Archive of Our Own ^beta

[ -- Author's Note -- ]

 

Me: I should be able to wrap it up under twenty thousand words!

 

Me Later: ...It's over twenty five thousand words...

 

That's a... summery of the situation... I knew the Roxford arc, once I swapped it to the grayer tale, would get nice and longer then it was before... but not to the degree of five chapters...

 

...Well at least it comes to an end this chapter... We resolve the cliff hangers and... well...

 

Justical needs to be dealt with...

 

Let's get it on then!

 

[ -- Act IV - Chapter VI: Le Fardeau est Lourd... -- ]

 

This document is to only be unsealed in the event that I, Juno DeLiberte, has died in the Office of Prime Minister of Roxford. If, for whatever reason, you have unsealed this document and I am still alive kindly place it back where you have found it and kindly inform me so I may reseal it properly. What is within is only to be revealed if my death has been untimely and before another person was elected to office.

 

In the event I am dead and you are reading this then the following is the Last Will and Testament of Prime Minister Juno DeLiberte.

 

I hope this needs not be unsealed and if it is it will be as I am retired. But, sadly, life does not go in ways that we always expect or enjoy. To this event I, with the power of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Roxford, name Acadia L'Argentune as Acting Prime Minister until such a time that a new person can be elected to office. If, in such an event, that she has also perished then Avuka L'Avant will assume the position followed by Gregory Justeici, then Henri Quietsu. Among their duties will be to elect a new, proper Prime Minister in a reasonable time frame; provided that Roxford is not at war in which case voting can be delayed.

 

Since I joined the Revolution there is much I have done I am proud of and much I am not proud of. I have ordered things done that I will be judged ill for, I am sure, but know they needed be done. To that end I place ten orders for my heir, whoever that be, to follow upon assuming office.

 

Item One: House DesCieux is to remain banished. I am not unaware that much of the people wish the return of the old monarchy's family but that cannot be allowed under any circumstances. Power has always collected around DesCieux and it would be of little trouble for one to be elected to office only to abolish it and the Republic with it. Too much has been sacrificed and suffered to allow that to happen. We must never allow it. Better they be killed to the last then suffer even one to live, let alone return.

 

Item Two: House DesCieux's history must be expelled and destroyed. All hints of the old rulers needs be removed once and for all; any portrait of a DesCieux is to be destroyed, any relic is to be destroyed or remade to something fitting of the Republic. Once this purge of old faults is removed we may stride forwards.

 

Item Three: The Republic must become a shining example to the common peoples of other nations, to show what they can rise into. We need not expand revolutions by force, instead we should inspire peoples to demand their kingdoms become republics by setting the example. On that note...

 

Item Four: The Connection Canal must be completed and well managed. With the trade provided by this Canal we will possess the funds needed to improve the lives of the people. It will become the backbone of trade and diplomacy for us, I am sure.

 

Item Five: Expand education to the commoners. The government has a duty to educate it's populace and should provide schooling for children from ages eight to fourteen at bare minimum. It will take time to expand such an institution and I imagine it will take generations before all children can learn at such but a populace better educated will benefit the nation more then an ignorant one.

 

Item Six: The repair and manning of Fort Percy. Justical, above all other nations, will likely attempt to conquer us and if other nations do not wish to intervene we must counter them ourselves. To that end we must repair Fort Percy as a significant anchor to these defensive efforts.

 

Item Seven: Maintain good relations with Eostia and Rycall. While we hold no border with the Seven Shields Alliance or the Rycall Republic these are two of our few, supportive voices and High Queen Celestine Lucross's voice is highly respected by her peer rulers. Offending her should be avoided over all others. As for Rycall we could learn much from them in our own administration.

 

Item Eight: Build a fast response navy. With the Canal, once it comes operational, we can use it to rapidly deploy and move troops and supplies to defend our nation from Dominious in the north or Justical to the south or even Camafran if they attempt another challenge to the Republic.

 

Item Nine: Attempt to keep the peace with our neighbors. With Dominious and Justical this may not be possible but with our other neighbors we should endeavor to keep a peace with them; failing that a neutrality that ensures they will not attempt to unseat the Republic. War is an expensive enterprise and one we need not pay for if we don't need to.

 

Item Ten: Establish a new Parliament Building for the Republic. While the Palace of the Starlight is an effective building to operate out of it is a piece of the DesCieux legacy and, as such, must be destroyed and razed to the ground. The new parliament could be placed over it's foundations but better it be placed in or near Elouan City. Having said that this should not be done until the Republic is financially stable and other, more pressing issues are addressed.

 

These ten items must be accomplished in my opinion and any who take the office following my departure from such, be it while I am alive or not, should do the upmost to complete the above. Finally I place one order that above all must must be done and can be considered an Item Zero; the Republic must survive above all else. Roxford can always be pulled back together if she fractures or part of her is taken but if the Republic ends then all we have sacrificed in it's creation will be for nothing. If you allow the Republic to die then you disrespect all those who died and bled for it and doom her people to old, failed ways.

 

I hope that when this document is finally opened it will be by my own hands to show a new family I have raised as something to laugh over. Something we will find amusement in or a symbol of a tougher time. Ideally by then I will have children ready to serve the Republic but the future is always an unknown; some might have never predicted the rise of the Republic. With luck I am alive when this is read.

 

If I am not then may the Gods Protect the Republic and save her people. As for burial a graveyard for the Heroes of the Republic should be made at some point where I and my allies and comrades can be buried and laid to rest.

 

Signed by

Prime Minister Juno DeLiberte

 

Observing Signatures

Acadia L'Argentune

Avuka L'Avant

Corin Rocher

Gregory Justeici

Henri Quietsu

 

~The Last Will and Testament of Prime Minister Juno DeLiberte. Also present for the signing of observers was Pepin Vieverite who refused to sign

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

Canal Leading to the Palace of the Starlight

Outside of Elouan City, Capital of Roxford

 

"Quickly! Quickly! We must join the battle! For the Crown!" Zander Rapide cried out as he pointed off towards the palace. They were aboard a small river ship; it bore only one small sail but it was filled with a spell stone generated wind to power it forwards. Every man on the ship wore armor of some sort; mostly leather gambeson but some bore chain mail and one splint mail. Their goal; to reinforce their current, Justical allies. They were late in departing thanks to the fact they had to dodge a dock master but once they were on their way they opted to rush as fast as they could. From what he could see the battle was pitched and the palace grounds was still under contention.

 

Looking back he grinned as the rebel flag they used to arrive at the city was set loose; flying off to drown in the river as the true flag of Roxford flew once more over their ship as it was raised upwards.

 

On each side of the flag was blue, vertical stripes with a red one on the inside. Together they filled up a quarter of each side of the flag with a white panel between them. Light golden trim bordered the flag's edge and separated the red, white and blues of the flag. In the center of the flag was a three pronged, dark golden crown with a light gold bang that pressed in a third of the way from each side with the Fleur-de-Lis in the center. It was their history and culture flying proud once more!

 

 

He grinned, sure that history would be righted... He felt it to his core...

 

Today the rebel government, this 'Republic' would die...

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

Juno's face was horrible to look at; half smashed in as it was. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she moved to pull a handkerchief from her dress, setting it over the craterous wound to hide it and give the woman some respect before uttering a soft prayer. "Knock it off, Alison." Rodrick let off; even as she kept up her small prayer. "She killed my father... She killed your father... She has destroyed our history, our culture! And you would cry for her?"

 

"I cry for the pains that made her." Alison replied simply from her knees. "I weep for the woman she was. The woman she could no longer be due to her own pains. Pains she inflicted to us in turn." She said before looking up to the man as he stood there and gazed down to her. "Tell me... is your vengeance sated? Is your wounds now healed? Is your alliance with Justical ended or will you help it's boot fall upon us once more?"

 

"... Until the Republic and all it's done was purged my joining with them carries forth." He told her as she looked to him. "Join me... It's time to claim Roxford as is our House's right. Bring back the respect of who we are."

 

"... In his last letter to me my father expressed his reflections. His mistakes in his rule." Alison replied as she looked to the spear on the ground; Juno could have called it what she wanted, it didn't matter. It was still the L'Autorite du Ciel and bore it's power. She would reach over and with a soft grunt took hold of it as Rodrick frowned deeper as she set it's butt to the ground and used it to help her stand. Holding it in on hand she looked back to him. "I do not wish to fight family; not after what happened... but if you do not stand down then I will be forced to do battle with you." She said as she moved the spear to a two handed grip and, awkwardly, took a combat stance. She had trained with staves before but they didn't bear this much weight nor a sharp point.

 

But as the stone of the weapon then the whole weapon came alight with the golden glow of a spell too old to be Blessed Weapon yet very similar to it as she pointed the weapon to him regardless as Rodrick blinked at her. "Do you jest? Is this a joke?" He said, spreading his arms wide. "You are no warrior yet you'd challenge me with a weapon? Cousin, has exile made you go mad?"

 

"Rodrick... I do not jest. I will fight for her... for Roxford... for my land and my people..." She said as she glared to him softly. "I do not wish to harm you... I would wound myself harshly if I killed you... So please, I beg you... lay down your weapons and surrender to me."

 

"... ...I've come to far to stop now..." He let off as he moved to take a combat stance, mace lifting up. "If you wish for battle then you shall have it... but I cannot promise your safety, cousin." He let off as the two started to stare down one another.

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

Stunned... burning pain in my leg... and this asshole about to knock me out... "Justice shall be done..." Yeah... Not a good position for me to be in and because of the magic-negating titanium John Mandeville couldn't bail me out, no matter how much he did(n't) want to... but there's one thing to remember about me...

 

I have quite a few tricks up my sleeve... I managed to hold onto both my weapons even after he nailed me and one of them was a gun. And while it was meant to enchant the bullets for effects it was still a gun with very solid bullets. And sure, it couldn't get past his plate...

 

...but that's why I placed it's mouth to the rear joint of his knee before pulling the trigger...

 

Now, yes, guns weren't as effective as in my old world... but it still had the punch to slam past the chain mail covering the gap in the back of the knee and the padding under it to drive into his flesh... and then any excess velocity it had would bounce off the plate's inside and back through his leg so... yeah...

 

Now he was the one who screamed to a leg wound as he collapsed to the ground as I rolled out and away from him. I managed to ignore the searing pain in my leg long enough to stand with my weight mostly on my good leg and held the Dragon's Claw's pommel to the wound as I used Blessed Waters and gave a long, staggering gasp as the wound closed. Even so I wasn't fully healed; a heated pain was searing through my leg still, although my chest feeling less dented as I looked to him. He groaned and started to rise, roaring out as he pushed himself up to a kneel as he rose despite the fact that his knee cap might have been blown off.

 

I didn't let him rise up fully and stepped in; nailing the side of his head with a front kick to try and dislodge his helm from his head. It was a hard hit but I didn't knock him down or his helm off as he roared out and nailed me with a pommel strike to the chest as I stumbled back before moved to swing his blade to me. I popped a Dragon Boosted Adrenaline Rush to block his attack with my pistol and blade crossed and shove back with enough force to stumble him back now as I casted a new spell; Bolster Perception as I held my saber up, parallel to the ground as I braced and used the increased, sped up perception to line up and trust it into the right side of the visor of his helm and, for the second time in Roxford I took someone's eye out as he screamed out and backed up to avoid full death; as he did I twisted my saber and lifted it up, yanking his helm off before flicking it away as I lifted the Colt.

 

Even so as I pulled the trigger he was still able to get his blade up to block and deflect the bullet; despite the pain his leg he still stood and moved to charge me in a hobbled limp. I opted to hop back and used the stone's in the Colt's eyes to unleash a pair of Shine Bursts that exploded in light and noise as he guarded his remaining eye with an arm as I followed up with a pair of Illusions to get around him.

 

"Heretical bastard!" He let off as he followed my image and then swung at another point... where grass seemed to be pushed down with my steps and swung for where my neck would have been in a lethal strike...

 

...except that grass pushing down was the Illusion as I used a second to hide my shadow, hoping he'd think I was pulling off a fast, careless mirage. That let me get behind him and use a Dragon Boosted Piercing Strike to slam my saber's point to his back, punching through his armor's back; he was moving his head to avoid an attack he knew was coming, assuming I'd hit the most vulnerable part of him. He screamed as bladed reached him through his armor and I felt my blade scrape at his spine as his back arched before he launched a foot back in a mule kick, catching my wounded thigh and making me cry out in pain and drop to a knee.

 

He stumbled a step forwards and almost fell to a knee before turning to attack and was caught off guard as I threw my revolver at his face. He had a moment of dumbfoundment as the revolver's butt smacked him in his missing eye and making him flinch and grunt in pain as I reached down, grabbed a handful of ground and dirt and flung it at his face, catching him in his good eye as I forced myself up, popped Adrenaline Rush, Dragon Boosted it and nailed his chest with a sidekick (Much to my own leg's protests), wincing as he snarled as I held up my left hand and, with a little flex of my mana, the still airborne Horned Colt flew back to my grip. As both of my feet hit the ground his knee crumpled under him as I took aim and pulled the trigger; the bang sounded as I nailed him in his good eye.

 

He screamed out as the bullet blew out of his temple on the same side of his eye, his weapon falling from his grip... before roaring out and, relying on his good leg, leapt at me, hands going for my throat!

 

Holy shit!

 

I jumped to the side, aimed and shot a second bullet into his head; finally dropping him as I was left panting at one of, if not the fight of my life, stumbling a hint as I looked at his downed body. That fucking bastard was finally dead...

 

Good.

 

(I wouldn't learn until later but... he wasn't dead. No joke; somehow, someway he was still alive but now unconscious. That being said he would be captured alive, stripped of his equipment and be held as a Prisoner of War.)

 

"G-general!" I heard as I turned about as seven Justical men approached. Aside from two all were soaked and some were missing bits of their armor; mostly breastplates while other robbed Republican Guards or their fellows for breastplates or chain mail. My guess were these guys just managed to make it to the isle after a swim as I glared to them turning with a bit of a limp.

 

"Surrender or die. And I am in a fucking foul mood..." I told them, lightly limping in their direction as I kept up my glare as they looked to Horus, back to me as my eyes came alight with dragonborne energy. "...so making you die is on the table. I'm kind of preferring it, truth be told." I didn't but they didn't need to know that. They looked to each other, no clear leader among them as they tried to decide on what to do... and then...

 

"My life for justice!" One let off as he charged his fellows inspired to follow as my eyes shifted to a golden color before I unleashed a holy/fire Dragon's Breath upon them, nailing them all head on.

 

As I limped off one of their helms rolled away from the body; skull and ash within.

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

John Mandeville watched that damned boy walk off with equal parts relief and worry in him; Horus Aeternus' death (That he still breathed was unknown to him at the time) was a benefit to him then and there as he had no means to match the general, his death would be a boon to Balanar as a whole and it gave him the fighting chance to return home to his son.

 

On the worrying side wasn't that Noxdecus was alive (It normally would have been but in the current moment him being alive benefited him and their teamwork could be used as leverage to see his son allowed to visit Elddale once more) but that he willingly fought someone who negated his magic, his largest advantage, and drew upon the rest of his combat abilities to down his foe, one of the strongest Justical had to deploy. True; with the clear limp he was walking away with he came close to defeat and, perhaps, a fate worse then death and walked away with more anger then injury... but he still won in spite of it all...

 

How did someone like this exist? Was he sent by some god and graced with the ability to face down bad odds and overcome them time and again?

 

He grit his teeth... He was glad Balanar had no aims for war with Eostia... who knows what he'd do then... Still...

 

...how did one deal with this bastard..?

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

Samuel Parddon drove his weapon into the visor of his foe; it wasn't his intent as he slipped on loose grass and he ended up planting it into his foe's eye. He sighed as he looked to the reason he crossed the field...

 

Two members of the DesCieux clan, prepared to face down each other; one nervous and uneasy, the other confident but hesitant. Neither wanted to fight and yet one would not yield and the other would not stop. Rodrick spun his mace once. His foe adjusted her grip and sighed... and then, to his surprise, the first to launch an attack was Alison letting off a war cry as she charged forwards; her rush clumsy but quick as she closed the distance as her spear head glowed brighter... Rodrick braced with his shield, ready for her before thrusting his mace as she started to come into range--

 

--only for her to vanish into thin air in a flash, Rodrick's eyes widening and unsure what just happened. But Samuel could see; a second flash came from behind him as Alison planted her feet and thrust with all of her physical might coupled with the weapon's bolstering spell made it slam past the back of his armor near his right shoulder; making him cry out in shock and pain. He looked over his shoulder, starting to move before he shuddered hard; sparks at the spell stone spear head showed she used lightning mana to shock him. "Enough... Please... I don't want to hurt you..."

 

"So... That's the secret of the L'Autorite du Ciel..." Rodrick let off with a pain grunt as Samuel moved to support her.

 

By contrast Alison grit her teeth. "Please... Lay down your arms... Your fight is over... and whatever you may think we both know Justical does not care of Roxford or her people; merely their ideals and demands..."

 

"You can't win... There's an--"

 

"Army sailing north and another marching..." Alison replied softly. "...we know, we were able to discover it, if only before you arrived."

 

"Then you know what's coming... Alison, listen to me..." He let off, looking back to her. "Justical will wash over the land... The Royal Guard is supporting their efforts... I'm not stupid; they only kept me around to have that claim to Roxford's throne... but it was all I could do to ensure my men were given safe passage away to Camafran so the rebels wouldn't slaughter them... This isn't about honor... this is about stopping the rebels... bring us back and--ugh--and getting the crown... we can deal with Justical later but we need to work with them... just for now..."

 

"...You are not an evil man, Rodrick. I do not think Juno was either..." Alison began calmly. "But all of us have been given harms of different levels and types... Juno dealt with hers poorly... as are you... Justical will merely make more; upon you and Roxford. And besides... there is hope... Justical can be pushed back."

"I appreciate your--ugh--optimism, Alison... but blind faith won't defeat them." Rodrick let off in return. Samuel saw him grip his mace; as if ready to force himself away and counter... and likely Alison wouldn't get a second hit with a teleport...

 

"I have faith, yes, but I assure you it's not blind." She said, smiling back to him warmly. "Listen to me... as painful as it was I only managed to come as far as I have by learning to ask for help. And while, yes, I have had to find ways to repay these kindnesses it is how you overcome what you cannot conquer alone. And based on what I am aware of there is a chance. I have faith because I am sure of the one I place my faith into. Please... We have wounded each other enough as it is..."

 

"...How much faith... do you place into this person...?" Rodrick asked as he re-gripped his mace.

 

"All of it..." She replied and for a moment it seemed he would attempt to carry on his fight with her... but instead he let his mace drop to the ground; his shield following.

 

"You are a fool..." He replied as Samuel moved closer, moving to grab the rope that all Republican Guards were issued. "...But I have no more desire to see more of my family harmed... so we can be fools together..."

 

"Do not fear..." She said and she started to cast a healing spell before she pulled her weapon free as Rodrick grunted. "Trust in me if in nothing else. Ah, please..." She let off to him now as he waited for Alison to finish her healing before moving to bind Rodrick's arms behind him. "Thank you. Do not let anything happen to him, please... I do not want to lose more family."

 

"Yes, Your Highness." Samuel let off without a thought put to the words. She stiffened but smiled back warmly, patting his shoulder once more moving off to other wounded men; soon using the former symbol of the kingdom turned symbol of the republic was employed as a focus to heal with. "...I've always heard good things about her..."

 

"Heh... better woman then I am a man..." Rodrick let off, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

I shot another few people as I groaned and looked out to the canal. "Are you shitting me?" The fight with Justical was winding down now as Justical forces were either running out of steam or left unmoving on the ground. Some were finally starting to surrender and others fought until the bitter end; some getting a kill before they met it. And now I could see a flag sailing our way on a boat; that of the Kingdom of Roxford... meaning the Royal Guard. I reloaded as I turned to address someone rushing me as I checked my ammo count.

 

Four bullets left. That was enough. Before I could deal with the solider charging me (Screaming 'justice will prevail' as he did) a lance of flame impacted his head from the side; not punching past his helm but snapping his neck to the side and dropping him as I looked where it came from as I turned, smiled and limped over. "Good shot Channer." I let off as my friend walked over and, indeed, there was a revolver of his own in his right hand, staff in his left. The revolver was clearly mythril with some golden designs in it; sort of reminded me of one of those old, old Colt Navy revolvers with a red spell stone in the grip in a manner like my own. "Nice gun. Kinda jealous; mine was made a little too fancy."

 

"Thanks... Also..." Channer let off as he reached me. "You look like shit."

 

"I had a run in with Horus Aeternus..." I let off as he flinched and gawked. "Asshole jammed his sword into my leg. I used two powerful healing spells and it still feels like there's a trio of wasps in there expressing their displeasure."

 

"Ouch... glad you're alive..." He said as he looked off; likely to where I came from and he seemed surprised; likely as he saw the man's body. "We are deep in it aren't we?"

 

"Yup... Kinda tired of it. Speaking of..." I looked off to the oncoming craft. "You enchant your bullets too?"

"Of course." He let off as he moved to my left side as I grinned. "I have five bullets left, you?"

 

"Four." I replied as we took aim together, back to back with my left arm extended and his right side by side. "Fireball?"

 

"Fireball." He replied as we grinned and squeezed.

 

Two guns made two, loud bangs as two bullets impacted one hell and exploded into heat and force. I opted to fire once more, Channer twice.

 

The front of the ship was blown apart at the water line and it's port side was all but gone as the ship came to a halt. Men aboard started to pull off armor and try and jump ship; the first ones swimming to the sides of the canal. For the time being I turned away to deal with the rest of the battle...

 

There was worse to come, I was sure...

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

Once the battle was over Alison opted to heal my leg as fully as she could but I still had a bit of a limp; although I asked she stabilize the other men first. After all healing magic can still only do so much. Current status of the forces involved?

 

Justical was defeated and half their attacking force was dead. Of the other half maybe a fifth surrendered and the rest were injured or dying. Over half of the Republican Guard was dead (We'd later learn closer to sixty percent...) and all but a dozen unharmed. Of the bodyguard forces nearly half were dead and injured with one Dawn Templar heavily wounded from a run in with Horus and her survival was still in question, even after magic was applied. Alison wanted to go and heal even the enemy but she opted to, instead once things calmed down a little, bring us to a major problem; Juno's corpse that we gathered near.

 

Fuck. This was a major problem.

 

Based on all I knew she was the only one the major factions of Roxford could agree on as a leader... and there was no agreed upon heir apparent. More over of the three factions two were killed to a man and the other three spared solely to be gang-pressed into helping Jutsical. That meant once the Crowns woke up they were, de-facto, in charge of the Republic they didn't care for. On top of that Pepin would be, in effect, Acting Prime Minister and they could, if they so chose, declare the republic over.

 

Oh, it gets better. The few, high ranking Royalists commanders of the army? In the north. As for the Republican commanders they were in the most risk in the south... and if the Royal Guard was helping out I suspect sabotage and assassination was in the order of the day. Whatever you thought about Juno and the Republic the fact was both came about to be what they were based on problems of the past; even of they caused their own.

 

At the moment we were blind as to what was going on down there and we had to deal with the situation at hand as the Enterprise, at my direction, landed and returned to the dock... but not before reporting that they saw sails with the Justical flag in the distance and that they would arrive in less then half an hour. "Well... fair to say, I'm forced to admit, we are... screwed." Dax let off as I frowned.

 

"Needless to say we need to pick a course of action, quickly." John Madeville huffed out as he looked to Acadia. "Do we run, fight or parley?"

"Parley is off the table." A bound man nearby let off with a huff; Rodrick DesCieux. "They are in the believe that you can do nothing to stop them..." I didn't know who defeated him but he was the one who killed Juno... revenge for the death of his father, Fawkes...

 

Eye for an eye, huh? I was about to offer an option before Acadia spoke up. "We need to flee and head either north or east to Camafran on board the Enterprise." She let off as she huffed. "We cannot allow the rulers to be captured and we have to rally the army to--"

 

"Non." Alison cut in with the L'Autorite du Ciel/Lumiere du Peuple in her right hand, catching Acadia off guard. "The moment the people in the city see the airship flee as Justical arrives they will feel abandoned and will crack." She said as she looked to Acadia directly. "We cannot leave."

 

"Don't be an idiot, Alison; we'll be overrun. And relinquish that!" Acadia replied with a frown as she pointed to the spear in the ex-princess' grip. "That belongs to the republic!"

"Non. It belongs to my family." Acadia glared at the answer as Alison spoke firmly. "And enough has been taken from us. Regardless; we need to--"

 

"Retreat." Acadia let off as she huffed. "And with Juno dead I am, by her decree, Acting Prime Minister until a new one can be elected. So hand it over."

"Settle down..." I said with a deep sigh. "Focus on the current problem."

 

"Guards; retrieve the Lumiere du Peuple and place her under arrest until further notice." Acadia let off to the men around us as she pinched her nose and huffed. "Now, we will begin a..." And then she noticed no one was moving towards Alison. "I said to retrieve the Lumiere du Peuple."

"With all due respect, Dame, I'd have been dead without the princess." One of the guards let off as Acadia turned to look to him, surprised. The man had a hole in his armor near the hip. "Same with a good number of us she shielded and healed. I cannot harm her in good conscious."

"Further more this is the first I'm hearing that you're the Acting Prime Minister." Mandeville let off as Acadia looked down and to the side sadly.

 

"They are from orders left by her in the event of her death; I was an observer of her will..." She would look back up as she sighed. "My objectives right now is to secure the Republic's security and hold elections as soon as possible." She would then look to Alicia and Prim, who stood next to each other. "I would appreciate recognition until such." She said, appealing to representatives of Eostia, one of the most supportive voices to the Republic and highest ranking of those available. Alicia and Prim shared a look but Auryon Reid was the one to speak up... and looked to me.

 

"M'Lord, what stance should we take on this?" She asked as Alicia and Prim both turned to look at me after she spoke. In the moment I was considering what was for the best... but unknowingly Auryon just set a precedent and Alicia and Prim's responses would back it up... and I wouldn't realize it until later.

 

In the event something went wrong there was a pecking order in who was in charge among Eostians starting with the High Throne (Celestine), the Dawn Templar's Commander (Claudia), Rulers of the Seven Kingdoms, Eostian Generals, the Seven Shield Princesses (Social Rank then Seniority determines the pecking order there; so with Cele and Claudia in higher positions it went Alicia, Prim, Lulu, Kaguya and Maia), Local Lords (Rank then Seniority), Minor Lords (Same thing), Commanders of the Dawn Templars then other Elite Orders, then Lordly Heirs and finally Regular Commanders.

 

Normally I would be behind Channer under 'Lordly Heirs' but I boasted two titles; Hero and Champion of Eostia. A Hero of Eostia was, speaking in general, an equal to the Shield Princesses with the same rank and Seniority pecking order within; it wasn't originally like that but based on the deference given to other Heroes in the past it ended up like that. That would put me between Lulu and Kaguya in the order... but I was also the Champion of Eostia... more to the point the first one to not hold the title while being dead at the same time so there wasn't any precedent as to where a Champion fit into that pecking order.

 

I was just placed over all four, present Shield Princesses in the pecking order... needless to say that's... something that could have an impact down the line. Once I finished my consideration I finally spoke. "At the moment I only have Acadia's word on it; while I don't distrust her I can't accept her as Acting Prime Minister in the moment." The woman in question flinched as I kept speaking. "Having said that; she is the most senior leader of the Republic on hand. In that regard her words bear some weight. Regardless; as the captain and owner of the Enterprise it's my choice on what happens with her."

 

"Exactly." Alison said as she turned to look at me. "I have heard of your battle with the Abomination. May I presume that you designed the Enterprise in part to face such a threat were another to arise?" Acadia frowned at her and huffed. "Surely with all of the mana needed to make it soar it has a stone large enough to make it a Storm Ship, oui?" That got the attention of a few people; Acadia and Dax namely as the former blinked and the latter paled.

 

Quick explanation; mounting larger or more powerful spell stones on the front of ships is nothing new, nor making them enchanted to be used for powerful offensive abilities. One of the reasons Zenith was so feared in naval combat was their famous Twin Titan Ships, ZDV Invincible and ZDV Dreadnought (ZDV meaning Zenith Defense Vessel) that, reportedly, bore a man sized, grade three stone and an arm sized grade one respectively. It was worth noting that the names were attached to the stones, so each time one of them was moved to a new ship it bore that name.

 

To give an idea of how powerful these ships could be; two hundred years ago Zenith sent a fleet consisting of the Dreadnought (At the time, a war galleon), a standard galleon with supplies and a trio of frigates to a nation on the northern continent that was attacking ships heading off to a rival nation. The Dreadnought alone sunk a fleet of ten ship-of-the-line frigates. And I don't mean older, worn vessels; these things were supposed to have sixty cannons each on them and the eleven minute battle was one sided in Dreadnought's favor.

 

At the same time both ships rarely left their home waters unless escorting the Primus, another high ranking official, something highly valuable or to send a violent message because losing a ship with that kind of stone on it was a devastating loss; Dominious' loss of the DIS Conqueror's Endeavor was a loss they still haven't fully recovered from. These ships were, commonly, used to bombard opposing ships with fire spells to burn them, wind spells to shove them to shore or to blast settlements with lightning spells; hence the name they were given; Storm Ships.

 

(In case your wondering South Point and Eastport both boasted Storm Ships but there weren't anywhere near as powerful as what Zenith commands.)

 

"It would, yes." I replied simply. "I opted to match the signature of a... specialty material to the stone used for offense." Channer snapped his head to me and now he paled; that was understandable. The stone I had, assuming it wasn't more powerful then my initial assessment (I still haven't found the time to really check, sadly) was powerful enough that it would be able to handle five ships with little trouble on it's own. With a hundred pounds of spell fiber backing it up that was almost like adding another grade four to three stone of a similar, perhaps even larger size atop of it. Needless to say that would increase the power considerably and a cord of likewise attuned glass was set under the deck to the controls so I could easily use it as a spell focus to boost my own casting through the stone that... and maybe added another fifty pounds of glass to it... Fuck, I was just using it for transfer, I hadn't thought to add that into the calculation; so maybe closer to high grade three? Maybe even low end two? "That being said while I'm confident in it's power... I've yet to test it combat abilities yet."

 

I... I honestly didn't know what it could do... beyond I expected it to be powerful... maybe strong enough to handle the on coming fleet.

 

"Then I beg of you... I may no longer be considered a princess by Roxford but she is still my home and her people are still mine." Alison said, spear in hand with it's end on the ground, bowing slightly. "Please. Save us. Save our nation."

 

Yeah... gotta play the hero once more. Go figure. "Honestly; given what they just pulled I'm fighting mad and want to have words with these guys." I said, smacking a fist to a palm before looking to Dax. "Captain Parus; I'd like you to help out given you are a naval captain."

 

"Well, I wouldn't mind at all." He let off with a huff. "After all I now have a pick to bone with... ... I have a bone to pick with them." I nodded and looked about for a moment.

 

"Maia, Lulu; come along. Use your voxluxes to record proof of what happened if anyone needs to know." I began. Sure; they wouldn't be doing anything but if something happened and any nations wanted to bitch I wanted to have proof Justical was at fault. In short; I needed someone to stand in the corner and scream out 'Worldstar!' as things happened. I looked to Alicia next. "I need you, Prim and Auryon to mind things here. Help Acadia get her ducks in a row." She nodded and patted her chest.

 

"You've got it." She said as I looked at Lynette.

 

"You come along to. Same with you, Princess." I said, looking to Alison. "You want to petition my help? Well you have to come along and see what happens."

 

"Gladly." Alison said as I gave Channer a look and jerked my head; he nodded and moved to follow as I started to walk towards the Enterprise as Riri and Makoto moved to flank me. In addition to everyone I asked to come along John Mandeville followed along as well. I said nothing as he did so and decided since we were still playing 'nice' he could come along (While quietly asking Maia to keep an eye on him) and we swiftly moved to board. Once at the controls and ensured everyone was aboard I unmoored us, backed us out of the dock and started to point down the canal.

 

"Riri, drone." I let off as she nodded and moved below decks. I pushed the ship into the air as soon as I could and not long after Riri returned with two things in hand; a sting ray style drone and controls for it. Once in the air I could see the ships, Justical flags flying, sailing towards Elouan City via the river. From what I could see they were all cogs of some variant save what seemed to be the flagship. What I assumed to be a frigate was in the lead (Yonder flagship), flanked by four more slender ships (War cogs, I'd say), and some twenty four larger cargo cogs acting as troop transport. I gave Riri a nod as she deployed the drone to fly it towards the flagship with a projection over the controls as she aimed it to me while Dax looked over at them a clicked a tongue.

 

"Flagship is a frigate; I assume it's the Forwards Unto Dawn." A Storm Ship of Justical; as I recalled it bore a horse sized stone, although at grade five. The JV Forwards Unto Dawn (JV meaning Justice Vessel. Yes, not Justical Vessel, Justice Vessel) was still no joke and would roast any normal ship. "Four war cogs plus a lot of transport. Assuming they follow similar doctrine as we do... I'd say twelve thousand to sixteen thousand troops..." I winced; that was a lot of dudes. They would overrun the city quickly and hold the capital. Assuming the army marching north by land was of a similar or larger size they could be deploying as much as fifty thousand men; although thirty to forty was more accurate, I assumed.

 

Yeah, we had to deal with them before they made landfall. Finally the drone flew over the flagship's deck; you could see men aiming arrows or preparing spells as a man stood by the wheel and pilot as he frowned. He wore knee length robes that were white in color with thick, dark blue lines going down the front on either side of the center; buttoned I guessed. Periwinkle swords were over the chest as emblems, points down and it made him look like a bishop... save the silvered mythril gauntlets and greaves sticking out from under it and the movement of the robes suggested it was placed over metal. He wore a white, gold trimmed mitre (The type of hat the pope wore) on his head but it was shorter and the bottom of it was a golden mythril crown with a pointed front and a red spell stone set to it.

 

The man himself was maybe five eleven in height, built wide and bore a trimmed, red beard and green eyes. A diamond shaped kite shield was on his back with a longer bottom point that was red with the periwinkle helm and blades of the Justical flag set to it. He held a warhammer in one hand that was made of silvered mythril with a golden mythril head with a back spike and rounded spell stone on it's top. He held it like a cane oddly enough and when he walked over he adjusted his hand from the top of the weapon to under it. Then Riri activated the voxlux to project my image to the drone as the man blinked to my image. "So... this is what a voxlux looks like, in a sense. James Noxdecus of Eostia, I assume?"

 

"Correct. May I presume you to be Scorpio Rex the Greater?"

 

"You may." He replied to my question with a nod. "I am surprised you chose to confront us. Your ship is a marvel, but ho, by the Light of Justice I do declare--"

 

"I'm not in the mood for your theatrics, Rex." I replied simply, cutting him off. "Your assault on the palace is defeated and Horus has been felled--" (I still wasn't aware he was clinging to life, I should note) He frowned at me as I kept speaking. "--and the Enterprise can sink your entire navy." I was fairly sure, but didn't know. "I'm feeling generous enough to allow you and your fleet to turn and retreat where it came from. If you do not then we'll see how well your men paid attention in their swimming lessons."

 

"You dare threaten the Grand Pope of the Fides Iustitia Church!?" He let off with a huff, pointing his warhammer's head at the drone's projection. "You underestimate the might of the Kingdom of Knights and the Forwards Unto Dawn!"

 

"And you underestimate me and the Enterprise." I retorted. "Unlike any of your ships mine is airborne." I let off as I glared back. "Trust me Rex, you do not want to pick this fight to start with and your fellow general has put me into a foul mood. If you challenge me I will hammer you so damn hard you'll mistake what happened as being struck by the fist of an angry god."

 

"In the name of her highness Queen Julisa Corona I, Scorpio Rex the Greater, hereby refute your claim to might!" He bellowed out as mana collected to his hammer's stone. "I hereby command you to choose a god and offer to them your final prayers! They shall go unanswered!" He let off as he blasted my drone. Well then...

 

He asked for it. I frowned and gripped the control stick tighter; inside of it was a bit of the offensive spell stone that transmitted to the spell fiber under the controls that connected to the main mass of fiber in the front and the spell stone. I had been, gently and slowly, transmitting mana down to the stone in the horn of the bust of my ship. Up until now I've never used it for anything so I had to pick how much juice I gave my spell. A mild spell might not do enough and leave me unable to recast before they retaliated so I had to go big... but do I go big or do I go all out? I didn't want to reveal the full power of the Enterprise... but I didn't know it's full power. Big versus all out could be the difference between 'crippling the opposing force while risking being stuck and sank' and 'overkill' and while overkill would be perfectly fine... I would play my hand in doing so...

 

... Fuck it, I can always add a little more fiber later if I wanted to up the power. And so I channeled the full power of the Enterprise's offensive abilities as I choose to use Chain Lightning; the most powerful spell I currently knew and took aim to rake the entire opposing fleet.

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

"That Dastard dares to challenge me!?" Scorpio Rex the Greater grumbled as he marched to the bow of the ship, men aboard the ship parting for him to pass. The airship opposing them floated before and above the fleet but he would deal with that soon. The men were fully armored and parted way to let him by; the Seventh Grand March of Justice wasn't their most elite army but they were exceptionally well trained and wore mostly half mythril and half steel armor. The Forward Unto Dawn's stone was set to the bowspirit and once he reached it he could smite the disrespectful lordling. Sadly they'd lose the chance to capture the Enterprise but--

 

--the hair on his arms stood on it's ends as he half stumbled. He felt it; the collecting of mana as he looked up as the horn of the airship was collecting ever thickening lightning. It took him a long moment to realize what the spell was and started to pale as that realization hit him; not just at what the spell was but the level of power behind it as well. "How strong is that stone?" He let off as small bolts of lightning wrapped about the airship as it kept collecting before finally spilling forth--

 

--and with roaring force it shot down in a devastating impact that blew past the ship's spell glass projected shield; men screamed as the currents of electricity overwhelmed their armors and cooked them within the protective plates as mana generated energy traveled over the ship in a chaotic manner as wood splintered and charred, leaving broken and burning planks in their wake as other bolts followed in the same direction but via different paths. His ship bore three masts full of sails; the center one split in half as the rear one fell off to the side of the ship towards a war cog also suffering the force of the thunder. The front mast fell back unto the Dawn itself slamming onto some of the men as another jagged, twisting line of thunderous power past by his side. He wasn't aware of why or how but he fell onto his back, grunting as he tried to rise... and wondered why he couldn't, needing a moment to see his right limbs were both missing.

 

He didn't feel a thing... no pain, to heat, no pressure... not even a void, as if the last sensations his limbs had were on going... After a moment he felt the feeling of static wash over him; what it meant he didn't know but if he felt no pain in this moment it suggested whatever happened to him was something he wouldn't recover from. "Get the ship to shore!" He bellowed out as he pushed up with his one arm and grabbed the ship's railing to pull himself up to a kneel as he looked back... and paused in shock. His ship was on fire... but so were the ships behind his; as if the river itself was ablaze. He thought there was three ships to one side of the Forwards Unto Dawn until he realized one was split bow to stern in an uneven, brutal cut with the ship's port side moving forwards with the two masts it still had before flopping to the side onto another ship... as the starboard half fell towards him, making him push off and fall back to the deck as the ravaged craft shook with the impact. "We need to save those we can!" He bellowed out.

 

He was dead. He knew it.

 

He pushed himself up with his one arm and stood on his one leg; balancing on such was difficult as he moved to the damaged mast, hand moving to it to balance himself easier. "I've lost steering!" The captain of the ship cried back as Rex let off a tsk... He called his enemy's bluff... only to learn said foe was not bluffing... He looked up to the sky as he felt his chin tremble...

 

"Oh Justice... Sweet, merciful Justice... Take me if you must but spare my men at least to let them see your will done..." He let off as something exploded in the port side of the sinking ship halves as he realized what it was; their gunpowder stores. Chunks of wood flew off from it as another explosion rang out; one of the transports given they all still bore cannons. A third explosion ran out as he whimpered and looked up to the sky once more. "So... We will given no mercy then... Then may Justical be spared by the grace of just--"

 

And then the explosion went off from under him and to the side. Her screamed out; unable to feel the pain of it and just his motion, sailing past the air as he was flung into the water. He felt water enter his mouth as he sank; unable to swim and resist sinking downwards to the river's floor. He wouldn't drown however as one more explosion above him rang out and blew the bow off a ship, sending it sinking to him and crushing him under it's weight.

 

Across the fleet wood and sails burned as men threw themselves overboard; some managing to get their armor off before doing so. Ships would tilt and men recovering from being stunned and dazed by the sudden, unexpected onslaught moved to try and hold onto something with desperation as those who were unable to recover slid along slanting decks; some caught by railings, some not, a couple smashing through them. All of the ships carrying gunpowder would have them explode inside their holds. One by one ships would wink to the bottom of the river. Three ships with masts intact would, over the course of the next ten minutes, hit the bottom and hold their crow's nests over the water line; as if grasping for salvation after death.

 

The fleet was sunk to the last ship.

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

In my old world I had a young cousin. He was... twelve at the time, as I recall when he broke a kid's neck and got away with it.

 

To give some context, his sister was being harassed by a sixteen year old jock in from of their middle school; and when I mean 'harassed' I mean he grabbed her by the pussy. And not the 'Donald Trump brag where he follows with and they let you' but the 'she doesn't want it, you pervert' type. Of course my cousin was half the guy's size so standing up for his sister was... not going to be easy. In the end when the bully pushed him he opted to push back but knowing he'd never win a straight fight so he opted to tackle him, grabbed a leg and tried to force him back.

 

They were at the bottom of a set of stairs outside of the school and there was a hand railing there that stuck out some three feet from the last steps. He aimed to get him to fall over it and drop him down so he and his sister could flee without him giving chase... and someone was taking a video of the whole thing which is how I got to see the whole thing. The bully was taken off guard and at first sneered and laughed until he hit the rail and started to tilt back. He then looked surprised and reached out to grab the railing but as he was pushed over too far the one foot he had on the ground slipped. He would invert, lose his grip on the rail and drop neck first to the ground at a bad angle with a loud crack before he started howling in pain.

 

There was a fear he'd be paralyzed for life but he wasn't; he ended up with a halo around his head with bolts holding his skull in one place and attached to shoulder pads to hold it still. There was a threat of my cousin being sued but once their lawyer saw the video he advised the bully's parents to pay my cousin's parents since they caught the whole pussy grabbing. Needless to say that college funds were secured for both my cousins.

 

But what I recall from that video the most wasn't the fall or the sound but my cousin's look; horrified. He bore the look of 'what have I done' on his face, clearly knowing he'd done more damage then he had intended. He said he did sleep fine later and knew he had to do something in the moment... but he still felt he did too much.

 

In that moment on the Enterprise, after ten seconds of applied thunder and lightning I had set an entire fleet on fire... in one moment... in under a minute I had committed an act that raised my kill count from triple digits to, maybe, quintuple digits... I... I...

 

...holy shit...

 

I didn't even know Channer was trying to get my attention until he shook my shoulder as I jolted back to the present. "--es, are you okay?"

 

"...Ye-yeah..." I let off finally as I shook my head. "I... I knew what I was doing... and I'm not going to say it didn't have to be done but..." I gulped as I watched a ship now missing it's masts capsize before sinking. "...such devastation was not my intention..."

 

"...It is a sad thing..." Alison said as she sighed, clutching the shaft of the L'Autorite du Ciel. "...but we have spared Roxford... ...does that help you?"

"I'll sleep... eventually." I replied as I sighed. "...Problem is we're not done yet."

 

"The other army." Mandeville let off as he hobbled closer (With Riri not budging and glaring at him) as he used his cane. "Destroyed or routed; they need to be dealt with."

 

"... You know I agree with you and I fucking hate it." I replied to him as he glared back.

 

"The feeling's mutual." He said as I turned on my map and started to use it to scan south; thanks to the booster built into the flagpole my satellite view worked within it's range. Roxford was a more moderate sized nation; maybe around the size of the Grand Duchy of Ur, Kingdom of Feoh and all their states. We might have had the range to see what was going on down there... and then I saw it; Justical standards...

 

...by a burning stockade with the bodies of Republican Guards on the ground in the hundreds with only a speckling of Justical regulars on the ground. "Damn."

 

"Zoom back." Lynette let off as I did; getting back enough to see what seemed to be the full army; by the looks of it they finished a major battle. Off hand count; fifteen to twenty thousand. ... Fuck. I knew what I'd be doing here. "Shit... That's the Second Republican Guard... they've been wiped out..."

 

"Hard to tell from here how many survivors there are." I said as I started to set course, sighing. "Right... Let's do this." I let off as I powered Enterprise to the south.

 

Later reports would come in; local town guard and militias would pull together eight hundred men to check out the sunken fleet. Of an estimated fourteen thousand and five hundred men on board the fleet only two thousand survived.

 

None fought, too wounded, tired or both to resist capture.

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

Fields of Pinnoir, South of Pierre de Ble

Southern Roxford

Two Hours Later

 

"Victory lies ahead for the just, my men!" Alexander Primus let off with a cheerful laugh. His heavy mythril was worn well; well made and rounded plates with an extra large left pauldron and gauntlet. A red cape hung behind him that bore heavy, white fur at the shoulders as he looked out of his open helm, the face plate shaped like a lion's. His sheer, seven foot three frame was imposing out of armor and more so inside of it; doubly so with the heavy, maul at his back with a head the size of three skulls and a five foot long shaft.

 

Behind him marched lines of men in mythril and half mythril plate; some on horseback. Fifteen hundred of Justical's finest followed him gladly; some singing marching songs, other chatting, others sharing tales of glory. Also with them were five hundred members of the Royal Guard of Roxford; allies looking to restore their lost order... but there was plans to use them as a stepping stone for a greater order!

 

With their last victory their next job was to take Pierre de Ble; a strong point for Roxford's southern defenses. The two battles for the city were major victories for the Roxford rebels and they needed to take it to rule the nation's south but once done they would have a clear line towards Elouan City. With the capital as an additional stronghold they would have the political heart of the nation in their grasp and the rest would fall in short order.

 

Primus was the strongest of the Three Generals but considered the least intelligent; he wasn't an idiot by any means but he wasn't as clever as his peers, doubly so Horus. That said he knew what they were doing was a large risk. If the plan went smoothly they would gain much; the leaders of several, major nations as their prisoners would be a major boon and force some level of compliance or internal turmoil until the Kingdom of Knights was ready to bring justice! They could work out who was willing to challenge them regardless of the situation and deal with them first and those more reluctant would be dealt with later.

 

Given the situation they were all but promised to claim the nation as a whole but the new submarines could have had a failure or the palace could have been better guarded then expected. The Shadow Eye could have failed and they might have had the Goddess Reborn fighting with Roxford. There was a chance, small as it was, that Horus could fail and the leaders could slip away. Likely DeLiberte and her ilk would carry on the fight within Roxford while the leaders fell back to Camafran and decided on a course of action; one to fight Justical and, perhaps, attempt invasion. It would be a tough war if it came to it but one Justical could win... but not without a terrible cost...

 

He hoped that Horus would bring swift justice to DeLiberte and her ilk, secured that airship and ensure the leaders of the nations understood that no one would prevent Justical from installing proper order to all the peoples of the lands! Everyone would be brought under the stern eye and leash of the righteous while being shepherded and taught by the pure! Then he saw something in the air and grinned.

 

"Ah... The airship... yes..." He let off with a grin. "I believe Her Highness would like to rename it... The Crown of Hawks!" He let off as he stopped, lifting his hand and calling a halt to the march. He took two steps forwards and spread his arms before bellowing out. "Is that you, my brother Horus! Show us! Show us the sign of your victory!" He didn't expect his fellow general to hear him but he felt it was a grand moment of victory.

 

Then the horn of the ship came alight with lightning and within seconds and he blinked before realizing that something was wrong. "Sweet liberty..." He let off as his face paled before thunder lanced down in chaotic bolts and waves, smashing into the lines behind him as his men started to scatter; screaming began as his men were struck.

 

"Oh justice! Nooo--haaack..."

 

"My leg! Sweet liberty, my leeeeeeeg!"

 

"Oh my justice! It has unlimited powe--rraghhhgh!"

 

Primus dove to the ground as he looked over to his men and gasped. One man, a sub-commander of his, screamed inside of red hot armor; cooking painfully within. Another man shivered on the ground from the lightning, his armor's right side welded together by the force of the magic. One man was missing a head and another had a hole blown through his chest. "By all that is just!" One of his men let off; Primus got to his feet and grabbed him as he hauled him to his feet. The men started to scatter, running southwards as the ship's lightning ended... only to collect more.

 

"Flee for the trees! The trees!" He called out as he pushed the man ahead of him as he started to run for the forest far aside of the field the were marching through... then the lightning struck him as searing pain rushed through him as he fell down, screaming. He tried to rise to feet once more but couldn't; it wasn't until he was sitting up that he realized why...

 

...his hips and legs were five feet ahead of him...

 

Horrified he looked down and saw his waist, cauterized and charred with flakes of ash coming off of it. He fell onto his back as the sounds of screaming and horror sounding behind him; Arcane Shields shattering. With shaking hands he pulled his helm off as realization hit him as he began to pant.

 

Horus had failed...

 

Rex had failed...

 

He had failed...

 

Justice had failed...

 

Worse was this would be his death. No final fight versus a worthy foe. No fighting hordes of foes to the last. No last stand to the death. No glorious charge into a grand battle. Not even dying as an old man, telling tales of glory to his family. He would die to a man onboard a ship in the sky slinging thunder like a god frying ants from on high. He started to sob then howl out loud; bearded face and black, matted hair looking limp as he cried. He did not fear death, no. He did not cry for himself.

 

He cried for the men behind him, who trusted him to lead them to glory now dying en mass; promised heroic glory and finding themselves helpless before death.

 

He cried for his wife and the families of his men who would be told they died in glory, a lie of comfort those now filled with a void where love once was.

 

He cried for the people of Roxford who would never taste the justice and order he was bringing them and leaving them in the grip of the demonic republic.

 

He cried for his nation and queen who have lost all the men, ships and material and would be left weaker with their failure.

 

He did not cry for himself.

 

He cried for those he failed.

 

He cried for those he could not save.

 

He cried for justice not dealt.

 

He cried for all but himself.

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

[Defeated List]

Horus Aeternus=11000XP

Justical Vanguard Forces=7000XP

+20% Hero of Eostia Bonus

Gain 21600XP Total

 

As a side note... that's the first moment I realized Horus was still alive. I'd learn as Alicia was checking on bodies she found him still alive despite his grievous wounds. They would strip him of his armor before healing them (They kinda had to remove the armor first because, well... titanium) with Prim as the begrudging healer. Alicia opted to claim his weapons and armor as rightful salvage in my name and would arrange for them to be stored on the Enterprise once it returned. That said while he seemed to suffer no real brain damage (At least none that could be seen at the moment) when he awoke he lost both eyes and his knee was a mess. His knee cap was ruined and his leg around his knee and lower thigh had a bullet bounce around inside of it. Had Celestine or Alison been present maybe one of them could have mended his leg to a degree... but the former was still asleep thanks to the gas and the latter was with me.

 

So the call was made to amputate. He would live for now. Honestly, it was amazing he was alive at all.

 

Of course all of that I'd learn upon my return to the palace... what happened leading up to that?

 

I asked Makoto to take the controls after I unleashed hell upon the army crawling up from the south. I know I didn't get them all; most scattered and fled, some stayed grouped up and fled and others seemed to play dead. Or were dead; hard to tell. And I chased them down, raining hell from on high like I had Zeus, Thor and Raiden on board and let them use the Justical regulars as target practice. In the end I think maybe a third of the army managed to escape. I... might have killed five digits worth of people a second time that day.

 

I'm sure I killed over twenty thousand people in one day...

 

Alison was kind enough to rub my back as I puked over the side of the ship. It was... a disturbing thought...

 

Would I get over it? I think so; I'm well aware that doing nothing would have been much, much worse... In that moment though I had to come to terms with the fact I had slaughtered thousands of men casually.

 

I wonder if this was like what it felt like to drop the atomic bombs on Japan..? The scale of what I did is much, much smaller... but still...

 

It took about two hours to get to the army and we spent most of another to deal with them. The return trip was three hours given we didn't need to go at full speed. Alison would, after attending to me, look off to the side with a bit of wonder; she never saw a view of Roxford from so high up so I imagined she wanted to enjoy it while she could and... well try and forget what just happened.

 

Once we landed and docked I... was somewhat recovered but I think it would take time to come to full terms with what I did. The moment I was off the ship Prim yanked me into a hug; not the 'leaping glomp' she normally did but rather a firm, supportive one. I hugged back, of course and kissed her forehead and held her in an arm as we walked back. There would be some good news as well; the people who were gassed were coming around and starting to wake up, starting with Kings Xerander and Celestia. With the battles over we had room to relax...

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

Office of the Prime Minister

Palace of the Starlight

 

Acadia paced inside of the room, hands on her hips. After the opposing fleet was sunk she had hoped the paper snipers would have retreated and sent out a spell paper letter to contact the southern armies to inform them of what happened at the palace (Sans Juno's death) and to request a report. Shortly after the Enterprise had returned she had it; plus reports from the city. Juno's death was a harsh blow but the reports painted a worse picture.

 

They kept four, high level, loyal commanders in the south to guard it ranging from generals to commanders with several others at the rank of captain or lieutenant. The Royal Guard had stirred up problems and made several attempts at killing Republican commanders, some that worked... and that wasn't even mentioning the clash between their forces and Justical's...

 

They had kept them there as that was where they needed their most loyal to keep the peace... and now only one captain of the lot was alive... and the bulk of the officers under him were now royalists. That wasn't to say their royalists guards and sub-commanders didn't fight hard for Roxford but of their routed forces they were the bulk of the survivors; it was bad luck possibly but more likely the damned Royal Guard was hoping the royalists would side with them and so they were spared when possible. That meant in order to fill their upper ranks back to what they needed they'd have to promote royalists, or the loyal who lacked experience or competence. That was a disaster waiting to happen. More to the point, the two high ranking royalists officers were in the north where it was safe... and the palace guard captain took the initiative and sent them a message for a report... which did include the death of Juno.

 

They were now traveling to the capital to reinforce with what forces they could spare and the two men and a small guard were rushing via a chain of horses to speed to the capital; there was a chance that if they smelled blood in the water they could have a military coup on their hands... And that wasn't the end of it; Royal Guards had vandalized and committed arson in the city including destroying the statue of Nolan DeLiberte, as if to add insult to injury of her friend's death. The bulk of the vandals wore masks and got away and those who were caught ended up being 'released'; likely by bribes... Maia had heard reports as such and told her and Juno of them. She should have followed up... The end result was mass public unrest being reported; the city guard wasn't able to keep a lid on it as they had to deal with the survivors from the Justical fleet. Thankfully it wasn't a riot but what another spike in unrest could do could cause too much instability for them to handle...

 

As if that wasn't bad enough James Noxdecus had rejected her claim to the title of Acting Prime Minister which was a blow to her authority; he and the Princesses Alicia and Prim were the highest ranking people present that was awake at the time (Alison didn't count) and that set a tone... doubly so because in spite of the wishes of Juno she was, by Republic Law, unable to hold the title as she wasn't an elected official. Juno had attempted to push her as an heir to the Republic through the Council regardless but Pepin Vieverite and his Crowns voted against it as a unit and enough Flames and Spears broke ranks with their leaders to block it. With every Spear and Flame on the Council dead (With Corin Rocher's death being the most brutal... and understandably so) that meant that the true Acting Prime Minister was Pepin Vieverite... and with his Crowns as the only surviving parts of the Council...

 

...the Republic was one vote away from being dissolved...

 

Everything she and Juno... them and theirs... all they fought for could evaporate with a few raised hands and a few pen strokes...

 

To make the matters even worse the Lumiere du Peuple was still held by Alison DesCieux, the Symbol of Power of the Republic... and her guards refused to arrest her or recover it... Not even royalist ones, just thankful ones... She didn't know if Alison was undermining the Republic's authority or legitimately thought it was a family heirloom, even after being reforged but the effect was this; she was by design, ignorance, selfishness or thoughtlessness declaring her Right to Rule over a nation that was done with monarchy... and yet this act of defiance risked allowing it to be reestablished...

 

She would not dishonor her fallen leader's Last Will by sitting on her hands idly and doing nothing and, as such, called upon a guard captain from the city to come to the palace with his men... she needed to regain control and halt the spiral... get the Lumiere du Peuple back... stop the Crowns before they acted to end all that had been bled for... figure out the means to ensure the army stayed loyal...

 

In that moment however, Dame Acadia L'Argentune made a very human mistake... she was panicking and making choices in haste. Moreover she had chosen a heavy handed means that required an enforcer...

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

Council of the Starlight

Palace of the Starlight

Elouan City, Capital of Roxford

 

"Is everyone here? Oui?" Pepin Vieverite let off. The good Crowns had gathered in an emergency meeting of the council as he looked about sadly. The meeting was called swiftly once they had all awoken and checked that they were all fine... and after hearing what happened to their opposition.

 

Less then a third of the room was filled as he stood at the podium. While he had issues with some of his political opponents, Corin above all others, he respected them to some degree (Even Corin, just not as a person) and he felt their loss... more so once he learned that Justical kept them alive for their own ends and, more then likely, a lot of them would have been culled by the end of it had they won. "This emergency meeting of the Council is now in session. Due to a lack of other options I will be serving as Acting Prime Minister for the time being. Needless to say this increase in our power is a sad state of affairs in how we gained it but, more importantly, we must be responsible in how we use this power."

 

"How do you mean, my friend?" One of their younger members asked as he yawned hard. Indeed all of them still felt the effects of what they suffered with those holding elven heritage feeling it more then most.

 

"Listen. We all know what we are in the position to do." Another member of the Crowns, a member of a local blacksmith's guild replied. "If Pepin called the vote we can declare an end to the Republic in seconds."

"So... why don't we?" Another asked as Pepin raised his hand.

 

"Yes, we could. But because we could doesn't mean we should." Pepin stressed. "History will judge us as much as the people will. We can cast that vote here and now but it would lead to questions of the legitimacy of the Republic's end. Moreover it could lead to a conflict with the current armed forces who may side with Dame Acadia. Non, we must do this in a manner that is above board. We will choose who should be allowed to vote and expand it further. Once done we will select a time for elections and hold them. Once this Council is restocked with elected members the question can be put to the vote."

 

"I think we should just vote now..." The younger one let off with a huff. "... Are you sure this is the best idea?"

 

"It's not about that's it's the best idea, lad." The blacksmith replied. "It's about doing it the right way."

 

"...I guess..." The youngest in the room said before sighing. "I guess... ...it's weird to be so close and stop short..."

 

"I know... I know..." Pepin said with a sad smile. "But we have to remember; Juno did much for good intentions, or at least what she considered good intentions but went about it in ways that caused more problems then they solved. Unless otherwise pressed we need to do it right." He paused to look about before smiling a bit more. "Right then... on this subject I will hold a vote. All in favor of of beginning the proc--"

 

Anything left he had to say was ended as the door was pushed open by force; nearly twenty men in chain mail and steel kettle helms with a chain mail veil to guard their faces stepping in and armed with clubs with metal rims at the ends, short swords and small, round shields. The exception was the man in front; wearing splint mail that was well polished. He bore a barbuta helm with a visor that was raised and chain mail hanging down from it's side and back. His cropped, black hair couldn't be seen but matched the thick mustache that was curled upwards and inwards and a long, pointed goatee that curled up slightly. "Gentlemen! I hope I'm not... interrupting anything... important..!" The man let off, arms spread wide with a grin as he tilted his head slightly.

 

"Achille EnDictant..." Pepin let off softly as his eyes narrowed. He knew the man well enough; a city guard captain that was allied with the Spears (And, at the moment, possibly their new, highest ranking member) with a reputation for being rough with suspects... doubly so royalist ones. "Why are you interpreting a Council meeting at a time when we need to establish order in the nation?"

 

"My good man, that is the point. I am here to establish law and order... Speaking of which!" He let off, spinning an arm before thrusting it up into the air then pointing it at him. "By order of Acting Prime Minister Acadia L'Argentune and under suspicions of collusion you are all... under arrest... Until things are... investigated--" He let off with a wide grin as he looked Pepin in the eye. "--I'm afraid you'll be shown to the palace dungeons... until... further... notice."

 

Pepin glared back and resisted the urge to snarl; he did not want to think about what Achille had planned for him and his... and yet he didn't want to know what Achille had planned if they resisted less. "I see. You understand that you arresting the rest of the surviving Council, yes?" He didn't spell out anything else; hoping it would be warning enough.

 

"Indeed. Now, shall we do this gently--" The captain began as his brutes drew their clubs. "--or do you require... persuasion?"

 

"...Non. Just be warned of this; I would think the people who are meant to elect people to positions may host disagreements of what you are doing." Pepin replied simply.

 

"Duly noted." Achille let off as he snapped his fingers as the bulk of his men moved through the room. Soon each member of the Good Crowns would be bound and tied before being led to the underground dungeons. One by one they would be unbound and put into a cell; some shoved in, others tripped in.

 

Well before the cells were shut Achille EnDictant was already moving onto his second duty; six of his men following him.

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

"I see... I had suspected you ensured the ship was powerful but I had ho--ahhh-haaaaaaa-haaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Oh, excuse me..." Celestine let off; giving a huge yawn part way through my report to her as she sat up in her bed, covering her mouth with a hand as she did so. While she had woken up the gas had a different effect on elves then humans; leaving them drowsy for a while afterwards, even after waking up. By all account she could, thankfully, just sleep it off. She was aware of the gas, it seemed, and it was both rare and expensive to make; Justical spared no expense it seemed. "But I had hoped it's full power would never be needed."

 

"Honestly; if it wasn't for the Black Storm I'd be tempted to remove some of the spell glass I added to bolster it..." I replied as I sighed and looked to Olga.

 

"It was needed. Do not fret." Olga tried to not yawn but she did; even so she didn't open her mouth as wide as Celestine had and she curled her lips inwards as if to fight her yawn. I think for a couple moments she fell asleep with her eyes open before shaking herself awake. Chloe, by contrast, was holding her thigh and had her head planted on her lap, snoring softly as Olga idly stroked her hair. It was damn cute and I had to resist an urge to take a picture of it. The only other one to see what was going on was a Dawn Templar in the room, sadly.

 

"I am told Kings Xerander and Victor wi-wishes to met in the morning to talk on the response to Justical's actions. Having said that there is an equally important matter to worry about." Cele let off, fighting off her need to sleep. "The Republic must be on shaky ground without Juno at it's helm. Before anything else we need to... need to ensure it's stability to some degree. Until I am recovered you, Claudia and Prim are the ones I trust to speak on behalf of Eostia... so try to not cause problems." I gave her a flat look. "Do not... mmmm, do not misunderstand. I do not suggest you would act in a poor ma-manner... I just wish you... to try and be mindful of our aims..."

 

"Of course... Now maybe you two can follow Chloe's example and get your rest." I let off as I looked to the Templar. "Tuck them in tight and read them a good bedtime story." I let off with a cheeky tone.

 

"Jam... ahhh-haaaaa-haaaaa-haaaaaaaaaa!" Celestine's attempt to chastise my comment died to her own yawn as I moved to the door.

 

"Have a good rest. And I'm glad you're all right; all of you." I said before leaving the room and sighing outside of it. I walked down the hall to my quarters, ready to just collapse and request dinner be brought to me... and I was still limping (I tried to hide it from Celestine and Olga... I think the only reason I did was they were both as sleepy as babies who missed their midday nap) which was annoying me... oh, and the fact that I (Justifiably) murdered five digits worth of guys between breakfast and dinner was a weight on me that I'd have to live with.

 

And I had a lot of life to live... Fuck...

 

Worse is I didn't even make it half way there when I heard it... "Stay back!" The voice was Alison's and I sighed as I turned down the hall to see what in the hell was going on this time.

 

"Now, now M'Lady, I would highly advise you to put that down and come with me... Before I have to spank you." I frowned at that; the voice sounded like the guy who played Robbie Rotten trying to do a Jim Carey impression. One more turn and I was at the scene and I decided to sigh.

 

It was Alison, indeed, with two Camafran guards with their hands on weapons but not yet drawn. Alison still held the L'Autorite du Ciel and was nearly cradling it; more over her body was half turned as if to protect it. The stone of it glowed as it projected a shield before her and the guards as, on the other side of it, stood a man in splint mail with a goatee and 'evil villain' mustache and six more guys stood there; said six guys having clubs out. "I will not allow you to lay a finger upon me! After all the times the Republic has tried to kill me do you think I'd let you jail me!?"

 

"Ooooh, Sweeeeeeeetie..." The man let off with a smile... that twisted to something dark right quick. "You don't have a choice... Now, come here little girl and--"

 

"What is going on here?" I let off, frowning as I walked over, Alison jumping a bit and looking back at me as I came closer, moving to stand ahead of her and her guards. I looked to the man with the other armed thugs and gave him a look over. "And who are you supposed to be?"

 

"Well now... I am Achille EnDictant, Guard Captian of the City of the Starlight, and handsomest man you'll ever see." He let off.

 

Charming...

 

(--------------------------------------------------------------------------------)

 

Name: Achille EnDictant

Title : Elouan's Dark Guard Captain

Class : Hero

Level : 27

Alignment : Hostile

Reputation : 43

Status : Healthy, Cocky, Self-Assured

 

Known Traits

[????]

[????]

[Mister Peacock] You act in an eccentric manner which often throws opponents off. +2% to Dex. Ple and Rap

[????]

 

A member of the Roxfordian Party Les Sept Lances he is tasked with keeping the peace inside of Elouan City but has a reputation for brutalizing suspects and even torturing people to get confessions. While he's self interested many of his allies find value in keeping him on their side as an enforcer.

 

(--------------------------------------------------------------------------------)

 

Very charming... "James Noxdecus, County of Mungale from Eostia. What do you think you're doing?" I let off, introducing myself then asking my question.

 

"Ahhh, yes... Explains the limp... How is that stab wound..?" He let off in a rather condescending manner. I gave him a harsh glare as I took another step forwards.

 

"I am in no mood for bullshit today." I told him point blank as he blinked at me. "Now, answer the question; if you'd be so kind." He chuckled to himself more then anything else before spreading his arms and grinning.

 

"By orders of Acting Prime Minister Acadia L'Argentune I am tasked with... recovering our Republic's symbol and arresting and detaining that wench for... disruptive activities." Wait... seriously..? Seriously?

 

"The topic of the L'Autorite du Ciel is something that needs to be arbitrated as both Alison and the Republic holds claim to it." He rolled his eyes as he gave me a smug look. "However, ignoring that she bears the protection of House Celestia, she's the one who captured the killer of Juno DeLiberte and assisted in both defending this palace and Roxford as a whole. You have no right to arrest her, doubly so as Acadia has no claim to that title, and given the Republic's treatment of Alison since her exile I don't trust you to treat her well in custody."

 

"Well now, that's your opin--"

 

"Sir, as of right now you should be walking away." I let off, making a point to step forwards and out of Alison's protective shield as she called out to me. "Go back to your boss and tell her that I am both highly disappointed in her direction on this matter and that I will be telling Celestine about this once she awakens... and I doubt she'll be pleased either."

 

He took a long, long laugh at me before smirking to me with that smirk turning dark. "Arrest him." I sighed deeply as two of his men started to walk to me.

"James, get back--" I cut off Alison with a raise of the hand as I glared to Achille.

 

"I'm warning you right now; you can walk away or you can crawl away." I warned him as he chuckled.

 

"Be sure to apply a... firmer beating if he resists." Was Achille's reply. This idiot clearly didn't know who he was dealing with, let alone what sort of mood I was in... The two men patted clubs into their palms as they walked closer; I couldn't see their faces but their eyes spoke of dark glee at the idea of kicking the crap out of me... and the first man (Level twenty one) moved to club me... in the head... while I was in full armor... Mana Armor circlet included. The impact was deflected by the barrier and I popped my armor's Physical Burst as I ignored the pain in my leg and threw a harsh uppercut into the man's chin.

 

"Graak!" He let off as he took three steps back before toppling over, groaning and unmoving. His buddy stiffened in shock before I swung to him with a left haymaker; clocking his own jaw and sending him to the ground. Both groaned as I turned to look at Achille and glared as I limped forwards.

 

"HUH!?" He let off as he snarled. "Don't just stand there! Get him!" He let off as he pointed at me. To his men's credit they hesitated a moment but, in the end, charged at me, crying out a war cry.

 

Morons.

 

I opted to pull out a Dragon's Fist and rush one of the men in back; popping Steel Skin to avoid harming my own hand as I hit the man's sternum through chain mail. He let off a 'hurk' as he dropped his club and leaned over. With Physical Burst still active I grabbed him by the shoulder and back of his belt before lifting him up, trying to ignore my leg's protests, as his buddies turned to face me before throwing him like a spear at one of them; knocking them both down. The next guy charged me with another war cry only for me to step in and slam an elbow into his nose; sending him down hard on his back and out cold. The last man standing tried a double handed swing with his club; rather then block, deflect, counter or dodge I just let it bounce off my circlet's barrier, grabbed him by the collar of his armor, popped my own Physical Burst to stack onto my armor's before I just chucked him back first into the stone wall. He would bounce off it and slam down onto his front before I turned to their boss... who was no longer smug. "We need to have words, Captain." I let off as I limped over (Which, due to knocking the idiots around was a bit more pronounced now) as he waved his hands before him.

 

"Ha ha ha... Excuse me, I'll be right back... With reinforcements!" He let off as he turned to run away... and made it three steps before I caught his back with a Scorpion Chain as he squealed in shock.

 

"Get over here!" Did I need to scream it? No. But it felt good as I yanked him over towards me hard, making him splat onto the ground before me. He scrambled to his feet and drew his sword and took a swing; I caught him by the wrist and headbutted him. Stunned he dropped his blade, slapped his visor down with his free hand before using it to draw his club. I just used my hand to yank his helm off and smacked his temple with it before tossing it aside as he went limp, held up by my hand before I grabbed him by the front of his armor and lifted him up and off the floor as he shrieked. "I am finding your conduct... disgraceful." I let off as he shivered in my grip.

 

"I am operating under the orders of the Acting Prime Minister of--"

 

"Shut. Up." I let off as he stiffened in my grip. "First of all; as far as I am aware she is just the current general or commander of your overall armed forces as she is not an elected official in a nation supposedly ruled by such." I let off firmly. "Secondly; even if she was you are attempting to arrest someone under political protection and in doing so is ignoring Sacred Hospitality."

 

Let's keep in mind for a moment that this isn't just a minor issue; Sacred Hospitality is considered sacred because violating it says you cannot be trusted. Given the Republic's current reputation with it's neighbors it cannot afford to show that it is unable to play nice with other nations and their leadership. This is like sucker punching someone under a flag of parley; you just don't. I carried on. "Had this just been about the spear I might have encouraged her to return it or, at the very least, offered to take it into my possession until such a discussion could be debated. As it stands now I find the conduct done by you and Acadia both to be rather dishonorable in this measure and you can expect me to speak directly to your Council about it." He chuckled nervously as his eyebrow twitched as I glared at him.

 

"They've already arrested them all." I snapped my head to the new speaker walking over, Claudia. She had slightly bloodshot eyes but, otherwise, seemed fine as she walked around a corner. "I had, in fact, on my way to ask why that is... and I suppose I have some answers; how fortunate." She let off; where she came from placed her behind Achille as I threw him to the ground, ending Physical Burst as my leg ached which did nothing for my temper.

 

"Really? The Council who is supposed to be leading this place?" Achille grunted as he hit the ground and attempted to run past Claudia to get away... only for her fist to lash out, catch his temple and send him face first to a wall where his nose broke before he slid down and left a blood trail, landing on his knees and fell to his back, legs under him.

 

"Indeed. Needless to say I was going to report to our High Queen--"

 

"Don't bother." I replied as I walked over to my friend, hearing Alison step around bodies (A couple of the men weren't out cold and made sure to push away from her as she passed) as Claudia blinked to me. "Celestine is asleep now; she said the two of us and Prim would be representing Eostia in her stead." I replied as she sighed and walked to the captain.

 

"Of course." She said, grabbing the back of his armor and easily lifting him up, letting him hand by her side. "Then I suppose we should have words with Acadia."

 

"Please..." Alison let off as she walked over, moving her free hand to her chest. "I understand, but do we need to cause more strife in Roxford at this moment? Do we not need stability?"

 

"I appreciate the opinion, Alison." I replied as I looked to her... while deciding to hold my tongue on what holding onto the L'Autorite du Ciel did for that stability... "But in this case Acadia is the one undermining stability. For now you should go to my quarters for the moment; until King Celestia is up and on his feet once more I don't think you should be alone and just two guards might not be enough." I also presumed Acadia would be a little more reluctant to tangle with me; mostly due to what political backlash she would be hit with. I looked back to Claudia. "Shall we?"

 

"We shall." She replied simply, turning and pulling the limp body of Achille being her as I limped along. Once we were out of Alison's ear shot she spoke up. "...I heard you suffered a harsh wound; you are feeling it, aren't you?"

 

"I'll be fine." I replied with a huff. "Nothing some rest and maybe another healing spell can't fix... honestly; if it wasn't for this bullshit I'd be off my feet and relaxing..."

 

"Yeah, nothing like things going wrong to make you ignore something you really shouldn't be." She let off as we moved down the halls. "So, mind doing the talking? I was going to join Klaus for a quick nap before dinner... That stupid gas..." She huffed out as I frowned.

 

"Honestly, I have to give Justical credit; if it wasn't for how powerful I made Enterprise I hate to think of what would have happened..." I... It was weird... That it was so powerful gave me mixed feelings; I was glad to have it when I needed it but the sheer scale of damage I had done...

 

I'm not sure what to feel about it...

 

It didn't take long to find Juno's old office which we assumed Acadia set up shop in. I didn't knock and just shoved the door open. "What is the meaning of--" Acadia's words died as Achille's limp body was thrown onto the floor as she rose from the seat, looking at what happened as Lynette, standing to the side and before the desk, gasped. "--...this..?"

 

"We were coming to ask the same thing." I replied with a, perhaps too, snippy tone. "What in the hell are you thinking by violating sacred hospitality!?" I bellowed out at her as she glared back. I had expected Claudia to say something about my tone but she didn't. Before Acadia or her daughter could speak back I spoke again. "The last I checked it's the Council that's meant to be calling the shots in the current situation and you had them arrested? I wasn't expecting you to pull a coup."

 

"This is not a coup." She barked back firmly as she slapped her hand to the desk. "The Last Will and Testament of Juno DeLiberte is that I am to--"

 

"I am aware." Claudia injected as she stepped closer, hands on her hips. "And I was just asking around about it; Juno's motion to name you her heir was defeated in the Council, wasn't it." Acadia went silent as Lynette's head snapped to her mother as her eyes went wide.

 

"Mother... is this true..?"

 

"...I won't deny it... But no one expected something like this to happen." Acadia replied as she looked to us; I could see her slowly pant. Her eyes didn't show anger, rather I saw worry. "Given the state of the Republic I need to act and ensure that it is preserved; as per her wishes."

 

Now the Council's arrest made sense; she worried that the Good Crowns would just vote for the Republic's end. In that case I can't blame her... on the other hand... "That might be so, however that doesn't change what you have done." I said sternly. "You have, in effect, pulled a coup. You have arrested the rightful rulers by the law of your own Republic as opposed to negotiate with them. No nation is innocent of misdeeds but for one that is trying to showcase itself as a shining example you are making more then the usual... And it will reflect poorly on you Dame. Celestine has stated that Claudia and I will speak for her until she is recovered and I am confident in stating Eostia does not recognize your Right to Rule, nor do we recognize your position as Acting Prime Minister; instead we recognize the office to be held by Pepin Vieverite." Acadia stiffened at that as she seemed to pale.

 

"I concur." Claudia said simply as she glared to her as well. "You are a knight and as such are held to high standards. Standards you are failing to meet. Understand; I am sure what you do is in the name of the best of intentions and in the name of preserving and stabilizing what you and yours have fought and bled to build... in that regards all you do is understandable and worthy of our empathy. But you are doing this is a way that could well worsen your aims... do you think once word gets out that you had a thug attempt to accost Alison and arrest her that the other rulers would be pleased? Do you think they, those less pleased with the Republic then Eostia, would see you as a leader of the nation? You could have spoken to Pepin; state Roxford needs to elect people to the positions lost, call a new election. You could have asked to take Juno's place until such an election was called; at least in regards to the talks. As it stands your haste... could be the Republic's undoing."

 

"You can consider Alison DesCieux to be under Eostian protection in general and mine in particular." I replied as I pointed to the downed idiot. "And trust me; next of these dimwits that comes after me will be breathing when I'm done but I can't promise intact. I expect your conduct to rise to your current station, Dame." I opted that to be the last statement and turned to limp off; Claudia seemed to consider it a good mic drop moment and followed. We were halfway down the hall when we heard Acadia give a bellowing 'goddess damn it' from behind us. "I might have ran my mouth off a bit much." Sadly I wasn't sure if going down and breaking out the Crowns was something I should be doing... for now I'd leave that as is...

 

For now...

 

"I thought it was rather delightful to watch." Claudia replied with a small smirk. "Have you ever seen Klaus in a debate? He can reach that level of intensity. Makes a woman a little weak in the knees."

 

"Really? I never took Klaus as the yelling sort."

 

"Oh, he's normally not." She said smiling a bit wider as she replied to me. "Makes those times more memorable." I sighed and shrugged.

 

I needed to lay the fuck down... I've had a long fucking day...

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

Come the next day events would occur that would go down in history.

 

An awakened Celestine Lucross would enter the meeting room along with James Noxdecus, all of her present lords and aides along with Olga Discordia, King Celestia and the members and rulers of other nations accompanied by their collected aides. Previously the meeting's subject was on the subject of Justical... instead it was now on the actions of the woman claiming to be Acting Prime Minister.

 

Unknown to them at the time there would be people coming to the island the palace was set to. The first set were let in with no difficulty. The second were stopped at the gate, doubly so the hastily assembled barricade over the damaged wall as these were the populace of the capital city. Royalist and Republican both came to protest as word had reached them that Alison DesCieux, deposed princess of their nation, fought for them, protected their men and even captured the killer of Juno DeLiberte... and in response she was ordered arrested.

 

The idea that the ex-princess would still be willing to fight for them was a shock to some and inspiration to others... that she would be punished for such, however, offended all but a few. They were unsure if she was in a cell or free but all were sure that this treatment was unjust. Moreover word that the Council, or what was left of it, was arrested had made the rounds and no one was happy with it. Guards were worried a riot could break out... and that was on top of the fact that they had been attacked yet again. Their unrest was made clear.

 

However it was the first arrival that would change history, although she would become a footnote in the books it was written in; Judge Claudette Frollo. While a Republican at heart there was something the elderly judge held more dear then the Republic itself; law and order. Upon hearing that the law might have been violated by someone claiming to be Acting Prime Minister she directed a boat to bring her and her small escort to the palace and set to interviewing those who fought in the Battle of the Starlight Palace ranging from Acadia L'Argentune to John Mandeville to Dax Parus to James Noxdecus and took notes and, once done, moved down to the dungeon to interview Pepin and the Crowns.

 

Interview done she, in her position as Judge of Roxford, ordered that the arrest and detainment of the Crowns be ended, effective immediately.

 

Judge and Crowns both would then march onto the meeting room...

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

"This is unacceptable!" King Celestia opted to slap his hand to the table before him as he glared to Acadia as he led the charge, so to speak, on interrogating/berating the not-Acting not-Prime Minister who was gripping the podium before her with both hands; her daughter flanked her and looked scared of all the vitriol being sent their way... Acadia, by contrast, seemed to be doing her damnedest to not break down; and I imagine as able as she was that was a challenge. Honestly, despite the words I shot at her the other day I felt horrible for her.

 

Her friend and leader dies in combat with her Last Will was being ignored by almost everyone else (And she brought the thing out and allowed it to be read... with various items gaining the ire of most and Alison's sorrow), the various leaders were turning their anger that was originally aimed at Justical to her, there was a protest outside that was growing and the Republic was being held together by threads... On top of that she fought against the revolution in the first civil war and for the Golden Revolution in the second as opposed to the Royal Guards meaning she swapped loyalties and, possibly, felt she had to showcase that loyalty more then others...

 

"Alison fought alongside your people! You would lock her up as a response!? Do you expect Camafran to offer any support following this outrage!?" Acadia shook in place as Victor kept going off on her for a long moment and looked to Celestine (Lucross, not Celestia) who sighed.

 

"While I do think Victor needs to calm down and contain himself he is not wrong." The High Queen began. "Regardless of your reasons you have acted in a way in contrast to your nation's own laws. Moreover you have attempted to violate Sacred Hospitality in doing so; had it not been prevented I assure you me and mine would no longer be holding a polite conversation with you." That got people attention; Cele hates make threats, even veiled ones... and she just suggested that if Alison had been jailed the High Queen would have been willing to fight about it. Oh... and that was nothing compared to what came out of her mouth next. "As High Queen of Eostia I must condemn your actions... but as Goddess Reborn I am forced to declare that the Republic, in it's current state, cannot be allowed to remain as it must, at the least, be reformed with laws anew or alternatively, as much as I dislike saying it, abolished outright."

 

Acadia paled and the room went so silent you could hear a fly fart. Celestine in her past eight hundred years of rule never made any form of official statement as Goddess Reborn unless the topic was religious in nature. She made it a point not to; and she would later tell me she didn't because of the fate of the Grand Duchy of Lovata.

 

Lovata was a nation in pre-Brazen history located north of the Larentian Ascendancy, south of the Aster Republic and Kingdom of Zeldon and west of the Kingdom of Arcodia. It was a bit small and was very... how do I put this...

 

They had this idea that ten years old was a perfect age for children to be married off... and 'service' those married to them, men and women both. And young boys were, at times, 'broken in' by older men... likewise with girls and older women... I wish I was joking.

 

Arana Forcore, then Goddess Reborn of the Wanderer, came by and declared that Lovata was, quote, 'a haven of the perverted, the depraved and the disguising and should be corrected as swiftly as possible'.

 

The Ascendancy and Zeldon heard this and used it as an excuse to get some cheap real estate and put the worst of the Lovata Houses to the torch. There was some worry that the war would turn into a battle between the two powers over what would become Durgon City. Thankfully it didn't; neither side wanted to risk weakening themselves with other rivals about and were on mostly friendly terms; they'd decide ownership via Trial by Champion with the Ascendancy winning.

 

Cele was falling just short of saying that Republic needed to be destroyed and possibly by force... not as High Queen but as the Goddess Reborn. That was a big fucking DEAL. She was well aware of what could happen by saying this and she still said it. Cele was pissed! "Queen Celestine... Please..."

 

"I have empathy for your position, do not doubt that..." Cele let off as Acadia gave her a sad look. "But even you must see what failings the Republic has as a system. No system of government will be perfect but there needs be a reforging to hammer out the flaws... or if that cannot be done, a replacement."

 

"...There is too much to be done befo--"

 

And that was when the door opened up wide; shoved open by... ... Well, Judge Claudette Frollo... Yeah...

 

Black robes? Check.

 

Weird, triangular hat with rounded corners? Check.

 

Narrow, haughty looking face? Check.

 

Grey hair? Check.

 

Yes, she looked like Claude Follo from Hunchback of Notre Dame... save that rolled hairstyle and being stern as opposed to evil and horny.

 

...

 

Given this world stern and horny was possible.

 

More over was who was with her; Pepin and all of the Good Crowns. "Judge Frollo, what are you doing!?" Acadia let off as the judge stepped forth.

 

"Correcting an injustice." She said as she glared to Acadia. "I understand you are protecting the Republic. I appreciate it, truth be told. But my life is pledged to the law over all else... and by the law of the land the Council is those who choose the Prime Minister... and with no heir to the position it is they who choose the new one. As such the current ruler is Acting Prime Minister Vieverite." She let off, gesturing to Pepin with one hand as Acdia's face fell.

 

"Non..." She let off as he took two steps forwards.

 

"...Before our last meeting was interrupted we were about to discuss who would be eligible to vote come next election..." He began. "...We opted to not vote on abolishing the Republic, as much as we wished to, as we felt it was a choice best put to the people via representatives... And now... now we feel that we cannot delay lest this Council have another coup attempted upon it..."

"Don't you dare..." Acadia let off as Pepin stared back.

 

"... Acadia... I honestly wanted to do this the right way... the way of putting the vote to the people, or as much as practical..." Pepin said; sadness and sternness in his voice in equal measure. "But given how easy it was for you to usurp us, short as it was... ...you forced our hand..."

"Pepin... please..." Acadia reached out to him with a shaking hand. "We have to honor Juno's wishes..."

 

"Fellow Crowns! A show of hands!" Pepin let off loudly. "All in favor of abolishing the Roxford Republic--"

 

"Don't! Please no!"

 

"--effectively immediately! All in favor?"

 

"Noooo!" Acadia's cried went ignored as all but one of the Crown's hands lifted up, Pepin's also raised.

 

"All opposed?" All hands came down, one raised. Acadia seemed to pale to pure white as he took count. "...The motion passes. The Council's final action before disbanding is acknowledge Alison DesCieux's Right to Rule as Queen of the New Kingdom of Roxford with a coronation set in two days time." He said sternly before rapping his cane to the floor. Acadia slumped over her podium; head hidden by her hair as the rest of the room save a few erupted in cheers; a democracy ending in thunderous applause... until...

 

"Do not cheer for this!" Everyone was stunned as Alison rose and stood, L'Autorite du Ciel still in hand. "Do not." She said, lowering her voice, free hand moving over her chest. "If you wish to cheer for my coming rise, unprepared as I am for it, you may... but please, not for the Republic ending. People... my countrymen have bled, died and suffered for it. If it is to end then permit it to end with the dignity it should have." She would then looked to Acadia, slumped over as Lynette held her shoulders as she shivered... and while she held back the sobs you could see the tears falling. "Dame Acadia... for what it is worth... I am sorry... If you wish to remain in your position then--"

 

"Non..." She replied, pushing up to stand once more, but head held low. "...Non... I... I have no desire to carry on fighting... I have fought for a fallen kingdom and now a fallen Republic... I shall opt to retire and let my daughter take my stead..."

 

"M-Mother..." Lynette let off as Acadia moved to walk around the podium, the daughter moving to follow.

 

"Lynette, please brief them on Roxford's condition..." Acadia let off, giving her daughter a soft smile. "I... I need to be alone to think for awhile..." She said before leaning into her daughter to whisper (I'd later learn assurance that she'd do nothing drastic...) before turning to leave. She walked away, head hung low, Frollo and the Crowns parting to let her past as Alison gave her a look of pity as she walked out of the room...

 

...the picture of a woman who was utterly defeated, her last, desperate attempts to hold the Republic together backfiring in her face and ending it instead...

 

...

 

All I could do was hope she'd be okay...

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

Once Acadia had left Alison moved to the front of the room and took the podium; stating while not yet crowned she would act as the Ruler of Roxford until a coronation with the Council's permission. She took a moment to ensure everyone that the deals in regards to the Connection Canal would stand as agreed upon and opted to quickly conclude those talks... and the gathered rulers more or less just agreed; some of the feet dragging was in part because they didn't like Juno, in part because they didn't like the Republic and was glad Alison would now be queen, in part because they were willing to accept less concessions to bolster Roxford's funds and, thus, it's ability to defend itself from a now mutual enemy.

 

Speaking of which it was now time for everyone's new favorite show 'Everyone Hates Justical'.

 

Everyone very quickly agreed that Justical just pulled an Act of War; not just on Roxford but on every nation with a leader present and now we had not one but two high ranking prisoners. Horus was quiet in his cell, refusing to answer questions of any sort. At Alison's request he was given spell stone eyes (Lower grade ones, in his case; no one wanted to give him anything decent) and his fate was yet to be determined but the current presumption was a trial. Balin, by contrast, surrendered without a fight and sat in a cell with a smug attitude expecting his people would free him, even after the palace strike team was defeated...

 

Then he was shown Enterprise smashing the transport fleet to splinters and he was very eager to talk. By all accounts and reports twenty odd thousand Justical soldiers were killed with maybe another three thousand wounded and another five thousand captured. That was nearly thirty thousand people that Justcial no longer had in their army and, if Balin's interrogation was accurate, that was anywhere between a quarter and a third of their total armed forces gone. Just gone. Losing numbers like that crippled Garan in the end of that war.

 

Needless to say everyone knew Justical was in a moment of weakness... but a lot of nations opted to not declare war. That might seem odd but you need to understand which nations those were and what their reasons were; starting with Eostia and Garan. Aside from distance and the Black Storm both had just finished a war and had no interest in jumping into another; Garan doubly so as they had an entire city to rebuild among other things. Celestine would add that Eostia had, and I quote, '(we) had already retaliated to our satisfaction'; referring to my little rampage on their forces.

 

(I would later learn the event would be called 'The Thunderbird Conflict' as I used mostly Chain Lightning from the Enterprise which many people in Roxford came to nickname 'the Thunderbird' for that reason. Justical, I would learn even later, would call it 'Dagon's Chariot' and myself as 'the Spawn of Dagon' and 'the Destroyer'. Yes, they more or less called me the equivalent of 'the Son of Satan' and the 'the Anti-Christ'... to which I say 'fuck their opinions'.)

 

Zenith was, likewise, not interested (Yes, they had a guy here too who... really just asked the odd question and did not much of anything) as they said there was too many costs and not enough returns in war. Their man did, however, say if Justical ever threatened the Canal they would 'assist in it's protection, pro-bono'. Translated; war is expensive but if our new trade route is threatened we're coming over to kick some ass'.

 

Dominious was in the middle of a civil war; enough said.

 

Rycall and Nyaru opted out due to two reasons; one stated and one unstated. The stated one was that distance and logistics would prevent them from being that effective in the situation but did pledge material assistance in the form of weapons and food. The unstated one was Nyaru wanted to reclaim Aladon as their territory and Rycall was opposed to that and neither wanted to have their forces tied up in Justical.

 

Alison talked to Lynette on Roxford's condition, mostly out of earshot, and decided that she couldn't bring Roxford to war either; the last ten years of warfare had not been kind to them and the reports to their south suggested they lost a good chunk of their forces. Attempting to call up enough conscripts could also cause so many problems in the kingdom that Alison's reign would be measured in months if she tried. She did pledge to complete the canal as quickly as possible to allow the use of swift troop movements via the water and to see if some merchant ships could be used as transport.

 

That left a coalition led by Camafran, Balanar and Qulona. The two Kings were now fighting mad over this and wanted to strike while the iron was hot. Queen Elizabeth was less gung ho about it but felt it was best to hit Justical while they were at their weakest to discourage further aggression. Other, smaller nearby nations wanted in and while not that powerful alone they would outnumber Justical's forces together with Alison willing to allow passage for those armies through Roxford if they wanted to take their 'complaints' to Justical directly.

 

A war wasn't set in stone but damned if someone wasn't grabbing the carving tools. That said it takes time to mobilize an army so what happens between now and then has yet to be seen...

 

There was an... odd sense of camaraderie when the talks ended; even those opting out of war pledged something to help be it gold for mercenaries or ships for transport. Cele even suggested if Justical invaded another nation I could take the Enterprise over and 'sort things out'. I agreed that, yes, I would come over if needed and pretend to be Zeus if need be.

 

I didn't want to, but I would.

 

Alison would let them use the room to carry on talks but asked myself and Lulu to step out with her for a request, stepping into another sitting room. She would sigh before turning to us, twisting the buut of the spear that the L'Autorite du Ciel was turned into on the floor before speaking. "...I am not ready to be Queen... and yet be it fate, destiny, chance or strange luck I shall be crowned as such... It seems I must rise to the station I will be dragged to but I want my future rule to be one of reconstruction."

 

"So... what's the plan?" I asked her as Lulu pulled over a chair and hopped onto it to be closer to eye level with myself and Alison.

"...I must restore what has been defaced..." She began. "What cannot be restored must be replaced... and what cannot be replaced needs be remembered... and have something new in it's place... to that end there is endless things to do; much I cannot until the canal is done and coin flows in. I want to rebuild my family's mausoleum and reopen it... if only to know the damage done within... Art that was saved should be copied and shown to all... Statues of heroes re-carved and set back to where they were... but I am forced to admit; nothing will be as it was... and I can only place echoes of what once was in place of what was lost... Short of finding a way back in time I can not recover much of what was lost or preserve it... but I can begin to remake Roxford to what it was like while showing that we can move forth regardless of what happened, that these past ten years mattered." Finally she moved to hold the spear in both hands. "To that end I would ask the two of you to reforge this spear back to a scepter. The L'Autorite du Ciel can never be returned to what it was... but it can be returned to a familiar shape... Changed, never the same but familiar... It is the best we can do... so with your help it is what we will do." Finally I reached out and took the spear; looking it over as I smiled.

 

"Wish I'd seen this thing before it was defaced..." I said as I turned to Lulu. "I can reshape the stone, that isn't an issue. Do you think you can do your part in what little time you have? I mean if there's anyone who can, it's you."

 

"Pffft; if there's a forge and the right tools I can do it." She said, patting her flat chest. "And even if I don't have tools here--" She let off before pulling out from behind her and flourishing the Arcane Weapon multi-tool I gifted her and formed it into a hammer. "--I have this."

 

"Thank you... I do not know how but I will repay the kindness someday." She said, bowing to us with a genuine smile. "...I... I did not come here to end the Republic or become Queen... but at least I will have the one thing I had hoped to gain... I... I'm home... I can finally call this my home once more..." She said as she wiped at her face. I passed Lulu the spear to give the girl a hug, pulling her to me, Lulu extending an arm to pat her shoulder.

 

There was some joy to be found in this tragedy, I suppose.

 

Hmmm...

 

As I pulled away I moved to take her right hand and looked to her bracelet and had a thought... "One second here..." I let off as she blinked as I moved the jewelry back a bit to expose the white scar there. She flinched but I moved to start casting Blessed Waters upon it with a bit of focus... and after a moment that white line on her skin, the one that showed where it was once cut through, slowly vanished to normal, pink skin as she gasped at it. "One more gift... for the Queen of Roxford."

 

She cried as she clutched me yet again.

 

Tears of joy this time...

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

Two days later three of the Dawn Templars would park the Enterprise near Elouan City as the booster on the ship's flagpole projected into the sky what was going on in the palace's throne room. After the Revolution won it was converted from a throne room to a court room... of the kangaroo sort with a guillotine in the corner... that was used... often. By all accounts it claimed the life of Alison's mother...

 

The guillotine was removed come the Golden Revolution but it was kept as a court room with the Republic's flag hanging in the back of the room and words carved into the marble under it; 'Where Kings Once Gave Judgment Now The People Do'. Some marble was found and some stone shifting magic applied so now the carved words were filled in, a defaced wall repaired as the court room was returned, as quickly as possible, back to a throne room. When the Kingdom's flag was removed after the revolution won it was torn and burned to cinders and tatters. Now two younger mages with Levitation spells removed the flag as a song played for Roxford coronations played while two more people waited to help with the flag on the floor below; the four would, together, fold the flag in a respectful manner in view of the voxlux recording it. As for the song; the Republic did their upmost to erase all copies of the it and yet, even so, musicians hid music sheets of the song in their homes. It had been removed from public view but not public knowledge. The song was... in part uplifting and yet slow and with some mournful notes within; signaling the end of a reign and the hope the new one would bring.

 

And as it played through the doors in a new dress Alison strode forwards with guests lining the sides of the room... a regal blue dress with a more pencil style skirt to it, slit on the sides with a white corset over her midsection and a white Fleur-de-Lis on each puffy shoulder. She wore red gloves, short ones that stopped short of her wrists. The tiara she once wore was gone but in her arms, cradled, was the L'Autorite du Ciel, reforged anew into a scepter.

 

Lulu restored it to the baseball bat-like dimensions it once had while adding a spiraling design up the shaft and ended in a flat, rounded cap that stood up like a wheel. The spell stone that was it's namesake was reshaped to a proper Fleur-de-Lis and set to the center of the rounded cap. A spell stone that was once her mother's that she managed to hold onto was added to the pommel and recolored red. The Symbol of a Kingdom was remade back to a scepter; forever changed but echoing what once was... I was rather glad to play a small part in it.

 

Less glad was I in the other part I had as I wasn't with the guests in the room; national leaders, military commanders, local officials, wealthy merchants and so on were in the sides... I was in the front...

 

As it turned out the Spears stole and kept the physical Throne of Roxford and, aside from needing new upholstery, it was fine and undamaged and was quickly recovered and restored. The crown was with Pepin and he gladly brought it back... but the question remained; who would crown Alison as Queen?

 

And there was the issue... Roxford tradition was the outgoing king or queen crown their replacement which in this case they were, well... yeah, dead... In that case the eldest member of House DesCieux would crown the incoming royal... but none were available save Rodrick who was in a cell to await trial and sentencing. This had, however, happened before so the next in line to crown her would be a high ranking noble... of which there were none as all noble ranks were effectively abolished and until Alison fixed that it would stay that way. The next one who would do so would be a high ranking member of the Roxfordian Church... most of whom sided with the royals in the civil war and, well, heads of local churches rolled and those who replaced them were forced at sword point to swear an oath to recognize no royalty within the Republic afterwards. Even if the vow was made under duress they opted to stick to it seeing as, well, they considered the Republic gone the moment a crown touched Alison's head and they could claim they stuck to their word if any bitter republicans asked. That however brought us to a problem; who had the authority to crown a queen?

 

This wasn't just a silly tradition; it was a show that someone with proper authority held enough trust and respect for the incoming ruler to give them the Crown of Roxford, to say they were both worthy and wise enough to rule... so this was kind of a problem. Of course traditions arose in times of need such as when House DesCieux was reduced to one man so a new precedent needed to be set forth on who had the right to crown her in which three names were pushed forwards; Celestine Lucross, Victor Celestia and... my own.

 

Celestine declined outright and... I was forced to agree with her reasons. As High Queen of Eostia it would have been good to garner favor with the oncoming queen and she could be seen as acknowledging Alison as a peer... but as Goddess Reborn it could be seen as giving her and her family divine mandate to rule which could cause... issues; more so with those who remembered her father's rule.

 

Victor, by contrast, was more then able and willing and him crowning her would, likewise, have her seen as a peer to himself... but he also opted out because he was her foster father in all but name and, as such, risked Roxford seeming too connected to Camafran or, worse, Alison being seen as his subordinate... so that was out.

 

So, why me? Well it boiled down to three main reasons.

 

Reason one; I was a dragonborne hero. While dragonborne weren't considered divine our lineage was still highly respected and I had proven myself as a hero in the Garan war. While not a peer to Alison it suggested that I felt she was a worthy woman to follow or fight for.

 

Reason two; I was a Hero of Roxford, more or less. While not officially called such (Yet, Alison would change that later) I had... kinda single handily (Exaggeration but... not much of one) saved Roxford from Justical. That I defeated Horus Aeternus on top of that kinda cemented the idea.

 

Reason three; I was respected by all the gathered leadership... to some degree, mostly because I just saved them all by taking a sledgehammer to Justical's invasion plans. If the collected rulers of other nations trusted me and my judgment then, surely, they approved of my crowning of Alison by proxy. It was, as always, more complicated then that, but that was the reason presented.

 

Yeah... So I got stuck with the task and, more importantly, the speech where the one doing the crowning gave a brief few words that was meant to color the reign of the oncoming royal. Finally she walked up the steps towards me and... well her face was calm and almost cold but you could see her emotions in her eyes; she was scared... and given what was going on and what had happened these past ten years I can't blame her. Finally she would arrive before me and kneel as I turned to my side.

 

A child was always the one meant to hold the crown until the crowning so said crown was sitting on a cushion held by an available child, Miika. As for said crown it was golden in color and resembled what was on the old Kingdom's flag; four prongs at the front, back and sides with a lighter band of gold wrapping around it, two dots to the sides of the front and a Fleur-de-Lis on the front that while in the lighter gold color was made of spell stone; enchanted to help fit crown to head and lighten the whole thing a bit... a bit; it still bore some good weight to it as I lifted it up and turned to Alison. Well... Time for me to give a little speech.

 

"To you who will wear the crown... it is not worn to show who is the king or queen of a land... instead it is to show whom holds the responsibility of the nation. The one who is tasked with leading it in peace and in war, to greatness and to the future. You must lead with the strength to inspire those under you to great things, with the wisdom to understand the consequences of your actions and inactions and with the courage to lead people down uncharted paths. Moreover few will have as hard a reign as what you will, O' Queen of Restoration... so... wear this crown not with pride..." I finally leaned over and set the crown to her head, making sure it was fit as comfortably as possible. "Wear it for those who have given their lives, that they be remembered and that those who remain can be brought back together as countrymen."

 

Finally she stood up and, once on her feet gave me a smile and nod as the gather crowd gave a long and polite applause. I would finally be allowed to move away, joining Celestine, Prim and Alicia on the side of the room, near the front. Alison moved before her throne and turned to face the room and took a moment to look about before lifting one hand up, letting the applause quite down before speaking. "People of Roxford... I, Queen Alison Mignon DesCieux addresses you... These... these past ten years have been harsh on us all... Regardless of your stances it was been a time of pain and hardship as Roxford and her people have suffered. I am aware that my father's reign was not a kind one, a fact that... as a young girl it was hard for me to come to terms with."

 

"As such I understand why the revolutions happened... and that those who supported the Republic are not to be hated. You have now seen ten decades of work, blood and effort seemingly washed away. The end of the Republic is... not to be celebrated but rather understood." She kept speaking, well aware the voxlux held up in the room was projecting her image and voice to the capital. "The Republic tore down history, irreplaceable relics and all of the old kingdom's symbols. Statues of heroes have been torn down and destroyed, buildings dating back thousands of years destroyed... all in the name of forgetting the ills done... and in many cases trying to forget the good of our shared history as well."

 

"Understand this now; the Republic is over but it came about for reasons forged in mistakes and hurt and, as such, it cannot be forgotten." She said firmly. "These past ten years must never be swept under a rug, ignored or discarded. Those who rebelled did not do so for selfish reasons and while I intend to restore our history as our means allow we must too remember it and their figures. To that end the body of Juno DeLiberte will be buried in the Graveyard of Heroes, the first to be placed there since the kingdom fell..."

 

(As a side note; Alison would later admit to me that while she did it to honor Juno she, maybe a bit pettily, did it as a final insult as well for the attempts at assassination. Juno's Will stated she was to be buried in a graveyard meant for Heroes of the Republic... instead she would be buried in a graveyard meant for Heroes of the Kingdom. I suppose that she planned to rebuild the family mausoleum and add a monument where the names of those buried (Thankfully held in records) would be carved into with Juno's name added. Honestly, I didn't blame her for it.)

 

"Others notable for their service above and beyond the call of duty to the Republic and not yet buried will join her in an such honored burial." Alison carried on as she looked over the people gathered. "As will those who fought for the kingdom who's bodies can be recovered... Sadly much of my family's bodies will not be laid to rest with their ancestors; even if their spirits have joined them. Many... many will be unable to bury their loved ones, not just I. In this we share pain... but in this we can lean upon one another and share healing as well. Difficult as it might be we have to bring our people back together as one... royalist or republican we are all Children of Roxford... and in that we can share a unity... if you can find it in your hearts to forgive and learn from the past... to that end... while I intend to restore old symbols and repair what can be mended what must be replaced shall be with something that will reflect and embrace history but also provide new inspiration..." She said as she looked back. The two mages who brought down the Republic's flag unfolded a new one and once it was seen it caused a small stir as murmuring rose up.

 

The flag bore the same three horizontal stripes of the Republic's flag; blue-red-blue. It bore a likewise border but rather then black and gold it was gold and a lighter gold. the wreath was there from the Republic flag but black/gold made way for gold/soft gold once more. In the center, however, the crown of the Kingdom's flag sat; it's outline gold, it's main body soft gold and the stripes, Fleur-de-Lis and dots on it white... The flag was given an infusion of spell stone powder and bore an Illusion spell to make the new image; Alison opting to combine the Kingdom's Crown with the Republic Flag as a sign of the kingdom's new direction.

 

 

"It will be difficult for us, some more then others." Alison said as she turned back to the crowd. "We must move forwards together in spite of our wounds. We must come together in spite of our hurts... but we are a good people and noble one... We can do so. Together... we will remake Roxford to a land all can be proud of! Viva La Roxford!" She let off, lifting her scepter up high.

 

"Viva La Roxford!" Everyone in the throne room would let off.

 

Little did I know it was chanted in the city as well...

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

House Blitzhaus opted to not rush back to Eostia, opting to stay back with Mandeville who was staying back with King Xerander who, with Alison's permission, was holding a war council with the other leaders who planned to wage battle upon Justical. Celestine left a Dawn Templar to act as an ambassador until a proper one could arrive and two days after the coronation with the deals involving the Canal finished we moved to the Enterprise in the morning with Lynette flanking Alison as the newly crowned queen spoke to us. "When I was forced to leave Roxford I was naive princess... when I returned I was a wiser if harmed woman just hoping to remain... and now I am her queen... I am... I am unsure how able a queen I can be but I will try... Not just to rule with strength, wisdom and courage but kindness as well. I would not be here if not for the kindness of others..." She said before looking directly to me. "You, more then others, I must thank. I am unsure how I can repay such a debt I owe but part of it will be to remake Roxford into a home to be proud of. All of you will always be welcome here... I understand that I have not won a throne... I have gained responsibility over a wounded and cracked nation and my foremost right is to see it rebuilt... I am... I shall have my work cut out for me, it seems."

 

"That might be so..." Celestine began as she smiled back to her. "But unlike those who ruled before you it seems you plan more to recall the faults of history... May your rule be wise, kind and prosperous."

 

"And don't worry about repaying those debts to us." I added with my own smile. "Roxford should be the main priority for you; she'll be plenty of work by herself."

 

"Indeed... Indeed... Once more I thank you." Queen Alison replied with a smile. "I and Roxford have kept you long enough; I'm sure you wish to return home now so do not let me keep you. Farewell and safe travels. When next we meet let it be in calmer times when our greatest struggle is a cup of tea. May the light of the stars shine upon you all." She said before bowing... and let off a squeak as Miika gave her a big hug around the waist.

 

Soon we would board the Enterprise and wave off to her before leaving the dock and moving down the canal. Soon the Enterprise powered into the air and turned to the east...

 

...turned home...

 

[--------------------------------------------]

 

(Obviously we wouldn't return to Roxford for quite some time; with the Black Storm being our own major concern that is what we'd need to focus on and we were away from Eostia for too long as it was, even if for good reason. Camafran would get it's own Voxlux network installed and it would extend into Roxford's capital with Alison gaining her own voxlux. Over the months to come she would let me know how things were going; rather then wait and explain how things played out I'll front load it here.

 

Work on the Canal was accelerated with Camafran sending additional workers to speed it up. A week and a half later and the canal was open and trade flowing through, and coins to the Kingdom Reborn. She would use the bulk to fund public works projects to try and get the economy spinning once more and industries going. What she could spare then went to the military; Justical's attack demanded that Roxford rebuild it's military power in a hurry. There was a problem with Republican commanders still in the forces and a couple seemed to plan a coup only to be stopped by their sub-commanders and troops who didn't want to fight their countrymen yet again.

 

Rather then condemn them Alison would speak with them, hear their concerns and listen to what they had to say. A couple would be jailed and tried but the bulk were offered amnesty and allowed to resume their posts to, if not serve her, serve Roxford or retire. Some retired and some offered to stay on while some mercenaries were hired to fill the gaps in the meantime.

 

A minority of the funds, then, would go towards restoration; starting with the family mausoleum. After Juno's burial (With the flag removed from the throne room draped over her casket) she had a hut build over the stairs to protect against weather while it was opened back up... and found a surprise awaiting her; collapsed rock. As it turned out House DesCieux's head mage used his magic to collapse the entrance of the mausoleum and used earth magic to make the collapsed rock difficult to get through. Rather then wait for the mana to fade so they could remove the debris the Republic just sealed it off. Once the rocks were removed and cleared out the doors was opened for the first time in over ten years...

 

...and a treasure trove of old relics, paintings and other items was found; the mage had expected the Republic to destroy much of what was in the palace and so saved what he could by storing it inside of the mausoleum. Paintings of each member of House DesCieux was found within, paintings of various heroes to base futures sculptures on and a portrait of Alison, her brother and her parents that she thought was lost. She even showed it to me over the voxlux and there was an inscription on it; We Will Stumble On The Way But We Will Find Heaven.

 

Needless to say she was overjoyed and, soon, the temple over the mausoleum would start to be rebuilt as well as large slate with the names of all buried there carved into it. The statue of Larentia, as it turns out, wasn't smashed and just removed to the local cathedral who was more then happy to return it. While many of the buildings couldn't be remade as they were she had new ones made in similar styles to honor what was torn apart.

 

Later on something else came up; two bodies. As it turned out after his death King Lucien's body was taken down to the river and thrown in during the middle of the night; they didn't want anyone to know where it was and make the place a shrine to the old king. A ferryman, however, saw the act and once he identified the body fished it out and took it home, putting him in a casket, cremating him and hanging onto the one thing that survived; a wedding ring. It wasn't on his finger so it was presumed he swallowed it to hang onto it after death. Alison would place the ashes in the mausoleum and find a gold chain to hang the ring upon for a necklace; happy to put him to rest and say her last words.

 

The other one was her mother's body; one of the rebels took pity of her and rather then follow orders and dump her in Carrion Fields he buried her beheaded body in a crude casket by the hill on the palace's island; using three rocks to mark the location. Once she learned of it Alison would have her mother exhumed and moved to the mausoleum by her father's ashes with her ring joining her husband's. They would be the only two bodies of her house to be recovered with her baby brother's corpse being, sadly, never located... which led to the next issue to mention...

 

Rodrick DesCieux...

 

Given what he had done in siding with Justical she had to punish him and see justice done... but at the same time she couldn't bring herself to kill another member of her clan or see him rot in a cell... As such she offered him the choice; death, jail or exile. He chose exile and by her accounts he seemed at peace... I suppose it made sense; he got his revenge, his House returned to it's position as rulers of Roxford... the two things he wanted was accomplished and as a bonus Justical bore no influence on the realm making it the best possible outcome from where he stood. That seemed to let him accept his punishment in grace and asked to be escorted to Camafran; he wanted to travel east and see the distant lands past the Thunderblaze Mountains. Alison was forced to strip him of the DesCieux name and any emblems of such from his armor but let him keep it and his weapon, even having it repaired before sending him off. She would tell me it was painful to subject him to the same exile she suffered but took some comfort that he could find a place for himself in this world.

 

As for the people of Roxford there was some initial unrest and concern for the first month but as time wore on people started to relax and move on; putting food on the table was more of a worry then who was a royalist or a republican and, overall, Alison did her best to see both sides come together as Roxfordians while, at the same time, assembling a new entity known as Le Conseil Populaire or The People's Council. She wanted an elected council that represented the people directly under her that, over time, she would grant a greater degree of power to act with a plan to, eventually, create a Constitutional Monarchy. As Le Conseil Populaire gained the trust of the people it could be given more power and influence and, hopefully, act as a balance to the crown. She would even start to allow members old the old nobility to return; although at fractions of their old power and influence.

 

Ten years of hardship seemed to be, slowly, coming to an end and start to allow for a period of prosperity... as for what would happen to Roxford only time would tell...

 

I just wished Roxford and my friend the best.)

 

[ -- Author's Note -- ]

 

Gahhhhhh! Finally! We're out of Roxford!

 

Freeeeeeeeeeeeedom!

 

Joking aside; I did enjoy this detour. Honestly I wanted Act Four to be more of a cool down arc and then I come up with this... Ugh...

 

Still we can try and get to cool down stuff after this...

 

And yes, Horus survived. I wanted the end of his fight to be a case of 'wait, how is he still alive? How is he still moving forwards!?' How well I did is up to you. And Alison showcases how broken teleportation can be; I didn't have a good place to insert it but the idea was to hint that the Imperium had a higher knowledge of such magics then anyone else could have suspected.

 

And we finally see what the Enterprise can do and it... scares the guy who made it. Go figure... And yeah, you know once Vult learns of it he'll be scheming.

 

But now the Republic is over and a new Queen arising who is... moving slowly towards democracy once more, but in a more gentle manner. I don't intend to revisit Roxford in the near future; maybe for some non-canon Questlines. We'll see. Speaking of I really should add something to Questlines sooner or later...

 

Anyway; next stop is Eostia... and to do a few, smaller character bits... finally...

 

As always leave a comment, say what you liked, didn't like and want to say... and maybe your overall thoughts on the Roxford arc which went way longer then I had thought it would...

 

Le sigh...

 

Anyway, until next time!