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It had been a while since Maerda had needed to make such a big decision, but for the better of her people, she needed to go against everything they believed in…
She turned to the officers, a dangerous fire igniting in her eyes. “Violence is never the way, which of you believe that? Which of you believe that violence will get us nowhere, especially in a war?”
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Raz frowned. "Yes, my lady. Wissian told me about them not too long ago. It would make sense for the Cershestin princess to be behind the killings. Let's be honest, can they even be called assassinations. It was more like slaughtered." She said.
Once the gaurds were done talking with Cynthia, Raz popped the question. "You said that you had other plans for use, my lady?"
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When the officers and guards heard such words from their queen, they were both surprised and satisfied. It has been a topic of conversation for a while but no one really brought it up.
One particular officer, a clearly brave one, went up to the throne.
”No one does, your majesty” he knelt down as he spoke though.
”Your majesty—“ another officer spoke ”—miss Varsha is on her way to Setriutan. Updates from her will be coming soon it seems. We might get to know some interesting information after such meeting” the officer in question reported.
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”Yes, yes indeed”
Cynthia snapped her fingers as a black Rook piece appeared in her hand. Upon releasing the piece and letting it fall, the three were teleported outside the palace.
The Sorceress gestured outward the kingdom; towards what can only be seen as the forest and mountains that divided Atruxiavir and Cershestin.
”It is rumored that the Cershestin assassin who killed those bandits live within the perimeters of this large forest…” she started.
”… Bring him to me, no matter dead or alive” she stated with her usual innocent smile. Her true sadistic nature was within her words.
”You two know how much I don’t like failure, so good luck~” she left them there as she walked back into the palace.
”Oh, one more thing—“ she turned back to face the two magicians ”—keep this a secret~ Your lives depend on it.” she gave them one last playful smile as she opened the doors back into the palace.
The scientist waited no longer for an escort. He trod along, his personal guard following behind his back and walked through the palace wall into the courtyard. He observed the design and architecture of the buildings. Kreuger observed the difference in the design between princess Mara's palace. It definitely looks magical to him.
“Vincent…huh”
After the man had left, Varsha snapped out of her fantasy, she realized that she had an important meeting to attend. Before she ran off to her check up on her wyvern she spotted a little shiny object on the floor. It was a well-made golden pendant, Vincent must have dropped it before he ran off. Maybe someday she’ll meet him again once that day comes, she’ll return this pendant to him.
After she used the healing potion on the wyvern’s wing, she went up it’s back and headed off to Setriutan at full speed.
”Oh… please don’t be late”
Soon enough she arrived…
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"Thank you." Maerda responded, her dangerous expression remained. "That will be all. Apart from you." she looked down upon the officer that knelt before her. "Join me on a walk, please."
A sly smile appeared on Wissian's lips as he took one look at Cynthia. "What doesn't our lives depend on at this point?" he began making his way out of the door, stopping for a moment to look back at the sorceress. "See you soon, my lady."
His eyes drifted to Raz. He never really had trusted her, but it seemed that they would at least need to share information with one another if they both wanted to succeed.
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The officer was surprised and was mildly scared as well. He nodded and waited for the other officers to leave before he stood up and waited for the Queen where he wanted him to be. He was fearfully excited as to what he might’ve gotten himself into.
As the magicians would be left on the ledge that led to the forest, a flock of birds flew up from the forest, suggesting that something might’ve happened near the group…
Vincent approached the corpse he had just shot down. Straight through the head the bullet went through. It wasn’t an animal, but rather a human. He eyed the figure to which he realized that from the looks of it this was a person from Atruxiavir.
”Eight…” he stated silently to himself, decapitating the corpse with his inactivated sword and getting the any valuables the corpse had on them. He then leaned the corpse against a nearby tree with their head placed on a branch. He walked away, having his gun out and his sword sheathed beside him.
Hunting season was clearly here…
Valerie had gotten word that the visitors had arrived. She quickly bowed her head to Galen, "I'm so sorry! But I need to greet the visitors. I'll help you out afterwards if I can."
She turned and cast one of her spells. Val disappeared in a puff of arcane magic and re-appeared at the entrance of the palace. She cast another two spells once enough of her energy returned to her. The first allowed her to see if a person was telling the truth or not so not even the most skilled of liers could get past her. The second spell gave her the ability to see, under certain things while not others. Thankfully she had been well practiced enough not to blush at the sight. Both were represented as sigils marked on her arm each glowing with magic. She stood and waited for the first visitor to step into the area though she moved so Valerie could see into the courtyard spotting both the man from Cershestin and the female from Atruxiavir.
Kreuger noticed the magician's presence, he immediately assumed her role. "I believe you are here to escort us, yes?" He had already noticed the arrival of the royal guard from Atruxiavir beforehand. His personal guard stopped behind him though he stepped forward slightly in the direction of the magician. They were still a distance away but it was enough for the both to see each other's features.
Valerie nodded and stepped towards the scientist. She gave him a nod and looked him and his guard up and down. She mentally noted all the possible dangers on them and gave the men a placated smile, "Indeed I am. My name is Valerie and I believe you are the scientist from Cershestin no?"
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Raz let her own take of a sadistic smile cross her face as the Sorceress revealed their mission. "Yes, your majesty. We won't let you down." She said sounding eager. She gave one last bow to her as she left the two magicians alone.
Raz turned to Wissian now that they were alone. "This will be fun! I don't think we have ever been on a mission alone, have we?" She said, trying to think back.
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"No, but then again we never really have seen eye to eye." Wissian waved his hand dismissively, looking over the forest. The birds were acting strangely. Something was hiding within the trees, and it seemed to be heading their way. "What do you suppose is going on over there?"
After the other officers had left the throne room, Maerda finally smiled and the officer rose to his feet. "Come, I'd appreciate the company."
The queen extended her hand to the officer, watching him hesitantly take it before she started walking down one of the hallways that led to an outside walkway.
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Raz shrugged as she laced her fingers behind her head. "I don't know. You wanna go check it out?" She asked with a smile.
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"Why was that even a question?" The young magician looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a half smile. "The real question is, how do you want to travel there?"
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Raz chuckled. "You have preferred mode of transportation? I really don't care." She said as she shuffled back and forth on her feet, excited. She was itching for a bit of action.
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"Of course, my preferred mode of transportation is walking." Wissian shrugged dramatically. Of course, it wasn't in the slightest bit his favorite mode of transportation, but he was pretty sure that a random clock would not be lying on the forest floor. "Ladies first."
Mara plopped down on her seat with a sigh. She didn't really approve of the entire thing. Peace was stupid. And useless. And helped no one.
"What is the latest update?" She asked in a tired voice, beckoning Phe to sit next to her.
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Raz shrugged with a smile. "Alright then. Come on!" She said as she jumped off the ledge of the side of the castle. Her fall was stopped by another ledge. She continued down, jumping from ledge to ledge.
Pheonix sat down next to Mara letting out a quiet sigh of relief. Her legs were aching and the prospect of sitting sounded wonderful. She knew plenty but she was a quiet voice here. Only speaking when spoken too.
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Vincent slipped on his goggles to see what was going on and was, honestly, not surprised to see two of the Setriutan many magicians coming down to the forest. More likely than not, a death wish is what they are looking for. He got up on a tree, keeping his eyes locked on the two new figures. His breathing was slow and in due time, his breathing turned silent.
He had his sniper rifle out. He stood on the tree, took aim, and attempted to fire at the female who was sliding down the ledge. He fired thrice before jumping down from that specific tree and moving through the forest.
”As you all may know…” one of the Cershestin elderly started ”… the murders that happened last night was one of ours’ fault. We then came to a drafted idea to remove him from his responsibilities… we are talking about that young lad Vincent. Your royal highness—“ the elderly turned to Mara ”—the decision is yours”
Mara would know that she can easily dismiss the situation however, she must have quite a good reason to keep Vincent in his place.
”Your majesty…” the young officer did not dare to meet the Queen’s eyes. Walking beside her was not even a dream in slightest.
”What would it be… the topic that you’d like to discuss with me…?” he finally asked.
Kreuger smiled as the magician looked at both him and his personal guard. He posed no threat so he had nothing to worry about. He held his hand up in the direction of the magician for a handshake.
"Indeed I am, Kreuger Bastilles, head scientist of Cershestin"
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Valerie responded smiling. The man was not lying and as far as she could tell had little weapons on him. It was the guard she was wary about, "If you wouldn't mind waiting at the entrance I need to greet the royal guard from Atruxiavir. You could come with me if you so wished."
Once Varsha had arrived at the entrance, she saw a weird tall man with a costume that she hasn't seen before. She figured that the man must have been the visitor from the Cershestin kingdom. She secretly scanned the man for a potential threat, well it seems like she didn't have to worry about his physical power but she could tell that his weapons at his disposal were quite different, it definitely wasn't a normal weapon.
Soon after, a magician walk toward her and the man from Cershestin, the magician seems to be using some kind of appraisal magic, but she wasn't really bothered anyway.
While the magician was greeting the man, she didn't really know what to do so she's just waiting at the entrance.
Valerie spotted the royal guard. She bowed her head to Kreuger before making her way over to her. As she walked her eyes scanned the other making note of every weapon and other potential weapons on them. She was going to request that the guard give them to her, but figured it would be… Poor manners to do that at the moment, "I suppose you're the guard from Atruxiavir? My name is Valerie."
Kreuger simply ignored the conversation between the royal guard and the magician. He surveyed his surrounding, mainly the decorations of the courtyard. He wandered not far from the other two to inspect the different types of plants grown. It was clear that most of them were plants from this region and he was unfamiliar with them.
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”Oi, Kreugs—“ the assassin’s voice came through the scientist’s earpiece.
”—two magicians from Set’s hunting me down. You think you can have one of your guards bring me one of those batteries? By one, I mean as many as they can get to me” the assassin asked as he moved through the forest’s area.
”I’m up north, by the only tree with half-withered leaves” the assassin pointed out, requesting an assisting equipment.
”My name is Varsha, Varsha Araceli, a representative from Atruxiavir, Nation of Nature, I’ll only be here for some time, but I’m happy to meet you, Valerie.”
She introduced herself to the magician, in her usual cold tone and nodded back.
Valerie gave her a smile and nodded. She turned and gestured for Varsha to follow her, "Of course. Come this way and I'll lead you to where you'll be meeting today."
"Gotcha, I'll send a drone there. And for the last time, I'm not old!" Kreuger was far enough that the royal guard and magician couldn't hear his conversation. He ordered his personal bodyguard to contact one of his scientist and aid Vincent with the supply of unstable metal through a tracker on the assassin.
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