending him flying. The remaining four guards rush at her, so she surrounds herself with a rotating sphere of wind, waiting for the guards to approach her. They swing at her, giving her an opening to blast the wind knocking them all back but one. He swings his pike at her, so she uses her small stature to duck the swing, tucking her arm by her side, then punching forward carrying a lot of wind with it. The close-range blast sends the guard flying back. She hears the other three run up behind her, so she pulls her short sword out of the holster on her back. She quickly creates three wind blades that push the guards back, though due to a quick reaction time, the guards block the blades with their pikes.
Soku: “You guys are good! But I guess I’m a little better!”
Guard 3: “You’re right…you are better than us…but you’re not better than him!”
A man exits the carriage, wearing heavy armor and a helmet.
Calgary: “Names Calgary…and you must be Soku, Rosemary has told me a lot about you!”
Soku: “WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER!?”
Soku uses her mark of providence and her stances to blast as strong of a blast as she can. Calgary emits a golden glow, with five big ticks being heard.
Soku {That looks like Rosemary's power… I used up most of my strength to use that blast so it has to -}
Calgary punches the blast, stopping it before it can hit him. He then closes the distance instantly, holding Soku down.
Calgary: “Hey, I’m trying to stop this damn war, and I’m bringing your friend Julius back to your Inn!”
Soku: “YOU LIE! HE’S IN SHACKLES!”
Julius: “Actually he’s telling the truth. I said to put me in cuffs to assure them I won’t attack them.”
Soku: “You…could have said that!”
Julius: “I wanted to see how you have come along with your training. And you have progressed swimmingly.”
Soku: “Ugh…I hate you…LET ME GO PLEASE!”
Calgary releases his grip on Soku, allowing her to stand.
Calgary: “Sorry about that but you attack first. I was letting Julius walk the rest of the way home.”
Soku: “Okay then…I guess…I hope to end the war.”
Calgary: “Me too…and does Rosemary have a boyfriend?”
Soku: “Alright Julius let’s GOOOO!”
Julius: “Alright then, thanks again for the hospitality.”
Calgary slowly walks back into the carriage with the guards collecting themselves, while Soku and Julius walk back to the catacombs forest entrance.
Soku: “So how bad was it?”
Julius: “It was nice. Rosemary was bored though.”
Soku: “Sooo no torture and no prison cells?”
Julius: “There were prison cells but we didn’t stay in them the entire time.”
Soku: “Okay so there were cells.”
Julius: “Cells and a nice bed.”
Soku: “Also…WHY DID YOU LET ME FIGHT THOSE GUYS!?”
Julius: “I said it already. I wanted to see your progress, and your power has increased greatly.”
Soku: “I just learned some stances…and Leo is a better trainer than you.”
Julius: “Good, I’m glad you found a good teacher.”
Soku: “Hey… never mind.”
Julius: “What is the matter?”
Soku: “Nothing…ugh I miss Gray…he would respond to my insults.”
Julius: “Well I hope he shows up shortly, I’m going to send a letter.”
Soku: “Good, we need all the help we can get.”
Julius: “Now you go home. I’ll go to Erin's Inn and ask her to send the letter.”
Soku makes her way back to the catacombs, entering through the forest tunnel.
Once Soku gets back to the Red Arrows camp she explains to Leo and the others that Julius will be returning to them. And they wait in the main room until then. After an hour or two Julius finally enters the camp being treated to a coming-home party.
Leo: “YOU MADE IT BACK!”
A bunch of Red Arrows cheers and shout, with some running over to him and welcoming him back. With drinks and food everywhere the night ends with the first bit of actual fun in a while. In Leo's quarters, small and pact with boxes full of plans and a flag behind him, Julius and Leo share drinks while going over Julius’ plan with Peter and Soku watching from the sidelines.
Leo: “What’s wrong with not gonna drink?”
Julius: “No, sorry I do not drink alcohol.”
Leo: “Whatever, anyway Soku explained you agreed with my brother. What did you agree to exactly?”
Julius: “You will meet him somewhere and partake in a conversation that will hopefully help the two warring sides come to an agreement and end this civil war.”
Leo: “I couldn’t get my brother to agree on what was for dinner let alone end this war.”
Julius: “In the eyes of the people, Beauregard is a king with the same ideals as all the other rulers you have had. Where you seem like an anarchist similar to the Sect, trying to break down set rules and going as far to start a war.”
Leo: “What are you saying?”
Julius: “I am saying you need to make sure you are the one that seems the most humble, sorry, and understanding, because if you are not you will make your brother look even better in the public eye.”
Leo: “Ugh…you make a good point.”
From the sidelines Leo's right-hand man jumps out to defend his leader, with a no-found look of sorrow on his face he'd never seen before.
Peter: “JULIUS! I want to make sure you’re not playing us. I know Soku can’t tell if you’re lying but I can tell something's off. Whose side are you on!?”
Soku: “Peter chill out.”
Julius: “No, no, Soku he has a point. I seem to be on Beaurgards’ side more than I seem to be on Leo’s side. It’s because I respect Beauregard more than I do Leo.”
Leo: “WHAT!? Explain yourself!”
Julius: “You make Beauregard sound like he’s evil but he is one of if not the most understanding ruler in recent history. He knows his biases and understands that they are bad but he wants to take his time to adjust to the new ideals, which most rulers would die before doing.”
Leo: “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND! Beauregard betrayed me…my mother…my father…and the previous king!”
Julius: “Your previous king, King Froid was similar to Walgonias' previous king, King Buford in the fact that they are unremarkable. They existed but Beauregard is calculated, and understanding, and he’s doing something for his country even if it’s not right.”
Leo: “Look, you never met Froid So don’t talk shit about him.”
Julius: “Oh, my apologies I forgot that since you like somebody that takes away any problems they make.”
Leo: “Are you trying to start something?”
Julius: “I highly recommend you do not do anything stupid.”
Leo: “Oh, why do you really think you’re that good?”
Julius: “I just think you would not like the idea of the mad king bringing your once proud city to the ground.”
Julius’ normally closed eyes and stagnant smile change, with his eyes opening and his smile fading.
Soku: “Uh oh…I’ve never seen him like this before.”
Peter: “HEY CHILL OUT! And Julius, don’t start something you don’t want to see the end of.”
Julius: “Look, don't hurt the messenger. So do you want to talk with your brother or not?”
Leo: “Yeah I do…where do we meet?”
Peter: “Hey last time we let somebody else pick the meeting spot we lost a lot of people…you should pick it this time.”
Leo: “Okay…Julius tell Beauregard to meet me at the in castle, now how long until then.”
Julius: “In two weeks. So prepare yourselves. I will return to the castle to confirm his answer and inform him of yours.”
Leo: “Good…and make it fast.”
Julius: “Will do.”
Julius’ face returns to its normal state, with closed eyes, and a small smile. He then leaves the room and exits the camp without saying a word.
END OF: Chapter twenty-two