Eas looked at the scorching ruins with satisfaction. Such pride she found in a job well done, in serving her master. The helpless peasants ran aimlessly, with nowhere to go, nothing to do but run or burn. Eas looked at the enormous construct that had caused this destruction, the Nakewameke she called forth to do her bidding. She smirked; the Precure Kingdom would not even dare to hope they could stand against such might. Everything for Lord Moebius.
"Will they all break as easily?" Westar asked, punching the air, eager for some sort of action.
"This was but a village of farmers and men who live in the filth of their own animals," Soular scoffed, "and in their own filth, I'd wager. Do not judge the power of the Precure Kingdom based on these weaklings."
"Oh, please, Soular, do you truly believe they can oppose us?" Eas laughed. "Their villages will burn, and the Precures can choose to hide behind their walls and die when they crumble, or come to us and fight open war, and die. This is a war they have no hope of winning."
This is a war they are not even aware of yet, truth be told. Not a single Precure had yet been sent to investigate what was happening, and they had begun their offensive against these lands one week before. Would the Palace of Smiles simply watch their people be destroyed without any sort of resistance? Not that resisting would do them any good, of course.
Eas called her Nakewameke. They were very powerful weapons, but completely mindless; without orders, they were useless. They were the might of Labyrinth, the weapon they so gravely needed to reclaim their lands, stolen by the Precure scum. They were devised by Klein's brilliant mind, of course, who else was as talented with machines as him, right hand of Lord Moebius? Such a faithful servant he was. It was Eas' heart's desire to serve Moebius as well as Klein.
"Stand guard here," she commanded the machine, "destroy all Precure and soldiers of the Precure Kingdom that dare set foot here," the jewel on the center of the Nakewameke's chest shone blue, indicating it had accepted Eas' command, "and begin converting this village."
"We are only a few hours away from Silver Moon," Soular said. Indeed, they were now very close to the keep of House Tsukikage. Why was it then that they had not yet faced any opposition? Yuri had disappeared, and she was the pride of her house, that was true, but she was not lady of Silver Moon; her mother, Haruna, ruled over these lands, and had no excuse to let enemies run free on her own territory.
"We'll just smash it!" Westar said.
"Don't be foolish," Eas said, "why smash a great castle that we could use? Think for a second, Westar; these lands are ours by right, and it would be stupid of us not to preserve what we can. These villages are worth little to us, yes, but it does not mean they cannot be assimilated by Labyrinth."
Eas could see Silver Moon in the distance, high above a hill, and she knew they had little time now; Silver Moon was a shifting castle, a wonder of engineering, perhaps one of the greatest achievements in the history of great buildings. A building whose form would change periodically to match the shape of the moon. As above, so below, it was said; Silver Moon was a great proud castle that occupied most of the hill when the moon was full, and slowly parts of it would sink down into the depths of the mountain, and by the time the moon was a crescent, most of the castle was hidden underground, and farmers from the region would start bringing food, because soon the moon would be new.
Eas looked upwards. The sun was bright, too bright. She was still not used to it, despite her training; too many years she spent underground, in the last refuge of Labyrinth, where Lord Moebius had retreated after he knew the war against the Precure was lost. It was the one place where people still served Lord Moebius, as they all should.
"Soon Silver Moon will conceal itself," Eas said, "so we should hurry now. Once it is hidden, it will be almost impossible to breach it, unless we explode the entire hill, which would not only be immensely difficult, but would also be completely against our interests."
"But do you truly think that Haruna can be useful to us?" Soular asked, doubtful.
"I would expect so, as the Precure Kingdom should not keep the lady of one of the mightiest houses in the dark about Infinity."
Soular was satisfied with the answer, and asked no further questions. They made haste to Silver Moon, dressed as travelling fortune tellers to divert any suspicions. This was a plentiful province, Eas thought as she saw the bountiful harvests of nearby farmlands. Bountiful as they were, they went unharvested, as so many people were running away, hiding. She laughed to herself. Such prosperity, and nobody there to enjoy it.
It was a long way up until they reached Silver Moon; the hill was steep, and ascending was tiring. This was one of the many reasons no one dared lay siege on Silver Moon; it was a castle perfectly protected from great armies. But it is not a great army that will strike against it now.
"Shelter, please, we beg of you!" Eas pleaded to the gatekeepers, who held their spears with tight grip and stoic faces. "Our fields have been burned, our houses have been destroyed, our village has been ravaged, sacked and levelled!"
"We promise you we will not be a bother," Soular said, "and we do not eat much. You will not even notice us, we swear."
The soldiers did not show compassion. They looked at each other and nodded, as if they had orders and had no need of speaking.
"What do you do?" One of them asked. "We don't need farmers when we're underground, and we have no need of tailors, smiths, and we have enough help. So tell us, how may you be useful to Silver Moon, so that we may give you shelter?"
"We are fortune tellers," Eas said, and contained a smirk. Of course they would have need of fortune tellers, with Lady Haruna's daughter gone. Perhaps the rest of Silver Moon wouldn't, but Haruna would want any comfort she could get.
The sentinels pondered for a while, and then the gates were opened. On the walls of the castle, engravings of the moon, but no other pointless decoration; there were no statues to be seen, no paintings, the shining of gold or silver was nowhere to be seen. The guards had ordered them to meet with Lady Haruna, and so they did; they descended into the mountain, the hidden part of Silver Moon, lit by candle light all day and night, until they reached Haruna's chambers, where she prayed in silence. When she was done, she turned to meet the three.
"You are unfamiliar faces," she said, "why did the guards let you in?"
Eas explained her their profession, all their years of practice and the success of their predictions; as she did, Haruna's eyes lightened up, though her face was yet apprehensive, like she was hopeful, but still afraid of her hope disappointing her.
"I'm so thankful, then," Haruna said with her hand to her heart. "I have talked to priests, and prayed as they told me to, so that my daughter would be safe, and I have heard no news of her yet. The priests said that they cannot know if she is safe, only that they can pray for her. But you," she held Eas' hands. Her own hands were shaking, but she tried to hold on firmly, "you can. You can!" She smiled and laughed.
Eas understood it now, why Silver Moon had done nothing against Labyrinth's attack. Haruna was so mad with grief, so deeply buried in her despair that she could not care about anything that wasn't her daughter. Ah, how Eas wanted to simply mock that foolish woman, making her own people suffer because she was weak.
"Don't you worry, we'll help you," Eas smiled at Haruna, and turned back to Soular and Westar, still smiling, but now a smile of satisfaction. "Go take care of things now," they nodded and left Eas alone with Haruna, closing the door. "Your hands, please," she asked the woman.
Haruna extended her palms, and Eas grabbed her wrists with such strength that she could almost feel them twisting in her hands. Haruna let out a cry of pain, but Eas simply brought her closer.
"Now, stupid woman, do not attempt to resist," she said, though she knew that there was no possible way Haruna could offer any resistance, "and do not attempt to fool us. This very moment, your castle falls to Labyrinth," she laughed. "Funny, how your own weakness allowed us to get inside with no difficulty."
Haruna could not even gather the strength to look guilty. She just stared at Eas, crying. Though at first Eas found it amusing, she soon found something uncomfortable about it, and averted her eyes.
"You will not be killed, don't you worry, although perhaps that would be to your liking, so that you could join your dead daughter," that seemed to get a reaction from Haruna, though only a slight one, as she tried to move her arms. "Oh, yes, make no mistake, there's no way your daughter could still be alive in the Great Desert. I don't need to be a fortune teller to be able to tell that, all I need is simple logic."
She sat down, and forced Haruna to sit in front of her, on an old wooden chair.
"Now, tell me, where is Infinity?"
"I don't know."
"Have you never even heard of it? Surely the Palace of Smiles must have mentioned something to you."
"No. I know nothing. I'm not a Precure. They only tell these things to the Precure, or to those that are meant to be Precure, like my daughter. I can't help you."
Eas meant to slap the woman, but she'd have to look at her again, so she did nothing. Furious, she left Haruna alone in her chambers, and locked her there. Go pray some more, foolish woman, go hope that your daughter can be saved.
The castle showed obvious signs of struggles; dead soldiers and broken walls, weapons scattered all around, and some ruined parts of Nakewameke. That was most surprising of all, how their primitive weapons could actually damage the machines of Labyrinth. Eas felt uneasy, but shut up further worries. It was luck. Labyrinth does not fail. Everything for Lord Moebius.
She met with Soular and Westar, who had three Nakewameke by their side, on what was once the meeting hall of Silver Moon.
"It was easy!" Westar said. "Labyrinth is far too strong for these people! You were right, Eas, the Precure Kingdom does not stand a chance against us!
"We have taken control of the gates, so only we can open them now," Soular said, and handed Eas a large set of keys. "Were you successful?"
"No. Haruna knew nothing about Infinity. She is a truly ignorant woman. I'm afraid we won't find any answers here."
"So it was all for nothing, then?" Westar said, disappointed.
"No, of course not," Soular said. "We have taken over one of the greatest castles of the Precure Kingdom, one that in just a few days will be absolutely safe. We are in no hurry to find our answers about Infinity," Soular turned to the Nakewameke. "Let us begin assimilating Silver Moon into the glory of Labyrinth. Then once it completely belongs to us, we can think of our next step to bring down the Precure Kingdom and take what is ours. Everything for Lord Moebius."
"Everything for Lord Moebius!" Westar said with enthusiasm.
Eas looked around and saw the destruction, the broken castle and the blood splatters. Everything for Lord Moebius.
Next chapter introduces the last POV character, and I'm not telling who it is, because I'm a tease. Heh. You can probably guess, though. I hope you are enjoying this, and from now on should expect a slightly darker mood as Labyrinth becomes part of the plot. Less fluffy cuddly time, though, I'm afraid (I'd love to keep having the characters just being cute, but that's not what this fic is about!)