Oliver heard the bells ring and swore, but he pressed on. This was not his division, it's not like he had men to command. Well, that was not strictly true, he had Gene.

Or did he?

He burst into Mai's quarters and lay her down before quickly sweeping the room. Once satisfied that no one was going to jump out at him, he returned to Mai's side and poked her.

"Come on, wake up. You're safe now."

Mai's eyes half opened and she made a noise like she was trying to speak.

"Mai, come on, sit up," Oliver urged.

She opened her eyes, but Oliver thought they looked dazed.

"Attack…" she mumbled.

"No one is going to attack you," Oliver told her. "I promise you, you're safe now."

"The boy…"

"What boy?"

"Boy with Ayako."

Oliver frowned.

"Oliver?"

"Yes?"

"Why does my body feel so far away?"

Oliver's frown deepened.

"Your body is right here," he said.

He poked her again in the side, where he knew her to be ticklish, but she did not react to it.

"Mai, I don't know what to do."

"You always know what to do," Mai slurred. "I just tried to help…"

"You always try to help, you're a good person Mai."

Oliver grabbed some pillows and propped Mai up on them, so she was sort of seated.

"Why did the boy want to hurt me then?"

"Someone tried to hurt you?" Oliver demanded.

"No…" Mai let her head flop to one side. "But he wanted to. He hurt himself instead. We had to wash away the acid…"

"The acid? Mai, tell me what happened," Oliver ordered.

"Yes, Captain!" Mai tried to salute, but her arm barely made it. A noise something like a giggle escaped her lips. Oliver's frown did not dissipate.

"Mai, tell me what happened," Oliver repeated in a softer voice.

"I was helping Ayako and this little boy brought his older brother in," Mai explained in a dull monotone, her momentary laughter gone. "He had got acid all over himself. Their dad was a jeweller and Ayako said they use acid for cleaning but only with lots of water but the boy didn't use lots of water. He got it over his face and chest and it was red and blistered and horrible…"

"And what's this got to do with you being attacked?" Oliver prompted.

"The little boy said his brother wanted to hurt whoever murdered the Emperor. But he didn't mean the poisoner… He meant me… Because I didn't save him… They thought I'd deliberately failed…"

Tears began to leak from Mai's eyes.

"But he didn't hurt you?"

"No… But he wanted to…"

"What happened to this boy?"

"I don't know. I left— I couldn't— Ayako said I could leave… So I ran." Mai frowned. "And Yasuhara found me? He said something about his eyes… And then I don't really remember? What happened Oliver? Why am I here?"

Oliver grasped onto the question like a drowning man to a log.

"You collapsed, Yasuhara tried to bring you to the Palace but they wouldn't let him in. He started back towards Ayako's but we bumped into him. So I brought you back here."

"My body feels numb…"

"Are you cold?"

Oliver touched the back of his hand to her forehead.

"I don't know?"

"I don't know how to help you Mai."

There was a knock at the door.

Oliver straightened up and stood between Mai and the door. He drew his sword and readied for an attack.

"Who is it?" he demanded.

"Someone you ought to be speaking with more respect to," Luella's voice replied.

Oliver did not put away his sword.

"Come in."

Luella opened the door and ushered Hugo inside.

"Shut the door behind you."

"Manners," Luella scolded, as she shut the door. "I heard Mai was not feeling well."

"How do you know that?" Oliver asked.

"You were seen carrying her through the Palace," Luella said. "It was not hard to put it together."

Hugo jumped up onto the bed and started licking Mai's face. She raised her hands a little to stroke him.

"He's so soft," she mumbled.

"Hugo, stop licking her face," Luella said with absolutely no conviction. "What happened?"

Oliver gave Luella a quick rundown of the events of the day thus far.

"And now we have the bells ringing."

"What do you know about that?"

"About as much as you do. Someone has attacked our country. You'd have to get down to the barracks to find out more."

Luella pushed past Oliver and sat down beside Mai. Hugo had prostrated himself across Mai's lap, displaying his stomach.

"He wants you to rub his belly," Luella said.

Mai moved as if a puppeteer was conducting her actions and stroked Hugo's stomach.

"He likes you," Luella said.

"I picked him," Mai said, with a small smile. "He ought to like me."

"You used to come and play with him, I think he misses that."

"Don't you play with him?"

"Of course I do, but he likes the attention. He has already made friends with all the kitchen staff."

Mai smiled.

"He's a clever boy," she said.

Hugo barked in agreement.

"How do you feel?" Luella asked.

"Far away," Mai responded. "Like my body is far away and…"

"Can you feel Hugo's fur?"

"Yes."

"Then focus on that, okay?"

"Okay…"

Luella stood up and turned to Oliver.

"What are you going to do, Captain?"

"My priority is Mai right now," he answered.

"And your position in the army?"

Oliver scowled.

"The General threatened Mai. She is my priority. What is your priority?"

"The man I love is dead," Luella said with a surprisingly cold voice. "I want to know who did it. But in lieu of that, I will protect Mai. Though I am surprised the General of all people threatened her…"

"On the trip here, he tried to…" Oliver could not bring himself to speak the words again. "I told him that… He threatened her."

"What did he try to do to her Captain?"

"He forced himself on me," Mai said. "He pinned me down so that I could not move or shout for help and he tried to remove my clothes. But the twins made a load of noise and he had to leave…"

Luella's jaw set in a hardened line.

"Captain. I cannot leave the Palace, but you can. I need you to go and find out what is happening. I will remain with Mai. I will not let her out of my sight. I will not let that man near him."

"The Empress knows," Oliver said. "She has been protecting Mai. She wrote the annulment."

"Madoka is a good girl," Luella said, nodding. "Go, and hurry back."

Oliver looked to Mai for some sort of confirmation that she was okay with this plan. But Mai only stared at Hugo, who was wagging his tail.

"I'll bring Ayako too."

Oliver practically ran from the room. He jogged all the way to the barracks and found soldiers amassing in the courtyard. Being a little taller than the average person, he peered over the heads until he spotted Captain Takigawa.

He strode through the ranks, and greeted his fellow captain.

"What's going on?"

"We've been told to meet here," Takigawa replied. "We have orders from our General, not yours."

"He's not my General," Oliver muttered darkly.

"Apparently Eshia has attacked," Takigawa continued as if Oliver had not spoken. "They've broken through our northern defences and are marching down through the northern plains, east of Redport forest."

"How far away are they?" Oliver asked.

"A day or two away, I think, but General Kilburn is going to give a speech soon. Where is that brother of yours?"

"With Yasuhara."

"Have those boys sorted themselves out then?" Takigawa asked.

Oliver shrugged and was saved from any further questioning by the arrival of the General.

General Kilburn walked out onto a raised platform and started speaking to the soldiers below. He confirmed what Takigawa had told Oliver.

"We must ready ourselves for war," General Kilburn went on. "We march today. I want everyone ready within the hour."

"Everyone?" Oliver hissed to Takigawa. "He's leaving the capital unprotected?"

"There will still be men around the Palace," Takigawa said. "But I doubt they'll leave their best men…"

"What if this is a distraction? What if they're drawing our men out?"

"And then what?"

"They attack the city," Oliver said. "If there is no protection, they could burn half of the city down and attack the Palace with little trouble."

"So what do you want to do?"

"I want to keep some men behind," Oliver said. "Just in case."

"You don't have any men," Takigawa pointed out. "So you want me to disobey a direct order."

"Do you trust your General? Has he ever seen war?"

"He's a good and well-intentioned man, but no, he has never seen war. But neither have you," Takigawa pointed out. "So how do you know what is best?"

"Part of my duties has involved studying past wars," Oliver said. "Distraction techniques are common."

"Or are they expecting us to do that so that we have a weakened force taking out their army?" Takigawa suggested.

"I don't know the answer to that. We ought to speak with your General and make him aware of—"

"He's already gone," Takigawa said. Oliver looked back to the stage to indeed see that General Kilburn had left. Oliver swore.

"Where is Gene? We must find him. He might know something."

"If he's with Yasuhara… Come with me."

The weapons store was a hive of activity. Young recruits were handing out swords and bows to the qualified soldiers.

Yasuhara handed a sword to Gene and pushed him out of the store. There was not enough room to stay inside.

"Shouldn't I find Oliver? He's my captain?" Gene asked Yasuhara.

"You can, but he might still be with Mai. Would you rather fight or—"

"I don't know! You're my friend but that army is going to have my friends in it too! They're not bad people…"

Yasuhara's face went stony and he dragged Gene to one side.

"This is not the time for that. Either you want to protect this country, or you go and sit with your brother somewhere."

Gene floundered, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

But he was not required for an answer, as Captain Takigawa's voice boomed through the barracks.

"All of my men, meet by the east exit! We have special orders!"

"Special orders?" Yasuhara repeated. "General Kilburn didn't say anything about that… Come on."

"But—"

"Look, let's find out what they are. Maybe…" Yasuhara gave up; he shrugged and pulled Gene towards the east exit.

When they arrived, Yasuhara recognised many of his fellow men. Captain Takigawa stood on a box, to make himself more visible.

"Okay then, we're still missing a few. You three," he pointed to three men, "Go and find James, Todd and Pat. Yasuhara, get over here, bring your boyfriend."

Yasuhara scowled, but walked over with Gene in tow. Captain Takigawa jumped down from the box and Oliver appeared from the small crowd. They seperated a little from the main group.

"Gene, we need to know enemy tactics," Captain Takigawa said. "You know them best. Are they likely to concentrate all their effort on one attack?"

"I don't know."

"We're concerned that they might send a smaller targeted attack the Palace, but that if they don't, we're weakening our army by remaining behind."

Gene looked wildly from each of the three men in front of him.

"I… I really wasn't important enough to know these sorts of things…"

"Think, Gene," Oliver implored. Gene did not quite meet his eyes. "Do you remember any sort of special training that only some people had? Or—"

"Yes!" Gene cut Oliver off. "Yes, I had a friend who got pulled away from normal duties for special training. He said something about stealth attacks."

"Yes, we need to remain at the Palace," Oliver translated. "They have soldiers trained in stealth. Do you know any more?"

Gene shook his head.

"I wasn't very important."

"You've potentially just saved a lot of lives," Captain Takigawa said.

He jumped back up on his box.

"Right, we'll brief the others when they're back," he shouted. "Split up into two groups. I want our best archers in one, and our best swordsmen in another."

"And what if I happen to be both?" one soldier shouted.

"Someone punch Derek," Takigawa ordered and the men laughed. "Archers, head to the north, you're going to watch out for stragglers and infiltration teams. There's a chance a small group of the enemy are going to attack the city while the army is dealing with the masses. You're the first line of defence. Get up high, use your eyes. Swords, we're going to focus around the Palace. I know they have a guard, but they're old men and might need assistance."

"Is someone going after the Empress?" another soldier asked.

"It's possible. So we're going to make sure it doesn't happen." Takigawa nodded. "Right, we know most of the men at the Palace. But question everyone coming and going. There's a possibility that they might be in disguise. It is better to be safe than sorry."

"It's unlikely that they'll be able to speak Ocri very well," Oliver stepped forward and added. "If at all. Detain anyone that can't speak Ocri like a local."

"But my kid sister has problems talking, but she isn't a spy," a soldier protested.

"Yes, we may capture some people who are innocent, which is why we will treat everyone with respect and kindness. I'm sure your sister would understand our concerns and wouldn't want any harm to come to the Empress," Captain Takigawa said. "But I can't let an assassin slip through our fingers because we're scared of upsetting people. Be respectful, don't hurt anyone. Take prisoners. Knock people out if you have to. Got it?"

"Yes Captain," the men chorused.

Gene pulled Oliver to one side while Takigawa sorted his men out.

"I'm sorry about before," Gene said quietly.

"It's fine. We both… We've got to head back to the Palace. Luella wants an update. You can bring Yasuhara."

"But he's…" Gene looked to Yasuhara, who was talking animatedly with his comrades. "He's happy here. Come on."

Oliver nodded and waved goodbye to Takigawa, who waved back. Then the twins departed.

"Noll, some of the Eshians will be my friends…"

"Yes, they might be."

"I don't want them to die… They're not bad people. They're just pawns in Urado's plan..."

Oliver swallowed.

"Then you must hope that our forces show our strength effectively. Perhaps they will surrender. Ocri soldiers are taught to take prisoners where possible."

Gene nodded and sent a final glance over his shoulder at Takigawa's troops.

Author's note: So there are 3/4 more chapters.

Last chapter got 4 reviews.

I restarted antidepressants two days ago.