Days before the Fall (Plot thread 2.5)

[A.B.A.]

Steeped in the disguise of the brunette maiden Velestia, A.B.A. watched with concern and a hint of mistrust at the Marines that escorted them on their way to the palace. Their travel time had since sparked the reawakening of Seigmand's thoughts in her mind, and he seemed all to eager to keep to his role of advisor, at least for now.

So at last we take my advice and make our way to Unda hmm? Well, it's been a while since this all started, how bad could it be? His sarcastic musings had played out like this periodically since they'd left Alberisato, and A.B.A. groaned to herself in hopes he'd take the hint. You're free to not like it missy, but keep in mind that you're surrounded by people that at best are wary of you, and at worst are leading us into a trap this very moment. Be on guard, here more than anywhere.[/b]

I heard you the first time Seigmand, you can drop it. I don't like this anymore than you do.

Indeed, to whatever end Enizo was driving them towards there was only one thing that A.B.A. did know for certain; Unda was Duo's turf, and Duo loved a good old fashion trap. She kept herself paced in tightly with the rest of the Heroes, for once finding them the closest thing to allies she could trust in a while, if only because she thought them foolish enough to throw themselves in front of danger should it rear its ugly head.

[Zeke Omoihake]

Zeke turned his weary gaze up at the Mark, then only briefly to the hand he'd placed on his shoulder before giving him an unpleasant frown. To put a hand on his shoulder, after all they'd been through, like they were close? Like they were friends? Whether or not he was ready to accept it, the words that lingered in his mind had a point. Dragged to the ocean floor before being pulled to Hellious itself, and once there was he given any protection, any mind at all?

Zeke rolled his shoulder away from Mark as he came off the wall. He wanted to say something sharp and biting as a retort, something that would tell Mark what he really thought of him and his concern. He looked back towards the angelic leader for a moment and opened his mouth as if to say something before giving his head a small shake and deciding he was better off not starting another incident. What good would words do him now? He was stuck here, for better or worse now. All Zeke wanted to do now was to get things moving as fast as he could so he could get back home, or get to this Duo guy, wherever he was.

[Zaria DeGantz]

Zaria looked at Brea, waiting for him to go first as the Marines asked to speak with them. "Of course..." She answered. She wanted to ask where but considering the circumstances, she thought it may be best not to, since the wrong people could be listening.

[Kain Angelo]

Brea and Zaria were taken into a deep bunker below the palace. The bunker's walkway was slim but quickly widened out as they came to a room that was slowly being filled by many important people.

The bunker was known as the tunnel to most, it was connected to every important building in the capitol city. Senators from the low and high branch were filling in from different pathways.

As Brea and Zaria entered the room, any and all Senators who had sat down quickly stood up at the attention of the two. Many of them addressing the two by their title, 'Captain' and Mr. President' was heard frequently around the room.

The Marines directed the two to sit at the front of the long table, by the Vanguard (head of both Senates). They overlooked the entire group of Senators, with many maps and documents being laid out on the table.

"Mr. President," The Marine began, "The status of the regions are highlighted on the board in front of you..."

Central Unda - Light Red (Mostly secured)
Eastern Unda - Red (Danger)
Southern Unda - White (secured)
Wild Unda - Dark Red (In danger of falling)

"Where would you like to begin?"

---

Kain simply stared at Benjamin's casket as he wondered what had become of the country he had ruled. This man, Benjamin, commanded such an immense amount of respect from an individual that rarely respected anyone - especially somebody in charge.

Kain made a small note to himself that he'd have to ask Brea about the 'Presidency' later. But suddenly he had felt something familiar in the air... lingering words drifted into his head before vanishing. There was only a selected amount of people that held that mental connection with him.

The Saints held that connection. Kain turned around quickly, facing the palace doors as the the feeling got closer. Kain didn't waste another moment, he ran to the palace doors and threw them open - meeting face to face with a group of Marines and a smaller group of people.

He scanned the crowd, looking for anyone there he recognized. Between the heavy crowd of people and the unfamiliar faces, Kain simply smiled and called out, "Saints!"

[Brea Cao-Wei]

Brea hadn't even had a proper chance to get cleaned up before he was being whisked through to another room and briefed on the situation of the different locations within Unda. His eyes scanned the different locations and their respective threat levels as he made quick calculations. Wild Unda may not be particularly important on its own, but it was a gateway to some of the larger cities, and letting it fall would be a bad mistake. Eastern Unda was also in danger, and Brea got the dreaded feeling that helping one would cost the other. He nodded slowly.

"We need to secure Wild Unda primarily. But we cannot leave Eastern Unda completely defenseless either. So we need to make sure that we think of a way to properly defend both. Wild Unda is definitely the primary concern and we should think about deploying reinforcements there immediately. Eastern Unda is still an issue however, but I'm not entirely sure if we can afford to send any major reinforcements... Perhaps a small task force..." He looked across at the Marine who had been speaking to him.

"What's the damage to our military? How many men do we have to spare?"

[Mark Angelus Fri]

The Marine directed Brea's attention towards a map of Allorum where many markers were placed on a couple countries.

"The position of our forces are displayed right here...

Vuoto: 1900 Marines and the entire 3rd Fleet

Santo-Luce: Entire 2nd Fleet, with a little over 120 Marines on the warships.

Unda:

Central: 5000 Marines, Reserve Fleet, Militia numbering 6,000+.

South: 17,000+ Southern Militia, 400 Marines, Southern Militia Fleet.

Eastern: 2500 Marines, Militia 4,000.

Wild: 3500 Marines and 850 Roccian troops aiding the fight.

The First Fleet is spread out throughout Unda, mostly centered in Wild. The fleet is larger than the First and Third combined. "

"Information on Vuoto and Wild Unda are not up to date, intense fighting in the regions have led to constant changes in the information. Also, the Marines in Wild Unda are fighting in over 150 islands, most of them are fighting on those islands with less than 400 men."

[Katina Ernfond]

My eye kept trailing to this "Kain" character, watching him, curious as to what exactly he was in this whole incident. I had heard and read the tales of the Saint's and Duo and had long since thought it nothing more then another fable for children, or the long forgotten writings of some deceased raconteur, but recent events had put things into a much clearer perspective, but one that was still hazy and non-specific; tethered to too many whimsical tidbits for me to really draw any useful inferences.

As sad as the death of another person was, I found myself standing awkwardly amidst all the others who actually seemed to know the man and just wanted to find a reason to break away from the crowd. Perhaps it was a little insensitive, but my presence felt unnecessary and I thought perhaps my time was better spent getting a grip on the situation as opposed to trying to keep up a sense of prolonged empathy.

Approaching as surreptitiously as possible, I hesitantly reached out my hand to tap the man's shoulder, but pulled back, unsure of exactly what to say at first. In some vain effort to inspire confidence, I tried constructing some imagined rapport that I could draw dialogue or at least a direction from. Realizing that I was just standing there with my hand partially outstretched in a rather awkward pose, I fully drew my hand to my side, attempted my best nonchalant pose, and just started speaking.

"So, you're Kain Angelo? I've heard the myths and read the stories, but I never thought you were real. I suppose my first question is why are you here?"

Well, I wasn't gonna win any awards for a flawless approach, but perhaps I could at least start to get some stable footing on just what was going in this progressively more insane world of mine.

[Bang Shishigami]

I stood in silence, my hands gripped tightly at my side as I looked on at the casket. My chin grew tight as I felt hot tears trail down along my stubbled cheeks. The emotion inside me grew like the pressure in a volcano; ready to billow forth in an explosive pyre, but now was not the place for such a display, and I could only do my best to control my burning heart and douse the flames that tried to bloom forth.

My mind once gain found itself steeped amidst the thought of all those we were unable to save, and where a lesser man might have caved under the weight of our failures and falters, I could only continue to add it to the toll I had taken upon myself and let it feed my strength and resolve, knowing full well that when I came face to face with the cowards behind such villainy that I would exact my justice and give these fiends a sample of my might beyond what any creature has sampled before.

But for now, all I could do is morn the passing of a comrade against the forces of evil amidst my other cohorts, and try to stifle the pain that had gripped us all.

[A.B.A.]

It wasn't the words so much as the voice that caused Velestia to spin around from the wake of Benjamin and towards a youthful yet haggard-looking man. Certainly were she as she was when last they'd met she'd have run to him without a second thought. The blindly loyal girl she'd been last she'd seen him would have dashed into his arms, his sight enough to bring memories flooding once more to her.

Yet A.B.A. was not that girl. Two years had seen to that. Seigmand had seen to that. Even now, despite his silence she could feel him judging her, watching to see if she would fall prey to the visage of Kain so easily. Instead she snapped out of sight, her back pressed against a decorative pillar in the palace room.

You need to know it's actually him. Oh good what if it's actually him? How can I be sure? What if he's Duo, or someone under Duo's power? If he could make Bart come back and look anyway he choose, he could do the same to Kain. Her heart quaked the entire time, demanding she throw caution to the wind and just indulge in the moment, but somehow she kept it's desire at bay. Suddenly as her body quieted it came to her. Something that only Kain could do, and something that was risky as could be. Still, if it worked as intended, she'd know for certain.

Closing her eyes she focused until she picked up on an old and almost forgotten magic that lied within her as it did with every other Saint. Holding onto the image of Roxa in her mind, she ignored the hatred that accompanied it and thought as hard as she could at him.

Roxa, if you can hear this I need you to come into the palace and meet the girl standing behind the second pillar on the right. Do it right now.

[Ingway Desmodius]

I was very much starting to regret my deluded decision that I wanted my time in the limelight and was wishing that I was back in the shadows, running errands behind the scenes like I was used to. If there was any one social gathering that left me without words, it was a funeral, and without words, my presence was less noticeable then usual. No series of charismatic quips would get me through this, and without social interaction I was left to just bide my time and unwillingly let my mind wander to the many thoughts that had been plaguing it since I made the mistake of joining Mark and his merry band of "heroes" on this venture.

Amidst my recollections and embittered reflections, I suddenly thought back to Seigmand, and was consumed by a sudden sense of anxiety when I realized how long I've been absent from my employer and friend. I had never reported back from my last errand, and I wondered exactly what had transpired with the former King. Being the man that he was, it was no doubt in my mind that he would have discovered what happened with or without my directly relaying the events, and suddenly wondered if he might be present amidst the steadily growing collection of personalities.

Making myself mobile and breaking away from the rather depressing settings, I set my sights on finding Seigmand, or at least getting some sense of where his hands were in this situations, knowing full well that he already had himself at play somewhere, as he usually did in such things.

[shanira]

Shanira never left her meditative state, knowing that something was bothering Alexander and he desperately tried to keep himself under control made her keep herself tuned into him. Despite all the bodies moving around, the emotions and the drama, the guards busying themselves around everyone, Shanira looked on around everyone in what seemed to be a very calm, dreamy daze. The only time she'd ever felt like this was when she ran at just the right speed that everything blurred into strings of colours, like she was making her own artwork for her to enjoy. She never understood why it made her as happy as it did, but it did.

Right now she wasn't happy, she'd disconnected from her own feelings as she kept tapped into Alexander's back at home. It was like this that she swore she could feel even his own heart beating with her own, his growing rapidly as the minutes pressed on.

It wasn't panic in the form that she knew him to call for her immediate aid, but it was growing. Seeing the ships move into the area made her zone out more and more, and he grew steadily worse.
She bit her lip as she broke out of it and looked around at everyone and suddenly felt out of place. An anxiety grew in her mind, a force within her that made her look out for at least Mark to let him know she felt this was it, she couldn't stay any longer. The twitching she ignored though it travelled along both her arms, a prickling sensation along the top of her head that disrupted all other thoughts, and one throbbing punch it felt like to the side of her head made her teeter to the side as she walked, and looking completely out of place as she suddenly drew her sword and headed towards the front gates alone.

[Zaria DeGantz]

Zaria listened Carefully to the state of the Country. How could so much have happened in such a short bit of time? Obviously this was planned well in advance. Probably by Duo and his forces.
She knew she needed to concentrate on the tasks at hand, but in the back of her mind all she could think was "I never should have left. I should have been here." She thought back to the time spent in Hellious, and regrettably, she felt she hadn't contributed much to the Mission.

Trying to think positively though, she thought perhaps it was a good learning experience participating in a mission where water is scarce to none. Still, was it worth losing Benjamin? Was it worth all the suffering Unda was experiencing? No, it was not.

She couldn't shake the feeling that she could have prevented some of these events from taking place, but she knew these brooding thoughts would get her nowhere. Maybe she wasn't there to prevent these events, but she could certainly do her best to fix them!

Brea had asked about the Military, but what about the citizens? The Military was important, but the Citizens were what made up the country in the first place.

"How many Non-Military Casualties have been estimated so far?" She asked. She was afraid to hear the answer, but she needed to know the true extent of how the war was affecting the Country.

[Mark Angelus Fri]

The Marine turned his attention towards Zaria, "Ah, yes," he began, quickly flipping through some pages before pulling out one and reading from it, "Duo's forces are showing a sense of restraint when it comes to Undian civilians, but our immediate estimate shows somewhere between 20,000-"

"Excuse me," A Senator cut in, "Those who side with the Empire are no longer Undians."

"Of course, in that case it's in the mid hundreds." The Marine nodded.

[Brea Cao-Wei]

"Wait, wait, wait..." Brea said, holding up a hand and furrowing his brow into a frown. "Those who side with the Empire? And nearly 20,000 at that? Are you trying to tell me that that many civilians have sided with... With Duo..?" He found this hard to believe, he generally struggled to get that through his head. He ran a hand across his lower face, trying to concentrate.

"Alright..." He muttered, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Leaning forwards, he rested his hands against the table. "We're in a critical condition right now, and we need to concentrate on ourselves before we think about others. I want two thirds of the Second Fleet to move away from Santo-Luce and provide aid to Wild Unda. I want ten thousand of the reserve militia in Southern Unda to also move to the aid of Wild Unda. Finally, I want the reserve fleet with one thousand Marines to also move to the aid of Eastern Unda, we need to make sure that it's secure." He opened his eyes, and stood up straight.

"I also need to prepare. I plan to go out onto the front line soon."

[King Roxa Hiaten]

Roxa heard the familiar voice of Kain in his head, and initially he completely refused to believe it. Kain was dead, he knew it and he had made sure of it himself. Behind his helmet he narrowed his eyes, Duo had brought Bartholomew back under his own control, so even if this was the real Kain, what reason did he have to trust that he was here of his own free will to help..? Part of him desperately wanted to run to him, to see if it was really true... But the stronger half of him resisted. He had more than just himself to think of these days, and he couldn't push on rashly without properly consulting those around him first, but for now... He closed his eyes.

A large bundle of chains hang from what appears to be an endless ceiling.

The chains shake and vibrate occasionally as the beast that they hold back tries its best to escape.

Only one part of Ave is visible, a single red eye which even then cannot be fully seen, simply part of the red iris and the deep, black pupil.

That very pupil locks onto Roxa.

A snarl.

"I see you're growing accustomed to my power, brother..." Roxa doesn't move. The voice is much deeper than the normal, sweet, twisted tones that Ave normally takes with him. He attributes that to the fact that Roxa has managed to completely separate Ave's power from him and mix it with his own, something that was stupid and dangerous of him to do. He very nearly gave this monster control.

"You want my opinion don't you?" Ave snarled. "You have angered me, Roxa. But I am not so stupid as to walk you into a pit of vipers. Another voice calls. Follow it, you shall be surprised, I promise." Roxa's eyes narrowed as he slowly nodded. With a wave of his hand, the chains suddenly pulled upwards, dragging the bundle and eye, which never looked away from him, up into the darkness where it would be once again sealed away.

Roxa, if you can hear this I need you to come into the palace and meet the girl standing behind the second pillar on the right. Do it right now.

Roxa took his leave from the rest of the group, heading into the palace, approaching the second pillar on the right...