"Conservative members of the UOP left the party! Yesterday, after a tense debate between the liberal Countess Jacqueline Weiss and the staunch conservative Duchess Lorraine Flandere over the revised economic stimulus bill, the vote passed in a landslide. UOP conservatives all left the Parliament in what could only be interpreted as complete disunity in the UOP. But just today, a new party entered the General Elections - the Arcanist Party, headed by Duchess Flandere herself."
- ROCN News (Royal Orlish Cable Network)
"Coup d'etat in the Empire of Hebei! The Hebei Imperial Army stormed the Imperial Palace in a stunning show of power. Tanks and soldiers filled the streets of the Heavenly Empire, overthrowing Empress Li and her court. Already, the junta that took control had declared martial law and barred any woman in the Empire from using magic. How the international community will respond after the breakdown of the Hollard Conference is still to be seen. How her ally, the Empire of Larissa, would respond is also up in the air. But it is clear that after 300 years - men are back in power."
- Geopol Press
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Halia, Kingdom of Orland
Near the Ivory Palace
Queen Alexandria Square
April 30, 2024
"Each man is expected to stand their ground. We will not stand down until our demands are met."
The fires would not stop burning - and Orland was on it. The General Strike had been expected to only last for a few days at most before it lost steam. But that was an error. A lie. A lie sold to comfort women from the horrors that were about to unfold.
At first, it was simple rallies. Workers simply stopped attending their workplaces, and there were protests. Then the militia appeared. Then the riot police. Then the barricades, the broken windows, the lootings, the violence on the streets.
And then - Red Street happened.
Men against women. Men against men. The General Strike splintered between its moderate supporters and its extremist wing, yet it didn't fizzle. No, the fire merely grew.
All across Orland, in cities that still held a significant male population (as many cities had their male populations wiped in half after being sent to war), the scent of fire burned in the streets.
And nowhere was it more iconic in the media and Orland, than in the scenes broadcasted 24/7 of the ongoing "Siege of Alexandria Square."
Near the Ivory Palace, the Queen Alexandria Square was made to glorify the victory of Queen Alexandria against her husband - King Richmond 300 years ago, which happened after King Richmond's edict to cleanse magic off Orland and stop women from practicing it. Queen Alexandria, angered by this, led a Palace Coup that deposed him.
What followed was a 3-year civil war between the King and the Queen. The old Orlish Royal Army, known to have mastered gunpowder warfare back in the days - was decimated by the Queen's new mages.
It was a part of the Arcane Wars, which until today, was known as a great humiliation to men, and a source of pride for women.
And the square symbolized both. Humiliation of men, and pride for women.
Now, it symbolized the General Strike.
100,000 protesters of the NRF were in the square and its surroundings. The square was completely fortified, with both makeshift and wooden barricades. The road from the south was also blocked by burning buses, which made it unapproachable for the Royal Guard.
This left only one way to approach the protesters aside from the smaller lanes and roads that led to the square, which were also fortified and barricaded.
The air was also thick and toxic, as black smoke filled the streets. Tires were continuously burned in front of the barricades, which served both as protection and left a message of dramatic appeal.
It seemed to be a common tactic by those that participated in the General Strike. The combination of shields, wooden barricades, barbed wires, destroyed vehicles, and burning tires was used by the Civil Defense Militia in their protests.
All across Halia for example, major roads and avenues were blocked off by these barricades and protestors, which nearly stopped the city from functioning.
Amelie noticed that clearly when she left the SUV with Marie. There were so many trash bags on the streets, which smelt bad. Garbage disposal had practically collapsed due to the strike, alongside many critical services in the city.
Even healthcare services, usually staffed by women, were paralyzed, as the streets and roads were closed and barricaded.
The Royal Guard and the police were spread too thin to address it.
Then there was the thick snow that covered the roads. They could not clear it, especially with the cold climate of northern Orland which was unnaturally colder this year.
It was a cold and fiery winter for Halia indeed.
"You know, we should probably wear a gas mask at this rate," Marie said as the thick smoke suddenly changed its direction toward them. Their guards left their vehicles, as she walked forward toward the Royal Guard line that faced the protesters.
"Our rights are under siege once more, brothers! Yet we won't fizzle away without a fight!" The constant messages from loudspeakers from the square continued. Ever since the start, the protesters had used it to rally themselves.
The media was also there, although they were in small numbers due to the police presence and the violence, for weeks they had been here to capture the events that unfolded in the square.
A young reporter tried to rush to her, but she was blocked off by one of her guards. But Amelie turned to face her.
"What do you need, miss?" She asked cooly.
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The young woman raised her microphone near her, while the camera woman aimed the camera straight at her face. Amelie instinctively straightened herself in response.
"Your Majesty, this protest has been going on for weeks. What are your plans?"
"I am here to handle this issue. I will negotiate and end this." The young woman stared at her as she fell silent. Amelie decided to end the impromptu interview.
"Thank you very much."
She turned away, even though the reporter wanted to ask more, as beside her Marie and another guard walked with her.
"Keep tossing tires to the fire, men. It is our shield. The fire is our shield."
Marie coughed. Even Amelie wanted to, but she could not. Instead, she pulled out her handkerchief and channeled some of her mana to it. All she did was concentrate some water molecules in the air into her handkerchief, which coalesced and turned the dry handkerchief wet.
She placed it on her face.
"Told ya."
"Still a no. I want to be seen, not hidden."
As they passed through the Royal Guard formation, they all acknowledged her presence as they gave her a path forward. Marie handed Amelie the megaphone that she carried, as she stepped forward. The front ranks of the Royal Guard gave her an opening to walk through.
Finally, she saw the protesters in all of their glory.
Behind the burning tires, were the barricades. There were even barbed wires around. In the middle was a massive "no man's land" which neither they nor the Royal Guard controlled. There wasn't much activity that night, as for days both the Royal Guard and the Halian Metropolitan Police battled and tired the protesters.
It was shown bitterly well by the shields that they held up atop their barricades in a disorganized manner. She could also see masked men that looked at her silently from elevated positions.
And above the thick smoke and fires, there flew a lot of flags. The Orlish tricolor flag with the royal coat cut out, the Republican bicolors, and even the NRF's infamous black cross flag. They all flew with rage as the wind blew in her direction.
Beside her, she noticed that Marie's eyes had begun glowing, as the faint outlines of her red halo appeared. A sign that she was charging her passive mana to active mana.
"Nothing's going to touch you, I swear."
Amelie nodded.
The glow of her halo made it clear that she was prepared to cast more complex and mana-intensive magic to protect Amelie. Usually, women only kept a few fractions of their passive mana in its active stage, as activating it would sap a lot of energy and usually caused severe fatigue afterward.
However, once mana was in its "active" state, it would be available to use. The more passive mana activated would also lead to more "glow" as the irises would usually glow, and a halo would appear above their head.
It was a part of the "holy" nature of the magic given by the Goddess to humanity. Or, half of it, at least.
"You know, you'd just be down for the better part of the day after this."
"Amelie, I'm good at doing this, remember?"
"Alright."
Marie aimed her wand in the direction of the burning tires and then raised it to the sky. Immediately, the air and smoke seemed to rush upwards, away from both her and the protesters. It didn't really matter for the buildings around the square, as all of them had been evacuated days prior.
"All clear, Amelie," Marie said with a smile. Even with the events that unfolded, she seemed to stay chipper. Amelie turned back to face the protesters.
She took a deep breath and then placed the megaphone near her mouth.
"Citizens!" A pause, as the protesters locked their eyes on her. "Your Queen is here."
"The fuck you doing here, you bitch!" A distant shout said. It was almost faint through the sounds of fire. She decided to ignore the insult and carried on.
"I'm here to negotiate. You have all been trapped here for weeks now."
"So what!?"
"I already signed the bill! There is no need for any of this anymore!"
There was a bit of silence before suddenly a rock flew toward her. But Amelie stood firm, as the rock completely disintegrated before it reached her.
Beside her, Maria gave a bored sigh.
"I would offer all of you a way out!" She added. "Lay down your weapons, vacate the square, and your crimes would be pardoned."
The loudspeakers from the square responded.
"Queen Amelie…the Queen herself has come to grace us. Well, Your Majesty, are you having a good evening?"
Amelie stopped before she replied back curiously.
"Who are you?"
"Who am I? The organizer of this militia, of course. Ryan Lottweit."
She heard about that man on the news. Well, his name was practically on every news outlet, as the media fixated on his stunt in the square. Even when the General Strike was more widespread.
"Cease this, and you will be treated well."
"We cannot trust you." A pause. "We never did."
"Then trust me this time. I know you're all out of supplies. Of water. Food. Clothing. Medicine. Don't let good young men die for nothing."
"Die for nothing!? You dare insult their sacrifices that way? You do not understand us. No man of the men's rights movement dies for nothing. They died for their rights!"
"But I am giving you rights. The bill covers you men now." She spoke gently to plead with them. "Please, end this bloodshed and pain. We have mages ready to heal the injured. We have food and water ready. The Royal Guard will confiscate weapons, but there would be no arrests. Please. If you have any more demands for change, there is no more need for this. My government will hear you out."
Her promises seemed to work, as silence fell on the square. It was no secret that the men inside had been starving for days. Drone footage even showed that there were already deaths and diseases that wreaked havoc inside, which added to the media outrage and coverage.
The reason for their situation was that they had famously demanded a "revolution" and that the Prime Minister, Alexa Weirlöff should step down ahead of elections.
Which immediately led to the Royal Guard's aggressive crack-down attempts. All of this failed as the protesters swelled to 300,000 at its peak on the square. Thus, the Royal Guard changed tactics and simply surrounded them for weeks.
And now that they were cut off with no supply, most had already deserted.
And she knew they were close to their breaking point.
"But she had not stepped down yet. You are still on your throne too."
"You know I can't do that." She replied in a somber tone. "That would be out of the question. What's not, would be my offer for the well-being of every man in the square."
She knew they would have a hard time accepting her offers. The square was already the main symbol of the General Strike and rallied millions of men across the country for weeks.
But she needed to end this now. The general elections were getting closer. Orland needed to end the chaos for the upcoming elections.
There was no response. She sighed. She did all that she could do. If they didn't surrender now, they should in a few days, as long as her offers stayed. If not…then a week. Though, she wouldn't be surprised if they would be insane enough to starve for a week just to prove a point.
She was already about to turn around when the loudspeakers finally sounded. The reply came.
"Your Majesty…we accept these terms. Our struggle isn't over, but for now, your lenient terms would end this."
She let off a breath she didn't realize she had held for too long.