Barcea, Southwestern Region - Cyril, Calypso, and Company
While Alasa looked off into the distance and Ayano slowly began to recover from the apparent explosion of color (that wasn't seen), Cyril's gaze remained on the young woman in lighter clothes even as the one in darker clothes kept petting the Deathcrawler. Clearly, the young woman was very worried about her companion, but because the taller one seemed to be alright for the time being, she ended up looking towards the Prince after a moment. A slight smile came over the Prince's face at her words; so she was Barcean because she recognized their names as Sentinels, but must have been from a place removed from the Capitol because she didn't recognize the royalty for who they were. It kept things simple, so Cyril appreciated it, especially in this moment.
"Yes, we're part of the Sentinels. Well, two of us are, and we have one would-be recruit with us."
"Hey..." Still overwhelmed, Ayano didn't have the energy to respond with her usual volume and intensity. In the background, Calypso giggled at the Deathcrawler as it ran its antenna over her face, and then again as both the creature and its rider got into an argument, the one the Deathcrawler seemed to decisively win. Briefly, the Prince glanced over in that direction due to all the noise (and swearing), but his gaze soon came back to Etsuko.
"Where might you be heading? We're on the way to-"The change in atmosphere was almost immediate, as nearly everyone at once reacted to it. Alasa tensed. Ayano shuddered. Calypso blinked. With these reactions came those of Etsuko, which was the one Cyril first registered because he was looking straight at her and immediately saw the change in her expression. Before he could even open his mouth to ask though, suddenly Drosil and his mount exploded into movement, Calypso hopping back slightly to make sure she was completely out of the way. Looking over towards the sudden movements briefly in confusion, he then looked to Alasa, who only had to point.
In the direction Alasa pointed, Cyril finally saw the remnants of more smoke than there ever should be within the borders of Barcea.
"It's not safe here. Ms. Etsuko, Ms. Calypso, come with us-" The Prince could barely finish his sentence before Calypso began to move. Gently and easily she lifted Etsuko up by her waist, setting her down on Ayano's horse behind the Princess. Before Cyril could even think to offer, the silver-haired woman was then swinging herself up onto his horse... In front of the Prince, grabbing the reins and giving them a snap. Both the Prince and Princess' horses took off at a gallop then, and after a moment of surprise at the actions of Calypso Alasa snapped his own reins to follow.
Drosil was long gone and far ahead, so as they came into view of the village they were alone. Immediately, Ayano's hands scrabbled at her side, before she pulled out a soft cloth of bright purple and held it to her face, over her nose and mouth. On a hill outside of the village Calypso brought them all to a stop. After a moment of struggle, Cyril managed to get off the horse. Nearby Alasa did the same, drawing an arrow from his quiver and keeping his bow at the ready, while the Prince looked up to Etsuko and Ayano.
"You two, stay here with the horses. We'll be back soon. If anything seems wrong, take the horse and get her to safety." Cyril was clearly talking to Etsuko for the most part, for at the end he pointed directly at the Princess. Behind him, Calypso gracefully slid from the horse. Despite the situation, her strange smile was still on her face, and she gave Etsuko a slight wave before she turned towards the village. Cyril took a few steps back though his gaze didn't leave Etsuko and Ayano, expression serious.
"Keep her safe!" With that, he fully turned, and the three on foot made their way into the village. The smell of fire and death immediately enveloped them, but despite this while the two Sentinels appeared almost deadly serious, the smile on Calypso's face didn't waver slightly. Cyril took the lead, his hand on the hilt of his blade as they walked forwards. Alasa, meanwhile, kept a little behind, constantly looking around in all directions as they moved through the village.
For the first corpses, Cyril stopped. For the next set, he did again. After that, he kept moving, passing by bodies as they kept moving forward, but each time he grit his teeth more and more. His eyes were widened slightly in his anger, and his helplessness. The terrible magnitude of what had happened here did more than just upset his stomach; he felt a fire building within him, spreading to the tips of every single one of his limbs and growing with each dead man, woman, and child.
The trio made their way through the carnage and eventually reached the church within the village. Quietly Cyril approached it, trying to open the doors, and upon failing he suddenly turned to slam his shoulder against it, still to no avail. The doors trembled, but they did not give. Scowling, Cyril turned away from the door, taking a few steps from it. The Prince brought his hands up, covering his face in them, fingertips digging into his own skin some. Both Calypso and Alasa lingered nearby.
After a moment of silence like this, Alasa shifted slightly, and then turned to walk closer to the Prince.
"Cyril, we need to go. There are heavy boot prints everywhere. This needs to make it back to the Capitol, your sister-"Cyril just cut him off with a nod. After a moment, he slowly lowered his hands, briefly clenching them at his sides.
"You're right. We have to get back... This can't stand..."Even as Cyril began to try and calm his racing thoughts, the doors to the church behind him were smashed off their hinges.
Outside the village, Ayano remained on her horse with Etsuko. She held the purple cloth firmly against her own face, trying to keep even the slightest gap appearing as she slowly breathed in and out. Even through the purple, she could smell far too much black, grey, and red coming from the village. She wasn't really sure of what was going on, but she had been able to hear the worry and underlying anger in her brother's voice. Whatever it was, it was something truly terrible.
After a few moments, the Princess' hand went up and around. She fumbled a little, before her hand finally found Etsuko's wrist, latching on. The other hand, meanwhile, pressed the purple cloth even more tightly against her face if that was possible.
"They'll be okay! My brother will figure out what's going on, and they'll all be safe. I'm sure of it."
There were three of them, just like there were three of the Barceans. The attackers that smashed through the church door from the inside all wore heavy armor of iron. Two had swords and one of those with a shield, while the third carried an axe. Along with the heavy armor, the cloth they wore underneath the plates that showed here and there was a sort of faded golden-yellow color. They emerged yelling, clearly prepared to take the three Barceans off guard.
Alasa, however, wasn't one to be taken so lightly. Immediately he whirled, and unleashed the arrow he long had ready. It passed by Cyril as he turned, going over the Prince's shoulder on its path through the opening of the helmet into the sword-and-shield's eye. The man dropped backwards, hitting the ground heavily and dead. As the Prince drew his blade and Alasa prepared another arrow, the one with the axe was getting too close, but it was Calypso's turn. Her two longer knives drawn, she rushed forwards and jumped onto the axe man from the side, taking him to the ground. Even as both fell, her knives found gap after gap in the armor, stabbing through cloth into flesh with ease, and even sometimes rending through metal in the wild, quick movements the woman attacked with. He too died quickly.
The last one, with just a blade, attempted to swing his sword overhead and down onto Calypso. Instead, sparks flew as Cyril swung his blade upwards to collide with the armored man's weapon in the middle of the swing, keeping it away from the woman even as she continued to make sure the axe wielder was properly finished. The man with the sword staggered back briefly, back towards the now open church, before he stepped forwards to take another swing at the Prince, this time from the Prince's left. Once again, Cyril brought his blade up in another quick movement to deflect the blow harmlessly to the side. This time though, as he had stepped past Calypso fully and she was no longer in danger, from where he held the blade toward his he pulled back slightly before swinging upward at an angle. The blade caught the Prince's opponent in the chest, forcing him to stagger back again. Though no real damage was done in that blow, it allowed the Prince the chance he needed to finish it.
His blade came up, parallel to the ground as he thrust. It caught the man in the throat, in between the gap between chest plate and helmet. In his shock the armored man dropped his blade as he staggered backwards, holding his throat for a moment before he fell backwards to hit the ground just like the rest of his allies, quickly going through his death throes. Just like that the fight was over almost as quickly as it began.
The Prince didn't sheathe his weapon, nor did the other two. Calypso slowly rose from the man she had turned to a corpse as Alasa went forwards, collecting the arrow that he had loosed. Cyril, meanwhile, slowly stepped away from the man that he had killed after checking over his armor, and then bending down to pull the helmet from his head to carry with him. He held the helmet forwards, which was accented with the same yellow-gold as the cloth along the edges of the plates it was made of.
"H'kelan. They're H'kelans."Immediately, Alasa swore, though the evidence only confirmed his fears. Briefly, the Prince looked from him to the still smiling Calypso, before back to the Sentinel; something had changed about the woman that he wasn't completely sure about. Perhaps it was because of the blood that had splattered up onto her face, or the fact that he hadn't been able to see the change as it happened, but he would only figure out later that the change was in her eyes, and how they had gone from purple to red as she took part in the violence. They would slowly but surely fade back to purple, but not for a while, and Cyril was too busy to watch for the change and realize it in that moment.
"Do you know what this means, Cyril? This means that-"
"Gartian's getting his war, and he's making the first move."
"We aren't ready for a full scale war!"
"That isn't our choice anymore, Alasa! It's out of our hands!" Briefly, Cyril looked like he might throw the helmet, before he lowered it back to his side once again.
"Come on. Drosil's around here somewhere, and maybe there's a survivor... But we have to get moving. Keep your weapons out."Cyril led the way once again, the trio making their way through the village on their search. Unfortunately, there wasn't a survivor to be found in the small village.
Why had the H'kelan soldiers hid in the church? Why hadn't they attacked Joy on her attempt to enter? The answer was simple enough, though at the moment still had been left off to be puzzled out later. The movements of the Prince and Princess had been monitored through hearsay and the like, and it had all been an attempt on their lives. Fortunately enough, not only had they been underestimated, but new allies were being brought along... But it was hard to believe that such fortune might strike again.
Izurich