Chapter 14: Return of the chaos

The sun cracked through the darkness, gracing Prontera with its warm kiss. The second day of the festival was today or at least it would be had Sho not interrupted with his plan. Out early were a group of workers who got to work trying to remove the princess' body from the public eye. They set up a large blockade equipped with large cloths to block all that was happening behind the veil. The lead worker scratched his head, looking for anyway to move her body without feeling the effects of Kuroi's residual energy.

They could only sit and try various techniques, but to no avail. Nothing they thought could overcome the energy drain they felt upon touching her body. Just as they began to give up, Alverk stepped through the veil, fully suited in armor. With the look on her face it was obvious she hadn't slept at all. Her eyes were low, dark and lack luster and her skin seemed pasty. She looked away slightly, finding the sight unbearable at first.

"I…I have something to help you men." She said almost quietly while holing a bottle of holy water out to one of the workers.

He took the bottle and watched her leave while averting her eyes from the mess Kuroi caused last night. With a shrug he dowsed her bloody corpse in the liquid and stood back as a red aura appeared and dissipated before their eyes. Elena's body fell forwards, but was caught by one of the workers with ease. With the aid of his men, he carried her body from the blockade, through the streets and into the castle with cloth over her body to avoid prying eyes. As they entered the castle, a professor and wizard entered the blockade and began cleaning the blood from the ground with a combination of deluge and water ball.

Even with the festival falling apart to some degree, some kids were out and about enjoying themselves the best they could.

"Come on Terie! Catch up!" A child called out to his sister as he dashed around the corner leading towards the knight barracks.

"Waaait! Keegan! Come back!" She shouted back to her older brother, trying to keep up with her short legs.

Keegan laughed and picked up speed, trying to outdo his younger sibling. Just when he turned to check the distance between the two, he tripped over something and landed square on his face with a short slide to follow. He sat up and held his face while releasing a wail that could be heard by his sister even with the distance between then. She stopped before reaching his tripping factor and gasped when she realized it was a half naked woman; Yumi, who lay on the ground. She balled her fist up, closed her eyes and screamed with all she had, drawing the attention of the guards and Alverk who was nearby.

She quickly turned, grabbed her sword from the large sheath on her back and ran towards the sound. The distance seemed to blow by as she hurried, hoping it had nothing to do with Sho, but to her dismay she was wrong. She stopped near the children just as three guards came along after her. She knelt down to check Yumi's body for anything and spotted a note under her. She held it open and began to read in her head.

"By now I'm sure there is a massive amount of hate for me and my crew, I'm almost fairly certain most of you are already contemplating what to do with us once you've captured us. Well I'm going to go ahead and make this incredibly easy for you. The woman laying here is Yumi Tuloria, one of the churches's missing priestesses and she bears The Advent symbol on her as proof of her allegiance to me. She has helped me kill as well as orchestrate many of my plots and unfortunately she had decided to betray me. So I'm giving the royal family a freebie before I turn myself in at five P.M tonight. I can't keep this up unfortunately, it seems that the same disease that has claimed my loved one has also taken its hold on me so I will give up myself. As for The Advents, they will be disbanded, but I will not hand them over. Until then, take the day to reflect on things, think about the chaos I've created just for the king….

Sho"

"This cannot be real…" She said to herself before looking to the children with an assuring smile. "Um, hey, you two need to get out of here. Oh and don't worry about her, she just fell asleep after a party is all. I'm going to go ahead and take her home okay?"

The kids nodded slowly, not really understanding what was going on, but they knew the guards and a Rune knight were there to protect the people. They took off without words, leaving the guards to carry Yumi off to the Castle's prison while Alverk gathered everyone in the conference room.

The royal guests all sat at the table, discussing the note that was found. Edgar had it in his hand, examining the print carefully. He placed the paper gently in front of him, folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"It cannot be true. There is no way after all of this, he is simply giving up." Edgar spoke.

"Maybe his goal was just to cause the king pain like he had caused him." Terra spoke before taking a drink of water from one of the cups on the table.

"You almost sound like you're sympathizing with a criminal Terra." Cortez wrote out. "Maybe you have a thing for the bad boy type."

"Please, keep dreaming. I may be against him, but I can certainly understand where he'd be coming from. How would you feel if you had to watch the one you loved most in the world, die before your eyes because of one man's selfish ambition?" She asked.

"I suppose so, but that by no means warrants him the right to claim the lives of thousands does it?" Edgar asked.

"No! Of course not! I think he and his group should have to pay their crimes, even if he does turn himself in, his comrades should not go free!" Lina blurted from beside Terra.

"I agree…With the king resting, we can't act without his permission." Alverk said, leaning against the book shelf.

The doors flew open, bringing their eyes to the entering king who was being held by his son. They all leapt from their seats to help the king to his chair at the head of the table before showing their concern.

"Sire! Why are you out of bed?! You must return to your rest!" Alverk spoke with utmost worry in her voice.

"No!...Listen here, I have an order. You must not allow Sho to near this city. I do not trust him at all. If he goes through with showing himself, he is to be detained before he reaches the gate. I want a full guard around him. Seban will more than likely be back soon since Alan has alerted him to what has happened to his Elajia, he will more than likely be irate and enraged so I keep your wits about you." The king spoke with short breaths before his son looked to them all.

"In my father's absence I will be taking over for him, I certainly hope you all will understand and accept this." He said, holding his arm around his father as they looked at him with assured faces.

For the time being, they could only wait for Sho to arrive if he was serious. If not, it would be a grand search for him, even if the world would have to be divided, he would be found. Meanwhile on an airship en route to Prontera, Seban stood on deck. His eyes were puffy, signs of tears and his hands were shaking from the overflow of adrenaline, he tried to believe that everything wasn't happening as it was. It was painful for him to think of the things The Advents, Three and The Assassin's Guild had done to his wife. For now he could only wait until he touched down in Prontera.