Denouncement
As Logan’s eyes fluttered open, he quickly realized what had woken him up. Logan was getting shaken bodily by the same duo of guards who had brought him down into the cell. Remy was frantically pushing himself against the bars to try and get away from a third guard who was reaching for him. Logan felt his heart leap into his throat.
“Stop! I’m awake, don’t touch Remy!”
The guards looked at Logan incredulously, then continued what they were doing, dragging Logan to his feet and trying to grab Remy. That wasn’t acceptable to Logan, so he decided to do something about it. Teleporting outside of the small cell and leaving his restraints behind, Logan quickly wove the necessary pattern, and summoned his Soul Sword.
“Alright, if you don’t want to do this the easy way, I’m more than willing to be hard on you. Don’t take my cooperation for anything other than the kindness it is.”
The guards, turned towards Logan slowly, panic written clearly on their faces. The one who had been reaching for Remy straightened, and gulped. Then Remy himself teleported onto Logan’s shoulder, and the guards' faces paled another couple of shades.
“Alright, let's go. You woke me from a nice dream, so I’m not in the best mood. I want to get this over with.”
The guards shakily nodded, and coming out of the cell, they hesitantly grabbed each of Logan’s arms and proceeded to escort him up the stairs. Once again, the main floor of the building was rather busy, as people walked to and fro calling out to one another. From Logan’s limited viewing, it appeared to be the camp's intelligence hub.
However, Logan didn’t get much chance to investigate it, as he was quickly led outside of the wooden structure and taken on a weaving path through the camp. Logan was surprised to see so few Legionnaires about, and wondered where they could all be, as the numbers he saw weren’t even enough to match the Company he had traveled up North with. Then, the guards brought Logan to the parade grounds, and his musings halted.
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Instantly, Logan realized where the rest of the Legionnaires had gone. The parade ground wasn’t noisy, but it was packed to the brim with men and women, standing at attention, and looking at the raised stage that had been built while Logan was imprisoned.
On that stage, the Prince, his guards, a woman he was unfamiliar with, and other ranking officers were arrayed towards the crowd, and Logan realized what would be happening. His teeth gritted and ground against each other, and he felt the guards that were escorting him start to shake slightly.
Logan respected that they managed to carry on with their duties however, and they escorted him onto the stage. Now, at this distance, he could hear what the Prince was saying.
“...today is a showcase to those who would think that the Royal family is not worthy of respect. Today, we will demonstrate the price of hubris, and the penance required for unwieldy pride. Today, I will declare the glory of the Royal family of Austenian to the heavens, as they prepare to receive this man’s soul. He, who showed disrespect to his betters, will now realize his folly, and rejoice at the mercy of allowing him a clean death.”
Logan almost broke a tooth, he was so angry. He had thought that he would be serving a little time in the camp’s cells as a punishment, but now he knew exactly what the Prince intended to do. Logan was set to be executed, for no reason other than the Prince’s pride. He almost spit at the man's feet in fury.
Instead, as the Prince continued on, Logan just stared directly into his eyes, a rage unlike any Logan had ever known building in his chest all the while. Even Major Micah’s betrayal hadn’t triggered such a response from him.
“Remember men, it isn’t for your families, or your meaningless villages for which you fight, but the pride of the Austen Kingdom, and the Austenian family which has sheltered your peoples. You are protecting us from beasts such a-”
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At this point, the Prince had finally deemed to look at his victim, and found his gaze pulled in by Logan’s death stare. A loud gulp could be heard by all, suggesting that he wasn’t actually talking that loud, but some sort of Divinity was at play to project his voice across the grounds. Trying to shake it off, the Prince continued, although his eyes kept darting nervously back to his prisoner.
Remy, get out of here, I’ll meet up with you later, ok?
-No! Remy stay and help!-
It’s alright bud. I don’t think I’m going to need any help here. Just stay safe, you hear me?
-Okaaayyy…-
And with that, Logan’s companion teleported away. Only Logan’s escorts noticed, but they were too cowed by him to make a fuss.
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“...And now, let us commence with the execution of my will.”
The Prince turned to Logan, and this time managed not to flinch at Logan’s gaze.
“Any last words, you mindless beast?”
Logan had a lot he wanted to say to this pompous, self-important prick, but he let out his breath, and focused on really getting his point across.
“Yes actually, I do. Mister Prince, I think you are a worthless pile of excrement that wouldn’t be fit to join the Legion in any capacity if your last name wasn’t Austenian. I assume that’s why you are only eighth in line for the throne, and I commend the Royal family for their judgment in distancing you from ultimate leadership as best they could.”
The Prince’s eyes widened in shock and surprise at Logan’s tirade, and the whole audience let out a gasp. For a moment, everyone was silent and still, but Logan wasn’t done yet. Teleporting directly in front of the Prince, Logan looked him dead in the eyes as he grabbed the man’s overly frilly collar.
“Just know that instead of the loyal soldier I could have been, your own insatiable hubris has made you an enemy today. Pray you live to regret it.”
And with that, Logan teleported once more, just as the guards surrounding the Prince started to react to Logan’s aggression. Of course, Logan’s Blessing only allowed him to teleport within eyesight, so his target was easily noticed by all those in attendance.
Standing on top of the wooden building, Logan felt something primal building inside of him. So he cut loose, and let his newest Blessing resound mightily from his mouth. Although he was far enough away that no one was physically hurt from his Void Screech, Logan saw many of the people in attendance cover their ears with their hands, before he teleported once again, and fled the scene.
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When Gregor was summoned to meet with the Prince, it wasn’t unexpected in the slightest. If anything was unexpected, it was that he was summoned cordially, instead of being bodily dragged through the camp as the Prince’s next ‘example’.
Still, Gregor would be a fool to expect this next meeting to be pleasant in the slightest. Logan had essentially laughed in the man’s face with the Prince’s entire force in the audience, and Gregor had expected that someone would be facing hell for it. He just had the misfortune of being the one closest to the perpetrator, essentially earmarking his name for the honor.
Standing outside the Prince’s tent, Gregor once more announced himself.
“Enter.”
The Prince’s words thankfully sounded measured, but Gregor didn’t let out his breath yet, as he entered the man’s ostentatious tent. Gregor immediately noticed the amount of people in the large tent, or the lack thereof. Instead of the usual contingent of guards, the Prince was all by himself, seated facing away from the entrance.
Gregor walked over to place himself in front of his highness, and then bowed, taking one knee and lowering his head.
“Stand. I’m not in the mood for formalities currently, so let me make this brief. Where was this ‘Logan Brewer’ born, so I may order it burned to the ground.”
Gregor felt his pulse quicken slightly. Standing as the Prince commanded, Gregor began to speak.
“U-I’m sorry, your highness, but I don’t possess the knowledge you request. My first interaction saw him already as a grown man when he came to Alteep Village, where my father was mayor. Then, we traveled together to enlist in the Legion, but he never spoke of his earlier whereabouts.”
“Then, who may possess such knowledge? An example must be made.”
“I’m afraid that the man who first contacted Logan from Alteep Village died in its defense shortly after I met Mr. Brewer. I cannot think of anyone else who would be so close to him.”
At this, Gregor thought he saw a vein rise in the Prince’s forehead.
“How could he be admitted to the Legion without such knowledge being obtained! This is outrageous!”
“Uh, I’m sorry sir, but, Major Micah was the one who conducted his assessment and cleared him, and considering Micah’s… betrayal, well, there lies the answer.”
“Traitors… Leave me, Captain. Now.”
Gregor exited the tent’s flap as fast as he possibly could without using his Divinity. As he left, he immediately heard the Prince’s incoherent rage that he was forced to vent in impotent threats into the air. Gregor continued moving at his top speeds away from the man, even breaking into a light jog when he heard something break from inside.