-Break-
Φ Staring up towards the hole in the cave, Merid says, "Should we go, Franny?"
"It would be rude to leave them after he protected us."
"There is a chance he might be executing Dobitoc back there?"
"He wouldn't do that, I think? Besides, we have someone much more worrisome in front of us."
Valter, sitting down, stares directly at both of them and holds up one of his drill-like arms, and, spinning the little blood on it, he says, "This is what I used to execute the other terrorists."
Merid says, "Bragging about killing your own people?"
"Says the people feel comfortable working with those who terrorise the innocent."
"You push people to violence and then you strike back, calling it self-defence? If there is one person who loves violence above all else, it isn't us, that's for sure."
Franny, moving to Merid's neck, says, "You said things opposing that just earlier today."
"Yes, I know that. I am trying to win the argument."
With a disappointed look, Franny says, "Really?"
"Of course, now leave me to combat him!"
Valters holds his tongue as he thinks over what was said, and after a moment, he replies, "We are trying. We might not be doing the best we possibly can, but we are trying to keep this country running."
"We have kept it running for centuries without killing our people like this. Yet you all don't seem to ca-."
"It's because the Queen isn't here."
A voice appears, and all their heads turn towards it, where they are each greeted by Stelara and Antica.
Waving her hands at the two, Stelara says, "The Queen is no longer able to rule, and do to that we lack wisdom and direction."
Valters jumps up with a fright, and says, "So the rumours are true, the Queen is dea-."
Antica swats Valters on the forehead and says, "Don't speak such curses about our Queen, you fool."
Stelara says, "She is still with us, her health has deteriorated, and for the first time since our country started, we are without a ruler. Even when Alucard died, the First Queen quickly took his place, allowing this country to remain stable. But for the first time in our history, no one is at the top, and the three Ministers now have to navigate the country, except they don't have either the ancient wisdom or the never-ending trust of our Queen."
Merid and Franny look at Stelara with shock. "Isn't that the Stelara, the 1st seat of the Cursed Heart Army, one of the two legendary leaders of the Cursed Heart Army?" Franny says with stars in her eyes.
Merid, a lot more withdrawn, says, "Why would you say this in front of us? You don't intend to kill us."
"Why would you suspect that?"
"Don't play dumb. People have been speculating why the Queen hasn't shown her face in recent times, and we have gotten no answers, no matter how much people have protested, yet you have just given it to us free of charge."
Franny and Valters clam up as Antica reaches for a sword at his side.
Stelara grabs his head, smashes it into the ground, and says, "Stop being rash. You are correct that this is forbidden information; it's secrecy is imperative for the sake of our national security. If people see us as weak, we will be attacked. But things have reached the point where this secrecy has gotten us to attack and kill our own people. I have seen more battlefields than names you can say, and I can assure you, this sick feeling I have when I stare at the battlefield has never left me. I think things have reached a point where lies are no longer strategic."
Antica says, "You don't plan on letting them go right? This information is way too important."
"I have already talked it over with the other leader of the Cursed Heart Army, Orlok. Announcing our current situation is planned for the party later tonight."
Valter says, "That's a horrible idea. Who knows what will happen if people find out one of the 7 Monarchs is out of commission?"
"Anyone who takes a look at our country and the complete absence of the Queen in any public settings will already have a pretty good idea of our current situation. At this point, it is just causing civil unrest with very little protective benefits."
Walking over to Merid and Franny, she says, "I don't feel for those who would try to ruin our festival to honour the dead with violence. Such actions are meant to inflict pain on one's fellow countrymen, which I will never allow in a rule of law land. But we will welcome those who wish to move forward with us into the future. Shall you accept?"
She sticks out her hand, and Franny, along with Merid, shakes it. Yet they all soon turn around as they hear large sounds from deeper in the cave.
From the darkness, Orb and Dumnorix, carrying Dobitoc's unconscious body, emerge. Seeing Stelara Orb says, "Oh shit."
With a smile, she says, "Oh shit indeed."
"What are you doing down here?"
"Why did you randomly move and start digging a hole?"
With Lime hair, Orb says, "Because I wanted to make sand castles."
"Why did you have to move then?"
"I didn't want anyone to fall into them."
"Or maybe you found something, and didn't want to tell us about it out of fear that another battle may ensue."
With brighter Lime hair, Orb says, "That may be kind of true, but I promise it isn't for the sake of misleading you. I just thought it would be better if I handled this."
"Orb my ears are rather good, I can hear your heart rate increasing, and can see the lime across your head!"
"Sorry, I just didn't want any trouble to start. You know what, let's quickly check this singular tunnel, and then head out."
"Singular tunnel? I can hear multiple? You just tried to lie again."
"I DID!!!!! I APOLOGISE!!!!!!!!!"
Rubbing Orb's face, she says, "You're lucky you're cute, and a child. But you shouldn't have hidden this from me."
"Are you guys going to go and kill the people who have escaped?"
"We would if I told the Ministers, but I will handle this myself."
Antica says, "We are not allowed to act without the Queen's permission."
"I know, but we are allowed to conduct self-defence, so if we go for a stroll and happen to come across a bunch of fleeing Nightmares, we can deal with them. Oh, and what was that rule the Queen gave us when fighting for self-defence? 'Unless they are stronger than you, restrain instead of kill.'"
Orb smiling says, "Thank you."
"No problem. Antica, go call the rest of the Cursed Heart Army, and everyone else return. The Ministers will be looking for you."
Turning to us, Orb says, "Now let's get you two out of here as well."
-Break-
Φ At 0900 hours, the Cursed, Sea, Sky, and Land armies launched a coordinated assault against the members of Blamator. After 5 hours of combat, the battle ended with 5,247 casualties, along with 1753 captives of Blamator.
It is said that over 800 of those captives were due to the efforts of two people, a boy by the name of Orb, and an adult by the name of Dumnorix. Yet their efforts were not as appreciated as one would think.
Location: Command Post of the Four Armies of Blestemate
Sitting down in front of the Ministers, Orb and Dumnorix stare at Vėja, who is a single moment away from striking both of them without a single care in the world.
"You look really pretty, Vėja."
She glares down at Orb, who lowers his head, and she says, "Of all the things you could do, you thought that heading into the middle of a battlefield was a smart idea."
"I came out unscathed, didn't I?"
Dumnorix adds, "I was there as well; there was no change of something bad happening."
"I see, if so, then we will pull out of the deal between our countries."
Orb's hair turns Teal as shock rises on his face and the face of Dumnorix beside him.
"Hey, Orb saved over 700 of your people. And this is how you reward him."
"I am thankful for your efforts, but I am sorry we can't work with someone so stupid!" Vėja says as her emotions start rising.
Stiprais grabs her shoulder, and she starts to calm down. Stepping in Veekeeris says, "Who do you think the most important members of a ship is Orb."
"The navigator."
"Critical, yes, but it's the captain. Skills and chemistry are not linked, Orb; people with the necessary abilities can not get along, causing suffering for everyone. Yet the captain is there to steer the ship, so to speak. To take all the different people who stand under him, and align all of their different interests and abilities into one plan.
It's possible for people to live without a captain on a small scale, but I doubt that someone like you, who wants to unite different types of people under one banner, is going to stick to a small scale. When you go and put your life on the line like this, it's the equivalent of throwing a bunch of trash into a dormant volcano. It could be catastrophic."
Φ As my eyes gleam over the Ministers in front of me, I see the fear within each of their bodies. Vėja's collected posture is visibly disturbed, Stiprais holds strong yet his heart beats faster than normal, and even Veekeeris stares at me with a clear intent for me to truly understand the worlds he is trying to impart onto me. Each of them shows a degree of worry unknown to me.
I heard the three Ministers are chosen by the Queen herself. Each of them must have had a close connection to the previous ruler, and I am sure that her absence has weighed on them more than most, especially since they have to clean everything up.
"I am sorry, I was being insensitive, but I don't regret what I did."
"You may feel invincible because you're young, but the strength you have is limited. You don't even know the depths of strength that many in this world have. Things like this will put you in an early grave."
"I assure you, I know that there are those stronger than me, but my country only started with 7000 people. Around the same number of members of Blamator gathered here. Seeing all those corpses flung around scares me. It's something that could happen to me one day, and I need to prove to myself that, in some way, I could minimise this. It's stupid, but if I die here, I am going to die in a situation where far more is on the line. Thank you for your worry, but this is something I had to do."
The eyes of the three open wide in front of me, and Stiprais says, "It's always the selfish ones that people are drawn to. I guess that's just part of being a leader. Orb, thank you for helping our people. Now, would you help us one more time?"
"With what?"
Vėja says, "We already plan on announcing you guys are human, but with that as well, we plan on announcing the current state of the Queen. That she is currently so ill, she is completely out of action."
The Ministers stare at me with confused expressions. Oh yeah, Stelara is still looking through the tunnels and hasn't told them we already know. "WHAT A SURPRISE!""
Stiprais says, "You suck at lying with that lime hair. It was probably Stelara or Dragoste."
"It was Stelara," I say, not wasting a single moment.
"Kicking her off the board to save Dragoste without a single thought, ehh?"
Vėja says, "Regardless, we need to announce both and would like you to prepare a speech for yourself, as we head back now."
"Right! Though I have a question, can I request something special in return?"
"Depends on what it is."
"Well, it isn't a lot. So here we go."
Φ Orb begins to speak, causing increasingly high levels of stress to crawl up on the Ministers' faces along with large amounts of laughter from Dumnorix, yet through his words, Orb keeps a happy and joyful demeanour.
After talking for a moment, they give Orb a thumbs up, and soon they all head off back towards the capital, as Orb and Co. prepare for the final event of their journey.