A long, tension-filled week of extremely exhausting training later, and Sasune recieved the reply from the enemy. In the form of a mutilated soldier and a message. The Four were quite promptly pulled to the council chamer, along with all others involved.
King Sasune slammed a scroll onto the table. It was bloodstained. "We have our reply from Argus. It has been confirmed that the former king has been overthrown- a coup that no one saw coming until too late. But whatever the circumstances, Argus's soldiers believe in the views of the new king, and that Kingdom Sasune doesn't give enough to the so-called 'superior kingdom'. It is true that they are naturally more powerful than those on our side- the monsters there are stronger, and therefore they have had to be stronger to adapt. But we have numbers on our side. As you know, Owen Tower divides the airworld into the two kingdoms. We most certainly have the most manpower on our side. This would have cost them the war under normal circumstances...but it appears that they've stooped to recruiting several monster clans."
Angry mutters arose in the hall, quickly silenced by the next lot of news. "It is common knowledge that the lord Desch is very powerful, and due to his friendship with our allies, would choose our side on the war. Unfortunately, as some of you may know, one year after his return the ancient forces recalled him to the furnace. He has a duty to the higher forces which we mere mortals cannot take away. Which is a shame, considering the monsters we'll be up against."
A baron raised his hand. "Sir, what do the monsters have to do with Lord Desch, if I may ask?"
King Sasune sighed. "Desch, while human, is not like the rest of us. He is the closest thing to a holy man this world may ever see, being the channel of the very spirits of existence. Monsters, while consumed by the demonic hate of below, have a much greater understanding of the higher forces, and it has been confirmed that they refuse to fight the lord. It is unknown to the extent that the monsters can sense. All that matters is that we will not have his assistance. Moving on, Tokkul, due to its immense debt to our allies, has chosen to support us in this war. This will likely endager them, being so close to the enemy, so evacuation preparations will be made as soon as possible."
"While it is certainly not a pleasant thing to think about, the large expanse of land in Tokkul's general area is probably one of the most convenient battlefields a person could choose. Therefore, a great deal of our military force will construct a base in the nearby mountains. This is to go unnoticed. Discretion may cost our men their lives. Caution is to be exerted with the vikings- if we cannot contact them, then we have reason to be suspicious. One of our first priorities is to send a small platoon of soldiers there to investigate."
"The chocobo forest is, unfortunately, within enemy territory, so it is as of now unaccessible. This makes Gyshal's chocobo farms all the more crucial to us. Naturally, there is now an embargo on the border. None from Sasune may pass into Argus and none of Argus may pass into Sasune. Naturally, this will not be strictly held to by either side, so a border watch will be constructed. We must keep our ranks free of spies, and be certain that espionage is not an option for the enemy."
Quite calmly, Ingus raised his hand. At the king's assent, he spoke. "I believe one of our highest priorities would be mending my party's airship from the recent battle. While liaisons with the world beyond are not usually very possible, due to Airworld's lack of airships, but we have allies there." There was some uneasy movement- the Beyond was not a fond subject for most citizens of the floating continent. For them, it was the unknown, the unexplored. A place of hazard- and the abundancy of powerful monsters made it near taboo ground. "Few of the assembled have been to the Beyond, so it is difficult to explain, but I will try." Ingus paused. "The mere grounds of Castle Saronia is several times the size of our very world, and the Beyond itself is several hundred times the size of the Saronia grounds. They have more soldiers than Sasune and Argus combined- if we can gain their alliance, this war is as good as over."
King Sasune nodded. "Unfortunately, as you know, your airship was last in the care of the vikings, and we have no contact with them. Moreover, there is no doubt that you and your party are the only ones capable of a trip to Beyond, and your abscence would leave us vulnerable. But you are correct, the allies you've made may cost everything." He turned his eyes to Jaia. "The town of Kazus contains our best blacksmiths. I must ask that you begin working as fast as possible to provide armor, weaponry, and shields. I have heard also of Lady Refia's astonishing skill, so if it does not conflict with any of your other plans, then I must ask that you also make some weapons." Refia gave a kurt nod, exchanging an unreadable glance with Jaia. The ever-present merry spark in her eyes was cloaked in a hood of seriousness.
"This will be the main priority for Kazus while our soldiers examine the situation at the Viking Cove. As for the rest of you, raise your crops, your forces, and train like you've never trained before. The battle depends on it." The king turned to the four warriors, now so independent yet attatched to everything. "And Ingus, I must ask you to pass on your teachings of war to your friends." Something seemed to break within the man's eyes, and he sighed, expression pained. "They will need to know."
Expression grave and sombre, Ingus gave a curt nod. "I will get to it."
Giving his own nod in response, the king sighed again, before straightening. "If that is all, then this meeting is dismissed."
--
"Teachings of war?" Luneth pressed for what had to be the hundredth time. Unlike the other times, which involved either being ignored or having a fireball thrown at him, Ingus paused before replying.
"A castle and its warriors must always be prepared for battle. They taught me what to expect from war, and how to pull through it. As warriors in a full-out war, it seems it is now my duty to pass those teachings onto you."
Arc looked away, a detail that didn't evade Luneth's eye. The silver-haired boy shuffled a little, uncomfortable. For a moment, an oppressive silence hung over the group, until Refia- bless her heart- broke it.
"So...when do we start?"
Ingus broke his passive winter-blue gaze away from the distance, and he twitched slightly. "Tommorow."
--
"I'll give you a hypothetical situation," Ingus began, starting his lessons in a far-from educational environment. Namely, their room in the castle. Despite their lack of a classroom (all the official ones were being used to train civilians en masse), it had been astonishing and a little impressive to watch how easily Ingus slipped into the distant role of a teacher. "Imagine that you are captured by the enemy. Being high-ranked enough to be considered lords and ladies, they will know that we have access to classified information. Information that the enemy will be very eager to learn. Now, as we are naturally not going to surrender this information, they will torture us."
Arc shivered slightly with the prospect, and coloured a little when Luneth rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. Refia simply blinked and stared on, gaze flat and impassive. She'd sunk into a different role. It was believed that the person one becomes on the battlefield should be kept seperate from one's true self. As a result, most soldiers became completely different people when they had to be. Ingus found it sadly heartening to observe her slip into the state of military efficiency. As for the other two...they understood, but not enough. They still found the concept unbelievable, even though they knew the facts.
"Now, as they will be subjecting us to various horrors that I personally would rather not think about...what are we going to do?" Ingus's focus changed, scoping out onto a more personal level of speculation.
Luneth shifted a little. "Uh...I suppose we bear with it?" He sounded hesitant, as if unsure of his answer. "You know, just handle it and stay silent until help arrives." Refia murmured slightly in agreement, and Arc gave no sign at all. He simply sat, tense and unusually alert.
Ingus's level stare fixed them all with its flat truth, hastening to correct them. "No. Perhaps that is the answer a civilian will give, but you have to understand there's more to it than that." His gaze shifted again, losing its focus to disperse through the open window. The morning light shone on, and the birds sang innocent and unaffected by the inperceivable cloud settling on the land.
"These enemies of ours, however easy it may be to think of them as such, are not 'bad guys'. They are not irrevocable evil that must be destroyed because they will do nothing but try to cause harm. Not like Xande, or the Cloud of Darkness. To us, they're faceless soldiers on the field of battle. But they have their own families, they have their own dreams. You kill a man, and you know that you've killed someone's son. Someone's lover, someone's best friend. Perhaps to one person, the man you killed might have meant everything. It can be difficult to handle, and so we are taught to never leave a man alone after his first kill. Do you know what we will be doing in this war?" Ingus swept on, not waiting for an answer. "We will be killing. We will be burning. We'll be destroying people's lives. We're aiming to raze their villages to the ground until nothing's left. Can you honestly blame them for fighting us? Can you honestly blame them for wanting to protect their families? This is a grim buisness, and some people are willing to do anything to keep their homes safe." Ingus sighed heavily, eyes still unfocused and weary.
"They will torture us because it is what needs to be done to protect their home. They will torture us with everything they have, and they will torture us in ways that will make silence impossible. When in the hands of the enemy, know that they will always find a way to make you speak. It doesn't matter how strong you are, or how long it takes, they will get you talking. It's what they're trained for, after all. The trick is to tell them something they don't want."
Extremely unsettled, Luneth fired his next question. "What do you mean?" remarkably intelligent as ever.
"Some people memorise poems, or scripts of plays. Some songs, some stories, it doesn't really matter. Just something to fall back on when they get you talking- talk, but not what they're asking for. It's also possible to encode messages in self-created pieces- usually effective if there are spies."
There was silence for a while, before Ingus decided to continue giving out his words of depressing wisdom. "In this war, you're going to face thing that will make you want to surrender; to curl up and die. It's not a matter of how strong, or cruel, or sadistic you are- everyone has a breaking point. Everyone will break sometime. It's a fact and it can't be helped. There's just one rule," Ingus turned, focusing his grim stare upon them.
"Never break on the battlefield. Because if you do, then you're going down."
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Yes, it's short. I don't really have any time to do anything longer. Please review- I appreciate them all.
Now, I've decided to upgrade the rating to M. There will be some extremely dark themes later on, perhaps some extreme swearing, and I do plan on throwing in a lemon very much later on. If you don't want to read a lemon, then I'll simply say when to stop reading and when to restart.
There will be gore. You have been warned.
But don't worry, there will be SOME humor in the story. perhaps I'll squash some omakes in sometimes...eh, I dunno.