An hour has passed in South Britain. The general was writing in the pages of a book as the silence of the room engulfed her.

She could only hear the sounds of the tip of her fountain pen rubbing against the manila paper, the insects outside the room, and the ticking of her grandfather's clock.

As she wrote continuously, she started to feel the ticking of the clock become louder as she kept on writing.

She then started to recall vast memories, but then as it got more severe, she suddenly raised her head to the sound of someone opening the door.

Caught in the moment, Matilda slipped, "Sonia?"

Matilda took a second to get back up. She blinked her eye to see a soldier saluting her.

"Ma'am," he said before dropping his salute, "General d' Armee Camille Chevrolet of French Arctica wishes to discuss something with you immediately."

"Oh," Matilda took a while to realise, "Where's he now?"

"In the lobby, waiting. General Camille said it's very urgent and mustn't be announced in public." answered the soldier.

"OK, send him here – thank you."

The soldier nodded, and with a final salute, he walked out of the room and closed the door.

She sighed as she looked at the grandfather's clock. She closed her book and bowed her head,

"I wonder what you're doing now, Sonia..."

Moments later, the door opened once more, this time a lot slower as the door creaked loudly.

Matilda's fellow general slowly entered the room. He was an old man with grey hair and a wrinkled face, yet his posture was just like that of a man on his prime, his blue eyes clear and his skin well-maintained.

He wore a navy blue uniform with golden collars a golden sash, finished off with tight white trousers and black boots.

Matilda stood up with her crimson red uniform to salute the foreign general from their neighbours with the general following her lead.

The two saluted, their flat palm facing forwards while their fingers come near the corner of the eyes.

"General d' Armee," greeted Matilda, offering him a seat in front of her desk.

"General Foster, so glad to meet you in such short notice." said the French Artician general as he sat down on the matching mahogany chair.

"What would you like to talk about?" asked Matilda.

Chevrolet sighed, "My people had seen things, Madame, some of them had even been missing!" said the general in a worried and frail voice.

"Ever since the Divinity built their 'Grand Cathedral' in the capital, people had been flocking in masses for their sermons. We permitted them to build it so that they could shut up with their proposals for my government. Still, then something unexpected happened!" he added as he clenched his fist.

"What happened?" asked Matilda.

In anger, the general exclaimed, "They started taking land from our land-owners around the capital for 'purification' then never returning it!"

"What happened to the owners?"

"That's another problem. Apparently, the owners were so soaked up with the Divinity's ridiculous beliefs they didn't mind! Only one person had enough brain cells to report this to us!" answered the general, unable to control his temper.

Matilda paused, sighing as she rested her arms on the table, listening to the ticking of the large clock. Chevrolet waited for Matilda's response, tapping his finger on his lap.

'Just what are they planning this time..?' thought Matilda as her eyes zeroed in on the door behind the general, lost in thought. Eventually, though, she finally asked,

"What did that person tell you?"

"Well, the person's story was different." the general leaned in and spoke softly, "See, he apparently lent them his land for an extra bit of money to fund his grandchildren for their education, but ever since he was paid he never got his house back, and even when he did, however, his grandchildren, they started to feel weak." said the general

"So the grandchildren, there?"

The two hesitated on where their thoughts were leading them.

"Angels..."

"Oui..."

"The man claimed that his grandchildren were angels, that's why he could see through the lies of the Divinity, and I think the Divinity knows about his secret too," he said.

"The man dug up his house, where angelic soil he claimed to have bought the house upon to see it but as he dug deep." Then the general looked down as he whispered, "He fell down his own house to a dark pit. The poor man broke his leg as the old man fell down and is now in the hospital." finished the general as he shook his head.

Matilda fell silent, "I'm so sorry to hear that, and what of the angels?" she then asked.

The general looked up, "The man fell into a coma, when we looked for his grandchildren – we have not found them yet." he answered.

"I propose we accuse them of high charges!" the general then said in as he raised his voice.

"We can't, not yet at least," answered Matilda. "We hit them right where it hurts, we have to wait."

"But as time passes by, it'll be harder for us to fight them because of their ever-growing popularity with nobles and laymen! And we expect another popularity sprout this upcoming Sanctum Day!" rebutted the general.

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"We have it under control General d' Armee, trust me."

The Artisan general sighed, "We have to defend ourselves, General Foster. I'll impose a prohibition on all allocation of soil and any sort of land dealership for now. And I'll rack up my forces to defend my colony, I propose you do the same, general."

"Of course," answered Matilda, "For now I would like to request that you look for the angels, but make sure the Divinity doesn't smell any suspicion."

"With all due respect Madame, but are you sure it is wise to be so confident about the Divinity's movement? Sooner or later they might even attack this capital with their serviteurs and angels you know." the general said in a serious tone.

He leaned in closer and looked at the Australian-South British general in the eye, "You're a general, Madame, and generals are never psychics." Without saying anything else, he stood up and nodded. "I wish you the best of luck, General Foster," he said as he approached the door, opened it, and left the room.

Matilda sighed and bowed her head, resting it against her arms. Then the door opened once more as a soldier entered the room, he saluted and gave her a catalogue envelope, "General d' Armee Chevrolet's report, Ma'am."

"Thank you," answered Matilda. The soldier saluted once more and left the room.

Matilda took the brown envelope and opened it, the contents were just about the same with what General d' Armee Chevrolet said. She scanned out the pages and called one of her soldiers.

"Ma'am." a soldier said as he entered the room.

"Call the foreign secretary and round up all of the colonies' commanders for an emergency meeting tonight, and tell Celeste to get here as soon as possible," said Matilda.

"Yes, ma'am." the soldier said as he closed the door.

The general looked at the calendar on the other side of her room, she looked from the day today to a day at the end of the month marked in red with the note: "Sanctum Day."

She then looked back to her book then after she let off a tired sigh, she took her book and hid it on her drawer.

Meanwhile, in the Dutch colony of Korji, under the hot sun of the afternoon, just outside of the colony's government building, a white carriage arrived at the entrance of the building.

The large carriage opened its door, and out came a white-hooded serviteur. The Dutch guards bowed at the approaching serviteur and opened the door for him.

The serviteur was escorted by black-hooded figures with swords, strapped to the side of their belts.

As they arrived at the lobby, they were greeted by an old, Dutchman. He wore a decorated blue uniform complete with fine silk and golden buttons.

"Governor-General, thank you for lending us your hectic time." greeted the serviteur as he approached the leader of the colony.

"Serviteur of Dutch Korji! I am glad to be of help, now then, let me show you to the office," he answered as he shook the serviteur's hand.

The serviteur, his escort, and the Governor-General entered a large office where the two sat down on large chairs in front of a large table.

"So, have you convinced the parliament yet?" asked the serviteur jokingly in a charismatic tone.

"Well, I mean, it's not like everyone's pro-divinity there!" the Governor-General laughed.

"So, then just like what we requested. We'll take tonnes of bad soil to bless all of them and place them back as perfectly fertilised soil is that correct?" asked the serviteur.

The Governor-General nodded, "Of course, now when will you be able to take them back?" he asked.

The serviteur laughed, "I don't know sir! As soon as we're done with them, I guess."

"Oh, is that so?" the old Governor-General laughed.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then!"

"We won't disappoint!" answered the serviteur as they stood up and shook hands.

As the serviteur left the building and sat back on his carriage, he ordered the driver,

"To the cathedral, quickly!"

The driver whipped the horses in front to gallop away as soon as possible. The serviteur sighed and looked beside him to suddenly see a hooded figure sitting calmly.

He jumped, but was quick to realise who that person was,

"Serviteur Noir Octavia, w-what a surprise!" he exclaimed uncomfortably.

He then asked softly, "How long have you been in here?" he watched as their highest-ranking serviteur stare aimlessly outside the window.

He looked at the serviteur, anxiously waiting for an answer as they moved away from the town square.

The Dutch Korjin serviteur's heart started to pound at the sight of the hooded figure. He saw on her waist a large retractable spear, a weapon only the highest serviteurs could handle. Accompanied with a unique cloak, woven with a dark purple cloth, designed with white patterns spanning across the veil.

He could also see locks of brown curly hair sticking out of the hood which baffled him a little.

Then suddenly, "What did he say?" asked in a female voice.

The serviteur looked immediately beside them - or now, her.

"What?" he asked out of confusion.

"What did he say?" she asked again.

"Oh, they agreed to let us use all of their bad soil," he answered.

"Oh, inform the other to see to it that we'd have enough," she ordered.

"Y-yes my lord!" he answered, but as he tried to look at his superior once more, he suddenly realised that she wasn't there, left without a trace.

He sighed as the carriage drove away without stopping, trying to figure it all.

Meanwhile, outside the garden of Raymond College. The government building in South Britain.

"I'm sure that thing will just peck you, Iowa," Isuzu told Iowa as she tried to feed Eleya's bird locked inside a cage.

"It'll be worth it!" Iowa answered as she extended her open palm, filled with seeds and grain.

She approached the dark bird and placed her hand near the beak as it slept.

The bird slowly rose up as soon as it detected the scent of the feeds. Iowa and Isuzu's eyes widened as it slowly raised its head and blinked its eyes. "

"Hello there," said Iowa as she stuck her hand beside the cage as the bird approached her.

Isuzu stood still, but as the bird slowly approached the captain, it shrieked a loud tone as it tried to strike Iowa's hand with its sharp beak.

"Sweet mother-..." Iowa immediately pulled her hand back, throwing the seeds everywhere as it rained down on her uniform and hair.

Pfft!

Iowa blew all the seeds that got to her face and hair and brushed off all the gain her uniform caught.

"Iowa! Are you OK?" asked Isuzu as she ran to Iowa and patted down all the feeds that got to her.

Iowa chuckled, "Thanks."

Isuzu brushed the feeds off her pants and noticed Iowa's surprise turned into an uncomfortable smile as she plucked the last bit of grain off her uniform.

Isuzu's heart started to pound as she wondered what made Iowa suddenly feel anxious, but before Isuzu could talk to Iowa, the captain giggled and looked up to the sky,

"Sonia loved to play with birds..."

"Your sister?" Isuzu asked.

Iowa nodded, "We'd always go here, and she would always try to feed every single bird she could find." 

"If a bird tried to peck her, Sonia would simply stop time and step out of the way," she told Isuzu as she looked at Eleya's bird.

"You sure miss her..." Isuzu said. Iowa nodded, "She's all I could think of right now." Isuzu held Iowa's hand which startled Iowa. She held Isuzu's hand, and the two held each other tight as the wind blew beside them.

Meanwhile, Celeste entered the general's room where Matilda sat down on her desk.

"Looks like, at least for you, things are going to play out quite differently c'est ne pas?" asked Celeste, sitting down on the chair in front of the desk.

"Quite so..." answered Matilda.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Well, honestly, I don't know... I'm sure this will be a lot harder than I could ever imagine."

Matilda stood up and looked at the star pillar through the window behind her.

"I just hope Isuzu is ready to take it all."

Then, somewhere in the northern parts of Terra Australis, a lady stood alone in a structure surrounded by sharp crystalline pillars. It was a tall lady with long hair and brown eyes, Octavia.

Letting the cold air brush through her hair she stood still, emotionless, thinking about something, something important to her.

She heard whisperers in her head as she dug through her memories that played back over and over again. She clenched her fist, tensed herself up as she continued to recall her memories.

And then she closed her eyes and sighed,

"It's not like Mel, and the others have gotten this far up ahead."

To be Continued...