“So, what if Sidonia realizes our heresy?”
Celis asked as they trudged through the snow of the Deadzone.
To hear the word ‘heresy’ from Celis…such a dirty word didn’t belong in her mouth.
“Sidonia should have no inclination. Eufrozina said that she’d no longer be able to see our thoughts.”
“You mean read our minds.”
Alisson sighed. “Yes…”
Another grievance to add to the list. It felt so wrong to Alisson, to be thinking this way. One part of him thought nothing of it, simply pushing forward with this blatant treacherous thought, and another part of him panicked, begging him to just shut up and fall in line. There was a great deal that needed to be straightened out.
One thought had been spiraling in his mind without a home for some time now, what Eufrozina had said off-hand about Alisson. About how he may be the next ‘Meowskers’. Just what the hell did that entail? Why did she say such a stupid word with such a straight face? He’d ask around back home; It seems that there a piece of his own history that he may be missing.
Well, many more than just one piece, Eufrozina had made that all too clear.
“It’s a shame that you can’t be building up your manifestation right away…”
Alisson murmured. If they activated their Opensens with all their gear on, it might either rip up the protective suits or the manifestation itself. Thus, Celis couldn’t use her Opensen currently, but as soon as they were safe from the Black Energy, and having ditched this all-to familiar gear, he’d get right to training her on it. Well, assuming that they might have a moment of respite once they exited this place. Andestine may be camped out waiting for them. The best hope is that they’re all huddled together in Scratskoslovotskaya, since this is northern, hostile territory. If that’s the case, Alisson could simply sidestep the town, and head down to Nubinaya, Scratskoslovotskaya’s port-town extension.
He hadn’t thought much further than that. Hopefully, their Kitsune allies were there waiting. He just had to believe in his comrades. At the same time…
Alisson’s eyes narrowed.
If Sidonia intended this mission as a way to get rid of Celis, and maybe even get rid of himself, then would she really arrange exfiltration?
If it turned out that the Kitsune were not waiting for him near Nubinaya, then him and Celis would be pinned against a battalion of knights and the ocean, with no where to escape to. With their mages, calvary, and numbers advantage, Alisson didn’t think he’d be able to give them the slip once more if they were prepared. So, what was to be done? He needed a plan for every contingency.
Alisson had been also thinking about this one particular thing: Of how he had been so maniacally drawn to the Deadzone. It was so illogical, it was so stupid, but why had he been so adamant on entering the Deadzone?
This sense of being drawn here, of wanting to come alone, it all disappeared when Eufrozina said that he’d been ‘liberated’. Perhaps that longing to come here, was just Sidonia’s will being exerted on him. To complete the mission. Whether that meant was retrieving the object that Alisson now carried on his back, or to die.
Alisson shook his head. He didn’t want to think about this.
He set his mind on more bright prospects. Celis. Celis celis celis. Just saying the name in his head made his stomach feel fuzzy, and brought a smile to his face. They hadn’t spoken much about it, which was quite appalling, but the fact was,
That him and Celis had kissed. And then, Celis had professed her love.
Alisson sighed with a smile.
A great weight had been lifted from him. He still didn’t know what to think, but he certainly knew it was good. He just kept on thinking about how, everything would be different now. Every single facet of his life now had to account for someone else, and what a lovely thought that was. It felt like he had two hearts inside of him, a warmth that pushed against him through times of strife and that pulled him through the mud and the death and the war, to that bright sunset on the horizon.
That warmth was very real, he realized. - Celis was leaning against him, holding one of his arms with a smile. He hadn’t realized it, but the sight sent a shiver down his spine and he couldn’t help but shyly smile.
He wouldn’t admit this to himself consciously, but Alisson knew that deep down, if it weren’t for these masks, and all this heavy equipment, Celis would probably be invading his mouth at every opportunity. Alisson couldn’t say that he would stop her.
“Hey…do you, do you hear something?”
Celis asked suddenly, her eyes drawn to something in distance.
“No…why?”
Alisson followed her gaze, and spotted something in the sky. A thin, wide object. A moment later, he could hear the dull roar Celis was eluding to.
Alisson squinted, and then realized that it was coming straight for them.
Alisson drew his weapon, and Celis followed, staring down the oncoming flying object. It was white, and now that it was a bit closer, Alisson could make out that it had the shape of a bird, with two wings on either side of a central canopy. They stayed hunkered like that for a minute, watching it approach, until its roar drained out the area.
It soared in at them, and, as soon as it was about a kilometer away, and still at the height of a skyscraper, it unleased a flurry of firepower down at the two of them. It was similar to that contraption in the underground corridor, the rapid-fire explosions. Only this time, he could see keenly what was being shot down at him in the form of yellow and orange streaks. They cleared the distance between the flying object and him and Celis within the fraction of second, but in that time, Alisson had reacted, throwing up a few Obice spells.
Thankfully for them, the streaks of yellow and orange crashed down all around them in a hundred meter radius, none directly hitting the two of them. They came down with thundering explosions, vaporizing the snow and leaving blackened craters surrounding the two of them.
The object then roared overhead, soaring passed them. Alisson watched as it did, only now ascertaining its true size – it was massive. It looked like a flying wing, if such a thing was possible.
Well, he wasn’t going to let it rain down another volley on him and Celis again.
He brought Enhérejär to bear, an aura of red wafting down its length. Despite the fact Alisson had used multiple Obice spells, thereby draining his mana completely, the object he was carrying had already replenished his mana supply.
He aimed the tip of Enhérejär at the flying object, now shrinking as it flew away.
He poured all of his mana into it; Enhérejär split apart as a red needle shot from it, recoiling back from the force of the spell. The red line appeared, stretching from Enhérejär’s tip to the flying wing, and then disappeared in the next instant.
A plume of smoke suddenly rose from the flying wing, until, an explosion went off aboard it, and slowly, it veered, and sank in altitude, crashing beneath the horizon. After the noise of the crash reached them, Alisson exhaled, and relaxed.
He looked to Celis, and flicked his head, and they continued on, paying as little mind to the unexplainable as they could.
…
They had reached Eufrozina’s city. It looked the exact same as when they’d left. Including the tower that Eufrozina had been in. It was still standing; despite the fact that they’d seen it collapse with their own eyes. Of course, they made their way through the city to the tower, but not a thing was awry. The city was as empty and dead as it was before.
Alisson resigned, reasoning that it was better to not poke their noses in business they had no part in. Especially with the looming threat of night here, Alisson decided to just get a move on, and not outstay their welcome in the shell of a city.
It wouldn’t be long now before they reached Scratskoslovotskaya.
Or rather, until they sidestepped it. Alisson was sure that when they arrived, they’d see Andestine knights atop the walls, defensive siege machines being built, and a militia being trained. That is if a patrol didn’t intercept them first.
There was also the matter of their food supplies – They wouldn’t be able to just set off to Irine or back to Tarakia without first going to Scratskoslovotskaya.
However, if the Kitsune allies were already waiting in the port of Nubinaya, then he could forget the logistics problem altogether; once they reached allied forces, they were home free.
So, when him and Celis exited the Deadzone, the ground underfoot no longer an infinite mass of snow, they were in a perpetual state of alertness, expecting at any moment a cavalcade of knights to come riding toward them. Even though Alisson knew that they should now no longer have the capacity to track them, he still had the phantom presence hanging over his mind.
The tense atmosphere severely ruined the relief that should’ve been flooding into Alisson as he left the snows of the Deadzone. He couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief knowing that an enemy unit could be just over the next hill. His fingers were no longer frozen stiff, his skin was no longer hardened with ice, and no longer did they need to trudge around the heavy Black Energy Equipment – Celis and him had ditched it as soon as they were a safe distance from the Deadzone. However, the black cylinder that they’d retrieved still weighed down Alisson greatly, but he begrudgingly carried on with it.
So, they crept their way to Scratskoslovotskaya. They didn’t encounter any resistance. Nothing. Their eyes never set another living thing until they were already at the western gate of Scratskoslovotskaya.
Not a single knight in sight. No barracks, not even flags fluttered anywhere. There were only the usual, band of thugs, at the western gate. Him and Celis were let by without a fuss, the thugs apparently keenly aware of who they were. The thugs whispered amongst themselves that they weren’t expecting the two haughty Nekomata to return from the Deadzone, suggesting that perhaps himself and Celis simple camped out to pretend like they had entered it to save face.
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Alisson heard this loud and clear: The town knew clearly where him and Celis had been. Marmel had not kept his promise.
First stop: Pay that scumbag a visit.
Alisson would extract all the information he could out of the bastard, and then silence him for good.
The two of them walked with sharp eyes through the streets of the decrepit city, wary that an entire battalion of knights could just appear around every alley. They reached Marmel’s place, atop its throne of garbage and debris, but after kicking down the door, they found no one inside.
Silence. No one approached the two of them. Had Marmel simply cut and run?
Not even the thugs who watched from a distance approached them. They seemed to know their place. Just what happened while the two of them were gone? Chiji. They needed to find the street urchin Chiji. She would fill them in. They went around the city, asking everyone they could, but like the first time they were here, no one wanted to speak with them. They even asked the old smithy owner whom they’d done twice a disservice too, and surprisingly he spoke with Alisson, but simply said that he hadn’t seen of Chiji for a few days now.
“We’re burning daylight.” Alisson spat.
Every minute they spent was another minute Andestine could be rolling in closer with a convoy of knights. He approached the nearest gang of thugs near a city gate, and before they could scramble out of his way, he pinned one to a wall, and demanded to be told about either Marmel or Chiji’s whereabouts.
“Y-you haven’t heard?” The guy asked, sweat on his forehead, scared that someone a head shorter than him was lifting him off his feet.
“Do tell.” Alisson’s eyes sharpened.
The thug looked warily from one side to the other, as if asking permission to speak.
“Marmel was killed!”
Alisson’s eyes widened, but the skinhead continued, “T-they found him dead in an alley a couple days ago…and who else but little Chi was there, with her own dagger in Marmel’s back…”
“And? What happened to Chiji?”
“Well…well…” The thug’s eyes darted nervously around, more sweat forming on his forehead. Alisson’s eyes narrowed, and the thug spat out, “I-it wasn’t me! Or anyone here!”
Alisson tightened his grip. “Spit it out.”
“The guys who found her, they killed little Chi…not after taking turns with her…but, when they found a massive pouch of coin on her, they knew right away that you Sidonians had paid…so putting two and two together, they fled for their lives, sure that you’d kill them for interfering with Sidonian business.”
Alisson dropped the man, his eyes dark.
“Thank you very much…”
Alisson turned away. Celis frowned at him.
She wouldn’t have…she would’ve been fine if I’d never have told her to do that…
Don’t let it get to you, Alisson.
Alisson shook his head. He took a deep breath. To the thugs around him, it sounded like he was exhaling pure rage through his nostrils, and they scrambled over each other to get away from him.
Alisson turned to Celis.
We need to find out about our allies, if there’s been any word about a fishing ship or anything about Kitsune, or even Angels…
Alisson’s expression shook. He didn’t want it to be true: That he was left all alone up here, and that his Lady, had plotted for his demise.
So, we get to Nubinaya?
Celis suggested. Alisson shook his head. No, that place is just a village and a port…It is not tenable. I’m not crossing open ground when I don’t where the enemy is. If Andestine shows itself, I’d rather be in a city.
Celis shrugged. Then what do we do?
Alisson closed his eyes, in silence for a long moment. When he next opened them, he had a sudden glint of greed and he bore a smirk of malignancy.
“We’ll scrape this entire town for information…and to do that…we might as well secure this town as a tenable position...”
…
The closest thing that Scratskoslovotskaya had to a government were the many gangs of thugs that guarded the city walls. They all answered to a higher, central power. It didn’t look like much, but the largest trash pit in the city bore its most powerful man. With the pesky Marmelivitsky gone, Aché was now the top dog in the city. He sat blissfully in between three bonfires, downing a glass of rum. The warmest place in the city, and certainly glassware didn’t come cheap either, but this man was not like Marmel in that he possessed a knack for charisma, rather he was largest, most well vetted fighter there was in Scratskoslovotskaya. He was thinking about declaring himself the ‘Warrior King’ of the trash-heap of a city, but he knew that the Principality cone-heads would simply march over and squash him like an insect. So, he had to be patient if he wanted to be more than just the ruler of some thugs.
“A-Aché!”
A man came bursting through the door of the debris-cavern.
“You have visitors!”
Aché shrugged, and continued downing his glass, uninterested, until the visitors in question stood at his side. He finally set his glass down, and set his eyes on them.
He choked. Atop both of their heads were feline ears, and two tails swayed by each of their backs.
“S-S-Sidonians!?”
…
Alisson strode to the man who was seated on a makeshift throne whilst bearing a malign smile. One that probably terrified everyone around them.
“Ah…If it isn’t Aché Vonronlo. I’ve heard of you…You’re apparently something of a big deal around here?”
Alisson asked, tilting his head expectantly. Aché clenched his chair, sweat on his face.
It was pathetic. A grown man, with bulging muscles and scars of battle, to be so scared of someone so small and slight of stature as Alisson was.
Alisson neared Aché, and the man scrambled out of his throne, stumbling back away from Alisson.
Alisson scoffed. “A disgrace. Will you not even raise a hand against me?”
The man simply shook. Alisson frowned, and drew Enherejar, pointing it over the other dozen men in the large debris-constructed cave.
“Do any of you have the will to oppose me?”
Alisson waited for a moment. “No?” He tilted his head. Another moment passed in silence. Alisson smiled. He sheathed Enhérejär, and fell back into the throne lazily. He rose his hand out,
“In the name of the Sidonian House of Nuam, vassal to the Lady Sidonia, I, Alisson Vi Nuam, declare this town under my rule!”
…
“My Lady. I have an urgent report.”
Sidonia, sat at her usual white tea table, smiled upon a slight boy with soft brown hair and dark red eyes. Clad in the large robes of the Sidonian research division, he was a rare sight outside of his laboratory.
“Do speak, Lente Li Arquis.”
Lente looked up to Sidonia confidently. Compared to his old brother Ardinand, he was far more composed when speaking to Sidonia, but that was because out of all Nekomata, second to Serendipity, he had spent the most time in communication with Sidonia.
“Phosphorus levels in the runoff of the Andestine Strait were far higher this month than prior my Lady.”
Sidonia smiled. “What’s this Lente? Just what are you doing behind my back?” She snickered.
“Sidonia.” Lente stared at her in the eyes through his large glasses. “I’ve ordered one of the Arquis House ships under my personal command to routinely take samples of the water from the strait. The large influx of Phosphorus can only mean one thing: That the Andestine fleet has set sail through the strait. Their fleet is the only one large enough that we’d be able to detect the runoff of their wood, my lady.”
“I see…So they’ve already rallied their armies...They’ll most likely be rendezvousing with Jedathari hordes, before wheeling to strike down at us…A declaration of war should be just around the corner…” Sidonia set her sights on Lente. “Thank you for the forewarning, Lente. I’ll be sure to pat your head later.”
Lente closed his eyes. “That sort of treatment doesn’t work on me, my Lady.” He said stone faced.
Sidonia waved her hand. “Oh, I’m just teasing you, lighten up. You’ve done a great service.”
With that, Lente bowed, and took his leave. He had a special staircase that led directly down to his laboratory from Sidonia’s room, it was hard to notice because of how dark the outskirts of the massive room was. He was about to step down it when he heard someone crash through the door to the Sidonia’s room. It was an Angel, fluttering quickly with its wings.
“M-majesty Sidonia! A message from Seraph Michaela!”
Lente hid in the shadow of his staircase, his ears sharp.
…
“Now what could this be about?”
Sidonia took the envelope from the angel messenger, and waved them out of the room. Apophria appeared over Sidonia’s shoulder’s with a sly grin.
“Probably nothing important…those Angels are such pushovers…I think my brother would fit in well with them…”
Sidonia paid no mind to Apophria’s quips, and opened the letter, thoroughly uninterested, believing just like Apophria that this would be some sort of slap in the face. Sidonia could already see it:
‘Please Sidonia! Send your best! We must liberate our country! Our attack Angels will surely aid you in your war as payment!’
Or something stupid like that. Sidonia hadn’t spoken to Seraph Michaela, in fact, Sidonia hadn’t spoken to any Angel above the lowest hierarchy. So, from her standpoint, all of them were complete stuttering messes, like that messenger who’d just fallen over himself a few seconds ago.
Sidonia took a sip of her tea as she opened the letter with a hand.
Her eyes glazed over the message’s contents lazily a first time. Then in doubt a second time as she squinted her eyes, then, in panic, as for a third time her eyes darted from word to word, verifying if she was truly reading this right.
She almost spit out her tea.
Sidonia’s eyes flared, and her face scrunched into a mix of anger and surprise as she crumpled the paper in her delicate white hands.
“It can’t be-!”
Apophria squinted in suspicion. “Wha-? What is it?”
Sidonia snapped her head onto Apophria. “Your brother and his apprentice are alive!” She tightened her fist on the piece of paper. “And here he is informing me that he completed his mission and that he wants to meet with me as soon as possible-! Like nothing has even happened! What a joke!”
Apophria scoffed. “I guess that suicide mission wasn’t that implausible after all…”
“Yes…” Sidonia put her hand to her mouth in thought. “It seems that I greatly overestimated the danger, if Alisson and a fresh recruit could really…Tch-!”
Apophria tilted her head. “Why’re you so angry? It’s not that big of a deal, right? He even said that he completed his mission, so there’s probably something to gain out of it, right?”
Apophria suggested, her usual facetious attitude having been evaporated in the presence of Sidonia’s irked countenance. Sidonia once again snapped her bright blue eyes onto Apophria.
“I ordered the Machavelli to change course to the Queendom! I told them that they had little chance of seeing Alisson! If they do pick up Alisson as they were told-! He’ll know! He’ll know that we expected him to not be there! Damnit!”
Sidonia struck her hand on the table. “And I very much doubt that your brother accomplished his mission fully…He probably has no idea what he was even doing, much less meaningfully contributing to the Shutdown plan.”
Apophria shrugged, shaking her head with a smug grin. “Looks like he just becomes more troublesome by the day…”
Sidonia took a deep breath, and then shook her head. “No…This isn’t the result of him. This is my fault…overestimation, that’s all.”
“Well, you’re lucky he’s so blindly loyal to you, to be reporting like this so business usual.”
Sidonia nodded. “Yes, I have that to thank. He doesn’t suspect anything…but this is seriously a blunder…” Sidonia sighed, her shoulders slacking. “It was a risk, but I know Alisson, even if I did tell him to kill himself, he’d probably would think nothing of it. He’d even murder his apprentice if I ordered him to, there’s no worries.” Sidonia reassured herself. “He’ll return, and we’ll see what information he has for us.”
Sidonia nodded to herself.
“I guess you should start figuring out another way to get rid of them.”
Sidonia looked up, pondering this. “I wanted to dispose of Enhérejär…that relic of a cursed age…I gave it orders to self-destruct if its master was killed…”
Apophria nodded thoughtfully. “So, you wanted to sacrifice Alisson to get rid of another VWS? You’re so devilish, Enhérejär wouldn’t suspect a thing – It’d go through with reasonable orders like that.”
Sidonia nodded. “Not exactly sacrifice him however...”
Apophria closed her eyes. “The Secondary Influence.” She said seriously.
Sidonia closed her eyes. “I’d rather get rid of him, no matter how valuable a piece Alisson is, if he manifests the power of Meowskers, then it may be a serious problem. Then there’s also the matter of the last Regadonian…”
“The traitor’s little sister…” Apophria murmured, and Sidonia nodded.
“My inquisitors are finding more and more evidence of a string of heretics close at hand…I need to put my foot down. Especially before the Revolving Door – We don’t need any intel leaking to Andestine. I just hope that the 1st and 2nd armies get here before Andestine does…But anyway, it seems that I’ll need to call on some favors in the Queendom, if Alisson tags along with the Machavelli that is, I’ll need to make preparations immediately.”
…
With that, their conversations drifted off to more mundane topics.
Lente Li Arquis hugged the wall of his staircase with a cold sweat on his face, his eyes quivering.
Alisson!
***