As bored as he was with picking through the dressers of servants, Gideon perked up when he heard Nero's voice. Finally, it seemed like something interesting was going to happen. With more speed than haste, he set off towards the Commander's location, only occasionally checking that Blair was still behind him.

Finally, Gideon threw open the bizarrely rustic door and strode confidently into the room. "Carrahy here, what had you got for.... oh, holy shit." That was a Behemoth. Ivalice had a Behemoth in their basement. Why did Ivalice have a Behemoth in their basement?

His mouth dry, images of a war with this monster sprang unbidden into Gideon's mind. He pictured it striding all across Algareth, wrecking skyscrapers and filling the sky with ash. He saw it swatting the airships of Teirland out of the sky like flies. He saw whole armies break before it, the war over before it began. And for once in his life, though he'd never admit it, Gideon was frightened.

"What do we..." he whispered, then swallowed and spoke in a normal pitch, "What do we do?"

D I A N T H E S A R R I S Palace of Ivalice

---

Aside from her excitement when Nero had found the secret passageway, Dianthe had fallen silent for a majority of the walk. Flora's own Palace had secret passageways, but nothing like this. The whole path was odd, and even though she hadn't replied to her Commanders comment, it did feel like they were walking on a downhill slope. Curiosity and anticipation peaking as the seemingly endless hallway came to an end at an old door, she fought past her impatient urge to open the door herself as she watched Nero grab and turn the rusty knob. Before the fluorescent lights turned on above, an eager grin had stretched across the woman's face as they entered the mysterious room, but once the entire room was lit Dianthe's grin fell flat. She had no words for what was before her, and in the heat of the moment she had to remind herself to breathe. Eyes wide and body tense, she stood beside Nero in silence as she took in the kneeling form of a massive Behemoth.

As a historian she was very well read up on The Great War, and years worth of stories from her grandfather were still fresh in her mind. Always fascinated by the tales that involved the Behemoths of the old world as a child, Dianthe found all her interest and fascination on the massive beasts fall flat as she stared at one up close. Aware of the destruction the giants were capable of, a churning, unsettling feeling began to form in her gut.

Turning her gaze away from the Behemoth and answering Gideon's question, Dianthe spoke in a firm, yet shaky tone, "We need to warn the President. Right?" At her words, Dianthe turned to her Commander with a look that seemed to ask for his reassurance. She didn't know how to tackle such a situation, and it made her uneasy knowing the President was vulnerable to this knowledge. Eyebrows knitting together in worry and concern, Dianthe threw a glance back at the kneeling giant behind her. Such a beast could swat a plane out of the sky with ease, and she didn't even want to think about what it could do a city. She awaited Nero's reply now, gut still churning as she began to grow uncomfortable standing next to the tank with the slumbering Behemoth.

K I N G S G L A I V E || P a l a c e O f I v a l i c e || June 27th, 1:05 AM

---

He was a man marching towards a distinct goal. In the darkened palace, as he passed by knights who saluted as soon as they recognized their superior, the Knight Lieutenant could only see the path in front of him. Bryce Jenson was normally a laid back sort of guy, but this particular night had lit a fire within his fully armor clad body. He was previously making rounds in preparation for the coming meeting between two kingdoms when he ran into a clumsy and inept young knight calling himself Thomas. After listening to the boy whine on and on, the situation had become clear - the palace was breached. Rather than sound the alarm however, Bryce knew this was his moment. Ophelia, his superior and Knight general, had long occupied the heavily coveted position of commander of the entire Royal Army of Ivalice, but Bryce had always known he was better. Ophelia was his rival - and somewhat of an awkward friend - and opportunity had finally decided to stop smiling at her and avert its gaze to the Lieutenant.

Bryce stopped abruptly as he snapped from his thoughts and realized he was standing in front of the General herself. He instinctively saluted before removing his helmet to reveal a well groomed, bearded face, slicked back brown hair and light brown eyes. He stood at attention with his helmet under an arm as he addressed Ophelia. "General... We've been breached," he said almost reluctantly. He had not counted on running into his rival before taking care of the problem himself. Weighing the lesser of two evils however, he figured he could at least accompany the woman in handling business.

The Knight General had only just gotten to the bottom of the second set of stairs when the man appeared just ahead of her; Bryce Jensen, her 'official' right hand man, although she and he had never really managed to form the sort of bond that she'd created with Caspian. Ophelia was sure Bryce recognized this, and on some level resented it, which would explain why he was always just a bit off whenever dealing with her. There was also probably the fact that he was uncomfortable with having to report to a female, but that was just an assumption Ophelia made of everyone she worked with. It was a great motivator.

Regardless of the details of their relationship, Ophelia knew that Jensen did his job. She might not be overflowing with trust for the guy, but she knew he was capable and respected him for it. She slowly came to a stop and waited for him to realize he was marching right for her, and - wondering what he was doing moving with such purpose - raised her eyebrows at him.

She nodded slightly at his salut, watched him uncover his face with her arms crossed over her chest. Then - "What? What do you mean we've been breached?" Without another beat she pushed past him and continued walking, knowing he would follow her. In her gut she could feel the inklings of panic bubbling, and when she tapped her earpiece to check security, she immediately saw the flashing red blip at the library. "Shit," she growled under her breath as her pace quickened to a run. Practically flying down to the location of the library, she flung the question over her shoulder. "Details, Jensen?"

Her demeanor had not changed, but nothing else could be expected. Bryce silently internalized his frustration and turned to follow his superior as she flew through steps and halls to reach the library. He set his helmet down on one of the tables in the library as the pair entered the room. "I was making my rounds and I ran into a younger recruit who seemed flustered. I was going to reprimand him for being in the wrong area until he told me his story. Someone claiming to be of our ranks was down in the servant's area poking around. Considering the date and time of night, I determined this to have been an impossibly glaring mistake which could only mean that it was an intruder of sorts. I have no knowledge of their motivations, but I also thought it best to keep this breach quiet," Bryce stopped just outside the shelf which housed the secret entrance. "If the Queen were to find out about this with only two days until the meeting... I cannot vouch for how she would react."

Inwardly, she was fuming. This was unacceptable. Someone claiming to be of their ranks? Those servants really were so easy to fuck with. Perhaps it was another of Caspian's pranks? No matter - they would find out who was responsible soon enough. And when they did, she was more than ready to give them the ass whopping of the century.

She blew threw the library doors and was immediately stopped by the sight of the still open secret entrance of the shelf. Shit. As she drew nearer to the exposed passageway, her heartbeat shot up. She was now certain that it was not Caspian and her guys. Her mouth was a drawn line as Jensen came to a stop beside her, facing this huge problem. Ophelia feared who they would find in the holding room, but absolutely refused to show anything but her aggression. "The Queen is not going to find out about this," she stated matter-of-factly, her adrenaline nearly causing her to break her forced vocal calmness. "We are going to clean this up, nice and quietly. Understood?" Then the Knight General took off into the long hall.

But before she got too far, she spun around and looked Jensen right in the eye. And with all sincerity, she said, "I appreciate you letting me know, Bryce." She began jogging backwards. "I know you're a good man."

Taking off again, Ophelia did not waste a second before touching her earpiece. "Cas, we've been breached. I need you, Arthur, Hal, and Gabriel to come meet me and Jensen under the library, now. Keep this silent."

Bryce nodded at the mention of stealthily taking care of the intruders, but declined to reply to the rest of Ophelia's words. His mind was having trouble discerning whether her last comment was genuine and the fact that he could not tell just served to frustrate him. He wondered if his superior had ever even considered him a rival as he had considered her and it was only then that it dawned on him that his internal competition had probably been one-sided all this time - of course, how could it have been anything else since Ophelia had been the Knight General for years at this point. Shelving the thoughts for later, Bryce picked up the pace so as not to lag too far behind the worried Knight General and the duo soon came to the odd primitive door.

Ophelia burst into the room first followed closely by Bryce along with a small team of armored grunts appearing on the other side of the room from a second entrance halfway up one of the walls. The Kingsglaive were closer to the tank and seemed to still be staring in awe, but it was not long before Nero knew something was off. Whirling around, his eyes met with Bryce and, though his outward expression remained masked and stone-cold, his heart skipped and his internal feelings raged. This was not the first time the team had been caught during a mission, but it was certainly the worst time to be found out. The rest of the team was already split between watching the advancing group of grunts who were making there way down zigzagged ramps and Ophelia and Bryce who slowly strolled towards them. Bryce stopped his superior and stepped forward.

"Although I do wonder about your identities, the fact that you're standing here in this room tells me all I need to know about you. And there is no point in striking up a conversation with the walking dead. Execute these miscreants immediately!" Bryce ordered. This was what he had been waiting for. This was the time he had chosen to show Ophelia just how serious he was about rising to her position. Without giving them a chance to respond or reply, the advancing group of knights descended on the Kingsglaive and surrounding them with sword and shields drawn. Bryce elected to stay back with Ophelia and watch the carnage. Since Ophelia's team had yet to arrive, he figured this would be the perfect opportunity to show her just how effective his instruction was.

Nero and the rest of the team instinctively formed a circle with one another, their backs facing each other. The commander slowly unlatched his lance and bent his knees a bit as he surveyed the situation. Everyone was masked so no identities were compromised yet, but fatalities had become unavoidable. If they did not dispatch every person in that room, Ivalice would have all the reason in the world to believe Algareth was inciting a war - an outcome the Kingsglaive could not let happen no matter the cost. Tapping his bluetooth, Nero spoke collectively to the team in their minds. "This... This is bigger than my comprehension at the moment, but the fact is we're going to have kill these guys. Continue to hold back on using magic though so at least that way we might be able to stage a situation if we get out of this." With that, Nero briefly closed his eyes and inhaled.

Then, with a burst of energy, he charged forward.

Mirany heard the shuffling of many feet behind her and spun to meet several of Ivalice’s finest. She immediately drew her dagger and held the blade at the ready. As she listened to Nero’s orders, she saw that four soldiers had already decided to target her and were quickly closing in. She sprinted forward to the grunt on her far right, closest to the wall, her dagger held out in front of her. The remaining soldiers on her left sprang to intercept her, but she’d anticipated this. The closest incoming man was welcomed with Mirany’s swift feint towards him, stabbing her dagger directly into his throat. She heard her original target coming up behind her and dipped low to avoid him, slashing her dagger forward at the next soldier’s legs, managing a slice on one of his shins. Grunting, he stepped back in surprise and pain and she rolled to her left, out of their path. Springing up again, Mirany dodged the first man’s swinging fist, grabbed it, and pulled him toward her, stabbing him in the stomach. The man gave a low groan, and deep inside Mirany felt a guilty thrill. It bothered her sometimes how much she really enjoyed killing. She angrily shoved his weakening body into the last two soldiers. While they were tangled on the ground, she took the opportunity to kick one in the face, pull him up by his hair, and slit his throat. The last soldier managed to stand up before she was done and hooked an arm around her neck, pulling her against his body and grabbing the forearm of her dagger hand to keep it still. He squeezed her neck slowly, and Mirany’s mind raced against the growing need to breathe. She ground her foot into the man’s instep, to no avail. She was losing oxygen. Shit, shit, shit! She pushed both her feet hard against the floor and shoved her full body weight onto the man in an effort to push him off balance. Luck was on her side, and he stumbled backward, loosening his grip on her neck and her arm. She jerked out of his grasp, spun, and stabbed him in the chest. Breathing heavily, Mirany turned to the rest of the fray to see if her co-members needed any backup.

D I A N T H E S A R R I S Palace of Ivalice

---

The concern she held for the sleeping giant in the tank behind her quickly fleeted with the oncoming cronies entering the room. Position compromised, Dianthe backed up to her team, hand reaching up to the hilt of her sword as she eyed the growing number of Knights entering the room. While Ivalice had greater numbers, Kingsglaive had experience, and thus Dianthe remained calm. Nero's voice came in clear and crips in her head, and without a nod, the woman understood her following commands. Eradicate the enemy while avoiding magic? Oh, she could do that.

She heard her commanders feet shuffle, and as soon as Nero charged to attack, Dianthe finally drew her weapon and did the same. The broadsword gave a shrill ring as it dragged against its sheath, glinting in reflection to the lights above as she held it out one handed. Eyes locked with the knight before her, she drew in close, jumping just in time to avoid a swing of a sword while she used their shield as a stepping stool. Kicking off the shield and jumping high above her section of Ivalice knights, she pulled the trigger on the hilt of her weapon and twisted in the air. Whirring with life, the segments of Ophian separated, stretching out by a wire at the center of each section as it lashed out in a deadly twirl. Crashing against the shields of three knights at the center of the squad, the edges of Dianthe's whip sword snagged their shields, throwing it out of their hands and slashing into their armored chest plates with multiple hits. Landing at the center of the squad as the three knights fell dead, her finger released the trigger on her sword as Ophian snapped back together with a loud 'schink'.

For any short ranged fighter, this could be seen as suicide. Surrounded by at least a dozen enemies as she sat knelt at the center, Dianthe felt more relaxed then she did upon arrival to the room. This kind of situation was forte, and as soon as one of the knights made their move her head shot up. Rushing towards her with his sword raised, Dianthe swung her blade, trigger pulled as the whip sword stretched out and separated his legs from his upper body. Upon her move the rest of the squad rushed. Blade pulling back into place, Dianthe raised from her position and brought the broadsword up just in time to deflect a strong swing. Her body moved and twirled, almost dancing as she dodged and deflected a number of oncoming attacks.

With a jump, her body twisted horizontally, narrowly avoiding two blades as they swung above and below her. "Whoa! Cutting it close, boys!" Upon landing, Dianthe didn't waste any time with her following move. Trigger pulled as she swung, Ophian's whip form slung forward, gutting through armor and bouncing off shields as she knocked down a line of knights standing around her.

From twelve to five, Dianthe had cut down the trained knights faster then they had anticipated. Rage was clear in their eyes, and unfortunately for them, it looked as if she was hardly breaking a sweat. "GET HER!" The roar of frustration had brought a massive grin to Dianthe's face. Even beneath the mask one could tell she was grinning, and with each counter and strike she made, the redhead seemed to have forgotten the seriousness of the situation now that she was pulled into battle. Her heart pounded in her chest as adrenaline kept her cautious and prepared for every attack they threw at her. The lack of action or field time had done little to make her rusty, and as a mid to long range fighter, taking on a surrounding crowd was her strong suit.

It was obvious she wasn't taking the battle seriously, and as each dodge caused a cry of frustration to erupt from the remaining knights, Dianthe finally decided to put her little game to an end. Trigger pulled, Ophian whirred in transformation as Dianthe twirled at the center of the remaining Knights. In one final, powerful strike, the whip sword crashed against shields, ripping them out of the hands of the Knights as Ophian slashed and gutted through their armor in a barrage of precise hits. Falling dead just as Dianthe came to a halt and her sword snapped back together, the redhead panted softly beneath her mask as she took in the fallen unit around her with a smirk. "And that's that."

Adjusting her mask before throwing a glance behind her, Dianthe caught sight of Mirany as a Knight came from behind and raised his sword ready to strike. 'Shit!' With great speed, the redhead rushed toward Mirany. Holding out Ophian as if she was about to cut down her own teammate, time seemed to move in slow motion as Dianthe threw a playful wink Mirany's way before swinging the tall broadsword over the other woman's head and stopping the oncoming blade from landing the killing blow. Without any stall in her movement, Dianthe kicked the knight back before he could counter. Rushing forward and driving her sword through his chest, he gave a cry of anguish as he grew limp and lifeless at the end of her blade. Tugging out her sword and letting the body fall to the floor, Dianthe turned around to Mirany as she threw the blood off her sword with a small swing, "Well, I think it's safe to say you owe me one." She gave her teammate another wink, more flirtatious than the last but no where near serious.

The battle wasn't over yet though, and as the rest of the team continued to take on the remaining Knights, Dianthe's gaze finally settled on their Lieutenant. If he thought he was just going to stand on the sidelines, then he was dead wrong. Taking strong and confident steps forward, Dianthe walked slowly towards her target, arm raising and finger pointing out as the playful glint in her eyes was replaced with a more serious look.

"Come on," Grasping Ophian with two hands now, she came to a halt at the center of the room and widened her stance in anticipation, "You and me, neckbeard!"