RedMageCole

Arthur could only say that Shin needed to have an eye on him at all times in his head. Otherwise, he just nodded. "If you need to go watch him, I don't mind... what are they doing, anyway- are they cooking? Mmmmgh." Arthur shook his head. "Damn, I haven't cooked in Horse-knows-how-long. Never really lost the touch, though... Hopefully Kane'll let them have some time to enjoy themselves... wherever he went, anyway."

"..." Arthur internally debated whether or not he should avoid bringing up the other Death-related incident for the sake of Shin's integrity. Arthur looked over at Shin— saw how much nicer he looked, then looked back at Godiva. "He just tends to get unlucky from time to time. Said unluckiness tends to lead to him getting injured and he'll often insist he doesn't need the healing. He works great under pressure, but... make sure he doesn't get too hurt." ----- Lucy shuddered for a moment as her eyes stayed closed and pensive— trying to recall the past. She spoke quietly, as if unsure of herself. "We started... wholly on business terms, but... Famine would bring us together to talk whether we liked it or not. I know my brother's motivations... um... Famine's never been one to, um, mince words. He'd outright say how much he hated his job, how he wanted to..." Lucy opened her mouth— then quickly closed it, acting as if she had said something even if no words came out. "...He'd always... say it in that usual tone of his voice though, so I was... never really certain if he was telling the truth... u-until I heard that new tone of his come out on the... the caravan mission," Lucy gulped. "War, she... she was much more distant, but she... she was the first one to want to go with my brother's plan to dethrone our father. Famine was okay with it, but War agreed even quicker than he did... she always seemed so- so tranquil, though."

Pinecone muttered a simple word of thanks to Mercy as his wounds began to close up. Brandishing his javelin, Pinecone continued his never-ending guard duty. Pinecone to L14, guard everyone adjacent Lotus to J12, shoot the Fire Initiate

Lucy nodded vigorously in response to Ferdiad's first statement. She was silent for a brief moment on his second one. "We've... been really secretive about... who we were. But, I... I know that... all of us were unhappy with... our job, despite how hard we tried to keep our emotions in check. My brother only worked under our father to get to him, to... to get revenge. Famine and War, they... they came from outside of me and my brother's family. I don't even know their names... w-well, War's name, but I know Famine's now... I wish I knew more about War, but..." Lucy felt a lump in her throat— shaking her head more vigorously. It was obvious that she was trying to hold everything together, as to avoid collapsing like a house of cards. ----- Arthur nodded slowly... Clearly grateful that Godiva was willing to get off of the topic. "...Well, I suppose I owe them all a debt. Justine and Mim, they're..." Arthur looked over at Mim and Justine— noticing her concern for Mina and Boss with some relief. "...They're great, really. But... sometimes I just... wonder..." Arthur's eyes became glossy for a moment, before he shook his head. "...Never mind. Baldur, he's..." Arthur looked over at the silent argument between Baldur and Lizaveta. "...Well, he's difficult. But... There's a good person deep down past all of the rage. That's what... she always said to me, anyways. Erm... Shin's someone with a good heart, but... you might want to stay close to him." An awkward pause as Arthur looked at a few of the other members of Virtuous. "...I haven't really gotten to know the rest of them."

Arthur's feet met the ground, and he went quiet as Godiva talked. He mostly just responded in that aloof manner— with a few nods and an occasional 'yeah.' It wasn't until Godiva asked her question that made Arthur really stop and think. "...Honestly, I don't know what I want to do with him at this point. I loathe him... But everyone was so willing to let a complete scumbag like King Darcy rot in captivity..." Arthur let out a deep sigh. "...I wish I knew what'd make me happy. Sometimes it feels as if... nothing's going to make me happy."

Arthur might have said anything— probably in response to Justine and how the whole thing wasn't exactly something to make a snappy decision about. However, before he could do that, he found himself vastly underestimating the muscle mass of his cousin. "Ngh- Godiva- Not in the middle of everyone-" Yet he wasn't exactly making any sudden movements to get out of the hug. "They were basically the first people I had since I got out of prison- well, they broke me out of prison, but I owed them a debt- as you can see, ultimately I'm finally going to be able to... take on Ruslan... you, er, don't know what... happened... do you...?" ----- Lucy had been ready to space out, until Ferdiad approached her. She suddenly tensed up, avoiding eye contact— but then Ferdiad's words began to soothe her. Slowly, but surely, she was able to look him in the eyes... Not for too long, however. "You... You shouldn't. What... what my brother did to you... what War did to you... th-they don't know anything about it. They... They don't understand that... if you were to kill me, y... you would have been..." Lucy sniveled— hiccuping slightly as tears began to surface past her closed eyelids. "...completely... justified. I... I'm sorry... I'm sorry for everything we did to you..."

Later that night... Arthur, Mim, Shin... and the two new unlikely yet still potential members of Virtuous arrived back at the outpost. Kane made sure to not rest for too long and call everyone to a meeting in the throne room— to assess the battle plan. The five hadn't quite arrived yet— most likely a result of Kane's compulsive need to be on scout duty for at least a little while. Lucy was also present— but mostly off to the side, fidgeting with her hands and only half-listening. "Alright. So, we have two orders of business. First, we have the issue of Godiva. She'll need a nickname, and we'll need to find a mask for her. If you have a hood, that'd be ideal, but we'll need to find something to cover your face. You'll also need a codename which we can refer to you mid-combat..." Kane sounded extra high-strung, as if he was making up for all of the time he spent not working. He talked at about a mile a minute. "Whatever codename you want is fine, if you need something temporary to think on it more, that's fine too. Anvil, if you could start making some prototype masks, that'd be excellent. Once you've gotten all that, we have the issue of sneaking into the-" It was that moment that the five walked in— Kane's eyes narrowing towards the group. His eyes turned into a brief moment of panic, before growing slightly frustrated. "...Crimson. Snowbird. Ficus. Why are there two people with you? Why did you bring them to-" Arthur was quick to interject. "Alright, look, we didn't really have much of a choice? Mina here literally fell on top of Shin and then... Boss? Was with her. They just came shopping with us and Boss actually fed us." "And did you tell them that we were in the middle of a highly dangerous operation that would make them highly wanted traitors of their own nation?" Arthur paused, whispering a shit under his breath. "Well— Fuck, I don't know! I figured we could try recruiting them, or something!? We lost Justine's sister-" Arthur's voice got caught in his throat, avoiding Justine's gaze as he suddenly felt immediately ashamed of what he did. "...Well, we don't have any fliers... and Mina seems like a decent mage... Look, Mim's fine with them, Shin's fine with them and he almost got a damn concussion because of them, why aren't you fine with them? They aren't even from Ria!" "We can't just let anyone into the most wanted gang in Purgus, Crimson—" As Simeon was mulling over everything quietly, a voice suddenly made a loud 'uhh' next to him. "I dunno about that one, chief? I mean, all I did was get stabbed and get discovered that I was a kleptomaniac and I got into Virtuous okay." Kane looked like he was about to object, but then a less gruff voice cleared her throat. "Were you just not gonna give me an invite, or?" Adelaida looked significantly more content wearing a somewhat plain black coat and pants combo— unassuming, but hard to draw attention to. "If I go back, I'm pretty much branded a traitor, so. Wouldn't mind actually having something worth a damn to do. What was it, mask and codename? Easy shit. I can just cover my face with my bandana or something." Kane remained silent. Simeon was next to speak up. "No 'arm in it. If they want to get into the cause, that's on 'em. If not, they'll just leave. Nothin' wrong with that." Kane remained silent for a little longer, eventually sighing and looking straight at Boss and Mina. "...Alright. In that case, the two of you will need a proper induction into the group. You'll need something to cover your faces and codenames. If you're both not up for it, just leave on your own and I'll pretend none of this happened. Second course of action— in one... mgh. Two hours, we'll be headed to Ria Castle. There, we will sneak in while everyone's asleep, incapacitate King Ruslan and Queen Zaara, and leave with the Relic as quickly as possible. Sound good?" Kane didn't even wait for a respond to his extremely vague plan. "Alright. I'll walk everyone through the details later. For now, just... hang tight. Please." Kane was quick to leave the outpost once more.

A few— well, most of the Rian soldiers were looking at Baldur with disdain and confusion. However, Adelaida's presence alone was enough to get them to start muttering and then hurriedly nodding. Once again, however, the guy Adelaida referred to previously as 'Nazariy' let out an audible groan. "Whatever. We've all pretty much accepted that we're gonna die without a commander, so why don't you just shack up anyway? You don't need our opinion." Adelaida made her way towards Nazariy. He continued to stare at her with an uncaring expression— all the way up when Adelaida clocks him in the head hard enough to send him tumbling back down to a laying down position. "Idiot. I'm only gonna say this once for all of you— Be lucky they're not Perusians. If they were? We would be dead. But they aren't. They're Virtuous. You know, the criminal group? I ain't gonna pretend I really know why they're in Ria, but all I know is that they need our help. They're good people, alright? No grudge against us. Our army got warriors' deaths. In the end, that's what we Rians want." As the group seemed to settle down, content with Adelaida and Baldur (even despite Nazariy's continued groans), the woman turned towards Baldur with a hand on her hip. "You got anything else you wanna do or say, or are we blowing this joint until we get a full squad of healers down here?"

"Sure. I'll give you an introduction." Adelaida led Baldur down to the basement— almost immediately, they were greeted with an infirmary setting. Rian soldiers were in bed, resting. Some peer up as they hear the door open. "Oi! Dickheads! Get up— Stay in bed, though, I'd rather you all not pass out." Most of the Rian soldiers sat up, puzzled. One stayed laying down. "Yeah, I see you, Nazariy, don't even try to go back to sleep, get your ass up." The last one laying down groaned as he tilted himself up, rubbing his eyes. "Adelaida, reporting for duty. Got some news for ya— the battle's lost for Ria." The soldiers immediately started chattering— "Shut up, I ain't done talking. We didn't fall by Perusian hands, so rest assured on that. We got some people who actually give half a damn about us, like Ivanovich did. Alright— floor's yours," Adelaida stepped back, many eyes falling on Baldur.

"Eh, sure." Adelaida shrugged. "I'm not exactly the most charismatic person in the world, so you'd probably be better at doing the talking. I'll just be here to tell people to shut it and stop thinking about General Richter... Hm. Might have to break it to them that the guy's dead, too. At least that part wasn't our fault, that'll be points in favor of us."

Arthur blinked a few times at the deer meat. "Mmmmh... Damn, I guess I am kind of hungry... But we don't really have time to eat. Can it wait?... Or are you two headed somewhere?"

Despite his previous failure, Pinecone was extremely persistent in charging after the one he marked for death. Pinecone to I12, Guard everyone adjacent, javelin into Fire Initiate B's face

"Yeah, sure..." Crimson muttered an inaudible not really in response to Mina. His eyes were drawn to Boss— "Wait, you have- where did you get that? Deer meat is not that fresh— don't they have that stuff cooped up in the cold weather for days?"

Arthur had just a smidge of relief once Shin looked like he was stabilized. "Well... He's been through more than that, at least. One crazy bi-... someone dropped a meteor on him once and he was fine. My name's Arrrrrrrrr..." Arthur's voice trailed off, catching himself in the act of giving some questionable information. "...Crimson... Yeah. Anyways, we need to get going. Like. Soon. Quickly. Before dark... How long until Shin comes back into consciousness?" Arthur looked to Mim without dropping her name.

Arthur could hardly watch this— the hand that hit himself in the face blocked his view. "...We'd... Better help him more than anything," Arthur sighed, peering past his hand towards Mim.

"Lenore—" Another crack opens in Kane's shell— a particularly large one with fragments of impatience splitting off. It was only when he put a hand to his forehead that Kane was able to take a deep breath. "...If that's your view of me... then that's fine. I don't mind being corny or living in a fairy tale. As long as it gets the job done, then I'll don the mask of Phoenix for as long as it takes— it was stupid of me to try to be anything but Phoenix." Kane turned away, his voice turning quiet. "...I need to go figure out our next plan of action. Alone, please." His footsteps were muffled underneath the snow. ——— Simeon bid Baldur farewell with a toothy smirk. He had a couple of teeth missing. Adelaida wasn't too far off— she had already begun taking her pauldrons off before she noticed Baldur. "Huh? Oh, yeah, there's- Oh, shit-" Adelaida's eyes slightly widened, before closing with a set of gritted teeth. "Fuck, there's wounded Rian soldiers down there, I forgot... Well, we're in for it if they come up here. I don't imagine they'll be willin' to go for a fight immediately but... Well, your call. I don't see bossman around here." ——— "...Mmmrgh. No, we'd better not take our chances. Let's keep moving and pretend—" But it was too late. Shin had already begun shouting. Arthur reached out to him, then slapped his forehead. "Shin— Shin stop it— Shin— oooh boy this is gonna be interesting. Mim?" Arthur looked to Mim with a somewhat pleading look, his eyes instinctively darting to her hair.

"...Giving up?... No. As tiring as everything is, as difficult as things are... I don't give up. Even if my work gets sloppy, I will not give up. As long as even just one person will stand by me." ——— Simeon looked astounded at Baldur's find. "Ye think I'd waste such precious metal on a mask? This is... I've never seen metal like this in all me days. Hm..." Simeon examined the shattered blade, nodding as fast as his old bones would let him. "I'll definitely need to examine it further. Ye can keep the handle— it's just an ordinary handle. Mementos are more important than turning something into scrap. Thank ye kindly." ——— "Okay... thank you, Shin... and thank you, Ferdiad, Godiva. That's very generous of you both..." Kane counted Arthur, Mim, and Shin. "One per horse... mmm... Groups of two right now doesn't seem... ideal," Kane's eyes drifted to Shin, knowing full well Mim's plan. They had a bit of pity mixed with the sheer amount of tired in them. "...but if anyone wants to be a last minute taker, go for it. I'll... be downstairs if anyone needs me." Arthur tried to keep his eyes off of Mim's hair after she shrugged, but he was having difficulty doing so. This would continue, at least until he got on a horse and had to concentrate on the road. ... Arthur, Mim, and Shin, along with any other members of Virtuous that deemed the time spent shopping useful, went out on their journey. Arthur led the way— his expression staying frustrated the whole ride. His directions took the small group back to the battlefield. Hundreds of corpses from one skirmish littered the grounds, a gentle dusting of snow beginning to cover them all. "What a fucking waste of life... just how you like it, Father..." Arthur grumbled as the party had to ride past the battlefield full of corpses. Not a soul moved... save for the distant, rare, yet somewhat distinct flapping of a wyvern's wings. Arthur immediately held the reins, scanning the skies. "Shit! We've been spotted, it might be Ruslan's lackeys coming for a round two—! Ready your arrows, you two!... Wait. Wait, hold on." Arthur's battle-readiness was quickly replaced with utter confusion. "...It's just one... two? Why in the hell is there someone clinging to that wyvern's leg? Boss and Mina may post!

There was a pause as Kane's tired eyes looked at Shin. He let out a sigh— there was nothing quite like Shin of all people telling you that you needed to take a break. "Alright. I'll take a short rest while you're all out. But someone will need to wake me when you all get back."

Kane blankly paused at Shin, before it clicked. "Right, Scoopo— shit..." Kane pinched the bridge of his nose— emphasizing the bags under his eyes. "That works very well then— we can have six go without encumbering Ferdiad... alright, Shin, you'll go, thank you, Mim..." Kane hardly notices the bright red hair. "That works well, you should also go..." Even Arthur was broken out of the storm clouds over his head to look at Mim with nothing but utter confusion— a pause as he tried to look away for a moment before he gave up and continued to look at Mim, a question brimming at his throat.

Later that day, approximately two hours later... Simeon and Sid were both able to get into the stronghold— it was still daylight out due to the early raid, but it would be getting dark eventually. No sign of Rian or Perusian troops for a while, Kane reassured, so he was off watch duty. The bags under his eyes suggested that he was going to be taking a nap really soon. After meeting Adelaida and Godiva, Simeon nodded. "Aye, ye ladies're fine and primed for some new weaponry. Ye'll need some new armor, something lighter than that suit'a armor..." Simeon looked to Adelaida, inspecting her worn-out armor. She let out a sigh of relief that she was going to be unbound. "Hey, old man? We're out of-" "Ye think I don't know my own stores, kid? But yes, I'm low on metal. If I'm te forge ye both new weapons and armor... possibly masks for ye as well so ye don't get publicly outed, I'm going to need some metal. Materials as well, for those masks. I ain't Kane's mother, but I'll think'a somethin'." "Good. Because as it stands, we're not only low on material, but we're also not going to have enough food for the night. I can get a fire started, but we'll need something... Arthur, do you know of any towns nearby?" "The closest town would have to-... have to... be..." ...Arthur's idle expression suddenly turned into shock, and then avoidance. "...No I don't." "..." "...Yes I do... urgh. It's... not close, but there's one just a little under a couple of hours away if we go by horse and move by the battlefield, if Ferdiad and Godiva are willing to... lend them..." "Alright— so about four people, maybe five if Ferdiad's horse were to stretch it a little. Arthur, can you go with?" Arthur had that look that said 'no, but you're going to make me go anyway so I'm not going to say anything'. "...Alright. Anyone else? Ferdiad, Godiva, do either of you mind lending your horses or want to go with?"

Arthur had a bit of trouble maintaining eye contact at first once Justine looked up at him. However, it was the sight of her own blush that made him turn his face back to her. "I'll stay. As long as... everyone needs me, of course. Even if it's sometimes difficult to... Just... erm, let me know if the anger gets to be too much. At least, I promise that I will not let it loose on you. As... as best as I can. Sometimes it's... difficult to keep it in check. But... I don't want to put that on you. Or- Anyone for that matter." Arthur's gaze on Justine managed to relax, even if he was still blushing and nervous. Of course, he still held onto her.

Kane remained silent for a moment, giving his own sigh. "Yeah. Yeah, same boat." He didn't have much else to say in response. ——— To stave off the urge to squeeze Justine tighter, out of fear of hurting her in more ways than just some broken bones, Arthur opted to rub her back instead. Slowly, gently— he wasn't exactly skilled at such comforts, but he tried his best. It helped that he had some experience. "I..." You've made me happy. "..." His bravery wasn't quite there yet. As much as he wanted to say it, to reassure her... it just wouldn't come out. He couldn't stop thinking about the very ground that he walked upon. "...Yes. I... andmanyothers— will be by you. And helping you every step of the way. I... know it's not easy. But... We'll make it. Together." Arthur's face tilted down— turquoise filling his vision, tempting to lay his head there as if she were a bed of flowers... The very thought kept his head held up high. Yet he still held Justine— letting his hand continue to run over her back, though his touch began to slow down. "...Am I doing this right?... The... um... hugging. Is it too much?"

Arthur's heart rapidly quickened. There was something stirring inside of him— not love, but... fear. Justine was close... Too close. Mim got close— stepping over the line and jumping back before Arthur would even know what happened. Justine always liked to play on the line. Those were both always fine with him... but Justine wasn't going back over the line. She was staying there. He didn't know what to do. Her words blended together at points as a bit of panic began to set in. Arthur's eyes briefly went wide— sucking in air. No. No. He couldn't. He couldn't do this. He couldn't do it to Justine. He couldn't do it to Mim. He would have been bound to hurt either of them. It was bad enough that they were both slowly crossing over— who was he to shove them over that line? Yet... they were already knocking on his doorstep. What would happen if he found out, and his rage was enough to...? ...Her tears were enough to bring him back to reality. Enough that his arms brought themselves around Justine, enveloping her in an embrace. His coat was just as warm as when she had worn it— if not somehow even moreso. Never again. "It's okay... It's okay," Arthur whispered. To the both of them. "I'm not going to let anyone lay a finger on your family. I won't let this path lead us to sorrow. And more than anything..." I will never leave your side... No... No, I... No... "I... We are a team. We... We will find a way to keep everyone together. I'll make a rallying speech myself if I have to. I had to practice my stupid coronation speech for days on end— I'd rather not let my speech skills go to waste. I..." Arthur squeezed a tiny bit harder— it was clear he was trying to restrain himself from being too squishy. "I don't want to see you sad any longer. I... want you to be happy."

Kane just let out a sigh. "Well, you certainly don't expect royalty to come knocking at your door after a string of heists and, rather than try to put you away and make things feel more normal, saddle the fate of the world as we know it on your shoulders. It's beyond exhausting, even when everything ends up somehow going according to plan." Kane pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning— perhaps the closest he's shown to having any sort of cracks behind his otherwise cool demeanor. "...I'm just tired." ——— The awkward feelings were radiating off of Arthur— it was clear that he was not at all equipped to help out with feelings of distress despite his temper winding down. However, regardless of what he felt, he did his best to keep eye contact with Justine and still look at her as she looked down. "Well... I guess Baldur's not exactly perfect, I mean, first impression I get of him is him nearly beating the shit out of that one girl— Lizaveta, right?" Something occurs to Arthur— he briefly pats his coat, before shaking his head. Not now. "Then we got Shin just... doing his best at every turn, then we have the aforementioned Lizaveta mouthing off unnecessarily so... Hell, even Kane looks like he's ready to burst at the seams... erm, this isn't really helping, is it?" Arthur lets out a light sigh. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that as normal as this is, and it probably shouldn't be normal... You know, things are improving." Arthur lightly gestures to Lizaveta and Shin. "Baldur, I mean, his heart's in it to be a better person— he took a blow for our mortal enemy. Kane... well, he'll figure it out eventually. Mmmh... I guess I'm not really sure what's going on with Ferdiad, but he didn't go ballistic like he did with Lucy when everyone protected her. He just... Stopped. So... Um... Maybe you don't have to do anything. Just... You being you, I think helps enough." Arthur, for once, breaks his eye contact to look down at the ground. "...It helps me."

"...I don't believe that I deserve this yet." "...But if it's what the team needs from me, then consider it done."