Wartime Reverie

"Alright, lady, you are beginning to annoy me. What's with all the strange questions?" asked Nny of Claire, he was getting annoyed at how she could be so oblivious to things that had been around for centuries of civilization. "Of course it is natural for armed bands of soldiers to gather around the city! They are called 'Gaurds' they protect people in the city from outside forces! Did you crawl out from a rock or something?!"

 

While walking through the medical district of the city's middle class level Dante came to a stop as if he were listening very closely to something that Shero couldn't hear. " What is it ?" Shero asked, looking concerned as Dante looked around nervously and quickly grabbed Shero by the arm and took off running. " Don't ask... just run !!!' Dante said as he went into a full on sprint. Suddenly from within the crevices of the crowded streets young women came rushing out, screaming and chasing after the two. " Who are those girls?!" Shero asked as she ran as fast as she could. " My fans...." Dante said with a grimace while weaving through the crowds. " You have fans? But you are only a royal adviser are you not? "Shero asked as Dante sighed. " Um... I don't know what nation you are from, but here I'm also a late night talkshow host...." Dante said as he lead Shero over to a magazine stand and quickly hid behind the racks. " You have time to be a talkshow host and advise the king? Wow you must have a hectic schedule..." Shero said as Dante spied from between the magazine racks. " It sounds like a lot of work.. but I enjoy my careers. " Dante said as his eyes drifted over to one of the magazine racks that was in the back and he plucked one off and in looked in it. " Ah so the new issue has come in..." Dante said with a devious chuckle as Shero raised a eyebrow. " Issue ? Aren't we suppose to be hiding Mr. Dante?" Shero asked as Dante seemed to be set on reading the magazine. One of the girls that had been chasing them earlier had spotted them due to the fact that Dante had made the mistake of stepping out into the open to grab one of the magazines off the rack and the girl called out to the others. " There he is !! GET HIM!!" The girl shouted as Dante looked up and quickly slipped the magazine into a hidden pocket in his jacket. " Uh oh , it seems they've spotted us.." Dante said in a sarcastic tone as Shero began to panic. " What do we do now? Where do we run?" Shero asked in desperation as Dante looked off into the distance and then grabbed Shero by the back of her shirt and pulled her onto a incoming trolley where they two hung on as the trolley sped up and the girls tried to keep up but couldn't. After traveling several feet the girls gave up the chase and that's when Dante decided it was safe to get off so he hopped off the trolley and onto the road directly across from where Nny and Claire were conversing. " I should have brought my sunglasses with me as a disguise...oh well... too late for that..." Dante said as Shero hopped off. " Why didn't you say that this would have happened? I could have been trampled by a bunch of lovesick girls..."

 

Reese looked up at Robert. "I had better go with you; I can't find out who I am If I sit around here and do nothing. Besides, if there is a fight coming, I want to help."

 

"Watch how you talk to me, or I will drop you in a second" Claire said, she didn't even look at Dante and Shero "And I wasn't referring to the guards, I meant the people trying to meld into the crowds and act normal, like that group of drunks who are scoping out the patrol routes of the guards" she said referring to a group of drunks up the street "Or the father of that family who is watching all high ranking people who enter the hospital" she said as she point at a family, she kept pointing people out as she started walking, none of them looked armed or suspicious but she kept pointing out people who were apparently doing suspicious stuff, even a lot of the guards were pointed out.

"If you insist come along, but I suggest you rest before everything happens, the fighting is going to be widespread" Robert said as he walked towards the door "If you choose to rest there is a bed upstairs you can use, if not then you better keep up because I don't plan to baby anyone"

 

Nny was shocked by the quick and smart obsevations Claire was making. Not only were they fascinating but they were true. Nny then realized the same things as she pointed them out. However, to Nny, they were no real problem. Just little fly's that enjoyed listening. Nny resisted the urge to kill them all... but he knew it wouldn't matter... the Eclispion's would soon be arriving anyway after Allen's blunder. Overwhelmed by the number of examples Claire was pointing out, Nny decided to stop her. "Okay, I get it. What is your point? I mean, I realize there are many spies in this city, but you are acting like you haven't seen it before."

"Allen..." said a voice in Allen's head. The voice didn't sound like Legion's voice, though. It sounded like someone else. Someone Allen had heard before...

 

Allen recognized Shero and started over to her, glad to have found one of the two girls he had been looking for. He had actually forgotten that he was supposed to be searching for Phisoxa and Shero after running into Nny. As he reached them he heard the voice in his head, so to Shero he just said a simple "hey." Then he addressed the voice in his head. "Hello? Who is this?"

 

"Hey its you... how did you end up here? I thought we left you with 'him' ..." Shero said looking surprised as Dante looked the boy over with a stern look.

 

"It's a long story." Allen scanned the area around them. "Is Phisoxa around? I'd rather tell you both at once if I can. Besides that I have some information about-" Allen looked at Dante suspiciously- "about the school, and I wanted to talk to her about something."

 

" Shes busy meeting with a man up at the palace... I don't know when she will be out though. I'm sorry if I can't help you further..." Shero said with a sigh as Dante folded his arms and leaned against the trolley stop.

 

"I'm going," Reese said. "...I'm just got to this world, i'm not tired. As for baby sitting, I don't see how you can know as much about me as I do, and not know that I won't need it."

A strange man looked on at Shero, Allen, Clair, Nny, and Dante from atop the hospital. They could not yet see him, as he was not yet fully formed; but he would soon make his entrance. "I wonder if they will know where the Master is..." He thought to himself.

 

“Once I saw things like this but that was a long time ago. What I want to know is why you people seem to be fighting each other when there are larger threats out there?” Claire asked Nny as she stopped walking and faced Nny “People won’t survive if they are planning to stab each other in the back”

Robert opened the door “To the palace" he said as he left.

At the palace entrance a man in a black coat approached the front doors, his features hidden as the guards moved to block his path so they could confirm who he was, but before they could ask they were all cut down in an instance except for two guards standing by the entrance, they showed no emotion at watching their comrades being cut down, instead they opened the front door and let the man in. As he entered the guards locked the door, sealing everyone inside. Meanwhile at the coastline the Eclipscion Flagship emerged from the ocean and flew above the city, before the Janina airships could react they were all destroyed, the debris showering over the city killing anyone caught underneath.

 

Nny was about to answer Claire when suddenly he heard explosions off in the distance. Nny turned to see Janina airships falling down from the sky... Nny didn't seem to have any noticable reactions, but he had immediately began evaluating the situation. It was obvious the Janinan city would soon be destroyed due to the quick air superiority the Eclipscion's had gained. It was only a matter of time before troops began entering the city, then after that... it would only be a matter of time before everyone was cut down. The only thing left to do was to attempt to fend off advancing army in hopes that many of the people might escape. Nny drew his sword and held it to his side. "It has begun..." Nny said. He then turned to the others "What are you all going to do?"

The voice in Allen's head responded "Who am I? I am you, Allen. I am your conscience which has laid deep within you for some time now... not saying a word for years. However, I have been wrong in doing so. You have gone so far in the wrong direction that I am here to pull you back to the way you should be."

 

Allen looked in horror as debris rained from the heavens. He recognized the Eclipscion insignia on the attacking airships, and suddenly realized that Phisoxa must have been right. Somehow he had started a war. He tried to console himself with the thought that they could have attacked for other reasons. It was no secret that Eclipscion and Janina hated each other, so this war could have been started for just about any reason. The thought brought some comfort. Allen responded to the voice in his head. "What are you talking about?" He turned to Nny and summoned his sword "I'll fight, and protect these people." He looked at Shero and Dante. "Can you two help?"

 

Shero staggered back at the sights and sounds of war beginning to rattle the city up. " What do we do? Do we fight or run?" Shero asked as Dante looked up at the skies, surveying the events that took place in the cloud cover. "I'm not sure its safe that we head back to the castle... looks like we are going to have to join up with this boy and fight from here. I hope your friend is alright up at the palace." Dante said as he reached into his coat and pulled out what appeared to be a sword's empty hilt. In a few moments a glowing blade grew out of the empty socket and completed the weapon.

Meanwhile. . .
Phisoxa's eyes shot open when she hard commotion going on beyond the walls. She found that she had fallen asleep on one of the couches in Sir Rould's study. " That's strange.. I don't remember falling asleep. I must have been pretty tired.... I wonder where Rould is. I remember everything we talked about but I don't remember falling asleep... hmmm .. ." Phisoxa thought as she stood up and pushed the doors opened, stepping out into the hallway as she did.

 

Rouge was venturing through the city as he hear the sound of an explosion in the sky. When he looked up she saw the airship coming down. Was this place too about to become a war zone. A sigh escaped his lips as he pulled back on of his sleeves and looked at his red glove. "Good thing I always have this with me." So far there weren't any soldiers around him, but that could change very quickly.

 

As they were walking down the street, Reese heard an explosion from the sky. She looked up to see multiple Eclipscion Airships warring on Janina. The many sounds of war soon came to surround her. "I guess it's time." She held out her hands in front of her and called up her weapons in her mind. Her call was heeded as in both hands a Shining white light appeared, and shaped into a wind and fire wheel. She let her arms drop to her sides as her bladed rings were her most effective form of combat. She looked at Robert and asked; "We still headed for the Palace?"

From the top of the hospital, the solidifying wind saw the beginnings of war. "Not a very peaceful world, is this?" As his body completely formed, he saw that the people below him meant to stand and fight. "Alright then, I suppose until I have my answers I shall fight as well." He held out his hand. Lighting struck it, and a long chain whip was formed.

 

Outside Rould’s study all the guards had been silently killed before the commotion outside. In every direction Phisoxa went the guards and personal had already been killed.

“I guess I will join you guys” Claire said as she summoned her silver sword. But before the group could move the hospital behind them exploded, it had been bombed by the Eclipscion Airship. All over the city places important to keeping the city running were destroyed, such as hospitals, supplies and guard centres. The Airship then went to bomb the cities remaining defences as the many spies within the city showed their true colours and turned on those nearby.

“I am still heading there” Robert said to Reese as he watched the debris fall on the city and the following explosions “They are crippling the city’s infrastructure” Robert said as he started running towards the palace.

 

Nny immediately ignored the destruction of the hospital, figuring it a lost cause, and began attacking the spies. Attempting to dispatch the immediate presence of the Eclipsion's until their true force arrived. The airships would be a problem. Nny might be able to take one of them down... assuming they weren't impervious to magic. And once the ground forces arrived, it would only be a matter of time before the city fell. With Allen's display of strength along with Claire's... and maybe Shero and the newcomer, together they might be able to hold off the ground forces alone. It was a difficult situation. Nny calculated these things in his head as he continued to slaughter the spies. "Allen!" Nny shouted to him "You took out one of those airships! Do you think you could take out another?"

The voice distracted Allen with it's talk "You caused this. This destruction is all your fault and you know it. You destroyed that Eclipsion airship and now they have come to punish Janina for your crimes. Don't you understand? All this bloodshed, all this pain, all this suffering.... it's all YOUR fault. You've become so detached from the truth that I have slowly begun to manifest myself from the sins you have committed. Soon, I will be stronger. And while you might be able to supress me for now... I will eventually break free and make you pay." The voice paused "Don't you understand, Allen? I am you... I am the truth you hide from the world and also the truth you hide from yourself."

 

"I don't have time to discuss this with you. We'll talk later." Allen could tell this was going to be a complicated discussion, and right now, he needed his focus to be on the battle. He turned to Nny. "I don't know. I didn't actually take out the first airship, I just destroyed one of its engines, and that was kind of by accident. Those airships definitely need to be taken out though. So it might be worth a shot." This was the first full-scale battle Allen had ever been in, and as a result he was forgetting to fake emotional detachment.

 

The explosion of the hospital surprised Rouge, but he knew that he couldn't worry about it long. This was only a part of the attack, so worrying about it would be pointless. Instead he clenched his gloved covered fist and headed for the palace.