?????'s Point of View

Unknown Location

Sitting on this useless piece of stone, I waited for word. Magical signatures rose and disappeared without any warning. That doesn’t include the newest signature that could be felt. Sulva was there, that much I could tell, and if he was there, so was Flare. That meant the traitors were still present. A confrontation between the four wasn’t surprising. Sulva and Flare could hold their own against Credo and Pestilence. It would be a tough battle, but I doubt any of them would like to fight.

It’s the newest magical signature that appeared that concerns me. The fluctuation in magic power is concerning. At times, it’s almost nonexistent to where it disappears entirely. Other times, it’s comparable to Fluffy himself. Fluffy has never felt the need to hide himself before battle and usually makes himself known. That left few other possibilities.

My thoughts came to a halt as the shadows in the room began to gather into a single place. “Tor!” I immediately bellowed as I burst from my throne and grabbed his neck before shaking him, which startled him. “You must have sensed the Gathering that’s occurring as we speak! Why did you not return!?”

Tor, despite his lack of solid form, struggled to speak. “I sensed it and thought it would be best to make sure they weren’t coming east.” He answered. “By the time I realized you sent Flare and Sulva, I finished moving the supplies for our forces lying in wait.”

Tossing him to the floor, I stepped next to him and glared down at him. “Go now and recover Sulva along with Flare.” I growled. “I should’ve just gone myself.” He opened a portal as I moved back to my throne angrily. “When you return, we will decide our next steps depending on what Flare has to report.”

Tor quickly dispersed into a black void as I sat down. This may change things, but I needed to be careful. As I took a deep breath, many thoughts and possibilities ran through my mind. Some of them good, most of them bad. I was a realist, and I knew that the odds of Mordred, Arthur, the Anomaly, or whatever the fuck his name was, was likely safe and unharmed.

Lucia's Point of View

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Helmsforth Temple

Everything turned to chaos in a matter of seconds. Arthur returned covered in blood, had his arm fall off before collapsing, and is in critical condition. The doctors said there was almost no magic left in his body. Most likely assumed Arthur’s chances of making it were almost null. However, Cassidy seemed confident that he would recover.

On the other hand, almost everyone else that returned, the Priestesses included, were all bedridden. Many need magical transfers, which would be easy enough for most, but would be slightly more complicated for both Arceana and Elincia. Due to their high magic threshold, returning the necessary amount of magic to them is difficult. Alwin and I will most likely have to work together to help them recuperate one at a time.

As I paced back and forth, Cassidy spoke. “Yer gonna put a crease in the floor.”

Looking down at my feet as I saw my reflection in the stones below, I sighed. “I am concerned about Arthur, as well as the Priestesses.” Turning to her, my shoulders slumped slightly. “How did this happen…” It was rhetorical.

Cassidy Reed leaned against a nearby wall and crossed her arms. “Ah don’t know. Never thought so many Demons would dare stand in front of the Priestesses.”

I narrowed my eyes on her. “Do not take me for a fool, Cassidy. I know that the Priestesses had no hand in the fight that occurred. Typhon told both Alwin and I that they were after Arthur.” My lips curled into a frown. “Never before would I ever have considered the Priestesses of Lestrania to be just an afterthought.” Cassidy looked away from me and I felt my gaze intensifying on her. “Would you happen to know why that is?”

She shrugged but refused to meet my eyes as she spoke. “Who can say?” Her gaze drifted down to the floor as she bit her lip in thought for a moment. “Whatever they wanted, they seemed awful keen on gettin closer ta Arthur. Although, they coulda gone about it better.”

“And the ones who resulted in his arm falling off?” I inquired.

“Ah don’t know. The spear that almost killed Ziah and me came outta nowhere. Arthur pushed us out of the way before it could hit us. We didn’t even seen it comin.”

Before I could reply, one of the doctors came out with a frown on his face. Cassidy immediately looked to him expecting good news, while I watched his eyes fall. His mouth opened a few times before he clenched his jaw and he turned to me before shaking his head softly.

The doctor gestured to the door that separated us from Arthur and he gave us a brief explanation. “With a severe lack of magic, Sir Arthur’s body is shutting down. Not only that, but he is covered in all manner of lacerations of varying concern, along with internal bleed, and multiple broken bones.” He then sighed. “These were all things we might be able to fix given enough time, but unfortunately, the wound he sustained which led to his loss of arm, is cursed in some manner. It’s beyond any of our experts and we can’t close the wound, nor can we stop the bleeding.”

“Surely there is something we can do!? Arthur has told me before that he doesn’t have magic! If we seal off his wounds, perhaps we can-“ I stopped at the doctors look.

With a disheartened expression, his lips tightened and he gave a very subtle shake of his head. As subtle as it was, the signal was ear piercing. White noise rang in my ear as I looked at him in disbelief.