It took all that Bahamut had within him not to strike Reia for her insolent behavior. The fact that she had the gall to speak to him in such a dignified manner actually made the now-Emperor of Archadia gain a little respect for her. Despite how infuriated he was with her and how it was about to show on his face, she stayed true to Reia form: always speaking her mind and doing it with certain glamor that was only matched by her reputation. Truly, this made Hamut smile with a wide, cheek-to-cheek grin.
But as she finished speaking, Hamut wouldn’t reciprocate her right away. Instead, he observed her gaze, then turned his attention to the window. What a nice night it was shaping up to be. The clouds were darkened, remnants of sunlight obvious, leaving a sort of fading pink shade amidst the oranges and blues and violets and reds. For some reason, the old man found it fitting, because as the light would fade into darkness, it will shine upon Archadia as she entered the beginning of a new rule.
“
Tell me, Empress, do you know of why my grandson was banished from Archadia five years ago? I’m sure you heard about it. It was quite the ordeal. Well,” he mused a thoughtful sound, “
I suppose it was more of a pain, really. Setting up my son’s — Jackson, Vincent, and Roman’s father, Simon — death was quite a bother. Setting all of these wheels in motion just so everyone would believe that Simon was murdered by his own son, by his oldest, mind you.” Hamut gazed towards Reia, a flicker of light in his free eye. “
And to think, I had to set it up to where vincent had to kill his own father. I had to indirectly manipulate the entire scene so that my son died by his youngest, Vincent, and for Vincent to frame his own brother, thus driving Jackson out of the country.” Hamut relished at the thought of that memory, as seen from his twisted smirk.
“
It all was going according to plan. But alas, I did not foresee the involvement Zodiark was going to have in it. My son, for all of his foolish choices as a ruler, actually pulled one over me, and made a pact with the Dark Esper, freeing him from his imprisonment in Henne’s Mines. In return, Zodiark replaced my son with a very convincing double. And now, somewhere, my son is alive.” Hamut seemed conflicted on how he felt about that. “
I know this because my son Vincent thought this news would thwart my plans. He even told me what Jaakuna and Emiri did. Now Vincent is by his father's side somewhere. Honestly, I really don’t care if my son is alive or if one of my grandsons is being a tool for him. As far as I’m concerned, neither of them pose a threat to me. Jackson, however,” Hamut stood up, gandering at Reia thoughtfully, a hint of annoyance in his eyes, “
he presents a real threat to everything I have hoped to accomplish today. So, to answer your question, yes, I will strike down my ‘own flesh and blood’. And if it comes to it, I shall kill my grandsons: Jackson, Roman, that treacherous Isaiah, and eventually, when the time comes, even Vincent and my son. And do you know why? It’s because I shall rule —”
Before Hamut could finish that sentence, two things happened that made him look first to the ceiling, then to the door. Above him, he saw only fire in the form of a large beast, and to the door, he only heard sounds of multiple clanking metal boots mixed in with battle cries. It happened so fast that there wasn’t enough time for him to react; not enough time for him to absorb what was going on at a reasonable rate. All he could do was act. His hand was out, and it shined brightly with a transparent purple and orange glow. It collided with the fire, and then…
BOOMAn explosion occurred. No sign of survivors. Top half of the Emperor’s tower gone...
Five minutes earlier
“
Alright Jaakuna, now that we’re here, what’s the plan?” Lannit asked, looking to Jaakuna for an answer.
The blonde Archadian had to think about this. After he got over the side-effects of his own invention, Jaakuna was in the perfect position to do something. They were directly over the Emperor’s Office. He didn’t know how far above they were, but Jaakuna had been on this rooftop so many times that he knew nothing but metal and stone separated this roof from the office. With that being said, it didn’t exactly mean that it made it any clearer to him about what they should do.
“
I..don’t know,” Jaakuna rubbed the back of his head nervously, laughing.
“
What do you mean?”
“
Well, I never did plan that far ahead. I didn’t know Roman was going to be in the dungeons. I didn’t know that Isaiah was going to tell me to get him. And most of all, I sure as hell didn’t know if that old contraption of mine was going to work, let alone warp us to where exactly we needed to be at.” Jaakuna laughed again. “
Honestly, Lannit, this is all just a stroke of good luck.”
“
]You’re hopeless.” Lannit said, sounding defeated.
About half of a moment later, a glyph appeared next to Jaakuna, the form of Belias stepping forward. “
You never seem to surprise me, Jaakuna.”
Jaakuna grinned, “
you can’t say it’s ever boring.”
Belias nodded, grunting a laugh. “
Right you are.” Belias said.
Lannit was looking at Balias, eyes widened and mouth as low as it could be. He had never seen such a creature as huge and menacing before in his entire life. Well, maybe not counting the Hell Wyrm. Still, his hanging jaw and wide eyes could not be mistaken.
And Belias caught the sight of Lannit. He started to chuckle. Jaakuna noticed both of them, raising an eyebrow. “
Oh right, you’ve never seen Belias, have you Lannit?” JAakuna asked.
Lannit shook his head slowly.
“
Yes, well this is Belias, formally a pain in my ass —” Jaakuna would say, only to hear Belias do something of a scowl not even a moment later. “
Note I said formally.” He emphasized. Belias still scowled, but more out of habit rather than reason. “
—Anyways, back on point.” Jaakuna would cough. “
As I was saying, I simply haven’t thought this far ahead. I’m open to suggestions.”
“
Seems to me there is only but one course of action to take here.” Belias said, his human arms stroking his man-beast beard.
“
By all means, do tell.” Jaakuna gestured Belias forward.
“
Heh, well since we are above, why not use the expressway down.” Belias snickered.
For a moment, Jaakuna looked at his Esper. For a moment, he was dumbfounded, baffled that he didn’t think of it first. It was a suggestion that Jaakuna would most definitely come up with on his own, but for whatever reason he couldn’t be the one to come up with it. Still, he was astonished that, of all people, Belias was the one who brought up that suggestion before he did. He simply smiled.
“
You just read my mind, Belias!”
Just moments later, Jaakuna looked to all three, gesturing Lannit and Roman to get on Belias’ back. Jaakuna would stand up top of his Esper’s head, swords out in his hands. Belias would look up at Jaakuna with his beast eyes, and he would return the gaze.
And then Belias lit himself aflame, crimson mist surrounding him. Those on his back would find themselves surrounded by a layer of protectaga as well as faith and bravery. His glyph appeared below them, and as fire would surround them, swirling and twisting in the air like a raging inferno, they crashed down through the roof.
And as they would come into sight of Hamut, he glared up them briefly before there was explosion of three parties: Belias and fire, Hamut and the power of meteor, and the combined elements from Shion, Lorenzo, Shinto, and Dominic, causing such a massive display of mist, it completely evaporated the entire top floor of the Emperor’s Floor, resulting in all thirds of the explosion hurling down to the streets of Archadia, but most importantly, onto unsuspecting innocents. If something wasn’t done soon…
Now that they were at where they needed to be, next came what they would do next. Good thing about their disguise is that it was the perfect cover, so if anyone came by, it wouldn’t look weird or out of place for a group of four Archadian Soldiers standing guard of their acting-Emperor’s office. Still, that didn’t help them any on when the right time was to act.
Dominic grunted, annoyed. He felt itchy from the fabric of the inside of the armor and his hair was begging to be free from the confines of the helm he had on. He wasn’t a guy who was made for helmets that required thick hair to be stuffed inside it.
Over the course of a minute, Dominic had moved around more than a dozen times, trying to scratch that itch that seemed out of his reach. Of course, this brought great annoyance to the others, specifically Shinto. “
Would you keep still? You’re making too much noise.”
“
Well, I’m sorry, I can’t control how bothersome this armor is to my bare back.” Dominic let out a rather annoyed sigh, furthering it as he just looked at Shion. “
This is really what we’re going to be doing? Just standing guard, waiting?” Dominic asked. He gaze Shion an annoyed look, head tipped to the side slightly, eyes narrowed half of a centimeter. “
This is utterly boring. We should just burst through the door.”
Of course the idiot wants to go rushing in. She wasn’t too surprised, but it was then that she let out a small gasp. She recognized the Mist of an Esper, and it was getting closer. “
Change of plans--Belias comes!” She announced, withdrawing her sword as she turned on her heel. A glyph appeared on the door, and before anyone could react, she kicked it down, a burst of magic disintegrating the doors as they clattered on the ground.
“
Finally, some action!”
Sure enough, Belias had appeared with all his glory, with Jaakuna, Lannit, and Roman in tow. It was quite a way to get there, but there wasn’t any time for them to be distracted. They had all gathered, with their sole enemy right before them. Reia stood from her seat, alarmed at both Jaakuna and Shion’s rather abrupt entrances, though she rather wisely ducked when Hamut’s spell began.
Lorenzo made to move, but Shion was faster, and already knew what he had wanted. “
Focus on Hamut!” She ordered the three men as she ran forward, seemingly right into the blaze of Mist as it erupted.
“
Wait--!” Lorenzo’s call was drowned as the force of the Mist quite literally blew the entire office apart, and he found himself flying backwards.
The blast threw Shion forward, her arm extended to Reia’s. She managed to throw herself on top of the Empress, protecting her from the brunt of the explosion, though before she knew it, she felt the wind billowing around her freely. Her armor was all but gone, but that wasn’t her focus. They were falling, the ground and the debris rapidly approaching. Reia was too shocked to let out a scream, moreso when Shion released her and dove faster to the ground. Twisting her body backwards, she extended her bandaged hand, the wraps unraveling as it revealed her entire hand and forearm were covered in a thick, black layer of magicks.
“
By my shadows, let there be bliss--” The darkness from her arm extended wide, forming a shield and blotting out the light. As any fallen rubble touched it, rather than bouncing off it would disintegrate into Mist.
Letting out a sigh, she looked to see the falling Reia next to her, giving her a glare. “
My apologies, Majesty,” Shion replied, outstretching her untainted hand. As Reia took hold, the two would hit the dark barrier, though instead of perishing, it served to slow their fall, and the pair landed safely. “
I’d suggest finding somewhere to hide, I believe another battle is on the horizon.”
It had been hours since Wesley had last seen Nadeline. When he did last see her, she was whisked away from him while Cassandra borderline-appropriately snuggled him with her arms. That allowed her and his mother to apparently talk. When he had asked her(after crawling out of Cassandra’s clinging grasp), she told him that Nadeline wished to explore the city on her own, as a way to get to know the country she was going to inherit. Wesley voiced his concerns, but Isabella cited it wasn’t needed. She sent one of the best Knights of the Order of the Knights of Dalmasca as her personal bodyguard, so there was nothing to worry about.
Still, as Wesley had retired to his room shortly after dinner, his mind was kept on Nadeline. Call it what you may, but the future king of Dalmasca did not have a good feeling about Nadeline being gone this long. He could feel it in his gut. Usually gut feelings were right - well, at least as far as Wesley was concerned.
Hashmal would sense WEsley’s worry, so he manifested beside the prince. Of course, he scaled back on his size and left his gauntlets in the Esper Realm. “
You’re troubled.”
“
That obvious?”
“
Talk to me.”
Wesley let out a sigh, “
it’s hard to explain.”
“
Try me.”
He smiled, finding Hashmal’s patience comforting.“
I know mother told me Nadeline is safe.”
“
You doubt your mother?”
“
You haven’t been with me long enough. My mother has a shoddy record when it comes to the truth.”
“
I see,” Hashmal mused, “
so why haven’t you gone out into the city as soon as she told you what may be the truth?” Hashmal asked.
“
I didn’t think much of it. Nadeline is the kind of person who would do that without telling me, but..” WEsley’s voice trailed into a grim expression.
“
But?”
“
She wouldn’t be gone this long, unless something happened.”
Hashmal didn’t say anything, he simply looked at Wesley. He knew what the look meant.
Laughing to himself, Wesley got up, looking to Hashmal as the esper would start to fade from the physical realm, retreating into WEsley’s palm. The Order Seal fading so that Wesley’s skin only remained in his view.
It would only take him moments to get what he needed: his usual battle gear, his sword, and of course, Hashmal waiting for him by the window. He didn’t know what waited for him out there, but one thing he did know was that Hashmal would be his ride down, and he would seek out his fiance, wherever she might be.
Sylvester was quiet. He stood there looking at no general location in specific. His eyes made it seem as though he wasn’t all there, as if someone had sucked out his soul. His golden eyes lost its glow, his limbs were dangling lifeless, dropping in front of him. His back was hunched forward, but his head was looking straight ahead, it contorted to the right. It was doing so straight at Nadeline.
And that’s when he lipped something; something that one could easily make out..“
Yes master. I understand.” Sylvester lipped, arms gaining life again.
His eyes had a glow to them, but not gold, rather they had red and black and sickly green. And within them, if one looked close enough could see the glyph of The Dark Lord, a contorting, shadowy snake with red eyes and eight tails.
His form changed. His entire molecular structure was altered into something that was sickly looking. Sylvester was no longer of human form, but rather his entire body had been encased with a massive shell of black and red, his hair was of midnight color(or lack thereof).
“
Kill the girl,” a voice not belonging to Sylvester said, only to be heard by Ultima.
And then, when he reached out, his arm extended so fast that it had a grip of Nadeline’s throat so tightly that it would deny her the option of breathing for a splitsecond, surely to warrent some kind of response from her.
As he lifted her from her feet, her motioned body wiggling, Sylvester looked at her. “
This is...unfortunate. We were not supposed to accelerate our plans, but you gave us no choice, princess. You gave me no choice. Truly, why couldn’t you just mind your own business? You’re such a bother.” He said, leaning close to Nadeline. “
But fret not, your suffering will end soon. Through this vessel, The Creature of the Abyss will rectify what you have ruined.”
And in that moment, the Creature’s hand burned red, like a brilliant flame, and went to plunge it into Nadeline’s heart. Inches away, he heard something. Or felt something. It was faint, but he pulled back. When he did The Creature felt an enormous fist meet his face, sending him in the opposite direction, crashing into the wall, and being buried under its crumbling form.
“
We got here just in the nick of time,” Wesley said, catching Nadeline in his arms. “
Nadeline,“ Wesley spoke softly to his beloved, stroking her cheek gently. “
Are you okay, my love?”
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