“How very understanding of you,” Elizabeth said to Lady Violetta, although she was not very genuine. “So headmistress, what next? I feel an urge to do something in this most drastic of situations. How are the refugees doing?”
Juna was actually shocked at the guard’s words, as she expected to be allowed through the gates with nothing but a bit of trouble. Now it seemed that they would be marched onward through the city, straight into cells. In fact, that was what the guard had proclaimed. His actions had made Juna filled with a fury, as it seemed that he had not even a single pang of sympathy for Annara’s well-being. Juna’s weapon, her long steel sword, remained hidden under her coat and easily retrievable to the Elven woman with but a quick sweep of her hand. She looked onwards at the gathered garrison of guards and saw only a pathetic group of third-rate fighters, and she had no fear that she could have their heads removed from their necks in a matter of moments without even a bit of slight assistance from her weary companions. She was certainly filled with enough emotion and enough determination to do so.
Yet the order had come from Lothren that they should not resist. That was infuriating to her. Although it would not have been in their best interests to continue to fight here for all to see, Juna was unhappy that they would simply capitulate with not even a wink of resistance. Such defeatism had never come across Juna’s own mind. Nonetheless, she would follow her orders, simply because she they had come from Lothren.
“On your word alone, I won’t resist,” Juna replied to Lothren in Elvish. “But the result of this is on you.”
And so Juna would subject herself to be marched through town in complete defeatism. She looked at the guard barking orders, gazing at him with a pridefully indignant smile with a level of unbelievable in her eyes.
Gazing at the guard who walked alongside her with a sword near her, Juna mockingly said, “Pray tell what you intend to do with the sword, young man?”
Juna did not care at all if they beat her for her defiance and arrogance. She may have been convinced to surrender due to Lothren, but she had yet to be convinced that she should surrender her arrogance for meekness. As she was marched through the street like an exhibition for all eyes to see, the Viceni refugees threw whatever they could at her and the rest of her companions. Rocks, bread, rotten food, it mattered not what it was, as long as it could be thrown.
“Well, well,” Juna said mockingly. “What a warm and pleasant welcoming from the Viceni! I am so glad that even with all the difficulties they face, they still put in the effort to be hospitable to strangers.”
Then they were thrown into a single large cell, cut off from the rest of the world in their darkness. Juna sat down on the flat and cold iron ground, setting herself down as comfortably as she could in the most uncomfortable of all places. It seemed that unfortunately that this place was also more than just a cell with a locked door, as it was barred by an iron slat she couldn’t get out of place from this side.
“Well, Lothren,” Juna said in Elvish. “I suppose now is the moment when you tell us your escape plan.”
It's a nice little site. I used to go on there frequently, although recently I've left my nation to rot. It's also one of the few sites where I think political arguments have a proper place.
“Well, if you like,” the cook said to Lady Violetta. “Well, you heard the Lady. Go one Elizabeth.”
And Elizabeth did indeed leave the kitchen, and went with Lady Violetta. She had told her to remove all the things which might have been harmful to a child. Yet Elizabeth was quite annoyed, as she was given the inane task of removing all things which a child might be able to harm themselves with. Yet in spite of her hatred of the task, Violetta still did it, as now was not the time for Elizabeth to stress her willingness to be disobedient. She would have preferred, however, for Lady Violetta to show her a bit more respect, yet she was also aware that such a change in attitude from the Headmistress would never occur.
Lady Violetta then later approached her again, this time holding a large box of toys with her.
“Very well, Lady Violetta,” Elizabeth said. “Although I’m not quite sure what your focus on toys is. If I were to complain, I would comment that this is a refugee crisis and not a funhouse, but you shall never here such a complaint uttered from these lips.”
The atmosphere at the Academy was most tense. Ezra had seen the graduating students become guardians before in the years prior, and no such darkness had held an iron grip over the Academy as it did now. Ezra, however, understood the reason why such a mood could grasp amongst all among the Academy. It was plainly evident why, and perhaps the only rational reaction to those who valued their lives and their safety. The entire Academy had been mobilized, and not only the recently graduated guardians. The older the students were, the more dangerous their position would be. By that reasoning, then, the specialized missions designed for the newly graduated guardians would be the most dangerous.
Ezra began walking towards where those missions were posted. It was very disappointing, in a way, that this was how he would have to depart from the Academy. Even he had things and people that he would miss here. Graduation was usually a time of celebration, but his class would have the least jovial departure in probably the Academy’s history. It was all due to Operation Downfall. At that moment, Ezra realized what exactly was wrong with the operation. How had it not occurred to Headmaster Dysely that that was a horrible name? It would have been better to call it Operation Success or Operation Victory. Surely, Ezra thought, there must be some greater reason why such a name would be given.
Ezra let his mind come back to the proper matter that was at hand, and not aimlessly wander to useless topics of worthless thoughts. Beside him was Olivia conversing with her friend, or at least that was what Ezra had assumed she was. What was her name again? He probably had never been told, or if he had it had only be indirectly, through the small talk of his peers. The time had probably come that he would no longer have to compete with that wunderkind, Olivia.
Looking down at the information board, Ezra already knew what operation he would be taking. His head faced downward, and he grabbed from his pocket a note Ezra that had been careful with, as he hoped he could make sure he could have it for a long time. He had already memorized its words, but looked down at the physical copy anyways. It told him, “If you desire to find the truth, then head down to Doral and search for the mightiest fighter there. Godspeed, my friend.” So when Ezra took a look at the information board, he knew immediately that it would be the one where men were taking recruits from Doral. Ezra didn’t know who the note was from, as he knew enough to rule out his mother, and there was no one else there who would think of aiding him in his quest for the truth.
After settling that matter, Ezra had begun to walk away. He would gather his things, grab his weapon, and prepare to depart. However, he saw Jaina Madison walking by, walking close to him, and his gaze became cold. There was a time when the pair of them were close, inseparable even. They had been friends, but now that simply the past, at least for him. He would never be able to forgive her the deceit she had done to him, for the lies that she had willingly uttered. Jaina looked up to him and gave a warm smile to him, and Ezra turned his head from her. Jaina, however, would not be deterred so easily. She came here to try and reconcile the two of them, and she intended to do more than just show a hurt look on her face and then somberly leave.
“Hey,” Jaina said, giving a small wave. When Ezra didn’t answer Jaina continued with, “Y’know, thought I’d just go and, y’know, drop in. So…uh, which one did you ever end up choosing?”
“I’ll be going to Doral.”
“Doral?”
“Yes. I suspect you’ll be following right behind me. That’d be just like you.”
“Hah, as if,” Jaina said with a sad smile. “Soldiers like me don’t pick where they’re stationed.”
Ezra was surprised. He had expected that father – no, Elijah – would have stationed her close to him. Was his influence not great enough to allow that, or did he no longer care about keeping tabs on him, and had something else in mind entirely? Ezra didn’t know the answer to that. Also, he honestly was not sure about how he felt about Jaina being away from him, as strange as that might have seemed. He supposedly hated her, yet now the knowledge that she would be far away from him bothered him, even frightened him.
“I’ll be heading out towards the Nexus Reactor,” Jaina said. “The army’s sending me out there to act as assistance for the guardians. I don’t have any magic or spirits, but I’m not so bad with a gun, if I do say so myself. I’ve no idea what’ll happen out there, and I reckon things could be pretty ugly.”
“No, you’ll be back,” Ezra said.
“Well, it’s nice of you to care.”
“Maybe,” Ezra said.
However, he still wasn’t willing to be nice to her. At the time he wasn't interested in any reconciliatory efforts between the two. She had withheld the truth from him for as long as she had known him, and that wasn’t something that he’d easily forgive. He walked away, and she didn’t follow.
Meanwhile, Ezra was walking back to his room. He was still surrounded by his thoughts when he saw that Elijah was once again checking up on him. After the truth had come out, Elijah had mostly avoided him. Yet there he was now, in front of his room, and he was currently exactly last on the list of people Ezra wanted to talk to right now.
“What do you want?” Ezra said.
Elijah merely smirked, and said, “The hostility never ceases.”
“You wiped my memories and then lied to me about my entire life.”
“Still bitter over that?”
“Yes.”
“Since you seem intent on continuing resistance, let me warn you. If you do not return by my side now, and declare your undying loyalty once again, you shall indeed regret it. For your own sake, forget about all this nonsense about your past. Perhaps that way you might live to see the end of it that way.”
Then a heavy gust of wind came, and Elijah was surrounded in shadows. Elijah vanished right before his eyes, and all that remained were a collection of black feathers that were scattered by a heavy gust of wind. Ezra had no idea how he did that, and he hated when he did do it. Clearly Elijah had issued both a warning and a threat to him. Ezra clenched his fist. He entered his room to grab his weapon, determined that he would not let Elijah bully him.
Ezra chooses to go to Doral on the basis of a note that tipped him towards Doral. Jaina tries to reconcile with Ezra, but Ezra is still bitter. Elijah appears before Ezra and threatens him to stay out of the way.
It had not been Elizabeth’s wish to have gotten duties in the kitchen. She was brushing the rags hard against the shining white plates, sparkling it clean from blemishes inflicted on it by various stains and foodstuffs. The burly head cook was next to her, overseeing her every move, and her eyes were impeccable in Elizabeth’s experience. Everything that happened in this kitchen was seen by that cook. Regarding how she had managed to get stuck doing this at all, she preferred not to think about it. All she would say is that it was not her fault, but rather someone else’s. It had merely been a situation of circumstance, and Elizabeth a victim of it, that had forced her into kitchen duty.
It was then that Elizabeth first began to feel the tremors. They were at first were light vibrations which were so light that Elizabeth thought that perhaps they were not truly there. However, their power soon magnified, and Elizabeth felt the quakes that emanated deep from the ground. Elizabeth set her arms at her side in order to keep her balance, and stopped the menial chores she was doing. Elizabeth had not even the faintest of ideas what it was that was making such a trembling. Elizabeth set down her white plate and wiped the soap from her arms. She ran out towards the door.
“Oy, where do you think you’re going?” the cook screamed at her.
“I’m going to see what exactly this is, if you don’t mind miss,” Elizabeth said.
“Well, I do mind,” the cook said. “Hey, get back here!”
Elizabeth moved fast enough that the large cook could not even hope to catch her in time. She pressed on the doors of the kitchen, and they opened into the halls. Elizabeth’s eyes widened at the sight of a great many men and women who wore the clothes Elizabeth recognized as belonging to the denizens of the village. Their appearance resembled that of refugees. Elizabeth mind went in circles, not quite being able to click, unable to ascertain what event had undergone that had enabled such a catastrophe to occur. At that moment, the maid Naomi passed by her, with the younger and fairer maid Ruth following behind. Elizabeth had met Naomi on a number of occasions, and was better acquainted with the young maid, Ruth. Naomi had an expression which told Elizabeth that she had plenty of tasks at hand that needed her completion, yet when she saw Elizabeth she stopped her movement, if only a movement.
“My lady,” Naomi said. “Whatever are you doing here?”
Glancing back before turning back to Naomi, Elizabeth said, “I had kitchen duty.”
“Ah, I see,” Naomi said. “Well, my lady, if you may excuse me…”
“Hold on a minute,” Elizabeth said.
“Yes?”
What is all of this?”
“Did you feel the tremors?”
“Indeed.”
“Well, outside the Academy, it was quite worse. The academy, it is alive.”
“Yes, I know. So its sentience allowed it to endure. So these people, they are…”
“They are refuges of a sort.”
“I see. And where are the others?”
“Your peers and instructors? They are elsewhere, on higher floors, although beyond that I’m not sure.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes it is, Elizabeth. Now, I and Ruth must get to work. These men and women need aid, after what happened to their homes.”
”Yes, I am sure.”
The cook came bursting out, anger and frustrating directed at Elizabeth in her eyes. She dragged Elizabeth by the ears, Elizabeth shouting, “ow, ow, ow!” all the while, and shoved her back in the kitchen.
“We’ll be having no more of that now, will we?”
”None of what?” Elizabeth said.
“No more mucking about,” the cook said.
There is something more important going on.”
“Maybe so, but we still need dishes.”
If that is all you need, I may be able to help you.”
Elizabeth waved her hand, and from it emanated magic. Invisible forces began to work, cleaning the dishes faster than Elizabeth ever could have manually, and it required no more attention from her. It was simply applied magic, just as engineering is applied mathematics. For Elizabeth, it was no great task once one figured out the essentials and substratum of the magic she learned.
“Oy, no magic!”
”Maybe that work for an appeal that would work,” Elizabeth said, and pointed to the scattered men and women walking up the stairs outside the kitchen. “But I think we’re passed that. Now, I think they would welcome a hot meal.”
“S’pose that makes sense,” the cook said. “Alright, I’ll bite. What do you recommend?”